Disclaimer: I do not own the God Eater franchise but I do have control over original characters and storylines.
Setbacks
It had been three days since the wedding and now it was time to send the couple off on their honeymoon.
This explained why Tsubaki and James were at the airport watching the two of them board the plane. Once they saw it leave, they headed to the car and drove back.
"Now that it's the two of us", said the senior in an attempt to break the silence on the way back "Could you tell me why you're doing so much for the two of them?"
"I imagine that they're going to start a family pretty soon", said James looking out the window on the way back "If that's true and in this economy they're going to need all the help they can get. They certainly aren't going to let me help them and they'll only accept your help for a little while before doing things on their own".
"So if I could lessen their expenses a little bit and make things even a little easier for them then that's enough".
"But from what I heard all of this turned into a very expensive venture", she said still facing the road ahead "Wouldn't that make it difficult for you and your dreams?"
"Nah not really", he said not wanting to elaborate on the subject. He always played the role, making it sound like he had a big and lavish retirement planned in the future but that was a farce, an over-the-top lie he constructed on a whim during his orientation.
In the end there was only the mission, the next fight and the next enemy. Everything else mattered little to him.
"Oh by the way", he said tilting his head inside and looking at his boss "Please don't tell anyone about what happened with Ayame".
Tsubaki chuckled to herself a little recalling the incident. Before they sent the couple on their honeymoon, they saw Ayame off. Before the girl left however, she professed her love for James and that she would make him fall for her eventually. As if to seal the promise, she gave him a peck on the cheek before leaving.
"I promise", she said smiling a little.
With the wedding over and done with, the teams from the far east branch returned to their work. As always there were aragami to slay which meant a god eater's work is never done.
One thing James noticed changed a lot was his relationship with Alisa. The two of them started spending more time together even having dinner in her room twice instead of only once a week. She even made it a point to stay awake in the nights adding her hand into the mix so that Hibari's work could be finished faster.
While this was all well and good on the surface, in his mind he viewed this as a wrench in the plan. With his project no longer in the idea stage and moving onto the planning and design stage, he needed the materials required to bring it to life. Now some of the materials were items that would catch the attention of his co-workers so he planned to go out in the night and hunt for those parts, a task that proved difficult given the current situation. He sometimes toyed with the idea of wanting to have a little more space but realized how that would be a bad thing.
After another day of working late into the night and bidding the red head good night, the pair found themselves to be the only two still awake so late at night.
"James I just realized now that Sakuya's no longer here, you'll need a sparring partner in the mornings right?" asked Alisa as if realizing something important.
"That's not really a problem for me", he said realizing where this was going and wishing to nip the bud as quickly as possible.
"Really? But don't you learn more when there's someone with you?" she asked
"In most cases yes but I'm different in that way", he countered "So it might be a bit weird at the start but I'll overcome it eventually".
With that taken care of and no desire to continue, James made an act of looking like he was tired. Alisa too stated that it was pretty late and without fail they both went to their rooms to sleep.
Of course after twenty minutes passed, the door to his room opened and James stepped out. With no one else in the world, he had no reason to hide behind his mask. His eyes now glowed their icy blue as he strode towards the god arc storage facility. He took his weapon, his fang out of storage then headed out without making a single noise.
This was a completely unsanctioned mission, as such there was no transport, no resources and nothing to help him should he find things difficult. James smiled a little to himself recollecting how he was used to such situations back then with his team of ten.
"Ah what a nice night", he muttered to himself and ran out of the Fenrir branch without saying another word.
He returned back to the base just as the sun was creeping up from the horizon. Like a magician, all he did was wave his hand over his face and the change occurred. Once again the mask was on and he returned to his normal self.
James deposited the god arc in its place, erased all history that indicated it was taken out then headed to the training room. He had not got any sleep but that was not a problem for him. He once spent a whole week wide awake, waiting for a particular target so a single day was nothing to him.
Soon enough the rest of the world also woke up by the time he finished training. The teenager headed to his room and took a moment to check all his resources. Sure enough the list of things needed were lesser now which was a good thing indeed. With that positive thought, he stripped down and got into the shower.
The day itself did not seem of note in his mind. They went on the usual hunts and faced off against a few fallen types which did put up a decent challenge, but not one that remained in the minds of the hunters for all that long.
By the time the three teams were done, it was night and time to close up.
Tonight Hibari was able to finish her work a lot faster than normal which was welcome news to James as it gave him an excuse to 'turn in early' allowing him to do more work once everyone was asleep.
The only problem with that plan came in the form of a plucky, positive teenage boy who grabbed James when he saw him come out of the elevator and take him back to his room so that they could watch some T.V shows.
This was one of those times where James didn't want to end things quickly as the two of them were quick to become friends. It did hurt a little that they had spent less time together which probably explained why Kota insisted on them watching T.V that night.
"Oh man I can't believe that twist at the ending?" asked Kota turning off the tablet and blinking a couple of times "Who knew it was the butler in the end?"
"Yeah that is true", said James looking at the clock "Hey dude isn't it about time that we head in and catch some shut eye?"
"No way man, we've still got a whole season of that murder drama show to watch", beamed Kota in delight. James wanted to object but could not in the end, one thing that the teen noted in his mind was that he did have a weakness of not being able to say no to his friends requests, even if they clashed with his other goals.
Three weeks of no sleep and the soldier was starting to feel the effects of it. The old team that he ran with were a bunch of battle hardened fanatics. They were the toughest kind of iron that one would ever find and their lifestyle reflected that. As such when he joined, he forced himself to rise to their lofty standards which he was able to do through sheer force of will.
The trouble was that after living that kind of life, one can grow somewhat complacent with how the god eaters lived. This fixed type of lifestyle caused James to neglect the rigorous training that steeled his body and mind like how he did before.
That problem finally manifested itself during one particular mission with a fallen tank when it leapt up and would attack with an ice stomp. It was a relatively easy attack to dodge so everyone quickly moved out of the way. James however did not and paid dearly for it when the tank fell with the force of a falling building and produced a wave of ice that knocked the leader of the retaliation team into the building.
By the time he woke up he found that he was back in his room nursing the mother of all headaches. It took a moment for his mind to remind him what just happened and he lowered his head in frustration.
He momentarily tried to get off his bed, only to have his efforts stopped by a familiar face.
"I heard that you might be behaving a little too reckless", said Sakaki gesturing for James to sit back in bed.
"It isn't being reckless at all", he said not looking at him in the eye "This is how I've normally operated".
"If that's true then it's certainly a change in pace that others haven't noticed which is definitely cause for concern", countered the doctor.
"Unfortunately with things as they are, there's only so much time in the day that can be devoted to the side project. At the moment it is bleeding into my work but it's only like this for now. Trust me I will adapt to the changes without fail".
"You know you could simply do a little less work from now on", suggested Sakaki and James seemed surprised by the idea
"You never thought of it?" he asked and James shook his head.
"Well to elaborate, duties like helping Hibari out in the nights or spending a little less time with everyone on the team", he elaborated "Of course you don't have to cut ties with them altogether, I'm simply saying that instead of spending 3 hours, spend two"
."Won't that raise some questions?"
"At first yes but as long as you don't do anything to raise even more questions then I'm sure that things will settle down soon".
James nodded and the doctor left.
Elsewhere in a nameless part of the far east, a single unique aragami made its way through the ruins all around. It's progress came to a halt when it came across the Vajra, Pritvi mata and Dyaus pit or more commonly referred to as the lion trio.
The trio roared at the newcomer, baring their fangs in a display of intimidation. The new aragami did not falter under their threats and stood it's ground.
