Entering the Storm
At last, Karen was able to put her parents to rest. The Caligula was dead, and Azal had been avenged. There were no words to describe how weightless Karen was feeling right now. It felt like... a pressure that had been pushing down on her for years had finally been lifted from her shoulders. Her demon in beast form had been destroyed; but she couldn't have done it alone. No, it was all thanks to her cousins, her teammates who she would proudly call her friends, it was all thanks to everyone. Without their support, she wouldn't have made it this far.
Especially Shōkan, she was the one who believe in her when the others could not. And thanks to her risky moves, Karen was given the chance to finally put an end to the Caligula once and for all. She had taken down her one true enemy, captured its blades in turn, recovered a lost family valuable, and surprisingly got out of punishment scot-free. Most in her position would haven been immediately court-marshaled for blatant insubordination, but Tsubaki had surprisingly let Karen off the hook once she saw that peaceful look on her face. Karen was willing and prepared to face whatever punishment was dropped upon her once she returned to the Den; regardless of whatever it was, she was truly happy.
Now she had a stand to place her prize upon as a reminder of what she had done. The blades laying down with their cold glory shinning on her ceiling's light, right along side her red tonto, on the middle of her counter. The picture of her family's sword style's founding father sitting alongside the others in its proper place at the alter, the frame replaced and the picture cleaned of dust to its prime. And it was all thanks to the others that she was able to do this.
So it concern her that one of the few people that she owed so much to was sitting around the others as quiet as the dead with a heavy look on her face.
"Yo! Perfect timing!" Kota yelled over to Karen, waving at her to come join him and the others in the Lounge Area as she came from the Residential Elevator. He continued talking as she walked over to him and stopped beside him. "We were just talking about a vacation together and going on a trip or something!"
"?"
"I mean, it's full of Aragami out there so we we're just thinking to go have some fun after a mission or something." Kota explained to her, before giving Karen her options. "So, beach or mountains. Which do you want to go to?"
"Hmm..." Karen crossed her arms and tapped her foot a little as she thought it over. Finally coming up with a choice as her movements came to a halt. "How about the mountains. We have already had the beach experience, and have yet to enjoy the peaceful scenery of the mountain greenery."
"Mountains, right?! I want to go to the mountains too!" Kota cheered in agreement. "With a barbeque on the river! The campfires crackling high! I so want to enjoy a sleepless night together while being on the lookout for Kongou!"
"Way to paint a picture for us then hit us with a heart-attack, Kota." Yuu groaned out from his seat beside Alisa. Kota had been at it for a while now, and it didn't seem like he was making his mind up yet anytime soon.
"If we're going out for fun, I want it to be somewhere cool!" Alisa insisted. "I really hate it when it's hot... The Russia branch used to be very cold terrain a long time ago. It's a lot better than suffering the heat."
"Heh, you guys in the First Unit are having an interesting chat." Brendan commented, coming up from the stairs to head out on a mission with his teammates, Tatsumi and Kanon. "Just make sure to enjoy your fun to the fullest!"
"The outer wall in the Hive Sector 3 is off-limits. Until it's repaired, that area should be our main focus." Tatsumi explained their mission to the First Unit while giving them a heads up on where not to go. "For now, we have to fill up on energy! We're going out to lunch right now before heading out. Wanna tag along?"
"No thanks, Tatsumi. You guys have fun though." Yuu declined his offer politely, while wishing them well on their mission and their lunch.
"Suit yourself then." Tatsumi shrugged before heading out with the others.
"I want to go on vacation..." Kanon pouted as she followed her team. "I would totally try to go with you, but I've used al my vacation hours... I'm jealous..."
"Aaww, don't be jealous, Kanon! We haven't even decided where we're going yet!" Kota tried to comfort to her as she headed out, before turning back to address his team. "So how about it guys, where do you wanna go?"
"Hmm, it wasn't that long ago when normal people got to ride airplanes and travel around on vacation." Sakuya commented as she thought of all possible places they could go, only to have them restricted. "The only time we can ride airplanes now is if we get backup request from other branches..."
"I've been out there for quite a while. To be honest, I'd rather sleep in the Den..." Lindow honestly admitted.
"Well that shoots you out of the running." Kota groaned with a sweat-drop that nobody was coming up with any good ideas. Well at least he still had some more teammates to go by. "What about you, Soma, where do you wanna go?"
"A vacation, huh." Soma crossed his arms for a second as he thought it through. "Let's see, how about the Moon one day..."
"And like that your idea is out of the running too." Kota groaned out, he only had one option to go by. But at least his last option had some fun ideas and always came up with the good stuff. "How about it, Shōkan. Anywhere you want to go?"
"..."
"Shōkan?" Shōkan had been quiet for a while now. Contemplating to herself in her seat on the couch in silence even since she had decided to join them. They had rubbed it off as they started to converse among themselves, but now that they had brought attention on Shōkan the air had become eerily tense.
"..." Shōkan didn't look up from her downward view of her hands, entwining fingers together as her elbows rested on her slightly separated knees. "I wanna go home..."
"!" That answer was not expected from Shōkan, and it rose up alarms among the First Unit.
"I wanna go home and see my family again... I miss them..."
"Shōkan, are you... are you feeling homesick?" Kota couldn't even believe Shōkan could get this way.
"I'm more than homesick..." Shōkan shrugged it off, trying to laugh under breath but couldn't find the humor. "I'm putting in my hours soon..."
"!"
"Whoa, Shōkan! You can't quit the team!" Kota pleaded to her, not willing nor ready to say goodbye to a friend.
"What is the meaning of this?" Soma growled at her, tightening his fists' grip in his confused rage.
"It was bound to happen eventually." Shōkan informed them, laughing a little to herself that she had decided to tell them this now instead of just leaving without saying a word. But she didn't want to part with them like... she didn't want to hurt them. But she hated goodbyes... "You didn't honestly expect me to stay in the Far East Branch forever now, did you?"
