“I still think it’s a load of bullshit.” Yuuta swings his fist at Xander, who quickly counters the hit aimed at his chest with a blow of his own.

Xander chuckles. “Even if we’re meant to guard the whole facility?” he says, as he kicks at Yuuta’s leg—an attempt to throw his rival off balance.

“But we’re not guarding anything!” Yuuta shouts. He avoids Xander’s leg with ease and takes one step backward. As he pushes down against his boots twice, jumps, and flips into the air—freed of gravity—his eyes meet with Xander’s surprised features, now turned upside down.

Yuuta lunges for his throat with an open palm and tries to bring him down. “We’re just playing janitor while they’re out there fighting off terrorists who want the Gaian president’s life.”

But Xander takes a step back and grabs Yuuta’s arm, swinging his body around the training grounds once, until he finally decides to release his opponent.

Yuuta feels Xander’s gaze on his figure. He scoffs, thinks, he’s doing better than usual today, as he regains his bearings and charges towards Xander again. “Are you really content with that, Xander?” Yuuta screams, his voice hoarse. “Didn’t we say we’d rise to the top and save our people together?” The punch he throws lands inside the small of Xander’s palm.

Xander’s head hangs low. “That was a long time ago, Yuuta,” he says. “We were teenagers. It was cute, but we can’t save Gaia alone. You should know this by now, it’s been more than a good decade.”

Even though the fight is over, Yuuta doesn’t pull his fist away; it trembles against Xander’s skin. He swallows down the lump that had built up in his throat, says, “So what do you want to do then? Is that it? You got into a S.C.U and you’re satisfied with living on these damned prisons forever? Don’t you want to see the ocean? The sky? Breath in real air and not this lame excuse for oxygen that’s been recycled more times than we can count?”

“I just want to keep my family and friends safe, Yuuta,” Xander says as he distances himself from Yuuta’s touch, turns his back on him, and begins to walk away. “Is that so hard to understand?”

Yuuta bites his lip. He averts his gaze from Xander’s figure. The low humming of the engine fills the silence of the room. Sweat drips down Yuuta’s back, his temple, his neck. He isn’t sure if his earlier stunt is responsible for his brief, nauseated feelings, or if it is Xander’s words—the shadow of yet another broken pact that looms above them.

“No,” Yuuta finally says with a shake of his head, his tone void of any sentiments he may have had before opening his mouth. “No, it’s not hard to understand.” And I’m sorry for wanting more, these are the words he leaves unsaid, I’m sorry for being stuck in the past when it’s obvious you’ve long moved on.

An alarm rings. A grizzled voice—their head of command—shouts orders from within the speakers on the wall. “Williams, Aoki, and the Brodeurs: all of you are to report to my office at once!”