Far East Branch Headquarters - Veteran's Floor
Neo sat quietly on the couch, watching her colleagues rummage through bags, suitcases, and drawers. Her brows pressed together as they muttered quietly amongst themselves, picking up shirts and skirts, dresses and stockings, leaving the New Type utterly dumfounded. Earlier in the day, she had made the terrible mistake of mentioning her upcoming plans for dance practice to Alisa who had immediately misunderstood.
And what had started as a passing comment quickly escalated into a full-scale debacle that, for once, Neo had almost nothing to do with.
"Did I hear that right? You're going on a what?! You did say date, right?!"
Alisa's eyes bulged as she gaped at her purple-haired companion. Upon returning from her visit with Ichiro, Neo had run into her ally in the lobby. As she had previously offered to help alter her wardrobe, she decided that it was a reasonable time to make good on her promise. She didn't know much about social gatherings, but she was smart enough understand that showing up in tattered, shredded clothing probably wasn't very appropriate.
"Yes. He called it a date. But really, I just want him to show me -"
"What?!"
Kanon appeared behind Neo, startling her. She had overheard their conversation and couldn't contain her excitement. Neo wasn't generally popular around the Den and the fact that she had captured someone's interest meant that things were starting to turn around for her. She had assumed, like almost everyone at Headquarters, that her obvious choice would be Ichiro, but it seemed that the two of them really were just very close friends.
"You're going on a date?! That's wonderful. Where are you gonna go? What are you gonna wear?"
"We're just going dancing. Lissa said she'd help me with -"
"Really?! Oh, how romantic!"
It seemed that the gunner hadn't been the only one listening in on their conversation. Turning around, Neo saw the desk operator, Hibari, who had apparently left her station for the moment to join in their fascinating discussion.
"Romantic? Wha - no, he's just going to -"
"What are you guys screaming about?"
Stifling a groan, Neo turned around for the third time. Sakuya was wandering towards them, clearly attracted by the commotion that the three of them were causing.
"Neo's going on a romantic rendezvous!"
"Um, Bari, that isn't what I -"
"Really? Neo? Wow, that's great!"
"It's really not that big of a deal. I just -"
"It is a big deal! What are you going to wear?"
"As I've already said, Lissa is going to -"
"I'm giving her a makeover!"
"Huh?! I never said -"
Sakuya practically jumped with joy at the thought of making over their companion.
"Oh, I have plenty of options. Meet me in my room tonight. We will get you an outfit!"
"What?!"
Her slip of the tongue had been the start of all of this. And now, she had fallen victim to the Far East's ladies, who had demanded that she join them to help her pick out some more stylish clothing. Personally, she wasn't all that interested in playing dress-up with the girls, but she wasn't certain she had much of a choice. Her options had been steadily dwindling over the course of her stay there, and she was very well aware of that fact. With every mission, her dresser grew lighter and lighter and if she continued at her current pace, she would soon be running around the base as bare as the day she was born.
Thus began their mission: Operation Makeover, target: Neo.
And they seemed to be loving every minute of it. With so many of them gathering together, the women had decided to make a night of it, bringing out snacks and refreshments as well as some of Neo's favorite treats. In exchange for allowing them to use her as a human mannequin, Sakuya had agreed to give her a portion of her ice cream ration, which she had happily accepted. The girls dug through seeming endless garment choices, leaving the guest of honor to her own devices for the time being. Of course, she didn't really mind. Inhaling spoonful after spoonful of Vanilla Bean, she was in absolute heaven.
"Oh, this one's nice."
"Yeah, but it kind of clashes with her scarf don't you think?"
"True. What do you think about this one?"
"Hm, I'm not sure it'll work."
"The color goes well with her hair."
"Right, but it's too long for her. What about this?"
"I don't know if that's going to fit…"
As she engorged herself with her creamy delights, the four of them worked tirelessly tossing halters, crop tops, skirts and more as they tried desperately to find something that would fit her unique measurements.
Contrary to their initial assumptions, dressing Neo was turning out to be a lot more challenging than they had anticipated. Frequently wearing loose fitting, flowing clothes, or more specifically rags, not a single one of them had been prepared for what they had to work with. Beneath her messy attire, the New Type was surprisingly shapely, having far more curves than any of them would have imagined.
