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Description
It was midnight, dressed in her cloak and mask, Zyra made her way back to Captain Monty's room to complete the job she had been given. She carefully slipped in the door making no noise, and crept over beside the bed of the sleeping Captain. She took out her knife and laid it along his throat, she could feel the slow pulse beating beneath the skin. Humans were so fragile, and he looked so innocent as he slept.... His eyes were closed so that the pale lashes cast soft shadows on his cheeks, and there was a slight frown on his face. He looked almost sad, she thought, as she watched his chest move up and down with his breath. Putting her face closer to his, she saw again his resemblance to Juno. The only difference was the abscence of his fluffy blonde hair, and the prescence of that deep scar on his cheek..... She froze. Could he actually be Juno?!

The second this thought occured to her, the Captain's hand shot up like lightning to grab the wrist of teh hand that held the knife; twisting it away from his throat.
"So, you thought I was asleep did you? Wrong. A good Captain will never let his guard down. Besides, I don't sleep very often".
Zyra yanked herself away from him and leapt to the other side of the room, getting out her sword and charging back at him. He was prepared, and blocked the sword with his forearm, which had some kind of metal guard on it that stopped her sword slicing his arm off. Next thing she knew, he had a gun pointing at her chest.
"Sword against gun; who d'you think will win?" he asked coldly.
She put on a voice. "An Angel, using a gun?! Why don't you show me your own powers?".
"Ha! Alright, if you insist" he said, and leaped back a few paces, opening a familiar pair of brilliant flaming gold wings that spanned the length of the entire room. She had already leaped towards him, slicing her sword at one of the wings, and with a sweep of his arm; he had set the whole room ablaze. Then they froze. Ice crystals had started to form on the golden fire of his wing; Zyra stared up at the blue eyes in horror, as his looked down, spotting yellow beneath the mask.
"...Juno?".
"...Zyra?".

Zyra swept her sword in an arc to extinguish the flames, while Juno's fiery wings dissipated into nothing, and he roughly knocked off the fox mask that covered Zyra's face. She surveyed him for a moment before grabbing his head roughly and shouting at him.
"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU TO TO YOUR HAIR?!?!?! I THOUGHT THEY'D SENT YOU TO MILITARY SCHOOL, NOT THE FUCKING ARMY!!!!!".
Juno's eyes shut against the volume of her voice; then he pushed her off him a little.
"YOU JUST FUCKING TRIED TO KILL ME!!! WHAT THE FUCK WOMAN?!?!?!?"

They stared angrily at each other for a while, breathing heavily and trying to out-glare each other. Eventually, Juno reached out to touch Zyra's cheek with the back of his hand. She was warm..
"Is that REALLY you, what the Hell are you doing here?!?!"
"......To assasinate you?" she said with a sly grin.
"No really, it seems like such a coincidence...... You didn't even know who I was!".
"Well..... you look..... so different.." muttered Zyra, running her hand across his bristly head, then then resting it against the angry scar on his cheek. Juno closed his eyes, lifting his hand to place it on top of hers; the other arm snaking around her waist to pull her against him.
"....You look exactly the same....." he said.
"Hnnn...".
She suddenly realised how painfully much she missed him, and pulled her hand out of Juno's grasp to wrap both arms around his waist, pressing her face tightly against his chest. She felt the slow, powerful beat of his heart against her cheek, and she was warm..... Juno was always so warm....
"........Juno....." she whispered quietly against his chest.
He laid his head on her shoulder, breathing warm air against her neck. "Yes, my love....".
".......I......I missed you.......". She closed her eyes and concentrated on the warmth.
"Zyra..... I missed you so much.. it made me crazy".
Juno slid his hands slowly up her back, rubbing it softly as he breathed in deeply. He desperately needed this moment. Right now, where he was.. It was all that kept him going. He kissed Zyra's neck softly, unable to stop himself.
"Uhm......Juno...". Zyra felt herself turning bright red.
"Mmmm.......?". He kissed all the way down her neck to her collarbone, then broke off and nuzzled into her chest.
"...Nothing...". She wrapped her arms around Juno's neck and held his head there against her heart. She felt his mouth curl up into a smile and he started to play with her hair, undoing the two ponytails and twirling the strands between his fingers.
"You weren't really going to kill Captain Monty, were you?" he asked eventually, his voice muffled by her shirt.
She heaved a sigh.
"No, I couldn't. He's too much like you..".

***

He wished he could just keep his eyes shut against Zyra's chest and NOT have to deal with the problem of the burnt room and the fact that Zyra was supposed to have killed him.
"Uhm, Zyra...."
"Ya?".
"What're you gonna do about that crazy-ass Russian guy. You'll surely have to bring proof you killed me...".
Zyra grinned mischeviously, thankful that Juno couldn't see her.
"Oh, I'll think of something.... don't you worry.....".
He caught the tone of her voice, and reluctantly lifted his head up to look her in the eye, he saw her quickly change her expression into one of innocence. "Shouldn't you do something about this room?" she asked, and walked to the door.
"I'll take care of this if YOU take care of General Lazar" pouted Juno, flicking a bit of ash off the bookshelf, which crumbled to the ground at his touch. Zyra laughed softly; he loved that sound...
"Aye, Captain". She flashed him a sarcastic salute and dissapeared. Juno rolled his eyes and adressed the room. "Women...." he tutted.