"Well, yeah... we were hoping that you would..."
"O Sakuya, why can't we just gather all the people in the world that we really like and just stay together forever?" Shōkan sadly asked in retort. "But someone will leave; some reason or another someone always leaves. And then you'll have to say goodbye... but this is not a goodbye forever."
"What, so then... you're not leaving?" Alisa asked, holding on to the smallest hope she could find.
"Heh, no, I'm still leaving." Shōkan confirmed. "I'm going home for a long time. But... if all goes as well, I'll return as a part-time God Eater, and will come around for partial time each month."
"Part-time? What's going on? What do you mean by all this?" Yuu insisted, not knowing what to do as one of his friends was slipping from his grasp.
"My paper work has been filled out and has yet to be filed." Shōkan continued on, knowing full well that Yuu did understand what she was talking about but just didn't want to accept it. "As of now, I've put in my vacation hours to return back to my home and family, who needs me."
"..."
"Shōkan-san, can't you stay a little longer?" Karen silently pleaded with her.
"I've already stayed longer than expected. I've gather all the Intel I could get out of this Branch a week ago." Shōkan blatantly informed before softening up as she looked down at her feet. "I should have left a while ago. But I've grown soft, and far too attached to this place..."
"Shōkan-san-"
"Karen, you've found your peace. Let me find mine."
"..." Karen had no words to say, she just felt hurt that her friend was going to leave her behind just like that.
"Tch, so your running away from us." Soma huff of at her in accusation.
"Running away would imply that I belonged here." Shōkan corrected. "I never belonged to the Far East Branch, nor was I suppose to be here. I'm not a legal Fenrir Citizen, and you know it."
"..."
"My time has run out, it's been long overdue that I returned home."
"... When will you be leaving?" Yuu asked, finally coming to some admittance that Shōkan was leaving the Den, the team...
"Tomorrow..."
"Will you be coming back...?"
"Hmpf, after my vacation hours are up," if she was not dead... "I'll come back to turn in my paper work and settle in as a part-time God Eater or a Reserve."
"..."
"Aw, guys, don't give me that face. I'll still come visit. I just won't... be around much, that's all."
"Tst, that's just a cheap copy of what we already have now." Soma growled out in protest. "Why do things have to change?"
"Because nothing stays the same forever; things change." Shōkan answered him, trying to cheer him up as she titled her head to look up at Soma's face. "You know what you need? You need more 'hellos'."
"No... I just need less goodbyes."
"Good, cause this isn't a goodbye." Shōkan chirped in relief. "This is a 'see you later.'"
The girls had went around to embrace Shōkan in a hug, afraid to let her go or else she'd disappear forever.
"Please, come back soon, Shōkan..." Alisa pleaded with her, trying to hold back the tears.
"I'm sorry, Alisa-chan... I can't make that promise..."
*** Two days later ***
Finally, the bumpy road trip had come to a stop. Once all motion was stopped, Shōkan jumped out from the bed of the truck and walked over to the driver's window.
"Thanks for the lift, Mole."
"No problem, Famine. Still, I can't believe you didn't use my name with the Geisha." Mole chuckled to himself at the memory of the story Shōkan told him from the back window as they road through the wasteland. "It could've saved you a lot of trouble."
"The guard was giving me smack. And you know I don't take such things lightly."
"(Laugh) That I do indeed." Mole laughed before taking his foot off the break and started driving to his next destination. "Well, good luck back at home then."
"Take care, Mole." Shōkan replied, smacking his car door in good gesture as she waved him off.
Once the dust had cleared in front of her, she began walking down the roads towards the home she had left a while back in a town she had known by heart. People stopped in their tracks as they recognized her, and would follow her with their eyes. Whispers would begin to rise in the air about her sudden return, and that godawful bulk on her wrist. She was starting to wonder if she should have covered the thing up with a long sleeve or scarf when she had the chance; but she'd be damned if she felt like she would have to hide herself in her own hometown.
She had remembered the walk home as if it was carved in the back of her eyelids. It was a straight shot up the road towards Fukushu's and Rie's house, but... she wouldn't stop there first. Nobody was probably home yet anyway, since Kitai was still in school. So she continued on, passing the house with only a glance. Going up for two more blocks before taking a left to the end of the road, where her house still proudly stood.
It hasn't changed at all since the last time she's seen it. Seiji had taken good care of the place while she was gone; she knew she could trust him alone. But as she opened the front door with her key she had sadly learned that apparently she couldn't trust Seiji to clean up after himself. The place was a mess; mud prints all over the floor; dirt marks on the walls; dust accumulated through the nooks-and-cranny's of the place. And to make things worst, he had let the dirty dishes pile up in the sink, didn't properly throw away straying food, and left dirty laundry all over the floor.
"(Sigh)..." Shōkan groaned into her hand, sliding it down her face as she let her luggage bag slide down her arm and on the floor. "Looks like I have my work cut out for me for awhile..."
Well, the place was not gonna clean up itself. Rolling up her sleeves- not literally, she just took off her arm gloves- she got to work. She had plenty of time of going around the house while Seiji was at school, and she had more than enough energy to get the job done in no time. Gathering up all the dirty clothes, she placed them in the hamper to deal with later while she got down to dusting off the area. Dust had cleared off and gathered around the floor which she went around all the house and even the kitchen, sweeping until the floor was spotless, which she used a mope to clean up the mud trail. While she was going on a wet spree she began cleaning the walls, getting a good grind in to get off what looked to be a food stain. She didn't know how that got there, but she was really hoping that Seiji had just tripped...
