Chapter 1

Are You Okay?

"Die for my sake Tamaki!" Lieutenant Rekka cried out before Tamaki could even let out a sound, a flaming fist punched through her chest, making a sickening squelching sound. Her body crumpled like a ragdoll as Rekka ripped his fist from her chest. A young man crashed down, stomping on the traitor's face with a wide devilish grin before turning to where Tamaki's corpse lay.

He froze, "No," he refused before walking over to her and scooping her up into his arms, "Kotatsu?" He called out softly and felt his mouth contort into a pained grin as tears ran down his cheeks. "This isn't real," he denied as he shook her body softly, "Hey, you can wake up, I'm here," he shook her a little harder before placing his hand on the exposed cavity in her chest, "Please, do something." He pleaded before slumping his shoulders and letting out soft sobs.

"Why are you crying, Kusakabe?" Shinra froze before looking at the Fire Soldier in his arms, "You killed me, Devil." She spat with hollow, lifeless eyes glaring at him before the same sickening squelch could be heard and the same flaming fist that had taken her life had punched through his own chest. Rekka soon ripped his fist out of his chest before everything went black.

The crimson eyes of a young man opened wide as he woke up with a start and wiped his forehead free of sweat. An annoyed huff escaped his lips as he remembered his vivid nightmare, "It isn't real, Kotatsu has been here since the other day," he reasoned to himself before trying to wet his lips but only tasted the sticky, unpleasant texture of his lethargic tongue.

Shinra Kusakabe, Second Class Fire Soldier and recent victim of late night lethargy and recurring nightmares, swung his legs off of the bottom bunk bed and slipped his sandals on trying to sneak out of his room. As he opened the door, he felt a shiver shake him to his core, 'Too cold,' he thought and pulled on his best-loved hoodie from his dresser.

Despite his careful movements, the Knight-King, much to his annoyance, had stirred in his sleep, "Go to sleep Devil," Arthur Boyle, Shinra's fellow Second Class Fire Soldier and Academy graduate, muttered instinctively before falling back to sleep with no issue. Shinra couldn't help but roll his eyes at the comment.

Feeling much warmer with his hoodie on, Shinra snuck out of his quarters. For the past three days, Shinra had been haunted by nightmares regarding his recent battle between the traitor lieutenant of the First Company, Hoshimiya Rekka, and the White Clad.

However, he couldn't help wrap his head around the reasons why Rekka would join their ranks, however, Shinra's train of thought always landed him to the recently transferred Fire Soldier and how she has been affected by the incident. He remembered how a simple question brought her to tears after he had stomped Rekka's face into the cement floor. Shinra thought about her empty stares, startled jumps and forced smiles. It always pained him to see her in such a state where nothing interested her.

Orange, feline-like eyes darted along the dark hallway, the young woman exhaled a sigh of relief as she crept in the darkness to the women's communal showers. Showering in the middle of the night was always a time that caused Second Class Fire Soldier, Tamaki Kotatsu, a great deal of anxiety. However, anxiety had become a close, yet unwanted friend to the young woman.

Recently, the Third Generation Fire Soldier had felt as if she was being haunted by some malevolent memory which replayed in her head time and time again. While it made plenty of sense to be anxious as a Fire Soldier when it came to saving people. Tamaki had dealt with anxiety before, due to her poorly named "Lucky Leecher Lure" ability activating in school.

Tamaki had sighed softly as she crept around the corner and turned the lights of the showers on and despite running the constant risk of being caught, Tamaki felt some relief as this became a much sought after time to be alone and recharge. As she turned the water on, relief washed over her and, for a moment, she couldn't tell whether the showerhead or her own tears wet her cheeks. And, for the time being, she preferred not knowing.

Tamaki sighed as she peeked over the stall after she had lost track of time but felt as if she had cried as much as she needed to for that night and realized she had forgotten any clean clothes. She resorted to the thought of using her used clothes, only to find that she had negligently left them on the stall wall she was peeking over, leaving all of her clothes, save for her underwear. The nekomata-user made the decision to go to her room and grab some spare clothes to change into.

As Tamaki stared at the shower handle, she soon exited the shower and dried herself off, and after being dressed in the bare necessities, decided to keep her towel wrapped around her until she got herself spare clothes to change into. 'No wonder the First transferred me,' Tamaki berated herself, 'I can't even remember to bring any clothes.'

Footsteps, followed by the soft frequent slap of the sandal returning to the wearer's heel echoed throughout the empty hallway of the dormant Fire Force was soon pulled from his thoughts as he heard a shower running from the women's communal showers. Shinra felt his face contort into something of a perverted smirk as he thought of who might be taking a shower.

