Burn with me

People filtered in and out of the lobby; a different purpose, a different cause, within each movement. Their feet clacked against the metal of fhe lower half and stairs before dulling on the smoother surface on top. A soft hum came from the elevator before it opened with a squeak.

The new-type skipped out before turning back around. "Hey, Kota, you coming?"

"Hold on…" He panted, placing his hands on his kness. "You're… too fast…"

"I am?" She tilted her head.

"Faster than anyone I know." Kota straightened himself before looking around.

Numerous red machines with a small keyboard under a screen beeped as they were turned off and on. The false light coming from behind them mirrored that of the sun pouring through windows. Green screens appeared with various data around the operator in the middle of the room as buttons were pushed and records scrolled through.

"Hey, just the person I was looking for." A man clad in black approached them.

"Lindow!" The rookie smiled sweetly in return before turning to Kota. "This is the lead of our unit."

"Oh, uhh… Kota Fujiki, reporting for duty, sir!"

"Woah, hey now, none of that 'sir' stuff." Lindow shook his head. "I'm Lindow Amamiya and forget the leader thing, it's really just some lame formality."

"Huh… That name sounds familiar…" His hand tapped his chin. "Oh, I got it! You're one of the first God Eaters and beat some big Aragami single-handedly!"

"Did I? Huh, when you put it like that, I sound like some badass."

The rookie shrugged her shoulders. "Lindow only likes such praise when it from Sakuya---"

"Alright, that's enough for introductions!" The man turned to her. "Kimiko, you're clear to go on more missions, as long as you don't cause too much trouble."

"H-He started it!"

"I don't care who started what, you both need to learn to atleast tolerate eachother. Fighting is bad for morale, you know."

"I'm only #&$ years old, can't be held re-pond-sta-bel!"

"What, wait?! You're younger than my little sister?!" Kota jumped back in shock.

"Weren't you older than that the other day?" Lindow couldn't hide the small smile that came to his face. "I don't think you can age, or un-age, that easily."

"What? I didn't say." The rookie pouted like a child in denial. "Does it even matter?"

"As long as noone gets hurt in the meantime." A dark-haired woman called out to them from the bottom of the stairs. "Are you guys going to talk all day or start the mission?"

"Well, the kids need a little pep talk before hand, right?" Lindow shrugged his shoulders. "But you can take over, since you'll be the one watching them today."

"Whatever you say, big boss sir ." She smirked as she emphasised the last part.

With a falter in his smile, he took a black calling device out of his pocket. "I'll leave it to you then."

"Lindow---"

"Sakuya!" The rookie attempted to run down to her, but fell tripped half-way. "Woah!"

Quickly, Sakuya caught however her legs still slouched on the stairs. "Kimiko, are you alright?"

"Oops--" Words momentarily left her once she realized that in this position, she was at the perfect height... "Oh, much alright now..."

The rookie tried to nuzzle closer, only for the older female to push her back and straighten her until she was standing on her own two feet. "You should try to be more careful. If something like that happened on the field, who knows what would've happened…" Sakuya's voice trailed off, looking at the spot where Lindow previously was.

She tilted her head slightly before trying to follow her gaze. "Oh, when did you get hay-re, Kota?"

"I-I've been here the whole time! In fact, we were even talking only a few minutes ago!"

After jiggling the door knob a few times, the rookie sighed. "Guess this won't be easy... Unless it gets broke! Just need to find way I came…"

She glanced around the medium-sized hallway that held the living quaters of some God Eaters. It was rather clean, with house plants littered here and there and the currently quiet elevator. Doors were on either side, all equally placed far enough apart for a comfortable room behind each one. The lights had been dimmed ever so lightly to comfort those who slept and guide those who still roamed about.

"Is it better to do during day…?"

▪▪▪▪▪▪

Slowly, the door carelessly opened and its tired resident slunk out.

"You're awake now!" The new-type was happily sitting on the floor a few inches from his room.

