Attempted but failed

Date: September 11

Place: Kyoto Headquarters

[Rei]

"It's just like I've saidー" I wasn't even finished when he stood up from his seat, knocking his metal stool down from the urgency.

"No, thank you," he said firmly, almost shouting but his hands were shivering as he clenched it and hid it behind him.

I knew he would oppose the idea, but not to that extent. I looked at the stool as he noticed it. He quickly turned around and fixed it, muttering something to himself.

"I borrowed you for exactly five days, so I'll ask you again then," I sighed and scratched my head.

"No!" he unexpectedly shouted which took both of us aback. He cleared his throat and rephrased it. "I'm sorry, but I'm certainly sure that my decision will remain the same."

He retaliated in his defense in such a polite manner that I let out a small laugh.

"Let's see if you'll be able to repeat those words five days from now," I stood up and I saw him react with a flinch. I walked up to my desk and I felt his eyes following my every movement.

"Now for the main reason," I'm looking around the drawers on my desk. "I apologize if I dug too deep into your background, but I would want you to know that I'm fully aware of your situation," I sparked his curiosity as I saw him still staring in my direction.

"Your only sister is listed as deceased in all the records," I glanced at his reaction after I finally found the file and grabbed it with my right hand.

"Pardon?" his voice, low and unmotivated to continue the topic.

It took me a second to realize that he could also display such a face; lifeless pupils, teeth gritting in the shadows, and a glare that makes you forget his tiny figure.

"There was no record of her returning from her last mission," I explained the obvious as he became more hostile, glaring at me without replying. "But you refuse to settle with that outcome," I glared back, I didn't notice but my foot led me right in front of him. I was staring down at him as he was staring up at me with disbelief at what was out of my mouth.

I happened to find out about everything about him with the help of rumors, records, and the Supreme General's testimonies from the final report about their mission.

The tension we created was suffocating, it was as if he wanted to vent his pent-up anger on my neck with his expressions.

But that was until someone burst open the door and shouts.

[Kikoe]

"I'm back!" Noel shouts, opening the door by kicking it as his hands are occupied.

The both of us glanced at the commotion and the gloomy atmosphere dissipated in an instant. "They also gave me the teleportation crystal already," he says so out of breath that I hurriedly stood up and helped him carry some of the files.

I took half of it and it was heavier than the boxes that I used to deliver around.

"Why do we even have this loads of work," he asked innocently as I saw her already grinning and having a light-hearted vibe around her.

[Noel]

"That's normally how many the squads in the upper ranks get almost daily," she sat down on the sofa.

I couldn't help but divert Rei's attention to myself as I saw how uncomfortable Kikoe looked before he helped me. We both walked to her desk to put everything down.

"Where's Cedrick?" I noticed he wasn't anywhere in the room.

"He had an appointment with Haru," she was holding a file that I believe my first time seeing.

"Why's the door wide open?" Cedrick came in silently and commented at the door that I forgot to close. "And what's with that workload?!" the files were what he first noticed, pointing at it as if it were his worst nightmare, his eyebrows almost touching as his jaw subtly opened.

He glanced at Rei for an explanation but she only smiled sweetly which made Cedrick take a step back. He then seeks help from Kikoe and me with his desperate eyes. We all exchanged looks before all three of us glanced back at Rei who was simply comfortably sitting.

Then Rei tapped the spot beside her to Cedrick, his shoulder dropped as he slowly dragged himself to sit.

"You guys too, we need to discuss something," she said and we followed.

[Cedrick]

I simply tried to shift the mood earlier by joking about it. But I'm sure Noel had already an idea of what had happened between these two before we came in.

Everyone was already seated when both Noel and I kept glancing at each other and back to Kikoe as we sighed discretely.

[Kikoe]

I tried to control my facial expressions to the best of my abilities but it seems like the others were kind enough not to ask and pry on the situation.

"Now the reason I recruited him was because the three of us can't handle all the work," she glanced at her desk full of piles of papers and the file on her hand.

"I know the two of you need rest," she says specifically as I was left clueless by what she meant. "But bear with me as this is an urgent request by the Supreme General," she sighs and extends her arms to give Noel the file.

Noel accepted it and took a few peaks inside. "I want you two to summarize that by lunch," she says giving an apologetic smile as Noel only nodded and so I copied his movements.

"Do you want me to print another copy of this?" he asked politely.

"That's such a waste of paper and ink, let's just take turns," I refused as the silence spread.

Cedrick glanced at her, expecting a task too. But she only stood up when her phone rang for a call.

"I think you're forgetting about me?" Cedrick says abruptly, slowly following her.

"What do you mean? That's yours," she smiled and pointed at her desk before closing the door behind her to answer the call.

"Nooooo!" he wailed weakly as his hand tried to reach Rei's but to no avail. He quickly turned his head towards us.

"Don't worry, I think she was just joking around," I was about to console him who was kneeling on the ground sulkily. But Noel grabbed me by my shoulder and stopped me. He only shook his head sideways as the realization hit me. He's just like me, always being ordered around by our superiors.

"Oh" Poor Cedrick, I'll make sure I treat him nicely.

[Noel]

I think there was a misunderstanding happening when I witnessed Kikoe giving Cedrick a tearful thumbs up as Cedrick got to his feet and accepted the task, sitting in Rei's chair and finally opening the first file on her desk.

We also decided to work on our file. I got the first half of it while Kikoe read the bottom half. For Cedrick, he was sniffing his invisible snot while reading his workload too.