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Everyone knew No. 9 was plotting something.
Something big. Something that would tear down whatever walls people clung to.
The sightings confirmed it—Honju were closing in around Ariake Base.
And the Third Division tasked to help was there in the fire although captain Ashiro was tasked to report back to the base and meet higher ups,
Now, you stood atop a ruined tower, watching the sectors below hold their lines. Smoke curled from shattered buildings, gunfire crackled, and the ground trembled with each kaiju’s roar.
So why weren’t you down there?
A flashback hit, half an hour ago.
“You’re sending me to the rear line?” you asked, disbelief cutting through your words.
You’d always been on the front lines with Narumi, side by side against every kaiju, but now he had other plans.
“We need someone to hold the shelter line,” he said, calm and deliberate.
'I'm best at the front… so why this sudden shift?'
You forced a tight smile, masking the frustration that bubbled inside.
“Understood.”
He knew. He always knew when you were seething beneath your composure—but he didn’t push back. He trusted you to follow orders, even if it meant keeping you away from the fight.
And now, watching from above, you assessed them.
'How foolish of them to think the front line could function without me…'
Then, silence.
A silence too sharp, too wrong. In your sector, the air was unnaturally still, and every nerve in your body screamed at you that something was off.
Your suspicion barely had time to form before a voice cut through the comms.
“What’s this?!” Kurusu’s voice cracked with alarm. “Sightings of a fortitude… 9.0?!”
“A daikaiju? In this state?” Hoshina’s tone was edged with disbelief. The honju were already enough to stall two divisions—yet a daikaiju, here?
“Yes! It’s near—Sector 8, north wing, Shelter zone!” Kurusu’s panic spiked. “It’s directly at Vice Captain... Y/n?!”
The panic in his voice froze everything. You could almost feel the battlefield grind to a halt, time itself dragging slower.
“…Huh?” you breathed.
But the answer came not in words, but in shadow. Instinct screamed, and your scythe was already in motion.
Metal screeched against hardened scale, sparks flying as you caught the massive arm of a kaiju that had slipped into your blind spot, one strike away from caving your skull.
“Oh? an uninvited guest is here” you muttered, smiling thinly as the monster tilted its head at you. Both of you pulled back, circling.
Then it spoke.
“Vice Captain… Y/n…”
Your grip faltered. The sound of your name—broken, guttural, yet unmistakably spoken—rattled through you.
“What the—?” your voice slipped low, a whisper meant for yourself. “Another kaiju with… consciousness?”
You steadied your stance, eyes narrowing as you studied it. At first glance, it resembled No. 9—same unsettling aura, same eerie composure—but there was something different. Fragile, almost. Its frame was leaner, less imposing. Its movements carried hesitation, like it was… anxious.
“Vice… Captain…”
Your blood ran cold.
“Oi, dumbass! Answer your damn comms already!”
Captain Narumi’s voice snapped you back.
“Vice-Captain Y/n, are you alright?!” Kurusu’s voice cut in immediately after, tight with panic.
With a flick, you reconnected your comms. A low chuckle slipped out—too soft, too strange—and you knew they caught it.
“I’m fine. Unidentified Kaiju’s on me,” you said flatly, eyes never leaving the creature.
“The drones are en route. Report, Vice Captain,” Kurusu pressed.
You exhaled, grip tightening on your scythe. “Unidentified kaiju is conscious.”
The comms fell dead silent. So sharp, you swore you could hear Kurusu’s heart stop through the channel.
“…What?” His disbelief cracked through the static. A daikaiju targeting a vice-captain out of nowhere—this wasn’t just rare. It was impossible. An anomaly.
“Backups moving now! Captain Narumi—Sector 8, north wing—”
The orders broke off as the kaiju’s mouth opened. Its voice rolled out low, broken, but deliberate.
“They’re going to interfere.”
And as if with a single thought, the air shifted. A pulse of something unseen rippled outward, and in the very next second your comms erupted in chaos.
