I Will Protect You
Daryl Yan found himself being escorted out by a man he didn't know and Dan Eagleman. He groaned in frustration, realizing that there was no way of getting out of this situation. He had previously tried to get Dan to help him out, but he realized that it was futile. I just have to keep calm, and I'll be fine. Daryl took a deep breath and took a seat when asked.
"Daryl Yan, charged with treason and subordination, you have been stripped of your rank of Second Lieutenant. Are you aware of this?"
Daryl's body tensed up. "Yes."
"Now. First off, let's keep things simple. Why did you do it? Were you under someone else's authority?"
"I did it because I wanted to."
The man placed his elbows on the table and rested his chin on his hands. He glared at Daryl and pierced him with his sharp eyes. "That's an awfully... vague answer. It was pretty obvious that you did it on your own free will. However, there was a certain motivation you had behind these actions, wasn't there?"
Daryl leaned in forward and smugly looked at him, "And what do you claim that motivation to be? That's quite the bold accusation. Do you have anything to back up that claim of yours?"
"Tch." He walked up to Daryl and kicked him off the chair in frustration. He grabbed his shirt and shoved him against the wall. "So tell me, Daryl Yan. Who was that 'runt' you were referring to, hm? You obviously knew someone in the vicinity at the time. Ah. That's right. There was a girl we had one of our pilots' guns pointed at. Was my accusation correct? So, I shall ask you once again. Why did you disobey orders?"
Daryl stayed silent before finally responding, "Why should I tell you?"
Tch... He's acting all high and mighty with me. This is fucking pissing me off, but it looks like he's catching on... No matter what, I can't tell him about Tsugumi... Daryl waited for him to ask him another question. However, instead of asking him a question, he punched Daryl straight across the face, bruising his cheek.
"G-Gah!" Daryl fell and roughly slid across the ground and was punched again. This time, on the other side of his face. The man stood up and kicked his shin until it was bruised as well. Daryl winced in pain on the ground and looked up to see that he had stopped.
He spat at Daryl, enraged, "I have no problems beating you within an inch of your life. However, I may spare you the trouble if you just simply cooperate. Do you understand, Daryl Yan?"
"Over my dead body, you bastard." Daryl laughed before getting kicked again. Daryl struggled to get up. He leaned over against the wall for support while he stood back up, his legs shaking in pain. Right when he finally regained adequate footing, he got punched in the gut and fell back down.
That was when Dan hollered from the corner of the room, "Stop it! You can't just hurt a man when he's down! That's just not right!" He looked down at Daryl who was writhing in pain and continued, "Betrayal isn't acceptable either! However, at a time like this, I cannot approve of you beating him like this! It's just unethical!"
Daryl tilted his head up to get a good look at Dan and smirked. Maybe he's not so useless after all, haha...
"I won't stop until he tells me why he disobeyed orders!"
"Just give it a rest for now. Let's just escort him back to his cell. He'll have to tell us eventually. It's either that or he dies and rots in that cell. It's a win-win for us anyways. Let's just give this poor kid a break."
The man sighed in frustration and gave in, "Fine. Do what you want!" He stormed out of the room, leaving Dan and Daryl all alone. Dan walked over to Daryl and pulled him up. He pulled Daryl's arm and slung it across his shoulders and dragged him back to his cell. Dan smiled and gave Daryl a thumbs up, "Heroes always come to those in need!"
Daryl scoffed and smiled, "And heroes always arrive late."
Dan frowned, "I had to observe how bad things really were, okay? But you know... You should be more careful, kid. Just because you're young doesn't mean that they'll be nice to you or anything."
"Don't you think that I know that already!" Daryl yelled back. However, Dan simply shrugged him off.
"So... Daryl? That's your name, right?
Daryl nodded and Dan continued curiously, "So... Why did you disobey orders? You don't have to answer though. Just curious. That's all." He asked while Daryl struggled to get back on his bed.
"I wanted to protect her."
"Her? You mean that girl you called 'runt'?"
"Yeah... That's the one."
Dan simply laughed, "You're a good kid, you know? Hah. It must be nice to have a girl you want to protect, right? It kind of gives you a reason to keep going. Anyways. I'm done for today. Don't do anything reckless, kid. And... NICE GUTS! You're strong for a kid, kiddo! FIGHT ON!" He waved good-bye and promptly left the room.
