Strangers in the Same Bunk

For Ken, surviving the first day of training would be hard, but surviving the first night of cohabitation with his new team seemed an even greater ordeal.

Squad B's barracks was a space of cold metal. There were five double bunks lined up against the wall. Ken sat on a supply crate and observed his unit.

Counting himself, there were ten of them. Seven men. Three women. Ten different stories that had all ended up in the same drain.

The room's uncomfortable silence was suddenly broken by raised voices at the far end of the corridor.

"I told you to move, four-eyes!" shouted a haughty voice.
"B-But I was here first... I put my bag here ten minutes ago," replied another, trembling.

Ken sighed. Here we go, he thought. My first job as leader.

He approached the conflict. Two boys were arguing in front of the best bunk.

One was a skinny boy with a black mushroom-cut hairstyle and thick glasses he kept adjusting. He clung to the bedpost as if it were a lifeline. His name, as Ken would later learn, was Yamato Hirose.

The other was the polar opposite. Blond, blue-eyed, and wearing clothing that, though it was the standard uniform, he wore with an elegance that screamed money. He had a carefree smile, the kind that had never had to apologize. "Listen," the blond boy said, waving a dismissive hand. "I'm Ryuji Daegho. My family financed the construction of half the containment walls in Kyoto. The Daeghos don't sleep on the bottom bunk, near the dust. It's a matter of principle."

"What's going on here?" Ken interjected, stepping between them.

Ryuji looked at Ken and let out a short laugh. "Ah, the Leader. Perfect. Tell this commoner to give up the spot."

Before Ken could respond, an enormous shadow fell over Ryuji.

"Hey, little prince."

A third boy stepped into the conversation. He was impressive. He had chestnut hair, messy and wild, long enough to brush his eyebrows. His body was a compact mass of fibrous muscle, covered in small scars. Despite being barely eighteen, he had an intimidating presence, a contained bloodlust that reminded one of an ogre or a wild beast.

The muscular boy looked down at Ryuji. "In these times, your last name and your money aren't worth the toilet paper in this bathroom," he said in a calm but raspy voice. "The Oni don't care about your bank account when they rip your head off. If you can't defend your spot with your fists, then shut up and sleep wherever you can."

Ryuji swallowed hard. He felt cornered. He looked at Ken, then at Yamato, and finally at the chestnut-haired beast. His pride deflated. "Tsk. Barbarians," Ryuji muttered, straightening his collar. "Fine. I'll take the bottom one. Only because I don't want to waste energy on absurd arguments."

Ryuji retreated reluctantly to his bunk. The atmosphere relaxed instantly.

The muscular boy turned to Ken and extended a hand. "I'm Shinji Fukumoto."
Ken accepted the handshake. Shinji's hand was hard as a rock. "Kenji Kurosu. Thanks for the help."

Yamato, the bespectacled boy, adjusted his glasses and bowed repeatedly. "T-Thank you both. I'm Yamato Hirose. I thought he was going to hit me."
"It was nothing," said Ken, scratching the back of his neck, a little embarrassed. "We're a team now. We have to watch each other's backs."

Shinji smiled, a grin that was a bit scary but genuine. "You can count on me for anything, leader."

Hours later, the main lights went out. The barracks were plunged into darkness, save for the moonlight filtering through a ventilation grate.

In a corner, Ken, Shinji, and Yamato couldn't sleep. They were sitting on the floor, talking in whispers.

"So... you're from the Central Citadel in Tokyo, right, Ken?" asked Shinji, looking at him curiously.

"Yeah," Ken replied. "From Sector Zero."
Shinji's eyes widened in amazement and he started to bombard him with questions. "Incredible! Did you see the Tokyo Tower split? What are the Oni in the Zero Zone like?"

Yamato noticed Ken tense up. "Hey, Shinji, stop," whispered the bespectacled boy. "It might be traumatic to remember all that. Don't pressure him."

Ken shook his head, relaxing his shoulders. "It's okay, Yamato. That's all in the past. At this point, if we don't accept where we came from, we'll go crazy."

Shinji nodded, respectful. "I get it. I'm from a small town, a few hours from Chiba." Shinji's voice darkened. "Unlike you guys, I didn't see the beginning. We were isolated. When we found out... it was too late. The creatures were already in our homes."

"I'm from Saitama," Yamato interjected softly. "I managed to escape on the first evacuation transports before seeing a creature up close. That's why... that's why I'm so scared of them. I don't really know what they're like. I've only seen them in newspapers."

The group fell into a melancholic silence.

However, a hard thump, followed by a groan of pain, interrupted their chat. Something, or someone, had fallen from the top bunk, landing right next to them.

The three boys jumped in fright, going on guard. "Are we under attack?!" whispered Shinji.

"Ow... my back..."

On the floor, rubbing her back, was a girl. She got up with difficulty. She had short hair of a pale blue, almost white, and large, expressive brown eyes. She wore curious sleepwear: an extra-long white dress (which looked like a hospital gown) over black shorts.

"Sorry, sorry," she said with a cheerful smile despite the fall. "I was trying to listen to your conversation because it sounded interesting, I leaned over too far and... well, I think I fell, hehe."

Ken blinked, confused. "Who are you?"

The girl struck a clumsy military pose. "Naomi Nakashima! I'm from a coastal city far from Tokyo. The Self-Defense Forces rescued me at the beginning, so I've lived in military bases ever since."

Naomi sat down with them in the circle without asking for permission, with disarming naturalness. "You were talking about why you're here, right?"

"More or less," said Yamato.

"I joined the Kijin for a simple reason," said Naomi, looking toward the ventilation grate. "I want to see the blue sky. They say that before the Calamity, the sky wasn't gray or red. I don't remember what it was like. I want to kill all the monsters so the smoke goes away and I can see it."

The three boys fell silent. It was a naive, almost childish reason, but in that hell, it sounded beautiful.

"I'm here because I have no other place," Yamato admitted, lowering his head. "If I stayed in the civilian shelters, I'd starve to death. Here at least they feed me."

"I'm here for revenge," said Shinji, and his muscles tensed, making his knuckles crack. "They killed my whole family. Even though I'm strong... that day I was useless. I want to be the strongest to crush them all."

The gazes of the three turned to Ken. "And you, Ken?" asked Naomi. "Why is the leader of Squad B here?"

Ken opened his mouth. He thought of Takeshi. He thought of his promise to Saito. "I'm search..."

At that moment, the sound of the main door's lock turning echoed. The four of them froze.
"Hide, quick!" whispered Ken.

They dove under the covers in a second, pretending to be asleep.

The door opened, letting in a shaft of light from the corridor. A silhouette was outlined in the doorway.

"Bratlings!" Natasha's voice cut through. She wasn't shouting loud, but her tone froze the blood. "I know you're awake. Stop playing dumb and go to sleep at once. Training starts at 04:00 tomorrow. If I see a single one of you yawning, I'll make you run until you cough up your lungs!"

The door slammed shut.

Ken, his heart pounding under the blanket, couldn't help thinking the same thing Shinji, Yamato, and Naomi were likely thinking in their respective bunks.

She calls us bratlings... but she doesn't look that much older than us.

Silence returned to the barracks, but this time, they no longer felt like such strangers.