Welcome to my first long God Eater fic. ^-^ Really happy that I can write more SomaXFemale Player Character stuff(so sad that there isn't much for this pairing. ): ). Anyway, this story happens after the end of the game. Player character is based off the one I used while playing the game. So, enjoy!
EDIT: 7/22/16- dusts off cobwebs- It's been a while since I've been on this site! Well, I finally finished Resurrection so I wanted to update things so it matched more to what happens in game(such as the switch from calling the Player "leader" to "captain"). I've also retconned it a bit so a few scenes are different(with some parts removed). I also wrote a quick chapter that takes place after Resurrection(with the current chapter 4 being pushed to 5)
I also have at least one more story arc planned out but it will take place after the events of Rage Burst so I need to wait for that game's release and then play through all of it before I can write it out. It's going to be a doozy and I can't wait to start writing it as I've had it planned out for a long time.
Enough of me rambling away, enjoy the updates for all of the past readers and welcome all of the new ones! :)
Aria stretched her arms over her head before running her fingers through her shoulder length black hair. Beside her, in the helicopter were Alisa and Sakuya. It had been a girls day out, God Eater style. Which meant fighting Aragami in the City of Mercy.
"I can't believe my first day back we end up having to fight three Vajras. I think Tsubaki assigned it to us on purpose," sighed Sakuya.
"Oh Tsubaki wouldn't do anything like that," protested Alisa. "She seemed to have a lot of fun at the wedding so she cannot be that angry with you."
"Might have gotten a bit too drunk though near the end," Aria pointed out.
Sakuya shook her head. "Don't remind me. I really thought she was going to wear the cake as a hat…"
Alisa and Aria shared a look. What many didn't know was that Aria had a picture of that scene. Alisa was the only other one with a copy. Tsubaki would kill them if she found out.
"But anyway, how was your honeymoon?" asked Alisa. "You two have fun?"
Aria grinned. "You guys did some naughty things right?"
"A….Aria!" protested Sakuya. "A girl should not talk like that!"
Aria shrugged and looked away with an innocent look on her face. "I have no idea what you mean."
Sakuya rolled her eyes. "You two are going to make the driver feel awkward."
Aria glanced over at the front of the helicopter. The guy was focused on driving the chopper but he would look back at the girls now and then. At least until he caught Aria staring at him.
"You guys went to the mainland right?" asked Alisa. "Hung out by the beach?"
Sakuya crossed her legs and nodded. Despite being a married woman she still wore the same outfit. Some things just never changed, no matter what. "Yes, it was nice. We couldn't go in the water though. The area was very, very light on the Aragami, only small species and they were more afraid of humans than anything else."
"Well it sucks then you two only got a week. Aren't honeymoons supposed to last a lot longer?" Alisa looked at Aria for confirmation but Aria just shrugged. It wasn't like she knew much about this kind of stuff either.
Sakuya lightly touched her armlet. "Yes, that would be nice but we both have a job to do here." She smiled at her fellow God Eaters. "Both of us did not want to leave you guys fighting without us."
Aria grinned. "You just missed us, right?"
Sakuya laughed. "Yes, that's it." She turned to Aria. "I need to thank you though, for writing that letter to let us have a week for a honeymoon. It's hard to get more than a couple days off in one sitting around here."
Aria shrugged. "It was no big deal. I'm just glad I could have helped out." After stopping the Devouring Apocalypse and getting Lindow back, she was on a good track record for the branch. There were more than happy than to listen to her request to let Sakuya and Lindow get a week long vacation. Well, it might also have something to do with how she wrote in that Lindow needed to recover in an area without many dangerous Aragami around. A little fibbing never hurt anyone right?
"Girls, we're here," the driver announced as the helicopter landed.
"Thanks!" called Aria as the girls stepped out.
They entered the den to see that Lindow had returned from training the new New-Types. Both Fredrico and Annette had happy smiles on their faces; obviously the training has gone well. Lindow's face lit up when he spotted Sakuya.
He met her halfway and embraced her in a tight hug and a peck on the lips. "So how was your first day back on the job?"
"Same old, same old," replied Sakuya with a laugh. She looked back at Aria. "Our fearless Captain made sure it was the same as always."
"Hey now, when you say it like that, you make me sound like a demon," protested Aria.
"Well remember that time we fought that one Sariel?" Alisa pointed out.
"Or the time we fought that Sekhmet at the temple," added Sakuya.
"Or the time you fought the Corrosive Hannibal with me," put in Lindow.
"There was that time when you went on a mission with us and you got really intense while fighting a Quadriga? Remember that Fredrico?" spoke up Annette.
"You guys," protested Aria. She played with the ties of her dark brown hoodie. She never went into battle without it. At this moment she wanted to cover her face with the hood of it, a very Soma thing to do now that she was thinking about it.
"What're you guys talking about? I want in!" Kota's voice rang through the den as he walked in.
Right behind him was Soma along with Tatsumi and Kanon. Aria had "loaned" them out to the Second Unit to help out against a troublesome Chi You that had been poking around the Outer Ghetto.
"We were talking about how our Leader here can be a demon sometimes," said Lindow.
"Oh, you mean like the time she decided to bash that Aether's head in a wall a few time?"
"Really Kota? Really? You too?" Aria gave him an expression of pure betrayal. "I trusted you." She shook her head sadly. "I guess I won't be giving you the Bugarally figurine I found for your birthday."
"Whoa! Hold on a minute!" Kota yelled. "You don't have to do that really! You're a fine captain, not a demon at all on the battlefield. Uh…I'll give you my corn on the cob ration for a week?" He turned to Soma. "Help me out here!"
"You're on your own," Soma grumbled. "I'll be in my room if you need be."
Aria watched his back as he went to the elevator. Although she would never admit it to anyone, she was in love with Soma. She did not know when it happened exactly, she could not pinpoint an exact day, but ever since their first meeting she was intrigued by him. Sure, he had been off-putting at first, pushing everyone away but gradually Aria had broken through his shell. She saw his insecurities, she found out the secrets of his past. Back then she thought she had a chance, at least until Shio appeared.
