"Heeeey! Get back here!"

"No! Itchy and coarse!"

Shio blasted a hole through her room moment ago and fled the Den. I gave chase at once, but she dashed away the moment she saw me.

I pursued Shio who now ran through Outer Ghetto sector E. She was considerably faster than me. I could keep up just because her curiosity. She would slow down occasionally, examining mundane thing like market, people, or normal food, only to resumed her sprint once she realized I gained on her.

Dark alleyways, stinky backstreet, or even stomach churning drain didn't stop her. She kept rushing forward, to Anti-Aragami wall. Shio stopped at the base, gazing tall black wall before her. She raised her hands and stabbed it into the wall.

"Shit... Licca gonna kill me for this."

I followed her, carefully grabbing holes she created. One set of holes was bad enough. Two? That would be the end of me. Shio already leaped when I reached the top. I helplessly watched her silhouette shrunk from the edge of Anti-Aragami wall. I could match her speed in narrow alley filled with distraction, but definitely not on open ground like that.

"Doc? Shio is on the run. She's heading to Temple Area... I think."

[Can you catch her?]

"No can do. She's faster than me. I'll try to track her."

[I see. Keep me updated.]

I jumped, landed hundred meters below in small crater. Shio had vanished but her scent lingered. A race against the clock. In enclosed room scent remained for extended period, but not in open field like this, wind could sweep it away in no time.

Shio's scent led me to the border of snowy pine forest in Temple Area. Pine fragrance in this place masked her scent, effectively prevented me from tracking her.

I would've lost her if not for her footprints that clearly visible among snowy grasses. Something about her footprints bothering me, but I can't quite put my fingers on.

'Hmm... these footprints...'

'You notice it too? Something is amiss, but I can't remember it.'

'Yes, this is the same footprints I found right after I recovered from our starvation.'

'It can't be! That means... Shio was the one who saved Lindow!'

'She also with us when we lost control. Her footprints surrounded us when I regained consciousness.'

'I don't know if I should praise her for her bravery, or scolding her stupidity. Approaching me when I'm starving is a good way to die.'

'Yet she survived.'

'She got lucky, that's all.'

Cold snow followed me in my stride as I slipped past dense forest, following her footsteps. She was close, I could sense her presence around Tranquil Temple. Soon, I would find out his fate, and that made me anxious. I knew I should steel myself and prepared my mind, for I would very likely met his grave instead, yet a tiny piece of my mind foolishly hoped for his survival.

Shio presence grew stronger, I could pinpoint her location the moment I entered Tranquil Temple. She was hiding in ruined temple, north side of Tranquil Temple. Fortunately, all Aragami in Temple Area fled, including Sariel, the only large Aragami around this place. I strolled across Tranquil Temple unhindered and soon reached ruined temple.

"Shio? Come out now, I know you're here."

"Not here."

"Yes you're here." I chuckled. My hands pressed hard on rotten creaky altar, cautiously climbing it. I took a peek behind damaged statue's back, and found the object of my affection.

Shio fruitlessly hid on other side of the statue. Her hard white hair poking out of it. A clueless child indeed, she didn't realize her hair standing out, nor the fact I could sense her from far away.

I brushed half-melted snow from her hair and ruffled it. "Don't run away like this, we are worried about you."

"No, I don't want it, itchy and coarse." Shio shook her head.

"You're a hopeless child, you know that? If you don't like it, just say so, we won't force it on you."

My legs dangled on altar edge, kicking air aimlessly. As usual, Shio glued to my left arm, resting her soft-yet-hard hair on my shoulder.

"Shio? When the first time we met?"

"Um... Uh... on your hungry day..."

"Hungry day? So you did come when I was starving. Why did you do that?" I stared right into her eyes.

"Um... Because... you are hungry, so hungry, and that made me feel scratchy." Shio tilted her head.

I tugged her into my embrace, cuddling and spoiling her. "Thank you, but please, don't do that again."

