Chapter 22: Snipers and instant ramen...

Raphiel adjusted her earmuffs for the fifth time, fiddling with it so that it would conform better around her ears. It had become a mild source of irritation to the sniper, due to the way sweat would build up between her skin and the padding, causing it to be hot and humid. She was used to wearing slimmer, electronic earmuffs.

Against her better judgement, she had been laying prone for approximately eight hours, pulling the trigger on any soldier she saw through her scope. Bathroom breaks were a thing, but was infrequent. No food or water going in, and nothing would come out.

She was, as Gabriel said, 'wired', a state of complete focus and concentration, despite the earmuffs. Rin, her spotter, mentioned that it looked like Raphiel's rifle was a part of her. She would essentially point to the person she wanted dead, and that would be that. She never missed, an incredible skill which let her be known as one of the most deadliest snipers in the JSDF.

"...fire," Rin said casually. She was also wearing the heavy earmuffs. Although hers fit her ears quite snuggly.

Raphiel racked the bolt of her DXL-3 sniper rifle and a brass casing flew into a nearby box, filled to the brim with empty casings. Each of them would represent a kill, although it seemed as if Ares had more men than she had bullets at this rate.

"Hold tight. I'm gonna get more ammo," Rin notified, standing up. Raphiel gave a small hum in acknowledgement.

Rin yawned and felt her body beg her to fall asleep, but she admired Raphiel too much to give in. From day one when she was assigned to the feared sniper as her spotter, she had trouble being of use. She remembered that she would frequently miss enemies, miss callouts, provide wrong measurements, despite her lengthy training period. She was simply too nervous when she was around her for her brain to function as normal.

Luckily, Raphiel wasn't as scary as she thought as she quickly forgave her and moved past it, so that she could not only be a good spotter, but be a friend to her. And it looks like it had worked so far.

Rin returned with two boxes of ammo and set them down between where she and Raphiel were laying.

"Armor piercing," Rin chirped, as Raphiel lifted up her hearing protection from her left ear. "For the guy behind the wall, next to the bin."

Raphiel quickly loaded a single cartridge into the rifle and fired, and Rin saw pink mist appear behind said wall.

"How many more rounds do we have?," Raphiel asked quietly, still looking through her scope.

"This is the last of them. 50 armour-piercing and 50 regular," Rin replied.

Raphiel gave a quick glance at her kouhai who was loading magazines.

"Rin-chan...you should sleep. I've got this," Raphiel encouraged. Instantly, Rin shot up in attention, a bit embarrassed that her senpai saw her yawning.

"Nuh uh!," Rin exclaimed, shaking her head. "Gotta stay, gotta help Shiraha-san!"

Raphiel smiled. "Okay then. I'm going to bed then. Goodnight!~"

"Wha...f-for real?"

Raphiel let her head slide away from the cheek rest of the rifle and used her hands as a makeshift pillow. Considering she had spent an all-nighter stationary in the same position, it gave her great relief when she closed her eyes and felt her shoulder begin to loosen up.

She giggled internally, hearing Rin sputter and also sigh in relief, and opened her eyes to see her nod off. She quickly came to her senses however, when she heard another loud gunshot.

"Shiraha-san...!," Rin moaned, returning back to her spotter scope. "Geez...stop playing around..."

"So-rry! You just look like you could use some sleep, that's all!"

"Come on. We have to keep an eye out."

Rin scanned the urban landscape left to right, for any signs of movement. Ares had taken over the beach and were now fighting for control of the area in front of them, which confused both Raphiel and the JSDF, but they fought regardless.

Apart from the roar of the bullets Raphiel would send down range, (and the screams that could be heard far off in the distance) it was a relatively quiet night. She never realized how quiet things could get without the use of electricity.

And cold.

The pair turned around at the sound of boots clanging up metal stairs, and two men who looked like they had been through hell and back stumbled in, one holding a sniper rifle and the other a box of ammunition.

"Shift's over ladies. You two ready to go?"

Raphiel heard the bones in her upper torso crack and creak as she slowly stood up to finish her shift, all the while the other sniper was apologizing for being late, saying something about a dog of some sorts biting him in the leg.

