Tyranny of Steel

Mizuno Ai sat across from a perfectly average young man. If she could say that he had one redeeming physical quality, it was the extent of his muscles. By now, she and Julian had known each other for roughly three months, and today was just a normal Saturday.

Since she had met Julian, Ai had been plagued with troubles in her attempt to coax the man out of his self-imposed exile within the library of Westpoint. She honestly did not understand how the man was able to live his life with as little human interaction as possible. Julian was practically a hermit outside of his studies and the academy's mandated social events.

Both Ai and Julian had an open schedule this weekend, and because of that, she had dragged him out of the library and to an amusement park in the city. It was only now that she was beginning to understand the extent of Julian's social anxiety.

Ai carefully observed the sweat on Julian's brow as he struggled to deal with the large crowds. The man, who was normally calm, collected, and a bit of an asshole, was now pumping his leg frantically as his eyes darted back and forth. He slowly sipped from his milk shake while his gaze was lost in space.

The two of them had stopped for lunch at one of the overpriced restaurants provided in the park. If there were two things that Julian enjoyed in this world, it was cheeseburgers and milkshakes. Of course, he could never afford the prices of amusement park food, and because of that, Ai had paid for his meal, just like she had done with his ticket.

Ai observed the man's unusual behavior as he snacked on his burger and drank from his milkshake. She found his anxiety to be endearing. It was unusual for Julian to show weakness. He normally had a smug attitude when dealing with people, as if he were a god descended from the heavens, and the people around him were mere hairless apes. The fact that he was bad with crowds made him seem more human, but more importantly, it was a weakness that Ai could exploit should the man ever step out of line.

However, she would never admit that she had such cruelty in her mind, instead she wore a convincing facade of a worried friend, as she grasped hold of Julian's shaking hand, and attempted to calm him down.

"Are you alright, Julian? You look a little under the weather..."

Julian was on edge, being surrounded by so many people, and their screams of excitement. He nearly smacked the girl in the face when she touched him without permission. His eyes quickly darted over to Ai's pretty face, as if he were acquiring his target before unleashing his attack. There was a look of genuine concern on her pretty face as she checked on his condition, which helped to calm him down.

Knowing Julian's personality, Ai could surmise that he would respond with a denial of his condition, and instead pretend like he was okay being surrounded by so many people. This would only add to his anxiety, as he would be forced to keep up an act for the entire day. However, in the next moment, Julian sighed and said something unexpected.

"I'm not going to lie... I ain't exactly doing so well right now. People, especially large amounts of people. I find them to be unnerving."

Ai couldn't help but giggle when she saw Julian's pained expression. His response was to glare at the young woman until she stopped, which eventually she did, only to lecture him on his lifestyle.

"Well, that's not surprising. You spend as much time as possible secluded in the library with nothing but books to keep you company. In fact, I don't believe I have ever seen you voluntarily interact with another human being."

There was a look of confusion on Julian's face as he heard this. He did not understand what the girl meant. He could only ask for clarification on the issue.

"Why would I?"

The two friends stared at each other in silence for a moment, as if they were from two different planets. Ai could only sigh and rest her face in the palm of her hands. In that moment, she felt like she was lecturing a child on how to get along with others.

"Because you can't do everything alone in this world. You need people to help you, especially if you're joining the military. If you don't socialize with your unit, they will feel as if they can't trust you with their backs. I'm willing to bet you haven't spoken a word to anyone in the barracks since you first joined the academy, outside of maybe small talk. I'm right, aren't I?"

Julian had to think hard on the last two years to come up with a single instance where he spoke to someone in the barracks outside of mandatory conversation or basic questions. The look on his face as he tried to recall a memory where he spoke with anyone other than in passing made Ai giggle once more. As Julian was lost in his thoughts, a group of girls walked by the table where he sat at. However, when they saw Ai they immediately stopped in their tracks before approaching the woman.

"Ai is that you? I haven't seen you since high school! Is this your boyfriend?"

Ai looked over at the girls and got out of her seat before hugging them. Apparently, they were good friends before starting university. After hearing the question about Julian, the girl blushed, as she did not know how to answer the question. Julian, on the other hand, had not really noticed, nor did he care about the girl's friends. He simply acted aloof, as he normally did. Ultimately, Ai introduced him to the girls with a slight frown on her face, knowing he would not take the initiative to do so himself.

"This is Julian. He's a friend of mine from the academy. Can you believe he has never been to an amusement park before? When I heard this, I knew I had to drag him here myself. He doesn't seem to appreciate my kindness, though!"

The girl that Ai seemed to be the most friendly with immediately felt suspicious when she heard this and began to verbally dissect Ai's statement in front of her.

"A friend, is he? I don't know about you, but I wouldn't normally drag a guy to an amusement park unless I was on a date with him!"

When Julian heard this, he felt embarrassed. He had never even considered the possibility that this was a date, and immediately blushed in the corner as he remained silent. He would allow Ai to clear up the misunderstanding for him. Naturally, Ai defended her statement in an unconvincing attempt.

"D..d..date? No... no... It's not like that. We are just two friends hanging out at an amusement park, right Julian?"

Julian sighed in relief as he heard this. He was right. There was no way a girl like Ai would be interested in him. Thus, he did not feel bad, as he wore a stoic expression while correcting Ai's statement in front of her friends.

"Friends? I would consider us to be more like acquaintances. As for this being a date, it is simply implausible."

Ai shot Julian a nasty glare. She could not understand why he was always like this. How were the two of them not friends? They had known each other for over three months. He had been over to her house and had eaten her cooking, and now they were at an amusement park together. How the hell could they possibly be considered nothing but mere acquaintances?

When the girls noticed Ai's furious gaze directed at Julian after he said they were nothing more than acquaintances, they understood exactly what was going on. The girl who had approached AI wrapped her arm around the woman's shoulder and whispered something in her ear so that Julian could not hear it.

"Unrequited love is a bitch, isn't it? Though I don't know why you're interested in a guy like this, keep at it. Eventually, he will come around. I mean, it's not like he has a better option than you lying around, now does he?"

Ai immediately blushed when she heard this statement, before staring into her friend's eyes. The girl had a supportive look on her face as she gave Ai a thumbs up. After saying this, the girl spoke to Julian once more.

"Well, it was nice to meet you, Julian. Me and the girls are going to go on ahead. You two enjoy yourselves, and Ai, I'm rooting for you!"

After saying this, the trio of young women ran off towards the amusement park, leaving an embarrassed Ai, and a slightly flustered Julian, to sit in awkward silence as they enjoyed their overpriced burgers and milkshakes. Ai would eventually succeed in coaxing Julian out of his shell and getting him to enjoy himself on some rides together.

Shortly thereafter, Itami awoke from her dream and stared at the ceiling with a depressed expression on her pretty face. She could only sigh in defeat as she thought about what she had dreamt of.

"Julian... you fucking idiot... You probably didn't even realize until the day you died that was supposed to be our first date..."

She turned over on her futon and rested on her side as she attempted to fall back to sleep. However, on this night, Itami would get no further rest, and would lie wide awake until the sun rose, questioning why Julian had never realized her feelings.