Gran Gran's Kotatsu and Her Oversized Space Heater

I wiped down another sticky table, my arms aching from hours of serving overexcited customers. The café felt eerily quiet now without the crowd's constant chatter about kaiju and their "tamer".

"Ryū-chan, look!" Kurumi shoved her phone in my face for the hundredth time. "We're getting tagged in all these kaiju fight videos! 168k followers now!"

"That's great," I muttered, more focused on a particularly stubborn stain. 

"Oh my god, this one has a million views already!" She bounced on her toes, nearly knocking over the chair I'd just straightened.

I tossed my rag into the cleaning bucket, doing my best to ignore her. Just needed to flip the sign and we could finally-

I checked my phone. 9:47 PM. Gran Gran was going to murder me. Then resurrect me. Then murder me again.

"Sorry guys, but I need to dip. Like, now." 

"But we haven't finished planning our next viral video!"

"Tomorrow." I grabbed my bag and scooped up Little Shit, who chirped sleepily. "Home. Safely. Both of you."

"Yes, mom." Toukawa-san's deadpan voice followed me out.

Sae fell into step beside me as I sped-walked through the dark streets, the calm a welcome change after the earlier chaos. The only sounds were Little Shit's occasional sleepy chirps and the distant wail of emergency vehicles. Probably responding to the damaged transmission towers High Volt caused.

I stared at the broken sidewalk ahead. The usual route would have me hopping between chunks of concrete like some twisted game of hopscotch, but after today's shift, I wasn't in the mood for it.

Ah, screw it. I veered onto the intact section of road, where Sae walked with Rhino's balloon form bobbing beside her.

The night air felt different here - cleaner, away from the mess. Stars peeked through gaps in the clouds, and Little Shit's soft snores from my backpack added a peaceful rhythm to the quiet.

Something about the quiet made me brave enough to ask again:

"Hey, Sae... why choose this assignment? With everything going on, you could be doing something more important than babysitting us."

Sae's fingers tightened around Rhino's balloon string, twisting it absently. The silence stretched, and I almost wished I hadn't asked.

"I just... prefer not to think about the incident that led me here."

Something in her tone made me glance over. Her face was as composed as always, but her eyes had that far-off look. Whatever had happened to her ran deeper than she let on.

"Got it." I adjusted Little Shit's weight on my back. "Well, for what it's worth, I'm glad you're here. Even if I'm probably the worst assignment you've ever had."

We fell into a comfortable silence after that, the night wrapping around us like an old, familiar blanket.

***

The peaceful night shattered the moment we rounded the corner to my apartment. Looming over the building, its chest furnace casting an orange glow across the street, was the Furnace Kaiju. And jutting from our apartment's gaping wound was... the tree from earlier?

I squinted up at the bizarre sight. The Furnace kaiju had somehow wedged the tree into our missing wall, its branches spread like fingers trying to plug a leak. Heat rippled from where trunk met concrete, the wood fused to the building's skeleton by what looked like molten binding. The pathetic patch job covered maybe a third of the missing wall, if I was being generous.

The kaiju's head was wedged into the gap, right where Gran Gran's room would be.

No, no, no. Not again. I broke into a sprint, taking the volcanic steps two at a time. Little Shit bounced against my back, letting out startled squeaks.

The Furnace Kaiju must have come back for revenge. God, stupid, stupid Gran Gran. Always so quick to scold, never thinking about the consequences.

Sae called after me, but her voice was lost under the rush of blood in my ears.

"Gran Gran!" I reached our floor, chest heaving. "If you ate my grandmother, I swear-"

I froze in the doorway instead. Gran Gran sat calmly at her beloved kotatsu, sipping tea, while the Furnace Kaiju's massive snout nestled under the blanket, its nostrils releasing steam into the kotatsu.

"You're late!" Gran Gran's eyes narrowed at me over her teacup. "And Young Lady, I expect better from military. Bringing my granddaughter home at this hour?"

Sae bowed deeply. "My sincere apologies, Tatsuhara-sama."

"Never mind that. Why is it back?"

"Oh, this one?" She waved dismissively at the kaiju. "Tell this oversized space heater this home repair unacceptable. A tree? Really? We don't live in treehouse!"

The Furnace Kaiju let out a low rumble that sounded like a whine.

"What? No. Just- why is it under the kotatsu?"

"Since this clumsy mister wrecked our wall, the least it could do is warm up my kotatsu." She patted the blanket. "Much better than that overpriced electric one you wanted to buy. This one's free."

Of course. Trust Gran Gran to find the silver lining.

Little Shit wriggled free from my backpack and waddled over to the massive head taking up half of Gran Gran's room. He squeaked excitedly, tiny claws gesturing as he carried on what looked like an animated conversation with his much larger cousin.

Watching them, a thought hit me. Did they know? About the end of the world coming? Here they were, chatting away like old friends at a tea party. Maybe they were just as clueless as us. Or maybe...

I shook my head. No way. They probably showed up here by accident and decided 'since we can go back might as well crash here for a bit.' Can't blame them - Earth was already a shithole before they arrived.

"So uh, is our new space heater planning to stay long?" 

"Pah! We don't need that stupid space heater anymore! I found money while cleaning the house. Enough to fix wall, and much cheaper than those robber prices!"

My blood ran cold. There was only one stash of money she could be talking about - the savings I'd hidden under my futon for Tokyo.

Well, fuck.