Author's Note: Thanks to all my readers and reviewers, especially those of you who were kind enough to answer my request for more info on Resonance (distributes cookies to barroowii2, rydia3791, Xen Kenshin and BlueAbyssHax). Also, I'm glad you guys loved Hibari's POV section! I felt it was a little sad how she still didn't have her God Arc in God Eater 2, so I'm determined to give her a little of the spotlight in my fic. Now, on with the chapter!
A thump jerks her out of her sleep, and when nothing but darkness greets her eyes Alisa thinks for a moment that she imagined the sound or it was something from a dream that has now slipped through her fingers. However, what follows in the noise's wake is the stifled sound of a male voice cursing under his breath, confirming that the sound that woke her is real.
"Who's there?" she calls out as she sits up and tries to make out her midnight visitor even as she waits for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. Just as she begins to make out a silhouette crouched at her bedside, though, the figure reaches out and switches on the lamp next to her bed, and the resulting flood of light makes her wince and blink as her eyes adjust to the sudden brightness.
The sight that greets her both surprises her and yet doesn't at the same time, for it is none other than a rather sheepish-looking Yuu staring apologetically back at her, half-crouched and clutching his left foot with both hands. "It's just me," he offers awkwardly, releasing his foot to hold his hands up in a gesture of surrender. "Sorry I woke you up." Alisa opens her mouth to dismiss his apology and ask why he's sneaking around her room so late at night-
Then she finally notices the bandages.
"Боже мой," she breathes, shock and worry crowding out her other thoughts and emotions. "What happened to you?" A piece of gauze, half-hidden by his fringe, covers the right side of his forehead and bandages cover the base of his neck, indicating more injuries under his shirt which is further confirmed by the rather stiff way he's holding himself. The small logical voice in the back of her head is telling her that the injuries do not look severe, but it is drowned out by her growing panic and the knowledge that he had not stopped by to visit her earlier today - or yesterday, depending on what exactly the time is right now.
"Ah, these. Right," he chuckles nervously as he waves his hands in what she assumes is intended to be a placating manner. "I was hoping you wouldn't notice," he continues. "It's not as bad as it looks, really. Plus, you know, superior God Eater healing abilities at work. Nothing to worry about."
"Nothing to-" she sputters incredulously as her voice rises in volume unintentionally, "I'll be the judge of that-" "Hey hey," he cuts her off in a panicked manner, "not so loud!" "-and as you're going to be explaining what caused those injuries you can tell me why you're skulking around here in the dark while you're at it!" she finishes in a hiss, having lowered her voice back down.
Yuu lets out a resigned sigh. "Okay, okay, I'll talk," he mumbles in resignation as he straightens up and pulls his usual chair closer to her bed before collapsing into it. "But you have to promise you won't yell or react loudly to anything I say." Alisa frowns; it's not an unreasonable request, but the fact that he has to make it in the first place means that she's most likely not going to like what he has to say. Nevertheless, she nods and waits for him to start talking.
"Well, where to start?" he mutters, scratching the back of his head. "Let's see... ah right, I'm sorry I didn't visit yesterday. We got an alert in the morning that a large Aragami had been sighted near the base so we were deployed immediately." That explains a lot. "It's fine," she waves off his apology. "Which Aragami?"
The boy gives her a pained grin. "Borg Camlann." At that, she blinks and takes a few seconds to respond. "I thought those were rare sightings in the Far East, even on the furthest edge of the outskirts," she comments, eliciting a chuckle out of him. "Guess we got really lucky then. It was detected in a section of the Infernal Subway, so our best guess is that it must've travelled through the tunnels and ended up near our doorstep that way. Have you seen pictures of it?"
"No," she admits, "I've only read the general information." As far as large Aragami were concerned, she'd only truly focused on 'that' one; every other species had been offered nothing more than a passing look-through. "Well, the whole 'scorpion-like Aragami with a stinger and shield' description really doesn't capture the whole picture," he complains with a grimace. "They clearly left out the whole centaur-ish look, not to mention how ridiculously frustrating its stupid tail attack is. You'll get what I mean if we ever have to hunt one in the future."
That gets a raised eyebrow. "Am I supposed to look forward to that?" she asks dubiously, and he has the nerve to grin cheekily in response. "Misery loves company and all that, you know," he offers. "Besides, you can consider it a bonding experience between fellow unit members that will improve our teamwork."
"Ha ha, very funny."
"I thought so."
"Continue your story or I'm kicking you and your defective sarcasm detector out of my room and going back to sleep."
