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As the “legendary” Undertaker of the Eighty-Sixth Strike Package, there had been a lot of bothersome stuff Shin had been forced to put up with, thanks to this reputable title.
Yet, as far as downtime went, this request definitely had to be on the stranger side.
Shinei’s eyes scanned the official paper, squinting and blinking. Grethe simply sat there, hand on her cheek, waiting for his response.
“A photo shoot?”
A cheeky smirk took over Grethe’s lips, locking her hands together and placing her chin over them. The overcast of sunlight behind her made the gesture seem far more sinister than she likely intended.
Shin felt something suspicious travel up his spine.
“We’ve been exploring new ways to boost morale and support for the military.” She stated matter-of-factly. “You have a bit of a reputation… so, of course, I hoped you wouldn't mind lending a hand?”
Shin looked at her, then looked back at the paper, then at her again. His crimson eyes darted back and forth, his brain wracking this almost otherworldly proposal.
Perhaps at any other time, he would have declined straight away; nothing Shin would have ever considered in his lifetime.
Yet, ever since they had gotten back from their last mission… he couldn't help but feel a prodding sense of curiosity(?) sowing itself into his head.
Shin sighed, placing the sheet of paper on the desk, idling in contemplative silence. His crimson eyes opened with an ambiguous look about them, the answer to her offer hanging loosely on his lips.
“So, all I need to do is…?”
…
…
…
Why am I doing this?
Shin finally asked himself that question – perhaps, a bit too late amidst the thick of it. He stared, thoughts blank, a faux smile over his lips.
“Ah. Lookin’ good, Nouzen!” The army photographer quipped, his green eyes bright with cheer and enthusiasm. “Move your head to the right a bit…”
Shin heeded his request, keeping his posture steady on the camping stool.
“Ahhhh…!” The photographer let out a tiny squeal, another flash of his camera lighting up the room. “Ok, ok… now hold this.”
Shin took the rifle in his hands, a strapless prop of the standard-issue model. He leaned the top of it against his shoulder, angling it in a way that accentuated the lines in his muscular arms and the faded pale scars marking his bare shoulders.
His expression didn't change.
*Flash*
And neither did his question.
Warm air fanned into the room, enough to make him feel rather hot overtime, having been posing there for a while. Shin gulped as he knew where this was going, a bead of sweat rolling down his temple.
“Ooh, ooh…” The photographer smiled with a blush. “Would you kindly lift your top up? Act like you're exhausted and wiping some sweat off…”
Shin pinched the hem of his black tank-top, bringing the bottom up to his head like a rag. His abdomen glistened, his silver dog tags falling over the seam of his sinewy chest, rattling together.
*Flash*
“Oh, wow… hehe, that looks great. Really great. These will do ver~y nicely… hehehe…”
At last, Shin let out a sigh. His shoulders dropped, his top falling back down to cover his torso. He brought the collar of it to his head, cleaning away the light sweat which had accumulated over the past forty-something minutes…
…for at least two reasons.
They are definitely going to see these…
A hint of worry pressed his head as one of those among “they” came to the front of his mind. Then, his hand slid to cover his eyes, hiding his bloodred gaze in utter, foreboding dread.
Oh boy…
She is definitely going to see these.
Lena had noticed a ruckus in the dining hall one morning, stopped dead in her tracks when she saw a small crowd of Processors form together by the wall beside the kitchen.
Hm?
Thus, Colonel Milizé set her tray down and began marching toward the group, rowdy this early in the morning. She heard laughter from another few who joined them, and small cries of amazement.
As she approached, even more… oddities came into view.
Kurena had collapsed onto the floor, a fist clutched over her chest. A line of drool appeared to have trailed down her chin, her eyes glazed over, hollow and squinting at the fluorescent lights above.
It seemed as if she had departed from this world.
“A-Ah, crap! K-Kukumila’s down!”
Rito had caught her when she fell, now struggling to keep her upright with his slighter arms.
“Don’t march into the light. Stay with us…!” He put his ear close to her open lips.
“S…Shin’s……hot…che…” Kurena’s golden eyes glimmered with fulfillment, before her head fell limp to the side.
Beside them, a bob-haired officer burst into tears. “Kurenaaaaaa!!”
What is happening here…?
Lena just stood at the periphery of this mess, unsure of what to make of it. Sure, the Processors could get quite rowdy at times, but what could possibly be……..
“Ah, here comes the Queen,” Shana remarked as she noticed her, a smug look on her face.
“Watch out, guys…” Another Processor whistled.
As the Bloodstained Queen moved through the small, parting crowd, she reached the wall they had all been staring at.
No, not just the wall.
Rather, the new calendar for the Federacy Army, recently delivered to the Rüstkhammer Base per an unknown soldier's personal request. Lena had never bothered with the details on that, considering how minor it seemed at the time.
Lena looked at the calendar.
