SENTINEL 555: WAR ✔

16 CRUD

Oni used yet another rag to polish the floor, specifically the spot where he'd made a mess. What surprised him was Dev's response to it. She never complained. Even when Oni was living in the slums, he'd complained.

Lotsu always said it's best to talk about desires. It was best to complain about things so that he never lose focus of what he wanted.

They were the only ones there. Sen had surprised Oni by doing the initial cleaning as Dev hadn't quite known how to respond. But once he'd gotten in motion, Dev followed suit. That was two hours ago.

Watching her, barefoot, running the rag from one end of the massive training hall to the next broke Oni's heart.

All because he'd broken the number one rule of all Vagrants—never eat more than your share.

Back home, trying to take more meant someone received less. Now, being here with the excess, he'd hoped to finally feel good about taking part in a meal but instead, he'd ruined things for Dev.

That was why he'd stayed behind despite Sen insisting that they all leave.

Oni considered what to say to her but was caught off guard when she sat down on the floor, staring at it without fail.

Everything in her posture said she'd given up.

That wasn't what Oni wanted.

Being around her for so long felt familiar so he, still crouching, went on his hands and knees and crawled to her.

When he sat down on her right, his intent was to apologize but she said, "I think I owe you an apology."

Oni leaned forward in an attempt to see her face. "What?"

Dev watched the floor for some time. "My father died last year. He had the tumors. And his final words to me were don't enlist. But the way he said it, the words were separate and deliberate and I convinced myself that instead of telling me not to join the Volunteers, he'd told me to."

For a long minute she said nothing. Then finally, she let out a sigh and rose to her feet. Oni waited for her to leave. When she didn't seem capable of walking away, he looked up at her from the side.

"I don't know why I thought I could do this."

Oni found his eyes drifting down to her feet. They were surprisingly cute for someone he usually saw as serious.

Something came over him as he sat with his knees to his chest.

"You have a lot of opportunities. Your father was in the six hundred block. That's already incredible. But you don't have to be a Volunteer. For me, it's the only option I've got. You can do anything, be anything, and yet you come back down here. Worst yet, you're not doing it for necessity, but rather, ego."

She made a sound.

When she turned to face him, he looked up at her again then rose to his feet.

"What does that mean?" she demanded.

He scoffed. What had he meant?

"Isn't it ego, though? We're all in here to train. We're all in her to learn." Something came over him and he got fed up. "All but you who feel entitled to some great divine purpose. If you're so perfect at being a Volunteer then why'd you even come? Expecting to zip through with a few flashy feathers in your cap? Just to prove your father wrong? People die in this program. Every year. Once we move past the second testing, everybody knows you don't go home after that. Everybody but you. You've got nothing to lose. So pardon me if I don't care about your boo hoos."