“Wait! backups can’t get through! All routes are blocked—yonju, honju, everywhere! They just appeared out of nowhere! What is this?!” Kurusu’s voice cracked with frustration.
You turned your head slightly, your gaze locking harder on the kaiju. This wasn’t coincidence. It was controlling the battlefield.
“I’ll assume it’s me you’ve got business with, then,” you muttered.
The kaiju shifted closer, step by step.
“Right… you. Vice Captain.”
Your brow twitched. That tone... mocking, yet knowing.
You weren’t sure if you could actually handle this.
And then, in an instant, the world blurred.
You were airborne. Flying?
“Fuck!” you cursed cracked through your skull as your back slammed against a building, concrete splintering as you crashed inside. Dust filled your lungs before you could move—
It was already there.
A blink. That’s all it took. It stood in front of you, silent, suffocating.
Before you could even trigger your weapon—freeze it, or at least back away. Its hand was already pressed against your head.
You froze.
'Ah. I’m going to die.'
“I need your body,” it whispered, voice dragging like broken glass. “You're helping me.”
Your eyes widened.
"What the hell are you saying? Just kill me already-"
“I don’t understand… love.” Its grip tightened slightly. “Humans… understand love. Emotions.”
Your breath hitched. Any movement now, and it would snap you like nothing.
“I watched what you humans call a movie,” it continued, words fractured, searching. “So painful…? so hurtful? Yet no wounds appeared on me.”
You frowned, confusion knitting your features even as dread flooded your veins.
“I don’t know… I… forgot.” The kaiju’s voice trembled, uneven, almost human yet all wrong. “But It was the same a Vice Captain who was devoured by us. Using its face… and their Captain coming to kill their loved one.”
Its head tilted, eyes glinting with a grotesque curiosity.
“I want to imitate it. That scene... but I want to see another ending..”
Your pulse spiked. Sweat beaded along your temple and slid down your cheek.
'I can’t understand what it’s trying to say.'
Your comms gave nothing but static, the impact having crushed them. You were alone.
“Right…” the kaiju rasped after a pause, its tone dropping to something cold, final. “A curse…?”
“Don’t worry, human,” it went on, voice twisting into something almost gentle. “I won’t kill you. You’ll only be cursed.”
Your brows furrowed. “What do you mean?”
“Unless your Captain calls for you… desperately,” it said, each word dragging as though savoring them. “Only then will your curse be lifted.”
Your stomach coiled. Desperately? Narumi?
“Then another ending will open… right?” the kaiju whispered, almost musing to itself. You had no idea what it meant until.
Its other hand stirred, and your eyes widened as you saw it — something pulling free, stretching like smoke before hardening into flesh.
A carbon copy of You.
The same face. The same frame. Even the fake scythe glinting at its side.
You let out a sharp, disbelieving laugh. “Hah! You’re nuts.”
The kaiju only tilted its head, studying you like a scientist watching a specimen twitch.
So that was its plan — to convince them you’d been devoured, to make that “curse” real.
But a curse tied to your Captain’s desperate cry? Jokes on this monster. That idiot of a Captain doesn’t call anyone’s name. Not even yours.
Still, the thought stuck to you like ice.
And before you could react, the world slipped from your grasp—darkness swallowing you whole.
“I lost contact with Vice Captain! the suit’s still active—but severe damage to all parts!” Kurusu’s voice cut through the static panic.
He scanned every possible option—any enforcer, any signal, anyone who could reach you in time. Not even Kaiju No. 8. Not Officer Ichikawa. Captain Ashiro—too far.
'None. None. None!'
“I’m near. Keep track of Y/n’s vitals! Activate the suit if needed,” Narumi’s voice thundered, tight with urgency.
“I’ll clear the path,” Hoshina’s calm but sharp tone slipped in, making Narumi click his tongue in irritation.
The recon drones whirred in, sweeping the sector, scanning rubble and shadows.
