After a lengthy tour of Babylon II, they discovered the bunker was much bigger on the inside, home to a wide variety of weapons, vehicles, and even mechas… which again, Rita informed them, must stay secret for now. Additionally, Durandal had informed Shido that he would be trained in the usage of some of said weapons at a future date, if only for self defense purposes. She had then allowed him and Origami to even try some of them out on some training mechas, with Shido trying out a sword and Origami a rifle. It was… an experience, to say the least.
It was late in the evening by the time they were finally able to head to their quarters, and suffice to say, the pair was exhausted. "And we'll have to get up early tomorrow, too…" Shido said with a quiet groan. "Do you think it's too late to back out?"
"…Far too late." Origami replied, earning a sheepish grin from the young man.
"Figures." They stopped in front of the room they'd be calling their own during their stay at Babylon II. Additionally, they'd be sharing the room with this 'Ana Schariac,' thanks to both her and Shido only having a temporary stay at Babylon II. With a yawn, Shido reached forward and opened the door…
"…Huh?"
…Before immediately slamming it shut with all of his strength upon noticing that the room was already occupied by a shirtless girl. He hadn't seen anything, thankfully, but that didn't mean he could hide the cherry red blush on his face. On the other side of the door, he could hear whoever was inside let out a noise like an embarrassed squeak. Shido turned to face Origami, whose eyes were narrowed into a judgemental glare… though her lips were curved upwards in a playful smile.
"Ana?" She asked.
"…I-I think so." Said Shido. Origami nodded, and the two found themselves quietly awaiting the go ahead from the girl inside. A few minutes later, the door slowly slid open to reveal the red-faced Valkyrie in question.
"…A-are you… Shido and Origami?" The girl presumed to be Ana asked, partially hiding herself behind the door. Somehow her face managed to be a brighter shade of red than Shido.
"Y-yeah." Replied Shido, as Origami gave a nod. "Um… s-sorry."
"N-no, you're fine. I thought I had locked the door… c-come in." Ana slid the door open the rest of the way and motioned for the two to enter. Origami made her way inside first, followed closely behind by Shido. It was far from the biggest room, but it wasn't small either. Shido took particular note of the third bed, clearly a new addition to the room considering the bunk that was built into the concrete wall.
For whatever reason, I feel like that bed's going to go unused. Shido thought dryly. …Hopefully Origami doesn't try anything too extreme with Ana around. Speaking of which, Shido took a look at the girl in question. Though she had more or less gotten over her initial fluster, the look on her face now could only be described as crestfallen.
"Not even ten seconds and you've already embarrassed yourself, Ana…" She whispered to herself, just barely audible enough for Shido to hear.
"It's not like you're the only one at fault here," said flinched at his words. "I could have just as easily knocked."
"But—"
"But it's really not a big deal." Shido continued despite Ana's protest. "I didn't see anything, anyway, so in the end… water under the bridge." Shido stepped forward and offered his hand out to the vanilla haired girl. "So let's start from the top, properly this time. I'm Shido Itsuka."
"…Heh. Ana Schariac, Schicksal Valkyrie." She shot him a smile as she took his hand in her own… and yet, as Shido looked at her expression, he couldn't help but notice something off.
"Origami Tobiichi. Pleasure to meet you." He was given no time to think about it, however, as Origami stepped forward and offered her own hand.
"It's my pleasure to meet the both of you." Ana said, shaking Origami's hand. A moment later, a quiet sigh of relief left her lips as she continued. "You know, I was pretty worried when I was told there'd be someone else getting evaluated. And you're a guy, too! I was worried you two would be super serious professionals, but you seem pretty nice."
"Is that how we come off…?" Shido glanced at Origami before looking down at his own appearance. In his opinion, they didn't exactly look the part of professionals.
"No, no, not your appearance! It's just, there are hardly any guys with Honkai adaptability, so I just assumed you'd be the serious type."
"…Honkai adaptability?" Shido questioned.
