Archive of Our Own

If one wasn’t aware of Hoshina’s family situation, they would probably assume he’s an older brother.

Mina has this thought as she watches her vice-captain of two years talk to the new recruits, giving them information on what to do before their first training session with a captive monster.

As a highly skilled personnel, even with a low affinity with firearms, Mina knew Hoshina was someone incoming rookies could depend on.

(He's always been everything she isn’t and after all the years of hardening her heart - it disappointed her greatly to find out new troop members are scared of her.)

When she first reached out to him, perhaps the shyest she’s ever been since becoming a commander, to get him to teach her how to use swords more efficiently - he was kind.

And that was essentially how Mina decided to make Hoshina the person who would be in charge of all their new batches.

Hoshina didn’t complain, merely humming as he sat listening to what his duties would consist of.

“Are you sure, Captain?” He had asked, and Mina was genuinely surprised to hear the lack of confidence in his tone.

It reminded her of the time he was in the hospital, after assisting the Third Division with a subjugation and she still hadn’t heard his reply on whether he would join her unit.

Ever since he joined and subsequently became Vice-Captain, he’s grown more self-assured, which pleased Mina greatly.

She always had faith that Hoshina had the ability to become someone greater than what everyone around him said.

“Of course, Vice-Captain Hoshina.” She had replied, saving the report she was in the middle of writing to face him properly. “You were patient with me as you taught me how to use knives better, even though everybody else I’ve asked had given up.”

Mina had smiled at the memory of Hoshina throwing her words back at her - a challenge, “Will you not evolve too, Captain?”

That was all she needed to focus, her natural abilities be damned. If she didn’t have the talent for it then she would simply work twice, thrice as hard as everyone else who did.

Just because she had an excellent swordsman to cover her weaknesses now, didn’t mean she would allow herself to be complacent and remain stagnant.

“That wasn’t-” He mumbled, scratching the back of his neck the way he would whenever he got embarrassed.

“I really appreciated it, Hoshina. It’s why I think you’ll be perfect for this role - you’ve always been great at taking care of people.”

Hoshina’s cheeks tinted a smidge red, and she smiled at the sight. Over the last few years, she’d found out he wore his heart on his sleeve, expressions always so easy to read.

It endeared her more than it should’ve, probably.

“Well-!” Hoshina said, waving his fingers in the air, “If my commander is asking me for such a grand favour, I suppose I have to agree!”

Recalling his cheeky grin, Mina finds the corners of her mouth lifting without her permission. Seeing Hoshina happy, unabashedly so, always manages to make her heart feel a bit lighter.

It’s a quiet thing, the feelings she knows she harbours for her vice-captain. It’s quiet, because if she lets it get any louder than she allows it to, Mina will be in trouble.

Her position, her duty, as captain-

She can’t.

So she shakes her head, back of her hand pressed to her cheek at the unusual feeling of warmth coursing through her veins.

Ever since joining, she’s learnt to keep her face neutral, expressionless as she should be - as a respectable person in the defense force.

(As a soldier who can’t let all the things she fears be known to the officers under her. To the superiors above her. To those who fight beside her.)

A blush escaping, and showing on her face would be unacceptable.

But before she can leave the control room to check, there’s a tap on her shoulder, and Mina wills the flush to disappear before turning around.

“Okonogi.” She says, blinking at the obvious concern etched on the division’s star operator. “What is it?”

Okonogi stares at her and Mina blinks again, wondering if there’s a sudden earthquake because why is the room spinning?

No, surely not. In an emergency they’d be alerted immediately.

“Captain Ashiro, are you alright?” Okonogi asks, and Mina resists resting her hands on the operator’s shoulder to stop her from moving.

Why does Okonogi keep swaying?

“I’m… I’m fine.” Mina replies, her voice sounding further than it should be. “I need to get back to my reports, let me know if there’s anything amiss.”

“But-” Okonogi tries to say, and Mina gives her a silent apology as she steps out of the control room before she can complete her sentence.

This is starting to annoy her.

She’d decided to leave her mountain of work, finding them a chore (of course, not complaining about it unlike some captains) for a few minutes - thinking the break would do her good.

Looking back, maybe the words swirling on her laptop screen should’ve been an indication of something greater.

But Mina doesn’t get sick. She hasn’t fallen ill since becoming a member of the defense force, and she’s certainly not letting the first time it happens be at such a crucial moment.

With the new recruits, Mina has a bit more work to handle, keeping tabs on them and their growth.

Between that and the paperwork, she definitely enjoys watching the new generation entrusted to her more.

She wants to give them, some officers as young as eighteen - just like her when she first started, the guidance she never received.

The feeling of a home she never got to have until she made the Third Division her own.

As she trudges back to her office, she stops by the vending machine to buy a can of coffee despite hating the bitter taste and an isotonic drink.

When she’s back inside, she shuts the door and collapses onto her office chair, sighing.

It’s nothing. This is nothing, she chants in her head - bringing her laptop screen back to life.

She closes the spreadsheet with the new recruits and their current release force, as well as their potential strengths listed down.

With another sigh, she pulls up the word document she’d been typing in instead, opening the can of coffee with her other hand.

At the very least, Mina will be able to take a longer break during lunch, and she might just go to the infirmary or a spare room to rest.

This is nothing - she repeats in her head, ignoring the way it throbs at all the words.

The next hour is spent fighting back the ache that seems to grow as time passes, and switching between the bottle of pocari and can of coffee.

Even though the weather should be favourable, with spring and the breath of fresh air it brings - Mina can’t help but shudder at the chill of her office even though the windows are shut.

Yet, at the same time, it’s so warm - and she ends up removing the top half of her uniform, working in her tank top instead.

With how frustrating it’d been trying to find a way to keep herself from either freezing or overheating, she gave up completely and let herself be.

Unzipping her uniform jacket really didn't help and she seems to feel ten times worse.

The clock chimes when it hits noon, and it’s time for lunch. With the majority of the officers on duty probably crowding the cafeteria, Mina decides she’ll just rest.

She doesn’t need a mirror to know she looks like shit.

And she certainly can’t have the rookies seeing their commander in this state.

Mina seriously needs to consider buying a couch and leaving it in the office, she thinks, as she slowly pulls the sleeves of her jacket back on.

Gently closing her laptop shut, she picks up the empty coffee can and tosses it in its respective bin in the hallway before walking towards one of the spare rooms.

Of course the one day she needs it, it feels like it’s kilometres away and she grits her teeth, willing the walls to stop spinning.

Luckily, there’s no one around and she peers into the room, making sure it’s unoccupied.

Untying her boots, she slips them off and releases her hair from its constricting ponytail. She’ll probably use a different hair style later.

Setting an alarm for until lunch break is over in an hour, she lays down on the bed and brings the back of her hand to her forehead.

Unsurprisingly, but annoyingly, she’s burning up. A little bit worse than earlier, and definitely not because of Hoshina this time.

