“How frustrating.”
“I’m sorry, Leader. If I’d only realised sooner I could have dealt with them myself.”

Two hooded figures stood on a far-off rooftop as the taller one gritted his teeth in annoyance while looking through a pair of binoculars. He watched as stretchers were being ferried onboard an awaiting aircraft, carrying various battle-worn youths as a uniformed man and woman performed checks on them.

“Did the faithful lose his nerve?”
“No Leader. He performed his duties admirably. Phoenix was simply far stronger than expected, and I was too slow to intervene.”
“It isn’t your fault. If anything, the failing is mine for not appropriately investigating the academy’s abilities.”
“Bu-”
“No ‘but’s. Besides, Bahía Blanca was a huge success. It may not be a perfect victory as we had hoped, but we can simply deal with Phoenix another time.”

He rested a hand on the shoulder of the young girl at his side, and she turned to face him with a cheery smile, the rest of her features clothed in the darkness of her hood.

“It’s time to go - it won’t be long before they start scouring satellite footage. Let’s stop by somewhere nice to celebrate.”
“Yay~!”

She skipped along behind him with childlike glee, her melodic laugh echoing eerily through the empty ruins surrounding them.

******

“...Hnn?”

Yuuji’s eyes flickered slowly as he stirred from his slumber, and was met with an unfamiliar ceiling.

“Where…?”

He blinked sluggishly and cast his gaze further down, only to see the teary face of a beautiful girl watching him closely, her nose sniffling.

“Yuuji!!”
“Guwah-!”

Her arms wrapped around him tightly in a near-successful assassination attempt, and her face was buried in his shoulder, muffling her choked sobs. Her skin was soft and she smelt sweetly of plum blossoms, but her horns were jabbing into his chin, and his aching body struggled to fend off her assault.

“-Geh!”
“...Hibiki-chan, give him a little room to breathe.”

His saviour in a white lab coat chuckled pleasantly as she strolled over with a mischievous grin. Dr Natsumi took a seat at his bedside after detaching Hibiki’s death grip, but she wasn’t the only one.

“Yuuji-nii! I was so worried…”
“Yuu… I’m glad…”

At the foot of his infirmary bed sat Ayumi and Ji-Hye, the latter sporting heavy bags under her eyes as she rested her head on the bottom of his mattress.

“...How long was I out for?”
“You were the longest, it’s been a full 10 hours since you were picked up. These girls have been checking on you ever since you arrived, with Ji-Hye refusing to sleep as always.”

Dr Natsumi gave an exaggerated shrug as if it couldn’t be helped, but her smile was warm and caring. As he watched her face, he saw the faint outlines of dark circles beneath her eyelids as well, a poor fit for her gorgeous features.

“...”
“Oh? What’s the matter, did you fall for me?”
“...Thank you, Dr Natsumi.”

For a moment she was taken aback, but soon regained her sly grin as she pulled a clipboard to her chest and crossed her long, slender legs.

“I thought I said you could call me Aoi-san?”
“Aoi-san, then.”

She froze for a second and quickly turned away, tapping her clipboard.

“...Good. Well, it seems you’re doing fine, so I’ll leave you in peace.”

Despite only just taking her seat, she stood up once again and swiftly disappeared behind the privacy curtain. Her actions seemed a little odd, but Yuuji was genuinely thankful for her help, as the wounds he’d received were all but completely healed - if a little sore.

“You three as well, thank you for being here. I’m sorry I made you worry.”
“You really did!! You were in such a state when they wheeled you off the Firebird.”

Ayumi sulked as she stared at him, but her large round eyes were soft and a little red. He struggled to lean forward in his exhaustion, but he managed to raise a hand to beckon her over and gently placed his palm in hers.

“I made sure to come back. In one piece, as well.”
“...Mmm.”

She nodded quietly as her face reddened and faint tears rolled down her cheeks. He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze, as he felt profound happiness deep in his heart at seeing his sister so concerned about him.

“Zzz…”

The sound of peaceful snoring rang out from the end of the bed, as the two of them turned to see Ji-Hye drooling on the blanket with a goofy look on her face, Hibiki pouting beside her.

“Sorry, Hibiki. I’ll tell you what - as an apology, I’ll treat you to a fun day out tomorrow. Is there anything you want to do?”

