A badge with two white superimposed stars was being examined deeply by cloudy blue eyes.
"Zoma..."
A woman was sitting on a wooden chair. Her large, navy blue tail made it clear she was a Leviathan. Her eyes became increasingly brighter as small drops of water welled up to run down her cheeks.
Her nose wrinkled upon detecting a smell she could only describe as vomit-inducing. She turned around to spot a man full of muscles and sweat.
The body before the girl was impressive. The man's eyes seemed to lack much life; the black in them overshadowed the barely noticeable red that existed like a drip in a cave. His hair was a green that shone like emerald against the light.
The girl's expression twisted. A finger pointed at the man in front of her. "Dinorat! What did we say about coming here covered in sweat?" Her gaze pierced the man's entire being.
His head turned, his eyes seeming lost in nothingness as he looked around the room. "I'll go to the company baths soon, I just left a new shampoo in my bag."
The girl looked at him with a strange expression that wavered between almost laughing and disgust. She turned to see the man's bag near her. "Think fast." She threw Dinorat's bag towards him.
"Ha!" He caught the bag and struck a very strange pose. "Did you think I was going to fail?"
"Shut up and go take a shower." The girl turned around with a small smile on her face, a very warm little smile.
Dinorat kept watching her as she took out the badge again. "Hanna. I know it hurt you. Mia and I were affected a lot too, but two months have passed, we can't remain stagnant."
Hanna stared fixedly at the badge. "She showed me the way. Without her and Shara, I feel lost."
Dinorat approached her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "If there's no one left to plow the path, don't stand still waiting, and get your hands dirty in the earth to keep moving forward."
The girl turned to the dinosaur. "Where did you get that phrase? It sounds weird. Besides, you've never been very thoughtful."
"Can't I try to support you once in a while with motivational phrases? Also, I don't know if it already exists." Dinorat patted Hanna on the back and left.
"How do you do that?" The question resonated in Hanna's mind. Her imagination conjured a woman with nine tails and a traditional kimono pointing at her.
She was a Kitsune. Hanna's best friend and teacher, and currently a deceased person.
"Zoma..." Hanna managed to say before the image in her head disappeared.
Knock knock knock.
Someone knocked on the door, but instead of waiting to be told "come in," they decided to enter. His features were hard, a soldier's expression and a commander's aura emanated from the man.
"Call all members of Group 7. I need to give a notice."
"Yes. Only we'll have to wait for Dinorat. He's showering." Hanna took out her phone and sent a message to the team's group chat.
"I don't care what he's doing. I'm currently pressed for time, so tell him to get out without finishing." The master looked around the room and sat behind a smooth wooden table.
His fingers intertwined in front of him as he stared fixedly at the door. Hanna sent another message urging them.
Both remained in silence. The room seemed dead. Hanna was looking at Zoma's badge, while Azlent was tapping the table with his fingers extremely softly, making the tapping produce no sound at all.
"Boom!" A girl with white ears and tail entered. Her amber eyes scanned the room in an instant while her face remained expressionless.
"Shhh." Hanna tried to silence the girl who entered.
She went directly to Hanna and sat on her lap. "Why did you call us? I was very comfortable in the chair in the break room."
Her face turned to where the master was and she waved at him. "Hi boss." The master gave the girl a small smile and waved back.
Hanna's hands rested on the girl's head and she began to caress her soft white hair. "I called you because the boss asked for it."
"Okay..." The girl remained on Hanna's lap, her head pressing against the hands that were giving her so much attention.
After a while waiting for Dinorat, the girl leaned against Hanna's chest. "How long will he take?" She asked while closing her eyes.
"Mia! I've already told you that you can't do that." Even after saying that, Hanna didn't remove her.
Knock knock knock.
The door sounded with intensity. "Come in." Said the master seriously.
Dinorat entered. He was wearing a shirt that said 'I Love Training' and black shorts that reached his knees. His pure green tail swayed all around him.
The boss gestured for him to sit down. He settled into his chair and spoke: "As you well know, you've had 2 months of vacation due to your losses. Although this time isn't normally given, your team is very incomplete. So it was decided to give you plenty of time while we looked for new members."
The boss's hand went into the inner pocket of his vest and took out a chip which he tossed onto the table. Three seconds after the chip fell, it created a hologram with all of Heo's information.
"He will be your new teammate. He'll start coming to the office from the day after tomorrow, but his move to the house is scheduled for tomorrow. Be on the lookout for his arrival."
Mia raised her hand. "Is that all?" She asked while still on Hanna's lap.
"No. Your team will have priority for new members to join during the next two job requests. Prepare for new news and to receive new teammates."
The boss grabbed the chip. "Wait!" Hanna shouted from her spot, her movement so abrupt that Mia almost fell off her lap.
"Can you leave us the chip? It will help us get to know our new teammate." Azlent looked at the chip in his hand and then tossed it to Hanna, who caught it perfectly. "Thank you."
The boss nodded. "With nothing more to say. I'll take my leave." Azlent left the room.
When they all saw the door close, Mia stole the chip from Hanna and tossed it to the floor, where it displayed its information again.
"Name: Heo, no surname. Race: Human. Age 23, born on 23/05/3003 after Salinmant. Description: physically weaker than average. Even so, his musculature is well developed and he is in better physical condition than 47% of the population. How precise. According to his own words, he lacks a power reserve. Height: 1.83m." Mia read all the text provided by the hologram.
"This is a lot..." Mia said as she looked at the important parts over and over.
Hanna stood beside her. "Remember something similar happened with Dinorat. Only his physical condition was better than 93% of the population."
The man turned his back to her and began to flex his muscles. "According to the latest exams, these babies reached 95%! Every day I get closer to perfection!"
"Yeah, but you're still missing something here." Hanna tapped Dinorat's head with her index finger.
"Ohhh look. If I look down there's a photo of him." Mia was glued to the hologram.
Hanna approached and looked closely. It was a full-body photo of Heo wearing the clothes he had on during the interview. "This is new. I think teams used to attack members who moved in first, which is why they included it."
"Yeah, you're right..." Mia kept staring at the hologram... For a long time, so long that Hanna grabbed her head and pulled it back.
"Ow. Hey, why did you do that?" Mia asked as she lay on the floor.
"It looks weird that you stare at him for so long."
"What do you prefer? I fall asleep or keep watching."
"Fall asleep."
Mia made a brutally offended face, but then closed her eyes and two seconds later she was already dreaming of sheep.
"Ha." Hanna looked at the sleepyhead with a warm smile on her face. The girl's hand went to the half-cat's head and she petted her a bit, causing her to start purring.
"We'll see how coexistence with him will be." When Hanna said this, she looked around, but Dinorat wasn't there, so she sat down next to Mia and looked at the badge again. After all, it's hard to forget something so important, even when life moves on without you.