Warning: Language, dark themes, and suggestive scenes.
Chapter 1 - Encounter
"Sergeant Farron! Hey, soldier!"
She stood her ground. Straightening her posture, she pointed her right arm forward, and then pulled it back towards her chest. "Sir, Lieutenant Amodar!"
"Relax," The taller man walked forward. "It's already past patrolling hours. There is no need for you to be so formal with me."
She almost choked when she swallowed. That really sounded kind of—
"So, why are you still here?" He started yet another casual conversation, which she very much despised.
"I simply do not have the need to return home so early, sir," She half-lied, half-reported.
The lieutenant laughed, his voice as loud as firecrackers. "Well, well, soldier, there is no reason for you to exhaust yourself even after your shift! You should go home and rest anyhow – like everybody else after work!"
"…"
His expression still bright and enthusiastic, the lieutenant went on, "If you're worried about your promotion, don't worry. Your file has already been sent to the higher-ups. Soldier, you'll get bumped up any day, now!"
The woman insisted. "No, sir, I do not have any desires in ranking up whatsoever—"
"Come on, Sergeant Farron!" He interrupted, "There's got to be something that you want."
She looked down at her feet.
"… No?"
Trying to act as if she was thinking really hard, "I…" She clenched her fists. There was no need to think, really, because the one 'thing' she desired so desperately, the one 'thing' she needed so much… was something that left her. It was something unattainable.
"You there!" The soldier called as he ran after the thief, "Halt!"
Taking advantage of the lack of light, the criminal ignored the soldier's orders and continued to run.
"I said, halt!" He yelled louder.
Still refusing to obey, the thief kicked down a couple of garbage cans as he ran as an attempt to slow the soldier down behind him. Indeed, his actions blocked the narrow alleyway almost entirely, and he was slowly losing his tail. Proud, he took a turn for another path that led to the market, hoping that he could escape into the crowd and blend in with them. He increased his pace, but as he reached the end—
Bang
Bang
Two gunshots were heard, and he fell to the ground.
"… What the…?" Spasms of pain shot up his spine as he fell; the thief looked down – he was shot, on both feet.
"You really should have just listened," A casual, feminine voice reached his ears.
He winced and avoided crying out loud; the bullets buried in his feet were not exactly tolerating his posture. Looking up, all he could see was a silhouette of a womanly figure. She was holding some sort of weapon with one hand. A… rifle? "God damn it… what the hell…?" He cursed weakly.
The soldier chasing him from earlier finally made passed the garbage mess. He appeared at the end of the alley, looking all worn out and tired. Panting, he started, "I said halt—"
"It's been dealt with, soldier." The woman spoke.
He blinked and looked to the ground. The criminal's feet were shot; he was crippled and was unable to walk any longer, let alone escape. "Holy…" He breathed, "Uh, s-sorry for the trouble, Sergeant Farron, ma'am!"
"It wasn't troublesome," She responded coldly. "Next time, if you can't catch up to your target, you make it stop running."
Emphasis on the it. The rookie scratched the back of his head and chuckled nervously.
Though futile, the criminal was attempting to escape as the soldiers were distracted. He dragged himself up with his arms, slowly tried to crawl pass the woman—
But obviously, she could see. Sighing, she swung her gun in her hand. With style, it turned into a special-looking blade. "… And if your target continues to resist," She thrust the tip of her blade downwards, into the man's hand. Immediately, he let out a screeching cry as blood squirted out, "… You will have to prevent that from happening by getting rid of his other parts."
"Agh—! Fucking stop…!" The man below begged as his face twisted in pain, "I'll stop… I'll – god! I'm not going to run – just stop it!"
His cries echoed in the alley, but the woman refused to show mercy – rather, it seemed like the thief's voice wasn't reaching her ears. She continued to stare into the rookie's eyes. "Are we clear?"
