Chapter 1: Snow

The snow was earthly and crisp in the early morning of December, the sun barely rising yet when Guren stood before a group of soldiers, hands on his hips as he glared sternly at the leader of said squad once he quickly scanned over the men present. He wasn't happy.

"Cadet First Lieutenant, Kimizuki Shiho…" He called out with an icy tone, violet eyes heavily scrutinizing the soldier before him lividly. "Where is your assistant squad leader? I have strictly briefed the both of you to come early together with your men."

"You have, sir." Shiho answered immediately, his poise straightening and his composure unbending.

"Then, why isn't he here?"

"He―"

"―Lieutenant Colonel…!"

Guren and Shiho stopped talking to turn around to see Yuichiro running towards them. His hair and military uniform were a bit messy as he rushed towards them with his cloak draping on his arm. Once he was within Shiho's side, Yuichiro panted to catch his breath before he straightened up and saluted at Guren respectively.

"Cadet Second Lieutenant, Amane Yuichiro, reporting for duty, sir!" The raven said in full confidence as he held his head high despite the hidden annoyance Guren was directing at him. "I apologize for my tardiness at such an important meeting. It will never happen again."

"You better be." Guren retorted as he returned the salute. "This is the fifth time in the month that you fell behind in such things, cadet. I'll see to your punishment once this is over. Now, fall in ranks."

Yuichiro had to fight back a wince that was about to come out of his mouth as he lowered his hand and proceeded to his position beside Shiho quietly, ignoring the soft snickers and whispers of his squad men behind his back while he fixed his hair a bit.

"All right, enough chatter and listen up, men." Guren raised his voice to get their attention as he stood before them in full confidence. "I know that you are all wondering why I called for your presence at this hour, but the Imperial Army has chosen you, along with many other squads from different companies, to fight in the lines of battle that will be held in Shinjuku."

One of the soldiers raised his hand to question. "But sir, isn't Shinjuku within the protection of Major General Hiiragi?"

"Hm, indeed, it is, but, it was theorized and predicted that the next attack will happen there." Guren sighed. "Apparently, our enemies have become tricky in terms of offense, and since Shinjuku is one of our major strongholds, we have to defend it at all cost. Is that understood?"

"Sir, yes, sir!"

"Good. Prepare to move for Nagoya; we're leaving as soon as possible. Dismissed."

The soldiers gave another affirmative reply before dispersing to do what they had to do. But Yuichiro wasn't easily left off the hook.

"Amane…"

"Sir."

"Come with me."

Guren gestured Yuichiro to follow him to a place where they could talk privately about his punishment, and Yuichiro obeyed like any other soldier after giving Shiho a look to keep an eye out for the squad.

―

"… Yuu." Guren addressed the soldier casually as he held his head like he was having a headache while he and Yuichiro were now in a vacant space in the barracks. "Why were you late?"

Yuichiro was silent before his cheeks blushed in embarrassment as he muttered honestly. "… I didn't hear my alarm go off."

"… Are you serious?"

Yuichiro nodded meekly, avoiding Guren's disbelieving gaze at him.

"Yuu, that is lamest excuse you could ever give me as to why you were late. I would understand if Kimizuki pranked you, but not hearing your alarm?" Guren clicked his tongue. "You can do better than that. I didn't place you in my company for nothing."

"I-I know, and I'm sorry. It's just… I have a lot going in my mind lately."

"Whatever it is that's bothering you, you have to deal with it quickly. We're at war here. The world won't wait for you just because you had a minor setback. This isn't how it works."

Yuichiro pursed his lips at the sharp remark and he looked down in guilt. Guren sighed at this as he scratched the back of his head. Scolding Yuichiro for breaking his order wasn't something he was old to, but he should at least show some improvement.

"You're no longer a child, Yuu. We both accepted that the moment you were drafted in the military. You're a soldier now, and the least you could do is to act like one; be like one." Guren glanced at the side, idly watching a snowflake fall to the ground and melt as he added, "And you're a beta, no less."

"… I'm sorry again, sir. I understand." Yuichiro apologized softly before raising his head up with his brows slightly furrowed and an expression of determination crossed his face. "Whatever punishment you have in store for me, anything at all, I'll humbly accept it with no question."