She had went up stairs to see the bathroom an almost irredeemable mess, and his bedroom floor buried under a pile of clothes, papers, books, mangas, and trash. But when she got to hers and Fukushu's room, she saw that they had been untouched. The rooms had been cleaner than any of the others, but nothing had been moved, as if Seiji had kept everything tidy for them for when they got back. The gesture was so sweet that she couldn't stay mad at him for long. Moving along the rooms, she had cleaned up Seiji's room. Making his bed; gathering up all his dirty clothes for the hamper; piling up his paper into a neat order on his desk; and, throwing all his trash away. And for a little bonus measure, she went out for a moment to by a 1' by 4' and two 1'' by 3'' thick blocks of wood to make him a bookshelf and nail it above his desk; where she placed and organized his books and mangas.
Staling long enough, she gathered the clothes into the backyard to hand-wash them and dry them on the drying line. She would leave them for the sun to dry while she finished up cleaning up the bathroom. The floor was dried by now since her time out in the backyard, so she didn't mess up her hard work. The bathroom had put up a little bit more of a fight; scrubbing hard into the sink and tub and around the toilet to get out all the built up grime. Even the walls needed a little elbow grease, but after tired wrists and red hands she got the job done. It looked rather nice if she were to brag to herself. And with just enough time for the summer heat to have dried up all the clothes.
Washing her hands all the way up her arms. She went down stairs to gather the clothes back inside; taking over the livingroom floor for a second to fold them all up. Once done she put the towels in the linen closet, while hanging some in the bathroom, and put all the clothes away in Seiji's dresser and closet. She would let him sort it out whenever he got home.
But now with all that said and done, the only thing left now was the kitchen. She had already sweep up the floor, now all she had to do was put away the extra spices and boxed food, clean up all the counters, and wash the dishes. The first two were easily done, it was the dishes that took longer than expected. Seiji had left the grime on the dishes to sit around for a long time, and didn't even let them soak in water, leaving them hard as rock to clear off. But she hadn't lost to the Aragami, she sure as hell wasn't going to lose to dirty dishes. Her hands were wrinkled and she was on to her last dish when she had heard the front door open.
Seiji paused for a moment, almost worried that he had walked into the wrong house. But the structure looked familiar, and he was sure he didn't take a wrong turn. He would be embarrassed with himself if he had lost his way coming home after all this time. But how could this place have gotten so clean? He never took the time to tidy up and Fukushu sure as hell wasn't going to clean up after him. She had always told him he was a big boy now, he could clean up his own damn mess. So... unless there was a neat-freak robber in the area, the only other person would be...
Walking in the livingroom, he heard the sound of cluttering coming from the kitchen. Cautiously walking over to the kitchen's door frame, he investigated the noise. Only to be startled by the sudden return of his older sister.
"Ahh, Seiji, you're home." Shōkan smiled to him in greeting, still working on that last dish which was a real doozy. "How was school?"
His hair had grown a little since the last time she had seen him. The back ends of his hair just barely passing past his neck as his bangs covered his forehead and framed around his eyes. He was losing the rest of his baby-fat in his face too; his eyes weren't as full either.
"Uh... fine... Shōkan, when did you...?" He was at a lost for words, he couldn't believe she was really here after all this time.
"Well don't just stand there, silly." Shōkan chuckled at his stomp, gesturing him towards the table. "Go sit down, join me."
"Hmpf, sure..." He walked over to the table, sliding back a chair to sit down. Resting his bag on the floor while he just looked at Shōkan's back as she washed the dishes. "...You've done something different with your hair."
"Oh, yeah, I forgot it was still in a ponytail." Shōkan shrugged off as an unnoticed annoyance. Reaching behind her with one soaked hand to grab at the hair-tie and pulled it out; letting her blue hair spray down her back before returning back to the dishes. "The branch had something against long hair; said it would get in the way during fights."
"Heh, its never stopped you before."
"Ha! They don't know that." Shōkan chuckled to herself a little at that, before returning back to her brother. "So... how was school...?"
"Good... it's over now, for the summer."
"Do you have any homework...?"
"Uh, only a little bit of summer reading." Seiji shrugged off. "I can do it later and write a report about it some other time."
"Why do tomorrow what you can do today? It's best not to stall, before it turns around and bites you at the last minute."
"Hm, maybe later, I don't want to do it right now. You just got back... when did you get in?"
"A couple of hours ago. I must say Seiji, you really let this place turn in to a pigsty."
"Sorry..."
"Don't apologize to me, apologize to the future wife you might possibly chase away."
"Ugh, Shōkan, not you too." Seiji groaned out, running and through his blue hair.
"Oh? Is there a girl you'd like to tell me about?" Shōkan turned her head to look back at him, a giant smirk on her face. "At school perhaps?"
"No. (Sigh) It's just that Fukushu kinda says the same thing."
"Hmph, I'm surprised she would allow Kitai to visit in the condition this place was in." Shōkan shrugged with her shoulders as she turned back to face the sink.
"I keep her under good supervision." Seiji huffed in protest. "Also, I'm the cheapest babysitter she'll ever find."
"Heh, free is rather cheap."
"Hmpf, yeah. ... And I'm the only person around that she can trust Kitai with..."
"..."
"..." Seiji got nervous, he had brought up a sensitive topic. Although no one would admit it, nobody in town wanted to deal with the daughter of an monster. They appreciated the things Rie did to protect the town, but they would not go out of their way to interact to associate with him or anything having to do with him. Shōkan wanted to say the people were just selfish, but in reality... they were just really scared.
"Are you hungry, Seiji?" She had just finished up the last dish, and had placed it on the rack to dry with the others.
"Hm?"
"What would you like to eat?" She asked again, wiping her soaked hands on her pant legs.
"..." He had thought about it, contemplating on what he would like. But in the end, the same answer would always come up when Shōkan was around. "Wild-berry Jelly Sandwich, please."
"What? Again?" Shōkan turned back to look at him with a quirked eyebrow as she walked over to the cabinets. "You always want that."
"I know." Seiji admitted while his sister, gathered up the humble ingredients and started making his sandwiches.
"I'm surprised you're not tired of this old thing," Shōkan chuckled as she spread the jelly on the bread. "We've been having it since we were kids."
