Chapter 6: Into The Bloom

For what felt like forever, all Kentaro could see was white. 

Light flashed, then vanished. The roar of teleport energy dropped into complete silence. 

His feet hit something solid. 

The moment stretched. 

He blinked, eyes adjusting to a cold, endless blur. Breath shallow. Limbs numb. The Anchor circlet on his head pulsed with a low, throbbing that vibrated in his skull. 

Then, clarity snapped in. 

The plaza. 

But not his plaza 

The world around him was a twisted reflection, a bloom and Kentaro had stepped right into its fractured heart. 

Frozen rain hung suspended midair, sharp as glass. The concrete shimmered like blue ice, laced with veins of cracking light. Buildings warped in impossible like forgotten memories. Every sound was wrong, his own breath echoed five seconds late, his heartbeat looped and overlapped.

Even his shadow looked off. Wrong shape. Wrong time. 

The Anchor circlet screamed in his ear, a pure, high note that rose and fell like a warning bell. 

"Crap..." Kentaro whispered, clutching the side of his head. "This is a level 2?"

He staggered forward, his boots crunching over brittle frost. The Plaza was empty, eerily so. Ice covered everything. Even the memories. 

But there was still no sign of Ice-Breaker. 

Not yet. 

He moved with care, entering the frostbitten corridor, where the plaza opened up, surrounding the area were loads of shops, and in the middle near the front door was two escalators, the same space where he and Tenka used to hang out after school. Where they'd laughed. Shared food. Watched Festival dancers pass by. 

Now it was dead. Frozen. Silent. 

Until. 

There. 

Just ahead, between the twin escalators, she stood. 

Ice-Breaker. 

His second ever encounter with an Alberline. 

She looked small. Not fragile. Not helpless. Just... Detached. 

Cloaked in black frost. Shoulders trembling. Head down. A soft whimper carried through the air like a broken violin note. 

She was crying. 

They were real tears. But they floated around her, Suspended, locked in along with the rest of building. 

Kentaro stepped forward, pulse climbing. 

"H-hey..." he said quietly. "what's your na-" 

But before he could finish his sentence pain slammed into him like a migraine from hell, almost like someone threw a spike at the centre of his skull. 

He dropped to one knee, clutching his head. Blood pooled in his vision. His Anchor circlet flared red hot. 

Each step closer made the pressure worse, like his own memories were being torn out of him and shredded. 

He stumbled back two steps. The pain faded immediately. 

"Is this some kind of mental barrier...?" he hissed, panting trying to centre himself. 

Then- 

Her voice. 

"W-who... are you?" 

"W-who... are you?" 

So quiet. So fragile. 

So heavy with fear. 

He looked up 

Her lips barely moved. Her eyes never met his.

Still, he forced out words, voice shaking. 

"I'm.... Kent-" 

He didn't finish.

Searing cold wrapped around his left hand. 

He screamed. 

Frost raced up his arm like liquid metal, turning skin to cracking blue glass. 

"PLEASE! I'm not here to hurt you!" he shouted, his voice echoing across the Plaza. 

But the Alberline didn't flinch, it was clear she didn't trust his word. 

"Your lying" She whispered. Then Louder. 

"You're all liars. You want me gone." 

Her voice deepened, no longer soft. Not innocent. It became inhuman, like a distortion echoing from the ice itself.

"Your with them humans aren't you, y-you want me dead." 

Kentaro thrashed his arm against a pillar, shattering some of the ice off. His skin stung with frostbite. But even so, he did not care about that his eyes fixated on her. 

"I'm not! I swear, i came here to help you!" 

She looked at him now, finally. Eyes hollow and shimmering like frozen moons. 

"Go, Go away," She said Coldly.

"If, you Value your life." 

With a flick of her wrist, a cyclone of frozen wind tore through the hallway like a cannon blast. It hit Kentaro full force, launching him backwards. 

And straight out of the front door. 

He crashed into the icy pavement outside, tumbling like a ragdoll, scraping against concrete. 