The crimson-eyed Fire Soldier soon shook his head to free his mind of his perverted fantasies. Shinra soon built up the courage needed to find out who was in the shower then took a deep breath as he decided to investigate. After walking a handful of steps, Shinra and his investigation came to a quick end as the suspect's Lucky Leecher Lure had activated as he approached the women's shower, much to the misfortune of both parties.

It took a second for Shinra to process what was occurring, Tamaki was laying on top of him, towel discarded and her underwear threatening to fall off and his hand on her rear. When he finally understood the situation he was in he had squeezed his eyes shut and expected to be hit. "S-sorry Tamaki, I didn't mean to," the young man had expected yelling and accusations of perversion. However, Tamaki just seemed to slowly pull herself away from the compromising position before wrapping her towel around herself with a quiet sigh, "It's okay," she accepted his apology as she stayed sitting on the floor, "It's not like you meant to do it." Tamaki arose and bowed politely, "If you'll excuse me." She excused herself and started to make her way to her room, leaving the showers, the water still running from the showerhead she had negligently left on.

Shinra paused, he felt as if everything was so grossly wrong. Where were the insults, the hitting and slander. Shinra felt his heart sink as he realized how much she had been affected, "Tamaki," he called out as he stood up, "Are you okay?"

His tone was soft and full of concern which only caused Tamaki to recall the first time he asked her that question, unlike the first time he had asked, Tamaki forced a smile and nodded, "Yeah, just a little tired is all," she informed before stopping as Shinra grabbed her wrist.

"Tired is a hell of a way to justify a late night shower and puffy eyes," he stated which caused her to freeze, thinking she had been caught as he stepped towards her, but soon destroyed her expectations as he pulled his hoodie off.

"It's too cold to even imagine you standing there in a wet towel and underwear," he said before offering his hoodie. She eyed him in an inquisitive way, which made him groan as he pushed it towards her, "Just put it on," the offer came out more as an order which caused Tamaki to jump slightly as he sighed softly.

"I'm sorry, but there's something I need to tell you," he said as she took the hoodie and dropped her towel, making Shinra immediately look to his right. "Can I talk to you over a glass of water?" he asked before sighing gently as she slipped the hoodie on. Soon orange eyes met crimson eyes. Tamaki felt her heart trip for an inexplicable reason before agreeing with his request.

Shinra had let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Ah but before that," he soon pointed his thumb to the still running shower. "Mind if I turn that off? I'm too scared to think what Lieutenant Hinawa would do after finding out we left the water running." Tamaki soon nodded quickly, both Fire Soldiers wanting to avoid their lieutenant's wrath.

With the shower off, the pair had entered the kitchen and Shinra grabbed a glass for the both of them before pouring water for the both of them through a water filter. "What did you want to talk about?" Tamaki had asked, much to the surprise of Shinra.

"Well, I've been having dreams of you." he answered with an unknowing blush dusting his cheeks as Tamaki's own cheeks grew hot at the answer.

"I should have mentioned that they are nightmares," which caused a short inhale from Tamaki but before she could become upset with him, he put a hand up to stop her, "just because you are in my dreams doesn't make it a nightmare." He quickly added before looking up to an even more flustered looking Tamaki. "I've been worried about you," he stated, dropping his guard significantly, "I've been worried since the battle." Tamaki felt her heart stop as she placed her hand on her neck and took deep breaths to prove it wouldn't happen again.

"I've had a lot of nightmares that I didn't arrive in time." he felt himself gulp softly as he soon chased it with a sip of his water and looked up at her with saddened eyes. "I hate dreams like that, I want to be a hero," he felt his empty hand clench into a tight fist, "heroes show up at the last second but they always protect their loved ones, their precious people." He soon sighed once more as he took another sip of water.

Tamaki soon nodded, albeit with a flustered countenance, "I know what you mean," she said before casting her focus to the much more interesting tile floor in response to his surprised smile, "the nightmares part." Shinra soon nodded but his smile didn't dampen too much as he listened to her. "Sometimes, I still feel like I'm being squeezed to the point of suffocation by him." Tamaki spat at the mention of the lieutenant's mere memory.

Shinra nodded, "Sister Iris said that she found you breathing really lightly one night," his statement earned a small jolt from her, as if he wasn't supposed to mention it. She gave a slow nod before Shinra set his glass down. "Tamaki," he called for her attention which she gave by looking up at him. Although she hadn't done anything, there was a guilty look in her eyes which caused Shinra to frown lightly before walking over to her and taking her hands into his own, "it isn't your fault."