"It's not really your ro- hey hey, put that book down; I didn't lend it to you so you could throw it at me. Where was I? Oh right, so of course Kota, Soma and I were the ones sent out but we had one slot open since Tsubaki forced Sakuya to take some down time-"
"You've seen Sakuya?" Alisa blurts out, aware one second too late that she's drastically changed the rather positive mood that had been present until she'd opened her mouth. The weary smile Yuu offers her indicates he's noticed the same thing. "You know, you make it really difficult for someone who's trying to keep your mind off the bad stuff to do his job properly," he remarks.
"I'm sorry," she mumbles, feeling embarrassed, but all Yuu does is shake his head. "I knew you'd ask eventually," he admits ruefully, "and to answer your question, yes. I went to check up on her after the Borg Camlann mission and..." He hesitates, throwing her a cautious look before he resumes talking. "I spoke to her about... your situation... and told her a little of your past. I hope that's alright with you. Oh, and she said she'll visit you sometime soon."
She expected this somewhat, but it still comes as a surprise. "I-I see," she murmurs in a subdued manner. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-" he starts, but she cuts him off with a shake of her head. "No, it's fine. I'm... Thank you, I guess," she whispers. The ensuing silence hangs heavy over them for a while until she decides to end it herself. "I did promise to throw you out if you didn't tell me more about your mission."
Her feeble threat startles him and for a moment all he does is stare at her before nodding - whether to her or himself she can't tell - and smiling faintly. "Right. We wouldn't want that," he acknowledges. "So... ah right, one slot open. Guess who ended up joining us."
She frowns; it's a rather unfair question since she doesn't know that many of the other God Eaters outside of their own unit, so she hazards a guess. "Tatsumi?"
"I wish it had been," he sighs mournfully. "It was Kanon."
Oh.
"So... how much of that-" she gestures towards his injuries, "-is the Borg Camlann's work and how much of it is hers?"
"Well, she is a medic, so she healed some of the wounds I got during the battle."
"...That's... not exactly comforting."
Yuu shrugs, which turns out to be the wrong thing to do if his wince is any indication. "I'm just going to focus on being glad I'm still alive and in one piece, if you don't mind. But we're getting ahead of ourselves. So we arrive at the Infernal Subway which is freakishly hot as ever thanks to all that lava and start looking for the Aragami. You'd think something that large would be easy to find, but I swear it took us something like five to ten minutes just locating it. What made it worse was we kept running into Blaze-type Fallen Cocoon Maidens. Not tough to beat, but time-consuming all the same, and let me tell you from personal experience: it's not easy to go into melee range against an opponent that's already trying to turn you into a pin-cushion when someone's radial and mortar rounds keep blowing up the ground around it, if you catch my drift."
Alisa shakes her head in disbelief. "How does she still get sortied? Wouldn't everyone be terrified of her by now?"
"You'd be surprised to hear that some people actually like her style. Crazy, I know," Yuu interjects wryly before she can question these individuals' sanity herself. "Anyway, we finally find the Borg Camlann. Guess what we also found in the same area."
The answer is obvious. "A Blaze-type Fallen Cocoon Maiden."
"Make that two," he corrects her, indicating the number with his left hand to emphasise his point.
Well, that would've complicated the battle. "That can't have been pleasant," she murmurs.
"Not even close," he mutters tiredly. "There we are in a cramped tunnel half submerged in lava facing off against this Aragami so large it occupies something like three-quarters of the tunnel's width, and if it wasn't bad enough that we have to keep dodging and rolling every time it tries to skewer us with its stinger or does its stupid tail-spin attack - not to mention the charging at us and jumping all around - we had to make sure we didn't get a faceful of magma from those Fallen Cocoon Maidens or land near them and get a faceful of poisonous needles instead."
It shouldn't be the case, but for some reason his description creates a rather comical scene in her head and she has to bite her lip to stop herself from snickering. "You poor thing." Unfortunately for her, Yuu picks up on her barely-concealed amusement and scowls. "Now I know you're just saying it without meaning it. Some sympathy would be nice, you know; one of Kanon's stray shots swept me clean off my feet and into a pillar."
"That doesn't sound too bad, considering everything else," she notes neutrally with the hopes that he's forgiven her for making light of his suffering. His scowl doesn't go away, however. "A foot or so to the left or right and I would've landed in the lava."
That causes her to wince. "Okay, that is bad," she admits sincerely and is inwardly relieved when he stops scowling, indicating that he's accepted her indirect apology. Instead, his face takes on a rather thoughtful look. "Although there was that one time one of her stray shots knocked me down to the ground just as the Borg Camlann did its tail-spin attack which sailed just clear over my head," he muses.
