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Commander's Aide Yuhata Midorikawa made her way across the pilot’s courtyard, boots squeaking occasionally on the flagstones. She spared a glance for the few people enjoying the simulated sunlight, before rounding a corner and pausing before the elevator to Sidonia Command. She made a few quick taps at the control panel to open it, and stepped in. A quick credential verification, a few more button presses, and the elevator began its descent.
She leant back against the wall with a sigh and ran a few calculations in her head: She was approximately about a third of the way up the Residential Tower, which put her about 1.6 kilometres above the underground levels. Sidonia Command, the control centre of colossal seed ship Sidonia, was about another kilometre below that. That distance would take the elevator about six minutes to cross, and until it did she was almost completely isolated from the rest of humanity.
Perfect place to have an impromptu meltdown.
Yuhata sank her face into both her hands and slowly sank down the elevator wall, drawing out her pained groan until she hit the floor.
Why had she done that?
--- --- ---
She glanced down at her wrist device, which neatly informed her that she had to leave soon or she would run the risk of being late for pretest briefing. Seeing as this test was her idea, and she was presenting the briefing, she really didn't want to risk that. Best to wrap their nice little lunch up and say goodbye to Izana, like Tanikaze had done a few moments before.
“ It's already this late. I have to go soon.” she said, thumbing off the device’s display and looking up at her companion.
Izana sat hunched over with their head propped upon the back of their left hand, staring without seeing at the table before them. A small frown could just be seen, partially hidden by the flesh of their wrist.
Despondent was the only word to describe them. This wasn’t right, seeing the usually cheerful and friendly Izana Shinatose like this wasn’t right at all. Small stabs of pain curled around her ribs as she watched Izana’s empty examination of the table.
“What's the matter, Izana?” she asked softly.
Izana didn’t move her gaze from the surface when they spoke, quiet words muffled by the back of their hand.
“I'll stay here for a bit.”
The pain shot up through her chest and lanced through her heart. What had caused this? They had been having such a nice time just a few minutes before; Izana had been full of hope for the future outcome of the war, and then Tanikaze had gotten that call and left for-
Ah. Of course. When wasn't it Nagate Tanikaze and his complete lack of social awareness?
Regardless, Izana's misery couldn't be allowed to continue. Yuhata reached across to take their right hand, the artificial hand, in her own natural one.
“Please don't make such a face.” she implored, curling her fingers around the soft pseudo-flesh of Izana's digits. Her thumb rubbed absent-mindedly across their knuckles, feeling the hard plastics and surprising warmth.
Izana stared at her, mouth open slightly, as their real hand fell away to reveal an expression of complete surprise.
The pain in her chest was gone. It had been forced out by a growing panic, as she realised exactly what this had to look like from Izana's point of view. She quickly let go their hand.
Izana slowly withdrew their released hand while watching her cautiously, a blush ghosting at their cheeks.
Panic was clawing at her chest, but she ruthlessly crushed it. It was quickly followed by every other emotion, all ground down into nothingness. She had to salvage this situation, quickly, before Izana had chance to draw their own conclusions.
Something that would explain her horribly out-of-character actions.
“Sorry, I just wanted to feel the artificial arm.” She smiled slightly. “It has a normal body temperature doesn't it?”
--- --- ---
What has she been thinking? She had very nearly ruined one of the most rewarding friendships she had ever had! And what kind of excuse even was that anyway?
Why?
Well the obvious answer was she simply had not been thinking, but a non-answer was only slightly less worthless than no answer at all, so she kept digging until she found something of value.
Why wasn't she thinking?
It had hurt, physically hurt, to see Izana like that. She had never seen Izana hopeless, ever. Not when they had kitted up for their first combat mission, with nearly all the odds against them ever coming back. Not when they had come back, without their arm and without their leg.
Seeing Tanikaze that hopeless wouldn't have hurt like that.
Why was Izana different?
Tanikaze could take it. That was why he was Sidonia's Ace pilot, the ability to keep going when others would break, turn tail, or give in. Tanikaze was unstoppable. He even seemed to heal faster than everyone else!
Izana was physically fragile. Their first mission had made that painfully clear. But inside, they were so very strong, stronger than anyone she had ever known. Hadn’t they smiled and reassured her even as they were whisked away to surgery, immediately after being maimed? Hadn’t they looked on the bright side as they examined their new alien limbs, and laughed away her discomfort and turned what should have been a time of grief into a new reconciliation between them?
Such a wonderful person shouldn't be brought low by Tanikaze's unrelenting idiocy.
Izana was wonderful?
Obviously! Izana is brave, and kind, and caring, and stupidly noble and full of so much love for absolutely everyo-
Oh no.
That gesture hadn't just looked romantic had it?
No. No it can’t. Please, no, don’t tell me--
It wasn't the most rewarding friendship you had ever had, was it?
This wasn’t fair! This simply wasn’t fair at all! She hadn’t agreed to this!
It was the most rewarding relationship, period. And you want a lot more than friendship.
Why did it have to be Izana of all people!
