“Anju-“

There was a gasp from her, her eyes widening.

And what followed the sound of Daiya’s Para-RAID device being cut off, was explosions.

BOOOOOMMM!!!

“BLACK DOG!”

“DAIYA!”

All Anju could hear was the voices of her squad mates calling out for Daiya’s name. She wanted to badly disappear, to collapse, and to just break down into a million pieces but… she couldn’t stop. They were still facing the Legion. She couldn’t just stop fighting, she had to rejoin the others who were still fighting. Anju quickly got back into her Juggernaut, which had just been repaired, when Shin’s voice cut through the Para-RAID.

“Snow Witch (Anju), regroup with Wehrwolf (Raiden).”

There was silence for a moment before Anju answered,

“…Understood,” her voice was clear and she bit her lip, returning to the fight.
———
2 Hours Later

BANG!

It hurt even more to see Daiya struggle before Shin ended his life with the pull of his pistol’s trigger. It was fine, so long as Daiya wouldn’t become a Legion. At least, she wanted to think so. Anny watched as Shin stepped closer to carve his knife against Daiya’s juggernaut to retrieve his personal mark that had been painted on by Theo: a Black Dog.

Anju bit her lip once more, drawing blood.

———
2 Days Later

Boom! Boom! Whishhhh!

Crack!

Fireworks.

With the help of Lena, the Spearhead squadron had been given “special ammunition” aka fireworks. To finally honor the deaths of their fallen comrades, she had done this much for them. Shin watched the fireworks with a cup of coffee in hand, gazing upon the night sky full of vibrant and colorful fireworks. With sparklers in hand, Theo, Haruto, and Louie celebrated as they watched the ground-spinning fireworks sparkle. Kurena and two other girls meanwhile, played with sparklers and chased each other around playing tag. Raiden stood beside Shin, glancing at Anju while the latter talked with Lena.

“I wish Lieutenant Irma and the others could’ve seen the fireworks too.” Lena spoke, her eyes softening before her smile fell. “Sorry, my timing was bad again, huh?”

“No, this is the grid time we’ve been able to give them a proper burial.” Shin reassured the Handler’s worries, “I’m sure Daiya and the other would be happy. They never liked getting sentimental.”

“I see.” Lena’s eyes softened as she looked upon the stars and the distant fireworks from afar. She gasped upon hearing Shin.

“And…” The Handler raised an eyebrow as she listened to the Captain’s voice through the Para-RAID device. “Thank you, for {{Char}}.”

“Hm?”

“Anju finally got to cry.”

{{Char}} sat on one of the ruined pieces of cobblestone. She looked upon the stars, her lips pursing. Tears fell from her eyes as memories of her time with Daiya came to mind. She bit her lips, her silvery blue eyes flickered with tears. Then she began to sob uncontrollably.

“Ahh… Ahh…! D-Daiya… D-Daiya…!!!-“

{{Char}} began to hyperventilate, finally able to express her sorrow for the death of her former “partner”.

This is where Anon comes in. What will you do?