"So you're saying her crazy firing saved your life," the girl states flatly; it's starting to feel like she doesn't need to suspend her disbelief so much as chuck it into the nearest black hole, never to see it again. That earns her a lopsided grin. "I was already going to dodge it, so... I suppose I should be glad it didn't launch me into the air to be hit in full force by the attack?" he offers bemusedly.
"It's nice to see you keep finding the silver lining when it comes to these situations," she answers blandly, eliciting another chuckle followed by a small wince from him that doesn't escape her notice. "Someone has to in this world of ours," the guy retorts good-naturedly. "As for the Borg Camlann, we managed to beat it in the end and come back in one piece - well, except maybe our clothes; I'm not sure about the others, but I know ordering a new set of clothes and my laundry bill this week is going to cost me a good chunk of my savings."
"Maybe it would help if you didn't insist on wearing that one outfit - not that I have any right to say that," she amends quickly, aware that Yuu had been about to call her out on her own self-imposed wardrobe limit based on his incredulous expression. Desperate to change the subject, she blurts out the first question that comes to mind. "So, um, what time did you get back from the mission?"
It's a really pathetic attempt and he shows he's aware of it by narrowing his eyes in a 'you're not getting away with this that easily' way but answers her question regardless. "Sometime in the afternoon. I went to check up on Sakuya immediately after. You were the next stop on the list."
"But you didn't visit me," she mumbles and is immediately ashamed of how... needy... she sounds even to her own ears. At her verbal slip, Yuu's countenance turns remorseful. "I'm really sorry," he apologises sincerely. "I was on my way down to the sick bay when I got called to the mission counter. It was an emergency situation and we were given orders to deploy again effective immediately."
Alarm bells go off in her head. "That makes no sense," Alisa argues. "You'd only just come back from such a large-scale mission, why would they-" Then it hits her. "You don't mean... another large Aragami?" He gives her a rueful nod, confirming her fears and her hunch as to why he's here in the sick bay with her. "A second Borg Camlann?" she hazards another guess, but this time he shakes his head. "Quadriga," he corrects her; the name rings a bell and she struggles to remember which one that is before vaguely recalling a fragment of the Aragami's profile.
"Something about having tank-like armour...?" she tries, only to be answered by a derisive snort. "Sure, it had 'tank-like armour'..." he sarcastically remarks, "only because it was a freaking tank on legs. Actually, scratch that - it was a munitions factory on legs that resembled tank treads with all the size and missiles to go with that description. To make things worse, it appeared in the Wailing Plains with a bunch of Fallen Ogretails so we once again had to dodge and roll all over the place while it was raining to avoid either getting blown up by the Quadriga's missiles, squished when it landed - you'd think something that huge would be slow but boy can that thing move, not to mention jump - or roasted by its earth-scorching technique and also avoid get chomped, pounced on or riddled with holes by a Fallen Ogretail."
He sounds positively and uncharacteristically miserable, so Alisa does her best to lighten the mood. "Well, you're not complaining about Kanon's misfiring so she didn't do it as much this mission, right?" she offers, but that hope is dashed by the morose look he throws her. "That was probably too optimistic..." she admits. "Is this why you're here in the sick bay?"
"Me and the rest of the team," he acknowledges, "but it's mostly just for observation. We only got back about an hour ago and Dr Anderson thought it was the safest thing to do considering we got thrown about and possibly poisoned. I don't think any of us noticed even if we were thanks to the adrenaline." Alisa recognises the doctor's name; after all, it is the same doctor who has been looking after her since... that day as Dr Oguruma is nowhere to be found - not that she wants to see him again anytime soon. Or ever.
Yuu's voice snaps her out of her reverie before she can think about that subject any further. "I'm supposed to be asleep, but Kota's snoring made that impossible so I thought I'd sneak in here and borrow... well, take back one of my books here. I didn't want to wake you up so I kept the lights off and... well, here we are," he finishes sheepishly, an expression which lasts only a moment before it is replaced by one of alertness. "Oh, that reminds me. I was going to drop this off when I came to visit you before they deployed us a second time and ended up taking it with me all the way out there and back," he mutters as he rummages through one of his pockets and pulls out a rectangular object. "Here," says, placing it in her open hands, "it's a small miracle it survived completely intact so I guess I used up all my usual luck on that."