"I did something bad..." Shio frowned.

"No! You did a good job." I reflexively shouted.

"Then... why don't do that?"

"It's dangerous. I'm not really sane back then, I could easily... kill you." A shiver ran through my spine. The very thought of killing her alone was chilling me to the Core. I crossed my arms in front of her, pulling her deeper. "Hm... Have you met Lindow?"

"Lin... dow?" Shio stared quizzically.

"Yep, big man with black messy hair wearing brown coat. I think you met him in City of Mercy."

Her eyes widen and glowed with speck of recognition. "Yeah!"

"Great! Can you bring me to him?"

Two opposing feelings clashed with every step we took. Relief and dread. Shio guided me, passing dense pine trees, crawling through thick bushes, jumping across crags, and crossing frozen river, until we reached far end of pine forest.

A remote place, isolated from the rest of Temple area, so remote that not even a single Aragami inhabit this place. No wonder I couldn't find him, this place was right off the map. We walked along small frozen river, a bit further to the south, and eventually, we reached our destination.

A small wooden cabin between pine trees.

Dread and relief from earlier returned two-fold. Right now I wanted to flee, escaping the harsh truth that I would find his body in there. But I couldn't forgive myself if I did that.

Rusty hinges creaked, then snapped. I put too much effort and ended up opening the weathered door permanently. Musty air welcomed our arrival. My hands clenched, I took a deep breath, calming myself for traumatizing sight that about to haunted me forever. Step by step, I braced myself and peeked into the cabin.

Nothing.

Nothing but normal old dark cabin. Degraded furniture, dusty floor, cobweb filled corners. To my relief and grief, Lindow wasn't here. No sign of his body nor his grave, but at the same time no sign of him either. The more I ventured into this cabin the more I believed he wasn't here.

"Huuuugh... That's weird..." Shio dashed around, pushing furniture and examining every corner, looking for something.

"Nobody is here, are you sure this is the right place?"

"Yeah! That's weird... where... Oh!" Shio picked a piece of cloth from corner and showed it to me.

I held it in my hand, analyzing it. A piece of rough... brown rag? I wasn't sure about its color, my sight tinted in bluish hue from night vision. I opened my palm and shot a questioning gaze at Shio. "What's wrong with this?"

Shio promptly pushed it to my face, urging me to... sniff it? I did as she asked and recoiled out of surprise.

A faint but undoubtedly Lindow's scent. However, his scent mixed with foreign scent. Whatever bit of relief I had vanished, leaving only growing sense of dread. I knew this foreign scent, it was Aragami scent. Human and Aragami scent mixed together, that could only mean one thing... Infection.

'Please tell me there's a way to stay sane after infection?' My desperate voice sounded like plea instead of questions.

'No, I don't think so. Your case is special.'

My world shattered. I'd steeled my mind, readying myself for the fact that he died. He died. In the worst way possible. My legs buckled. I slumped down, shakily holding scrap of coat closer to my chest. Two little pale arms wrapped me, comforting me, and I found myself burrowed into her chest, seeking refuge from cold reality in my hand.

A hum. A soft hum echoed in empty cabin. It wasn't even a hum, just random tone bunched together, yet it soothe my pain. Shio stroked my head and held me closer, humming in my ears. Pathetic, I should be the one that protecting her, not the other way around.

How long I was huddling her? Minutes? Hours? Concept of time flew out of the window while I sought comfort from her. I left the lonely cabin with Lindow's last memento, a piece of his tattered coat.

Couple of hours, our little trip ate couple of hours at very least. The sun had long gone, replaced with countless glittering star on the dark sky. I sat beside Shio on temple altar, snacking piece of Cocoon Maiden I found on our way back. Dr. Sakaki told me first unit had already on their way and would reach us in a matter of minutes.

One... two... three... I heard three people landed from nearby chopper. Yeah, they were here.

