Series: Deadly Daughter||Title: Cast a Reflection
Characters: Asuka, Selena, Ruri||Ship: Asuka x Selena/Selena x Asuka
Chapters: 5-10||Words: 500||Total: 2,500
Genre: Angst, Friendship||Rated: PG
Prompt: Arc-V Angst Week Day #4, Separation
Notes: This takes place in the same universe as my earlier fic Good-bye. For those who haven't read that, then the Professor chose to use Selena to find the other bracelet girls, and Asuka is her partner/girlfriend (much as Yuuri and Dennis work together in canon, only deeper).
Summary: To find one's target means going deep undeercover, concealing one's allegiance, and witnessing horrors undreamed of first hand. Asuka never suspected to find a friend with the face of her beloved, let alone have to choose between the truth of her life and truths she's just begun to learn.
Asuka kept the screams of horror and rage behind her lips. She plastered a tiny – and extremely painful – smile on her lips as Rio picked up the little girl and turned towards her.
"This is Iris – our baby sister. Iris, this is Tenjoin Asuka. We met while I was outside."
Iris turned large eyes toward her and Asuka widened her smile a fraction, hoping it didn't look as horrid as she feared. Now wasn't a time for smiling. She didn't know what the time was, only that locating Kurosaki Ruri remained her first and most important goal.
I can't let the Professor have her. Not now, not ever. She'd considered that before but it hadn't ever sunk into her bones the way that it did now. Whatever he wanted, it couldn't happen.
But she didn't dare ask about Ruri, not when she supposedly didn't know anyone. Being a spy meant not ever telling everything you knew or didn't know. It also meant concealing what you thought or felt – about everything.
So she kept smiling and followed them through the camp, listening to them catch up. Apparently they had an older brother – Ryouga – who ran this resistance. Having someone barely old enough to have graduated high school in charge surprised Asuka. Even the Commander of the XYZ invasion force graduated first – as well as being the most elite of the elite. These people hadn't had anything like that.
Find Ruri, she reminded herself. Nothing else matters. She couldn't ask about Ruri directly but there were other ways.
"Is this everyone that's left?" There had to be more of them. She couldn't see the whole camp but just from the information that Fusion had, these couldn't be the only survivors.
Rio shifted Iris to her other arm. "No. We don't know where they all are. We try not to stay in touch too much. It's better that way."
Asuka nodded. Most of the Fusion soldiers weren't interesting in taking prisoners but she knew there were exceptions. If anyone were captured who could spill the resistance's secrets, it could be a disaster for all of them.
She hefted the blankets in her arms. "Where can I put these? They're getting heavy." Which wasn't a lie. She'd carried them a long way and having to manuver through the shattered city hadn't made it any easier.
"This way. I'll introduce you to Ryouga, too."
Asuka followed, her gaze quietly flickering over the people she passed as she did. None of them were Ruri. All of them were quiet, wrapped in blankets and bandages, with varying levels of pain and fear written clear in their features. Most of them didn't look at her as she passed. One or two came up and asked for a blanket, clearly not having any of their own. At Rio's nod she passed out a few.
By the time they arrived at Ryouga's tent, she didn't have anymore and the thought of the bed she'd left behind hurt more than ever.
To Be Continued
Notes: I could write fics upon fics with the Resistance and how they manage. It's almost as fertile fic fodder as Dark World!