[Germany; 11 AM]
“Do you enjoy the food” it’s a peaceful afternoon on the other side of the earth. No troubles, no monster and there are no troublemakers “please fill up yourself!” the man handed Sherry the plate full of delicacies, she can only nod
“Your speech this morning moved my heart, can you feel it. Here, yes- here” he snatches her hand and places it directly to his chest
The fierce expression of the woman turned into an awkward one, She can’t do anything with this scene
“You can’t imagine how terrifying the world is right now, and there’s someone who is spreading fake news” one of the unfamiliar women in the table voice out while looking at Sherry. Thinking that she's stealing every man in the town, the woman is frustrated
The whole situation was making Antonio Smith angry, but Sherry only gave the woman a friendly smile
Looking at Sherry’s expression- her soft smile doesn’t suit Lina’s rough face “Heup! How dare you smirk! Are you making fun of my opinion?!” the woman stand in her seat and point her finger at the innocent lady
One cough, it only takes a cough to handle everyone
The angry woman shyly took her seat and apologize to everyone. Sherry, on the other hand, look at the intimidating man
Everyone looks at her in question “What’s wrong, lady?”
Lina’s Morena face turned pale, she look at the man who’s seating at the end of the table and muttered “danger”
The intimidating man drop his utensil and stand up “thank you for the meal. Unfortunately, this meeting ends here. I hope that we can still meet” shaking their hand one by one, Sherry felt impatient
‘Please hurry! They are in danger!’
Her eyes watered and when Smith got a glimpsed of her face, he knows that the situation is urgent “Major Richardson, please allow us to retire now” the man saluted after speaking
The major look at Sherry’s paled face at first before allowing them to go
The captain guided Sherry on their way “Do… do you need to go to the restroom?” he looks for the sign where the restroom is but the girl only gripped on her collar
“THEY’RE IN DANGER! My… my protection spell on Christian is reacting violently! Please! Let’s go to them… please” Captain Smith don’t know what to do with the crying girl, he looks around if something may help him but he just saw many people looking at them, judging him
He cleared his throat before gently patting her back “I urge you to calm down, Sergeant Lina Richardson!” Sherry paused and look at her surrounding
She forgot that she’s with Lina’s comrades- she can’t mess up! If her situation was known… they will be all in danger
She got herself in trouble the moment she showed herself in the media
Lying about the islands and misinformation about the government’s project- they used her face, Lina’s face to lie In front of all the people
They used all of them to get the people’s trust
And now… they are abandoning them “NO! whoever will enter that chopper will be stripped off his or her rank! Understand?!” the lieutenant assigned at the headquarters clearly declare his opposition about their action
Sherry can’t do anything
“BUT SIR! Corporal Martin is there! The true Sergeant Lina Richardson is there! Our people are there! We need to act now before it’s too late!” Captain Smith step up bravely, shamelessly rejecting the lieutenants’ command
The other soldiers watch them in confusion
The higher rank soldier saw Sherry, thinking that she’s the main reason why Smith is disobeying him- he threatened her “You think you’re something because this face is known?!” Sherry felt his large step, she cried in fear
Holding her jaw tightly, the lieutenant glared at her “We can always replace you in that role. We don’t need useless and hard-headed women like you” She shrieked when he abruptly unhand her
The man looks around, emphasizing his authority- he looks at them directly to the eye “disobeying my command means death, take note of that”
They salute when he took a step at the exit of the platform when he left… no one can say a word of the console to the woman who is crying
Smith looks at Lina’s face, he’s not used to the soft-hearted side that she’s showing. Some of them knew that she isn’t the former Lina Richardson that they knew but, they just don’t know what to do when a person is crying!
Their platoon is different from the other platoons- they shouldn’t show any remorse, pain, or weaknesses! That’s team Cramo is, they should be viewed as strong and indestructible
Not until she joined, some may know that Lina changed but that’s it. If their commanders don’t give them the information, they won't inquire for more… but Smith knows they’ve also change
Not just Lina, every one of them change
Being considerate to girl, asking what she feels, changing their insensitive attitude and words- it almost feels like they’re grooming a daughter!
So if they feel that something upsetting her, the father should act
Smith took his launch out of the tray and nonchalantly sit beside Sherry
The girl look at him in question “why…” she’s still getting used to her voice, being a former deaf- it’s hard for her to adjust to the new environment
Adapting to their military schedules, training, and missions- it is almost impossible for her to survive the new flow of life
But she’s glad that she have the blessings of 12 heavenly generals of Yakushi, her ability
The generals help and guide her to fit into the world she’s not used to… especially, to her new body
It scared her, at first when she first heard the noise of the world. It’s different from the hearing aide that she’s always using- it almost made her crazy
Smith handed her the strawberry juice that she’s always drinking, the man look at him intently before saying a word “Can you tell me about the protection thing you attached to Christian?” Sherry tilted her head to side and look at him in confusion “Aren’t you afraid that they will also not want to be your friend? Why are you here?”
