nexuses

[ somehow, it all went to shit.

in shirou's defense, the entire situation has absolutely nothing to do with him. wars are on a scale too large for a soldier like him to manipulate at will, and even he's not arrogant to believe that his actions have a tipping effect on the grand scale of things. war is made by people up top, moving their pawns around in a mahjong shuffle, and he just happens to be one of the pawns. no, if anything screwed up in the grand scheme of things, he's taking no personal blame for it, thank you very much.

that being said, that doesn't make being stuck with seven trion soldiers in a single city block any more pleasant. shirou considers himself to be some sort of a big-shot (he knows he's good, okay), but seven in a place where civilians haven't fully evacuated is really just too much for a single guy to handle.

(it was that damned new-type. it slammed into the three of them like a bolt out of the blue, and as if the fact that it could fly wasn't insulting enough, it grappled utagawa and slammed into kazama, leaving shirou with this mess and no way of getting back to his team in time to help. he hates that new-type. he hates everything.)

but he has to handle it. failure isn't a word that comes easily to kazama squad, and anyway, it's kazama's orders. secure civilians and then move to help the B-ranks near the city edge; regroup when the situation is right. as of right now, the situation is not yet right; and it's shirou's job, unfortunately, to make it right. he twirls his scorpion as he surveys the scene-- three humanoids, a marmod, one that resembles a large jumping spider, an ilgar in the distance-- and the one he's gonna get rid of first, the bander that's making a mess. his tsk is that of annoyance as he twirls his scorpion, tuning out the terrified screaming of civilians, when--

a spray of bullets connect with the side of the large trion soldier, causing it to balk and screech and shirou to duck with wide eyes. the ensuing metal against metal is akin to dragging sandpaper through his ears and he cringes, even as he dashes forward again under the bullet spray without hesitation, springing up weightlessly to slash right through the trion soldier's core. ]

... Oi. [ ... crap, what was his name again? he can recognize his footsteps even among the carnage of noises vying to distract him from his goal, that half-skip that more resembles someone frolicking in a field of flowers than a soldier on the battlefield. shirou lands in a crouch, and makes a face as his blond hair comes into view. right. that guy. ]

Inukai... -san, [ he tacks on after a moment of reluctance, even as his eyes dart to the right. one of the humanoid's looking this way, and it just plain creeps him out, the way that one, sole, core resembles an eye. carefully, he taps into his com, motioning for inukai to do the same, and heaves a heavy, heavy sigh. ] tell me honestly, do you really have a reason to kill me that badly? [ an annoyed beat. ] It's been three weeks since I insulted your captain; go tell him he should get over it already.