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How did it turn out like this?
Your eyes didn’t blink at the scene below.
Captain Narumi was slumped against a heap of fractured concrete, his body limp, blood pooling beneath him. In front of him stood a medium sized kaiju—humanoid in shape, its posture unsettlingly calm.
Kaiju Fortitude 8.7
Abnormal classification confirmed.
'Ah....right.'
'He’d already taken down multiple honjus before this one.'
So why—why did everything suddenly go blank?
You knew your captain better than anyone. Loud. Reckless. Obsessed with yamazon. The kind of man who smirks through bleeding eyes.
But this—
This wasn’t a sight you were supposed to see.
Sure, the two of you were always at each other’s throats. Petty arguments. Stupid nicknames. Endless teasing that bordered on fighting.
But Narumi Gen bleeding out at your feet?
That was never part of the picture.
Before the kaiju could even twitch a finger, you dropped down from above and intercepted it—your impact sending the creature skidding backward. It tilted its head, as if confused.
You didn’t know what you were feeling.
Anger should’ve been there.
Fear. Panic. Something—anything.
Instead, there was nothing.
An unsettling emptiness settled in your chest.
Shinomiya Kikoru landed beside you moments later.
“Captain Narumi! Can you hear me?!” she shouted, rushing to his side.
“Shut yer trap.. you dimwit,” Narumi rasped weakly.
You didn’t turn around.
They were bickering behind you—but your gaze never left the kaiju. It still hadn’t moved.
Abnormals were always like that. Thinking. Watching.
'This thing tried to take Narumi.'
Your vision darkened at the thought, a strange pressure blooming behind your eyes.
Wait.. Why did that thought bother you so much?
“Officer Shinomiya,” you said calmly, “escort Captain Narumi to the safe zone.”
You didn’t look back, but you felt their confusion.
“No— I can still fight,” Narumi grunted, forcing himself upright.
“Do I need to repeat myself?”
The air shifted.
Neither of them spoke. Neither of them moved.
That wasn’t like you.
Vice Captain Y/N was firm, sure—but never like this. Never so detached it felt inhuman. Shinomiya had seen flashes of it before, moments she brushed it off.
Now, standing behind you—
She noticed it. And it scared her.
“Do I need to have the entire First Division escort you out, Captain Narumi?”
Only then did you turn to face them.
Narumi met your gaze—and stiffened.
“And what right do you have to order me around?” he snapped, forcing his voice louder than his body would allow.
“You’re forgetting something. I’m the captain here, you stupid maniac!”
“That’s correct,” you said evenly. “You are the captain.”
You took a single step closer.
“And that’s exactly why you’re leaving.”
Narumi opened his mouth—then stopped. His vision swam, pain ripping through his ribs, his legs barely holding him upright.
“You’re in no condition to command,” you continued, tone clinical. “Your vitals are unstable. Your suit output is dropping. And that kaiju—”
Your eyes slid back to the unmoving abnormal, still watching you with disturbing interest.
“—has already decided you’re no longer its priority.”
Narumi clicked his tongue.
Yeah. He knew. He definitely knew. You didn’t need to say it out loud—especially not in front of him.
“So right now,” you continued evenly, “you’re ineffective on the field. The most productive action you can take is to retreat, Captain Narumi.”
Your eyes held barely any light.
Across the command channels, the chatter died instantly. Even the technicians in the labs fell silent, eyes glued to their monitors. No one spoke.
Not even Narumi.
'...It’s hard to deny it,' Kurusu thought, fingers frozen above the console as data scrolled past him. 'Vice Captain Y/N is right. We can’t afford another loss.'
His gaze flicked to your vitals.
'But the vice captain’s not in good condition either. If Y/n pushes themself—'
“Captain Narumi,” Kurusu said firmly over comms, “please leave the rest to Vice Captain Y/N for now.”
There was a brief pause.
Then—compliance confirmed.
Taking the initiative, Officer Shinomiya moved in, slipping an arm around Narumi’s waist before he could protest. This time, he didn’t resist.
You watched as they retreated.
Then you turned back.
The kaiju was still there. Still watching you.
It hadn’t pursued them. Hadn’t even looked in their direction.
'Right.. an abnormal indeed'
Your scythe answered first. The temperature dropped sharply to the point that Each breath burned your lungs.
You adjusted your stance and The kaiju charged.
“Vice Captain, it’s moving—!”
Concrete exploded beneath its feet as it closed the distance, claws raised, body twisting for a killing blow. Its speed was abnormal
You stepped forward.
It vanished.
You twisted just as claws slammed into your side, the impact sending you back. Concrete shredded beneath your boots—your shoulder screamed in protest.
You slid to a stop, boots grinding.
You barely had time to reset your stance before it was on you again—feinting high, then sweeping low. You blocked with the scythe, frost flaring as steel met hardened bone.
The force rattled up your arms.
You were pushed back.
The kaiju grinned
It pressed the attack—rapid strikes, precise angles. You parried, redirected, stepped inside its reach, but it adapted immediately, twisting its body in ways that shouldn’t have been possible.
Your scythe grazed its side.
It froze—then cracked apart as heat surged from within its core.
“It’s adapting,” Kurusu said. “Thermal output’s countering your freezing!”