"…Yeah? Honkai adaptability—" Ana paused. "…Shido… ah, is it alright if I call you Shido?" Shido nodded. "Anyway, Shido… do you not… know what that is? You have a stigmata, right?"
There's that word again. Shido thought, crossing his arms. "I've been hearing that word a lot, recently, but no one's told me what it even means. In other words, no." Ana's expression blanked.
"…You got… you're… S-Shido, are you actually some kind of super human?" She shot to her feet and turned to Origami. "You at least have one, right, Origami!?"
"I do not."
"Wha—…N-no, I shouldn't be surprised. Haa… n-no wonder you two are being evaluated by Bianka… hehe…" And just like that, Ana collapsed back on to her bed, unsettling laughter filling the room as the life in her eyes began to dissipate.. "It just figures that I'd be put with two incredible people… hehe… little ole' good-for-nothing Ana… hehe…"
"Um… Ana." The young man was caught off guard by Ana's praise, and even more so by her self-degrading reaction. "The circumstances… look, it's not what you think it is." Shido said as he struggled to phrase his response. "Do you know what a Wizard is?"
"…Like, the real life ones or the ones in story books?"
"T-the real ones."
"Yeah, but I've never met one in person—oh! So you two are Wizards, then?" Ana let loose a deep sigh of relief.
"…I-I'm not." Shido said.
"…Please stop playing with my heart."
"Shido is a non combatant." Origami took over the conversation in Shido's place, explaining the scenario in a quick and efficient manner: Shido's support role, her role as his bodyguard, and overall the general circumstances. In a matter of seconds, Origami accomplished what Shido had been struggling to do.
"…It'd have been really nice if Bianka told me even half of that." Ana sighed as Origami finished. "Well, whatever. Even if you aren't a fighter, Shido, I think it's pretty incredible that you were chosen for the Immortal Blades either way. And I'm really curious to see how you fight, Origami~"
Ana's mood was far more cheerful now than before. Perhaps that feeling Shido had earlier was just a misperception. No matter the case, they managed to get the misunderstanding cleared up at last.
"So how long is your evaluation, Shido?" Ana asked. "This is the last month for me."
"Only a month."
"Eh!? Really? Lucky…"
"Lucky?"
"It means you don't have to endure Bianka working you to the bone for as long as I did. Three months of pure slave driving…" Ana shuddered as she recalled the memories of whatever Durandal forced her to do. Shido found himself growing anxious, seeing Ana's reaction; he glanced at Origami, only to find that there had been no change in her reaction.
Figures. She'll fit right in. Shido thought.
"Speaking of which, it's getting late. We can talk more later; I don't want to be a zombie in the morning. Do you mind me having the bottom bunk?"
"No, not at all. All yours." Shido replied. "Origami, do you—"
"I'll sleep with you." Origami said without hesitation. Ana's expression blanked.
…Well. He wanted to say he was surprised, but… knowing Origami as long as he did, such things were hardly a surprise anymore. Although, he had expected to find her sleeping in his bed, not so much for her to tell him straight up. It wasn't like he minded, anymore; the only real issue he had with it was how Ana would react. Glancing over at the girl in question, her face had lit up like a Christmas tree, her cheeks so red that they were actually glowing.
"O-oh… I-I didn't realize… oh." Ana muttered, fidgeting awkwardly. "U-um… I think… I think I'm just going to lie down now."
"That's fine." Shido gave a sheepish grin, watching as Ana silently hid herself underneath her blanket. Perhaps it was a trick of the light, but Shido could have sworn he saw steam billowing out from underneath.
"Shido. Let's lie down, too." Origami snuck up on him from behind him, hugging his arm closely.
"Shouldn't we change first?" Not to mention that we still need to call back home…
"Good point. Let's change together, Shido."
At least try and consider poor Ana's feelings… Shido thought as he heard a flustered squeak come from beneath the covers. "Origami…" For whatever reason, it seemed she was enjoying teasing Ana. Origami gave Shido a wink before making her way to the bathroom, leaving him and Ana on their own. "Um… s-sorry about her. Decency isn't really her thing." He didn't receive a response from the girl, but… at the same time, he couldn't really blame her.
