7-2 This Time Around

Date: September 10

Place: HQ's Blacksmith place

[Noel]

"Uh...Good morning" with the intonation of my voice, it sounded like a question when I looked at Rei and Cedrick back and forth.

She's sitting in her workspace and I can tell that she's tired, and probably hasn't had a decent sleep from how her eyes look. It's kind of swollen from...crying? Also, the bags in her eyes got a little bigger and darker. While on the other hand, Cedrick was only sitting on the sofa, drinking as he was so lost in his thoughts, staring into space. They look so awkward and the room is so silent that I only sat and didn't speak another word.

"I'm sure that I have informed you that we'll finally be doing your first mission today," she said without batting an eye to me as she was busy with her laptop.

"I thought I told you that we can postpone it until you're fully healed," I instantly replied. I can tell that she doesn't have enough energy to even walk let alone partake in any missions at the moment.

"That's what I told her," Cedrick commented. But all he could do was mumble those words as if he was not allowed to talk to her. But she returned our concern for her by sending us death glares.

"This isn't just about you. If we delay this any longer, we'll cause a problem for everyone else," she says, continuing her work and avoiding Cedrick's glances or even having a short conversation with him. He gets what Rei's trying to convey in her actions and doesn't throw any fuss about it as he continued to stare into the walls.

They fought, didn't they?

"We'll be going to the blacksmith to go fetch your weapon," she says closing her laptop.

"I'm sorry. I forgot about the lists that I was supposed to give you," I sincerely apologize. I was to hand in a list of things or tools I'd like to use for combat. But I forgot about it because of everything that has happened in the past few days.

"There is no need for worries," she stands up and cleans her desk. "This will just be your first mission so I requested for the blacksmith to make a variety of choices just for you," she says grinning while drinking her coffee.

"I'm so sorry for the extra work that I've caused," I apologized again because I feel bad. Where does she even find a time to request such a thing from the blacksmith anyway?

"Just follow me," she says exiting the lounge with the silent Cedrick following her like a tail.

[Rei]

Although the mission that I assigned for Noel doesn't need to be rushed, it's the private mission that I received and it's about the topic of the so-called 'buffed unOrdinary' sightings in different locations.

And to complete that, I need the other three members to finish it while we distract Noel with his first mission. And I know that we have to give them as much time as possible. But I doubt we'll be able to so I think I'll have to apologize and ask for an extension if possible.

"What about the three?" Noel started to ask questions. I glanced at Cedrick only to see him spacing out.

"They'll be taking care of the lounge while we're out," I say. "Just in case someone asks for us, they'll be there to be our proxy," I told a random story that I just came up with.

"Alright," the sadness in his voice was clear. Maybe he wanted to do it with his friends or is disappointed that they won't be able to see Noel in action.

"Don't worry too much," Cedrick says, patting him on his back to calm Noel's uneasy nerves.

~~

We arrived in front of the armory where my friend stood and waited for us.

"You're finally here," the young blacksmith who I asked for help greeted us with a bright smile as he waves his hands at us.

"Good morning," I returned his warm welcome with a smile on my face. And without any time to waste, he leads us the way to where he displayed his creations.

He was also the one who helped me design and create my current weapons, my twin knives, and the scythe. He spreads his positive energy as we walk and proceeds to introduction.

"My name's Banche McRegalle, but you can just call me Butch," he shakes Noel's hands.

I met Butch at the meeting for the new survivors when we first came here. He has dark skin, curly dark hair, light blue eyes, and an attractive personality. He's also taller than Cedrick by a few inches. If I remember correctly, I invited him to join me with a group that I was going to create but he kindly refused, to do his passion for creating things.

"Noel Bugay, you can call me Noel," he answers back with a stiffened face.

"It's nice meeting you," Butch gave his hand to Noel.

"The pleasure is all mine," Noel replied, shaking Butch's hand.

"Rei, it's so nice to see you again," he opened his arms for me to hug him and I did. "But what happened to your face?" he quickly ended the hug and grabbed me by the face to examine it. He's probably wondering about what happened to my eyes which look so awful.

"Don't pay attention to it. A lot has just happened recently," I shake his worries away as we continued following him to our destination.

[Noel]

It's so mesmerizing to see Butch making her smile and sending her in a good mood with his nonstop blabbering of unusual but funny stories. I can tell that Rei's genuinely enjoying it right now. Unlike the one who's behind me, sulking and feeling miserable as he glances at the sight of a laughing girl next to her friend who happens to be a boy. I'm not even sure if he's even trying to compose himself or waiting for them to take notice of him.

