Title: linger
Rating: G
Fandom: 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim
Relationship: Aiba Erika/Takamiya Yuki
Wordcount: 400
Short summary: During a break, Yuki spots a brown bag against black cloth, and she thinks of something from the recent past.
It’s Yuki’s turn to step out and recharge, and at this point she knows not to mess with brain overload, so she obeys without complaint. Natsuno is still fighting so Yuki keeps to herself, drinks her Hey-C in silence. There’s no one nearby and nothing Yuki wants to think about besides kicking Deimos ass. In the corner of her eye she spots a brown bag, an abandoned schoolbag, on top of something black. And suddenly Yuki’s thoughts drift away, to a moment in the past, where someone would place her neat schoolbag against her skirt, as she looked at Yuki and…
Aiba.
Yuki’s eyes linger on that bag. Aiba, Erika… She shakes her head. Nothing good can come from lingering on that name, yet… Yuki feels a little twinge in her heart. Aiba…
…is a mystery she solved in her brain but not in her heart. Because if Yuki wasn’t so concerned about Natsuno she wouldn’t have brushed Aiba off. Because she was happy to have Aiba by her side. Because she liked how Aiba didn’t care about Yuki’s mannerisms despite herself acting so proper. Because she liked how Erika was interested in Yuki but not too pushy about it. Because she liked how Aiba respected her, saw her as Yuki and not as some exaggerated image.
She liked Aiba, she genuinely liked Aiba, and Aiba hadn’t even been real. Her brain knows this. Yuki saw the very end of this, brought it down with her own helping hands.
Yet there’s just a lingering feeling. A wistfulness. When she’s fighting Yuki talks tough. There’s no time for anything else when the swarms come, over and over. But when the fighting stops…
What does she have when this is all over? All this sci-fi mumbo-jumbo is way over her head so Yuki tries to run by instinct. There’s no future if they don’t fight for their today. Things like buildings and places can be rebuilt, and apparently the people can be brought back too, but Aiba… The Aiba that Yuki knew…
A fake personality on top of an android, meant solely to perpetuate a goal. There is no DNA behind it. Aiba’s existence is about as real as…
“Damnit.”
…the juice in this Hey-C. Which Yuki has finished drinking now. She tosses the empty carton into the trash and sighs. Now if only she could do the same with her feelings…