He laid there for a second, his breath gone. 

"Tch... That... Hurt..." 

Ice clung to his jacket. Blood in his mouth. He wiped it off with a shaky laugh. 

Then. 

BBZZT 

"KEN! Are you all right?" 

Tenka's voice in his ear, firm, sharp, but layered with concern. 

He sucked in air. "Still here. Slightly airborne. With minor bruises." 

The comm crackled, Haruka's voice filtered in next. 

"We saw everything. Drone visuals confirmed: physical rejection and memory feedback. Her Bloom is defensive-first. You're lucky you didn't get shattered." 

Kentaro spat onto the ground, shaking the last frost from his collar. 

"Yeah. Felt like getting hit with a snowplough made of knives." 

Tenka cut in. 

"Listen, Ken. You must remember, she's scared. Every Alberline we've made contact, has already been attacked by Cradle. Their entire view of humans is twisted." 

"Understood. But then how do I get through to her?" he asked, staring at the frozen doors, still pulsing faint blue. 

Tenka paused. 

Infront of her in the command room everything was all red, the lights flickering feeds. 

Tension clung to the air like frostbite. 

Onscreen, ice-breaker remained hunched beneath the escalators, silent and shaking. Her tears floated upward in slow spirals. Kentaro, still outside, Knelt just past the threshold, one foot in the cold, one eye on the storm 

"Ideas NOW!" Tenka's voice cut through the room. 

"She's unstable, he's bruised, and we are running out of time" 

Shogo raised a hand immediately, far too confident. 

"Okay, okay, okay, hear me out," he said, already way too excited.

"What if we, like… catapulted Kentaro back in from above naked?" 

Dead silence. 

"I mean, think about it. She wouldn't expect a guy flying at her, right? And the whole no-clothes thing? Total distraction. It'll buy us time. I'm not wrong, am I?" 

Everyone stared. 

Somewhere in the room, a pen slipped from someone's hand and hit the floor with a soft clack. 

Mika didn't even look up from her console. 

"Shogo. That's not a strategy. That's, That's." 

She couldn't finish the sentence. 

Drone (Daichi) Chuckled. 

"I mean... It'd be cool. Just not survivable. 

Shogo, muttering: 

"Okay, damn, everyone is too sensitive." 

Haruka stepped in quickly before Tenka could react. 

"What we know, she reacts to verbal input with hostility, but she didn't freeze him immediately on sight. So maybe if we keep things non, verbal," 

Yumi cut in, soft but clear: 

"She's terrified. She thinks any touch is an attack. We need a way to break through without looking like a threat." 

Riku, arms folded tight. 

"Only thing that's gonna break her trance is emotional shock. We need to snap her out of the loop she's caught in." 

Mika nodded. 

"She's not just breaking down, she's looping. Same pattern of tears, same posture. Her trauma's feeding the bloom." 

Tenka paced slowly behind the projector. 

"What if..." she murmured. "What if he doesn't sync with her?" 

The room paused. 

"What if she syncs with him?" 

Haruka blinked 

"You mean, transfer the anchor?" 

Tenka turned toward the screen. 

"Exactly. He's wearing it. But it's not working. She's rejecting every signal. So give her the anchor. Let her feel what he's feeling. Let her choose to connect." 

Drone, eyes widening. 

"That'd reverse the sync. We've never done that before." 

Emi crunched her sunflower seed. 

"Because no one's been crazy enough to get that close." 

Tenka chimes in. 

"He doesn't need to be close right away. Just enough to place the anchor. The touch completes the loop." 

Riku leaned in. 

"And how does he survive long enough to make the handoff?" 

Tenka turned back to the team. 

"We're going to test the route. Controlled re-entry. A calm walk-in isn't working clearly. So we try it differently. 

Mika raised an eyebrow. 

"Please Commander define 'differently' 

Tenka looked toward the exit hatch. 

Then down to Kentaro on the screen. 

"We swing him back in. 

But not Shogo-style." 