We stood on temple roof, watching them fight their way to ruined temple. They fought a herd of Ogretails and Sariel that fled from me. After quick consideration, I chose to stay. Odds were against me. If I joined them that Sariel would fly, running away in terror, effectively sent their efforts down the drain. And I absolutely didn't want another bird hunt, or butterfly hunt in this case. Thus, I decided to butt in only if they were losing this fight, which probably wouldn't happen.

"Help them?" Shio created her signature white blade and squirmed in place, ready to jumped in anytime.

"No." I shook my head. "We will cause unnecessary distraction for them. Besides, they're nearly done. Look."

Herd of Ogretails now lay on the snow, battered and dead. Some suffered multiple cuts, others riddled with bullet holes. Sariel from before also fare no better. Its stubby legs armor broke apart, its skirt like waist torn to shred, and half of its crown gone. With such heavy wound, it wouldn't be surprising if that giant butterfly drop dead immediately.

I left Shio behind and hid in the corner of ruined temple yard, waiting for Soma that surely drawn to our presence. My hunch was right, my ears registered distinct heavy footsteps coming at me, too heavy for either my sister or lousy yellow capped boy. Certain grumpy man appeared from nearby stairs and approached me.

"Yo grumpy. You surely took your sweet time, huh?"

"Shut up! Where is she?"

"In there." I grinned and jabbed my thumb at ruined temple behind me.

Soma still act all tough and barked at me, but his tone didn't hold hostility or even edge, only plain loud yell. He did soften up to us, or at least to me and Shio. I reached ruined temple and sensed Shio, she hid behind broken statue.

"Are you in here, Shio?" Soma asked rhetorically.

"Nope! Not in here!"

I chuckled. Yeah, a clueless child at heart.

"All right, playtime's over. We have to go back to the Den."

"I don't wanna wear the scratchy thing..." Shio spoke behind statue.

"Heh... still an Aragami, just moving on instinct."

That was my chance to retreat. I crawled back, slowly and steadily, allowing some privacy between them and sat silently on temple corner.

"S-Soma?" Shio peeked. "Are you still mad at me? You were... You were really mad before..."

"Yeah... It wasn't you. Okay?"

"Soma, be honest. I did something that's bad, didn't I? Mm... I don't wanna be scratchy to Soma... I did something wrong... didn't I?"

"Listen to you. Come so far... If I could only live for a minute like you... Forget myself and forget all of this for even just a minute... Heh... I probably like it too much."

"Soma? Do you taste good? I don't know if you do..." Shio stared innocently at him.

"Hehe... Well, okay. I guess there's only one way to find that out, isn't there?" Soma chuckled.

My jaw dropped. Soma laughed?! That giant antisocial ice block actually laughed?! This went better than I expected. Our destructive 'debate' began to show beneficial result.

"She was right. We're alike. Simply by virtue of only three of us in the world." Soma admitted.

"So we are the same!"

"Only because we're stuck and lost..."

"Then let's go find ourselves!" Shio raised her fist.

"Come on with that..."

I caught a glimpse of his blush. My brain stopped working, trying to figure out whether this was real or not. I slapped my cheek. No pain nor throb, yep, definitely a dream.

'What are you doing?'

'Nothing but a dream. Nothing but a dream Nothing but a dream.'

'Idiot. Forget about dreaming, we can't even sleep in the first place.'

'Nothing but a dream. Nothing but a dream Nothing but a dream.'

'Stupid host.'

"Shiiiiiooo! Come on out, Shio!"

Nothing but a dream. Nothing but- huh

Kota's voice broke my trance. Shio and Soma stood at temple entrance, waiting for others to catch up with them. I moved closer, standing beside Soma.

"Finally snapped out of it?" Soma glanced me.

"Huh? Oh? I had a very strange dream... Nahh it shouldn't be possible. I was dreaming about you being lovey-dovey with Shio, laughing, and blushing. A strange dream, no?"