The inexperienced soldier shook his head to bring himself back to his senses. He was actually too distracted by the criminal's terrible cries, so he couldn't really hear her. Regardless, he nodded his head with respect. "Y-yes, ma'am. I will try to follow your advice next time this happens—"
"No, no, soldier," She cut him off, "Don't try, I am instructing you to do it." All of a sudden, she pulled her gunblade out of the man's hand. The residue of his red blood lingered at the tip. The woman swung it again, flicking the blood off and then putting the weapon back into the black case she carried behind her. "I'll leave the rest to you. He was yours to begin with."
He swallowed. "Understood, Sergeant Farron."
She turned away and exited the dark alley, into the marketplace where the everyday crowds were. With all the noise coming from everyone, it was no wonder that these people were unaware of the trouble that just happened. She sighed and walked into the crowd. Why was it that the people of the army have to deal with such trivial problems? She was fully capable of getting into real fights, like, she could actually fight alongside the front lines. Everyone knew that she was far more experienced than many of her superior officers – like Lieutenant Amodar or Captain Rygdea to name a few – and that she was fully capable of fighting in the war.
Walking out of the market, she reached the most deserted place of the evening – the eastern beach of Bodhum. It was also her favourite place to go to during breaks because it was so quiet and empty. There was no need to listen to all the pointlessness coming from all those pointless, typical, unimportant people. Sometimes, coming here, it was even possible for her to lie down on the white sand, close her eyes… and imagine herself fighting on the plains of Pulse with those PSICOM soldiers… those despicable, PSICOM soldiers.
She hated them.
The deep purple sky above became infinitely darker as she looked forward, and when she turned around, the colour became yellow, then orange, and then red. She looked farther – "Ugh…" The setting sun on the west side blinded her eyes temporarily. It didn't make sense; why couldn't she just get over that annoying colour? It had been so long already… and yet…
She shook her head.
It was like the sun gods were telling her that she would never be able to adapt to it. it was like they were telling her that she would never be able to shine as brightly as they do; she would never be able to light up the entire world because she was merely…
She looked back to the east side of Bodhum, where the sky was much darker.
… All she was… was one of those tiny, twinkling stars in the far distance, and nothing more. She was only capable of shining in a small town like this; her radiance would never transcend to other important places.
"Oh, what the hell," Thinking about such dumb, absurd things just to entertain herself, just to make herself think that she was actually full of creativity and imagination, and was capable of making up meaningful analogies were some of her bad habits. She made her way down the steps, onto the beach. As always, there was literally no one but the usual people here. The usual old man and his usual old dog were exercising or whatever, the usual old couple was taking their walk along the shoreline, the usual boy and his usual dad were playing catch… then there was the usual pigtailed girl—
Wait, what? Who the hell…?
A girl… a new, unfamiliar girl was sitting near the shore, looking at the night sky. She was dressed in really, really, really strange clothing – with beads and fur and everything.
A foreigner?
She shrugged her shoulders. How people looked or dressed really was none of her concern; she just wanted some peace and quiet before her break ended. She walked towards the ocean, right before the tide could touch the tip of her boots. The girl in strange clothing wasn't far away from her – she was on her left, a couple of metres away, which, perhaps, was the distance she preferred to be kept apart from other people.
Too bad she couldn't lie down today; there were a bit too many people around. As always, she looked up and tried to play match the constellations with the countless stars. The woman once tried to match a picture of her weapon, though she didn't succeed because her eyes lost their way. Today, well, she wasn't particularly artistic, so she didn't know what to match. Looking at the twinkling lights was just about fun enough, though.
Bored, and figuring that it was about time for her break to end, she decided to go back to the outpost. The motionless girl beside her, however, caught her attention. She looked to the corner of her eyes, and found the strange girl… making some sort of unusual hand gesture. Her head was down, eyes were closed… and it looked as if she was praying or something.
How odd. What kind of hand gesture is that?
The girl suddenly relaxed. She clasped her hands together from her back, and then looked up at the sky.
Pigtails, random accessories with excessive bead-like decorations… a weird fur-sash, high heeled boots… nobody in this town could appear any stranger.
