"And that's how we ended up here…" I glance out of the window to my left as I keep speaking.
Outside, several floors below, was the backside of the building. Same one that had the giant yard in the front. The reason I didn't see any of Saya's Dad men wandering around, was because he was given the 'backside' of the building. That as a side note, also had electricity, guess they had generators somewhere? The backside now consisted of another big yard surrounded by roads, each intersection blocked with the same type of fence in order to create a square shape of 'living' space. Other than the survivors he dragged around, that were now in the front part of the building in the tents I saw earlier, the backside had most of the equipment they brought from the mansion. Along with several makeshift installations. Now, speaking of Saya's dad…
"..." He was just staring at me with his arms folded, sitting on the opposite side of the table…
Yuriko was next to him, Saeko and Saya sitting by my side of the table. Rika was obviously not here. Other than the fact that we took her car and guns, she barely knew us. And Hitomi, was also not here. As after waking up and getting pale-faced the moment she saw Souichiro staring at her, she decided to 'go' with the other civilians...
"Naier." Souichiro speaks up after what must have been an eternity of silence.
"Thought I told you to protect my daughter." He says flatly.
(Uhh, I could not think of anything to say as to 'why' the girls are here with me without making it obvious that they missed their chance to get extracted because of me. So, I told the truth.)
"You did, but I can't shave her bald and shove her in a room to protect her." I answer, causing Saya to turn to me with a stupefied expression.
"So you instead let her recklessly plummet into a river while being inside a car." He responds with the same flat tone.
"Papa he didn't…"
"I am speaking with Sepfier now. Do not interrupt." Souichiro cuts off Saya before she could even finish her sentence. She responded by turning her hands into fists while keeping them under the table. Glancing away as she narrowed her eyes, but keeping her mouth otherwise closed.
(Oh boy, the guy might be actually pissed right now. So, change of plans, being passive now ain't going to help me.)
"It was that, or leaving her with the rest of the group." I lean forward as I place my hands on the table.
"And they still had a relative distance to go till the extraction point. An extraction that we were not even sure if it was still there. I didn't trust them with keeping her safe." I add up as I lean back on the chair.
"Takashi, for all the good leader that he is. He mostly reacted, rather than acted. He didn't plan ahead. Instead, he solved problems as they came up to him. And that can lead to walking into a problem that can 'not' be solved." I say as I fold my arms.
(I am actually talking out of my ass here. I got no idea how Takashi 'led' because I honestly did not pay too much attention to him.)
"And you're different?" Souichiro asks.
"In the estate. I was the only one that 'did' something, rather than wandering around like a lost kid. Not my words." I glanced at Yuriko as I spoke.
"Yes, I do remember saying that." Yuriko nods as she speaks up. Shouchiro just keeps staring at me silently.
"And, I don't mean for when the E.M.P's fell. That, was reacting. What I mean was before the E.M.P.. Takashi spent his time strolling around with Rei instead of thinking of what we need to do to prepare for our next step, even after he agreed that we will split from your group he just twiddled his thumbs. That could have ended up with us leaving with no supplies at all." I lower my head and turn slightly to my left, where Saeko was sitting.
"Let's take the fuel for example. Maybe he did not know that Humvee's have horrible fuel efficiency. He didn't bother to look it up, it would end with us running out of fuel. Where? I don't know, maybe next to a gas station, maybe next to a horde. That then leads to him reacting to the problem that will be created. A problem that no matter the solution, will not have a better outcome compared to actually just having fuel from the get-go." I keep speaking as I raise my head again.
"What if the extraction was a ruse to attract unwary survivors? While it's highly unlikely, it's a possibility. I don't really know Takashi, so I can't really say if he would just waltz in without looking. And as you said, you told me to protect your daughter. So leaving her with a 'might be fine' is not good enough for me. So yes, I figured letting her come with me was the safer option." I add as I keep looking at Souichiro.
"Then, tell me of a plan to take back the airport. If you are good at planning." Shouchiro 'finally' speaks up. Though what he said, caused even his wife to glance at him.
