Inside one of Mercury's outer research bays—cold, quiet, dimly lit save for the pulsing blue lights of holo-terminals—Kai sat hunched over a curved desk, fingers twitching, eyes hollow.
Holograms of weapon schematics floated in the air before him—disjointed shapes, fragmented blueprints, shattered ideas that refused to come together.
Another design failed.
He sighed, dragging a hand down his face, sweat clinging to his brow. For the last eight hours, he hadn't left the lab. His tea had gone cold. The food tray next to him sat untouched.
"No... no, that's not good enough either," he muttered, deleting another design with a flick of his hand.
The room was littered with old attempts. Blades that would overheat. Plasma rifles with too much recoil. Gauntlets that drained too much energy too fast. Nothing worked. Nothing gave them the edge they needed.
They needed a weapon—something different. Something unpredictable. Something that could challenge Lionel's demonic machines and their unnatural resistance to standard tech.
Kai clenched his jaw.
"If I can't outfight them... then I'll outthink them."
His fingers moved again, fast and furious. Sparks of light traced the next design—one based not on strength... but adaptability.
He stopped, staring at it.
A hybrid system. Manual and magic. Steel and plasma. Predictive AI targeting built right into the core.
His breath caught.
"Maybe..."
He leaned in, eyes scanning every glowing line.
"Maybe this could work." Kai stared at the projection.
Then pressed "begin simulation."
The lab filled with a low hum. The weapon design flickered into a virtual battlefield—target dummies lined up across scorched terrain, their forms glowing red.
The weapon locked on.
Fired.
And exploded in his face.
The screen glitched. Sparks burst from the console. Smoke hissed out of a vent above.
"...You've got to be kidding me."
He facepalmed, groaning. "I did cram a lot into that crap..."
He slumped back in his chair, rubbing his hand through his hair violently. "Magic and plasma just can't mix. Takashima already told me that... Gosh, I hate it when he's right."
Everything he tried had already been done or seemed to explode.
He leaned farther back in his chair, staring blankly at the ceiling. Exhaustion clung to him like a second skin.
"What should I do..."
His communicator rang.
Kai groaned and answered it. "Yes, Master, what is it?"
Takashima's voice came through the speaker, sharp and without patience. "I'm here telling you to get your ass in gear and figure something out."
"Easier said than done," Kai said sternly.
"Yeah, yeah. Listen—we don't have a lot of time. I'm needing something new, okay?"
Kai knew he was right, and that only annoyed him more.
"Yeah... I know."
"Good. I'll leave you to it."
The call ended.
Kai tossed the communicator onto the desk with a sigh, dragging his palms down his face.
"Rushing me won't help."
And yet, he kept going.
He wrote. Designed. Reconfigured. Drew new schematics. Started over. And again. And again.
Hours passed. The digital clock on the wall blinked uselessly.
Massive bags formed under his eyes, but he didn't stop. He couldn't.
Because if he didn't create something—something truly new—they were all going to die.
He was about to call it quits, eyes half-shut, his head sagging forward toward the console.
Then something soft brushed gently through his hair.
He flinched, blinking in confusion. He looked up, his vision blurry from hours of sleeplessness.
Standing above him was Rose, her hand resting lightly on his head. Her expression was soft—almost… gentle. A rare smile tugged at her lips.
Kai jolted backward in pure reflex, crashing out of his chair and sprawling onto the floor.
"ROSE!? What the hell are you doing here?!"
She huffed, arms crossing tightly over her chest. Her cheeks puffed up in mock frustration, and her tail flicked behind her in agitated rhythm.
"I came to check on you, idiot! You've been locked in this lab for days. I haven't seen you train all week."
Kai groaned, rubbing his face and dragging a hand through his messy hair.
"I'm busy, that's why! I need to figure something out. Something to stop what happened on Mars from ever happening again."
He pulled himself back into his chair, brushing ash and dust off his lap. His glasses sat crooked on his face, but he didn't bother fixing them.
"You need to get some rest, idiot," Rose muttered, gaze drifting away. "Not like I care though…" Her voice trailed off with a soft tsundere-like grumble.
Kai adjusted his glasses with a sigh. "I'll stop soon, okay? Just… give me a little more time."
Rose didn't reply immediately. She simply dragged a chair across the floor with a screech and dropped into it beside him.
"Fine. I'm staying here too," she declared. "Just to make sure you don't stay up all night like a dumbass again."
Kai groaned. "Fine, fine... Just don't bother me."
But concentrating with her there was near impossible.
How is she acting so calm and carefree...? he thought bitterly, fingers twitching at the controls. We literally spent the night together and now she's just… chilling like we're back in homeroom.
He flushed slightly, trying to suppress the heat rising in his cheeks.
Rose noticed right away.
That smug little grin crept across her face—the kind that said I know exactly what you're thinking.
She leaned in, elbows on the desk, her breath brushing against his neck.
