Reia and her squad had managed to get away from the rebel base and avoid the oncoming horde that arrived.
Akira and Reia had taken the lead, making their way back to the bunker. Walking along the roof that Lou was chased on they continued their way using the military base as a reference point.
Lou had one of her arms wrapped around Kim using her as support while walking.
"What about Klein?" Whispering to each other, Akira and Reia were a little bit further ahead of Lou who was too busy being scolded by Kim about her injuries.
"We just have to wait and see." Reia did not have much hope for her, but seeing as Lou was barely able to fight anymore, they might be able to let Klein go.
"She might be awake by now, so let's hope she decided to leave the bunker." Akira expected Klein to leave if she woke, but there was still a chance that her obsession with him might make her stay.
"That would be the best-case scenario for her, but I still think we should have finished her." Reia wanted to just kill her, but since Akira made a valid point about how useful she could be, it was hard to argue.
"I know, but again I don't think we should kill potential allies since it seems like I can keep a literal leash on Klein and we wouldn't need to worry about her." Akira considered manipulating Klein's feelings to benefit them, but the thought did not come with a good feeling.
"Oi, you love birds, stop whispering to each other!" Lou, who had enough of Kim's lecturing, yelled out so she could escape it.
Reia turned her head looking Lou dead in the eyes, wanting nothing more than for her to shut up.
"I'm not finished." Kim wasn't done with her lecture and was about to begin talking again.
"Oh dear I understand, there is no need to keep talking~." Lou used her free hand to grab Kim's chin and looked her in the eyes. Kim blushed and lowered her head trying to hide her face.
"Blehhh." Reia pretended to vomit as the display of affection was something she didn't miss.
"Don't bleh me, I would have shot you already with you and Akira's lovey-dovey attitude towards each other." Lou smirked as she saw Reia's face instantly turn red.
"It's not like that!" Reia turned her head back and covered her face with her hands.
Akira had stayed silent, averting his gaze to not draw any attention to himself.
"See he isn't even denying it~." Lou did not let Akira go unnoticed as it was clear he was trying to avoid the conversation.
Akira facepalmed as he couldn't exactly deny it, so he chose to stay silent. Reia however picked up on this and looked at him.
"Wait, Akira do you actually?" Reia had convinced herself that it wasn't the case, but Lou's teasing had seemingly brought out some information she didn't think would be true.
Akira refused to look at Reia and continued to walk without saying a word, but his slight blushing was enough for Reia to jump to a conclusion.
"No way." Reia felt confused, unsure how to react as the overwhelming amount of emotions she was feeling was foreign to her.
"Fufu~ I bet those feelings you are feeling right now are love~." Lou did not let up and she knew Reia lacked emotional maturity so she wasn't surprised if Reia was a bit confused.
Reia was trying to process what she was feeling and Lou's words had made her question what she was actually feeling.
'Is Lou right?' Reia had stopped walking and squatted down to the floor holding her face.
"Jeez, can you just stop Lou, this isn't the time or place." Akira finally spoke up as they were getting close to the bunker and would need to get down from the buildings.
"Awwww~ why should I? I don't want your sweet moment to end."
"We need to get back to the bunker and can't you tell Reia is struggling here." Akira went to Reia's side and tapped her shoulder.
"EEEK!" Reia jumped up accidentally headbutting Akira in the chin, making him stumble back.
"Ow!" Reia grabbed the top of her head and squatted back down.
"HAHAHAHA!" Lou broke out into a laugh almost falling to the ground.
"Pfft." Kim had tried to keep her laughter in but found it extremely difficult and in the end, started laughing alongside Lou.
"Shut up both of you!" Akira rubbed his chin, which was in a lot of pain.
"Reia you okay?" Akira this time made sure he was a safe distance away.
"Yes." Reia spoke in a quiet voice and the headbutt had seemingly brought her back from her embarrassed state.
"Oh... I can't….. *cough, cough*. My ribs hurt damn it." Lou had laughed so hard, that she felt her ribs ache in pain because of the bruises.
"Tch, let's get down." Akira wanted to just throw Lou off the building, but despite the constant teasing, he didn't mind it since she wasn't entirely wrong.
Approaching the side of the building, they found an entrance to the inside and walked down the stairs that went to the ground floor.
Lou was still chuckling to herself with Kim making sure she did not let Lou fall down the stairs while Reia and Akira walked in silence.
'I wish Lou would shut up sometimes, but seriously how could she even tell. Here I thought I was doing well at hiding it especially since we started working together with our squads.' Akira indeed had feelings for Reia ever since the academy, but because of Reia's family, he had never been able to go a step further.
'If it wasn't for her damn overprotective father and mother I might be able to, but any attempts in approaching her would result in being beaten half to death by her personal guard.' Akira had an advantage as he had come from a high-standing family as well. This allowed him to become friends with Reia, but he had seen time and time again guys that tried to get close ending up in the hospital the day after.
'Well that isn't a concern so maybe I should be a bit more pushy.' Akira wanted to go at his own pace and was aware of Reia's condition of having her emotions cut off so he was rather hesitant in being forward.
