Been making this, just not publishing it. Forgiveness.
¨May I come in?¨ She gave a dry smile.
¨Uh- sure!¨ he said nervously. Turning back and looking around back into his room for some very obvious reasons she didn´t know.
¨Hey Laura! Someone´s here!¨
¨WH-at!?Ï am coming!¨ a bit panicked, strange coming from her.
He stepped forward to make pleasant conversation, or maybe block her from entering?
Guess she would indulge him in this one thing.
¨seems like she´s a fine roommate."
¨Eh, she quotes war leaders sometimes too often, you gave that to her?"
Really? Guess she did take her lessons to heart. She felt a little bad about that.
¨Hey Laura! You done hiding your teddies?"
Her what? Adorable. A quick mental picture of Laura with a stuffed bear collection overflowing on her bed seemed like a pleasant surprise coming from her little soldier. The thought made her feel instantly better, she was almost tempted to take a quick peek.
¨MY WH- YOU. . . ¨
He took one more look back.
¨may I come in now?¨
In simple response, he sidestepped to allow her entrance.
She stepped in more nervous than she was used to, ironic with her battle count. but she had to start somewhere.
The room was orderly on both sides with disorder spiced along the bottoms of the bed and the closets. It was so obvious she didn't even bother investigating.
It was bittersweet to her, how these wielders of weapons that could destroy cities still acted like kids.
Better than the inhuman monstrosities that she encountered.
Pushing that aside AGAIN. This was going to be a more enjoyable night. No work is going to be involved in this.
That cheery thought was removed the second Laura spoke up. Not really.
¨Ḧow- how would we be of assistance?¨ she squeaked out. Odd, but she did follow her around like a little puppy, she was reminded of how she had to intentionally forgo any favor to any one person on her squad.
But she was so small…even compared to the rest of them.
The reminder of what she did to her still loomed and that killed her a little bit more. Someone else would´ve trained her. Probably harder than she had, she heard rumors of demons who broke their students and snapped them into submission.
She sighed internally. Again?
¨I´m just visiting my brother, he stopped by earlier and I wanted to see if he needed anything.¨
Laura turned around to her brother with a long stare using her one eye. He tried to look calm but he was fidgeting, she had to admit Laura had the intimidation part of her lessons down to a key.
¨I can come back-¨
¨Please no! Come in!¨ Laura quickly interjected, guess she wanted her to stay.
Right. Favoritism.
She moved forward through their abode, they´ve done a decent job of not killing each other by hatred or deterioration. Surprising. Considering the activities of Laura´s bunkmates.
Another pang of guilt.
She sat down at what was assumedly Ichika´s bed. It looked to be more well-maintained than Laura´s, even if by a little margin.
Ichika´s obsession with cleanliness stayed even throughout their time apart, some things never change.
¨So, how have you two been together? Comfortable? If you want I could give you separate rooms.¨ She knew neither of them would take up the offer. She´s worked with teenagers long enough to be able to spot these things.
They both seemed to be thrown off balance.
¨No-no! He´s been a nice roommate!¨
¨She´s been a nice friend here. No wonder she´s your favorite.¨ Now that caught her off guard. How did he?
Her surprise must´ve slipped onto her face. Even more so when Laura stepped in.
¨Chifuyu does not have favorites. She treated us all unfathomably equally in a way of showed us that we were all part of the same team and were valued equally.¨ Like reciting from a handbook or a manifesto.
That surprised her even more. And made her feel a slight amount of hurt at the statement.¨
Cold, loyal, and unquestioning Laura returned. It was interesting to see her act like a kid again, shame she couldn´t see it more.
A living reminder of work. Necessary, uncaring, and inhuman. Except when she wasn´t around.
¨Laura could you give me and my brother a moment?¨ her heart strained a little giving the command to her.
¨Yes ma´am.¨ Dauntlessly spoke, back to soldier Laura, no more little girl who just got surprised. The quick, steady, and light footsteps sunk it a little more each time.
The brief and sudden shut of the door was to simillar effect.
¨What is your reason for visiting *ma´am*? ¨ a frail attempt at a joke to lower the tension, it had the opposite effect. She already had enough of rank for today.
She stuck out her finger, she was cutting this down before it even began.
¨Chifuyu, call me that again and I inflict unspeakable agony on you.¨ she tried to pull off a slightly joking tone back to his remark… it came off as cold. She was cold. She messed it up before it even began, and now she made it worse.
¨" Formalities seem to do the same to you… mis-.¨ Huh, he didn´t back down.
She flicked him on the forehead before he could finish.
¨Time has made you bolder, taller, and brasher than it should´ve. But I´m still your sister, I get to do this.¨ a slight smile crept up on her.