Guren's brow arched slightly at the submission. Normally, Guren would be pleased by it given his nature as an alpha, but Yuichiro was different. The raven was like a son to him, but he was still a soldier in the battlefield. And as such, no special treatments were given. Punishments were no exception.

"Anything?"

"Anything, sir." Yuichiro repeated firmly.

Guren hummed in wonder, hand on his chin. "All right…" A lopsided smile followed afterwards. "But I won't tell you about it until we reach Nagoya. If I don't show up when we arrive at our destination, however, there will be a possibility that I will entrust your punishment to Kimizuki."

An indistinguishable jolt rushed through Yuichiro at the mention of his comrade handling him, but he was able to mask it with indifference and nodded his head.

He never told Guren, fearing that the man might call him insane because Shiho's punishments were always the worse than what his surrogate father would give.

"Understood, sir."

"If you fully acknowledged this, you may join your squad. I'll see you all soon. You're dismissed."

Yuichiro nod his head again and turned on his heels to leave when Guren spoke again.

"… You do understand why your squad was chosen to fight in Shinjuku, right?"

The beta stopped on his tracks at the question, but he didn't move to look at his superior when he answered. "Yes, I do..."

Guren listened and waited for another respond, but when he heard nothing, he pondered on. "That area held some unpleasant memories. If it makes you uncomfortable, I could always―"

"Don't." Yuichiro raised his voice a bit to stop Guren from his suggestion. "This is fine. I always knew that I would go back to that place someday when I joined the army. It's inevitable, but still… Thank you for the concern, Guren."

Smiling bitterly, Yuichiro walked away from the vicinity to unite back with his men as Guren silently watched him leave.

Yuichiro's back looked so small despite seeing his strong, unwavering will.

―

Being the second-in-command of his squad, Yuichiro was given so many privileges. One of them was being able to sit beside the driver, who happened to be his comrade and superior, Shiho. Not that he didn't like sitting together with his men, it was just that Yuichiro needed some time to think and he couldn't do so without being sidetracked with the seemingly useless talk about sleepless nights and supernatural rumors.

He may not look like it, but Yuichiro didn't like distractions especially when he only had one goal in mind: to avenge the death of his parents from those damn terrorists. It was simple but vastly life threatening and just thinking about it made him feel both excited and sick.

"… Well, you look constipated."

Yuichiro looked at the person beside him with a frown, not pleased with the comment. "Thank you for your observation, Kimizuki. I feel so much better."

Shiho snorted as a smirk formed on his lips at Yuichiro's sarcasm while driving. "Stupid, that wasn't a compliment."

"I know it wasn't, dickhead. I'm just indulging you because you're bored over there." Yuichiro huffed as he crossed his arms on his chest. "Is irritating me before we reach Nagoya your way of entertainment in this dull trip? If so, then fuck off. I'm not in the mood."

"Woah, hold on there. I just want to know if my assistant leader is feeling all right. Is that so bad for me to know?"

"… Probably." Yuichiro muttered which earned him a pause from his leader.

"Yuu…" Shiho started slowly and gently. "Seriously, talk to me. Are you okay? Did Guren say something to upset you?"

"No, he didn't." The beta admitted, sighing tiredly as he sunk on his seat a bit. "It's just… I remembered something back then when Shinjuku was attacked four years ago. And after what he announced a few hours ago, I…"

"You had a flashback?"

"Kind of."

"I see…" Shiho hummed, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel absentmindedly as he listened. "That's right… You were from Shinjuku. So going there is like coming back home, but unfortunately… I don't think we have the luxury of time to enjoy the view."

"Obviously." Yuichiro said bluntly. "With all these terrorists around, I doubt we even have the time to get proper rest."

"Well, that's how war is. It can't be helped."

Yuichiro didn't flinch when Shiho said that because it was the truth. Ever since a missile bombing event four years ago, the world was nearly on the verge of anarchy; losing all kinds of resources and lives that kept a country together to the point that some survivors went insane. To add more to the damage, well-known terrorists took aggressive action in the situation and even spread out to numerous places to do their dirty work like wildfire.

The army, or whatever was left of it, sought to fight and bring them to an end. But with how many were left in ranks, they were forced to draft teenagers into the military in compensation for more firepower; training them and making their lives a living hell in each passing day.