"It's no problem. Really." Raphiel slung the rifle over her shoulder and turned to Rin, who was clumsily packing her gear into her bag. "Come on. We should get something to eat."

"Ro-ger that Shiraha-san...," she tiredly sang back.

They slowly descended down the building, letting the clang of their boots on metal stairs be the only sound between them. Comfortable with each other's presence, it was almost as if they understood what each other was saying, just by the way either one of them moved. Rin could tell by Raphiel's slightly increased rate of hand movements and head twitches that all she wanted to do was lay down in bed and pick up where she left off in her manga, despite her all-nighter. Rin assumed the gunshots kept her up at night anyway.

Or maybe she was imagining things. Most likely she was.

A frigid gust of wind rushed past them as they jumped off the final step, causing Rin to cross her arms and huddle closer to Raphiel.

They walked side by side in silence, Raphiel stopping every once in a while to reset the flame on her lighter. It reminded them of when they would walk back home from school. When they could feel the afternoon sunset gently caressing their skin, and when they could stop by the convenience store to get ice-cream.

But it seemed as if what kept them going was the people they had left: Gabriel, Vignette, Satania, and new faces from across the world who have come to Japan to defeat an evil empire. Although she did definitely miss the pre-war luxuries she took for granted.

She stopped and looked to her right. They had walked away from the taller buildings now, and it seemed as if they were standing where university students and mothers with strollers would frequently pass by. While the concrete was cracked, the place was relatively flat and there were small ruined cafes and shops lining the pathways. There was also the remains of a fountain in the middle.

Raphiel blinked her eyes and yawned.

With a sense of nostalgia tucked under her arm, she slowly stumbled in its direction, looking around as if she were a tourist. Rin said nothing and followed.

There was a clear path for them to walk along, broken baby strollers and rental bikes strewn about here and there. Raphiel smiled when she saw Rin busily walk past with her phone up to her ear, pretending like she was in a casual phone call. She then climbed up the stairs, looking down at her very-dead smartphone, her thumbs tapping away on the cracked screen.

"Who are you chatting with Rin?," Raphiel giggled.

"I'm...sorry, do I know you? Look, I'm late for class, go away," Rin shot back with a hint of teenage angst.

"Yes actually. I'm...your lecturer. You know, in sniper school. Didn't you realize?"

Rin tucked her phone in her pocket and covered her plastic of her gas mask with her hand, like she was in shock.

"O-oh!?," she sputtered, trying to hold back her laugh. "I'm really sorry 'ma'am'! Well it seems like we're late for class, wouldn't you say?"

She entered the university which was at the top of the stairs, with Raphiel following behind. Although she was half-zombified at this point, she did appreciate a bit of role-play to lighten up the ever present depressing nature of their situation.

"Spacious...," Raphiel muttered to herself as she looked around.

The two of them spent half an hour idly wandering around the university building. Rin would give a bombastic presentation at the front of the lecture hall as Raphiel sat at the very back.

"...and that is why 50 cal is the best calibre!," Rin bellowed, her voice reverberating throughout the hall. "Furthermore, the evidence concludes that-"

"Huh?! Can you speak up for the people at the back please?!," Raphiel requested with her hands cupped around her mouth.

"I said..and that is why Shirahara-san has bad taste in men!"

"Booo! I want my money back!"

"No refunds!"

Eventually, the two of them ended up in the cafeteria. Raphiel was looking over the city from the window as Rin foraged around in the kitchen. She could still somehow manage to find time to appreciate the little things as she sat there, idly cleaning her rifle.

"I'm thankful for...my eyes. Can't see without those. I like eyes. Ermm...I'm thankful for...my manga. Really good. I'm thankful for..."

"Rin! You're thankful for Rin!"

Rin came galloping towards Raphiel with her arms behind her back, like she was a golden retriever who had fetched something cool. The angel smiled.

"Yes. I'm very thankful for my wonderful kouhai, Ren."

"E-Ehh? But...my name's..."