Shio had changed everything. Aria knew from the way Soma looked at her, from the way Soma cared for the Aragami girl, she knew she didn't have a chance. She was the Captain of the First Unit at that point and she knew she could not be selfish with her emotions. The team was much more important than one individual. She "gave up" in a sense. Even now, with Shio gone, there was no way Aria was going to tell him how she felt. It would ruin their relationship, it would cause a rift in the team. Overall, there would be much worse consequences than if she was just any normal God Eater.
So even now she kept quiet. Watching from afar was fine. Being there when he wanted to have a small chat with her was fine. That was just fine for her.
"You guys will understand when you get someone you love," Sakuya's voice pulled Aria out of her thoughts.
The conversation seemed to have moved on without her.
"I can imagine. You two are just so cute together," said Alisa.
"I wonder which one of you lovebirds will end up hitched next." Lindow looked at every person in front of him in turn. A twinkle was in his eye, obviously he was trying to stir up some mischief.
"The next one will be me!" Tatsumi raced down the steps. "Hey Hibari, want to have dinner together tonight?"
"Oh ummm, I'll need to check my schedule," Hibari replied quickly.
"Oh Tatsumi," sighed Kanon.
"You need to give him credit for being tenacious," Aria pointed out.
Tatsumi returned with a downcast look on his face. "She's busy tonight, going out with other operators…"
"Don't worry, you'll get it someday," laughed Lindow.
A couple of days later Aria was in the Den waiting for Hibari to assign her to a mission. The attacks by the stronger Aragami had lessened recently so the First Unit hadn't been mobilized as much together. Most of the time it was just routine missions, fight a few Ogretails, clean up some Zygotes. A few had come in to fight Chi Yous and Kongous but not many.
"There doesn't seem to be much…" commented Hibari. "Oh, Tatsumi, Brendan and Kota are going to clean up some small Aragami that were found in the residential district, you okay with helping out with that?"
Aria nodded. "That's fine." Normally she would not have minded spending a day or two in the Den. As a Unit captain she loved having time to pour over the notes on various Aragami to figure out new battle strategies but that combined with Dr. Sakaki's random experiments to try to figure out how her resonance worked, it was nice to get out into the field again.
Hibari nodded. "They should be heading for the chopper now, I'll tell them you are on your way over."
"Thanks Hibari."
Aria made it to the chopper just before it was about to take off. "Well we haven't been on a mission together in a while," Kota said cheerfully.
"Yeah," agreed Aria. "It seems like the First Unit has been assimilated into the other Units," she laughed.
"Hey now, we appreciate you guys taking the time to help us out," spoke up Brendan.
"You can't always be fighting Arda Novas and Hannibals," laughed Tatsumi. His expression turned serious. "Alright, so the area we're entering is a residential area. Kota, Aria, I know you two don't usually fight in places such as this so I'm saying be careful in how you swing your sword and fire your guns. The people living there should have been evacuated but there might be a few stragglers around. Don't go destroying the houses if you can help it."
"Got it." Aria's brow furrowed like it always did when she was entering her tactician mode. "And it was just some Ogretails and some Zygotes right?"
"There was also some Cocoon Maidens spotted as well." Tatsumi handed the survey report to Aria. "They shouldn't be a problem as they are on the north end."
"The Ogretails and Zygotes seem to be congregating more in the south." Aria frowned. "That's the direction evacuated were sent right? I'm guessing they are smelling them."
"Thankfully it's only a bunch of low leveled ones. If it was a Kongou we should have been there hours before," said Brendan.
"So what's the plan?" asked Kota. "Go in there and shoot them up?"
"I think that's the gist of it," laughed Aria. She handed the notes back to Tatsumi. "I say it would be best to focus our attacks on the Ogretails and Zygotes first. Probably the Zygotes. They are quick little buggers and we don't want them to get past us. Ogretails are a bit slower so we have more time to take them out before they cause any trouble. One of us can go north and take care of the Cocoon Maidens so we aren't wasting any time…" She trailed off as she realized something. "Ack! Sorry Tatsumi. This is your gig."
Tatsumi laughed and gestured with his hand that it was fine. "You are our demon of the battlefield. I trust your decision. Plus I was thinking of something similar."
"I really wish everyone would stop using that nickname," Aria sighed.
"We're right overhead!" yelled the driver.
The four God Eaters got to their feet and picked up their God Arcs. Aria rested her Laoyang sword on her shoulder as the door was opened. A blast of wind pushed Aria back but she grabbed the handle by the door to avoid being blown backwards.
"I count five Ogretails and four Zygotes below."
"I'll head north and take care of the Cocoon Maidens," offered Bredan.
"There are probably more nearby so be careful," said Tatsumi.
"Don't any of you dare give up on living!" ordered Aria before she jumped out of the chopper. She positioned her sword in front of her, the blade transforming into a huge jaw. The Ogretail didn't see her coming as she landed on it, the jaw devouring the Ogretail's oracle cells.
The small fry were no match for her. Her blade tore through them like they were butter. And not the kind that the dining hall sometimes served.
Kota was behind her, firing his bullets at the Zygotes while Aria focused more on the Ogretails. She could sense Tatsumi next to her doing the same. Thankfully they were simple Aragami. She had no idea how to fight bigger ones without causing too much of a mess.
As fast as it had begun, it was over. Kota put down his gun after another quick survey of the site. Like always, the lower ranking Aragami were no match for members of the First Unit!
"That has to the record for the shortest mission ever," said Kota with a laugh. "Maybe I should start helping out the Second Unit more often."
"But then we won't get to fight Ouroboros together and what's the fun in that?" laughed Aria.
Kota stared at Aria in mock-horror.
"I'm going to go help Brendan out. It seems like there were more Cocoon Maidens there than what was estimated."
"You want us to come and help?" offered Aria.
"Let the Second Unit have some of the credit," laughed Tatsumi before he took off. "I've already radioed in that it is safe for the evacuated to come back. Maybe stay here and make sure everything is okay?"
"We can do that," said Aria.
Kota was impressed with how efficient the Defense Squad was. Sure he had helped them out now and then but that was usually missions outside of the Outer Ghetto. Kota made a note to buy the members of the Defense Squad drinks or something at a later date.
