"Yukki..."
"Yukki, please..."
"Wake up, Yukki..."
"I've already won the game for us, so please, wake up, Yukki..."
"Yukki...?"
"Oh God, oh God, oh my God, please wake up, Yukki! I can't, I can't, I can't afford to lose you right now!"
"Yukki, please, wake up!"
"Yukki? Oh no, Yukki... Yukki? YUUUKKKKKIIIIIIIII!"
Day 90 of Survival Game, 05:35:00 AM
28 July, 2004 (3rd World)
Yuno Gasai - 2nd
City of Sakurami, Middle School
"Murmur Three, this is Murmur Two, requesting backup at the Sakurami Middle School, we have a Code Zulu, I say again, Code Zulu, over!"
"You idiot! Why did choose me over a world where you have everything you've ever wanted?"
Why indeed. After all, she tried to kill him a while ago before deciding to trap him inside an illusory prison world thing where he would have what she thought - no, what she knew he wanted: a faithful, loving and normal girlfriend, a complete and happy family, a loyal, tight-knit group of friends, and a chance to actually see the stars together with all of them.
But apparently she forgot something. Or someone, rather.
"You already know the answer, Yuno. Deep inside your broken heart, you know the answer. But for the record, it's because you were never in it. I could never - and will never - be happy without you."
"Yukki..."
"That's why I want you to end me now. At least when I go, I could be with Mom, Dad and you in the afterlife."
"But I... I can't go through all of this once more! I can't take it anymore, Yukki! I'd rather die than lose you again! I can't lose you again, Yukki... I CAN'T LOSE YOU AGAIN!"
"I've already seen you die once, Yuno. I can't have that again. I just simply can't."
"No..."
"Do it. I won't be mad. I deserve it."
"I can't, Yukki... I can't..."
"I can't end you too, Yuno. So please, if you really love me like you've always said you do, please end my pathetic failure of an existence. I won't hold it against you, and I won't love you any less for it. Didn't I tell you that being God means jack shit if I can't be with you?"
"Yukki..."
"It's alright. I'll always be with you no matter what. Also, look over there. Your parents have come to their senses and realized just how much of a treasure you really are. And best of all, we'll be able to make good on our promise to see the stars and start our own family together, at least in this world."
"I don't deserve this happiness... Not after all I've done..."
"Yes, you do, Yuno. You've been through so much. You've earned this happy ending. All that's left is to make me pay for all the crimes I've committed with my life."
"Yukki, you're too stupid for your own good..."
The young man's innocent blue eyes saw her lift the blade into the air, and grabbed the knife from her hand just as it was about to come down. He then stabbed himself in the chest with it. The poor girl could only watch as blood began to leak out of her darling's chest, and her grief-stricken heart couldn't bear the sight of the tears rolling down his pained face. And then he pulled the knife out. She wanted to scream as loud as she could, but she only had the strength to let out a barely audible whisper.
"Why, Yukki? Why do you have to make me suffer the pain of losing you again? "
"I want to stay here. This world is one where we can finally be together."
He then collapsed to his knees, dragging the poor girl down with him. She tried to lift him up, but seeing him die in her arms was draining her strength away. She was barely coherent as she spoke.
"How could you leave me like this, Yukki?! Why are you leaving me like this?!"
"You told me, didn't you? You weren't going to be the one to end me. That's why I did what you couldn't bear to do. I'm sorry, Yuno."
"Don't leave me like this! Please, I'm begging you, don't die on me like this! This is not how I wanted this to end! You should have won this!"
He was clearly about to pass on at any moment, but he was determined to last long enough to say everything that he wanted to his one true love. He was also struggling to speak clearly and continuously due to the pain.
"There's no need to rewrite the future now. This is my Dead End. Honestly, I really don't want things to end like this too, but I guess this is how it should be. Ow..."
"Yukki..."
"Besides, I've already won. Like you said, I got your folks to see you as the treasure that you really are. I managed to save you from yourself twice. And lastly, all that will ensure that we will have our happy ending in this world."
"How about me, the me currently grieving you now? How am I supposed to go on without you? How am I supposed to live on knowing that everything I gave up for you, all the horrors I committed just for you were for nothing, huh? Answer me, damn it!"
With the last of his strength, he put his bloodied hands on her cheeks and moved his lips closer to hers. She then moved to intercept him, giving him a goodbye kiss. The moment felt like an eternity for the poor star-crossed lovers, whose tears fell like raindrops. As he broke off, the dying boy took his heartbroken childhood sweetheart's divine black robe and wiped the dust, blood, sweat and tears away from her beautiful face. He then took his phone and gave it to her, telling her to give it to his younger self.
"Also, that kiss is my answer. Don't you know that the warmth and sweetness of your lips are the best painkillers out there? Hahahaha..."
"Yukki, don't do that to me!"
"Seriously though, I no longer feel any pain anymore. I would really want you to go back to the Second World and make it your new home, but if you're really going to put yourself through all of this to be with me again, then this will be all I have to say."
As Yukki was about to say his last words to Yuno, Murmur Three arrived just in time to stop Murmur One from escaping her new restraints and attacking Murmur Two.
"Three! What took you so long?"
"I still had to get clearance from Deus, Two! What's wrong with One?"
"Apparently Yuno broke her restraints in an attempt to fend Ninth off, and she somehow got addicted to the new powers she had!"
"Hey, let me go!"
"Not on my watch!"
As Murmur Two started to explain the situation to her third incarnation as fast as she could, Yukki knew his time was already up, but he still didn't want to leave his poor, grieving Yuno behind. At least, not without some hopeful parting words.
"There's a world out there where I won this shitshow at the cost of having to see you die again, this time in my arms. I'll wait for you there, I promise. I may not remember that, but I promise you that I will be more than happy to have you back in my arms, back in my life."
"Don't die on me, Yukki! Please, don't die on me!"
"I'm sorry for everything I said and did to you, and I'm sorry for leaving you like this. Go with Murmur, Yuno. She'll lead you back to me. Congratulations..."
I love you.
"YUUUUUUUUKKKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"
As soon as he confessed his feelings to the heartbroken goddess for the last time, Yukki then closed his eyes, and breathed his last. His last thoughts were of his parents, his friends, both still living and already dead, and of Yuno - the one that he lost, and the two that he saved. She tightened her grip on the boy's corpse as she let her sorrow out as loud as she could, her tears pouring down her face once more. Those who saw the scene were also on the brink of crying if they weren't already in tears.