"Drones are in the area"
“No signs of Vice Captain—ah..”
Everyone converged just in time to see it.
The kaiju stood in the center of the road, jaws yawning wide as if savoring its meal. Something hung from its maw.
A hand, your hand—limp, fingers loosening around the scythe.
The sight froze every heart on the channel. It was like the world itself forgot to breathe.
“Vice… Captain Y/n’s vitals… are gone.” Kurusu’s voice broke as the data flashed red.
And in the next instant, Narumi was already there, a blur of his bayonet and fury.
each strike more desperate than the last.
But the kaiju moved, dodging every slash, weaving through his storm of blades like it was toying with him.
Hoshina flashed in beside him, blades dancing, trying to carve out an opening—anything to get your body back at least. But the kaiju’s defense surged.
“Damn it!” Hoshina spat as a barrier flared to life, knocking them both back.
And then, before Narumi could push forward again, the air shifted. The kaiju’s form twisted, reshaping, molding itself into something unbearably familiar.
When the light broke, it wasn’t a monster standing there anymore.
It was you.
and as if time stopped for everyone.
“Y/n...” Narumi’s voice faltered, the word leaving him instinctively, helplessly.
But it wasn’t enough—not desperate enough to shatter the curse binding you.
Because the real you, your true self—wasn’t in that body.
You stood just behind, unseen, watching it all unfold in a ghostly transparency.
Your hands reached out, your voice straining to break through—but nothing carried. Not a sound. Not a touch.
All you could do was watch Narumi’s eyes darken, his bayonet trembling for the first time, as he stared down the kaiju wearing your face.
'How cruel..'
Then the kaiju finally spoke.
“Captain Narumi.”
Your voice. Your cadence. That teasing lilt you reserved only for him. And when it smiled, it was your smile—every curve of your expression copied perfectly. Yet its eyes… its eyes were wrong. Empty. Cold.
Narumi froze.
Why? Why was he hesitating? That wasn’t you. Couldn’t be you. Not his vice captain. Not the one he trusted to guard his back.
And his body moved before his heart could catch up, blade flashing forward.
The kaiju didn’t flinch. It bent low, scooping up your fallen scythe with uncanny familiarity.
You knew that wasn’t your weapon. Your true scythe had already reverted to its slumber, sealed at your waist in the shape of a katana.
What it held was nothing but a mockery made.
Steel rang as your own weapon clashed Narumi’s strike, locking against his blades.
The sound cut through the battlefield like a cruel joke.
“You’d really cut me down, Captain?” it asked, the tilt of its head exactly like yours when you teased him after sparring. The familiarity was poison to narumi.
Narumi’s jaw clenched. He pushed harder, sparks flying, but his grip faltered for a fraction of a second.
That hesitation was all it needed. The kaiju twisted, knocking his bayonet wide, and in the same motion brought the scythe’s edge close enough to graze the armor at his throat.
Hoshina moved fast, intercepting before the scythe could cut deeper, his dual blades locking against it with a snarl.
"Oi ! Snap out of it—! ’s not y/n!”
The kaiju only smiled wider, your smile stretched into something cruel, mocking.
“Hoshina? You can’t be too sure, right?”
Hoshina’s chest tightened. For a second his footwork faltered—that voice. He gritted his teeth, cursing inwardly.
'Damn it… why does it have to take y/n's form?'
Narumi’s stare never wavered, though his knuckles whitened around his blades. He knew better. He had to. Yet the shadow of doubt flickered behind his eyes, and the kaiju caught it, its grin curving wider.
“See? Even your captain hesitates. He knows this body.. these movements.” It spun the scythe, a perfect imitation of your stance.
“If he strikes me down, isn’t it the same as striking your beloved vice captain y/n?”
You chuckled softly from the sidelines, almost bitter amusement curling in your chest as you watched the scene unfold.
'Damn... how dramatic can this get?'
The others were finally flooding into the area, weapons at the ready. But before they could even breathe, the kaiju moved again, birthing a swarm of yojus that skittered across the ruined street.