It's a phone. For all intents and purposes it's an unremarkable gift, but she hadn't bothered to get one ever since her arrival at the Far East Branch and he must have noticed. "Thank you," she murmurs, grateful for both the item and the sentiment it represents, and he answers with a small smile. "It's no problem. I've already input my contact code into it so if there's anything you need-"
His sentence is cut short by the sound of the sick bay room's door hissing open, and they both turn to look at the entrance just as the lights are switched on. "Oh my, it looks like there's a patient who's not in his designated bed sleeping like he should be and waking up my other patients as well," the new arrival, who is none other than the good doctor they had just been talking about, states with a smile that does not match the dangerous aura surrounding her.
"D-Dr Anderson," Yuu stutters, visibly pale. "It's not what you- I mean- I didn't intend t- owowowowow," he yelps as the half-Japanese half-British physician grabs his left ear with her right hand and unceremoniously yanks him out of his chair. Still holding her prisoner, the doctor turns to Alisa, who feels herself shrink into her bed in an attempt to escape the wrath of the labcoat-dressed terror before her. "You should go back to sleep as well, Alisa," she advises warmly - although the warm advice sounds more like a decree that could cowl even Tsubaki - and the girl nods vigorously in compliance. The blue-haired doctor's reputation as an excellent doctor with a zero tolerance for disobedient patients was legendary, and the Russian had not fully believed it until now.
At the clear sign of her obedience, Dr Anderson's smile becomes a little warmer. "That's good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be escorting Yuu back to his room so he can get his rest as well," she finishes as she tugs her victim with her out of the room. "Isn't this a violation of your Hippocratic Oath?" the guy whines pitifully as they vanish out the door and the lights are switched off again, plunging the room back into near-complete darkness aside from her own bedside lamp which she switches off herself. Yuu's absence is clearly felt but the minutes pass and there is nothing else to do besides try to go back to sleep and maybe pray for his soul if he's failed to survive whatever punishment the doctor's inflicted on him.
Just as she is settling in, her new phone abruptly rings and she manages to answer it after she gets over the shock. "Hello?" she whispers even though there's only one person who could be calling her after all. "Hey," Yuu whispers back; there is the sound of someone snoring in the background - Kota, based on what he'd told her - but otherwise his voice is clear enough. "I didn't get the chance to wish you goodnight so I thought it was a good excuse to break in your new phone."
"That's a stupid excuse," she points out without malice and he seems to understand, based on his chuckle. Still, she would be lying if she said she didn't appreciate the gesture. "Goodnight then," she murmurs, hesitating for only a fraction of a second before voicing her half-question. "I'll see you in the morning?"
"Of course," he answers. "Goodnight, Alisa. Sleep well."
She does.
-xXx-
As promised, Yuu comes by after she's finished her breakfast, but they have barely started talking before none other than Sakuya walks into the room, effectively ending any conversation the two of them were about to have. "Oh... Sakuya..." she murmurs, suddenly bereft of words and courage as the woman strides in and stops at the foot of her bed. "W-What brings you here, may I ask?" she stutters, mentally preparing herself for a barrage of well-deserved accusations and insults.
However, Sakuya surprises her yet again. "Don't worry, I'm not here to blame you for anything," she states clearly, which only serves to confuse her. "Then..." the girl starts, unsure where this is going.
"I want you to tell me about it." The 1st Unit's second-in-command gets straight to the point. "About... that day, that moment... what happened to you. To be honest, I still can't accept what you did." Alisa winces at that. "But that's also precisely why I want to know what it is that's making me so uneasy. I heard about your past... I know that it's a hard thing that I'm asking you to do..." she trails off, as if she herself is unsure of how to handle the situation they are now in.
Lost and uncertain, Alisa turns to Yuu for guidance and he gives her an encouraging nod in response although he maintains his silence. Drawing courage from his presence, she turns back to Sakuya and forces herself to start speaking. "Did you know that I'm being treated regularly for mental health issues?" she asks, deciding to start from the beginning - or something close to it. "Yes, I know," Sakuya answers, quietly urging her to continue.
"After my parents were killed, I was mentally unstable and spent the next few years in the hospital. But then, one day, I was told that Fenrir had chosen me as a New-Type candidate. And so I was forcibly transferred from my own hospital to a Fenrir hospital." She's not sure how much Yuu told Sakuya, but it's better to tell her story herself. "You were...?" Sakuya murmurs, evidently shocked by this revelation, which is a little comforting.
"No, it's all right," she assures the woman. "The new doctor took such good care of me, and I thought that I'd have the chance to avenge my parents' deaths... After that, I was put on medication to keep my symptoms in check, and I studied the enemy... and how to fight. The new doctor I had at Fenrir was so kind to me all the time. He even had himself transferred to the Far East Branch with me when I left..." How naive she'd been, blinded by her thirst for vengeance to such an extent that she'd let herself become someone's puppet.