"I'll never get tired of it. It's just our 'thing', I guess."
"Hm, yeah... I guess you're right." Shōkan smirked at him, putting his plate of sandwiches in front of him while sitting across from him with her own plate. It was just a thing between the two of them. Two siblings alone in the world together with nothing put their jelly sandwiches...
*** Later that night ***
"..." Seiji couldn't find it in him to sleep, something was keeping him up as his tiredness made him stare up at his ceiling in boredom with his hands resting behind his head. But it was a surprising knock on the door in the middle of the night that had startled him up, only to be reminded again that Shōkan was actually home again, as her head peeked in through the now cracked open door. "What are you doing, bonehead?"
"Couldn't sleep, can I sleep with you?"
"What? Are you a kid or something?"
"Oh don't give me that. You use to sink into my room until you were twelve." Shōkan called him out, crossing her arms in a huff. "We're cuddlers, and you know it. We could never handle being in the dark alone, ever since..."
"..." Damn, she was right. But he wasn't going to admit that to her out loud. "(Sigh) Fine, hop on in."
"Yay! It'll be just like old times." Shōkan cheered before scooching over Seiji to the end of the bed the moment he opened his covers up to her. "Scooch over, fatty. You're taking up my half of the bed."
"Your half of the bed? The whole be is my half of the bed."
"Tst, picky, picky, such an inhospitable host." Shōkan tsked at him in teasing before they both settled in. "Boy... it's dark out here."
"It's always dark at night, it's night." Seiji retorted back in smarts. "Weren't the nights dark at the Far East Branch?"
"Yeah, they were. I still had to find something to cuddle when I slept."
"Oh, great. I hope you didn't break into some unfortunate guy's room, over there." Seiji teased, only to earn a punch on his arm. "Ow!"
"Don't speak poorly about your sister like that, I cuddled with pillows." Shōkan practically growled at him in growing temper.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I was just messing with you, I didn't mean to offend."
"(Sigh) Then we're gonna have to work on that mouth of yours. Girls don't like it when guys talk to them as if they're 'easy'."
"Ugh, this again."
"What, my little brother is handsome." Shōkan cooed at him, pinching his cheek while she was at it. "What kind of girl could resist that face."
"Knock it off, Shōkan." Seiji groaned, swatting her hand away.
"(Chuckle) Alright, let's just go to sleep."
"Right..." Seiji tried to sleep, but the questions in his head wouldn't go away again. "... Shōkan?"
"Hm?"
"Why did you come back...?"
"Did you not want me back?"
"No. That's not it. I mean... I thought you wouldn't come back until..."
"I've done and gotten all I can from the Far East Branch. Now I must strike him where he nests."
"So... he wasn't at the branch...?"
"No..." Seiji couldn't help but sigh out in relief at that answer.
"Then... where is he?"
"He's out there. Disturbingly too close for comfort."
"Any distance is too close for comfort when it comes to him."
"Hm, don't worry. That won't be a problem soon."
"So you're... you're leaving again?"
"Yes."
"... When, sis?"
"Soon... But not now; I just want to rest..."
*** The next day, back at the Den ***
It had become eerily quiet among the First Unit since Shōkan had left. Their table had seemed a little big in the Mesh Hall with her empty seat.
"Do you think she's alright out there?" Kota asked breaking through the heavy silence.
"Of course she's alright. She came from out there, after all." Alisa said, mostly reassuring herself more than Kota.
"Che, little brat." Soma grumbled, tightening his grip on his arms at that. "Just up and leaving like that. What on earth was she thinking?"
"There's no need for the surprise, Soma. We all knew that this would most likely happen eventually. We were just hoping that it wouldn't be so soon." Yuu responded back in sad admittance.
"Still... I wish she would stay with us. The Den is going to be quiet without her." Sakuya said, silently wishing that her wish would come true.
"Hey, don't give up hope now. There's still time, maybe we can convince her to stay when she gets back." Lindow suggested.
"Pfft, right. Like she's going to up and leave her home and family just because we asked." Soma retorted in snort, as if Lindow's idea was just ridiculously optimistic.
"Who knows, it might just work." Kota added in, backing up Lindow's idea. "Heck, we all have to leave the nest to make our own someday. Why can't she make hers here?"
"Because its far from her home." Soma shot back.
"What's a little transport or commute for family visit's to her?" Karen countered. "After all, she's already been doing something similar to that anyway."
"Guys." Soma groaned out.
"No, I think they're right. It's worth a try after all." Alisa agreed along with the others.
"Alright, then it's settled. When she gets back, let's show her how much she's appreciated in the Den." Yuu ordered, getting the others to cheer and encourage in agreement.
"Jeez, you guys are all in with this?" Soma huffed, looking around at his team, before smirking to himself. "Hell, why not? I'll give it a try."
"Right! Then let's get some missions done! It's not like the Aragami are going to stop now that Shōkan is gone."
*** Later back at the Maebure's house ***
"Aunty Shōkan, you're back!"
"Aaw, there's my sweet little Hope." Shōkan cooed down to her niece as she barged through the door once she had found out her aunt was in town again. Shōkan had bent her knees down low and opened up her arms. "Give aunty a hug."
"Welcome home!" Kitai cutely greeted to her aunt while practically bouncing into her arms. Happily looking up at her aunt as she lifted her off the ground. "Did you fight any Aragami lately?"
"Tons of them. But enough about me, look at you." Shōkan happily laughed at her niece while tickling her funny spot to get her giggling. "You've gotten big."
"Aunty, I haven't gotten that big."
"Well, big enough that I can barely hold you with just one arm." Shōkan playfully huffed as she rested Kitai on the side of her hip. "So, tell me, little one. Did you get my presents?"
"Oh yes, I really love them."
"Do you now? Well, I'm happy to hear that."
"Come read to me, Aunty." Kitai pleaded to Shōkan, hopping back on the ground and tugging at Shōkan's hand. "I like how you read the stories."
