Systems Fanfic Bit – Running

A/N: So far this is still working, so….

Running lets him not think. Just push himself. Harder. Faster. Longer. It’s as close as he can get to flying.

And the missions get more complicated, more intense. He doesn’t want to fumble a simple shot because he’s too tired.

(The runs get longer. Hiroto doesn’t notice, until he starts checking his watch not to be late. There’s a lot to not think about.)

He doesn’t miss a shot. Too bad the same can’t be said of his… party members. They’re not a team. May doesn’t know how to fight in a group; Parviz is totally inexperienced. Only time and more missions will fix those.

Kazami… Kazami is frustrating. Because the man knows how group fights work, but every time he sees a chance to show off his tactics go right out the window.

Kazami’s old team leader is totally right to call Hiroto out, though. Hiroto hates that. But more than that, he hates himself. Because the missions are important, and if he can’t count on the others to use the best tactics he should at least tell them what he’s going to do. He used to be able to do that. He used to be able to talk to people.

(But there’s a hole in his heart where Eve’s smile should be, and sometimes it feels like every word has to claw its way out of that abyss.)

It’s easier just to lean into the sharpness of the Story Mission. He has to be sharp. There are more sounds, more debris and birds flying through their vision, even more scents, than any ordinary GBN mission. Hiroto has to filter it all; what’s important, what’s not, what are new sensory cues to enemies GBN has never had before. It’s a challenge.

(Already Created Missions seem too… easy isn’t the right word. Too simple; that’s closer. Not as much messy environmental data coming at them. Not nearly as much tricky sensitivity in his Core Gundam’s controls.

And he doesn’t get tired. It’s like walking on a treadmill, instead of running up a hill. It’s not enough.)