And so ended the first night at Babylon II… after a call back home, of course.
"Shido… wake up." With a tired groan, Shido opened his eyes to see Origami hovering just over his face, her blue eyes staring directly into his own as she cradled his face in her hands.
"Ugh… Origami? What time is it?"
"4:00 AM."
"…Right." With a sigh, Shido slowly pushed himself up as Origami hopped down off the bed. Glancing at her, Shido noticed bits and pieces of her CR-Unit, Brunhilde, sticking out of her winter clothes. Leave it to Origami to be ready at any moment. Shido grinned bitterly, before sliding down out of the bed himself, rubbing the exhaustion out of his eyes as he went. "…Is Ana still asleep?"
"…I don't know. I didn't check." With a shrug, Shido turned and pulled back the covers on Ana's bed to reveal said Valkyrie, sound asleep. …No, not sound. Upon closer inspection, Shido noticed her face was pale, the girl in question tightly gripping her blanket to the point her knuckles were growing white. "Ana. Ana, wake up. Ana?" With a frown, Shido leaned forward and began shaking the girl's shoulder, trying to pry her from her sleep. "Ana!"
"Huh!?" Without warning, the sleeping Valkyrie sprung up from her sleep, hitting Shido with a massive headbutt that sent him flying backwards. He fell to the ground, a red bump already forming on his head. "Ow?!" Ana exclaimed. "Wha… S-Shido? Ah—I-I'm sorry! Did I sleep in!? Are you alright!?" Ignoring her own injury, Ana hopped out of bed to check on Shido just as Origami, too, kneeled down beside him. "I'm really, really sorry!"
"Y-you're fine…" Shido groaned, as Origami pulled a wet cloth from seemingly nowhere and dabbed it on his injury. She helped him to his feet as Ana continued to fret, right up until Shido raised a hand to stop her. "How are you?"
"Oh, I'm fine. I've got a hard head!" Ana gave a cheeky thumbs up; just as she said, her head seemed untouched relative to the red bump on Shido's own. Shido raised an eyebrow at her response, before shaking his head. There was something more concerning than a head injury.
"…Ana, were you having a nightmare?" She froze up at his words, giving Shido a strange look.
"…What makes you ask that?" Her voice was quiet for a moment, before she vigorously shook her head. "Err… No, I wasn't. Did it look like I was?"
"Yeah. Your face was pale and all. Are you sure you're alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't you worry about me—Wait, what time is it!?" Ana broke out into a panic as a cold sweat began to run down her face. "Are we late!? Crap, I don't even wanna think what those two will—"
"We're not late." Said Origami. "It's 4:05 now."
"…What?" Ana said, with a blank expression. "I-isn't that… even earlier than we were supposed to wake up…?"
"Yes. That way, we have enough time to get dressed, shower, and eat breakfast." A predatory glint shone in Origami's eye as she took Shido's arm in a close embrace. "Shido, would you like for me to wash your back?" Ana's face flushed bright red as Shido shot a narrow glare at Origami.
"Um—I—I need to use the bathroom first, I'm sorry!" Ana blurted out, before grabbing a change of clothes at rapid speed and slamming the bathroom door shut behind her, leaving Shido and Origami alone once more.
"…You're enjoying yourself way too much." Shido said with a sigh.
"She makes it very easy."
"Right…" Shido turned to the bathroom door, concern written in his expression clear as day. Noticing his look, Origami clasped his hand in her own.
"I understand how you feel, Shido, but it's best we leave it be. It's her business, not ours."
"…"
"If she wants to tell us, it will be on her terms. We haven't even known her a full day yet, Shido."
"…Yeah, I know. I know…"
"So… I still don't know what a Stigmata is." Shido said as he adjusted his scarf, trying his best to keep out the cold winter chill. He and Origami trudged through the snow just behind Ana, the girl in question wearing what Shido could only describe as a 'winter combat dress.' The three of them had been, without delay, sent out on their first mission together, a simple scouting trip to investigate supposed reports of Honkai activity not far from Babylon II.