The reality was harsh, but they didn't have a choice. The decision to fight, or to die weighed heavily on them from the moment they accepted their registration into the army. And Yuichiro wholly shouldered this burden, along with his drive for revenge.

He didn't need anything else when those things were enough to have him surviving.

―

"Nagoya sure is beautiful even in the face of war." Shiho commented as soon as they arrived at their destination, eyes looking at his side window to see the place. "I'm sure Mirai would love to come here someday."

"… Yeah, she would." Yuichiro replied dully as he stared blankly at his own side window. He had been listening to Shiho initiate some small talk to him, but most conversations always end with Yuichiro grunting or humming back. But at the mention of Shiho's sister had Yuichiro asking, "… How is she, by the way? I have heard that she recently had an… episode in the medic station. I hope it's nothing serious."

Shiho was silent at first before he sighed. "She's fine. There was a sudden influx in her medications that triggered a panic attack. Thankfully, it wasn't bad enough to jeopardize her health."

"That's good…" The beta trailed off, looking down on his gloved hands silently. "It must be nice to have siblings; to have some kind of remembrance of what your life was before all things went crazy… To still have some piece of your family with you…"

Once Yuichiro said that, the car was suddenly pulled to an abrupt stop and the beta lurched forward a bit from the impact, eyes wide in shock before they turned fierce with anger. "What the hell, Kimizuki?! Care to give a little warning before pulling this shit up on my face?! I nearly had an―"

His sentence was cut off when he felt a pair of arms around him, and before he knew it, he was pulled to a tight embrace. Yuichiro blinked in surprise at the action as he stared at the roof of the car, idly smelling the alpha's scent with how close they were before Shiho spoke up.

"Stop saying that…"

"H-Huh…?"

"Stop saying like you don't have a family." Shiho pulled back, his violet eyes meeting Yuichiro's in a determined look. "I'm here, Guren is here, too. All of us are here. We may not be the kind that you have before all these happened, but we are still a family. You're not alone, Yuu."

"U-Uh, yeah, okay…" Yuichiro nodded his head slowly at the awkwardness before a small smile formed on his lips, his shoulders suddenly feeling light after what Shiho said about his squad being his second family. It was uplifting to hear it and words couldn't express just how thankful he was for the encouragement, but even so, he still felt a little bit gloomy inside.

And Shiho seemed to know this because he was frowning.

"You don't look okay."

Yuichiro defended. "I'm fine, Kimizuki, really. I guess I just needed some support, after all."

The alpha's eyes studied him for a while before he lowly growled almost out of frustration as he pulled back to undo the seatbelt around him to open the car door. "… Bullshit. You're coming with me once we're done with our duties for the day."

Yuichiro could only stare in astonishment as the alpha left his place in the car before he too got out from his own seat, wondering what Shiho meant by that. What is he going to do with me?

He could only dread what an alpha like Shiho could do to him before a voice snapped him from his reverie.

"All men, attention…!" Shiho commanded with his hands by his sides as their squad men gathered into formation, all concentration focused on what their squad leader was about to say. "As Lieutenant Colonel said this morning, we are the chosen squad in his company to fight and to assist the battle that is going to happen in Shinjuku, and as such, Nagoya was chosen as our base of operations."

Yuichiro silently came in his position behind Shiho as his assistant squad leader while the alpha continued giving orders. "The squad will be divided into two teams. Team A will be in-charge for providing extra firepower to defend Shinjuku while the other team, Team B, will be in-charge for intelligence gathering. And since it takes some time to reach Shinjuku, we'll be working in shifts. Is that understood?"

"Sir, yes, sir!"

"Good. For the time being, I need ten volunteers to head to Shinjuku now to assist Major General Hiiragi. Report to him of our arrival in Nagoya and he'll do the rest. The others will have to report to me or to my assistant leader before going to your duties. Understood?"

"Sir, yes, sir!"

"All right. Are there any questions?" Shiho carefully looked over to his men to see. When no one raised a hand, he gave a nod. "Okay, so for those ten who wishes to volunteer, stay behind. The rest of you will have to help out and to settle in the barracks until further orders. Dismissed."