"(Chuckle) Alright. So, where is the book?"
"I left it at home."
"..." Shōkan got a little nervous at that. "I... don't think that's such a good idea right now, Sweetie."
"No," Kitai whined, pulling on Shōkan's hand a little harder. "Please, Auntie. Please. I wanna hear a story."
"... (Sigh) I can't say no to that face." Shōkan relented, putting on a warm grin as Kitai looked up to her with a big smile. "Okay, let's go."
"Huh-ha," Kitai nodded, then she led Shōkan out the door and down the blocks towards her house.
People still turned to look as they passed, still couldn't believe that Shōkan was actually home. Much to the unnoticed of the little girl dragging her aunt around. She had pushed her door open, not even stopping it from slamming into the wall as it opened.
"Mommy, Daddy, I'm home. Look who I brought with me!" She happily greeted out loud into the house as they came in. No one was there to greet them at the moment, but both were certain that the residence could hear her.
The ground rumbled a little as the furniture started to shake; all to the pattern of the Corrosive Hannibal footsteps coming from the livingroom to stick its head out to look at them in the hallway.
"Hi, Daddy!" Kitai greeted the Aragami, not even hesitating to run up to it and wrap her small arms around its neck for a hug as she rested her head on the side of his. "Look, Aunty's back!"
"..." The Aragami purred into her embrace before turning its head a little to look back at Shōkan.
"Rie." Shōkan nodded her head in greeting, getting a nod back in return from the Aragami that was Rie. "Is Fukushu home?"
"Yes, I am." Came a response from the kitchen, making Shōkan stiff in the spine, wishing that she could turn around and walk out the door.
But the little girl with happy purple eyes was turning her legs to stone. Sucking up her discomfort, Shōkan kept on walking forward. Following Rie and Kitai into the livingroom, where she met up with Fukushu coming out of the kitchen and leaning her side along its door frame. She had looked the same as the last time Shōkan had seen her. Her curves the equivalent of a black clothed Tsubaki, in more cover-fitting clothes but tighter around the body. Her long, silky blue hair was held together in a high pony tail that went all the way down to her butt; and her purple eyes were as sharp and cold as a knife. They say that Tsubaki was tough, Fukushu was worse.
"Sis."
"Brat." Fukushu responded in turn. An tense silence began to build up around them.
"Run along upstairs, Kitai." Shōkan said without breaking eye contact with Fukushu. She wanted her niece to leave the room before she noticed the sparks flying in the air. "Go grab your book, I'll be up there in a minute."
"Kay!" Kitai rushed up the stairs in her cute little run, where her arms were spread out wide with her fists held tight. Turning into her room, leaving the big kids alone to themselves. Rie took to lying on the couch, curling his tail around it as he acted like a silent ref for the two sisters.
"Hmph, I'm surprised that you came back, what with how long you've been in that branch."
"... They were nice. I was starting to get attached..."
"Hm, anyway, you did come up with some interesting info. Did you get caught?"
"They don't know I'm here if that's what your asking."
"Tst, Shōkan." Fukushu growled out in disapproval tightening her fingers grip into her arms.
"You know I don't lie, Fukushu. I gave them a little if they asked but I didn't give them the whole truth. It may have been risky, but I was not going to lie to them. That's not my way."
"Gh, you're a stubborn child, still caught up in your wonderland." Fukushu huffed out in frustration, turning her head away from Shōkan. "Young people need to grow up, the real isn't so wonderful."
"And you need to stop being so pessimistic before it effects your daughter."
"..." Fukushu turned back to her, her eyes slanting further in temper.
"(Grumble)," Rie growled in his throat, signalling that Shōkan was starting to cross the line.
"Sorry..."
"I 'want' to keep my daughter, family, and people safe regardless of your uncertain, reckless optimism. My concern is that you'll drag these people back to our doorsteps in all up and arms."
"That's not going to happen."
"No? How do you know they're not tracking you now?" Fukushu continued to interrogate, looking down at the Armlet on her wrist. "You could be wearing a homing-device in that clump of junk you have on your wrist."
"They wouldn't do that."
"And why is that?"
"Because I trust them." She truly did trust the Den; but she didn't trust Fenrir, so she had defused the tracker on her Armlet halfway back to town. But she wasn't going to tell Fukushu that.
"... You are a fool."
"Hey!"
"What use is trust to them from us, we're Plunderers to them." Fukushu hissed, throwing the cruel facts at Shōkan with no filter. "To them we are not worthy of real loyalty. Think, idiot, think of our parents...!"
"!" That one stung a little, and Rie knew it, but he couldn't break it up in time. "You really are a cold bitch..."
"And you really are still a child."
"Child or not, I'm still going through with it." Shōkan huffed out angrily under her breath in determination, turning her body to the side as she prepared to leave.
"You will not bring that monster to our doorsteps."
"I won't. You have my word."
"The word of a dreamer means 'nothing' to me." Fukushu hissed out under her breath.
"... Fine. But this dreamer's dream will become a reality." Shōkan sighed out. She was tired of fighting; tired of never winning her sister's approval. Once this was over, she would be done trying. "Don't worry, I'll make sure to leave no trace of me as I go. It'll be like I never even existed."
"..."
"Now, if you'll excuse..." Shōkan said, turning around as she slowly walked away from them to make her way up the stairs. "I have a story to read. There's a little girl waiting for me."
"..." Fukushu said nothing as Shōkan walked up the stairs, letting her disappear behind the wall. She looked away only to see Rie looking at her with a sad look in his blue eyes. "What? Don't look at me like that. I did what 'had' to be done..."
Up the stairs, Shōkan stood behind Kitai's door. Taking a deep breath to pull herself together again, before opening the door to meet the little blueberry on the other side. She was sitting on the floor, kicking her feet patiently in boredom, jousting the book on her lap as she waited. Turning her head in excitement as she heard the door silently creek open.
"Auntie! What took you so long?" She bounced back on her feet, book still in hand.
