#rye.works

"and according to the keynotes i've gathered from my and ikaruga's reports, we've concluded the pattern of these attacks— are you even listening?" your hand halts from pointing out the important points on the document, eyes twitching slightly at the sight of hoshina soshiro, once again, spacing out.

"oh, sorry. what were you sayin', sweetheart?" the man sitting beside you asks, the alluring accent thick as his frustratingly attractive face is propped up by a hand on the table and he's smiling innocently at you like he didn't just disregard everything you've been explaining for the past ten minutes or so.

you resist the urge to facepalm, exasperation bubbling inside of you. "vice captain, please. if i have to call you out again while i carry on with these reports, i might just lose it." you deadpan.

hoshina laughs, fanged and all the more cheeky. "alright, alright. i'll focus now, i promise. so what is it about the attacks?" he questions, though he does not move from his position— his very close, very personal position where your thighs are nearly brushing against each other might you add— as he looks at you with his crimson eyes now opened.

initially, you’re supposed to be reporting all these stuff straight to captain ashiro. but the reason why hoshina had asked you to meet up and convey them to him first is honestly beyond your comprehension.

"...if we are to proceed, firstly please stop that." you mutter slowly, looking away with a huff.

"hm? whatever do you mean, darlin'?" he gives you another one of his charming grin.

you finally relent. "stop looking at me like that!" with a grumble, you succumb to the embarrassment as you cover your beet red face with the back of your hand.

you're fine with the nicknames. you are. but not the sweet, loving look he keeps sending your way. the way his sharp gaze would soften, full of warmth and affection reserved only for you, not caring that other people could see how enchanted he is by everything that is you to the point you're the only thing that matters in his eyes.

oh, he would've given you the world if only you'd so much as ask him to.

˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

the unfamiliar wooden object resting in-between the many piles of books on your table does not go unnoticed by you.

your steps falter, making a second take before moving to grab the item. it's a carving of a raccoon. it's smooth to the touch, intricate and small enough to fit in your palm.

this is the third time this week, you think to yourself, eyes glinting in wonderment as a tiny smile makes its way on to your face.

three times you'd found a piece of object, something or the other just laying around in your working space, albeit they were hidden in places that are fairly easy to spot. maybe that's exactly the point; for it to be noticed even though it's supposedly meant to stay concealed.

hours later, you're sitting with your fellow platoon leaders in the meeting room as hasegawa briefs you on updates for the division's patrols, reports, trainings and the likes. you glance at the corner of the room where narumi gen is lounging in his chair, his console held in his hands as the faint sound of a video game fills the room.

as the meeting finally ends, you gather up your belongings before rushing out the door, trying to catch up to a certain captain with dual-toned hair.

"captain narumi!" you call out.

you see the way his back freezes for a second at your voice before he turns, giving you an easy grin. "well if it isn't our platoon leader y/n. why, did you need anything from your amazing captain?" he boasts.

this time you're ever so oblivious to the way his eyes twinkle, body relaxing at the sound of your responding laugh. "no, captain. just wanted to say good work for today! and i'll be doing patrol with you tomorrow so hopefully we can give it our best tomorrow as well." you chime.

he's about to reply when you add in, "also thank you for the raccoon carving, captain. though i'm kind of wondering why that animal specifically. but it's still cute so i guess it's the thought that counts."

at that narumi tenses, rosy irises darting away before he trips over his words, "y-you better not think anything of it! it just so happened that i came across that thing while i was on patrol yesterday." he grits, ears flushing red at the tips as he points a finger at your amused face almost accusingly.

it's the same reasoning— or rather, excuse— like the previous times.

"eh... is that so? well, i'm still thankful you decided to gift it to me." you reply, smiling so beautifully it almost had him falling to his knees and confessing about how much he adores you.

you don't know that, of course. what you also don't know is that the gift is extremely well-thought out by narumi (and so are the previous…trinkets, you’d call them). you'd once mentioned in passing that a raccoon reminds you so much of him, of how the dual-toned fur and its silliness resemble your captain so much.

and silly as he may be, he wouldn't pass up the chance of that you'd think of him whenever you look at the carving, just like how you occupy his mind almost every second of the day.

˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

that's sixteen headshots, seventeen, eighteen... your head continues to count the amount of targets you've shot down.

today you've taken it upon yourself to go to the shooting range, wanting to refine your gunning skills as the memory of the recent mission the third division had been assigned to flares in your mind.

vice-captain hoshina was right, the new recruits this year are an exceptionally talented bunch. they're something else alright, you ponder. but there's no way in hell you can afford to lose to these kids now. a grin grows on your face, your eyes never strayed from the moving targets in front of you.

"platoon leader y/n?" a familiar voice has you pausing from reloading your gun, swiveling your head to look to the side where the voice comes from.

"oh, officer reno! what are you doing here?" you ask, turning your body fully to face ichikawa as you put away your gun. you can only stare curiously as the silver-haired boy suddenly seems like he's blowing a fuse from how red his face has become.

he'll never get used to you calling him by his given name. it feels... intimate, somehow. or maybe he's just overthinking it, who knows. his admiration for you is probably too intense that it's making his brain all mushy.