Her wide hips didn't really surprise them. With her impeccable balance and movement, it made sense that her hips would need to be larger to help stabilize her. What they hadn't been ready for was her bust size. Despite what her tattered t-shirts would lead one to believe, she was relatively endowed. While her upper half didn't come anywhere close to Tsubaki's glorious mountains, it was certainly nothing to scoff at. But her curvaceous features aside, they were facing still yet an even larger dilemma.
Above all, the biggest problem with trying to dress Neo was her height. Standing only centimeters above Shio, finding clothes that would fit her proportions was nearly impossible. Every article of clothing was either too long, too large, or otherwise not fitted properly to match her small size.
"Oh, what about this one?"
"That actually might work… oh, and we could match it with this!"
"You read my mind, Alisa."
Noticing the shift in their conversation, Neo looked up from her dessert, tilting her head curiously to the side. It seemed that the time had finally come to dress her up. Coming from an underground compound with nothing but combat training, she was in no way prepared for something like this. There was no benchmark for what she was about to experience. She just hoped that the process wouldn't be too painful.
"Find something, Tachi?"
"Mm-hmm."
Rising from the pile on the floor, the four women slowly approached the New Type, who was halfway through her ice cream carton. As her teammates brandished the clothing articles at her, she shook her head and sighed. This was going to be a long night.
And it was. The first part of her night consisted of being passed between Kanon and Alisa, who put her through a series of different outfits ranging from fitted dresses and miniskirts to wraprounds and thigh-highs. After what felt like an eternity of playing musical shirts, the ladies finally decided on an outfit that everyone could agree upon. More specifically, everyone except for Neo, who seemed to have little opinion on the matter.
The second part of her night involved accessories. As a Neo adamantly refused ever to remove her scarf, they quickly ruled out any and all pieces wrapping around her neckline. She was also careful to keep her forearms covered, refusing to where any short sleeved garments without gloves or wrist guards. Only Alisa knew why she hid her wrists, and after a great deal of argument, the rest of them decided it just wasn't worth the effort.
The third portion of Neo's night centered around her actual makeover. As Hibari focused intently on brushing through her messy violet strands, Sakuya accosted her with a series of brushes, pencils, and liners. First, they tried lipsticks, which were quickly ruled out. The heavy substance bothered her and Neo wouldn't stop biting her lips, resulting in deeply colored teeth.
After deciding that a light coating of gloss was the safer option, they moved onto different portions of her face. They tried blushes but couldn't settle on a shade to match her complexion. They tried toners, which only served to irritate her sensitive skin. They tried shadow, which quickly became a problem due to the covering over her left eye. With half of her face covered, the shadow drew too much attention to the visible eye, resulting in an unusual effect. So instead, they decided on a gentle liner and paper thin layer of mascara.
With her outfit, hairstyle, and makeup determined, they finally moved onto completing the entire ensemble. Unfortunately, this proved to be the most difficult portion of all.
Due to her small height, Neo also had very small feet… and none of the women had any shoes that could properly fit her. The closest that they could find were Alisa's and even those were at least a half-size too big. Still, they made her try them anyway, insisting that a gorgeous shoe was necessary, especially for going dancing. But even finding the perfect shoe didn't bring an end to her evening. When they finally found a strappy pair to match her getup, they quickly discovered another problem: Neo couldn't walk in high heels.
With her center of gravity shifted, she was having a tremendous amount of difficulty standing upright, let alone moving forward. Dancing was out of the question. Through careful coaching, Sakuya helped her learn to at least keep her balance, but it was challenging work. While the New Type was a quick study in all things combative, she was apparently an utter mess when it came to more civilian activities. Still, this would be an important evening for Neo. They had to make it perfect.
After a few hours, they managed to at least get some passable motion out of her. In the end, they simply found a similar pair with shorter, wider heels to help her keep balance without ruining her look. Finally, with some creative utilization of foot pads to help the shoes match her feet, she was ready. She wouldn't be as stellar as she would be on solid ground, but at the very least, she wouldn't embarrass herself.