(Uhh? What? Are you for real? What does that have to do with anything? Ughh. Fuck it, Let's see...)
"What resources do we have?" I ask back.
"Two jeeps, one truck, a handful of men." He answers.
(So, umm. I always sucked at RTS games, but whatever.…)
"If we can use absolutely nothing more. Before you enter the airport, somebody with binoculars will scout the airport, see where they keep the jet fuel and where most corpses are congregated at. If they have fuel barrels, take the truck and one jeep, with all the people but one in the truck, so they can quickly get the barrels inside the truck. Then, place the barrels in the middle of the airfield and punch holes in them, keep one barrel in the truck. After that, jam the jeep horn and leave it by the barrels. While you are leaving, make a trail of fuel with the last barrel. Once enough corpses have gathered up, light it up. We lose one jeep, but just in case the barrels don't explode, the jeep will. The sound will get what corpses were too far to go right into the fire and burn themselves to a crisp." I tilt my head as I stop talking…
"If it has a truck instead of barrels, same deal. We just, don't lose the jeep." I add.
"What if we don't want to lose the jet fuel." Souichiro answers.
"Then drive around the truck with a few men holding flamethrowers in the back. And light the corpses up as they gather behind the truck. Corpses are flammable, the army seems to realize it too. If they gather into a horde, they will just lightly themselves up. If the higher-ups want the fuel, then they can at least give up a couple of flamethrowers." I responded.
"What about the building itself?" He asks right after.
"Most airports have a lot of giant glass walls, shoot them till they break. Then gather all cars in one spot and make as much noise as possible. With the windows broken, most corpses that are not stuck will follow the noise and either fall to their death, or end up in the field, once there, shoot them or burn them. After that, move forty five degrees on the side of the building, from north to either west or east for example, and repeat the process four times. Until you come full circle. Then, one team with heavy armor and, or some sort of shield will enter from one side and clear out the insides room by room. Armor or shield would be preferred because they might end up with corpses next to them in tight corners or behind closed doors." I answer…
(Why are we doing this again? Oh right, because Saya came with me into the river…)
After a few minutes of silence…
"I've heard worse." Souichiro speaks up.
(Why, thank you very much. If you can do better, then be my friggin guest.)
"I'm not supposed to be a better planner than a seasoned military official. Just better than Takashi." I responded with a flat tone.
"I know exactly what and why I'm asking you." Souichiro 'answers' as he slowly gets off his chair.
"I need to make sure that you're capable of taking care of my daughter." He adds up. Then walks towards the door behind me.
(By taking over an airport command and conquer style?)
"We are still considered to be a family of certain influence. We do have certain 'expectations' out of the man that our daughter seems to be so keen on following around." Saya's mother speaks up with a smile as Souichiro leaves the room.
"I can follow whoever I want to…" Saya responds with a low tone whine as she folds her arms, lowering her head and glancing away from her mother. Yuriko responds with a small chuckle as she looks at her daughter.
"Sorry for taking part of your time, we have prepared rooms for each one of you. Third floor before the top floor, there is also a bathroom there with hot water. I take it that with the electricity out, you had to resort to cold water so far." Yuriko adds as she leaves three keys on the table...
"Not really, Naier can be rather resourceful. Even on meager tasks like having hot water." Saeko responds with a slight smile.
"Meager till somebody catches a cold, and ends up sneezing next to a horde." I say as I take the three keys. Yuriko just giggles slightly as she gets up.
"I won't take any more of your time then." She adds as she also starts walking towards the door. Only to stop and turn around.
"Oh, and, about your car…"
"The keys stay with me. Except if Rika wants her car back, can't do much about that." I cut her off. She nods, then leaves the room. And, uhh. We just stayed there, for a couple of minutes, silent…
(...Well, that was weird. But hey, still got all my parts attached.)
"Soo, let's go? " I ask as I get up and glance at the girls, both of them nod and also get up.
With that, we also exited the room and turned to head to the first flight of stairs to our left. Then, headed up, towards our designated floor…
"You know, they say top floors in tall buildings shake like crazy during an earthquake." I say nonchalantly as I keep walking up the stairs.