Thinking about Hoshina makes her shut her eyes, and naturally - Mina ends up imagining his silly smile.

Even though she shouldn’t, she runs a hand through her hair, wondering what it’d be like if it was Hoshina’s.

But she’s ill (alright, she’ll admit it) and uncomfortable and she hasn’t felt this out of control over her emotions since she was eighteen.

A fever, huh. When was the last time she had anyone help her when she was sick?

Back when she was still living with her parents, she refused to tell them whenever she fell ill - convinced she’d be a burden.

They were busy working trying to get their lives back since their hometown was destroyed by that kaiju attack.

She couldn’t have possibly worried them. Of course, Kafka would always tell on her - and she remembers getting so mad every time he did.

Although after the first time, he was nice enough to wait until after she recovered before casually bringing it up to her parents.

They constantly told her to be more selfish, to let them know if anything was wrong-

And it wasn’t like Mina thought she couldn’t, but she simply hated letting the people around her down.

Which was why she never told them about what her life as a rookie in the defense force was like. She never told Kafka either, and they slowly lost contact.

Mina never told anyone about her fears. And she got by just fine without needing to.

So she’ll get by just fine now, all she needs to do is sleep it off.

It’s not the first time she’s cured a fever by herself, even if it’s almost been five years since she last fell physically ill.

After work, she’ll pop a painkiller in before heading to bed early. As long as there isn’t a sudden subjugation, she’ll be fine.

Despite that, she can’t help but feel a wave of loneliness as her eyelids grow heavy.

In the dark, dark, dark room - Mina realizes nursing herself back to health on her own never gets any less painful.

At least when she was a child, she was in the comfort of her own room, and her only responsibility included studying for her classes and the defense force examination.

She sighs, heartbeat thudding louder than ever in the silence that overwhelms her.

A fever is nothing. This is nothing.

She’ll get better after a short nap, and spring back into action by the time lunch break is over.

Ashiro Mina is the Commander of the Third Division, and she refuses to let this affect her.

Clearing her head, the same way she always does whenever she’s on rooftops with her personal weapon in hand, she lets the exhaustion take over.

The very last thing she imagines - that helps her rest a bit easier, is that cheeky smile, sharp fangs, belonging to someone whose heart is softer than anyone else’s in the force.

When she wakes up, Mina realizes there’s three things amiss.

First: She’s not awoken by her alarm. Her numerous alarms.

Second: The room is dimmer than it should be, even with the curtains blocking most of the sunlight - it’s obvious it’s late.

Third: There’s someone else in the room.

She narrows her eyes, adjusting to the darkness while sitting up.

Something lands on her lap, and she blinks.

A towel.

A towel that’s warm, but was likely cooler before when it was on her.

There’s a blanket covering her lower half too, and she recalls not pulling that up since she was too hot.

Slowly, and almost owlishly, Mina turns to her side - acknowledging the other presence in the room.

As soon as she regained consciousness, she immediately knew who it was. But it felt surreal, it felt too hopeful for her to think Hoshina had looked for her.

Yet there he is, sitting arms crossed on a chair not far from the bed, a pail of water next to him and Mina’s heart clenches.

This time, the flush that travels to her cheeks isn’t because of the fever.

He’s sleeping, and Mina bites on her lower lip.

Hoshina doesn’t usually let his guard down like this. In fact, he never does.

She doesn’t know what to do, so she lies down on the bed - putting the towel back on her forehead even though it longer has a cooling effect.

Maybe she’s dreaming.

Wait-

The time.

She jolts up, forgoing being careful not to wake Hoshina up as she scrambles for her phone.

It’s evening.

She’d skipped her duties.

Her-

Her reports.

She needs to finish her reports. The new recruits- the new officers, Mina needs to write about how they’ve done after their training earlier.

Gritting her teeth at the way the room spins as she gets up too quickly from the bed, she lets out a loud sigh.

How negligent of her. What a disgrace, she seethes, gripping the towel tight in her hand. Water seeps out, and she frowns.

“Captain.”

Mina stills, before squeezing the towel harder.

“Captain Ashiro.” Hoshina repeats, and she gnaws on her lip as she refuses to meet his gaze.

The gaze she can practically feel, seeing right through her.

Her entire being is on fire, partly because of the fever but also because she’s so angry. She’s furious at herself, embarrassed - for being such an irresponsible Commander.

All that talk about being the coolest officer in the defense force, and Mina can’t even wake up with her alarms?

She’s aware she’s harder on herself than she needs to be - than she should be. But it’s-

Before she can go onto another tangent about how she has to do better as a captain, she feels herself being pushed back down onto the bed.

“Hoshina-” She finally acknowledges his presence properly, unintentionally finding herself resisting but not having the strength to when the room continues to spin.

Her head still feels like it’s on the verge of exploding.

In the voice he uses when reprimanding his squad members for being reckless during a mission, he says, “Lie down.”

She stays silent, and continues to avoid his gaze as she slowly lowers herself back onto the bed.

“Captain Ashiro.” Hoshina continues, and Mina feels the towel gently removed from her hand. “You need to rest.”

Mina has never shown any of her division members this side of her. She never let it slip through the cracks, the perfect mask she’s established for herself since becoming an officer.

She never wanted anybody to think that she wasn’t doing well. She never wanted anybody to take away the position she sought after ever since she was a young girl.

She never wanted anybody to regret accepting her into the defense force.

(She never wanted to regret joining the defense force.)

So she grit her teeth, let the voices of the dead and wounded take over, and fired as many times as it took her to defeat the monsters a thousand times bigger than her.

Mina was appointed captain of a division in Tokyo, and she’d rather die than have that be taken away from her. She’d rather die than be anything less than a respectable and excellent commander.

She had to follow in the footsteps of those she admired, of those who were strong.

There was no room for failure. There was no room to hesitate.

There’s never any room for her to breathe.

And for the longest time she was fine with that.

Yet as she listens to Hoshina dip the towel back into the bucket, squeezing excess water out before leaning over her so Mina has no choice but to look-

Her heart squeezes in her chest, and she suddenly feels awful. Not awful in the way she’s been the entire day, but awful in the way it feels like her whole world is crashing down on her.

Even though her mouth opens, trying to find the words to speak, nothing comes out. All she can do is stare up into Hoshina’s purple-red eyes and frown.

This isn’t a sight she should be letting anyone see.

Especially not Hoshina.

But he smiles - softly at her, and Mina praises the human eyes’ ability to adjust to darkness with time.

He uses a hand to brush her bangs away and she can’t help but feel so small, as he places the cool towel onto her forehead.

“Hoshina-” she finally finds her voice again, grimacing when it’s hoarse from disuse and dehydration.

A bottle of water ends up in her hands, and she blinks - before feeling Hoshina sitting her upright just enough for her to drink from the straw inside.

The towel remains on her forehead with the help of Hoshina’s other hand.

“Should’ve done this first, my apologies, Captain.”