"Huh? Oh, right, we were talking about that yesterday, weren't we?" Ana replied, cautiously surveying the area from her spot in the front. "Let's see… You can kinda look at them like… a mark that means you have Honkai adaptability, which in turn means how well you can handle Honkai energy. There are two different kinds: Artificial and Natural. Artificial stigmata were developed by Schicksal. Every Valkyrie has one, even those with natural stigmata. But! It's really dangerous, and honestly unless you really, really wanted to fight Honkai, I would say it's something you should really avoid!" Ana paused. "I'm honestly kind of jealous of you, Origami. If I could switch out my stigmata for that Realizer thing you have, I'd do it in a heartbeat!"
"Is that so…?" Origami replied, earning a vigorous head nod from Ana.
"What's so dangerous about it?" Shido asked.
"Well, first off, they're… faulty? I guess you could say that they're 'not perfect.'" She did finger quotes in the air as she said this. "If you get an artificial stigmata, you can say bye-bye to your chances at a long life: They shorten your lifespan dramatically. That, and there's also a chance that it can get worse, making you go insane or even…" Ana's gaze fell to the ground, crestfallen. "Even turn into a zombie. I've… lost friends like that. It's not a way you ever want to go."
…So… it's like what happened to Mana. Shido thought, turning away. Every Valkyrie? That's… I can't even imagine… Shido frowned at the thought, and the possibility of his family becoming Valkyries. He decided that he would do everything in his power to prevent that scenario at all costs.
"I'm sorry for your loss." Said Origami in the meantime, placing a hand on Ana's shoulder. The vanilla-haired Valkyrie gave Origami a half smile in response, melancholy clear in her expression.
"Thank you." They continued walking for a time, with nothing but the gently blowing wind and the crunching of hard snow to fill the silence. After some time passed, Ana shook her head, and took a deep breath. "Sorry. I didn't mean to ruin the mood like that." Ana said with a half-hearted laugh.
"No, you didn't do anything wrong." Replied Shido. "I didn't realize it was something so dangerous."
"…Seriously, you're both way too nice!" Ana complained, before shaking her head. "A-anyway, where were we? Oh, right! So the next type of stigmata, Natural Stigmata. These are the kinds that come from a bloodline." Ana grinned in a smug manner, lifting her head high. "I'm one of the lucky ones, since I'm a Schariac. Natural Stigmata come with all the benefits of the artificial, and with almost none of the drawbacks. Natural stigmata carriers get the artificial, too, but it really just merges into the natural stigmata with basically no effect."
Ana paused again. "Although, I've heard that mine's pretty different from other Schariacs." She continued. "Never really knew what was up with that, personally." A flush creeped up onto her face as she glanced at Shido. "…Y-you may have seen it already, come to t-think of it."
"Huh? When would I have—" After a moment, Shido blushed similarly. "I-I didn't see anything!"
"I did." Said Origami. Shido gaped at her as Ana's blush deepened. "…It was blue. Shaped like a heart."
"Huh!? I-it changed!?" Ana exclaimed. "But I've never heard of—" Shido bonked Origami on the head, giving the white haired Wizard an exasperated glare as he did.
"She's teasing you." Shido explained, noticing Ana's confused expression.
"O-oh… y-you suck." Ana muttered, earning a playful smile from Origami. With an annoyed yet equally playful huff, Ana stormed off ahead, followed closely behind by her two companions. This again continued for some time, this time with the silence filled with idle chatter, be it jokes, questions, or otherwise. That was, until…
"W-what… happened here…?" Shido muttered as he and Origami gazed out in awe at the sight before them. Ana stopped and followed their looks, realizing a moment later what had caught their attention.
"Huh? Oh. I guess this would be your guy's first time seeing it, huh?" Before them lay a massive crater, similar to that of the aftermath of a spatial quake. It spread for what looked like miles, a sign of absolute destruction from long, long, ago. "This is where the Second Eruption occurred. The ruins of Babylon Labs—not that there's much left of it—is somewhere out there."