"Sorry, Sweetie. Talking to your mom took longer than I thought." Shōkan chuckled down to the little girl, the sadness in her voice undetected by the little one.
"Come on, let's read the story, then we can play." Kitai chirped in excitement, quickly walking over to her aunt with both hands on the book. Only to let one go to grab Shōkan's hand instead and lead her to the rocking chair by the window.
"And then you'll want jelly sandwiches after that I suppose?" Shōkan joked around, not expecting Kitai to take her seriously. But those big purple eyes just opened wider in excitement.
"Really?"
"..." Shōkan sweat-dropped, she wasn't really planning for it. But... if her little buddy wanted it, she was going to get it. "Sure..."
"Yay! Auntie's the best!" Kitai cheered, lifting her fists in the air as if cheering for a touchdown.
"(Chuckle) Why thank you, Blueberry." Shōkan could help but chuckle as the little girl giggled as she picked her. Placing Kitai on her lap as she took a seat in the rocking chair, Shōkan helped her settle in and gently brushed the stray strains of blue hair back behind Kitai's ear. It was getting longer, the blue strands were starting to reach down to her shoulders in fact. Pretty soon before Shōkan knows it, her little cutie was going to grow up to be a charming lady...
"Come on, Auntie. Read us the story." Kitai pleaded with excitement, her feet kicking around as she sat on Shōkan's lap. "Please, Auntie."
"Hm, alright..." Shōkan huffed out in a happy laugh as she opened the book and lowered it to Kitai's lap so that she could see as well. "The Gruffalo, by Julia Donaldson... A mouse took a stroll, through the deep, dark woods..."
*** Later, back at the Far East Branch ***
Ironically it began to rain on them that evening on their Thunder mission in the Wailing Plains. The electric element based Aragami had given them some trouble; but it wasn't nothing Yuu, Kota, Karen, and Alisa couldn't handle. The girls had split up to take on the Chi-You while the boys took on the Vajra. Afterwards they had met up to take down the Fierce Kongou together.
"That was a breeze wasn't it?" Alisa sighed out, catching her breath after the long fight.
"Nothing note worthy happened." Karen commented as she extracted the core with the others.
"Ahh, that was really tough... Still, we handled ourselves pretty good." Kota added in, poking at the Fierce Kongou with his God Arc's barrel to make sure it was dead.
"Alright, good job everyone." Yuu praised to his team.
"I can't wait to write home to brag about this one!" Kota puffed up in pride.
"I'm sure they would be overjoyed to hear from you, Kota-san." Karen commented in agreement, before turning her head to Yuu as the thought crossed her mind. "What about you, Yuu-san, do you have family?"
"?" The question had caught Yuu off guard.
"Yeah, come to think of you never talked about your past much, Yuu." Kota seconded.
"..."
"Where did you come from, Leader?" Alisa added in, not noticing that Yuu had stopped walking behind them.
"I don't know..."
"?" They all turned around, a little shocked by that answer, only to see Yuu looking down at his hands as the summer rain kept pouring down.
"My parents had died when I was really small." Yuu sadly admitted, his voice gentle at the acceptance of this fact but still sad. "I never even knew them. I just grew up in an orphanage. My past is a blank. So in a way... I came out of thin air."
"No, Leader, don't think like that." Alisa insisted, turning fully around along with the others to face their Leader.
"Alisa-san is right. You should not think so little about yourself." Karen added in.
"Right. It doesn't matter how you got here, you're here now. You've got your whole life and future ahead of you, there's no need to look back." Kota encouraged.
"(Sigh) I don't think you guys understand; you can't see what I mean." Yuu sighed out, looking back up and out into the distant desolate city past the rain. "Just think, if you can, what growing up had to be like for me. You all had parents, who loved and taught you who 'you' are; mine were never there. So as I was saying, I appeared from out of nowhere."
"..."
"But, you know, I'm okay with that." Yuu honestly confessed. "I had no past, but I wasn't alone. There was the other kids and the mother of the orphanage. They helped raised me, and made me the person I am. They gave me something to want to protect, something to strive to be strong for. And in that, I found 'me', which is good. And there is no one else I'd rather be..."
"Yuu..." Alisa called out to him, the others having the same expression of relief and happiness that he was so content with what life had given him to work with.
"Sorry to get all serious and deep with you guys suddenly like that." Yuu shrugged off, a little embarrassed with himself as he nervously laughed and scratched the back of his head. "This probably wasn't the best time to open up. Let's head back to the Den before we get soaked to the bone."
"Do you think Shōkan-san is out in this weather?" Karen pondered aloud as she looked up into the rain.
"Nay, I'm sure she's perfectly safe in her home right now."
*** That night, in the wastelands ***
She didn't know how she got out there; she just kept walking towards the direction she knew home was. The harsh summer wind blew in her face, cracking her lips and drying her eyes in its heat; the rough dirt ground hard on her feet as she walked.
But she kept going, ducking her eyes from straying dust. Her home town coming into view on the horizon. She saw no need to rush, the town wouldn't go anywhere, it gave her time to herself to think of the cool cup of water she would have once she made it home.
But all thoughts left her mind as she got a closer look at her town. Buildings were destroyed... smoke was rising all around into the air...
Her heart nearly stopped, she ran for the town, noticing the harsh tire tracks on the ground all around and the wall blasted through. Doors were broken down, windows broken, bodies all around. It was as if... the place had had a hostel raid...
No... he found this place.
"Oh God, what has he done?" Shōkan gasped out, running through the streets looking back and forth through the houses and bodies, some on fire inside. She shouted in her panic. "Fukushu! Seiji!"
No one was answering her, she continued running as her voice echo off the streets lacking any living presence. How could this have happened, Rie's defense was practically unbreakable. Where was he? Oh God... where was Kitai?