I heard a muffled 'gah' like sound from his chest. Soma robotically turned his head forward and tucked his head deeper into his hood. A bead of sweat trailed down from his forehead into his shirt. Soma was nervous? Why? Unless... No way...

"THAT WAS REAL?!" I exclaimed.

"Not. A. Word!" Soma roughly grabbed my shoulder and glared. Mix of annoyance embarrassment written in his face.

"You got it boss." I grinned mischievously. Sureee, not a word, only a bit of resonance with my sister perhaps.

"Damn you." Soma let my shoulders go and resumed his stance, calmly watching entryway, as if our conversation never exist. "You know what, Shio? It's a vaccination to them... but those guys? They have to inject themselves with Aragami cells, just to have the hope of surviving..."

"Yeah, and turned into Aragami along the way." I added.

"That's not-"

"Don't bother it. I've accepted this body. I still hate the one who did this though." I shrugged. "Anyway, let's go home, they must be worried about us."

We regrouped with my sister and Kota, then we called for transport. A twinge of jealousy stuck in my mind, Shio clung to Soma instead of me. I knew it wasn't right, so I dislodged that feeling out of my head.

We arrived and parted ways. Soma and Kota returned to their own quarter while my sister, Shio, and I returned to my room in Dr. Sakaki's office. My sister went straight to bathroom after we entered my room, washing her bloodstained body and uniform. I sat on sofa, nibbling a chunk of Fallen Chi-You wing while pondering over recent event. I shouldn't eat Shio's food but I had one knapsack full of it, a bite or two wouldn't hurt.

This whole mess happened because Alisa and Sakuya decided it was a bright idea to disregard my warning and dress Shio up. Shio ran away, unwilling to wear 'scratchy thing' as she said, and took refugee in Temple Area. That means everything stemmed from Shio's hate toward clothing. Was there any way to solve it? Non scratchy dress perhaps?

"Hungry... I'm hungry..." Shio whined pitifully. She looked at Chi-You wing in my hand with her wide, begging eyes.

"Eeh? Don't give me that stare... Sorry, sorry." I snatched part of Fallen Chi-You leg from my knapsack.

"Thank you!" Shio gratefully took it and began eating. Her whine changed into chirp with single chunk of food, how simple.

Bathroom door opened. My sister finished her bath and now sat on the bed, drying her hair. I grabbed Shio's hand, pulling her into the bathroom.

Warm water and steam flooded my bathroom. One hand plunged into bathtub, testing its temperature. It was warm... or was it hot? I could no longer measure temperature. Well, didn't matter to us.

"Bath!"

"Nono don't!"

Too late. Shio giggled and dived right to the tub. I wiped bubbly water on my face and looked at my uniform. Soaked and sticky, from warm water and from mud. Annoyance seeped in. Shio must learn self-restraint, she jumped each time we took her for a bath. Better yet, learn to take a bath alone.

"Don't do that. It's not the proper way to take a bath."

"I... Um... I did bad..." Her cheerful grin vaporized, leaving only small frown on her face. "I... Uh... I..."

"I'm sorry. That's what you say if you make a mistake."

"I... I'm sorry."

"It's alright, I forgive you. Just don't do that again, okay?"

"Okay!" She chirped.

Shio hummed as I dried her hair. She liked humming it seems, even though it just haphazard string of tunes.

We returned to my room, back to our mundane activity, reading maintenance manual and scribbling doodles. Shio deeply absorbed in it, sometimes she stopped and tapped her finger on chin, thinking for the next lines and dots.

A painting, not doodles. Shio drawn a painting about Soma and I. A messy painting, but still a painting nonetheless. She dropped her crayon and lifted her messy painting, proudly showing it to me.

"Good job." I patted her head.

"Yeah!"

Morning arrived, my sister aroused from her slumber, yawning loudly and stretching her limbs. She rubbed her eyes before greeted me and Shio.