"Come on Kota, let's go see if everything's alright." Aria and Kota began walking up and down the streets. Already people were trickling back in and going about their daily business. Kota remembered doing the same thing when he wasn't a God Eater too. It was a rough time back then.
"I hope Mom and Nozomi don't have to deal with a situation like this ever again," said Kota. "After that one Aragami attack…" He shook his head as he thought of the many emotions that had torn through him when he heard E-26 had been attacked. He couldn't do anything about it either as he had his own missions to do and had to rely on the Defense Squads.
"Don't worry." Aria patted her friend's shoulder. "The Wall is stronger now. Those probably just got in before it was fixed and kept low…." She frowned as they reached the edge of the Ghetto and was met with the Anti-Aragami wall. "Wait a moment…" She looked around the area with the frown on her face.
"Hey Aria? What's up?" She had the look on her face when they were about to be ambushed by a bunch of Aragami. He looked around nervously and cocked his gun at the ready. Well if anything was around, he would blast it out of the sky!
"Kota? What section of the residential district are we in?"
"Huh?" Kota stared at her dumbstruck. It wasn't like her to ask a question like that.
"I was too busy reading the reports of the Aragami and didn't pay attention to the section. What section are we in?"
"A-2? Why do you ask?"
Aria stiffened for a moment but then relaxed. "Oh…A-2 huh…"
"Hey Aria, what's wrong?" Was there something wrong with A-2? Kota tried to think over everything he knew about it but nothing came to mind. This was just like any old section of the Outer Ghetto. Nothing important or special happened here.
Aria shook her head and smiled. "It's nothing. Should we go back and wait for the chopper? Brendan and Tatsumi should be done soon. We can watch some Bugarally when we get back."
Kota's face lit up. "Yeah! Let's do that!"
The two turned to head back to where the chopper had dropped them off. They didn't get very far as a voice echoed from behind them.
"Aria? Aria? Is that you?"
The two God Eaters turned to see a young woman run over to them. Her dark brown hair was tied back in a ponytail and it bobbed back and forth as she ran over.
"Aria! It is you!"
"Ayame…" whispered Aria.
"I can't believe it, I haven't seen you in forever! How have you been?" She gasped as her eyes took in Aria's God Arc. "You are a God Eater after all! I'm so happy for you!"
"Uh Aria?" asked Kota in shock. He looked back and forth between the two girls as his brain tried to process what was going on in front of him. Aria knew someone from A-2? How?
"Oh, right. Uh, Ayame, this is Kota. He's one of my fellow God Eaters. Kota, this is Ayame…"
Ayame gave Kota a bright smiles "Nice to meet you Kota. I hope Aria has not been much of a bother."
"Oh she's not been a bother at all," Kota said quickly. "In fact she is-"
"That's enough Kota," Aria put in. She turned back to Ayame. "How are the others doing? Fine?"
Ayame nodded. "Somewhat I guess. We're all still around so that's a good thing I would say."
"Ayame! What are you doing over there?"
Ayame turned to the voice. "Jun! Jun, look who it is! It's Aria! She's a God Eater!"
Kota spotted a young man by one of the houses. He was leaning against a wall with arms crossed. He glared at Aria and Kota for a few seconds before turning away. "Come on Ayame, we need to check on our place. Got to make sure the God Eaters didn't mess it up this time."
"Oh come on Jun, don't be like that!" protested Ayame.
"It's fine, don't worry about it, you go on ahead, we need to head back to the Den soon as well," put in Aria.
"Well I'll tell the others that you stopped by, I'm sure they would love to hear about it," said Ayame. She dipped her head slightly to Kota. "It was nice meeting you."
"Oh, it was nice meeting you too."
"Come on, let's go Kota."
Kota gave one last look at the retreating Ayame before following his leader. Questions were on the tip of his tongue but as he stared at Aria's back, he did not want to voice them.
Soma plopped his meal down at the table before he sat down with the other members of the First Unit, minus Aria. He used to always take his meals in his room as to avoid having to deal with other people. He did not enjoy the words people said about him behind his back. However, after that idiot had ended up as First Unit's leader it seemed like the First Unit had changed and in turn she had affected everyone else at the branch as well. Now people at the Branch did not see him as a monster anymore, more like one of the stronger members of the First Unit.
"Aria said she's going to be coming down later. She was finishing up the report from today's mission," said Kota.
"Wasn't today's mission Tatsumi's?" asked Alisa. "Why is she writing the report instead of him?"
"She insisted on doing it when we were in the helicopter on the way back," replied Kota. "Oh but get this, something very interesting happened during today's mission."
"Really?" Sakuya's voice was slow. Not like Soma could blame her. The last time Kota said something was interesting it was because he had found a rock that looked like a bug from that Bugarally show he watched.
"No, I'm serious this time guys!" protested Kota. He glanced around the cafeteria before leaning in closer. "So we were in A-2 right? We were heading back to the pick-up location and this girl came up to Aria. They knew each other! And not even that, there was a guy too. He didn't seem very happy that she was there but she knew both of them."
"Well it would make sense that she would know someone from outside the Den," Lindow pointed out. "I mean, it's not like we all just grew up in the Den…" He glanced over at Soma, who just shrugged. It was the truth, no point in taking offense to it.
"Yeah but that got me thinking." Kota rested his arms on the table, dinner forgotten. "I've never heard Aria talk about them. I mean, I talk about Mom and Nozomi all the time."
"Yes, you do have a point." Alisa tapped her finger against the table. "I've never even seen her take a vacation day to spend time with them either."
"Now that you mention it…" Sakuya frowned. "Lindow, remember when she was first assigned here? How Tsubaki introduced her?"
"No last name…" murmured Lindow. "And none in the records either…"
Soma was not about to contribute to this conversation. However he also felt the same confusion as what the others were probably feeling. She knew about all of their lives but none of them really knew hers before she came to the Den. He couldn't remember any one incident where she slipped up about something about her life before becoming a God Eater.
For some reason, that thought really bothered him.
