𝐌𝐘 𝐏𝐀𝐂𝐄 | 𝐊𝐀𝐈𝐉𝐔 𝐍𝐎.𝟖

00: 𝐌𝐘 𝐏𝐀𝐂𝐄

๋࣭ ⭑⚝

—"SQUAD IN CHARGE OF AREA D, HURRY TO THE DESIGNATED SPOT! A CIVILIAN STRAGGLER... THE DRONE HAS CAUGHT SIGHT OF A CHILD! THEY SEEM TO HAVE BEEN LEFT BEHIND! THE YOJU IS GETTING CLOSER!"

First Division Platoon leader Eiji Hasegawa could have sworn he had taken care of everything, but no sooner had the message blared through his earpiece, was he rushing to the designated spot. He moved on pure primal instinct, baring no second thought. Thinking harrowed your chances of survival.

"Didn't they evacuate the kids already?" His boots squelched with each step he took as he posed the question. His breath escaped in a plume of grey. Through the rush of the rain, the communication service was pretty rocky, yet using the pads of his fingers to lodge the earpiece in his ear made the already muffled words slightly more audible.

"No, reports say that he dashed out of the shelter after being evacuated!"

Details didn't matter regarding the current predicament. A child had escaped refuge. A Yoju was roaming around. Things would turn ugly pretty fast if their paths merged; they had to defeat the Yoju and bring the child to safety.

Hasegawa's orders were immediate. Weapon in tow, the beat of footsteps from his fellow platoon was heavy against the murky ground as they made it to the location, a barren building of concrete. His eyes immediately located the Yoju that had seemed to spawn out of nowhere. It was an ugly thing; its body resembled something between a lobster and a cockroach. It stood poised, a gigantic creature with a gaping maw, and below its great hulking legs - shit - a child dressed in uniform.

They'd crossed paths after all.

We're not going to make it, Hasegawa couldn't shake the thought away. It latched onto his consciousness like a fish on a hook. They weren't going to make it. They were too late. He could already envision the turn of events as his heart pounded in his chest. He willed his legs to move faster, yet his weapon seemed to weigh him down tauntingly. The orphanage and the child seemed to move further away. When they'd set out on the job to exterminate the Kaiju, they'd shielded their hearts, sworn that there would be no casualties. And now? He could only watch as the creature raised a sharp claw in the air.

The child was motionless, fear had taken control of his autonomy.

The creature's claw flew down like a gavel, and instantly in the next second, the creature's head was severed. It fell to the ground. An unpalatable 'slosh' sound followed suit upon impact with the wet turf. Hasegawa's heart stopped.

"The Yoju's readings are gone! All the Kaiju in the area have been neutralized!" Officer Sato's voice struck Hasegawa like a great wave, waking him immediately. The child stood before him, unscathed, while the creature lay beneath his feet in a heap of bones.

"You the defense force? You're late," the child drawled, addressing the shocked Hasegawa. He seemed to be in his early teens, dressed in a school uniform. His features were concealed by a nest of black and white hair fringing his vision, yet it was obvious that he'd spoken and there were no traces of fear in his voice or any signs of anxiety.

Hasegawa gulped.

"Did... you take down the Kaiju? How did you do it?" His heart swelled in the cage of his rib cage. What is the carnation that had taken place? Did a child seriously bring down a Kaiju? A creature normally taken down by at least a platoon, not simply one man. Well, he was one man who could have taken care of it, but this child was hardly a—

"I picked up an arm from one of the Kaiju corpses nearby. That core thing - you just gotta damage it, right?" The child continued casually as if this ordeal had been a mere walk in the park.