She wants to tell him that he doesn’t need to do any of this in the first place. She wants to tell him she doesn’t deserve any of this.

Mina wants to tell Hoshina she’ll be fine on her own.

But her vice-captain has always been the one person she finds hiding from futile. She can’t lie to him.

Which is why she knows her feelings can be obvious whenever she’s around him. And it’s a relief he’s dense enough to never notice it.

He carefully lowers her back on the bed once she’s done drinking the water, and Mina lets herself want something else entirely.

This feeling of being taken care of-

This feeling of wanting to be taken care of-

Ashiro Mina, Commander of Third Division shouldn’t be thinking about this. She shouldn’t yearn for it.

It goes against her principles, it goes against the kind of captain she’s always envisioned herself to be and worked towards.

But when Hoshina brushes the back of his hand against her damningly warm cheek (this time, it’s hard to tell whether it’s because of the fever, or because he’s in the room doing all this), she leans towards it - against better judgment.

The moment his hand leaves her, she has to fight herself from whining. And that’s how she knows she’s too far gone, the illness doing a wonderfully annoying job at lowering her defenses.

She’s made to realize this fact not even a second later, when Hoshina turns away from her and picks up the bucket of water.

He’s going to leave.

Her heart lurches in her throat, and before he can walk any further-

She has the back of his uniform jacket in her fist, and she burns hotter.

Shit.

At the sensation of being grabbed, Hoshina looks over his shoulder and Mina curses herself when she sees his expression of sheer confusion, “Captain-?”

Immediately, she releases the garment, finding the ceiling extremely interesting as his eyes seemingly bore right into her soul.

“Captain Ashiro.”

Knowing she can’t avoid him forever, she answers, still transfixed on everything but her vice-captain, “Hoshina.”

“I’m just going to change the water, and bring some Paracetamol in. The porridge should be ready by now too.”

She fiddles with the blanket, hoping it’s not obvious how his clarification brings her relief.

He’s going to come back.

Ah.

In an instant, she tenses up at her thoughts. At the fact that she made him clarify himself.

Look at her, being selfish.

Gritting her teeth, she presses the towel down against her forehead - uselessly trying to will the headache away.

Suddenly the idea of wanting sickens her more than anything else. Mina can’t take advantage of Hoshina’s kindness like this.

“Hoshina, I’ll take it from here. Don’t worry.” She says, finally turning to face him. It’s a bit of a weird angle, since she’s still laying down, so she tries to sit up but gets stopped.

The towel falls awkwardly on top of the blanket, and she grips it in her hand again.

“Captain.” A warning, and she realizes the pail is back on the floor and his hands are on her shoulders. “You have a high fever, exceeding thirty-eight degrees. As Vice-Captain-”

38 degrees? She presses a hand against her neck, immediately noticing it’s true.

“My apologies, Hoshina. You shouldn’t have to do this. I’ll grab the medication from the infirmary and-”

Hoshina clenches his jaw, “Let me take care of you.”

“I couldn’t possibly-” she fights back, she bites back, knowing her tone is harsher than it should be. Especially when Hoshina is just trying to help. “I couldn’t possibly waste your time-”

“It’s not.” The grip on her shoulders hurt, and she feels the way his fingers dig into her skin. She doesn’t bring it up, opting to stare in disbelief at the way he looks at her. “It’s never a waste of time, it never will be. Not when it’s you, Captain Ashiro.”

He’s firm in his decision and Mina may be stubborn, but Hoshina is someone (as she came to find out pretty early on) who’s ten times harder to convince when he’s set his mind on something.

It’s what makes him such a great vice-captain, a great leader, because he’s constantly putting in 101% of effort into getting things done.

So she knows there’s no convincing him otherwise, but she can’t find it in herself to be happy about it.

“I’m sorry.” She whispers, inevitably drowning in his sincere eyes.

He smiles, and Mina wants to ruin the perfectly good relationship they have as captain and vice-captain. It’s scary how she might end up blurting out something she shouldn’t say.

A confession she’s buried deep in her heart, alongside all the fears that get in her way whenever she’s alone on rooftops.

“No more apologies, Captain Ashiro!” He takes the towel from her again, soaking it once more before guiding her to lie down again. “I’m here because I want to be.”

She takes the time to appreciate the cool towel on her burning forehead, before nodding.

“Thank you, Hoshina.”

Seemingly satisfied, Hoshina gives her another smile, and Mina finds it incredibly reassuring.

“Good. Now, rest. I’ll be back soon.”

When it comes to her vice-captain, she’s never found it difficult to trust him. Placing her belief and faith in Hoshina has never gone wrong and he’s always proven to never let her down.

So despite everything-

Despite feeling like she’s ten again, laying in her childhood bedroom all alone, trying to get some sleep even though she can’t breathe-

Despite feeling like she’s eighteen again, standing on the rooftop of a building with a daikaiju right in front of her all alone, forcing her hands to remain steady on her personal weapon even though she can’t think-

Mina knows Hoshina will return, like he said he would, so she closes her eyes and forces the chaos in her brain to be silent.

Unlike before, it’s harder to fall back asleep, so she doesn’t. She ends up consolidating her workload in her head, trying to figure out how to adjust her schedule for the next day.

If she’s lucky, she’ll be able to recover by tomorrow - just like when she was a child. And if that’s the case, she’ll be able to finish up the reports for the rookies.

Even though she’s upset about getting sick in the first place, her saving grace is how it’s nothing more than a fever.

At least it’s not contagious either.

Mina doesn’t know how long Hoshina takes, but when light from the hallway filters in slightly from the door, she tilts her head to watch him enter.

“I’ll turn on the lights.” He softly announces, and she wonders what she’s done to deserve this.

The room turns bright, and she squeezes her eyes shut on instinct after having stayed in the darkness for such a long time.

As she listens to Hoshina drag several things around in the room, she slowly opens her eyes and squints.

“I made you some porridge, Captain.” Hoshina says, and she sits up, grabbing the towel first so it doesn’t fall down again. “I didn’t see you at the cafeteria earlier, so I bet you haven’t eaten.”

And before Mina can say anything about not being hungry, her stomach grumbles and to her horror, it’s loud.

“Well.”

“Hoshina.” She warns, hoping he’ll be kind enough to pretend the flush on her face is from the fever that hasn’t managed to break, and not because she’s been humiliated.

Thankfully, all he does is chuckle, only stopping with that (stupid, silly, infuriatingly endearing) grin on his face when Mina glares at him.

He places the bowl on a small table that he must’ve dragged from the other side of the room, and Mina eyes the contents.

It looks good.

It never occurred to her that Hoshina could be a decent cook, but his knife skills are certainly better than anyone else in the division, so perhaps it makes sense.

“Did you manage to eat yet?” She finds herself asking, reaching for the spoon he’d brought along.

Snorting, Hoshina sits back down on the chair he was on earlier and places his chin onto the palm of his hand.

“Captain Ashiro, it’s cute that you’re worrying about me when you’re the sick one.”

