The MagiArtist Collection

Rely On Me (Ikazuchi x Reader)

During the intense moments of the Abyssal War, the number of admirals dwindled and as a result, your country passed a law effectively drafting any and every admirals' next of kin. You were one such unlucky sap who got recruited at the age of twelve. You had no idea what your dad did for a living and on the rare nights when he comes home instead of going to his work, he would reek of booze and was always drunk. It's a miracle that he even had money to put a roof over your head.

When he died, the obvious problem was what'd happen to you. You had no one who would immediately care for you. It would have been a trip to the orphanage had it not been for the draft. You moved to what was basically a pier and began to live there. To your curiosity, there were no ships. Instead, it just seemed to be filled with lots of girls... Lots of girls. You shudder at the mere thought of your father having to put up with cooties.

And yet, this entire war was thrust upon you. Despite the girls' best attempts, you were too scared to act. You trembled, you ran away, and you hid in your newly designated room. It wasn't until a girl around your age came into your room. She had short brown hair, a nice smile (that had a cute little fang), and wore a school uniform that you didn't knew. At first, you felt nervous, but you soon noticed her pull you into a hug.

"Don't worry..." She said. "I'm here for you!" Your body just accepted and hugged her back. You would know this girl as Ikazuchi and, for the better part of your time in the fleet, you would grow a close bond to her. It didn't help that she always insisted on taking care of things for you. Every day, she would give you a small wad of money and encouraged you to go and play outside. Her peers admitted it was a habit that she had when your father was the Admiral and that it is dying pretty hard for her. You kept the money in a safe place and instead spent your time with her and the other girls.

You spent your days plotting out trips to reduce the number of Abyssals, training and recruiting Kanmusu, and eventually getting to know them. Helping you out was a Russian Admiral who seemed to be good friends with your father... At least you thought so, but the more you hung out with him, the more you noticed how he would praise you only when it meant he gets to insult your father. Stuff like "Hey, you kept your money instead of wasting it on Pachinko" or "Heh, it's cleaner than before!". Not to mention that, the last you saw of him, he took one of your Kanmusu as payment. While you weren't superbly affected by Hibiki's defection, most of the other Kanmusu were.

During the week after the Russian took her away, you noticed how Kanmusu helped set up comforting centers. One of the people who did this was Ikazuchi. She waved you over. Intrigued, you came over as she gave you some soft hugs. You loved every moment of it... You loved her. As you told her this, she simply said, "Yeah, you can rely on me all you want!" And rely you did. The next few weeks had you grow more confident as an Admiral, though this was because you had Ikazuchi helping you at every turn. When you found something that perplexed you, you had Ikazuchi help you with learning it. When you had a stressful night, Ikazuchi would be by your bedside petting your head until you went to sleep. And this is on top of her giving you your daily allowance to play, though you always stashed it away. Weeks became months and months became years. When you and Ikazuchi became sixteen, it became obvious that you two would be a couple that would be inseparable...

Well, in theory.

News reached your desk about how, during an expedition, Destroyer Division 6, which included Ikazuchi, were ambushed by an Abyssal Fleet.

Her sister, Inazuma, was the only one out of that Division to make it back alive.

Forty nine days were spent either crying for Ikazuchi, comforting Inazuma, or staring up at the ceiling and doing nothing.

On the fiftieth day though, a miracle came out. The Russian Admiral returned to your harbor and, having heard your grief for Ikazuchi, offered something you thought was impossible...

He had Ikazuchi. Though he wasn't willing to part with her for cheap. You paid him all the money that Ikazuchi had given you and in your head, you believed that's what she would have wanted that money to be used for... He handed Ikazuchi over to you... And that's when the bombshell hit...

"I'm Ikazuchi! Not 'Kaminari'! Please take care of that part too, okay!" Ikazuchi looked to you like a stranger rather than a lover. She even introduced herself as though you never met her before... The sad thing was...

That was the case.

You later found out that the Admiral had a spare Ikazuchi and found an opportunity to swindle you. You yelled at him and read the riot act at thinking that replacing Ikazuchi would help. He merely barked back: "She's a remodel! She's ten times better than that piece of shit Ikazuchi you had before!" That was the last time you made contact with the Russian Admiral. You made it clear that the next time he spoke to you, he'll be regarded as an enemy.

The incident sent you to a dark place as you refused to leave your room. You barely acknowledged Ikazuchi as a real person like you had the other Kanmusu, rather, you regarded her as a "replacement". And yet, you decided that she wouldn't partake in any expeditions. The most she would do is work a part-time job to help generate money to keep the harbor afloat.

One day, during a storm, you heard a knock at your door. You opened it... Ikazuchi waited by the door.

"Admiral... Why aren't you sending me out?" She asked you. You were tempted to close the door, but something stopped you. Ikazuchi walked in as you noticed the tears in her eyes. "You can rely on me, r-right?" In an instant, the painful memories of those forty nine days began to fire back in your head. You shook your head.

"No... I can't..." You looked at the fake Ikazuchi... and yet... You didn't feel mad... Rather... You worried. You lost Ikazuchi once when she sunk. You lost her again when you realized she has no memory of you. You didn't want to lose her a third time. "Please... Go home..." Before you closed the door, you noticed Ikazuchi reach for something in her pocket. She pulled out a wad of yen.

"T-then... can we at least go outside and play?" She asked you. That trait... That was your Ikazuchi's trait... You looked at the yen and nodded. You went out with her to go to a video arcade. There, you let go of your stresses and worries...

While you stopped looking at this new Ikazuchi as a fake or imposter, you didn't look to her as a replacement. You knew that no one could ever replace your Ikazuchi, but you shouldn't spend the rest of your life being upset at it... It wasn't until you came across a pachinko machine that you began to think about something.

Later that night, you noticed Ikazuchi let out a few tears. You remembered how your Ikazuchi would lend you money out of habit. Perhaps she had missed your father, just as you had missed her. You soon knew what to do as you merely gave her a headpat to the new Ikazuchi and told her:

"I'm here for you." You stopped relying on Ikazuchi... Though now, you've decided that she'll rely on you.