Is it Halloween today?
She turned her head a bit to the… cosplayer to get a clearer view.
A strange aura filled the air; the girl could feel something… or someone eyeing her, observing her. Staying alert and motionless, she looked to the corner of her eyes, and caught a shadow of a tall figure not far from her, staring.
She's done praying or whatever, why isn't she moving away? Why is she just… standing there? The woman wondered. She was very much aware that all of this did not matter, but she was quite intrigued by the fact that she was being drawn to a person like this. This was probably the first time she had stared at someone for such a long time—
Unbearable… it was getting too weird. She could no longer stand it – the girl turned her head to look at the figure.
The soldier gasped and quickly looked down. Holy shit, that was scary. Like, she just suddenly… turned to look at her – no, she turned to scare her! But she was still curious; the sergeant turned her head to look at the strange girl once more.
… She was still looking at her!
Oh my god. She looked down again. Well, wasn't this embarrassing? She was a freaking soldier, and she couldn't even bring herself to look into that suspicious girl's eyes?
The girl let out a sigh of relief. At least the figure wasn't some scary old man, and was, instead, a rather tall and beautiful young woman. Fascinated, she smiled at her; it was very rare to encounter such beauty – especially in such a deserted area, after all.
Thinking that it had been long enough, the woman looked back at the girl again. Only this time, she was frightened by the fact that she was smiling so… so innocently at her. But strangely, she refused to turn away, and stared back.
Delighted, the girl nodded lightly and smiled brighter, hoping for a bigger reaction from the tall woman.
She didn't know why, it was all too confusing, but she started to blush, and she could feel her heart pounding against her chest. Perhaps it was because she wasn't used to this? The soldier looked away again.
The girl giggled. This was quite an entertaining scene. She started to close the distance between herself and the taller woman. "Hello!" She greeted cheerfully.
Oh god, oh god… what the hell! She crossed her arms nervously and turned her head toward the girl, waiting for her next move.
"Sorry for frightening you, but you kind of scared me, too! I thought you were an old pervert, trying to catch some eye-candy off of me!"
Should she be offended? The woman raised a bemused brow. She wasn't sure what she was going to say, but… now that they were this close, she caught the colour of the girl's gleaming eyes—
"You have really pretty eyes, onee-san,"
The comment was definitely not inappropriate, but it still sounded wrong coming from a stranger. Hell, she was thinking about the girl's eyes, too. She kept her straight face on.
"You don't talk much, do you?"
"…"
"Hmm…" With no response coming from the woman, she lost interest in the conversation. "Well, then… I'll just…"
"Do you belong here?"
She stopped. "… Eh?"
Crap. That came out rude. "Are you from this town?" She reworded.
"Oh…" The girl chuckled. "Are you wondering because of my clothes?"
The woman stayed still.
"Hm, everyone asks me that… maybe I should go buy a new set or something? Oh! I forgot – no, I'm not from this town. I came here for… um…" A finger under her chin, she tried to search for the word, "… you can say that I'm here for a vacation."
She eyed the girl from head to toe. Shrugging her shoulders, she continued to look at the stars. "If you're here for a vacation, why aren't you at the western beach where everyone is? Bodhum is only famous for its sunsets."
"Mmm…" The girl mumbled, her voice got lower, "I… don't really like sunsets…"
Huh? Why the hell would you come to this boring-ass town, then? The woman thought. She crossed her arms and turned around, preparing to head for the stairway that led to the market from earlier – it was about time she got back to her patrolling anyway. "You should go back to wherever you're staying. This place isn't exactly safe out at night, especially since you're…" She paused to look at the girl's weird outfit again, "… Er, especially since you're a girl, all alone."
"Onee-san, you're a girl, so you should head back too!"
It's none of your business. She thought and was prepared to say it out loud, but, "… I've got… things to do," was what came out.