"I'm very sorry for your loss, Yuno, but we have to go now!"
"I know, Murmur, I know!"
"Then what are you waiting for?! Let's go!"
With a heavy heart, and with tears still falling like a waterfall down her face, she then let go of the dead Yukki and stood up, giving him one final kiss before she did so. She then turned to her younger self, who was surrounded by her parents and this world's Yukki, and walked towards her.
"Hey, where are you going?! We don't have much time left!"
The younger Yukki grabbed the last dart from his belt - he threw the rest at her when she tried to attack her younger self, which ended up driving her away - and aimed it at her, thinking that she will try to harm his Yuno again. Apparently, he failed to recognize her as an older, more damaged, and very heartbroken incarnation of his girlfriend.
"I won't let you kill her, you evil witch!"
She only continued to come closer despite his warning, with the rubble poking holes in her feet. Then, as he was about to throw the dart at her, he felt a bunch of hands on his shoulder. He then turned to see that they belonged to his Yuno and her adoptive parents.
"It's okay, son. She's not gonna go after Yuno again."
"She just wants to tell us something, son. Please, calm down."
"Put it down, Yukki. I'll be fine."
"Yuno..."
The boy then put the dart back in the box on his belt and tried to calm himself down. Then, Yuno's folks stood up and approached the older Yuno, before taking her into their arms. She saw that the stab wound on her dad's shoulder was already covered by an improvised bandage, which turned out to be a part of her mom's shirt.
"Mom... Dad... I'm sorry..."
"We should be the ones saying that. I'm sorry, Yuno. I'm sorry for not being there for you when you needed me the most."
"Yuno... I'm sorry for everything..."
The older Yuno could only weep into her parents' shoulders as she took in their embrace for the last time. She wanted to say a lot of things to them, and she was sure that they also had a lot to say to her. But she knew that she had to go with Murmur Two as soon as possible. Then, she broke off and went over to her younger self. The younger Yukki tried to stop her again by aiming a piece of concrete at her head, but the younger Yuno yanked it out of his hand.
"What the hell was that for? She tried to kill you! I can't let her get away with-"
Before he could finish his sentence, he and his girlfriend were caught in her older self's arms. Only then did the younger Yukki recognize the older Yuno. As she tried to apologize to them through all of her sobs, his young mind couldn't comprehend the situation. He then turned to his Yuno for anything resembling an answer, who then nodded as if to reassure him that everything will be alright.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry!"
"I'm sorry too! I couldn't recognize you!"
"Yukki..."
"Come on, Yuno! Let's go! We don't have much time left!"
The Second World's new ruler deity then broke off, took her fallen Yukki's phone and gave it to his younger self, who had a tight grip on his childhood sweetheart's hand.
"My Yukki wanted you to have this. All the things he wants to tell you two are definitely in there. Please, take care of yourselves and each other for us. I sincerely wish nothing but the absolute best for the two of you. I'm really sorry for making all of this happen to you."
"Yuno..."
"Two! Get your boss outta there now!"
After a few more words of advice and apologies to her younger self, Yuno tearfully bid everyone farewell before turning around and running as fast as she could towards her fallen Yukki. Once she got there, Murmur Two picked him up by the collar of his shirt before taking Yuno by the hand. As she took off into the sky, she turned to her new boss, who was still sobbing loudly. She then let go of Yukki's shirt, seeing as Yuno was now clinging onto his corpse like she was clinging onto a floating piece of a wrecked vessel at sea.
"How are you holding up back there, Yuno?"
The young goddess tried to come up with a coherent answer, but any words that came out of her mouth were drowned out by her sobbing. Even so, Murmur knew that she was still coming to grips with the fact that this was the second time she lost her one true love. Which naturally meant that she wasn't doing well at all. While she was not one to really care about emotions - human or divine - and the shit that came along with them, she knew that given the circumstances, she had to deal with them sooner or later.
As the trip back to the Second World went on, Yuno began imagining what Yukki would be going through if their situations were flipped. It didn't take long for her to shake the thought out of her head. In her current grief-stricken state, she couldn't find the strength to stand seeing her dear Yukki give up on everything upon losing her in her imagination. At the same time, part of her would not accept the thought of him working hard to move on from her and everything that happened, since it inevitably came with the thought of Yukki ending up with someone other than her. Soon enough, her mind was filled with random shit that only made her feel worse.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!"
"Yuno, talk to me! What's wrong? Are you alright? Come on, Yuno, say something!"
"Murmur? You're here..."
Just as Murmur was about to ask her new boss once more about how she was holding up, they had already gotten back to the Second World. She then set her new boss and her fallen sweetheart down. It turned out that they landed in front of Yuno's house. Or rather, what was left of it.
"So, how are you doing?"
"I'm not fine. At all. How am I supposed to feel otherwise when I JUST LOST THE LOVE OF MY LIFE TWICE?! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO FEEL ALRIGHT AFTER THAT?!"
Murmur could only watch as Yuno let her emotions loose at the heavens, asking why did she have to go through what she went through. Meanwhile, the world around them was falling apart,with black holes appearing and disappearing everywhere, sucking in all kinds of matter. Whatever they couldn't take, the ensuing earthquakes, storms and volcanic eruptions destroyed.
"The world's falling apart! You have to do something, and you have to do it now!"
"Take us to the Causality Cathedral, Murmur."
"Are you going to fix this place from there?"
"Fix this place? And then what? Suffer from envy and jealousy everytime I see couples live happily ever after knowing that me and Yukki never got the chance to be happy like them? Spend the rest of my miserable reign as this fucking universe's ruler goddess pining for Yukki, because I can't bring my one true love back to life?"
"Yuno..."
"All of this shit is fucking worthless. This whole fucking world is worthless if I can't be happy with Yukki in it. Why should I restore a cruel world that just won't let me and Yukki be happy together, huh? Answer me, Murmur! Answer me!"
"Because this isn't what-"
"-what I'm supposed to do? What he wanted me to-"
The ground under Yuno's feet suddenly gave way. She was taken by surprise in a way that made her drop whatever was left of this world's Yukki. She immediately tried to grab his corpse, but the body was already too far for her to reach. She was in such a state that she either couldn't, wouldn't or didn't use her powers to retrieve his body from the abyss. She couldn't even get Murmur to retrieve him on her behalf.
"NO! YUUKKKIIIIIIIIIIIII!"
