After hours of shooting moving targets, Key finally let go of the gun and sat on the chairs inside the room.
If anyone will ask her, Key's most memorable and most valued experience was to be a soldier. May it be in the navy, in the army, or the air task force, Key valued all the memories and experiences she gained.
Her curse of immortality made her lose her faith in life and fate, to her, life is nothing but a piece of junk fate had written where people are forced to do meaningless things, but joining the army, and seeing how people die protecting the ones they cherish revitalizes the small light of hope she has.
She looked around and saw that Nicolas has left the room, she was too engrossed in shooting targets to notice him leaving.
She stood up and went out of the room, and while walking, she looked into the glass walls of every room looking for Nicolas.
After passing a few rooms, she saw him playing a big crane game. She opened the door and went inside, Nicolas didn't even glance at her and she noticed the pile of stuffed toys and chips on the floor next to him.
She took the access card from the table next to him and activated the other crane game, she started playing with the controls.
She's not interested in any of the prizes in the game so she didn't know what to pick so she just pressed the 'pick' button without caring what she'll get.
"Oh, a lion…" Key muttered after seeing that she caught a large lion-stuffed toy
"Are you done?" Nicolas asked and Key turned around after taking the stuffed toy from the claiming bin
"Yeah, you?" Key replied while holding the stuffed toy
"You can have the rest," Nicolas said
"What will I do with all those stuff toys?" Key asked him with a puzzled expression
"Donate it or anything," Nicolas said and Key pressed a button on the side of the door
"We have some stuff toys to donate, come here in a bit." She said in the intercom
"Oh, thank you for the donations. Who's this?"
"Just anonymous people, no need to get our name," Key said and released the button
"I'll just take these three," Key said and picked a dolphin and a starfish from the pile of stuffed toys
"Are we going back to the base now?" Key asked Nicolas
"It's lunch," Rasheed said
"Oh, let's eat at Khaalida's then," Key said and went out while holding three stuffed toys in her arms
She looked especially cute because of the stuffed toys even though half of her face is covered by a facemask.
After returning the access card to the receptionist's desk, with Nicolas handing it out because her hands are full, they headed to his car first to put the stuffed toys.
Then, they headed to Khaalida's, a bar and restaurant located just next to the recreational facility.
Nicolas requested a private room, for the same reason they are currently wearing facemasks covering half of their faces.
An usherette led them to a private room, and while they were ordering, Key remembered the teammates left at the base.
"Do you think they've also eaten?" Key asked and took out her phone to text Quant
She asked Quant if they have eaten and after receiving his confirmation that they haven't, Key texted him that she's, they're, bringing takeout.
"What did they say?" Nicolas asked while reading the menu
"Let's just order takeout, let's eat lunch… together," Key said, the last word suddenly felt very foreign to her tongue although she have used it a lot of times
"Okay," Nicolas replied and turned to the waiter
They ordered a platter of rice containing eight cups of rice, a medium bowl of takoyaki, two pots of vegetable fish stew, and a pot of macaroni with mushroom and carrots soup for takeout then they divided the bill between them.
After getting their order, they brought the takeout to the car.
"If it spills, it's your fault," Nicolas warned her and Key rolled her eyes while holding the soups and stews to prevent them from spilling
Rasheed drove back to their base and it's already a quarter past noon when they arrived, Rasheed brought the stews and soups out, while Key brought the platter of rice and the medium takoyaki bowl.
"Food's here!" Key smiled as she shouted in front of the door
"What took you so long?" Quant and Opal opened the door and were quite surprised to see the two standing by the doorstep while holding takeout
"Guys, a little help please?" Key said with a sweet smile
"Oh, right," Opal said and took the stew from Rasheed while Quant took the rice and takoyaki from Key and brought it inside
"Lock the door after you get your toys," Rasheed said before going ahead
Key took the stuffed toys from Rasheed's car and locked the door before she went inside and changed into her slippers.
