Ultima Ratio

Chapter 11: Tryouts

Even after her wristband buzzed, signaling the end of her workout, Akira kept running. She knew she had to be well-rested for their upcoming mission, but she couldn't relax when she kept thinking of everything that could go wrong. Akira had led teams before, but none of them had more at stake and more uncertainties than this one. And it was all because of one person.

"If you end up hurting yourself, can I get it on record that I'm completely free of fault?" Danya asked from beside her, right on cue.

Akira bit back an annoyed sigh and merely picked up her pace, and the treadmill automatically matched her.

"That won't work," Akira said, focused on evening her breaths. "You'd still be blamed for not doing anything when you had the chance."

"Then you won't mind if I stop you by force right now then? That flopping braid of yours is looking really grabbable right now."

Instinctively, Akira's gaze darted towards Danya, ready to dodge an attack if necessary. Thankfully, Danya stayed put with her arms crossed over her chest, only moving to smirk at Akira's response.

After two days of rest, Danya looked healthier than ever. She was finally clean, and while the UN's military combat uniform looked out of place on her, at least it didn't hang from her like a tablecloth. Akira initially thought the change was thanks to the constant supply of food she provided; in reality, it was merely the additional sunlight that sustained Danya, and she didn't actually need enough calories to feed someone three times her size.

Regardless, Danya's petite but toned figure now filled out the fitted black uniform quite nicely. That, combined with her brightened complexion and her thickened light brown hair tied in a short ponytail, earned her a few double-takes from some of the sailors she passed.

Akira let out a heavy exhale before slowing her pace to a steady warm down. While she didn't want to get stuck in her head with her thoughts, having Danya stuck to her side wasn't the alternative she had in mind.

With their new partnership with Danya, Akira was assigned a new mission: infiltrate a country that's allied with Concordia, find a way into Concordia, and capture Verus Rex, most likely in that order. Clearly, it was easier said than done.

Each step of the plan had to be successful to reach the end goal. Since Verus Rex never left the elusive country in the sky, they had to go to him, and the easiest way to get there alive was to launch from one of Concordia's allied nations.

Before Akira could focus on her new mission, she had to complete her previous one first: provide support for the victims of Concordia's latest attack. While it was a routine assignment under normal circumstances, she was now tasked with keeping an eye on Danya as well. It would be their one and only chance to prove Danya was on their side, and if anything went wrong, the blame would fall on Akira.

"Are you done yet?" Danya asked. "I'm not going to miss lunch because you're trying to squeeze a ninety-minute run in sixty."

"All you need is a few minutes in the sun to survive. You'll be fine."

Danya scoffed. "Excuse you, but I need food for my soul. Contrary to popular belief, I do have one, it's just constantly hungry."

While Danya still seemed to be in a decent, non-violent mood, Akira had two days of interactions to learn some of the warning signs when she saw them. Thankfully, Danya had still been recovering at the time, but she claimed to be in perfect health now, and Akira didn't want a repeat of their last battle. As such, Akira wrapped up her workout in record time and led the way to the mess.

As soon as she stepped out of the gym, she was hit with her next predicament: she had no idea where she was. With their mission being time sensitive, they were relocated to one of the faster ships while the main base trailed behind them, and Akira could never understand the Navy's disorienting layouts. Still, she couldn't let her shadow know that, so Akira confidently selected a route and stuck with it.