She opened her eyes and got lost in him. For a moment, her entire world was but his skin, his smell and his arms around her, holding her tightly. For a single second, there was nothing else, nothing but him. She revelled in it.

Then, she remembered and fell back to earth. The contrast was so strong, the disappointment so powerful, that she felt tears fill her eyes as her heart suddenly scrunched up in her chest.

The sigh he let out struck a balance between his comforting presence and the menace looming outside. Her parents were there, somewhere, so angry that they'd decided to ignore her entirely. And Eiji, well, he existed. That was quite enough. Not to mention that fucking Fatalis, which had chosen the exact worse place to be heading to.

But he was there. Akio was there, and he would never leave, and she loved him. That single constant was enough to get her through pretty much anything. So, slowly, her heart filled itself back up.

She watched him sleep for a bit and listened to his heartbeat. Slow and steady, much like he was. She drew a great deal of comfort from it. He was perfectly calm and still, and simply seeing him like this, asleep, always somehow felt like an achievement.

She'd never actually seen him sleep before they'd gotten together. She'd asked him why, at some point. He'd been fairly reluctant to answer, like it was some sort of horrible secret, which had only made her more curious. Well, the answer was much simpler than what she had expected: he used to not sleep much. Spent his nights being eaten away by the guilt which refused to let him rest.

Seeing him sleep soundly comforted her, because it meant he wasn't lost anymore. It meant he had found some sort of closure, some peace of mind. And if there was a single thing she wanted him to have – because she'd seen him without it – it was serenity.

He opened up his eyes some time later, and she laid a kiss on his jaw. He had a small smile.

"Good morning, darling."

His voice managed to calm her down even more. She smiled and buried her face in his neck so he couldn't see it.

"'Morning."

They laid like this for a while. He peeked out the porthole and noticed the sun was quickly rising, coloring the sky a soft pink. Had he had the choice, he would have stayed like this for much longer; but they didn't have the time. They still remained intertwined with each other for a moment, because he didn't want to push her away.

They didn't speak as they both armoured themselves, but as they left the room she grabbed his hand, and that is how they walked up to the deck of the Unaaq. Hana was already there, sat on the railing, cleaning her gun. She didn't look up as she heard them come up to her.

"'Morning, lovebirds."

She smirked, because she knew it would elicit no reaction from them other than an answer. Leiko waved and echoed her ''Morning'.

"Good morning, Hana. Are Hideaki and Haru up?"

"Yep. Hideaki spent all night dissecting that Velocidrome, and Haru took off a bit earlier. He should be back soon."

"Where to?"

Hana shrugged.

"I don't know. To see his darling, probably."

The smirk came back to stretch her lips.

They heard the boy run back a couple of minutes later. As he climbed onto the boat, he spotted the Commander and Hammer wielder and flashed a wide smile.

"Good morning you guys!"

"Well you're cheerful this morning," Leiko smiled.

He had a shy grin, his cheeks taking on a reddish colour. She smirked and she saw Hana do the same from the corner of her eye. Akio had a tiny smile.

"Am I?" was the Cadet's only defense, and they left it at that.

The Gunner laid her Gun down, judging her work satisfactory, and peeked out from over the railing to the ground a bit further away.

"Hideaki?" she called out.

"Is it really time?" he sounded almost disappointed.

"Yeah," she answered. "Come on, get up here, you can get back to work afterwards."

They heard heavy footsteps as he climbed onto the deck, his face wrinkled by his lack of sleep but his eyes shining with curiosity. He was a biologist first and foremost, or perhaps simply a scientist at heart. The point remained: that spark in his eyes only appeared when he was deeply involved in some of his work. Most times, when this was the case, it was almost impossible to take him away from whatever task he had decided to take on. Well, maybe it was for the best.

"Well that decides, that, at least," Akio said as he watched the Lancer come up to them.

Hideaki gave him a smile that was half-grateful, half-giddy. Then, Akio got to Commanding. Leiko squeezed his hand a little.

"There hasn't been any reports of monster attacks or of any monsters nearby. Yatori's hunter has been fairly effective at keeping them at bay with our help."

Leiko grimaced when Eiji's title crossed Akio's lips. He did not notice it, or at least pretended not to.