"So… a Herrscher did this?"
"…No. Schicksal did." Ana sighed, her expression turning more forlorn as she looked out across the crater. "I had still been training to become a Valkyrie during then. A whole bunch of stuff happened during that fight; I heard even the Herrscher of Reason showed up to fight the Second Herrscher. The Second Eruption is actually what brought an end to the Cold War."
"W-what?"
"The whole Russian continent got messed up by it. And then the spatial quake after that… there was no way they could keep expanding like they were." Ana shook her head. "We lost our strongest Valkyrie back then, too." She said, changing the topic.
"…Before Durandal?" Shido asked, recalling that Otto had said something similar. Ana nodded.
"Cecilia Schariac. We were part of the same family, but I never met her myself. Bianka looked up to her a lot. Most Valkyries did. Of course… Cecilia wasn't particularly popular with the Schariacs themselves. I always wanted to meet her. To see what it was like to live away from all the responsibilities of the Schariac family." The girl shrugged. "Anyway, that's enough history for now. If we're going to be finding Honkai beasts, they'll be around here. Keep your eyes peeled." She unholstered the rifle that was strapped to her back, taking a moment to inspect its condition. Shido and Origami shared a glance before the latter pulled out her own weapon.
"What do Honkai Beasts look like?" Origami asked, stepping forward and taking point beside Ana.
"It depends. Sometimes they come in the form of zombies. Other times, they come in their more… pure form, I guess you could call it? Those ones come in a variety of shapes, from big to small. You'll know one when you see one." Though Shido and Origami found that description… rather unhelpful, they decided to simply take Ana's word for it. The trio continued forward once more, descending into the crater.
Just as with Durandal before, Shido dove forward as his instincts cried out for him to move. It came from behind him, the sound of something huge tearing through the wind filling Shido's ears as he hit the ground. He stumbled to his feet and turned to see what had attacked him. In truth, looking at the creature, he didn't quite know how to describe it. It was certainly nothing like the monsters he had seen in his dream; it was pink, gray, and completely inhuman, its upper body almost built like a metallic gorilla… though only in its build.
The creature didn't relent, roaring with such power that Shido found himself thrown back even further from the shockwave alone. As he rolled down the hill, he could hear the ear-splitting noise of a rifle firing repeatedly as Ana engaged the Honaki Beasts, its shots sounding closer to a cannon than a gun as the ground shook from the recoil.
"Shido!" He heard Origami shout; a moment later, he was lifted into the air as Origami activated her CR-Unit, pulling him out of harm's way as Ana covered them. "Are you hurt!?"
"No, I'm fine!" Shido exclaimed. "Just shaken." Origami nodded, setting Shido off to the side before igniting her energy blade and dashing forward to join the fray. Now in a safer position, Shido was able to get a better look at their attackers; though they were few in number—about five in total—their resilience was incredible. Despite the power of Ana's rifle, the first beast held strong, shot after shot exploding against its tank-like body. Behind it were four smaller beasts, both quick and agile as they flew through the air… in Shido and Origami's direction.
Without hesitation, the white haired Wizard engaged, her territory activating and obstructing the flying creatures' path. They tried to swarm her, but Origami was faster than any of them; with her Realizer hindering their every movement, Origami was more than capable of dancing circles around them. She swung her blade at the nearest one right as it charged forward, only for her blade to phase right through it. Her eyes widened, but the girl was unnerved as she continued holding them back. Looking again, her attack hadn't been useless; the previously pristine white silicon was now marred with an ugly black burn, courtesy of her blade. Seeing this, the Wizard continued to dance around the agile beasts, continuously swinging at the damaged beast.
"Shido! Look out!" Shido heard Ana cry out. He turned to see the bigger Honkai beast that Ana had been fighting soaring through the air towards him. He rolled out of the way just as it slammed the ground, creating a huge explosion of dirt and snow. It gave Shido no time to rest, the young man ducking under another swing, narrowly avoiding what could have been an instant death.
