AND THERE WAS NO ONE LEFT | krmy ✓

never a moment's rest

Maya hasn't seen Claudine for a considerable amount of time.

It shouldn't matter this much to her, so why was she constantly indescribably uneasy when Claudine didn't answer the window for the tenth time in a row?

Was she avoiding her? Or was she off doing whatever she needed to do?

She allows herself a little sigh, lest the rest of her squad picked up on her dip in mood, and she pores over the map again, marking areas of the city they had already covered in red ink. It had been about a week since she had gone back to the clock tower to check up on her, but to her disappointment, Claudine was never there. She shouldn't worry about it too much, right? Claudine was probably just busy somewhere else.

But if she were avoiding her, Maya understands fully well as to why. If Claudine's state hadn't been good enough of an indicator, she had definitely been weeping over her friends, over...Ichie, and Maya had been insensitive enough to ask her to join the I.C. even though it was painfully clear that Claudine would never, on her life, join FEDRA.

"Tendō-san! This is urgent," Junna pushes past Yachiyo and Shiori, who were at the entrance of the commander's tent, a frantic expression on her usually serious and disciplined demeanour. She almost thrusts her radio into the commander's face with how desperately she held it out, and Maya has to pull herself back a little. "I've lost contact with Bravo. They've not been answering me for the past half an hour."

The tent goes quiet, and all eyes are on Junna, who seems quite close to the verge of tears, but she keeps bravely holding them in, her radio dropping to the side in a white-knuckled grip as her eyes, a frantic shade of jade, search Maya's in hopes of a prompt decision.

"Thank you for updating me," Maya takes control, and all at once, she has every soldier's attention, though she notes that Akira and Michiru weren't all that quick to comply. She regards them both seriously, then turns to address the rest of her unit. "Hoshimi, Yukishiro and Ōtori, we will head to Bravo's position. Charlie and the rest of Alpha, hold the camp. Yanagi will be in charge."

"Crystal," Koharu nods, already gesturing to the rest of the soldiers to follow her out of the tent, and Hisame has to gently tug a shocked Suzu by the elbow to follow.

Maya leans over the table, Junna fidgeting by her side, and Akira and Michiru stand a polite distance away. It seemed a little risky to send another team out, but if it was what she expected, she'd have to deal with it as soon as possible, and perhaps call backup from the main base. But that would mean less opportunity to sneak away...

"Hoshimi, I need you to try the channel again," Maya orders, and Junna hurries to do so, raising her radio and dialling Alpha. "Update me if one of them picks up."

She then turns to address Akira and Michiru, the former wearing her usual stony-faced expression, while her partner had an unreadable look in her brown eyes. "Yukishiro-san, I do hope that our disagreement does not affect this operation."

Michiru gives the taller soldier a nudge, and Akira complies, nodding curtly and folding her arms across her chest.

Maya hums, satisfied. "Very well—"

"Tendō-san, I managed to get Futaba on the line," Junna hastily slides the radio across the table for it to sit among the four officers, and it crackles and whines, before Futaba's wheezing voice breaks through.

"It's bad," Futaba coughs, and Maya has to strain a little to catch her next words. "There's a whole bunch'a Hunters here. A good fifty of them, I think. Hikari and Kaoruko're real hurt, and they've got Nana—"

Junna cries out softly, immediately stifling her shock with a hand, and she stumbles backwards, despair overriding any other emotion she could've experienced then, and Maya has to stabilise her carefully with an arm.