The Commander Returns (2)
The road back to Firma was, for the most part, uneventful.
The vehicle itself was built like a fortress on wheels, radiating a palpable aura of touch this and you're in for a world of hurt. The self-proclaimed "outlaws of the wasteland" who occasionally tried to rob us without knowing their place were nowhere near enough to stop us.
Well... they did survive getting hit by the car. They'd reform themselves, or they wouldn't. Not my problem.
No, but hold on...
"...Lucy, is she even allowed to drive?"
"Beats me?"
"...That's a pretty irresponsible answer."
"It's not our department."
I casually asked Cardia, who had her arm linked through mine out of some nameless anxiety, but the answer I got was thoroughly unsatisfying.
...In the first place, Cardia was the one who'd thrown in the towel, claiming she was too exhausted to drive another meter. She'd handled the wheel on the way there, so it was only fair someone else took over on the way back. Or so she said.
Well, it wasn't like she was wrong, exactly. But watching something that clashed so violently with my social and moral values unfold right in front of me just felt... off.
Seriously. A world where a teenager can grab the wheel and nobody bats an eye. Made you wonder all over again if any of this was even right...
"And I'll hear you even if you whisper, you know."
"Ah."
"Don't you 'ah' me. You don't trust me, Commander?!"
And I got caught immediately.
How did she hear that? I had really, truly dropped my voice down to almost nothing. Then again, even if I spoke as quietly as I possibly could... if her hearing couldn't pick that up at this distance, she never would have made it into Recon.
Still. I couldn't help worrying. From where I was sitting, this was no different from watching a kid who'd passed their driving test yesterday floor it straight onto the highway.
It was just unfair. Someone, anyone, please understand me.
...Of course, regardless of how I felt about it, Lucy's driving itself was incredibly stable. She even seemed far better than I used to be. Was it because her senses were on a completely different level?
...This is making me feel pathetic.
I was older, and I'd been driving longer. How did this even work. I was just an ordinary person who'd happened to be born in a world without Lucy...
"Commander."
"What."
"I'm hungry."
As I was quietly despairing over this miserably sad reality, Cardia started whining in a way that was entirely unlike her. Why was she telling me? She could handle that much herself.
"If you're hungry, there are rations in the trunk. Eat those."
"That's not what I meant."
"Then what...?"
Before I even finished speaking, Cardia unlinked her arm from mine. Almost in the same instant, Shien — who'd been clinging tightly to my other arm — lifted me with her tail, spun my body around, pinned both of my arms behind my back, and hugged me from behind.
So, to summarize: I was being back-hugged by Shien with my hands completely immobilized, facing Cardia head-on.
...Huh.
I thrashed around, putting everything I had into it, but I didn't budge an inch.
...Hey, Shien? If you grab me like you actually mean it... I really can't escape, you know? Save me. I'm sorry. It's all my fault. Why are you doing this to me.
More importantly, why was their teamwork this good...? Had they rehearsed this behind my back...?
"...Shien?"
"Mm."
"This feels weird, so could you maybe let go...?"
"Mm... no."
...Why not. At least give me a reason. I don't know about my past life, but I've been living a good life this time around. Besides, I'm the Commander and you're an operative. You can't even do that much for me...?
"Time to give me blood."
"Huh? You ate yesterday...?"
"That wasn't enough. Do you have any idea how much I used?"
Then, with an expression that didn't change in the slightest — as if this were the most ordinary thing in the world — Cardia climbed onto me.
So this was all so she could suck my blood? From where I was sitting, hadn't she eaten a massive amount yesterday? Was she sure that wasn't enough? She wasn't just doing this because she wanted to, right? Right...?
"D-do we really have to go this far...?"
"If you thrash around because it hurts, you'll be the only one who gets hurt, Commander."
...Then can we just not do it? I don't like pain. I can't even go to the dentist unless someone drags me there. I shake so badly getting shots that a nurse once chewed me out during a mandatory blood drive. Someone hearing this might call me a total coward, but so what. I'm scared, okay?
...
Wait a second...
That, one more time...?
Just thinking about it was dizzying. Here? Even accounting for how urgent the situation had been, it had really, truly felt strange back then. Something going out and coming in through the bite, my body heating up, and it even felt kind of go— no. Cancel that.
It didn't feel good. It definitely didn't feel good. There was no way being forcibly used as a blood bag felt good. I wouldn't hear any arguments. What would any of you even know.