"Shido!" Origami cried out. But, the moment she tried to break off, the four flying beasts attacked in sync, holding her back from helping Shido. With an angry shout, she thrust her energy blade forward and skewered the damaged beast, the burned creature falling dead to the ground. Meanwhile, Shido found himself avoiding a constant barrage from the massive Honkai beast, unable to flee lest he be struck in the back. From out of nowhere, Ana shoulder tackled the Honkai beast just as it was about to swing once more, knocking it off balance. Shido didn't waste the opportunity to back off as Ana slammed her bayonet blade into the beast's neck, her finger pulling the trigger and turning the monster's head into little more than smoke and ash as her gun fired once more. Its massive body collapsed to the ground
Meanwhile, Origami slammed her blade down through the top of her last Honkai beast, holding it in place with an angry shout until the last bits of life left the creature's body. Silence filled the battlefield, the only noise being the sound of the winter breeze and Shido's panting.
"You alright, Shido?" Ana asked, turning to face the young man behind her. "You did—"
"Wha—!?" Origami cried out. The first beast she had slain had risen from the snow, its burned and marred body charging straight at Shido on a suicide run. Origami flew after it to catch up, quickly gaining, and Ana raised her rifle to try and shoot it down… yet, neither were fast enough, the creature flying right by Ana fully intent on attacking Shido. Without thinking, Shido clenched his fist, and threw it forward in a wild haymaker. It made direct contact in the center of the Honkai beast's body, stopping it in its tracks completely before slamming its body into the ground.
A moment later, Shido found himself regretting this decision immensely as a sharp, burning pain ran up his entire fist from the blowback, thanks to the creature's body being very much metallic. Ana dashed forward and stabbed the downed beast with her bayonet, a quick twist of the blade ensuring the creature's death.
"Shido, are you hurt!?" Origami exclaimed, rushing over to Shido's side and taking his injured hand in her own.
"N-not too fast!" Shido exclaimed, flinching as Origami inspected his injury. "I might have… fractured a knuckle." He gave a sheepish grin as he said this, earning a glare from the white haired Wizard.
"… There's no fracture. Just a sprain." She said after a moment. Shido's eyes widened.
"Eh? Really?"
"Mm. Certain." Origami checked again, giving his injury one more quick inspection. "…A light sprain, too."
"You were lucky!" Ana exclaimed, storming to the pair. "If it wasn't as damaged as it was, you'd have been dead for sure! I get not wanting to run away, Shido, but in the end you're only human! No stigmata and no Realizer means you can't fight!"
"I know… s-sorry. I wasn't thinking." Shido apologized, bowing his head as Origami wrapped his hand with a bandage she had pulled from seemingly nowhere. Ana glared at him for a moment longer before a soft sigh left her lips.
"That's fine. It caught us all off guard… but man, those two were really gunning for you! Apparently, Honkai has it out for you, Shido."
"…Oh. Great." Shido replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Ana giggled at his words.
"Where did they come from?" Asked Origami, turning to Ana. "It was like they appeared out of nowhere."
"Oh, that? That's just Honkai for you, especially in areas saturated with Honkai like here." Ana said with a shrug. "After a while, you get used to it. By the way, you were awesome, Origami! I know they were just Seraph-Class, but for your first time? You don't even look tired!" Ana averted her eyes with a nervous smile. "B-better than my first time, for sure…" She muttered.
"Thank you. You did well yourself, Ana." Origami replied.
"Hehe~ You're making me blush here!" Shido could only give a light-hearted chuckle at the exchange. "But anyways, I guess we've found our Honkai activity here. I'll leave it up to you guys if we continue or head back and report."
"We can—"
"We'll head back." Just as Shido began speaking, Origami spoke up in his place.
"But, Origami—"
"We'll head back." And again.
What's with people and interrupting me lately!? Shido wanted to exclaim. He kept it to himself as Ana watched the two's exchange with a curious look. "W-we'll head back…" Shido said with a sigh, paying no mind to Origami's smug look of victory.
"Ok. I'll call and let them know we're on our way back."
