Burning Bridges

Braith groaned as someone shook him.

A soft voice - barely more than a breath - slipped into his half-asleep mind.

“Braith. Wake up.”

His eyes fluttered open. Dull yellow light bled through the curtains - late evening. Hovering above him was Yumie, her face tight with worry. She couldn’t see his eyes open and shook him again.

“Braith.”

He groaned, voice thick with sleep.

“I’m awa-”

Her hand clamped over his mouth.

He was awake instantly.

She leaned down, lips brushing his ear.

“Shh. Listen.”

He did.

His hearing wasn’t anywhere near hers, but even he could make out voices beyond the door. Yumie slowly lifted her hand away. He whispered, recognizing them.

“That’s just Sunata and Tamiya. They’re probably here to tell us to get ready for the training.”

She shook her head sharply and tugged at his sleeve.

“No. They’re talking about us. Come closer.”

Braith swallowed and climbed quietly out of bed, taking the lead. They padded toward the door, Yumie clinging to his arm. They crouched beside it, shadows stretching beneath the gap as light spilled through.

The voices were clear now.

Sunata spoke first.

“So the jet leaves at twenty-two hundred.”

Tamiya replied without hesitation.

“Correct. And both of them need to be on it.”

A pause.

“It would be much easier if she wasn’t blind.”

“Indeed,” Tamiya said coolly. “Their closeness gives them the confidence to question things. We’ll need to find a way to dial that down.”

Braith felt Yumie tense beside him.

“You weren’t expecting this, were you?” Sunata asked.

“No,” Tamiya admitted. “Dating was manageable. Engagement is… inconvenient.”

Braith’s heart stuttered.

“I’m very glad they mentioned it in front of the others,” Tamiya continued. “Otherwise we wouldn’t have known.”

Braith clenched his jaw. Someone had told them.

Sunata sighed.

“So when do we get them back? With Julen gone, we’ll need every asset we can muster.”

Tamiya chuckled softly.

“Relax. They’re only being sent to observe. Let her witness as many weapons platforms as possible. After that, we reassign her.”

“Reassign?” Sunata asked.

“She’ll serve as support,” Tamiya said lightly. “A mobile, compact artillery unit.”

Yumie’s grip tightened painfully.

Braith glanced at her. Her face had gone pale, lips trembling.

“I… don’t want to be a weapon…” she breathed, the words barely sound at all.

Outside, the conversation continued - unaware, uncaring.

“It’ll be a week at most,” Tamiya went on. “We’ll also run tests. See if recordings can unlock additional munitions. What does she have access to currently?”

Sunata answered methodically.

“Handguns. Assault rifles. A forty-millimeter grenade launcher. A one-twenty-millimeter tank cannon.”

There was a pause.

Then Tamiya smiled - Braith could hear it.

“The one-twenty is promising,” he said. “But imagine a one-fifty-five. Or a two-two-seven rocket. Or a two-thousand-pound bomb.”

Sunata hummed.

“Point taken.”

Beside Braith, a quiet sob slipped free.

Yumie was shaking now, fighting to keep it silent, horror crystallizing into reality. The nightmares she’d whispered about - being reduced to a tool - were no longer hypothetical.

They were plans.

Braith pressed his forehead gently against hers, mind racing.

What could they do?

Yumie whispered, barely louder than breath.

“I don’t want to be here anymore…”

Braith turned to her, stunned.

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t want to work for these people,” she said, voice trembling but firm. “If they’re lying about the permits… and they can’t even protect us…”

The pieces clicked together in his mind.

Permits that might not exist.
Protection that had already failed.

Julen and Amane were dead.

Braith’s jaw tightened. What were they getting out of this? A room? Food? Orders barked by people who spoke about Yumie like a shell casing with a heartbeat?

And then the thought crept in, cold and poisonous.

Were these people even the government?
Or just something wearing its authority?

He didn’t have time to chase the answers.

Outside the door, Sunata spoke again.

“We need to give them their training anyway. I’ll wake them up. Hopefully she can stop wearing her gloves-”

The door swung open.

Light flooded the room.

Braith didn’t think.

He reacted.

Yumie’s arm rose - glove already off - his mind snapping into a single, brutal command.

Shoot.

Her hand spat smoke.

One crack.
Then another.

The air burned with gunpowder.

For a heartbeat, the world froze.

Then Braith’s vision cleared.

Sunata and Tamiya lay sprawled in the doorway, blood spreading across the floor - but their chests were still moving.

Breathing.

Yumie stood frozen, arm still outstretched, panting.

Her voice came out louder than she meant it to.

“Oh God… I killed them, didn’t I?”

Braith swallowed hard, staring at the blood.

“No,” he said hoarsely. “Not quite.”

She sucked in a breath, panic crashing back in full force.

“Oh God… what do we do now?”

There was no time to think.

Only one option.

He grabbed her hand as she pulled her glove back on.

“We run.”

She gasped as he yanked her forward, sprinting into the hallway. She stumbled once, twice - then somehow found his rhythm, trusting him completely despite having no idea what lay ahead.

They passed Fadel and Baha’s door just as it opened.

Braith caught a flash of Fadel’s shocked face.

They’ll live, Braith told himself. They’ll be healed.

That was the only comfort he allowed himself.

They tore down the stairwell, taking steps three at a time, burst through the empty common room, down the last flight, past the front desk-

And out into the street.

Evening light bathed the city in gold. People walked, laughed, lived - utterly unaware.

Braith didn’t slow.

He turned left on instinct, dragging Yumie with him.

He didn’t know how long they had. One call would be enough. They’d given them justification now - criminals, assets gone rogue.

There was no going back.

No explanations.

No safety net.

As they ran, hand in hand, Braith realized the truth settling heavy in his chest.

They had just burned the only bridge they’d been offered.

And whatever future awaited them now-

They would have to reach it alone.