Archive of Our Own

The next time she visits the First Division, she’s summoned for taking care of a creature that a JAKDF officer shouldn’t be handling.

Mina met Bakko when he was a little cub, and she’d been astonished to find a baby tiger roaming the streets after a big extermination by the Third Division. She approached him the same way she would with a scared cat, and he came up to her first.

Bakko has been by her side ever since then - and the researchers in the Tachikawa Base were puzzled, after doing some tests on him.

When they didn’t find any abnormalities, Mina requested to take care of him. She should’ve given him to the local zoo, somewhere more fitting.

But Mina made eye contact with Bakko, before he jumped into her arms, and that settled who he’d be staying with.

The researchers warned her that Bakko might not be as normal as he seemed, giving her the task to write down daily notes.

Three months after starting that, she had two journals filled up of her days with Bakko. Her third is a work in progress, but has come to a halt because-

Because, during a recent mission, Bakko had reacted differently.

To a Kaiju.

And before Mina could stop him, he lunged at the monster.

She could only watch in horror, eyes wide as Bakko was hit - and she was painfully reminded of her childhood.

Bakko.

Except, where he’d been shot instantly healed itself.

Like a Kaiju would.

Fast forward to the present time, she’s currently in Captain Shinomiya’s office holding a carrier with Bakko in it.

He starts growling the moment she's given permission to enter, and Mina clenches her fists.

Speaking to the higher-ups never gets easier.

“Officer Ashiro.”

Mina salutes him, putting the carrier down.

“Captain Shinomiya.”

He eyes the carrier next to her, and Mina stands up straighter. “Explain the situation to me.”

“Sir,” She nods, recalling the script she’d written just for this. Mina was honestly expecting more people, so she’s a bit more at ease being alone with the Captain.

“Bakko- This creature, was first spotted in the Tachikawa area after a Kaiju extermination. It was unlike any of the other Yoju that had appeared, and as you can see - is a tiger.”

She lifts the carrier, gesturing to the glass panel. Bakko snarls, and she shushes him.

“Given the oddity of its appearance, and lack of missing captive animals around our precinct, the Third Division concluded it would be best to bring him- it back for further testing.” She continues, putting Bakko back down. “His results came back clean, and there were no signs of Kaiju cells at that time.”

“But?” He raises an eyebrow, before looking down at the papers on his desk. Most likely reports from the latest incident.

Mina takes a deep breath, knowing the Captain makes the final decision. And even though she hasn’t known Bakko for that long - Mina can’t, doesn’t want to lose him.

“But… on the third of July, three days ago, during an outbreak in the Tachikawa area, Bakko-” she clears her throat.

“The creature was hit by a Yoju, but quickly recovered from its injuries,” she pauses, clenching her teeth. “Like a Kaiju would.”

“What did the tests after that conclude, Officer Ashiro?” He prompts, and he’s not really asking her for answers. He already knows.

“They mentioned…” Mina peers down at the carrier, catches sight of Bakko’s face, and closes her eyes.

She breathes out.

“They confirmed the presence of Kaiju cells in him, and he was determined to be Kaiju. Or at least, half…”

She hates how she trails off, but Mina thought- she thought she was finally going to be okay.

It was naive of her to believe Bakko would be able to stay by her side forever.

And yet again, she’s going to be all alone.

“I hear you have been taking notes on its behaviour everyday. Did you bring these with you?”

She nods, reaching into the side pocket of the carrier.

“It is the Defense Force’s duty to eradicate all Kaiju, Officer Ashiro.” He reminds her, as she hands over her journals.

“I understand.”

“He’ll stay in the First Division for now, bring him over to the Blue Laboratory and tell the researchers I’ll be there once I finish up my paperwork.”

Captain Shinomiya glances down at her notes, and Mina struggles to recall if she’s ever written anything weird in them. “You’re dismissed.”

She salutes him, before walking out.

The Blue Lab.

Truthfully, she doesn’t want to go yet.

She doesn’t want to leave Bakko alone.

She doesn’t want to think about what will happen to him.

So Mina takes a step forward towards the labs but turns around. Just five extra minutes with Bakko.

Heading towards the stairs, she climbs up and ends up on the rooftop. It had been a place she frequented during the training camp, and she always found comfort here - watching over the city.

Opening the door of the carrier, she lets Bakko out and he immediately climbs onto her lap.

She smiles down at him, mixed emotions taking over.

Mina said she wouldn’t cry.

She’s been doing a good job at staying strong, ensuring she doesn’t break.

But right now. Right now, all she wants to do is pull Bakko close and keep him with her.

The journals probably won’t help much in their verdict.

Looking at his blue eyes, Mina feels her mouth tremble.

God.

Tears well in her eyes before she can stop them, and honestly-

She doesn’t want to.

For once. She lets herself be upset.

For the first time in a while, she chooses to cry.

Leaning against the bench, Mina tries to assure Bakko - currently pawing at her, that she’s alright.

But she isn’t - and Bakko seems to be aware of that fact.

Rubbing Bakko’s face, he leans into her touch and she chokes out a sob.

It’s only been three months.

A mere three months but it might’ve been the best three months of her life since joining the force.

Because she knew she wasn’t alone, sniping from the highest point possible.

Even though he didn’t do much other than keep her company, Mina always felt better with him there.

But. But now she’s going to be left alone again, and Mina can’t do a single thing about it.

“I’m supposed to-” she smiles at Bakko, who blinks at her, in that adorable way he always does. “I’m supposed to kill all Kaiju.”

Bakko licks her hand, and she lets the tears fall harder, shoulders shaking.

“That is my duty.”

She brings her face towards Bakko, nuzzling him before looking at him again.

All Mina sees is a white tiger.

Sighing, she tilts her head up, staring at the clear blue sky. Not a single cloud to be seen.

Soon, the warmth in her lap will be gone.

She’ll go to bed alone.

She’ll fight alone.

That is her duty.

Mina covers her face and takes a deep breath.

Be strong.

Exhaling slowly, she wipes away the remaining tears and the stains previous ones left on her cheeks.

“Bakko,” she murmurs, uncovering her face.

Except.

The blue sky is gone, and all she sees is a mess of black and white that isn’t her pet.

Her eyes widen, and she shoots forward, before twisting her body until she’s staring (glaring) at the offender.

Too close.

“Ashiro.”

“You-”

“I have a name.” He drawls, and Mina wonders how long he’s been there.

Huffing, she ignores him - maybe if she doesn’t respond he’ll get bored and walk away.

Instead, she picks Bakko up and guides him to his carrier, “Bakko, you have to go back in now.”

With Narumi here, at least she won’t lose composure.

“Is that…” He eyes Bakko, and to her surprise, Bakko doesn’t growl at him.