Shido's eyes lit up with pure excitement as he looked across the well-furnished kitchen area. High quality stoves, burners, ovens, tools, everything that Shido could ever want was available for him to play with; in other words, it was hardly different from a Christmas day present for the young Itsuka.
"Are these custom-made!? I've never seen stoves this good! And it preheats almost instantly! Origami, look, look!" Shido exclaimed with childlike wonder, as the white haired Wizard watched with a blank stare. "And these knives are incredible! These must have cost a fortune to make!"
"Ah… mm. As long as you're happy, Shido." Origami said, nodding along with the young man's overwhelming joy… even if she didn't quite share his feelings.
"Man, what should I even cook? I was just gonna make something simple, but now I feel like that'd be a waste!" Dozens of recipe ideas ran through Shido's mind, wanting to experiment to the fullest with the tools now available to him. They had returned and given their report to Durandal a few hours earlier, and now found themselves in Babylon II's kitchen as the evening crept in.
"Keep it simple, Shido." Origami warned. "Your hand is still sprained."
"…Ah. I forgot." Shido glanced down at the hand in question. Curiously… it didn't hurt. After a moment of thought, Shido unwrapped the bandages on his hand and flexed his fingers.
"Shido…?"
"It doesn't hurt anymore. Not even bruised." Shido raised his hand for her to see. Origami took it and began to inspect it up close.
"…What—"
"O-oh… am I… interrupting something…?" Asked the voice of Ana, standing nervously in the doorway. Shido and Origami turned to her to see a light flush upon the Valkyrie girl's face.
"Huh? No, Origami was just looking at my injury from earlier." Shido explained.
"O-oh! Right. That should have been obvious. Hehe…he…" Ana cleared her throat before making her way into the kitchen. "I heard you guys offered to make dinner for everyone, so I decided to come and help you. We're room buddies, after all!"
"Oh. Sure, I don't mind the help." Shido replied. He glanced at Origami, who nodded in agreement.
"So, what are we making?" Ana asked.
"…I think—"
"Simple, Shido."
"But—"
"Shido." Though he wanted to play around with his new tools, Origami's stern glare was more than enough to give Shido pause. Begrudgingly, he set aside his childlike desires and began to think earnestly of what to make.
"Curry. You know how, right?" Shido asked Ana.
"Oh yeah, we have curry lots, here." Ana replied. "It helps that it's easy to make." And so the three started the meal, each taking their own roles in contributing with Shido handling the most difficult parts of the meal—to Origami's annoyance.
"Ana." Called Origami.
"Hmm?" Said Ana, as she checked on the rice.
"That necklace… why is it only half a heart?"
"Oh, this?" Ana said, touching the necklace in question, her expression softening. Shido stuck out an ear as he worked on the chicken, curious himself. "…It's… a promise, of sorts. I gave the other half to someone close to me."
"…Your lover?"
"H-huh!? N-no, nothing like that!" Ana exclaimed, her face turning red like a tomato in response to Origami's question. She paused for a moment. "…Well… it's… we never made anything official between us. I…" She paused again. She took a deep breath, having earned the full attention of both Shido and Origami now. "… I would have liked to. But… for personal reasons… I don't think I can ever look him in the eyes again…" The look on her face was heart wrenching.
"Ana…" Shido began, only for Ana to raise a hand to stop him.
"You don't have to be concerned for me." She said with a bitter smile. "I came to terms with it a long time ago. Please, just… I don't want to say any more." She turned away, hiding her face from the other two as she silently focused on her portion of cooking. Shido made to say more, but Origami placed a hand on his shoulder and silently shook her head. The rest of the cooking went on in silence… though, thankfully, they had been nearly done when Origami had asked the question.
Origami carried the main pot out to the lunch room, filled with the rest of the Immortal Blades. In honesty, Shido was surprised at how many of them there were. When he had heard 'elite squad,' he had assumed it would be a small group of specialized Valkyries, like the kind of thing you'd see on tv. From what he had heard, almost every Valkyrie present was A-class, with only a few exceptional B-class Valkyries among them. Shido noticed that he had earned a few stares from a few of said Valkyries; he could only give them a sheepish grin as he helped Origami and Ana set up the food on the lunch counter.
