Upon leaving his room, Yuuta briefly pauses in his doorway. Finding he has forgotten the words he’d yearned to tell Xander once more, he curses under his breath and figures questions about the past will have to wait.

As he swiftly walks over to where the rest of his squad is stationed, ready for battle, Miranda glares at him and frowns. “What’s up with your face?” she asks him with a raised brow. “It’s beet-red. Did you run into a wall or something?”

“Nothing,” Yuuta snaps as he passes her by and directly heads to the entrance that leads to the abandoned station. “I’ve always had this face. Let’s go.”

“You don’t say…” She rolls her eyes and follows—with a single hand pressed to her hip—at a much more leisured pace.

Yuuta takes the lead. “Where’s Diane?” He doesn’t bother admiring the view from the many windows surrounding them in verticals—he’s seen it all, too many times, he thinks, the sight of Gaia from afar, spinning around on itself amidst a dark void.

“Xander and her have already gone ahead to unlock everything with their key-cards. They’ll be waiting up front at the final barrier before opening it.”

“Good,” Yuuta says as their footsteps resonate throughout the narrow hallway. “Wouldn’t want to be missing out on all the fun.”

“You seriously think this is fun?”

“No,” Yuuta’s tone is devoid of any previous laughter that could have remained. “I don’t,” he says.

Miranda frowns again. “Then why—”

“Because…” He glances down to their feet, to the gaping, hollow blackness below their figures. A nerve-wracked grin takes his lips. “If I don’t joke about it,” he mutters, “then I’ll make mistakes.”

“So…” she hums and leans forward to meet his gaze. “It’s just a dumb coping mechanism?”

Yuuta huffs. He crosses his arms. “If mine’s dumb then I’d love to hear yours.”

“I imagine I’m a tiger when I’m striking down an enemy,” Miranda says, deadpan, as Xander and Diane finally come into view.

The hallway, once filled with echoes of life from within their respective station, is only but a faraway dream now.

On the verge of retorting a half-baked tease, Yuuta parts his lips, yet pauses as he notices Xander jogging towards them.

Miranda steps in between them and smirks. “Couldn’t wait to see your boyfriend?” she coos. Her eyes dart back and forth between the awkwardly silent duo. “Uh… you guys okay? You’re… awfully quiet today.”

“We’re fine,” Yuuta blurts as he stomps past the both of them. “Come on, let’s just go in already.”

“Yuuta—” Xander holds out a hand to stop him but it’s no use. “Wait!” he cries. “This isn’t your average mutiny!”

The words cause Yuuta to freeze and second-guess his steps.

Miranda bites her lip. “How do you know that?” she asks Xander, her features now rigid, stern.

“The lights,” Xander says. “They’re all off. And there aren’t any noises, or anything else for that matter, which could point to signs of life still present in this station. We should have already been attacked by now. Trust me, I’ve seen more than one mutiny during my service, and this one is… odd.” He gives Miranda’s shoulder a light pat and walks back towards Diane.

As Xander gives them a similar wave to the one he’d shown Yuuta when they’d argued back in front of their dorms, he says, “Tread with caution, all right?”

“O-Okay!”

“Whatever.”

Miranda follows slowly behind. Her arms are pressed to her thighs. Her shoulders tense.

Despite her attempts at looking unaffected, Yuuta notices, and wonders if she’ll be all right. Perhaps, he thinks, I should be scared too.

But he isn’t.

His heart beats fast with anticipation. His blood boils with excitement. For even if it is a bit earlier than he’d expected, Yuuta believes a chance to prove himself for real has finally arrived. And he wants nothing more but to seize it, to climb the S.C.U’s ranks faster than anyone else has ever before.