Upon keeping him under her care, Mina soon found out Bakko would hiss at most people - and to this day she’s still unsure of what his criteria is.

It annoys her that Narumi, of all people, got his approval though.

“Perhaps.” She simply says, giving Bakko one last scratch under his chin, faltering at the thought of ‘last’.

Looking at Narumi out of the corner of her eye, she sighs.

“Bye Bakko.”

“Where’s he going?”

“Nowhere you have to be concerned with.”

She doesn’t bother turning around to face him as she steps out of the rooftop, carrier in hand.

Unfortunately, Narumi follows her, and she doesn’t know if he’s going the same way or just stalking her.

But too exhausted to ask, Mina simply lets it happen - finding that his presence when he’s not speaking isn’t all too bad.

They walk side by side, and Mina keeps her eyes downcast on the carrier the entire time, until they reach the laboratory.

“Isao-san,” Narumi greets, and she brings her attention to the burly man who’s already in the lab.

Shit.

“Apologies, Captain Shinomiya-” Mina tightens her grip on the carrier, feeling the urge to cry again at being a disappointment. She shouldn’t have let her emotions get the best of her.

She should’ve-

She doesn’t have the right to get attached to a monster.

He brings a hand up to stop her, before looking at the carrier.

“Pass him to the researchers.”

Mina swallows, throat drier than it’s ever been, especially after her breakdown. “Yes sir.”

After she places the carrier onto the bench top, she steps back and forces herself to look away from Bakko’s confused face.

All the times he’s had his checkups within the Tachikawa Base, Mina would be there with him.

He knows this time it’s different.

A traitor to Bakko.

A traitor to the defence force.

Mina feels like the only thing she’s been doing lately is letting everybody around her down.

“You’re dismissed, Ashiro.” He says, and turns to the person beside her. “What do you want, Narumi.”

She spares Bakko one last glance before stepping out of the lab.

All Mina seems to do is lose things.

Dazed, she walks, and walks, and walks.

Her Captain had let her know that she didn’t have to come back immediately, probably aware of what was going to happen.

She’s grateful for the chance to breathe - but all she feels right now is suffocated.

Mina ends up outside of the Ariake Base, standing in the parking lot.

The air is warm, and Mina finds herself drawn to the sound of the ocean’s waves. They are pretty close to the sea.

Checking the time, she wonders if she’s able to take a break at a beach - wherever. She just wants to get away from anything defence force related for now.

Which is funny, since it’s always been her dream to stand in headquarters.

“Ashiro.”

That voice again.

She turns around, and flinches when a cool bottle touches her neck as she does.

“Drink.”

He places the bottle of water into her hand before she can reject it, and she stares at him.

That’s when she notices the helmets he’s holding.

Narrowing her eyes, she twists the cap open and keeps eye contact with Narumi as she drinks - more than she expected herself to.

The first sip had been refreshing for her dry throat.

When she closes the half-filled bottle, he swaps it for one of the helmets.

“I don’t-” she splutters, glaring when Narumi doesn’t bother staying around to listen as he walks off.

Leaving Mina to follow.

And obviously she does, or she’s going to be left looking like an idiot holding onto a motorbike helmet in the middle of the parking lot.

She’ll pass the helmet back to him, and go on her merry way.

Except, when she finally catches up to him, he’s already sitting on his bike, waiting.

“Do you even have a licence?” She asks, incredulous. They’re the same age, but Mina can’t recall what the laws for learning how to drive are.

“Do you seriously think Isao-san would let me park here if I didn’t?”

She clicks her tongue because that’s true. Mina hates when Narumi says anything logical.

“Are you getting on or not?”

Mina has never been a pillion rider before. Well, she’s never even considered ever sitting on a motorbike.

The helmet feels heavy on her head, and she fumbles with the straps to tighten it.

To her utter humiliation, Narumi gets off his bike and helps her, and Mina pretends she doesn’t care about how close his face is.

He’s wearing his own helmet anyway.

And then he’s removing his leather jacket - and handing it to her.

“Wear this too.”

“What about you.”

“I’ll be fine.”

She’ll be fine too.

Mina doesn’t need someone coddling her, but she puts the jacket on anyway - over her uniform.

It’s oversized, and she pretends again that the warmth from Narumi’s body heat doesn’t bring her some sort of comfort.

“Be careful when you get on, the exhaust is near where your ankles will be.” He explains, pointing it out for her. “And if I’m going too fast, squeeze me. I won’t be able to hear you.”

Mina has no idea what she’s doing here, behind Narumi, arms wrapped around his waist. Her thighs end up touching his legs, and she holds back from pressing them against him.

Before he starts the engine, he starts talking again, “I’ll go slow.”

Scoffing, she finally speaks up. “I’m not some kind of princess.”

“I know.”

And then the motorbike starts up, and she’s forced to keep her thoughts in her mind.

Oh, Mina realizes, when they’re exiting the car park.

She doesn’t even know where they’re going.

But it’s nice, as they speed through the relatively empty weekday traffic. Mina feels the wind in her hair, even with the helmet on and she lets herself lean against Narumi.

In that moment, Mina lets herself forget.

She lets herself stop thinking.

About Bakko.

About her duties.

About how she can’t enjoy this job as much as other officers like Narumi do.

About how she’s envious.

About Kafka.

About everything.

She closes her eyes, which is an absurd thing to do - because Narumi is driving but Mina decides it's okay to trust people sometimes.

Even though she told herself she never would, anymore.

The scent of the ocean becomes ten times more prominent, and Mina wonders how long it’s been.

It’s over before she knows it, and the engine is turning off - causing Mina to open her eyes.

She slowly detaches herself from Narumi’s back, detesting how long it takes for her to unwrap her arms around his waist.

He doesn’t question it, which makes her even more annoyed.

“Where are-” She finds herself asking, but when she removes her helmet - running a hand through her hair, she sees the answer.

Kasai Rinkai Park.

Mina has heard of it - seen it in brochures, sort of always wanted to go whenever she was in the area.

Never had anyone to go with, knowing they had their duties to focus on, as officers.

There wasn’t anyone she could bother, until-

Until Narumi Gen, she supposes.

Narumi locks his motorbike, and Mina hands him the helmet.

She marvels at the ferris wheel, standing tall - large enough that they can see it from the entrance.

“We’re not getting on that slow as hell thing.”

“I wouldn’t want to be trapped in there with you anyway.”

He snorts, and starts walking. Mina can’t do anything but follow.

Yet again.

A little self-conscious that she’s walking around in the day, in her uniform - she’s suddenly grateful for Narumi’s leather jacket.

Narumi doesn’t seem to care that he looks like an officer skipping work, as he keeps walking around like he owns the place.