***

Juno leaned against the gun shed in the training grounds. It was two hours later, and he had managed to convince Major Arashi (using Aya to distract his eyes) that the damage to the room had been caused by a temperamental experiment he had been conducting. It was widely known around the fort that Juno was a very strange boy, so the Major did not question him too closely on that. The bad thing was that he now had nowhere to sleep. Major Arashi said that it was his own fault, and so he'd have to make do with whatever space he found, that caused Juno some concern. He was already cold enough at night when he was able to sleep in a bed, he'd probably catch Hypothermia.. it was only a matter of time. So, for now, he slept against the weaponry shed with his chin resting on his chest, he was in fact drifting off quite peacefully until he was awoken rudely by Captain Takagami's boot swinging into his stomach.
"OW!! WHAT THE FUCK!?!?! CAN'T YOU SEE I WAS FUCKIN' TRYING TO SLEEP?!?!?!". He leaped to his feet angrily, with his fists raised and ready to knock that idiot's head around.
"'Sup Captain!", Takagami greeted him cheerily.
"W'the fuck do you want?!?!". Juno did not take too kindly to being woken up when he had finally got around to sleeping. Of late, he'd slipped back into his old habit of not being able to sleep.
"Got'cha a new recruit Monty. He's a little weird, but that's why I thought he'd be good for you to look after". At this, he moved aside to show a small figure dressed in the footsoldier uniform with long hair tied back into a ponytail and dark glasses. Juno pulled a face. She couldn't fool him with a disguise like that.
"This is Private Daisuke. He's got err.. Photophobia? Something like that, his eyes are weak in sunlight so he has to wear glasses. And, err.. all the razors seem to have broken, so I guess we hafta let him keep that odd hairdo...".

Juno walked around the soldier, swinging his arms a little with a slightly evil grin on his face.
"So, Private Daisuke is my new meat, huh? ALRIGHT!! ATTEN-HUT MAGGOT!!!" he shouted, his "Captain voice" could be heard ringing loudly across the training grounds. Somehow, though his lungs were large and powerful, shouting like this made them ache a little. He guessed he was smoking a wee bit too much...
Zyra straightened up, wincing a little, Geez! That boy could really yell....."Aye, Captain Montague, sir!".
"THIS IS NOT GIRL GUIDE CAMP!! THIS IS THE ARMY, AND IN THE ARMY, WE WORK OUR BACKS UNTIL THEY BREAK!!! WE LOAD, SHOOT AND RELOAD UNTIL OUR HANDS ARE BLISTERED AND SORE!!!! THEN WE DO IT AGAIN!!! WE LIFT WEIGHTS UNTIL EVERY DAMN MUSCLE IN OUR BODY SCREAMS FOR US TO STOP, BUT WE DO NOT!!! OUR SOULS ARE PAST SHATTERING, OUR MINDS ARE BEYOND TORTURED... CAN. YOU. HANDLE. THIS. PRIVATE DAISUKE?!?!".
Zyra stared at him with her mouth slightly open in shock. In the past, she had doubted Juno's potential as an authority figure, she could safely say now, that at that moment he looked nothing like the awkward and soft boy she'd first met. He looked rather impressive and vicious, certainly not a man to be messed with....
"Sir, yessir!" she managed to say, saluting.
"I CAN'T HEAR YOU, MAGGOT!!!".
"SIR, YESSIR!!!" she yelled.
"GOOD!! NOW MARCH!! MARCH!! ONE, TWO, ONE, TWO, COME ON!!", Juno made her march ahead of him. She gritted her teeth; he was SO going to pay for this..... She told him so, whispering sharply out the side of her mouth. He grinned.
"MOVE THOSE SCRAWNY LEGS!!!!! THIS IS NO TIME TO BE A PUSSY!!!".
Zyra marched faster; muttering curses under her breath.

As soon as they got around the corner, Juno dropped his hardass approach.
"Alright, you can stop now Zyra". He smiled apologetically. "Can't let my reputation go down the drain...".
Zyra poked him hard in the chest.
"You're pretty good at the tough guy act, but you WILL pay for making a fool of me....".
His face fell, looking slightly worried.
"Oh........ but.. I-... Wait, so you managed to deal with Lazar?".
"Yeah, brought him your head", she grinned widely. "Don't ask. And you fixed your problem too?".
He nodded, and to her disbeleif, took out a cigarette, lit it and put it  to his mouth, breathing deeply and closing his eyes. Zyra watched the hideous grey smoke drifting between his lips and across his tongue for a moment, before freezing the stupid deathstick with a flick of her wrist.
"HEY! What was that for?" he cried indignantly. "OW!!".
Zyra had hit him roughly across the face. "NO!!! YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO SMOKE!! It's disgusting; you'll kill yourself!".
"But I-"
"Quiet a minute; what's that?"
"The intercom, sounds like the Field Marshall... I wonder what-"
"SHHH!! I want to hear!!"
The voice of the Field Marshall boomed across the fort and the area all around it.
"Everyone, prepare yourselves, we return attack in an hour. The Russians are already advancing!! Instructions will be given by Major Arashi; CONSTANT VIGILANCE!!!". And that was it.
"Eh? We're attacking already?" Juno scratched his head a little. "This means I gotta lead the whole army into the battle....". He reached for another cigarette.
Zyra slapped his hand; shaking her head. "It'll be weird for me to follow you into battle this time, rather than lead you". She saw he looked worried, and sighed."Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be fine, just stay focused".
His eyes blinked  uncertainly, she kissed his cheek lightly and patted his arm. "Just you go.. uhmm.. show us maggots who's boss...".

***

By the time the army was lined up on the hillside outside the fort, it was mid-afternoon; though the grey clouds had rolled across the sun to filter the light dimly to the men. Juno strode back and forward in front of the men along the ridge, carrying his own rifle across his broad shoulders. He looked around at all their faces, and took a deep breath.
"Alright. We're about to go into battle with the Russians; an organised one this time, not retribution to a cowarly sneak attack like they did to us last time". He tapped the ground with his boot.
"ARE YOU READY TO FIGHT FOR THIS CAUSE?!?!" he boomed.
"AYE SIR!!".
Zyra watched him carefully, saluting along with the rest.
"ARE YOU READY TO DIE FOR THIS CAUSE?!?".
"SIR, WE WILL FIGHT WITH ALL WE HAVE TO SURVIVE AND ACHEIVE OUR GOALS!!!".
"ARE YOU READY TO GIVE THOSE FUCKING RUSSIANS A TASTE OF HELL?!?!?"
"SIR, WE WILL GIVE THEM HELL, SIR!!!".
Zyra's Hollow decided to poke her head in at that moment.
"He looks scary".
"I'm not afraid of him....." she replied.
"He's a lot different to the kind boy he used to be... I kinda like him better this way, more manly..".
Zyra sighed softly, fidgeting with the gun in her hand. "His kindness was one of the things I love most about him...".
And then the Russians came over the hill. Juno turned round, catching Zyra's eye, nodding, and then turning to face the oncoming enemy; gun raised in front of him.
"Freedom is worth fighting for.." he whispered, almost to himself, and then charged down towards them. The rest of the army followed, letting loose a volley of battle cries.