She trailed off in a mock-show of sadness and Raphiel got her shot of amusement. Rin perked right back up and let out a signature smug smile.

"Anyway! Because I'm such a wonderful kouhai, I grant thee...!"

Rin revealed what was behind her back, and extended a perfectly preserved cup of instant ramen, standing tall and proud on both of her hands. "Ta-daaa!"

"Rin! My my my, what a wonderful kouhai you really are!," Raphiel gasped, clapping her hands and pouring praise and affection onto the girl. "I must be dreaming!"

Raphiel quickly started a small campfire, using some old newspapers as kindling and a pot in the kitchen to boil some water. She did her best to contain her excitement by watching how Rin would bounce up and down in anticipation-

"Huh...," Raphiel thought, slightly tilting her head to look at Rin. She was completely motionless. "I would have imagined she would be a bit more excited?"

It felt natural to Raphiel, when she gently tore the plastic wrapping off the ramen cup, opened up the lid halfway, poured the little bag of flavouring in and poured the boiling water into the cup. The sound and smell reminded her of her days spending time with Gabriel, staying up past four am to go on risky dungeon raids, fuelled on nothing but energy drinks and this stuff.

Instant. Ramen.

The two looked at the cup of noodles for a while. They had to wait 2-3 minutes for the noodles to soften up, as per the instructions. Anticipation built up.

"What's wrong Rin?," Raphiel asked quietly. "You're not excited about ramen?"

"Of course I am senpai. I'm...more than excited," she muttered.

Raphiel gently held Rin's hands. "You can have more. No, as your senpai, I order you to eat more! You worked hard, and you found it!"

Rin simply nodded, and fixed her glare on the cup.

After the 3 minutes, Raphiel peeled back the lid, letting the droplets of hot water fall from the top of the lid, and the steam rose from the cup. After however many years of MRE's and canned food, instant ramen smelt ten times more delicious. Raphiel never recalled it smelling this delectable when she guzzled it down without a second thought back in Gabriel's gamer days.

"After you-"

"No. You first," Rin said. "You first."

Raphiel picked up the chopsticks, clasped her hands together and slurped a small mouthful of noodles, followed by a sip of the stock. An audible sigh of relief escaped her mouth as she passed the cup over to her kouhai.

Her eyes were still closed, like she was trying to recall better days, when she heard Rin's voice.

"What are you thinking about?," Rin asked with a mouthful of noodles.

"Hmm...I don't really know. It's just...good."

Rin stayed silent, and watched Raphiel with a completely blank stare.

"I...we should appreciate these moments. You know. All the blood and the killing and the shooting. It gets to us all sometimes," Raphiel whispered.

Rin passed the cup over to Raphiel, who savoured the feeling of warm noodle broth passing against her tongue and warming her up. She wished that Gabriel was here. She could make so many jokes and inside references with her. But this was equally just as good.

"I guess I'm just not cut out for this line of work huh...," Raphiel muttered.

"...you are pretty good at it."

"I know it sounds bad but...I only chose sniping because I thought I would get away from the action. I only chose it because of the lack of choices. They needed snipers so...here I am."

"With me, enjoying a delicious cup of instant ramen...," Rin added. "Oh, and I brought booze-"

"You what now?"

"Gotcha."

Raphiel murmured something and passed the cup over to Rin. She didn't eat or drink, instead choosing to fixate her gaze on Raphiel.

"Well...I enjoyed the time we had together. I enjoyed the hardships we went through, didn't you?," Rin asked quietly.

"Yes. It was indeed very fun~!"

"Hm."

Rin looked out the window. "Yeah, I think I've had my share of killing. Too much for me."

"Rin, where would you like to go? Who do you want to be?," Raphiel asked, resting her chin on the table. "That answer last time felt pretty fake, to be honest."

"Ha...erm...yeah. It was a lie," Rin awkwardly said. "I didn't want to answer that..."

"No more fake answers."

There was a long moment of silence between them. Raphiel's eyes were wide awake at this point, staring up at the brunette who was looking out the window. The soup was getting cold, but Raphiel was too busy going through the list of all the possible answers Rin could give.

