User blog:Yuka Ichinose/God Eater: Infinity Paradise, Chapter 9

The ill feeling she had been bearing since morn was masked by complete worry and fear, as Yuka stared straight at the screens indicating her comrades' situation. Along with the symbols that showed signals of the team's armlets was one that obviously showed an Aragami. Except that instead of a name, written beside it was Unidentified. It was a species never before seen by Far East Branch. Her head screamed danger, but her body seemed to refuse to do anything about it. If things end up from worse to worst, none of them would come back alive. "Major Amamiya... We have to do something about this, or else...!"

"I know!" The elder snapped between gritted teeth. "I know what might happen to them!" A piercing glare was sent to her direction, causing the blonde to flinch and stay quiet. Of course. Tsubaki had been in this job longer than she had, and probably had dealt with this kind of situations before. So, why are her hands sweating?

''It was her second year in the job as a God Eater. Things had been flowing well and smooth in the European Branch. They have a steady number of God Arc wielders, experienced and new, and it couldn't have gone better. This of course, includes being appointed as leader of the Assault Unit, on top of other God Eaters that had been here longer than her. "I'm counting on you," said the European Director, to which she replied with a nod. As soon as she had left the office, the very first thing Unit Leader Yuka Ichinose did was glomp a subordinate.''

''But it was wrong to celebrate too soon. ''

''"Victor, attack it from behind! Addison, try aiming for its head! Eustace, shoot the front legs!" Her own blast gun was restlessly firing to at least weaken the Aragami. She cursed as the shots had come to a stop, and Yuka rose from her position and shifted her Arc to blade form. It should work.'' It should work. It must work! ''She told herself repeatedly, pulling on the handle to unleash the predator form of her weapon. The beast extended forward and enclosed its jaws on the medium-sized Aragami. Blood splattered from all directions...''

"Hooray, leader!"

''... But it only unbound the Oracle Cells present on the shield. Apart from that, the devour didn't do much damage than she thought it should. ''I trusted you! ''She mentally cried at her God Arc, though didn't expect it to respond. They resumed to battle, losing all hope bit by bit.''

''Their radio still refused to work, and seeking help or support from the control center is impossible. They would have to keep fighting until they could hear their operator's voice on their earpieces again. But none knows how long this will last. "It should be weaker now," she told them, but was more of a way to convince herself that her team can get through this. "Addison, Eustace, stay away from its attack range! Victor, stay alert!" She has to get its attention! With her blade, she rushed forth, attacking the unbound shield while avoiding the sharp needle present in the Aragami's tail. "L-Leader!" Addison called out. "There's... a Vajra in the vicinity too!"''

''"Don't attract its attention!" Fighting this Aragami alone is already a death sentence. Adding up a Vajra would make their world a living hell. But things didn't go well as she had expected it to be. Within a blink of an eye, she found both her gunners down on the ground, unable to move. Victor had been hit by the Borg Camlann's tail, sent flying away from her eye sight. ''

She was faced by an unfavorable pair of enemies.

''Yuka had forgotten how long she kept fighting. How long she tried to at least remain alive, so that she could come to her team's aid upon getting the chance. She doesn't even remember what happened afterwards. When she woke, she was greeted by Dr. Soul in the Infirmary, thankful that at least, she was alive.''

Yuka left her position as leader after that.

"Yuka..."

She failed to realize that there were already warm tears streaming down her cheeks. She was crying like a baby in front of Major Tsubaki Amamiya. To avoid further questions, she hurriedly wiped her tears and turned, saying that she was summoned once again to the Director's Office. As she was about to leave, the elder Amamiya called out to her. "Yuka Ichinose... They will all come back safely."

***

It's already been half a year since the three youngest God Eaters of her former unit had been stripped off the right to live. Addison, Victor and Eustace were her closest companions in the European Branch, and just because of her failure as a leader... they died. For a few months, she was disallowed from going out into the field, and when everything was once again okay, her transfer to Anagura happened. Perhaps the chance to see a long-lost friend and start from the very beginning helped her move on from the tragedy, but if it happens again, it'll surely drive her nuts.

"What do you say about a little trip to Europe?"

Director Johannes von Schicksal is not helping with her emotional problems. "A date?" Yuka asked in a joking manner, to at least lift her own spirit. Soma hissed from the other end of the seat.

Unfortunately, the joke didn't get through and just rolled off the director's back. "The European Branch had asked for support. Just recently, Vajras had infiltrated the walls of their headquarters, along with other species of Aragami. Although they did manage to exterminate all intruders, many of their God Eaters were heavily wounded after the battle, and it this moment, they lack manpower to defend the branch from further Aragami attacks. The damaged parts of the wall is being repaired, of course, but it is taking longer with the small number of God Arc users gathering cores for the repair," he explained.

Yuka's brow knitted. "But... it'd only be Soma and I. Wouldn't it be better to at least add one or two more?"

"Unfortunately, almost everyone is occupied. The European Branch requests immediate help, and as for now, there's only the two of you available. In addition to that, I had always kept in mind that a God Eater can do the work of an entire battalion." She didn't want to go. If only she could, she would ditch the office and come aid Sakuya and her team. "You shall depart as soon as you are ready. The copter would be waiting for you."