The genuine chuckle from him made the fruitless struggles of the past disappear for a moment, he was still her little man no matter what.
¨She is your favorite though isn´t she? She talks my ear off over how much she respects you, and how she´d do anything for you." He smiled a bit at that.
¨Case in point. She´s prouder than her squadmates. If I gave her an inch she´d talk a mile over how much I respect her for her team. Imagine how more Laura would react to that.¨
He gave an understanding look.
¨ Teamwork makes the dream work, but… don´t be afraid to show a bit more favor to her. She´ll work twice as hard I´m telling you. ¨
He HAD gotten Americanized, ¨talk my ear off¨ and ¨teamwork makes the dreamwork?¨
She grew a bit more bitter at yet another reminder. And at the fact that he went on the same managerial wavelength as her for a few seconds.
Little brother or not he still was gone for six years. So many changes. Natural or forced?
Their relationship was inherently shattered, but she might be able to pick the pieces back together by pure force.
¨let me make you some tea. Is oolong still your favorite?" It was now. She just had it because a farmer gave it to her in bulk and refused to accept no after she saved his farms.
¨Sure, it´d be a nice treat over coffee.¨ Ambrosia of the gods, not meant for mortal man. Or anyone in too
high quantities.
Would it be poisoned? No. It´d be sloppy.
As he prepared the tea she looked around a little more to inspect the room. There was so obviously things hidden under the bed and/or closet. The brief scuffling from laura proved that. But should she look into it?
It could clue her in a slight amount more.
And ruin the night?
She flipped a coin inside of her head and decided to not investigate further, whether or not the outcome was biased is up for debate.
¨Laura´s been drinking buckets of it after I told her it was your favorite. She told me that ¨Shcee would bring it back to school with her comrades!¨ he spoke in a comedic Germanic accent.
That made her a little more embarrassed than she´d like to admit. Even if it was true she disliked the idea of her small obsessed ¨fans¨ back in germany finding out a little more about her than she would´ve preferred.
And that´s why they kept burying deeper into her past. Rascals.
She knew that she had to ask questions, but she had to be more gentle about it.
¨Ḧow do you like piloting an IS? Do you enjoy it?¨
He pondered for a moment.
¨ Heart still beats a bit when I start levitating off the ground, flying with a pair of wings is… an experience to say the least¨
The rush is something she could agree on.
¨FIghting on the other hand… I have no idea what I think about it. ¨
How? he was good at it. He couldn´t say he hated it either.
She needed a small amount more of information, she needed to slip it in. She needed to know her brother's past.
¨Ïf you´d like I could take you out of the tournament."
He turned back on her as if she said something dangerous, but he untensed afterward. Secrets.
¨ Cecelia wants to get equal. Doing that would make things worse for both of us.¨ In what way? It might irritate her. And the rumor was that she hated him with a passion.
¨really? I thought you hated her.¨ she tried keeping the tone uplifted. Just as if she showed only a slight interest.
¨Hate is a strong word, but… she isn´t all that bad.¨ he seemed to be choking that sentence out.
¨A crush?¨
A quick response back.
¨ Definitely not.¨ Not even blushing. but hatred it was not.
Interesting?
¨ It might make whatever relationship you have with her worse if you win.¨
¨I can´t argue that. But I feel like it´d be even worse if I didn´t fight.¨
He brought her the tea in a small cup.
¨Sugar?¨
¨No, can´t stand the stuff.¨
¨Same here.¨
They both quietly drank some tea together, and after a while she knew she would have to ask more questions-
¨Have you gotten a boyfriend yet? Or have you driven them all off?¨ he gave her a small sheepish grin.
Feeling offbalance now. No man- no GUY stepped forward to her at all. Excluding the odd girl.
¨Most of the girls around me think I drive them away with a stick, my presence is usually more than enough¨
He seemed to grimace slightly at the touchy subject.
¨No time for it anyways, too dangerous, too time-consuming, and too hard.¨
¨You´ll find someone. Too much of a good person not to.¨ he stated wistfully.
She decided to turn it around.
¨what about you? An all-girls school usually seems like an opportunity to a teenage boy.¨
He audibly sighed at that. Setting aside his cup and lying down on the floor.
¨Heartbreak, portable weapons, and general gossip are my responses to that particular question.¨
That´s rough.
He´s still untrustworthy. She knew she shouldn´t even feel comfortable around his presence.
He´s too casual, too comedic, too kind.
Everything that her little brother was.
She mentally braced herself again. She knew that she was talking to a soldier, not a brother. It could never be both.
She never wanted this life, it was meant to be a way to help pay for his future, not for it to be her own.