"Huh?" Kota paused, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "Gaahh! W-What are you--Why are you here?

"Eh?" She stood up with a mild stumble. "Sakuya told me to. You don't answer and I was going to break door---"

"Wha--Wait, how long have you been out here?"

"Ehh…" Her eyes darted around, as if there'd be some sort of answer somewhere. Where do these people keep their clocks? "The hall was darker-like…?"

"So, nighttime?" He backed up, debating his choices; stay with the crazy, run faster than humanly possible, or hide in his room, door locked and blocked. "W-Why?"

"I told to say sorry for last day. She said newbies scared with no fights. He should done so."

"Err… I, uhh… What are you saying?"

"Eh? Not obvious enough?"

"Well… I got the sorry idea, but the rest…"

"What does that main?"

"N-Nothing! Nothing at all."

"Then... I'm, umm… Well…" Her lips formed a stern flat-line. "Wait, did he do this, too?"

"'He'? You mean the guy that---"

"Looks angst, acts angst, is angst?"

"That's… a lot of angst for one person."

"Is there really limit to it all?"

"Well, I mean…" Kota shook his head. This girl got off-track way too easily. "A-Anyways, I haven't seen him since yester---"

"Oh?" A sudden dark and crude expression took over her face. "That son of a--" She froze for a moment before straightening up and letting a sweet, innocent frown grace her features. "I-I mean… R-Really? That's rude. It only fair for him to do as well."

"H-Hey, it's not that big of a deal. Let's just start over, okay?" He held out his hand and smiled. "My name's Kota, nice to meet you."

"Kimiko." She turned to the side and simply waved her left hand.

"Hey, your armlet…" Kota pointed at her raised arm. "It's on the left?"

"Eh? I'm left-handed." The rookie glanced at the red metal attached to her wrist.

"But I thought they were always on the right side."

"And I thought they just some flashy badge."

This armlet… All God Eaters had to wear them in order to wield their God Arcs. These weapons that could devour just like an Aragami and the only means of breaking their cells apart; they were like tiny Aragami themselves. The bias factor, injected in them via the armlet when they either became a God Eater or died, was only contained and controlled by the red pieces of metal. Without it…

"O-Oh… Well… I-It sort of is like a badge. It's a sign that we're going to protect everyone a-and save lives!"

"And might find truth..."

"Huh?"

"I'm sure Hibari has work for us." The rookie started to walk off, heading for the elevator.

"This is Fenrir, also known as humanity's last fortress."

⊙⊙⊙

Defeat the enemy no matter what.

●●●

"Wow, I can't believe it!"

○○○

"You have the job of protecting the human race from extinction."

⊙⊙⊙

A gold drill with a blue hilt waited for it's turn to fight.

●●●

"I finally did it!"

○○○

"Dying is always happening and so is leaving comrades behind."

⊙⊙⊙

Large gray paws broke the surrounding area.

●●●

"I did it, I can protect them."

○○○

"This is not a job for weaklings or those who can't handle death."

⊙⊙⊙

A large, ridge blade was preparing to sink its teeth into the beast with the electric collar.

●●●

"It feels so… Surreal."

○○○

"The only weapons that can do any damage against the Aragami is called a God Arc, which only God Eaters can wield."

⊙⊙⊙

The blades within the red chainsaw spun.

●●●

"This is great!"

○○○

"There are two types of God Eater; Old-type and New-type. Old-type God Eaters use either a blade or gun while New-types can use both."

⊙⊙⊙

With a jump, the drill flipped into a blue gun and fired a laser-like bullet.

○○○

"I did it!"

●●●

"This is your new life."

○○○

"I'm a God Eater!"

◇◇◇◇◇◇

“Another rookie?”

“Well, he’s fine as long as he doesn’t do what that new-type did on their first mission.”

A small square of teenagers had made home on a couch off to the side. Brown hair, dyed hair, curled hair; a tall male, a tooth pick of a boy, a short female. It was clear that they weren’t there for stealth.

