Far East Branch – Headquarters

Soma wandered down the empty hall. Following Kota's find, he had spent the following weeks investigating their discovery. So far, his progress had been… nonexistent. The markings on the Vajra had been unusual to say the least. At the most, he would call them entirely unnatural. What precisely they were looking at was a mystery, and what they were dealing with was even more so. The information had been a source of concern both for himself and the other members of the branch, as the wounds of the Hannibal's destruction were still fresh.

After returning from yet another — as far as he was concerned — failed mission, he was in a decidedly foul mood. He was beyond overworked at this point and was in desperate need of some actual rest. But such a luxury would remain unavailable to him so long as the branch operations continued at their current pace. The brass had transferred a few god eaters from external branches to help with the load, but they could only do so much. They were, after all, only human. For now, he was going to focus on the scientific aspect of his research, making his way toward one of the many laboratories located on the medical floor.

That was his plan.

Within moments, a sliding door in his periphery caught his attention. It was only through his enhanced reflexes that he was able to step to the side in time, to avoid a head-on collision with the exiting occupant. Already in a state of extreme aggravation, Soma's first reaction was to snarl at the person. But at the sight of a head of blonde hair atop of tan skin, his insult died on his lips. Wandering slowly out of the medical wing, with a tired, listless expression, was Gunter Haas. He had finally awoken from months'-long slumber.

At the sight of him, Gunter froze, his glassy eyes growing suddenly alert. Soma's pupils followed his own as they flicked quickly to either side, searching nervously for something. Seemingly finding nothing, he relaxed. Then, before Soma could utter a word, in a very un-Gunter-like manner, he moved around him and continued down the hall without so much as a backward glance. Soma paused as he walked away, watching his retreating form with a dumbfounded expression. It was true that the pair had never exactly gotten along very well with each other, but that interaction was cold, even for him. He couldn't help but wonder what the hell his problem was.

Then, like a slap in the face, it hit him. He knew exactly what was wrong.

The way his eyes had darted wildly to his sides at the sight of him. The look of unease in his expression, and the visible relaxation upon seeing nothing. Gunter wasn't concerned with him. He was concerned with who may have been with him. He was looking out for Neo. A reasonable reaction to be sure, given the circumstances of their most recent encounter. One that would undoubtedly bother the New Type upon her return. But he would cross that bridge when they got to it. It wasn't like she would be returning any time soon.

Shaking his head, he made his way down the hall.

. . .

Far East Branch – Veteran's Floor

After an hour and a half of extensive research, Soma had reached his limit. He had found, as expected, nothing among their newest findings. More or less. Technically, he had found something. He was simply no closer to identifying it. He had never thought he would see the day that he actually missed Hamasaki's presence in the Den. Despite their past relationship, it couldn't be denied that the man was a scientific genius when it came to Oracle cells. Perhaps he would bring up the topic during their next contact. Maybe they could even arrange to send him some samples.

Entering his room, he locked the door behind him and made his way toward the couch. With a functioning lock, he was using it at every given opportunity in Neo's absence. There was no telling when that woman would decide to break it again. He paused at the cushions, taking a moment to look around the room. The bright red terminal immediately drew his attention. He knew that he should take this opportunity to rest, but surely it couldn't hurt to quickly check his email for any updates.

Spinning on his heel, Soma made a U-turn and headed straight toward the terminal. He booted up the machine, entering his credentials and navigating to the email application. Naturally, the encrypted channel offered no new information, much to his increasing frustration. With a grunt, he exited the server and moved back to the home screen. His fingertip hovered over the power button, prepared to press it, when a sound emitted from the machine, echoing through the room.

Of course. Neo always did possess impeccable timing.

With a small grin on his face, Soma moved his hand instead back to the keys, answering the video call with practiced precision. What greeted him, as per usual, was a grinning face and a head of violet hair.

"Privyet, Soma," Neo said with a small wave into the camera.

The veteran couldn't stop the chuckle that erupted following her unusual greeting. "You're speaking Russian now?"

"Not really. I only know a few words."

Another chuckle was his response, a little louder that time. Following their first contact weeks ago, they had utilized their channel to allow them more frequent contact. Though he wasn't always up to date on her recovery, he did hear from the woman herself at least once a week. The idea still brought a smile to his face. How amusing that the two of them would end up here again, on opposite ends of a computer screen after so many those years.