She ran faster as she started seeing claw marks all over the ground and walls. Only to bump into a Corrosive Hannibal lying on its stomach in front of her on the road. One of its arms reaching up ahead as if desperately trying to grab something. But he wasn't moving.
"Rie?! Rie!" Shōkan called out to him, running to his side. She got on her knees and desperately tried to shake him awake. "Where's Kitai, Rie?!"
"Rie. Rie!" It was no use, he was dead... Getting up on her feet, she forced herself to keep going. Her niece was still out there, and she probably needed help. "Kitai?! KITAI?!"
No one was answering. But strangely enough, there was a sudden growth of plant life in two spots as she kept running. Their leaves were a bluish-green in color, and the flowers they had were a ranging between violet and indigo. And they were spreading at a miraculous pace.
But as she ran a few more blocks ahead, towards her home. She found her niece lying down in the street. Her face turned away from Shōkan, and her body terrifyingly still...
"Kitai?!" Shōkan cried out to her, running to her side and kneeling beside her. Relief came over her as Kitai started to move at the sound of her voice.
"(Cough), Auntie Shōkan?" Kitai coughed in pained as she tiredly turned to look her head towards Shōkan's voice.
"?!" Shōkan was horrified and heartbroken when she looked to see that Kitai's eyes had been gouged out, blood dripping out as if she were crying. The sight was too much for her, she was beginning to cry. "Oh jeez, Kitai..."
"Auntie, I did it, Auntie! I stopped the Boogieman!" She exhaustively cheered out before coughing out some green liquid from her mouth. The coughing had drained out what was left of her energy, she tiredly laid her head back on the ground as she groaned out in pain. "But I couldn't save everybody... I'm sorry Auntie..."
"No, no, Kitai... (Sniffle) It's my fault this happened... everything's been my fault." Shōkan to cry, her tears hitting and running down Kitai's cheek.
"That's a silly thing to say. Why does everything have to fall on you?" Kitai tiredly said, before she let out a heavy breath that had stilled her body.
"Kitai? Kitai?!" Shōkan called out to her niece, desperately reaching out for her, only for Kitai to turn into greenery and flowers, wild blueberries grew out from all around it and a tree had grown from where Kitai's heart once was. "No... NOO!"
"!" Shōkan bolted up awake, her heart nearly bursting from her ribcage. She was cover in sweat and her breath heavy with panic. And once she had pulled off her claw-like grip on her pillow, she had felt her cheek to realize that she was crying.
The morning sunlight had warmed her wet cheek from her window. Pulling herself together, she harshly wiped the tears away with her arm. There was no time for nightmares. She has work to do...
Getting up from her bed, she grabbed her clothes and headed for the showers. Cleaning herself of her sweat and being sure to use the scentless soap. Dressing up for the day, she began to prepare herself for the mission. Back in her room she had taken out her cell phone and her house keys from her back pocket, hiding them away in the self-made secret compartment in her desk drawer. She couldn't have anything trace her back to this place, or give away her contacts. Looking back at her chain resting around the back of her corner chair; sadly, she couldn't bring that along with her either. It would make too much noise, and stealth was the key. All she had to do was find the building's patterns; find the mad asshole; kill 'em; and get out of there.
'Nothing fancy,' she thought as she looked down at her knife. Running her finger along the edge to its point to test its sharpness. 'Just get it done, clean and fast.'
*** In the Dark of the Night ***
Shōkan was on the move now. She had staked out the place all day after she had reached the place from a safe distance, getting to know the guard shifts and the scientists' movement and schedules. For a place out in the middle of this godforsaken wastelands, a lot of people were moving in and out of it. They were freighting around a lot of crates full of Oracle Resources, doing God knows what with it.
Well that explained where some of the missing Oracle Resources were going. Looks like this was an inside job. Apparently the President has had a moment of insanity and partnered up with the 'Boggieman' and in turn he went under Fenrir's nose and took their supplies. For what reason, Shōkan did not know, nor did she care. Once she was done tonight their operations would cease and desist.
The place had a smell of corpses and rotting flesh, it burned in her nose the moment she set foot into those walls. The smell forever locked into its walls from years of despicable experiments. It made Shōkan feel sick inside, and a chill ran through her body with the desire to flee this wretched place. But she kept going, silently moving along the ceiling support, hidden above the ceiling's lights as she followed the ventilation system.
She was as quiet as a mouse, and as smooth as a snake through the shadows. Which each room she passed, and the further she went in, the smell got worse... and worse... It was overbearing; leaving a horrible taste in her mouth. The rooms seemed to get darker and colder too as she went along. The Gore and appalls increased as well; countless jars containing organs and parts- human and not, and sometimes a mix of both human and Aragami. They floated preserved in their strangely fermented jars of liquids of neon blue and green.
And that's when she found him. He was putting all his attention in taking notes of one giant specimen floating in a tub. Its species and form were unrecognizable; whatever it once was it was too mutilated to be recognizable now. But oddly enough, it had plant life growing from out of it, and flourishing. His back was turned to her as he continued with his maddening writing speed. His white coat tainted by little sprinkles of blood, and his ponytail a mess and ruffled from lack of care. Meaning that he had been there for a long time, with no care to move.
This was her chance. He was alone and open; there was no better shot she was going to get than now. Silently pulling out her knife from its sheath in her boot and slowly climbed her way down to the ground. She footed herself down on one of the large crates behind him as silently as she could; crouching down on all fours to observe before bringing her foot down to the ground. Bringing her blade up close for to her, she held her breath... and took the dash for the kill.
"The shipments you've asked for have been placed, Doctor." Came in the voice of another engineer, interrupting Shōkan's strike and forcing her to take cover behind the large crate.
"Why are you telling me this, just do your job." The Doctor angrily barked at the man as if he were an imbecile. "Everything is in order, just get started without me! Do something for yourselves for once, you morons!"
"O-of course, sorry, sir!" The man nervously replied.
"..." Shōkan had listened in, and waited for his footsteps to disappeared before silently turning her head to look over the crate's corner to see that the Doctor was no longer present. "?"