Exhausted, Neo leaned against the arm of the couch, ready to call it a night. Did women have to go through this all the time? There was no way that beauty was worth this level of frustration. If beauty was pain, then she would happily spend the rest of her days as a gremlin.
"Neo, are you sure you don't want to take off your scarf?"
"Positive."
Neo shot Kanon her fiercest glare as she prodded her, for the third time that night, about removing her garment. She insisted that her scarf, beautiful as it was, simply limited her options as far as accessorizing. Still, she adamantly refused her offer each and every time. True as her statement may be, there was simply no way that she was taking it off.
"Just try it?"
"No."
"Just once."
"I can't."
"Aw, why? I just want to see…"
"I told you, I can't."
"Please?"
"How many times…"
"It'll be fine. Just -"
Kanon's words fell short as she made a terrible mistake… and reached for her fluffy blue adornment. Neo erupted, tearing through the room, and bolting for the door. Rushing out of Sakuya's quarters and into the hall, she set off towards the lift.
"Neo, wait! Don't run in those!"
. . .
Down the hallway, two members of the First Unit were having a night of their own. With the of the ladies busy dressing up Neo, Kota had suggested that they finally have the shindig he had mentioned weeks ago. Of course, the attendees weren't the ones that he had originally intended as the women were preoccupied, their moodier teammate was still staunchly against his giving his RSVP, and the other was currently locked in a prison cell. Unable to convince Soma to attend, the gunner had mentioned the idea to O'Mori in passing… and what began as Kota and Utsugi, had grown to include Shun, Tatsumi, and Brendan as well.
"You're full of it. There's no way you took out three Vajras at the same time."
"Did too."
"Yeah, save that crap for Hibari, yeah?"
"Shove off, I totally did! Brendan, help me out here!"
"I'm staying out of this."
While the ladies were using Neo as a life-sized doll, the men were drinking, joking around, and telling tales of their exploits. Of course, as alcohol was involved, some of them were slightly exaggerated. Kota and Lenka howled with laughter as Tatsumi bickered with Shun over the validity of his recollection.
"And how long are you gonna keep trying for her anyway? It's never gonna happen, dude. She's just not into you."
"She will be."
"You're an idiot."
"You're just mad 'cause you can't get a girlfriend."
"Of course I can! I just don't want to. I don't need that stuff. Makes you weak."
"I'm not so sure about that." Brendan interjected, putting a stop to their squabbling at last.
"How do you figure?" Shun titled his head, genuinely curious.
"It certainly hasn't weakened Hamasaki any. In terms of raw power, he and Soma definitely take the top spots."
Kota nodded his head.
"Brendan's right. If anything it's made him stronger… although to be fair, it also makes him a little nuts too. I heard he turned his blade on Tsubaki. That's insane!"
Lenka nodded.
"He really did. I seriously thought one of them was gonna die there…"
"Oh that's right. You were there, weren't ya Utsugi?"
"Sure was. It was terrifying." Lenka shuddered, the image of a murderous Amamiya returning to his mind.
Shun shook his head, leaning back against the couch.
"Now, that's a pair that could probably work. They're practically attached at the hip, those two."
"Tell me about it. I don't know why he doesn't pull the trigger already. The hell is he waiting for? You heard she's going out with Gunter now, right? That guy works fast. He isn't gonna have much time left."
"Probably doesn't wanna get rejected. Unlike you, O'Mori, some people actually have pride."
"Screw off, Shun."
Tatsumi pouted as Kota and Lenka erupted again, laughing at his expense. Beside him, Brendan chuckled quietly, earning an even deeper scowl from his Squad Captain.
"Whatever. She'll notice. I know she will. I just have to do something big. Something spectacular. Something to get her attention. Maybe I'll hunt down something crazy. You know, do something she can't possibly ignore."
"Sure, why not? I mean, girls like that kind of stuff, right? Not sure what you could hunt though. Actually…" Kota finally recovered, slowly growing pensive. "Hey guys, while we're on the topic, if there was one Aragami that you'd wanna bring down, what would it be?"