"Oh, is that so?" The pigtailed girl sighed. "Well, thanks for the warning. I'll be going now, so, erm… see you later?" And she dashed to the staircase, her figure disappearing into the bright sunset's light. The soldier had to squint her eyes to look at the girl; she had to make sure that she wouldn't run off into any of those dangerous areas… wait, what! – She shook her head rapidly – none of this matters! What the hell had gotten into her? She stomped angrily towards the same staircase, about to head to the section of the town where she was supposed to patrol.
"Sergeant Farron, ma'am!"
She nodded, not even bothering to answer because she was so damn tired. Out of respect, everyone at headquarters would greet her, no matter what the time was. Right now was no exception; the soldier was just passing by and saying goodbye… probably. The woman hoped that he wasn't going to start any stupid conversation with her.
"So, er… any replies yet? Y'know, about your promotion?"
Ugh. Why did everybody she kind of knew have to start small talks with her? Didn't they understand that she wasn't interested in anything at all? Though she knew that the soldier had no intention of making fun of her, whenever people approached the topic of promotion, she could never help it but to be slightly irritated. She tried to reply as politely as possible. "No, not yet,"
"Oh," The soldier held onto the strap of his courier bag.
Sometimes she wondered to herself: if she hated those random people who try so hard to talk to her that much, why not just ignore them? Why the fake and polite act?
"I guess the war really takes away their time in dealing with these things, don't you think?" He continued, totally neglecting the irritated aura that surrounded his female superior. "Don't worry, I'm sure that once they see your file, they'll rank you up right away."
His enthusiasm was annoying her to bits; she was going to explode if he didn't shut up soon. So, she decided to conclude everything with one statement: "I have no intention of ranking up. Just getting out of this boring town is all that I want."
The soldier laughed. "Well, you'll get your chance for sure!" He turned for the door, "I'll see you in a bit, Sergeant Farron!"
The woman didn't even bother to nod this time – if she gave him any kind reaction he might start talking again, holy crap. She simply watched as he left the lobby, and then stood up herself. Usually, she'd waste time in this outpost or would go to a bar after work, but she didn't feel like noisy places today. Looking at the time, she figured that it'd be best to head home and go to sleep early.
Her house wasn't far from the base, but she was practically trotting by now because she wanted to hurry home. The sky had turned dark, the stars now stretched across the arc of the sky, with Eden glowing beautifully alongside them. Just a few more blocks away, she—
"Oof!" Something popped out of the alley on her side and bumped into her. The force sent whatever it was onto the ground.
"Ow! Hey, watch it!" She yelped.
"S-sorry! I didn't mean to – I was just…! Oh! Onee-san!"
"Huh?" Regaining her balance, she looked down at the figure, who was none other than the cosplayer she encountered earlier on the beach. "You…?"
"Yeah! … Oh, uh, look, I'd love to stay and chat, b-but, I…"
"Stop stuttering," She reached a hand out, offering to help the girl up.
"Thanks," Taking the woman's hand, she got up easily. "I-I mean sorry, I need to, uh—"
"Hey, you! Come back!" A distant voice called demandingly.
"Oh no…" The girl spun around.
Two men – two very large men – popped out of the corner where the girl appeared from; they looked as if they ran a few kilometres, for they were out of breath and were sweating like they worked out for hours. "Thought you could get away from us, huh?" One of the men panted.
Shaking with anxiety, the redhead started to step back. She didn't want to see these men – she didn't want them to touch her… she had to run, she had to escape… no more of this… the girl knew very well that she would die at this rate—
The soldier raised a palm and stopped the girl from moving towards her by placing it gently on her back. The contact made the girl spin around rather fearfully; it almost made the sergeant jump as well. She raised a brow at her huge reaction, and got an idea of what was going on. Eyeing the men casually, she got ready to ask them to leave the girl alone, but—
"Pft," One of them huffed, "If it isn't Sergeant Farron?" He hummed sarcastically, putting an accent on the word sergeant. He was slowly regaining his breath. "What d'you have to say about it this time?"
