Feel My Flame (Akitaru Ōbi x OC)

Chapter 4

Hina sighed as she did her paperwork. It wasn't hard to do it, to Arthur though it was the hardest thing in the world. "Stop daydreaming Arthur." Hina said as she frowned without looking up from her work. Arthur frowned and wrote down his reports. "You seem to be really into your work Shinmon." Maki smiled. "It's the only thing to do. Like I said before, I'm not a captain anymore so I can't just go about my day as if I have nothing else to do. I'm not in charge anymore, so I'm sure Hinawa will be on my back if I don't do it anyway." Hina explained. Kazan watched Arthur slowly start to 'die' as he did his work, Shinra zoomed past his work like he was the smart kid in school doing homework. "Hey Shinmon?" Kazan asked. "No. I don't care." Hina replied. She already knew what he was going to ask, but for that matter she didn't care. Mizuki came into the room with a small smile on her face. "Hey, you three rookies. Captain Obi and Lieutenant Hinawa needs you all in his office." Mizuki said as she sat down next to Maki. Arthur, Shinra, and Kazan got up and left the room.

"Hey Oze, I have a question. How the hell do you deal with those two? I bet it's bad enough to add a third one in the mix. Kazan seems to be getting along with them fine." Hina frowned. "It's not too bad. But sometimes if you really have to, all you have to do is hit them." Maki smiled. Sister Iris walked in the room with a small paper. "I have everyone's favorite foods on the paper for you Shinmon." Iris smiled as she handed Hina the list. Hina read over it and let out a sigh. "Boyle's favorite food is court cuisine?" Hina asked. "Yes, but if you ask me I'm sure he's never tried it before." Iris giggled nervously. "Shinmon? Are you going to cook again?" Mizuki asked. "I plan to, I'll ask Obi about it though." Hina responded as she pulled out a blank sheet of paper. "You can cook?" Maki asked. "Yeah Oze. I looked at your staff list and just cringed. Why can't one of you at least clean? Hinawa is the lieutenant not the maid." Hina sighed as she started writing on the paper. "But Hinawa was always the type to prioritize other things before himself so I'm sure he said that he didn't mind the work. What an idiot." Hina frowned.

Akitaru was talking to the rookies about their undercover mission along with Takehisa and the Captain of the 5th, Princess Hibana. As Obi was talking, Takehisa let out a sneeze. "Coming down with a cold sir?" Kazan asked. "No, I'm fine." Takehisa responded. Obi looked at him and then went back to explaining.

"Hey Shinmon, why do you call everyone by their surnames?" Maki asked out of curiosity. Hina stopped writing and looked up at the ceiling. "I'm a very traditional person. I prefer to call people by their surnames. Is there something wrong with that?" Hina asked. "N-No... it just almost makes me feel like I'm a superior. But I can get used to it." Maki smiled. "Calling someone by there surname is just like calling a superior by their title and surname. It's to show respect." Hina explained. "Shinmon must've been raised in a traditional town. I see now." Sister Iris thought. Hina stood up with the paper she wrote on in her hand. "I'll be back." Hina said before leaving the room. Hina made her way to the kitchen and sighed. "Well, despite the raggedy look on the outside of the cathedral it doesn't look too bad on the inside." Hina muttered. "Cut them some slack the company was established not too long before ours was." Father Kōfuku smiled. Hina was right though. Despite its messy look cathedral 8 was very neat and clean on the inside. The walls weren't dirty and they were painted nicely. The floor seemed to be clean, the fridge was working fine, and the lights were also working fine. Hina slightly jumped. "Where the he- I mean... where the heck did you come from?" Hina asked. "I was just about to make it to the office after praying but the I seen you. I wanted to talk to you about something." Kōfuku said as he walked into the kitchen.

"What is it?" Hina asked as she walked to the fridge. "So how are you liking the eighth so far?" Kōfuku asked as Hina opened the fridge. "Are you kidding me?!" Hina exclaimed. Kōfuku sighed. "I knew you didn't like people. But I tried so hard to get you guys here." Kōfuku frowned. "What? No, I was talking about the fridge. There's nothing there but a few carrots and a cucumber." Hina said as she shook her head. "I just got here, it's my third day. But I like the people here. They're okay. It's not like I'll just drop out of here because I don't like them. But give me some time to adjust." Hina frowned as she closed the empty fridge. "It's not normal for someone to switch companies so quick. Especially after such an accident. It was all over the news." Hina sighed. She avoided Kōfuku's gaze. "I can't help but feel like I failed all of you for not getting the Infernal off the car in time and protecting Sister Hinabi. If I moved faster.... Shūfuku and Sister Hinabi would still be here." Hina said as she put a hand over her face. The only reason Hina was here was to make sure that Mizuki could overcome her social anxiety. She cared about Mizuki, Kazan, and Kōfuku so much. But if Mizuki didn't have social anxiety she couldn't live with the job of a fire soldier.