"Thinking about work, huh?" she teased, voice low and playful.
Kai's eyes darted away.
"Of course I am."
She reads me like a book, he thought, practically sweating now. I mean... are we a thing or not? I can't ask her. If I do she'll probably say—
"Oh, just because we made out and slept together you think we're a couple? Hah! You've got a lot to learn, Kai."
His face twitched violently.
"GOSH—WOMEN!!" he hissed under his breath, scrubbing a hand down his face.
He let out a long exhale, trying to keep his voice steady.
Then—he spoke.
"Rose," he said, without looking at her. "Do you really… like me?"
There was a moment of silence.
The hum of the lab seemed to grow louder in the pause, and for a heartbeat, he almost regretted asking.
But he didn't take it back.
Rose didn't speak right away.
Kai stayed quiet too, unsure, the soft hum of the lab filling the silence between them. Then finally, her voice came—quiet, trembling.
"Kai…"
He looked up, startled by the softness in her tone.
"I want to say I'm sorry."
Her hands were clenched in her lap now, her tail limp behind her. She didn't meet his eyes.
"I shouldn't have done what I did that night," she said, voice shaking. "We didn't use anything. I wasn't thinking. I was scared… you were the only one who made me feel safe."
She paused, swallowing back the tightness in her throat.
"I really do love you," she whispered. "I have for a while now. But I've been so afraid that maybe you don't feel the same."
A tear slid down her cheek as she forced herself to look at him.
"What if I took that moment from you? That first time… it's something that should be shared with the woman you love. And maybe you were supposed to give it to her—not to me."
Her voice cracked as she tried to hold herself together.
"I didn't mean to take that from you, Kai. I just—" her breath hitched, and she wiped at her eyes. "I didn't want to be just some mistake you made in the middle of a war."
She looked down again, shoulders shaking.
"I love you, and I'm terrified that I ruined something that mattered to you… just because I couldn't hold back what I felt."
His face softened.
So that's how she feels… she really does. It wasn't just in the moment. Not just out of fear or adrenaline. It was real.
Kai looked at her—really looked. Her ears drooped low, her tail limp behind her, and her hands trembled slightly where they were clenched in her lap. The strong, teasing, loudmouthed Rose… was sobbing in front of him. For him.
She really loves me.
Kai sighed quietly, his eyes lowering to the floor.
But… do I love her back?
His heart thudded painfully in his chest. He didn't know what love was supposed to feel like. But the thought of Rose not being around tomorrow—that thought hurt more than it should've.
"Rose…" he finally said.
She looked up, eyes red and glistening, her breath caught in her throat.
"Don't beat yourself up over this," Kai muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. His voice was lower, not his usual snarky tone. "Gosh, you're such a pain…"
He turned his head, avoiding her eyes.
"Look… I don't hate you. I mean, I'm not exactly good at this stuff. But I'm glad you're thinking about my feelings."
He dragged in a breath, his face already burning red.
"But…"
He groaned under his breath, shoving his glasses up with one hand to cover his expression.
"I guess I like you too."
There was silence.
Then—snap.
Rose stood up so fast her chair screeched against the floor.
She stomped toward the door, tail swishing aggressively.
"You're impossible! I pour my heart out, tell you I love you, and you hit me with the most awkward, half-baked 'I guess I like you too'?!"
Kai flinched. "Wha—hey, I didn't mean it like that! I just—!"
The door hissed open.
"Don't stay up all night again, genius," she snapped, marching out in a flush of frustration.
Kai stared after her, running a hand down his face.
"…Gosh, she's impossible," he mumbled. His voice dropped even lower. "Impossible."
He slumped back in his chair, muttering curses under his breath as he looked back at his screen—though his thoughts were definitely no longer on the weapon.
Meanwhile, outside the lab door, Rose had stopped just around the corner. She leaned back against the wall, then slowly slid down until she sat on the cold floor.
Her face was beet red. Her tail curled tightly around her legs as she buried her face in her hands.
A soft, shaky laugh escaped her.
"Kai… you idiot," she whispered. "Why did I fall in love with you?"
But she was smiling. A real, warm, glowing smile
He sat back down into his chair, letting the silence of the lab settle in around him.
"Damn it, Rose… now I can't think," he muttered, dragging a hand down his face.
The console in front of him blinked idly. Schematics, formulas, diagrams—all of it a blur now.
His thoughts drifted, uninvited, to the years before Mars. Before the war. When it was just him and the silence. A quiet apartment. Cold meals. Empty holidays. Long nights spent tinkering, not because anyone asked him to—but because it was the only thing that filled the void.
No one to talk to. No one to miss him.
Back then, no one waited for him to come home.
Now… someone did.
Kai leaned forward slowly, resting his elbows on the desk, letting out a long, heavy breath.
His glasses slipped down a little as his eyes closed.
"O Great spirit... Please let this be diffrent"