Fracture Bloom

"You've got to be kidding me…" Tenka muttered, her voice dropping to a whisper laced with dread. 

"K-KIRA?!" Kentaro stumbled back, eyes wide. In a flash, he threw himself in front of Serica, arms out like a human shield. "No-wait, wait-!" 

Kira stood across the clearing, gunmetal eyes locked on them. 

Her usually unreadable face was twisted with confusion, betrayal, raw disbelief. 

"Kentaro… w-what are you doing?" she shouted, voice cracking with something deeper than rage. "Get away from her! Now!" 

Serica shrank behind him, trembling. But it was too late. 

Kira had already seen her. And Kira never forgot an Alberline's face. 

"Please, Kira, listen-!" Kentaro started, stepping forward, hands raised. "It's not what you think-" 

But a sharp chime cut him off, the activation tone of Kira's tactical link. A deep hum reverberated as violet light traced up her limbs, and with a flash of raw data, her Cradle armour unfolded around her like snapping glass. Metallic plates locked into place… but it wasn't like the others. 

This suit was sleeker, more agile, and far more lethal looking, less armoured, more exposed. Purpose-built for high-speed engagements. Personal missions. 

Kira's voice came cold through gritted teeth: 

"Cradle Unit 03 reporting. Alberline confirmed. Requesting immediate backup." 

Her eyes didn't leave Serica for even a second. 

"Shit…" Tenka hissed from the comms, biting her nail. "I guess it's time we checked that thing out." 

With trained precision, Kira drew her pistol in one fluid motion and pointed it straight at them. 

Or rather, straight at Kentaro, who refused to budge.

"KENTARO, MOVE!" she screamed, her voice cracked with a mix of fury and fear. "She's using you! Don't let her. GET AWAY FROM HER!" 

There was something else beneath her voice, something jagged and real. Desperation. 

But Kentaro didn't move. 

He knew what might happen. He saw the killing intent in her eyes. But still, he stood tall, arms outstretched. 

"I'm sorry, Kira," he shouted, voice thunderous. "That's something I can't do! Serica is precious to me, someone I've chosen to protect with everything I've got!" 

The air itself seemed to hold its breath. 

Kira's hand trembled. Just for a second. 

His voice, cut deeper than any bullet. 

Her eyes widened. Her pupils shrank. 

"No… that can't be…" she whispered. "She's got you. She's already inside your head…" 

"What did you say?" Kentaro asked, taking a cautious step forward. 

But Kira didn't answer. She just stared, not at Serica. 

At him. Like he was the one being pulled away from her, inch by inch. 

"I have no choice... it seems," Kira muttered. 

"She's got you too good... to the point you won't even listen." 

Her voice was low, cold. Almost broken... 

Then the voice crackled through her earpiece. 

"Agent Kira. You must return to base immediately. There is no Alberline on the radar. This engagement is unauthorized. Fall back." 

"Tsch." 

Kira clenched her teeth so hard it looked like her jaw might snap.

Even though the command was clear...

Even though protocol demanded it... 

Something inside her screamed not to listen. 

Kentaro watched her. 

He could barely hear the voice in her ear.

Faint

Distorted.

But he caught one word. 

"...back..." 

He took a step forward, slowly, cautiously, trying to get closer, to hear more. 

Then she moved. 

In an instant, a blue of motion.

CRACK!

Kentaro's vision snapped sideways. 

Before he could blink, he was on her side, face inches from her armoured waist. 

The wind of her movement had knocked the breath out of him. 

"Sorry, Kentaro, I need you to move," she said softly, almost apologetically. 

"I'm sorry... but this is for your own good." 

And then. 

She vanished. 

A blur. A shadow. A flash. 

She wasn't running. 

She was hunting. 

Blade drawn. 

Heading straight for Serica. 

Time slowed. 

Kentaro's thoughts collapsed into static. 

Serica wasn't like before. Her powers were sealed. She had nothing. 

And Kira.

The Kira who had lost once before.

But now with the power difference, that outcome wasn't going to be the same.

His heart pounded like a war drum. 

Too fast. Too close. Too real. 

He opened his mouth; it was the best a weak College boy like him could do, and with the only words he could say, he screamed out. 

"SERICA!! RUN!!" 

His voice cracked.

Not from fear. 

From sheer, panicked desperation. 

Serica froze. 

Eyes wide. 

Tears forming. 

Fear swallowed her whole. 

Kira's shadow loomed. 

Cold steel catching the light. 

And Kentaro. 

Knew he wasn't going to reach her in time before Kira did. 

"DIIIIIEEEEEE!!!" Kira roared, her voice unhinged as the blade came crashing down toward Serica, frozen in place, trembling. 

Kentaro watched helplessly. 

Time didn't slow. It collapsed. 

His heart wasn't racing, it was detonating, pounding so hard he couldn't breathe. His body screamed to move, but it wouldn't. 

Serica, only a feet away from death, wasn't fighting back. 

She couldn't. 

Her powers were gone. 