Daryl laid down on the bed and closed his eyes, hoping to just sleep the pain off. As a soldier, he was used to pain, physical and mental. However, it was always in an indirect form. He was hardly ever injured by someone else in person. It mainly had to do with his status, being General Major Yan's "son" and all.
He quickly forgot about the sharp pain surging through his legs when he began to think about what Dan was saying.
"It must be nice to have a girl you want to protect, right? It kind of gives you a reason to keep going."
Strange enough, Dan was actually right for once.
A reason to keep going, huh? That means that I should probably get out of here soon... I can't stay here any longer. Maybe four-eyes from Funeral Parlor can help me out... What was his name?... Shibungi?
When Daryl looked over at Shibungi's cell, it was empty. There was a chessboard lying around on a table, but that was it.
What? Chess? Could it be...?
Tsugumi turned around and announced, "It's a rescue mission."
She put her hands on her hips and waited for someone to say something. Pacing around the room, she continued, "We are going to break into the enemy's headquarters and into their jail cells. Simple enough, right? Don't worry! I have a perfect disguise too! If you guys want, I can break in myself while you guys monitor my surroundings!"
Arugo calmly stood there and said, "Look. I trust that you can pull this off and all, but first thing's first... Who exactly are we rescuing?"
"Well... About that!" Tsugumi nervously laughed. "Promise you guys won't get mad? Or like snap and flip out on me?"
He simply nodded his head and waited for Tsugumi to continue.
"Daryl Yan!" Tsugumi blurted out as fast as she could.
Ayase rolled her eyes, "You've got to be kidding me... Tsugumi! Do you honestly expect me to help rescue him? He's tried to kill us a million times before! He almost killed me twice!"
Arugo interjected, "Calm down, Ayase. I'm pretty sure Tsugumi has her reasons. However, Tsugumi, you do realize that he's the enemy right? I don't know what's happened between the two of you to make you want to save him, but..."
Tsugumi nervously stood there, her legs slightly shaking.
"I'm in."
Her eyes widened, astonished that Arugo would actually go along with her plan! However, Ayase harshly added, "Arugo! Why? He's the enemy! How can we trust him?"
"How can I not? It was the same thing with Shu... I didn't trust him. Now look what happened to him. Deep down, he was doing this in order to help everyone. I don't want to make the same mistake and put someone's innocent life at risk. Innocent or not, I don't want to take the risk. Plus, Tsugumi's asking us for help. Tsugumi. Normally she doesn't confide in us for, well, anything! This must be pretty important for her to ask us for help. Come on, Ayase. Help her out. She's your friend, right? Moping around isn't going to stop her, you know? She's just that kind of person." Arugo bluntly stated.
He sighed, "Tell me when you guys are ready to leave."
He promptly left to prepare for the mission, gathering all the necessary firearms, securing a proper vehicle, and examining possible routes they could take. Meanwhile, Ayase stayed with Tsugumi, conflicted about whether she should help her best friend in the whole world or go against her own beliefs. Ayase was about to open her mouth to say something when Tsugumi quickly interrupted her, "If you don't want to, you don't have to." She smiled, understanding that Ayase really didn't want to help Daryl. "I understand how you feel. You don't want to help Daryl, right? I'm not going to force you to help me, Aya-nee... But... I want you to understand something. Daryl saved me, but this time, I'll be the one to save him."
Tsugumi walked up to Ayase and gently placed her hands on her shoulders, smiling, "I'll be back before you know it, Aya-nee! With Daryl, too! You'll see! He's not that bad. I know he almost killed you, like, twice, but although it's probably hard to believe, he's a good guy!" Tsugumi winked and pranced out of the room, waving back at Ayase who was left speechless. She slowly reached her hand out, but Tsugumi was already gone.
She sighed and drooped her shoulders, "As I was about to say... I was going to help you..." Ayase made her way to the kitchen to get something to eat, frustrated. Seriously... She's so persistent. I was actually going to help her though. Help Tsugumi; not him! How can I buy that? He's a good guy even though he almost killed me twice? What? Okay. I give him credit for saving Tsugumi, but that's it! What else has he done for her? Why does she care about him so much?
It's not like... I'm jealous or anything...
Tsugumi leaped into the truck while Arugo started up the engine. They raced out of headquarters and towards the GHQ building. However, a few miles before they reached their destination, Tsugumi ordered Arugo to take a quick detour. She tightly held onto Funell, and looked out the window for Daryl's house. I have to break into Daryl's house and grab that GHQ uniform, so I can use it as a disguise...
