My Dearest
I'm sorry. I promised myself I wouldn't leave you. But this is for your happiness. It's okay. I don't mind if I'm gone… Just promise me, Soma. Promise you'll remember me. SomaxMshe
Chapter 1: The Place Where I Belong
Let's see…if I had to make a timeframe I'd say Room for Three happened in the late summer two months from Fly Me to the Moon happened around the early fall season. Three months have passed so now it should be about winter…ish… I didn't really plan out the time intervals so now I wish I did. I recommend reading at least Fly Me to the Moon before reading this.
And I'd like to say a few words to my lovely reviewers from Fly Me to the Moon.
HKARI AI: Hehe here's yet another one for us Soma lovers! I really look forward to our messages and I hope they can continue! I especially look forward to the fic you're writing too! I wanna read them NAOW!
InkDragoness: I love making scenes where Soma hides how sweet and soft he really is on the inside. He's like a burnt marshmallow in that sense I guess? Yummm… Wait, does that make Rin the graham cracker or the chocolate…?
Mage of Hope: I hope you're ready for another SomaxMshe fic! This one might just beat the rest. I dunno but I hope so, haha.
Tashaj4de: I specialize in even surprising myself when it comes to making some of these fics. You might just find out where Rin wants to go in this fic…
Lushard: We have to try expanding this section. Hopefully there will be an influx of fics once God Eater 2 comes out in 2013. I can't wait to get it! It'll probably mess up my college grades but it'll be worth it, XD. I hope I can continue to meet your expectations
CrazyGEBplayer: You have made my day when I read your review, XD. Instead of getting shot, I'm pretty sure the majority of the GEB community would agree that we need a good yummy Soma lemon. –shifty eyes- Not saying I haven't thought about making one… I just suck at making lemons so I've never uploaded one. That might change in the near future seeing as I'm in college now and I don't give a crap if people from my school see it. Now…if I could somehow block my relatives from seeing it…XD
Please use your voice to speak to me
Your face across the screen doesn't tell me enough
Speak, because even minor and trivial things
Because even those kinds of things hold meaning
-Ayumi Hamasaki, Tell me Why
Soma wiped the sweat off his brow and winced when he grazed a long cut on his temple. An Ogretail got lucky before being quickly dispatched by some well-placed oracle bullets. The medicine that staunched the flow wore off and he swore at the crimson fluid that ran into his left eye. He rummaged through his pack and cursed when he realized he used them all.
"Stubborn idiot. This is what happens when you don't restock before every mission," a familiar redhead walked over to him and forced him to sit down so that she could easily examine his injuries. She had already seen to the other two New-types that she and Soma had been training. She took some of her dwindling supply of medicine and gently applied it on his cut. The bleeding slowly began to stop and he gave her a brief word of thanks. In the past, he would have brushed off any help and took care of himself. One time, long before his current leader became a God Eater, he was so injured that a team was called in to take him away from the battlefield for treatment. Soma merely snarled and leaped back into the fray. Rin (being the protective leader she was) was not at all pleased hearing this news, but after many banters and threats to tie him to a stretcher he finally relented to her mother henning.
But that didn't mean that he relented to her own stubbornness. Soma's sharp eyes noted the way she had the slightest limp on her right leg.
"Take your boot off." He ordered. Rin sighed and eased herself down to the floor to do as told. She knew better than to be a hypocrite when it came to dealing with Soma. With a wince Rin rolled up her pant leg and revealed reddened and swollen flesh at the ankle. "When?"
"Probably when I took that blow for Dastan," Rin answered as she recalled how the newbie New-type foolishly tried searching for materials without checking his surroundings first. Even now he was staring apologetically at her back while tentatively devouring what was left of a nearby Aragami.
Soma shook his head and quickly pulled off his tie from around his neck. He ignored her confused look and carefully began to make a makeshift ankle wrap. His tie definitely wasn't as long as the process needs but it was better than nothing. Neither of them said anything as he probed her flesh to double check for breaking. Every now and then she would flinch away but relaxed soon after when he muttered a quick apology or guilty curse. When he deemed his work was satisfactory he sat back and surveyed her reaction. Rin wasn't used to his EMT skills and a confused frown made its way on her face as she stared at the black tie around her foot.