"Where are you going, Key? Aren't you going to eat?" El asked when he saw her about to go up the stairs while he was walking down
"I'll just bring these upstairs then I'll eat," Key said while smiling
"From the captain?" El asked while looking at the stuffed toys
"I got this from a claw machine." She said, referring to the lion, but she couldn't exactly specify at that moment which she was referring to
"I'll go ahead, you should eat first," Key said and went up the stairs
After putting the stuffed toys on the side of her bed, she went downstairs and joined them in eating.
She decided to eat the macaroni with mushroom and carrot soup so she took a bowl from the dishwasher before sitting down to eat with them.
"You two went out together?" Quant asked Key while they're eating
"I saw her with her cousin," Rasheed said and Quant nodded
"Where did you go, Key?" El asked Key
"Khaalida's, then the restaurant," Key replied
"You went drinking in the morning? You don't seem drunk though," Opal told her and Key chuckled
"No, I meant the recreational facility, it's also under the name Khaalida's." Key replied with a small smile
"Oh, the only place we know with that name is the bar," Alexei said
"Have you guys been there?" Key asked and continued eating
"We have, to celebrate qualifying for the National League Finals." Dewy said
"I remember that, it was five years ago," El said
"My cousin here even escaped, he excused himself to answer a call then he didn't return." Alexei said and Key looked at Rasheed for a moment before chuckling
"Where did he go?" she asked
"We don't know, but knowing the Captain, he probably went home to sleep." Quant said
"Yeah, he was the first person we saw after we woke up with a hangover." Bright said and Key's eyes widened before she chuckled with amusement
"You got drunk before the finals?" Key asked completely amused
"Don't even think about doing it again." Rasheed said
"Yeah, it never happened again after that because the whole base was a mess that morning with us lying on the floor." Dewy said and Key chuckled again
"Oh, I wish I joined earlier," Key said
"You're probably still studying law," Bright told her and Key smiled
'Probably,' she thought and continued eating
After eating, they headed to the living room to digest the food, they all felt so full after that meal.
They all had their own worlds, they are all using their phones and scrolling or watching. Meanwhile, Bright and Dewy are discussing the game tactics for the next game against Crown Pearl.
Their loss against Dominant Rooks didn't mean they're out of the competition, they have three wins and one loss, therefore they will face off with another three wins to one loss team, and in this case, it's the Crown Pearls.
"Nande anata no seina no?"
When that echoed, everyone looked at Rio whose eyes widened because he accidentally played the voice message he received from his cousin
"Her voice sounds sweet," Key commented with a smile, of course, she recognized that voice as Kami's voice, it's the same voice that can lull her to sleep and give her peace after all
"Ah, yeah, it's our little sister. Sorry about that," Rio said
"Can you play it again, Rio?" Key asked and her teammates looked at her in confusion
"Can you understand it, Key?" El asked and Key smiled
"Just a bit, it sounds like those in anime so I want to hear it," Key replied with a genuine smile
"Alright," Rio said and played the voice message again
"Nande anata no seina no?"
[Yarimashita ka? Unmei o kaizan shimashita ka?]
[If not, why are you blaming yourself then? That's… that's plain stupid.]
Key chuckled while her eyes are closed because she heard the reluctance in Kami's tone, she found it cute that despite her age, Kami still feels embarrassed to say 'stupid', which people her age could use as an expression freely. Though she had heard her use the German and Japanese terms to express her thoughts before, she has never heard her use the English term.
"If I were you, Rio, I would feel very~ guilty." She said and opened her eyes
"She does have a point, it wasn't your fault," Key added and Rio shook his head
"My cousin, as silent as he is, sometimes is a blabbermouth when it comes to her." Rio said
"She's cute and sensible, even I couldn't say no to her," Key said
"That's for sure," she added
"And I'll make sure to prove those arrogant jerks wrong. Let's see how long you'll manage once I'm done with you." Key thought while a playful smirk formed on her lips.
***
Nande anata no seina no? - Why is it your fault?
Yarimashita ka? Unmei o kaizan shimashita ka? - Did you do it? Did you tamper with fate?