XXIX
Song
"So you've completed your mission without a hitch, as expected."
I nodded. Director von Schicksal seemed pleased, reclining in the plush chair of his office. I stood straight, trying my best to seem professional even though all I wanted to do was run and hide.
The Director laced his fingers together, leaning on the desk with his elbows. His hands covered his mouth so that he was peering over his fingers with intense eyes. I tried not to shudder. He wasn't someone I should be afraid of, especially now that I was going to become Leader…if I so chose to.
"Now then. I am pleased with your performances thus far, Song…you did not let your mutism affect your achievements. They still manage to exceed your fellow rookies and some of your superiors. Now then." He narrowed his eyes. "We would be honored if you became Leader of the 1st Unit, but we cannot force you to do so. If you any objections to this promotion, make your displeasure known."
Did I really want this position? It was a crushing responsibility, keeping my teammates alive. I could no longer be simply content with sitting back and allowing others to call the shots. If I chose to become leader, that would be my duty. I could no longer be simply content with letting others take care of me. I would have to take care of myself, and them.
And yet that didn't deter me. I remember rushing into the poison and pulling Kota out of it. Would I have done that if Lindow was there? No — because Lindow would have done it. It was a leader's duty to protect others. Wasn't that why I became a Gods Eater? To protect? I'd always assumed that that meant the defenseless humans, like Mrs. Oguri and Aiko. But by spending time here surrounding by Gods Eaters, I realised that they needed the protection just as much as the citizens of the Outer Ghetto did. They were human too, after all.
What better way to protect them than to be a Leader?
I shook my head. There was no displeasure to be known. This was my path now.
The tiniest bit of a smile appeared from behind von Schicksal's hands. "Good. First, let me commend you… Congratulations on being appointed Leader! Now then… I asked you to come for a reason."
Something in his tone of voice sent a shiver up my spine.
"Your authority as Leader… And your duties… I'd like to discuss those with you. First, your enhanced privileges…as Leader, you will be given your own private room in the veteran section. That would be the room used by the previous leader, Lindow."
Lindow's room? My heart dropped to my feet. How could I possibly live in his room? The very idea seemed wrong.
"You must now log into the terminal…and update your user authority level." The Director continued, interrupting my thoughts. "You'll find that you're now able to view data that was previously off-limits to you. We have decided to disclose and share this information with you… Please, try to understand what this means."
It felt like a whole lot of expectations were dumped on me.
"Right…this is our…this is Fenrir's mark of trust." He narrowed his eyes. "I hope that you won't end up betraying that trust."
Then he continued as if no threat had been made. "Now then, next we'll discuss your duties… In addition to your regular duties, I'm to have you take over Lindow's special missions."
Special missions? I didn't like the sound of that. This new leadership seemed to be becoming a lot more complicated than I'd wanted it to.
Johannes took a moment to think. I wondered what he was doing. After about a minute he finally said: "I'll give you more detailed instructions later. I'm sure you're exhausted by the events of the day." He leaned back in his chair, a little satisfied smile on his face. "Good work. I'll be counting on you!"
X
"Wow!" Kota exclaimed. "A new room, huh?"
I stuffed my old teddy bear in a box with a little smile. Kota seemed terribly excited over my promotion. I wondered if I should be as excited as he was. All I could think about were these special missions that I would have to take. They had been missions that Lindow had been doing — could I hope to live up to Schicksal's expectations? Lindow's shoes were awfully big and I couldn't possibly hope that I could fit in them.
"You need some new clothes, Song." Alisa said as she packed my measly collection into a suitcase, the one she'd brought with her from Russia and was letting me borrow as I moved rooms. "You have four shirts, all of them basically the same design but with different colours. Your pants are the exact same. Besides, you're always wearing that ratty old sweater."
I looked down at my precious sweater. It was true that it was getting rather ragged from all the things it had been through: fair and inclement weather, Aragami attacks that I'd been too slow to dodge. I'd had to patch it in a couple of places or sew holes shut, and I was no seamstress.
"We'll have to go shopping as congratulations on becoming leader." She suggested.
"What? No way!" Kota countered. "We were going to have a party! You can't just steal Song away!"
A party? That was the first time I'd heard of a party! Sure, I'd received a lot of letters congratulating me on my position, and the moment I'd returned from the mission everyone had found a way to express their opinion on my promotion. But no one had mentioned a party!
"Well what would you rather do, Song?" Alisa asked.
I sat there, frozen. There was no way I could answer that would make both of them happy. Parties weren't really my thing…but neither was shopping. I was perfectly content in my "ratty old" sweater, thank you very much.
"I think she would rather sleep." Sakuya suggested. "And the only way she will be able to do that is if you finish moving to her new room, right?"
