It had been days since Asol returned to Earth.
Days of fluorescent lights.Days of digital signatures.Days of pretending that war could be reduced to paperwork.
The Kaiju Annihilation Corps headquarters hummed with its usual sterile efficiency. Transparent panels projected reports in the air. Notifications stacked themselves in quiet red columns. Somewhere beyond reinforced glass, technicians recalibrated drone fleets for the next inevitable breach.
And at his desk—buried beneath folders, tablets, and printed forms—sat Asol Ansaldo.
The "vacation" had cost him.
Not in blood this time.
In backlog.
"Interdimensional deployment documentation incomplete."
"Incident summary — Aegis Prime."
"Cross-agency disclosure waiver."
He leaned back in his chair and dragged a hand down his face.
When The CEO had first made the offer months ago, it had sounded simple:
Work under me.Fight Kaiju.Protect this world.
It had not mentioned press cycles.
It had not mentioned strategic lies.
It had not mentioned managing public perception when an idol vanished from the world stage.
His monitor refreshed again.
Another trending topic.
#WhereIsFujiwara#FujiwaraHiatus#KACTransparency
The official statement remained unchanged:
Fujiwara Kane is currently on hiatus due to health concerns and will return when ready.
The world did not know she lay in a private wing upstairs, unmoving, her aura quiet.
After the battle with the Leader, reporters had flooded the headquarters like carrion birds scenting blood. They questioned the safety of idols. They questioned KAC's judgment. They questioned the morality of sending entertainers into battle.
The CEO had smiled.
And lied beautifully.
Asol stared at another message.
Interview Request — Kana MitsukiKBC News, Channel 7
Regarding: Recent Kaiju Incident / Saviours / Fujiwara Kane
Kana Mitsuki.
He remembered the pink hair and her lime-green eyes, and the microphone branded with KBC. She had covered the raid on The Saviours' base. She had been there. But, why would she want to interview him specifically?
He exhaled. If it involved the Saviours…If it involved Fujiwara… But, he couldn't just refuse. He forwarded the request to the CEO, and within minutes, The CEO's reply arrived:
Approved. Public café. 14:00. Do not disclose classified information. Smile occasionally. :)
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The café was small but curated—wooden tables, hanging plants, soft jazz bleeding from speakers. Mid-afternoon sunlight filtered through large windows, cutting pale gold shapes across the floor.
Asol arrived five minutes early.
He chose a seat with his back to the wall.
Habit.
At exactly two, the door chimed.
Kana Mitsuki stepped inside.
Today she wore casual clothing—cream sweater, dark skirt, notebook tucked under one arm. Her long pink hair was tied loosely behind her back, lime-green eyes scanning the room until they found him.
Her expression brightened.
She approached quickly but not awkwardly.
"Mr. Ansaldo?"
"Asol is fine."
She bowed slightly. "Kana Mitsuki. Thank you for agreeing to meet me."
Up close, she seemed younger than she appeared on screen. No older than him. Yet her energy filled space effortlessly.
They sat.
She placed a small recorder on the table and opened her notebook.
"I'll keep this efficient," she promised. "And thank you again."
"You're welcome."
She smiled, then spoke in a softer tone.
"I should say first, I am a really BIG fan of yours. You see, I come from a pretty normal upbringing. My father worked as a combatant under the KAC."
Asol's attention sharpened slightly as Kana's cheeks turned slightly pink, like she'd been waiting for an excuse to do this.
"He used to come home smelling like smoke and metal and… you know."
Asol gave a small nod. He did know.
"So, I thought I could follow in his footsteps! But I didn't awaken combat abilities which the KAC wasn't looking for. So they declined employment," Kana continued as she tapped her notebook.
She smiled brightly anyway like that fact hadn't crushed her.
"But I'm not powerless."
"You're about to do something weird, aren't you."
Kana's grin widened.
"Yes!"
She pulled out a small sketchbook that was separate from her notes, and a thick black marker. She snapped her marker's cap off with a click like a gun cocking. Asol's gaze flicked to the marker.
"You're telling me your power is… drawing?"
Kana bristled.
"It's not just drawing."
Then she leaned over the table and began to draw. The lines were quick and confident. She didn't hesitate like she'd drawn the same thing a hundred times. She drew a round body with tiny paws and a big, dumb-looking head with whiskers. And then, ridiculously, a small sword in its paw that was angled up heroically.