Mina supposes that description would be pretty fitting for him anyway.

He stops in front of a stall, and Mina peeks from behind him to see that they sell ice cream.

“One chocolate and one vanilla, please.” Before Mina gets the chance to even decide for herself, he’s already ordered and the word please in Narumi’s voice sounds so foreign she has to do a double take.

“How much-” she asks, hands reaching into her pockets before realizing she hadn’t brought her wallet along.

She frowns.

“It’s whatever.” He waves her off, before bringing the two flavours to her face. “Pick.”

Instantly, she reaches for the chocolate cone, and Narumi hums, keeping the vanilla for himself.

They keep walking, and Mina admires how pretty the entire place looks.

Everything is blue - the sky, the water, with sparkles dance across the ocean’s surface.

They continue walking, and Mina sees they’re headed into a strange building. It’s in the shape of a dome and her eyes widen when she catches the words on the sign.

Tokyo Sea Life Park.

An aquarium.

She tries not to get too excited, but fails to hide her smile anyway.

“Two tickets.”

“I-” She drags her eyes away from the building infrastructure, and looks dead into Narumi’s eyes. He’s already holding the paper tickets in his hand, smirking.

Mina feels a scowl form on her face, and if her mother were to see her, she’d definitely shake her head in disapproval.

If any of her batch mates saw her - choosing to sightsee instead of heading back to Tachikawa, they’d surely be shocked.

It’s not a facade, Mina tries to tell herself, every time she stops herself from bursting into laughter at something silly another officer does.

She’s not pretending.

She’s just -

She’s just trying to make things easier for herself.

Mina has plenty of friends within her division, and friends in others too. But Mina never let herself-

No, never mind. There’s no use thinking about this now.

She takes a big bite of the chocolate ice cream, trying to finish it before they enter the aquarium.

The aquarium.

Ever since she was young, she’s dedicated her time to studying Kaiju. And Mina had friends in high school too, but she’d always skip hanging out with them to get ready for the defence force’s examination.

She never had the luxury of going shopping with them, or going out to cute cafes, or going to places like this.

In the end, the only person who stuck around was Kafka. Even then, they rarely hung out to do anything but study together, or catch up over a meal at a fast food chain.

And that was until.

Until he wasn’t there anymore.

The next bite she takes is fiercer, and Narumi raises an eyebrow at it. Mina ignores him.

They finish their ice creams by the entrance of the aquarium, since it’d be rude to eat inside and potentially make a mess.

She lets out a snort when she sees Narumi flinch after eating too quickly, and tunes out his ridiculous blabbering about how, “If you get brain freeze it actually means you have a big brain.”

Not that she’d ever admit it, but Mina is well aware of how smart Narumi is. She doesn’t know how much he studied for the examination, but if it was on par with the work she put in - over years, then-

Then Mina would acknowledge his efforts.

But she doesn’t know anything about Narumi, and she doesn’t want to know anything about him. So she keeps the tidbit about his brain at the back of her mind and cleans her fingers before tossing the napkin into the bin.

“Finally,” he complains, passing the other ticket to her. “Let’s go.”

Even though he leads the way like he’s been here before, Narumi surprisingly waits up every time Mina stops to read the signs.

The creatures in the exhibit fascinate her, and it’s amazing how they haven’t evolved to match the monsters that have roamed their planet for centuries.

Mina knows some Kaiju consume livestock, and they don’t always prefer to eat humans. She’s read up on evolution, although in the context of Kaiju, for years.

Some signs indicate which marine animals the monsters tend to eat, opportunistically - usually ones that also live in the ocean.

But they don’t have any defence mechanisms that help them against the bigger, stronger, monsters.

When they make their way to the jellyfish exhibit, she audibly gasps, before clamping her mouth shut.

Unfortunately, Narumi already heard her and he looks over his shoulder with a blank face.

She’s tempted to hiss out a what?

He shrugs, and she finds glaring at his back pointless when she can appreciate the wonder she’s greeted with instead.

Mina steps closer to the glass, unable to help it when she lets her thoughts slip as she mumbles, “Pretty…”

Reading the signs, she finds out the jellyfish with particularly long tentacles is a ‘Lion’s Mane Jellyfish’, and she takes her phone out to take a picture.

In fact, Mina finds herself going around to all the different tanks and capturing as many photos as possible. It’s almost like she’s in a different world.

“These ones,” Narumi suddenly pops up beside her and Mina completely forgot he was there too. They’re the only ones in the room, and it’d been so quiet.

He points at the Lion’s Mane Jellyfish, “Are the largest jellyfish species in the world. They’re longer than a Blue Whale.”

She blinks, and sure enough the random fact comes straight from the signboard. Except he wasn’t reading off it when he was talking to her.

“Do you…” Mina hesitates, finding it weird that she’s willingly having a conversation with him. Well, she’s already ridden on his motorbike, and she has his jacket on. It doesn’t get stranger than this. “Do you come here often?”

Mina cringes, hating that she’s suddenly recalling the boys in her high school class using that as a pick up line.

“Sometimes. When Hasegawa is being particularly noisy.”

“You should address him with honorifics.” Mina immediately scolds, it’s a thought that appears in her head every time she hears Narumi call Hasegawa without the -san.

“He doesn’t mind.”

She decides bringing up the amount of times Hasegawa has yelled at Narumi for not showing respect to his seniors is not worth it, so she glances back at the jellyfish.

It’s hypnotising, watching the way they float in the water. For a second, Mina wonders what it’d be like to simply be a jellyfish.

They probably don’t have to worry about-

Shaking her head, she presses her hand harder onto the glass.

This is supposed to be a break from the defence force.

It’ll likely be the only time in the entire year that she’ll be able to enjoy something like this.

So she sighs, watching the different species move, observing how they all have pretty unique characteristics.

When she turns her head, she finds Narumi looking intently at a rounder jellyfish - it’s almost like a balloon.

Intrigued, Mina walks to him and reads the sign.

“Moon Jellyfish,” she repeats, staring at the few in the tank. “Beautiful…”

She takes another picture, frustrated when she keeps getting her own reflection in the glass.

From the corner of her eye, Mina spots Narumi move and before she knows it - Narumi has a hand over hers, holding onto her phone.

He’s practically trapped her, and she doesn’t know where to look.

“You have to press your phone up against the glass.” He teaches her, moving her phone for her - and Mina can’t think about anything other than their hands touching.

They’re a bit bigger and rougher, she notes the difference in their hands before she can stop herself and she berates her mind for choosing to focus on that.

Narumi is still behind her, and he speaks right into her ear as he mumbles, “Are you even listening, Ashiro?”

How can she?

She can’t even breathe - and this-

This isn’t something -

The way her heart thumps louder in her chest in the quiet aquarium -

“I heard you the first time,” Mina grits out, irritated by everything.