"Looking for something?"
"!" She was flanked, she didn't even have enough time to jump back or turn to look; a tazer to the neck had brought her down. How... she didn't even hear him move? How did he even know she was there?
"(Laugh) Well look what I have caught in my net. A piece of the Link, willingly coming to me." He laughed to himself, the sound would send a chill down her spine if she could move.
"?" Which begged the question why could she still not move? The Oracle Cells in her body should have already recovered her from a minor stunning. Why was she feeling so weak? (Gasp)... Poison... "!"
As if noticing the questioning twinkle in her eyes, he began to twirling and turn the tazer in his hand and looked upon from above her. "A little mix of my own; you shall be down for a while."
"..." She was frustrated, at herself and the man above her and his rotten gloating. How could this have happened? What gave her away?
"Next time don't stand where the target can see your reflection." The doctor mocked in lecture, kicking her blade away from her hand. A sickening smirk growing wide on his face. "You should have gone for the kill when you had the chance. Well... get comfortable. We're going to have a lot of time to get to know one another..."
"..."
"But first..." He said, leaning down, much to her discomfort. Grabbing onto the arm with the Armlet on it, and bringing it up to his face. "Let's take care of that pesky Bio Signal, shall we. Wouldn't want someone to come looking for you, now would we? I mean, after all... we have a lot to talk about..."
"..."
Shit.
*** Meanwhile, back at the Den ***
"!" Hibari stood upright in attention as one of the alarms suddenly went off on her screen. "We've got a situation, Tsubaki-san."
"Status report." Tsubaki barked in order, already preparing to take action.
"One of the Bio Signals from our God Eaters has just went out suddenly."
"Give me a name and a location where the signal was last shown."
"Yes ma'am..." Hibari began typing through the database only to come to a stop. "What? Uh- according to this the tracker has been cut off since four days ago, but the Bio Signal had just went off only a moment ago."
"Tst, Dammit..." Tsubaki hissed through her teeth before alternating her procedure through the situation. "Then can you create a spherical estimated location from the radio waves the last Bio Signal was detected?"
"Well, I- I could. But the range of radius would be so big, you would have a massive size of search area to go through, and most likely not enough time to extract the God Eater... or retrieve the body."
"Do it anyway." Tsubaki commanded. "And I want a name for this God Eater, now."
"Right... a-according to this it's-" Hibari paused in her actions. "!"
"Well, out with it." Tsubaki barked, there was no time for staling.
"I-it's Maebure, ma'am... the signal is Maebure's."
"..." Tsubaki gritted down on her teeth and her hands tightened into a fist. "Assemble the First Unit. Now!"
"Yes ma'am!"
"..." Tsubaki let out a frustrated sigh as she made her way up to the second level of the Entrance, a hand running down the back of her head through her hair. This was not going to be pretty.
The First Unit had rushed through the Residential Elevator, on the double. Immediately responded to the emergency alarm sent to them Hibari through the Terminals, most likely reaching them from their rooms. While some of them had come from the Mission Elevator, coming up from the God Arc Hanger once the alarm went off. They didn't know what exactly was going on, but it must have been big if the whole Unit was summon.
"There's been a situation that's come on our hands." Tsubaki debriefed to them, once they had all gone in attention. "The Bio Signal of First Unit God Eater, Shōkan Maebure, has vanished from our radars."
"!"
"We have no idea of reason or cause, the disappearance was sudden and nearly untraceable." Tsubaki continued explaining once they had all calmed down from the shock. "We don't have an accurate tracking on her, since her Armlet tracker had went off days beforehand. Your mission is to search through the area of signal radius, and find out what has happen. An extraction is requested, but an explanation is also acceptable at this point."
"!" Such a cruel accusation. Could Tsubaki honestly be suggesting that Shōkan is already dead?
"The Search Team is to leave immediately. Yuu, I'm leaving it to you to form the team. I'll be sending you the location of the area of search right now, Yuu."
"Yes ma'am."
"Godspeed, God Eaters." Tsubaki sadly sad to them in good luck. "And... try to bring her back alive; all of you have to come back alive."
"Yes ma'am." They all said in confirmation.
"Good." Tsubaki nodded to them before walking away. "I'll leave you to it then."
"..." Yuu turned to his team and looked around them in all seriousness. "Alright, this is a Search Mission. I want my best trackers on the team. Lindow, Soma, Karen, you're with me. The rest of you are on standby for the Den in case if any missions come up."
"Right. Leave it to us." Alisa confirmed to him before pleading, "please bring Shōkan back safe."
"Hm, I will." Yuu nodded to her in assurance.
"But we might knock her on the head for giving us a scare like this. Definitely." Soma teased around with a smirk, not fully kidding about the knocking her on the head part.
"Hey, we'll find her out there. What with Soma's and my nose on the job." Lindow said, patting Soma on the back, much to Soma's annoyance. "Let's bring her back, so we can get home."
"Hai, we should leave immediately." Karen insisted, itching to get her foot out the door as her friend was in trouble.
"Right," Yuu nodded in agreement before turning over to look at the others on his team as well. "Guys, gather up your God Arcs. Soma, you lead the way to this Mole guy's usual spot of business. We're gonna need a ride."
*** Author's Notes ***
The Gruffalo is a picture book written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler that I use to love reading to my niece and nephews. We loved the book so much, that we even watched its animated film based off of it. It was one of the cutest stories, and the animation was beautiful- this story and its sequel, The Gruffalo's Child.
Kitai kinda looks like (Hairstyle: 16; Hair Color: 15; Face: 3; and Skin: 1) but a lot smaller in size.
While Seiji's more like (Hairstyle: 11; Hair Color: 15; Face: 5; and Skin: 2) but a little bit shorter and younger looking with age.
While Fukushu has the body figure of Tsubaki, but with (Hair Color: 15; Face: 17; and Skin: 7)