Chapter Text
Prologue
Arena Backlot
The grass crunched below the sharp heels of the girl as she stepped over the lawn behind the oversized training building. The arena was an incredible achievement of technology with its lifelike simulator and impossibly expansive interior. But most of all it was an eyesore to those who spent countless hours being worked to death beyond its doors. Military training was one thing, but the level of realism in every battle against the virtual siblings of humanity’s bane – the Cancers – made every exercise feel like it could be the last.
“Haaah… I am wiped.” Ichigo spoke in a gravelly voice.
Every day her unit, 31B, was marching into that building and training till they were near death. All without a single complaint, never giving an inch to the increasingly powerful simulations. Their desire to survive and regain what was lost was unstoppable. Even if what was lost could never be replaced, knowing that their weakness had been what took it from them made them wish to crush said weakness all the more.
Ichigo clutched her fist and released it a few times rhythmically. She had developed small calluses around the trigger finger which had been firing off her Seraph weapon countless times today. She wondered if they had improved at all. No, they must have. There was no room for doubts, not since Aoi left. She could no longer protect them… so they would survive by their own merit.
Unable to stand the acidic taste in her mouth she grabbed the canteen she had snatched from Sumomo before leaving. Her younger sister had been chasing Byakko around the yard, so she assumed that the cat-like girl would collapse soon and just curl up on some bench. Putting the unknown drink to her lips she swallowed greedily until it was nearly empty. It had a strange sweetly taste, but it was definitely tea.
Instead of trying to remember where she had tasted it before she staggered further across the meadow. Frankly she was unable to even walk anymore, but she would pretend like she could until her body believed it too.
“A bench out here?” She raised a brow, still displaying her usual scowl, but there was some relief in her expression. Someone had put that thing there to be sat on, so she would. Obviously. The moment she crashed down on the wooden seat she felt the exhaustion catch up with her and she just breathed in and out a few times. With her eyes still closed she took another swig of the canteen.
This taste was incredibly familiar. It’s not like she was a tea expert or anything, but the name was on the tip of her tongue. It was something popular in China…
“Jasmine!” She suddenly exclaimed and put the container down next to her. Her brows were even more furrowed now and she glared at her own feet. “Are you serious? This is so lame.” Of course she wasn’t speaking about the brand or anything like that. She was disappointed at her heart that had contracted so painfully at the mere mention of her name.
She swiped one hand through her medium length blonde hair and sighed. The black rose attached to her head was flipped as well, but the hairclip it was glued to wasn’t budging. No matter how many battles she went through the rose always stuck with her, just like her sister’s counterpart on the opposite side. Another connection to their distant past.
While Ichigo tried to empty her mind from all the bothersome thoughts she could hear the squishy noise of something gelatinous jumping through the grass. That description would have made no sense anywhere else, but in this particular base it was common enough to hear such noises everywhere.
She glanced to the side and picked up on the grey shape of a Nabi at the corner of her eyes. These mysterious beings inhabited the military base alongside the Seraph unit and had never been properly explained to her before. All she knew was that it was forbidden to mistreat them, although she had no idea if they even had emotions or felt pain. Nabi. What a strange name. What strange creatures in general.
This one was jumping and undulating in its odd, almost mesmerizing way and closing in on Ichigo’s foot. Usually she would have paid it no mind, but her eyes widened for a split-second when she picked up something rather distinctive about that Nabi. It was the only one on the entire base that she could recognize on sight. In fact everyone in 31B would have known it.
“You again. The weird Nabi with Aoi’s vine bracelet.” She focused on the Nabi and it stared back as if it had been caught. Did it try to sneak up on her? Foolish blob. “You are pretty far from the Nabi Square, aren’t you?”
“…” As expected it did not respond in any noticeable way. Instead its deep mysterious eyes just looked up to her. It was not so much unsettling, just… uncomfortable. Not understanding what the person in front of her was thinking always grated on Ichigo’s nerves, so she tried the best to take the reins of a conversation to make them think about what she wanted them to. Not that Nabis counted as people or could hold a conversation.
“I already told you everything about Aoi. I’m not in the mood to talk any more today.” She curled her lip downwards and leaned back on the bench to show her lack of investment.
Wobble.
As expected, the Nabi just undulated uncaringly. Maybe. It was not like she could read its body language. If she claimed that it did not care then she may have been proven wrong by its sudden jump. Where did these things even produce the kinetic force for such movements?!