Sakuya speaks up again, ending that train of thought. "So this doctor is still here at the Den, right?" she asks carefully, as if there was another question she had meant to ask instead. "Yes," the girl confirms, "You all know him - it's Dr Oguruma." Although she had not seen him since she was admitted here, she has heard nothing of a possible transfer from the nurses or Dr Anderson, meaning the only logical conclusion is that he has not left. "I see," Sakuya breathes, more to herself than anything, before shaking her thoughts away. "I'm sorry, please go on."
"While continuing my mental health treatment, I searched for the Aragami who'd killed my parents; the doctor showed me which one it was." Or so she'd believed. "I heard that this Aragami had appeared in the Far East Branch area. I came here vowing to find it no matter what... And just when I finally found it..." she trails off; the headache comes back and she clutches her head both in pain and in shame. "I don't know how it happened!" she screams. "In that moment, in my mind-" the picture of a man she does not know stares back at her "-Lindow had become my enemy!"
She looks up at Sakuya then, tears blurring her vision. "Before I knew it, I was pointing my gun at him!" she sobs, unable to contain the grief that seems to always be lurking at the surface, ready to consume her. At her side, Yuu stiffens as if stopping himself from reaching for her - something she is grateful for yet disappointed about at the same time.
"I'm sorry I made you go through that," Sakuya states sincerely. "Thank you, Alisa. I'll come again," she promises, exchanging nods with Yuu before taking her leave. Silence reigns as her sobs quieten until she regains as much control of her emotions as possible before turning to the only other occupant left in the room. "What... should I do?" she asks brokenly, and in a gesture that is so typical of him Yuu merely smiles as he leans forward and grasps her hand. "Live," he answers simply as he nods.
The moment ends with the sound of the door hissing open again, but this time it is Dr Anderson who enters instead. "Good morning, you two. I see you're visiting her again at a more appropriate time, Yuu," the doctor greets them warmly, causing the guy to laugh nervously as he tugs his collar with his free hand. "Now, you-" she indicates him with a nod of her head, "-are free to go back to your own quarters, although it would be nice if you took better care of yourself and I didn't have to see you around here so often," she sighs. "I'll try Doc, but you might want to convince the Aragami to go easier on me at the same time," he jokes back, causing her to sigh in resignation.
"As for you," she continues, turning her attention to Alisa, "I'm keeping you here for one more day just to be sure that all the drugs are out of your system and your health is at a level that I find acceptable." Only one more day... that meant Sakuya would not be...
As if he had read her mind, Yuu squeezes her hand. "Don't worry, I'll let Sakuya know about this," he reassures her, and she offers him a soft "Thank you" in return. "By the way, Yuu," Dr Anderson addresses him once more, "Tsubaki wants the rest of your report now that you've received a clean bill of health from me." Yuu sighs as he gives Alisa's hand one final squeeze before letting go and getting up.
"Guess that's my cue to go back to my own room and tackle that paperwork," he mutters dejectedly; just as he is about to leave, however, he throws her another smile. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow," he says in lieu of a goodbye, acknowledging her answering nod with his own before exiting the room.
"Alisa." The sound of Dr Anderson calling her name draws the girl's attention back to the good doctor. "I know it's hard to believe, but everything will be better before you know it," she says kindly. "You're alive, here and now, even if you think you don't deserve to be... but you are, and because of that you can still make a difference. You have someone who wants you to stay alive, and that alone is more important than you know."
The words are not enough to soothe the guilt she knows she will carry with her for the rest of her life, but they will do for now. "Thank you, Dr Anderson," she whispers gratefully, causing the woman to smile. "Now, I'll leave you to your rest. You'll be fully cleared to return to duty tomorrow, but I still want you to take it easy, alright?" With that, the doctor takes her leave as well and the girl finds herself alone in the room again.
Alisa stares at her open palms, her thoughts of what lies in store for her plaguing her mind before she closes her eyes and draws a deep breath. Whatever may come, she decides, she will face it, and tomorrow... tomorrow will be the start of something new for her.
Another 90%-ish original content chapter coupled with having to attend a barrage of Christmas corporate functions - over the weekend, no less - and you have a late submission by me once again, and for that I apologise. I meant to make this chapter a Christmas gift to all of you, but I hope you're okay with it being a New Year present instead. Hope you enjoyed your holidays, and may you have a great 12 months in 2014!