"Moreover, our priority right now is to continue fortifying the village. Kyoko is here, which means the Fatalis must be, at most, a week away. Work has been going smoothly and I believe the wall should be ready for it's arrival, although I wish we had had more time to make it stronger."

He paused.

"Anywho, we will all be assigned to building the wall today. Except Hideaki, of course. Additionally, I will discuss with Kyoko what she is to do if she wants to help in the most effective way, since it seems she could not make it here this morning."

Leiko cocked her head slightly at that. Usually, the Kindred Hunter would join them in these morning reunions, but she wasn't there. She hadn't quite noticed it before now. The Hammer wielder decided it was because the trip had exhausted her, and she was still sleeping. Surely, that was it.

"Any questions?" the Commander finally asked.

Variations of 'no' were heard from all of the Aces. He nodded.

"Perfect."

"You know what we should do?" Leiko peeked her head over a pile of planks so that she could see – and be seen – by everyone.

Akio glanced at her, but Hana was the one to acknowledge her out loud.

"What?"

"Just, like... Make this bit of the wall weaker."

To illustrate her point, she placed the two planks she was trying to attach together and bit further apart from each other.

"What?" the Commander piped up, "That's ridiculous. No. Why?"

The Gunner snickered, then pointed to a nearby house, behind her.

"That's Eiji house."

Akio frowned.

"Oh."

"Come on," Leiko insisted, "Then we'd have more time for... oh for FUCK'S SAKE."

She cut herself off and just held back from screaming more obscenities in the general direction she was looking. Akio's head snapped up to attention, and he only had the time to see the anger twist her features before she took off.

Her punch, however, never did, as Hana's voice rose from the spot she hadn't left.

"The punch will be much more satisfying for him than it will be for you."

Oh, you think so? she thought, even though she very well knew the Gunner was right. So, instead, she walked right up to Eiji face, and he let go of Kyoko's hand.

"You fucking manslut! Can't you keep your filthy hands off of a single girl that comes through this shithole?!"

He smirked and she flared up. But instead of the hit he was so deliciously expecting, Eiji recieved nothing, and Leiko turned to face Kyoko and threw her hands in the air.

"And you! I told you! God dammit Kyoko, the one fucking thing I ever advise you to do, and you just fucking ignore it! Fucking hell, if you have so little regard for my advice, at least have some fucking respect and tell me!"

The Kindred hunter opened her arms wide like a taunt. Her eyebrow twitched and she took a step towards the Hammer wielder.

"Well maybe you don't fucking decide my life!"

Leiko was taken aback, if only for a second. Her surprise put her on the defensive and quickly melted back into anger. However, she heard Hana speak once again.

"Well, that was unexpected."

If that was sarcasm, she camouflaged it very well. Leiko paid it no mind, and rolled her eyes.

"I'm not trying to decide for you, I'm trying to stop you from making a huge mistake! I'm telling you, you'll regret this! For fuck's sake, you're being so fucking stupid right now!"

"You're not going to tell me what to do! You don't get to do that!"

Anger was quickly filling Kyoko's voice, and she was entirely tensed up, like a cat ready to pounce.

Leiko hadn't heard Akio come up behind her, and she jumped when he grabbed her wrist firmly.

"Calm down, Leiko."

His tone was stern and it immediately took her anger down a notch. He wasn't asking her to do it, he was ordering her to. And she complied, shutting her mouth and swallowing her next words. The Kindred Hunter looked up to the Commander, and although she stayed entirely tense it was like she was suddenly locked in place.

Eiji stood there, looking smug, but didn't say anything. No doubt there was still left over in him a very slight fear of Akio. Or, simply, he was admiring his work.

"Kyoko," the Commander adressed her, "I care very little for what you do with your personal life."

Leiko noticed a twinge of hurt in Kyoko's eyes. She arched an eyebrow.

"Unless," Akio continued, "It impedes with our work. And this does. So if you could refrain from flaunting him," his voice was full of contempt as he uttered the word, "around, that would be a great service to me. To us."

Eiji crossed his arms over his chest with a satisfied look. Leiko's nails dug in her palm as she clenched her fists, and she felt Akio's hand reaffirm its grip on her wrist. Kyoko broke from the block of ice that previously held all of her body as her muscles relaxed. She seemed to give up.

"Fuck. Fuck that. Fuck you."

She turned around before he could say anything. They watched her walk away.