Chapter Text
"Have you ever lost a soldier, Miss Shouda?" Yuu says as he enters Sumire's room.
The place is empty and painted in black, the furniture nothing but only what is needed. Nothing was ever out of line in Sumire Shouda's room because that was how she is, she was organized and she was clean just like in her jobs.
"I don't want to talk about Agent Yome so if that's what you came in for, I am sorry to disappoint you," Sumire says in a monotonous tone.
"And I am not a soldier. We all aren't," She adds after a thought.
Yuu smiles and it isn't of pity or of mocking, it is of comfort and Sumire's heart starts to tremble. She should face it: they were soldiers of a war that cannot be won against a God that isn't supposed to exist. There was no hope.
They say what is a king to a God,
but what is a God to a nonbeliever?
But Sumire believed in all the things she saw and she saw the God of Mischief appear before her and take away her partner.
Before meeting him, she had no life and it feels as if she's back to that "Before" time where she was a hired help.
Today she just feels like hired help with a new master and a new wardrobe.
"How can we stand here, idly twiddling our thumbs when She's out there? How are we not surrendering, she's a God!" Sumire exclaims.
She sits herself on top of her bed and Yuu follows her and seats himself beside her.
"We have a plan, we have a team, we can make it even if you don't believ so, Agent Shouda," Yuu says still with the same caring smile he wore a while ago.
"But how can you be sure? How can you believe in a team that hasn't done even one job right?" Sumire whispers.
"I believe in each of you, and I know that when the right time comes that you'll be able to do anything," Yuu replies to her.
She pauses and thinks of how this man beside her believed so much in each of the Avengers without even truly knowing what they would be capable of as a team.
She thinks again on his words, will they really come through for earth in the end?
How will he react if he knew they were failing?
"Don't you have doubts on this? Don't you have a family to come back to, what about them?" Sumire says frantically as she imagines failing the earth.
"There's a chemist in Portland," Yuu starts.
"And?" Sumire prompts him.
"I'll make sure to come back to her when this is all over," Yuu says.
She smiles at her co-agent. It is not of pity or mocking or caring but it is of hoping; hoping that he could come back to that chemist when this was all over.
"I promise you, you will," Sumire says resolute as she puts her hand on his shoulder.
"I know you'll fulfill your promise," Yuu returns with a bigger smile on his face.
--
X Days Later.
The communicator's static begins in her ear.
Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt.
"--I'm calling it, Senior Agent Tobita is down."
She presses her right hand to her communicator, her heart beating faster every second.
"Send a medical personnel down there and get him--"
Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt.
"--They're here. They called it."
Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt.
The line goes static. A moment of silence fills the ship.
Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt.
"--Who do we call?"
Imai's voice mingled with rushes of wind.
Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt.
"--No family, orphaned at a young age. No relationships as far as we know."
She presses her trembling right hand as a tear escapes her eye.
"There's a chemist in Portland. Try her--"
The line goes static again.