***

Zyra was well used to fighting, she had known it for as long as she could remember, and had no reservations as she sliced her way around the battlefield. She had opted for her sword, she much preferred it to the awkward guns the humans used. She didn't get so much of a rush from fighting these weaker humans. She had lost sight of Juno earlier, but now she suddenly caught sight of him again, and she felt herself turn suddenly colder. Juno was leaping powerfully through the enemy; blasting men with a gun while he ran and sliced at others with a knife. He would pounce upon one person, drive a knife deep into their chest, and the spray of crimson blood spurted up onto his face. He was laughing.... He looked as if he was enjoying this, as her own Hollow did. Yet there was nothing Hollow about Juno, though his eyes had that blank, bloodthirsty look with a glint of delight at the ferocity of the battle. She herself was covered in blood and gore, but she was well used to it. She leaped alongside Juno and spoke to him while fighting the enemy herself.
"Are you alright?".
"Bwahahaha!! I'm perfectly fine; we're winning this battle. HAHAHA!! Look at them, some are already retreating!".
Zyra was slyly using Fuyu No Kitsune to freeze many of their enemies using little energy, and she saw he was right. The look on his face disturbed her though.. She couldn't beleive he was enjoying it. Usually when in battle, she would sometimes look at Juno's face, which would usually be twisted with regret, reluctance to fight, because she knew he was peaceful at heart. It was a comfort to her, because he reminded her of her own lost innocence, gave her something to restrain her from getting too caught up in fighting and listening to her Hollow. She didn't want him to be like this. It was cold. Not like Juno at all.

At that point; he plunged his flame-covered hand into the chest of a Russian soldier; ripping out the heart in a spray of blood. He saw himself, almost as if he had stepped out of his own body; and then it hit him like a truck; the image of a monstrous Lex ripping out the heart of his sister was superimposed upon this one; and he froze, suddenly wanting to kill himself and the monster he represented. Zyra saw the rapid change of expression on his face and knew exactly what he was thinking. She was about to say something when she heard Lazar's voice projected through a megaphone.
"RETREAT!!!" he called, and she was slightly dissapointed to see that they all fled at once, leaving the Japanese soldiers stunned and silent on the hillside, covered in blood, gore, and standing amongst the dead bodied of friends and enemies alike.
Zyra looked down at her clothes; now so soaked in blood it was impossible to tell the original colour. Juno slumped down to the ground, dropping the heart and yanking out two packs of cigarettes. As the other soldiers talked around them; she tried to grab the cigarettes from his hands.
"Juno, no.. it's bad for you.."
"I need them"
"No you don't. Give them to me."
"I need them", he grabbed them back off her and frantically lit one, puffing on it desperately as if he'd just taken breaths of air after being underwater too long.
She decided to leave him.. it seemed he was having some kind of internal struggle. But she vowed to find some way to get him to quit for good.

They both joined the other four Captains on the walk back to the Fort; and when they turned into a part she hadn't been before, she didn't really register where they were going. Then she saw it; the showers. Communal ones, to be precise. She backed up straight away.
"Nonononono...... I uhm.. I feel ill…".
"Nonesense!" said Takagami, patting her back. You did excellent work out there, I have a feeling you're due for a promotion. Come, you are privelaged to shower with the Captains".
Eiysu already had his clothes off and was standing under a shower, wiggling his hips and singing drunkenly.
"Oooh, I feel so hot toniiiiight, I wish I had a wooomaaaaaan to rock the niiiiiiight away with meeeeeeeeeee…..".

Zyra stared in horror, all the other Captains were taking off their clothes too, except Juno who was standing behind her chuckling gleefully.
"Aren't you gonna join us Private Daisuke?" he asked, patting her shoulder.
She shot him a deathglare, then had to close her eyes behind her glasses to avoid seeing the now completely naked Captains.

"I'm going to bed!!" she cried, turning and blundering blindly towards the door, then her hand alighted on the wet shoulder of Eiysu; who had stepped in front of her.
"No, you're gonna join us all. We're going to have a party later. Get yer clothes off maggot!! This is an order!!" he said with irritation, yanking off Zyra's shirt.

They all turned to stare at her. Juno, who was now busy shampooing his annoyingly short hair blinked and stopped what he was doing.
"Oh dear, you're injured" said Takagami sympathetically, eyeing the bandages.
"Y…yes!! I'm not supposed to get it wet!!" she said frantically, glancing at Juno for help but immediately wishing she hadn't. He  frowned and wrapped a towel around his waist, striding forward to face Eiysu.
"Hey, quit harassing my soldier, want me to punch you?".

Eiysu squared up to Juno, though he was a head shorter. "Hey, I'm still a Captain, though I may not have as much fans as you. I say, off with the bandages!".

And with that, he did in fact yank them off. They all stared at her silently.
"…..Private, why are you wearing a bra….?" Asked Takagami with a suspicious smirk.
"He has little tiny man-boobs!!!", Juno cut in. "Don't stare, he's very sensitive about them!!".

