a day may come where we don't make it.
Kota is always smiling, smiling so much that you wonder if it hurts at times. From the short time you have spent together, you are sure that yellow is truly his color with how much he can laugh and talk about a single subject when he gets his mind into it. However, after coming back from training he seems a bit quieter than usual and it makes you a bit concern. Your own training hasn't started yet, but you can't help but wonder if that along with Tsubaki's training are starting to get to him. You pause from eating your giant corn for a moment and poke his cheek.
"Hey...are you okay?"
"Oh...yeah! Just a little homesick."
He murmurs more to himself than you, and you just let out a small noise of confirmation. You wonder what type of family he must have that causes him to miss them so much, not that you would know much about that. Maybe, he has a little sister with a smile just as bright as his or a mother with his endless energy to keep up with such a rowdy child that you have come to believe Kota was in his childhood. You hum while thinking such inconsequential thoughts. Something breaks his daze as he turns his head to the right and a goofy smile spreads onto his face, but you are busy looking at something more important left alone and abandoned on his plastic plate.
"Mine!"
"Hey, why are you grabbing my giant corn!?"
"Too slow, kiddo."
"That's no way to talk to your superior officer!"
You both laugh and smile - it's seems to grab a certain someone's attention.
Everyone seems to smile when you first met them, though they are all a bit different. Tsubaki's is more stern as she gives you orders, but a little proud as you and Kota seem to be getting used to being God Eaters. Dr. Sakaki's is a little crazy when you first meet him during the medical check (maybe, because he was looking at your numbers?) and the Director's was somewhat egoistical, though you could understand why. Lindow's smile is the one that catches your attention the most though, it's easygoing with a confident smug at the end but it can form into a steel line as well - like when he tells you his three...no four rules to being a God Eater. He is certainly a good teacher, maybe this is almost like what it means to have a big brother watching you back, or teasing you in whatever way they can.
Survive, that''s what he tells you is the biggest rule to being a God Eater. Survive. Survive, you murmur it to yourself over and over again - as you blast at the Ogretail high above you. As you dash and tumble for cover, heaving large gulps of air in order to better handle the thin blade with one hand instead of both of them. You watch Lindow and try to imitate what he is doing because he surely has to know a thing or two about the concept to be a superior officer even though he looks so young. Jumping to hack the last monster in front of you makes you pause for a second and stare it blankly for a moment.
Worthless! You shoulda-
"'Kay, rook! Looks like we cleared the area, not bad!" Lindow's voice, carefree but impressed, breaks you out of your reverie. You nod and give him an uneasy grin. You're tired and dirty, but you survived and that's all that really matter at the end of the day. It takes an hour for the Fenrir helicopter to arrive and pick you up, but you're more than happy to get some more pointers from the Corporal.
There aren't a lot of people in the Den's lobby as you enter, but your day still isn't over because after eating and debriefing, there still Tsubaki's training and Dr. Sakaki's Aragami lesson. One sounds more boring than the other, though both are bound to be easy to handle if they are with Kota.
"So, yeah. That's it for today, try to get some rest and eat," it is the last thing he tells you before leaving you to whatever other stuffy work superior officers have to do.
"Yes, sir!" is all you can murmur with a small nod of appreciation towards the older man.
You head up the stairs, seemingly unaware of the person moving down them at the same time. Maybe, because he has a hoodie over where his face should be, but for a moment you can see the bottom half of their face - a frown or a grimace, you can't really decided, but it doesn't leave your mind, even with everything you still have on schedule, until the end of the day.
scream, suffer but make it through.