Amid the chaos, Narumi stood motionless—bayonet lowered, shadows cloaking his expression.
He hadn’t spoken since the moment your face had appeared.
Then, at last, his hands shifted. His grip tightened on his bayonet.
“Starting... Neutralization Phase.”
That familiar voice made you swear under your breath, the weight of it pressing like chains around your chest.
And then it began.
the clash between you, Narumi, and Hoshina ignited the battlefield in sparks.
Hoshina covered the flanks, blades flashing as he carved down the yojus swarming in to interfere. His voice cut through the comms—sharp, strained,
“Keep focus! Don’t let a single one through!”—but even he was grinding his teeth, every parry of your scythe twisting the knife of recognition deeper.
“hah, can’t believe ’s come to this, Y/n... ” Hoshina muttered in the chaos, and the kaiju chuckled—using your voice.
“Well, don’t you find it thrilling? Killing me?” it sneered, and for a moment, even Hoshina faltered, your scythe driving him back step by step.
Around them, the battlefield was lively.
The swarm spread fast, black waves surging against dwindling human lines. Kikoru’s voice ripped through the comms, raw and furious as her axe tore through flesh.
“Hey! Hear me, stupid Captain? You better free Y/n!” she screamed, rage sharpening every syllable, though grief cracked through the edges of her voice.
Even Kaiju No. 8, usually unstoppable, staggered under the weight of endless bodies. Kafka’s voice rang, frustration sharp as his claws tore through enemies.
“Ah, damn it! I can’t get there!”
The sharp bark of command snapped back through his comms,
“Officer Hibino! You are not authorized to burn that much power!”
“AH! I get it, I get it!” His voice was strained, almost breaking.
And still the tide pressed closer.
From your point, you caught the shimmer of ice cracking across the battlefield—Reno’s power surging like a frozen tide, desperate to stem the flood.
'He is doing pretty good though...'
But your eyes dragged back, inevitably, to Captain Narumi and the kaiju wearing your face.
Narumi slashed, fast as lightning, only to be driven back by the same blade.
Each time his edge found opening, flesh split and tore—yet the kaiju only laughed as it knitted itself back together, regeneration erasing every gain in seconds.
He was being pushed. You could tell.
A crash of impact sent him skidding into the rubble, stones collapsing around him in a choking cloud of dust.
The creature knew.
It fought with your face and your smile, but worse, it mirrored your instincts. Each feint, each sudden rush, it countered with precision that only someone who had studied Narumi himself could manage.
It wasn’t just wearing you—it was fighting like you.
Your stomach twisted.
'He's struggling.'
Because even as the world roared with battle, it wasn’t just a kaiju standing before him. It was you.
And then—something shifted
It took them longer, the exchanges dragging out in ragged breaths, blades ringing, rubble scattering. Until—
"Lets begin the finale"
'What the—?'
The kaiju faltered...?
When Narumi drove his attack straight toward its chest, the monster didn’t move, even hoshina didn't register it to happen.
Didn’t counter. It just… let it happen.
Steel slid through, clean and brutal, burying into the chest with its core that mirrored yours.
A spray of red—splattered against the rubble.
To everyone else, it was a nightmare made real.
A betrayal.
Their captain’s blade driven straight through his own vice captain?
It dripped from its lips, from your lips, as it staggered back on unsteady legs. It really was imitating the scene it wanted to portray,
'What in the hell kind of movie did this kaiju watch?'
Narumi didn’t move. His bayonet trembled in place.
“What… are you…?” he muttered, the question slipping out raw, more to himself than to the monster.
“...Captain.”
One word. Nothing more.
But the way Narumi froze—blades still tightly embedded, shoulders locked—you swore he hadn’t been ready.
That look in his eyes, broken, cut straight into you.
You hadn’t expected it. Not even you.
The battlefield hushed as if the world itself had swallowed its breath.