"Right, Ceddy?" asks Butch looking back at Cedrick to get an answer out of him.

"Yes," he smiled bitterly.

"Ceddy~" I repeated just to be pierced by Cedrick's glares.

"It's a cute nickname, isn't it?" Butch might've heard me when he asked me that question.

"It is" Cedrick must be dying inside when he answered that for me. I can feel his rage burning from where I stand. And I can't help but wonder if there's some kind of reason behind his behavior towards Butch.

~~

"Here we are," he enthusiastically giggles with his arms open as if the weapons his looking at are coming to hug him. But I got to admit, the weapons that are presented to us were all shiny and look like they can cut your throat with little force from how sharp they are. "Although these are the only things I've come up with under the time limit that you gave me along with his skills and body type," he pouts at Rei.

"Yes, I sincerely apologize for that," she replied half bowing her head indicating she isn't lying.

"You should be," he acts like a girl but speaks with his deep voice which feels kind of weird. "Anyways," he clears his throat. "Take a look and try them out," he says with an excited expression.

"Thank you," I say before proceeding to touch and swing the weapons to test them out one by one.

[Rei]

"How about you Cedrick?" Butch asks him.

"Thank you but I think I'll pass," he gestures both his hands, shaking them to strongly indicate his opposition.

"I would've loved to create your weapon too though as Rei did," he complains while pouting within the sight of Cedrick.

"My current ones can suffice," he says while avoiding our eyes.

"Don't mind him," I sigh trying to change the topic because I know that Cedrick is already depressed as he is. "What about my knives?" the atmosphere suddenly changed with Butch's glistening eyes as he runs to get them.

"Wait a moment," I find his fading shout as he ran to some distance quite cute. Because he looks exactly like a child, making his parents wait just to get the toys that he would love to have.

"What?" Cedrick say in a shocked voice when he noticed that I was glaring at him which I replied by looking the other way and saying nothing, completely ignoring him. 

I reverted my attention to Noel who was trying out some weapons that pique his interest as he gives them a try and swings it in the air. He tried using the katana and some knives to practice some swings.

"How are you finding them?" I asked but he caught me off guard when he suddenly turned around looking so excited.

"They're all," he paused, trying to dig some words from his vocabulary. "Extraordinary," he finally admits and flicks the string of a bow that he's holding.

"You flatter me too much," Butch suddenly butts in our conversation, who came back with my twin knives inside a leather scabbard in his left hand while my scythe in his right hand with the body resting on his shoulders to support the weight of the main blade of my weapon.

"Woah," I can hear Noel gasping when he happens to notice what Butch was carrying.

"Here you go," Butch approached me and gave me my twin knives as he stands by the side to look at me who was intensely focused on checking it. "I replaced the metal with a lighter one just like the things I've created for Noel," he looked in Noel's direction who was still dazzled by the scythe. "I already sharpened it and kept the design just as you requested," he says proudly of himself.

I don't know what came over me when an insane idea struck me. Maybe I was just sleepy or just wanted to try something new. Or maybe even for just a little, I wanted to lose something that was weighing on my mind. But instead of calming down or thinking rationally, I lost my cool and just went with what I wanted to do.

I can see their shocked faces when I tested the sharpness of one of the knives. I removed it from its cover, let my hand softly brush my hair, and held it tight as I let my other hand that was holding the knife go behind my head. Then, I cut my hair from the length that my hands could reach. 

Their widened eyes and unexpected reactions made me smirk.

"Nice haircut," Butch says clapping while Noel joined after him. And there was Cedrick who was too stunned to do anything in particular.

"That felt good," I say putting one of the knives into their cover as a sigh of relief left my lips.

"I'll do the cleaning for you," Butch says putting the hair on the floor aside with his foot as I gave him a thumbs up for a reply. "Why don't you try this one too?" he says in an excited tone, expecting something from me. I looked at Cedrick when the scythe was in my hands just to see him holding his head for protection from his hair.

"Thanks for everything but I think I won't be using this for today's simple mission. Please, take good care of this for me in the meantime," I say handing it back to him.

"Of course," he replied while putting it aside on a table as he proceeds to try and help the troubled Noel who was looking our way.