Confused, the woman looked carefully at the two. Raggedy leather jackets, black t-shirts, ripped jeans… Oh, of course, they were the typical troublemakers in this peaceful, boring town. It was impossible to recall the times she had taken care of them. From catching them steal, to harassing random people, to—
"Hey, just to make sure," The other man cut in to support his friend, "It's not against the law here to look for whores."
The soldier crossed her arms and looked down at the girl.
Well, it's no wonder they'd take you as a…
Shaking her head, she gave the girl a look of pity.
Seeing that, the redhead looked down to her feet with shame.
The woman shifted her attention back to the thugs. "This girl's not a whore," she started simply, "Get out of here."
"Come on, sergeant, you can't protect everyone,"
She twitched. Her fists clenched.
"She's just doing her job, ma'am, so leave her to us already," He walked forward and grabbed the girl by the arm. "We're going to treat her nicely, pay her the proper amount—"
"No…! I'm not…!" She squealed and tried hard to break free.
The soldier reached out to grab onto the man's wrist, stopping him from dragging the girl away. "I already said that she's not going to come with you,"
His brows furrowed, "What the hell—"
She tightened her grip; surely it was enough to stop his blood from circulating properly. Her short nails dug into the man's rough skin as well, "Now let go," Her eyes continued to stare casually – almost bored – into those of the man's, "Before I break your arm,"
"Ow! God – fuck! Let go!" He yanked his hand away from the woman, and throughout the process, the girl's arm was released as well, "You're fucking crazy, man! Shit!" Still in pain, he observed his reddened wrist and the half-moon scars from her nails.
"Now go whore around somewhere else." She said, yet again in a bored manner.
After seeing his friend going through so much in such a short time, "Yo, let's just go," The other man persisted, as he was scared that he may be next regardless of what he did.
"God damn it!" And the two turned back into the alley.
The woman could hear them cursing about her as their voices echoed around the walls.
The girl could hear it as well, and it made her feel ten times worse already. She prepared to give the soldier her gratitude to draw her attention away from those curses. "Onee-san," she called, immediately drawing those blue eyes back onto herself, "Sorry to have bothered you, and… well, thank you." She gave the woman a bow, and quickly stood up straight with her hands clasped behind her back.
Instead of replying, the woman gazed at the girl from head to toe. She looked like a mess – her clothes were ripped, probably because she was resisting from them, her knees and elbows were scraped – she just looked beat up. Not particularly concerned, the soldier decided to ask anyway, "You okay?"
And she felt that much happier once she heard the question. "Un!" The girl nodded and smiled gingerly. "Thanks again!" She attempted to walk pass the soldier, but her legs suddenly gave in, and she fell forward.
"Oh shit."
That's got to hurt.
She bent down and helped the girl sit down on the cement. "You don't seem okay to me. You're bleeding so much, and you can't even walk."
"No, no… I can… just let me…" She forced herself to stand up, but ended up toppling over once again, this time falling into the soldier's arms.
"Don't even try anymore." She said, "It's best if we get you medical attention. I'll escort you to a hospital."
The girl snapped her head up, "Wha – going to the hospital for this! I… I don't think that's necessary…"
She blinked. "You're right, it isn't." Standing for a moment to think, the soldier tried to figure out what the best decision would be. They were a bit too far from the base, so it would be too troublesome to take her there… "What about your hotel or wherever you're staying?"
"Hehe… I… actually haven't found a place to stay yet…"
She rolled her eyes. "Oh, of course, I should have expected that." The woman was going to regret this, but, "Listen, my house isn't far away from here, so if you don't mind—"
"If I don't mind?" Her eyes widened, "Onee-san, do you mind?"
"Of course I do, but it won't take long," She replied. "I'll just find a hotel for you afterwards."
"But I don't think I should – whoa!"
She shook her head with impatience and wrapped one of the girl's arms across her shoulder, her own arm circled around her exposed waist at the same time. "Look, I would want to get this over with quickly, so just, please, keep quiet."