Eiysu looked Zyra up and down, his eyes tracing the shape of her waist and hips.
"BAH! She's a girl!!! I ain't never seen a man lookin' like that…".
There was a collective outcry from the other Captains as they rushed to cover themselves. Zyra slapped Eiysu hard across the face.
"Yes, I'm a girl. Stop looking at me, pervert!!". She folded her arms across her chest.
"Hey, wanna sleep with me?" asked Eiysu hopefully.
"NO!!!".

Juno and Zyra both punched him at the same time and ended up knocking him over to smack his nose on the floor.
"….ow…".
"I'm going!" snapped Zyra and stormed out. Hmf! She would prefer to bathe in the cold Lake, those Captains were such a bunch of animals.

***

Zyra was still seething half an hour later as she swam gracefully in the arctic temperature Lake. Though she was curious now; Takagami had said something about a promotion…… She rather liked that idea. There was a rustling noise in the trees followed by heavy, clumsy footfalls and then a loud creak and a thump.

"Ow.." came Juno's voice.
"Did you trip over a tree root AGAIN?!?" she asked incredulously, peeking only her head out from under the water.
He got up and came to sit at the bank of the Lake, looking at her with interest.
"Yeah, I seem to have bad luck with 'em".
"Juno, you're interrupting me, what do you want?".
"I sorta came to apologize on behalf of Eiysu, he's well known around the Fort for his perverted doings…".
"Well he'd better leave me alone or else I'll just have to do something really mean to him…" she grinned evilly.
"Mmm-hmm". He tilted his head to follow her progress as she swam around the lake. The water was too dark to see anything but her head……
"Are you still here?! Quit watching me, don't tell me you're a pervert too…".
"Nooo…. Well, you saw me…".

She glared at him. "You want to see me too?!".
"…Kiiiiinda……".
She smiled inwardly as her brain hatched a cunning payback plan. "Only if you can stay in this water for five minutes".
Juno winked at her and leaped into the water. "See, it's not that- HEY!! WHAT'RE YOU DOING?!?!?".

The water around him froze with a triumphant crackling noise, leaving only his head above the ice. Zyra had gotten out the Lake already, dressed in shorts and with her bandages re-wrapped. She was grinning from ear to ear as she walked onto the ice and circled Juno's head.
"Oops, I forgot to tell you… THIS IS PAYBACK!!!".
Juno stared up at her with a hilarious mixture of shock and anger. He had already started to shiver.
"Y-you evil m-m-m-monster!! I'm g-gonna d-d-die!! They-ll f-find my p-poor fu-fu-fu-frozen body in th-morning".
Zyra huffed and lay down on her stomach on the ice, her head level with Juno's and propped up on her elbows.

"Did you really think I was going to let you see me?".
"C-course n-n-not! I w-w-was only jok-k-king!!". He had a comical hurt expression on his face, which looked even funnier because he was shivering violently and his lips were blue and frosty.
Zyra chuckled and held Juno's face in her hands, kissing him lightly. His lips were like ice……She thought she'd better get him out before he got hypothermic.
"Geez, if you're that cold… Why don't you just use your fire?".
"I CAN'T MOVE!!! I N-N-NEED FRICTION T-T-TO MAKE FIRE!!".

Zyra pouted and let the ice go back to water, dragging him out onto the ground with difficulty. He was very heavy. "There's no need to be all cocky about it..".
He glared up at her from his shaking position on the ground. "Speaking of cocks, mine is numb. If it falls off I will never talk to you again".
She snorted with laughter and went down to hug him tightly, he still had a huffy expression, but clutched her to his body desperately to try and get some warmth from her. She really wasn't very warm though.
"At least let me have a cigarette!! All my insides are frozen..".

Zyra tilted her face down towards Juno's and kissed him again, properly this time, with her fingers under his chin. He kissed her back enthusiastically, with his lips still trembling in hers, his hand was icy on the back of her neck. But Zyra started to draw back almost immediately, his tongue tasted strongly of cigarettes.
"BLEK!!". Zyra turned her head away and stuck out her tongue. "How many cigarettes have you had today?!?!?!".

He tried to pull her mouth back to his. "Nnnn…. about thirty…..".
"THIRTY?!?! THIRTY?!?! What the fuck, Juno? Just stop it, right now. It tastes horrible!!".
He raised an eyebrow, grabbing her chin gently and trying to lift his head up.
"JUNO!".
He winced, and pouted. "Eh? I get it, no smoking and all….. Uhn! Let me kiss you".
"No".
"Whaaaaat?!?!".
"I said, No".
Juno did his puppy eyes expression, though it was less effective without his adorable fluffy hair.
"Hnn!! But my lips are cold!!".
She cupped her hand over his mouth. "There, is that better?".
"Mmf!!".
"You listen here, Captain Montague. I will not. I repeat; NOT kiss you when you taste like smoke. If you don't quit, then no kissing, E V E R!!!".

She smirked as he yanked her hand away from his mouth and sat up quickly.
"WHAAAAT!?!?!..... You can't do that!!!". He looked horrified.
She folded her arms, still sitting on him. "Yes I can, and I will. I'm not kidding".
"AAH!! Okay, okay!!!! I'll stop, I promise!!!". He still looked horrified, and she smiled. She hoped he would keep that promise, and if he didn't she'd kick his ass anyway, as well as the 'no-kissing' rule. "Just don't do that to me!!!".
Juno glomped her, squishing her against the ground.
"Juno… can't.. breath….".

"Oh…." He raised his body off her a little, but kept his cheek nuzzled against hers. Well, at least he was warming up now…. Zyra nibbled his ear playfully, but he flinched.
"Eya, my ear's still cold".
"U-oh… You should get up to the Fort before you get Pneumonia…".
They stood up and started to walk back towards the fort; and Juno whispered into her ear.
"You were kidding earlier, weren't you?".

"NO!".
Juno stared at her blankly for a moment; then took his cigarette pack and hurled it violently into the Lake. "DAMN YOU CIGARETTES!!!!" he growled after them. He'd have to find something else… preferably something that tasted good..