[Noel]

I was taken aback when Rei suddenly cut her hair out of nowhere with the newly sharpened knives that Butch gave to her. I glanced at Cedrick who was just as surprised as I am. But a sigh of relief and a grin on her face reassembled that some of her burdens were lifted from her shoulders which made me happy for her.

After that, Butch gave Rei her scythe which made me almost not notice how Cedrick shielded his hair when Rei stole a glance at him.

Her scythe was breathtaking. It was huge, probably taller and heavier than me. Also, what I found unique about this design is that there wasn't only one pointed sharp end. There were six of them in total; four at one end of the pole and two at the other end. There was the main blade that was the largest of all, another small one right under it, and two medium-sized on the back of the two that I just described, and the last two were at the other end of the pole that was similar to the top. Also, there were three red gems attached to the largest blade horizontally which was only there for the design, I think?

"Have you picked something yet?" Butch came up to me unexpectedly, or was I just not paying attention?

"I don't know. All of them are good," I admitted, genuinely having a hard time choosing from all of them. "Do you have any recommendations?" I seek advice from him.

"You bet I do," he says rushing off to get something from the display. "It's this!" he holds a katana up high and runs back towards me with such an excited face. He started explaining things to me that I don't understand. Things about what materials it's made of and how it plays a role on the battlefield. All I can just understand was how light but sharp it is and the grip of the handle was perfectly made for my hands and such.

~~

"Are you sure you're alright with that?" Rei asks as we are now headed to the cafeteria for a bit of a light breakfast. 

"How could I say 'No' to him," I suddenly remembered what Butch looked like as he was explaining why this katana was so much better than the rest.

"Don't worry, if you don't like the katana, we could always find you a new weapon that suits your preference," she adds as we sit at a table to eat. But before she can even have her first bite out of the bread, a guy in a dark hoodie tapped her shoulder and she excuses herself from the table and went outside the cafeteria to talk to him.

"What was that?" I asked Cedrick who was continuing to eat like he didn't even see someone take his girl.

"We call them messengers," he says without batting an eye at me. "They're the people who were entrusted by the Supreme General to carry around orders and rely them on a person," he continues as I see Rei running back to our table.

"I'll meet you guys at the ground," she shifted her glares at Cedrick who can't bring his eyes at her. "I need to reprint some documents and pass them to the higher-ups," by that, Rei left as Cedrick looked like a beaten puppy by how he sweated. I can already tell that it was because of him that Rei had to do some extra work and was in a bad mood.

Then, out of who knows where I was covered in a hot soup.

"Oh my god, I am so sorry," I hear a voice say while trying to wipe the steamy cabbages off of my uniform.

"It's fine." I stood up and turned around to see a familiar face, nervously trying to lift her face to look at me.

"Oh, it's you," she smiled at me.

"What's going on?" a boy behind her says as he walks up to us. "Noel," he says in disbelief. I suddenly recalled why they were too familiar for me. It's because they were the people who were with us on the island, I remembered them protecting me when the havoc began that night. I don't know their names or what class they're in but I'm just glad that some of the people who protected me are still alive. A few more familiar faces came to me and we exchanged greetings or just talked about how we were finding this new place.

"Hi there," I greeted with a smile.

[Cedrick]

I remained seated and chewed every food on the tray and didn't care about Noel who was talking with the people who seems to be acquainted with him. After a few minutes of talking with them, he sat back down and continued eating, forgetting about the soup that was unintentionally thrown at him.

"There are some spare clothes on the lounge, you better change before we head out," I say finishing my food.

"Thanks," he replied looking gloomy.

[Noel]

I briefly waved goodbye at them.

*     *     *     *     *

"We're sorry," the girl suddenly says, making me unable to reply. I looked at all of their faces and they all have the same expressions displayed on their faces. 

Guilt.

Hopelessness.

Regret.

"Thank you," I say which made them look at me with confused looks. "For protecting me," I added and saw some of them relieved and some still confused. "Let's forget about the past and focus on the present," I tried not to laugh when I was cringing at myself.

"You're welcome, and please don't die this time around," the girl looked worried as she said those and run towards the table where they are a bunch of people back from the island too and the others followed her.

I guess they're still sticking together.

"Be careful out there," a boy says, tapping my shoulder before he followed them. 

*     *     *     *     *

Do they know that I'm out on my first mission? I mean they are good at collecting information about me. 

I brushed what they said away and sat to eat my remaining food. Until Cedrick tells me to get changed did I remember that some soup was poured onto my uniform. I'm worried about what they meant with those words.