The yoju swarm was gone, scattered and slain. The reinforcements had stilled, watching in stunned silence.
Now—every spotlight, every gaze—hung on the kaiju wearing your face.
Bleeding. Smiling. Calling his name.
Its trembling hand rose, fingers brushing the blade still buried in its chest—as if reaching not for the weapon, but for him.
"Captain."
The words cracked in the air like glass, and you swore—you had never seen your captain look like that.
terrified. Confused. Shaken in a way nothing on the battlefield had ever managed.
He stayed still, rooted in place, his eyes locked onto yours—onto it. And in that silence, the tension felt worse than any roar.
“Captain...?” the kaiju asked softly, its voice trembling with stolen warmth.
Pretending. Pretending to be you—the you who might have fought to reach him, who might have bled for him.
But it wasn’t you.
And that realization hit like a knife between your ribs. It wasn’t touching his heart. It wasn’t cherishing what was real.
It was mocking it.
It was betraying you.
The bile of fury twisted in your chest, sharp enough to burn. Because it dared to wear your face, your voice, your truths—turning them into a weapon against the one man who had never let his guard fall.
'I wished… you could have just killed me instead…'
For a heartbeat, your gaze locked with the kaiju’s—its stolen eyes, your stolen reflection.
'huh?'
And then pain. Sharp, blinding. Your vision cracked.
When you blinked, you were no longer watching—you were standing. In front of your captain.
'What the hell…?!'
The voice slithered into your thoughts, that imitation dripping like venom
“I’ll let you have… the last words for my finale. You won’t die, but the curse will continue. A curse is a curse… and you can’t even name it. So be human, and keep suffering, show me an ending you can create.”
Your stomach lurched.
'Where the hell is that kaiju?! This is too dramatic for me, fuck'
Before you could scream it, blood choked your throat. Your knees trembled, and your gaze lifted to Narumi.
“Fuck, You look... pathetic, captain,” you rasped, coughing red. And it hit him, like he felt it.
His eyes sharpened, his voice breaking through the chaos.
“Y/n…?”
It should have been a relief. It should have meant something. But the way he said it—so desperate yet not enough—lit a bitter spark in you.
“Call me…” Your voice cracked, yet your words dug deeper than any blade. “Be as pathetic as you are—and call me. I swear, I’ll be there… I’ll always be there…”
The words clawed their way out, but too short, too broken.
You could feel it—something closing around your voice like invisible restraints, twisting the truth the moment it tried to leave your tongue. Every attempt to speak felt muffled, warped, muted by a force that wasn’t yours.
'so this is what it meant… when that kaiju said I wouldn’t be able to name it.'
'Damn it… I can’t even say the word—can’t even call it curse.'
“Wait, no, don’t force it—” Narumi’s voice snapped through, strained, ragged.
And in that moment, when you saw his eyes—glassy, frantic, too close to breaking—you felt something in your chest twist. Narumi Gen, the unshakeable First Division Captain, looked lost. As if the ground itself had been pulled out from under him.
Your emotions buckled. So you laughed, or tried to—more a scoff than anything brave.
“Captain… we’ll see each other again,” you managed, every word trembling against the invisible bindings shutting your throat. “I… promise.”
Somehow, impossibly, you still smiled. The kind of smile that shouldn’t exist on a collapsing face—a smile so gentle, so reassuring, it broke the hearts of the people you were trying to comfort.
Almost everyone broke. Cracked. You had been the beacon of light in the First Division, and seeing you like this shattered them.
Hoshina didn’t speak. He stood off to the side, jaw clenched, eyes shadowed. Watching this unfold carved something bitter and ugly into him.
The next second—your body began to disintegrate. Pieces of you scattering, fading, until what remained was no longer you but the hollow shell of the unidentified kaiju.
Narumi’s bayonet lowered. His eyes stayed fixed, vacant, like he still couldn’t believe it.
Narumi did not cry. Not a single tear. Yet it cracked him in ways nothing else ever had.