"i-i should be the one asking you, senpai! it's been hours and it's so late already but you're still going at it?" he asks, making you blink a few times before you smirk teasingly after registering his words. "'still'? were you keeping tabs on me, reno?"

ichikawa blushes even harder, realizing what he just said. "i wasn't— that's not—yes?" he groans before sighing defeatedly as you laugh, feeling the fondness you've always held for him increases ever so slightly. "i was only joking, reno. no need to be so tense." you wave him off when you notice he's about to give an apologetic bow.

"so? is there anything that i can help you with?" you question with your head tilted to the side, a hand now resting on your hip. reno straightens up and takes in a deep breath. "i was hoping you're already done with your training. i, uh... i want to show you something, senpai."

a few minutes later, you find yourself following ichikawa as he leads the way, the two of you walking leisurely in the hallways of the tachikawa building. you slide your hands into the pockets of your uniform, taking note of the way his fists keep curling and uncurling, as if to relieve the strain his body holds.

the sight of the cafeteria greets you, and you make a confused noise at him as you enter the dining hall. the place is mostly dark, apart from the few dimly lit lamps hanging over your heads. "it's already closed at this hour, reno. if you're hungr- oh?" you halt in your steps when ichikawa moves to one of the long tables.

he's standing there, and in front of him there's two ceramic plates filled with a variety of food, each full to its edges. your eyes widen in surprise, looking up to see ichikawa rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

"i figured you'd be staying in the range for quite a while... so i saved you some food, senpai. o-of course, if you're not hungry i can just keep these in the fridge for tomorrow or something- i don't, um... i didn’t know what food you'd like so i kind of just took some of everything...-"

you stop his nervous rambling with a hand on his shoulder. he sharply inhales, looking at you with his ears, cheeks, neck and everything in between burning hot. you ignore the way this lovely, endearing sight of him has your heart expanding almost to the point of combusting. "i'm definitely famished after all that training!" you chirp, saving him from his misery before approaching the table.

ichikawa smiles in relief, "i'm glad!" and then he tenses out of the blue, backing away a bit and bowing low to hide his embarrassment. "b-but please be assured i don't have any ulterior motive nor it's my intention to be unprofessional about it! i just thought i could be of a little help since you and the other senpai's are working so hard for us..." he clarifies, just realizing how inappropriate it'd be if somebody sees him acting so forward like this to you.

your sounding chuckle has him biting his lip, lifting his head to peer up at you. "i understand. well in that case," you move to grab a plate, pushing the other one to him with a pointed look. ichikawa's gaze light up in understanding.

"thank you for the food, reno." you say softly, sending him one last smile as you head towards the exit, leaving him to his own thoughts.

he'll work hard too. he'll work even harder than anyone else here. after all, there's no wall he wouldn't scale in order to become stronger. in order to fight alongside you, to be worthy of your equal.

"reno, have you watched the new movie i talked about before?" furuhashi asked, swallowing his food before looking at his fellow officer. "oh, the one with that famous actor from russia? no, i haven't. isn't that movie adult-rated though?" the silver-haired prodigy asked.

"whaaat? why are you children watching movies about people who play hide the salami, huh!?" kafka scolded, causing furuhashi to counter back, "who the heck even says 'hide the salami' these days, old man?!" by then you just arrived with your tray of food, hearing only one-fourth of the sentence when you took a seat beside the older man.

"oohh, are we pranking someone?" you butt in eagerly, joining in the conversation. the other three snapped their heads towards you in confusion. "prank? who said anything about a prank?" reno asked, head tilting to the side.

you smiled, blinking owlishly at his question. "hide the salami? why are we hiding food if not for a prank...?" your eyes bounced between the three men who were sharing awkward glances with each other.

narumi, who had been eavesdropping the whole time, nearly grimaced. so you're odd and... kind of an airhead, in a way. his brain concluded, simply observing when you abruptly pointed your finger at something far to the right, "captain ashiro, look! there's a cute cat over there!!" when ashiro snapped her head so fast, she realized a bit too late to catch your sneaky hand stealing a piece of food from her tray.

"hey, eat your own food!" kafka reprimanded as you happily nibbled on the stolen treasure but ashiro only waved it off, muttering about how she's gotten used to your antics by now, secretly fond of how your delighted expression itself comically resembled a feline creature.

"what are you staring at, baka shisho?" kikoru's jeer interrupted narumi's daze, causing his back to tense. "nothing. can't you go a day without being an annoying pest?" he sneers, which the girl only laughed mockingly at, though surprisingly she didn't notice that the captain was still snooping in to hear the conversation at your table, listening to the many obnoxious and bizarre (yet interestingly smart, he'd begrudgingly admit) ways you'd recommended to prank someone.

˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

the third time narumi saw you, it was during a joint sparring session between his and the third division. he was initially supposed to be overseeing kikoru and her new numbers weapon suit but the commotion at the central area of the training venue had snatched his, and the other officers' interest instead.

it was you, preparing to spar with hoshina, his nemesis. in hand-to-hand combat, no less. not to add the two of you were going to use real swords, not the dummy ones.