“Oh, I heard about that, too…”

The previously cheering rookie seemed to almost deflate; did he really actually say that out loud? He sighed and scratched the side of his head, slight tilting his orange striped hat.

“Oh, you must be Kota Fujiki, right?” A red-haired, formally dressed female called out from behind the central desk.

“Huh? Oh, yeah! That’s me,” Kota trotted over without a second thought.

“My name’s Hibari Takeda, I’m an operator here,” She bowed slightly. “I manage most of the general stuff; missions, notices, calls, and other things like that.”

“So…”

The conversation continued for only a minute before all attention fell back upon the group in the corner. However, this time there was a new addition with light green eyes and deep reddish brown hair. Something about this person… was strange.

“I had a ring in my ears, perhaps your voices sing to me?” She lend over slightly, making her sweet smile clearer. The ribbons of a rose-shaped barrette attached to the front of her black shirt fluttered down. Her light blue rain-boots gave out a small squeak. “What’re you thinking?”

“H-Huh? Where… Who—”

“Simple; a rookie from Unit One. I can be the one you chat about or…” Her eyes grew dark, almost lifelessly sinister. “You could see for yourselves.”

“A-Ah, umm, w-we were just leaving, actually!” One of the girls quickly jumped to her feet and urged the other to follow suit. “We need to talk t-tactics more than anything!”

“Ah, sad… I was so looking forward to getting to know you.” A crooked smile came across her face just as the group ran off. “You aren’t very inter-testing, though.”

Hibari shook her head with a sigh. “Kimiko! Do you have some spare time?” No response, though the threatening aura seemed to die down. “Kimiko?”

“O-Oh, that’s me,” she awkwardly mumbled to herself before skipping over to the counter. “You called, Hibari?”

“I figured now would be a… time to introduce you two. This is Kota Fujiki, he just joined Unit One today.” Hibari smiled weakly. “Kota, this is Kimiko, also a rather new member of Unit One.”

“Hello!” The girl smiled sweetly. “Good to meet you.”

“O-Oh, umm…” Kota scratched the back of his head. “Back at you.”

“Let’s work—”

Suddenly, her expression turned grim with such a different feel compared to all the events prior. All she could see was at the top of the small set of stairs beside the desk. Everything else became little more than white noise.

“You.” A young man with dark skin and a hood over his head approached the female rookie.

“You.” She repeated back at him, challenging his murky demeanor head-on.

“Oh, Soma, I received a few new missions…”

“What, did preschool end early?” He said tauntingly.

“Excuse you?!” Without a thought, the girl fell for it “Show some manners! I’m older!”

“You insult yourself with your own stupidity.”

“Well, I was going to wait to bash your skull in with a rock and watch your pretty little blood stain every bit of rubble and turn the dirt to mud on the field, but plans do change.”

“‘Tch, you can’t even aim a gun straight so, what makes you think you could with a rock?”

“A-A gun is completely different a-and it’s your fault for being at the wrong place at the wrong time! If you ran faster, I wouldn’t have shot ya!”

Hibari muttered, mostly to herself. “I was really hoping this would just blow over, but they’re both so stubborn…”

“My fault? I was actually following the plan! Not all of us are idiots, you know!”

“Huh?” Kota stepped in closer, as if that’d provide some sort of protection.

“Why don’t you go take a look around, get used to the place? It’ll make it easier to get used to your teammates.”

“Wait, d-do you mean…”

Shuffling the rubble away, unsteady eyes tried to regain sense. The sun poured down through spread fingers before focus set on the surroundings.

Everything was in ruins; blood with some vague remnants of human seemed to cover every rock and dust filled the air, almost filling every breath completely. Under nearby debris, a strange blue ribbon tried to fly with the wind, but the rocks held it down.

Arms reached out to unearth the fabric; revealing it to be a crushed barrette with a faux rose decoration on top. Gently, it was craddled close while shaky legs fought to stand.