Tatsumi regarded him curiously for a moment. That was an interesting question and one that he had never given serious thought to. As Captain of the Defense Unit, his job was primarily to defend their base of operations. His squadron was designed to repel trouble, not go looking for it. He paused, wracking his brain as he thought of the various data files he had read in the NORN database.
"Well… hm… I guess it would be a Fallen Borg. I've heard that they come in variants, but I've never actually seen one. Which is probably a good thing."
The others nodded, murmuring their agreement. Having such a foe at the outer wall would be an absolute disaster. Always overzealous, Shun decided to go next.
"Ouroboros. Hands down."
Tatsumi sighed and shook his head.
"Of course…"
"Actually… I've always kind of wanted to fight one too."
All four turned to look at Kota, a bit surprised by his bold ambitions. An Ouroboros was no easy task. It was so dangerous in fact, that only a handful had been taken down during his time at Fenrir. Those two were either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid. Tatsumi shook his head.
"That's insane. I don't think a more dangerous creature exists…"
"Actually… you might be wrong."
Every pair of eyes snapped to the brown-haired God Eater. His beer sat loosely in his hands and a thoughtful expression crossed his face. Shun nearly exploded with excitement.
"What?! You've seen something worse than an Ouroboros? You're kidding…"
"No way…"
With all eyes on him, Brendan began his tale.
"Well I haven't seen it, but I've heard of it. You all know I'm from North America, right?"
At a group of nodding heads, he continued.
"Well in the West we have this story… well, actually, it's more like an urban legend. Deep underground in the North American Branch, there's believed to be a secret testing facility where they do all sorts of Oracle Cell experimentation."
All fell silent, four pairs of ears listening intently.
"It's said that years ago, researchers in the facility were trying to harness the power of the Aragami, you know, to help bolster our ranks. They were trying to find a way to boost the strength of human test subjects. But it all went horribly wrong."
"Wrong? Like, what, people died?" Kota questioned, his brows furrowing slightly.
"They created a monster."
"…A monster? What, like an Aragami?" Lenka was suddenly intrigued. His story was getting interesting.
"Yeah… and they kept it, locked away deep underground in the facility."
Shun scrunched his nose and scoffed It all seemed a bit unrealistic.
"That doesn't seem smart. Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen if you ask me."
"Yes, and it was. The creature began to take on a mind of its own. It turned on its masters and started attacking people."
"No way!" Kota exclaimed, now literally sitting on the edge of his seat. Shun just shook his head.
"Then why didn't they just kill the thing? Could have saved them a lot of trouble."
"They tried, but nothing seemed to work. Supposedly, it can regenerate. Really, really fast. Any damage done to it just fades away in an instant. They tried all kinds of different methods to exterminate it, but nothing stuck. It always healed. Always came back. Then eventually, something happened down there. It broke out of the facility… and escaped."
"Yikes…" Tatsumi cringed, the thought of an experimental fugitive roaming around the countryside was truly unsettling. Shun however, wasn't buying it at all. His story was getting more ridiculous by the second and nothing was adding up.
"So find its weakness, then go out there and put a stop to it."
"They can't find it."
"What do you mean, they can't find it? Something like that's gotta stick out like a black fly on white paper. There's no way that thing is running around out in the open without drawing some kind of attention."
"Right… well, that's where the story gets disturbing. See, the thing about this Aragami is… it takes the form of a human."
"WHAT?!"
Three men nearly leapt out of their seats. All except for one. Kota shifted nervously in his seat, his mind drifting to the white-skinned child hiding literally two floors away from their very location.
"No freakin' way!"
"Mm-hmm. Supposedly it looks like a little girl… at least, in the telling that I heard."
Kota's body froze. All color drained from his face as his suspicions intensified. Shun huffed.
"Okay, so then you can DEFINITELY find it. It's an Aragami that looks like a child. So you just look for a kid running around in the wild. What's the problem?"
"Nobody knows what it looks like."
Shun barked with dismissive laughter.
"Haha! What?"
Tatsumi nodded in affirmation, agreeing with Shun.
"You just said it looks like a little girl…"
"No, I said supposedly it looks like a little girl in the version that I heard."
"So what the hell is that supposed to mean? You're saying different versions of the story have different versions of the creature? Sounds a little too convenient."
