Project Nodachi

where is everybody?

Present day

Back at Reason's Headquarters

One week after the events of Sixty Days

Nodachi's POV

ACT TWO OF PROJECT NODACHI!
BEGIN

Ten thousand eighty minutes. One hundred sixty eight hours. Seven whole days since Zero's spoken to me. Or anyone for that matter. Whatever ridicule the twins were throwing at him really had him shaken up, he doesn't even show up to breakfast in the morning. I had left a tray outside of the dorm style room he was assigned to, but hours passed and it still sat untouched.

Dana.

The name had been ringing inside of my head since the fight in the common area. Asa said she was Marley's wife, which explains the photo of the beautiful woman that resided on his desk. Zero was responsible? I found that hard to believe of course. But still, I wished Zero would come and talk to me. My feet dragged loudly across the metal walkway that led to my room, I was sure it was disturbing the people behind the other doors but I didn't care at this point.

"Why not just ask him if he's okay, My Lady?" Wisteria asked. "Would it not make you happy?"

"Wis! Stay out of my head!" I said. I had forgotten since she awakened there was no privacy even in my own brain.

"I-I live here." She stuttered.

"Are you a psycho or something? Why are you always talking to yourself?" A voice echoed from the end of the hallway in front of me.

"Shut up Laney." I said.

She cocked her head slightly in concern, her huge brown eyes twinkling, matching her loose bouncy curls on her shoulder. Off first impression she was completely obnoxious. She still is, but over the past week she's been the only person I could talk to. We ate meals together, and sometimes she even visited my room before bedtime. It pains me to say it but we might actually be friends. I also hadn't seen Pakuyo-san in days. He and Marley had left the fortress together for some "business trip" they were being so secretive about. Nobody even cared they're old men anyway, how much fun could they be having? I chose to concentrate on saving Max.

She jumped up to the ceiling and bounced wall to wall using that weird Spot of hers, and landed next to me with her arm around my neck.

"What's wrong Baby Noda? Do you finally miss your dark little boyfriend?" She said.

Of course she had heard Marley's nickname for me and adapted it into her own vocabulary. I rolled my eyes, a sad sigh escaped my lips.

"I just want to know if he's okay. I thought we were friends, why won't he talk to me?" I told her.

"Yeah he's a jerk." She said with a dramatic wave of her hand.

"I haven't even seen him." I said.

"I've seen him! Talking to Ginny in the courtyard." She said.

I stopped in my tracks. I could feel the redness building up in my cheeks by the second.

"See! He is your boyfriend!" Laney laughed heartily.

"He's not my boyfriend!" I screamed. "But um- who's Ginny?"

Laney laughed and let out a loud yawn.

"Welp! Bedtime for Miss Laney!" She said. She gave me a loud pat on the back before she bounced away towards her room.

"You're the jerk!" I screamed behind her.

Zero was definitely not my boyfriend. But he had some nerve talking to anybody else before he's spoken to me! He's- We're- I didn't even know what I was thinking. All I knew was that I was angry, so angry that I stood there in place for several minutes contemplating bursting into his room and letting him have it right then. I turned the sharp corner towards the girls dorms, I guess my body decided on peace in that moment.