He hated it. Hated how he never got the chance to apologize for the harshness at the dining table that morning. Hated how he never tried to make a move, never eased the weight you carried.
And most of all—he hated that he hadn’t been able to save you.
Kurusu’s voice broke through the static of his thoughts.
“Signs of unidentified kaiju disappeared. Neutralization successful.”
But the words rang bitter. Victory tasted like ash.
"I'm sorry.." that small voice of narumi, which no one heard but you alone.
Now your days as a ghost began. Hell, you were never much of an empathetic person, but this—this was killing you.
The way back to base had been too quiet. No one dared bring you up, not even your name. Like if they said it out loud, it would break the fragile line holding them together.
In about three days, a proper funeral would be held. A coffin without a body, just the ceremonial weight of your absence. Claiming your body was impossible—there was nothing left. The unidentified kaiju hadn’t left a core, only dust scattered on the wind.
It had been a weird kaiju indeed. No. 9’s dummy, a cruel experiment to pry open the seams of humanity.
And it worked. It left them gutted.
Now, you lingered in your captain’s room, watching him. He hadn’t moved from his seat, his eyes fixed on the glowing game over screen.
He’d been staring at it for more than an hour, unmoving, like if he blinked, he’d see you there instead.
Out of everyone in the division, your captain was having it worse.
The quiet click of the door broke the stillness. Hasegawa stepped inside again, his expression unreadable, his hands steady as he collected the untouched tray of food. He didn’t comment, didn’t scold, didn’t even sigh. Just silence.
Even Hasegawa, who always had something practical to say—chose not to speak and left the room.
you cannot bear it too anymore, how broken your captain is, its to the point wherein him, screaming for your name desperately seems impossible now.
Two days passed. Two long, dragging days.
And you swore it had never been quieter. No kaiju attacks, no alarms to break the stillness. Just reports and papers stacking up, gathering dust in the office.
Everyone in the First Division moved through the halls like shadows. The gloomy air stuck to them like tar, and you were getting tired—tired of watching the same damn thing, over and over.
Your captain’s vacant stare.
The forced smiles that never reached anyone’s eyes.
The silence where your voice used to be.
Even Shinonome had let herself go, her skincare bottles untouched, her usual spark dimmed into nothing. Reno overworking himself as usual in the training room, cursing himself as he mumbled your name sometimes. And Kikoru… every night, you caught her curled up, trembling, whispering your name alongside her family’s—like if she said it enough times, maybe you’d answer.
Everyone was a wreck. And all you could do was stand there. Watch. Listen. Feel yourself fading into the corners of a world that wasn’t yours anymore.
‘Damn it… this isn’t living. This isn’t even dying.’
And here you were again—back in his room.
Still, unknowingly—you kept hoping. Hoping he would call your name, even once. Shout it. Curse it. Whisper it. Anything. Something.
Do I really mean nothing... for you not to scream my name, dear captain?
That’s when you felt it—slow, crawling, burning.
Starting from deep in your chest, spreading outward like fire licking through paper. It wasn’t pain exactly, but it was suffocating. Heavy.
Your fingers twitched as if they weren’t just air. Your throat tightened like it wanted to form words, real words, not just thoughts rattling inside your head.
when the alarm tore the silence apart.
In the blink of an eye, Narumi was gone—already a blur past you. For a ghost, you followed instinctively, your form pulled after him like gravity itself refused to let you drift elsewhere.
The battlefield was chaos, but to you, it felt muted. Like a song underwater—distant, muffled, unreal.
And yet, when you looked down, you were still dressed in No.6. Its edges dulled, its glow muted, but it clung to you as though the curse had preserved the moment of your death. A frozen imprint.
You hovered near the formation, eyes sweeping over them. And you saw it— Your position. Untouched. No one had dared to move into your spot.
Not Hasegawa, not Shinonome, not even Kikoru who could’ve filled it without hesitation.
