Say what you want, I like chapter 9. But not as much as I like this one!
Caught in the Rain
"Should we go?" Soma said to Nami, who only replied to him with a nod. She was still angry at him about that morning. Soma was irritated by her silent treatment, but he knew she had every right to be angry at him so he just tightened his grip on his God Arc and sucked it up.
By the time they made it around the Twister the Vajra, Fallen Chi-You, and Fierce Kongou jumped into the arena. Each one 90 degrees away from the closest Aragami to them. The Vajra was facing them.
"Go!" Wasting no time, Nami followed Soma's order and charged at the Vajra. She hoped the other Aragami wouldn't be attracted by the noise. But to her disappointment, the Fallen Chi-You came into play.
Refusing to switch targets, Nami continued to go after the Vajra. She was able to work with the situation until the Fierce Kongou rolled into the battle. It kept rolling at her, begging for attention in an aggressive way.
But she refused to give in to the Fierce Kongou. Nami kept her target on the Vajra no matter how many times it kept running away, or how many health items it took since the Fierce Kongou refused to leave her alone. It took destroying the Vajra's claws and face armor before it finally went down.
She still didn't go after the Fierce Kongou. Leaving it to Soma as she went after the Fallen Chi-You. The Fallen Chi-You was easy to handle, pretty soon it would be down in no time. And then she could focus all her energy and aggression on that annoying Fierce Kongou.
"Wha!" Soma grunted in pain as the Fierce Kongou did a lightning roll at him, knocking him down.
"Soma, here you go." Nami said, shooting him all the Recovery and Team bullets she could. She may be mad at him, but that wouldn't stop her from performing her Medic duties.
"Thanks." Soma said to her as he got back on his feet. "How considerate."
"Let's keep pushing!" Nami encouraged as she knocked down the Fallen Chi-You. Once it was on its knees, she sliced off its head. "Ski!"
Devouring the core, she went after the Fierce Kongou. But now that it got her undivided attention it kept running away. It was ticking her off. Without giving it a moments rest, she snuck up on it and took a bite. Handing all the Team bullets she could to Soma as they rained down on it.
The Fierce Kongou went down, with an out stretched arm as it rained down from the heavens. Nami felt bad about taking its life the way she did. She let her anger drive her into doing it and let it grow bigger with each action the Fierce Kongou did against her. She had let her anger toward the Fierce Kongou drive her blade into mercilessly destroying it. It was wrong and went against everything she was taught. She couldn't even devour its core out of guilt, leaving the job to Soma.
"Rotten piece of meat." Soma growled as his God Arc dug into the Fierce Kongou. But as the core was being extracted the Fierce Kongou shot one final Lightning ball at Nami.
"Ah!" She fell back, tripping on the metal pole of an old traffic sign. Thus falling back into the remains of the corner top of a building which acted as an unstable cliff, outside of the arena. It was a little lower than the arena ground. And any sudden movement she'd make would make the cliff go tumbling down into the pit.
"Nami!" Soma cried out, brutally yanking his God Arc from the Fierce Kongou. Taking out a big chunk of the Aragami as he ran to Nami's aid. He anchored himself to the sign's pole as he reached down to Nami. "Take my hand!"
"Ah." She tried, but the ground under her kept shaking with each movement she made so she curled her hand back to her. "I... I can't."
"Try, dammit! Try!" She reached for him again, slowly. Their fingers tips barely touched, but missed. She tried again, but missed his hand entirely. It was Soma who actually took the extra step forward to grab her wrist. Smiling in relief at him, she gripped on to his wrist. He began slowly pulling her up.
But the pole he was gripping was slippery from the rain and he lost his grip. Falling onto the cliff with her, his weight gave the tension the cliff needed to snap. The building went tumbling down into the pit, along with them.
"Ah!" "Ah!" They both shouted/screamed. Soma tried to shield Nami with his body as they fell down.
Rain showered down on them as they finally crashed, lucky for them most of the acceleration from the fall was decreased due to most of the energy going into the friction of the cliff the building piece was sliding down on. A dust cloud formed from the impact with the ground, but it was washed away by the rain. Soma let out a cough as he finally came to.
"(Cough) Ugh..." Soma groaned, he was covered in mud and was so very tired. Looking around, his eyes widened as he bolted awake when he realized Nami was nowhere in sight. "Nami, where are you?! Say something, dammit!"
