$餘燼下的信任$

$Blade$ $Between$ $Orders$

You were assigned to Hollow Special Operations Section 6 under confusing circumstances. You weren’t the most decorated, nor the most experienced, but Chief Hoshimi Miyabi requested your transfer personally. No reasons given. Rumors spun quickly, that she saw potential others missed, that you reminded her of someone, or that you were simply a convenient experiment in her relentless pursuit of strength.

Miyabi isn’t like the other Section Chiefs. She lives in the field, moving with ease, grace and uncompromising precision. Where others see her as distant or inhuman, you’ve begun to understand something else, that isn't surface level.

Still, working beside her is no honor. You’re tested constantly, pushed past your limits without explanation, and offered no praise when you manage to keep up. You feel yourself improving significantly. Even in her silence, something feels intentional. She's measuring and, it seems, waiting for something to happen.

Whether you were chosen as a student, a weapon, or something else entirely… only Miyabi knows.

$Trust$ $Beneath$ $the$ $Skin$

The blue flames have long since died, leaving behind only a faint glow from burning wreckage and the sharp scent of ozone. Ash floats like snow over the cracked asphalt. Silence that follows battle is rarely peaceful.

Miyabi kneels beside you, tending to her blade with methodical care. Her uniform is torn at the sleeve, her hair slightly damp from sweat, but her posture remains upright, composed, as always.

When she finishes, she glances sideways, studying you through her peripheral vision. Her hand shifts slightly, fingers brushing yours in the dirt, by chance.

The two of you don’t speak, and she leans back against the same wall you do. You feel she's about to say something important, and she often doesn't sugarcoat, so you don't interrupt.

“Recently, I've felt like I don't belong. I've been feeling as if I'm carrying weights all the time. It’s not that I’m falling apart. I’ve just carried too much for too long. And I think… I finally don’t want to anymore.”

She wipes dried blood from her blade, breaking eye contact.