In the months that it took for Michael to get a phone over to Dorssia, Haruto hadn't been slouching around. In addition to being privy to the planning, he also started learning self defense. He mostly trained with Bijou, but sometimes others would oversee his training. He also began learning how to use firearms. He never thought he'd have to learn how to shoot a gun, but here he was.
Haruto wasn't going to play any pinnacle role in the coup to come, but he couldn't eliminate the possibility of having to defend himself. He was in hostile territory. And it wouldn't suddenly stop being a dangerous place even if the resistance won.
"You've gotten really good at that", Ira said, running a hand through his bleached hair as he looked over the shots Haruto had taken. The full body silhouette was riddled with holes. "But you never go for the kill", he noted, pointing out places like the head and the heart.
"Not everyone needs to die", Haruto reasoned.
Haruto had begun to bond with Michael's friends. Which seemed strange. They were so different from his own, each with their own unique, cynical edge. And yet, the fact that they were working this hard to change their country meant they were also full of hope for the future. And Haruto could relate to that.
He was in the middle of dinner, discussing the finer points of two different gaming systems with Robin when one of the others living in the base approached Haruto with a package.
"Only you are to open and use what is inside", they said.
Haruto looked at the box in his hands, turning it over slowly. There was nothing indicating who it was from or where. Who could know he was here? Certainly no one from his government. The resistance wasn't in contact with JIOR. Then a thought occurred to him, a faint flicker of hope.
"Excuse me", he said before getting to his feet and leaving.
He went to his room and closed the door behind him. He sat on his bed and opened the box carefully. Inside, was a phone. Haruto took a deep breath. There was a single number in the contacts. It was under the name 'Shiro'.
Haruto called the number and put the phone to his ear. He waited with bated breath to hear who was on the other end. It rang and he braced himself for a long wait on each ring but the other side answered after the first one. He took another breath.
"Hello?"
Haruto didn't hear anything at first and he felt that small flicker almost go out. But then he heard breathing, then the clearing of a throat.
"Tokishima Haruto-"
"Michael! You're alive! I knew it! I knew you couldn't be-I just knew it!" Tears were falling down Haruto's face, blinding him as he spoke. He had jumped up from his bed and was now pacing around.
Meanwhile, Michael had begun to compose himself, wiping away the stray tears and getting control of his voice so that it didn't crack under the wave of emotion cresting over him.
"I knew you were too optimistic to die", Michael said. Alone in the dark of his private room, he allowed himself the smallest of smiles. "So you are with Bijou and the others", he confirmed.
"Yeah. Where are you?", Haruto asked.
"JIOR. Your friends took me hostage as a person of interest." Michael leaned against his headboard.
"It wasn't anything personal. You are a person of interest after all", Haruto reasoned. He was still pacing. He had stopped crying but every once in a while he got choked up again.
Michael was better at controlling his voice and breathing but the tears would still fall down against his will. Luckily, Haruto couldn't possibly notice that through the phone.
"This is a secure line, but don't call me at all hours of the day. Our conversations contain sensitive information and I can't talk in front of just anyone."
"What if what I want to talk about isn't classified information?", Haruto asked. "What if I just want to take to you?"
There was a pause on the other end of the line and Haruto sincerely hoped that Michael was giving it some real thought. He had really missed hearing Michael's voice. It was crazy how he had come to care for him so deeply in such a short amount of time.
"Matter of utmost importance only", Michael finally said.
They talked for another hour, Haruto telling Michael how things were going in the base. Michael updated Haruto on the political climate within JIOR and what steps the government was taking, or rather, not taking. What was normally dry, business talk for Haruto was a conversation he'd always remember now.
The next day, Haruto dialed up Michael around the same time to tell him a funny story that happened with Ira and one of the girls in the base and Michael listened with only the barest of complaints. They ended up talking the entire night without a single word of politics.