His words seemed to sting, as she shook her head and tried to refute his words, "You protected those kids," she shook her head quickly and felt her eyes start to water as she tried to wrestle her hands free from his grip, "No, that mother is dead and that kid won't be able to lead a normal life because of my actions!" She yelled before Shinra moved his hands from her own to her upper arms, squeezing her biceps as she writhed against his hold. Her movements soon slowed as she rested her hands against his chest, "I'm a monster."

Shinra felt himself almost totally incapable of being mad at her for the label she gave herself. Nothing hurts worse than a label that people give and you believe, but having a label you give yourself and you believing it hurts a lot more. He could only feel an unwanted smile strain on his face before looking at her with a more firm look in his eyes, a look that made her flinch causing him to exhale softly as he thought over his words.

"If you think you're a monster for what you did, then I really must be a devil," the firmness in his eyes soon melted away. "It wasn't your fault." Shinra said softly before loosening his grip on her arms and rubbing her arms gently and with a more genuine smile, "I know it's easy for me to say but you didn't infernalize that woman," he soon let his hands slide to hers, "in fact, you were the hero to those kids, you protected them."

Tamaki felt any refutation die in her throat as she felt more moved by his words than she could have imagined. "I'm just as responsible for killing my mom and baby brother in a fire I didn't start. As you are with that mother and child." Shinra further added, causing Tamaki to feel her eyes begin to well up again. She had told herself those exact things over and over as well but having someone she admired tell her the same thing felt entirely different. Maybe it was that he was so close he had felt to her or that he was holding her hands as he reaffirmed her innocence.

Seeing her start to accept what he had said, or at least begin to mull over his words, Shinra's smile disappeared as he gave her a more compassionate look, "So Tamaki," she looked up, finally able to look him in the eyes again. "Are you okay?"

Unlike the previous time he asked, Tamaki responded in the way he had hoped she would. She shook her head lightly and soon felt tears roll down her cheeks as she soon hiccuped and began to be racked with sobs.

Moving on instinct, Shinra pulled her towards his chest in a consoling embrace, an embrace that she reciprocated immediately. She slumped to the ground and he followed as she started to wail. Using every technique he knew, he began to stroke her head and take deep, calming breaths.

"It's alright, you're safe here," he comforted, "It isn't your fault," Shinra's tone was calm and reassuring. "You're okay," he started to rock gently back and forth as she started to calm down. He soon stopped swaying as she pulled away from his, now tear soaked black tank top. He offered her a gentle, reaffirming smile as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Did you get them all out?" Shinra asked. His question was met with a nod, "I-I think so," she said between deep breaths. Her response earned a head pat from Shinra before causing her cheeks to redden yet went unnoticed by her temporary therapist.

A sigh of relief soon came from the doorway, causing the two to freeze and look towards the door only to find a very tired looking company captain and Lieutenant. "I'm glad you got the solace you needed, Kotatsu," The Captain of the Eighth Company, Akitaru Obi, said before yawning, "but, you, Kusakabe and the rest of us need to go back to sleep. Next time, use your inside voices." Captain Obi soon waved them a tired goodbye before walking off, leaving Shinra and Tamaki with the Lieutenant that inspired so much fear inside of them.

Seeing the pair tremble in their own embrace caused Lieutenant Takehisa Hinawa to crack a ghost of a grin to appear on his face before turning to the pair. "Kotatsu," Tamaki froze and looked up at him, "I hope he makes you happy, and it's nice to see you in better spirits." He said before turning sharply and gave the pair a stern look, "It's late, go to sleep." he ordered which caused the two to salute, "Yes sir!" they both exclaimed before Hinawa glared at the two for raising their voices, "Yes, sir," they affirmed in softer voices.

Hinawa soon dismissed himself without a word allowing Shinra and Tamaki time to breathe a sigh of relief. "I'm going to follow the Captain's and Lieutenant's orders and go back to my quarters," Tamaki seemed to nod softly at Shinra's statement before seeing him offer a hand to her, "Do you want me to walk you to your room?" He asked softly.

Tamaki blushed and shook her head but Shinra only nodded and began to exit from the kitchen before hearing a soft, "Kusakabe." Shinra turned to the young woman and smiled widely at her, "Yeah?"

"Thank you for letting me vent." Tamaki thanked quietly before feeling his hand rest on her head, "Of course, what are heroes for?" The crimson-eyed Fire Soldier soon smiled and bowed to her then dismissed himself as he left for his room, leaving Tamaki by herself once again before sneaking back into his room.

Tamaki followed the instruction of her superior and advice of her hero, causing her to sneak off to her room as well. As she closed the door behind her, she laid onto her bed and wrapped her arms around herself, embracing herself in the hoodie. She felt her cheeks burn as she blushed softly and idly smelled his hoodie. Tamaki felt safe, she felt like she could heal, but more than that, she felt that tomorrow was going to be the start of a better day.