'This isn't the right time, we have to survive before anything so unless Reia wants to I should just continue to be a bystander and help out when I can.' Akira had convinced himself that there was no need to worry about a relationship and would rather wait for Reia's emotions to be fully recovered.
'Geh there is still Lou who won't let up the teasing, but I guess I will have to deal with it as it comes.' Knowing that Lou will not let the subject go, hoped that she wouldn't take it too far.
'I might have to talk to Lou, but even that I don't want to do that.' Akira felt shivers as admitting it will potentially add more fuel to the fire, but he knew that it was probably a good idea.
Akira shook his head as he didn't want to agonise over it any longer. Reia on the other hand had a million thoughts going through her head.
'AHHHHHHHHH what do I dooooo.' Reia, often known for her rather cold and unapproachable side was now reduced to a blushing mess similar to Kim.
'I always had a hunch, but Akira always seemed so reserved and now that he doesn't even deny the fact he has feelings, doesn't that mean he does.' Reia was stuck in a dilemma as Akira did not say anything making it hard to determine if he does or not.
'Tsk, this damn Lou, I am so glad no one else can witness this side of me.' Reia had always needed to act a certain way, especially in front of her parents and the generals of the military so the image she had built for herself was rather cold.
'I need to get a definite answer out of Akira, but how the hell am I going to do that.' Reia had taken a few glances at Akira while walking down the stairs and every time she did she felt her heart swirl with emotions.
'Nope, I can't do it now.' Reia had felt a subtle fear almost choking her when she went to speak.
'I need to concentrate. Just don't think about it, I'm sure Akira was just trying to avoid giving into Lou's teasing but instead backfired.' Reia tried rationalising her feelings, but nothing was seemingly working.
'Damn it!'
*
Exiting the building they continued to make their way closer to the bunker. Cutting through a few alleyways Reia had recognised some of the buildings speeding up their pace.
"So what is exactly this base you have established?" Kim was rather curious as they ended up in some sort of shopping district and was rather curious what sort of place they got.
"Oh we managed to find a functioning military bunker and it has enough room for everyone, so we are using that as our base until we find everyone and start expanding to above ground." Reia had a general idea of what she wanted to do and eventually once everyone was found, they would make a base above the bunker.
Reia had not forgotten about the haven, but at this point, she did not know if it was a good idea to try to survive in the wilderness with little to no way to produce food.
"I see, so it looks like we are staying in the city." Lou had similar thoughts as it would be better to stay in the city for the time being.
"I plan for us to go to the haven, but it's a long trip and without knowing what's going on with the rest of the world we could be walking either to safety or to a place that is worse off than us." Reia wanted information, but it was impossible to obtain, making it hard to commit to something that may turn out to be their death.
"We should be quick though to find Aoi or Echo as I can see them being able to make it to the haven." Kim didn't say Jayde as she doubted Jayde would be able to make it on her own.
"They are most likely having their own troubles right now so I don't think we should rush too much." Reia assumed that no one was having an easy time so it was safe to think that they would be stuck in the city for a while.
"We are here." Akira turned into an alley and approached the bunker entrance. Putting his hand on the scanner the bunker began to open.
'Let's hope Klein isn't here.' Akira was a bit worried for her safety, but whatever would happen he would just have to accept.
"Ooo nice~." Lou was rather impressed as the bunker was in a nice location hidden away from any prying eyes.
Walking down the stairs to the bunker, Akira had sped up a little bit to see if Klein was still in the bunker, but upon entering saw that she was no longer on the couch.
'That's a plus, but she might be in her room.' Akira was glad they dodged a crisis, but it still had not been fully averted.
"What a cosy place you got here, are you and Reia sleeping in the same room?" Lou had reached the bottom of the stairs with Kim still being used as support.
"No!" Both Reia and Akira yelled at the same time.
"Haha, I'm only joking, show me to my room." Lou wanted to lay down as her legs were extremely sore from walking.
'I should probably get them on the other side of the bunker as I don't want to hear them during the night.' Reia had heard the many times while in the mansion the yells of Kim and knew that wouldn't stop despite the situation.
"This way." Reia decided to go towards where Klein's room was and Akira panicked for a moment.
Although there were 2 bedrooms on this end of the bunker, they weren't exactly the most soundproof.
Reia opened the door and went into the spare room that was next to Klein's.
"How come not the room next to this one?" Kim was unsure why Reia had given them a middle room and not the end or beginning one.
"Oh that's because the other rooms in the hallway are not bedrooms and the only other one is the one next to you, but I rather not hear Lou's name being screamed out in the middle of the night." Reia had come up with an excuse on the spot which was partly true.
Kim had blushed as she didn't realise that she could be heard when they were in their squad's mansion.
"Anyway, we will prepare some food, you two can rest."
"Heh thank you, now can you lay me down on the bed Kim?" Lou's entire body was sore and was craving a place to lay down on. Kim nodded, getting Lou on the bed while Akira and Reia exited the room.
Akira's first thoughts were to check Klein's room and upon opening the door saw that she was nowhere in sight.
"Phew seems like no one is getting choked to death." taking a sigh of relief Akira looked at Reia who all of a sudden started blushing.
'This is going to be hard.'