"Hey guys, why do you all seem like you are deep in thought? Are we talking philosophy or something?" Aria plopped down at the table. "Sorry it took so long, that report ended up taking a bit longer than I thought it would…" She looked around the table. "Why does everyone seem so dark all of a sudden?"
"Uh…Leader…." began Alisa. "Can we ask you something?"
"Sure?" Aria blinked slowly and looked around the table. "Is something wrong? Did something happen?" She was slipping back into captain mode.
"No, nothing like that," put in Kota. "I...uh, I was just telling everyone about what happened today…with Ayame?"
"Oh, Ayame." She relaxed. "You are wondering how I know her? Well, we grew up together. Me, her and a bunch of other kids."
"So you two are sisters?" asked Sakuya.
Aria shook her head. "No, nothing like that. We were all orphans."
Soma almost dropped his spoon. Orphan? She was an orphan? Everyone else at the table seemed to have the same reaction. It wasn't the fact that she was an orphan, heck everyone had some tragedy in their lives, it was the nonchalant way she had said it. Like she was talking about the weather or what they were going to have for dinner.
"Oh my," Alisa ventured in. "You raised yourselves?"
Aria shook her head. "No, Nee-san took care of us. She was older. She raised a bunch of us together." She shrugged. "She was the older sister slash mother for the rest of us."
"'Was'?" whispered Alisa.
Aria nodded. "Well, we don't know what exactly happened to her. She became a God Eater when I was ten. When I was twelve she stopped visiting us." Aria shrugged. "Don't know what happened to her."
"Did you check the records?" asked Lindow. "She might have been transferred to a different branch."
Aria pushed strands of her black hair behind her ear. "I guess I could but, this is going to sound dumb but I never knew her name. None of us did. She was always Nee-san to us. So I couldn't even look her up even now. Anyway, why'd you ask about this anyway Kota?"
"Curiosity I would say," put in Lindow. "I mean we've never heard you talking about them before."
"And you haven't visited them either," put in Sakuya.
"Oh well that's because of Jun." Aria gestured to Kota. "You remember him right? The one that yelled? We had a sort of…falling out when I left to become a God Eater. He is pretty much the leader of the gang in a sense so I felt like it would have been weird to go visit you know? Anyway, doesn't this soup taste funny to you guys?"
"Now that you mention it, it seems to have a weird aftertaste…" said Sakuya.
Soma silently watched as the conversation shifted away from Aria. Was it really that simple? He did not know if he was reading her right but her smile seemed strained. She was playing with the string of her hoodie with a hand. She was engaged in the conversation but it seemed to him, in her eyes, she wanted to leave.
"Soma? Earth to Soma?" Kota waved his hand in front of Soma's face.
Soma blinked. "What was that for?" he snapped.
"You were staring off into space!" If Kota was standing he would have jumped away.
"More like staring at a certain someone," murmured Lindow.
Soma did not like the glint in Lindow's eyes. Aria was staring at him now too, her head tilted slightly to the side. "Is anything wrong Soma?" she asked.
Damn it. Soma stood. "I'm done," he grumbled. He headed for the back to toss the dishes and tray away. He could hear their half-hearted attempts to call him back but they didn't push it further, like always. He took a wide berth around the table as he headed for the elevator. He couldn't figure out why her strained smile just would not leave his head.
"It's none of my business," he growled as he smashed the button for the elevator. But even though he told himself that, why did it still bother him so much?
Aria collapsed face-down on her bed. She turned her head to stare at the area by her couch. On the shelf that took up the back wall was a collection of photos that spoke of her time here as a God Eater. There was nothing there that even hinted at what her life was like before becoming a God Eater (although they didn't have a camera in the Outer Ghetto).
She had tried to keep everything away from that time from her room to keep it out of her mind but in the end it ended up catching up with her after all.
She remembered how everyone looked at the table when Kota asked her about Ayame. She had answered of course, it would have been weird if she didn't. True, she didn't feel any problem with admitting she was an orphan. It was a common story in this day and age and she didn't remember her real parents. All she could remember was being raised by Nee-san.
Frowning her thoughts shifted to Jun. He looked alright from the glimpse she had of him from afar. "Still angry though," she murmured. She shut her eyes as her thoughts drifted back to the memory of that day…
"Jun…" Aria looked over at Ayame for support. The girl just nodded and prompted Aria to continue.
Jun was in the middle of weaving a basket-trap out of some branches he had found on the street. Mizuno was sitting nearby, weaving her own basket. Jiro, Shin and a couple of the others were out to see if they could gather anything else for dinner tonight. Despite the fact that most of the kids that were raised by Nee-san were now nearing adulthood, they still stuck together no matter what. They were family. They also continued to help out the community by taking in any orphan children they found. They didn't want anyone else to live without the feeling of having a family.
But I am going to break this family apart a little…
"What's up Aria?" Jun looked up.
Aria took a deep breath and let her emotions fall away. She needed to stay calm no matter what. She needed to be a tactician and guess how Jun was going to react. All of her theories went back to one thought. Not good.
"Aria has something very important to tell you Jun. Please listen to her till the end," said Ayame.
Aria squeezed her sister's hand for a few seconds. Ayame was the only one she told in advance. "Jun. The God Eaters have done another round of tests in the area to find new God Eaters."
"They have huh?" Jun returned to his basket-weaving but he was pulling at the branches harder than before. "Stupid Fenrir, sticking their nose where they do not belong. Always looking for new people to toss into that Organization and then send them off to die."
"Well I've taken the test as well," continued Aria. She noted the clipped edge to Jun's voice.
"Oh?" Jun looked up. "Did they do it because they promised food? Did you actually get any food out of it? We might be able to do that to feed some of the younger ones. Touma is starting his growth spurt so he's always hungry."
Aria shook her head. "The food isn't important here. Jun, I tested positive. And not just for any kind of God Eater but a New-Type."
"A New-Type huh? Interesting name they are coming up with. You just walked out of there right? Laughed in their faces or something?"
"Nee-san was an Old-Type so this is a big deal," put in Ayame.