"If we get an earthquake while we are up there now, I'm seriously going to kick you out the damn window." Saya responds from behind me.
"Hey don't shoot the messenger, I'm just stating the facts." I answer with a slight chuckle.
"You said it, so now you jinxed it." Saya responds with a slight huff.
"Hmm, maybe I should ask that you get a room on the lower floors then, just in case." I answer as I glance back at her.
"Idiot." She responds as she narrows her eyes with a pout.
Upon reaching the target floor, we find it relatively empty, compared to the lower floors at least, it also looked 'nicer' compared to the other floors. It could be, because it was cleaner? Because it was probably not used as much? Something, did definitely feel different.
After we looked around the floor for some time, we finally 'found' our rooms, all three next to each other. I say found, but it was mostly that they were the last three rooms we had to check. The rest were either locked and the keys did not fit, or were already unlocked. With the keys again, not fitting.
"Here we are." I look at the keys before looking at the doors. And by now, I also realized why this place felt different.
"Weird how this floor reminds me of a hotel, while the rest of the building looks like an office building." I add as I give each girl a key.
"It's near the airport, maybe they had the top floors reserved for guests or customers that had to stay longer. Or maybe it was used by the higher-ups of the company. As the doors don't seem to have any sign to show what key goes where." Saya shrugs slightly as she takes the key.
"I didn't see a bathroom anywhere though." Saeko adds as she also takes her key.
"Maybe the rooms have their own bathrooms." I say as I walk up to the door in front of me and try the key. Only to come back with a negative result.
(Of course…)
"Not mine." I say as I go to the left room and try the key again. This time, the key actually unlocked the door.
"Mine." I nod slightly as I turn to the girls.
"Well, you know where to find me if you need me for something." I add as I keep looking at them.
"I will keep that in mind." Saeko responds with a slight smile as she stares at me...
(Maybe, I should lock my door…)
And, the moment I walked inside my room, I scanned my surroundings…
(Well, shiet. Saya nailed it in the head on the 'higher-ups room')
Other than having the airport in full view on the giant, tinted window pane ahead of me. A double-sized bed with a small stand to my left, a lamp and an ashtray on that stand. On the wall opposite the bed, and to my right, a giant Tv. Next to the Tv, towards the deeper part of the room, a door. Next to that door, a desk that was placed in the corner between the wall and the glass 'window' wall. A laptop with its lid open on the desk. Sadly, the screen looked as dead as ever.
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
(I take it this is the bathroom?)
I walk up to the only door in the room and open it. The bathroom coming into full view.
(Hmm, nothing too crazy. But, I'm filling that tub, because fuck it. I want to chill in the tub. Question is, do I have clothes to change into?...)
I let out a sigh as I realize that I don't have my bag and will have to walk all the way to the bottom floor and get to the car in order to get my clothes…
I exit my room and lock it. Then go to the next door and knock on it.
"Yiaa!? Close the door you pervert!" I hear a girly shout from inside…
"The door ain't open?" I respond as I tilt my head. Only for several seconds later to see the door handle move, the door staying closed.
"Ohh, oh. You're right, it's locked…" The voice replies. Increasing my urge to facepalm...
"I didn't get my clothes, need anything from the car Saya?" I ask as I place my hand on the Scar-H that was hanging by my side.
"H, how did you know it was me! Does your room have a one-way mirror?!" The voice responds…
(No, it's because Saeko would casually open the door while being half-naked. Also, your voices are different. Also, Saeko would not go all 'Yiaa' from a door knock. And, seriously? One way mirror? Come on Saya...)
"Uhh, no? You and Saeko have a different voice tone. And you can check my room if you want. Hell, we can change rooms if you don't believe me." I respond as I fold my arms.
"No, it's. Ok…" Saya replies.
"So, need anything from the car?" I ask again.
"No, I got my stuff in my bag…" Saya replies with a much calmer tone.
"Alright." I nod and head towards the third door. And the moment I knock on it, the door opens. Saeko almost instantly walking outside in her normal attire.