"Soma—"
"It's a tie. It's not like it's my shirt and be glad I didn't rip that up for a longer bandage," Soma cut her off and raised a brow at her furrowed ones. "What?"
"I could have lasted until the chopper got here. It's only a two hour wait from here." She began to argue her point but the buster blader would have none of that.
"That means two hours to get back to the Den. I count four hours total, leader," he drawled on her title with a smug smirk and relished in her attempts to scramble for another point to argue. When it looked like she finally found one, Soma cut her off. "Consider it a favor to the rookies. They look like they're going to beg you for forgiveness." Rin's eyes widened and she quickly turned behind her to where she last saw the New-types. In doing so she shifted her wrapped foot and winced. Soma shook his head and got up. "Stay here. And I mean it. If you so much as move an inch I'll make sure you get locked in the infirmary when we get back."
Rin couldn't help but smile a little in rebellious mischief. "You know I can override the locks."
"Then I'll just have to stay in the room to make sure you don't." he countered and walked away to check on the rookies. Rin processed his reply slowly. The more she thought about it the more her cheeks felt hot. Ever since their vacation, Soma had been acting…different. Instead of her seeking him out, Soma would occasionally come visit her in the lounge when they had time off. Sometimes he would even knock on her door with the excuse that the heating system in his room wasn't functioning and that he needed to look at hers to see how to fix his. Rin laughed when those nights happened because Soma would occasionally hit his head on something and give up for the night—resulting in them talking and chatting until lights out. Actually it was mainly her doing the talking, but she didn't mind. On nights when he was talkative she learned a lot more about him. Even his subtle behaviors began to stand out.
He always drank with his right hand.
He dislikes spicy food.
His favorite season was winter.
He 'disappears' on nights when the moon was full and new.
No doubt he was sneaking off during the nightly missions, however…The new moon sparked her curiosity. She could understand the full moon. Shio was watching over them and that was the time Soma stared the longest—as if looking for her tiny form on the battered face of the moon. So why the new?
The sound of the choppers blades alerted her that she had to focus now. Within minutes she was carried out on a stretcher onto the chopper and belted down for safety. As usual, Soma took his spot near the exit with one leg propped up and the other extended. His trademark hood was still over his head and his eyes cast over the sandy horizon. The only thing wrong with his profile was the missing black tie that now stabilized her ankle. The medical team that helped her onto the chopper began to undo the knot that held the makeshift bandage in place. Rin frowned with each passing twist and pull that loosened that black cloth, but when they asked if it hurt she just smiled reassuringly and urged them on. Soma's eyes flitted over and met hers for a few seconds before settling back down on the empty, desolate sand dunes.
Tick
"…"
Tick
"…"
Tick
"…GAH I'm bored!" Rin whined and childishly threw her pillow to the opposite wall. She crossed her arms and glared at her locked door. After some risky explanations on Soma's part to Tsubaki, Rin was sentenced to recover in her room for the time being. Locked in felt like a more proper term, but when Tsubaki tells you an order then you do it or die…or both. Normally her ankle would be healed by now, but there had been a shortage of medicine that accelerated the oracle cells in her body. She had already given up her saved up stash to a part of the Outer Ghetto that was recently overrun by Chi-You and Kongou that snuck through a weakened section of the anti-Aragami wall that surrounded the Outer Ghetto. Luckily no one was killed, but Rin felt somewhat responsible for not arriving sooner.
The air-locked doors hissed open and heavy footsteps came in. Rin recognized the footfalls even before she saw their owner and smiled in greeting. "Nice seeing you here."
Lindow raised his arm and returned her grin with one of his own. He settled down in the seat next to her bed. "Hey, rookie! So what's this I hear that you're stuck?"
"I'm on house arrest by order of the famous Soma," Rin crossed her arms over her chest and puffed her cheeks. "There isn't enough medicine to go around so I gotta heal on my own for a bit. It'll take a while for my body to get used to not relying on its oracle cells." When she saw him reach into his pack she frowned and glared harshly at him. "I swear that better be a cigarette because if you're giving me your medicine I'm going to make sure you're in the bed next to me."
