Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Force or Naruto please support the official release
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CAUSES OF DEATH ARE MANY AND VARIED

OLD AGE, ILLNESS, SUICIDE

BUT OUT OF THAT LONG MORBID LIST, THERE'S ONE END THAT PEOPLE FEAR ABOVE ALL OTHERS
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DEATH BY FIRE

♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢

Inside the Captain's office, I stood with Shinra by my side and Arthur along with Iris on my right. Lieutenant Hinawa stood next to the Captain as Hibana was slightly behind them.

"That's a little harsh." Spoke a young male as he stood before us.

His appearance consisted of a large, dark-brown curly afro, and tired large eyes. His dark eyes seem to lack pupils. He wore a white lab coat with a red and white horizontally-striped vest underneath. Dark-green trousers, and red and blue sneakers.

Hibana had dubbed his arrival as suspicious and I agreed. This prompted him to deny the accusation in an attempt to clear up the misunderstanding.

"After the whole Evangelist incident, every company is under imperial order to step up their scientific investigations, right?." He asked in a joking manner.

"I know we've been lagging a bit in that area", spoke the Captain with slight sweat drops, "but we were searching out new members, in the meantime, Captain Hibana has been providing us with all the support we need."

"Yeaaah but that's a bit of a bad habit to get into, and I'm sure a Captain like her has plenty on her plate already. Hajima saw a problem, and offered me as a solution", He brought his left hand to his forehead, "Therefore, I will now be serving as special Fire Force Company Eight's head scientist, The name's Viktor Licht."

"Smells like a rat if you ask me." Commented Hibana near my ear, whispering to me. I only nod at her with a small smile.

Lieutenant Hinawa spoke with a blank face, "A proper Fire Force salute should be performed with the right hand, not the left one." Licht sweat drops slightly before speaking, "Oh uh, it's not really my thing? I'm sorry, those scientists am I, right? Head in the clouds." He joked before turning to an unsuspecting Shinra with stars in his eyes, almost like a predator looking for prey.

"So indulge my curiosity!" All of us except for Shinra moved away as he jumped toward him, grabbing onto his leg, "I simply have to see your [Adolla-Burst]! Ohh, show me! Ahh! Show me! Ahaha!."

Shinra desperately attempted to kick him away but his hold would not let up as we all stared at them with blank looks.

-----------

The Captain was at his desk while holding a file in hand, "Let's see", he began, "Victor Licht, Advanced placement Imperial University. On top of which, after graduating at the top of your class, you headed the applied pyrokinesiology lab at Haijima Heavy Industries." He lets out a small grunt toward the end.

"What can I say? I'm brilliant!." He replies with a happy smile.

"More like suspiciously brilliant", spoke Hibana, "This place is a dump-" the captain's face contorts in anger, "-why would you want to work here?."

It was a question we were all thinking, just not one we would say so as to not tick off the Captain or Lieutenant.

Licht didn't take long to answer with his same smile, "Haijima kept me cooped up in my lab all the time, and it was starting to get stale. I thought if I joined a job closer to the action I might get some new data out on the front lines or so to speak. If I cause any trouble you can kick me out~ But at least let me join for now~." He spoke that last part in a sort of teasing manner which I found amusing.

His words didn't stop at just there as he quickly changed the topic, "Looking at your staff list I'm a little worried, you guys don't have an engineer yet, do you? It's nice that you have a researcher now, but are any of you qualified to service your vehicle? You gotta take care of that stuff~."

The Captain seemed a bit annoyed as he spoke, "Yeah yeah, that's on the agenda, we have someone in mind already, Lieutenant, have you managed to reach him yet?."

"Vulcan? He hasn't replied." Stated the Lieutenant without even looking up at us.

Vulcan? Where have I heard that name before?, I thought to myself. I had heard that name before, but couldn't remember where.

I thought long and hard, cutting out all the noise around me as I dived into my mind. I must have been doing this for some time since I felt a hand grasp my shoulder and a voice filled my ears.

