SomaXFemale Player Character fic. ^-^ I ship these two so hard, haha. XD Anyway, this fic takes place during the final battle against Hannibal. I took some creative licenses as I have no idea how the scene went for everyone else. Also, I tried to keep the player character as vague as possible so everyone could insert their own description and name and whatnot. And I was writing the scene from memory so the scene might be a bit off from the game… I do have plans for another, longer fic that takes place after the end of the game but we'll see if I get to writing that or not. Anyway, enjoy!

She was always an idiot.

Always running head first into danger, always thinking about others before thinking of herself. She was always like that. Always thinking about others first, always burdening herself without letting anyone else in, without letting anyone else help her. Their leader was always like that.

Soma looked to his left and right. Beside him were the people he never thought he would think of as comrades. She had changed his opinion on them. Kota and Sakuya on the left with their huge guns at the ready. Alisa on his right. Usually she would keep her God Arc in gun form but she had it in sword form at the moment, perhaps so she may be able to run faster. It wasn't like he knew much about the difference. He wasn't a New-Type God Eater.

It was like the tunnel was getting longer and longer. Were they even close to Aegis? What would they find when they got there. Why was their leader so stupid to go there, by herself, to fight the Corrosive Hannibal? Did she truly think they would not want to feel the pain, to suffer alongside her as they fought Lindow together?

"I can see the exit up ahead!" yelled Kota. His annoying voice could not be more welcoming at the moment.

"Be careful, we don't know what we will find when we get out there," ordered Soma.

The four members of the First Unit skidded to a stop. There was their leader, standing before the fallen Corrosive Hannibal.

"Is it dead?" asked Kota.

She turned to look at them but her attention was drawn back to the Hannibal. It was still alive! It lifted to the air, a figure clearly visible on its chest.

"Lin…dow…" whispered Sakuya. Her voice was filled with despair. Maybe a part of everyone was hoping it wasn't true, the Corrosive Hannibal wasn't Lindow. But here it was, the proof that it was true.

"What do we do?" Alisa asked.

Lindow groaned and cracked open his eyes. "It…it's you guys. Run…get out of here…"

Soma glanced over at their leader. Her attention seemed to be directed at a spot to her left. Her brow was furrowed as she looked up at Lindow and back at the spot. What was she doing? Why wasn't she reacting? Usually in a time like this her brain would be ten times faster than everyone else. She would be shouting orders, telling them what to do, how to defeat the enemy.

"Run…that's an order!" Lindow yelled with all of the strength he could muster.

A few moment later Soma heard a high pitched wail. It tore through his heart and he did not understand why. He had never heard that sound before and it took him a few moments to place where it was coming from. Their leader. Her left hand had warped to look like a claw. Clutched within the hand was Lindow's God Arc.

"What is she doing?" Sakuya gasped.

Soma wanted to ask the same thing but no words were coming out of his mouth, no matter how hard he tried.

"Don't you dare give up on living!" she growled. "That's an order!" She launched herself at the Corrosive Hannibal, wielding both swords like they were extensions of her arms. She tore through the Hannibal's throat and shoved her left arm deep inside the neck.

Soma wasn't sure what happened next. There seemed to be a flash and she crumpled to the ground. The Hannibal's body was transforming. It was like it was reversing inside out, with the Hannibal body being absorbed into Lindow. It happened so fast that Soma wasn't sure it really happened at first.

"Lindow!" Sakuya raced forward to check on him.

In that moment Soma's legs seemed to unfreeze as he ran over to their Leader's side. He gently propped her up, surprised to find how light she was in his arms. Thankfully, he could see the steady rise and fall of her chest, she was still alive.

"Is she okay?" Alisa peered over Soma's shoulder. He felt annoyed by her. Couldn't she give them some room? At the same moment, he wondered where that thought even came from.

His thoughts turned to her as her eyelids fluttered before they opened. They darted around at first, before focusing on his face. "Soma?" Her voice was hoarse and it seemed to drain her energy to say just that.

"Yeah, it's me, you idiot. We're going to need to have a discussion on why you're not allowed to run off on your own again."