"Ow..." She moaned in pain from under a chunk of wall. Running to her, he threw the piece of wall to the side. Nami looked up with tired eyes squinting in the rain.
"Hey, can you get up?" Soma said down to her, looking her body over for injuries. He held out his hand to help her up.
"Y-yes, I'm alright." Nami took his hand to lift herself up. But the pain in her ankle caused her to let go of his hand and fall back on her knees. "Ow! That hurts..."
Soma looked down and saw the blood coming from her leg. His eyes slanted as if the wound offended him.
"That's a bad cut you got on your leg." He gripped her ankle and noticed how she flinched. Looking at her apologetically, he let go of her ankle. "And I think you might have pulled your ankle."
Soma turned his back to her and knelled down.
"What are you doing?" She asked in disbelief of what he was most likely doing.
"We gotta find shelter until an Extraction Group comes to our rescue. Now hurry up and get on my back so we can get out of this rain." Soma growled in embarrassment.
Hesitantly, Nami wrapped her arms around his neck. Once Soma tightened her grip around him, he wrapped his arms under her knees and got back on his feet. Both of them still held on to their God Arcs and yet Soma still barely struggled with the extra weight. Soma jogged in the pouring rain- the rain washing away the mud from them- until he ran into a run down shed.
Kicking the door open, Soma looked around to see that it once was a food storage shed. Wooden crates of canned food and bottled drinks were stacked in various sizes of columns. The shed had one hole in the roof, but that was good for a smoke escape if they decided to build a fire. The window on the door's wall was slightly fogged by dirt. And the wall next to it had shelves with various supplies. But all in all, it was dry and sturdy enough.
Putting Nami gently down on a single crate and having her lean back on a column of crates, Soma leaned his God Arc on another column of crates and called for backup.
"This is Soma Schicksal. Calling from the Wailing Plains, come in Den."
"Den here, what's your situation?" Hibari answered back on the communicator.
"Mission cleared, targets destroyed. However, we've had an accident. Nami's injured and we need an extraction. Requesting for back up."
"Roger, a Rescue Team will be sent to your Bio Signal's location right away. However... the storm has become too strong for any of the Choppers to take flight. Are you in a secure location?"
"Yes, for now." Soma said, looking out the dirty window to see the rain picking up. Lightning started dancing in the sky along with the booming thunder as it sang with the rain.
"Good. Stay at your position until further notice. The team will be sent after you as soon as the storm calms down enough."
"Roger."
"Take care guys, and... be careful, okay?"
"Will do." Soma said, cutting off the line. Soma looked back at Nami, she had laid her God Arc on the crates beside her. He noticed that she was shaking uncontrollably as she hugged herself. "Hey, you need to take care of your wounds."
"I-I can't..." She said with clattering teeth. "I... I think I might be going through the first phase of hypothermia."
"Dammit." Soma swore. Grabbing a metal bucket hanging on the shelf on the wall, he placed it in the center of the room. Soma emptied out one of the crates and destroyed it for firewood. Throwing some of the pieces into the bucket, he pulled out a lighter from his pants pocket. Soma kept flickering with the lighter until he finally got a fire started. Once he made sure the fire would stay alive and wouldn't spread, he looked around to see what else he could use.
To his luck, he had found a rolling metal clothes rack in the back. Bringing it up to the fire, he removed his coat and hung it on the rack. Surprisingly, his coat did a good job stopping his other clothes from getting wet, his boots didn't even soak through. Nami on the other hand was soaked to the socks.
"Take off your clothes."
"Excuse me?" Nami said in disbelief, holding herself tighter.
"You need to get out of those soaked clothes if you ever hope of warming up."
She knew he was right, she had to get out of her clothes if she didn't want her shivers to develop into something worse. Complying to his reason, Nami turned her back to him and began to unbutton her shirt.
"A-all right, but you have to turn around."
"Tst, whatever." Soma said, crossing his arms as he turned around in his crate seat. He began to blush as his Aragami heightened hearing made him able to hear her every breath and the unbuttoning of every button.
