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The boy wears his arrogance like armor. His crude outbursts a shield to keep anyone from getting too close. A biting wit becomes his sword, every word a weapon on his lips.
"He's fragile," Isao hums and Hasegawa actually chokes. Wide eyes are quickly trained on his face. His platoon leader actively staring at him, forehead wrinkled.
"Fragile is not a word that comes to mind when I look at Narumi," Hasegawa finally huffs. He crosses his arms and looks pointedly down at the child on the screen, cutting through kaiji like its a game. "Quite the opposite, in fact."
Isao rewinds the video. It plays again and Hasegawa catches it this time. The twitch, when the platoon leader barks out their order. The flinch.
Jaw clenching, Narumi immediately jumps into action, disobeying every order. He's efficient, effective, but utterly chaotic, jumping face first into danger without even a whisper of fear on his face.
Not until its over, when the reprimand comes. Narumi hides it well. His bangs covering his eyes, a snarky retort distracting his commanding officer from the tremble in his hands.
Barely old enough to be in the Defense Force and already there's talk of a discharge. Narumi Gen may be the singular most obnoxious person Isao has ever met, but he only joined up at Isao's suggestion. Only tried because he thought they'd value his skills. His results.
"The Second Division doesn't want him anymore," Isao explains, turning to face his platoon leader, "I'm requesting to have him transferred to the First."
Hasegawa sighs, "My squad?" Isao snorts, head shaking. He'll leave that as a last resort, for now. Hasegawa isn't exactly delicate.
"Not yet," Isao claps at the taller man's shoulder, "But I want you to keep an eye on him."
Narumi has potential, more than any other recruit they've had in a long while. But that won't matter if he gets himself killed trying to prove himself.
"As best as he'll let you."