Your eyes narrowed at that.
The kaiju drove a knee into your ribs. It lagged by a fraction of a second—enough. You were thrown back, spine slamming into a broken wall.
You pushed off the wall as it charged again, both of you moving at the same instant.
Frost and heat collided violently, steam erupting between you as your blades met midair.
Neither gave.
The ground beneath you split.
“Vice Captain Y/N, your suit temperature is spiking! Synchronization is exceeding safe parameters—this isn’t sustainable! I’m deploying backup units, prepare for—!”
Kurusu’s voice broke mid warning.
You caught the kaiju’s charge head on, boots digging into collapsing concrete as you blocked with every ounce of strength you had.
The impact thundered through your arms, the force shoving you back several meters before you stopped it—stopped it—and drove the creature away in a violent burst of frost.
The kaiju skidded back and then straightened.
And once again, it didn’t attack.
It watched you.
'This is annoying..'
You exhaled slowly and raised a hand to your earpiece.
“Kurusu,” you said evenly. “I’ll be switching to maximum output.”
Static crackled.
“...Vice Captain?” His voice tightened. “Negative. That exceeds your authorization—”
“Evacuate all personnel and civilians within my radius,” you continued, already turning your gaze back to the kaiju. “Minimum distance, five hundred meters.”
The channel erupted.
“Five hundred—?!”
“They're insane!”
“That’ll destabilize the block!”
In the medical bay, Narumi swore and shoved himself upright, ignoring the protests around him. “That damn maniac—!”
Back on the battlefield, you reached up—and removed the earpiece.
You tossed it aside and It shattered against the concrete.
The drones caught everything.
“Huh?!”
“they—they threw their earpiece?!”
“Commander, we’ve lost direct contact with Vice Captain Y/N!”
The command room plunged into chaos.
Narumi ripped at the cables attached to him.
“What the hell does that stupid maniac think they're doing?!”
Below, amid fractured concrete and frozen air, the world went quiet the moment you removed the earpiece.
You hadn’t realized how loud everything had been until it stopped.
For a fleeting second, you wished you could see Narumi right now.
The thought came uninvited.
'...Why?'
'Why did that matter?'
It was always why. Why this, why that—questions without answers, piling up until they meant nothing at all.
And then, without warning, it clicked.
'Ah.'
'I think I like him.'
The realization didn’t hurt.
It didn’t warm you.
It simply was.
The suit responded instantly.
Frost detonated outward in a violent surge, the temperature plummeting so fast the air screamed. Ice spiraled up from the ground, crawling over shattered buildings, consuming everything within reach.
Your hair bleached white in an instant, strands lifting weightlessly as power flooded through your system. The reinforcement field reshaped itself around you.
From above, you looked unreal.
Ethereal.
The drones barely escaped the blast radius, footage warping as their sensors struggled to compensate. Operators stared at their screens in stunned silence.
“Visual confirmed,” someone whispered. “That’s—”
Kurusu’s breath caught as the readings finalized.
'So this is it,' you thought distantly.
'Maximum output'
Suit No. 6 didn’t feel heavy.
It felt complete.
Across from you, the kaiju stood frozen, Its posture shifted, instincts finally screaming—
—and before it could move, you were already in front of it.
There was no windup, Not even a visible acceleration.
One moment you stood several meters away.
The next, your scythe had already passed through its core.
A single, clean arc.
The kaiju didn’t even react at first.
Frost bloomed outward from the wound, spreading faster than sound, crawling through its chest, its limbs, its face. The light in its eyes dimmed as ice claimed it entirely—
—and it stopped.
Frozen solid.
…
Huh?
From above, the drones caught it all—barely.
Footage jittered. Frames skipped. Sensors struggled to register the movement at all.
“That—wait, rewind that!”
“No, play it again—how did—?”
“Was that... instantaneous?”
The channel erupted.
“That fast?”
“There was no output spike—no warning!”
“The kaiju didn’t even counter!”
In the medical bay, Narumi stared at the screen, mouth slightly open.
“...You’ve gotta be kidding me.”
Back on the battlefield, silence formed.
Your breath slowly curled into smoke, drifting lazily in the frozen air. You stood still, scythe lowered, posture relaxed—as if nothing remarkable had happened.
Inside, there was no triumph.
No relief.
The battlefield lay frozen and ruined around you, but your mind refused to move on. It kept circling back, again and again, to the same realization
'I like... captain Narumi?'
You tried to examine it like everything else. Categorize it. Understand it.
Why him?
He was reckless. Loud. Annoying. Always pushing himself past reason, past safety, as if consequences were optional. You’d lowkey scold him for it more times than you could count.
And yet—
When you imagined the battlefield without him, something in you went blank.
Not grief. but Absence.
'Then..'
'If this world decides to take Narumi...'
Your fingers flexed slowly around the scythe. Frost crept along the haft, reacting to the shift in your thoughts.
That outcome didn’t feel acceptable.
It didn’t even feel possible.
“That would be a mistake,” you murmured to no one in particular.
If the world demanded him as payment, then the world was wrong. Systems could be dismantled. Structures could be frozen and shattered.
“No one gets to take him,” you said quietly.
Not the world.
Not fate.
“Not even something people call a god.”