--- --- ---
Yuhata bounced her head against the wall she was sitting against, and groaned loudly. This day was a complete bust and it had only just started. Maybe she should call off the test? At this rate it would result half of Sidonia being shot to pieces. She bounced her head against the wall once more.
Izana really wasn’t what she was expecting to want in a romantic partner. She had expected someone… well, someone male to be perfectly honest. Then again, she never really thought about the issue particularly much.
What the hell, she had a good five minutes to kill. How much more awkward could this possibly get?
Was she attracted to Izana?
Like she said, she hadn’t ever really given those things much thought before. She knew Izana was attractive, after all, when they met she had immediately flagged them as her biggest threat to her plans to seduce Tanikaze for that very reason. But that didn’t really answer the question did it? How did you answer such a question?
How about she imagine Izana seducing her, and see what reaction that has?
Well that idea sounded pretty dubious, but it was the best she had. She sighed, made herself comfortable where she was sitting, closed her eyes and tried to imagine it. How would Izana seduce someone, and what if that someone was her?
--- --- ---
Steam rose gently from the large public bath, and left the air feeling heavy and warm. This was the mixed bathing, wasn’t it? Yes, she had read the signs declaring both the Female and Intersex bathing were closed for cleaning, so there hadn’t been any other options. Despite that the mixed bath was completely devoid of any other bathers, and the water was quiet and peaceful.
She slowly slid into the waters and immediately felt its heat seep, almost painfully, into her muscles. Oh, she had needed this. Needed it very, very much. She closed her eyes and let herself relax, listening to the faint lapping of the water.
Faintly, she heard the door to the bath slide open and soft pitter-patter of feet entering the room. But the water was too warm, and her muscles too relaxed to care particularly much about it. It was a public bath after all, why shouldn’t someone enter?
Quietly the door slide shut again, before the soft steps moved across the floor, and then the faint splashing of someone else getting into the baths. She basked in the quiet comfort.
“It’s quiet here today, don’t you think Yuhata?” came a voice from very close beside her.
She started, sending violent waves in every direction. Izana giggled from arm’s length away, before their head cocked the side and they gazed at her with an unreadable expression.
She blushed furiously and attempted to summon whatever dignity she had left. “I-Izana? What are you doing here?”
Izana gave her a mysterious smile and leaned in towards Yuhata. “Well, the same reason as you I imagine. All the other baths were closed.”
Izana moved slightly, and suddenly they were right beside her “And I didn’t expect to see you in the bath too, Yuhata. What a pleasant surprise.”
Yuhata gaped at Izana, thrown by their sudden proximity. How did they managed that? And more importantly, why had they done that? With her mind desperately trying to keep up, her eyes naturally chose that moment to wander; drawn to the inviting curve of Izana’s throat, before they slowly followed it down. Across their glistening collar bone, along the soft lines of their shoulder before slipping down, resting where the rippling water met the gentle plane of their che-
Too late, She snapped her eyes back to Izana’s knowing ones, her face aflame. Their small mysterious smile slowly morphed into something far more ominous. A smile full of promise. And hunger.
“...and no one else here but the two of us...”
She swallowed hard.
Slowly, Izana brought their artificial arm across their body and slowly, so very slowly, slid their palm over her knee, their fingers splayed across the outside of her thigh. Her flesh burned at their touch.
They moved once more and suddenly Izana filled up the whole of her vision, that hungry smirk floating just before her. And then their hand was traveling slowly, so painfully slowly, up.
She could feel their knee smoothly sliding between her own, and the fingers of their other hand dance down her ribs and caress her sides.
“All. Alone.”
They were so close. Too close.
She could feel their hair brush her burning face, the water ripples from every movement Izana made, the trickle of sweat down her too sensitive skin.
She couldn’t breathe, as Izana’s thighs brushed against her own and their bodies pressed closer together. The short puffs of their hot breath felt like fire across the delicate shell of her ear.
“Together.”
--- --- ---
Yuhata jerked as reality came crashing back. She was breathing hard and her fingers dug hard into the floor. The elevator was unbearably warm, and she uncomfortably aware of every single crease, every corner, and slightest movement of her uniform.
Were… were her hands shaking?
Well that was the question answered, and answered a little too well for comfort. She was going to be distracted throughout the entire test, and probably a good bit after too. Not to mention looking Izana in the face ever again would be completely impossible.
Yuhata slowly raised herself off the elevator floor, holding on the railing for both balance and security. Her heartbeat echoed through her head, and the feeling of vulnerability was beginning to settle on her shoulders.
She took several deep, slow, breaths and willed her heart rate to slow down.
She was glad, if slightly disappointed, that her little fantasy was over. She didn’t think she could have taken it if that situation had progressed any further than it already had.
And she wasn’t going to think about the disappointment part. Ever.
She coughed into her hand, and started to loosen her collar a bit. It made her feel a little bit better, and it felt like the temperature of the elevator was beginning to go back to normal agi-
Wasn’t Izana an intersex person?