"I do need some stuff from the car, mind if I come with you?" Saeko asks as she smiles, tilting her head slightly. I just shrug and motion her to come along.
(Somebody's been eavesdropping huh? Sneaky Saeko is sneaky.)
Yet, before we even managed to take a step, Saya exits her room, also in her normal clothes, minus the white jacket…
"I, I forgot that I forgot something in the car, I'm coming as well." She flatly declares as she closes her door behind her.
"What did you forget?" I ask as I arch an eyebrow.
"S,something! Now move your butt!" Saya responds as she places her hands on her hips before leaning towards me with a pout.
(...My, if I didn't know you any better, I'd say that you're actually coming because of Saeko. Maybe you actually like her more than me. Heh...)
I hold myself back from chuckling and start walking towards the stairs.
"By the way, Naier." As we started walking down the stairs, Saeko spoke up.
"Hm? What's up?" I ask as I keep walking.
"When are we going to spar again?" Saeko asks in a casual tone…
(...Oh, hell, nope.)
"Uhh, when having broken bones ain't going to be a risk to my survival…" I respond with a deadpan tone.
"As inside a safe zone for example?" She asks again.
(Not denying that you're going to break my bones huh?…)
"When I won't have corpses staring at me from the other side of where I'm standing. For example…" I answer. Saeko just responded with a soft 'hm'.
"What's the problem, afraid you'll get your ass kicked again?" Saya asks with a grin as she turns to me.
"Yes." I answer with the most deadpan voice I can muster.
"Chicken." Saya adds with a huff as she keeps staring at me with that shit-eating grin.
"Not wanting to end up in a hospital makes me a chicken? Huh, you must really like guys like Tsunoda then." I answer, causing Saya's face to instantly turn sour.
"Ew, no. How can you even link what I just said to that flip flop wearing tard." She says with a frown, tilting her upper body away from me.
"No sense of self-preservation? He would pick any fight that came his way." I answer with a slight shrug.
"That's completely different." Saya responds as she folds her arms.
"Nope." I add right after her.
"Yep." She adds back.
And just as we finished that 'exchange', we reached the bottom floor.
"Besides…" I turn to look at the girls as I take a silent deep breath.
"Cuddling over breaking my bones any day." I add with a slight shrug. Both Saeko and Saya taking a heavy blush in the next couple of seconds.
"Y, you're not supposed to say crap like that out loud you idiot!" Saya starts glancing around us before tightly folding her arms under her chest.
Saeko just turned to look away with her head slightly lowered, the middle phalanx of her index finger covering her lips…
(Well, this scene is cuteness overload so I'm not complaining. But are they really 'this' embarrassed over the word cuddle? Especially since one certain purple-haired samurai does not seem to mind walking around me half-naked...)
And speaking of that Samurai...
"I, do not want you to despise the time you spend with me. So I do not mind, trading our promised spar, for something that we will both enjoy." Saeko speaks up as she turns to look at me…
"We 'promised' to spar?" I 'ask' as I tilt my head.
"Yes." Saeko replies almost instantly.
"After our first spar, at Saya's house." She adds.
"Why I don't remem…"
"You hit your head pretty hard back then, it probably slipped your mind." Saeko cuts me off…
(...Five bucks say that she was actually thinking about 'this', instead of actually being embarrassed…)
"W, we have stuff to do. Stop wasting time." Saya, with a groan, quickly walked up to me and turned me around, then started pushing me forward by pushing my back…
"Why so embarrassed?" I ask as I start walking towards the exit, Saya still 'pushing' me.
"S,shut up." She hissed with a low tone.
(She's not denying it.)
After we got out of the building, and Saya finally stopped 'pushing' me. We headed to our parked Humvee…
And, the moment we got near our car. I realized that a person was sitting on the hood...
"Hmm? Is that Hitomi?" I ask as I tilt my head.
"Think so." Saeko adds right after me.
"Of course she would not just leave…" Saya mumbles as she folds her arms.
Once we got near, Hitomi spotted us, lifting her arm and waving at us before sliding off the car's hood.
"Something wrong?" I ask as we get near. Hitomi shook her head.
