The Warmth Of Ordinary Days
Synopsis: Even after you try to live your life as the second division's vice-captain, the shadows of the past continue to haunt you.
As if trying to shake your determination and belief even after being saved by Hikari Shinomiya. However, as life goes on, you learn to accept that shadow of pain and use it as strength and motivation to keep going.
CW: Parental death. Child abuse. Child soldiers. Torture. Neglect. Almost death experience. Trauma. Murder. Blood. Mentally unstable. This warning only applies during flashbacks.
A/N: So I kinda abandoned my previous fic, like I erased it from my blog. AND I THOUGHT OF THIS WHILE PLAYING BACK KAIJU NO. 8! Later this would be "reader x hoshina soichiro" ouhhh it's the older brother, a salute for soichiro girlies! I hope you liked this, and bear with me if you liked it because I'll updated it sooo slowly. But bcs now I'm entering exam season, hopefully after that I'll update another for the chap 1, and I write this using translate so if there's any mistake I'm deeply apologized. Reader has a surname to make it easier for me to write. Alas this is not proofread... but I hope you enjoy it ♡
Becoming the second division's vice-captain was relatively easy, paperwork aside, of course.
But seriously. Thanks to Jura Igarashi's firm leadership and successful discipline among the soldiers, they quickly became trained in strength, agility, and obedience.
All that remained was weekly training, sparring, and work—
That's when your phone receives an incoming message, bringing you back to reality.
You grumble as you check who sent the message, but you can already guess who it is because you deliberately set the notification tone differently from the others.
"I got a new running record! It's even a few seconds faster than before."
If you could go back in time, you'd want to go back to when the Second and Sixth Divisions first held joint training in the western region and request a team change so you wouldn't be on the same team as Hoshina Soichiro.
But, the past has happened. Besides, it's not that bad that he's in your orbit, even if he's more annoying and loud than Narumi Gen.
It's just like Shinomiya Hikari told you.
"The more people you meet, the more connections you'll make and the more friends you'll have to rely on."
Your life used to be normal, even happy with your family. You never considered joining the Defense Force, knowing your parents would worry if you joined, so you avoided it while still admiring the Defense Force.
But tragedy struck when you were only 9 years old.
All your happiness was snatched away when a Honju-class, fortitude 7.2 kaiju attacked, destroying 83% of the areas, leaving behind ruins and sorrow.
You survived, but at what cost?
Your mother was crushed by the rubble trying to protect you, and your father also died trying to save you.
All that remained was crumbling concrete, blood, and corpses.
Until help arrived, and when they saw that there were still survivors, you were quickly pulled from the rubble and from your mother's arms for the last time.
"Please, my mom and dad... th-they're still trapped down there!" You pleaded with the adult who rescued you.
But he remained silent, as if unbothered about the other victims.
He took your hand and pulled you with him, through all the chaos.
You were confused. Why didn't they get your parents out of there too?
Only as the man led you did you realize there were others like him around. But they didn't seem to be trying to save the victims.
Instead, they were simply checking the area and seeing that there were also several other children like you, who had lost their families and had been taken with them.
You looked at the man who was now leading you to a large truck, which looked very closed and isolated.
And the truck seemed to radiate a negative aura.
"S-sir... my parents, they-"
"Don't worry, your parents will be evacuated from the rubble soon. But what's more important is that you get to safety first." The man immediately rebuked your words and turned to you with a smile.
You could only remain silent. After all, what power could a child have against an adult who could smacked you to the ground?
You can only hope that after all this, life will be okay again... even without a complete family.
...Luck doesn't seem to be on your side...
Before you could reminisce about your past, you heard someone knock and enter your office. It was Igarashi Jura, captain of the second division.
She didn't seem pleased, apparently. So you just gave her a casual smile and leaned back lazily in your chair.
"Jura-san... you're always frowning, you're going to have wrinkles in your mid-20s. What a shame," you said with a nonchalant tone, seemingly unbecoming of your current position.
And Jura didn't even seem amused by your words.
"You were late to the training field, which you were supposed to be at half an hour ago."
You paused. Oh yeah, you just remembered you were supposed to be training the newest recruits in the second division after they passed their entrance exams.
Despite just remembering something so important, you responded with a faint grin and a wave.
"Oh, my bad, Jura-san. I was lost in thought earlier."
Before Jura could rebuke you again, you quickly continued.
"And I'll make sure I correct myself, yes, I know. I'll do it now."
With that, you quickly stood up and adjusted your uniform to appear dignified in front of the newest recruits.
Then you walked towards the door, where Jura Igarashi was still standing, looking unimpressed.
"I absolutely won't tolerate you being late to the new recruits' first meeting. 25 laps around the base for you after everything is over."
You seemed to be contemplating the consequences Jura had imposed.
While it might seem mocking, you were genuinely thinking about it.
You pouted slightly and waved your hand. "That's evil, Jura-san. This base is huge, and 25 laps around it? You're evil."
You paused mid-sentence before grinning slightly. "But... I've had worse. So, acceptable."
Patting her shoulder, you exited your room and headed towards the training field.
You could hear your captain sigh, utterly tired of your antics.
But everyone has their quirks, right? And this was yours.
Surely Hikari would just laugh and ruffle your hair before correcting your attitude as vice-captain.
Your footsteps halted as you remembered.
Ah, there's no point in reminiscing about such things at a time like this.
But you couldn't help but feel like it was just yesterday that Hikari had taken you on as her apprentice after saving you from that nasty place.
Before you could recall the bad memories, you shook your head and continued on your way.
Upon arriving at the field, you saw that the officers seemed scattered.
Some were chatting with each other, a man suddenly doing a workout and being cheered on by others, and some were even asleep on the benches.
You couldn't help but frown slightly at this sight. Surely 30 minutes isn't that long... right?
Even so, you didn't announce your presence. You simply walked until the officers realized the vice-captain had arrived before quickly forming an orderly line.
You stood right in front of them, before flashing a faint smile.
"Sorry for the delay, I've been a little busy in my office. I'm the Second Division Vice-Captain, Miyazaki (y/n). Before you begin your first training, I'd like to once again congratulate you on being selected as soldiers in the Defense Force, knowing the risks, yet dedicating your lives to the safety of the citizens."
You glanced at the officers for a moment, they seemed more stiff than you had seen them at the induction ceremony.
This won't do. Even though Jura Igarashi was always strict in her training, you didn't want them to feel uncomfortable being in the second division.
You quickly put on a casual smile before resting your arms behind your back.
"Welcome to the Second Division, where strength is required but discipline and effort are paramount."