I do not own 7 seeds.
I might or might not rewrite this one. I've wanted to write this story for the longest of time. I tried to search for the chapter where the conversation where Ayu asked Aramaki, but I couldn't find the chap. After trying for some times, not only could I not find it, I lost interest in writing it along the way. Anyway, I hope this is a good read. ^_^
The world is that of the fittest survivals. Ayu had lived that way her entire life. Not just her, but the whole camp from Team Summer A. Every day, she would stride to be the best; learning everything she could, passing the tests, warding off people that targeted her. She did not let her guards down, and stood her ground against anything that came her way. Because if you fail, it was the end of you.
That was how life worked. Always on your feet and alert. That was how she stayed one of the chosen 7.
And when it came to choosing a partner for a family, it was clear that she would choose the fittest and best candidate. Her equal. It was only rational. Just like any specie on earth that would want to pass their best genes down to the next generations. She would do what necessity in order for mankind to survive. After all, that is her purpose. All the people in the 7 Seeds project's purposes.
Or so she thought until she met him, Aramaki. The strong, dependable, yet sometimes soft and childish man. The man who had suffered so much, lost all his team members and had to struggle all alone in this planet for fifteen years. Yet his face was always appeared soft and happy as if there was nothing that could sadden him. Contaminated him. He was so pure, happy, lively, and expressive. He would never hurt a soul.
He is the total opposite of her. Ayu was dark, cold, calculative, and almost expressionless. She killed the girls in her group during the test. She might not kill them directly, but knowing that they would die using those poison plaint as chopsticks, yet she did not stop them. She let them die knowingly. She killed them.
And after traveling with Aramaki, she learned that he is a great candidate as a partner. The best one so far, judging from his survival abilities as well as his athletic reflex. His personality was good and tolerated, too. He never tried anything with her. So she offered him the choice.
But he refused, saying her way of thinking was not the best way to choose a partner. It had to be someone she love. Someone she wanted to touch and embrace.
That was something alien to her. It had never crossed her mind before. It was not necessity. In fact, she hated to be touch by others. The way man always looked at her as if a prize and wanted to have their ways with her. As if she would just sit around and let them do what they want.
She was not weak and was not afraid to make her opinions known. Anyone who came at her, she did not hesitate to return the favors; warded them off even if it meant to cut them down.
But she never wanted to touch anyone. And sex is just something that has to be done in order to reproduce, nothing more, nothing less.
Love? She wasn't sure what it was.
She didn't know if she would ever want to embrace someone. Wasn't sure if that were even possible.
That was true until that moment. Until when she saw Aramaki, the strong man she had come to respect and admire, so broken before her eyes because he was about to lose his precious friends. His dogs.
Seeing him in so much pain, something was tugging at her heart. In that moment, she wanted so much to help him. She wanted to do something, anything to stop his pain.
Without thinking, she reached out to him, embraced him strongly inside her arms, the act she never thought she would want to do.
To be honest, it was a big shock to her. It was the new feelings she still had yet come to term with.
He was the first man she did not feel disgusted when touched.
Maybe he was right. Maybe she should wait and see how it worked out. After all, there is still a lot of time to choose and start a family. And there are still many things to learn.
The way of thinking of the other teams was different from Team Summer A. But they were not totally wrong.
She would learn the way in this new world as well as compromise with the other teams.
What is love?
She might learn that, too, one day.
April 14, 2013