User blog:Yuka Ichinose/God Eater: Infinity Paradise, Chapter 5

A perfect way to start another day.

That was sarcasm.

Seated inside his father's office, Soma kept his head low and his arms crossed, occasionally tugging on his hood to pull it down further. The Fenrir Far East Branch Director was also present inside the room, lounging on his desk chair and eyes fixated on the office door. Finally, after quite a long while, the door opened, and in walked the source of his problems the past few days.

"Hibari said you wished to see me -- Oh, and good afternoon, Soma~"

He only grunted in response and averted his gaze, while she took a seat by his side.

The director began as he reclined back on his chair. "Reports have indicated that you've been doing fairly well here in Anagura. That's good to hear." He shuffled through a few papers presend on his desk, which Soma guessed were the reports he'd been rambling about. "And so I thought it is about time to engage in a few special missions. These missions... you see, are essential in the progress of the Aegis Project. So far, only Soma had been into these business, and these missions are under my direct supervision. That said, it includes the materials obtained. However, Yuka, as I entrust you these difficult assignments as I do with Soma, I expect you to consider all information confidential. You are to do these all by yourself most of the time, but if it appears to be too difficult to be done alone, the two of you might work together for the sake of its accomplishment." The white-haired lad snorted. In his thoughts, Johannes seem to be doubting their individual capabilities. He had done plenty of those darned special missions all by himself before, and he's certain Yuka could do so as well. Although he knew she could take care of herself, he still didn't want her to be involved in this crap.

"A joint mission with Soma?" Yuka tilted her head in question. Wait. Already?

"Indeed. I expect that the two of you as a team would work out real well." That's a joke, right?

So much for briefing. Soma slipped his hands into the pockets of his pants, as the pair of God Eaters left the Director's office. Both then headed for the section elevator, and to the storage for their respective Arcs. "Come to think of it..." He heard her say as he shouldered his blade. "... Are these why you always go off on your own?"

"You're too loud. He did say it was confidential, didn't he? If he hears you talking about it with your big voice, he'll surely--"

"Okay, okay, I get it, liebling. Don't be so crossed." She chuckled, snaking one arm around him while the other held her weapon. "But since it is my first special mission, I guess I should say... Kümmern Sie sich gutes um mir!

***

"Sariel cores..." She mumbled as they both descended to the field. Searching for said Aragamis hadn't been a pain though, for they already came across their location, leading both to immediately engage in battle. But fighting one had already been a pain, based from past experiences, and fighting three at once did not make it any easier. Soma would constantly yell at her to watch her back.

She'd been bruised and hurt quite a lot of times, and at times fails to dodge or evade an attack.

But being determined (and damn pissed) God Eaters they were, somehow, they managed to go through the pain and devour all three cores required by the branch director. Yuka, with legs almost numb and arms tired, collapsed on the ground with a tired sigh. "The sky's so blue," she said in a dreamy voice. "Lie down and take a look, Soma..."

"We have better things to do, Yuka," he grunted at her. "Get up."

"But..." She puffed her cheeks slightly. "Come on... It'll only be for a while."

He stared at her, proving that there is no way he could bribe him to lying down on the ground and waste his time.

"Please...?"

With a roll of his eyes and a grunt, Soma lowered his buster blade and sat on the ground beside her. This led to the blonde quickly scooting even closer to him and positioning her head atop his thigh. "The last time I did this was when we were ten!" She chuckled, snuggling comfortably.

He tried to ignore her ramblings and stare up at the sky instead. She was right. It was blue alright. Funny that an Aragami-infested world would possess a clear blue sky, as if everything was at peace. He'd never paid much attention to it... until now. "You know," she began. "When I was stuck in the hospital, I could only look at the sky from the window. Being immobile is a pain..."

"Immobile?" He asked.

She shifted in her position, now lying on her side and away from him. "Guess you didn't know, huh?" What? What is this about now? "I bet you also don't know that Dad was killed by an Aragami..."

"No... No, I don't." He paused. Both of them had lost their mothers. They were both volunteers for the Managarm Project, and after the experiment on the P73 Bias Factor he and Yuka were born with... He refused to be reminded of that memory. While his father, the current director of the Far East Branch, was saved by a charm given by Dr. Paylor Sakaki, Yuka's father was away during her birth. However, he didn't know that her only living family member had been killed by an Aragami. He didn't know she suffered as much as -- or probably more -- than he did.

It was obvious that she didn't want to discuss the events of that day, for upon saying a single sentence about her father's death, she immediately moved on to the next part of the story. "But the Aragami -- that Borg Calmann -- chased after me. It's luck that I survived," she said with a small chuckle. "Guess I really am a good hider like you said." She turned back to face him and grinned. But that grin faded almost immediately as the story went on. "I was caught in a big pile of rubble and was bleeding. I honestly thought I was going to die that day, trust me. So I cried... I cried for Dad's death. I cried because I wasn't even able to save him. I cried because I was such a burden. I cried because I thought I'd never get out of there. I cried even if you've told me a million times that I shouldn't."

"I don't know how long had I been stuck there," she continued. "When I woke up, I can't even move my body. Chest down was stuck. The doctors said I had it pretty bad. Sixth and seventh vertebrae snapped and all those things. So, I was stuck there on that stupid bed. When I turned twelve, I was transferred to a Fenrir hospital."

"How come you can jump around and be this active then?" He asked.

"The P73 Bias Factor."

"I thought they said it didn't work on you..."

"Turns out, it does. I guess it's not as active as it is in you... I'm not entirely sure. But the results did say that my condition was improving, and after a while, I slowly got to move my body. It took three years... Though I don't think they knew of the existence of the Bias Factor in me, which maes them all perturbed when they saw me able to move again. Anyway... I'm really thankful for it! I get to see you again!"

A faint smile made its way to his lips. "Is that all that matters to you?"

As she parted her lips to give him a satisfying answer, there came a buzzing sound on both their earpieces, and was afterwards followed by the voice of Tsubaki Amamiya, their current instructor in Anagura. "The director had been asking of your whereabouts. He did say you are on a joint mission but don't you think you are enjoying your sweet time outside?"

Well, that's more or less an order to go home, he thought, nudging at his companion to get up. Yuka did comply and rose to sitting position. "I'd enjoy every sweet time I could get," she mumbled. "In this line of work, you'd barely get a rest."

"It's only because you take every possible missions from Hibari. Everything's entirely because of your choice."

They both set up to leave, but as they were about to, she called out to him once more.

"What is it this time?"

"Just wanted to say..." She smiled. "I'm still holding onto that promise. After all, nothing changed, right? We're sure to see paradise at the end of this war."

He'd fought the urge to do it since they had accomplished the mission. But when it's too strong, it's sometimes better to accept defeat. Soma walked up to her, which led bright blue eyes to blink in confusion. He lifted a hand and gently pressed it against her cheek, making her turn pink upon contact, and with his thumb, he rubbed away the small dirt on her cheek. "Ja. Wir werden es tun bestimmt."

***

"Yuka, you're smoking red, are you alright?"