Dealing with Alisa always looking down on him from her tall ivory tower was actually nothing in comparison to the current situation Kota found himself trapped in -- being caught in between two clashing mountains. At this point, the orange-haired lad was wishing he had whatever skill Lindow used to calmly and peacefully deal with these two veterans, whereas Kota would always feel like there's a knife on his throat whenever he would try to at least talk to them.
As usual, Soma refused to waste even only a few drops of saliva to lighten the growing tension, and Yuka decided that out of all the possible days, today would be the one where she really wouldn't tolerate Soma, or anything else for that matter. She was unusually silent, often caught dazed and staring blankly at space, if not glaring angrily at her childhood friend. Man, after Kota thought this would be his rare chance to pull tricks on Soma and have Yuka's support. It doesn't look like Lenka cares about this kind of set-up too.
Finally arriving on the location stated in their current assignment, the blonde wrinkled her nose and turned to the pair of younger God Eaters. "Alright. Let's split up and search for the Fallen Ogretails and Gboro-gboros."
Kota's face lightened up. He didn't have to deal with this! "Lenka, how about we--"
"Let's go, Lenka-kun. Kota, you have your radio, don't you?" Yuka asked, her eyes obviously avoiding Soma who was standing behind the boy in question. Kota nodded meekly, and watched as the other pair simply waved him off. "You're definitely going to need it."
Why does he always end up with Soma anyway? This guy never bothers to talk! The teenager frowned at the male who started to go his own way, onto the opposite direction. "Oi, Soma. How long do you and Yuka plan to keep ignoring each other?" He asked, shoulders slumped down a tad bit. "It's pretty hard on us too, you know." Welcome to the super awesome Kota's monologue.
Truth be told, none of them has any idea what happened after Soma carted Yuka out of the cafeteria. They all continued eating in silence, as all had accepted such scenes might be something they'd have to get used to from now on. But when the two returned for the assignments they had, Soma and Yuka looked like they wanted to rip each other's heads off, and no one had seen them talk to each other after that. Lindow would just shrug, Sakuya would shake her head, Lenka would keep silent, and Alisa will say it is really none of her business. Everyone else seem to just roll along with it.
With Soma's refusal to engage in any more conversations, Kota sighed, and instead tried his best to be vigilant, always looking left and right for anything that might come jump on them.
"... If you will keep that act up, then you're not the Soma I knew..."
Soma clicked his tongue as the words crossed his mind once again. He shouldn't even be bothered by it. How she wishes to live her life is none of his business. Soma grunted to himself, frustrated by the fact that he was actually distracted by those kind of thoughts.
"Oi, Soma! Watch out!"
Shots were fired.
If Soma hadn't been into this job for six years, he honestly would be crawling on the ground right now, as the consecutive ice missiles of the Gboro-gboro went straight towards him. Even his Tower Shield was not completely able to stand against such suprising force, pushing the wielder a few inches back at every attack deflected. "We got some fish here!" He heard Kota yell at his radio.
"Uhh... yeah!" Came that familiar voice from the other side. "You're not the only one-- We'll be there in..." Gunshots. "... a few minutes!"
Soma snorted, dashing towards the amphibian Aragami and crushing its fins. Kota was firing a barrage of spark piercing bullets at said monster's back fin. The white-haired lad swung his blade around, sending a Fallen Ogretail down on the ground. He sprinted towards another one, forcing it down with a second forceful smash before it could spring up on him. The smaller Aragamis are easier targets to finish off with two or three more heavy blows, if Soma need not to keep in mind that a Gboro-gboro behind could back strike him with melee or ranged attacks. "Dammit!" He cursed, barely being able to dodge one of the Ogretail's spring attack, stumbling down to the ground. The Aragamis marched towards him, fangs bared. He cursed once again, holding onto his weapon.
Continuous shots of spark bullets right on the Ogretails' skulls shifted their attention towards the orange-haired lad firing from an elevated ground, and Soma took it as a chance to finish them off with another swing of his heavy blade. Blood splattered to all directions and even stained the very blade of his weapon, the Aragamis' mutilated bodies lying on the ground and awaiting decomposition.
That kid wasn't that bad after all, huh?
"Uh... A little help here?" Kota called out, now running for dear life as the Gboro-gboro spammed him with consecutive ice missiles. And this is why Fenrir should work on installing shields for gun-users. Soma hurriedly dashed towards the enraged Aragami, avoiding its thrash attacks and leaping off to strike it from above. The last action caused it to stagger and briefly forget about its two assailants to recover health.
Kota and Soma wasted no time in following it, the former firing a series of mortar bullets on the back fin that had been unbound sometime earlier. The latter sprinted forward while the Aragami was busy, breaking off the Oracle Cells on its torso. The fangs followed not long after with a discharge of laser bullets.
As the shower of attacks placed the Gboro-gboro on a downed state, Soma held back his own blade, enveloping it in a glow of blood red and purple, and afterwards clobbered the fallen Aragami with his Charge Crush.
Right after he had devoured the core of the Aragami, Lenka radioed him in. "Soma-san, we have a problem!"
***
Really now...
"You mean she just ran off and chased it?!" Kota was asking in disbelief.
Lenka was wearing a miffed expression, looking left and right as they scouted the area for any sign of the female God Eater. "This Aragami passed by the area all of a sudden." He knew of course that they shouldn't bother about Aragamis not part of their assignments, unless they become a hindrance. "It didn't seem to notice us, so we just watched it as it went by. And then she just... went after it." He brought his gaze to Soma upon hearing him ask of what kind of Aragami was it. "Certainly a variant of a Sariel, but its body is grey and purple instead."