"Morning sis, Shio."

"Yep, morning."

"Mor...ning?" Shio tilted her head.

"Yeah, that's a greeting. Anyway, wash yourself, I'll make some breakfast in the meantime." I spoke to my sister.

She went to the bathroom and I went to the kitchen, that what I planned. She did go to bathroom, but I stopped in the middle of my track, someone knocks my door.

Soma, there was no mistaking it. He smelled like normal God Eater but gave off Aragami'ish presence, obviously from his P73. I opened my door and greeted the grumpy man.

"Morning grumpy, come on in."

He shoved a bag full of... canned drinks? at my face and sat on sofa.

"Morning Soma... Um... is that right?" Shio mumbled.

"That's right, good job." I gave her a thumb up. "And what the hell is this?" I lifted his plastic bag.

"Canned drinks. What do you think it is?"

"I know that! Why do you give me this?"

"It's a gift, obviously." Soma turned his head, looking at Shio who now looking at him.

"Oh okay, thanks... WHAAAT?!" I exclaimed. That grumpy man gave me a present? THE HELL?!

I ran to his side and tugged his hood.

"What are you doing?" Soma sounded a bit irritated.

I examined every details of his face. His whitish blond hair, his blue eyes, his cheek, his jawline. No sign of injury or whatsoever.

"Back off!" Soma barked in annoyance. He pushed me away.

"Are you okay Soma? Did you hit your head or something?"

"I'm leaving." Soma stood up and began to walk.

"Heeey, I'm just kidding... Sorry, sorry!" I dragged him back to sofa.

My room got many visitors lately. Sometimes Kota, Alisa, and Sakuya came to visit Shio, teaching her about daily conversation and manners. Now certain grumpy man joined the list.

I dug through plastic bag, taking it out one by one. Canned coffee, canned juice, canned tea, and strange pink can that I never saw it before.

"Hm? What's this?" I examined unknown drink closely. It had 'First Love Juice' printed on its side.

"Oh, First Love Juice. Dr. Sakaki made that bizarre drink." My sister explained.

"Bizarre?"

"Yes, it tastes like copper... No, more like metal. Why don't you try it out?"

"Let's see..." Can lid opened with loud pop and delicious juice-like smell leaked from it. Too bad, I couldn't taste normal food. "Alright, this is it."

I almost spat it out of surprise. It wasn't bland, in fact, it was good. Heck, it even better than common Aragami like Ogretails. I drank the rest of it and tossed it away.

"Wow, that stuff is good."

"Eh?" My sister took a can and drank it. Her expression turned sour and her lips twitched. "Urghh... I'm going to bathroom." She put her can on table and sprinted to bathroom, brushing her mouth.

"Hm... Tasty..."

I turned around and found Shio crawled to table edge, taking First Love Juice my sister left behind and sniffing it. She carefully licked it and held the juice in her mouth. Another lick, then sip, then she greedily drank it, down to the last drop.

"It taste good..." Shio smiled and wiped her mouth. She reached for another unopened can and drank it.

"Um... I... huh...?" Shio stared at sealed can lid quizzically.

"You must open it first, here, I'll show you." I held her finger and placed it on can lever. A pop later her eyes glittered with satisfaction and she began sipping it.

"Thank you..."

"Nothing special." Soma tossed his empty First Love Juice can to nearby trash bin. He turned his music player on and listened to his headphones.

"What... that?" Shio mesmerized by Soma's headphones. She crawled closer, drawn by its melody.

"What do you want?" Soma eyed Aragami girl who slowly crept to him.

"That..." Shio pointed at his headphones.

"Not happening. Go away."

Shio really good at getting what she wanted. After series of whining, begging, and asking, Soma relented, allowing her to listen to his headphones. I chuckled at them. My prediction few days ago was correct. Shio pried his sealed heart and brought his true self bit by bit.