Description
It was midnight, dressed in her cloak and mask, Zyra made her way back to Captain Monty's room to complete the job she had been given. She carefully slipped in the door making no noise, and crept over beside the bed of the sleeping Captain. She took out her knife and laid it along his throat, she could feel the slow pulse beating beneath the skin. Humans were so fragile, and he looked so innocent as he slept.... His eyes were closed so that the pale lashes cast soft shadows on his cheeks, and there was a slight frown on his face. He looked almost sad, she thought, as she watched his chest move up and down with his breath. Putting her face closer to his, she saw again his resemblance to Juno. The only difference was the abscence of his fluffy blonde hair, and the prescence of that deep scar on his cheek..... She froze. Could he actually be Juno?!

The second this thought occured to her, the Captain's hand shot up like lightning to grab the wrist of teh hand that held the knife; twisting it away from his throat.
"So, you thought I was asleep did you? Wrong. A good Captain will never let his guard down. Besides, I don't sleep very often".
Zyra yanked herself away from him and leapt to the other side of the room, getting out her sword and charging back at him. He was prepared, and blocked the sword with his forearm, which had some kind of metal guard on it that stopped her sword slicing his arm off. Next thing she knew, he had a gun pointing at her chest.
"Sword against gun; who d'you think will win?" he asked coldly.
She put on a voice. "An Angel, using a gun?! Why don't you show me your own powers?".
"Ha! Alright, if you insist" he said, and leaped back a few paces, opening a familiar pair of brilliant flaming gold wings that spanned the length of the entire room. She had already leaped towards him, slicing her sword at one of the wings, and with a sweep of his arm; he had set the whole room ablaze. Then they froze. Ice crystals had started to form on the golden fire of his wing; Zyra stared up at the blue eyes in horror, as his looked down, spotting yellow beneath the mask.
"...Juno?".
"...Zyra?".

Zyra swept her sword in an arc to extinguish the flames, while Juno's fiery wings dissipated into nothing, and he roughly knocked off the fox mask that covered Zyra's face. She surveyed him for a moment before grabbing his head roughly and shouting at him.
"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU TO TO YOUR HAIR?!?!?! I THOUGHT THEY'D SENT YOU TO MILITARY SCHOOL, NOT THE FUCKING ARMY!!!!!".
Juno's eyes shut against the volume of her voice; then he pushed her off him a little.
"YOU JUST FUCKING TRIED TO KILL ME!!! WHAT THE FUCK WOMAN?!?!?!?"

They stared angrily at each other for a while, breathing heavily and trying to out-glare each other. Eventually, Juno reached out to touch Zyra's cheek with the back of his hand. She was warm..
"Is that REALLY you, what the Hell are you doing here?!?!"
"......To assasinate you?" she said with a sly grin.
"No really, it seems like such a coincidence...... You didn't even know who I was!".
"Well..... you look..... so different.." muttered Zyra, running her hand across his bristly head, then then resting it against the angry scar on his cheek. Juno closed his eyes, lifting his hand to place it on top of hers; the other arm snaking around her waist to pull her against him.
"....You look exactly the same....." he said.
"Hnnn...".
She suddenly realised how painfully much she missed him, and pulled her hand out of Juno's grasp to wrap both arms around his waist, pressing her face tightly against his chest. She felt the slow, powerful beat of his heart against her cheek, and she was warm..... Juno was always so warm....
"........Juno....." she whispered quietly against his chest.
He laid his head on her shoulder, breathing warm air against her neck. "Yes, my love....".
".......I......I missed you.......". She closed her eyes and concentrated on the warmth.
"Zyra..... I missed you so much.. it made me crazy".
Juno slid his hands slowly up her back, rubbing it softly as he breathed in deeply. He desperately needed this moment. Right now, where he was.. It was all that kept him going. He kissed Zyra's neck softly, unable to stop himself.
"Uhm......Juno...". Zyra felt herself turning bright red.
"Mmmm.......?". He kissed all the way down her neck to her collarbone, then broke off and nuzzled into her chest.
"...Nothing...". She wrapped her arms around Juno's neck and held his head there against her heart. She felt his mouth curl up into a smile and he started to play with her hair, undoing the two ponytails and twirling the strands between his fingers.
"You weren't really going to kill Captain Monty, were you?" he asked eventually, his voice muffled by her shirt.
She heaved a sigh.
"No, I couldn't. He's too much like you..".

***

He wished he could just keep his eyes shut against Zyra's chest and NOT have to deal with the problem of the burnt room and the fact that Zyra was supposed to have killed him.
"Uhm, Zyra...."
"Ya?".
"What're you gonna do about that crazy-ass Russian guy. You'll surely have to bring proof you killed me...".
Zyra grinned mischeviously, thankful that Juno couldn't see her.
"Oh, I'll think of something.... don't you worry.....".
He caught the tone of her voice, and reluctantly lifted his head up to look her in the eye, he saw her quickly change her expression into one of innocence. "Shouldn't you do something about this room?" she asked, and walked to the door.
"I'll take care of this if YOU take care of General Lazar" pouted Juno, flicking a bit of ash off the bookshelf, which crumbled to the ground at his touch. Zyra laughed softly; he loved that sound...
"Aye, Captain". She flashed him a sarcastic salute and dissapeared. Juno rolled his eyes and adressed the room. "Women...." he tutted.

