Smoke hung in the air, thick and low. The broken remains of the stage creaked beneath their boots. The scent of scorched wood and blood lingered.
Itami stood just a few feet from Drex, still gripping what remained of the lightning-forged blade, his injured arm trembling at his side. The glow had faded. The adrenaline hadn't.
He looked at Drex.
Not with fear. Not with awe.With questions.
"What was that?"
Drex didn't answer right away. He stood over the dissolving corpse of the Nomu, his head slightly lowered, watching steam curl from the crushed remains. His armor cracked and hissed softly as it cooled.
"A domain," Drex said finally, voice low. "I'll tell you more about it once we debreif back at base."
Itami stepped closer. "That wasn't like anything I've seen. That thing—your dragon. The swamp. I saw it. I felt it."
Drex's gaze flicked toward him. "Good. Means you're finally opening your senses."
Sirens began too wail outside as the building slowly collapses, only three large concrete pillars held up the roof.
Kael sat on a slab of broken concrete, his forearm wrapped in a torn strip of his coat. "That was one hell of a fight. Haven't seen my own blood in a while."
Drex gave a faint smile — quick, almost hidden — as he pulled off his cracked helmet. "Crazy bastard." He glanced at Itami. "Let's move. Before the cops and heroes show up."
"Damn," Kael said, standing with a wince. "I owe Halo money. You actually smiled again."
He slapped dust off his jacket and grinned at Itami. "Take a good look, rookie. One-in-a-lifetime event."
Itami didn't respond, but his lips twitched to a grin. " Let me go buy a lottery ticket then, since I'm so lucky."
Kael let out a dry laugh as he followed Drex out the building, with Itami following suit. Itami hopped inside the Black SUV with Drex and Kael sitting in the front.
The hum of the engine filled the silence. They drove past buildings and vehicles left ablaze, sirens wailing in the distance, smoke crawling across shattered streets like fog. Street Lights flickered. A hero's voice echoed faintly through a megaphone two blocks down, trying to control the crowd.
"What the hell happened out here? I thought it was only an attack on the theater?" Itami asked as he sees civilians fleeing their homes. No one answered at first. Drex's eyes stayed on the road.
"At first it was only in the distance, an explosion, some screams. I ordered Volt Viper to invesitgate."
Kael flipped open his lighter, the lighter seen better days as it was covered in scratches and dents. But the occasinaol gleam of the light showed its polished silver coat. Sparks came out as he tried to lit his cigarette. " Volt Viper saw Nomus, but not like the ones you dealt with at USJ. One was able to fly and the other was smaller than the one we just faced."
Drex lowered Kaels window just enough where the smoke vents through. " Thats when we heard an explosion nect to the theater and saw the Nomu erupting into flames. It came out of nowhere. You got lucky with Wraith still on the scene as shes the one who escorted Aika to safety."
Itami leaned back into his seat and closed his eyes for a moment. " So where is she now?"
"Back at her residence, once it occurs that something would happen to her, we would escort her out of harms way and she would cancle the tour. " Drex replied, as they make a final turn into the freeway. The flames and smoke slowly fading away. " Now we go back to HQ and debrief.
"So thats it? Were done?" Itami asked, his voice hintied with slight agitated. As memories from the whole tour began to circle in his mind.
Kaels lighter finally sparked to life as he took a deep drag of his cigarette. "Yup were done here Rookie, we wont be escorting her again. Job complete."
Itami sat there in silence as he looked at the seat compartment next to him, opening it finding nothing.
After a long drive, they pulled into the garage carved into the side of the mountain. The heavy camouflaged doors ground shut behind them, screeching against the track as the last sliver of outside light vanished.
The engine clicked as it cooled.
They exited the SUV wordlessly, boots echoing against concrete as they passed through narrow corridors. Lights buzzed overhead—fluorescent, unforgiving. No one said a word.
Through two checkpoints and into the command room.
Sauske and Riven were already waiting inside, seated at the long table under the central light. Riven gave a curt nod. Sauske looked up—eyes shadowed, jaw set.
No Lira again.
Kael dropped into his usual chair with a sigh. Drex remained standing. With a swipe of his hand, the hologram activated—a three-dimensional map flickering into view, its surface dotted with digital markers.
Three red dots glowed.
"Three Nomus. Three emergence sites," Drex said. His tone cold as stone. "All appeared near eachother and at the same time. One hit the theater, one near a hospital and the last one near a residential area."
He paused for a second as a picture of the Nomu and one at the USJ popped up.
"Clearly these incidents are similar but the attack in Hosu looked more of a random terror attack than a coordinated one. Another note is the build of the Nomu are completely different."
Itami than asked "Shouldn't we wait for Lira? She's missing again?"
Drex waved Itami off as a news stream over hosu took over the screen. "She's still escorting the VIP, I'll debfrief her once she's here."
Itami leaned back into his chair as Sauske leaned on the desk "You think this is just some random terror attack by the league of Villains?"
"That is a possibility but not confirmed, this maybe an attempt to make the public scared or just for publicity."
Before Drex can continue Itami spoke up. "Hey uh, I don't know how to fully explain this but. The Nomu." His voice cut through the room as he continued. "I heard it, I felt what it was feeling. I've never felt this when they attacked at the USJ. This Nomu is completely crazy. Call me crazy but— I think it was one of us."
Everyone was silent. As they prossesed his information as Riven said " You were probably having a delusional moment, that creature was a beast, nothing more."
