CALAMITY CORE : FREE THE WORLD

CH.14 'LARGER THAN LIFE'

It was the following day after the battle between the so-called 'Nowhere Generation' and the Mask-Head Chimera. Pulling himself together, Andrei blinked to see that Phanes was not on top of him that morning... looking out the window, he realized that it was also far later than his usual routines. Had the Akoto twins forgotten about him? Turning around and swinging his legs off of the bed, he looked up to see Saionji sat cross-legged at the table in the center of the room, sitting on a cushion which lay thrown on the ground.

Phanes laid out on the table, she was playing with the orange-furred cat while Shimoda looked over a book hanging upside down from his bed, his arm still in pain, but no longer pulled from its rightful place on his body. They all wore far more casual clothes, while he himself was still in his half-burned button up and black pants. At the sound of his stirring, the whole room looked up at him, then Saionji cleared her throat. "You know, you're lucky that Ban likes you... I had to help carry you home because of just how heavy you are!"

Of course, Shimoda laughed at her misfortune. "Yeah, you blacked out real quick after that fight... To be fair, you did save us, so we'll give ya' credit where it's due 'Drei!"

Closing his book, he set it up on his blankets and then flailed his arms, falling out of bed and hitting his head on the ground. The thud caused Phanes to jump, and Saionji pouted for a second before sighing as the cat ran over and leapt onto Andrei's lap. "Right... Sorry, I barely remember what happened. Did everyone make it out alright?"

Both twins looked between one another, and Saionji sighed before dipping her head in unison with Shimoda. Looking through her striped brown and blonde hair, she felt her lips grow tense, almost as if she didn't want to let Andrei know the news. Lifting her head, she shook it, then closed her eyes. "Kyoden... the soldier that came with us, Ban said he was gone when he moved him out of the way of the Chimera's first big beam attack."

Andrei looked down at the ground, and his face grew dark for a moment. That was the man that he had laid down to rest after his back was torn open. Gritting his teeth and balling his fist, he sighed. He had considered himself strong now... at least for a moment, knowing that they had lived the battle, but the loss, even if it wasn't something great to himself, Andrei couldn't stand for it. Gulping back his nerves, he released his fist and stood up, taking a deep breath and pacing back and forth in his side of the room. It was clear that he had been greatly upset by the news.

Saionji seemed surprised for a second, then remembered that he was different from the other strays. "It's... Inoshishi and Hattori, Kyoden's brothers, already got the news. I think you've met before... they told Ban to thank you when you woke up, for at least helping keep his body with them." Looking down, she seemed a bit nervous, and Andrei relaxed.

He was still terrifying, even to his closest friends. With a sigh, he accepted that, then sat back down on his bed, placing a hand on the now sleeping Phanes. "I should've been faster. He'd probably still be alive if I had jumped in right away..."

Saionji narrowed her eyes, and her brow twitched with anger. The leader in her was still prevalent, even in the face of a monster like Andrei. She raised her voice, nearly yelling at Andrei. "I don't wanna' hear that crap! The past is the past, and you still saved the rest of our asses! Sometimes things just happen, you get that?"

Flinching, Andrei seemed to be more himself now that he was awake. His eyes wide, he adjusted his frameless glasses and then blinked, bringing himself back to reality. From the floor above he heard leather boots hitting the ceiling, and he looked up, forgetting about his worries for a second. "Ban's home too?"

Both twins nodded, and Shimoda beat his sister to the explanation. "Everyone who fought the Chimera yesterday is. Even the other hunting party... even if they didn't do a whole lot." He scoffed, then found a seat on a cushion at the table.