She slowly removed her Medic coat from her body with cold, shaky hands. She folded her shirt and placed it on a crate to her side for now. Slowly sliding off her arm gloves she placed them over her shirt. The next thing to go was her belt. Unbuckling it with shaky hands took awhile, but in the end it laid beside her shirt along with her Tanto attached to it.
Her skirt and long socks slid off easily enough, along with her shoes. Her socks had become bloody from the wound. She would have to make more at the Terminal once she got back to the Den. She was in nothing now except white matching panties and bra. Her panties were dry enough so she left them alone, but her bra was soaked through.
Nami tried unstrapping it from behind, but her hands were still shaky and she couldn't grip the clamps. She tried with all her might, but she knew her attempts were in vain. She knew she would need help. Sighing in defeat she undid her bun and untied her braid, using her long starlight hair to cover her embarrassed face.
"Soma..."
"?"
"I... I can't unclasp my bra. I-I need help."
"!" Soma's cheeks were practically on fire.
"Please..."
Nervously, Soma got up and turn around to look at Nami. Her long hair did well to cover her face as it gathered over her left shoulder. But it did nothing to cover her exposed back. Soma's eyes took in her creamy skin. He didn't mean to stare, but his eyes couldn't help but soak in her curvy figure. Soma always knew she had a great body, but took it for granted now that he's seen most of her exposed skin. Her back to him hid his view of her chests, and her panties covered her firm buttocks. But it still left little to the imagination. Her skin looked so smooth and soft, even as she shook.
Placing warm fingers on her back, Nami flinched at the sudden difference in temperature. Soma's fingers slowly made their way up her spine to her bra clamp. Nami shivered at his traveling fingers while Soma secretly lived out his curiosity. Her skin was as soft as he imagined, surprisingly soft for a person in her line of work. His brow began to sweat as he clamped onto her bra clasp, and his eyes slanted in concentration as if he was defusing a bomb.
Finally releasing the breath he was holding in- apparently Nami was holding in as well- he unclasped her as the clamps fell and her straps slid down her shoulders. Still conscious of his presence, Nami held her bra close to her. Shivering for more than just being cold. Staring at her backside for a second more, Soma removed his tie and placed it in his pants pocket.
Nami gasped as she heard him unbuttoning his yellow shirt behind her. The creamy skin of her face and neck began to turn a burning red. Wondering what exactly did he think he was doing until she felt his warm yellow shirt being placed on her shoulders.
"Here, it's better than nothing." Soma said before walking back to his sitting crate and turning his back to her again with crossed arms. "Hang up your clothes once you're done."
Looking down at his shirt, she couldn't believe what he did. It was actually really... sweet. Wasting no time, she place her bra with her other clothes. Nami put her arms through the yellow shirt's sleeves and buttoned it up with the exception of the top button. Once she was done, she hung her clothes alongside Soma's coat. She placed her belt and Tanto on a crate close to the fire. Finally done, she sat back down and turned around toward Soma.
"You can turn around now. I'm... decent enough."
Sighing in annoyance, and with a warm back, he turned around toward her and the fire. He barely silenced his gasp as he took in her sight. His shirt acted like a really short dress that barely covered her decency. The sleeves had to be rolled up once to fit her as her hands rested on her legs. She sat like a lady, with legs closed and leaning to the side. He could see her nipples perking up from the cold through his shirt. And as much as he wanted to refuse to admit it... he found her sexy in his shirt. It didn't help much that her arms squished her breasts together.
"Please stop staring at me like that Soma. I-it makes me self-conscious." Nami said, titling her head down and to the right with a blush. "I know this is the first time you've seen your shirt buttoned up this much, but there's no need for looks."
Trying to cover his tracks, Soma changed the subject. "You should be warm enough now, why aren't you healing yourself?"
"I... I would like to take care of your wounds first, if that's alright." Her face turned back to him, but she still kept looking down.
"They're just minor scratches, nothing to worry about. You should know by now that my enhanced regenerative ability will have me healed in no time." Soma grunted as her eyes looked over the minor burns and bruises on his arms and chest.
"Please... I can't work on myself knowing that someone else is hurt."
"Why are you so selfless and reckless?!" Soma growled at her. "It's going to get you killed someday."
"I can't help it... it's in my nature." She answered, looking into his eyes. "As a Medic I can't place myself above another person's injuries. I can't help what I am."