Asol watched despite himself emanating a serious aura. But, it was… kind of cute. Kana finished and tapped the drawing with the marker.
"Okay," she whispered. "Now, don't freak out."
Asol deadpanned.
Kana's lime-green eyes brightened with focus. The air around the sketchbook shifted, causing the ink lines to shimmer. And then the paper bulged outward and Asol's posture stiffened instantly. The drawing peeled itself off the page like it was stepping out of a mirror.
A tiny stuffed-looking cat exactly as she'd drawn, plopped onto the table with a faint poof, as if the air had coughed it into existence. It blinked its glassy button eyes, then with completely unearned pride, it raised its tiny little sword and let out a squeaky:
"MEOW!"
Asol stared at it while she stared at Asol like she was waiting for praise, approval, awe, or something. At least a reaction.
The cat hopped once in place, wobbled, and then tried to strike a heroic pose. Though, its arm trembled under the sheer weight of its own sword.
Asol finally spoke.
"…That's a plush."
Kana beamed with stars.
"YES!"
"And it has a sword."
Kana nodded rapidly again.
"YES!"
The plush cat took two tiny steps and slipped slightly on the smooth tabletop and faceplanted with a soft fwump as the sword clattered harmlessly. Kana gasped and scooped it up like it was a wounded soldier.
"Looks like he's still getting used to gravity on flat surfaces," she muttered.
Asol's mouth twitched almost a smile, but not quite.
"How long does it last?" he asked.
Kana brightened again.
"Usually a few minutes. Less if I'm stressed. Longer if it's small and simple."
Asol nodded slowly, watching the little creature wobble in her hands.
"That's… actually useful," he admitted.
Kana's cheeks turned pink.
"It is?!"
Asol leaned back slightly.
"You can create distractions. Scout small spaces. Carry something tiny through a gap. You can spy on enemies. Hell, you could draw a key if you know what it looks like."
Kana's eyes widened like he'd just given her the meaning of life.
"Wait, really?"
Asol shrugged.
"With limits, yeah. But it's still powerful. Honestly, I'm surprised the KAC hasn't taken you in after your father."
Kana looked like she might melt into the floor.
"Stop," she said, flustered. "You're going to make me embarrassed."
Asol raised an eyebrow.
"You're the one who conjured a cat with a sword at a café table."
Kana gently set the plush-cat down again. It raised its sword and looked around like it was guarding them from… coffee. Then, Kana leaned forward, lowering her voice conspiratorially.
"But, you should keep trying. I'm sure right now, the KAC would welcome you."
She cleared her throat quickly and straightened.
"There's no need... Because right now, we've got an interview."
He studied her for a second.
"Then let's cut to it," he said calmly. "I have paperwork waiting."
She nodded quickly.
"Of course. I'll start with the standard format first."
She clicked the recorder.
"How old are you?"
"Eighteen."
"What is your blood type?"
"O+."
"What is your favorite color?"
"Blue."
She smiled slightly as she wrote. Then her tone shifted.
"How did you join the Kaiju Annihilation Corps?"
Asol answered honestly.
"I was offered a position, and I accepted."
"Why was that?"
He paused.
"Because I hated the Kaijus. And I still do today."
It was simple and direct. But he did not want to reveal too much about his past about how the Kaijus destroyed his world, how they killed his mother, and how they killed Bell and erased everything. Kana's pen then slowed.
"There's more behind that, isn't there?" she asked carefully.
He did not respond, but her eyes lifted.
"Have you lost loved ones to the Kaiju?"
The question settled between them as Asol's fingers tightened subtly on his cup and looked away.
"I'd prefer not to answer that."
She studied him for a moment and then nodded.
"I see. I understand."
She did not push. She may be seated in front of her idol, however, there came professionalism when it came to her job.
She turned the page.
"Fujiwara Kane," she said gently. "She hasn't appeared publicly in months."
He felt his pulse shift.
"She's on hiatus."
"That's the official statement."
"Yes."
"Did something happen to her during the Saviours raid?"
He remembered The Rock, and how it absorbed Fujiwara's Aura. And her scream in agony, he couldn't get it out of his head. Yet he did not answer.
"Well, seeing as were not getting anywhere here, I'd say that's enough," she said softly.
He looked at her.
"I apologize for taking up your precious time," she added. "And I'm sorry if I brought back horrible memories."
"…It's fine."
She stood, grabbing her belongings, and offered a small bow, and then left as Asol remained seated, alone in the cafe thinking to himself.