"Hey, Tsugumi. Where exactly are we going?"
Tsugumi raced up to the driver's seat and tightly grabbed onto it, pointing at a huge building in the distance. "Over there! That really, rea~lly, really big building that's not destroyed and messed up and actually looks nice!"
They made a sharp turn to the right and continued down the road, racing towards Daryl's home. When they finally arrived, Tsugumi leaped out of the van and ran towards the entrance. She dropped Funell onto the ground and transparent, blue holographic screens popped up. Tsugumi began going through multiple windows and slowly typing a few things. When she finally gained access to Daryl's security system, she quickly hacked into it and retrieved his passcode. She didn't have a card or anything like that to quickly access his home, so she had to manually type in the passcode, much to her dismay. I should've asked him for one of those fancy all-access cards he has.
She sighed and walked into his home and dashed into the elevator. She walked out into his room and scanned the room. Crap! Where is it? Tsugumi sprinted to his closet and dug through the hangers when she found her uniform neatly hung up.
Tsugumi smiled, "Well that was awfully nice of him. I thought he would just leave it lying around or something."
She slipped on the jacket and lightly tapped her earpiece. "Arugo! I'm coming out now!"
Tsugumi promptly left his house and jumped into the truck. Arugo turned around to look at Tsugumi's "perfect disguise".
Arugo whistled, "Nice disguise. Where'd you get that fancy jacket from?"
"A good friend of mine." She giggled.
"Can't wait to get to know him." He smirked. "Now hold on tight!"
He stomped on the gas peddle and sped down the empty streets towards GHQ headquarters. Arugo strategically parked the truck in a shaded area, and cautiously observed their surroundings. When all was clear, he turned around to Tsugumi, who was now activating Funell's communication systems. He gave her a thumbs up and grimaced, "Everything's clear. Don't get caught, haha."
Tsugumi smirked and tapped her earpiece, turning it on, waiting for it to sync with Funell. She glanced down at Funell and exclaimed, "Aye!" She watched as the lights on the robot lit up green, signaling that it was working. Her voice echoed out of Funell's speakers stored inside. "I'll be right back!"
Segai was sitting in front of his massive super computer, waiting for something. He observed his security cameras and frowned, "A rescue mission? She forgot to deactivate our security. What a careless mistake."
He held his finger over a button on the holographic interface and innocently grinned, "Well it's not like anyone will suspect me if I ratchet down our security a bit. Oh my. How exciting. I feel so rebellious."
Segai lightly tapped the button and watched as the security system slowly shut down.
"And no one has to know! Right, Rowan?"
Rowan nervously stood there, watching Segai amuse himself. "Yes, Chief. Ah. I think I'll go check on Daryl for a moment. You know... Rescue mission and all."
"Sure. Do whatever you want. You should know by now that I honestly don't care what you do, right?"
"A-Ah. Sorry, Chief Segai. I'll be back in a while." Rowan slowly exited the room and headed down to Daryl's cell. When he walked in, he found Daryl scowling at, well, nothing.
"Lieutenant, how are you feeling?"
"Who are you calling Lieutenant? I'm a prisoner."
"A-Ah... I meant... Daryl! How are you feeling?"
"Like shit. Oh well. Not like it matters. I'll find a way to break out..." Rowan could hear Daryl's die down to a slight mumble, "Eventually..."
So Daryl's scheming on escaping with Shibungi, I'm guessing? Well this isn't good... Tsugumi should be here any moment...
"Why don't you rest for a bit, Daryl? It's not like anyone's going to be doing anything to you right now... Just relax for a bit. You're injured as well." Rowan sighed, "And I see that you still haven't eaten your food or taken your pain killers."
Daryl slightly winced in pain when he growled back, "I DON'T NEED ANY PAINKILLERS. I CAN HANDLE THIS!"
He's so scary when he's mad, but this is best way I can stall him for now. I can't have him doing anything rash...
Rowan sighed in frustration. Little did he know that he was about to have his world turned... slightly upside-down.
Tsugumi sidled against the wall until she was in the open. She casually walked towards the large entrance when she realized that she had forgotten to deactivate their security system. However, what shocked her the most was that their security system was already deactivated. At first, Tsugumi was somewhat suspicious that she was walking into a trap, but then she realized that the GHQ could simply track them down and go to them directly. After all, they controlled all of Japan. After a bit of thinking, Tsugumi merely shrugged it off and strolled into the massive building. She felt a faint surge of nostalgia as she walked towards the elevator. This is the one Daryl and I would go to every morning.
