Iâm pretending to hate you because if I donât, I might actually care
(Hoshina Soshiro x Field Doctor Reader)
Blood on the Blade, Blood in the Heart - CHAPTER 2
Dawn creeps over the base in a washed-out smear of gray light. You havenât slept. The rooftop moment lingers like a ghost â the warmth of his body near yours, the raw honesty in his words, the quiet that made the world feel smaller. Too small. Too dangerous.
You rub your eyes and step back into the medical bay, the stench of antiseptic and dried blood flooding your senses. You focus on that â the familiar, the clinical. Anything to drown out the memory of last night.
Footsteps echo behind you. Sharp. Rhythmic. Cold.
âHoshina,â you say without turning around.
â[Surname].â His tone cracks like ice.
You freeze. Last night he spoke your nickname like it belonged to him alone. Now he stands behind you, rigid, distant, detached. You turn to face him, and the man from the rooftop is gone. All that remains is Vice Captain Hoshina Soshiro , the soldier, the disciplined blade, the embodiment of duty.
âYouâre⌠formal,â you say, hating the way your voice sounds fragile.
âAye. Duty calls.â His eyes refuse to meet yours. âDonât take it personal.â
You swallow hard. It feels personal.
Before you can reply, Okonogi slides between you, tablet in hand. Her expression is unreadable, though her eyes flicker with something like worry when she glances at you.
âDoctor,â she says quietly, âwe need to talk.â
Okonogi nods toward him. âNot you. Step outside a minute.â
He hesitates, which is unusual, then leaves without a word. The door closes behind him with a soft thud that feels louder than a Kaiju roar.
Okonogi turns to you. âThe Hoshina elders arrived early this morning. Theyâve been⌠observing.â
âYou and him,â she answers simply.
Your stomach twists. âWe didnât do anything wrong.â
She raises an eyebrow. âYou say that, but they saw you two on the rooftop. Close. Talking. Theyâre old-fashioned. They expect tradition. Arranged oath and all.â
You grip the edge of the counter to stay steady. âSo heâs pulling away because⌠of them.â
âDuty is everything to him,â she says softly. âSometimes too much.â
The words stick in your chest like glass.
You return to your work, but nothing feels steady. Your hands tremble when you pick up a scalpel, your breath hitches when a soldier groans from pain. One of them, young and bleeding from the shoulder, stares up at you with a bitter smile.
âHeard the rumors,â he mutters.
âThat the doc and the Vice Captain are bound.â He chuckles weakly. âMust be hard⌠caring about someone you canât have.â
Your heart skips. âThatâs notââ
He passes out before you finish.
Your hands wonât stop shaking.
Minutes, or maybe hours, blur into a haze of stitching wounds, sealing arteries, shouting orders. You barely notice when the tent door flies open, flapping violently in the wind.
A screech tears through the air.
A Kaiju parasite, the size of a wolf and dripping acid, leaps toward you from the shadows.
You barely register the movement â a blur of steel, the scent of ozone, the hiss of air cut clean.
One second youâre staring at death, the next, his blade is buried in the creatureâs skull. Your heart slams against your ribs.
âYer daft!â he snaps, chest heaving. âYer standinâ in the open like a bloody target!â
His blade drips with black, acidic Kaiju blood. His hand trembles. Trembles. Heâs not calm â not even close. His violet eyes burn into yours, wild with fear. Real fear.
âYou almost got yerself killed,â he says, voice dropping to a hoarse whisper. âAnd Iââ
He stops himself, jaw clenching.
You step forward. âYou what?â
He looks away. âDoesnât matter.â
His eyes flick back to you, full of something raw, painful. âYer too close to the front lines. I told ye to stay back. I⌠I canâtââ
The medical bay door slams open again. A soldier shouts, âParasitic cluster incoming! We need both of you out here!â
Hoshina tears his gaze away, blade already raised. âStay behind me.â
You follow him into chaos. Not because he ordered it, but because you want to. Because after last night, after this moment, pretending is becoming unbearable.
The battle rages. Civilians scream. Fires rage. Kaiju spawn scatter. Hoshina moves like lightning, cutting through monsters with a precision no human should possess. You patch up the fallen, shouting directions, pushing your limits.
But your eyes keep drifting back to him.
And his keep drifting back to you.
When the last parasite dies, silence falls like a heavy blanket over the ruins.
Night creeps over the smoldering sector. Exhausted, you retreat to the rooftop where the chaos began. You sink to the ground, knees pulled to your chest. Your breath shakes.
A shadow looms beside you.
Hoshina sits down, not close, but not far either. His shoulders rise and fall as he exhales.
âYeâre reckless,â he mutters.
âAye⌠thatâs the problem.â
You stare at him. âI donât understand. Last night youââ
âI shouldnât have said those things,â he interrupts, voice tight. âYe and I⌠we have duty. We have families. Expectations. If I let myself careââ
You whisper, âDo you care?â
His jaw tightens so hard the muscle twitches. âDoesnât matter. Not for someone like me.â
Silence stretches between you. Heavy. Painful. Honest.
Then he stands, brushing dust from his uniform. âYe should stop carinâ about me. Itâll make things easier.â
He steps away, his shadow stretching long across the broken concrete.
You whisper, âEasier for who?â
You remain on the rooftop, staring at the horizon burning orange with distant flames. Your heart aches, a slow, suffocating ache that makes breathing feel like a chore.
A figure approaches the base gate below.
A silhouette carrying a document bearing your family crest.
Whatever that sealed paper contains⌠it is meant for you.
And it will shatter everything.
(Next Chapter will be posted On Nov 14 Let me know if you wanna tagged in the next chapter!!)