"An Aether," Soma then replied, and remained silent after that.
"But if you think about it... Yuka's been acting pretty weird since the last few days, hasn't she?" Came another one of Kota's questions. "As if she isn't herself at all."
Hibari had confirmed Yuka's location was already out of Sunken Grid's map, but transmitting the data of her exact whereabouts deem to be a little too difficult. They would have to rustle up nearby areas and hope that she hasn't gone too far to attract an even bigger trouble. It wasn't helping that crazy possible outcomes had been running wild in Soma's head, drawing him closer and closer to the feeling of complete annoyance and worry. "If something bad happens, I swear I'll smack your head with reminders as many times as it takes to ingrain them on your head," he was mumbling through gritted teeth.
"Soma, wait a sec!" Kota called out to him in between tired breaths. But the voice was faint in his ears, drowned out by the older lad's own thoughts and the growing shower of rain. "Oi-"
At that he snapped at the whiny teenager, "If you have the damn strength to complain, then use it to catch up." He hadn't realized he picked up his pace and the two were trailing a bit far from him. The rain seemed to be growing stronger as well, turning the ground muddy and wet beneath their feet.
They really haven't talked over the past days... and she went from annoyingly noisy to unusually quiet. She had been into Old Man Sakaki's office often, which he sometimes finds himself questioning, considering that he was the only one knowledgeable of what happened in eighteen years. It's not that Soma never noticed. He simple pretends as if he really did not. It was much better that way, anyway.
"S-Soma-san..."
"What the..."
A distant memory flashed right before his eyes.
He had always pictured himself in that kind of view -- standing in the middle of a room littered by pools of fresh blood. Broken equipment would be everywhere, and corpses clad in white coats drenched in their own blood would lie around him. It was a picture that brings back the worst memories of his childhood.
But the scene in front of him right now was different, for it wasn't the monster in him who stood there, but Yuka, bathing in the heavy downpour. Knightfall, her God Arc, lied right on her feet, every drop of rain washing away the red fluid it was covered in. Her hands and arms were stained as well, and it was obvious that the blood was still fresh, as it continued to drip down to the ground, creating small red clouds on the muddy water.
And that wasn't even the strangest part.
The Aether Lenka told them about had been eliminated, its body decomposing as orange particles of Oracle Cells ascended from it. Body was torn in half, appendages all over the place. The torso appeared to have been separated from the skirt with a powerful crushing blow, but the arms and legs seemed to have been completely ripped apart. Not a clean slice... but completely ripped from the rest of the body. Somewhere at the back of his head, Soma heard Kota say something about him throwing up at the sight.
Really, it was disgusting.
"It's dead..." She said, monotone voice barely going beyond a whisper.
"Kitty's dead..."
No one asked a question. Kota and Lenka exchanged puzzled and troubled looks. With any possible threat disregarded, Soma shouldered his buster blade and strode forward, holding onto her arm. "Yuka... Lassen Sie uns nach Hause gehen."
Her eyes stared blankly at the ground, their usual shine nowhere to be found. "Zuhause?" She then glowered at the severed limbs of the Aragami, picked up her God Arc and turned to him again. "Alright."
"Did you... uh, get its core?" Kota asked, confusion still evident in his face. "Pretty sure they'd pay you extra for that one."
Yuka didn't even bother to look at him, or anybody, in the eye on their way home. "Core...? What core?" It was as if she was grasping any idea of said object.
Soma grumbled, glaring daggers at the inquisitive boy. "Don't ask questions. You wouldn't get anything."
***
"It's a condition we can't find any way to control," the man looked down at him with a sad, pained smile on his tired face, tears forming on the corner of his deep blue eyes. "... Would it be alright if I ask you to look after her?"
Soma thought he had pushed that memory at the back of his head, along with those others he was desperately trying to forget -- those that wake him up in the middle of the night. He didn't see it first hand, but as it came back to him earlier, a real shiver shot up his spine.
An Aether wasn't even a big thing, because the very image of that mutilated 'kitty' still is in his head.
She sat on his bed, holding Bär-chan like he was the only thing that mattered in the world. Her eyes gave him empty gazes before shifting at the fabric of the blanket covering her lap. No, she's not mentally unstable. He had been told that many times before. It's not any kind of trauma hitting her either, but something much more complicated.
"Why did you chase that Aether? Something bad could have happened to you," he said with a frown, arms crossed over his chest. "If it is extra Fenrir credits that you want or materials for upgrade, then--"
"Es war hungrig ... und wollte essen." How she could answer with a straight face, it still baffles him to no end.
His lips pulled back to a snarl. "What-?"
"Es war hung--"
"I heard you!"
"Then why do you have to ask again?" This time, she pouted, hugging the teddy bear even closer. "Soma is annoying." She fell back on the bed, and pulled up the blanket, silence filling up the room afterwards.
A condition that can't be controlled? He thought. Perhaps Old Man Sakaki knows even only a bit. Any amount of information would suffice, really, but he doubt said man would leak out the details he wishes to acquire if Yuka herself would not confide to him. It was troublesome, to worry so much about this. After all, between the two of them... she is more human.
Could this really stem from the P73 Bias Factor? Or is it something he has yet to know about her?
"Ich werde auf jeden Fall ... aussehen, nachdem Sie."
---
Author: German is, of course, not accurately translated, so I'd love corrections in these translations. Comments and everything else are much appreciated! Mayumayu, signing off!