Far East Branch – Headquarters
"Oh, I can't wait!" Kota's excitement finally boiled over, spilling out into a physical display of jubilation. He bounced on the balls of his feet, eyeing the lobby doors with a wide Cheshire grin.
"Calm down, Kota. We don't want to overwhelm her," Sakuya chided, trying to calm her jumping teammate. He was practically vibrating with glee, which she completely understood. Three of his closest friends were finally returning to the branch after months of absence. Though she hadn't bore witness, she imagined he had a similar reaction when Lenka walked through those doors.
"It's been forever, ya know? I haven't heard from… well, anyone! I mean, I guess I spoke to Alisa through emails, so that was cool. But this is so awesome! Lenka, you agree, right?" The captain gave him a sideways glance, a look of utter exhaustion. "Never mind. Oh, this is gonna be so great!"
The other New Type beside him gave a warm smile, brushing a lock of cherry red hair from his shoulder. "I don't know… You've spoken so highly of her. I guess I'm a little nervous…"
"Don't be, she's great! You're gonna love her!"
Lindow shook his head at the pair. Following Kota's offer for marksmanship lessons — an entirely separate problem that he addressed in private following their mission — their recruit had shown a growing interest in the Far East's star sharpshooter. Of course, he couldn't blame him. If she were willing, he would probably take a couple of sessions with her himself. Even still, he couldn't help but feel apprehensive. They had no idea what sort of state Neo would arrive in or what her mood would be like. Piling her with too much at once could be a recipe for disaster. That was why he had initially argued against their little welcoming party. But of course, once Kota put his mind to something, there was almost no stopping him.
Turning towards the bouncing God Eater, he gave him a stern look. "I'm happy she's coming back too, Kota. I think we all are, but you need to calm down. You don't want to crowd her and stress her out."
Lindow's lecture was interrupted by the loud clanking of metal gears. It seemed that she still had a strange habit of showing up when spoken of. As the doors opened, two silhouettes appeared on the other side, one tall, one small. They were finally back. The younger God Eater remained stock still for as long as possible, clamping his mouth together and folding his fingers. But his restraint didn't last very long. Despite his best efforts, Kota couldn't contain his excitement.
Utterly disregarding Lindow's previous warning, the elated gunner all but bolted toward them, nearly skidding to a stop as they entered through the doorway. "Hey guys, welcome home! I haven't seen you guys in, like, forever!"
"Haha, okay, calm down. It's great to be home, but let us get through the door, alright?" Ichiro joked.
Taking a step back, he nodded his head, finally coming down from his high with the initial sighting over. With a slightly calmer movement, he slowly turned his head to face the woman of the hour. The woman who, surprisingly, was handling his loud and sudden movements relatively well.
"Hello Kota," Neo responded.
"Hey! How've you been? How was Russia? Was it cold? What's —" At Ichiro's stern stare, he halted his endless stream of questions.
"I've been fine. Russia was habitable. Yes, it was cold."
Kota smiled, resisting the urge to hug the New Type. "Actually, come to think of it, where is Alisa? Isn't she with you guys?"
"Back with the doctor. She had a couple of things she needed to discuss and told us to go on ahead," Ichiro explained.
Kota nodded, seemingly accepting his answer without complaint. "Cool. Well, come on, let's go! Everyone's waiting for you!"
"…Everyone?" Neo blinked, slowly following the jogging Kota with an expression of genuine confusion. To her surprise, he was right. Every member of their unit had come to welcome them home, even their apprehensive captain. Although, to be fair, it looked as though Lenka were present under duress. All had come… except for one, who was notably absent.
Upon reaching them, Neo looked around, greeting everyone. "Hello."
"Hey there, Rook! Er… Neo." Lindow laughed sheepishly, having fallen once again into old habits. She didn't seem to mind, acknowledging him and turning to Sakuya.
"It's great to have you home," she greeted.
"Thank you," Neo acknowledged her with a similar smile before turning her attention to Utsugi. At the sight of him, her eyes narrowed, lips pulling into a thin line. She wasn't sure what — if anything — he wanted to say, but she sincerely hoped it would be something pleasant. And to her astonishment… it was.
