God Eater: Fates Entwined

6 - Lost and Found

In some other days, Kota would have been relieved, but today wasn't that kind of day. In fact, he was growing a little worried. He hadn't seen C in the Den for a while now. The others were thankful for it, because it meant nobody would be stirring trouble in the Far East Branch. It wasn't like C couldn't defend herself out there anyway, wherever she is.

The problem is it's not just the Devil that is out of reach.

He had been trying to establish connection with END, but even the Demon was elusive. His attempts went on more than thrice every day, and the weeks went past without him hearing anything from the other. Every time he would try to resonate with END, he will find himself alone in the darkness, silently hoping one of them would at least appear. It didn't happen. Not even the shadow of the Demon was within sight.

If it wasn't enough, Chotte hadn't been appearing lately either. He could count with one hand all the times she appeared, and it would only be a second worth of eye contact before she disappears in thin air again.

Did he do something wrong?

"Kota, is everything alright?" The God Eater blinked up to find both his mother's and his sister's eyes on him. "Do you not... like it?"

"Oh, no! I like it, mom! A lot!" He then returned to his meal waiting for him, and gobbled up a spoonful of curry rice. "Still the best, yep! I think Alisa and Lenka will like this too! Can I have them over next time, mom?"

His mother smiled and Nozomi threw her hands in the air. "Yey! Alisa-neechan and Lenka-niichan will have dinner with us again! Oh, oh, I still remember some of the stuff onee-chan taught me! She'll be pretty proud!"

He laughed. "I bet she will be."

"When is Chotte visiting again though?" It was her mother who asked. It was not a lie that his family had grown attached to her (in their case, it was actually C) but Kota couldn't just tell them that C and Chotte are different... personae, and the latter, in reality, is the mad demon who murdered one of his seniors right before their eyes months ago. Heh, that would sound crazy to them. He can't bring C home either because Chotte—the 'spirit' one—doesn't like having her around, and certainly, she wouldn't appreciate either having the Devil impersonate her in front of his family. He was pretty much tangled in a mess of C, Chotte and END, and he doesn't have a single clue how to explain it to his family. His mind could only handle so much.

Kota lowered his spoon and fork. At times like this, she would have popped in out of nowhere and talk to them, telling them stories they'd never hear. Strangely enough, there was no sign of the brunette. "I... I don't know, mom. She's been pretty... busy since the incident at Aegis. We talk often but yeah, she isn't sure either when again can she drop by."

He hates lying to his family. But he couldn't tell them the truth either, could he?

"I miss her!" Nozomi cried with a big pout.

"Now, now, sweetie..." Their mother chuckled and gently patted the little girl. "If Chotte is busy, it can't be helped. I'm sure one of these days, she'll find some free time."

"Why isn't Kota helping her then?"

He tries. If the problem were just paperwork or some Aragami, then it wouldn't be too difficult. However, it wasn't anything as simple as that. His problem involves multiple personae, a time-looping Demon, shared Resonances, and probably, a miracle. "Well... I'm swamped with God Eater work?" He smiled sheepishly at his sister who continued to pout at him. Nozomi was a force to be reckoned with, and sometimes, he kind of understands why Soma was so against in looking after Mayu.

Children are people you don't fool around with.

"Oh, but she wrote you a letter! How about we finish eating so you can read it?"