In the years after K-Day, both girls have gone through some radical changes. Yuna's shorn all of her hair off. She has the head for it and it quickly proved a popular look amongst girls their age. The other popular look is inspired by So-Yi's close cropped black hair. It's almost military style and her mother had pitched a fit when she'd come home like that. Among their fans is some debate as to who copied who.

Yuna likes the feel of her mask on her bare head. She's considered some tattoos. The Korean flag on the back of her head. Or maybe a Kaiji to strike fear in the hearts of her opponents. It's a silly though. The Kaiju frighten her on such an instinctual level that she knows she'll never go through with it.

She walks through the stadium with her trainer, quiet and focused. Ahead of her she can see So-Yi. The other fencer's form is well known to her by now. She's studied it endlessly. She feels like she knows So-Yi better than the older girl knows herself, and can turn that to her advantage. She's pretty sure she hates her. It's a strong word but every time she sees So-Yi it makes her blood boil and it's hard to maintain her composure. Composure is everything to Yuna.

There's a packed crowd today. But there has been at every match Yuna's attended since K-Day. She looks out at the sea of faces. A group of girls have a big sign with her name on it and are exchanging taunts with some of So-Yi's fans. Their sign is smaller she notes with a smile. It's just the buzz she needed to shake off her nerves.

When she steps up to the strip she's as calm as she ever is. Sometime in the next twenty minutes she is going to be going to the Olympics.

So-Yi takes her position, and the two stare each other down for several seconds before they bring their masks down in unison. A hush fills the stadium, and anticipation flows through the girls. The buzzer sounds and their sabres flash through the air. So-Yi parries Yuna's first attack, but takes the blade against her shoulder a moment later. They step back, ready to go again.

Yuna doesn't let herself think of anything but the arc of her sword and the path that So-Yi's takes towards her. She takes one point, then a second. So-Yi dances in front of her and they're tied again. Their weapons clang against each other as they vie for the third point and the lead. The round stretches on with neither girl gaining an advantage until So-Yi takes a risky opening and sticks Yuna in the stomach. Three-two.

Thirty seconds later, it's four-two, and Yuna is rolling her shoulders as she prepares. She tries to ignore how much she hates So-Yi right now. She's so close to seeing her hopes dashed that her anxiety could ruin it for her.

It's not the buzzer, but the sound of alarms that comes next. Over the whine of air raid sirens comes a bellow. It's a deep sound, reverberating through Yuna's chest and into her heart. She drops her saber and breaks into a run. She collides wtih So-Yi and keeps running, she sees her friends and joins them as the panicked crowd pushes through the exits.

People scream, the sirens blare and over it all the Kaiju roars again. The sound hits Yuna in a part of her mind that she can't control. The terror is overwhelming her, and she flows with the current of men and women, pushing and jostling to find some place safe. But there isn't any place, the shelters are half-finished.

Yuna looks around, searching for her parents and her sister in the chaos. It's just her and two of her friends, and a mass of strangers. She doesn't even see So-Yi.

So-Yi. She looks back towards the stadium, then around her. So-Yi is still inside, and the ground is already starting to shudder beneath her feet. Without thinking about it, she starts to run back. She hears Jee Sun shouting behind her but she ignores her friend's plee.

Above her, the Kaiju rises suddenly. It's still so far away, but it's so big, so terribly big that it's like a mountain. Blue lines run along it's flank like a tiger and it's head is gigantic, even in proportion to it's body. The snout is long, filled with jagged teeth, each one the size of a car. It bellows again, a deep primordial sound that rattles her bones. Her blood turns to ice and her legs falter, but she doesn't stop moving.

A man grabs her arm, but she shakes him off. Then she's inside the stadium. There are stragglers still but she focuses on a figure laying on the ground. It's So-Yi. Yuna rushes up to her. "So-Yi!"

The other girl stirs with a groan, and Yuna kneels down to pull her up. "Get up, get up. I'm so sorry." It felt like this was her fault. She'd run into her. She'd knocked her over. The Kaiju sounds like it was closer, it's screech reviving Yuna's panic. She start to tug harder on So-Yi shrieking and forcing the girl to her feet. "Get up!"

