shiningboxofjustice | PSL Post - Athrun Zala and Yukari Takeba

Yeah... I guess I'm picking the silliest thing to worry about.

[ Besides, on the way here the Pokémon attacked first anyway. ]

Hopefully being in there won't be too bad. Going into forests like that isn't really something I usually have to do.

Nah, not really. The fact that you're not still dwelling on that is a good sign, honestly.

Yeah, neither have I. I've spent most of my life in cities, and most of them weren't even on Earth. It's a bit daunting...

...but at the same time, I'm intrigued. This should be interesting.

[ Hey when fighting a personification of death and the actual possibility of time travel came up, a different world like this isn't all that strange. Still, she can't help but smile at that last sentence from him. ]

Yeah, you're right about that. Whatever else happens, being bored isn't something we really have to worry about.

Indeed. It almost makes it worth it to get away from pushing paper across a desk.

[And he's ready to go.]

Especially since I've never been much of a desk jockey.

... Not really a lot of stuff to do as a soldier during peacetime?

[ She's not really used to the idea of soldiers who regularly had desk jobs. It just seemed a bit too mundane, somehow. ]

Huh? Oh, no, it's not that. It's more the fact that I've moved up in rank over time. So I'm no longer simply a pilot; I now work out of an office. I still have a personal machine, and I still use the simulators, but most of my job's duties involve management more than they do combat readiness.

... Okay, I don't mean to be rude, but how old are you again?

[ Because seriously he doesn't really look like he should be old enough to be giving orders in the military. No matter where he was from. ]

[Yeah, here it is. He was wondering when that would come up.]

I'm eighteen.

...It's a long story.

[ ... Well, damn. That was... almost unreal to think of. ]

... Things really got that bad? I mean, that you had to join up when you were younger than I am?

The Earth Alliance had superior numbers when I enlisted with ZAFT. The PLANTs may have held around a hundred million people combined, but Earth was home to billions. The Supreme Council avoided implementing a draft, but they lowered the enlistment age to fourteen.

Fourteen? Are you serious?! That's just...

[ Fighting Shadows was one thing, but... being a soldier that young. She can't help but wonder why there hadn't been a draft in the first place. That seemed like it'd be the more sane thing to actually do. ]

[He sees where she's going with this. There's at least one more detail, though.]

Fourteen was the minimum age to enroll in ZAFT's military academy, and the training took at least a year to complete. Enlistees at eighteen could just go straight into boot camp.

... That still doesn't really seem to be that much better. [ Of course, without knowing exactly what happened with the whole war thing, she can't really be too condemning on it. She's pretty sure that in the future there'd have to be a very good reason to let people that young actually join up. ]

[He isn't interested in defending the practices of a nation he no longer considers himself a citizen of. And he's not too keen on explaining his exploits, so he tries to keep that short and sweet.]

Well, at any rate, I saw the battlefield when I was first fifteen. Two wars have begun and ended in the scope of four years, and I served in both.

[ Even if he didn't want to talk about it or defend it, that didn't change the fact that it was just completely ridiculous. She can't barely even comprehend having to go through something like that... ]

Right. Sorry. Two wars that close together was obviously bad enough to... need it.

[ She sighs. ]

Anyway, you ready to go?

[Athrun nods.]

Yes. Let's get going. The sooner we leave, the sooner we can get to Pewter City.

[ Okay. Good. Now that that's decided, Yukari grabs her bag and quickly puts it on, frowning and just how much it weighs... though it was something she was going to have to get used to, considering their current situation.

Once that was done though and they were leaving the building, she turned to face him again. ]

So... there's mostly bugs and stuff in the forest, right?

That's what I was told. I made sure to pack some Antidotes just in case. Fire-types apparently have an edge over bugs, too.

That's good. Grass types apparently don't do so well against them.

[ Which made sense, since, umm, bugs ate plants. But still, having that bit of reassurance was definitely good. ]

Makes sense. I'd say if one or both of us can catch a bird, then so much the better.

Anyway, let's get moving.

Yeah. It'd... help. Though grass type aren't that good against birds either.

[ Still, that doesn't mean she was going to hesitate with following after him as they began to leave. It wasn't like staying in Viridian was really much of an option. ]

[Walk walk walk.]

Well, we'll have to start somewhere. I imagine there will be a point in the future where I'll be the one at a disadvantage. When that happens, I'll be relying on you.

[ Yukari nodded, though she had a bit of a frown on her face. Way to eventually put pressure on her Athrun. ]

Well, I'll have to be sure not to let you down whenever that happens...

[ Shouldn't be too hard, right? It wasn't like the last time a guy might've needed her help that she was stuck being unable to do anything while he went off and got himself killed...

Oh. Right. ]

[Oops. That wasn't the result he had intended to get.]

I don't think you will. We've done all right so far, after all, haven't we?

[ Yukari nodded. ]

Yeah. I... I guess considering the situation, we've been doing pretty well.

[ This was about the best way 'suddenly finding yourself in another world' could've possibly gone. ]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject