Notes: This is a thanks gift for Time Travel Tiddy ( www. /u/12699553/Time-Travel-Tiddy and TimeTravelTiddy on Twitter)!

I originally didn't intend to write something for Ciconia until we had more of the story because, well, it's just the beginning and I don't think I have a good grasp on these characters and their relationships yet. Which is why I tried to stay pretty vague and made it short. But well, here we are I guess, and these girls are good and deserve it.

Content Warnings: Vague mentions of human experimentations, child soldiers/child abuse and allusions to traumas.

She was staring vacantly at her drink.

Her thick green mane was messily cascading on her shoulders, her burgundy long skirt falling all over her chair and on the ground, her hands circling her cup limply.

She was all alone in the cafeteria, with no apparent expression on her bandaged, disfigured face. She wasn't moving, didn't even seem to breathe at all, like a corpse — a heartless, soulless mannequin. An equipment.

The only thing she was doing was looking fixedly at her drink — a weird bluish milkshake — as if she was hypnotized by it.

And it bothered Lilja.

It shouldn't bother her, but for some reason it does. And as she couldn't pinpoint why it bothered her so much, it was starting to piss her off — her teeth grinding, her fingers taping on her arms and her feet stomping on the ground.

"Um… What are you doing?"

It was a small, hesitant voice that got her out of her frustrated thoughts circle. She shrieked, quickly turned around and saw a young girl with blue hair and timorous golden eyes. As soon as she recognized her fellow teammate, her irritation just get only an inch further, annoyed that she had let this moron of all people sneak out on her.

"Since when what I'm doing is any concern of yours, Chloe?" She snaps back. "You better take a look at yourself before playing busybody, meow!"

Chloe shrank under Lilja's glare and uttered a sound that could only be described as a mouse suddenly founding itself cornered by a cat.

"I-I didn't mean to play busybody!" She countered. "I-It's just, well, you've been standing there staring at Koshka for quite some time, so I was wondering—"

"I wasn't staring at her, meow! Who would've even stare at this gloomy chick? I can't even stand to feel her presence!"

The other girl grimaced, her mouth making that weird distorted thing she did whenever she was in a pinch. But strangely enough, for once, she didn't back down from Lilja's verbal attack. She sustained her glare, and softly asked:

"Then what were you doing?"

Lilja blinked, not expecting Chloe to retort something to her, which was pretty unusual. She looked away and groaned, crossing her arms. "Nothing," she mumbled.

"But you're still acting weird?"

"I'm not acting weird, meow! Koshka's the one acting weird! And if she wasn't acting weird then I wouldn't have to be acting weird, meow!"

"So you're still admitting you're acting weird then…?"

"Ahh, don't try to be a smartass with me or I'll tell Okonogi you called him a blockhead!"

"No! I'm sorry, I'm not a smartass! I'm not a smartass at all!"

'Okonogi' had become the secret magic word that would make Chloe do anything Lilja wanted. Well, it worked with Chloe, but not with Chloevil, and Lilja was never sure when that one was gonna pop up so she had to stay vigilant. Though it didn't seem like it was gonna be the case right now. Currently, her teammate was fidgeting all while looking nervously from right to left, probably afraid to once again say the wrong thing that would trigger Lilja's annoyance.

But, to be honest… she would never be as anxious as Lilja was in her presence. Chloe was so unpredictable, and although it was fun to tease her, Lilja couldn't help but always have her guard up around her, to always be tense. She would never admit it to anyone, of course, but that uneasiness wouldn't leave her.

In a way, she felt that way with Koshka too, but with her, things were even more complicated.

"So… why is Koshka acting weird?" Chloe finally asked tentatively.

Lilja looked at her, then sighed, and redirected her eyes towards the last member of Grave Mole who was a few meters away from them. She still hadn't noticed them, and seemed a lot more interested in her gross-looking milkshake than in anything else. Was that thing even a milkshake to begin with?

"Lilja?"

"She's just been weird since this morning. Like, she's…" She hesitated, and winced instinctively. "Depressed. Or something."

"Oh. I… I think I noticed that a little, yeah. She was acting a bit off during our training session…"

That she certainly had. Miyao had reprimanded her about how she was slacking off even more than usual, and even Gunhild had given her a gentle warning. But it wasn't that she was being lazy. Lilja knew when Koshka was slacking off, and this wasn't it. There was… something different. Like she was just… feeling down. And it was weird. And it irritated her that it was weird.

"Are you… worried about her?"

Lilja's mind had gone blank at Chloe's suggestion. Then she was annoyed, and angry. And then she felt like laughing. So she did.

"Me? Worried? About that stupid hick?" She repeated after calming down, her voice full of disbelief. "Geez, I've always known you were an idiot, Chloe, but here I'm really stunned, meow! Do you honestly think I would ever be worried about her? Or about anyone? Do you really love Okonogi's chops that much, meow?"

Chloe squealed, and all while muttering "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" she quickly jumped away from Lilja like a rabbit, her blue ponytail bouncing back at the same time. The blonde let out a sigh, finally being alone and in peace. Or so she thought, because as soon as she did Chloe's voice yet again interrupted her:

"You should go talk to her."

Lilja's green eyes widened. Chloe had an odd, small smile on her lips. But she didn't add any more that she quickly ran out of the cafeteria, disappearing behind the door. Lilja just stared at where she had been in astonishment. Once again, she felt completely baffled by Chloe. That girl made absolutely zero sense. But…

She looked over at the table where Koshka was sat, just as still as ever. Chloe was a weirdo, but maybe she wasn't entirely wrong this time. She certainly couldn't stay here in the middle of the cafeteria staring at her teammate silently. It was even creepier and wackier than Koshka herself. But even so, she was just… unsure how to approach her.

