renegades [teenage mercenary]

003

That night, no matter how hard Rei tried, she couldn't fall asleep. She twisted and turned in the sheets, her right foot stuck in a knot of the fabric. For the first time in her life, she was cold. The bed was uncomfortable in a way she couldn't explain. Was it too hard or too soft? Maybe it was the fact that this was the first time she was sleeping alone. She was so used to listening to everyone's soft breathing and the faraway sounds of scattered bullets catching their targets luring her to sleep.

Eventually, she decided to lay on the ground between the bed and the table, huddled in the sheets still partially tucked into the bed. It was awkward, to say the least, but there was something comforting about the hard ground that seemed to sway her closer to sleep than the mattress had ever done in the past four hours of attempting shuteye.

At some point during her fitful sleep, she must have hit the chair she had rested her towel on as she woke up with the scratchy material smothering her head. After she threw it into the corner, her eyes lazily traced the dark shadows of the ceiling. She lay on the ground for at least another half an hour, waiting for the sun to rise, yet there was nothing. How early did I wake up?

She let out an audible sigh—although, everything was audible in this room, she observed. The creaks of the mattress (before she moved to the ground), steps from somewhere outside her room (apparently, some people also couldn't sleep), the wind flush against the window (maybe a storm was approaching? She wasn't sure of this land's terrain). Everything. And it was bothering the fuck out of her.

It didn't help that her head pounded and as she sat up, dark spots dominated her vision. She felt for her bottle, drinking its contents hungrily and stretched her back and arms. She suppressed a yawn even if she was alone (when was the last time she was alone for this long?).

Standing up and ignoring the persistent headache, she searched for a new pair of fatigues and a shirt that she had placed into her dresser—this time not using the extra fabric that hung loose as bandaging for her wound. Fortunately, after getting caught in the meeting yesterday, she and Ijin found the infirmary and were able to bandage her wounds up correctly. They still went to the roof, although she didn't last long in the brisk breeze without anything more than a light t-shirt. Ijin left shortly after, saying he had to go deal with something.

And then she was alone, forced to deal with all the thoughts running wild in her head. So much had transpired in the last 24 hours and she wasn't sure if any of it would ever fully register. She had escaped the camp after accidentally faking her death and met 001, who happened to actually be Ijin...and alive. Weird.

She threw on the clothing, itching for movement already—and if there wasn't a daily routine she would've had to follow due to the camp, then she'd have to make one.

***

Rei gave Hamchan a curious glance as he handed her the phone. He felt slightly bad for calling for her in the middle of whatever routine she had been following for the past few days, but he was on a schedule of his own and wanted to get the phone to her as soon as possible. Communicating with her was harder than he thought it would be, but he was thankful that she was actively trying just as hard as he was.

He pointed. "Phone." She nodded and repeated it softly, keeping eye contact. "Ijin." It felt as if he was talking to a child, but they had to start somewhere.

Her eyes widened, putting two and two together, he figured. After a few days now, she was slowly getting the hang of some small words and how things worked around here, thankfully. He wished he could have more time to help her adjust, although the new orders of a mission were looming over his head, and there were many things he had to put together to get it going.