She nearly drops the utensil, narrowing her eyes at him when she manages to keep it from falling onto the floor.

In recent times, Hoshina has started teasing her more often- and she never knows what to do when he says things like that straight to her face.

Refusing to let his words affect her, she mumbles out, “You didn’t answer the question.”

“I ate earlier, Captain. Now it’s your turn.” He reassures her, gesturing to the bowl. “Unless you need my help?”

If she wasn’t sick, she would’ve hit him on the head for that.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Hoshina.”

Naturally, Mina ends up imagining it anyway. She imagines what’d it be like to have him feed her, and she promptly turns away from the smirking man to eat the porridge herself.

“Careful, it’s hot.”

Do not imagine Hoshina cooling it down for you, Mina.

(She imagines it anyway. Of course she does.)

The room feels ten times warmer at the scenario she’s conjured in her mind and she shoves the spoon into her mouth in an attempt to stop thinking.

“Ah-” She huffs, feeling the porridge burn her tongue. That worked way too well, because she clearly must have lost her mind.

“What did I just say, Captain Ashiro?” Hoshina sighs, sounding all too amused as he passes her the bottle of water from before. “Perhaps I should help you after all?”

At his tone, she glares at him again, blowing on the second bite herself.

This time, she gets to appreciate the taste without wanting to spit the porridge back out - and it’s way better than she could’ve expected.

It tastes-

It tastes nostalgic.

And maybe it’s because she hasn’t had anything to eat for the last eight hours, but she demolishes the meal in front of her in under ten minutes.

“You’re going to get a stomach ache on top of the fever if you eat that quickly, Captain.” Hoshina had said when he saw how fast she was going, evidently holding back laughter.

Mina ignored him though, because it was seriously the best porridge of her life.

Or well, at the very least, second to her own mother’s cooking.

That was how she realized she missed her parents. But because longing never led to anything good, she dismissed the thought immediately.

The more logical part of her knows she’s allowed to miss them. Her family.

Yet wanting to go back always makes Mina feel like her resolve is thinning, so she ended up making excuses the last few years.

Frowning, as she recalls her mother’s latest message telling Mina not to overwork herself - she sets the bowl back down on the side table and sighs.

“Was it not good?”

“Oh,” The noise slips out before Mina can help herself, completely forgetting Hoshina was in the room too. This fever is making her careless. “No, it was great. Thank you.”

He beams, smiling broadening and taking over his face and she has to turn away from how bright it is.

“I’m glad.”

When Hoshina stands up, she finds the corners of her lips tugging down without her permission.

Don’t be selfish, she reminds herself.

He’s already gone above and beyond to cook for her, Mina can’t possibly ask him to stay any longer.

A hand appears in her peripheral vision, and she blinks - seeing another bottle of water alongside the metal foil of medication.

“Take two tablets, Captain.” Hoshina instructs, and she does as she’s told, drinking from the bottle he opens for her.

Be satisfied with what you have.

It’s a thought that loops in her mind as she watches Hoshina inch closer with the same bucket from earlier.

“Hm,” he hums, and Mina raises an eyebrow in response. “Should you be lying down right after eating?”

“I can sit upright for the next hour, I doubt I can go back to sleep anyway.” She thinks about it for a second, wondering if she’ll be able to get some work done.

Then she remembers something important, and she’s swinging her legs over the side of the bed in an instant with Hoshina startling backwards at her sudden movement.

“Capt-”

“Bakko.”

She left Bakko alone in the apartment. He hasn’t eaten in hours.

“Oh.”

Getting up so quickly when she’s already dizzy probably wasn’t the best idea, as she finds herself stumbling - hands flying in front of her to steady herself.

They end up on Hoshina’s shoulders, and with their faces incredibly close, her own heats up without the fever’s help once more.

“Sorry, Hoshina.” She mumbles, pointedly looking away from him. “I need to head back.”

He appears to spend a second considering her words, and Mina doesn’t really care if he tries to stop her.

To her surprise, Hoshina places his hands over her own and smiles, “Okay.”

Dumbly, all she can say is: “Okay.”

She spends an extra second peering up at Hoshina, before snapping herself out of it and shifting to the bed to put her boots back on.

“I’m going to bring the bowl back to the cafeteria, and we’ll head to your apartment together.”

Immediately, she halts and looks up at him.

“You don’t have to-”

Hoshina wags his finger, clicking his tongue, “I want to, Captain.”

And because she has her guard down, and because her head is killing her and she can feel the heat from her fever burning, she sighs and relents.

And maybe it’s because she wants this - she waits for Hoshina to return.

He has a tote bag when he’s back, and she raises an eyebrow in question.

“Just some things.” Hoshina cheerfully informs her and she narrows her eyes.

“I’ll be better with rest.”

“It’s only some fruit, Captain.”

She waits, eyeing the bag that absolutely has more than ‘some fruits’.

“...And breakfast.” He sighs, running a hand through his bangs when Mina doesn’t say anything. “More medication as well and a box of fever patches from the infirmary.”

Knowing he’s done, she nods.

“You’re not going to say something silly about not needing them?”

The shock in his voice annoys her and she glares at him.

“I appreciate it, Hoshina. Truly.”

The teasing grin he usually adorns falls, replaced with the sincere smile Mina much prefers to see. One she's witnessed in the privacy of her office more times than she can count over the years.

It’s one she knows she has the privilege of witnessing, as Captain of the Third Division.

“Good. Let’s go then.”

This time, Mina knows not to rush to stand so she doesn’t end up in another humiliating situation with Hoshina.

Despite that, he hovers an arm around her anyway, and she tries so hard to not let it get to her.

“Is there anyone…?” She questions, blearily wondering what time it is by now as she reaches for her phone in her pocket.

“Everybody’s training. The rookies sure are diligent this year.”

While it’s a relief to know nobody will be around the hallways at this hour, Mina can’t help but feel awful for not doing her nightly training alongside them.

Hoshina gives her head a chop, always gentler than the ones she gives him, “Don’t even think about it, Captain.”

“I wasn’t.”

“You definitely were.”

She huffs, walking ahead of Hoshina.

“You know I’m right!” He calls out from behind her, and Mina waves him off until they’re walking side by side again.

It’s annoying how she’s walking a bit slower too, causing Hoshina to match her pace. They’re the same height, so they’ve never had issues walking together.

Mina always found it irritating when she was a kid and Kafka was constantly in front of her.

But things are different now, she thinks, albeit hazily as she walks down the halls of her division.

She really has to get better soon. Mina wants to dive straight back into work - looking at how hardworking her recruits are. How kind her vice-captain is.

Mina is indebted to the people who stand beside, behind, and in front of her.

At some point, being with the Third Division, has changed her. She’s gone from fighting because it’s her duty, because she’s asked to, because there’s nobody else-

To fighting because she wants to protect. She wants to ensure when she’s on the field, none of her recruits die. None of her troop members, no civilians, and no animals will leave severely injured under her command.

