the concrete tastes really bad. your head is spinning, and all you can see is the hard black of pavement below your eyes as it warps. you groan, flipping onto your back to rest a hand against your aching forehead.

"y/n, are you alright?" yoichi's voice sounds above you, concerned. you nod slowly as your vision slowly begins returning to normal, you get to your feet.

"i'm fine. i was just knocked on my fuckin ass, that's all." you grit out, glaring at guren who shrugs his shoulders, a self satisfied grin on his face.

"more like knocked on your head." the silver haired man laughs, what was his name? shinya. you turn to stare at him instead, to which he pays no mind.

"you did alright, brat. certainly better than your squad leader." guren praises, while also dissing your friend. you set your jaw, crossing your arms defiantly.

"shut your mouth, guren. shinoa's been doing her best from the start." you defend, spinning in your heel, fully intent on walking away. the lieutenant colonel drops a big hand onto the top of your head, stopping you in your tracks.

"you've got attitude, but you did well today. don't get angry at me because i'm pointing out someone else's weakness." guren's tone is lighthearted, but it makes you angry all the same. you don't want to be told that you're great if it means that your family is not.

"i appreciate the compliment, but i don't want to hear it." you inform him, stepping out from under his strong hand. you turn to him, offering a salute before you walk away, intent on ignoring him and finding your teammates.

this time guren does not attempt to stop you, and instead allows you to walk away.

you meet up with your teammates, who are all talking amongst themselves, and don't turn to greet you until you're in front of them.

"hey, what was that about?" yuu asks you, nodding guren's direction as you stop in front of him, a tired look on your face.

"nothing important, he just wanted to tell me that i 'did well today' i guess." you spare the details, opting not to mention what he'd said about shinoa. you know she feels bad enough about not being able to have been a been leader to you all.

she expresses that with deep regret a moment later, apologizing for her incompetence. you frown at her, pulling her into a side hug. she looks so guilty and it breaks your heart. you don't want to see shinoa look like that. she's so lively all the time, and that's the way you like her.

———————

the six hour ride goes by smoothly, and you arrive in nagoya, both shinoa and naromi's squads on the hunt for some dumb vampire with a daily park visit. how boring this fang must be.

"shinoa, i'm gonna bet this vampire bastard looks as stupid, and boring as he sounds." you whine, leaning against the wall as you wait for the exact moment to strike.

shinoa giggles, nodding along in agreement to your assumption. "i'm gonna bet that he looks super old. old people like parks, right?"

it's your turn to laugh, and you turn to yuu to tell him about your bet. "hey, hey." you tap him on the shoulder. yuu turns to you an eyebrow raised. his expression read, yeah i heard. it's not funny. you frown, opting for aborting your mission on making yuu laugh, deciding its not worth his teasing about your humor.

"naromi, how much longer?" you ask, turning to question the leader of the other squad joining you on this mission.

the man in question regards you with an annoyed look, checking the time on his pocket watch. "less than five minutes. i hope you can wait that long."

you narrow your eyes, he's made passive aggressive comments this entire time and they're getting on your nerves. you quickly remind yourself that's it's not important, leaning your head back against the wall.

"let's go over the plan one more time." naromi suggests, and you and the rest of your group make your way over to the table he's standing at. you glance down at the large sheet of paper resting on the table. you examine it carefully.

the map labeled positions for each member of both squads, and the blue haired man began to explain the plan one final time before beginning the mission.

after the plan has been discussed, you find yourself growing more and more comfortable with the thought of fighting with another squad in a joint mission. it seems easy enough, and you find yourself wanting to prove your strength more than ever.

yuu turns away from the group. "okay, so basically all we gotta do is kill this loo loo la la guy, right?"

you facepalm, both physically and mentally. yuu sounds so sure of himself, like he doesn't give a damn because he has no chance of losing this fight. his pride and confidence is both a blessing a curse you suppose.

