Far East Branch Headquarters - Veteran's Floor

"Poor Reaper…"

"I know. I heard she hasn't left his room in days."

"Well, you can't really blame her. Those two were really close, weren't they?"

"Looks that way. To be honestly, she always seemed so indifferent I didn't think they were actually dating. I guess she loved him more than she let on."

Gossips. It was always gossips. Soma groaned inwardly at the two women as they exited the lift. Stepping in himself, he leaned against the wall. Discussions like these had become exceedingly common in recent days… and it was getting on his nerves. There wasn't a single person in the Den at this point had who hadn't heard the tragic story of Reaper's lost love. After finding herself gravely injured during a mission, he had died bravely in battle, protecting the woman that captured his heart. Like a valiant knight, he readily laid down his life so that she could live on.

The tale had many inconsistencies with the actual event, but it didn't really seem wise to correct them.

And while he had certainly grown tired of the chattering, it wasn't actually the rumors themselves that were bothering him. Of course, he wasn't exactly happy about the widespread belief that the pair had been somehow secretly engaging in a passionate affair. But what angered him was the 'sympathy' that many of the God Eaters had suddenly found for their widowed New Type. It had been barely a month ago that those very same people had regarded her with scornful eyes and suspicion, while admonishing others to do the same. Apparently, Neo was someone to be disdained and only deserving of empathy and understanding now that her lover was gone.

Reaching his floor, Soma exited the elevator and made his way through the halls. Having found some free time, he was on his way to visit the main character of their tragic epic. It was true that she'd barely left his room since locking herself inside, occasionally roaming the corridors but never leaving the veteran's floor. But it had been well over a week a at that point and Ichiro's food ration supply wouldn't last forever. She would have to come out eventually, if only to get something to eat. To be honest, considering her ravenous appetite, he was surprised that she had even lasted this long.

Reaching the door, he stood outside and waited. There was no need to knock or call out to her. Somehow, she always seemed to sense his presence. He would wait in front of the door and hear her movement as she came to the other side. The pair would sit silently on the carpet, leaning against the door with Soma getting some much needed rest and Neo taking solace in his company.

But today was unusual. He didn't hear the familiar rustling of bedsheets or the shuffling of feet across the floor. In fact, he didn't hear any sound at all.

After a few minutes Soma started to grow worried. Why wasn't she coming? Curiously, he placed his hand against the metal door. There was no current. With the exception of himself, Neo had kept the door unreachable for the past week with an electrical barricade, zapping anyone who dared to make contact. But even with the current weakened, he could feel the light tingle of static. Now there was nothing. Either she was no longer guarding the door or she had simply lost the will or strength to maintain the forcefield.

His mind began to wander as he considered the various possibilities. She had been grieving, for the most part, alone for days inside of that room for days. Perhaps she had tired herself out and was sleeping in his bed. Maybe she was simply ignoring him, not in the mood to socialize or engage with anyone. Of course, with the exception of their first one-sided conversation, they hadn't actually spoken at all. He would just lean against the surface as he sensed her on the other side, instead offering a comforting presence.

But there was also another, much darker probability. There was the chance that something was wrong.

As he recalled the day of their first encounter the previous week, he remembered her mournful melody. He remembered the chilling ring within her voice as she sang. As haunting as the song itself had been, the lyrics had been even more ominous. Replaying the moment over again drew his attention to particular pair of lines.

I long to be like you

Lie cold in the ground like you

The words sent a shiver down his spine as he caught a glimpse of the hollow look in her eyes. Then, Soma paused. As his mind recalled the disturbing image of Neo lying in a pool of red, he recalled that she had a history of self-harm. And no one had seen her in days… she couldn't have… she wouldn't have… Had Hamasaki's death wounded her that badly?

I'm coming for you

Soma wasn't willing to wait for the answer.

Sliding his hand along the wall, he quickly pressed the button, fully prepared to break down the door if necessary. Thankfully, such force was unneeded as the door easily slid open. Unconcerned with the possibility of electrocution, he strode into the room unannounced and prepared for the worst. In the corner on the bed, a large bundle of sheets lay unmoving against the wall. Panicked, he crossed the room and gripped the sheets and threw them from the bed…

… only to find it empty.