"That's exactly what I'm saying."
Tatsumi shook his head.
"You lost me."
"It's because the story is being told from different perspectives. See according to the legend, it mutates. It changes its form over time, so it's impossible to track. Even if someone did manage to find it, by the time they saw it again, it might look completely different."
"Well, even if that were true, which it isn't because it's ridiculous, that still doesn't add up. It's a person wandering around by itself, rampaging all over creation. Something that is going to draw attention."
"Well, that's the worst part."
"There's more?!" Tatsumi stared at his teammate incredulously. Lenka's eyes narrowed as he pressed further.
"You're telling me that there is a mutating Aragami taking the form of a human roaming about in the wild. What could possibly be worse than that?"
"…It's sentient."
"… What?"
"It isn't feral like others of its kind. It's capable of complex thought and intelligent enough to blend in. Instead of tearing across the country devouring everything in sight, it would act no different than you or I. It could walk right past you on the street and you wouldn't even know it. Hell, it could even be here in the base right now."
The room fell silent as Brendan finished his harrowing tale. Tatsumi vigorously shook his head, trying to rid himself of the unnerving image. He didn't even want to think about facing such an enemy. How could he? He would never see it coming. Shun simply rolled his eyes. He didn't believe a word of it.
Utsugi stared quietly at the floor, lost in thought. Kota looked absolutely terrified. Was it possible…? It couldn't be. If Brendan's story was true, then he was absolutely right. The creature was already in the Den… and he had been playing with her only hours ago.
"C-Come on, man… that's the stuff of nightmares. There's no way something like that exists."
Shun smirked at his pale trembling form.
"What's wrong, Kota? Are ya scared?"
"Not at all! I'm just saying that… you know…"
"You know that Aragami can smell fear… better watch out, Fujiki, before it comes for you."
"I - shut up! Th-That's -"
BANG!
"Ahh!"
All five men startled as something slammed into the sliding bedroom door, rocking the walls. No one dared to move or make a sound. They had no idea what lay on the other side… and still edge from Bardell's horror story, none of them wanted to find out. They could hear the scraping of nails, sliding slowly across the metal surface. Was it trying to get in…?
Ugh…
Hair stood on end as a rumbling growl sounded through the surface. It was low and menacing, clawing against the only barrier between them and whatever was outside. The scratching continued for a moment before falling silent. The faint sound of footsteps moving away signaled their safety. It was gone.
"What… what the hell was that…?" Tatsumi's eyed the door, watching for any signs of movement should it return. Trying desperately to hide the wavering in his voice, Shun scoffed.
"Probably some drunk idiot. It is getting pretty late…"
"Right… yeah. Yeah, that's probably it."
Chuckling Brendan smirked at the trio. They really were far too gullible.
"Guys, come on. It's just a story. It's not like any of it is actually true."
Kota nodded.
"Right! She - it couldn't possibly be real…"
The other three murmured their agreement, trying to slow their pounding hearts. Whoever had rammed into Utsugi's bedroom door had certainly given all of them a fright. Taking another swig of his drink, Tatsumi sighed.
"Welp, there's no way I'm getting to sleep tonight, so what do you say? Wanna go another round?"
"Yeah sure, why not?"
Three of the guys made their way to the fridge to get more beers, returning to their merrymaking. Kota remained still, his mind reeling as Shio's smiling face appeared. Her happy chuckles and insatiable curiosity.
Utsugi remained in his seat, eyes staring blankly forward as he recounted Brendan's tale. Their voices faded into the background as his mind began to wander. He thought of the scientists he had spoken to prior to his return. He thought of their conversation and the agreement they had made.
So how will I know what I'm looking for?
You won't.
He had thought them out of their minds when they made him an offer he couldn't refuse but decided to agree to their terms. He needed the medication, and it wasn't like he was actually going to find whatever they were looking for. The Aegis Project needed to be completed at all costs. There was no way he was going to waste time chasing after stories and fairytales…
At least those had been his thoughts originally. But after listening to Brendan's story, a part of him couldn't help feeling a bit of unease. What if their tales weren't so tall after all? What if their concern had been properly placed?
… What if the legend was true?