"Hey. You seem… better," Utsugi muttered, taking note of the New Type's comparatively calm demeanor. For someone who was always wound tightly like a coil, it was refreshing to see her so… relaxed. "Welcome back."
Then, to everyone's surprise, Neo grinned. "Thank you. It's good to be back."
It was easily the most civil conversation the pair had had since their first meeting. Everyone was floored into silence. But the moment didn't last long. Upon reaching the final member, Neo's grin vanished. Instead, her expression morphed into a look of puzzlement. "Why are you here?"
The New Type blinked, taken aback by her harsh greeting. If one could even call it that. "Hehe… that's, uh…"
Sakuya intervened, immediately working to diffuse the potential incident before it started. "Neo…"
At the sound of her pointed tone, she corrected her statement. "I mean to say that… you are not a member of our unit."
"Uh, no, I'm not. I'm in the 3rd Unit, actually… and new to the branch. Terrance Brennan, New Type."
Neo tilted her head. The first thing she noted about him was his unusual inflection. Having now traveled to multiple branches across the globe, the New Type could confidently say that she had encountered a wide array of accents and speech patterns. His was unfamiliar to her. It was nothing like the East Asian accent that Hiroyuki had possessed or Alisa's Russian one. Even Gunter's slight German accent gave her no reference point. Where exactly he was from was a mystery to her.
Curiously, she examined every inch of him from his blood red hair and semi-fair skin to his ocean blue eyes and trembling fingers. He wasn't exceptionally large, standing shorter than Lindow and Ichiro, but only slightly taller than Kota. He had the build that one would expect from a recruit, lithe but slightly muscular. He wasn't hyper conditioned, but it was clear that he was putting the work in to training his body. But by far the most fascinating of his features was a jagged scar across his face, trailing from his left cheek to the inner corner of his right eye. 'Hmm…'
A shiver ran down the man's spine as her blue orb slid up and down his entire frame. He could clearly see the calculating look in her eyes as she evaluated him. Terrance tensed, growing increasingly uneasy under her piercing gaze. "Uh… I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude or anything. It was just… Kota invited me."
Neo hummed in acknowledgement. There was no sense in questioning him further, as that was exactly the sort of thing that Kota would do. Always so trusting and inclusive. Natural suspicion surrounded him as someone new to the branch. But if he was associated with the joyful gunner, mostly likely, he was — more or less — harmless. Even so… "Have we… met before?"
"I doubt it. Unless you've been to Ireland. Well, you know… what used to be Ireland."
'That explains the accent…' "I see. My name is Neo."
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Neo. I look forward to working with you." Holding out a hand, Terrance offered what he hoped was his warmest smile. When she gave no reaction, his smile faded into an awkward grin. Kota did mention that the woman was abrasive. Nervously clearing his throat, he pulled his hand back and instead opted for conversation.
"So, uh… Kota tells me you're one hell of a marksman."
. . .
Far East Branch – Sakaki's Office
Title: Nova Remnant Strategy
Subject: Remnant Status Report
Dangerous mutant Aragami attacked the mountains and caused a great number of casualties. Bias Factor characteristic of the Nova was found in their cores. We believe this outbreak of mutations was caused by ordinary Aragami devouring Nova remnants. We plan on stepping up the pace of the cleanup operation to prevent further outbreaks.
With the final line composed, the clacking of the keyboard ceased, its user leaning back in his chair with a tired sigh. Soma's eyes flitted over the message one last time for accuracy to ensure he was happy with it. Seeing no errors, he hit Send and the message was off to every member of the Far East Branch. Finally, his work was done. With a tired sigh, Soma closed his eyes, rubbing them gently with his fingertips. He had so many things on his mind, he was beginning to feel like he was running in circles. Between the Remnant Facility, the unidentified Aragami, the training of new recruits, and the return of their New Type, his head felt like it was spinning out of orbit.
At the moment, his mind was focused primarily on the latter and their most recent conversation.