"Are you not going to bring thicker clothes?" She asked Soma after successfully trespassing his room once more. "It's usually colder in Europe at this time of the year."

But since it was Soma, she received a cold and short response. "Exterminating Aragamis is the same here and in Europe." To which she just helplessly smiled. "Stop smiling like an idiot and let's go."

The vehicle had enough room for the two of them and their luggage. As the aerial ride traversed the clouds, Yuka couldn't help but look out through the window, wishing an Aragami would come attack the helicopter. What a selfish wish that was, but her desire to return to Europe was lower than Aegis' completion percentage.

Looking back at Soma, she parted her lips to speak, but eventually decided against it, pursing her lips back instead. The other seemed to have noticed this, and scowled, "What was it?"

"Well, I just wanted to say that they rarely speak Japanese there, so we'd have to go with either English or German. But I remembered you don't talk a lot, so it wouldn't be a problem for you." It didn't get much but a small 'che.'

It didn't take them long to reach the European Branch. They haven't closed in to the walls of the structure yet when both God Eaters aboard the copter made a grab for their Arcs and leaped off. Soma was the first to make a land, greeting a Kongou with a smash right on the face. Yuka followed suit with a blast of a Spark bullet, destroying the Oracle Cells completely.

"Even the Reserve Unit is on the move too?" She asked Maine, a Blast Gun-user of the third unit. "That's how bad the situation is?" This never happened in her time!

"Well, they wouldn't ask you to be here if it wasn't this bad!" She yelled back, before cursing at the sudden shortage of bullets. Despite the snappy welcoming, Yuka tossed the other her own supply of bullets. "Use 'em," before running off with her blade form God Arc to crush some more Kongous. Not too far, Long Blade-user Ivan dealt with a group of Zygotes, which Soma finished with a bloody crush, before aiming for a different Aragami.

***

"Yuka!" At least it seemed one person is overjoyed to see her again. It was Claire, an Assault Gun-Short Blade user that was formerly under her supervision. "Are you staying here again?" She asked, after parting from the tight hug she had enveloped the other with. But Yuka shook her head and answered that they were only here until things get better. Claire frowned, disappointed. "By the way, the Director had been looking forward to see you..."

"Alright. We'll be up there then. Soma, let's go- Soma?" Blinked. Looked. Scanned. She found him scowling in front of the terminal, which was a sight to see. Terminals in the European Branch are of course, written in English. Not like she doubts his linguistic skills or something like that. With a teasing smile, she walked over to him, and stood on her toes to peek from behind (because damn he's tall). "Need any help, Cap'n Taciturn?"

He hissed like he always does and glared at her direction, before disconnecting from the device completely.

"It won't kill you to ask for help sometimes, seriously."

Sticking with Soma made her feel better than seeing those glares being sent to her direction. It was unsettling. Unwelcoming. "Famous veteran of the European Branch, huh?" He finally said, noticing everything that made her uncomfortable. Yuka made an attempt to shake it off with a small chuckle, "It only lasted while I was the only New-Type in the branch. During my last year, other New-Types began to arrive, sinking my rank in the popularity poll down the ocean floor."

Structural-wise, the European branch doesn't differ much from the Far East's. The only changes are the faces of the people around them, and that everything is written in English. However, Director Arthur Lanarkshire seemed to be disappointed by the fact that there were only two of them though he tried to hide it by warmly welcoming the pair into his office. It was spacious and decorated with a few paintings having a large bay window just across the entrance to view the entire site.

"By the way, Director," Yuka began in an applaudable fluency. "This is Soma Schicksal-"

"Director Shicksal's son?" replied the blonde man, amused. "You're quite... known here in our branch, Mr. Schicksal." But Soma, being Soma he is, scoffed and looked away, pulling his hood further down. "Going into business, I'm really thankful for the Far East Branch for sending help. After the Aragami intrusion days ago, members of the three units were heavily wounded. Some were even taken off-duty for recovery and it was the Retaliation Team that took most damage. In addition to that, the walls are still far from being repaired, due to the lack of manpower needed for the extraction of medium and large cores." A grim expression appeared on his face. "That's why... We need your help. If ever, for unknown reasons, Aragamis infiltrate the headquarters again, every single life would surely be wiped out." Well, can they say no? They're already here. What else is there to do? "I'm sure, with the two of you around, it should be easier than before."

***

"The people here... aren't too friendly, are they?" noted the male God Eater, while both of them picked up their respective Arcs from the storage. "I've only noticed a few of them welcoming you back."

Despite Soma's taciturnity, he's not stupid. "It's a curse to be the only one who comes back alive from a mission, isn't that right?" There was a small pause before she continued, as if hesitating to go on. "I... lost all three of the youngest God Eaters we have in the branch. Quite a failure as a unit leader."

So... He wasn't the only one. One more scoff, and he shouldered his weapon case before walking over to where she stood. "You know Soma, if you aren't with me, people would surely flock over you like you're a celebrity. You would have hated i- Ah!" She had to briskly walk so that she wouldn't trip from her being dragged out of the storage room. "H-Hey-!"

"Stick close then. It's an order from your Assault Corporal."

''Probably the longest I've written - 2000 words! Also, I didn't proofread this so excuse the spelling-grammar mistakes and a few repetition on some statements or whatever.''