Fragments

Ch.31 - A Lot of Secrets

"Instructor, please, tell me… What did all our efforts accomplish? Why did we fight?"
Min-jun, who awoke the morning after Reuel, weakly sat upright in his bed, and finally got a chance to lay his most troubling question bare, its recipient ensconcing herself on a tiny, nearby chair.

"Your efforts helped us capture new land," Asuma replied, not attempting to hide the truth, just wishing to appear optimistic.
"Hinansho's never expanded this much before, and had you guys not fought in the factory, we would've gotten pinned between the Empress and her servant... I probably would've been dead… Your valiance allowed people to see open fields for the first time in their lives."

"Huh… That sounds pleasant," Min commented, calmly gazing up at the ceiling to imagine the view, the cold, white suspended ceiling morphing into a pristine, blue sky, "I can't wait to see them… But, still, why didn't we secure our objective? I remember defeating him and wanting to grab him, but– something stopped me. What happened? I recall hearing your voice… Why didn't… You do anything?"

"What would you have wanted me to do, Min? Drag him along, so the Empress targets us and everyone dies in the bombardment?"
Asuma's questions abruptly became stern and direct, which shocked Min-jun enough that he lacked words for an immediate reply.
"All our efforts hardly slowed her down, and she nearly killed me… Three fucking times I escaped by a hair, and I still recall each of them. Do you know what her power is?"

"...telekinesis, right?"

"Yeah. She arrived to stop us from capturing him, because she anticipated he'd lose… Had we not left him, she would've just– just fucking used her power to stop us from retreating…"
A tear fell from below Asuma's new sunglasses and sank into her sleeve, leaving behind a tiny mark.
"I'm just as frustrated as you… I fought to protect you guys from danger, and couldn't even do it properly… But I fucking tried."

"I'm… Sorry," were the only words Min-jun could string together after the heartfelt confession.
"My determination gave me strength to take whatever he threw at us… When we abandoned him after all that, I felt betrayed… Lost… I kept thinking I'd make him spill every last secret once we'd be done," Min continued, mixing his personal desires with duty to avoid telling another lie.
"That's all I was focused on… I'm sorry for hurting you."

"No, it's alright… By now I'm used to it," she said, letting a satirical smirk light up her otherwise gloomy face.

"I wouldn't say that's a good thing, Instructor," Min-jun replied, a quiet laugh escaping his cracked lips, while he glanced at the curtains surrounding him, and the shadow of another comrade projected onto them.
"How are the others?"

"It's quite mixed… Yin, Lilly and Reuel are all mostly healed, though Yin's shut herself out and Reuel left after waking up… Not even a search party could find him."

"I see… And others? What about Yuu and Rosea?"

"Your friend's got a shattered sternum… There's numerous bolts 'n plates keeping his chest intact, but his life isn't in danger, and yesterday I found him repairing his inventions, so he'll be alright… As for Rosea, she's in a better state than after her first mission, but not unharmed. You remember how those medics you called never came?"

"I do, and I recall she was a part of them… Were they attacked?"

"They were, reinforcements from the outside kept pouring in, and some targeted them. She stood her ground well from what I've heard, but got overrun eventually– and the worst state someone returned in is Ku," Asuma said with a dramatic and sorrowful undertone, the traumatizing memory of his devastated body arising in her mind.
"He's completely mangled. Yin told me he was crushed, and… It checks out."