***

Juno leaned against the gun shed in the training grounds. It was two hours later, and he had managed to convince Major Arashi (using Aya to distract his eyes) that the damage to the room had been caused by a temperamental experiment he had been conducting. It was widely known around the fort that Juno was a very strange boy, so the Major did not question him too closely on that. The bad thing was that he now had nowhere to sleep. Major Arashi said that it was his own fault, and so he'd have to make do with whatever space he found, that caused Juno some concern. He was already cold enough at night when he was able to sleep in a bed, he'd probably catch Hypothermia.. it was only a matter of time. So, for now, he slept against the weaponry shed with his chin resting on his chest, he was in fact drifting off quite peacefully until he was awoken rudely by Captain Takagami's boot swinging into his stomach.
"OW!! WHAT THE FUCK!?!?! CAN'T YOU SEE I WAS FUCKIN' TRYING TO SLEEP?!?!?!". He leaped to his feet angrily, with his fists raised and ready to knock that idiot's head around.
"'Sup Captain!", Takagami greeted him cheerily.
"W'the fuck do you want?!?!". Juno did not take too kindly to being woken up when he had finally got around to sleeping. Of late, he'd slipped back into his old habit of not being able to sleep.
"Got'cha a new recruit Monty. He's a little weird, but that's why I thought he'd be good for you to look after". At this, he moved aside to show a small figure dressed in the footsoldier uniform with long hair tied back into a ponytail and dark glasses. Juno pulled a face. She couldn't fool him with a disguise like that.
"This is Private Daisuke. He's got err.. Photophobia? Something like that, his eyes are weak in sunlight so he has to wear glasses. And, err.. all the razors seem to have broken, so I guess we hafta let him keep that odd hairdo...".

Juno walked around the soldier, swinging his arms a little with a slightly evil grin on his face.
"So, Private Daisuke is my new meat, huh? ALRIGHT!! ATTEN-HUT MAGGOT!!!" he shouted, his "Captain voice" could be heard ringing loudly across the training grounds. Somehow, though his lungs were large and powerful, shouting like this made them ache a little. He guessed he was smoking a wee bit too much...
Zyra straightened up, wincing a little, Geez! That boy could really yell....."Aye, Captain Montague, sir!".
"THIS IS NOT GIRL GUIDE CAMP!! THIS IS THE ARMY, AND IN THE ARMY, WE WORK OUR BACKS UNTIL THEY BREAK!!! WE LOAD, SHOOT AND RELOAD UNTIL OUR HANDS ARE BLISTERED AND SORE!!!! THEN WE DO IT AGAIN!!! WE LIFT WEIGHTS UNTIL EVERY DAMN MUSCLE IN OUR BODY SCREAMS FOR US TO STOP, BUT WE DO NOT!!! OUR SOULS ARE PAST SHATTERING, OUR MINDS ARE BEYOND TORTURED... CAN. YOU. HANDLE. THIS. PRIVATE DAISUKE?!?!".
Zyra stared at him with her mouth slightly open in shock. In the past, she had doubted Juno's potential as an authority figure, she could safely say now, that at that moment he looked nothing like the awkward and soft boy she'd first met. He looked rather impressive and vicious, certainly not a man to be messed with....
"Sir, yessir!" she managed to say, saluting.
"I CAN'T HEAR YOU, MAGGOT!!!".
"SIR, YESSIR!!!" she yelled.
"GOOD!! NOW MARCH!! MARCH!! ONE, TWO, ONE, TWO, COME ON!!", Juno made her march ahead of him. She gritted her teeth; he was SO going to pay for this..... She told him so, whispering sharply out the side of her mouth. He grinned.
"MOVE THOSE SCRAWNY LEGS!!!!! THIS IS NO TIME TO BE A PUSSY!!!".
Zyra marched faster; muttering curses under her breath.

As soon as they got around the corner, Juno dropped his hardass approach.
"Alright, you can stop now Zyra". He smiled apologetically. "Can't let my reputation go down the drain...".
Zyra poked him hard in the chest.
"You're pretty good at the tough guy act, but you WILL pay for making a fool of me....".
His face fell, looking slightly worried.
"Oh........ but.. I-... Wait, so you managed to deal with Lazar?".
"Yeah, brought him your head", she grinned widely. "Don't ask. And you fixed your problem too?".
He nodded, and to her disbeleif, took out a cigarette, lit it and put it  to his mouth, breathing deeply and closing his eyes. Zyra watched the hideous grey smoke drifting between his lips and across his tongue for a moment, before freezing the stupid deathstick with a flick of her wrist.
"HEY! What was that for?" he cried indignantly. "OW!!".
Zyra had hit him roughly across the face. "NO!!! YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO SMOKE!! It's disgusting; you'll kill yourself!".
"But I-"
"Quiet a minute; what's that?"
"The intercom, sounds like the Field Marshall... I wonder what-"
"SHHH!! I want to hear!!"
The voice of the Field Marshall boomed across the fort and the area all around it.
"Everyone, prepare yourselves, we return attack in an hour. The Russians are already advancing!! Instructions will be given by Major Arashi; CONSTANT VIGILANCE!!!". And that was it.
"Eh? We're attacking already?" Juno scratched his head a little. "This means I gotta lead the whole army into the battle....". He reached for another cigarette.
Zyra slapped his hand; shaking her head. "It'll be weird for me to follow you into battle this time, rather than lead you". She saw he looked worried, and sighed."Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be fine, just stay focused".
His eyes blinked  uncertainly, she kissed his cheek lightly and patted his arm. "Just you go.. uhmm.. show us maggots who's boss...".

***

By the time the army was lined up on the hillside outside the fort, it was mid-afternoon; though the grey clouds had rolled across the sun to filter the light dimly to the men. Juno strode back and forward in front of the men along the ridge, carrying his own rifle across his broad shoulders. He looked around at all their faces, and took a deep breath.
"Alright. We're about to go into battle with the Russians; an organised one this time, not retribution to a cowarly sneak attack like they did to us last time". He tapped the ground with his boot.
"ARE YOU READY TO FIGHT FOR THIS CAUSE?!?!" he boomed.
"AYE SIR!!".
Zyra watched him carefully, saluting along with the rest.
"ARE YOU READY TO DIE FOR THIS CAUSE?!?".
"SIR, WE WILL FIGHT WITH ALL WE HAVE TO SURVIVE AND ACHEIVE OUR GOALS!!!".
"ARE YOU READY TO GIVE THOSE FUCKING RUSSIANS A TASTE OF HELL?!?!?"
"SIR, WE WILL GIVE THEM HELL, SIR!!!".
Zyra's Hollow decided to poke her head in at that moment.
"He looks scary".
"I'm not afraid of him....." she replied.
"He's a lot different to the kind boy he used to be... I kinda like him better this way, more manly..".
Zyra sighed softly, fidgeting with the gun in her hand. "His kindness was one of the things I love most about him...".
And then the Russians came over the hill. Juno turned round, catching Zyra's eye, nodding, and then turning to face the oncoming enemy; gun raised in front of him.
"Freedom is worth fighting for.." he whispered, almost to himself, and then charged down towards them. The rest of the army followed, letting loose a volley of battle cries.