Yet, she still fears. She still wonders if she’s doing enough.

She wonders if she’s a good commander.

She wonders if she’s someone people want to follow, someone people wouldn’t mind risking their lives for.

She still wonders if she’s worthy of that.

“Captain.”

Hoshina’s voice rings out in her ears, and she blinks, realizing they’ve reached the entrance of the base.

“Are you feeling alright? You’re wobbling.”

“Fine-” Mina nearly bites out, before holding her tongue. “I’m fine, Hoshina.”

He looks at her, dubious, but she meets his gaze - challenging him. She knows he won’t, which is why she instantly feels bad about it.

“Sorry.”

It’s a word she’s been saying a lot today, even though Mina usually doesn’t apologize much. She always ensured she never had to.

She always made sure she never burdened anyone.

Another light head chop, and she scowls.

“No more apologies, Captain.” Hoshina sighs, although it sounds more exasperated than anything else. “Let’s go see Bakko.”

The mention of Bakko causes her shoulders to relax immediately, and she never noticed how stiff they were the entire day.

They walk to the apartment complex in silence after that, and Mina’s thoughts don’t overwhelm her during the five minutes there at the very least.

She brings Hoshina up to her place, discretely keying in the passcode because it’s a set of numbers he could identify even while asleep.

(Maybe she should’ve been smarter to use something that wasn’t the birthday of her crush- or whatever, but the agent told Mina her own birthday would be too obvious.)

When she enters past the front door, Hoshina waits outside of it, and she halts.

Bakko appears by her side as she stares at him, wondering what she should do. What she wants to do. What she wants Hoshina to do. What he wants to do.

“Hello,” Hoshina nods at the feline, and gives his head a pat. Mina’s heart squeezes without her permission and she feels sick again. “Were you hungry?”

Right. Bakko’s food.

“Come in, Hoshina.” Like a switch, the more impulsive part of her takes over, and she doesn’t bother waiting to see if he does. She has a tiger to feed.

“Bakko,” she calls, heading to the kitchen and grabbing his food. “I’m sorry I’m late.”

He yawns, unbothered, and Mina chuckles. She gives his giant head a squeeze, roughing up his ears and holding him close before he begins eating.

Nothing brings her more relief than seeing Bakko and holding onto him.

“Can I put the fruits in the fridge?” Hoshina asks, and she honestly forgot he was there for a moment.

“Yes, thank you.”

She stands up from where she was kneeled before Bakko, and unzips her uniform.

It’s suddenly too stuffy in her apartment.

A bath. A bath would fix her.

“I’ll leave the rest of the things on the counter then, Captain.”

She nods, drumming her nails on said counter, deciding what to do.

The impulsive part of her has returned to the safety of its cave in her head, and now all Mina can do is yearn.

Hoshina remains unmoving, even though he could leave. Even though he’s done his duty, taking care of her.

Even though he’s already done plenty.

They stare at each other, standing on opposite ends of the kitchen counter, and Mina feels the fever get worse under his gaze.

“Captain Ashiro.” He speaks up first, and she snaps out of it. No, she has to send him back- “Will you be alright?”

Stunned, Mina blinks at him, wondering when the last time anyone asked her how she was feeling was. Certainly not during her time as a rookie, using her personal weapon for the first time - shooting down monsters fifty times her size.

“I’m…”

She takes an extra second, an extra minute - to consider his question.

Perhaps it’s because she’s at home, perhaps it’s because she’s ill, perhaps it’s because there’s an incredible ache in her heart-

Perhaps it’s the loneliness that comes from standing at the top by herself.

She lets herself think through his words. And in that extra time, Mina takes in Hoshina’s face.

He looks upset, despite the smile he throws her way. In that moment, Mina supposes they’re not that different, sometimes.

How weak of her… Wanting to keep him here, to keep him from leaving.

But she fears. She still fears, even more so when her guard is down, and her heart is exposed. Mina doesn’t think she could handle the rejection.

So she throws a question back at him, “Would you like to stay?”

With zero hesitation, he answers. Just like how he always does, as her right-hand man.

“Yes.”

It’s not like the base is far, it’s not like Hoshina can’t walk back now, and yet-

“Alright.” Mina chooses to shove all those thoughts and doubts away, deciding enough is enough. If she overthinks any longer, her head will explode. “Thank you, Hoshina. I’ll go run a bath.”

“Captain, please take a seat. I’ll do it.” He insists, stern eyes making a return and she clamps her mouth shut, pulling out the counter seat.

When he sees she’s done as he asked (more like ordered, she chuckles to herself), Hoshina smiles. It’s not a sad smile this time.

Her cheeks warm, and she fidgets - unable to stay still, the realisation that Hoshina is in her apartment sinking in.

She needs to be a good host.

Preparing a set of clean clothes and a towel for him, Mina places them in the guest bedroom. She prepares a cup of water for him too, wondering if there’s anything else she needs to do.

“Captain.”

Turning around slowly like she’s just been caught doing something illegal, Mina sees Hoshina with his arms crossed. His uniform jacket is in his hand, and she’s really doing a horrible job at keeping her expressions in check with the fever.

“Didn’t I say to take a seat?” Despite how he looks, Mina can tell he’s not angry. In fact, he appears more fond than anything, and she narrows her eyes at him.

“You’re still my guest, Hoshina. I’ve left a change of clothes and a towel on the bed in that room for you.”

He hums, before walking up to her. Every fiber in her being shouts at her to move, but she doesn’t - standing where she is even when Hoshina is mere centimetres away.

A cool hand rests gently on her forehead, and Mina has to resist the urge to sigh at how comforting the touch is.

“Your fever might be subsiding, at least. But you’re not allowed to stay in the bath for too long.” He suddenly says, and Mina wants to argue, because her time soaking in there is precious. Sensing her unhappiness (not that she’s unhappy), he snorts.

Astounded, Mina opens her mouth to fight back, because what’s so funny, Hoshina - when the bath beeps, signalling it’s filled.

He holds up his phone, indicating he’s set a timer for an hour and she clicks her tongue at him. This elicits another burst of laughter from her vice-captain.

Hoshina smiles at her, and she doesn’t sulk, but feels the corner of her mouth tug downwards. It’s a nostalgic feeling, knowing she used to make the same face all the time, at Kafka.

“Off you go, if you’re not out within the hour I’ll be bothering you outside.”

Sighing, Mina waves at the cup of water on the counter, before telling him there’s a second bathroom he can use too.

And then they’re off to their separate bathrooms, Mina feeling her forehead once more. It’s warm, although she’s unsure if it’s because of Hoshina or the fever.

No matter, a shower and a bath won’t kill her. She’s not even feeling dizzy anymore.

She brings her phone in with her, setting her own alarm, mortified by the idea of Hoshina knocking on the door to chase her out.

As expected, the hot bath helps her relax, and she feels all her knots loosen. Upon confirming she still has plenty of time, Mina slides down slightly, letting herself feel the water. She closes her eyes, getting rid every single thought about work that threatens to surface.