It cut into you deeper than any wound could. They still felt you. They still carried the hollow you left.
“I’ll take the honju,” Narumi’s voice cracked over comms, rough and jagged. “Hasegawa, assume command. Make sure there are no more citizens in the area.”
“Understood!” the voices chorused back, alive with steel.
And when they split, each to their sectors—you stayed behind. Watching. Always watching.
Your hand tightened around the sheathe of your katana, knuckles paling, even if they weren’t really there.
They looked lighter, freer somehow, shoulders unshackled. Maybe because work gave them something else to think about. Something that wasn’t you.
No one mentioned your name. No one dared. They were too afraid. As if speaking it aloud might shatter the fragile thread keeping them together.
So you drifted closer. To him. To where your captain handled the shadows, awkward in a way you’d never seen before.
He kept glancing over his shoulder—like a man who’d lost the air in his lungs. No one was there to guard his back.
And then, as if the world paused just for you—he broke.
“ah... Damn it! Damn it!” His voice ripped through the comms, feral and raw.
Your heart, or whatever was left of it, clenched.
He slammed a hand against his comm. “Y/n!”
The sound of your name—his voice calling you—snapped everything inside you awake. You felt it in every nerve that wasn’t supposed to exist anymore.
“Damn it, Y/n! Make way for me, Y/n, I'm going to bust that kaiju in the head—”
And then, silence. A jagged, crushing silence as he froze. The mistake dawning on him like a knife twisting deeper.
Right. You weren’t there. He killed you that day, He could still remember the moment his bayonet pierced through that body of yours.
And across the channels, across the battlefield, every voice faltered. Every heart cracked. Because in that desperate slip, they finally saw the truth—
Their captain was broken. Irreparably so.
“Captain Narumi…” Kurusu muttered bitterly under his breath, but he didn’t correct him. He couldn’t. None of them could.
So they stayed silent. Silent—and still fighting.
And in that silence, something shifted.
Your lips pulled into a smile, wider, steadier, as warmth spread through you.
You felt it. That pull, that release. The curse unraveling thread by thread.
Your toes curled against the ground. The jagged edges of shattered concrete dug into your soles
“Ah…” The sound slipped out before you realized. Out loud. Not in your head. Not some echo. Your voice.
Your eyes widened. Right. You were back. the curse has finally been lifted.
And in that breath, in that impossible moment, everything around you seemed sharper. The air. The blood. The dust.
Alive.
The pulse of No.6 throbbed in your chest, and you gripped your katana tighter. Shifted, until it curved into the familiar weight of a scythe— its true form.
“This will be dramatic,” you muttered under your breath, voice steady despite the pounding in your veins. “But I can’t let them call me dead when I’m not… right?”
Your stance lowered, air splitting sharp around you. And just when Narumi’s back opened wide—unguarded—you surged forward.
The arc of your scythe whispered through the chaos.
“First dance… White Ripple.”
Your voice, smooth and cold, carried across the battlefield. You didn’t need to see his face to know—his eyes had widened, breath caught in his throat.
He thought he was dreaming. Another cruel hallucination.
But he was wrong.
You were real.
“What took you too long captain.”
For a heartbeat, the comms went dead silent. Then—
"I'm picking up signals from no.6 suit! vice captain Y/n?!"
“Vice captain Y/N?!” voices exploded all at once, raw, disbelieving, desperate.
“Y/N!”
“Impossible—!”
“Vice Captain Y/N!!”
The battlefield shifted. Not from the kaiju—but from the way every soul who heard your voice lit with fire again.
And at the center of it all, your captain stood frozen, caught between the nightmare he thought he lived in and the miracle standing right before him.
“On me, Captain,” you called, as if the world weren’t breaking apart around you. “I’ll make sure to open a path just for you.”
Your eyes locked onto his—steady, real, unmistakably you.
To Narumi, it should’ve been a hallucination. A trick of exhaustion. Maybe all those sleepless nights grinding through missions and games had finally cracked him enough to conjure ghosts.