With that, the girl obeyed. For the rest of the way, she remained quiet, much to the relief of the soldier.
"Take a seat," She said as she guided her onto the white leather sofa.
The girl nodded her head, still trying to keep herself from making any noises.
"I'm going to get some bandages. Hold on,"
She nodded again, and watched the woman walk off somewhere. The stinging pain on her elbows and knees were shooting endless spasms all over her body, and it sure was hurting like hell. "Stop thinking about it!" She scolded herself. She decided to look around to draw her attention away from the pain.
Hm, what a nice house!
The girl thought. This must be the living room – on her right was a very, very large ceiling-to-floor window – actually, the entire wall was the glass window. Outside was the eastern beach; the endless sea was also visible, and so were the stars that she prayed to earlier. In front of her was a television mounted onto the wall above a shelf, where a few picture frames were resting on it as decoration. Her feet rubbed against the soft, furry, white carpet that covered the living room area; the comfortable feeling of it and the photo in the picture frame brought a smile to her face.
Such a happy family…
A dad, a mom, a girl who probably was the pink-haired soldier, and a younger girl who almost looked identical – must be her sister, the pigtailed girl thought to herself. Her eyes moved elsewhere; pretty hardwood floor that extended from the entrance of the flat to everywhere, white-coloured walls, white ceiling… this place was extraordinary neat. But at the same time, it was a bit plain and quiet… "Oh!"
Out of nowhere, the woman returned with a box of first-aid and a bottle of water in hand. "There's no need to be so stiff, just relax." The tone in her words suggested otherwise, making the redhead sit up even straighter than she did before. The soldier sighed, "I said relax," She took out a small cotton cloth and dabbed it into the bottle. "This may sting a bit," She pressed the damp cloth gently onto the girl's knee. The latter definitely twitched a little in pain, yet she managed to keep herself from wincing too loudly. The soldier paused and looked up at the girl, "Bear with it."
She intended to say yes, but instead, she accidentally let out a squeak, the action nearly giving herself a stroke due to embarrassment.
Shaking her head, the soldier continued to clean her wounds. At times, she had to scrub harder to get the dry blood off, but she tried her best to be as gentle as possible because she knew the girl was on the verge of crying.
Indeed, the redhead had her eyes shut tightly. She clenched onto the leather material of the sofa below, channelling the pain elsewhere so that she would not shed tears. But just for a bit, she wanted to see what this stranger was doing to her knees. It was true that she appeared to be extremely cold and scary, but seeing that girl in the picture, the girl was sure that she was harmless. Like, honestly speaking, what kind of person would offer to carry a random girl in strange clothing home, clean her wounds and wrap them up, and then offer to walk her back to wherever she came from? Unless, of course, that person was a pervert or some sort of—
She opened her eyes just for a bit. Just a peek would be enough…
—very, very, very pretty… no, no, she was an incredibly gorgeous woman. Earlier, there wasn't enough light at the beach or on the street to see, but, wow… what nice hair! It was such a unique colour, and it totally did not match the woman's serious and distant personality.
Well, because pink hair is usually associated with those who are compassionate, fluffy, cute, and…
"Done." She stood up and then quickly sat back down beside the girl on the couch. "Elbows," Not giving her time to react, the woman grabbed her arm – roughly, but ironically, with care – and started tending to it as she did to her knees.
The girl continued to stare. Not at her bloody wound, but at the admirable soldier. She remembered that she mentioned before to the woman, that her eyes were really pretty, but once they were this close, the girl could see properly. So not only were her eyes deep, but the many flecks and shades of azure in her iris… the blazing colour… it was a colour that she admired, it was a colour of the clearest blue. Such rareness – it was… the colour of the sky. Heck, this woman's long and thick lashes helped define her eyes' depth even more.
She knew the girl was staring at her; she tried not to think about it, but the heavy tension…
Thanks to the lightning and her subtle movements, her eyes glittered in an unnatural way – almost like the stars that twinkle. Then there were her pale pink bangs, covering a little of her eyes that brought the mysteriousness to her beautiful and sharp face. Gosh, how could it be possible, how could it be logical that such a beautiful person would exist?