It would be disrespectful to Hoshina if she kept her mind busy when she shouldn’t be. Especially after all he’s helped her with today.

So instead, she lets her thoughts drift to him, thinking about how sweet he’s been to her. Mina never knew he could be this gentle - having seen him chide the rookies, tease other officers, and be ruthless with monsters.

It doesn’t help her cause, and she feels herself falling deeper, deeper than she should.

The alarm snaps her out of it, and she dresses in her loungewear, towel around her shoulders as she walks out to ensure Hoshina hasn’t run away.

Not that she thinks he would, but Mina can never tell, sometimes.

“Hoshina?” She calls out for him, voice sounding smaller than she intended it to be.

Looking around, she notices how the kitchen lights are turned off - courtesy of her vice-captain, no doubt. It’s nice how he always emphasized the importance of tidying up properly once a room is no longer in use.

“I’m over here, Captain.”

Mina turns her head in the direction of his voice - and her heart involuntarily jumps, still finding it surreal he’s in her home.

And when she inches closer to the living room, realizing the standing lamp is turned on, she nearly chokes at how he looks in her clothes.

It’s not that big of a deal. It definitely isn’t, and the set she’d handed him is terribly basic, yet-

The sweater looks unfairly cute on Hoshina, and she feels her cheeks burn.

“Sorry, I helped myself to one of your books.” He says, waving it around, finger trapped between the pages to bookmark it. “Quite the cozy reading spot you have here.”

She makes another realization, eyes softening at the sight of Bakko by his feet.

“He- Although I suppose I should say we- We got tired of waiting for you. Just five more minutes and I would’ve come knocking.” He jokes, and she walks closer to the sofa he’s squeezed himself on.

It’s by no means a small couch, but Hoshina’s chosen to sit all the way to the side, practically pressed up against the armrest.

Chuckling at how tiny he’s made himself, she takes a seat next to him, accompanying her vice-captain as he reads. Or at least, was reading. Instead of continuing, he looks her up and down, and Mina tilts her head in confusion.

“What’s the matter?”

“Do you have a hairdryer, Captain?”

Mina squints at his head, attempting to find signs of water droplets still in his hair. Perhaps it’s still damp, and she can’t tell with how little light there is.

Deciding it’s useless to guess if she can’t feel the strands in her hand, she nods instead, “I do. Let me get it for you.”

When she returns, Hoshina has found an empty socket for the hairdryer to be plugged into, and Mina smiles as she passes it to him.

“Great! Captain, take a seat.” He moves the lone bean bag she keeps in the living room and she blinks at him in disbelief.

“What?”

His stern yet gentle voice makes a return, and he gestures to the bean bag again. “Sit down. You might catch something worse than a fever if your hair remains wet, you know?”

Oh, that’s right. She brushes a hand through her long hair, noticing it’s not completely dry.

“It’s cute by the way - your bangs.” Hoshina nonchalantly points out when she sits in front of him. And god is she glad she’s facing forward and he can’t look at her.

The expression she makes isn’t one she can hide fast enough, startled by how quickly the compliment shot straight into her heart. “I didn’t know they got this curly.”

“I… What are you doing?” Mina realizes she sat down without thinking through his demands properly, but the question gets drowned out by the sound of the hairdryer.

Well. She has her answer then. Although it’s not looking good for her, as she stares at nothing, willing herself to calm down.

When Hoshina leans in close, Mina almost jumps off the beanbag. “Is the temperature alright, Captain?”

“It’s-” She clears her throat, leaning into the warmth, “It’s perfect, Hoshina. You don’t have-”

But before she can tell him to stop, he’s already moved away and she clicks her tongue - knowing it’ll get lost with the whirr of the tool.

She sighs, trying so hard to fight the persona that placates the defense force with everything she really isn’t.

Here, in her own home, she’s Ashiro Mina. Not Captain Ashiro, even if Hoshina still addresses her by the title.

It’s not something she minds, knowing he’d probably never call her by just her last name. That gets her wondering what her first name would sound like in his voice, and she chases the delusion away.

Having her hair dried for her...

Mina doesn’t know - she can’t remember the last time she was this well taken care of by anybody. She’d stopped her mother from doing these things for her from a pretty young age, feeling embarrassed, and making it her personal responsibility to grow up faster.

They lived in a house that wasn’t the one she started out in, they moved to a town that gave those who lost their homes to a monster a safe place to rebuild their lives in. Her parents had to fight with others to find jobs to sustain them, especially after they’d lost it all.

The government could only compensate them with so much.

So Mina decided she needed to do more, and stopped making childish demands. It’s why she always dealt with fevers and other sorts of illness herself. She made sure they’d never transpire into anything greater than an itch in her throat, or a sniffle in the morning.

There was no way she was going to burden them.

Which is why she quietly sits in front of Hoshina, feeling the way he runs his fingers through her hair, painstakingly making sure everything is dry. It might be why she doesn’t fight it.

Being taken care of is… strange. Being taken care of by Hoshina is… not unwelcome.

“All done, Captain.” He says, turning the hairdryer off and Mina turns around, taking in his satisfied grin.

“Let me do it for you too, Hoshina.” She stands up and takes the hairdryer from him before he can deny the offer, urging him to sit down. “If all you do is focus on others, you’ll fall sick as well.”

Knowing Mina has justified it well enough such that he can’t refuse, she eases Hoshina to lean back, silently telling him to relax.

Even though his hair is relatively dry, Mina chooses to run her hands through it anyway, keeping the setting at its lowest.

Unexpectedly, he does as he’s told, practically melting against her. It makes her heart skip a beat, and it feels like the fever has made a return once more.

(She can’t even count the amount of times she’s tried and failed to differentiate between it and a regular blush that causes heat to run through her veins.)

And despite not needing that much time to completely dry his hair, Mina still takes as long as possible - finding it hard to stop.

It doesn’t help that Hoshina isn’t complaining, or asking her why she keeps running her fingers through his (surprisingly) soft hair.

Besides, someone needs to take care of her vice-captain too.

When she finally turns off the hairdryer, finding herself get sleepier by the minute because it’s more relaxing than she thought it would be, Hoshina turns around.

Grinning- He’s grinning at her-

“What are you smiling at, Hoshina?” Mina asks, pretending not to know. Pretending she isn’t hoping for a specific answer.

“Nothin’,” he responds, looking away and fixing his gaze on Bakko, who remains asleep in front of the sofa. “That was nice of you, Captain. Thank you.”

Flustered by the sincere appreciation over something so simple - and an act he did first, Mina chooses to glance away and focus her attention on Bakko too.

“I should be the one thanking you, Hoshina. We should probably get some rest though.”

At the word rest, Bakko blinks awake, and she smiles at her little tiger (although he’s far from small, but Mina can’t help but feel he’s still just a cub in her eyes).