Seconds turn to minutes. Minutes to hours. Hours to days. Days to weeks. Weeks to months. And then the months turned into years. As time went by, everything continued to disintegrate. From the earth to the solar system to the Milky Way to the whole universe, the decay spread and kept going until all that was left was nothingness. If you could count the universe's supposed ruler goddess, her demonic assistant, a weathered flip phone, a few boxes full of educational textbooks and encyclopedias and a bunch of aged romance manga as nothingness, that is.
Dark. Cold. Empty. Before everything went to shit, Yuno often told Yukki that these three words would accurately describe what her life without him would be - what a world without him would be. And he would often tell her that she was the one who brought color to his monochrome world, and that he couldn't bear the thought of having to live his life without her by his side. Yet here she was, floating around in the freezing, pitch black void, reminiscing the happy days she had with her lost love in this timeline and the one she left behind. Sometimes she would think about what he told her before he bid her farewell, about how he would be waiting for her in a world where he won.
"I don't know, Yuno. I've been going to other universes looking for the world he was talking about for a while now, but so far all the universes I've seen are either as dead as this one, or closed worlds ran by either Deus or the other users. You should know this crap - you were with me on most of those trips."
"Clearly, you haven't looked hard enough. It has to be out there. Yukki promised me..."
"Well I did find at least one universe where Yukki won the game during one of my solo runs..."
"Take me there! Yukki's waiting for me!"
"... but there's a problem."
"What is it?"
"That Yukki already has his own Yuno ruling the universe with him. Sorry, girl, but he's already taken. And at this point, I don't think the whole kill and replace gig my original self suggested to you isn't gonna go over well there. "
"Damn it!"
"Calm down, will ya? That's not the only universe where Yukki won. There's more out there, and I'm pretty sure we'll find the universe he told you about soon enough."
Once again, seconds turned to minutes. Minutes to hours. Hours to days. Days to weeks. Weeks to months. And then the months turned into years. As time kept going, Yuno and Murmur continued to search for timelines where Yukki won the survival game, like he promised before he expired. Unfortunately for them, they were all either empty wastelands, or tightly shut universes they could barely look into. Frustration, grief and disappointment continued to wear Yuno down as she desperately kept on searching for the promised land, despite Murmur's frequent protests.
In between these searches, Yuno would frequently imagine what Yukki would be doing if he was in her situation. Sometimes she would tearfully think of what she and Yukki could have had - what she thought their counterparts in the third world might have had. Good education, more happy and intimate moments together, landing good and steady jobs, getting married, starting their own happy family, perhaps even making new friends and reuniting with old ones, and everything in between - Yuno could only cry as she thought of the good things she and Yukki were denied by fate.
And then there were times where she wanted to give up and let herself waste away into the nothingness, seeing as her whole existence had been rendered meaningless by Yukki's demise. But even so, she kept on going. She thought that she was better off using the thoughts of what she and Yukki could have had to motivate her into continuing her search, and try to make sense of how the world outside of Yukki - who was literally the world to her - worked. She didn't know it yet, but she would eventually find what she was looking for.
"I sense a disturbance in the space-time continuum, boss!"
"What is it?"
"I'm getting some serious readings on my sensors! I'm gonna check it out now!"
"Make haste, Murmur. I am very intrigued by what this could be."
Deus then went to rest on his throne as Murmur went out of the Causality Cathedral to check the disturbance out. As the little demon headed to where her sensors indicated the signal was, she could feel a vaguely familiar presence. And then she heard a totally unexpected message on her interdimensional communication system.
"All stations, all stations, this is Murmur Two-Two, does anybody read me, over?"
"What the heck? Two-Two? Just what the heck is going on?"
Murmur stopped for a moment as she set up her interdimensional comms so she could reply to the message.
"All stations, all stations, this is Murmur Two-Two, does anybody read me, over?"
"Murmur Two-Two, this is Murmur Two-One, do you copy, over?"
"Two-Two copies, Two-One! Thank goodness you answered! Where are you, over?"
"I'm heading over to your position, Two-Two! Sit tight, over!"
"Roger that. Two-Two out!"
The little demon picked up the pace as soon as her other self ended the call. She was thinking about what could have possibly happened that would require one of her alternate selves to make contact. A disaster? Another failed attempt at necromancy? A system malfunction in the Causality Cathedral? A serious incident in the Akashic Records? The possibilities were endless. Murmur shook the thoughts out of her head as she continued towards where her sensors indicated her other self was.
"Thank goodness you came!"
"What happened, Two-Two? What's going on?"
"Well, you see, Two-One..."
As Murmur Two-Two started to explain what happened, Murmur Two-One then saw something - or rather, someone flying towards her alternate self, with a bunch of boxes floating behind. As the person moved closer, Two-One started to recognize who it was, which made her act like she'd seen a ghost or two.
"Damn it, Murmur! Why do I have to carry all of your shit? And where are we?"
"Yu-yu-yu-YUNO?! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!"
"Another Murmur?! What's going on?"
"What the hell are you doing here, Yuno? And what are those boxes for?"
"That's what I've been telling you, Two-One, but apparently you weren't even listening."
"Oh."
After a little while, Murmur Two-Two explained the situation again to her other self. This time around, Yuno was around to answer Two-One's questions.
"So, to recap: Yuno let her timeline die off because she can't let the world live on without Yukki by her side, and at the same time, she doesn't want to go through the Survival Game again. Is that right?"
"Yes, it is."
"Fair enough."
Just as Murmur Two-One was about to ask Two-Two and Yuno about their search for a timeline where Yukki won the game, her interdmiensional comms suddenly went active. Deus was already calling for her.
"We have a Code Sierra over here, boss. I'm going to take them to you."
"Good. Get moving now. Time is of the essence."
"Who was it?"
"It's Deus. He wants to talk to you."
Yuno started to shiver as she imagined what punishment she would face from Deus for what she pulled in the worlds she came from. At the same time, she was also thinking of what she could bargain to him in exchange for allowing her to live in this world. All while she alternated between being nervous and being excited at the thought of seeing and being with Yukki again.
"What are you waiting for, Yuno? Let's go. You don't want to keep Deus and Yukki waiting, do you?"
"Right."