Everyone around her was beginning to look at her strangely. Thankfully, they recognized her as "the girl who was always with Lieutenant Yan". She took a deep breath and entered the elevator, going up to the floor Daryl was supposedly being held in. When she found the room, the door surprisingly slid open upon sensing her presence. Wait... So the security system is FULLY shut off? When she walked in, not only did she see Daryl, but she also saw Shibungi and Rowan. Tsugumi happily greeted Rowan and placed Funell on the ground, who was now racing towards Daryl's cell, preparing to break him out.
Rowan picked up Funell and smiled, "There's no need for this." He turned around and gently placed Funell away from the cell and dug into his pocket. Rowan pulled out a card, similar to the one Daryl had. He slid it, and the jail cell door slid open. Daryl was about to run towards Tsugumi when she suddenly stopped him. Tsugumi pointed at Shibungi's cell and pouted, "Him too!"
Rowan happily released Shibungi and made his way to the exit. Tsugumi's eyes widened in shock when she realized that it really was Shibungi. "'Bungi! You're alive? You're not a ghost right?"
Shibungi chuckled, "Yes, Tsugumi. I'm alive. Good to see you as well."
Meanwhile, Daryl stood there pouting, waiting for recognition.
"That's a relief!" Tsugumi sighed. She then turned to Daryl and ran into his arms, which surprised him. Tsugumi tightly wrapped her arms around him and finally let him go. She looked up and smiled, "Told you I would see you soon."
"You were a tad bit late, runt." Daryl teased, smirking.
"Shut up, Sprout."
Rowan awkwardly made his way to the exit and said, "If anyone asks, I was never here."
Tsugumi ran up to Rowan and tightly gripped onto his arm, slightly scaring him. "Wait! You can't leave! You're coming with us!" She announced. Tsugumi smiled at Daryl and motioned for Shibungi to come with her. They cautiously entered the main lobby when Rowan nervously said, trying to cover up the fact that they were breaking out prisoners, "Daryl, Shibungi. You two are to be interrogated by a personnel that doesn't work here. They work in a separate area. They're specialists, like Segai. I won't handcuff you two or anything as long as you promise to not try and escape."
Tsugumi nervously scanned the room. No one bothered to stop them. She let out a sigh of relief as they safely exitted the building. Surprisingly, no one was suspicious. Maybe it was because Rowan was with them?
Rowan looked at Tsugumi and said, "Oh. By the way... Segai took Daryl and Shibungi's clothes down to that truck you guys have parked behind the building."
"Wait! So... You two knew?" Tsugumi asked, baffled.
"Of course we knew. Chief Segai knows everything." He smiled eerily. "Now let's get going, shall we?"
Arugo, Rowan, and Shibungi insisted on all three of them sitting in the front. How that would work out, Tsugumi wasn't really sure. She patiently waited outside until Daryl was finished changing. When he was done, they both sat together in the back. Arugo started up the engine, and the truck sped out of the area and back to the abandoned streets of Tokyo.
Tsugumi leaned her head onto Daryl's shoulder, lightly holding onto his arm. She shut her eyes and waited.
"Why did you come for me?" Daryl asked.
"I wanted to save you."
"And so did I."
Tsugumi sighed, "I couldn't help it. I can't stand the idea of you getting hurt because of me..."
Tsugumi squeezed his arm, "You're too important to me. I– "
She abruptly paused when she felt Daryl gently tilt her chin up. He was lightly blushing when he bluntly admitted, "You're important to me too, you know? If I had let you die back there, I would have never forgiven myself. I wouldn't know what to do with myself."
Daryl slowly leaned in, the space in between their faces growing smaller and smaller. Tsugumi lightly shut her eyes and leaned in, closing the gap. Daryl softly and tenderly kissed her, lightly running his hands up and down her back. Tsugumi slowly opened her eyes as they parted and gazed into his bright amethyst eyes.
"Daryl I– "
Daryl interrupted her by swiftly grabbing her hand and wrapping his pinky around hers.
"I promise to protect you with my life."
He lowered her hand and lightly held it in his. Daryl leaned in and rested his forehead on hers and slowly breathed in and out. Tsugumi sat there in silence, reluctantly gazing into his eyes again. She could feel her face grow hot as he clasped her hands in between his.
