User blog:Yuka Ichinose/God Eater: Infinity Paradise, Chapter 16

"I'm envious..."

Lenka, with his right hand shaking a wee bit, took hold of the grey handle and slowly lifted the weapon from its case, leaving himself marveling at the sight. The raven-haired New-Type, proud and excited at the gift he received, brandished the God Arc to his comrades, who were just as happy for him. Of course, apart from Soma, little anti-social humbug that he was, sitting silently at the back of the jeep with his lips pursed to a straight line. Yuka sat by his side, her blonde locks tied to an unusual ponytail, forcing down the temptation to snatch that God Arc and fawn over it. Kota was envious as well, though not as much as she was, and Sakuya took care of the wheels, butting into the conversations once in a while as she focused on her work. It was such a happy trip, no one would have guessed they're after a Vajra.

Lenka remembered very well his encounters with that certain species of Aragami. All didn't end too well. And he's worried this one might too. The first one was when he was still under training, disobeying Tsubaki's orders and rushing into battle. He ended up being useless though, completely paralyzed by a Vajra's lightning attack. And then Eric died. The second, he is not entirely sure whether to call it better or worse than his first. Three Vajras cornering his team, crushed by a Dyaus Pita, as what everyone had started to call it. Many civilians were killed, his God Arc destroyed...

Yes, definitely worse.

The bumpy road they were traversing forced those troublesome thoughts out of his head, while both Yuka and Kota complained of the uncomfortable road trip, and Soma telling them to 'Shut the fuck up.' Well yes, none of them would agree to their journey being relaxing and all, but what can they do? This rocky barren land had been littered by Aragamis for long already, living organisms made up of Oracle Cells, the same materials making up their God Arcs. He stared down at the weapon in his hand. It didn't resemble his former gear at all, though both sword and gun were still of the same gear type -- a blast gun, a long blade, his buckler shield had been replaced. The gun took the form of their weapon's predator mode, possessing the eyes and sharp fangs features. The blade was somewhat triangular in shape, narrowing as it closed its edge. Even the shield was differently designed.

Sakuya was the lucky one to have a seat belt. They were thrown off their seats as the vehicle came to an abrupt stop for some reason, the sniper cursing under her breath. She worked her way with the pedals, and just as when everybody on the back had settled back on their seats, she kicked on the accelerator, swerving the jeep to the left. Lenka held onto the side of the vehicle, Kota across him stumbling forward face-first. Even Soma, who had been silently sitting there, lost his own confident balance and landed on his partner's lap, who was a lucky ass sitting in the corner. Though she did hit her head hard against the metal sides a few times. "What's happening?!" Kota asked in panic. One look at the path they had taken, and all could see a flock of Chi-Yous feeding not too far away. If they had went on, surely the situation would call on for a battle. The tall debris of fallen buildings and other structures, and said Aragamis' bad hearing had saved them from another troublesome work.

Kota and Soma were quick to recover from their fallen state, with the latter hissing at Yuka hatefully after she had just smoothly thrown in a terrible pick-up line about falling. She just grinned, being optimism personified. From the very start, she didn't display any hint of gloom after receiving this mission. Even after Commander Amamiya had warned them that this mission against a Vajra might not end well like the others, she just gave her a thumbs up and waved the rest of her words of, much to Tsubaki's chagrin.

"Everyone," Sakuya called out in the midst of their snickering. "Aragamis at twelve o'clock." All shooters rose in excitement, grabbing their respective God Arcs in their gun forms. Yuka was the first on the shotgun seat, quickly jumping to Sakuya's side. Her blast gun, which she affectionately calls Dawn Riddle, sat on her shoulder, the folded shield making contact with said body part. For some reason, she finds joy in holding her weapon that way, fingers anxiously sitting on the trigger button and awaiting brain signals to fire. Her lips stretched wide to a confident grin, almost to say that she can predict precisely where to fire. Kota, disappointed that he didn't get the shotgun seat, stood in parallel to Lenka, their own guns aimed and ready to fire.

Soma was chill, Yuka muttering a small insult as a segue.

The terrain had fallen buildings everywhere, so they had to put all trust in their radar and homing bullets. Luckily, it was only a group of about three or four Zygotes and nothing more (hopefully) coming their way. Too bad for these Aragamis, they were all pumped up to fight.

"Did they call it City of Mercy because of the churches?" She asked, like an innocent child being taken on a tour. "If you die here, will this city have mercy and revive you?"

"Stop it," Soma growled low at her, obviously fed up with being her point of interest at the moment. Since their trip had begun, she was doing her very best in filling up his rage meter, like she was getting paid to do so. It wasn't just stupid, senseless questions, but also crazy pick-up lines and horrible throwbacks that are just as irritating as she already was. How did he wounded up with her anyway? Whoever thought of transferring her to the Far East Branch was a complete s.o.b. That's right, this was his father's idea.

Damn it.

"Cocoon extermination, completed," Lenka told them from their radios.

Yuka stared down at the fallen Aragami bodies sprawled before their pair, and responded, "Clearing successful here too, but no sign of our big pet tiger just yet."

Vajras. One of the large-sized Aragami she hated and as much as possible, avoid. In fact, it earned its own worthy place in her Nope List, somewhere close to the Dyaus Pita that had become a thing after Alisa's accident. Apart from its quick and jumpy movements, she despised its strong lightning attacks, although they were quite predictable. It wasn't fun to take on it alone, most especially because she's not a pro like Lindow. Yuka had avoided dealing with one after the... event in Europe. Hematite Rose.

The memory led her to sigh, and much to her surprise, her partner asked if she was alright. A quick yes and the conversation was over. It was one thing she liked and hated about him. One fine answer is enough. As her mind fell into deep thinking, her eyes gazed over to the corpses of Cocoon Maidens, slowly being engulfed by a black smoke to disintegrate into nothingness.

Radio. It was Sakuya. "Yuka-"

"Sakuya!"

"Ah!"

The sounds of gunshots erupted from their earpieces, with a loud roar thundering in the background. Kota was screaming for dear life. "Lightning Maul! Lightning Maul!" Sakuya was telling them. And, in split second, all sounds died out. Soma's sharp gaze met her own blue eyes. Seems like today, fate weaved her encounter with the Vajra, and backing out is not an option. She had been so excited and enthusiastic about this, but all those felt like they had been washed away with her hands terribly shaking. Her partner's cold azure hues weren't helping her relax, rather making her even more unsettled. Tsubaki's words finally got stuck in her head: ''Be extremely careful. This is a Vajra we're talking about, and all of you know very well of our recent encounters with this species.''

''Return to the Den alive. All of you. That is an order.''

"Aibou." This time, the warmth pressing against her sweating hands were more than reassuring, comforting.

It's annoying how a simple memory could get her teary-eyed and completely make her focus crumble, how it's easy to internally break her down. And how, in the blink of an eye, this one person waltz in and repairs her in just a few words. Why was she even like that? "How long do you plan to stand there and cower in fear?" That gaze filled with worry and care had momentarily made its appearance, now replaced with the usual sharp and rough stare Soma had always displayed. Although it wasn't a question to mock or insult her. Rather, a challenge. To finally get up from the muck of that sticky past and stand against her own fears -- the fears that were forcing her to fake that bravery she exhibits, and that smile she displays.

In this dog-eat-dog world, either devour or be devoured. Things happen. People live and die. That's the cycle of life.

He was smirking at her -- that smirk being the only thing he could use to tick her off.

She hated it when he challenges her.

"Stop doing that." This time, it was her who hissed at him.

And he was victorious.