***

Zyra was well used to fighting, she had known it for as long as she could remember, and had no reservations as she sliced her way around the battlefield. She had opted for her sword, she much preferred it to the awkward guns the humans used. She didn't get so much of a rush from fighting these weaker humans. She had lost sight of Juno earlier, but now she suddenly caught sight of him again, and she felt herself turn suddenly colder. Juno was leaping powerfully through the enemy; blasting men with a gun while he ran and sliced at others with a knife. He would pounce upon one person, drive a knife deep into their chest, and the spray of crimson blood spurted up onto his face. He was laughing.... He looked as if he was enjoying this, as her own Hollow did. Yet there was nothing Hollow about Juno, though his eyes had that blank, bloodthirsty look with a glint of delight at the ferocity of the battle. She herself was covered in blood and gore, but she was well used to it. She leaped alongside Juno and spoke to him while fighting the enemy herself.
"Are you alright?".
"Bwahahaha!! I'm perfectly fine; we're winning this battle. HAHAHA!! Look at them, some are already retreating!".
Zyra was slyly using Fuyu No Kitsune to freeze many of their enemies using little energy, and she saw he was right. The look on his face disturbed her though.. She couldn't beleive he was enjoying it. Usually when in battle, she would sometimes look at Juno's face, which would usually be twisted with regret, reluctance to fight, because she knew he was peaceful at heart. It was a comfort to her, because he reminded her of her own lost innocence, gave her something to restrain her from getting too caught up in fighting and listening to her Hollow. She didn't want him to be like this. It was cold. Not like Juno at all.

At that point; he plunged his flame-covered hand into the chest of a Russian soldier; ripping out the heart in a spray of blood. He saw himself, almost as if he had stepped out of his own body; and then it hit him like a truck; the image of a monstrous Lex ripping out the heart of his sister was superimposed upon this one; and he froze, suddenly wanting to kill himself and the monster he represented. Zyra saw the rapid change of expression on his face and knew exactly what he was thinking. She was about to say something when she heard Lazar's voice projected through a megaphone.
"RETREAT!!!" he called, and she was slightly dissapointed to see that they all fled at once, leaving the Japanese soldiers stunned and silent on the hillside, covered in blood, gore, and standing amongst the dead bodied of friends and enemies alike.
Zyra looked down at her clothes; now so soaked in blood it was impossible to tell the original colour. Juno slumped down to the ground, dropping the heart and yanking out two packs of cigarettes. As the other soldiers talked around them; she tried to grab the cigarettes from his hands.
"Juno, no.. it's bad for you.."
"I need them"
"No you don't. Give them to me."
"I need them", he grabbed them back off her and frantically lit one, puffing on it desperately as if he'd just taken breaths of air after being underwater too long.
She decided to leave him.. it seemed he was having some kind of internal struggle. But she vowed to find some way to get him to quit for good.

They both joined the other four Captains on the walk back to the Fort; and when they turned into a part she hadn't been before, she didn't really register where they were going. Then she saw it; the showers. Communal ones, to be precise. She backed up straight away.
"Nonononono...... I uhm.. I feel ill…".
"Nonesense!" said Takagami, patting her back. You did excellent work out there, I have a feeling you're due for a promotion. Come, you are privelaged to shower with the Captains".
Eiysu already had his clothes off and was standing under a shower, wiggling his hips and singing drunkenly.
"Oooh, I feel so hot toniiiiight, I wish I had a wooomaaaaaan to rock the niiiiiiight away with meeeeeeeeeee…..".

Zyra stared in horror, all the other Captains were taking off their clothes too, except Juno who was standing behind her chuckling gleefully.
"Aren't you gonna join us Private Daisuke?" he asked, patting her shoulder.
She shot him a deathglare, then had to close her eyes behind her glasses to avoid seeing the now completely naked Captains.

"I'm going to bed!!" she cried, turning and blundering blindly towards the door, then her hand alighted on the wet shoulder of Eiysu; who had stepped in front of her.
"No, you're gonna join us all. We're going to have a party later. Get yer clothes off maggot!! This is an order!!" he said with irritation, yanking off Zyra's shirt.

They all turned to stare at her. Juno, who was now busy shampooing his annoyingly short hair blinked and stopped what he was doing.
"Oh dear, you're injured" said Takagami sympathetically, eyeing the bandages.
"Y…yes!! I'm not supposed to get it wet!!" she said frantically, glancing at Juno for help but immediately wishing she hadn't. He  frowned and wrapped a towel around his waist, striding forward to face Eiysu.
"Hey, quit harassing my soldier, want me to punch you?".

Eiysu squared up to Juno, though he was a head shorter. "Hey, I'm still a Captain, though I may not have as much fans as you. I say, off with the bandages!".

And with that, he did in fact yank them off. They all stared at her silently.
"…..Private, why are you wearing a bra….?" Asked Takagami with a suspicious smirk.
"He has little tiny man-boobs!!!", Juno cut in. "Don't stare, he's very sensitive about them!!".

