With desperation in my body and a bad feeling in my body, I began to look everywhere for a bathroom. I crawled along the walls as if I were a living dead man while I covered my mouth and left my mind blank to avoid a catastrophe in the middle of the corridor. There were long corridors without any success that I crossed until a great idea came to my head: to ask someone.
People were passing by, some chatting and others running with their papers and briefcases to a meeting. It was when I saw a large man with a terrifying character that I decided to ask him.
- Excuse me...- He muttered with fear in his body. His long scar on his face implied that he didn't have many friends, rather he had many enemies.
The man turned around and looked at me with a rough, piercing look which made me feel worse than I was.
"What do you want," he said dryly and in a hoarse voice.
I thought twice before answering, but if I didn't want to die on top of my vomit it was better to be determined.
"Do you know where the nearest bathroom is?" I asked while gagging a little.
The man's eyebrow rose. He put his hand on my shoulder and sighed.
- Are you okay? - He asked- The bathroom is right around that corner- He added.
I looked up seeing how the man looked worried, all that evil aura I saw coming out of him had completely vanished.
I took my hand off his shoulder and thanked him, completely ignoring his question and running in the direction of the bathroom.
"Turning this corner..." I muttered quietly to remember what the man had indicated. Just as I expected, there it was. I quickly walked in and looked at a free cubicle. Everyone seemed to be busy.
"Don't bother," I thought as I looked closely at the bolts on the doors. All were closed and red, except for one, the bathroom in the corner. I opened the door and without even bothering to close it, I brought my head close to the toilet and released all the little food I had in my belly at that moment. I hadn't eaten anything in the morning, not even a poor breakfast, that's why the horror was much shorter but the feeling of hunger intensified. My breath smelled like cabbage with a slight onion flavor, something that, when combined, generated a most disgusting smell. I flushed the toilet and went to the toilets to clean my face and rinse my mouth so that it smelled less, although I already got the idea that this would not help.
With a soaked face I looked in the mirror and saw my face. When I saw it, my first thought was, "Look how far you've come." I cracked a slight smile and let out a small laugh, "What would my parents think of me when they saw me in this situation?" "This time would they say they're proud of me or would they just keep claiming I'm useless?" Those were the questions that were going through my head at that moment. Suddenly I remembered that the team and I had met at an exact time. I looked at the wall to my right where an analog clock hung from it, letting out a peculiar sound for every second that passed. I had 5 minutes to get to the meeting area but... now that I thought about it... Where is the heliport? Again I left as quickly as I could and began to ask everyone, there were people who gave me an indication and people who gave me another indication. From so much haste in my body that I ended up colliding with a person.
- Fuck, I'm so sorry, it's just that... - I looked up and could see her, Soukaku.
- Why so much haste? Oh....- He moaned from the blow he had received.
I quickly recovered and offered him my hand to get up.
- Soukaku, I'm sorry. Thank goodness I find you, I don't know where the heliport is- I said nervously.
Soukaku scratched his head for a couple of seconds and shook my hand so he could get up.
I was surprised to see that she was light as a feather, it had hardly been difficult for me to lift her and my strength is at rock bottom. Her hands were silky smooth, they were undoubtedly a lady's hands, they were very well cared for. At first I thought that the touch would be different because of her blue skin color, but nothing could be further from the truth.
"Thank you..." he murmured, "Hehe, at least you've bumped into me for a reason," he said with a slight blush.
Reason? No, it was because of the rush, but you better think that.
"Yes..." I murmured, "We'd better leave or we won't be there on time," I protested.
Soukaku smiled and began to circle over me with a joyful step.
- Don't worry about time. Nagi is always the first to arrive, Harumasa usually arrives more or less 2 minutes late while Alex on the other hand takes 3- He said- That is, we have 3 extra minutes apart from these 5 that we have left to arrive.
- I mean, we have 8 minutes... perfect- I said- Now that I'm with you and you've told me all this, I'm calmer- I added.
"Of course, if we are late Nagi will scold us and Miyabi may punish us without buns after the mission" He said with a childish tone.
At first, when I fought her in that defense test, I thought she would be a serious person, but with a certain nonchalance in battle, but apparently she behaved like a little girl.
-This... Soukaku- I said.
Soukaku looked at me with his deep orange eyes and gave me a smile.
"Yes?" he asked intriguedly.
