"But first of all - kneel. And hands behind your head. C'mon."

Juto waved with the rifle to hurry the man. He grumbled, visibly upset but eventually did as told. He lowered himself on one, then the other knee in the sand and slowly cupping the back of his head with both hands. He glared up at his captor.

"Good boy. Now, what's your name?"

"Jun."

"So, Jun. Got a cig?"

"I don't smoke."

Juto cursed under his breath. He really needed one right now, but what do you expect from a roller coaster luck like that? If only his personal belongings didn't go down with the mobile unit. He sighed and resumed the conversation.

"Ok, whatever. Are you a local here? What is this place?"

"Yeah, I am... you're on Reema Island. We're in the neutral zone."

Juto blinked surprised. He lowered the gun slightly and looked to the side, mumbling.

"I went this far off course..."

He raised the rifle again.

"Is there any working radio station nearby?"

There was no answer only an angry squint. The tall man clicked his tongue in impatience.

"Look, I just need to make a call for my people to pick me up and you won't see me ever again."

"You mean, for your people to pick you up after you invade and plunder my town?"

"I'm a soldier, not a pirate."

"I don't trust you!"

The kneeing man raised his voice, loud enough for a bird to get startled and leave the bushes with a squawk. The sudden movement made Juto alert and he instinctively pointed the machine gun in that direction. He had no time to sigh in relief realizing it's just a bird, when Jun decided it was the perfect opportunity to pounce at him and get the gun back. When someone falls to the ground, the height difference doesn't matter. It's all about strength and the tiny man had plenty compared to the exhausted soldier.

They struggled, wrestling in the sand. Juto freed himself for a moment and tossed the rifle to the side. Jun wanted to crawl towards it but soon he was dragged back and ended in a headlock. A bit of thrashing and a position switch later, Juto held both of Jun's hands behind his back with one arm, his other resting on the shortie's neck, forcing him to lean the head back a bit. Jun clenched his teeth and breathed hard through his nose, while Juto hissed in his ear.

"Listen here you little shit, one false move and I'll turn your lights out with one swift squeeze on a pressure point so you better fucking behave, is that clear?"

To make a point Juto's thumb caressed Jun's neck before stopping at the strategic place. However, he almost let go in surprise when Jun reacted to the gesture with a jolt and a loud moan.

Which sounded rather lewd.

"The heck was-"

"I'm fucking sensitive there OKAY!?"

The massively flustered man cut him off, flushing red and trembling a bit. Not exactly clear if from anger or embarrassment. Most likely a mix of both.

"Is that so...?"

Curious and somewhat amused Juto caressed the spot again. His little prisoner squirmed immediately.

"StooOOOOP IIIT!"

He sunk his head between the shoulders to protect the sensitive area as much as he could. Deciding it's enough, Juto stopped the tease and pulled at Jun's bandana that he wore loosely around the neck and untied it. He then wrapped it tightly around Jun's wrists, immobilizing them behind his back.

"Alright, listen..."

The tall man spoke as he picked up the machine gun and hanged it over the shoulder.

"I just want to get the hell out of here as soon as possible. I've got enough shit awaiting me at the home base, trust me. So here's the plan - you take me to the village... town, whatever; you let me use the radio; I call a buddy over, just one I swear. He can pick me up here on this beach even, would be for the best. And that's it. I'm gone. Everyone's happy."

"And a day later you're back with an army."

"I'm NOT! Fucking hell! We have enough to do at the frontier than to bother some godforsaken neutral islands. If I'm back then only to pick up my dead mech from the bottom of the sea! Though I can assure you there's not much left of it to give a damn!"

Enraged, he paced back and forth in front of the local inhabitant who just waited until the rant is over and raised an eyebrow.

"Okay... assuming I take you there, how can you be sure my people will just let you wander around freely?"

Juto straightened his back and looked him in the eyes.

"You'll pretend that we're buddies."

"I don't even know your NAME!"

Jun exclaimed, still very skeptic about the whole "plan". The soldier was about to say something, but paused for a second. He brushed his chin, thinking.

"You can call me... Juto. Just call me Juto. You can pretend you saved me or something. Well technically you did. Just giving up and dying here was very tempting you know..."

"If the offer still stands I can deliver a bullet right between your eyes."

"Why didn't you do so right away?"

"Because-...!"

Jun realized that bringing Juto to the town was his objective from the start, and now this man offered to go there with him on his own. Well, not exactly the way he intended, but the most important thing right now was the goal. Once in the town there would be plenty of opportunities to break the promise and imprison the mech fighter, after all the people there would believe Jun's word more than some suspicious outsider.

He continued with a calmer voice.

"Because I don't shoot people on sight like you bastards out there. I wanted to hand you over to the authorities. It's their duty to decide what to do further anyway. I'm just a guerrilla trying to protect what little we have."

"Mhmm... authorities. So like maybe decide to squeeze some classified information out of me, huh? And not in the pleasant way, at least not for me."

Juto added with a deadpan face and a sarcastic tone. Jun shrugged.

"Well, that's a possibility. Anyway, fine I'll stick to your plan. But you better behave or else I won't hesitate to blow your cover, understood?"

The tall man raised an eyebrow.

"Pretty cheeky of you to say that while you're tied up."

Jun smirked.

"Oh I hear that a lot."

"In bed?"

"ASSHOLE!"

Juto laughed moving to the side to dodge a kick. The little angry guerrilla huffed and started walking in the town's direction with a heavy stomp.

"Move it before that damn tiger will be back."