Eiysu looked Zyra up and down, his eyes tracing the shape of her waist and hips.
"BAH! She's a girl!!! I ain't never seen a man lookin' like that…".
There was a collective outcry from the other Captains as they rushed to cover themselves. Zyra slapped Eiysu hard across the face.
"Yes, I'm a girl. Stop looking at me, pervert!!". She folded her arms across her chest.
"Hey, wanna sleep with me?" asked Eiysu hopefully.
"NO!!!".

Juno and Zyra both punched him at the same time and ended up knocking him over to smack his nose on the floor.
"….ow…".
"I'm going!" snapped Zyra and stormed out. Hmf! She would prefer to bathe in the cold Lake, those Captains were such a bunch of animals.

***

Zyra was still seething half an hour later as she swam gracefully in the arctic temperature Lake. Though she was curious now; Takagami had said something about a promotion…… She rather liked that idea. There was a rustling noise in the trees followed by heavy, clumsy footfalls and then a loud creak and a thump.

"Ow.." came Juno's voice.
"Did you trip over a tree root AGAIN?!?" she asked incredulously, peeking only her head out from under the water.
He got up and came to sit at the bank of the Lake, looking at her with interest.
"Yeah, I seem to have bad luck with 'em".
"Juno, you're interrupting me, what do you want?".
"I sorta came to apologize on behalf of Eiysu, he's well known around the Fort for his perverted doings…".
"Well he'd better leave me alone or else I'll just have to do something really mean to him…" she grinned evilly.
"Mmm-hmm". He tilted his head to follow her progress as she swam around the lake. The water was too dark to see anything but her head……
"Are you still here?! Quit watching me, don't tell me you're a pervert too…".
"Nooo…. Well, you saw me…".

She glared at him. "You want to see me too?!".
"…Kiiiiinda……".
She smiled inwardly as her brain hatched a cunning payback plan. "Only if you can stay in this water for five minutes".
Juno winked at her and leaped into the water. "See, it's not that- HEY!! WHAT'RE YOU DOING?!?!?".

The water around him froze with a triumphant crackling noise, leaving only his head above the ice. Zyra had gotten out the Lake already, dressed in shorts and with her bandages re-wrapped. She was grinning from ear to ear as she walked onto the ice and circled Juno's head.
"Oops, I forgot to tell you… THIS IS PAYBACK!!!".
Juno stared up at her with a hilarious mixture of shock and anger. He had already started to shiver.
"Y-you evil m-m-m-monster!! I'm g-gonna d-d-die!! They-ll f-find my p-poor fu-fu-fu-frozen body in th-morning".
Zyra huffed and lay down on her stomach on the ice, her head level with Juno's and propped up on her elbows.

"Did you really think I was going to let you see me?".
"C-course n-n-not! I w-w-was only jok-k-king!!". He had a comical hurt expression on his face, which looked even funnier because he was shivering violently and his lips were blue and frosty.
Zyra chuckled and held Juno's face in her hands, kissing him lightly. His lips were like ice……She thought she'd better get him out before he got hypothermic.
"Geez, if you're that cold… Why don't you just use your fire?".
"I CAN'T MOVE!!! I N-N-NEED FRICTION T-T-TO MAKE FIRE!!".

Zyra pouted and let the ice go back to water, dragging him out onto the ground with difficulty. He was very heavy. "There's no need to be all cocky about it..".
He glared up at her from his shaking position on the ground. "Speaking of cocks, mine is numb. If it falls off I will never talk to you again".
She snorted with laughter and went down to hug him tightly, he still had a huffy expression, but clutched her to his body desperately to try and get some warmth from her. She really wasn't very warm though.
"At least let me have a cigarette!! All my insides are frozen..".

Zyra tilted her face down towards Juno's and kissed him again, properly this time, with her fingers under his chin. He kissed her back enthusiastically, with his lips still trembling in hers, his hand was icy on the back of her neck. But Zyra started to draw back almost immediately, his tongue tasted strongly of cigarettes.
"BLEK!!". Zyra turned her head away and stuck out her tongue. "How many cigarettes have you had today?!?!?!".

He tried to pull her mouth back to his. "Nnnn…. about thirty…..".
"THIRTY?!?! THIRTY?!?! What the fuck, Juno? Just stop it, right now. It tastes horrible!!".
He raised an eyebrow, grabbing her chin gently and trying to lift his head up.
"JUNO!".
He winced, and pouted. "Eh? I get it, no smoking and all….. Uhn! Let me kiss you".
"No".
"Whaaaaat?!?!".
"I said, No".
Juno did his puppy eyes expression, though it was less effective without his adorable fluffy hair.
"Hnn!! But my lips are cold!!".
She cupped her hand over his mouth. "There, is that better?".
"Mmf!!".
"You listen here, Captain Montague. I will not. I repeat; NOT kiss you when you taste like smoke. If you don't quit, then no kissing, E V E R!!!".

She smirked as he yanked her hand away from his mouth and sat up quickly.
"WHAAAAT!?!?!..... You can't do that!!!". He looked horrified.
She folded her arms, still sitting on him. "Yes I can, and I will. I'm not kidding".
"AAH!! Okay, okay!!!! I'll stop, I promise!!!". He still looked horrified, and she smiled. She hoped he would keep that promise, and if he didn't she'd kick his ass anyway, as well as the 'no-kissing' rule. "Just don't do that to me!!!".
Juno glomped her, squishing her against the ground.
"Juno… can't.. breath….".

"Oh…." He raised his body off her a little, but kept his cheek nuzzled against hers. Well, at least he was warming up now…. Zyra nibbled his ear playfully, but he flinched.
"Eya, my ear's still cold".
"U-oh… You should get up to the Fort before you get Pneumonia…".
They stood up and started to walk back towards the fort; and Juno whispered into her ear.
"You were kidding earlier, weren't you?".

"NO!".
Juno stared at her blankly for a moment; then took his cigarette pack and hurled it violently into the Lake. "DAMN YOU CIGARETTES!!!!" he growled after them. He'd have to find something else… preferably something that tasted good..