Ito Ai: A New Dawn

"How am I a pervert!?" Eiji asked, not understanding how he became a pervert all of a sudden.

"Were you not gawking at my body just now? If this is not a pervert tendency then I do not know what is." Ai teased, causing Eiji to blush.

"You told me to look!" Eiji said, trying to defend himself, causing Ai to let out a laugh. 

"I am just kidding. Today was sort of special training for you. I had Mai and my belated family undergo the same training. It is to get used to the idea of having to bathe in public. Mai is also able to do this as well. Although she would show some rosy cheeks in front of you guys." Ai knew Shogo would need to go through the same training or with his stupid personality he would end up looking at the wrong girl and end up being shot. But she figured she would leave that to Mai. It will also help her with her own shyness. If they ever did need to leave this place and move to a new location, bathing would need to be done in public meaning if they were going to stick together then they would need to get used to seeing each other in the buff, close to it anyway. But Ai still couldn't understand what men saw in underwear when it was basically no different than a bathing suit. "We will be doing this more in the future until it becomes a norm for you." 

Eiji stared at Ai who was wearing his shirt and pants that looked way too big on her, blanky, not sure what to make out of what she had just said. 

"Okay, already! Now, let's go inside so I can hold a meeting. If anything you and I will set out tomorrow." Ai said as she stood up and pulled out her radio. "Mai, open the shutter and turn the camera back on."

"On it!" Mai replied over the radio.

The shutter door opened up and the two entered the base. Ai called a meeting and everyone gathered into the control room. "I wanted to let you all know I plan to make a trip back to my old base. Mai will you be okay staying here?" 

"Huh? We are not all going?" Mai asked. She was a bit confused because she expected everyone to go.

"Nope. We need people here to defend the base. I was planning to leave you in charge and Yoshi as your second in command, what do you think?" Ai looked at Mai waiting for her response.

"I guess it will be fine..." Mai was a little nervous. It was not like she did not trust Yoshi and Shogo, but she still felt strange being alone with them. 

"Mai, remember if they try anything, just press the button." Ai said nonchalantly. While both Yoshi and Shogo reached for their necks. 

"Mmm… Can I test it out on Shogo first? Just to make sure it works?" Mai asked as she gave a side glance at Shogo. 

"Huh!? Wait!? I didn't do anything!" Shogo faced paled as he began pleading only to turn red faced when he figured out it was all a joke. 

Yoshi patted Shogo on the back with a wide grin. "Just give up, and let your head become a sacrifice."

"At any rate, the base will be on lockdown while I am gone. Shutters to the main hall will be closed with only a code that I know. So if anything happens while I am gone, there will be no escape. I am trusting you two with my only family member. If something happens to her, you should know death will not be what is waiting for you. I can keep you alive and slowly torture you until you beg me for death." Ai stood up leaving the two men who seemed shocked by Ai's statement behind as she walked out of the room. 

"Are we that untrustworthy?" Yoshi spoke after Ai left, his question was not really directed to anyone.

"It's not that she does not trust you. I mean she made you second in command while she is gone. It is that she worries for Mai's safety before anything else. " Eiji explained. Yoshi thought for a moment and realized this was so. 

"You are right. I misspoke. She trusts us enough to leave her only family member with us. This means she is testing us to see if we are worthy of that trust. But is she really using Mai as her test?" Yoshi couldn't understand Ai very well. The things she knows and does is strange for a girl her age.

"Ai would never put me in danger. The way she speaks and what she actually feels are two different things. You may call this a test but it is Ai's way of seeing how we all handle a situation when she is not around. I can guarantee she will watch all the cameras once she is back to see how we acted. Ai has always prioritized survival over everything else. She wants to know if she has to leave for a month or two at a time if the base will still be operational when she gets back and that we did not go overboard with supplies. " Mai explained. Mai did not add that this was Ai's way of testing her leadership abilities. Ai was always one to make training hard. Although it was only about a week there and back to the bunker, anything could happen within that time. They could get trapped in a radiation storm or something else could happen where both Ai and Eiji had to hide for a while. Even this base could come under attack after she left. In this world, there was no telling what could happen.

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