Hoshina stands up, stretching, and Mina instinctively eyes the silver of skin that gets exposed thanks to her loose sweater. She tries to delete the sight of it out of her mind.

“Roger that!” He sing-songs, saluting her and she laughs at how silly it seems.

She takes the used towel from him as they tidy up the living room together.

“Ah yes, where did you put your dirty clothes? I’ll wash your uniform for you.”

“I couldn’t- I-” He stutters, refusing. It’s rare to see him this flustered, especially when Mina has seen Hoshina tease more recruits than she can count on both hands.

Amused by his reaction, Mina tells him it’s alright, since it’s not like she’s hand-washing her own uniform either.

That causes him to grit his teeth and avoid her eyes again, cheeks faintly red.

It’s not a bad expression, and she gets the urge to take a picture. Naturally, she doesn’t, not wanting to feel like a-

Like some of his fangirls. Not that they’re weird, since Mina has her own fan club too, predominantly women as well. She’s honoured, really, but sometimes they can be a bit over the top.

She still prefers them over the men though, who are far worse and can’t be labelled as fans.

The ugly memory aside, Mina wishes Hoshina a good night, having her fill of his face to cancel out the negative thoughts in her head.

Okay.

Maybe she’s a little similar to those fangirls.

“Wait, Captain-” Hoshina rushes out, snapping back to his usual self. He walks into the spare bathroom he’d used, taking out a bucket Mina forgot she had in there. “Do you have a small towel? Just in case you feel feverish again, it’d be good to have this on hand.”

Surprised (even though she shouldn’t be by now), Mina blinks owlishly at him - looking at the water. He’s so sweet, and she likes him.

She likes him so much.

How frustrating.

“Thank you Hoshina, I have a towel in my room. Good night.” She considers wishing him sweet dreams, but it sounds childish even in her head. “I’ll leave my door slightly ajar, if you need anything just give it a knock.”

Nodding, Hoshina smiles as he retreats to the guest bedroom, leaving Mina to enter hers with Bakko.

She quietly hopes that he’ll be free of any nightmares or bad sleep as they disappear into their own rooms.

There are cries somewhere. There are gunshots being fired. There are monsters screeching. There are people yelling.

Mina looks down, and she immediately feels sick.

Oh.

Those-

That’s her-

Her division.

Her division; convoy in flames, troop members injured-

Her officers writhing in pain, encouraging each other to carry on for the sake of their captain-

For her sake.

A weapon- No, it’s her weapon- She recognizes the weight in her hands. There’s a similar weight on her shoulders as she slowly drags her eyes away from the ground troops.

It takes so long to direct her attention on the Honju it’s almost like-

No, it is because Mina wants to ingrain the sight of their sacrifices into her brain. She needs to do well. She needs to land her shot.

How can she-

As Captain-

How shameless. It always felt like that. Even though it was the job of a sniper, even though it was her job, even though it was an honor-

Yet, she still looks at her fellow officers once more, and then at the Honju, wondering if their anguish will be in vain if she messes up.

Bakko- Where is Bakko-? It’s another aspect that makes her feel ashamed; needing a companion on the rooftop with her when she’s supposed to fight alone.

Although he’s been cleared because he serves a purpose, Mina can’t help but feel requesting to keep him, despite being a monster hybrid- was selfish of her.

More shouts, more rounds, more splatters of blood she shouldn’t be able to hear from where she is, but does.

It’s fine. Bakko doesn’t need to be around. She can combat and kill the monster just fine. Like she always has.

But her hands shake, so she tightens her grip on her personal weapon. Her voice shakes, when she requests permission to release her full force.

Her heartbeat, it thumps so loudly, echoing in her ears and she can’t focus on anything. Blood pumps through her veins, and her real enemy might not be the one standing before her.

Her legs feel like jelly, and she can’t-

She can’t keep herself steady, even though she can feel energy surging through her suit, even though she’s already locked on to her target-

Because all she can hear are the people on ground, suffering suffering suffering and her breaths get heavier with each passing second.

There’s a knot in her throat, there’s that familiar wave of nausea; she’s so anxious, she wants to throw up. Yet she knows nothing will come out, even if she does. So she bites on her bottom lip until it bleeds, keeping the bile down.

Sweat beads down her face, down her back, the monster looks at her - staring, waiting, taunting.

God. She feels sick.

What is she so afraid of?

For the longest time, Mina doesn’t know.

Is it the fact that if she misses, all the deaths under her command would've been for nothing? Sacrificing one, two, whole squads of troops to save the city.

When she stands at the top of rooftops, alone, so alone - she thinks about it. She thinks about her face that she sees on billboards, she thinks about the way she’s labelled a hero.

She thinks about how all she ever does is wait and wait before pulling the trigger.

Gritting her teeth and trying to regulate her damn breathing, she closes her eyes. It’s useless.

But-

What else can she do? The higher ups don’t care. They won’t- They refuse to let her do more than what she’s told. To be the face of the Defense Force. To be their only ace at large-scale monsters. To remain as she is, unchanging.

It’s so frustrating.

She feels tears form over how helpless she feels, constantly- constantly-

Mina continues to hear them. Her comrades, falling, one by one. The longer she waits, the more she hesitates, the worse it will be for them. They’re counting on her.

She’s all they have-

“Captain Ashiro!”

Her eyes snap open.

That-

That voice-

She looks down; prepared to see blood, blood and dead bodies and injured personnel but all she sees is-

Him.

Hoshina Soshiro.

Ah.

How could she have forgotten?

Mina has the best Vice-Captain by her side. He may not be there next to her on the top of buildings, but he’s someone she can count on - when everybody else is waiting for her.

“Hoshina.” She responds, taking a deep breath. When she exhales, her voice no longer trembles, her hands no longer falter. “Thank you.”

“Make your shot, Captain. I’m here.” Hoshina says, and she looks at him - despite the distance between them, their eyes seem to meet anyway.

Feeling a nudge behind her, she turns around to see Bakko, and her expression softens.

And then-

“Captain, don’t you worry about us!”

Her platoon leaders-

“Captain Ashiro, we’ll always be ready!”

Of course.

She’s never quite alone, is she?

And sometimes - it’s not so bad, being depended on.

Running away is easy. But Ashiro Mina has held on, and she’ll continue to. She has to.

Most importantly, she wants to.

Narrowing her eyes at her target - she takes another deep breath and smiles. She finds herself smiling, realizing it’ll be okay.

“Thank you, everyone.” Mina says, appreciative beyond words. She squares her shoulders, yet her jaw slacks, feeling completely at ease. Confidence rises in her, similar to the way she feels herself getting stronger.

One shot is all she needs and the Honju lets out a sickening groan - guts and purple blood splattering everywhere.

Someone buzzes in, and she immediately knows who it is. There aren’t many people who speak to her after she kills.

“Told ya you could do it, Captain.”

Mina can hear the grin in his voice.

And that’s when she realizes it sounds familiar. It’s almost like deja vu, before she remembers.

