"So, I just point and shoot?" The brown-haired teen who recalled his name as Takahisa, asked, looking over the gun he had just received.

"That's right. You won't do anything permanent, so try to go for the legs. It'll slow her down at least." The girl who introduced herself as Yuri confirmed.

"Shoot like hell."

He looked at the guy who just spoke in English a moment ago. TK, as they called him, certainly stood out from the group, with his bandana covering the eyes. Takahisa couldn't help but wonder how TK could see like that.

"I'll try." He looked at the few people in the room. "So, what now?"

"Let's grab some food!" The heavyset male on the couch spoke up.

Another guy sitting across from him sighed. "Matsushita, you really need to go on a diet..."

Takahisa recited their names in his mind to etch them in firmly. Matsushita and Fujimaki, as Yuri had introduced them earlier. With the silent Shiina in the corner, the total number in the room was six, including himself. He flipped the gun's safety on and tucked it into a pocket.

"That's right. We may be dead, but it is important for us to eat." Yuri swung her legs off the table and stood up. "Takahisa, we just did some lifting recently, so get one of the others to spot you a meal ticket."

Lifting? Takahisa wondered as he headed for the door. What sort of job was that?

That thought was replaced by bewilderment at the sight of the male posing outside the room. Wielding a halberd, the new person wore the same uniform as the other guys, marking him as one of the SSS, and a member of Yuri's group. As Takahisa watched, closed eyes opened, and stared at him with hostile intent. Though not a word was said, Takahisa had a feeling he would be impaled if he moved even a little.

The new person's lips moved. "Y-"

A sudden flash of black crossed his vision, replacing whatever was about to be said with a the sound of bones breaking, underlined with a fleshy smack. Moments later, the sound of breaking glass echoed down the corridor.

"What was that?" Takahisa shook his head. "One of the traps? More importantly, WHO was that?"

"An idiot. Don't mind him." Fujimaki thumped his shoulder with a fist as he walked past, avoiding the still-swinging pendulum. "Come on, let's go."

"Y-yeah..." Takahisa followed, trailing behind the others.

As he looked back, the huge trap was slowly being raised into the ceiling, and the glass window at the end of the corridor was mending itself.

What's with this world?

"That's Tenshi?" Takahisa asked, peering through the binoculars. "She doesn't look particularly threatening."

"Just wait till you go up against her." Yuri beckoned with one hand. "You came at a rather peaceful time, that's why you haven't had a chance at her yet."

He returned the binoculars. "Apart from Noda trying to kill me, it HAS been peaceful." He admitted.

"So that's reason we haven't seen either of you much is..."

"Because I'm running around trying to escape." Takahisa confirmed.

*Flashback*
"RRRRAAAAARRRRRR!!!! WAAAAAIIIITTTT!!!!" Takahisa heard as he ran down the corridor.

"LIKE ANYONE WOULD WAIT, YOU IDIOT!!!!!" He yelled back at his pursuer. "STOP CHASING ME ALREADY!!!"

"HOW DARE YOU CALL ME AN IDIOT!!!!!" Noda screamed, spinning his weapon around.

Takahisa ducked, narrowly avoiding a cut that would have taken his head off. He wanted to use his gun, but he had a feeling the other SSS members wouldn't like it if he spent ammunition on one of their own. But he had a back-up plan, which was coming into play as he turned down a familiar corridor.

"Trying to hide behind the others?! You coward!" Noda put on a burst of speed and finally caught up.

"Forward roll!" Takahisa purposely called out his move, in order to distract Noda.

"Wha-"

This time, instead of a huge hammer swinging from the ceiling, a section of the floor flipped upwards, like a springboard. Its unfortunate victim crashed through the window, sending leaves flying into the corridor as he plunged through the tree outside. Takahisa sighed with relief, and punched the disarm code into the keypad.

"What was that? Ah, Takahisa, you've arrived." The youthful boy who stuck his head out of the office spotted him. "Did something happen?"

"Not really. I nearly got hit by a trap though." Takahisa dusted off his clothes.

"I see, it's that springboard floor one. I forgotten about that one."

"You shouldn't forget..." He said reproachfully as he stepped into the office. "We might not die here, but it sucks to get done in by our own traps."
*Flashback end*

"Only your third day and you've learned the layout of the place well."

Takahisa grinned and swept his hair back. "Partially thanks to Noda."

Yuri nodded. "Then I'm counting on you for tonight."

"Ou!" He slapped his fist into the palm of the other, and headed for the door.

"Takahisa." She called out, stopping him.

"What, Yurippe?" Surprisingly, the first time using her nickname sounded extremely natural.

"Don't forget, this is a war."

"Aye aye, Sir." Takahisa's salute was mocking, but the air around him was deadly serious.

You really are amazing.

No wonder everyone follows you…

I gazed on as the men from Guild started work, and Yuri kept watch. She eventually noticed my gaze.

“Oi, Otanashi-kun. Anything wrong?”

“Huh? Oh, no, nothing.”

She gave a confused smile, before returning to direction. Eventually I just sat with my legs out in a corner, my back against the wall. She came to sit down next to me, quite puffed out.

“When are the others getting here?”

“Eh?” She blinked, her emerald eyes registering the question. “Oh, soonish. Hopefully. Some of those traps are really hard to get out of.”

“I see. And Angel?”

“Probably buried where Guild is.”

I nodded slowly, and simply watched the craftsman create weapons out of dirt. I tilted my head to the side. “When you said, breathe life into, you did literally mean brea-“

“Yup.”

“Wow.”

We were just making small talk. It seemed like nothing else was happening, and I kinda wanted to know more about her past.

“Hey, Otanashi-kun.” She let her body rest fully against the wall.

“Hm?”

“You sure you don’t remember anything?”

“Nope. Apart from my name, that’s about it.”

“Hmm. Nothing about family? Girlfriends?” She looked firmly ahead.

“…No?” I raised an eyebrow at the last question.

“I see.” She looked indifferent.

“What’s with the questions anyway. I should be the one asking you the questions!”

She tilted her head, and smiled. “Yeah, I guess.”

“So…do YOU, or rather, did you, have a significant other?”

She looked incredulously at me. “What kind of question is that?”

“You asked whether I had a girlfriend?”

“Yeah, but, you’re new.”

“So? I’m new, I wanna find out about you.”

There was an awkward silence.

“Well, no…” Yuri finally answered, slowly.

“There. That wasn’t so hard now was it?” I said, stretching out and putting my hands behind my head.

She stood up, and stretched herself. “Well, we probably should get going, the others will be-“

“Hora! Nani shiteru no?” TK popped up from out of nowhere.

“Woah! Geez, don’t do that.” I said, startled.

“See. Told you.” She grinned, and set about finding some supplies for the topside group.