"It's a good thing I needed a smoke then," he chuckled and pulled out the aforementioned stick. Rin sighed in relief when he gave her a look of understanding. "You don't mind, do ya?"
"Nah, but mind if you share?"
Lindow shook his head and puffed out a stream of smoke away from her direction. "No can do. You're not the only one being nagged. And if you start smoking then it's gonna be hard as hell for me to stop."
Rin grinned mischievously. "So, if Sakuya is finally getting you to quit smoking why are you doing it here in the infirmary?"
"It's hard enough going throughout the day normally. Add cold turkey to the mix? Haha, put me up solo against that Ouroboros again. It'll be easier." He joked and killed his light with his portable ashtray. When he was rewarded with a skeptical raised brow he gave her a helpless gesture. "C'mon give me a break, kiddo."
"Get me out of here and I will," she offered but Lindow shook his head. Rin narrowed her eyes dangerously. "Was it Soma or Tsubaki?" Despite knowing that her anger wasn't directed at him Lindow felt his heart race in a fight or flight response. But the previous 1st Unit leader was used to dealing with anger and shrugged his shoulders half-heartedly.
"Look, fact of the matter is, you're still injured and in no shape to be out in the field." When she didn't budge he had to play his trump card. "No offence, but you'll probably end up getting someone hurt with your stubbornness right now." At last her glare shifted from shock, to realization, and finally to resignation. Lindow clapped her shoulder with his left hand with a reassuring grin. "Don't worry, rookie. You'll be out there in no time flat hacking and slashing and doing some dirty work. Think of this as a paid vacation."
"How am I getting paid?" she grumbled. Lindow rolled his eyes and ruffled her hair. Rin protested and tried to swat his hand away. He noticed that she was a lot slower than before and the force she used wasn't up to par with what he was used to. Her body probably wouldn't be used to relying on its original cells to recover for a while.
"Get some sleep. You'll need all the energy you can get, because when you get back you're gonna have some catching up to do!" After she sleepily agreed he left the room to leave Rin to her thoughts. When the doors behind him closed he leaned against it. A couple feet away from his spot on the very same wall was someone that seemed to mirror his stance.
"You know, I meant what I said that she's going to hurt someone with how stubborn she is." Lindow looked to his old time friend. It seemed like yesterday that he was in a chopper with his friend and sister. He was what…fourteen? Maybe he was even younger. "Are you still going to keep quiet?"
Soma averted his eyes and grunted. However, after a moment's pause he uncrossed his arms and stared at the door leading into the infirmary. "If I told her she wouldn't believe me."
"That there is a mistake," Lindow made a 'tsk' sound and wagged his finger. "There's a difference between knowing how she'll react and assuming. And I think by the way you're going now you're not going to be the only one hurt by stubbornness." Soma once again averted his eyes. The noir-haired God Eater smiled a little and turned towards the elevator. "Just think about it."
The buster blader, now alone in the hall, fully turned towards the door. His hand made a movement to unlock the door, but instead it hovered over the keypad. Inside he could faintly hear a quiet sigh. With a now clenched fist Soma turned on his heel and went towards the elevator.
If he had stayed just a little while longer, he may have heard a sleepy mumbling of his name past the cold metal door.
A week had passed since her house arrest. Luckily the oracle cells in Rin's body finally started to heal her ankle. As such, she was relocated back into her room for the time being. Unfortunately enough for her, God Eaters were in high demand lately so her friends could scarcely visit her. Rin was more than grateful when Kota still managed to stop by and let her in on a new anime that he believed rivaled Bugarally. Alisa came over sometimes too and told her how her missions went. Sakuya offered her medical expertise on her ankle when she wasn't called to train some rookies and even managed to speed up her healing by at least a week. She'd probably be off her crutches by the end of the month, which was in another week.