And it was as if a ball of ice shattered through her body.
She had frozen entirely – her silvery eyes wide and blinking. Her jaw fell open, but no words escaped. Her fingers twitched and curled in the air.
Shiden, with a wolfish grin on her lips, nudged the stiffened young lady.
“Heh, now would you look at that. Ya’ like what you see, Your Majesty?”
Lena didn't speak, only letting out what sounded like a tiny squeak. She could hardly even think, her voice and thoughts puffing into the air, gone with the room’s wind.
“Your Majest-?”
All of the Processors flinched and jolted as Lena suddenly gripped the calendar and damn near ripped it from the wall.
*TEARRRR–*
A few shreds of paper fluttered onto the floor from how fast she’d snatched the thing, everyone staggering back in shock.
“I-I will be c-confiscating this…” Lena spoke, her voice a trembling whisper, slowly glancing past her shoulder, her gaze almost stern and heavy. They almost thought she was serious, until her ears flushed a burning red. “F-for… u-um…… i-indecency!!!”
In the blink of an eye, the Colonel spun on her heel and sped off, the calendar clutched firmly in her arms.
Her subordinates simply watched as she rushed out of the dining hall, her flight getting more and more bouncy every step until she was practically skipping through the halls, disappearing around the corner like a weightless fairy.
“Wow.”
“Damn…”
Nobody quite knew what to say.
“Hmf… hahaha…!”
So instead, they all just burst out laughing.
As if time had magically twinkled ahead, Lena found herself standing in her quarters.
She took a deep breath, then dove onto her bed, plunging into its sinking warmth, carelessly kicking her shoes off into the corner only after. Her feet swung in the air, and a string of squeaky giggles filled the room like a broken door hinge.
Lena took another deep breath, in deep preparation. Then she glanced down at the treasure in her arms, the prize she had fled with oh so shamelessly.
“…!!!!!”
She squealed and giggled loudly, rolling around on her bed, ruffling the sheets and blanket into a careless mess. Anyone who saw her now might’ve thought she’d lost her mind.
“Oh… Oh, my… Hehehehe…!”
And maybe… just maybe she had.
Somehow, Annette could sense Lena had an “aura” about her, made of sparkles and hearts and rainbows.
She’d heard her squeal, thought maybe a mouse had gotten into her room. So, as her certified best friend, it was only natural for her to show concern, right?
“Uh–”
Except…
“Annie! Look! Look at this!”
Annette had knocked on her door. As soon as it opened, a startling hand lunged out of the darkness and pulled her inside.
Now the two sat on Lena’s bed, whose sheets had been twisted and churned into a disastrous bunch; a scene reminiscent of their middle school days, back when they were just girls. She’d even called her by an old nickname.
Annette could only spare Lena an exhausted glare, wondering what had gotten her so worked up now.
She did have a feeling though… a suspicion almost instantly realized as Lena thrust the thick calendar in her best friend’s face, nearly slapping her with it.
Annette scowled, seized the calendar cautiously from the hyperactive colonel, then had a look.
“Wha–”
And quite the look it was.
“…Wow… huh, alright…”
A sight for sore eyes most definitely, Annette had to admit, placing a finger on her lip. Especially considering who it was…
“See? See?” Lena beamed, her argent eyes basically glittering. Annette flipped through the pages, each and every one. One after another.
And yup, they were all of him.
“So he actually agreed to that, huh?” She smirked, in amusement and almost disbelief.
“Right?!” Lena squealed, bouncing up and down, the bed squeaking and groaning. Suddenly, she stopped, a new thought having crossed her mind. Bashfulness quickly replaced her bounciness, freezing her almost still.
Sweet Magnolia, what has this girl been taking?
Annette’s bewilderment had been pushed to the brink.
“I… Would you mind telling me if any more come?” Lena murmured, rubbing her hands together.
Annette just stared at her.
Lena stared back. “………Please?”
Annette glanced down at the calendar, then back at her friend, then at the calendar again, before letting out a slow, beaten sigh.
“…If you let me keep at least one of them.”
Lena clasped her best friend’s hand so fast it made a startling clap, the other girl jolting, body and heart and all.
“We have a deal!” Then she yanked her in for a tight, no… bone-crushing hug. “Yay, Annette! My bestie! I knew I could count on you!”
“Uh…?!” Annette squirmed in her arms. “Y-Yeah. I'm… glad I can help…?”
More like scared.
The glasses-clad girl dwelled there with her near-strangled thoughts, in the arms of the one she called her best friend.
Her closest friend, after…
Her train of thought continued on, drifting back to the last time Lena had been this… “scary.”
And… turned on?
Annette stopped that train immediately.
Shin didn't even want to acknowledge the new air circulating through the base.
So, he didn't.
He just sat down at his spot in the dining area, eating his meal in silence, sipping his coffee as if nothing had changed – as if nothing had ever happened.