"(Y/N)?", Spoke the voice of Shinra with a worried expression on his face, "are you alright? We've been calling your name but you wouldn't answer, is everything alright?."

It didn't feel like long but apparently, I had been thinking for quite some time. I give a small smile and nod before mouthing, "yes I'm alright, I must have spaced out, sorry about that."

He nods before the captain is heard once more, "Okay then, Shinra, I want you to head to Vulcan's workshop and take Iris, and Arthur here with you. Before we move forward with anything, I need to make sure this guy Company Eight material." He said with a small smile.

"You think we're good to make that call? Why do you wanna send us? Also, why isn't (Y/N) coming along with us?."

"Vulcan is about your age so you might get along. Just keep it casual, keep it honest, and don't let him think you're trying too hard, and as for (Y/N) here, due to his fight with the intruders and then pushing his ignition ability to the limit back in Asakusa, he isn't exactly at 100% at the moment, so he will spend some time with Captain Hibana so she can see what exactly is wrong with him, now are you ready?"

""Yes Sir!"" Saluted both Shinra and Iris, awakening Arthur from his sleep before he let out a confident smirk toward the Captain. I looked upon them and a thought crossed my mind.

So the Captain personally sought this guy out, and is sending a bunch of teenagers to recruit him? That's a bit...... dumb.

I chuckle lightly as my eyes trail from them and onto Hibana. Our eyes meet and we stay there for a moment before she suddenly turns away, a red hue present on her face.

It was adorable.

◆◇◆◇◆

The three of them had left for Vulcan's workshop, leaving me in the room with Hibana as the Captain and Lieutenant had also left.

I gazed at her with the same expressionless face I wore every day which still seemed to earn a blush from her.

"Shall we get going?" I ask, not finding this moment all that pleasant. She nods her head rather quickly before spinning on her heel and walking out the door, "Yes, we shall."

My lips curve into a small smile at her reaction and I begin to tail her to the vehicle she arrived in. I reach my hand up to the handle and open the door for her, she blushes once more before stepping inside and almost falling.

This will surely be a long day.

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We walked down a long hallway, the same one from when I had invaded the place back when I wasn't in the Force.

I trail down my memories of that day with a certain fondness. Back then, Kurama and I were close, very close. It made my lips form a smile just remembering those times.

Lately, Kurama has grown distant from me which sounds a bit outrageous since he practically lives inside me, my core to be exact. Since joining the Fire Force that's what he's been like. Mostly sleeping or cutting our link whenever I attempt to start a conversation with him.

It felt like I was in this alone for the most part.

"We're here."

I am brought out of my mind by the voice of Hibana as we stop before a large metal door. The door consisted of black color with grey shadings here and there and a large circle with a number five in the middle.

The door opens to reveal a large room inside. It was white...... nothing much could be said about it other than the large glass beside it which held people in lab coats typing away at computers.

"What is this?" I ask, not entirely sure what was happening. Hibana turns to me with a smile on her face, "This is my 'test room', I will use it to see what is happening with your body to make you feel the way you are feeling." She

Ever since the battle in Asakusa I have been feeling a large strain in my body along with a difficulty channeling my flames. The output of my flames as well as their intensity was all over the place. It was like I was relearning the basics all over again.

"Go inside and strap these to your arms, legs, and chest." She said while handing me a case. Inside was two gloves, two ankle bracelets, and a medium size chest strap. I nod and walk inside before equipping all that was handed to me.

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I stood in the middle of the room with a group of people surrounding me. Hibana had stated that they were some of Tokyo's best martial artists. How she got them here is beyond my knowledge.

Hibana's voice rang throughout the room. I could see her speaking into a mic that carried her voice through an intercom.

「This will be nothing but a small spar, please refrain from doing anything rash or dangerous that will hurt each other too much, begin in 3...2....1....go!」

Half of them let out a small battle cry before rushing forward. The other half of them hung back, pointing their hands forward with flames on them.

Altogether there were 6 people.