"She's a weird one."
The city air felt lighter. Kana walked quickly with her notebook clutched to her chest and her heartbeat hadn't slowed since the café. She had done it. She had sat across from him. Not during a chaotic Kaiju attack, and not while smoke filled the sky.
She replayed his voice in her head. It was calm, controlled, and slightly distant.
The first time she had met him had been months ago—long before he had left for Aegis Prime. He had just finished neutralizing a Kaiju in District 12. She was the reporter on scene, and she had asked him a question, and he only answered with two words.
She had been hooked the second he disappeared. He didn't perform for cameras, and he didn't glow like idols. He was just a quiet strength. And when she saw him punch that Kaiju days ago with a single strike and killed it?
She had felt it again. That certainty. That power. That cool, effortless finality. She had known about him before but have never seen him, herself personally.
Her lips curved as she imagined him again across the table.
"You're incredible, Asol Ansaldo" she whispered under her breath as she pressed the notebook tighter against her chest.
She would be closer next time. Closer to his story. Closer to him. The interview was short, yes, but it had brought her one step nearer. One step closer to the man she was obsessed with. And she intended to take many more. She smiled to herself as the city lights flickered on.
Now I know why you were so interested in him, Father!
Asol Ansaldo didn't lie much. He didn't need to. He carried his restraint like armor. Most people mistook that for strength. But Kana didn't. She had watched his fingers tighten when Fujiwara's name came up and the way his gaze drifted down instead of away. He didn't flinch like a man who feared questions.
He reacted like a man who feared himself and feared losing others. Kana's lips curved faintly as she crossed a pedestrian bridge. He's still bleeding inside. Good. He had been polite and distant. But he was not closed, as if he locked the doors in on himself. But Kana had always been good with locks.
She reached a quieter side street where the city's noise softened into a distant hum. Above her rotated through the day's trending topics: Kaiju breach, emergency response, citizen footage of a single punch, and the brief, blurred silhouette of Asol landing in dust.
Kana stopped walking for a moment, staring up at the screen.
"Sooner or later, everything will be mine. Even you..." she murmured.
She continued on, turning down an alley that smelled like rain and old concrete, until she reached a small convenience store and stepped inside. She bought a pen, a cheap ruler, and a pack of sticky notes she didn't need.
The cashier smiled and wished her a nice day. Kana smiled back the way she always did on camera. When she stepped back outside, her expression vanished the moment she was alone again.
She flipped her notebook open as she walked, thumb hooking the cover back.
On a clean page, she wrote under Asol's name:
FUJIWARA KANE— Trigger.— Some form of guilt.— Avoids direct answers.— Expresses a protective instinct that overrides self-preservation.
Then she wrote:
THE ROCK— Still hidden. Location: Unknown.— Still hungry.— Still quiet.
Kana's marker paused.
She tapped the page twice, as if thinking, then added one last line beneath Asol's name:
He will move if I push the right place. But he wont know, will he?
A breeze lifted the corner of the paper. Kana pressed it down with two fingers and kept walking. She didn't look up when she passed the KAC Headquarters across the street.
Instead, she took a different route. One that passed beneath a maintenance overhang with cameras mounted high on the corners.
Kana stopped under it and reached into her bag and pulled out her sketchbook again, flipping to a blank page and opened her marker.
She drew quickly. It was a small, flat shape with thin limbs. A simple body. A round head. Tiny eyes. A little thing that would not make anyone scream. A thing that could fit through vents. A thing that could hide behind baseboards and live in blind spots. Kana touched the ink, then the air shimmered and the drawing peeled off the page.
It dropped into her palm with barely a sound. It blinked once when Kana leaned close.
"Go," she whispered.
The little construct scampered across the wet pavement across the road, careful not to get run over, and slipped into a maintenance grate without hesitation. Kana watched it vanish, then she closed her sketchbook. Then her phone buzzed, and a message from her producer asking how the interview went.
Kana typed back:
He's cooperative. He's tired. He'll talk when he thinks it matters.
Then she added a smiling emoji. She slipped the phone away and continued walking like nothing happened as a city full of people flowed around her. Nobody looked twice. Nobody ever did.
Kana's hand brushed the recorder in her pocket, almost affectionately. It had still been running when she left the café. She hadn't forgotten to turn it off. She simply hadn't bothered to. Kana Mitsuki smiled softly to herself as the cherry blossoms drifted across the street like confetti.
She had always been good at bringing drawings to life.