Aria held up a hand and gestured for Ayame to step away. "Jun, I'm being serious here." She looked around the shabby house. It was one of the bigger ones in A-2 because they had a lot of people who lived under this one roof. It could not compare to the cleanliness and the brightness that the testing room had. She sighed and took in a deep breath. "Jun, I took them up on the offer, I'm going to be a God Eater."
Snap.
The branch Jun was holding broke in half as he stared up at Aria. Mizuno's eyes were wide and the younger girl looked back and forth between Jun and Aria in horror.
"Please Jun," begged Ayame. "This will be good for us. Aria would get paid a lot more as a God Eater, we won't have to worry as much."
"A God Eater!? You want to become a God Eater!?" Jun got to his feet, his basket forgotten. "Aria! You know what the God Eaters did! You saw how Nee-san looked whenever she visited! Remember her last visit before she disappeared for good!?"
Aria shivered as she thought of it. Nee-san had looked a bit out there. She had looked over her shoulder a lot, like she was afraid there was something after her. She had kept the meeting short before disappearing never to return.
"I know Nee-san was like that, but that can't be how it always is. There are some possible side effects with becoming a God Eater, Nee-san probably just had a problem. The technology is better now, I should be fine."
"'Should'!? You are going to base it on the fact that you could be fine!? What about Mizuno? Ayame? Shin? Jiro? Touma? You are just going to abandon them and just run off to become a God Eater?"
"Jun," Aria struggled to keep her voice level and her whole body relaxed. If she got riled up it would only make things worse. "This is better for everyone in the long run."
"Better for you I would say," spat Jun. "You are just going to leave everyone behind like Nee-san. You are going to become a part of that dreaded Organization which will ruin your life and leave everyone else guessing what happened to you!"
"Stop it Jun!" cried Ayame. "You don't have to yell at her like that!"
"Of course I have to! How else am I going to get it through her thick skull?" Jun again gestured to the shabby house. "Aria, you and me, we are considered the leaders of this family. We are the older brother and sister that need to take care of everyone. You have a tactical mind and we need that here. You always have plans and strategies to solve any problem we face. You are just going to leave that all behind?"
"Don't worry…I planned for this," said Aria. "I thought of ideas, and strategies."
"She even wrote a bunch down for us to use while she's busy." Ayame pulled the papers out of her pocket and held them out for Jun to take. Aria had written in her smallest handwriting and used every inch of the paper to write strategies that could help the others out in any crisis.
Jun took the papers from Ayame and looked them over. "You're serious about this," he murmured.
"Yes I am." Aria's voice did not waver. She had a couple of days to think it over. She heard what the Far East Branch had told her. She would be the first New-Type of the Branch. She had strength and abilities the Old-Types didn't have at all. It would be stupid for her to not take this chance.
Jun gritted his teeth. He looked Aria in the eye and ripped the papers in half.
"Jun!" cried Ayame.
"You are not allowed here anymore," Jun said in a dangerous low voice. "I won't let you cause any more suffering for this family."
Aria remembered when Nee-san had not visited for a couple of months. Jun had been upset for weeks, throwing tantrums constantly They were twelve, only children when they were tossed out on their own. They had to become adults to care for the other kids and Aria had adapted faster than Jun did.
"Jun! You can't do that!" cried Ayame.
"Yes Jun, don't do that," echoed Mizuno in her soft voice.
"I made up my mind. Leave." Jun turned his back to her and sat back down to work on his basket weaving. "You will never be allowed back here again."
"Alright," Aria whispered. She turned away and grabbed her pack by the door.
"Aria…"
Aria smiled at Ayame. The girl was only a year younger than Aria but now she reminded Aria of a lost child. "Ayame, you need to step it up now and take care of everyone." She looked at Jun's back and the angry way he stabbed the branches into each other. "Take care of everyone, including Jun."
"Aria…you are really…"
"Jun is the boss around here and you and I both know that."
"You were also a boss as well." Mizuno walked over to Ayame and grasped the older girl's hand like a lifeline. "You're really going?"
Aria ruffled the younger girl's hair. "Yeah I'm going. Say bye to the others for me okay?"
Ayame rubbed her eyes but the tears did not stop pouring. "I…I will…"
Aria gave one last look at Jun's back before she turned and walked out, never looking back.
True to her word, she never did step foot back in A-2. It wasn't much of a problem since the First Unit was the Assault Squad so she always fighting beyond the Anti-Aragami wall. She had thought about sending her first paycheck to them but she didn't do it at the last moment. She knew if Jun got to it first he would rip it up without thinking of the money.
"They seemed okay…" Aria stared up at her ceiling. Ayame looked a little skinner since back then but the girl also seemed to be taller as well.
"I hope everyone else is fine as well." Aria got to her feet and walked over to her fridge. She cracked it open but frowned when she saw the lack of drinks in there. Due to the amount of free-time she had recently, she had spent a lot of it in her room going over strategies for fighting stronger Aragami, such as the Venus. That also meant she drank the drinks she stored in her fridge and she kept forgetting about restocking them.
"Guess now's the best time…" She grabbed her wallet and headed for the vending machines just down the hall from her room.
"Hmmm…" She slowly trailed her hand over the many buttons as she tried to calculate which drinks she should buy. Kota and Alisa liked hanging out in her room every once in a while so she should stock up on drinks for them. Thankfully Sakuya and Lindow brought their own beer when they visited so she never needed to worry about that.
"I can get about four of these and about three of these…"
"Are you going to be done sometime today?"
Aria looked up in surprise to see Soma standing behind her. "Oh! Hey Soma." She turned back to the drink machine and then back at him. Did he want to buy something? She stood and stepped to the side. "Go ahead, I'm going to be here for a while, need to restock."
"You need to make them buy their own drinks." He put his money into the machine and pushed a button. "They have money too."
Aria shrugged. "It's easier this way, plus I know Kota is sending a lot of his money to his family and Alisa…well I'm not exactly sure what she does with her paycheck…wait, did you just snicker at me?"
"No," he replied quickly. He tugged the top of his hood to cover more of his face.