The soldiers gave an affirmative reply before dispersing. The soldiers that chose to stay behind as volunteers had a rather short meeting with Shiho before they were sent on their way to Shinjuku. Yuichiro never said anything the entire time until Shiho turned towards him with a little scowl on his face like Yuichiro just did something that upset him.

The beta returned the look with his own as he lifted his shoulders a bit at the vague message behind it. "What?"

Shiho shook his head with a sigh as he made a gesture to his assistant leader to follow him. "Come with me. We have to report to the Lieutenant Colonel now that our duty is done."

Yuichiro raised a brow at that before he obediently followed Shiho behind. Normally, Yuichiro would retort about being ordered around so bluntly, but there were times where he obeyed Shiho simply because he didn't understand what the alpha was trying to do… sometimes. As the assistant squad leader, it was part of his position to coordinate well with Shiho to get their squad in sync and in top shape; something that Yuichiro considered as both a blessing and a curse.

While Shiho was a good soldier in the battlefield and an exceptional leader to his men, he was also a damn show off that came from his pride and status as an alpha; often flaunting just how better he was in almost everything that had Yuichiro grind his teeth in sheer annoyance. But as they grew up and got to know each other to the point of caring, that was mellowed down yet it didn't stop Shiho from giving the occasional smug smirk when he got more achievements than Yuichiro.

Almost like a sibling relationship…

Yuichiro flinched at the thought before he shook his head from his trance upon seeing Guren not too far away from them. He should cut down on the musing for a bit.

"Lieutenant Colonel." Shiho addressed and saluted as soon as he stood before Guren who just came out from his own vehicle.

"Kimizuki, Amane…" Guren returned the salute as he shut the car door. "I see that the orders given were carried out with no hindrance?"

"Yes, sir."

"Very well. Now then," The lieutenant colonel shifted to face Yuichiro expectantly. "About your punishment, Amane… I'll leave it under Kimizuki's supervision―"

The beta shot up immediately at that. "Wha―"

"―Because I have received word from the Commander to return back to headquarters to discuss about our next strategy on the double." Guren sighed with a frown as he placed his hands on his hips while he met Yuichiro's disbelieving face. "I know that both of you were informed that I would stay for at least three weeks before diet meeting, but we need all the Intel we could get. Until my return, I trust that you two will be dutiful in this mission. The lives of many depend on it."

Shiho and Yuichiro shared a glance before Yuichiro nodded and Shiho spoke their mutual decision, their resolve firm. "You can count on us, sir."

Guren gave a nod before dismissing them from their duties for the day.

―

"So, now that our duties are over, your punishment is in my hands… and I did promised you something a few hours ago."

Yuichiro didn't like where this was going as he listened while walking alongside with Shiho in the streets of Nagoya, coat on his arm while his uniform was unbuttoned slightly to give some space to his body from the constriction the clothes provided. He had been reluctant to come with Shiho ever since they were dismissed from duty, but he had a punishment to fulfill and Yuichiro wasn't one to back down from something like that.

But, he was very tempted to run back to the barracks where he would plan for the next move of their squad, not to seemingly walk aimlessly around a city that served as their base in the late afternoon of the day. It was both unproductive and a waste of time.

"Kimizuki, get to the point. I have better things to do than to listen to you muse about my punishment."

"That's kind of the point, Yuu." Shiho chuckled as he looked at Yuichiro's confused expression. "You're too absorbed into anything related to our work since I've known you. It's admiring how dedicated you are, but at times, you have to find ways to relax even for a bit. No sane person could think about work twenty-four-seven and never get stressed from it."

Yuichiro looked at the alpha like he was offended. "I thought you agreed that soldiers like us couldn't even get proper rest when we're at war, and yet here you are, telling me to relax?!"

"―Or have some fun." Shiho added which fueled Yuichiro's anger. "You're always serious and frowning ever since we were still trainees in the military. You got to lighten up."

"But―"

"No buts. This is an order from your squad leader."

"Don't use your power over something like this!" Yuichiro protested.

"Hmm, fine. It'll be your punishment, then."

Yuichiro choked when he heard that and nearly missed Shiho when he stopped walking. Frowning at the sudden halt, the beta looked at where his squad leader was facing only to temporarily stop breathing for a while with his eyes widening in shock once he saw the building.

"Kimizuki…"

"Yes?"

"What the fuck are we doing in front of a red light district?!"