By the unforeseen emotions and feelings for Narumi of all people.

She’s irritated at Narumi too - for suddenly invading her personal space, but Mina can’t find the words to tell him to move away.

He’s warm.

And Mina can’t do anything but calm her nerves and take the pictures with her phone against the glass like Narumi suggested.

She previews it, with Narumi still standing right behind her, who hums as he views the results.

“See? Just like that.”

His hand slips off hers, and he finally takes a step back.

Mina hates how she instantly feels cold, and can feel herself breathing again as soon as he does.

“We should go see the penguins now. There are four different kinds here.” Narumi says, already walking out of the jellyfish exhibit.

She takes one last glance at the different colourful jellyfish in the room and snaps one more picture. They look so pretty - and Mina feels a wave of serenity wash over her.

The moment gets ruined as soon as she hears Narumi yelling at her to hurry up though.

It feels like her eyebrows are permanently furrowed whenever she’s with him.

They continue like that, going through the different exhibits, with Narumi throwing in random bites of information that he’s memorised from his numerous visits.

When they make their way to the end, Mina beelines for the gift shop, leading the way for once. She doesn’t bother checking if Narumi had followed her in.

The urge to get something for everyone overwhelms her, and she spends too long deciding.

Eventually, she settles for a pack of small marine creature figurines, with 25 different animals so everybody in her batch should be able to get one.

She turns, stopping when she spots jellyfish keychains.

To her own pride, Mina manages to identify some of the species she’d seen earlier, but finds her attention drawn to the Lion’s Mane Jellyfish and Moon Jellyfish keychains.

Before she can think twice, they’re getting removed from her line of sight and she looks at the offender.

“Pass that to me too.” Narumi gestures at her present for her Third Division friends and she can’t do anything but comply because she doesn’t have money.

“I’ll pay you back.”

Surprisingly, he agrees. “Sure.”

Mina did hear that Narumi seems to be constantly spending too much of his salary, from word of mouth.

Apparently his habits are horrendous too, and his bunkmates were so fed up with him that he got his own room - although with no proper bed.

She doesn’t get the chance to see if Narumi bought anything for himself because he’s handing the keychains and the variety pack back to her in an instant.

“I’m hungry.” He announces, when Mina safely stores the items into her pockets.

She doesn’t know what he wants her to do with that information, so she simply acknowledges it.

“Okay.”

He clicks his tongue, and Mina holds back from showing the same attitude. She’s losing her manners, every time she’s around Narumi.

“I’m saying we should go eat something.”

Confused, Mina fidgets with one of the keychains in her pocket. “Then just say that?”

Scowling, he stomps out of the aquarium and she sighs.

None of her friends are like Narumi, and she doesn’t know how to handle him.

Not that she considers Narumi a friend.

As they walk, Mina spends some time noting down how much she owes him.

The ice cream, the tickets, the gifts.

She frowns when she realizes he’s going to pay for dinner too.

She’s never going anywhere without her wallet again.

“Here.”

Looking up from her phone, she stares at the place they’ve ended up at.

It’s a burger place, and Mina instantly eyes the desserts. She could do with a brownie.

“Focus, Ashiro. We’re eating dinner.”

She rolls her eyes at him, making sure he sees, “I know that. I was just looking.”

“What do you want.” He asks, although it comes out flat and she takes a proper look at the menu this time.

“The tempura burger, I suppose.”

They shouldn’t even be eating fast food.

But Narumi never seems to do anything as per the code of conduct, so Mina supposes a cheat day wouldn’t hurt.

She’s already had ice cream anyway.

When she’s back at the Tachikawa Base later she’ll probably have to exercise twice as long. That’s fine too, she thinks.

Anything to get her mind off-

Off.

She sighs, leaning her cheek against her palm.

Stop it.

So Mina glances at Narumi ordering at the counter instead, who looks a bit more refined when he doesn’t have that annoying scowl on his face all the time.

Or that infuriating smirk.

In fact, he kind of-

No.

No, absolutely not - she tries to force the earlier image of him behind her away.

The difference in their hands-

No.

To her irritation, she feels her cheek warm and she drags her eyes away from Narumi.

Absolutely. Not.

Mina must be going crazy. It’s because he’s being uncharacteristically nice to her.

There’s no other explanation for it.

There’s-

There’s no way.

She refuses to think about it any further, and checks her phone instead.

There are a few messages from her Third Division friends, since they knew she was going to headquarters with Bakko.

Mizuki :)

> mina-cchi!!
> how are things???
> :(

And that reminds her of what she’d been avoiding for the past two hours.

How are things.

She doesn’t know. Mina doesn’t know if she wants to find out.

The worst, and most plausible possible scenario plays in her mind and she grits her teeth.

She’s already let herself cry once today.

She won’t do it again.

She wasn’t going to cry anymore.

It’s just how things are in the defence force. They have hard rules to follow.

They can’t just make an exception for her.

Mina knows this.

So she chooses to unread the message, and ignores the other similar texts from her batch mates.

She dreads.

All of a sudden she dreads going back to Tachikawa.

Without-

Her nails dig deeper into her palm, but she doesn’t register the pain.

It doesn’t hurt.

“You’re going to bleed.”

Mina finds her fists unclenching at the sound of his voice.

He sets the tray down, and Mina moves her arms away from the table to make space.

She stares at her palms.

The crescents of her nails leave a deeper mark compared to all the previous times she's done this subconsciously. And she notes that her nails had been close to piercing through her skin.

“This is nothing.”

Compared to-

“Whatever you say.”

He doesn’t probe her further than that, opting to say a word of thanks before digging in.

She lets the condensation from her cup of lemon tea sting as she holds it to drink.

It doesn’t hurt.

“I’ll pay you back for this too. Where’s the receipt?” She fumbles around the items, moving her burger off and putting it in front of her.

“Forgot to take one.”

“I’ll look at the prices later then.”

Mina feels relief when he doesn’t tell not to bother.

She hates owing people.

They eat in complete silence, neither comfortable nor uncomfortable - and Mina wonders when she last had fried food.

It’s delicious.

How long has it been - since she joined the defence force?

Again. Her thoughts always end up there, and she chooses to direct them to her family instead.

When was the last time she called her mother?

Mina wonders if she can block off some days to go back home - because suddenly, a year and a half into this, she feels sick.

Homesick.

Sick of everything.

She misses her mum.

She misses her dad.

She misses her hometown.

She misses-

She swallows.

She misses looking over their (her) neighbourhood and reminding herself of her reason for joining the defence force.

Maybe it’s what she needs.

“Narumi.” Mina looks at Narumi in surprise, who raises an eyebrow back at her. She was the one who called him.