Day 1, 10:25:00 AM
28 July, 2021
Yuno Gasai
City of Tarkov, Customs
The sounds of gunfire, explosions and muffled screaming roused Yuno from her slumber. She immediately got off the bed she found herself sleeping in and looked around her, searching for anything or anyone familiar. A stray bullet suddenly went through the door, forcing her to hide under the bed. She then felt something wrapped around her right thigh. It turned out to be the strap for what looked like a container. When she opened it, she found two 500ml water bottles, a can of luncheon meat, two packs of crackers, a Japanese-English-Russian dictionary with $150, EUR80 and RUB25,000 in bills folded inside , an olive green Swiss Army knife, an individual first aid kit with stuff written on it in English, and her phone, complete with charger. Underneath those were a few pictures of herself and Yukki in happier times.
"Damn you, Deus! What the hell did you throw me into?"
Another stray bullet pierced through the door and went outside the window. Yuno wanted to scream and call for help, but at the same time she couldn't risk being discovered in an unfamiliar land. As she continued to hide under the bed, she could hear male voices and footsteps coming closer to her room, along with the sounds of battle. She then covered her ears and lied down, quietly hoping that Yukki would somehow come and save her from this mess. At one point she thought she heard at least one vaguely Yukki-sounding scream from below, forcing her to quietly say his name in concern. Soon enough, the gunfire, explosions and screaming started to move away, and after a while, the rain began to fall, which helped mask the noise somewhat.
Yukki...
She then got out from underneath the bed and looked out the window. A shot from the building across the courtyard forced her back down. She rolled back underneath the bed when she heard footsteps approach her room. As soon as the footsteps were gone, she got out from underneath the bed again and looked out the window once more. Even though the rain was making it hard to see, she could see the muzzle flashes from the other building, and the mess of bodies, blood, brass and trash all over the place. She then saw three men exit the building she was in, with guns blazing. The one in the lead opened fire at unseen enemies inside the other building before switching to the other gun on his back. He then made a mad dash towards the entrance, while his two comrades were providing covering fire.
Something about him felt familiar to her.
I don't know why, but the guy who just went inside made me feel as if Yukki was with me. Could it be... Wait, what am I thinking? I know Yukki all too well - he isn't the type to do that sort of thing.
Yuno got out of the room as soon as she heard a grenade go off inside the other building. She then looked around her to see two empty-handed corpses, more spent casings, rubble, abandoned furniture, more trash and discarded empty magazines. All she got from the two were their bags, chest rigs and the stuff still inside them - it looked as if someone had taken what was inside some of the pouches. She went downstairs to see what else she can find and use. There were more corpses on the floor, and the stench of death and propellant was everywhere. She then went inside what turned out to be a shower room and stashed the stuff she found there. Once she got out of the shower room, she went to the first corpse she found and began taking whatever she could from the body, starting with the poor sap's long gun - an AKS-74 with various attachments on it.
I think I saw a manual for one of these among the books Murmur had. Let's see if I remember what it said about how this thing works...
She began by removing the magazine and pulling back on the charging handle, ejecting the round loaded in the chamber. She then let it go forward and pulled it back again to make sure that the chamber was clear. After letting go of the charging handle for the second time, she started manipulating the safety lever and noted the positions for safety, full automatic fire and semi-automatic fire. She did all this with her finger on the trigger guard. Yuno then put the 5.45mm round she ejected from the rifle into the magazine, before she put the magazine inside the dead man's chest rig. She then began checking the rig for signs of damage, and to her relief there weren't any. His helmet - a Russian military standard-issue 6B47 helmet - was shot up, and it had blood, brain matter and bone fragments on the inside. The back part of the rig also had blood stains on it, along with a few bits and pieces of the man's brain and skull. Nevertheless, she took it and its contents along with the rifle and stashed them inside the shower room. Just as she was about to get back outside the shower room to go and check the other corpses, she heard footsteps coming from the stairs.
The young woman went back to where she stashed her loot and waited for the men to go away. She waited for a few minutes before going back out to loot the other corpses. As she approached another corpse, she noticed the bags in the kitchen. Upon closer inspection, she saw that one of them was open. Whoever came through earlier apparently took something from inside. She then began opening the bag up, but the lack of lighting and the weather outside made it hard for her to actually see anything. While she was busy rummaging through the contents, she thought she heard another set of footsteps coming from the hallway. She initially dismissed it as just being her imagination, but she still froze for a bit when she heard the footsteps coming closer.
And then she heard the sound of a pistol slide being racked. It was followed by the hauntingly familiar voice of a grown man barking orders at her in an unfamiliar language, which she assumed to be Russian, judging by all the writing on the walls she'd seen so far. Then the man barked orders at her once more, this time in perfect English.
"Drop it and put your hands up!"
She then dropped the skull balaclava she was holding and turned to face whoever was pointing a gun at her. The flashlight attached to his pistol was bright enough to make her turn away for her eyes' sake.
"Yuno?"
Please be real, please be fucking real...
Suddenly, the man dropped his sidearm. It fell in a way that let the flashlight beam shine on his face long enough for the young woman to recognize the heavily-armed man who was pointing it at her moments ago. He looked like he had seen a ghost. And then she recognized who he was. Even though he was much taller, more muscular and sounded deeper than the dying boy she held in her arms all those years ago, she knew deep inside that the man who just dropped his pistol was the first and only boy she fell in love with. She also saw the pain in his once innocent blue eyes, and something about him made her feel that he had gone - and was going - through a lot of shit.
"I love you, Yukki! Please, go out with me!"
"Hahahahahahahahahahah! Hahahahahahahaha- wait, Yuno, don't go!"
"You're making fun of me! Let me go!"
"I'm sorry, Yuno, I'm sorry! I just couldn't believe what I heard from you!"
"Let go of me, you idiot!"
"I won't, because the truth is, I love you, Yuno! I love you! And I'm really glad you came into my life! So, lets go out together!"
"Yukki, you idiot!"
"Yukki? Oh God... It's you! Yukki!"
"Yuno!"
Yuno instantly tore up when she saw that Yukki fell to his knees, his hands still outstretched as if he was still holding his pistol. As she wrapped herself around him for the first time in what might as well be forever, she could feel that he was wet, cold and shivering. A few moments later, she could feel his hands move on her back, and his arms wrapped around her. He then promptly broke down in tears, which also made her break down crying on his shoulder. Yuno was a blubbering mess as she alternated between trying to tell Yukki how much she had missed him, trying to apologize to him for everything she'd done and for not being with him when he needed her, and thanking him for saving her from herself. The operator continued to loudly sob as he tried to find the right words to say to his first love.
"Please be real this time, Yuno, please be fucking real this time..."
"Please be real this time?" And are those scars on your face? Wait, there's a bandage on your arm... Yukki, what happened to you?
"I'm here, Yukki. I'm alive but not really well... Are you alright? What happened to you?"
