|Izunako|

Sylandria glanced across the table at me while we ate our morning meal. "What?" I asked her quickly.

"Nothing." She wasn't looking at me.

"What do you want?" I asked again.

She sighed. "We have to go group with the other recruits." She paused for a second. "We could be chosen at random, or we could choose our groups. I want to be partners with you."

I froze for a second. This was unexpected. "You do? You told Commander Dragoon that you didn't."

"That was before I realized that we needed to stick together. Something's after us, and if we don't stick together, we're dead. And I found out something as well." She held up her hand and let light dance around it. I held up mine and shadows flowed like water around mine.

"You're Purity… and I'm Corruption…" I shook my head. "Holy Flame and Shadow Inferno. We can't be together or we'll kill each other in the process of everything."

She shook her head. "I don't care. I just want to be your friend. We have to get going soon, so make up your mind."

I thought hard. If we train together, one of us could kill the other with our powers. If we get together in a relationship, it'll hurt to be touched or have sex… But I remember what Remi told me about relationships. "It doesn't matter if it hurts, it only matters if you love them." I made up my mind. "I will be your partner." Sylandria laughed and took my hand.

"Let's go join the other recruits before we get yelled at."

We went and did exactly that, but we were a few minutes late. Our instructor was a middle-aged, scarred man. He seemed to take a "special interest" in Sylandria. Basically, he tried to touch her, she broke his arm, and I shattered some ribs by smashing him against the wall with the shadows. That drained me of my energy and I had to let Sylandria carry me back to my room and stay there. It was worth it on two accounts. One, we made a demonstration of our strength, so some of the even weaker and inexperienced recruits were scared of us. The compound was extremely cold, but she kept me warm. I could see that she was shivering constantly and I tried to focus enough heat to warm her, but all I managed was small warmth in my hand. She smiled, and pulled me closer. Commander Dragoon walked up to us and stared us down. We froze. Then she smiled broadly. "Heard you broke the instructor. Nice job, you two."

Sylandria blushed and looked angry.

"He was trying to molest me, the fucking pervert." She put me down and rent the air with flames. "He deserved that and even more!"

Commander Dragoon laughed and said, "I guess he did. But next time just kill them."

I unsheathed the broadsword. "It would be my pleasure to end a life."

"Well then, your wish will be granted in about a year." The Commander said this with a smile.

Me and Sylandria walked back to my room where there were boxes. "Um… Sylandria?" I looked to her, who was opening the boxes.

"I'm moving in with you. Don't ask why. It's because my roommate and her boyfriend fuck every single night. It's annoying. It's disgusting. But, you can't injure or kill other members in the MDF."

"So we're going to live together now?" I was nervous.

"Yep. This is our life now that we're partners." She said all of this without looking back at me. She stood up straight for a second and said, "I need to show you something." I was going to question her, but she began to take off her uniform. She was fully nude in front of me except for a pair of panties and some covering wrapped around her breasts. She grabbed my hand and traced the deep scars on her body. The gash across her chest, the stab wound between her shoulders. "Let's see yours."

My face turned red. I tore off my shirt and Sylandria traced the stab wound in my side, the long scar across my own chest. She let her fingers linger on the scar on my jaw. "You want to know how I got this, don't you?" Sylandria nodded quietly. "Remember the Breakout of 2367?" Another nod. "Me and a really close friend, Callie, were still out when this happened. So, it was my job to protect her. One of the convicts almost managed to kill her. But I blocked them. She's alive. We will never forget that day."

"...I'll tell you how I got mine. I didn't really have any friends or anyone to take care of me. So I fought for my life in the arenas. I survived because I was the hunter. Then the MDF offered me a position here… and I had to accept. And then I met you… someone who could be a friend, maybe even a lover." She placed a hand on my chest and looked up into my eyes. "So… which will it be? Friends or lovers?" Her voice was quiet, something unusual for her general strength.

"We should be close friends for now. Don't rush things, tsundere."

She smiled warmly and hugged me. Suddenly, I didn't feel the cold that bit at our bodies. All I felt was her. Her soft, squishy chest. Her gentle hands caressing my neck. Our bodies pressed together felt like something unreal.

|Sylandria|

The commander walked in on us, with Koru trailing behind her and holding Ashley. My face went red immediately and I weakly pushed away but Izunako pulled me closer. "Yes?" he said coldly.

The Commander had a confused and aroused look on her face. "Some thing I walked in on… Koru will be teaching you how to take care of a dragonmander." Koru placed Ashley on his chest. "Have fun you two…" the Commander said, teasing us. I wanted to lash out and cut her in half.

"HAAAAAGH. WHAT THE ACTUAL FLYING-" Izunako covered my mouth with his hand.

"Stop that. Look outside." We looked outside and saw something amazing. Meteor storm. The ground shuddered as one landed nearby. "Pretty amazing, isn't it?"

Koru spoke up. I didn't even know she was here. "It's nice to spend time with you two." I turned to look at her, and she smiled. "Call me Koru-chan." Her ears twitched. "Izunako…"

"SYLANDRIA! GET BEHIND ME!" I complied, and he picked up a large sheet of metal and held it in front of us. There was a meteorite heading for the compound. "I hope this place has regenerating walls." The meteorite hit the wall and crashed through. It hit the sheet of metal and launched us back into the wall where his entire ribcage was shattered. He passed out soon later. I followed him. I woke up a few hours later and saw that Ashley was curled up and sleeping on my legs. Remi walked over to me and let me drink some burning clear liquid. "Vodka. Should numb the pain a bit." I realized that my limbs ached and burned from the meteor strike.

"What about Izunako? Is he okay?" Remi froze for a second. She helped me up while I took Ashley and put her on my arm. I limped heavily on one leg, but Remi helped me walk over to Izunako's unconscious body. He breathed painlessly and did not seem to be injured. "He's… alive… and he saved my life…" I wanted to cry. He almost died saving me. I shook him gently and he slowly came back to life and sat up. He looked at me and held up a finger. "What-"

He twisted his body and made his spine let out a sickening craaack. "Hell yeah! Back in business!" I shuddered. "What's up with you?"

"...You should take a few days off." My voice was extremely quiet.

"Nooooo… it's only been a few weeks. Anyways, I'm not injured or anything. If anyone should take a few days off, it should be you." He got to his feet, sharp in his uniform. "We need to go eat." We started to walk, but we realized that I limped and was extremely slow. He picked me up and said, "I'll carry you."

Remi ran out of the Infirmary and said to him, "Sylandria didn't really save your life. It was your own regeneration. Bye." She disappeared.

I spoke up. "I might not have saved you, but you saved me. You must really care about me."

"Yeah." He sounded embarrassed. "I guess I do." I kissed his cheek and he went red in the face.