It just slipped out.

“Uh?” He asks, mouth full of food.

She tries, she really does, to hide her disgust.

“Never mind.”

He glares at her like she’s wasted her time but Mina should be the one showing her distaste.

He’s been wasting space, in her head.

Mina chooses to spend the rest of their meal occupying her mouth as much as possible, so she doesn’t end up saying something she doesn’t mean again.

How silly. Why would Narumi even want to-

He wouldn’t. He doesn’t.

He doesn’t care.

(Because he’s here with you now, for no reason?

Her mind supplies, yet again in a voice she hasn’t heard for months.

She stops herself from crushing the burger in her hands.)

When they’re done, Mina checks the time and is surprised to see it’s already 6pm.

They’ve been outside for nearly three hours.

They should head back to Ariake, before the sun sets. Mina might be fine but Narumi skipped training.

“Narumi, we should leave.” She suggests, looking around the park.

But she doesn’t want to leave.

Not yet.

She doesn’t want to go back.

“Not yet.” He says, and she blinks. He’d spoken her mind.

“We’re gonna take a walk.”

He stuffs his hands in his pockets, and starts moving with purpose.

As always, Narumi never waits long, merely giving her a few seconds to register his words before he’s off.

She follows.

Again.

And again.

They end up crossing the bridge, and Mina feels her eyes widen in delight.

It’s the beach.

In an instant, she walks past him and heads closer to the water.

The sun is setting.

Sparkles dance across the water’s surface, with a warmer and more orange glow now.

It looks beautiful.

She immediately takes a picture, and another from a different angle.

When she turns, aiming for a photograph of the park and its ferris wheel - Mina loses her breath.

Narumi is looking right at her, with his own phone out.

Before she can question him on his intentions, Mina perishes the thought. He was probably just - taking a picture of the ocean like she was.

Ignoring him, she takes a picture of the park - blue skies turning into a darker shade.

Narumi doesn’t seem to move, so he ends up in her shots.

Mina hates how she doesn’t seem to mind as much as she should.

Deciding that’s enough pictures, she slips her phone back into her uniform pocket and admires the view with her eyes.

Takes in the scent with her nose, and listens to the waves with her ears.

They- She never lived close to the beach, and she’s always wanted to go every time she saw cartoons and documentaries showcasing how pretty and fun it could be.

Her high school classmates had invited her once, over summer break. But it had been her last year of high school, and she was so, so busy.

It went without saying what she was busy with.

Yet here she is now, one, two years later. With someone who isn’t even her friend.

It’s funny, almost.

She puts her hands behind her back and starts walking along the shoreline, staring at the way it seems to shimmer.

Curious, she squats down and uses her finger to brush against the sediment.

“Oh,” Narumi appears out of nowhere, squatting in front of her. “A seashell.”

He picks it up, and in one swift movement removes his boots and is rolling his pants up to his ankles.

Mina watches as he steps into the water, grinning back at her.

The sun is still descending behind him, painting the sky in a variety of colours and Mina can’t help but ingrain this sight into her mind.

He looks nice.

Without thinking twice, she hurriedly pulls her phone out and takes another picture - the smile on his face hasn’t fallen.

“Are you going to come in or not?” He asks, although it’s more of taunt than anything.

And Mina.

Mina who finds that she’s always a bit more competitive than she usually is when she’s around Narumi, unlaces her boots and rolls her pants up.

The first step into the water is freezing, and she resists the urge to go back onto the sand.

But at the same time - it feels remarkably good.

The waves crash against her ankles and she watches the sun in the far distance.

She lets herself feel the wind in her face, against her cheeks and in her hair.

When she closes her eyes, she thinks about what she wants to protect.

People.

Places.

Peace.

Mina, for the past one and a half years since she enlisted, has spent so much of her time worrying.

Fearing.

Forgetting.

It is her duty to exterminate Kaiju.

But it’s also her duty to ensure a future exists.

A one where citizens are safe, and can live without feeling what Mina does - whenever she stands at the highest point of a building by herself.

Her duty, and the reason she joined the JAKDF is because she wants to save lives.

And she wants to prevent the deaths of the innocent.

That is why she spent so much time studying, training, exercising, bailing on her friends, losing friends.

If Mina has to go through hell - so the generations after her can continue smiling without worry, then so be it.

That’s what she signed up for.

When she opens her eyes, feeling more motivated than ever, she looks at Narumi - who’s already staring at her.

This time, she doesn’t question it.

Instead, she calls out to him, says his name - and smiles.

It’s honest.

It’s genuine.

It’s been a long time since Mina has felt like a weight on her shoulders have been lifted.

“Narumi,” he doesn’t step any closer towards her, but he doesn’t look away either. “Thank you.”

The sky has reached a state of blue, purple, and pink. The clouds have arrived, and Mina doesn’t know what to focus on.

The widest grin she’s ever seen overtakes Narumi’s face - because like hers, it’s real - there’s no malice, or mockery in it.

Without her permission, her heart skips a beat and she feels her face flush.

“Come here.” He has his hands in his pockets, but it’s a request Mina can’t ignore.

So she does.

And then.

The moment of something between them breaks, because she feels saltwater on her face and in her mouth.

“You bastard-” she swears, uncharacteristically.

Narumi simply throws his head back and cackles. So Mina scoops a handful of water and splashes it in his direction.

She ends up with almost soaked clothes, and damp hair. She huffs when she looks at herself from her phone’s camera.

Her hair has gone all curly from the water.

To her satisfaction - Narumi doesn’t seem to fare any better, with his entire pants dripping wet because he’d fallen into the ocean trying to get back at her.

All Mina could do was laugh, and laugh until her stomach hurt because it was so stupid and Narumi is so stupid.

She hasn’t felt herself experience such pure happiness in a while.

In years.

Narumi unzips the top part of his uniform, and Mina realizes she’d been wearing his leather jacket anyway so her uniform is safe.

So she takes the jacket off and holds it in her arms, even though it’s getting windier as the night sky takes over.

They stand around on the sand for a bit longer, and Mina admires the way the ocean turns into a dark, dark blue.

“Ashiro.”

Mina looks to her left, and squints. There aren’t enough street lights on the beach, and she can barely see him.

“Look up.” From what she can discern, he’s pointing up and she tilts her head back.

Oh.

Even though night has only just begun, there are already plenty of stars twinkling in the sky.

One of nature’s beauty quickly takes over with another gift for those who pause to appreciate it.

The lack of light makes the tiny speckles stand out more and she finds herself entranced, wondering if any of them are constellations.

She never had the time, or space in her brain to consider hobbies like stargazing.

“That’s Orion’s Belt.” Narumi takes a step closer to her and she leans over to his side - trying to view it from his angle.

