Roon x Nero (kinda) (no cringy sex ahead)

Part 10

Chapter 10
The private lessons went on smoothly: Nero was very happy about Friedrich's methods, thanks to which he could understand everything easily. He preferred these lessons way more than the ones he attended at the academy, not only because they were simpler (thanks to Friedrich, who simplified the topics in an efficient way), but also because he could spend more time with Roon. At first, Nero was scared of her. The commander's words that Nero heard about her, <<She's mentally unstable>>, did not reassure him at all. He still remembered about what happened when he and Roon first met, the way she stared at him without saying a word and her unsettling smile, and sometimes he still thinks about it. But since that event, nothing creepy happened. Especially at night, he would think about that black track he had found in the woods some days ago and how she contradicted herself, first she warned him to never go in the woods again because of that famous ghost, then she affirmed that it was just a silly myth. He arrived at the Azur Lane only a few days ago and way too many things already happened. And if that wasn't enough, the majority of girls in the fleet hated him.

This is what Nero was thinking about while Friedrich was teaching Maths. Eventually, she noticed.
"Is something bothering you, Nero?" she asked.
Nero snapped out of his trance. "UH, I SWEAR I WAS PAYING ATTENTION!.." he exclaimed.
"I didn't ask you to justify yourself, I asked you if there is something bothering you."
Nero thought he couldn't vent all his concerns to Friedrich, and more importantly, Roon was there too. It seemed like there was only one believable excuse he could use.
"W-well... I was just dozing out, it happens often in maths classes... Maths aren't really my thing, you know, so I end up spacing out..."
He said this, and he resignedly waited for her scolding.
Friedrich noticed his resignation and his guilt. She approached him, kneeled down to his height, smiled at him and said: "I understand that maths aren't interesting. And you might think that there's no point in learning them. Although that is partially true, maths are still a subject. They might not be very helpful in your daily life, but you never know if they'll actually be useful."
Needless to say, Nero blushed after hearing those words. Friedrich immediately noticed, but she decided to not point it out. Nero expected a completely different reaction: you know, teachers always get mad at students when they don't listen.
Roon was watching them with a smile. She knew that Friedrich wouldn't get mad at him. She knew that Friedrich would forgive him. Upon seeing Friedrich's kind behavior, she remembered what happened some years ago.
When the Azur Lane was still at war with the Crimson Axis and the Sirens.
Flashback
During a battle against the Sirens, a dangerous battle, Roon was eventually involved in the fight. She was ordered to fight only in critical situations, and at one point, that battle matched the requirement: the Sirens were more numerous than usual and the Iron Blood started struggling. The Iron Blood required reinforcements from the Sardegna Empire, but those reinforcements never came. In the end, Bismarck decided to rely on Roon. She did very rarely, because she knew what happened when Roon fought for too long.
As soon as Roon entered the battlefield, she rushed straight to the Siren army. The sirens who were fighting that battle had never seen Roon, so they underestimated her and thought she was a total idiot. But Roon proved them wrong.
She slaughtered her enemies one by one. The more she fought, the more she enjoyed killing them. As her slaughter continued, she started getting more violent. She went from simply shooting her enemies to ripping their limbs, their heads. She pierced their flesh with her hands, ripped their hearts out of their chests, crushed their bones as she laughed. The blood gushed, the sea below Roon turned red, her hysterical laugh resounded throughout the battlefield. Not only the Sirens, but also the Iron Blood were scared of that sight. Roon massacred the sirens for hours, until they retreated.
Once she was done, Roon looked around her, panting. She looked at the result of her slaughter in satisfaction. She turned to her compatriots and looked at them with a bone-chilling grin. <<Look, look, I won!>>, that was the meaning of that grin. She didn't intend to intimidate her comrades, but her grin unsettled them even more. The older girls were disturbed, the younger were disgusted and scared. Roon looked for approval by turning to her rigging, which reflected its owner's feelings and thoughts: but the shark-shaped machine swam away from her and followed the others as they left the area.
Roon was alone. Standing on the bloodstained water. She stood still, looking at her hands completely covered in blood. She looked down to see her reflection on the seawater: she saw a girl whose clothes turned red, whose skin was stained by blood. She realized how horrifying she was. Her feeling of satisfaction was replaced by fear. The fear soon turned into sadness.
She sobbed while tears ran down her face. She stood there and she cried, feeling lonely and hopeless.
Then, she felt something embracing her. She looked up. Friedrich looked back at her with a reassuring smile.
"Why are you still here? The battle is over." said Friedrich.
"Friedrich... Will God forgive me for this..? Will the others forgive me too..?"
"... There's no way of telling whether God will forgive you or not. The others might not forgive you. But remember this, Roon: I will always, always forgive you."
Roon stopped sobbing. Friedrich gently wiped her tears and caressed her hair. Roon felt safe in her arms and hugged her. Soon after she fell asleep, due to the long battle.
Flashback end
Chapter 10 end