So-Yi shoves at Yuna, "You won't make it with me. Just go." Her grin is tired, but cocky. "We both know I was going to win. That's all I need."

"Stupid." Yuna tugs at her, and So-Yi follows without further argument. Her head is bleeding and her chest and torso hurt. Each step jars something inside her. Yuna doesn't know what's wrong. She was probably trampled and guilt starts to eat at her. If she hadn't been so terrified she wouldn't have knocked So-Yi over. She isn't even sure why she cared. Twenty minutes ago she hated her. She hates So-Yi for being so close to crushing her dreams, for always being this cocky girl who thought she was better than everyone. For being better than her. Yet now she has the girl bleeding on her and stumbling along besides her while the earth trembles and buildings come crashing down behind them.

They're three hundred meters ahead of the stadium when the Kaiju hits it. Yuna looks back in time to watch it collapse. The Kaiju is monstrous, and close, too close, closer than she ever wanted to be to one. She can barely stretch her neck up enough to take it all on. She remembers all the pamphlets and the drills. Never run, never give the Kaiju something to follow and crush and probably eat.

So she does the one thing she doesn't want to do. She slows down. Her heart feels like it's going to beat through her ribcage, and she feels So-Yi's grip around her tighten. There isn't any obvious shelter. Being in the open is inviting the Kaiju's attention but most buildings are little more than deathtraps.

"There," So-Yi rasps, her voice loud in Yuna's ear. She wants to tell her to shut up, but instead starts to half-drag So-Yi towards a concrete barricade. It's not much, in fact it's hardly anything at all, but the only alternative is to let the Kaiju see them. Yuna doesn't know what happens if a Kaiju decides it wants a girl-sized snack and she doesn't want to find out.

Besides, her legs are giving out and she slides down the barrier with So-Yi as her fear catches her again. She doesn't let it win. Not with the other fencer here. So Yuna puts on a brave face, and looks down at So-Yi, who's curled in against her. She puts her arm around her and holds tightly, trying to still the shaking of her body. She's just glad she's not alone.

So-Yi looks up at Yuna, still not understanding why the girl came back for her. No one else did, something she didn't want to think about right now. The Kaiju bellows and shrieks, crashing into a skyscraper and uprooting it from it's foundation. It teeters over as gravity claims it. The dust washed over them like a wave and it's all Yuna can do to shield So-Yi from it.

After their coughing fits subside, So-Yi presses her mouth to Yuna's ear again. "I'm sorry."

Yuna feels a confusing shiver down her spine that she mistakes for the adrenaline and fear of the moment. "For what?" Her body has stopped shaking. She doesn't have the energy left to sustain it.

"I'm going to get you killed. You should just leave me." Despite her words, So-Yi is clinging to Yuna. She's profoundly grateful, in ways she'll never be able to express. The Olympics, their rivalry, all of that seems so very unimportant right now.

"Stupid," Yuna says. "I would club you one if you weren't already hurt."

The creature roars, terribly close and So-Yi burrows her face into Yuna's neck. "God why won't it shut up! Shut up shut up I can't…"

Yuna realizes she isn't the only scared one. That So-Yi is terrified too. She feels better. "Shh! Do you hear that?"

A whistling sound, growing louder, and louder until it sounds like the rushing of wind. Twin missiles impact the Kaiju in it's face and the explosion shatters what little glass remains intact nearby. Debris cuts up Yuna's back, jagged shocks of pain shooting through her body. Jets scream overhead as they unleash another barrage, drawing the Kaiju away from the heart of the city. Something else moves through the smoke and dust

So-Yi sees the shadow first and gasps, "Jaeger!"

It rises like a behemoth, built like a boxer. Yuna thinks it looks like someone has capped it with an upside down cup, but as it charges into the Kaiju she doesn't care. The Jaeger brings it's fist down into the monster's jaw and the sound of the collision wakes something inside her.

Yuna squeezes So-Yi's hand in a tight grip. She looks at the bald girl for a moment. The fear is still in her eyes, but now she looks determined. Like she's reached some kind of decision, and as the Jaeger grapples with the Kaiju, So-Yi makes the exact same one.