"Oh, yeah. Sorry." Kota said before going back to his packing of my counter. He coughed a little, but Sakuya didn't seem worried so I wasn't either. I shot her a grateful look, which made her smile.
"Still." Alisa folded another shirt and placed it in the suitcase. "One of these days we will have to go shopping."
I smiled weakly, fearing that there would be no way to escape it.
My small alarm clock followed the teddy into the box. With Alisa busy with my closet, Kota on the counter, and Sakuya supervising (mostly to make sure Kota didn't break anything) I was left with the bed. I honestly could have done all of this myself — as Alisa pointed out, I barely had any clothes, Kota's counter packing was more of a ruse to get him involved without actually straining him, and my bed was really just a teddy bear, an alarm clock, and some books. Nothing spectacular. I wasn't much of a collector, and I'd left most of my possessions behind at Mrs. Oguri's house.
The thought of her and Aiko reminded me that I had never visited them ever since I'd become a Gods Eater. These last few months — three months seemed too short of a time for so much drama and heartache, but no matter how many times I counted the answer was always three — had left me no opportunity to visit. Maybe now that I was Leader I would get a chance to…or I would just be drowned in more work.
I very nearly sighed until I heard a knock on the door.
I glanced at the others to make sure that they hadn't bumped something and made a sound like a knock, but they were all looking at the door curiously. Putting the box down on my bed, I stood and opened it.
Soma was standing there. I was surprised. What exactly did he want?
"Can—" He started, but Sakuya spoke over him.
"Oh, Soma! Why don't you help us pack?"
He frowned at her before realising that she wasn't the only one here. "Never mind. I'll come back later."
He turned to leave.
"No, don't go!" Sakuya yelled. "C'mon Soma, at least help your new Leader carry something! I don't really want her doing anything especially strenuous, considering she probably inhaled some poison."
Soma frown deepened, but I took a step back and let him in. He went and sat on my bed, right beside my box. He looked inside, raising an eyebrow at my teddy bear. I felt a flush rise to my cheeks, so I quickly picked up the book on my night table and stuffed it in the box, shielding the bear from sight.
That was the last thing close to my bed, so I closed the box. I looked up to see that Kota was done his packing, and Alisa was finishing up. Soma seemed to notice this too, because he picked up the box just as Alisa finished closing the suitcase.
"What room?" Soma asked, looking at me with unreadable eyes.
"Lindow's old room." Sakuya answered for me with the slightest trembling in her voice. But then she managed to fix it, adding cheerfully, "Looks like we'll have a new neighbor!"
What?! I hadn't realized that! I mean, I knew that their rooms were besides Lindow's old one, but I'd never even taken a moment to remember that. My panic was cut short when Soma stood and left the room, leaving me to follow him.
The elevator was awkward. It left before Sakuya and the others caught up, leaving Soma and I alone. I remembered the other time I'd been alone with Soma in an elevator. He'd basically grabbed me and forced me into my room all under the pretense that he'd thought Doc Sakaki had spoken to me about something. Hell, I hadn't even figured out what that was about. It had sort of just been ignored with all the drama surrounding Alisa.
This elevator ride was quiet, awkward, and — luckily — uneventful. The moment the doors opened Soma headed off. I opened the door for him, and he placed the box down on my new night table.
The room looked just like Lindow had left it, although it was a lot cleaner.
"If you need anything, just knock on my door." Soma said somewhat gruffly.
I nodded, lost in looking around the room.
I didn't even fully understand what he'd said until Sakuya came in, interrupting my perusal of the room. Soma had basically invited me to go visit him whenever I liked, or at least when I needed to. Since when was he so friendly? Hell, he'd even complimented me twice today!
"Song?" Sakuya asked, snapping me once again out of my thoughts. "Wow, you must be really tired! Well, we'll finish unpacking as quickly as we can and leave you to your sleep."
I smiled at that. Unpacking was a lot quicker than packing — this room was quite a bit larger than my other one, so I basically just told them to dump everything wherever and that I would sort it later. With that done I lied down on the bed with unfamiliar sheets in an unfamiliar room, wondering where this unfamiliar path would take me.
My gosh the Director speaks with so many ellipses it's ridiculous! Hehe. Well anyway, now Song is officially leader of the first unit! This chapter was pretty long, but I hope you guys enjoyed it. :3 I don't know if I've ever mentioned this, but close to the end of the month I'm going to Italy for a school trip! I'm so excited and really scared at the same time! XD This will be the first time I travelled to Europe, across the ocean no less (okay I've been to Hawaii but I dunno if that counts)! I think I'm the most excited because it's a school trip, which means no parents and my friends will be there! Besides, the teachers coming with us are some of my faves so that's even cooler.
Anyway, I'll try to post quite a few chapters. I'll only be gone for a week, but I think it's only fair that if I get so much excitement you guys should get some too! Haha. As always, thank you so much for reading and for your support thus far!