"are they serious? why would they match up against hoshina?" "i know right... they're gonna lose for sure," "yikes, i'm sending early condolences to them right now,"

narumi had to agree with what he heard his division members were whispering about. sure, he sometimes thinks hoshina's skill level is below his own, but to spar with a regular officer? the swordsman is gonna pummel you straight to the ground, no doubt!

however, his chain of thought was eventually cut off when he later noticed that you were holding on your own, superbly at that. with every hit of hoshina's blade, you'd parried with your own and every small opening hoshina had unknowingly exposed, you had taken the advantage by striking just as hard.

the rapid sounds of metal clanging against each other were loud, echoing even. it was plainly and clearly visible to him that you're not just an officer.

narumi called for his disciple, "oi. who's that training with your vice-captain?" he asked, head nodding towards where you and hoshina were still exchanging blows. kikoru glanced at the direction he mentioned before she grinned wide and cheshire-like.

"oh, them. that's one of our newly appointed platoon leaders, y/n-san! such a spectacle to behold, i know! they're from the third, after all!" she boasted. a platoon leader? y/n, huh... narumi could finally put a name to that pretty face.

wait, what? who the hell said that?

the bicolor-haired man shook his head a bit before focusing back at the fight. "what are you gloating for, dumbass. it's not like—" his sentence died midway when suddenly a particular hard swing from hoshina had struck you straight in the face, causing you to stagger backward as your block was seen a little too late to cover the blow.

the atmosphere suddenly became silent and still, narumi's eyes widening in surprise at the same time as hoshina's in guilt when everyone noticed the few drops of blood through your fingers. "shit, sorry! i didn't mean to hit ya that hard! you okay there?"

narumi instinctively took a step towards your direction when your figure started swaying, his eyes unconsciously glaring at the violet-haired man as the latter reached out his palm so that you could show him the bruise but when you gave no reply, eyes downcast and body rigid, hoshina cursed under his breath. "fuck, y/n. i'm so sorry—"

"boo!"

the unexpected sight of your mischievous, uninjured face and only a faintly sliced skin on your palm greeted the crowd. an annoyed mark appeared at the side of hoshina's head. "you cheeky lil' brat! ya had me so worried there!" he scolded, his hands pulling on your cheeks so hard your eyes watered as you whined, "but it was hilarious watching you— ow, ow, vice-captain! that hurts!"

the others seemed to relax, and a few hushed murmurs entered narumi's ears.

"the heck? what a fluke." "right? there's no way they held off for that long. the vice-captain must have gone easy on them."

on the sidelines, narumi's mouth gaped open and then closed like a fish. was that actually a fluke, or are you actually...? he was slightly bewildered, not knowing whether to acknowledge the fact that you are, in fact, such a whimsical and unserious person he almost found it quite endearing (he didn’t bother acknowledging that thought), or that it was unnoticeable by almost everyone else, but he could see the scratches on hoshina's hands and face, the nicks his RT-0001 eyes had detected were done by your sword.

they were indistinct, hardly noticeable, and barely bleeding that it just proved how careful you were in handling your blade. what's more jarring, however, was that his kaiju eyes couldn't miss the deadly and almost murderous look in your eyes when you were exchanging blows with hoshina earlier.

narumi couldn't help but to smirk menacingly as he ran a hand through his locks, feeling enraptured by the sudden realization.

so it's not just hoshina he has to beat. there's you now.

˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

it was another random tuesday night when the emergency kaiju alarm blared, signalling the entire headquarter of the incoming kaiju attack. in the meeting room together with the captains and other platoon leaders from the third and first divisions, you were briefly discussing strategies and plans for the neutralization process.

"so it's settled, then. two platoon leaders from each division in one sector. make sure to remember where your group is assigned and keep track of any yoju going in and out of your sector before alerting the other platoons of it. this one might get messy," ashiro summarised before everyone briskly moved out, preparing to head to the kaiju location.

narumi, who had been halfheartedly listening to the whole briefing in boredom, pushed away from the wall he was leaning against and headed towards the door, before noticing a lone figure standing by the desk in the middle of the room.

you were staring hard at the splayed out map in front you, hands shoved in your pockets and head tilted to the side in what narumi assumed to be deliberation. what else is there to think about when ashiro already summed up everything? the man thought before he shrugged, leaving you alone in the meeting room.

the mission was supposed to be simple. tedious, sure, but easy enough for the two divisions to handle. take down the honju, then finish off the remaining clusters of its accompanying yoju— it was said they'd go berserk when triggered by the death of the mother— that were scattered throughout the district.

well, until it's not so easy anymore.

once ashiro had shot down the honju using the explosive power of her cannon, all the yoju had indeed, gone ballistic. the battlefield was messy with all the kaiju corpses and rubbles from destroyed buildings.

appointed as one of the main firepower on land, narumi's earpiece dinged, and the voice of one of the operations officer filled his ears. "captain narumi! sector d requested for backup just a few minutes ago but we've recently lost contact with them!"

confusion took over the captain's expression. backup? these lots of yoju barely have a 4.0 fortitude, did a new high-leveled kaiju appear? oh well, another material to be used in increasing my kill count and popularity if that's the case. his mind pondered as he stepped off the dead body of the kaiju he'd just taken down, his bayonet slung over a shoulder.