Her ears twitched slightly as she blinked, before raising her hand to her chin with a ‘Hmm~’. He’d made the suggestion on the spur of the moment, but he hadn’t actually expected her to have anything specific in mind.

“Oh! Let’s go on a date!”
“Pfft-!”
“Date!?”

Yuuji clutched at his stomach after jolting in shock. Ayumi’s grip had tightened severely as well, and he was rapidly losing feeling in his fingers.

“Yeah! I read loads of stories about people going on dates. It seems fun!”
“Wha-What gave you the idea?”
“Aoi-san keeps asking ‘Have you two gone on a date yet?’, like that. So I thought we should go on a date!”
“D-Date… Date…”

Yuuji frantically tapped on his sister’s wrist in hopes she would release him, but she continued muttering under her breath in disbelief, seemingly forgetting he existed. Ji-Hye was snoozing tranquilly despite the racket, and Aoi had seemingly vanished into thin air.

“Will you keep it down already?”

A voice of ice-cold water poured over them, and Yuuji’s hand was finally freed, with Ayumi and Hibiki turning in surprise. Pulling back her privacy curtain, Valeriya’s stern glare eyed them from across the room, as she was resting in the bed directly opposite.

“They’re just having fun. It’s good entertainment.”
“Wha-! If you were awake, why didn’t you say something!?”

Now from beside them, there was a rustling once more as the voices of Leona and Claire echoed back.

“Didn’t want to. You’d probably just complain about my fighting style.”
“Well of course, you beast woman! Look at where you’ve ended up!”

*stomp* *stomp* *rustle* *rustle*

Yuuji swore he could see the silhouette of Claire’s exaggerated motions even now, despite the curtains separating them being fully opaque. Their bickering only served to agitate Valeriya more, who grew frustrated at being unable to rest.

He cracked a smile as he watched Hibiki and Ayumi desperately try to guide the quarrelling duo outside, and felt relieved they’d all made it back: it had been a little too close for comfort.

“Sorry for the noise Valeriya, but I’m glad you’re alright. If you hadn’t been there it might have been a different story.”

She had saved him more than once the night before, and it was the two of them together that saw the fight through to the very end. When life and death are on the line, trust in one another is crucial, and he felt a certain kinship with her that he couldn’t quite explain.

“...Val. Valeriya is what my father calls me. Call me Val.”

She was cold and aloof, but he felt the warmth behind her words. She tugged her coverings closed once more as if to show she had finished with the conversation, and he didn’t bother to respond further - they had said all that needed to be said.

Pushing himself up from the reclined mattress, he stretched his body thoroughly after finally having inured himself to the dull aches of his wounds. He used the metal bedframe to steady his feet as he was a little wobbly, but he soon found his composure.

“Zzz…”
“...”

Yuuji sighed as he watched Ji-Hye’s blasé expression as she slept, knowing they couldn’t leave her slouched in such a way. Flexing his muscles slightly beforehand to make sure he was ready, he gently lifted her over to the nearest clean bed and laid her in it, covering her with the prepared blanket so she wouldn’t catch a cold.

She was light as a feather, and now that she wasn’t constantly spouting nonsense he saw her delicate beauty on full display, like a solitary orchid blooming on a summer's evening. As he placed her down again he had felt an undeniable pang of disappointment, though he swore never to mention it to the girl herself.

Managing to tear his gaze away from her, he collected the last of his belongings and crept through the infirmary doors, clicking them shut quietly behind him so as not to disturb the two who remained to rest. Unfortunately for him, his actions hadn’t gone unnoticed, as the doors that had previously been left ajar happened to give a direct line of sight to where the now sleeping girl lay.

“Hmph. Ishitake Yuuji, it seems you’re as lecherous as I had heard. Though that isn’t surprising for a man of your calibre.”

“...There’s so much packed in that sentence I’m not sure where to start.”

Out of the frying pan and into the fire, Yuuji had somehow managed to wander into some kind of impromptu intervention set up by the four girls in the hallway.

“Yuuji-nii…”
“Hoh~... it is truly no surprise you carry the proclivity of the ancient gods along with their power.”
“Just what the hell do you people think I am?”

Avoiding the somewhat impressed gaze, disapproving glare and know-it-all smugness of the three before him, he turned to Hibiki; the last person who remained in his corner.

“What should we do for our date tomorrow?”

Perhaps there was some truth to their words after all.