Tsugumi smiled, "You're acting awfully out-of-character as of late, Daryl."
"S-Shut up, runt. It's not like I– "
Tsugumi giggled at the face he made when he realized his mistake. He already admitted that he cared for me a lot. How cute! I guess he must've forgotten already.
"Guess you forgot about all that 'you're important to me too' stuff already?" Tsugumi playfully pinched and pulled on his cheek.
"N-No!... O-Ow! C-Can you pleash shtop that? My face hurts!"
She jerked her hand away and sat up straight, moving away from his face. Tsugumi closely examined Daryl's face when she realized it was slightly bruised. She gently caressed his cheek and worriedly asked, "What did they do to you, Daryl?"
Daryl grabbed her wrist and lowered her hand. He looked away and angrily pouted, "They interrogated me, but I'm starting to think that they just did that as an excuse to physically punish me."
"An excuse to... physically punish you? Daryl! How much did they hurt you? Tell me!" She demanded.
"They beat me up a bit. It's not that bad... Honest! Tch. I just don't understand anything. It doesn't make sense. Why do they need to know my motives? Couldn't they just punish me?"
Tsugumi sadly looked down, "I guess you shouldn't worry about it too much anymore." She looked up, her face now beaming, "Because you're going to be with us from now on out!"
She lightly pecked Daryl on his bruised cheek. "Everything will be okay."
He smirked, "Daryl Yan betraying the GHQ to be with Funeral Parlor? Sounds like fun."
Tsugumi awkwardly shifted her eyes around the room. "About that... I'm going to have to introduce you to a very, very good friend of mine! Uh... Aya-nee– I mean! Ayase."
"Ayase?"
"Ayase Shinomiya. Uh. How do I put this?..."
"Go on... Just say it!" Daryl snapped.
"She kinda hates your guts, so uh. Good luck."
They pulled up to Funeral Parlor's new headquarters when Shibungi opened the back door. "We've arrived. I'll be waiting inside."
Daryl was somewhat worried now. "What else do I need to know about her?"
"Um..." Tsugumi was starting to get worried as well. She hesitantly responded, "Uh... She kind of stole your Steiner too."
"WHAT?" Daryl blurted out. "M-My Steiner?"
Tsugumi sighed, "Yes, Daryl. Your precious Steiner."
This is going to be very difficult... My best friend in the world hates Daryl's guts. Now he probably doesn't like her because she stole his custom-made Steiner. This is going to be a long day...
Tsugumi slowly stood up and stretched her hand out, and they walked out hand-in-hand.
I'm sure everything will be okay.
She intertwined her fingers in his and smiled, "Promise me that you'll get along with her?"
"I can't guarantee that'll happen anytime soon." Daryl bluntly responded.
Tsugumi pouted, "Fine..."
Oh well... I guess Daryl will always be Daryl.
"You're so stubborn sometimes! You know that, Daryl?"
He laughed, "Yeah. That's why I never die."
Tsugumi snorted, "Is that also why you can stand getting one-shotted by Shu every single time, sprout?"
"Just... Just please don't bring that up anymore, stupid runt."
"Whatever you say, darling."
Daryl avoided eye-contact with Tsugumi, embarrassed that she brought up such a despised topic of his. "I hate how I can't stay mad at you."
"I love that you can't stay mad at me."
Yes. That's right. Everything will be okay. Now all we have to do is find Shu and save the day. And when everything is over, we'll finally have our happy ending.
Tsugumi held onto his hand as they walked through the large entrance as if she was tightly holding onto her dreams, never wanting to let go. One day, that ending will become a reality. She wanted a reality where she could eat ice cream with Daryl, celebrate their birthdays, live in happiness and peace together. He would be her Prince Charming, and she would be his beloved princess. She believed that this kind of happy ending was possible.
Now if only they could stop this god-damned apocalypse.
A/N: Sorry that it took so long! I had this really big test I had to study for, but I've finally finished. It ended up being a bit longer than I had anticipated, but here you go! Eep. I would like to thank all the readers and people who have reviewed this story because it really means a lot to me! MEEP. Looks like Daryl and Ayase probably won't get along well. Oh who am I kidding? They obviously won't get along well. And Daryl's precious Steiner? I ship Daryl/Steiner. Just like Daryl/Cake. It's kind of like Ayase/Legs. Someone shoot me now.