"aite, on it," straight away on the move, he considered the possibilities of a bigger threat popping up, like another one of no 9's creation, for instance. narumi's expression darkened at the thought.

however, when he arrived at the site, there was no commotion at all. it was rather quiet. he would've thought that no battle had happened here, if not for the concrete debris and kaiju remains laying around. he decided to look around and survey the area, just in case the information he received was just a small miscalculation.

it was not until he realized he had walked for too long that he froze. sector d wasn't supposed to cover this much space, so why were there so many corpses outside of the neutralization area? narumi tried connecting his earpiece, only for it to let out a series of crackles. this is where they lost connection, huh? he thought.

a sudden movement to his left had him going stiff before he swiftly and sharply spun, bayonet ready in his hand. irritation took over his expression when he saw that it's just an officer. "hey, i almost took your head! be more mindful next time, will you?" he chastised, causing the officer to bow profusely, cowering away from his large weapon. "i apologise, captain narumi! i was just wondering what are you doing here... the neutralization is already finished in this part of the sector."

"haah?? operations said you guys needed backup. what's up with that?" he complained, glaring at the officer who he assumed was from the third division since he wasn't a familar face to narumi at all. "oh, that's already been dealt with! platoon leader y/n had it all planned out!" narumi halted at that, now intrigued so he told the officer to fill him in on what happened prior to the mission.

---

"psst, you two! come here for a sec," the men in question, toma and ryu turned when they had heard you calling for them a few feet away from the mixed group of first and third divisions soldiers in sector d. "yes! what is it, platoon leader?"

"mind helping me out for a bit?" as they immediately nodded their heads, you straight promptly explained what you wanted them to do. "so we just need to be on the lookout with you at the communication towers outside the sector?"

"ding, ding! that's correct! if you see a kaiju coming your way, just lure it back to your original post where everybody else is. i'll be staying back to tweak out some electricals at the radio masts." you stated.

with the yoju having a bat-like behavior, you'd theorized that they would use ultrasonic echolocation to create a radio wave disturbance that could badly affect the earpieces you're using. despite how low the kaiju's fortitude is, it's immense intellect make up for most of that small number.

that's why the yoju would've probably target the region with the densest wave energy, which is the telecommunication towers. with its echolocation and your communication devices pulsing simultaneously, they would interfere with each other and cause an overlap of frequencies. hence, communication lost between officers would highly likely happen.

"that's fine and all, but y/n-san... if the kaiju really is how you speculate it, what if there's a lot of them coming at once?" toma asked worriedly. "you'll die, of course." you simply answered, making the officers screech in horror, "WHAT??!!"

letting out a chuckle, you waved a hand in dismissal. "don't worry. if there are many of them appearing, just leave them be and return to your post,"

toma and ryu exchanged a look. "but then we'd be leaving you alone, y/n-san!" the latter wailed. at that, you hummed thoughtfully, "hm... i'll be the one dying then," you said matter of factly.

"Y/N-SAN!!!"

"how about we do rock-paper-scissors to decide who's fixing the comms?"

"this is not the time to joke around, platoon leader!"

you belted out a laugh at their unified shriek of despair. "it's fine, it's fine! put a little trust on me, yeah? if there's nothing else, i'll head on first. i'll be counting on you guys!"

---

"turned out the kaiju that emerged really did behave exactly like how platoon leader y/n had expected. i kind of felt bad for the first division officers that were assigned together with us because they weren't informed about the plan," toma, narumi had learned of his name, said.

narumi stood there, a tinge of amazement sitting in the far back of his mind at the thought of how meticulous you had been in planning your own strategies. although he was a bit annoyed that you didn't bother telling your fellow platoon leader or superiors— ashiro, hoshina, or him, even— about it. your officers were right; you could've died.

toma was about to add more when your sheepish voice in his earpiece caught his attention. "nee, nee, toma. are you free right now? or anybody, really. i've fixed the signals since it got altered again but uh, i kind of need some help with all these yoju around me," you said, not in the slightest worried about how dangerous the situation you were in right now.

in fact, you sounded like you were casually talking about fixing a broken lamp instead of trying to adjust the freaking junction boxes while being surrounded by a bunch of kaiju.

narumi zeroed in when toma cried out your name. "what? you said you already neutralized all of them, y/n-san! what do you mean there's more?!"

the first division captain immediately snatched the earpiece, completely unapologetic in his action. "your location, platoon leader?" he ordered. "i'm still at the comms towers— oya? is this captain narumi i hear?" he didn't bother answering before he was already running (not before tossing the earpiece back to its owner), leaving behind a flabbergasted toma.

when narumi eventually stepped past the metal fences enclosing the area where you were at, the rosiness of his irises detected not just the piles of dead monsters but also a horde of still-alive kaiju swarming around a radio mast. his eyes twitched, visibly annoyed now that he knew why his earpiece had been giving out static noises one too many times ever since he entered sector d.

he made a quick work of taking them down, slicing away and shooting at every kaiju that came his way. at one point, he heard a faint sound behind him. narumi was about to turn and finish off the kaiju that was ambushing him, but then there was a slight change in the air. it was heavy, and it was approaching fast.

suddenly, a figure dropped from above, plunging the kaiju straight in the core so swiftly narumi almost thought he saw a lightning strike right in front of his very eyes. with a power so dense it almost rivaled his own, the man could only stare as blood sprayed out from the dead monster, raining down on both him and you.

sweet lord, it was you.

with your personal weapon in hand, standing so gracefully on top of the corpse it had his breath stuttering in his chest.

fuck, that was so hot, narumi unconsciously thought.

you, with blood smeared everywhere on your face and suit, finally connected your eyes with his. "oh, captain narumi! i didn't think you'd actually come here," you exclaim. when he gave no reply, your eyebrows raised in curiosity. "did you get injured, captain? why are you on the ground?"

it was only then that he noticed that he was down on his knees (narumi? the narumi gen?? kneeling???), his own weapon laid at his side, neglected. what the hell? he refused to admit how powerful and magnificent you were that it had him forgetting about your little naivety, that it had him weak in the knees.

he shook himself out of his embarrassing stupor before quickly standing back up. "good... i'm good," narumi internally cursed at himself when he realized his voice quivered midway.

