Allen told himself to keep quiet, or at least to switch topic, but he could not help himself. "Haru?"


    "Hmm?"


    "What is your opinion when two boys are always together? Like, very close and always together."


    Haru blinked and leaned away from Allen. "What?"


    Haru saw that Allen is visibly ufortable. Is he hitting on him? Haru cleared his throat. "You know that I am with N, right?"


    Allen widened his eyes in shock at the implication of Haru''s question. "Yes, yes. That is not what I meant…"


    Haru rxed. "What did you mean?"


    "It''s just… I am with Julius for a long time and beforeing here people told us that it''s wrong for two boys to stick to each other so… I was just wondering what is your opinion on that, or if you have any."


    "I am with N. I love her very much and I believe that she loves me as well. When I think of my future, she is by my side and that image makes me happy. As long as you or anyone else does not try toe in-between us and ruin the image of my future which I dream of, I really don''t care what you do and with whom." Haru saw that Allen is not satisfied with this answer, so he added: "But if you want my opinion on you and Julius… I grew up with boys and I''ve never seen two friends being so close and so much in sync. What the two of you have… I think it''s great."


    From Haru''s speech, Allen was unable to figure out if this applies to a rtionship between friends-only or is for more than that also.


    Allen knows that Sarah and Aiden will not think badly of him and Julius as more than friends, but he wanted to find out what others in the house will think about it. And since they are already on this topic, just the two of them, there is no better time than this to ask: "What if Julius and I are… more than friends?"


    Haru was getting irritated by all this questioning. A small chit-chat is fine, but this… However, they are stuck together and talking, so he should reply. "That goes back to the point of I-don''t-care. Both you and Julius are my friends, but other than that, how you lead your life is not impacting me. If the two of you are happy, I am happy."


    Haru saw that Allen''s eyes are opened wide and he was about to say something else. Haru pped Allen''s back and reminded him: "Focus. We are on a mission."


    Haru grumbled internally while thinking that Allen is too chatty. Next time, he will take Julius, and N gets the chatterbox.


    …


    On the other side, N nced at Julius whose lips were pressed into a thin line. She noticed that he is unusually stiff.


    "Nervous?", she asked.


    Julius nodded.


    "Talk to me…", N urged him. "What makes you nervous? If nothing else, it will help us pass the time."


    "What if someone you care about gets hurt?" Julius voiced one of his concerns. His biggest concern is that Allen will get hurt. Allen was always more adept at studying and brainstorming. For things on the training ground which require physical force, Allen always relied on Julius'' help and guidance, but now… Allen is so far away. How can Julius help him if he gets into danger?


    "As a general, you get to lead a team, and everyone in that team is your responsibility. That is a lot of people to care about one way or the other. You need to believe that everyone in your unit is capable. If you have doubts, they should note on a mission. A good unit consists of members who trust each other with their lives and are confident that all of them wille back safe.", N responded.


    "But, what if the person IS capable, but you are worried because you really care about that person?"


    N thought about it before responding with her and Haru as an example: "We were on a mission and Haru got hurt by protecting me. He was shoot in the arm and he didn''t tell me because he didn''t want to worry me. After the mission, we got into a hotel and I saw the blood and when I realized what happened… I felt horrible. It hit me hard when I remembered that he was shot right in front of me, and I didn''t notice. He was in pain, but he didn''t flinch in order to spare me of self-guilt. After that, I was sad and feeling unworthy. I wondered, why would I go on missions if I need to be protected, and others get hurt because of me? The fact that the person who got hurt was Haru made everything several folds worse."


    "And?", Julius urged N to continue.


    "Sarah noticed that my mood is off, and she analyzed the situation with me. The facts are that we are all a family, and we are facing dangers and there is a possibility that someone will get hurt. In order to prevent your loved ones to get hurt, you need to improve your skills. If I was stronger, Haru would not be shot that evening. If I was faster, there would be no need for Haru to rush to my rescue. It alles down to the fact that we should think about our loved ones when we are training."


    Julius listened to N and scratched his head. "Interesting. Usually when I train I imagine enemies… a training dummy is a bad guy, and when I run I am chasing a robber."


    "That is not bad. But add to that how the bad-guy-dummy wants to hurt the person you care about, and the running robber has a weapon and he is holding your loved one as a hostage. That will give you an extra motivation to work harder. Sarah advised me not to allow my loved ones to be my weakness, because they are my strength."


    Julius liked this. "Can you show me how to send a message to Allen with the lens, only for him to see?"


    N was surprised with this sudden change in topic. "Sure…"


    …


    On the other side, Haru nced at Allen who was grinning like a fool.


    Haru sighed, why is Allen getting creepier by the minute? Is it time rted and it''s getting worse as they get closer to midnight? He hoped that the enemiese quickly so that he can reunite with N as soon as possible.


    Haru admires Julius'' capability to handle Allen because how Haru sees it, Allen''s mood is all over the ce and it''s worse than N on her period.


    Allen didn''t tell Haru that the reason for his happiness (aka the grin) is that he saw on his lens a message from Julius: <em>''You are my strength.''</em>


    ---


    If you are not reading this at ''W e b n o v e l .. c o m'', then the content you''re reading is stolen! Please support the author by reading this novel from the original source.