"What's going on, Snowman? Are you alright?"
It was Spartan's turn to enter the kitchen. Once he turned the flashlight attached to his Ops-Core FAST MT high cut helmet on, he was met by a scene he'd never thought he'd see in this shithole: His comrade was breaking down in tears, and he was in the arms of a beautiful young woman who was also crying her heart out to him. The two were so caught up in the moment that they didn't notice the machine gunner come closer, or hear him call for his comrade. When Spartan saw who the young woman was, he too looked like he had seen a ghost, as she matched the description Yukki gave everytime he would talk about his dead childhood sweetheart. And then Goblin called him on the radio.
"Snowman, Spartan, what's going on up there?!"
The operator then went back downstairs, not wanting to ruin his homie's reunion with his long-lost first love.
"Fifteen fucking years, Yuno. Fifteen fucking years."
"Yukki..."
"Fifteen fucking years I spent trying to let go of you and move on with my life. Fifteen fucking years I spent trying to be more than just a fucking pathetic, whiny little pussy-ass piece of shit. Fifteen fucking years I spent thinking of what I should've done differently. Ten fucking years I spent wishing that I had died a warrior's death instead of my brothers just so I could be with you again in the afterlife. Fifteen fucking years I spent trying to find love again, only to realize that no one could ever fill the emptiness you left inside my heart after multiple failed attempts at doing just that. Fifteen fucking years I spent wishing that you would come back to me one way or another. There's a lot of shit I want to tell you, but all that matters is what's here right now. That pathetic little wish of mine just came true. You're here. You're here in my arms again after fifteen fucking years of pain and suffering. I missed you so much, Yuno. So fucking much."
"I missed you too, Yukki. I missed you so much. So damn much..."
After a while, Yukki then broke off to grab a dry piece of cloth from his rig's waterproof pocket. He then wiped the tears off of Yuno's face. He thought that she looked even more beautiful than she was the last time he saw her. Once her face was dry, he put the cloth back to where it was, took a deep breath, and exhaled. Before she could start asking questions, he ran his right hand through her hair before putting it along with his left on her cheeks.
"I don't want you to leave me again. I can't lose you again. I won't let you go again."
"Yukki... Please don't die on me again, please, don't leave me again..."
Just as she realized what he was going to do, he had already planted his lips on hers. Seconds felt like hours as the childhood sweethearts took the moment in. The last time they were kissing like this, they were dying in each other's arms in different universes.
Damn, her lips are still as soft as they were the last time I kissed her...
Oh, how I missed feeling Yukki's lips on mine... If only they weren't so cold...
The operator then broke off to grab his pistol on the floor. After he checked to see if it was still working, he put it back inside its holster, which was on the right-hand side of his rig. He then saw that the young woman in front of him was crying again. He immediately wiped the tears off her eyes once more before wrapping his arms around her.
"Don't cry now. We're together again. That's all that matters now."
"I'm sorry, but I just can't stop crying..."
"It's okay. It's okay. I got you."
A few seconds later, Anton, Yuri and Somali went downstairs from the third floor. They then saw Yukki in the arms of a beautiful woman in a robe as black as their homie's hair. They quietly made their way to the kitchen to get a closer look at the young woman Yukki was talking to. It didn't take long before Anton nearly slipped on the blood of one of the dead Dealmaker guards.
"Oh, motherf-"
Yuno immediately tightened her grip on Yukki, who was slightly confused by what was happening. He then turned to his comrades, who looked as if they'd seen a ghost - a ghost that he kept on telling them about.
"Who the fuck is that?"
"Who is she, Snowman?"
"Are you fucking shitting me?!"
Yukki kept alternating his gaze between his homies and Yuno as the latter tried to hide her face in a mix of shame and fear. He patted her head to reassure her before pulling out a picture from his rig.
"Wait, that's..."
"Yes, it is what you think it is."
"You kept it with you for fifteen years?"
"Yeah. I guess it's been a lucky charm for me, despite the usual superstitions about shit like this. Anyway, what about you? Do you still have yours?"
"Hey, we're talking to you!"
Yukki then stood up, with Yuno still clinging onto him. He then turned to his boys and showed the photo of him and Yuno from the wedding expo that he kept with him for fifteen years.
"What the fuck? That's her, Yukiteru?"
"Tell me, Snowman, am I hallucinating? Are we hallucinating?"
"Wait, I thought she was dead! How is she alive? And what the fuck is she doing here?"
"Yes, the woman wrapped around me right now is Yuno. No, none of us are hallucinating. Even I don't know how she's still alive. I don't know, I just found her here trying to take my shit from my bag."
"What are they saying, Yukki? And who are they supposed to be?"
"They're my guys. They were just asking me how the hell are you alive and here with me."
"Your guys? What does that mean?"
"It means that these guys here are my homies, my brothers. And I'm actually working with them right now."
So Yukki does have friends now... Wait, he said brothers - what does he mean by that? Now I feel like I want to ask him if he's currently seeing someone, but the way he acted towards me so far would indicate the opposite.
"And before you ask, no, I'm not in a relationship right now. My most recent ex broke up with me a few months before I first entered this shithole."
"Oh. Wait, did you just read my mind?"
"No, I knew that you would ask me that shit sooner or later. Also, I think you look more beautiful than you were the last time I saw you. And I'm glad you're here with me again."
"Hey. Save the sweet talk for later and help us get all the good shit off of these fuckers."
Yukki broke away from Yuno's embrace to pick his skull balaclava up. He then took off his helmet and tactical headset before putting the balaclava back on.
Oh wow, Yukki told me I'm prettier than I was the last time he saw me! I don't know what to make of it, though... And I don't know why, but I think that short haircut looks very good on him... Wait, is that a scar above his ear?
The young woman noticed that the operator's helmet had two holes in it - one in the front and one in the back. She could also make out signs of bullet impacts on his rig. And then there was the bandage on his right arm, and the long guns he had on him. Yuno then realized that Yukki and the guys he told her were his friends had been in a firefight earlier, and that he was still in pain from the injuries he took.
And all these bodies... Yukki and his friends killed them all... And it looks like they've been doing this for a long while now... What happened to you, my love? Did I... Did I turn you into this? I wanted you to be able to stand up for yourself, but throwing yourself into danger and having to kill people like this... And with those... things, too. What for, Yukki? Why? I don't think my heart could handle seeing you do any of this. I won't be able to see you go through all of this.