"anyway, what in the world was that?! your officer said you didn't inform my platoon of your little plan here!" he fussed.

"ah, that! it was a gamble actually. i didn't want to risk the lives of those who haven't worked with me enough to understand how i operate in this line of work. my subordinates knew what they were in here for," you explained, nonchalantly wiping away the red liquid from your face.

a gamble on your life, basically. narumi frowned at that. he was about to comment more when you turned away, though your face was still directed at him. "well, in any case, i think i should be thanking you, captain." you sent him a cheeky grin.

"huh, what for?"

"you said i was hot earlier. thanks!" with that, you dashed away to handle the remaining kaiju, leaving behind a flustered and rigid narumi gen as he watched you go on a killing spree.

in spite of your beauty and grace, in his eyes, you ain't no angel, no. you're a goddamn valkyrie, an ethereal being dancing with death in the middle of a bloody battlefield. and he— his heart, is a mere soldier ready and willing to be lead by you to the gates of heaven, he realised.

jp phrases used >> おや (oya), ねぇ ねぇ (nee nee)

hence, every time you were given the chance to finally sit down and properly have some quality time with hoshina, you'd planned on milking every loving second of it. in the world where only the two of you exist, you feel like nothing bad could ever happen.

"have you always had fangs, or have i just not been paying attention? wait, who am i kidding? my attention is too valuable to be paid on you, fox eyes."

okay, maybe you spoke too soon.

"didn't think we'd be having a third party today. and here i thought i agreed to a lunch date, not a family bonding time." hoshina hummed, shrugging off the earlier comment about him. swallowing a bite of rice, you let ouf a huff. "it is a date. that was just my inner demon talking."

irritated at the lack of attention, narumi clicked his tongue. "hey, stop being childish! i'm literally sitting right here!" he chided, snapping his chopsticks towards your boyfriend as you deadpanned at your brother. "speak for yourself. and you're not even supposed to be here, gen. did you run away from vice-captain hasegawa again?" you shot back, grabbing the game console your brother had brought along and smacking him with it, which earned you a pained yelp.

"ya know this can be considered as a breach of privacy, no? although this is a temporary space, you're here in my office without my permission, captain narumi." hoshina chuckled, leaning back against his seat behind the desk.

your brother snickered on the chair he had pulled up beside yours in front of the said desk. "exactly what you said, buddy. i'm a captain, so i can do whatever i want in a subordinate's office."

technically that's power abuse, you thought as you quietly eat your lunch, deciding to let the two men verbally argue back and forth about whatever it was they found unpleasing about the other.

oh well. surely this was a one time thing, right? your brother couldn't— shouldn't be bothered to disturb you and your boyfriend every single time... right?

∘₊✧─────────────✧₊∘

or so you thought.

the second time it happened was when you were on one of your most romantic nights ever; you were stargazing with your beloved soshiro. and in the night sky they were shining so bright, as if whatever deities above had painted them so vividly upon the most perfect of black canvases.

at that time you genuinely believed nothing could ever interfere with how the night was turning out.

if only you didn't agree to accompany your brother on one of his many game nights. though it might've been partially your fault that you didn't specify which night he could pick. and unfortunately for you, date night seemed to be the perfect choice for gen.

you clicked your tongue in annoyance when your phone dinged for the nth time. "don't ya want to check that?" soshiro laughed, clearly amused at how distraught you looked.

you shook your head, taking out the device before putting it on dnd. "it's just gen. he wants me to play games with him," you grunted. "right now?" your boyfriend asked, which you nodded at. he contemplated for a moment, before turning to you with a feline grin. "say you're comin' over,"

you almost choke on your saliva. "what?" you squeaked. soshiro stated the same thing, causing your eyebrows to raise even higher. "are you sure? we're on a date, soshiro. which we rarely get to do these days," you remarked.

the man sitting beside you hummed, the slants of his eyes giving him the ever so crafty image. "technically, it can still be one if i'm there too," he stated, smirking.

and that was how you found yourself in gen's room, watching your brother and boyfriend go at it on the former's bs5 as they sat on the laid out futon while you made yourself comfortable at gen's work chair, the sound of a two-player fighting game filling the room.

"dammit, dammit! yeah, take that, bowl-cut bastard! wait, shit— NOOO!!" the big red KO appeared on gen's side of the screen, causing you to sigh almost pitifully.