Narumi doesn’t move away.

Honestly, Mina has no idea what she’s supposed to be looking at, unable to see the constellations the way Narumi does.

He probably knows what it looks like, but he’s not making any effort to show her - so she simply peeks at him from the corner of her eyes instead.

It’s an interesting sight - Narumi Gen looking focused.

Even when he’s killing monsters, all he ever looked like was wild. He would go in with a maddening grin, eyes shining with a monster’s power and for lack of better words - go berserk.

But it suited him.

This expression however, is different.

A Narumi Mina isn’t used to.

Doesn’t know if she wants to get used to.

A Narumi that Mina isn’t sure she wants to be acquainted with.

Although she fears she already has, because he turns slightly and their faces end up inches away.

Breath hitching, Mina finds herself lost in his eyes.

Narumi is looking at her, with the same intensity that he had when he was identifying constellations and Mina feels herself crumble.

She bites her lower lip, and breaks eye contact.

It pains her to do so, and she hates that it does in the first place. Despite that, Mina can’t find the strength to move away, and their arms remain touching.

He clears his throat, and whispers into the night, “We should head back to the park.”

(Narumi, speaking softly, is another abnormality that Mina doesn’t want to think about, but she shelves it into her brain anyway.)

She doesn’t mention the hesitation in his voice, and agrees. They trudge along the sand, close enough so they don’t lose sight of each other.

When they make it an area with more light, Mina is pleased to see it has taps for them to rinse their feet.

They stop to do just that, finally able to put their boots back on.

Narumi still has the top part of his uniform unzipped, and Mina can see he’s starting to get chilly - so she passes his leather jacket back to him.

It’s mostly dry anyway, with the strong evening winds.

Wordlessly, he puts it back on and a part of Mina wishes she couldn’t see again.

With the bridge being brightly lit, they don’t have to walk side by side anymore, and Mina falls back slightly - thinking but not at the same time.

The amount of emotions she’s let herself feel today has exhausted her, especially after keeping them locked up for so long.

All she wants to do is head back to her dorm and sleep. But she knows it won’t be that simple.

All Mina wants to do, really, is go home.

Back to her hometown.

Whilst she may have remembered and reignited her spark - her reason for becoming a JAKDF officer, Mina still misses it.

The place where she surely belongs.

And she glances at the person who walks ahead of her, and thinks - for once, there’s something else motivating her.

Someone else.

Because Mina has achieved her part of her promise. All she can do is wait.

But.

But it’s exhausting, waiting in fear. Waiting for someone who may never come.

So what she has to do is catch up, keep up, and ensure she doesn’t fall behind.

Kafka isn’t the type of person to give up.

And Mina shouldn’t be the type of person who becomes stagnant.

Narumi Gen.

The person who’s the same age as her, incredibly unruly, with no respect for anyone but the Captain of the First Division.

He’s also the same person who cares so fiercely for the people around him.

Mina doesn’t know what she did to gather his attention, but Narumi is strong.

Narumi is strong and he’s everything she isn't.

Which is why she picks up her pace until she’s walking alongside him.

“Narumi,” she breathes out, gripping onto her uniform pants. He doesn’t stop, so she doesn’t either. “I’m not going to lose to you.”

She doesn’t turn to him when she says it, and keeps her eyes trained forward.

To what’s in front of her.

Her future.

He lets out a snort, and picks up his pace.

Before Mina can match his tempo, he abruptly turns around and points at her.

She stops in her tracks.

“As if I’d ever let you catch up!” He sticks his tongue out at her, and Mina can’t help it.

Her cheeks hurt from how wide she’s smiling.

“Just watch me then.” She points right back at him, chin tilted up due to their small, but somehow still significant height difference, “I’ll blow you away.”

Narumi looks surprised, and Mina is reminded of their first ever conversation, right outside the baths.

This time, Mina doesn’t think it’s because he didn’t expect her to respond with such confidence.

(But who is she, to let herself hope like that?)

He puts his hands in his pockets and turns back around.

Mina doesn’t miss the way a tiny smile forms on his face, and she feels free.

(And who is he, to give her hope like that?)

Yet, despite feelings that are unnecessary when it comes to her job as a JAKDF officer, she’s glad she met Narumi.

How nice.

To have a rival.

To want to get better - when she’s spent so long rooted in one place.

When they make it back to his motorcycle, he hands her the leather jacket and she takes it.

He zips up his uniform, and Mina manages to put on her helmet by herself this time.

When she climbs up and sits behind him, her arms make their way around his waist without wasting any time and she leans against his back.

She feels him stiffen up for a split second, before relaxing instantly.

Mina lets herself rest, not quite sleeping, but keeping her mind blank on the way back to Ariake.

The ride back seems shorter, quicker, and Mina stops any thoughts that want to make it seem like she’s upset about it.

Would she have preferred more time without having to think about the defence force and certain consequences?

Yes.

Do they also relate to wanting to remain close to Narumi, and being able to catch the scent of the sea and something else -

No.

Maybe.

But she’s back on the defence force premises and Mina won’t let herself consider anything that stands in the way of her growth.

After removing the helmet, she runs fingers through her hair, and frowns when she feels that it’s still curly from the water.

She can’t wait to take a bath.

“Officer Ashiro. Narumi.”

She turns around immediately, eyes wide.

It’s Hasegawa.

“Hasegawa-san.” She greets, suddenly aware of how screwed they are. How she must’ve ruined her clean track record, even if she was allowed to do as she pleased for the rest of the day.

“Ah,” he says, and Mina blinks. “Don’t worry - you’re fine, Officer Ashiro. Your Captain let us know you were off-duty.”

Mina feels her shoulders relaxing, although she really should’ve spent her time in the training hall instead.

But, she thinks, as she lets her eyes wander to Narumi who’s getting told off for skipping practice and a training exercise - it was a good day.

A good afternoon, and evening at least.

She wishes she didn’t have to recall the morning’s events.

But she does anyway, because Hasegawa turns to face her again, after knocking some sense into Narumi, literally.

“Our Captain told me to let you know that he’d like you to stay here tonight. He wants to speak to you tomorrow about…”

Mina swallows, fiddling with her uniform zipper.

“Bakko.” She supplies.

“Yes, the tiger.”

The tiger.

Her breath catches, but she doesn’t let it deter her from preparing herself for the worst.

She won’t let herself hope.

Because hoping only leads to greater disappointment.

“I understand.” She salutes, and listens as Hasegawa explains where she’ll be rooming at.

“Do you have spare clothes? I believe we should have some on base.”

She doesn’t really want to wear a uniform that’s been drenched by sea water, so she’s about to agree when Narumi cuts in.

“We got it covered.”

Almost comically, Mina sees Hasegawa’s eyebrow raise at the same time as hers does.