“Oi.” She now glared unabashedly at the grey blob on top of her lap. “Get off.” It wasn’t a request.
Bounce.
The darn thing just jumped up and down on her lap and then fell to the side when Ichigo smacked it (very lightly). It was staring at her upside down now, which was so comical that Ichigo couldn’t help but smirk. It immediately reacted by spinning around and hitting the nearly empty canteen. Ichigo reflexively caught it and held it above the creature.
“I doubt you want some.” It was a shot in the dark, but she had never seen a Nabi consume… anything. They really were weird. Super weird.
The odd Nabi looked almost like it tilted its head to the side questioningly. No, no way. That was just inside her head. Just like that time she had imagined it had tried to grab her hand. It must have been the bracelet. The ivy had left such a strong mental image that she couldn’t help but think of Aoi every time this thing bounced around the corner. Not that it took much to make her think of the former leader of 31B. She still stared at her empty bed at night when she could once again not sleep. Every now and then she caught herself trying to call out to her when she was searching for something around her locker. Most of all she felt her tender fingers between her own, a phantom holding her hand…
“This is ridiculous! Just let me take it easy today.” She complained and downed the rest of the Jasmine tea.
She had made her peace with the Aoi situation… somewhat. It would not stop hurting, but she deep down didn’t want it to. Knowing that she still felt this strongly about Aoi meant that she had really been there. That they really had held each other up for that short two months in this mad world. That her promise would always mean something.
“Oi, Nabi. Do you know what friendship means?” She spoke in a daze and put down the empty canteen for good. Her entire body had sacked against the bench as if she was a deflated balloon animal. “You got friends, right? Probably a lot of them bouncing ‘round everywhere. I never really was one for makin’ any, but that’s fine. Assassins lead a lonely existence. That’s what my mentor told me the day she died.”
Of course she didn’t feel self-pity when speaking those words. Her mentor had given her one hell of a smile as she spoke those words herself. The bullet hole inside her chest seemed to barely bother her as she took a seat at the table and got one last sip of her favorite wine. The woman had chosen her end. Most people didn’t have that luxury. Least of all Ichigo, who had pulled the trigger.
“I’m not sure if ya could call Aoi my friend. I wish we could have been… that she could have seen me as one at least.” Ichigo rubbed her golden hair tips in agonizing embarrassment, but then settled down. “I’d have been fine if she only saw me as a friend. I didn’t need anything else.” Whatever she had wanted from Aoi, maybe even she herself would never honestly understand, but in the end all she could hope was that the bright and kind girl had felt some comradery with the poor excuses for teammates they had been. Friendship was a tall order, anything more was greedy beyond sin.
Wobble!
As if to assure her, the Nabi wobbled extra energetically that time. Or not. Who could honestly tell? Ichigo smirked again and patted the living blob with one rough hand.
“You wanna be my friend? Yeah right. Your nubby arms can’t even throw a baseball.” She chuckled. “I guess having the same hobbies is not all it takes to be considered one, though. A friend.” Ichigo suddenly muttered and sensed the lingering scent of the Jasmine tea on her lips.
She suddenly grabbed the Nabi by its… sides? Whatever that jelly below its face was. Then she put it down on her lap where it had invaded so daringly before and turned it towards the field. Aside from the endless green there was also some white and blue from the many flowers that had begun to bloom. In the distance she could see the clock tower and the bridge to Flavor Street. The view was really scenic and all, what a special secret spot she had stumbled upon.
“You’re a decent listener and I feel like shit, so maybe we can have another chat after all.” She spoke with a tough voice, but her face was far from it. Hence why she needed to make the jelly creature enjoy the scenery instead. “I was an assassin ever since I could hold a gun. Won’t say it wasn’t tough, but it wasn’t without its perks. I’m serious, nobody would even give ya a second glance if you sneaked some booze into your room during a mission as long as you claimed it was for a distraction. We also traveled the world. Not that we usually got to get the tourist experience.”
The sun was getting low and the golden rays mixed with the field in front of them until it all resembled the landscape of some fairy tale land. Had she ever taken in such a beautiful view during all her travels? If she remembered her job it was certainly not for the smell of nature or a pretty garden… except hers. That fragrance she carried with her wherever she went was stuck deep inside her subconscious memory.
“There was a girl my age during my very last job. Her name was Jasmine. The mafia boss’ daughter herself. The only living relative of our target. Sumomo and I went undercover as housekeepers of all things…”