"You were," she protested. "Really now Soma, are you just jealous that I don't buy you drinks? Well I would if you actually visited my room like Alisa and Kota!" Actually, now that she was thinking about it, everyone visited her room to hang out but Soma. Well, she had to give him credit for sitting with them during dinner at least. He was getting there, slowly.
"I don't have much to talk about with them," replied Soma. He picked up the can of coffee and opened it.
"Well if you are done with the vending machine, can you please move out of the way?"
Soma shifted to the left and leaned against the wall, sipping away at his coffee as Aria began buying drinks.
"Do you really not trust us?"
Aria almost smacked her head against the machine. "What?" She looked up at Soma.
He shook his head. "It's nothing…"
"That is not nothing!" Aria scrambled to her feet and grabbed the arm of his jacket before he could walk away. "Of course I trust you guys, we all go into battle together." She smiled. "I kinda need to trust you guys."
Soma sighed. "I didn't mean it like that."
Aria crossed her arms. "Then…how did you mean it?"
Soma looked away. "You seem to know about everyone else's past around here and yet we knew nothing about you. You should have seen how Kota and Alisa looked when they realized they really didn't know anything about you, like a bunch of sad little puppies."
Oh. Aria looked back at the vending machine. So that was what this was about. "Well…just for the record, I found out yours by accident really. I didn't know the disk Dr. Sakaki gave me were files about you." She winced. From the way he was glaring at her, it looked like that did nothing to lighten his mood.
She sighed. Soma could be so intense about the weirdest of things. "Well it was more or less, I think I was trying to forget them," she replied. "Jun is the type to hold grudges. I remember one time when a shopkeeper ripped Kimi, she was one of the younger kids, off on some food. I figured that the shopkeeper just did not have enough supplies to go around but Jun took it personally. He banned us from going to that shop again.
"I didn't care about it that much but the younger kids really look up to him. It was best for me to not go back and risk them getting in trouble with him." She paused as she thought of something. "Oh but Jun isn't a bad guy. He's really great when you get to know him, he just seems really prickly at first."
"It sounds like you really miss them."
Aria hoisted the bag of drinks onto her shoulder. "I guess I do but I made up my mind when I made the choice to become a God Eater. I don't regret that decision. Anyway, have a good evening Soma."
Soma watched as Aria headed back to her room. She had sounded normal when she had talked to him. Again he was hit with how strange that seemed. Again she had spoken like it was the weather or something else that was light and fluffy.
Now that he was thinking about it, he realized that he never had seen her with any sort of sadness. Hell, did she even cry? Even when Shio died, she did not cry. She had looked forlorn, sure, but she had not cried like Alisa did. She had stared him straight in the eye and nodded when Shio had requested to be devoured.
"Do it for her sake Soma…"
Her voice had not wavered. No hesitation. He knew if he couldn't do it, she would have done it in his place. "Sometimes I wonder if you are more of a monster than me…" Soma stared at her closed door.
Again he was struck by the weirdness of his actions. He had stepped out because he had heard her in the hallway. Why did he end up coming out here to talk to her? It wasn't the first time he had heard her walking around outside at this time. She was always buying drinks now and then. Why did he come out and talk to her?
He crossed his arms and leaned against the machine. Was he getting that soft? Was he actually worried about her after that talk during dinner? "What the hell is wrong with me?"
The elevator opened and Sakuya and Lindow stepped out. Sakuya's arm was around Lindow's waist while his was around her shoulders.
"Oh? What are you doing out here Soma?" asked Sakuya.
"Huh, it isn't like you to hang out here," commented Lindow.
"Shut up," growled Soma. He tossed the empty can in the garbage before heading back to his room.
Aria rested her God Arc on her shoulder and stared down at the dead bodies of a Dyaus Pita and a Prithvi Mata. The few days of peace for the First Unit did not last. It was like the Aragami knew and they fought back with a vengeance.
"Good job guys," she said as she turned to her team.
Alisa and Kota nodded to her. Due to the amount of the missions that were being put out, she had split the team up in half with Soma and Sakuya going with Lindow.
"I can't wait to take a hot shower tonight." Alisa fanned herself with a hand. "It's really muggy today. Aren't you roasting in that Aria?"
Aria looked down at her hoodie and shrugged. "Not really? I'm used to fighting in this…"
"That's our Captain, always keeping her cool!" laughed Kota.
Once the trio returned to the Den they were met with a frenzy of activities. People were running around carrying blankets and other supplies.
"Whoa…what happened here…" murmured Kota.
"Come on, we'll ask Hibari." Aria made her way through the crowd. She noted there were a lack of God Eaters in the den. "Hey Hibari, what's going on?"
Hibari was furiously typing away on her computer and listing orders through her headset. Tsubaki was next to her with her signature clipboard. She seemed to be furiously writing something down.
"Oh there you are Aria. Your team will be the only one on standby here in the Den."
"The 'only one'?" asked Alisa.
Tsubaki nodded. Her expression softened as she gazed at Aria. "I heard from Lindow that you are from A-2 in the Outer Ghetto."
"Uh…yes?" Dang, that did not take long at all to spread throughout the Den. "But what does that have to do with anything?"
Tsubaki stood straight. "The Anti-Aragami wall around A-2 has been breached. There's a hole in the wall, letting hordes of Aragami in."
Aria could feel her body starting to stiffen at the news and her eyes began to widen. As fast as the feeling came on, she quickly reined in her emotions and shoved them into a corner of herself. This was no time to react in that way.
Alisa and Kota had the emotional reaction she refused to have. "Are the people okay?" asked Alisa. Her hands were pressed against her chest. Her eyes shifted over to Aria and then back to Tsubaki.
"They have been evacuated out of the area," said Tsubaki. "They are going to be living in one of the lower areas of the Den until we can repair the wall."
Kota sighed. "That's good, right Aria? They're probably okay."
Aria smiled and nodded to Kota. However one thing was still bothering her. "What about the rest of the Outer Ghetto? If there's a hole in it…" Out of the corner of her eye she saw Alisa grab Kota's arm to give him support.