But even if they weren't, she wouldn't have used them. 

Hurting Kira, someone clearly connected to Kentaro, would have crushed her more than dying. 

So, instead, she smiled through the tears. 

"I'm sorry, Kentaro... I wish we'd had more time together." 

It was soft. 

Gentle. 

Final. 

Her voice was a whisper against the storm. 

"SERICAAAAA!!" Kentaro screamed, his throat tearing with the force of it. 

Everything went white.

CRACK. 

A sharp, crystalline sound shattered the chaos. 

Kira's blade missed by a hair. 

Serica's eyes snapped open, blinking in disbelief. 

Kira's sword was frozen mid swing, halted an inch from Serica's neck. 

Her feet had been locked to the ground by something slick and gleaming. 

Ice. 

Not metaphorical. Not emotional. 

Actual frost, snaking up from the earth, crystallizing her boots in place like roots from another dimension. 

"WHAT-HOW?!" Kira bellowed, wrenching her body forward. 

Her blade swung again, wide, off balance, too far to reach. 

"NO! NO! NO! NO!" she screamed, slashing wildly, her body barely able to move. 

It wasn't fear. 

It wasn't regret. 

She was literally bound by something not even she understood. 

Serica flinched, then stepped back, adrenaline overtaking the shock. She sprinted around Kira, heart hammering. 

The Cradle operative screamed and spun in place, fury dripping from her in waves. 

"AHHHH-NO! WHY NOW?!" 

Kira's voice wasn't just rage. 

It was betrayal. 

Desperation. 

Something cracked inside her. 

Serica knelt beside Kentaro, grabbing his arm, tears still running. 

Kentaro blinked, stunned. 

His voice was low, raw. 

"Serica... was that you? Did you do that?" 

She shook her head fast, almost terrified by the question itself. 

"N-NO. I can't... ever since the plaza, my powers haven't worked." 

Kentaro turned, eyes wide, staring at the frost still clinging to Kira's boots. 

If it wasn't her... 

Then- 

A sudden blaring siren pierced through Kira's comms. 

"KIRA! STAND DOWN! THAT WASN'T AN AUTHORIZED STRIKE, WE'RE PULLING YOU OUT NOW!" 

But she wasn't listening. 

Her voice dropped to a growl. 

"ACTIVATE SYSTEM OVERDRIVE." 

A mechanical beep confirmed it. 

"Suit power: 88%. Overdrive Engaged." 

Her armour lit up, veins of glowing red pulsing across her limbs. The air around her warped with heat and power. 

With a single step, she shattered the ice beneath her feet, steam hissing violently. 

She turned, face half-shadowed under the red glow of her helmet. And her eyes locked directly onto Serica. 

Kentaro and Serica froze. 

They both knew the truth. 

They wouldn't outrun her. 

Even if they started running now, even if they screamed for help. 

Kira would reach them first. 

The red glow intensified…

THOOM. 

A Cloud of pressurized smoke exploded between them, fast, thick, choking. 

Kentaro flinched. Serica gasped. 

And then, 

A figure stepped out of the fog. 

Casual. Confident. Wearing dark Halcyon gear (like Cradle's, but subtle changes.) 

Collar flipped, masked up, sleeves rolled, A custom gauntlet pulsing with teleport tech lit on his wrist. 

The smoke curled around his boots like it knew who he was. 

Then came the voice. 

"Your saviour has arrived." 

He held up a device, sleek, humming with light, and gave a mock bow. 

"Date's not over yet, kiddos. We're just continuing somewhere a little less...stabby." 

"Shogo!"" 

Both Kentaro and Serica shouted. 

And before Kira could react. 

Flash. 

They were gone. 

"...How.... WHY?!" Kira screamed, her voice raw. 

She sprinted across the Surrounding area, Boots slamming against the concrete, eyes darting through the fog, searching. 

Hunting. 

But it was too late. 

They were gone. 

Gone without a trace. 

Gone because she had hesitated for just a split second. 

And now her comms flared to life. 

"AGENT KIRA! Stand down! You are to return to base immediately. This behaviour is unacceptable! And could have you fired!" 

That voice again, it was louder and filled with anger. It was her commander. 

Her fists clenched so tightly her gloves creaked. 

The breath in her lungs felt like poison. 

It was over. 

Her revenge. 

Her mission. 

Her chance to stop it, to stop her, before someone else got hurt again. 

Wasted. 

Because of that ice. 

She looked down, replaying it in her head again. 

And again. 

"Why... why just my foot? Why didn't she attack me back? Why didn't she defend herself?" 

It didn't add up. 

Serica had power. She'd seen it. She'd fought it in the plaza. 

But this time... nothing. 

No spikes. No distortion. No trigger. 

Just that freeze. 

And it didn't feel like fear. Or retaliation. 

It felt like someone else was there. 

Someone hidden. Someone protecting them. 

She turned her gaze toward the setting sun, heat swirling around her still glowing Armor. 