"come on, man." kimizuki sighs, crossing his arms as he regards yuu with an air of disappointment.

naromi is not impressed yuu's reiteration of the mission. "fooling around will get us killed. this is behind enemy lines, have you forgotten what the lieutenant colonel said?"

yuu turns to face the group, his face that of confusion as he stares at everyone. "huh? i'm just saying that it's it gonna be that hard."

naromi ignores him. "show some respect." he says, staring blankly at yuu, who faces him fully.

"this kid isn't serious..."

"sargeant naromi, can't we be reassigned? there's no way i can trust these kids to have my back."

as the other members of naromi's squad complain, you can sense their irritation with your comrade.

"woah, calm down, rika." the girl with glasses urges, holding up her hands as if that were going to diffuse the tension growing between everybody. "we have to work alongside them. we don't really have time to switch out."

you groan, running a hand through your loose h/c locks, turning away from the group as they bicker.

"if no one is satisfied with the squad assignments, there's no way we can do this." you mutter, shaking your head to yourself in disappointment. the adults were being just as childish as yuu.

"something to say?" rika questions, her voice bordering on aggravation. you can feel the anger below your surface bubbling at her offensive tone. you spin around, narrowing your eyes at the girl.

"are you sure you want to hear it? people like you have a hard time taking criticism." you snap, placing your hands on your hips as you stare.

rika gives you an incredulous look, clearly not expecting the attitude to be thrown back in her face like you just did.

"you're acting like more of a brat than our resident brat over here." you spit, pointing a thumb at yuu, who huffs irritably. "don't be a little bitch, and i don't think we'll have a problem. you got a problem with how yuu feels about this mission, then keep it to yourself."

no one says anything for a moment after you're finished, but shinoa pats your arm lightly, giving you a look that's stuck between pride and stress. you offer her an apologetic frown.

shinoa steps up to naromi, her eyes downcast. "i apologize sargeant naromi. i'll make sure my squad is ready to follow orders."

naromi places a hand on shinoa's shoulder, causing the girl to meet his gaze finally.

"i don't need anyone to apologize. just remember we need to be on our toes. if one person drags us down. then we're all as good as dead." naromi sighs, glancing over at your squad briefly before continuing. "i don't want to lose a comrade because of a single screw up."

yuu steps forward, and another defeated sigh escapes the sargeant. "what is it? do you not agree with what i said?"

yuu shakes his head. "no- i mean yes. what i'm saying is, i feel the same way. i don't want to lose any comrades either." he admits, a serious tone filling his voice.

"i don't need any excuses-"

"listen." yuu commands, interrupting the other brunette's words. "we're in this together, so i'll make sure that none of us get hurt."

naromi huffs, turning away from yuu and walking back over to his teammates. "then the least you can do is remember our targets name. there's more to being a good soldier than knowing how to swing a sword."

you disagree, and apparently so does yuu, because he voices it. "there's no point in remembering the name of someone you're just going to kill." naromi fixes him with a stern look. "but. i do remember the names of the people i'm going to protect, got it?"

yuu begins listing off the names of everyone in the room, including the members of naromi's squad, who's eyes all widen at the prospect of yuichiro actually knowing their names.

"i won't let my comrades get killed. we'll show guren we can be victorious without losing a single comrade." yuu vows, standing up straight as he finishes his speech.

shinoa steps in front of yuu. "i apologize if my subordinates attitude is out of line, sargeant naromi. but everyone on my squad feels the same. we're with you one hundred percent." shinoa looks towards the rest of the members, and you all nod your affirmatives.

"that's right." you agree, crossing your arms across your chest and standing a little taller.

"we may be noobs but we'll try not to drag anyone down. i swear this on my honor and my life." shinoa's honest expression is so serious. you smile proudly at her efforts to prove her loyalty.

"fine then. the mission will begin in six minutes." naromi announces after checking his pocket watch. it's almost time for the fight to begin.