"We have been able to keep the Aragami in the A-2 block for now. While the God Eaters are keeping the Aragami at bay, a temporary Anti-Aragami Wall is being put up to keep them out from the rest of the Ghetto until we can get the Wall fixed. However, we must always have a couple God Eaters in the area to keep it safe. The temporary wall will be able to keep back the smaller Aragami but the stronger ones might be able to break it. Dr. Sakaki isn't a hundred percent sure if that is even true so better safe than sorry."
"But why aren't we out there fighting too?" asked Kota. "I mean, with a team like ours, we'll be able to help a lot!"
"You three are on standby in case something else happens. Remember the last time we had no combat personal in the Den?"
Aria could feel Tsubaki's eyes strike daggers at her. "For the record, I did end up bringing Lindow back because that happened," she put in.
Tsubaki shook her head. "I'm always impressed with how you can joke at times like this. Anyway, you three get some rest." She turned back to Hibari. "Catch me up on everything that has happened so far."
Knowing the conversation was over, the three God Eaters headed up the stairs to the small couches.
"Now I know how you must have felt being stuck here all by yourself while everyone was out," sighed Kota. "I don't know how you dealt with it. I just want to go out there and pound all those Aragami into dust."
"For the record I did fight an Aragami," reminded Aria. "Just…not with my own God Arc."
Alisa shook her head and leaned over to grasp Aria's hand. "Are you sure you're okay?"
Aria smiled. "I'm fine Alisa, really." She pulled her hand away just in case resonance occurred between the two of them. Alisa didn't have to know that Aria's stomach had a dull ache to it. She was a God Eater now. She needed to be ready in case she was needed to fight.
"I envy you sometimes," sighed Kota. "You're always so good at focusing on the mission at hand. If it was E-26…"
The three God Eaters looked up as Tsubaki walked over to them.
"Is something wrong?" asked Aria.
"Do we need to be sent out?" asked Alisa.
Tsubaki shook her head and turned to Aria. "Since you are from A-2, I thought I would ask you first. There is a young man causing trouble down in the refugee hold. A lot of angry yelling and what not."
Aria groaned. "Why am I not surprised?" She got to her feet. "I'll take care of it. It's probably Jun."
"Should we come too?" asked Kota.
Aria shook her head. "No I got it. You two stay here in case we need to be sent out. Don't wait for me if it does happen. I'll catch the next chopper."
"Thank you Aria," said Tsubaki. "They are on the warehouse floor."
Aria nodded and took the elevator down. She didn't usually come down here. In fact, now that she was thinking about it, she had never been to the residential area of the Den for non-God Eaters. There was really no point to.
The doors opened and she stepped out. The warehouse was a huge room. Usually there would be boxes and various other things in storage scattered everywhere. It had been cleared out and now there were people everywhere. Some had set up tents with the blankets they were given. There were a couple of Den staff handing out supplies in various parts of the room.
It was easy for Aria to spot Jun (plus it probably helped that the elevator area was on an elevated platform from the rest of the warehouse). He was near the edge of the crowd and, of course, yelling at how this was all caused by the God Eaters negligence of the Anti-Aragami Wall.
"Happy reunion to us," murmured Aria as she hurried down the stairs.
Ayame and Jiro were trying to calm him down but to no avail. Aria didn't know if it was a good thing or not that she didn't spot anyone else from their family there. Oh wait, there was Mizuno at the food handout. She had to smile at that sight. It was just like the time in the Outer Ghetto when the group would split up to take care of the day's chores.
Kimi had returned with a pile of blankets. She put them to the side, out of Jun's direct line of sight, and sat down quietly.
"Jun," spoke up Aria. "Please stop."
Jun stopped in mid-tirade and turned his blue eyes to her. It looked like the storm that appeared in them when he was angry did not change from the last time she had seen him.
"Aria!" Ayame sighed in relief.
Jiro nodded to her but he was smiling as well.
Aria wished she had the same amount of confidence in being able to calm Jun down as they thought she did.
Jun crossed his arms and glared at her. "Oh, look who decided to show up, a God Eater. What are you going to do, gut me like you do one of those Aragami?"
"Jun, come on now," Aria said softly. "You need to calm down."
"Calm down? Calm down? You want me to calm down? Really?" He gestured behind him to Kimi. The younger girl jumped but didn't say anything. "I can't calm down. It's because of you God Eaters that Shin did not make it!"
"Jun…what?"
"Shin got attacked by an Aragami when we were escaping," Jiro explained quietly. "He didn't make it and we had to leave him there."
Aria grabbed her emotions and reined them in fast and shoved them to the side. Shin was…dead? He was only three years younger than Aria and loved playing practical jokes on everyone. And now he was gone?
"Yeah, Shin did not make it because you God Eaters messed up!" snapped Jun. He smiled but it was by no means happy. "What were you doing? Probably lounging around, enjoying your new life here."
"Jun, please stop," whispered Ayame. "Really Aria, he doesn't mean it."
"Be quiet Ayame," snapped Jun. "I sure as hell do mean it. All you God Eaters do is cause trouble for everyone around here!"
"Jun, I know you're angry," Aria began. She kept her voice steady and low. It would do no good to get riled up. She was still trying to process the fact that Shin was gone in the back of her mind. "But you can't get angry like this, out loud." She gestured to the people around them. "Jun, these people are like you, they have been kicked out of their homes. They want some peace and quiet now to recover from the ordeal so-"
"Oh look at you," Jun crossed his arms. "Look at this, Jiro, Ayame, she's acting the same as before. Always looking out for other people but with that stupid tactician look on her face. It's always been hard to tell what you are thinking when you have that face but I think it's gotten even worse now." He gestured to her armlet. "Pumped you full of drugs right? Having trouble keeping everything straight in your head? Brainwashed you right?" He lowered his voice to a sadistic whisper. "Are you even human right now?"
Soma followed Lindow and Sakuya into the Den. It was always exhausting being with these two when they weren't actively in combat. It was like those two just couldn't keep their hands off of each other. Out of curiosity he had searched up files about married couples and apparently this was normal behavior. Even more so as God Eaters as one did not know if they would survive another day.
"Whoa, what's going on here?" asked Lindow. Alisa and Kota were sitting on the couches. They both seemed slightly antsy.