“Uh…” He stares, dumbfounded - looking between Mina and Narumi.

Mina flushes, hoping the darkness can cover for her.

“It’s not-” she chokes out, scolding herself for even speaking up in the first place because Narumi isn’t doing anything to clear up Hasegawa’s obvious misunderstanding. “It’s not like that.”

“I… see.”

To her humiliation, and embarrassment, Hasegawa obviously doesn’t buy it and Mina nudges Narumi.

“What?”

“What did you mean by that?” She hisses, “You made Hasegawa-san misunderstand.”

“Oh?” Narumi grins, and Mina feels any and every pleasant emotion she’d felt for him in the past hour disappear. She was a fool.

“I don’t quite know what you mean, Officer Ashiro.”

Ticked off, she simply stomps her foot onto Narumi’s toes, knowing that their combat boots are strong enough to prevent any real injury.

“Hey!”

Ignoring him, Mina wishes Hasegawa a good night before entering the Ariake Base.

Narumi is an idiot.

And Mina is an even bigger idiot for even-

She’ll definitely tear him down.

She’ll beat him.

Before she can make her way to the baths, Narumi somehow catches up and grabs onto her wrist.

A look of disgust takes over her features before she can help it.

“Easy,” he coos, and Mina wants to punch that cocky smirk off his face.

“You can borrow my uniform. I have spares.”

“I don’t need yours.” She clicks her tongue, “They have extra uniforms here. It's headquarters.”

At that, he lets go and Mina can breathe again.

He stares blankly at her, hand rubbing the back of his neck.

Mina narrows her eyes, unsure if what she’s seeing is some sort of illusion.

Narumi Gen, bashful?

There’s no way.

She must be getting tired.

“Anyway.” He clears his throat, and Mina remains in disbelief.

“Anyway,” she sighs, deciding that there’s no time better than the present.

She reaches into her pocket, passing the Moon Jellyfish keychain to him. “This is for you.”

“I paid for it.”

“And I’ll pay you back.” She finds herself seconds away from shaking his shoulders. “This is a gift.”

“Oh.”

Mina watches as he looks at the keychain, and she thinks she most certainly has gone insane.

“I-” he clears his throat a second time, and Mina isn’t used to this. Where did the confident Narumi that was just in front of her go?

“I got you something too.”

He passes her a squishy keychain, and she stares at the creature. She doesn’t remember seeing it.

“They had to close the exhibit, to upgrade it, but these are sea angels.” He explains, and Mina looks at the shape of the keychain. She can see the resemblance… perhaps.

The design is cute though, and there’s a heart in the center of the sea angel.

“They belong in the family Clione, and they’re actually floating sea slugs. When-” Narumi pointedly avoids her eyes, and she has to prompt him to continue his train of thought.

“When they’re back- this particular exhibition, I’ll show you - what they look like in person.”

Mina squishes the keychain, pleased to see it flattens. The sea angel bounces back up, pink heart regaining its shape when it does.

It’s cute.

“Sure.”

“Great. Cool.” He looks at the jellyfish keychain, and Mina suddenly feels self-conscious. She doesn’t have any fun facts that Narumi doesn’t already know.

“Goodnight then.” Mina says, yawning. She’s so tired and despite that, she knows she won’t be able to sleep tonight.

Not when she has to find out what happens to Bakko tomorrow.

“Right… Don’t forget to pay me back!” Narumi suddenly yells and she rolls her eyes.

“I’ll pay you back first thing tomorrow morning.” Mina debates leaving the conversation at that, but remembers a sun set and an irreplaceable sight in the ocean. “Thanks for today.”

His eyes widen, ever so slightly, and Mina wonders how she even noticed that.

And why she noticed it in the first place.

But Narumi quickly stuffs his hands into his pockets and scoffs, “It was whatever. I didn’t feel like hearing Hasegawa scream in my ear today. That’s all.”

“Sure.” Mina puts the sea angel into her pocket too, trying to map out the base layout in her head. The women’s baths should have some spare clothes.

“Bye.” He says, and Mina catches him walking off before she can say anything else.

There isn’t much for her to say anyway, so she walks in the opposite direction, stretching.

Until she catches sight of the leather sleeves and realizes.

She still has Narumi’s jacket on.

Hasegawa saw her with Narumi’s jacket on.

Sighing, she puts her face in her hands and thanks the heavens there isn’t anyone walking around at this hour.

When she finally gets into the bath, after ensuring there is in fact spare clothes in the locker room, she feels herself relax.

Yet again, she’s thankful that the baths in the defence force are worth living for.

As expected, Mina ends up with a sleepless night, and she can’t find the energy to visit Narumi first thing to repay him.

So she goes to the Captain's office instead, knocking on his door.

She’s afraid, to be frank.

But what is Ashiro Mina, if she wasn’t facing her fears every day?

Opening the door when he calls her in, she greets him and swallows.

“Good morning, Captain Shinomiya.”

“It appears you didn’t manage to get any sleep.”

Mina wonders if he’s ever not minced his words.

“It would be a lie to say I wasn’t worried.”

“About the fate of your pet?”

Her pet?

“Yes… sir.” She falters, hands fidgeting behind her back.

He hums, pulling out more sheets of paper, and Mina forces herself to clear her head.

Whatever happens, happens. She should’ve known this from the start.

“The white tiger, confirmed to have Kaiju cells - was declared as a failed experiment by the researchers at headquarters.”

She nods.

“It’s uncertain where and who has been experimenting with animals, trying to inject these cells into them, however.” The Captain isn’t reading off the reports anymore.

He looks at her straight in the eye. “Which is why we need to keep tabs on the first of its kind, and monitor it.”

Her heart thumps louder, harder.

“The way you’ve been doing for the past three months, Officer Ashiro.” He slides the journals across the table and towards her. “These contained valuable information that helped determine its level of threat to humanity.”

She steps forward, closer, and brushes her hands against the front of her latest notebook.

“With my permission, headquarters have approved the white tiger's stay within the Third Division - and specifically with you, Ashiro Mina.”

She keeps the sigh of relief form, threatening to spill out in her lungs.

“Continue to keep record of its growth, and come back here half a year later to report. If you see any abnormalities, sound it out to us immediately.”

“Roger.”

“However, this was a decision that was made possible because of your division’s testimonials - and the tiger’s reactions during certain experiments. Keep it in check, or I’m sure you know what will happen.” He leans back against his chair, and Mina clenches her fists behind her back.

“Many of the higher-ups are still apprehensive.”

“I understand,” she collects the journals on his desk and bows. “I promise I will not let you down, Captain Shinomiya.”

“I’m counting on you, Officer Ashiro. We expect great things from you.”

