You, the Traveler and Paimon arrived at the shores near the Kujou Encampment as the area seemed to be filled with a lot of busy people. There you could see some soldiers are training, some are orienting the adventurers, and some are tending to the wounded. The three of you then proceeded as you were greeted by a guard stationed by the gate.
"Traveler, glad that you could make it. This person must be..?" The shogunate guard stood attention then he turned his head at you after greeting your blonde companion.
"This is y/n, she's an adventurer. She's here to assist on the emergency commission along with me" They replied in your stead as you slightly bowed to formally greet the guard.
"Ah, I see. Well then, you guys can have yourselves registered up inside. After that, someone will guide you to orient you about the situation"
"Alright then, thanks!" Paimon chirped as the three of you were permitted to enter the camp.
You and the traveler had finished registering then an officer approached the three of you, introducing himself and started filling in on the situation.
"What!? The Kairagi and Fatui are collaborating?! Oh no... Paimon's got a very bad feeling about this..."
"But why would Fatui soldiers team up with them..?" You muttered as you placed your hand on your chin. "Not unless the Fatui had some sort of hidden agenda to this.."
"That's what we're still trying to find out, unfortunately. Follow me, I'll take you to the orientation area for adventurers. Since you three had just arrived, you'll be part of the 3rd batch, the orientation will begin once your batch are filled with enough people" You then nodded at the officer before he started leading the three of you to a spacious area of the camp.
You could only see about five people in the area other than the three of you. Some of them gave a very serious look at you and the traveler, but mostly on the latter. Some of them are in awe or perhaps curious. You nervously gulped as you felt the tense atmosphere.
"Two foreign travelers joining in? Great. Bet they're just gonna wind up on our backs while we end up doing all the work" One of them said with his arms crossed. He's an Inazuman wearing the Adventurer's Guild uniform. He had brown hair that matches the color of his eyes. And from the looks of it, he doesn't seem to take too kindly to foreigners, especially from the tone he gave you and the Traveler.
"Hey! Watch your tone, mister! The traveler got some skills too!" You turned to look at Paimon who seemed to be irritated at the man's comment.
"Paimon calm down—"
"This isn't a playground kid, run along if you don't wanna get hurt"
"Why you...!" You and Traveler immediately grabbed Paimon and held her back before she would do something reckless.
"Alright, everyone settle down please!" Everyone, including yourself suddenly paused upon hearing a certain voice along with a loud clap. You all turned to look at the front and your eyes widened the second you saw his face. For half a year, you both had been separated, and now you were given the chance mend the bond that you two had once lost.
"Well, guess this batch isn't much but I guess it will have to do" He cleared his throat for a moment. "My name is Shikanoin Heizou, I'll be the guide for this batch on how we'll execute the mission at hand. Things have already been explained to the previous groups so hope things will go smoothly. Also just a reminder that everyone here must cooperate, I won't tolerate anyone being a liability here so now's the chance if you want to back out" He then crossed his arms as he looked at all of you.
You glanced around to see if anyone will step back but no one did. Everyone was so silent and the atmosphere tensed up even more. The redhead detective let out a sigh before proceeding with the orientation.
"Since our batch is very small compared to the other two, we will be doing stealth, in case the enemy has any tricks up their sleeve, it's up to our group to take care of it" He raised three of his fingers up. "The 1st batch were assigned to handle the offense, 2nd batch for reinforcements and defense then lastly the 3rd batch will handle behind the scenes. Hope you all are ready for this because we'll be heading out earlier than the two groups"
After a short discussion about the plan, the detective then dismissed everyone to make preparations. Before you were about to make your leave, you glanced at him, you caught him glancing back at you which made you panic and turn away as you had already left the area with the traveler.
[Heizou's POV]
She really came... but why?
Surely she didn't come back just to look for me, right? If she did, she would've went straight towards me after the orientation. I turned to steal a glance at her and noticed that our eyes met, but it didn't take long before she immediately turned away and left with the traveler. I guess she already hated me, huh? Not that I'm surprised, I left her behind without saying anything. I deserve this.
But the fact that she's here, I really can't ignore this. This is a dangerous mission, I can't afford to put her in danger, especially these are related to the Fatui soldiers who had abducted her. I mustn't repeat the same mistake.
I went off to find her. I need to talk to her personally, even if she would hate me more for this. I soon found her sitting by the fences by herself, as if she was waiting for someone, perhaps the traveler?
As I was about to approach her, somehow my chest feels a bit heavy and my heart wouldn't stop beating so fast. Why do I feel this way? It's been so long since I last saw her and here I am, longing to hold her close even though I was the one who left. I guess this is my guilt?
"...Why are you here?" Was the first thing that slipped out of my mouth, I realized what I just said but I couldn't take it back. She looked up at me, a bit surprised then she just turned her head away.
"Can't I be here because I wanted to..?" She muttered, almost at a bitter tone.
"Even though you're fully aware of your condition?" Ah, my overprotective habits are kicking in. I need to tone it down before I end up hurting her more.
"You're always like this... you've been acting like an overprotective parent since ever that incident.. why can't you just trust me?" She didn't revert her look at me but I can tell how much she was hurting behind those words. I really messed up badly.
I fell silent as I glanced away for a moment before looking back at her. "I—"
"Sir, the other group leaders wanted to see you at the meeting room" An officer came to report, to which my attention was diverted then I let out a sigh before turning back to y/n.
"Let's continue this conversation later" Was all I said before I left with the officer. My heart is aching, I shouldn't have been so harsh on her. Recalling the tone of her voice just now was just like a knife to the chest. She was really hurt, and I made it worse.
I need to make up to her somehow, she doesn't deserve to be in so much pain. Heh, how ironic for someone who decided to leave and disappear from her life for half a year.
I need to treat her better from now on.