"Hmph, fine... but hurry up and take care of that leg." She smiled and sat on the ground beside him so she could get to work.
"Thank you, Soma." Soma turned his head away as her dainty hands roamed around his body. She used all of her Recovery Balls and Recovery Pills II during the mission, thanks to the Fierce Kongou. So she'd have to work with the remaining twelve Recovery Pills she had.
Thanks to Soma's regenerative healing ability, she made quick work of his wounds. Once Soma was taken care of she went back to her seat and applied Recovery Pills to her cut and her pulled ankle, after massaging the muscle.
"There... That should do the trick. My Oracle Cells should take care of the rest."
"Mph, good." Soma said as he pulled out his Swiss Army knife to cut open one of the cans of food to cook over the fire. "Hungry?"
"Are you sure we should be eating that?"
"The can said 'good until 2074.'" Soma reasoned with her. Noticing the fire weakening, he placed a couple more wood pieces into the fire. "Besides, its just beans."
"What kind of beans?"
"Soy Beans."
"Good. I guess I will try some."
"Heh, a picky one are you?" Soma teased, handing her a cooked can and another Swiss Army knife with its spoon out. "Careful its hot. Wouldn't want you to melt."
"Wow, you sure do come prepared, huh." She commented, ignoring his teasing.
"You never know what can happen." Soma said digging into his can of beans with his Swiss Army knife in spoon form. "Hm, not bad..."
"I suppose you're going to drink one of the bottled drinks too, huh?"
"Sealed liquids never expire." Soma snarkly remarked to her as he dug through the crates. "Hey, there's some beer in here. You want one?"
"No thank you."
"Hmph, suit yourself." Soma said, opening it with his teeth and gave it a chug. "Ugh, that's stronger than the stuff back at the Den. I think I might bring this stuff back with me to the Den."
"That's good. Glad you're enjoying yourself, Soma." Nami said sincerely, which actually took Soma off guard.
"Why are you so damn nice?" Soma groaned.
"Why are you so kind?" Nami shot back.
"If I recall correctly, you said otherwise this morning." Soma countered, getting peeved by the memory of her teary anger.
"I know, I'm sorry..." Nami sighed, saddened by her past behavior. "I was angry... your words were so hurtful. But that's no excuse for lashing out at you. Especially since your words were true."
She looked back up at him with a smile. "I was wrong, you are nice. And very kind. You endanger yourself to help me when you didn't have to; you didn't have to shield me as we fell; you didn't have to carry me to shelter when it would've been easier for you to just leave me there; and... you didn't have to give me your shirt so I could keep my modesty. You must be freezing."
"It's not that bad."
"You're very kind, Soma... and right. I am a burden during missions."
"No you're not."
"Yes I am. I've caused you guys nothing but trouble every time I go with you guys. I'm just... extra weight."
"No you're not." Soma growled at her, standing up in outrage at her words. "I'm sorry, I was wrong to say those things to you. You're not a burden, you're the one who actually ends up taking out the Aragami. You're extremely friendly and it's hard for others not to get along with you. But you're far too nice, even to the Aragami. It makes me wonder why someone as gentle as you would take a job that inflicts pain?"
"B-because... although I hate causing pain to others. I realize... that by doing this I save thousands from ever getting hurt. And that's a price I'm willing to pay."
"See... you are really nice. How strange for an Ice Lily." Soma grinned at her. But the grin slowly faded into surprise as Nami stood up on one foot and jumped at him for a hug.
"Arigato, Soma. How did you get to be so kind?"
Soma blushed, he could feel her chest through the shirt. But giving in to her sincerity, he returned her hug. They stood like that for a few seconds just as the Rescue team stormed in.
"Soma, Nami! You guys oka-" Kota stopped mid-sentence as his eyes bulged open at what he saw.
Alisa, Sakuya, and Lindow were speechless as well at the state they found the two in. Soma looked at them like a deer caught in headlights. What else could they possible think happened in this situation? Nami's hair was down and wore nothing but Soma's shirt, from what they could see, while Soma had nothing but his boots and pants on as he held her.
"Are we interrupting something?" Lindow awkwardly asked while the girls blushed.
"Should we come back later?" Kota slightly teased, but was actually being honest. If Soma was working his game, who was he to block? But all Soma could respond back was...
"... This is not what it looks like."