Turning, he checked the couch. There was no one there. Scanning the room, he saw no sign of the New Type anywhere.

She was gone.

. . .

Tranquil Temple

Snow crunched beneath their feet as a pair of God Eaters wandered through the frozen city. Having spent a few days visiting with Soma, Neo had decided to finally take his advice. While surrounding herself with Ichiro's memories gave her comfort, it wasn't going to bring him back. She wasn't convinced of his death. She knew that he was out there. He had to be. She could feel it. And returning to the field would give her an opportunity to search for him. Besides, she had eaten nearly all of his food rations anyway.

Her game plan for the day was to search the Tranquil Temple. It was a small enough area that she would be able to cover every zone before returning to exfil. Additionally, the location rarely had a shortage of Aragami. It was the perfect place to conduct her search and take out her frustrations on some unsuspecting targets.

That had been her original goal.

On her way out, she had been approached by another God Eater who seemed a bit too eager for her liking. Having spent most of her time avoided, this woman's shameless approach made her slightly uncomfortable.

But Neo remembered this person. She had a fragmented memory of her awestruck face, her blue eyes sparkling with wonder. Her pink hair had struck her as highly unusual, disregarding the irony considering the color of her own. Most of the images were clouded to her, but she could vaguely recall various events during her time as Reaper. She hadn't seemed like much of a threat, so she had conceded, allowing her to join her on her excursion. It wasn't like she could do any harm, so long as she didn't get in her way.

"Hey, thanks a lot for letting me join you. I was a little nervous to ask, but I couldn't pass up such an opportunity." The pink-haired woman smiled at her, watching her every movement.

"Why?"

Kanon blinked slightly, surprised at her response. "Um, I - well, to be honest… I was hoping I could learn from you."

"Learn?"

"Of course. From what I hear, your marksmanship is legendary. Word around the Den is you've never missed a single shot!"

Neo's eye twitched slightly at Kanon's response, but she said nothing more. They walked in awkward silence while the New Type searched for her target. It had to be around there somewhere. How could something so large be so difficult to find?

Hm?

"Look out!"

Kanon warned Neo of the incoming threat… but she was already moving. Beside her, she lifted her scythe and shifted it into a rifle. In a single practiced motion, she gripped her weapon and fired the moment the transformation was complete. Her bullet flew straight into her target's forehead, felling it with a single shot.

Kanon's eyes widened in utter shock. She had positioned and fired without a second thought… and had done it all before she could even train her own barrel. But she had little time to celebrate. More Fallen Ogretails appeared following their motionless ally. There were four of them. One from above, two from behind, and one from the side. They were nearly surrounded.

"Mmph…" Kanon groaned, uneasy with the increasingly worrisome situation. Neo remained unconcerned. She simply watched as the Aragami circled, looking for an opening.

And within moments, she gave them one. Gripping her God Arc, she turned away from the circling Ogretail in a display of vulnerability. Taking the bait, it snarled and leapt towards her, fangs bared… but Neo didn't stop turning. As the target closed in, she continued another 180 degrees, facing the monster again, this time, gun raised. Already airborne, it could not avoid the incoming bullet that Neo fired directly into its open mouth.

Following the first, the remaining three began their assault.

One closed in from behind, launching towards her. Gun still raised, she slid backwards, positioning herself underneath of the airborne Aragami. She angled her barrel to the sky and fired, her bullet piercing through its vulnerable underbelly. One attacked from the right. She trained her barrel on the incoming threat, raising an eyebrow as bullet struck its neck from the side, halting its assault. Kanon smiled as her bullet felled the final creature, clearly proud of her accomplishment. But her mirth quickly faded as her eyes focused behind her comrade, where a fifth Ogretail had lay in wait…

Neo shifted her grip as she heard the stomping footsteps approaching. She waited until it was within devouring distance.