"… Is it really that fun to stare at me?" The soldier said without taking her eyes off the girl's wounds while she tended to them.
Her voice rang in the girl's ears; she was reminded that this woman had enough power and authority to drive two large men away without even moving a single step. She smiled, "Sorry," and looked at her elbow which the woman was treating, "I'm just wondering why those two men from before wouldn't just leave me alone…"
Which reminded her, "Right, your clothes are all ripped up because of them…" she looked at the girl. A strap of her pink tank top was broken, the cloth hung loosely over, almost – just almost – exposing her full breast if it wasn't because of the random accessories holding the cloth up. "Do you have a change of clothes?"
"…"
Does it look like she does, you retard? "Uh, sorry, I assume you dropped your stuff when you were running away from the two?"
"… Y-yeah…" The girl said, almost with guilt. "… I just… dropped my things out of fear, so I have nothing left with me…"
"Do you remember where you dropped them?"
"I was panicking, I-I don't know…"
Oh, how typical. Now she had to offer her a set of clothing, food, and, well, might as well offer her to stay for the night? But damn it, the woman hated company. She would much rather be alone, so that it could be quiet and all—
"Sorry to have troubled you, onee-san, I'll be leaving right after this…"
—but she didn't seem like the type to annoy the shit out of her. Like, sure, she was a tiny bit obnoxious on the beach, but at least she obeyed and didn't talk just as she was told on the way back. She sealed up the last of the bandage and then looked up.
"Thanks," Giving the woman a weak smile, the girl stood up slowly and carefully, knowing that she had yet to regain her strength.
"Is it alright for you to stand up?" She asked as she stood up with her, "I think you're a bit too weak to…"
"No, no, it's fine. See?"
She watched with concern as the girl took a step forward. She didn't know it, but her arms were opened, on standby to catch the redhead if her legs fail her or something. "You can walk… but at this pace, you'll never get back to your hotel – wait, you don't even have a place to stay, do you?"
"… No."
Her mind spoke aloud, "Okay, you know what? Just… stay here for the night." She realized what she just said and wished that she could turn back time. "I'll…" damn it, "take you to the… lost and found department or whatever tomorrow, so just…" She paused upon seeing the girl's shocked expression, "… I mean, that is, if you don't mind, and won't think that I'm some sort of pervert."
"Pervert?" The girl said, "Onee-san, you're the kindest person I've ever met in my life!"
She turned away. Nobody had ever praised her like that before. "Yeah… so, what do you want?"
"Yes, please! And thank you!"
The woman shrugged her shoulders. Well, that wasn't that hard. "I'll lead you to your room after I pack this stuff up."
Before she could crouch down to pick up her things, the girl reached out a hand and smiled, "Vanille."
"…?" Confused, the woman stopped her movements. What? Vanilla? Does she want ice-cream or something?
The redhead giggled, "My name," she grinned, "What's yours?"
"I don't think it's necessary." She replied coldly.
The younger girl frowned. "Oh, come on! I need to thank you properly, and at least let me know the name of my saviour?"
"…"
"Or… do you not mind me calling you onee-san?"
"Lightning." She mumbled.
"… Hm?"
"You asked for my name," she rolled her eyes, "Lightning."
"Oh," The girl knew that she wasn't in the position to question about others' weird names, so she decided to drop the subject. "Well, I think I'll just call you onee-san!"
The strawberry-blonde frowned. What have I gotten myself into? She asked herself as she shook her head at the girl.
The chapters are going to get longer than this, so if you can't stand it, you better stop reading! Plus, I update dreadfully slow, so those of you who do not have the patience, read on at your own risk! :D
Once again, to those who don't know, I played the Japanese version of FF13. Vanille is pronounced Vanilla, 'onee-san' means big sis… etc. etc.
Please review! :)