"I know you're still trying to make sense of what you got yourself into, and I'm pretty sure you have a lot of questions you want answers for. I promise you, I'll explain all of this shit to you and answer all of your questions later. And don't worry about me. I'm alright. I've survived worse - much worse. Now if it's okay with you I would want you to help me take the good shit off of these fuckers."
"Anything for you, my love."
As Yukki was about to put his damaged helmet back on, Yuri went over to him and gave his comrade an intact Team Wendy EXFIL helmet from one of the dead raiders, who somehow managed to make it to the second floor before he bled to death. He also gave him an intact replacement front plate he found on one of the dead USEC operators upstairs, who was wearing a Crye Precision CPC plate carrier. Yukki's plate carrier was a modified version of it. Meanwhile, Yuno was already taking the gear off of another guard's corpse.
"Keep that one as a souvenir. Put this one on - I took it from that fucker over there. He got up here sometime earlier to hide but he bled to death. And here's a replacement front plate for your plate carrier - I got it from one of the dead USEC goons near the fire exit upstairs."
"Thanks. Wait, There was another one? I thought there were only two of them."
"He was under the two goons you killed earlier. It looks like either the Dealmaker's men or that other Scav crew got him."
"Huh. I didn't notice him while I was taking those loons' guns and ammo. Did you get his shit too?"
"Yeah. He had a 5.56 MCX on him. I also found three full thirty-round magazines in his rig, and two more in his dump pouch. They were empty. Tony also took the stuff you didn't take from the first two dead guys."
"That's good."
Yukki then took his plate carrier off as Yuri went to take the gear from another dead Dealmaker guard close to where Yuno was. Meanwhile, Anton and Somali were busy checking out the other dead USEC operators near the southern fire exit. Apparently, Fence's boys didn't bother checking the other pockets on their rigs, and the pockets in their pants. They did empty the goons' backpacks, though. Then the remaining lights were turned on - they were turned off earlier before the BEAR team went after the Dealmaker's crew - and Spartan came back upstairs with Goblin in tow, the latter wanting to see the young woman his comrades found.
"Are you sure that's her? She looks different."
"Of course she would look different. It's been fifteen years, she should have grown at least a bit by now."
"Yeah, but didn't he say she killed herself? With a knife to the guts?"
"I know. Let's go ask him."
Yuno was just about to go to the shower room to stash the loot she got from the dead guard when the lights turned on. She then saw two more armed men looking at her while talking to each other. They then began walking towards her, forcing her to run to where Yukki was and hide behind him while she still had the guns and gear she looted in her arms. He had just put his tactical rig back on, having replaced the damaged front plate with the one Yuri gave him. Goblin and Spartan arrived just as Yukki finished putting his skull balaclava back on.
"What is it now? Oh, it's just Goblin and Spartan. What's up?"
"We need to talk, Snowman."
"About what? About Yuno?"
"Yes, we need to talk about that little girlfriend of yours over there."
Girlfriend, huh? I'm pretty sure our relationship ended when she literally died in my fucking arms, which means we'll have to start over from scratch. But at the same time I really want to pick up where we left off and continue our relationship from there. Damn it.
"We need to know what's going on with her as soon as possible, so we can immediately think of how to engage with her, as well as how she will help us with our shit. Also, you know this shithole isn't really a good place for women to be in, and she will atttact plenty of unwanted attention unless we do something about it."
Yuno put her gear down to the floor and wrapped her arms around Yukki once more while he continued talking to his homies. While she didn't understand any Russian, she could tell from everyone's glances and body language that they were all talking about her. She could also sense that Yukki's guys weren't really too keen on trusting her. She could also feel that her beloved was doing his best to convince his homies to trust her and let her join them despite all of her issues and all of the shit she put him through.
"Don't worry about them, Yuno. I got you."
"Yukki..."
Anton then joined the conversation, seeing as he was Yukki's team leader. The latter removed the mount for his GoPro from the damaged helmet he had taken off and put it on the new one Yuri gave him, paying attention to the conversation all the while. As he put the new helmet on, he continued to convince his comrades that having Yuno join them on their mission would be worth the trouble.
"Alright, she can go with us for now. But if we end up in deep shit or get too many eyes on us because of her, it's gonna be on your ass, Snowman. Do you understand?"
"Yes, I do."
"Good."
The two operators went back down. Somali stayed behind as he was still busy taking gear off of the dead. Yukki then took the opportunity to take a closer look at Yuno. With the lights now back on, he could clearly see how much her appearance and figure had changed - and how much they stayed the same.
Long story short, she had aged like fine wine.
At the same time, the young woman then took a look at her man. He looked like one of those big, scary men with guns ripped from some of the movies, shows and video games she read about, his comrades even more so. The skull balaclava only added to the intimidation factor. But at the same time she knew that behind it was a well-aged, absolutely handsome face, albeit one pockmarked by scars.
"So what did you and your guys talk about?"
"They just wanted to make sure that you wouldn't cause us any problems. And I wanted to make sure that they would be fine with having you here with me."
"Okay. Thank you for standing up for me."
The young woman could make out a vague smile behind the operator's skull mask as he patted her head in response. He then motioned for her to carry on with the looting as he began putting his stuff back inside his backpack. After that, he went to the dead Dealmaker guard near the northern fire exit to begin taking his stuff off of his corpse. As he took the .366TKM VPO-209 carbine off of the dead man's left hand, he had a hard time believing what just happened.
To think that I would really be reunited with Yuno after fifteen painful years... And after one of the biggest fights I've been in so far too... Am I dreaming? Am I dead? What the fuck am I thinking? Shit, things are moving so fast I can barely keep up.
He wasn't the only one thinking that, as Somali asked Anton about it right after they were finished looting.
"So are we just going to let his not-dead-after-all childhood sweetheart come with us? Just like that?"
"Nah, it's only a temporary arrangement. We'd still have to talk it out in more detail back at the hideout."
"Oh, okay. I'm really glad Snowman gets to be with his first love again, but something about her makes me feel uneasy."
"Yeah. It's probably the whole borderline psychotic stalker business he always talks about."
"I guess that's it, then. Ah, shit."
Guess we'll have to work with another psycho again, huh? I just hope this doesn't end up like fucking Homs again.