"wanna go again? i can try goin' easy on ya this time," soshiro quipped, making the man in question grit his teeth. "okay, why did i agree to this again?! why did you bring him here, kid?!" gen snapped his head towards you, pointing an accusing finger at your direction.

you threw him an innocent smile. "you asked for a game buddy, right? i just gave you one on a silver platter, nii-chan. i'm considering this as compensation for crashing my date with soshiro by the way," you drawled, lazily spinning around in the chair. at that point, you'd have been convinced that you grew up with a grumpy cat as a brother with how ferally ruffled he looked.

gen blanched in disgust, "eugh, hate it when you say his name in front of my face. you owe me a new figurine for this," he muttered. "you're a sore loser, aint'cha, captain?" your boyfriend piped in, not bothering to hide how entertained he was from this whole situation. gen sent him a death glare before he angrily plopped his ass back down, picking up the controller that he had hurled away during his outburst.

"alright, you're on, fox eyes!" he sneered before the two of them start another game, leaving you to once again enjoy the spectacle that was narumi gen losing rounds upon rounds of video games to soshiro (he did win some but you just couldn't ignore the significant difference between his victory and defeat scores).

guess a crashed date wasn't such a bad thing sometimes...

"..."

his eye twitches at your silence. "oi."

"--iro..."

"you gotta speak louder, kid. can't hear you if you keep mumbling like that." your forehead creases, not liking his condescending tone. "i said i want soshiro," you state firmly.

narumi's eyes widen, flabbergasted. he waits for a few seconds, just in case you're messing with him, then you're gonna break the tension with a 'just kidding, bro! i actually want that takeout, how about we eat it together?' but there's none.

no kidding, no takeout, no eating together. nada.

narumi feels that last piece of thread snapping off.

"oh, you—" a loud, prolonged groan of frustration and defeat fills the room.

∘₊✧─────────────✧₊∘

the first division's captain has never felt this exposed and bare, ever. his dignity has been stripped away; he's vulnerable and unguarded.

that's how downgrading it feels to ask hoshina soshiro for his help in order to tame the beastly monster scarier than a kaiju that is you on your period.

"you're being overdramatic," the vice-captain's voice crackles out from the phone narumi's holding to his ear.

the captain grits his teeth, almost to the point of chattering. "shut up! i didn't ask to be in this situation! if it were up to me, the thought of asking for you wouldn't even cross my mind!" he complains.

"put yourself in her shoes too, captain. no women ever asked to struggle so much during their periods in the first place," hoshina says, amused.

"tch, i know that! but that doesn't mean that devil spawn can go around tormenting me as she likes. i knew i should've thrown her into a ditch when i got the chance," narumi harshly mutters before re-entering his office where you're waiting.

"i heard that, dumbass!" you growl from your seat at your brother's desk. not wanting to back down, gen sneers back, "i meant that for you to hear, you spoiled brat!"

"guys," hoshina interrupts loudly enough from the other line, starting to feel agitated himself.

you immediately snatch the phone, ignoring gen's protests before putting the device to your ear and swiveling in the chair to face away from him. "you don't love me, is that it, soshiro?" you interrogate with a frown, shoulders drooping and voice trembling slightly.

your boyfriend lets out a nervous chuckle, "sweetheart, please. cut your brother some slack, yeah? he's tryin' his best, and i'm here now. anything ya need?"

your eyes then narrow suspiciously. "huh? stop talking about gen. why are you talking about him? you want him or something?" you bombard, suddenly feeling protective of your brother.

narumi jerks back, appalled at what he’s hearing. "the hell you on about?" you wave him off with a brush of your hand before focusing back on the call. "i asked you a question, soshiro."

hoshina sighs, "you know i do love you, darlin'. now how about you answer my question, hm?"

narumi just surveys on the side with his arms crossed, tapping his foot as he waits impatiently to get his phone back. funnily enough, his expression morphs from boredom, to annoyed, to disgusted as he notices your cheeks flushing as the conversation progresses.

it doesn't take a genius to guess that whatever hoshina's talking about, it's nothing decent.

right as he's about to interject, you're already pulling the device away to put it on speaker, letting narumi hear the well-known kansai dialect.

"alright, so ya good to eat that food he ordered now?" hoshina questions. "yeah, think so. whatever," you finally agree albeit sulkily, and narumi almost falls down to his hands and knees to thank the vice-captain, if not for his next words.

"that's a good girl," your boyfriend hums, sending you blushing down to the tips of your toes and narumi fuming with genuine horror (hoshina certainly did that on purpose).

"WHAT IN THE FUCKING HE—"

you abruptly end the call, fully satisfied with yourself.

well, at least that’s one of narumi's problems finally down.

˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

the grating sound of the massive gates sliding open fills the atmosphere, the new group of recruits waiting on standby as the kaiju beyond the gates prowl around.

"alright, the monthly evaluation will proceed as usual. neutralize kaiju, assist in whatever way ya can and we'll see how much your combat power has risen up since last time." hoshina says, looking over the recruits as you and another platoon leader from your division stand beside him.

with the ten minutes given as preparation, your eyes glint in a way that has hoshina suspiciously eyeing you as you approach one of the officers.

"how's the prodigy doing?" you greet, causing ichikawa to startle before he turns to you with a quick salute, a faint blush blooming on his cheeks at the nickname. "platoon leader y/n! i'm doing fine. i'm hoping my power release will improve today, since i've been working well with these freezing rounds," he beams.