This is a memory.

It’s a memory of her vice-captain keeping her grounded, reminding her that even if her role as a sniper appears to be so far, far away - he’s always there, alongside all her troop members.

With the vice-captain and platoon leaders who’ve been with her for years; she has no reason to waver.

And then she finally realizes why it’s a memory. She’s dreaming, but it’s time to wake up.

Looking at her division members cleaning up, Mina smiles, before climbing onto Bakko who jumps down the building to help them.

What a gift it is, to be surrounded by people like them.

When she opens her eyes, the first thing she does is glance at the window. She knows her alarm will ring soon, but-

There’s someone else inside her room.

Wide awake, and rubbing her eyes, she blinks at the-

Hoshina.

He’s resting his head on the bed, and Mina frowns. His neck must hurt at that angle, but at least he’s not sitting straight up on the chair again.

Noticing there’s a weight holding her other hand down, Mina trails her eyes to the source, wondering if she’s still dreaming.

Squeezing the hand clutching tightly onto hers - she gets the confirmation this is reality.

She then debates between waking Hoshina up so he can sleep properly or just moving him onto the bed herself.

As she weighs the pros and cons of both options, she looks down, finding Bakko there snoring away by Hoshina’s side.

Hm. He must’ve called for Hoshina then.

When Mina usually has her nightmares, Bakko will come to her side, licking her face, gently pawing at her person; anything to snap her out of it.

Regrettably, she carefully slips her hand out of his bigger one - selfishly committing the way it feels into her memory.

The next thing she does is get out of the bed from the other side, making sure she doesn’t stir Hoshina awake.

He deserves the rest.

Walking over, she lifts him up as gently as possible, biting her lip in concentration. It’s not a hard task, they’ve carried each other before - both on the battlefield and outside of it, for fun.

Once Hoshina is settled on the bed, she pulls the blanket over him, making sure he’s comfortable. Squatting down, Mina pats Bakko on the head too, making a mental note to provide him with a little treat during breakfast.

With that done, she takes the bucket of water, left untouched but notices how the cloth is out of place. Brushing her fingers under her eyes, she supposes Hoshina used it to wipe her tears away.

Setting aside thoughts about professionalism and being proper, Mina moves to wash up instead. She’s at home. She’s in the comfort of her own place, and she sets her own rules here.

Teeth cleaned and face washed, she walks to the kitchen, taking out the breakfast Hoshina had prepared.

On that note, she brings a hand to her neck and forehead - confirming she’s back to regular temperature.

Thankfully it’s a big enough portion for two people, and she heats it up together - making sure it’s piping hot before she separates the porridge into two bowls.

The tamagoyaki she’d decided to add as a side dish is ready too, and she sets the table just in time to hear her bedroom door creak open.

“Good morn-” The words instantly die in her throat, and Mina feels her fever (well, it’s certainly not, but-) return in the next second.

Oh dear.

His bed head.

“Captain.” He nods, signalling to the bathroom that he’s going to wash up.

Mina nods, deciding that it’s best if he smoothened his hair out, lest she faints on the damn spot.

It’s terrible for her psyche, having Hoshina be this cute. It’s even worse, knowing she won’t be able to see him like this again.

By the time he’s out in the hallways on base, he’s freshened up, uniform neat and hair perfect. Even after his baths he doesn’t look this ruffled.

Suddenly nervous over Hoshina’s reappearance, she keeps herself busy by choosing a random coffee pod from the set she was gifted last Christmas - hoping it’ll be something her vice-captain likes.

She’s never been a fan of coffee, so the coffee machine sat in her kitchen, collecting dust the whole time. More of a display piece than anything.

Placing the fresh cup of coffee on a coaster, she gets herself a drink of water, before preparing Bakko’s food.

Like a moth drawn to a flame, he pads into the kitchen, sitting right in front of his eating area in the dining room.

Smiling, she adds the treat, thanking him for bringing Hoshina to her. The tiger gives her his confused face, and Mina returns the favour.

“He didn’t.”

She looks away from Bakko chowing down on his meal, to see Hoshina-

And she can’t even process his words properly because his hair is still sticking out in various directions.

Hoshina continues, explaining, “I just- I was gonna knock on the door to check on you when Bakko was already behind it, ready to exit. We met there.”

“You could… hear?”

“Are you feeling better?” He dodges the question, and Mina lets him since she doesn’t quite know if she wants to hear the answer.

“Yes, thank you for everything, Hoshina. You should’ve slept for a while longer, does your neck hurt?”

He laughs, walking towards the dining table, seemingly embarrassed.

“I couldn’t possibly! Thank you for shifting me onto the bed, although I would’ve been fine on the chair, Captain.” Hoshina says, and Mina shrugs it off, reminding him that it’s a small matter.

They don’t bring up her nightmares after that, simply eating in a comfortable silence - Hoshina talking once in a while. It’s not a forced conversation by any means, and even though Mina’s slowly grown more soft spoken over the years, he makes it easy to open up again.

He thanks her for the coffee, and she thanks him for the food. They joke around, wondering if they should set up a system where Hoshina cooks her food and Mina makes him coffee. Although the amount of effort it takes on her part would be significantly less.

“Should we leave the coffee machine in the pantry on base instead?” She wonders as they wash up together, standing side by side in front of the sink.

Humming, he passes her the bowls that have been rinsed while responding to her suggestion, “I dunno. I like being special, I think.”

With that said, Hoshina grins at her, and Mina feels her cheeks warm up - much to her chagrin. At this distance, she can’t look away fast enough, and he catches on immediately.

“Are you still sick?” He dares ask, despite being fully aware of her current condition. The smirk on his face is obviously gleeful and she huffs at him, placing the tableware on the drying rack.

“I’m not. I’ll hand you a uniform jacket and pants. We should head to base soon.” Mina pauses when she’s about to enter her room, allowing herself to smile just this once as she looks between the coffee machine and Hoshina, “I suppose you’ll have to come over more often, then. For the coffee.”

It leaves him startled, mouth agape, face flushed red (and she has to resist the urge to cheekily ask if he has a fever), eyes wide. She kind of understands why he likes teasing the rookies so much now.

When she returns to the living area to pass him the uniform, he’s back to normal - and she finds herself unintentionally mourning the loss of his amusing reaction.

“I’ll be in your care then, Captain Ashiro.” He says, and Mina refuses to lose to her vice-captain, so she keeps her expression in check; the same way she’s conditioned herself to ever since she joined the defense force.

“Likewise, Hoshina.”

(A few days after that, Mina gets the chance to return the kindness Hoshina had shown her, taking care of him when he’s bedridden with the flu.

He eats the porridge she’d struggled to make with so much appreciation, it was absolutely worth the tiny cuts on her fingers from (haphazardly) chopping up the vegetables she added in.

Hoshina may be an expert at taking care of people, but someone needs to take care of him too. And just like he showed her, Mina reminds him there’s always someone he can count on for help.)