"There's -"

Kanon's words caught in her throat as she watched the New Type spin, swinging her rifle like a massive club and striking it across the side of its head and knocking it off balance. Then she placed a foot against its neck to hold in place before firing a single bullet at point-blank range into its open eye. She barely flinched as the blood spattered from the impact, spraying every inch of her beneath the chest.

Kanon gaped at her, her mouth nearly hitting the ice. The rumors were true.

"Wow! You really are amazing! You have to give me some pointers on your success!" She beamed at the bloody New Type, who seemed mildly irritated.

"Pay attention."

"…Huh?"

Kanon blinked, taken aback by her response. That wasn't exactly the type of pointers she had been referring to. She watched her as her gaze tore through her, a murderous glint in her eye…

No. She wasn't watching her. She was looking behind her. As heavy footsteps caught her attention, Kanon whipped around to see a Quadriga approaching their location. It didn't seem to have noticed them yet. Neo's eye narrowed as she focused, preparing for battle. She lifted her God Arc and took aim.

"Don't move."

"…What?"

Only a moment after her warning, she felt a rush of air brush past the left side of her face, fluttering her pink hair. The bullet soared right by her head and directly into the Quadriga's missile launcher. It pierced directly through the center, unbinding the cells, and emerging from the other side. Startled and angry, the Aragami turned, suddenly aware their presence.

Kanon stared forward, her eyes trembling slightly at the thought of a bullet passing within an inch of her skull. While she was impressed by her terrifying skill… she wished she wouldn't be quite so reckless. She had to ask her where she learned her marksmanship.

"How…?"

"Augments."

Neo switched her bullets and retrained her gun. Without another word, she rushed past her in full battle mode. Kanon blinked. Again, that hadn't been what she meant. She was referring to her deadly accuracy, not her unbinding of the cells in a single shot. Although that was equally a stunning.

In front of her, Neo wasted not a single moment in engaging her adversary. She trained her barrel and shifted her bullets, eyeing the opening chest cavity. She could see the missile loading long before Kanon's warning came. She ignored her concerned shouting as she aimed a missile of her own. Behind her, her ally loaded recovery bullets, preparing for the worst as Neo charged towards the incoming rocket. Then… she fired.

The blast bullet with from Neo's rifle collided with the incoming missile, causing an explosion. A cloud of gunpowder and dust engulfed the New Type as she rushed through, leaving Kanon to rush after her as she left her line of sight.

The Quadriga looked around, confused by the sudden turn of events. She had vanished in the massive cloud, leaving it without a visible target. The field fell silent for a few moments as the battle came to a screeching halt. Growing impatient, the Aragami opened its chest cavity a second time, loading a rocket for another strike. That was the moment Neo had been waiting for.

The second it opened, she reappeared.

Neo burst from the cloud, scythe in hand accelerating across the open landscape towards the unsuspecting tank. She spun and twisted her body, whirling her blade in an upward strike directly through the center of its open chest. The monster roared and reared back onto its hind legs, startled. With a new opening, she slid forward and activated her blade closing its jaws around its back leg, absorbing its essence. Then she leapt backward, evading its massive legs as it slammed back down, attempting to crush her.

Kannon appeared behind her, having finally made her away around the smokescreen. As Neo moved she took aim and fired her own bullet, striking the Quadriga's crest. Her shot successfully irritated the target, turning its attention towards her. And when it turned, Kanon fired another shot, striking its chest, directly beneath its head. Her second shot flared its temper, pushing it from agitated to enraged. As it stomped its feet angrily into the ground, Neo turned her attention.

Shifting her scythe, she trained her barrel on Kanon and fired an Aragami bullet, pushing her into a burst. Having empowered her teammate she turned her attention back to their target. Rushing forward she leapt into the air, avoiding the incoming missiles from the Quadriga's launchers. She twisted as she soared overhead, firing a string of shots across its torso as she flew.