"that's right! and i'll be right there with ya, reno! my combat power will definitely increase as much as yours, if not more!" furuhashi suddenly appears, slinging an arm around ichikawa’s shoulders with a wide grin. you smile as you watch them interact, before an idea comes to your mind.

"you guys remember the small armory hidden somewhere in the field, right? you see, extra points will be given if you manage to find it and use any of the big guns during the evaluation," you muse, a hand cupping the side of your mouth to not let the others around you listening in.

seemingly engrossed with the ‘hints', the two boys nodded eagerly. "so more points if we use the super secret weapons, huh?" furuhashi cheers excitedly as ichikawa puts a hand under his chin, thinking hard. "but the field is so big though, can we really find it while fighting kaiju at the same time?"

"sure can! you'll know when you see it. just run around near the garage area and it might be there right in front of you guys," you add, sounding all the more convincing. funnily enough, they start discussing several plans on how to quickly find the armory. "yeah, that's right. write it down, write it down." you insist, pleased that they don't notice your mischievous tone as you start to walk away, leaving them to their own devices.

"you'll immediately get zero mark if ya even so much as touch any of the weapons. those are only for your superiors to use,"

furuhashi and ichikawa yelp in surprise before they finally realize what their vice-captain had said. "wait, what?!" the former exclaims. the two of them swivel their heads towards you, looking betrayed at the expression you threw at them from afar; a tongue sticking out, a wink and two peace signs with a faint giggle of "teehee," coming out of your mouth.

"currently, the weapons in the armory are not fully loaded and it's our job— not the recruits'— to make sure they're always ready to be used in case of an emergency. your platoon leader over there," hoshina retorts, nodding his head towards your direction. "they knew fully well yall newbies won't ever find the armory given how hidden it is. although if ya actually do manage to find it and use the guns, it's not like they're going to fail ya. they're in charge of the marking systems this time," he explains.

"then why did they even mention about the armory in the first place?" reno questions, confusion taking over his face. "well, y/n is also in charge of loadin’ up the armory, unfortunately. you guys probably seemed like the perfect victims for them to use in bringin’ those weapons back to base for said maintenance," hoshina further clarifies, shaking his head exasperatedly at the thought of you slacking off at work.

well, technically you did convey the correct info… but still.

˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

you’re taken out of your reverie when there’s a light bonk on your head.

“stop loafin’ around on the job, y/n,”

rubbing on the spot hoshina had hit, you frown a little. “i’m not loafing around. it’s called taking a rest, vice-captain. something you’d hardly understand,” you mutter, tossing over on the couch in captain ashiro’s office.

the swordsman sighs almost fondly before placing a stack of papers in front of ashiro who has been working hard as ever. “reports for this month’s evaluation.”

“thanks, hoshina.”

“anytime, captain,”

ashiro glances at you from her seat behind the desk. “speaking of reports, i remember you saying you’re working on a new kaiju case, y/n?” she inquires with a perfectly raised brow, spinning the pen in her fingers mindlessly.

at that, your eyes dart over to the coffee table in front of you where a few papers were laid out, paragraphs of dark ink fully covering the surfaces. you’re about to grumble something again when a new voice catches your attention.

“this is all we’ve managed to find about the recent cases, captain ashiro.”

your head perks up, already sitting up as you turn towards the person just behind the couch you’re laying on. “ichikawa-kun! you’re a godsent, you know that? do you wanna write these reports for me?” you implore, eyes shining so brightly that there could’ve been sparkles floating around you with how extremely hopeful you look.

the mentioned officer blinks in surprise, not expecting you to suddenly make such a request. “e-excuse me?” he stammers awkwardly.

“stop makin’ the recruits do your work. it’s unethical. now scoot over,” you pout at hoshina’s scolding tone before doing what he instructed, making space for him to sit on the couch as well.

he pats his (sturdy and thick) thighs, and you happily plants your head on his lap as he reaches over to take your case papers, marvelling at how detailed and thorough your notes are. not a second after, the two of you immediately dive in to discuss about the facts and theories your brilliant mind had thought of.

ichikawa stares at your and hoshina’s interaction with a bewildered expression, sending a questioning look to his captain, which she only shrugs at.

“let them be. they’re in their own world right now,” she says with a small smile.

kind of gave up thinking how to end this so i just let it be at that lol

"wait, wait, no, what are you doing? y/n, hold on, NOOOOO—" the next thing he knew, he's already free falling from a tilted 150 meter building after being forced to jump off from it, his heart plummeting down alongside his physical form.

his scream is cut off when you yell at him to 'hang on tight, captain!' over the wind, the whizzing sound of something caught in his ears before there is a sudden jolt, and then the two of you are suspended in the air, swinging steadily from side to side.

he's convinced that he might've experienced a temporary death in the middle of that free fall.

when the two of you finally manage to get back on your feet, narumi quickly turns to you with a snarl, "are you crazy?! you could've told me first we were going to plunge ourselves into our impending doom!" he shrieks.

your eyes shine with mirth. "crazy? i was crazy once—" he interrupts your musing with a loud, stretched out groan, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "just focus on your job, vice-captain." he sighs in relent, eyeing the grappling hook gun that you had used.

he should really file a complaint on your behaviors to your captain one of these days... at least that's what narumi has been telling himself for the nth time after he started getting roped into your shenanigans one too many times. he wonders why he hasn’t done so until now.