"No, I. I wanted to thank you. I left without saying anything back there because it seemed that the matters you were talking about were personal." Hitomi responds, then makes a slight bow.
(Really? Because it looked to me that Souichiro just rolled a +20 crit 'terrify' on you.)
"Don't, we made a trade, remember?" I answer as I fold my arms.
"Oh.." Hitomi lifts her upper body and glances at me before starting to awkwardly glance around…
(Ughh, now she's making me feel bad.)
"But you're welcome anyway." I add after a few seconds.
We then spent a few awkward minutes standing there...
(Well, let's do what we…)
"Huh? Well I'll be damned, it 'is' you!" Before I could even finish my thought, I heard a new voice speak up. Turning to it, I see a guy covered in grease walking up to us, whine tank top, overalls that he wore like normal pants, and his hair tied to a bun behind his head...
(Uhhh, that's. The guy that managed the armory from Saya's house?...)
The guy wipes his hands with a cloth he pulled out of his back pocket, then stops next to us.
(Didn't he do that the first time we met him as well? De-javu.)
"You're the armory guy from Saya's house." I say as I tilt my head slightly.
"The name's Igano." The guy responds.
"Kabamaru?" I 'ask' as I hold back a chuckle, the guy just arks an eyebrow questionably.
"Tanaka." He responds flatly.
(These guys don't have Kabamaru? Damn, I feel really bad for them now. Still, do they even have anime shows here? And, would that make anime on TV be a counterpart of live-action movies from my world? I, got so many questions right now...)
"Do you know anybody by that name?" Saeko asks after a few seconds of silence.
"Huh, not really." I shake my head as I glance at her.
"Still, I didn't realize people from Saya's 'group' could spot us from a distance." I add, causing Igano to chuckle.
"You are walking around with the boss's daughter my friend, you're sticking out like a shore thumb." He adds as he folds his arms, glancing at the pinkette who responded by also folding her arms and frowning at the man.
"And well, there's the part where I had to give part of my armory to a bunch of, hey, is that the Scar-H I gave you?" Igano, like an overhyped teenager, cuts his own sentence in two the moment he spots the gun that was hanging on my side.
"Uhh, yea. You know, not many of em are floating around." I respond as I tap the assault rifle.
"Want an upgrade?" He adds with a slight smirk as he lifts an eyebrow…
"Elaborate." I almost instantly answer. Causing the guy to laugh through his nose.
"After we arrived here, Souchiro traded some of our working jeeps for supplies from the army guys that were already stationed here. You would not believe the stuff we have right now." Igano points behind him as he keeps speaking. I just stayed silent as the guy spoke, and seeing as I didn't respond…
"Working high powered scopes, silencers, under-barrel grenade launchers…"
"Ok, I'm sold let's go." I cut him off as I walk up to him…
"H,hey! Where are you going! We're supposed to take a bath, our stuff's in the car!" Saya shouts. Causing Igano to glance at me, then at the girls.
"You guys are taking a bath together? Holy crap…" He adds with pure surprise in his voice. Causing Saya to change several shades of red, probably a mixture of embarrassment and 'Saya anger'.
"That's not what I meant you guntaku!" She shouts back.
"Guntaku?..." Igano tilts his head with a now confused expression.
"Right, here. Get some clothes for me as well, if possible."" I say as I toss the keys to Saeko. Who nods at me.
"Ughh, Kohta mark-two." Saya groans as she turns to look at the car.
(Hey, if you are saying I remind you of your canon love interest, I'll take that as a compliment.)
"If I'm not back shortly, go on without me." I ignore the frowning pinkette as I point behind me.
"Very well." Saeko nods at me once again before walking up to the car's door, unlocking it with the keys I just gave her.
With that, me and Igano turn to head towards the center of the backyard…
"Guntaku…" Igano whispers in a low tone.
"I deal with more than just guns…" He adds with a dejected tone.
(That's what bothers you? Dude…)
After a couple of minutes, we stopped in front of a makeshift installation. That, well...
"This place is minuscule compared to the old warehouse, how did they fit everything in here?" I ask.