“Yes. Thank you.” Mina salutes him one last time, and he tells her to head back to the laboratory to collect Bakko.

Apparently, he throws in, “He’s been calling for you.”

And Mina tries not to burst into tears.

But she’s in front of the Chief, and while she may be undeniably happy, her day has only just begun.

When she exits his office, she finds Narumi leaning by the door and she flinches.

“You-”

She groans. His money.

At least she had the mind to put the exact amount in her pocket before visiting him.

“Here.” Mina collects the bills from her pants and passes it to Narumi, who doesn’t look overjoyed as he allegedly gets whenever he gets paid.

Sorry it’s not his monthly salary, then.

“Thanks.”

Having done her due diligence of returning Narumi what she owes, she walks past him and towards the laboratory.

She knows she shouldn’t have, getting this attached to something new, but-

But Bakko, as an unofficial member of the defence force now, and a creature she brings with her to missions - she has to remember he may not be there forever. The same way Mina has to remember all of the officers she works with are putting their lives on the line.

Footsteps echo throughout the hallway, and she doesn’t have to turn around to know Narumi's following her again.

Choosing not to ask, she simply continues walking, until he does speak up - when they’re right outside the labs.

“Wait- Ashiro.”

They stand by the door, and she hopes he’ll make it quick.

She wants to see Bakko.

“This-” he fishes something out from his pocket and she raises an eyebrow.

“This is for you.” He puts it in her hand, and then he’s running off before she can even open her mouth.

“Oh,” she whispers out loud. “A seashell.”

The same one he’d taken from her yesterday.

It’s truly a gorgeous thing, and she marvels as it shines under the hallway's light.

Pocketing it, Mina decides it’s pointless to wonder about if’s and chooses to look at what’s in front of her.

Bakko.

They reunite, and Mina can’t help but hug him close as she listens to what the researchers have to say.

Something about how he actually was a pure white tiger, although non-native to Japan - so it was a wonder as to where he’d come from.

None of the zoos had reported a missing tiger cub, so being bred from there was out of the question.

Mina knows exactly what that means.

There’s someone out there breeding such animals in captivity, and injecting them with Kaiju cells, in Japan.

The amount in Bakko had been little enough that he only evolved to self-regenerate. But as he was still young, it was hard to determine if that was all.

Mina scratches his chin, right where he likes it and smiles softly as he purrs.

They task her to monitor his food intake, cravings, how he reacts to Kaiju on the battlefield, and other extra information she didn’t think to record previously.

Nodding, Mina thanks the researchers for their time and coaxes Bakko into his carrier.

“Oh yeah,” one of them says, and Mina pauses by the exit. “That problem officer-”

“Narumi?” Another researcher supplies, “The one Isao-san favours?”

“Yeah, yeah. Him.”

Mina tilts her head in confusion.

“Officer Narumi suggested something to Isao-san yesterday, after you left Bakko here.”

She blinks, recalling the way he followed her into the lab.

“That if Bakko grows big enough, around the same size as an average tiger - he could probably help with the recoil when you fire your personal weapon.”

Huh.

Looking down at Bakko, she tries to imagine a larger version of him - like the tigers she’s seen in pictures.

Big enough for her to lean against.

So she doesn’t have to dig her heels into concrete after each round.

Admittedly, it’s a good idea. And while she always kept Bakko by her side for company - she feels enlightened now.

If he can serve a purpose, then she can convince them to let him stay.

“Thank you for letting me know.” Mina bows her head at the two researchers who wave goodbye to Bakko, and she smiles.

“It was really Narumi’s idea. That kid’s got a good head on his shoulders, surprisingly.”

Mina chooses not to agree with them, even though it’s true and walks out instead - unsure of what to do with the new information.

But it’s unlikely that they’ll run into each other again, and Mina isn’t sure if she even wants to - at this point. So she holds onto the two gifts she received from Narumi and takes her assigned transport back to Tachikawa.

She can repay Narumi by getting better. Getting stronger.

By doing whatever she can so she hesitates less, when she’s sniping.

Mina peers at Bakko, sleeping soundly in her carrier - and tries to imagine a time where he can help in battle.

Big and strong enough to take down smaller monsters on his own, sturdy enough for her to lean on when she needs to fire - and Mina doesn’t let the grin on her face fall until she’s back at her base’s firing range.

That evening, she apologizes for ignoring her batch mate’s messages, and they take turns to welcome Bakko home.

Home.

Right.

After spending the rest of the day training, Mina glances over at the keychains she’s put onto the keys to the base and her room. She stares at the seashell sitting on her table, on a plate for her other trinkets from her past, and gifts from her friends here.

She scrolls through her list of contacts, unsure of when she had saved his number, but clicks to message Narumi anyway.

Narumi Gen

> Make yourself available for a week in November.
> 20th - 27th November.

unknown contact

> who the hell is this
> u just ruined my kill streak

Narumi Gen

> Ashiro Mina.

The next reply takes five minutes, and Mina wonders if she’s making the correct choice.

ashiro 💢👎🙄

> and what if i have THINGS to fdo
> like WORK

Narumi Gen

> At least come up with something more believable.

ashiro 💢👎🙄

> anyway
> whats happening=
> what does the great officer ashiro up and upcoming future captain need from me

Narumi Gen

> Just make yourself available.

ashiro 💢👎🙄

> cryptic
> have u finally realized u can never beat me?
> ur gonna kidnap and kill me instead?
> i wont let u
> good that u realized early though!

She clicks her tongue, and apologizes to her bunkmate when they let out a startled noise.

Narumi Gen

> I’ll see you at the First Division on the 20th.

ashiro 💢👎🙄

> ???????????/
> whatever

Opting not to tire herself out any further, she simply reacts with an emoji and locks her phone, leaving it on the bed.

Her mother had been thrilled to hear that Mina would be coming back, after nearly two years.

She doesn’t think she can bring Bakko along, which deeply saddened her, but Mizuki and the others had readily agreed to take care of him in her stead.

Mina stops a frustrated noise from leaving her when she thinks back to the conversation with Narumi.

What on earth is she doing?

What is she thinking - bringing Narumi to her hometown. To see her parents.

Oh well, he might not even end up going.

She’ll worry about it when the time comes. Instead, she sits up in her bed to glance at Bakko, sleeping peacefully at the edge of her bed.

She has Bakko back, and that’s all that matters today, and for the coming weeks.

Mina sleeps better than she had the previous night, and dreams of a dozen jellyfish swimming in a star abundant sky.

Pink eyes fill her line of sight, and then-

Her eyes snap awake, the sound of her alarm ringing in her ears.

But all she can think about is a warm hand on her cheek, a smile so sincere and wide, and messy black and white hair.

She’s so glad she won’t be seeing Narumi for a while.