Drex rubbed his chin as he looked at Riven. "No, he has solid reasoning. While trapped in my domain. I saw the Nomus soul. It was a caglamrat of souls and one of them was reaching out to me, desperate for death."
Drex stepped away from the hologram, arms crossed, his tone cooling again.
"There's one more thing before we wrap."
He looked at Itami—not harsh, but direct.
"You failed your assignment."
The room went still. Except Kael, who was still trying to light another cigarette.
Drex continued, voice flat. "Your job was to stay with the VIP. Escort her. Protect her. Instead, Wraith had to clean up your mistake."
Itami didn't flinch. The words didn't sting—they just settled. He already knew.
"I know," he said quietly. "I froze."
Sauske glanced over. His jaw clenched like he wanted to say something—but didn't. He just looked down at the table.
Kael finally lit the cigarette. He took a slow drag, leaned back, and exhaled toward the ceiling. No one broke the silence.
After a pause, Drex spoke again.
"I'll give you leeway this time. The Hosu attack wasn't in the playbook. But you still froze. That can't happen again."
He nodded once toward Sauske and Kael.
"You'll be training with him and me. Twice a day."
Itami looked between them, then nodded.
"Yes, sir."
"Good." Drex turned to the rest of the team. "Itami, you've got the rest of the week off from missions except training. Report to the training grounds at 0600 and 1600 tomorrow. Don't be late."
He let the final words hang.
"Dismissed."
Drex stepped away from the table, his boots echoing off the floor as he exited the room without another word. The doors slid shut behind him, leaving only Kael, Sauske, and Itami in the low-lit debriefing chamber.
No one spoke.
Kael leaned forward, elbows on his knees, slowly lighting another cigarette. The flame caught after a few tries. He didn't say anything—just exhaled smoke toward the table.
Sauske stood still, arms crossed tight over his chest, his jaw clenched like he'd swallowed something bitter. The tension in the room was taut. Something still sat between them—unspoken.
Itami took a slow breath, eyes on the floor. "See you guys tomorrow." Itami said as he walked toward the door, leaving the three alone.
Itamis boots thudded softly on the grass, the wind blowing softly as the trees surrounding his empty home dark as other homes in the distance where lit.
The stars blinked dimly through the thin cloud cover above his home, a quiet patch nestled just outside the main mountain quarters. Wind rustled the grass. A few lights flickered in distant windows. His own house remained dark.
Itami turned on the lights and sat in the backyard, legs crossed, his injured arm resting loosely in his lap. The bandages tugged slightly when he shifted, but he ignored it as the pain slowly subsided.
His gaze was fixed on nothing—just the sky. Quiet. Still.
"I froze."
The words repeated like a pulse.
He could still feel the heat of the Nomu's fire. Still hear the broken voice crying for help. And behind that… Aika's song, her eyes. That glowing blue. That vision.
"No longer you…"
He gritted his teeth, fingers curling around a fistful of grass. Closing his eyes.
Why are they avoiding it like the plague? Pretending nothing happened? Why? Am I the crazy one here?
A sudden weight landed on his back.
"Guess who!" The voice was warm and teasing, grinning right into his ear as arms looped around his shoulders.
"Tch—Lyra, how many times do I have to tell you to stop doing that?" Itami muttered, cracking one eye open.
"What? I haven't done it in a while. Especially since you're never around anymore." Lyra's voice lost just a sliver of its edge as she looked up at the stars with him.
Itami glanced sideways. "Where's Yukiko? Thought you two were always joined at the hip."
Lyra flicked the back of his head, then shifted off his back, settling down beside him in the grass. "We're not always together, you know. She's busy training. Barely has time to breathe, let alone hang out."
Itami exhaled slowly as the quiet settled between them. The sky above was streaked with bright stars.
"You gonna tell me what happened with your arm?" Lyra asked, her voice calm but with a hint or worry.
Itami glanced down at the bandages. "Got hurt doing a mission. Nothing major—I'll be healed up soon ."
"So that's why you were gone the past few days?" she asked, tilting her head as she hugged her knees close.
"Yeah." He looked out at the trees. "Did I miss anything while I was gone?"
Lyra sighed, a soft breath as the wind stirred her hair. "Not really. Just the usual drills. Yukiko and I went outside the village again, although Akuma escorted us again and he got drunk so I had to drive. That was fun, driving around."
He let out a faint chuckle. "Sounds like him."
Silence again. Not heavy. Just present.
"You've been doing that a lot lately," Lyra said looking directly at him. Like she's looking more than what's on the surface.
Itami raised a brow. "Doing what?"
"Coming back different. Like part of you didn't make it all the way home."
He didn't answer right away. His gaze dropped to the grass.
"I'm fine," he said eventually.
"Right," Lyra murmured, then her tone more softly and with concern. "I'm always here. You know I'll always be there for you."
Another silent moment passed before her face turned red as she realized what she said, than said smacking Itamis shoulder. " Since your back are you going back to school or lined up for another mission?"
He shrugged. "No. UA gave us the week for these Internships and my supposedly internship was the mission but it ended early. Now the our finals are coming up and Summer break is around the corner."
Lyra turned her head toward him, something sparking behind her eyes. "Huh…"
"What?"
She stood suddenly, brushing grass off her legs. "Nothing. Just got a thought."
Itami looked up at her, suspicious. "That usually means trouble."
She grinned. "Then you'd better rest up, hero."
And just like that, she jogged off into the night, the sound of her footsteps fading behind the rustle of the trees.
Itami watched her go, a half-smile forming at the edge of his mouth. He didn't know what she was planning—but for the first time in days, the weight on his chest felt a little lighter.