#vice commander

A soft squelching caught your attention

A few ‘thuds’ of shoes hitting the ground followed, and without hesitating, you had swiped your lab coat from your rolling chair before following suit. 

You could feel your hand slowly travel up to the collar of the lab coat, attempting to smooth out any wrinkles and making sure you looked decent before approaching. The sight of kaiju mush and thick kaiju skin was nothing new to you, having done many practices before; this came in handy. 

You were somewhat of a forensic pathologist, not for humans but for kaiju, so you dealt with the aftermath of what happened to those unlucky, blasted kaiju that met their demise with the officers. A soft shudder ran up your spine at the thought of meeting such a fate with those blasted weapons. But kaiju were monsters who just ravaged cities and took the lives of innocent people, so you weren’t exactly pitying them.

Your hands moved quicker than your brain, already shoving themselves into the cabinets in search of a mask to mask the odd odor emitted from the decimated kaiju. Once the mask was secured behind your ears and adjusted, you pulled your hair back to avoid it falling into your face. Your hands reached behind you to find a cap and protect your hair from any impromptu kaiju fluid.

Your fingers slipped into the blue latex gloves, the edges slapping against your wrists as you stumbled forward to where some cleaners dropped off samples of what was left over of the kaiju. 

Now it was time to get to work.

At least your department had a dedicated section just for this; it made avoiding the others easier, and you have room to breathe when it came to your work. While ignoring the continued hectic rustling outside from the attack, you were deciding which sample you wanted to test. It was basically impossible for the kaiju cleaners to take back a whole kaiju- they were enormous in size, so it wasn’t rare for lil ‘ol you to venture out to the sight and research the kaiju there.

Though… judging by the size of what you have in your palm, there wasn’t much left. 

With the enthusiasm of a child on Christmas, you carried the jar of mush and skin back to your workspace. A soft ‘screech!’ echoed from the way you nudged your chair to the side; it was always easier to work standing up. 

“Welcome to Mama,” a giddiness erupted from you as you examined the jar, seeing the way the muscles in the jar slightly twitched. Without wasting a second, you set up your cam recorder. It was one issued by the JAKDF; it was either that or having an actual notebook with hand-written notes and sketches. You opted not even bother sketching or writing; you clearly weren’t an artist, and messes were always guaranteed. 

Recording made it easy to talk and explain your findings, plus you could always use the videos to look back in case anything was missed. 

Now that the red blinking light greeted you, you held up the jar with enthusiasm. “This is-” you stated your full government name and employee ID before continuing, “-today is August third, the year twenty-twenty.” The jar was held closer to the cam recorder, showing off the leftovers given to you. “The kaiju that was preserved is a classic honju; not much was left over from Captain Ashiro.” 

Now you plucked out some skin tissue using a pair of tweezers, and you placed it down on the tray in front of you. Once again, you continued, “So far, the skin is perfectly intact. The muscles are still twitching, most likely trying to mimic regeneration despite the core being destroyed.” The tweezers held up the thick muscle and skin towards the cam recorder, showing off the subtle twitching. 

Eventually, you found your rhythm as your scalpel slices pieces of the skin, and you explained how the tough exterior of the skin made it hard to pierce with the regular guns recruits used. “Unless they have an impressive combat power,” you nudged the skin with your scalpel to show how stubborn the skin was, “... there’s no getting through,”

It was almost impressive how easily your mouth moved along with your findings; there was nothing new yet again, but the repetitive practice made it so everything was like muscle memory.

Once every piece of the kaiju in front of you was thoroughly examined, you set your tools down, and you placed the kaiju bits back into the jar. While you securely fastened the lid, you concluded your examination. 

“Nothing out of the ordinary, the question of how to stop the kaiju permanently remains a mystery.” Your gloves slid off into the trash bag labeled “Waste Hazard,” and then you grabbed a secured piece of tape and made sure to tape the lid shut, signaling this kaiju had been examined. “... This concludes the sample for today.” Without knowing how to end it, you simply leaned forward and cut the recording. 

A small reflection of your expression stared back at you from the lens of the cam recorder, so with a heavy sigh of disappointment at the lack of exciting findings, you shuffled over to the rolling cart and placed the jar on top. 

With your other coworkers either continuing to work or heading back to their rooms within the housing of the base, you decided there was nothing else to do.

A good shower would probably do you good, considering some kaiju fluids trickled ontoyour clothes despite the caution and scrubs provided. 

While quietly sliding the door closed behind you, your head turned side to side to make sure no one would spot you with your hair slightly frazzled and your face bearing the red marks of the mask and goggles, you probably even smelled like strong chemicals and kaiju in general. Not that any other person in this building cared, but small talk and conversations in general made your skin crawl. 

“This is fine,” you tried so hard to convince yourself as you tugged your lab coat closer to your body. “...fine…”

So far, the journey to the housing section was fine.

Your shoes occasionally squeaked against the polished tiled floor as you quickly rushed through the halls. You decided that it would be in your best interest to take the stairs down to avoid any interactions with the officers who could have been wandering around from the recent events in the elevators.

A few nods of greetings and smiles came your way. Most of the time, though, you were just ignored.

That's how you liked it.

Once you reached the hallway that led down to the rooms, you took a moment to rub your face with your hands from the sudden itch you felt.

What you didn't appreciate was colliding with a wall.

Did you suddenly forget how to navigate the world?

….

It wasn't a wall,

But a man...a really strong man.

While stumbling back, your hands flailed out a bit as you dropped the printed results and your cam recorder. 

You thanked yourself for buying that damn thing a case. 

Your back made contact with the actual wall this time, and your hands were plastered flat against the wall to stabilize yourself from the impact. A small noise left your throat as the person stumbled back only a few steps. You snapped your head up and squinted instinctively to see who you bumped into. 

The first notable thing was the violet hair that was shaped into a decent bowl cut, and his eyes- they were violet as well. It would’ve been beautiful if you hadn’t just walked straight into him.

"Yer alright?" Was the first thing the vice captain asked after the initial shock washed away.

You blanked out.

After a few seconds of staring with your mouth open, you jerked your head into a nod.

"...yeah…I’m so sorry- " you were quick to apologize while dropping to your knees to pick up the paper you printed along with your cam recorder. You could feel your face burning and sweat accumulating on the tip of your nose. You leaned onto the wall for support to pick yourself up. "I’m sorry for the bother. Please have a good day," You bowed your head for a moment to avoid the intense staring, and you were already ducking your head to swerve past him.

"Aye," he called out. He found the clumsy girl to be amusing and almost adorable in the way you seemed to try to duck away from him. "Thanks... take care, Miss-" the way he drawled out your name was enough to make your chest tighten. Seriously- when did you start to enjoy the little accents? Maybe it was because he was so attractive...?

You didn’t even think to question how he knew your name, but it was obvious by the awkward jingle of your employee tag with your photo ID and name pinned to your breast pocket.

Your response was just a small squeak; it's like you tried to hum, but it came out too high-pitched, so you just sped up your pace and shut the door once you reached the end of the hall. You wanted to just collapse and curl up until you disappeared from the face of the earth, and you prayed you would never have to see his face again and that your schedule would never align again. 

That's how it's been for the past while, so this should never happen again.

You failed to realize the vice captain, looking back over his shoulder as you left, a small smirk making its way onto his lips as he vowed he would corner you again. As a good vice captain, he should know his colleagues well, right?

{Chapter Two}

[Edited 12/19/2025]