Fractured Ice

  I thought we’d have more time. After what happened with Mina, we needed time.

  But the world doesn’t wait for us to heal.

  Especially not for Yuki.

  It began with snow. Out of nowhere, in the middle of April.

  We were just leaving the hospital when the alarm hit.

  “VFO Unit 06. Frozen outbreak in Higashikawa District. Multiple citizens immobilized. Possible cryo-Akujin.”

  I looked to Yuki.

  She had stopped walking. The snow was falling harder.

  Her eyes, usually unreadable, were wide with dread. She whispered, “No…”

  Takeshi moved to her side instantly. “What is it?”

  Her voice cracked. “It’s him.”

  When we arrived, ice blanketed the streets like a coffin. Power lines crackled. Civilians lay frozen in place, their eyes open in fear.

  And in the center of it stood a man—tall, broad-shouldered, eyes cold and empty.

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  Rei Shirase. Yuki’s father.

  He turned at our approach, ice crawling at his feet like a living thing. “You grew up cold, Yuki. Just like your mother.”

  Takeshi stepped forward, fury radiating from him. “Don’t you dare—!”

  But Yuki held up a hand.

  “No,” she said. “I’ll deal with him.”

  The air grew colder with every step she took.

  “You taught me fear,” she told him. “But not how to break.” Rei laughed, bitter.

  “Then let me remind you.”

  He raised his hands—icicles shot forward like blades. Yuki ducked, slid, countered with a flurry of her own snow daggers. But she was trembling.

  “Yuki!” I shouted.

  Takeshi started to charge in—but she stopped him again with a glare.

  “I have to do this.” They clashed.

  Ice and ice.

  But Rei was faster. Stronger. A monster fed by hatred.

  “You’re weak,” he spat. “That’s why your mother left.” Yuki’s footing faltered. A shard grazed her shoulder.

  Then another.

  Takeshi couldn’t take it anymore. He broke rank and sprinted to her. “YUKI!”

  The moment he entered the field, Rei turned on him. “You think you can protect her? You’re nothing.”

  He sent a wave of ice crashing into Takeshi’s chest. He flew back, groaning in pain—ice spreading across his arm.

  Yuki screamed.

  Something broke in her. All the walls. All the fear.

  “You don’t get to hurt him!” she cried.

  She slammed her palms into the ground. A surge of frost shot outward—beautiful and brutal. Her own ice overwhelmed his, blooming upward like crystal flowers.

  For a moment, it was silence.

  Then Rei crumpled to the ground—ice cracking away from his body. We rushed in. I caught Takeshi’s arm. Yuki dropped beside him, crying—genuinely crying, for the first time I’d ever seen.

  “I’m okay,” he said hoarsely. “I’m okay…”

  She buried her face in his chest. “I thought I lost you.”

  Takeshi wrapped his good arm around her. “You won’t. I’m not going anywhere.”

  Later, back at the hospital, the doctors told us Yuki would need to use a crutches for a while—her stomach was too badly damaged from shielding Takeshi. She didn’t say anything when they told her.

  Just stared out the window. But when Takeshi came in and sat beside her, she finally spoke.

  “I hate that he still got to me.”

  He shook his head.

  “He didn’t win. You did. You always do.”