Kazuo woke slowly.
Sunlight filtered through the curtains in warm golden stripes. Afternoon already.
He stretched, yawned, and blinked toward the folded uniform at the foot of the bed.
"…Right."
This wasn't a dream.
No patrols hunting me. No walls closing in. Just… silence.
He stood, stripped off his old clothes, and finally stepped into the washroom.
The shower was hot. Almost too hot. Steam filled the space as weeks of grime, blood, and fear slid off him and vanished down the drain.
He stared at the tiled wall for a long time, letting the water pour down, unsure whether he was breathing or crying.
By the time he stepped out and dressed in the new uniform — jacket sharp, gloves snug — he almost felt like someone new.
A knock came just as he was fastening his belt.
Setsuna's voice followed.
"Still alive in there, Aqua Boy?"
Kazuo rolled his eyes and opened the door. "Can you decide a nickname already?"
Setsuna smirked and nodded once. "You're late. Your squad's waiting."
This was it.
My first real assignment.
My first real day in the squad.
Kazuo walked beside Setsuna down the stone path, sunlight cutting through the high archways of the palace exterior. Each step closer to the training courtyard made his stomach feel tighter.
What kind of people are they?
Will they hate me?
I'm a half-outcast with a noble eye and a slave's eye. Forced into this guard through a political mess. Do they even want me here?
They reached the open arch that led into the training courtyard.
Mana-lamps hovered above the space like dim floating stars, glowing gently in the afternoon haze. Marble columns framed the square. A white banner bearing the royal crest swayed in the breeze. It was quiet — too quiet.
Kazuo stepped through the arch.
Three figures stood near the center.
The first was a girl with messy brown hair, her boots slightly too big, and her stance swaying with a strange, humming rhythm. She wore a green hunter-style outfit — tight around the chest and limbs, flexible at the joints. Light armor patches were sewn into the fabric. Her green hood was thrown back, revealing wild cat-like ears that twitched with every breeze. A dagger hung at her thigh, and a bow with a small quiver of arrows was strapped to her back, with a green clover charm hairpin near her right ear.
Her tail flicked like a lazy pendulum.
The second was a tall elven man — long black hair tied in a low ponytail, glasses balanced on his nose, scribbling furiously into a notebook. He wore a heavy scarf despite the heat and muttered equations under his breath, entirely in his own world.
The cat-eared girl gasped theatrically and practically launched herself toward him.
"You must be Kazuo!" she sang. "Ooooh! I heard you've got the eyes of a rebel prince or something! Let me see!"
She leaned in — way too close.
Kazuo stepped back, startled. "You're… very forward."
Then his brain caught up with what he was seeing:
Tail. Green hood. Cat ears. Real ones.
"You… you're a catgirl."
She blinked innocently. "Well, yeah."
"You're real. Ears, tail… the whole thing." His brain stalled, heart thumping.
She tilted her head, watching him melt down. "You okay?"
He opened his mouth. Closed it. Opened it again.
"Why is my heart doing gymnastics?!"
The elf in the corner sighed without looking up. "We're really doing this."
Setsuna crossed his arms. "Right on time."
Kazuo looked at her like she'd just stepped out of a fever dream. "You're everything I never dared hope existed. Soft. Cute. Real."
She grinned, swaying slightly on her boots. "So… you like cats?"
"I—I love them." Blush crept over his face like a slow ambush. "Just… normal. Totally normal cat-loving guy stuff."
She giggled and spun away, flicking her tail. "You're fun."
Kazuo stood there, paralyzed in soul and spirit.
Setsuna tossed him a rice cracker. "Eat. Breathe."
He caught it in one hand without thinking, still dazed.
She plopped onto a crate and lazily swung her legs. The tiny clover charm at her ear jingled faintly.
"Anyway," she said, "I'm Sora. Don't expect me to use my magic unless we're on an away mission or in an actual emergency. It's… kind of banned otherwise."
Kazuo blinked. "Why?"
She shrugged. "Let's just say… if I use it in a crowd, someone doesn't walk away."
That… doesn't help.
The elf finally spoke, adjusting his glasses. "Tetsu. I handle gear, tech, sometimes metal. Mostly things that explode."
Sora gave a cheerful hum. "He also talks to his gadgets."
"I don't talk to them," Tetsu muttered, not looking up. "I encourage them."
Kazuo stared. "This… is my unit?"
Setsuna finally leaned against a pillar. "Welcome to the chaos."
Sora gave a playful salute with two fingers. "We're not the shiniest squad, but we're the most fun."
This isn't the polished squad I imagined. No golden knights, no noble egos — just a cheerful catgirl, a distracted elf with a notebook and a sarcastic captain. And somehow… that feels more honest than anything else in the palace.
Kazuo stood awkwardly, still catching his breath.
"I really thought I'd meet some snobby noble squad. You know… gold armor, swords that shine even when it's raining. But this—"
He gestured vaguely at Sora's flicking tail, Tetsu's scarf, and the empty training yard.
"This is completely different."
Setsuna leaned lazily against a column, crunching on a rice cracker. "Oh, we've got plenty of those shiny types. Just not here."
Kazuo glanced at Sora, then at Tetsu, then finally at Setsuna. "So let me get this straight. She's not allowed to use her magic except on missions because it's too dangerous… and he uses gadgets that explode?"
"Correct," Tetsu said without looking up from his notebook.
Kazuo blinked. "How is this allowed to be a unit?"
Setsuna shrugged. "Because I said so."
Sora giggled. "We're not fancy. We're functional… mostly."
Kazuo shook his head, half-smiling. "This is insane."
But something about it — the messiness, the lack of stiff formalities — made his shoulders relax. Just a little.
Setsuna dusted off his hands and stood straight. "Alright then. Sora. Tetsu. First impressions?"
Sora tapped a finger to her lips, tail swaying. "I like him. He's funny."
Tetsu finally looked up. "He's loud."
"That's not an impression," Kazuo muttered.
Tetsu adjusted his glasses. "It's a statement."
Setsuna raised a hand. "Right. But you'll want to hear this part. Kazuo's a Water Magic user."
Both Sora and Tetsu actually paused.
Sora blinked. "Wait. Water?"
Tetsu tilted his head, genuinely interested for the first time. "You sure?"
Kazuo frowned. "Yeah… water. Why? Is that strange?"
Setsuna gave a low whistle, brushing crumbs from his gloves.
"You really don't know?"