Yet, even then, he felt eyes burrowing into him from nearly every side. A mix of emotions and gossip from a few of his fellow Eighty-Six who just couldn't help themselves, whispering on and on about that.
Shin ended up eating his food a lot faster than usual, then excused himself. He ended up trailing off, into an empty corridor, letting out a heavy sigh… as if having heaved a weight from his shoulders.
Shin fidgeted with his fingers. He may have been more than reckless in the past, but he wasn't that stupid.
He knew what these emotions were.
Embarrassment, worn all over his face.
A sliver of timidness too, which had brought him back here in the first place. When he heard the calendars were being hung up around here, it felt like a darkness course through. He tried to track and tear away as many as he could, but of course, more than a few made it through to the eyes of his closest colleagues.
Normally, he wouldn't have cared at all about it.
In fact, it wasn't really his fellow Processors whom he feared would see him like that…
Rather, he was just imagining the stare of a certain girl; scandalized and appalled, an idea that made his heart ache and beat like a drum.
To put it bluntly, he was panicking inside over what Lena would think.
What… do I do?
How can I face her now?
She’s definitely seen it by now.
What could she have thought of it?
What if she thinks…
What if she thinks I'm some type of…?
While he stood still as a stone, the cluttered thoughts in his head paced and wandered around Rüstkammer’s halls to no end. His face remained almost the same as usual, minus his ever-furrowing brow and narrowed crimson eyes.
He stared at the ground for a minute, trying to piece back together his scattered ideas.
Then, he heard footsteps.
Then, a silhouette came into view.
“…!!” A small squeak right in front of him.
Shin’s eyes darted upward.
And there she stood, in all her grace and majesty. Her long silver hair glowed under the light of the windows, her steps toward him unsteady, her head tilted towards the floors as well. The brim of her Prussian blue officer cap obscured her argent eyes, something Shin wasn't sure if he should worry or be glad about.
“Lena.”
Shin said her name without thinking, and she stopped.
He too stopped, his shoulders as stiff as ever. His gaze turned to the windows beside them, to the ceiling, anything to distract himself from the awkwardness.
“Shin…” Lena spoke softly, her silver bell voice as gentle as ever to his cursed ears. “So, uh, I see… you had a photo shoot.”
For the first time in a long time, Shin wanted to dig a hole and bury himself inside of it.
“That’s… right.” He said, feigning the usual demeanour. “Well actually, it was Colonel Wenzel’s reque–”
Lena raised her head a little, catching the sunlight on her porcelain skin.
“Can you make more?”
…
…
…
“…What?”
Shin stood still and blinked, not sure if he had heard her correctly.
She stood there, knees quaking, fidgeting her fingers together. The pink of her cheeks burned as bright as ever, like a dainty princess seeing her beloved knight. Her eyes met his, silver and red.
Then, she practically lit up like a star.
“C-Can… Would it possible for you to make more?!” Lena asked, skipping forward with glimmering enthusiasm. “You looked… so good, I…I just–”
And just like a star, the excitement in her words burned out fast as she came to her senses in an instant. The antennas on her head stood free and flicked upward, knocking her cap off her head.
Lena didn't move an inch.
Shin stood just as still, as frozen as her, more dumbfounded and confused than he’d ever been.
““Huh?””
Of course, neither of them would stay in that spot for long, before swinging around and fleeing in opposite directions.
After that encounter, one thing eventually led to another.
Shin had agreed to do more per Lena’s request, on one condition…
“W-Woah…”
Annette had to do a double-take as she strolled by, her silvery eyes ambushed by the new images on the wall during her late-night coffee run.
Mouth agape, the mug in her hand trembled, dotting the floor in small dark droplets.
What was this rush she suddenly felt?
She took a few steps forward, and took a closer look at the new photos on the calendar.
Onyx black hair and bloodred eyes; a boy she once knew in childhood, all grown up and… pretty tempting now, if she were to be totally objective. A black tank top clung to his glistening torso, tracing his lovely, mouth-watering physique beneath that damp, dark fabric.
He wore a sinful smirk over his lips, as if aware of the thoughts and feelings swirling through Annette’s brain…
And not only that…
Cascading silver waves and enchantingly silver eyes; the girl she knew all too well today, sat merrily in the boy’s lap, just as alluring as he was in her nigh-matching outfit – an army sports bra and tight combat pants hugging the curves of her shapely thighs, complete with a prop rifle placed cozy in her lap.
Lena always did have some lovely legs…
“…Hm…” Annette leaned her head to the side in a deep registering silence, her lips quivering into a titillated(?) smirk. “Now this… is so much better… heh.”
Annette shot a glance past her shoulder… two glances, eyeing each of the corridors around her for any meddling eyes. One subtle movement and she was gone, her sleight of hand whisking the calendar away, escaping into the shadows of her dark and busy night.
It’s fine, she was just confiscating it…
…for indecency, of course!