Rin slowly turned to meet Raphiel in the eyes.

"You...want the truth?"

Raphiel nodded.

"Well...I...I just want to feel 'whole' again, if you get what I mean. Raph, I lost so many people...my parents, my siblings, my friends...I'm sure you understand."

"O-Of course," Raphiel responded, her face darkening.

"Honestly, I have to spend every day telling myself why I shouldn't just...leave."

The angel leaned over the table and grasped Rin's hands even tighter. "Don't. Please."

Rin looked up at Raphiel, who was on the verge of crying. "Don't worry. I'm not. Not yet, anyway."

Raphiel stayed motionless too, hanging on every word that escaped Rin's mouth.

"But...there's a company...ah...I forgot the name. Ibuna? Iburia? They can do that. It's like nothing you've ever seen."

"Iburia...d-don't they work under the Ares corporation?," Raphiel asked nervously.

"Eh...probably."

"Rin...stay away from the corpos. They can't...give you anything. They're dangerous."

"It works. Come with me, I'll show you what I mean."

Raphiel stood up, her mouth wide open in shock, all the while Rin sat there calmly drinking the rest of the soup. Her whole notion of who she thought her spotter was came crumbling down before her.

"F...Fuck. You."

"Raphiel...I...like you. I can help you, just...come with me!"

"You've been sold a fucking lie, bullshit chemicals in your brain Rin! I know you've lost a lot but...but no...your parents wouldn't want you living like that."

Rin stood up as well, her eyes wavering a little bit, before returning back to her cold stare.

"...I'm not lying when I said I liked you Shira...Raphiel. I really did."

"L-Liked?" Raphiel felt her right hand instinctively move towards her handgun.

Rin smiled. "Like you said, it's only chemicals in your brain right? I don't care how I get it. They can make me feel alive again."

"W-W-What about the times when you laughed? When you fucking cried and I was right there next to you?! When I cried and you were next to me?!," Raphiel yelled. Her voice echoed across the empty cafeteria.

"Who the fuck have you lost Raphiel?! Huh?! NOONE! NO! FUCKING! ONE!"

Raphiel walked around in circles with her hands on her head, struggling to not let the tears fall from her eyes. She muttered incoherent nothings to herself.

"This can't be happening...this can't be happening...fucking...fuck...fuck!"

"I'm sorry Raphiel. I'm only telling you this because I have to kill you."

"W-Why don't you just kill yourself then?! If you can't bear existence anymore, then just kill yourself Rin!," Raphiel screamed.

"I want my revenge. Why do I lose everything but other people don't? It's not fair. I'm going to curse the maker of this goddamn universe."

Raphiel couldn't move. She had frozen up after hearing those words escape Rin's mouth. It was so uncanny, the way her voice growled with resentment and bitterness. It was unlike anything Raphiel had ever heard before.

The two stared at each other, one with fear and another with quiet fury. It was too little time for Raphiel's mind to reframe all her past memories with the spotter.

The times Rin laughed seemed genuine enough, especially for a girl who had been through a lot. Was that...fake? No, it couldn't be. Those were real. She felt joy in those moments. Like any other soldier who had lived through the war. She cried, kept journals, drew pictures, shot her rifle...

Raphiel fell to her knees and wept.

"...I'm...I'm...sorry...I'M FUCKING SORRY, IS THAT WHAT YOU WANTED TO HEAR?!," she screeched.

Rin picked up Raphiel's rifle that was propped up against the wall, and loaded a round into the chamber.

"Dear God...please...oh...Gabriel...Vignette...Satania...I love you all...I never got to tell you...," Raphiel thought with clenched teeth.

"I'm going to kill Gabriel. Vignette. And Satania," Rin whispered, pointing the rifle at Raphiel's head. "No...not Gabriel. She'll know what it feels like. To lose everyone. To not know why she's the only one left."

Raphiel mourned the loss of her loved ones, her voice echoing for the last time, as Rin pulled the trigger.

AN: Hello, definitely not dead fic. Yes, I'm doing fine, university break will happen soon!