This time however, their roles had somewhat reversed.

"How has the Russian Branch treating you?" Soma asked, genuinely curious to hear about her stay.

Her response was swift and stern, a slight furrow in her brow. "Terribly."

"What?" Soma's eyes narrowed dangerously.

Neo noticed the shift in his tone immediately, his rage nearly palpable through the computer screen itself. Realizing her mistake, she quickly corrected. "No, I mean… I just don't like being here."

At her explanation, Soma calmed. It was only logical that she would have been referring to her lack of stimulation and not her interactions with the actual inhabitants. Of course, with her history, no amount of caution was excessive. She had suffered more than enough at the hands of her captors. He would not tolerate any mistreatment again. "Let me guess. You're bored, right?"

Neo smirked. "Yes. Very. I can barely even go to the bathroom without supervision."

Soma laughed at that. The idea of an armed squadron standing outside the bathroom door, while very serious, was highly amusing. "I don't blame them."

"The hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Neo, you could barely be trusted in the Far East. There's no way you can be trusted in a foreign country," he joked. The New Type sighed and crossed her arms with a huff but didn't argue. Taking her silence as a small victory, he continued. "Besides, Alisa is there with you. Isn't she keeping you entertained?"

Neo shrugged. "Only sometimes. She's been spending some time with old friends, recently. Wouldn't want to disturb her."

"You could always join them. Alisa would be happy to have you along, probably."

Neo's eyes widened for a moment, a look of surprise suddenly gracing her features. It was as though she were unsure of how to respond. Like he had said something incredibly stupid. Then, after a moment, he realized why. "They… all speak Russian."

Soma sighed, shaking his head at her response. He almost wanted to facepalm at his own thoughtlessness. It honestly shouldn't have surprised him, yet somehow it did. He had assumed that, despite their geographical location, there had to be some people in the branch that spoke English. Then again, that may or may not have been helpful. Even if they were capable of communication, that didn't automatically that mean any of those people would want to talk to her.

"Well, what about Hamasaki? Where is he?"

"Hanging out in his second bedroom."

"Of course." That certainly didn't surprise him. Given his condition, it only made sense that he would be spending an increasing amount of time in the laboratory, conducting research and experimentation. What other choice did he have? The blood in his veins was a ticking time bomb. But Neo didn't know that. Noticing her slightly deflated tone, he decided to change the subject. Searching around for a subject, his eyes were immediately drawn to the first unusual thing he noticed: the amount of skin visible below her jaw. "Your capes… you're not wrapping them anymore?"

Neo tilted her head for a moment, turning her head slightly to eye the azure appendages dangling freely to her hips. Turning back to him, she shrugged. "Not always. I stay in my room all day. No one's going to see them."

"Hmph. Good point."

"Anyway, that's enough about my boring life. What's going on with you? Anything interesting going on in the Far East?"

Soma took a pause of silence to organize his thoughts. There were, after all, a multitude of things going on where his branch was concerned. He could tell her about the Remnant Facility and the unidentified Aragami they had been tracking. But Neo being Neo, that was probably a terrible idea. Her curiosity would overtake her, and the last thing she needed was a reason to break out of her containment trying to find a way back. Opting for the safer options, he decided to focus on the inhabitants inside of the Wall instead. "We got a couple more New Types."

"Again…? Wow. Looks like they're popping up everywhere nowadays."

"Seems that way."

"They any good?"

"Don't know. Haven't seen either one of them."

Neo shook her head. It seemed his antisocial tendencies hadn't improved any during her absence. "Of course, you haven't. You're you." Soma scoffed, earning another sigh. "Don't tell me you've spent the last few weeks holed up in your room again… Surely, you must have interacted with someone in the last few days." Another pause. "Besides me," she corrected.

Soma rolled his eyes at her response, choosing to ignore the mischievous smile forming on her lips. It seemed she was having a bit of fun at his expense. "I interact with people."

"Name one."

"I ran into Gunter today."

Neo's smile vanished. For a few moments, she was silent, staring motionlessly at the screen. Then, her expression darkened. "He survived, did he?"

"Yeah," Soma replied uncertainly. She sounded far less happy about the information than he would have expected. It seemed her disdain for the German God Eater hadn't lessened during their months apart. If anything, it seemed to have worsened. And this was on top of her initial outburst, which was clearly a targeted attack against him. An idea that still perplexed him. Even to this day, the question still haunted him. What on earth had the other God Eater done? He was about to ask her when her following words halted his speech.

