Date: September 11
Place: Kyoto Headquarters
[Rei]
"You called for me?" I saluted in front of the desk of the famous Captain of the Assault Division as he ordered one of his personnel to leave the room and guard the front door so nobody would enter without his orders.
"Don't be so stiff," his long and well-toned arms offered the seat prepared right in front of his desk. "We're good friends," his smile was weak but frightening as he sighed.
His team are the ones who are on the front lines alongside the veterans and our mentors. They're quite a large party that consists of twenty-three people. But externally, with connections from all sides of the headquarters, they're nothing too little of a hundred.
"I called you here today becauseー" he looked at my calm and unbothered expressions as he continued.
Every word that gets out of his mouth is as severe as the Supreme General's orders.
His height well surpasses mine, his shoulders unto his thighs are well-trained and toned carefully. He doesn't appear too muscular compared to my mentors as he was on the more skinnier side.
They call him the 'Head' of the Assault Division, Cecillion Ortiz. He commands multiple people on the battlefield and his time is precious, not a second of it must be wasted.
And now I'm in front of him, listening and waiting for his orders in anticipation.
"YOU GOTTA HELP MEEEE" The next thing I knew, he tossed the papers off the desk like unwanted garbage. And stood up on it to throw a tantrum. His hands crumpled, as he swung his arms and kept banging his desk in a certain rhythm.
"PLEASEEEE" he suddenly stood up and ran beside me as he knelt on the ground with his hands clutched together, begging me. "We're best of friends right?" He continued his fake crying and hoarse voice as if someone was about to drag him to hell.
"Have some shame," I squeezed his arms and forced him to stand up with me. His towering body got me looking up at him. "You could've just harassed me to do it," I sighed and guided him back to his chair behind his desk.
Standing up from his chair once more, with a big bang, his chair fell from pushing himself up with his palm on the table. "But that's mean!" He exclaimed.
"Alright," I repeated until he was satisfied and sat back down to the fallen seat. "And? What work do you have for me?" his face lit up along with his imaginary dog ears stood up at my question.
"This!" he says, after frantically shoving a mountain of papers that weren't meant for me until he found it and raised it high.
"Is this all?" snatching it up so high that I needed to slightly jump. I regretted my choice of words after he looked at me with awe in his eyes and a few more files already in his hands. "I'll take my leave," I hurriedly walked outside his office before he could catch me.
"WAITTTT" He screamed and attempted to follow me but tripped on all the papers that he dusted like dirt from his desk earlier. "DEAR FRIENDDD, HELP MEEEE" he desperately called out.
The guard on the door took a peak inside after he flinched when I opened the door. "Don't worry, he'll survive Ms. Rei," he bows and locks the door with a metal chain as if it were a daily occurrence.
I bowed back and walked through their lounge...
Is it even appropriate to call it that after witnessing all of these?
A room full of people running around and answering phone calls, their coffee machines had a line of at least ten people, and papers everywhere you looked.
Their lounge is so spacious but looks so compact, it's as if I was walking through a call center company.
Comparing it to ours, I'd rather have our small room than this hellish lifestyle like a black company.
As I kept observing their environment, I could vaguely notice their judging stares from my peripheral. This particular feeling made me reminisce about the times when Cecillion tried to send some of his people my way to aid me in my desperate times.
I was thankful but disapproved, as I'd rather have quality loyal ones rather than a quantity of people who would presumably mock and stab me in my most vulnerable states.
"Reaper's Captain!" a girl running toward my direction tried to grab my attention as she waved her hands in the air. Both her hands were gripping files tightly so their contents did not fall off. "I deeply apologize for his behavior," she gracefully bowed as she got close.
Carmilla Ansa is an outstanding girl who qualified to stand beside the first ranker of the Assault Division. She serves as the second-in-command here as she also has the experience of being a secretary from a huge corporation while also having served the army before the outbreak began.
I signaled my hand in front of her to make her rise. "Please, don't treat me like a stranger, I have always been someone you guys can rely on when you need help," my eyes fell onto a picture of a boy that was about to fall from her file.
She quickly noticed my gaze and gave me a playful smirk, "Do you perhaps want to deal with this too?"
"When is it due?" Her eyes glistened from my curious response.
"Not until a month! Here! You can have it," an unexpected groan as she shoved it onto my stomach without a warning. I accidentally looked at her weirdly. "Would you perhaps want another one?" She shamelessly offered, showing me the files she held like she wanted me to pick from a deck of cards.
"This is enough for a small group like mine," I gave her a beaming smile as I held the two files I obtained here up to my face. We're already short on hands as is and I don't need to give Cedrick extra headaches.
Then all of a sudden, a door burst open behind us. "REIIIIIIIIII" I hear Cecillion scream in disdain when everyone in the room saw how he was being held still by that one guard by his office's door.
"You better get going if you don't want to have more of those files," Carmilla warned as she pushed me away gently towards the door and dashed toward his side.
"MY FRIENDDDDD! HELP MEEEE!" He screeched as Calmilla pulled him back inside his office.
The door shuts and everyone returns to their work as the spectacle just finished.
I marched my way towards their exit. "The Knights huh," I scoffed at the thought of their sleep schedule.
[Cedrick]
I ran through the busy hallways, humming a simple melody as I rode the empty elevator, then after one floor and another, my space was reduced until I was almost licking the buttons.
They were new faces, some around my age, and some looked like they lost their family with their sulking faces kept chattering about some kind of program and how excited they were to participate.
The door rang and I found myself excusing my way out of that cramped space. It closed the second I got out as I happily half-skipped and walked to where my beloved friend was.