#akitaruobi

Her head was spinning in confusion, as she stood there thinking. She was taken aback by soldiers that were kind and caring. Her head was filled with memories of everything she blamed for her short lived career as a soldier in the special fire force. The words of Leonard Burns ringing in her head, blocking out everything else. The man’s low voice telling her to kill, that an infernal is no longer who they were just moments prior and it’s ok to kill them now, so just do it… Her feelings coming back until she snaps and jumps into action just to never be able to do it again. But really, she was jut standing there, breathing heavy and holding the bottom of her hoodie so tight her knuckles went white and the soldiers around her started to worry.

“(L/n)-san?” Obi was calling out for her after a minute or two, noticing that something might not be alright with her. She was standing still since he asked her to reconsider joining him as a soldier. Calling out her name over and over again but his voice didn’t seem to reach her. He decided to pick her up and bring her to the matchbox where they secluded her to try and figure out what was going on.

With Hinawa’s lead Shinra and Arthur helped out to fix the town’s casulties while Iris and Maki sat with her in the matchbox. She somewhat came to her senses but was crying uncontrollably in Maki’s arms. Obi decided to find the old man and ask what was going on and if there was any way they could fix the situation. He asked around to find him quick and politely knock into the traditional building he was supposedly in. The old man was there alright, grunting at the knocking and probably thinking it was the girl coming back home as a coward after sending the soldiers away. He stood up to slide the door open and swing at her but it was Obi at the door and the impact barely reached his shoulders.

“Sorry for bothering you but… Could you by any chance tell me what happened to her?” Obi told him that she froze and then broke down crying. The old man sighed and told Obi to get inside to sit down.

“She was my very last disciple as a fire soldier. The kid was a prodigy with a very useful fire power. She was outstanding amongst the third generations… But she couldn’t face the cruelty she had to live by. She came back to me broken down and completely weak and useless after serving for three years under Burns.” The old man told Obi as much as he could, but he failed to understand what really happened to her four years ago, when she left the Fire Force.

Maki and Iris did a good job at comforting her in the matchbox, her breathing has stabilised and she stopped crying too. "I'm so sorry about all this... You shouldn't have to deal with me when you could be needed somewhere else..." She wiped her face and stood up, jumping down from the height of the matchbox down to the ground in front of it. "Thank you for everything anyways..." She bowed and left, without hearing out Maki's pleading to at least tell them what was wrong.

Her head was empty and heard no sound all of the sudden, autopiloting her body back to the house she hid in with her master that she failed to confide in. Her silence turned into the sound of a constant whistle while she walked, that greatly irritated her, causing a migrane to creep in. She never really understood these feelings. They came around when she saw an infernal, hell even at just the mention of the fire possessed monsters she could zone out and cut herself out of existence for a few minutes, waiting for the situation to go away. The old man was the only push she had in her life, the people of the town knew she was a soldier at some point but assumed she resigned due to an injury or something ordinary. Noone ever asked what was going on. Some days when an infernal would spawn in their town the old man would forcibly throw her out of the house. "Make yourself useful and deal with that one, Brat!" He would tell her and she would deal with the infernal from instinct, and barely remember the event afterwards.

The whistle in her head got louder and louder until it stopped suddenly and got replaced by the voice of the captain calling out for her as she slid the door to the house open. He was standing in the door, towering over her small figure and gently cupping her shoulders from both sides to bring her back into the present. "I'm sorry, but I can't join you as a fire soldier... Please leave now. Thank you for coming to help us out." She bowed a little and held the door open for him to leave. Obi took the hint and left the house, respectfully, bowing and saying goodbye.

Company 8 packed up and left the village as the people waved them goodbye. Shinra was disappointed that the girl didn’t join them, saying that he sensed a hero in her in some ways. Maki turned to their captain who was deep in thinking about the supposed events the old master told him. “Will we really just let her stay in that state?” She was anxious about her emotional outburst and she somehow knew that there had to be a story behind it. The matchbox pulled up in front of the company’s cathedral and they left the vehicle. Obi turned to face his soldiers with a determined face and stated the obvious.

“We’re gonna save her!” Their captain declared and the whole company’s mood lifted up as they went back into starting their dinner that went cold in the meantime.

She was silent for a few hours after the fire soldiers have left. Her master sat in the other room, waiting for anything to happen, but this time she didn’t even bother to cry as she usually would. The sliding door opened slowly and she came out to join her master at the small Japanese table he was sitting at. Her face got it’s color back in the last few hours and she looked into her master’s eyes for the first time since she resigned.

“Will you tell me what happened four years ago?” She nodded and started her story at the very beginning. The old master sat there, listening to the story of the young 18 year old soldier he let go, who turned into a first class soldier by 20 and who’s soul was murdered by the betrayal and death of others by 21. When she finished the story she looked down but saw her master move and stand up in front of her. He moved slowly closer and she was ready for the hit, squinting her eyes close and waiting for the pain to come. But it never came, instead he patted her hair and pulled her head forward into his shoulder.

“I’m awfully sorry for ruining your life like that, (f/n)… If it wasn’t for me…” She cut his apology in half and hugged him a little.