"well, all in all, you're welcome for saving that cute little ass of yours, captain." you send him a wink as you walk away, causing him to combust where he stands when your words finally register in his head, embarrassedly throwing out curses with his vulgar mouth at your disappearing back.

narumi swears with you around, he's gonna grow literal grey hair and die young, and it's not because of a kaiju.

˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

“i heard the mission yesterday went well?”

you turn around when you hear hoshina approaching you from behind. “as well as it could possibly turn out. why? were you worried about me, hoshina-kun?” you tease, focusing your eyes on him now instead of assessing the officers who are training just a few feet below the watch tower you’re at.

hoshina scoffs, “please, i was more concerned about narumi who was unfortunate enough to get assigned with ya. and that’s sayin’ somethin’ cuz i barely even care about him,” he reproaches.

you snicker, shrugging nonchalantly, “i just gave him a little jumpscare, that’s all.” hoshina doesn’t believe that ‘little’ one bit so just he hums, “well, whatever i guess. he’s a big boy. he could handle whatever shit show ya put him through,”

at his words, your eyes gleam under the striking ray of the sun. “oh, he’s a big boy, alright…” you drawl, lips curling upwards in a smirk. hoshina mentally facepalms himself. “don’t ever make a dick joke about captain narumi around me again. that’s disgusting,” he grumbles.

suddenly a new voice interrupts you, “make a what about me?” narumi butts in, thick eyebrows furrowing in suspicion and mild curiosity. your eyes light up even further. “oh, captain narumi! nice timing! we were just talking about your d—“

“do not finish that sentence, vice-captain y/n,” hoshina glares at you. you only send him a pointed look, smiling innocently at him. the captain’s gaze bounces between the two of you. “were you two talking shit behind my back?” he crosses his arms angrily, though you and hoshina can only see a grumpy child who’s about to throw a tantrum and start stomping his foot on the ground.

“whatever makes ya think that?” hoshina counters.

“you’re not answering the question, bowl-cut bastard,” narumi argues back.

you decide to chime in, “you see, vice captain hoshina here—“ the man in question tenses, ready to oppose whatever claim you’re about to make before someone calls out in the distance, “narumi!” it’s hasegawa.

the three of you turn to look, and narumi visibly deflates at his own vice-captain’s scowling face. he sends you two one last glare, pointing at himself with two fingers and back at you two next, as if to say ‘i’m watching yall,’ before storming off.

hoshina huffs, and you let out a chuckle as you watch narumi getting smacked on the back of his head by hasegawa.

you sigh almost dreamily, “ah, i just love to push your buttons,”

“i’m going to push ya off this tower if ya keep this up,”

i'd like to believe that narumi is the cake-less one out of the two (it's canon actually. the empty cans in narumi's room told me so).

also this is me giving yall something to smile and giggle at before i drop the next part of OTST :)

--

the both of you stare ahead at the mess you all left behind; the dead bodies of the monsters you'd slain and some casualties in the construction here and there. "what's on your mind, nii-chan?" you started, using the affectionate nickname you'd usually only use as a jest or when you two were alone.

it took a few minutes of silence before narumi spoke, "are you happy here?" here, as in working as a soldier in the defense force. he didn't say it outright, but you understood him just fine.

you were about to ask him about the oddity of that question but you stopped yourself, knowing that wasn't the response he would've preferred. "i am happy. i have a home, i have money, i don't have to worry about getting food on the table, i get to kill kaiju and save lives. and i have you,"

narumi chuckled airily at that, muttering a "true," under his breath. and then you added, "plus, i got a boyfriend now. that definitely makes me the happiest," your brother immediately glared at you in displeasure, "brat," he mumbled, giving you a rather hard pinch on the side of your waist.

he sifted his fingers through his black and grey hair before sighing, "would you feel the same if we weren't in this job?" this time, it was you who took a few moments to answer and when you did, it was one you prayed it would ease whatever worries that had been messing around in his head.

"yeah, i would. as i said before, i have you. we could be running around like two headless chickens trying to survive in an abandoned island, and i'd still enjoy every second of it. as long as you're there, nii-chan,"

narumi gave you a look of disbelief before reaching over to ruffle the top of your head with a smirk. "you're one hell of an ass-kisser, kiddo,"

"hey, mind you! that was purely genuine. why did you ask anyway?" you questioned, swatting his hand away and squinting your eyes at him. for the second time that night, narumi shrugged. "just feel like i could've done better at giving you a proper life, you know." he admitted seriously and quietly, staring down at his obnoxiously large weapon, the tip of the bayonet dug into a piece of rubble just by the entrance of the building down below.

your eyes widened a little at that, surprised at how much of that hidden vulnerability of his that he allowed you to see. the country’s strongest combatant, bearing the weight of the world on his shoulders.

"okay ew, stop that! now you're just being sappy," you grumbled, making a dramatic gagging noise. "shut up, i wasn't even trying to be!" your brother hissed in irritation, though it was clear to you both that it was just a way to lighten the mood.

your smile turned soft and you shifted closer, resting your head on his shoulder. "i am living a proper life right now. nothing beats having you here with me, nii-chan. you're like, the coolest brother ever!" you beamed, both exaggerating and honest.

"heh, damn right i am! now you better get ready because i'm dragging your ass to play games with me tonight to celebrate this mission!"