As Somali tried to get thoughts of an operation in Syria many years ago out of his head, Yukki had just finished taking the gear off of the Dealmaker guard he was working on. While he was going to the kitchen to try and see if he could fit any of the loot in his bag, he thought it would be a good idea to check on Yuno inside the shower room - she went there immediately after he told her to continue with the looting, presumably to stash what she already had taken. He then found her sitting near the pile of guns and gear that she had stashed inside, her eyes closed and her hands on her knees as if she was meditating. Apparently, she decided it would be a good time to take a break and try to make sense of the situation.
Meditation, huh? Didn't know you were the type of person to do that shit. Ah, whatever.
He put the loot on the pile before sitting down in front of his childhood sweetheart. It didn't take long for him to start falling asleep. He then ended up with his head in between her legs, jolting her back into consciousness.
"Aaaah! Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, just a bit tired from all this shit. I haven't slept since last night. I had to prepare for the shit that went down earlier. And then there's the date today."
He then showed her the date on his water-resistant digital watch.
"It's the 28th of July today... 2021? Wait, does this mean the Survival Game ended fifteen years ago?"
"Exactly."
After a few more minutes of awkward silence occasionally broken by talk about what happened to each other, the childhood friends decided to go back outside to continue looting. However, all the corpses on the second floor had already been looted by the time they got out of the shower room, and that Anton was waiting for them. Yuri and Somali were covering both fire exits. As he was about to ask his comrade where the loot was, Yukki then noticed that Yuno had been barefoot this whole time, and for some reason he felt that she was wearing nothing underneath her black robe.
"Say, where did you guys stash the loot?"
"They're in the kitchen, across from our bags."
"Got it."
"What do you need from them?"
"She needs new clothes."
"Oh. I took the clothes off of the dead USECs and the raider over there, but I'm sure that they would be too big for her. Don't worry about damage - I'm calling Ragman up for that. Also, Goblin got a call from Fence's boys - they just drove the Dealmaker's men off, but they took a few more casualties this time. They're on their way here as we speak."
"Roger that. Come on, let's go."
The operator then grabbed the young woman's arm and went to the kitchen. He then pointed out the clothes among the pile of guns, bags and gear his comrades stashed across the room to her as he checked inside his bag for spare BEAR insignia.
"Pick anything you like. I'll just look for extra BEAR patches in my bag."
"Okay."
After a short while, the grizzled BEAR had found a few spare patches inside his bag's front pocket, while his first love had picked out some clothes from the loot pile. Before he took her into a nearby room, he pulled out his smartphone - a jailbroken iPhone X inside a prototype armored casing - out of his rig and took a photo of the loot.
Good morning, motherfuckers. We just took out a big name thug and wiped out his goons. The Tarkov grind feels blessed today. #Ghanima420
"What was that all about? And what did you just pull out of your vest? Is that what a camera looks like these days, or is that more of a phone? And where's your blue one?"
"Save the questions for later. You still have to try some clothes on."
Once they got inside, the BEAR operator locked the door, then checked it and the doorway for any holes or gaps someone might peek into. After lowering the curtains, Yukki then turned on the lights and turned away from Yuno after telling her to start changing clothes.
"Come on, it's not like you haven't seen me naked already."
"That was a decade and a half ago. And we both know what went down after that. And besides, I don't know if I can stay focused on my job here once I get a glimpse of your gorgeous body."
"So, do you want to see how gorgeous my body is now?"
"No. At least not now."
The young woman could only pout as her attempt to show her mature figure off to her childhood sweetheart failed. She then took off her once-divine robe. After that, she took the blue camouflage trousers taken from one of the Dealmaker's dead guards and put it on. And then she took a gray USEC shirt from the clothes she picked out of the loot pile. As she put it on, she found out that the clothes she had taken so far were a bit too big for her, just like what her man's comrade told him. At the same time they were big enough to conceal her curves. She then grabbed a dark green tactical jacket from the clothes on the bed and put it on, noticing that the shoulder patches were very different from those on the jacket worn by the operator accompanying her.
"Okay, Yukki, you can turn around now."
The BEAR obliged, and eyed her new look.
"Well, I think the jacket looks good on you, even if it's a few sizes too big. You might want to change those pants, though. And you better put some shoes on afterwards. Did you take the boots from the pile, too?"
"Yeah, I think."
She quickly took the blue camouflage trousers off, and swapped it for a pair of olive green tactical pants with multiple cargo pockets and built-in knee pads which also came from the pile. It was a little smaller than the previous pair, but it was somehow more comfortable. She then put on the tactical boots she found in the loot pile. She ended up having to tuck the trousers into the boots, with a little adjustment to ensure that the kneepads would be aligned with where her knees were.
"So, what do you think?"
"You look really good in that shit. Hell, you've always looked good no matter what you wore."
And you look better without anything on. Ah, damnit, what the fuck am I thinking?!
"Really?"
"Yep. Now let's go, we still have to get you geared up."
"What about the other clothes? I still haven't tried them on."
The operator took his childhood friend's robe, tied the hood shut, and put the other clothes inside. He then tied the skirt end shut in a way that would turn the robe into an improvised bag. After he gave it to her to hold, he then began making last-minute fixes to her jacket and pants, before replacing the patches on her jacket with the BEAR patches he had on him.
"Alright, let's go."
Yukki opened the door, looked around and then walked out of the room, his AK-105 in his right hand, and Yuno's right hand on his left. A mixture of thoughts were dancing in his head as he took his first love to the shower room, where she stashed the guns and gear she had looted.
After fifteen fucking years, I get to hold her hand again. I wish we weren't in this fucking shithole though.
"Yukki, what's wrong? It looks as if something's troubling you."
"It's nothing. Don't worry about it."
"I sure hope you're right..."
As the childhood sweethearts were about to enter the shower room, Anton stopped them. He then told them that Fence's men had just arrived, and they would want to inspect the loot and determine how it would be split.
"Also, now that I think about it, that girlfriend of yours should probably hide for a bit."
"So she isn't going outside the shower room until Fence's boys have left?"
"Yes. Don't make too much noise if you're going in there with her. I'll let you know if they're looking for you.""
"Got it."
"What is it, Yukki?"
He motioned for her to shut up as the two went back inside the shower room. Upon reaching the loot pile inside, the operator motioned for her to lower her voice.
"So, what was it?"
"A group of local scavengers who helped us with our job earlier came here to check the loot out and see how we were going to split it.
"Oh. Do we have to hand these over, too? And what job did they help you with?"
"No, I don't think so. We took down a criminal kingpin who was holed up in here and wiped out his goons. The locals took out some of the goons, but they had to break off just as we were about to take the kingpin down. They had to intercept another group of his goons who were on their way to bail him out. I'll explain the details later."