Shinra and Arthur has been rooted into their office chair for too long at this point. Waiting for the phone to ring and someone to cry for a hero to save them, but it didn’t seem to come. Which is good, meaning that nobody turned into an infernal. Their captain Obi and Hinawa were somewhere else, while poor Maki was left there to be responsible for them and whatever they decided to mess up that day.

“We could’ve trained at least or something…” Shinra moaned while he watched his soul leave his body slowly. To his surprise, he got an answer by captain Obi himself, as he entered their office and called them to come and eat dinner.

“Sorry about today boys, we had some things needed to be done, and I really didn’t want Maki to suffer with you two all day by herself…” The captain apologized and the boys sighed in unison which ignited their brotherly scuffle. Company 8 sat down to eat their dinner and talk about what is about to happen in the next few days.

Sister Iris ran to the dinner table just as the others placed food on their plates, panting, she pointed to the direction of the office. “I think I heard the phone ring just now” She declared and Maki ran to the phone as fast as she could.

“Company 8, what can I help…” She was cut off by a frantic caller informing her about their neighbor turning into an infernal. The others were at the door too and as Maki nodded they all sprinted to get ready. Shinra and Arthur came back to life at the promise of some adrenalin, while Obi was gearing up in the car and Hinawa driving as fast as he could.

They arrived to the scene in under 7 minutes from the call but to their surprise, the incident wasn’t as chaotic as it usually is. The people of the town were standing around the small infernal that came to be, while an also small woman was holding a rod like weapon made of fire in her hand. The onlookers were cheering her on, telling her to help the lady who turned so suddenly. She was visibly shaky but she seemed to be acting in a slow pace. The fire soldiers headed there and Arthur was ready to slice the infernal in two, as the sister started the prayer.

“Wait, please!” She leaped forward and Arthur stopped mid attack. “Let me do it… please?” Arthur nodded but got ready to help out if needed, looking at Obi for affirmation, he nodded in approval, as Iris finished the prayer, the girl held the fire stick up as it turned into a scythe and she cut down the small and slow infernal. “Latom” They all knew the small old lady that just turned into ash too well, she was never going to attack anyone, not even in the form of a fire possessed monster.

The fire soldiers were about to compliment the civilian girl who ended a job so nicely but she was quicker to burst into tears as the people of the village around her were still praying for the friendly lady she just had to put down. She even forgot to make her weapon disappear as she cried loudly into the wind that picked up bits of the ash from the infernal’s remains. Scythe in her right hand and wiping her tears with the sleeve of her sweater with her left.

Captain Obi tried to calm her situation a little as he started to praise her job while approaching her with caution. “Hey, hey, you did so good. You saved her from the burning, great job.” Obi tried to comfort her while patting her back that was around the size of his whole hand in those gloves of his. He was somewhat taken aback from the sensitive reaction after such a smooth job, but she wasn’t a soldier after all, her emotions were understandable. She sobbed and wiped her eyes trying to look at the fire soldier behind her. She grabbed the scythe a little tighter and it shattered in her hand.

“Sorry for stealing your job…” She apologized while clearing her vision enough to look at the soldier. Shinra and Arthur came to their side too in the meantime as Hinawa and Iris tried to gather information about what happened and if there's anyone in need of medical help. Maki brought tissues for the girl and Captain Obi removed his mask and helmet.

“It would be irrational to get mad at you for saving lives, you did great.” Obi assured her while she accepted the tissues from Maki. “In fact, have you thought about becoming a fire soldier?”

A low chuckle came from behind them, as an old man slowly came closer to the center of the ordeal. He used a metal rod as a cane and he was fast to swing that bad boy around. His slow approach was just a show, fooling the not knowing onlookers about the danger he represented, but his swing with the metal rod was so fast noone seen it coming. The old man hit Obi’s hand that was on the girl’s back and swung another, hitting her in the head. 

“Come clean now Brat, don’t let them walk away with the shame that a worthless coward like you did the job better than a whole company of monkeys...” He was rude and loud and her vision got blurred again as she was scolded and ordered to introduce herself. The old man was about to hit her head again but Obi put an arm up, to cover her from the impact. Hinawa put his finger on the trigger and Maki was in position too, ready to attempt taking away the rod from the man. 

The girl was shocked by the gesture of the tall captain next to her, surprised of a fire soldier that seemed to care about others well being. She stared at the man wide eyes as the old man behind her grunted in annoyment. The piled up tears ran down her cheeks and her vision cleared, looking at her hero for the first time since they arrived.

“My name is (f/n) (l/n), ex-fire soldier of the first company, first class.” She stated as an introduction. To her surprise, the others weren’t taken aback by the information. Obi lowered his hand down to touch her head to pet her a little. 

“That explains an awful lot, nice to meet you.” Obi smiled and stroked her hair a little. She calmed down finally, as she felt safe with Company 8 surrounding her. The old man grunted in irritation, as he lowered his rod to lean on it again.

“I thought you will never say those words ever again Brat.” He turned around and left the scene. (y/n) peaked behind her, seeing him leave made her calm down even more. 

“So... Is it totally out of the picture for you to come back as a fire soldier?” Obi asked her awkwardly and she looked down at her feet, thinking a little.