Their discussion surrounding Gunter had genuinely been a long one, just as she had warned. She told him of how they met, and how he approached her shamelessly in the Den lobby. She explained his fascination with her and his desire to spend time around her, despite her clear indifference to his presence. She explained how, even after learning of her power, he didn't reject her, but instead embraced her. He had called her cursed blood a 'gift' and her power a blessing, claiming it gave her the ability to turn the tides of battle. Over time, what had initially been disinterest and distrust, eventually grew to curiosity. Then, to companionship and — according to Alisa — possibly something more. For the first time in her life, she had found someone to accept her, outside of her guardian, resonance, or someone with similar biology. For the first time… she almost felt human.
But it had all been an elaborate lie. In the end, he had approached and pursued her with one vicious, vile motive. To groom her and gain her trust. To cultivate a sense of belonging with her and bring down her walls. To lower her guard, all in the hopes that, eventually, she would allow him to 'breed her'.
At least, that was what Neo believed.
After hearing the words she had said, quoting directly what she'd heard approaching from the elevator doors, he knew. His suspicions were now confirmed. This entire situation had been born of a horrible misunderstanding. A misunderstanding that — once Soma learned her side of the story — was entirely understandable. If he believed that someone planned to violate him the way she had been, he would be murderous too.
He had done his best to console her. He wanted to suggest the possibility of a mistake but knew that he shouldn't. Not in such a vulnerable state. Hurt as she was by this perceived betrayal, she may view him as traitorous should he have spoken up then. Not to mention that he had only heard one side. He still hadn't heard Gunter's, considering that he had been comatose up until a few days ago. Never mind the fact he wouldn't say a word to him. But he would handle that dilemma at a later time. Once Neo had returned to them and reacclimated, and he had had time to speak with her face to face. For now, he had a single priority.
Glancing at the numbers on the bottom corner of the screen, his eyes widened. It was just past noon. When had it gotten so late?
Hopping from his chair, he shut down the PC and made his way around the desk. Fujiki had mentioned something to him about a gathering; a coming-home party, he gathered. Likely to celebrate their members' return. He had been planning to attend and, had he not gotten sucked into his work, would have done so some time ago. At this point, he wasn't even sure if they were still there. It was possible they had arrived during his absence.
Exiting the laboratory, he made his way toward the elevator to make his trip to the higher floor. Neo moved very quickly, and chances were, if he were even a moment too late, he had already missed his opportunity. By now, she had likely traveled to the veteran's floor to rest in Hamasaki's room. Entering the lift, he rode it upward, his mind racing through 100 thoughts at once. When the doors opened, he made his way down the halls, maneuvering along the path that, at this point, was all muscle memory. He had just rounded the corner to their hallway when he saw her. Standing in the corridor, heading for his own door was the woman had been searching for.
At the sound of his movement, Neo turned her head, pausing as she met his gaze. Soma stared, his mouth falling open slightly as he watched her. She was here. After months of time, seeing her only through a computer screen, she was there. And though he had waited eagerly for this moment, his mind was uncertain how to handle it. Despite his ease of conversation over the terminal, now face to face, words were once again failing him.
Neo turned and stepped forward, walking slowly toward him with a curious tilt to her head as he watched her. Following her movement, he began to step forward as well. Silently, their bodies carried them onward, forward toward the other. When he reached her, he opened his mouth, but once again, no words would come out. Neo remained quiet as well, taking a moment to enjoy his presence. She simply stared at him in disbelief. As though she weren't sure if he were actually real. Then, she did the last thing he had expected.
His body jolted and froze, going rigid at the unfamiliar feel of a pair of arms wrapping around his waist. Then, they squeezed, head burrowing into his chest. The two stood frozen in the hallway, a pair of statues until Soma finally reacted. But rather than shove her away with a complaint, this time he did the opposite. Neo tensed for just a moment at the foreign sensation as Soma's arms enveloped her, returning her embrace. His chin rested gently on the top of her head, engulfing her in his warmth. Neo smiled. She was home at last.
The sound of Soma's quiet whisper made her smile widen, stretching across her face from ear to ear.
"It's so good to see you again."