Epilogue ( part 2: NTRed?! )

   Unable to manage the mixed feelings that I had at that moment, I started packing my things to leave the hospital.

“And here I thought I won’t find you here! It looks like Shuna and the others have done a good job keeping you here for 7 days.”

The commander had already entered the room hastily and sat on the chair. Wearing very thick winter clothes, vapor was leaving his mouth as he started immediately announcing.

“Takahashi Shinji, In light of all the events that happened in the last week, the ministry of defense has decided to demote you as a punishment!”

“Eh? Where did that come from?”

I looked at him with a wide-open mouth while expressions of surprise were slowly appearing on my face.

Silence reigned over the room for a few seconds making me feel awkward. I was expecting something like that. After making a few selfish decisions, I would’ve got fired in normal circumstances. Maybe because of what I heard earlier about being considered a hero.

“Ahhh…” the commander sighed deeply then replied. “I really wished that what I had said a moment ago was correct. Too bad… You and your squad are getting a rank boost.”

“You look… very disappointed!” I said slowly as I approached him.

“Initially, your squad was used as a decoy to minimize the threat. The ministry had zero faith that you can do anything against the Red Claws. They were planning from the beginning to throw the blame at you thinking that the Red Claws will just do achieve their goal and retreat. But what happened in reality was total chaos not to the city but to the plan they had created.”

“In other word…” I sat on the bed and looked at him. “They were planning to blame us. Now they don’t have anyone to blame so they’re struggling.”

“The plan got completely changed!!”

“How is that?”

A loud sound of igniting a lighter echoed in the room…

“Instead of blaming anyone, they decided to create to use hero card and represent you to the word as the hero who pulled the first victory against the strongest terrorist organization in the history!”

I bowed my head as I sighed desperately. “They only think of using me in whatever the situation… It seems like someone there has taken a liking to me in a negative way!”

“You should really be careful from now on!”

“Something else has happened?” At that point, nothing would surprise me.

“It’s true that you’re going to be treated like a hero. But you know very well that you aren’t really a hero. My best guess is that they will try to get rid of that title asap. The general leader had genuinely liked your achievement. But some other squad commanders are getting annoyed.”

“Even the first and fifth squad leaders?” I asked with a surprised tone.

He stood up and walked toward the door while waving his hand: “No! Mahito Arataka and Kamijou Osamu are an exception. They had worked under my lead for many years. You can rely on them if things get worse.”

As he opened the door a smile appeared on his face. “More than anything, their squads were the ones that gained the most from this last mission.”

I didn’t understand the meaning behind his words until I saw the sheet of paper he left behind him on the chair.

“If this… the new ranking?” I murmured as I read the paper.

[It all makes sense now!]

I started wondering about the people who decided the new ranking.

They were clearly trying to create hatred between the squads.

The higher the rank, the more money we get. But that wasn’t just the end of it. The most important thing for me was the access to information. Those with higher ranks have the authorization to access information classed as top secret to the other squads…

The new ranking made me more enthusiastic about attending the ceremony tonight.

After leaving the hospital I went straight to the mansion.

There, I cleaned the room that I only lived in for like two days and packed my stuff. We were going back to our base after the ceremony after all.

Thinking back again, I think that I only spent one night there.

Asahi on the other hand stayed there for 10 days eating and sleeping. He made the guest room his own.

By his own I meant a complete mess! He even started asking us to help him to clean it up.

Rin decided to help. She thought that it was the perfect chance to clear the misunderstanding they were having after the first mission.

I decided not to interfere. It was a problem between childhood friends. They needed to solve it on their own.

At the beginning that was the decision that I made. I went to my chamber, closed the door, and laid on my bed with a light novel in my hand. Since I had nothing to do for the rest of the day, I thought maybe it was an opportunity to relax and enjoy the day.

I couldn’t even remember the last time I did something like that. Looking back at the time, I was so focused in the last couple of years on getting the approval for our squad to join the special forces to the point where I hadn’t even the time to read anything except from the files that I had to check every night before sleeping.

The last fight we had probably changed something in my mind. I started thinking about enjoying things and trying to find a feeling of happiness that I lost a long time ago.

And then, there is Rin…

I was wondering whether to call the feeling that I had for her a blessing or a curse…

I couldn’t remember when she started being a very special person to me. A person that I wanted to see her smile everyday and everywhere.

In the beginning, I got involved in her problems thinking that I should keep the squad's general performance to its best. But at a certain point I lost that goal and started protecting Rin not as a member of the squad but as a dear person to me.

What mattered more, was how I was going to treat this love. Knowing that Rin had the same feelings for me, yet she won’t confess.

[What if she decided to confess? Am I ready to accept that? Will that influence my goal to take revenge?]

As I kept drowning in the endless sea of thoughts, a loud voice of footsteps had reached my ears. I stood and walked to the door to see what was happening in the corridor.

Everyone was gathered around the door of the guest room where Asahi and Rin were cleaning.

“Shhh, Shinji! Come over here!” Shuna made a sign for me to join.

As I walked silently to join them, I started hearing laughter coming from the other side of the door.

Rin and Asahi were enjoying themselves remembering their past…

I was happy to know that the misunderstanding was solved. But I felt a bit jealous of him…

The sound of laughter was getting louder and louder until they suddenly opened the door and walked away continuing their funny conversation while ignoring everyone around them including… me…

“Am I getting NTRed?!” I murmured quietly as I started walking back to my room.

“Hoho?! That’s interesting!” Shuna jumped on me with wide eyes looking directly at my face closely. “Tell me more” she said with a happy tone.

I swear I could’ve seen cat ears growing from her head at that moment.

The three boys looked at her with puzzled expressions on their faces. It seemed that she was the only one that heard what I had said.

“Forget about it!” I shouted as I ran back to my chamber and closed the door behind me.

I went to finish the novel that I started reading trying to clear my mind.

After spending a few hours there, I got up and dressed myself properly to go to the ceremony. A ceremony that will celebrate the victory against the Red Claws and announce the new ranking of all the squads…