𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗬, 𝗔𝗜𝗠, 𝗦𝗛𝗢𝗢𝗧! ➵ 𝗇𝖺𝗋𝗎𝗆𝗂 𝗀𝖾𝗇

08.

I believed there was nothing stronger than me in this world.

"The old man is coming, huh?" Annoyance was visible in Narumi's bloodied face, his teeth gritted while he's holding his wounded arm, where there was a gaping hole where the Honju had stabbed him with its pointed vines earlier.

I could beat anyone if I went all out... At least that's what I thought. Narumi heave a breathe, wincing when he moved his wounded arm as the combat suit was taking too much time to heal it up and cover the hole. The first day that I transferred to the first division, I got straight up destroyed in front of all the other officers. He remembered how Captain Isao had easily flipped him off, and the shock gazes by the other soldiers.

He can also hear your laughter ringing inside his head.

I had no excuse. That was my first profound defeat. Narumi glanced at his still-bleeding arm, the suit's inability to fully seal the wound adding to his growing frustration. He clicked his tongue, gripping his firearm tighter.

After that, I tried fighting him again and again, but I could never beat him. And he would always give me the same unimpressed stare. Narumi would never admit it—not to anyone, especially to you, not even to himself—but each loss against Captain Shinomiya gnawed at him. His pride, his reputation as the "strongest rookie," had been crushed under the weight of that man's sheer skill. Each defeat felt like a personal failure, a reminder that he wasn't as invincible as he had once believed. How he felt defenseless and how weak he was everytime he lost to the person he keeps adressing as 'old man'.

Biting down on his lower lip, Narumi forced himself to stand. His body screamed in protest, the throbbing pain in his arm threatening to pull him down again, but he ignored it. Pain was nothing-pride was everything. Without another thought, he dashed toward the other side of the building, where a swarm of Yoju awaited him.

"Hey, Narumi!" Hasegawa called out to the boy, brows furrowed as he was shocked that the boy immediately run off once again. "I'm not gonna let that old man make a fool outta me!" Narumi retorted, blood seeping out of his wound on his forehead.

All rationality that was left on Narumi was gone. He fired aimlessly at the Yoju, his shots fueled more by desperation than precision. In his haze of fury, he failed to notice one of the creatures lunging at him. Its teeth sank into his already injured arm, sending a jolt of pain through his entire body as Hasegawa blown the Yoju off, forcing it to remove its teeth on Narumi's arm.

Suddenly, his earpiece crackled to life, and the voice of Captain Shinomiya cut through the chaos. "Hey, Narumi," Isao's tone was calm but heavy with disdain. He didn't need to shout; the weight of his words alone was enough to silence the storm in Narumi's head. "I'll say this one more time. I don't need incompetent soldiers."

Each word was like a hammer to Narumi's already fragile pride.

Narumi's vision blurred, but not from blood loss. The weight of his actions and their consequences pressed down on him like a crushing tide. Cause any trouble and I'm discharged. That's what headquarters said.

I never follow the plan and I disrupt the platoon. That makes me nothing more than a nuisance. His eyes widen in realization, his heart hammered loudly in his chest, his knees felt jelly and he soon kneeled down. For the first time, Narumi felt the weight of failure—not just as a soldier, but as a person. He'd spent his entire life trying to prove his worth, but now, standing amidst the wreckage of his own mistakes, he couldn't shake the question gnawing at the edges of his mind.

What am I even fighting for anymore?

THWACK!

Narumi's eyes widened as he heard the distinct sound of a bullet piercing through the Yoju's flesh, dangerously close to his neck. His gaze snapped to the lifeless Yoju behind him, then to the cracked hole in the giant window ahead.