"We didn't, a lot of stuff is still inside the trucks. This is just a temporary stop after all, it's not the main base of operations." He adds as we enter the 'building'.
"Aiming to retake the airport eh?" I 'ask', the guy just nods.
(Damn the insides are a mess, tables are sprawled all over the place, store shelves all around the place with gun parts and maintenance equipment. Several people are also already inside, working on some of the tables. And, the ground is dirt, literally.)
"Alrighty, let me see that Scar." Igano turns to me and extends his arm. I nod and give him the gun. And after checking it for a couple of minutes…
"Ok, we can add a nice scope on this as it already has a rail, we also have compatible silencers. Don't have the scar-type nade launcher though. Not that it would matter, these things are like printers. Get the machine for free, pay an arm and a leg for the consumables. We don't exactly have a lot of launcher grenades to spare." He adds as he nods.
"Working scope and silencer sound good enough." I respond as I fold my arms.
"Alright, I'ma need some…"
"Ah! There you are." A female voice exclaimed, and seconds later, an arm warped around Igano's neck.
(Rika, has joined the party. Would like to rename Rika?)
"Please tell me you're finished." She adds as she turns to look at me.
"Hmm? Ohh, you're here too. My lucky day." She says with a smile.
(Huh?)
"Yea, your PSG-1 is set. Added a scope with night vision just as you asked." Igano responds.
"Ahh, nice. Thank you very much." She responds as she brings her hand on his head, giving him a few head pats. Igano lets out a dry cough as he moves slightly away from Rika.
"Also, I don't know what you did, but the high suits are looking for you." Rika casually turns to me as she puts one hand in her pocket, pulling out a cigarette.
"They are?" I ask back.
"Yea, didn't tell me why, but they sent me to find you. So, hope you don't have a date planned, because it just got canceled." She adds with a slight chuckle.
(Never gonna get a break am I?)
"Uhh, great. Care to lead the way? I go no idea where I need to go." I respond as I fold my arms, Rika nods and turns towards the exit, waving her arm at me to follow her.
"I'll drop by later for the gun. Take your time." I say as I turn to Igano, who still had my gun. He nods and walks deeper into the 'room'. After that, I exit the structure with Rika.
"Ah, before we go. Got to let my group know about this." I tap my mask as I turn to Rika.
"Humm? Don't want to make your girlfriends worry?" She adds with a rather sly smirk.
(...Is she spying on me?)
"Uhh, last time I did go off on my own I ended up with almost broken bones. After I returned." I responded. Rika just nodded with a chuckle.
"Where to then, commando?" She asked.
"Your car." I answer with a deadpan tone.
(...Why, do I have this uneasy feeling…)
Seeing that I wasn't gone for too long, the girls were still there. Saya was inside the car, having the back door open while fiddling with the bags. Saeko was outside, talking with Hitomi.
"Hoi." I lift my hand as I close in to the car, causing both Saeko and Hitomi to turn to me.
"Oh, you are done already?" Saeko asks, then shifts her sight to Rika, who stopped right next to me…
"Hey, do you know where Naier leaves his stuff? I can't find them." Just then, Saya poked her head out of the open back door.
She stared at the two girls, who did not respond. Before turning her sight to where they were looking at, aka me. Or, well, Rika…
Saya blinked a couple of times, then narrowed her eyes as she turned to glare at me with a frown, her face taking a slight shade of pink.
(I get the feeling they don't like Rika around me. But they didn't mind Hitomi? Then again, Rika is a bit more, uhhh. 'Developed'. In more ways than one…)
"Apparently Saya's dad and the commander, or whatever he is. Are looking for me. I'm letting you know, since last time you gnawed at me for not saying a thing." I speak up, trying to ignore the obvious stares…
"Where are they?" Saeko asks flatly.
"Top floor of the main building, ask any uniform in there and they will tell you the way." Rika responds.