I sidestepped away from an incoming kick from the top and catch a fist from my right. I raise my knee forward for a hit to the gut but I am blocked by the hand of the third party.

*BAM!*

I raise my guard to block a kick and jump back. I rush forward and land a kick on one of them before initiating combat with the other two. My body moved fluently and gracefully while dodging their attacks.

As I am close to landing a hit on one of them, I stop midway and spin midair, dodging a medium size fireball by mere inches.

These guys are serious, I think to myself as I land on my feet, I guess it's time I take it up a notch.

-—Hibana—-

Now I truly never was one for the whole "Love" stick. In my twenty years on this planet, I had never given it much thought. Always brushing it off as bothersome or a bump in my work.

I did grow up a nun after all.

My life consisted mostly of attempting to figure out the mystery behind human combustion or First-Generation pyrokinetics, otherwise known as Infernals. I thought that I would never find someone who would make my "heart skip a beat" like in those stories or "take my breath away".

But just like any woman my age, I had my fair number of attempts at it........ they were all complete failures.

I had given up on the matter for good............ or so I thought.

It all changed when he appeared.

At first, he was nothing more than some rat who had squeezed his way through my defenses that day with the Infernal.

Then suddenly......... something inside me snapped. Almost like a flame, I didn't know I had, had been lit inside me. It might have been outrageous but I felt an attraction to this boy.

This boy who was younger than me....... Had taken a grasp of my heart and held onto it even to this day.

I had fallen in love!

..........but..........

Right now........

The person standing before me........ was not who I had fallen in love with.

The person before me.... Could not be considered a person at all, he was nothing but a Monster.

Around him lay the unmoving bodies of the group inside. There was blood all around him, even his hands were covered by it. His eyes showed no type of remorse or empathy or any kind of emotion at that.

They were blankly staring at the unconscious bodies before him with what could be considered extreme boredom.

He hadn't even used his flames at all!

He truly...... was a MONSTER.

-—(Y/N)—-

I stood there looking down at the bodies under me. The only thing that moved was their chest as they took short breaths.

Once I had decided to take it up a notch on my technique, it had practically become child's play.

So much so that I had gotten carried away.

My hands dropped with blood, their blood as I asked myself: why are humans so weak? I stared for so long that I had forgotten to blink as a familiar scene played in my head.

I was around 6 when it happened. My trainers pushed me too far and angered me..... so I took it out on them.

The blood on my small slightly chubby hands. The smell of iron and water in the air—almost like rust. And of course, the dead bodies that lay around my small frame.

And those harsh lifeless eyes that held no scar, seemingly staring back at me.

I truly was a MONSTER.

「(Y/N)....... That's enough.」

[!!!]

Suddenly, a slight burning sensation makes its way to my lower back before the world begins to warm around me.

"Vulcan must die"

Spoke a deep voice with a slight echo do it, almost as if they were speaking through some sort of pipe, or maybe even a mask.

That name again. Vulcan. I thought to myself. Why does everyone want him so badly?

My vision shifts before Shinra appears before me. He seemed to be mouthing something but he had a scared expression but it was determined as well. I knew something was about to happen and it would be better if I went with him.

The world around me warps once more and is returned to the same white room with bodies around me.

"Sorry Hibana", I spoke with a slight tone, "but I really must be going. My friends need my help with what is to come."

「Wait, (Y/N)! You can't leave just yet, we still need to—!」

I cut her off by igniting my arms and legs before shooting upwards, smashing through the roof, and flying away. The equipment around my body didn't seem to be able to handle the intensity of my flames as it simply melts away.

If someone was after Vulcan's head, then Shinra and the others would get caught in the crossfire, and I will be there to ensure there alright. After all.....

We are friends....... Right?
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Word Count: 2,627

This was my first time doing a character's POV that isn't the MC's or the reader's, I hope you guys didn't hate it too much.

I apologize for getting this Chapter out so late, I know this one isn't as good as my other ones but that is only because I am a bit rusty and I can assure you the oncoming chapters will be better than this one.

That was all for today, hope to see you at the next one. Peace <3