I woke up today and I felt tired, but I had to keep going.
After Lieutenant General Tomoya had told us about the bombings in the Shibuya and Shinjuku train stations in Tokyo, many other cadets felt shocked about the incident, and feeling drained and demotivated. This was a sign of what we, as War-Knights, were going to fight against. But it was also a sign of all the innocent lives that were going to perish in the process of defending our nation. Today I woke up tired, because of the burden of the bombings, and the burden of my encounter with my former gang leader, Bleed. All proof of the explosion was erased somehow, and I still don't know if Bleed and his comrades survived. One thing was clear though. I was now a target of the Antonov supporters.
"Cadets, wake up! Today, we continue training!"
Oh, that voice. It's Reiko. She sounds as lively and motivated as ever. She was the only one who could get us together and push us to keep training. Even after all that's happening.
Getting prepared was normal as always, but something was off. After lining up outside the barracks, we walked to get breakfast in the cafeteria. This was when I noticed… Reiko looked worried and… fearful? Maybe it was because of the bombing's revelation yesterday. But every time she looked over at the line of girls, she would immediately look the other way. It was like she didn't want someone in the line to see her looking at them…
Breakfast was over, and it was time for training. The other cadets had been roll-called to come attend training. After everyone had gone to their specific classes and training courses, it was just me, Reiko, and Emi. Every time the others left, it would just be the three of us, and then and Emi I would go to our special training courses. I felt an awkward mood, as it was quiet, and I decided to ask Reiko something. I didn't talk to Reiko much, but I felt like something was up with her.
"Hey… are you alright? You seem off"
Reiko turned to me and looked stunned by my sudden question. Emi looked at me with confusion.
"Oh, I'm fine. I just feel a little tired, cadet… don't worry about it."
Reiko responded while nervously laughing.
As I suspected, something was wrong. But I couldn't just butt in her situation, so I decided to just end the conversation there. As we stood there, Sgt. Kimura came into the room.
"Today we are refining your swordsman skills! Both of you, come over here!"
Sgt. Kimura had been tasked with refining our swordsman skills today. We had already learned a lot of the handling required to use Thermoblades. Emi and I had been trained quicker and more rigorously in using swords than all the other cadets. It wasn't my specialty, since I liked shooting more. Emi on the other hand, was quick to learn and master the Thermoblade. She had managed to learn all the different techniques of sword fighting. Slashing, blocking, parrying, dodging, and stabbing. She had mastered them all, while I didn't take the hang of it.
"C'mon, cadet! Do as I show you! Draw your sword. Wait for your opponent to strike you and then parry your opponent's attack, then time your countermove so that you can counter their attack by slashing their way! It's easy."
Sgt. Kimura took my training seriously. Even though I couldn't master it, he wouldn't give up. Emi did every exercise flawlessly, so for most of the training session, she would stand there and watch me fail. It was initially annoying, as I'm used to fighting with my fists, but I knew this would help me in the future. As a fighter.
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After the training, we went to eat our afternoon meal. This is where we all the cadets would meet up again after training. It was a very loud at this time. I looked around and sat in a place where no one sat in to eat my food after my intense training. As usual, Emi joined me. As she sat down, I caught a glimpse of my childhood friend, Natsumi. She had a poker face, as she sat with some other female cadets to eat. The last time I saw her, she looked unusually emotionless, and she had not tried to talk to me. Maybe it was my fault, but I felt like for some other reason she was fighting her demons… but why and who was causing it?
As I thought about Natsumi, Emi started talking out of the blue.
"Hey, I know I've been quiet for a while, so sorry about that. I've just had some things in my head so…"
Emi said while she sighed.
"Dont worry. Everyone had many things in their minds right now, especially us…"
I said referring to our encounter with Bleed.
"Yeah… anyway… have you talked to your friend Natsumi recently? She seemed to have changed… I hope it's not serious."
Emi asked unexpectedly.
"Oh… about that. We've been training so much that I barely talk to her anymore. Plus all the other things that have happened…"
I responded.
"Maybe you should talk to her and find out what's wrong… you'd do the same for me, so why not for your childhood friend, right?"
It was strange that Emi, out of all people, wanted me to know if Natsumi was ok. They were both always fighting and insulting each other. But now Emi felt for her, weirdly enough.
"Alright I will. And I'll make sure you don't get all this stuff pent-up in your mind either… you won't be at your best if you're feeling down all the time…"
I said to Emi about her recent mood.
Emi proceeded to smile at me and bite a chunk of her food after.
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I hope I find out what Reiko is going through… I'm no therapist or Reiko's close friend but seeing her like that made me think that it was rooted to something bigger than I thought. I'll be paying attention more to her and try to find something out…