I didn't know if it was the right time to ask but my mind tells me to ask so I can be calmer.
- Which...- The words were stuck in my mouth, I didn't want him to take it the wrong way- What's your age?
Soukaku's smile faded in the blink of an eye. Had the question bothered you? If that was the case, I could already imagine that I had screwed up.
- Why do you want to know that? - He asked in a serious but serene tone, without being borderline.
- Oh, it's just that...- I didn't know what to answer, that was the typical question that doesn't usually have a clear answer- I like to know the age of the people I interact with and such... do you understand me?- I started playing with the fingers of my hands in search of comfort in this uncomfortable moment that had just been generated.
Soukaku looked away with an embarrassed face.
- For me there would be no problem saying it but... we have a strict code that forbids us to say that kind of information to anyone," he said without looking at me.
- B-well, I'm your partner- I answered.
"That's true but..." Soukaku shakes his head sharply and looks at his wrist pretending to have a watch. "We'd better leave now, otherwise we'll be late," he said hurriedly, grabbing my wrist and running.
During the tour we entered through different rooms that indicated the doors that you had to break down to get to the heliport. At the end we reach a small protected area as well as the entrance to the enclosure.
"Private Soukaku, welcome," said the armed guard up to his shoulders.
- Thank you, Gustavo, it's nice to see you around here - Soukaku said very happily, shaking his hand with the guard's.
We couldn't see the guard's face because he was covered by glasses and a mask. It was amazing to see how Soukaku knew who he was just by his voice.
The guard let Soukaku pass and turned his gaze towards me.
"I'll assume you're Lucas, won't I?" he asked.
I nodded.
- Yes, you're right, that's me - I said a little nervously.
The guard got out of the way, leaving me free to continue on my way.
- Good luck out there, you're going to need it - said the guard.
I stopped right next to him but without looking at him I answered:
"Have you been in cavity zero?" I asked.
The guard nodded and moved closer to me, leaving little space between us.
- I was in the reserve division, but I had to leave just before that catastrophic mission, luckily I only went when the ethereal level was low.
His opinion of his experience did not help me at all, he simply seemed eager to tell me his story.
"Okay, I'll be careful," he said, moving away from him and going towards the helicopter where everyone was waiting.
Arriving where everyone else was, I greeted them and put my hands in my pocket as I staggered.
"You're 2.34 seconds late," Miyabi said. "Next time I'll have to penalize you," he added.
They weren't even even even decimals, don't with me.
- I'm very sorry, Chief Miyabi, it won't happen again- I said making a small bow.
I looked at Miyabi's face looking for a smile or a grimace that would make me feel better but that didn't come up, apparently his face was still serious.
- By the way... - I said. I looked at the clothes the others were wearing, they had bluish jackets and a tie. What was the tie for?- Am I going to wear these clothes?- I asked.
Miyabi shook his head.
- You will need to change during the trip. You've had time to change comfortably in the locker room," Miyabi said without human expressions on his face.
- Chief Miyabi, no one has given you any suit to wear - Soukaku said - besides... as I see on Nagi's tablet the ethereal level is not very high right now, we can wait.
- That doesn't make sense, Soukaku, we can't wait until the ethereal level is at exorbitant levels, it's better to go now that it's calmer. It will change along the way and there is nothing more to discuss.
"Well..." Soukaku muttered.
Suddenly a soldier with a pilot's helmet appeared, introducing himself as the pilot in charge of taking us to the cavity and the guy who brought me the suit. He handed it to me and we all got on the helicopter.
The deafening sound of the engines and propellers of military aircraft was undoubtedly the most uncomfortable thing in the world, but it certainly made your hair stand on end when you saw the other soldiers watching you take off.
- It will take us about 20 minutes to get there, when we are close I will let you know so that you can get ready, in the meantime take a seat and enjoy these beautiful views before entering the ethereal battlefield - said the pilot.
Soukaku offered me some headphones.
- Here, put this on, it will be useful for us to communicate with the pilot without disturbing him - Soukaku said.
- Thank you, I'll wear them when I change.
Harumasa put a hand on my shoulder and whispered in my ear.
- You'd better change inside the cockpit. I have spoken to him before as I knew this would happen. For the next one, get your act together, buddy- Harumasa said in a friendly way.
I nodded and climbed into the cockpit, closing the door behind me and beginning to change.