𝐈𝐋𝐒𝐄'𝐒 𝐉𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐍𝐀𝐋.ʜᴀɴᴊɪ ᴢᴏᴇ̈

『 𝟓 』𝐀 𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐘 𝐃𝐀𝐘

𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐘, 𝐉𝐔𝐍𝐄 𝟔𝐓𝐇, 𝟖𝟒𝟕 𝐀𝐓 𝟏𝟔:𝟐𝟕

⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺

  Water rolled down the windowpane, the way the soft pitter-patter of the drops hit the glass almost soothing you into a slumber -even if you were still in uniform. To say that it was absolutely pouring outside would be a very clear and obvious lie, but to say that the drizzle that fell from the sky wasn't going at a steady and continuous pace would be an even bigger one; from your position curled up next to the window, you could feel the coolness radiating from outside onto your skin, giving you a slight chill every now and then.

  Lance Corporal Levi had cancelled whatever kind of training you had for the day, 'What did he say it was going to be again, endurance training?' Trying to mentally retrace your steps, you recalled that you had gotten to the meetup place rather early, as you had even beaten Petra herself outside of Lance Corporal Levi's door earlier this morning. It hadn't been too long after that everyone else had arrived though, all five of you silently waiting outside in the hallway for the male to start the day.

  That's why you had all been surprised when Levi walked out with his cup of tea, holding it in his infamously strange way that no one -except occasionally Oluo- held in the same way. A look of realisation swept across your face as it finally came to you; he had said that training for today was to be cancelled as it was supposed to be raining on and off all day, and that it was rather risky to use 3DMG in the rain, 'That's right,' you thought, 'It was 3DMG training. Well, more like practise because we're already trained, but still.'

  As soon as Levi had made his way back into his room, the squad immediately started making plans. Oluo and Petra were going to go and see their families, as they all lived nearby the HQ, and Gunther and Eld were going to have what they called a Bro Day. Originally they tried to pull you into their affairs, but you declined, saying that there was this book you've had for a while that you deeply wished to read.

  Your eyes drifted from outside the window while you rested on your comfy chair, looking at said book that laid limply in your hands. You had tried many times before to lose yourself in the writing, as you had heard from other people that it was a rather good one -there was only one problem with that though. No matter how many times you tried to live in the fantasy world through the beautifully placed words, you could never find yourself as absorbed as everyone else. You skimmed your eyes over the page in another attempt at reading the text;

  The sixteen-year-old girl sighed as she realised to her chagrin that, yes, she was up at three am on a Monday night writing. Again. Luckily for her though, she didn't have as many responsibilities as she would normally have due to the plague that was going around, "Stupid arse Corona," the girl muttered, "Why the fuck are you shitting on 2020 so hard?"

  Finding yourself slightly bored by the text already, you realised that this time would be no different -you wouldn't be able to get any further. 'Damn, and I had made progress this time too. Like three pages in!' you inwardly groaned as you picked yourself off of your chair and made your way over to your quaint bookshelf -well, it belonged to Petra and you anyways. Being mere soldiers you still had to share rooms, but because you were in the Special Operations Squad you had it at least a little bit better than most. Your eyes flickered between the books that sat upright on the shelves, trying to find one that captured your interest more than that last one, 'Or maybe I should join Gunther and Eld...? Nah.' You figured that you would give reading one last shot as you picked up a blue-covered book, one that wasn't worn down at all. Matter of fact, it looked as if it had been bought recently, as the pages were an untarnished white, without any wrinkles of the sort, 'I guess Petra must've picked this one up at some point.' The lettering on the outside of it read E.M.W., the abbreviation going over your head as you tried to wrack your head for what it could possibly mean, 'Eh, I'm sure it'll be explained to me once I start reading.'