Behind her, boots echoed, her retrieval squad approaching in formation. 

Silent. Unblinking. Ready to drag her back. 

She didn't turn to face them. 

"It couldn't have been her," Kira muttered. "The radar didn't spike. There was no bloom. No anchor sync. So, who...?" 

Her mind spiralled. 

Who helped her? 

Why is Kentaro siding with an Alberline? 

Why did it hurt like that? 

She stood frozen, every answer slipping through her fingers like sand. 

"Kentaro..." she whispered, voice cracking. 

Her eyes burned, not from rage this time. 

"I hope you're safe..." 

And without another word, she turned her back against the river, her shadow long and fractured against the red glowing skyline. 

The sun dipped low behind her as she vanished into the twilight, leaving only questions behind. 

* 

Kentaro felt weightless. 

That strange in-between sensation, like drifting between dimensions, pulled through space and memory. He'd felt it once before, when he first entered a bloom zone.

But this time, it was different. 

His eyes were closed, but the light behind them grew brighter and brighter... 

Then he opened them. 

And instead of the usual black void, he was greeted by a breathtaking skyline, the entire city stretched out below, glowing in gold and silver beneath the early stars. 

The wind brushed his face gently. The world, for a moment, felt still. 

He turned his head. 

Serica stood beside him, just as speechless. 

"Where's Shogo...?" Kentaro wondered, but then remembered his words: 

"The dates are not over." 

Serica stepped forward, slowly, drawn toward the edge of the rooftop. A sleek guardrail protected the cliff's drop off, but it did nothing to stop her eyes from widening as she leaned forward, mesmerised. 

For a moment... She forgot everything. 

Forgot the riverside fight. 

Forgot the blade. 

Forgot how close she'd come to disappearing forever. 

"Wow..." she whispered. 

Kentaro was about to say something, but then, her shoulders dropped. Her head dipped. 

"Don't you like it?" he asked gently, stepping closer. 

She nodded... But slowly. Her voice cracked. 

"I do... but it's just..." 

A single tear slipped down her cheek, glowing in the light of the city. 

"It's just... I can't have something like this. I don't deserve it. Everyone sees me as a monster. Something broken. So how can I ever have something so... beautiful?" 

The words broke her. More tears followed, quiet, raw, and real. 

Kentaro clenched his fists. 

That feeling, of being disposable, unwanted, like just existing, was a mistake; he knew it too well. He'd lived like that. Until he met Tenka. 

"No." 

His voice rang with something more than conviction; it was pain. 

"Serica. I want you to see things like this, more of them. All of them. I want you to stand in front of every sunset, every skyline, every peaceful night and know that you deserve to be there." 

She looked up at him, eyes wide, but too shocked to speak. 

"Why...?" she whispered. "Why would you want me to have that?" 

Kentaro swallowed, heart pounding, forehead already damp. 

"Because you're the kind of girl who deserves to see everything this world has to offer." 

He reached out slowly. 

"And if no one else will show you... Then take my hand, and I will." 

She stared at his outstretched hand, then fell forward into him. 

Her head pressed into his chest, and her sobs came freely now, broken and childlike, like someone who'd held it in for years and finally cracked. 

"Am I really allowed to have this?" she asked, voice trembling. "Really?" 

Kentaro didn't hesitate. 

"Yes. And I'll be the one to remind you every day until you believe it." 

She slowly looked up at him. 

Her eyes were puffy, red, tear-stained, and somehow, more beautiful than ever. She rested one hand gently over her chest. 

Kentaro covered it with his own. 

His other hand moved slowly to the back of her head, brushing aside her hair. 

His heartbeat thundered in his ears. His mind screamed. His lips were dry. 

"Okay… just the forehead. A quick sync. You can do this, Kentaro…" 

He closed his eyes, leaning in. 

Closer… 

Closer… 

But, 

It wasn't just her forehead that touched his. 

It was also her lips. 

Soft. 

Warm. 

Trembling. 

A kiss. 

His brain short-circuited. 

It wasn't long. It wasn't deep. 

But it sent a wave of something, energy, heat, light, flowing through him like juice pouring into a glass. 

The seal activated. 

"SEAL COMPLETE!" Tenka's voice crackled through the comms, distant and staticky. 

Kentaro's eyes snapped open, his face bright red, blinking rapidly like his soul had just rebooted. 

"Oh-Oh! I didn't mean to. I wasn't trying to kiss!" 

He was silenced by the soft press of Serica's finger against his lips. 

She smiled. 

Still teary-eyed. Still red-faced. Still breathing hard. 

But smiling. 

"That was my way of saying thank you," she whispered. Then winked softly. 

Kentaro's heart exploded. 

"AHHHH-! I can't-WHAT IS THIS LEVEL OF CUTE-?!" 

His soul left his body. 

And for the first time in days… 

Serica laughed. 

The date had been an official success... 

But for how long would this peace last...

Could Kentaro's inner circle be plotting for his demise?

Find out about Volume 2 of Fracture Bloom.