Valentine’s Day was approaching—something Hoshina Soshiro usually didn’t bother committing to memory. Another calendar event, another excuse for people to make a fuss. At least, that’s what he’d always told himself.

This year was different.

For almost a year now, without realizing when it had started, his attention had been drawn to you. At first, it was professional curiosity—your efficiency on the battlefield, your precision, the way you moved like you already knew what the Kaiju would do before they did it. Strong. Composed. Dangerous in the best way.

He’d once believed that getting attached to someone wasn’t worth the risk. Not really because he didn’t care—more because he cared too much. Everyone on the front line walked hand in hand with death, and he’d seen firsthand what losing comrades did to people. Letting someone get close felt like inviting that pain in early.

So he’d made a rule for himself: no attachments.

And then you broke it without even trying.

He’d watched you—subtly, of course. Observed how you held your ground in battle, how you adapted under pressure, how you refused to falter. Strong enough that, for the first time, he found himself thinking you wouldn’t die on him. That you could survive. That you could stand beside him, not behind him.

That realization had scared him more than any Kaiju ever had.

Once he accepted it, the next problem surfaced—one he was far less prepared for.

He had no idea how you felt.

Yoh were distant. Cool. Almost cold to most people. Conversations with you were efficient, brief, and emotionally guarded. And yet—you were different around the girls. Softer. Kinder. Genuinely attentive in a way that made him wonder what he was missing.

Hoshina prided himself on reading people. Micro-expressions, tone shifts, body language—he caught things others didn’t. But your poker face was flawless. Every attempt to gauge your feelings hit a dead end, and that unsettled him more than he liked to admit.

Was he just another colleague to you?

Or worse—someone you barely thought about at all?

The possibility of rejection gnawed at him. It was ridiculous, really. He’d faced down monsters the size of buildings without blinking, yet the thought of a single “no” had his chest feeling uncomfortably tight.

Still… running away wasn’t his style.

If the outcome was unpredictable, then so be it.

So he prepared.

Flowers—carefully chosen, nothing overly flashy. Chocolates—handmade, because effort mattered. If he was going to bare his feelings, he was going to do it properly. No shortcuts. No half-measures.

With everything settled, Hoshina slung his jacket over his shoulder, expression relaxed as ever—easy smile in place, hands tucked casually into his pockets.

Anyone watching would think he was just wandering the base as usual.

Only he knew that beneath the laid-back stride was a man bracing himself for the most nerve-wracking battle he’d faced yet.

And somewhere in the base, you were waiting—whether you knew it or not.