The man blinked twice “friend?”
Sherry nod “the other soldiers always ignore me like… they don’t want to be your friend if you are with me, sir. Your friends are there! Look!” she pouted to the side where the men of cramo having their meal
Smith chuckled ‘friends?!’
“What’s making you happy sir? Should I eat at the other table? Or the barracks? If that will make you comfortable” Sherry’s sentence flow through her lips like it’s a natural thing, Smith laugh- taking what she said as a joke
“The barracks is 3km away from here, you eat… there?” realization sink in to him. Looking at her with wide eyes, he’s too stunned to speak
Sherry shrugs “well, it’s better than when I’m at school. You know, people here are so nice. They’ll say what I’m doing wrong directly on my face- no pretense or fake pity” she smiles and looks at him, urging him to eat more
He lost appetite
“School? I thought SPED students are treated with care?”
Taking a bite to her bread, Sherry doesn’t want to answer his question but she knows that she has to be honest in order to gain their trust- she wants to have a comrade in this unfamiliar place
“Honestly, I don’t know if I should be thankful that my parents gave me the chance to have the education that everyone wants… at first, school feels like a dream and it’s- scary? Is that the right term?” she laughs before pouting her lips, looking at the distant view, trying to remember her past
“When I entered the room, everyone… the students and staff looked at me. I thought they are happy to see me, I always smile at them and greet them- like this!” she free her hands and started to sign ‘Good morning’
“And I received this sign… which made no sense, they made up a sign, and recently, I realized that the kids in town used it to mock someone” caressing her chin, she tried to remember what the sign means
“I think they are trying to say ‘mother fucker?’ I heard it one time here, the Filipino staff saw me do some sign language and she said she knows some sign too!” her smile fades when she tried to act the sign “she’s doing this while muttering ‘PU.TANG.INA.MO’”
Smith dropped his utensils when he heard the exact words
Of course, he knows it! Some Filipino soldier saying that he’s teaching Tagalog made some prank about that word. He remembered the soldier’s red face while laughing his ass off… he palmed his face
He sighs and can only admit that “WOW Filipinos have the most creative mind”
Wanting to change the subject, he brings out his phone and shows it to her
Sherry look up when she read what’s on the phone “Wa… What’s going on?” her shock faced made the people on the other table look at her
Smith put his index finger to his lips “swipe more” he urge
The man looks around, there are some people looking in their direction- wanting to divert their attention, he acts “IT LOOKS LIKE YOURE GETTING BETTER WITH YOUR WORDS, HUH?! Let me treat you this meal for that change!” he taps her back while nodding
‘They ordered to destroy their city? BOMBING?!’
The girl can’t believe what she’s seeing ‘this is impossible! They can’t cover this mess by exploding a town!’ Smith saw her pale face. So, with a shaking hand- he’s the one who swipe the phone down for her to read more information
‘the men are already in their position, we are getting ready for the explosion. The others left to inform the Houl company about their former fighters. Please tell the sergeant to calm, they’re safe now. The children are currently evacuating to the choppers’
Her legs shook, Sherry’s strength is nowhere to be found
Smith looks at her to calm her down, the people around them should not know what’s going on “HUH! Corporal Amiel did this to you?! How dare he? How dare he bully you?! Who else? Tell me their names and I’ll punish them for you!” he shouted while pointing around
“Is it you? You also bullied her? WHO? WHOOO?!”
Some get their way out of the room and others just divert their eye from the berserking man, they can’t afford to get themselves to danger
Captain Smith only stop when Sherry grab the hem of his clothe, he look down at her and saw the glistening tears falling down from Lina’s fierce face “Thank you” she whispered
Wanting to comfort her, he can’t avoid the fact that the eyes who are still in the room might sing to Major Richardson “GOSH! Come out! Whoever mocked, laughed or glare at her! Come here! You should taste your own medicine”
The stubborn man look at them with wide eyes, trying to scare them “WHAT?! Cat got your tongues? If you’re this coward, stop messing with this girl”
he wants to say more, berate them to stop annoying the little girl but Sherry drag her away from the dining area “What… what’s wrong?” he voiced out when he saw her crying more
“It… It’s gone!” her knees completely lost it’s strength, she slumped her way down to the floor
“My connection with Christian is gone!”
 
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A/N: Coming back with 3 chapters hahaha sorry for the delay.