"Then, he should count his remaining days," she muttered, grumbling angrily in her empty room.

At this, Soma scowled. "Neo, the whole point of this entire trip is for you to get better. To show these people that you're not a bloodthirsty psychopath. Murdering someone at the first opportunity isn't a good look."

Neo frowned. Though the words themselves were in jest, she could tell from his tone that he was deadly serious. And she couldn't blame him. Much as it frustrated her, she knew he was right. It didn't matter that he was the enemy. The rest of the branch wouldn't see it that way. "Fine. Just keep him out of my sight. I don't ever want to see that bastard again."

That was it. Soma couldn't contain it anymore. He needed to know. He needed to get to the bottom of this issue once and for all. "Why? Neo, what the hell did he do?"

"It doesn't matter."

"It does matter. We need to address this, especially if you're coming home in…" Soma's voice trailed off as his mind came to pause, gears turning wildly in his head as it replayed the last few minutes of their conversation. Then, his tan skin went nearly white. "Wait, you're coming back?"

"Yeah."

"When?"

Neo shrugged. "Sometime next week or so."

"…" Soma was flabbergasted. His mouth fell open, eyes blown wide, staring at his friend and her nonchalant expression. It took him a few seconds to regather his thoughts after such a shock. After a hard reboot, his systems came back online with a violent reaction. "You didn't think to lead with that?!"

"Should I have?"

A furious glare was her response. He couldn't believe this woman. Of course, she wouldn't think to mention her return outside of a random sidenote. Why had he expected anything else? Chances were, that the decision had been made fairly recently and Hamasaki hadn't gotten the chance to notify him yet. And somehow, she didn't think such information was important? Perhaps Gunter wasn't the only one that needed to count his days. At this point, Soma couldn't be sure he wouldn't throttle her upon her arrival. At the thought, he shook his head and got back on track. He would shout at her later. Right now, he needed to stop her from changing the subject. "Never mind. You're not getting away that easily."

Seeing that he clearly hadn't given up, Neo's eyes narrowed into angry slits. "Soma, drop it."

"No."

"It doesn't concern —"

"Neo!"

The woman flinched at his sudden outburst, tempering Soma's rage. He was lashing out again. Not that he could be entirely blamed. Neo was infuriating. But right now, anger wasn't the solution. If he wanted her to confide in him, then he needed to behave more like her lifelong confidant. He needed to take a page from Hamasaki's book. He needed to be patient. Taking a deep breath, Soma let out an aggravated sigh, hopefully releasing all of his frustration with it. With a more even tone, he addressed her again. "Neo. You can't keep holding on to this forever. If you do, it's gonna eat you alive until you explode again. I want to help you. We all do, but we can't if you won't let us. We can't make this right if I don't know what's wrong."

"There is no making this right, Soma…"

He could tell from her softened tone, that this situation was serious. There was no more rage in her words; only hurt. "Then, there still needs to be some sort of closure. If Gunter did something to hurt you, then he needs to be held accountable. But for that to happen, I need to know what he did."

Neo fell silent. She had heard much the same from her therapist during her time in the Russian Branch. One couldn't heal walking around with gaping wounds. Much as it pained her, she knew that Soma was right. Which in and of itself was maddening. Soma was telling her she needed to process her emotions. Kettle, meet pot.

"…Fine." With a heavy sigh, Neo finally relented. Her continued residence within Fenrir — and by extension, Ichiro's — was dependent upon her cooperation. If she didn't, she would be exiled, and her guardian would never allow her to leave Fenrir's walls by herself. No matter that she was more than capable. That foolish man would follow her to the ends of the earth, regardless of death and destruction. She couldn't allow that to happen. Slowly lifting her eyes, she finally met his gaze. "What do you want to know?"

"I want to know what he did to you. I want to know why it hurt you so badly that it drove you to… this. It isn't like to act out so violently… especially not towards a specific target." Soma gave her a few moments, watching her internal battle through her heterochromatic orbs. "Neo. Talk to me."

"It's… a long story."

"I've got plenty of time."

Neo sighed. It seemed she had no further choice. With a heavy heart, Neo took a deep calming breath and began her tale.