The base had grown quiet - most of the personnel were asleep. Guards patrolled the perimeters in shifts, allowing for easy rest.
Within the training facility, a few troops had stayed up to train, including Horuichi and Ike - the two had entered a brief competition with one another. Horuichi fired his pistol at a moving dummy, emptying the magazine - he landed seven of the nine into the middle of the head, with the other two just missing, still hitting the side of the face. Glancing back, Horuichi and his troops watched Ike step forward, a rather calm, composed look on his face as he reached into his coat to grasp his pistol, zipped his arm up, and pulled the trigger, not even aiming properly. He fired off the shots instantly, not even taking the time to get a better look down the sight. After emptying the mag, everyone watched as all nine bullets hit directly into the middle of the head. Calmly holstering his gun, Ike smirked to himself with a hum of approval as Horuichi pat his shoulder - everyone applauded the officer, too.
Elsewhere, Sakaguchi, Yanagi and a few others were playing a few hands of cards, turning into a mess of shouts and accusations before they started an arm wrestling competition - one which Yanagi won in the end.
Around the perimeter walls, Maeda and his Chimeras wandered about outside, silently patrolling like a group of grim reapers, calmly searching for intruders whilst seemingly taking in the cold air around them from the night.
Wachisaka was busy reading old novels within the control room, standing by for emergencies in Yanagi's place.
***
'Oi, Kanesaki! When's you gonna stop reading that report and play a game or something?'
Kanesaki sighed, his face scrunching up, eyes narrowing, back turned to Yasuko.
'Why'd they make us share quarters..?' Muttering to himself, he just tried to keep reading the reports on both Tashiro and the masked man.
Laid back on her bed, one arm behind her head and the other throwing a ball up and catching it, Yasuko let out a prolonged sigh of boredom, as if to purposefully annoy Kanesaki. He looked over his shoulder, firing a venomous glare at her before focusing again.
'Go sleep if you're gonna be annoying.'
Sitting up, face visibly pissed off, Yasuko shouted over, 'Hey, you ain't my boss telling me what to do!'
Turning in his chair, Kanesaki faced her fully. His face looked tired, eyes clearly weak, just wanting to shut for the night.
'Please, just stop being annoying. I've gotta do this stuff, okay.'
As he turned back to read, Yasuko impatiently stood up, wandered over and looked at the reports over Kanesaki's shoulder, causing him to move away slightly at the contact.
As she saw the reports, her face changed - a small tear formed in her eye. Noticing, Kanesaki narrowed his eyes, shifting his gaze between Yasuko and the report.
'Something wrong, Yasuko?'
The question hung for a moment, Yasuko wiping the tear away before it could fall.
'It's just... That guy. He's the one who killed Isao, isn't he...'
No words came from Kanesaki, just a silent nod followed by a hum.
Picking up the report, Yasuko went back a few pages, glancing at a blurry picture of the mask, a strange gleaming purple emitting from the eye sockets.
'You're looking for him?' Her hand shook slightly, the papers slipping from her grasp.
'Yeah... Sakaguchi figured he might be a Chimera.'
Biting her lips, Yasuko nodded placing the report down on the desk before taking a deep breath, her face seeming normal again as she wandered back to her bed.
'Was Isao your handler? You guys seemed pretty close...'
Shaking her head, Yasuko started to talk.
'He had a different Chimera, but asked for a new one... We worked together for about five years, he was kinda like an older brother...' Wiping another tear, she continued. '...I know it's weird, seeing a human as family...'
Kanesaki shook his head with a brief smile.
'Nah, not really... My handler, Hanaka... He left me here in outpost 34. I don't know why... Hell, I've forgotten to see what he's up to... I heard he got sent back to Earth to deal with some stuff. I saw him like family, too... So nah, it's not weird, Yasuko.'
The remark caused Yasuko to raise her head, looking over at Kanesaki as he smiled reassuringly - she smiled back just a little.
'You're lucky... My handler left when I was six, guess she just didn't wanna deal with me... After that, I had a few different handlers, all of them left after a while, got kinda repetitive.'
As she spoke, Kanesaki nodded, taking in her words as her voice grew softer, less like an angry to annoyed teen.
'So when I came to 68, having Isao to be like a brother and even a Chimera for captain... An amazing Chimera at that... I felt good, like I belonged... It was nice... Still is, kinda.'
For a moment, it was quiet, until Yasuko stood up again, walked over to Kanesaki and just put her arms out wide, her head still lowered a little as she stared at the floor, cheeks red from slight embarrassment. Kanesaki looked up in his chair, confused for a moment before realising.
He stood up, moved closer to her, felt her arms around his shoulders as he slightly moved his around her waist. He could feel her breathing ease up from the crying, his cheeks growing a little red at the contacts but he just ignored it.
Pulling away slowly, Yasuko looked up into Kanesaki's eyes, a slight glisten hers as they both stood together, arms lightly around one another before the two pulled away fully, not quite saying anything as Yasuko moved away, laying back down and facing the wall, muttering back to Kanesaki.
'I'll sleep when you're asleep...'
Confused, Kanesaki glanced over, her back to him as she stared at the wall, hands gently running along the sheets as she calmed herself.
'Too hot to sleep in here clothed now, ain't it..? I'll change when you're asleep... I didn't forget what you said back in those showers.'
A little smile formed on Kanesaki's lips and he nodded, turning back and sitting at the desk to resume his report reading, glancing over his shoulder after a few minutes to see Yasuko already fast asleep. He laughed himself quietly, shaking his head in disbelief.
The night grew more quiet, most people who were up had started getting some sleep, including Kanesaki.
***
'Nishihara. Look at us, Nishihara.'
His eyes shot open, breath faltering as he shook awake, just a little.
Silence. The only sound coming through the dark room was that of light breathing and the cold night breeze outdoors.
Nishihara rubbed his eyes, groaning tiresomely before feeling someone else moving beside him, shifting under the bed sheets. Looking past his shoulder, eyes still half-asleep, he watched as Yasui relaxed herself in the bed, eyes closed gently, her face just a little red as her braid had been taken out, her hair splayed out on her pillow, just a small bead of sweat dripping from her neck.
Nishihara breathed quietly, moving to sit up at the edge of the bed as he rubbed his eyes again, this time with his palms. His mind kept replaying the voice. 'Nishihara', it repeated in his head - then 'Nishihara, look at us', following after. Humming in annoyance, struggling to hold back a yawn, Nishihara murmured to himself, 'Just a dream...'
Chapter 37 - end