"I will meet you there then, I need to get some things from my room first." Saeko answers before she turns to walk towards the main building…
"Do I need to put a damn leash on you?" Saya 'asks' as she exits the car, locking it in the process, Then turns to also follow Saeko. Leaving me, Rika, and Hitomi…
"Well, uhh take care Hitomi. If for some reason, I end up flying through a top-story window, you can have your sword back…" I say as I glance around, then turn to also head towards the main building. Hitomi staying by the car without really saying anything, looking as confused as ever…
"Hmm, your purple-haired friend is one scary gal." Rika puts her finger on her lips as she glances at me with her eyebrows slightly raised.
"Felt like she wanted to cut me into fun-sized bits just from the way she was staring." She adds as she brings the hand that was on her lips to her neck, scratching it lightly.
"She did?" I ask as I glance at her.
"Yep. Trust me, it's the silent ones that are the most dangerous, I could feel her killing me just from the way she was looking at me." She answers as she turns to look at me while folding her arms.
(Uhh, not 'very' far apart from what she would be actually 'capable' of doing. Just add that she might end up sexually harassing you while she's chopping you to bits. Uhh, what the fuck am I thinking about?)
With that done, we entered the building, and headed toward the top floor via the stairs. And, midway of climbing them stairs…
"You mean to tell me the higher ups are constantly climbing 'this' many stairs?" I ask as I glance at Rika, who was to my left.
"Of course not, the elevator is working." Rika answers flatly.
"Then why are we…"
"Executive personnel only." She cuts me off.
"Of course…" I groan as I shake my head.
"Don't tell me you're tired. I'd expect more stamina from the guy that's traveling with two pretty girls, in a car full of condoms." She adds, with one hell of a smirk…
"Uhh, the who what now?" I 'ask' as I dart my head to her. She responds by pulling a pair of keys from her pocket, dangling them near her face.
"I always have two sets of keys, car included. Figured I'd get the packet of cigarettes I left in my car. But, ohh boy. Cigarettes, I did not find." She says as she starts chuckling.
"If I'll tell you that they were not used for their 'normal' purpose, will you believe me?" I ask as I bring my hand to the back of my neck.
"Ahh? And what 'did' you use them for then?" She 'asks', slight sarcasm in her voice.
"Gun barrel protection from rain and dirt." I respond flatly…
"Hmm, that, is actually quite smart." She answers as she tilts her head slightly.
(Thank you Kohta.)
"So, you were left alone with the two girls that got all grumpy just from the fact that 'I' was standing next to you. And you did 'absolutely' nothing?" She asks as she arks an eyebrow, a wide grin on her face.
"Yes." I answer flatly.
"Of couuurrse." She responds as she turns to look through the window to her left with a chuckle. If she was not sarcastic before, she was now.
"Don't worry, your secret's safe with me." She adds as she turns to look at me with that same grin..
(...But, I got no secret…)
"Still, how did you even manage that?" She asks after a few seconds. I just turn to her and tilt my head questionably.
"These two seem like total firecrackers. I'd expect they would try to eat each other out instead of playing nice. And not the fun type of 'eat'." She adds with a slightly arched eyebrow.
(...Judging from Shizuka's 'island dream'. I'm getting the hunch that you for one, know very well, how to eat somebody the 'fun' way… Aaand I'm thinking of weird crap again. God, I swear, Rika's rubbing off on me the wrong way...)
"Ehh, you know. Somehow?" I respond as I raise both shoulders. Rika just responded with a 'hummm' as she narrowed her eyes at me with a grin…
(Don't you 'humm' me dammit. I really did nothing.)
And so, with a steady pace, and Rika grinning at me. We reached the top floor.
"Finally…" I groan as I go over the last step.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" And a fully decked soldier walks up to us almost instantly.
"The higher ups asked from him." Rika answers casually.
"I see, go take a seat then, they're in the middle of a conference right now. Nobody goes in." The soldier points behind him, towards a couch placed back to back with a giant window pane.
(...And that's, rich and high standing people in a nutshell. They don't give a fuck whether they are being a nuisance to other people, drag me here to wait, while they're doing other crap. I understand they're probably working overtime to set some order, but jeez.)
And so, I take a seat. Then turn to look at the window behind me, the bridge that led to the airport in full view…
(Wonder if the planes are still functional...)