On the other side, Kanon reloaded her God Arc and started firing, needling its armored legs, and staggering it. As it kneeled forward, Neo emerged again in scythe form sweeping her blade across the second launcher and unbinding it. She leapt again aiming for the monster's head when an unexpected bullet struck her, skewing her trajectory, and sending her tumbling to the ground.

"Oh, sorry!"

Lying on the ground, Neo growled in irritation. She pressed her hand to her shoulder, frowning as she felt the damaged skin starting to slowly heal. It seemed that she hadn't struck her with a blaze bullet, which was a relief. Standing, she lifted her scythe and gripped the handle as the Quadriga rose to its feet. With an angry roar, it charged forward like a massive metal battering ram.

Neo was ready for it. Her weapon hummed with a crimson aura as the handle began to extend. With her elongated God Arc she rushed forward, meeting the monster's challenge. The moment they were meant to collide she bent her legs and went low, spinning her scythe across all four of its legs as it passed over. The swipe tripped the charging monster, sending its heavy body toppling into the ground behind her on its side.

Kanon followed up immediately firing two blast shots towards their target. Neo's eye widened as she twisted to the side, narrowly avoiding one of the curved shots.

Thankfully, both shots hit their mark, exploding in the open chest cavity. The impact blew a gaping whole into the squishy, unarmored torso, leaving the creature to rumble angrily as it tried to stand… but Neo had no intention of letting that happen. She took off, crossing the distance in three bounds as she shrunk her scythe to its original length. Then she activated her weapon, ramming it into the gushing, open hole. The thrashing Quadriga fell still as she ripped the core from its body and with it, its life force.

With their threat gone and their mission completed, Neo turned and walked away, heading further into the city.

"Hey, wait up!" Kanon chased after her retreating comrade, trying to catch up to her. Neo ignored her and continued forward at her pace, forcing her teammate to sprint to close the distance between them. "Hey, what's wrong? Are you still mad at me? I didn't mean to hit you, really."

"No. I don't care."

Her snappy reply startled her slightly, but she wasn't going to give up yet. "Okay… well still, I'm really sorry. Hey, at least we finished the mission! You were great out there."

Neo offered no response as she continued on, eye locked forward. Kanon frowned slightly at her silence. Maybe she just didn't like her…

"Um… so, you never did say. Any pointers for me?"

"None."

Kanon's frown deepened at her response. She was now convinced that she definitely didn't like her. In truth, Neo didn't care. She actually wasn't a terrible shot. Her biggest problem was that she had a tendency to get carried away in the heat of battle. There was nothing wrong with excitement per se… except that she had a terrible habit of getting tunnel-vision, making it difficult for her to track her teammate's movements. Neo had observed her closely after being shot and noticed a pattern. Unfortunately, she had no idea how to help her fix such a problem and didn't really care to try.

"Oh… okay then… Well, thanks for letting me come with you! I feel like I learned a bit just by watching you. Do you think I could learn the same way as you did?"

"Doubtful."

That seems harsh…

"Aw, really…? That's too bad… what kind training did you receive in North America? What was it like?"

"Torture."

She blinked, unsure of what to say with her response. She imagined that her training must have been vigorous to achieve such a level of skill. It seemed she would have to work even harder.

If Kanon only knew.

. . .

Far East Branch Headquarters - Veteran's Floor

With the First Unit enjoying some down time, their Squad Leader had retreated into his room to rest and to medicate. He winced slightly as the needle pierced his arm, the pink fluid disappearing from the phial as he injected it into his body. This had become routine for him since leaving the North American branch. While the compound did successfully slow the spread, its effects were only temporary. It needed to be injected regularly to keep the infection at bay.

Removing the empty injector from his arm, Utsugi turned his attention back to the NORN terminal, raising an eyebrow as an icon appeared on his inbox. Recognizing the address as North American, he opened the message. Hopefully, they had responded to his inquiry. clicking the email, his eyes slid over his own response as he searched for the reply underneath.

So how will I know what I'm looking for?

Beneath his own words was a response to his question. Unfortunately, their answer had been about as helpful as asking Soma for his weekend plans.

You won't.