Yuhata froze. Izana wasn’t male or female, they were ...something else. Theirs was the newest sex, the one everyone called Intersex. Although she vaguely recalled that Intersex was an umbrella term, and thus wasn’t technically the right term, but she couldn’t remember the correct one…
She made a note on her wrist device to look up as much as she could about Izana’s sex later.
And they could choose to become either male or female if they wanted to, couldn’t they? Everyone knew that, if not the exact… mechanics of how it worked. Like everyone knew they could give birth to their own clones. Somehow.
She duplicated the previous note, then added a due by date and a loud, annoying alarm.
So if Izana did enter a relationship with someone - let’s say, Yuhata - then they may choose not to stay as their current androgynous self. Then they would change… and look very different.
Would she still find them attractive if they transitioned?
How was she supposed to answer that! This was even more stupidly vague and hard to answer than the last one! She didn’t even have anything real to go off this time!
Yuhata sighed, and sat back down on the elevator’s floor.
--- --- ---
Their strong arms pulled her back again their firm chest, and she felt both of their hearts beat in furious sync. One hand, the natural one, roamed the delicate plane of her stomach, while the other followed the hard curve of her ribs.
Her flesh burned with each one of the delicate kisses Izana carefully placed along her shoulder.
Izana gently grasped her waist, and paused in tracing the curve of her neck with their lips. Their voice rumbled softly through their torso.
“ All. Alone.”
--- --- ---
They were so close. Too close.
She felt their soft breasts press gently into her own as they shifted in her lap. Their natural hand raked slowly, sharply, through her hair.
She couldn’t breathe as Izana’s artificial hand traced the curve of her spine, pausing carefully to explore each ridge. Their lips brushed against her earlobe, with the promise of teeth.
“ Together.”
--- --- ---
Yuhata pushed her thighs firmly together in an attempt to ward off the uncomfortable, demanding heat. When that didn’t work she put her thumb in her mouth and bit down until the pain drowned out all other sensation in her hand. That worked a little better.
This three way assault was utterly brutal, especially as it didn’t seem to matter what form Izana took: they breezed past all her defences effortlessly every time.
Well, at least she had answered the damn question.
She released her thumb from her mouth and looked down to survey the damage. Deep angry red indentations marked its arch in a neat little hemisphere. She idly sucked on the wound, trying to reduce the sting.
She idly wondered what it was like to have an artificial hand, like Izana had. Would the ability to split each of their fingers into two independent digits make up for the lack of natural healing?
Izana could probably do a lot with ten slender, dexterous little fingers…
Okay, down girl. The elevator would arrive in about a minute and she really didn’t have much time for a cold shower before her duties.
Time to wrap this mental breakdown up, then. The rest would have to be a future problem to deal with. The last thing she really had to do, before she put a lid on this, was work out what to with these feelings she had unearthed.
So, a battle plan then.
Primary Goal : Keep both herself and Izana alive
Maybe as goals went this one was a little excessive, but they both were in the middle of a war and Izana’s career choice still had a 50% mortality rate . Keeping Izana and herself alive long enough to have a relationship was more important than anything else.
So:
- Keep Izana in peak physical and mental condition
- Reduce as many of their stressors and dangers as possible
- End the war using as little time and as few assets as she could manage.
Ha. Easier said than done.
Secondary Goal : Strengthen her existing relationship with Izana
While she wanted much more with Izana, strengthening her existing friendship was still very appealing, and was far safer for Izana’s stress levels (and not to mention for her own dignity). Izana was definitely the friendship expert here so she would copy what she had observed them do, and target it at them for a change.
- Make sure all your interactions are always Sincere
- Support them whenever and however you can
- Slowly build closeness through Personal Disclosure.
That Personal Disclosure one could get embarrassing if she wasn’t careful about what she disclosed. Like this plan's existence, for example.
Tertiary Goal : Introduce romance into her relationship with Izana
Simply asking Izana out was probably going to end in tears, and probably her tears at that. So slowly adding more romantic elements to their existing relationship was… was probably her only chance of getting them to notice someone who wasn't Tanikaze.
Ouch.
- Engage in small amounts of emotional intimacy with Izana
- Make commitments to Izana and keep them
- Introduce passion into the relationship …somehow.
...maybe it would be better to just introduce the idea of passion. That sounded ...actually possible.
Yuhata sighed. She was utterly doomed, wasn't she?
--- --- ---
The sound of the elevator changed pitch, and it began to slow before it arrived at its inevitable destination.
Yuhata breathed in deeply and, with a few slow exhales, blew out all tension from her body. She straightened her posture, fastened back up her collar and re-adjusted her uniform. Then she closed her eyes and checked that her heartrate was back to a reasonable level, and her emotions back under her control.
She was good to go.
She opened her eyes as the doors slid open and was greeted with the busy, noisy corridors of Sidonia Command. Not to mention the handful of people impatient to get into the lift. She stepped off, and watched them to rush into the space she had just vacated, before the doors slid shut and the elevator began its rapid ascent.
She turned back to the corridor. She still had a briefing to get to before the test and, as the test was her idea, lateness was really not an option.
Commander’s Aide Yuhata Midorikawa kicked off the floor, and floated off down the corridor.