A greedy voice talked inside her head, it was telling her to enjoy the time while she had it, make her move, and take him back away from whatever demons had him.
The warrior in herself told her that he was too far gone. She had more people she had to care about than just 1 person who was slightly recognizable to someone she knew.
¨Chifuyu?¨
She snapped back.
¨Yea?"
¨ Are you doing alright?"
Funny, she should be the one forcing him to answer that. Preferably under a more interrogative setting, not a room with a balcony.
¨fine enough… my life isn´t as ¨stable¨ as it should be or how I want it to be."
He reacted more than he seemed to want to, an unmistakably genuine look of understanding showed, as if he felt that sentence more than she let on.
¨I can sympathize.¨ a little view into his past.
Then he cut the tension by getting up and getting a small container near the balcony.
He got up and opened the door to the balcony. She looked at him as he stepped outside.
He didn't gesture her to follow, but she went by her own volition.
He opened it revealing a burger. He really was lost to the Americans.
God, she skipped dinner for this and the food wasn´t helping.
"You want some?" offering a fry.
"An army marches on its stomach." She did mean that. Food was one of the few untainted enjoyments she had in the day.
´Huh, she did get it from you." Funny.
"Well, It's a joy or a chore to some. For me, it´s both."
"Cheers to that."
They split an even share and ate discussing some other meaningless topics that neither truly cared about, it was nice being able to pretend that they had some focus of normality in the presence of those they could feel a degree of comfort with.
She was still partway through her half when he asked her a question.
"Do you… enjoy this?"
Entering into the very private territory of her deepest opinions now aren't we?
"A bit soggy but I'd still do it again." she gave him a cheeky look.
He looked slightly annoyed at her avoiding the question, but she did give her answer. He was still thickheaded as ever. That gave her a bit more of a smile.
"Oh." he finally got it.
"You ever planning on leaving this?" wow, he must want to avoid all topics surrounding him.
"Do you?"
"Don't even get an idea of what I'm doing right now." he sat behind the bars over the edge overlooking the city. It was the truth.
"Graduating and living a normal life?" she asked with a bit more hope than she thought she had.
"Feels like that ship's been sailing, this is far from the norm..." she recalled the earlier attack on the arena, paperwork and questoning were her opponent. If she was given the option she would rather just fight and leave the menial work to someone who cared.
But she did, too much for her to just leave. Too many to just abandon.
What was the phrase? "No good deed goes unpunished?"
Let's just give up that "putting work out of our mind bit for a while now."
She was interrogating her brother.
That sudden thought was interrupted by a statement.
"We're going to be fine." Firmly stated as if he did believe it.
" Who says we won't be?" it was delivered more emotionally than she wanted it to be.
"God knows…"
This just ushered in a flood more of worries.
He passed some napkins between them, cleaning up whatever small mess they did.
They both stood up, god she wanted a hug from him. Just to see a little into what he really thought of her..
But she knew she shouldn't show her weaknesses, to show him that she cared as much as she did about him.
Still, on the balcony, she wished she could fly away into the sky with those she loved and never return. See the stars along the way.
But looking at him, she knew she had to, to just try to revel in some of the few moments of peace she might be wasting with him. Who knows what sort of demon is wearing her brother as a mask?
Funnily enough, this was one of the few things she was afraid of. And that she knew was right to some degree.
The advanced training and capabilities to get an IS of such a high caliber?
The cold calculating demeanor when fighting someone he viewed as a true enemy?
The insistent coverup the American government was working on to make sure she never knew?
The sheer amount of lack of evidence was a clue in and of it's self.
Right now she could swear that she would never trust him. Be the black warrior chifuyu, feared. Comfortable in her bubble of isolation knowing that her brother was finally safe and focusing on more important topics, new world orderers or warlords.
It would be impossible.
They both just stood there awkwardly for a good few moments.
She flipped a coin inside her head, should she do it or not? Tails. Guess not. But why don´t we just try a few more rounds just for fun?
Finally, Heads. A good excuse.
The tension broke inside her.
You know what? She could afford to risk it all.
She rushed him with a hug, he looked surprised at the sudden advancement toward him.
He tensed up for a very long moment but decided to just give in and let himself slack around her, he seemed like that little boy again, shivering and afraid.
"It isn't very much, but I hope you can call this place home for a short while."
He sighed briefly as if releasing a large amount of nervousness.
"I'll try."
"Good."
They stood there for a long while, not long enough in her personal opinion, but it was… nice.
She left with a quiet goodbye and a slight amount of relaxation at the thought that maybe he still was her little brother, and if not he was still in there in some way.
Of course, it was a foolish line of thinking. But when has that stopped hope?