Lilja wasn't worried. She really wasn't. After all, their entire relationship rested only on lies and deception. There was nothing genuine in there, so nothing like care or concern could ever birth in her mind. No, it was nothing like that. She was just…

She inspired profoundly, placarded her usual smug grin on her face and finally took a few steps forward. Once she reached Koshka's table, she forcefully put her hand on the surface — practically hit it, really — making the other girl jump and almost knocking over her drink.

"Heya! There you are, you gloomy hick! Meow, meow, meow!"

Koshka slowly raised her head towards Lilja, and stared at her in silence. Well, at least Lilja thought she was staring at her. It was hard to say really, given her eyes were always hidden behind all her cluster of hair and bandages.

Sometimes, Lilja wondered what Koshka's eyes looked like.

What shapes they must have, what color they must be tainted of. What sort of glitters and sparkles they must shine with.

But then she wondered why she was even thinking about it at all and got weirded out by her own self.

"Well, well, you're just as peppy and chatty as usual, huh?"

"Shut up. I don't want to see you. Go away."

Lilja's smile disappeared and she frowned a little, but it was only for a brief second. It wasn't unusual for Koshka to speak to her dryly, but again, there was just something off with it today. That didn't mean she was gonna listen to her, though. At the contrary, she took a chair and sat at the table in front of her rival. She crossed her legs defiantly as if she owned the place, and glared down at Koshka.

"For real," Lilja started off in an atypical serious tone. "What's going on?"

"Nothing. Go away."

"C'mon! You can do that with Miyao or stupid Chloe, but not with me!"

"This is none of your business."

"Oh, really now? You're really playing it like that?"

"Why are you insisting so much? Since when do you even care?"

Koshka raised her head towards her once again, and although Lilja was still unable to see her eyes, she was pretty sure she was glaring at her. And for some reason, this made her freeze. Somehow, there was something in Koshka — in her mannerism, in her voice — that felt… wrong. There was no biting remarks, no insults, no snappy comebacks. Just coldness and indifference. And it made her uncomfortable.

"I…"

She hesitated. Stopped. Looked away, looking outside the window while putting her chin in her hand.

The response was obvious. She didn't care. She had no reason to care. This was all lies and falseness and pretense. What was there to care about?

"It's just… You're weird, and like, not in your usual, depressing weirdness, and I… don't like that. Okay? It pisses me off, meow! So, yeah, if you wanna know, I don't care! Sheesh, I'm just angry."

And this, this wasn't a lie. She was angry. How could she not be angry, when Koshka was acting like that? Still, the other replied nothing, seemingly preferring to go back at staring mindlessly at her cup of milkshake. Lilja sighed.

"Does it… have something to do with the experimentations? With Geroy?"

Lilja thought that whatever happened, it was probably the only thing that could put her in such a state. But Koshka stayed quiet. Not that she was truly expecting an answer — especially if it was related to Geroy, it was unsurprising that Koshka didn't want to tell her anything about it. Lilja knew that, despite the fact she had managed to create some sort of bond with Koshka, managed to more-or-less crack up her shell a little, the other girl was still deeply suspicious of her. Of everyone, really. After all, Koshka said it herself all the time — she believed in no one.

Not that Lilja blamed her. She was the same, after all.

Maybe it was why, out of everyone, she was able to understand Koshka the best.

Slowly, she extended her arm, and with a gentleness unbecoming of her, she touched Koshka's hand. She was pretty sure she heard her gasp slightly, but that didn't stop her. Her fingers tentatively brushed her skin, searching for a reaction, a yearning, a warmth maybe. She intertwined them with her own, clumsily, as if it was the first time she was doing something like this. But then she realized that it really was, actually, the first time she was doing something like this.

Initiating contact with someone else. Holding a person's hand. Reaching out to another human being.

As human as the two of them could be, anyway.

Koshka's hand was cold and rough; her fingers were pudgy and her skin was covered in small scratches and scars, both old and fresh. Lilja always thought she was a really plain and ugly girl, really — and she was sure she would still be one even without her mutilated, grubby body. Still, she didn't let go of her hand.

She'd first thought Koshka was going to protest — slap her hand away, throw at her a few insults and leave the cafeteria. But oddly enough, she didn't. Maybe there truly was something off with her today, because she just kept staring at Lilja's hand holding hers in silence — and Lilja would have honestly killed to have a clear view of her face right now, to know what her expression was truly like.

And when she felt Koshka's hand move and returning her grasp, her heart genuinely skipped a beat for a second. What the hell was going on? She had no idea. But she didn't dare to do anything, to say anything, for fear to break this moment.

It seemed as if the entirety of the cafeteria had disappeared — the entirety of this cursed world even — and for this fluttering, fragile moment, they were just the two of them in the whole universe, and nothing else mattered.

None of them said anything. There was no bickering, no insults, no silly rivalry or noisy bravado.

And maybe everything was all lies and falseness and pretense, and maybe genuineness was something Lilja annihilated from herself a long time ago.

Maybe this moment meant nothing at all, in the middle of their twisted, unstable world — something that was soon going to be destroyed and forgotten, like everything else.

But still, in this tiny, silent, inconsequential short time, this suddenly felt real.

It still existed. It still was there.

This was a pointless, worthless moment between two broken girls, and maybe among all the deceptiveness, this was genuine, and so maybe the rest of the world didn't matter.