But the way your voice hit him…
‘Fine,’ Narumi thought, a chaotic mixture of relief and hysteria flaring in his chest.
'If this is madness—if seeing you again means I’ve finally snapped—then so be it. I’ll take it.'
A smirk cut its way across his face—crooked, defiant, and heartbreakingly alive. The kind of grin only Narumi Gen could manage even when the world was collapsing, even when grief and hope were tearing him apart from the inside.
And without hesitation, you moved.
Your scythe carved arcs through the swarm, clearing a brutal path in front of him.
He didn’t question it. He didn’t even falter. Narumi charged forward, momentum fueled by your presence, and you—just like old times—made way for him.
The Honju loomed ahead, its massive form stirring, rage trembling in its scales.
Narumi moved without hesitation, his bayonet flashing—one merciless strike, his eye igniting as the core split apart. The beast collapsed in a shuddering roar, dust and debris spiraling into the air.
“Neutralization successful.”
The words rang hollow through the comms. No one cheered. No one breathed.
Through the haze, you saw him. Captain Narumi, shoulders heavy, steps unsteady, yet his gaze locked on you like he was afraid to blink.
He looked… hesitant. As if doubting his own sight, as if you might vanish if he reached too far.
So you faced him fully.
“Hey, Captain…”
His steps halted. His breath caught. His eyes widened with something raw and fragile you had never seen in him before.
You smiled, because it was the only way to keep from breaking yourself.
“Gonna kill me again?”
The look on his face told you instantly—you had cut too deep. His composure faltered, his pain written so openly it almost hurt to see.
you swear, you should get your humor checked and fixed.
Your steps carried you closer, slow but steady, and he didn’t move away. Not even an inch. That alone made your chest tighten. By the time you stopped, the space between you had all but vanished.
"I'm sorry, that's not supposed to be the first thing I'm supposed to say right..?"
And then it happened—sudden, without warning.
His arms wrapped around you, pulling you in with a strength that trembled at the edges, as if he feared you would slip away again. His grip was tight, almost desperate, the kind of embrace that left no room for doubt.
You froze, breath caught in your throat.
'Wait… what?'
Narumi was holding you. hugging you precisely.
Tightly.
As though letting go would mean losing you all over again.
And then—you felt it. A tremor against your shoulder, subtle at first. Then a muffled, shaky breath.
A silent sob.
Your eyes widened.
'…No way. Not him. Not the Captain.'
But then came another one, choked and unsteady, slipping past the iron walls you thought were unbreakable.
Your blood ran cold. Horror, disbelief, and something else you couldn’t name twisted inside you.
“Captain?” your voice cracked, barely above a whisper. “...Are you crying?”
he shaked his head, "No." that shaky voice gave it all away.
and you simply tapped his back.
"What took you so long to call my name?" you mumbled enough for him to hear "I told you didn't I? to call me as pathetic as you could?"
“I’m sorry…” he breathed again, and this time, it sounded like a confession. A plea. A wound that would never close.
“I was waiting..” you said softly, and you could feel your own tear fill your eyes too.
And when you noticed the way he fought to steady himself, you smiled gently. “I also have a lot to explain… so let’s calm down, shall we?”
You felt him nod against your shoulder, releasing you little by little—yet not completely.
His hands still lingered on your shoulders, as if letting go meant losing you again.
Then came the sound of boots striking broken ground, rushing toward the both of you.
Narumi stiffened instantly. That small, broken whisper you’d just heard vanished, sealed away in a heartbeat. His head lifted, expression shuttered, jaw locked with that familiar steel.
But his men weren’t blind. They saw it—the faint tremor in his hand resting on your shoulder, the shadow in his eyes that hadn’t been there before.
You sighed softly, tilting your head toward the division members, trying to soften the weight in the air.
“I’m back,” you said, forcing lightness into your tone. “Although… I guess I owe everyone an explanation first, right?”