"Where's Aria?" asked Sakuya.
Soma looked around but he didn't see the black-haired leader anywhere.
"Well, she went down to where the refugees are," said Alisa. "Apparently one of them was being very loud and rough and Tsubaki wanted her to take care of it."
"She mentioned it was the guy, Jun," put in Kota. "I remember seeing him from when Aria and I were in the area and he seemed very mad when he saw her."
"So you're worried about her," Lindow put in. "Well, we can go down and check, right?"
"But we're on standby in case something happens. Aria told us to stay here," put in Alisa.
"I'll stay up here," offered Sakuya. "The Aragami have mostly been cleared out so now the Defense Squad is handling it by themselves. You guys won't be gone long so I'll call if anything happens." She stretched her arms over her head and cracked a smile. "Plus I could use some time off my feet."
"You're the best Sakuya." Lindow gave her a quick hug and a peck on the lips. "Soma, come on, let's go."
Soma frowned. He did not like how Lindow just lumped him in with everyone else. However from how Kota had described this Jun fellow, he was a bit worried about Aria. Not like he would admit that out loud. "Alright, I'm coming," he murmured.
The four God Eaters were silent as they took the elevator down to the warehouse floor. The doors opened and the first thing Soma heard was a girl's voice yelling, "Don't say that about her Jun! Aria is Aria!"
"What in the world is going on," murmured Lindow. The four God Eaters walked to the edge of the railing that separated the raised platform from the rest of the warehouse. It was easy to spot Aria near the front as she was the only one with a God Eater armlet.
"This seems more like a family quarrel than anything else," said Lindow. "It might be best for us to stay out of it…"
"Really?" spat a young man, was that Jun? "And yet here she is with no emotion on her face." He leaned in close to Aria's face. "Do you even remember Nee-san? Can you remember how she was when she last saw us?"
"Of course I remember Nee-san," Aria said quietly.
Like every time before, Soma was impressed with how Aria could stay calm in situations like this.
"Really? I doubt it," Jun looked away in disgust.
"No, she does," put in the girl next to Aria. "Look! She's wearing the hoodie that Nee-san gave her!"
"I feel like we should help or do something," said Kota. "This is…kinda painful to watch."
"Maybe we should go," suggested Alisa.
Soma had to agree. This was too personal for his taste.
"Oh that's it huh. You want to become like Nee-san? Is that it? Going to disappear in a year or two?" Soma couldn't see Aria's face from his position but Jun didn't seem to like it as he balled his hands into fists. "Stop looking at me with that face. Stop looking at me with pity. We are fine, we are fine without you around."
"Jun…" began Aria.
"Don't you Jun me! I'm sick of it! Always with that look! You always have that same look! Change it for once! Stop it!"
"Jun, you need to calm down," said a young man to Jun's left.
Soma could feel the hairs on the back of his neck prickle. He had a feeling that something was going to happen.
"Jun…"
"I said, don't you Jun me!"
Soma saw it in slow motion. Jun lifted his fist. He swung it. Alisa made a choked sound of surprise. He saw Aria stumble back.
He didn't know how he got down there. One second he was standing at the railing, the next, he was on the main floor. His hand gripped the front of Jun's shirt tightly as he slammed the other young man into the wall. He glared at the s.o.b. with pure hatred. Soma had wanted to kill a few humans over the years but this was the first time he ever felt such a rage to someone that was not directly related to something that had happened to him.
Jun struggled for a few seconds. He opened his mouth to retort something but he froze after seeing the rage screaming in Soma's eyes.
"Soma, leave him."
Aria.
Soma ignored her. What should he do first? Punching the guy would probably be the best. What afterwards though?
"Soma. Put. Him. Down."
He stiffened and glanced back at Aria. Alisa and Kota were on either side of her. She had one hand to her cheek. It looked like the punch had not even bruised her. Of course her oracle cells would make her tougher than the average human.
Other than her hand on her cheek, she stood straight. Her eyes were dark as she locked eyes with him. "Put him down," she ordered. Her captain voice. It was the one she used out on the battlefield. He had never heard her use that voice in the Den.
Soma gritted his teeth but he released Jun and stepped a few steps back. He gave the pitiful human one last cold stare before he headed for the elevator.
Well this had become a mess.
Lindow scratched the back of his head with his normal hand as Soma stormed towards the elevator.
"I should get going as well," Aria said quietly. She cracked a small smile at the girl. "See you later Ayame."
The girl nodded and glanced back and forth between Aria and Jun. "Uh yeah, see you later."
Lindow crossed his arms as he watched Alisa and Kota trail after Aria like a couple of ducklings. Both of them glared at Jun when they were sure Aria wasn't looking. It didn't look like she was paying much attention to either of them at all.
"Word of advice around here," began Lindow.
"One of you is still around?" snapped Jun. He was dusting the front of his shirt. "Crazy guy he was." He stared at Lindow's arm. "Well maybe he wasn't the only one."
"Jun, that was really uncalled for," spoke the other male.
Lindow crossed his arms. Oh this guy was a piece of work. "Around here God Eaters are the cream of the crop. We're the ones out there fighting the crazy Aragami to make sure people like you have something to complain about. We all have a pretty thick skin when it comes to barbs against us."
He narrowed his eyes as Jun turned away. "Lieutenant Aria of the First Unit. Captain of the Assault Squad."
"Captain?" whispered the girl. Her eyes widen and she looked at the other boy and the girl. "Aria is a captain!?"
"So?" snapped Jun. "That's supposed to mean something?"
"Obviously that means nothing to you but for us here it means everything. She is our strongest God Eater and a New-Type to boot. She has excellent resonance ability and a great tactical mind. She was a crucial part to stopping the Devouring Apocalypse as well as bringing back a God Eater that had lost his way."
"Tsk, there is no point to this."
Lindow flexed his inhuman hand. "Basically she is the one person around here that you do not want to mess with. You will make enemies of every single God Eater stationed here. And if you lay a hand on her again, don't expect her to be able to save you. Unlike Soma I will disregard her order and kill you myself."
Leaving the boy with the words, Lindow headed for the elevator.