Shio spent her morning listened to his headphones, humming and singing along with the melody. Skidding on carpet, dancing on wooden floor, and danced on tiles. Soma had given up on his headphones, leaving it hanging on Shio's head.

Afternoon greeted us in form of certain scientist stood on doorway.

"Good afternoon, meet me in my office, I have an important announcement. Although, I don't expect to see you here." Dr. Sakaki looked at Soma.

"Shut up."

Shio, My sister, Soma, and I moved to Dr. Sakaki's office and sat on the couch, waiting for his announcement. He scanned us one by one, writing on his note, and back to his computer, typing down something.

"Spit it out old man, I don't have all day." Soma impatiently spoke.

"I will announce it once all member of first unit present. In the meantime I have question for you Rena. I have finished scanning Bias Factor in samples you brought to me week ago. Two of it have identical Bias Factor with you, can you explain it?"

Cat out of the bag, huh? Didn't matter to me. "Yep, it's part of my Aragami form, my wrist blade and booster pack."

Dr. Sakaki's eyes narrowed even further. He scrutinized me for a while. "And you never say anything about it."

"Well, you never ask it in the first place. It's my turn to ask. What's up with this First Love Juice?"

"It is pinnacle of my creation. After spending countless hours in my la-"

"Shut it doc, just tell me the ingredients." I interrupted him.

"Deactivated Oracle Cells." Dr. Sakaki ominously replied.

"As I thought..." I grumbled. Yeah, it makes sense now, it explained perfectly why it tasted good to me and Shio.

"WHAAT?! Isn't that dangerous? Why did you do that?" My sister yelled.

"Not at all. I found a method to disable Oracle Cells. Not in large quantity, but enough to be used as ingredients. As for why... You know all God Eaters have Oracle Cells in their body, yes?"

"Wait... Are you saying that is kind of energy drink for us?"

"Indeed. Oracle Cells in your body will devour those disabled Oracle Cells, gaining energy and stabilize themselves as result. That drink will re-energize you and delaying your Bias injection." Dr. Sakaki explained.

"But what about other people? It will be disastrous if they drink it too."

"No, it is completely inactive Oracle Cells, incapable to spread out or devour other cells. Normal people can't digest this and will be harmlessly flushed out of their system."

"It tastes like copper..." My sister mumbled.

"That is something beyond me. I've tried using artificial flavors and natural additives, and it still has its metallic taste."

"Pardon our intrusion." Alisa entered Dr. Sakaki's office, followed by Kota and Sakuya.

"Ah, perfect timing. Now all of you have gathered, I'll make announcement. We found the Aragami that killed Lindow." Dr. Sakaki gave us a paper contained its picture.

My eyes widen as I recognized that Aragami. "This Aragami!" I shouted.

"Correct. We name it Dyaus Pita. Another Vajra variant and close relative to Prithvi Mata. Like Vajra, it utilize electricity as its weapon."

"How do you know this Aragami is the culprit?"

"We decoded Bias Factor in samples you brought to us week ago and recalibrate our radar according to it. We pick up a brief signal coming from its body..."

"That signal is Lindow's Armlet..." I nodded. I understood the source of Lindow's infection now. He fought a Prithvi Mata and won, only to be ambushed by Dyaus Pita. He fought and managed to drive it away at cost of his arm or armlet, thus suffered infection. Then, Shio found and took him to remote place in Temple Area. He left that cabin after regained consciousness or... succumbed to infection.

"Where is it? Where is this Aragami?" Sakuya eagerly.

"I don't know. We haven't done with decoding its Bias Factor. Once we finished with it, we can track it down immediately. It should take no more than three days." Dr. Sakaki explained.

Finally, a chance for vengeance. Soon, I would face it once again.

'Rei? Can I beat this Dyaus Pita?'

'That black Aragami from before? I don't know. You are stronger than before, so does that Aragami. I can calculate our chance once we meet it.'