Echoes of the Fall

The sensation of hot water hitting grimy skin was, for Ken, almost a religious experience.

He and Natasha had been escorted to a special sector of Yokota Air Base, reserved for high-ranking officers and special cases. Here, the hell of the Glass Forest and the forced march through the ruins seemed to fade for a moment. They were given real food, hot rice, miso soup, canned meat, treated by medics who bandaged their cuts and provided clean uniforms while their shredded battle gear was sent to be washed.

An hour later, clean and fed, the duo was called to a private meeting room. It was a space with gray metal walls and a long tempered-glass table. The air conditioning hummed softly.

Ken and Natasha sat on one side. Natasha, in her impeccable uniform with her purple hair still damp, looked regal and composed. Ken, though in clean clothes, couldn't stop bouncing his leg with anxiety.

Across the table, Kaori Watanabe watched them, a teacup in her hands. Her fox earrings glinted under the artificial light.

"I'm glad to see you look like people and not wild beasts," Kaori began with a soft smile. "Kyosuke told me a lot about you two. Especially you, Natasha. Said you were the only one who could put up with his bad moods."

Natasha didn't return the smile, getting straight to the point. "Where is Kyosuke? I didn't see him in the hangar or the infirmary."

"Don't worry," Kaori replied, setting her cup down. "He's fine. I sent him on an aerial reconnaissance mission a few hours ago with a drone squadron. We need to know what's happening out there. He'll probably be back later."

Natasha let out an almost imperceptible sigh, her shoulders relaxing slightly. "Understood."

Kaori's expression turned serious. She pressed a button on the table, and a hologram unfolded between them, showing a map of the Kanto region littered with red lights.

"Now, to the important matter. What happened at Hachioji wasn't an isolated incident." Kaori moved her hand, and the map zoomed in. "Shortly after you left for your training 'excursion,' Calamity creatures began emerging simultaneously near multiple installations. It was a coordinated attack. They hit generators, communications, and escape routes all at once."

Ken looked at the map in horror. Not just Hachioji blinked red; bases in Saitama, Kanagawa, and Chiba were also marked as "Compromised" or "Destroyed."

"Hachioji was one of the last to fall," Kaori continued. "Thanks to the desperate defense by Kyosuke and the young Tanimoto from Squad A, they bought time to evacuate civilians and novices. But even they have limits. When the walls gave way, retreat was the only option. The survivors who could make it are here, regrouping."

"Tanimoto...?" Ken murmured.

"Still listed as missing in action," Kaori admitted with regret. "But there's something more disturbing about these attacks. They're not random."

Kaori swiped her finger across the table, and several photographs appeared. They were blurry, taken by drones from a great distance, but their content was chilling.

The first photo, taken in the ruins of Hachioji, showed a feminine silhouette walking through the fire. She had long purple hair and a white blindfold over her eyes. "This woman led the final assault on your home," Kaori said. "According to reports, she possesses overwhelming physical strength."

Then, she moved to the next photo. This one had been taken at a northern installation in Saitama. Ken felt his blood run cold. There it was. The black samurai armor. The aura of death. The Regent.

"The Regent was sighted leading attacks on other installations almost simultaneously," Kaori explained. "It moves fast. It's destroying the fortresses, one by one."

Natasha clenched her fists on the table. "If this continues," Kaori said, switching off the hologram, "the entire Kanto zone will fall, leaving Yokota as the last bastion at the mercy of the Calamity. We are trying to contact other surviving bases to form a united front, but communications are a disaster."

Kaori leaned forward, fixing them with her blue eyes. "For this defense to succeed, I need both of your help. Natasha, I need your tactical experience and your S-Class power. And Ken... Kyosuke believes you are the key to turning the tide of this war. Will you help us?"

Ken and Natasha didn't look at each other. They didn't need to.
"I accept," said Natasha.
"Count me in," said Ken, with iron determination. They had trained in a crystal hell for this moment.

Kaori smiled, this time with genuine gratitude. "Thank you. I knew I wasn't wrong about you two."

Kaori stood, ending the meeting. As she gathered her documents, she glanced at Ken sidelong, as if remembering something trivial. "Ah, by the way, Ken. I think there are some people in the Rec Area who have been asking about you since they arrived. A loud boy with round glasses and another big, muscular one who doesn't seem to talk much."

Ken's eyes lit up. "Shinji? Yamato?"

"Possibly," Kaori said with a shrug. "They seemed quite worried..."

However, before Kaori could finish her sentence, a gust of wind ruffled her papers. Ken's chair was empty and spinning. The meeting room door had slammed open and shut. Ken had run out without even asking for permission.

Kaori blinked, surprised, then looked at the closed door. Natasha remained seated, sighing and rubbing her shoulder.

"I didn't even tell him where the Rec Area was," Kaori remarked, amused.

"He'll find it," Natasha said, standing up calmly. "That idiot has a radar for trouble and for his friends."

"He's impulsive," Kaori observed. "I like him. That boy seems interesting."

Natasha walked toward the exit, pausing for a moment beside Kaori. "He's more than interesting, Kaori. He's a walking disaster. But he's our walking disaster."

With that, Natasha left the room, leaving the leader of Yokota alone with the maps of a war that had only just begun.