The tires screeched.
"...Why are you stopping the car?"
"So you want me to just ignore all this and keep driving, Commander?"
Yes. Could you please do that. Lucy, I'm a person too. If you sit there and ogle someone getting jumped that blatantly, even I get embarrassed.
To be precise, I don't mean the sexual sense most people would take that word in — I mean it in the pure, literal sense of watching, so don't get the wrong idea.
...Why am I even explaining this. I'm losing my mind.
And what's that in your hand. Looking at it, it seems like a recorder... surely not, right...?
"Ready?"
"...Be gentle."
But no matter how I looked at it, none of the three showed the slightest sign of backing down, so I was the one who gave up first. Fine. What's a little blood. In a way, she was my lifesaver. Just... as long as they left my clothes alone...
"Well then. Thanks for the meal?"
"...Anh."
...I still couldn't help the bizarre sound that came out of me.
Anyway, thanks to the sudden blood-drawing session, we set off again five minutes later...
...And after that, I got sucked three more times.
After many twists and turns (just for me), we successfully returned to Firma.
"Welcome back, Commander."
"Yeah. It's been a while."
I stepped out at the command center and greeted Calia, who'd come out to meet us. Come to think of it, Calia had had it pretty rough too. She'd been left as acting head of an organization whose leader had been back for less than a month. She wouldn't say it, but it must have been quietly difficult. It wasn't that I didn't trust her abilities, but honestly, I'd been a little worried. Even if you're capable, there's still the weight and pressure that comes with the seat itself.
"Anything happen while I was gone?"
"Nothing, except that I missed you?"
"Then we're good."
Thankfully, it seemed no other outside factions had decided to pick a fight. Honestly, Berta... no, the vice president who'd contacted us the moment they heard rumors of my return had been way too fast. Everyone else was probably still verifying whether the rumors were even true.
...But shouldn't they be verifying that with us? Why were they all holding their own little festival without us.
"Good work. You can go back to adjutant duties now."
"Huh? Come on, instead of that..."
"Don't tell me to rest just because I got back from a trip."
"No, but still."
"I at least need to check what happened, don't I?"
Anyway, I had no intention of collapsing into bed just yet. I was tired, but I needed a rough grasp of how things had been in my absence. This time, talking me out of it wouldn't work. I was going to work.
With that general mindset, I was trudging toward the command offices when Calia suddenly called out to me.
"...Commander."
"Yeah?"
"If you came back injured from your trip... what did I say I'd do?"
...Why bring that up all of a sudden. No, I hadn't forgotten. This was purely a question born of curiosity. What Calia had said before I left? Of course I remembered.
"If you come back injured...."
"Then...?"
"Then I'll make you pay the price. Thoroughly. Remember that."
Right. That had been pretty much the only condition. There had been a slight incident where I'd almost failed to keep that simple condition... but in the end, I had kept it perfectly.
"...I didn't get hurt, though?"
"Is that so?"
"Of course. Look, I'm perfectly fine."
So I said it with complete confidence. I hadn't done anything wrong. I was just an innocent, upstanding citizen.
"I see... is that so."
"...C-Calia?"
But Calia didn't seem to think so. Without a word, she approached, heels clicking against the floor. She closed the distance in an instant and, whether I was startled or not, grabbed my collar and pulled it down...
"Ow...?"
"Then what's this?"
She traced a mosquito-bite mark on the nape of my neck with her finger. ...The problem being that it was a mark from a rather large mosquito. ...Between yesterday and today, I'd been bitten about five times? She'd bitten me in the car earlier, too.
"Th-that's..."
"You got hurt."
"I mean, I didn't get hurt by an enemy. The situation was..."
"You got hurt, didn't you?"
"...Yes, ma'am..."
...From this omniscient victim's point of view, it was infuriatingly unfair, but the outcome had already been decided. No, but listen. How was I supposed to not be scared? Her eyes were smiling sweetly, but her mouth wasn't smiling at all. Her voice was cold and coercive, and that usual liveliness of hers had vanished without a trace.
"I'll interrogate the culprit of this incident separately later..."
Calia said this, then shot a sidelong glare at her sworn sister, who was very pointedly pretending to have nothing to do with any of it. Before long, she dipped her head slightly toward me and whispered low against my ear.
"Hic."
"Go up to the office while I'm still asking nicely. Got it?"
...I'm scared.
What's going to happen to me now...?