The Valkyries who had been looking in their direction stood and made their way over to the counter, many of them looking tired, exhausted, and otherwise worn out. I guess life as a Valkyrie is far from easy. Shido thought with a bitter grin.
"What's for dinner?" Yawned the first, a young brunette with short hair and green eyes. "…Oh, yeah, you're the guy, aren't you?" She pointed a finger at Shido. "Never thought I'd see the day where a guy joins up with us."
"Shido is more than a guy." Said Origami, her tone curt. The brunette raised an eyebrow.
"Right." She replied with a shrug. "Curry, huh? Yay…" She muttered under her breath. Shido noticed Origami's annoyed expression out of the corner of his eyes. With a smile, he placed a hand on her shoulder, and responded to her confused look with a wink. They served the first bowl off to the girl, and before long, a line formed up as the other Valkyries noticed that food was ready. Many of them commented on Shido and Origami's presence (though mostly only Shido), some rude, some friendly, and some simply neutral. Few of them were excited to see that curry was dinner, of course; as Ana said, it was a common meal here at Babylon II, so it was only understandable.
But Shido wasn't worried. After all… this was his domain.
The reaction started slow, as many of the Valkyries were slow to start eating. But as the first valk took the first bite… it began. A cascade effect of delight washed across the Valkyries as they had their first taste of Shido's cooking.
"What… is this!?"
"S-sho good…!"
"Unbelievable!"
"This is curry!?"
Shido, Origami, and Ana watched with a deep sense of gratification as the cafeteria broke out into a raucous cacophony, each of the many Valkyries gorging themselves on their curry.
"See? Told you." Shido said, nudging Origami's side with his elbow. Origami nodded in agreement, taking satisfaction as the Immortal Blades tasted the master househusband's cooking. "Oh, feel free to eat, too, Ana. I like to eat last…" But as Shido turned to face the vanilla haired girl, she was nowhere to be seen. "Huh? Origami, did Ana leave?"
"…I didn't see her go." Origami replied, before scanning the cafeteria. She was nowhere in sight. "She didn't eat either."
"I'll go find—" Origami grabbed Shido's hand just as he was about to leave.
"…I think she wants to be alone." Origami explained.
"…I'll… set aside a plate, then." Shido said with a sigh. Origami nodded and took over the station as Shido did exactly that, just in time for many of the Valkyries to start forming a queue for seconds. Their tones were certainly far more lively than the first time around, Shido noticed, as he set Ana's bowl in the fridge.
By the time the cafeteria hall was emptied, there weren't even scraps left. Luckily for Shido, Origami had set aside bowls for the two of them in advance. The two shared a lovely meal alone, enjoying each other's company in the now silent cafeteria hall.
"Is something wrong, Rita?" Durandal asked her companion. Rita looked into the sky, taking note of the dark clouds forming miles away. Durandal followed her gaze, a curious look upon her face as she saw what Rita was staring at.
"… It seems a storm is coming, Durandal-sama." Rita told her.
"…So it seems. Shall we investigate?"
"…It is your decision, Durandal-sama."
"Very well. Let's keep an eye on it for now, and see if that's all it is."
"As you say, Durandal-sama. Shall we have dinner, then?"
"Gladly. I'm rather starved at the moment. Some food sounds lovely." Durandal said with a bright smile.
"I can imagine." Replied Rita, glancing behind Durandal's back to see the massive pile of Honkai beast corpses towering behind the blonde Valkyrie. "Shall we eat with the Blades today, Durandal-sama? I heard Shido-san was cooking today. …Although, they may have finished cleaning by now."
"Shido cooks?" Durandal asked, surprised. Rita nodded, turning and making her way towards the bunker that was Babylon II, Durandal following behind.
"Quite well, from what I've discovered."
"Interesting. If there's any left, we'll try his cooking, then."
"As you say, Durandal-sama."
In the far distance, the storm rumbled with a quiet fury.