Yuno then took a rig from the pile - which turned out to be a flora digital ANA Tactical M2 plate carrier with various pouches on it - and had Yukki check the plates before putting it on her. He had a troubled look in his eyes as he tried to make it fit her body.
"What's the problem, love?"
"Your uh, body. Specifically, the plate carrier's design doesn't really play well with women's bodies. Even more so when the wearer is as well-endowed as you are now."
"So, is it going to squish my breasts? Or otherwise cause me discomfort?"
"Basically. If we tried to loosen it up to accommodate your rack, the plate might not be able to properly protect you. And then there's the fact that breasts move around."
"Oh. I get it now."
"So, are you going to continue wearing that, or do you want me to take it off?"
"I'll keep it on for now. I literally killed myself twice for you, remember? A little discomfort around the chest is nothing as long as I'm with you, Yukki."
"That's why I love you, you crazy fucking bitch."
"I love you too, Yukki."
Yuno took Yukki's remark as a compliment, even if it was indeed somewhat demeaning towards her, who had gone through as much shit as he did.
I'm crazy? I'm insane? How could I keep my sanity intact when we live in a world full of uncaring lunatics that just won't let us be happy together?!
The operator then pulled out an extra GSSh-01 tactical headset from his rig and put it on the young woman, making sure that it had a fresh battery inserted, and that it comfortably fit her head. He then took the helmet his first love looted earlier - an intact olive green 6B47 helmet - and put it on her, making adjustments to the straps to ensure a comfortable fit.
"So, how does it feel? Can you hear me?"
"It feels a little heavy, but it's nothing I can't handle. And I can hear you loud and clear, Yukki, but everything else sounds weird."
"I'll take care of that later."
He then took the AKS-74 she had taken earlier, and scoured the rigs for compatible magazines. As he was about to brief his childhood sweetheart on the background and operation of the rifle, a bunch of shots rang outside.
"What was that?!"
"Keep your voice down, Yuno. We can't afford to have anyone outside the group discover you right now."
Goblin immediately went on the radio to clarify the situation.
"Stand down, I say again, stand down - one of our Scav friends just went outside to see if our gift to him worked."
"Copy that."
Yukki then carried on with his brief lecture, but not before Yuno asked him about the gunshots moments earlier.
"What did he say, Yukki?"
"He said that one of the local scavengers who helped us earlier apparently test-fired a rifle our guys downstairs gave him."
"Oh. That one scared me."
The operator wasted no time explaining to the young woman how the rifle in his hands worked, which included having to disassemble and reassemble the rifle. He then moved on to his sidearm, making sure that it was unloaded beforehand. Anton knocked on the door while Yukki was in the process of disassembling the weapon. He immediately reassembled his sidearm before reloading and reholstering it.
"What is it this time? Where are you going, Yukki?"
"It looks like the locals want to talk to me for a bit. Don't worry, I'll be back as soon as possible."
"Okay, take your time."
She was very reluctant to let him go and face the locals, but at the same time she knew he had to do some important business with the locals. The operator then went outside to meet with the Scavs and show the loot off to them. One of the Scavs then noticed sonething off about him.
"Is it just me, or do I smell the faint scent of a woman on you?"
"It's just your imagination. And I can smell the thirst for pussy on you."
"Ahahaha! Good one! Where's the loot at, holmes?"
"In the kitchen. Come on, let's go."
After a few minutes of showing off and joking around with Fence's men, Yukki decided to go back to the shower room to check on Yuno. Joker and Pennywise from Goblin's team took over for him and escoted the Scavs, who decided to check out the loot inside the two-story building. While the locals were interested in what they had taken from the dead USEC goons and raiders, they decided that the loot inside the two-story building - where the Dealmaker and some of his men met their end - might be more to their liking. The rain had by then become a little drizzle.
He also learned that Hammer and Rabbit were both injured and had to retreat to their hideout somewhere in the tunnels underneath the region.
"How did it go, my love?"
"Well, they didn't take any of the stuff from here. They thought that the stuff in the other building would be more up their alley. And I got to laugh with them for a bit."
Yukki had fun with some locals? Oh, how I wish I was there to see him smile and hear him laugh...
"That's nice, I guess."
"Yeah, it's really nice."
Soon enough, Fence's men had left the three-story building and were on their way to the two-story one. Somali had to go downstairs to help in covering his guys. Anton then told Yukki to get upstairs and cover the group from above. As they were talking, Yuri was running back and forth locking the fire exits.
"What about Yuno?"
"Take her with you, but make sure nobody sees or hears her."
"Got it."
Yukki immediately went over to where Yuno was. He found her playing around with the AKS-74, as if she was trying to get a feel for the weapon. He noticed that the rifle was unloaded, and she made sure to not have the muzzle pointed at her face. She also had her trigger finger on the trigger guard. When he approached her, she almost dropped the rifle to the ground, but she caught it just in time. She then rocked a full magazine into place, but she didn't pull the charging handle back just yet. He then took the rifle, put the fire selector to the full-auto position, and racked the charging handle.
"Do you have extra magazines for that in your rig?"
"I do, around three full ones."
"Good. Come with me."
"Where are we going, Yukki?"
"Upstairs. We're covering the guys from above. Let's go."
The young woman then followed the operator out of the shower room. As she continued towards the stairs she could feel the stares of the other two BEARs on the floor pierce her. Her first love then turned towards her and held her hand for a bit, as if to reassure her that it would be fine.
"Yukki..."
He then let go of her to switch to his HK417 battle rifle. Out of habit he tried to tell her through hand signals to stay quiet and stay out of sight, but she couldn't understand what his free hand was doing.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Quiet down and stay low."
"Oh, okay."
The operator was contemplating teaching her basic hand signals when the two arrived at the third floor observation deck. He positioned himself exactly where he was earlier, while the young woman was nearby covering his rear. He was having a hard time trying to focus on his overwatch position as he kept switching his gaze between his sector and his beloved childhood friend, who looked scared, anxious, nervous and confused at the same time. He wanted to close the gap between the two of them to somehow ease her worries, but at the same time some lucky asshole with a grenade might be able to knock them both out due to the reduced spacing.
Then, as he went back to covering the two-story building, he spotted a dozen armed individuals without any visible identifying patches or marks on them moving down the highway. As he shifted his aim towards the group of newcomers, one of them turned towards where he was and aimed his M4A1 carbine.
All hell broke loose once the intruder fired on Yukki.
"CONTACT!"