But Soma…
Rin looked at the black tie in her hand. He never picked it up after like she expected him to. She was saddened by the fact he hadn't visited her like before. Was it something she did? She couldn't recall anything that could have angered the platinum blonde God Eater. It couldn't have been that he's been swamped with missions since everyone else was on normal schedule. Dr. Sakaki wasn't the type to send people on solo missions on such a regular basis, even if he could. She…was lonely without him. Rin sighed and looked at her window screen to the setting sun. It was her favorite setting aside from the grassy fields from her room as a rookie. Rin even purposefully chose missions in the City of Mercy since it had the most beautiful sunsets despite the sad state of the area.
She got up out of bed and entered a few numbers on her terminal. The screen flickered to black for a few seconds before shifting to a night sky filled with shimmering stars and the large white moon. "Hey, Shio," Rin began and leaned her back against the terminal railings. "How has it been up there? I can bet that it's pretty chilly." She mused to herself. She had no idea how the surface of the moon felt but Dr. Sakaki once told her that space was much colder than earth. "Have you seen Soma anywhere?"
No answer.
"Is he okay? He's being his usual stubborn self I bet."
No answer.
"Does he tell you everything? Like how he's feeling?"
No answer.
"…Has he told you he liked you?" she choked on her breath for a fraction of a second. Rin smiled regardless of her aching chest. "Do you remember what 'to like someone' means? It's kind of like when you find your favorite kind of food. You want more and more of it, but if you ask for too much you won't get any more. Everything will change. Everything." Rin shook her head and turned off the screen before looking away.
A knock on her door alerted her and she felt her heart race on instinct. Rin walked over and checked the hall camera. "Eh? Doctor Sakaki?" He simply waved his hand towards the camera in greeting. Rin hurriedly unlocked the doors and opened them for the director. "What are you doing here?"
"Ah, good to see you're doing well in your recovery," he said conversationally and Rin could already feel something amiss in the air. His next sentence cinched it. "Do you think you'll be ready for the field once more any time soon?"
"Paylor," She started off dead serious. Rin narrowed her eyes at him. The New-Type was in no mood to deal with sugar-coated missions. "I know that tone. I'll consider what you want, but I swear…if you leave out anything important that could endanger anyone any more than they have to be I will make sure there's an accident in your lab." Rin's voice was steady, leaving no room for doubt. Sakaki had his poker face, as per usual, but Rin could tell he wasn't going to beat around the bush any longer.
"Well if you put it that way… You're being reassigned."
Bush beaten: confirmed
Sakaki took advantage of her shock and continued. "More and more branches are introducing New-Types to their ranks and they need a veteran to train them."
"I'm the only veteran on hand?" she challenged and he seemed to sulk at her animosity toward him.
"I tried to reason with the higher ups but they're demanding you." He pushed his glasses up and then offered her a wry smile. "You are the one that preventing the Devouring Apocalypse and resolved the Hannibal incident after all."
"My team and I did all that," she stressed and made her way to her bed to at least get comfortable. She wasn't going to budge until she had a legitimate reason to follow through. It wasn't that she was against training other New-Types. That was completely understandable. But something tugged at her…something that told her there was something greater at play here. Ever since the Shio incident and everything had settled down she demanded to know everything that he and Director Schicksal had done. And by everything she meant everything. That included the Managarm Project and its connection with Soma. Needless to say, her once pleasant view on the foxlike doctor went sour fast. At least when it came to backdoor missions.
"I understand your reasoning for questioning the validity of my words…"
"Not validity. Clarity." She corrected.
"Clarity," he amended, "but this is something much more than just Fenrir. It involves everyone." The doctor's smile finally faded and he crossed his arms into his robes. "…Including Shio."
That roused her interest and she reluctantly took the bait. "Explain."
"It's no secret that something was sent to the moon and caused vegetation to grow on its surface." He started off and clicked his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Not many outside the 1st Unit knows the singularity—Shio, was the one that caused it. They're thinking of sending up a shuttle to research what exactly is occurring on the moon's surface. In other words, humans are going there."
"And if Shio is up there then…"
"Likely, they'll bring her back." Sakaki finished but not too eagerly. "The question is where they'll take her after."
Rin didn't have to question that. She was familiar with how scientists coveted their experiments and findings as if they were their reasons for living in this god forsaken world. "Alright then. What does this have to do with me? It can't just be about training New-Types." Her eyes widened. "They're taking them to the moon, too…"
"Precisely," he said and smiled a little. "You always were my favorite student." He smiled a little but it soon faded. "Unfortunately…there's more."
"How else could it get worse?" she groaned but motioned for the doctor to continue.
"Many of those higher ups in the branches you'll visit were supporting the previous Director's Arc Project…" he frowned and Rin could start putting the pieces together before he continued. "They're not too happy about all their 'donations' being put to waste by the 1st Unit that thwarted their plans."
"So, in other words, don't be surprised if I get stabbed in the back during a mission?" she mused cynically. Sakaki didn't laugh and she'd be offended if he did. Rin got up from her seat and walked up to the blank screen in her room. In doing so, she turned her back to him. She entered a few codes and the screen came back to life. The last image set—the moon, reappeared and stared back at her as if in invitation. If she turned him down then things would go on as they had. She'd sneak away to the Outer Ghetto with Kota after recon missions. She'd shop and make outfits with Alisa. She'd help Sakuya find Lindow when he'd shirk his duties. She'd continue bothering Soma to teach her how to cook. There was so much that she could continue to do…
But she wasn't the type to run away from a chance at someone else's happiness—even at the cost of her own.
"When do I leave?"
Soma stretched his sore muscles and brushed off the dirt that caked his gloves and pants. It took a lot of work and even more bribing on his end to get this done so quickly. He had been working on it for a while now at night, but now it even required his attention in the evening. Not that he completely minded, though. He carefully scanned each section of his creation, daring any part to shift out of place. When nothing rose to the challenge he pulled his fallen blue jacket on and took a moment to enjoy the setting sun. The red and oranges from the sun, as well as the pinks and purples from the clouds, reflected on droplets of water that condensed over his creation overnight—giving it an ethereal feel. Now that he thought about it, it was the first time he really made something from nothing instead of destroyed. As a human made monster, Soma used to think it was all he was ever capable of.
He looked at his hand that had been drenched in red so many times and remembered the falling snow on the night Shio disappeared. The God Eater closed his eyes to go back to that moment.
With Nova and Shio gone, everyone dashed outside to see. The moon was enveloped in a dazzling light. It was like two gentle hands were grasping the moon—embracing it lovingly as life sprouted from the seemingly lifeless surface. Out of nowhere gentle snow began to descend upon the God Eater's god forsaken world for the first time in years.
Soma pulled back the hood from his head and stared up at the falling flakes. His hand managed to catch one. It seemed to glow in his hands. He didn't know how to accurately describe how the small light in his hand felt. It wasn't cold like the ice in the Tranquil Temple. Soma could have sworn he even felt a pulse of life within each little snowflake. As he searched his memories for the right words, a light voice next to him beat him to it.
"It's so warm…"
He turned and saw his leader doing the same as him—catch falling beads of light in her gloved hands. Except unlike him, she then held them to her chest and shut her eyes.
"So…so warm."
As he thought about it now, the expression could be akin to heartbreak. Why? Why did she look so pained when she spoke such beautiful words?
Soma shook his head of the question and focused on setting up a barrier so that no Aragami would get curious as to what he had made just on the outskirts of the City of Mercy. He didn't have to worry about humans because this area was forbidden, even to most God Eaters. It was high above the city, close to where they would descend down the cliff into the hellish Aragami-infested field. Here, anyone standing here could watch over the once beautiful buildings and the sunsets he knew she loved.
He promised he'd take her to the place she wanted to go, and this was as close as he would be able to take her. Soma chuckled. He was sure she wouldn't mind.
Author's notes:
So...there's the chapter. Yes, there's another chapter. Hopefully some won't cry when this fic is over cuz, that's all i'll say haha. I must have edited this chapter so many times in terms of additions. So hopefully there aren't too many typos. I think the next chapter will come either by Halloween or early november. So, who's excited for God Eater 2 for 2013?