She let out a small laugh. She tilted her head to check on Lindow. Unlike her, Lindow was sitting up. He was staring at his left arm in shock. It looked claw-like in red and black.

Sakuya was beside him. Tears were streaming down her face. No words needed to be spoken, the expression on her face was more than enough.

"Oh, Tsubaki said they you two won't be punished if you both come back safely," spoke up Kota. "So uh, this is great isn't it? You're both going to get back alive and you won't be punished."

"Really now Kota. Was this really the moment to bring that up?" Alisa rolled her eyes.

Lindow laughed and got to his feet. "Well then, we should head back right now to tell Sis that we're a-okay huh?"

"Agreed," laughed their leader. She tried to sit up but then she groaned and clutched her head.

"Hey now," Lindow patted her on the head. "Why don't you take it easy? Soma here can carry you back."

"What?" snapped Soma, more from the shock from the request than anything else.

"Oh no, I'm fine really," she said quickly. She managed to stand this time but she looked wobbly on her feet.

"You resonated with me, went in my mind, beat a couple high leveled Aragami and dragged me out." Lindow crossed his arms. "As your previous leader, I'm ordering you to not walk back."

"You used resonance to do that?" Alisa's eyes widen as she stared at their leader.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time." She looked over at Lindow. "It wasn't like I did it alone."

A secret smile passed between them.

"Aww, don't worry Leader, if Soma doesn't want to do it, I will," offered Kota. He flexed his muscles. "I have strength from carrying my God Arc around!"

"I didn't say I wouldn't do it!" snapped Soma. Why am I getting so defensive over this?

Kota jumped back a few steps from the venom in Soma's voice. "Alright! Alright, don't get so defensive now! You can carry her!"

"Really Soma, I'm fine." She bent down and picked up her God Arc.

"The way you can barely walk while holding that thing tells me otherwise." He knelt with his back to her. "Get on." He glared back at her. She may be his leader but that did not mean he couldn't put her in her place when everyone else knew better.

She opened her mouth, probably to protest again but her shoulders slumped a moment later. "Sorry," she mumbled as she got on his back.

He hoisted her up, surprised again by how light she was. This was their fearless leader? The one that always kept running into danger, always saving their butts at every turn and always sticking her nose into everyone's business?

Lindow bent down and picked up his God Arc. Soma didn't know how it happened but there was a huge hole through it.

"Thanks partner," Lindow whispered.

"Yes, thank you Ren," she whispered.

Who were they talking about?

"So, who wants to watch the final season of Bugarally?"

"Kota, really now. No one else is interested in that show."

"Huh? Hey! Our Leader watched it too! Right?"

She chuckled and Soma could feel it on his back. "Yeah, right." Softer she whispered, "I'm not too heavy for you right?"

A snide comment was on the tip of Soma's tongue but he held it back. "No. You're fine. Your God Arc on the other hand is a bit heavy."

"Sorry," she chuckled. "I don't want Licca yelling at me for leaving it behind for them to pick up...Plus I don't think my God Arc would like that much either."

"Your God Arc?"

"I'll explain later."

"You better have an explanation for all of this. What were you thinking, just going off on your own like that? You know you can rely on us right?" On me.

"I thought you said you were going to wait to lecture me later," she pointed out.

"Well we're just walking back now with nothing to do. How else am I going to spend the time?"

"Right." He felt her head against his shoulder. "Sorry again," she whispered.

"Stop apologizing, what's done is done." Soma looked over at Lindow and Sakuya. Sakuya's arm was tightly wrapped around Lindow's normal arm like she was afraid he was going to disappear on her again. Kota and Alisa were leading the way, both in a heated discussion about the perks of watching Bugarally. "You brought Lindow back. I'll need to give you credit for that one. Just don't be an idiot if something like this happens again."

"Noted," she murmured. Her voice was even softer now.

Soma glanced over to see what she was doing. Her head rested on his shoulder, eyes closed. Fast asleep huh? A small smile crossed his face. "Sweet dreams…idiot."