Shogo immediately perked up, clearly offended. 

"What's that supposed to mean?" 

Tenka smirked slightly. 

"It means with timing, not chaos." 

She nodded once, and as if it had been rehearsed, Haruka stepped forward, her tablet glowing faintly under her arm. 

"We've been monitoring her movement patterns. They're not random." 

She tapped the screen once, freeze-frame footage looped on the projector. 

"Each time she attacks or lashes out, there's a pause afterward. 

Like a recharge phase. A low-state window." 

Shogo, squinting: 

"Recharge? So… she's a phone?" 

"No, idiot," Mika snapped. "She's traumatized. That's her version of breathing." 

Haruka continued, unbothered. 

"It's roughly five to ten seconds each time. Not long, but enough. 

If we sync Kentaro's entry right after one of her outbursts, she'll be at her weakest. Least reactive. Least afraid." 

She paused. 

"But we'll still need speed. Or we get another ice cannon to the chest." 

Riku nodded, arms crossed. 

"We cut the distance first. Put him just outside strike range. Then drop him in with momentum." 

Drone stood up his face lit up. 

"I've got a drone with a mini sling attachment. Not enough to launch him, but it can push him forward fast if he's already moving." 

Emi, her face flat not impressed by the idea presented. 

"So... We're literally pushing our anchor into a time bomb" 

"Better than yeeting him like a projectile," Mika muttered while glancing at Shogo. 

Tenka pointed towards the plaza feed. 

"We keep him low, silent, and we time it to the heartbeat. He enters as she exhales." 

She looked at Kentaro's cam feed, he stood just past the threshold, tension coiled, eyes locked on the frozen doors. 

"Ken. Ready for round two?" 

His voice cam through the comms, breath sharp but there was a hint of nervousness. 

"I Was born ready." 

He paused letting out a massive sigh 

"J-just please don't use Shogo's idea" He said dejected, anticipating them to use his idea. 

"HEY!, WHAT WRONG WITH MINE IT'S GENIUS!" Shogo protested. 

Tenka smiled faintly, a rare moment of softness cutting through the tension. 

"Don't worry, I'd never do that to you," she said, giggling slightly. 

Then, she went back to commander mode. 

"Let's move. Kentaro, follow our lead." 

"YES MA"AM!" Kentaro barked, his mentality in full soldier mode as he jogged toward the frozen door with the confidence of a man who didn't know yet, what his life had in store from him. 

But just before his hand could reach the frosted handle, he froze, not from the cold or the Alberline's aura.... But because something buzzed above him. 

A drone. A single drone. 

His spine locked. 

Until Tenka's voice came through the comm: 

"Kentaro, that's Drone's unit. He's lowering a rope, i need you to grab it. We'll use it to drop you in close. 

But brace yourself." 

Kentaro looked up just in time for the rope to gently slap him in the face. 

"Ow... Okay, this is starting to feel like on of Shogo's plans." 

Drone chimed in, full of confidence. 

"Don't worry my man Ken. 

Unlike Mr dingbat Shogo, you won't be forty feet in the air screaming for your mother. 

He paused a light smirk was made on his face. 

"You'll only be... like, five at most." 

Kentaro squinted, grabbing the rope. 

"Why dose that still sound life threatening?!" 

He got no response. 

Nevertheless, he held on. 

The drone began to drift backwards, slowly lifting him off the ground, prepping for momentum. 

His grip tightened. His doubt increased. His soul started writing its will. 

"J-just drone, please don't launch me straight into a wall or a support beam or an escalator or-" 

No one answered. 

And then the drone stopped mid-air. 

And then- 

WHOOOM! 

The drone shot forward like a fired cannonball. 

Kentaro screamed like a civilian in the middle of a cursed episode. 

The wind slapped his face. His legs kicked. The door grew closer. 

"WAIT-WAIT, THE DOOR'S STILL CLOS-" 

The sound of the door being smashed into was loud, as Kentaro blasted through the door like a human missile, spraying ice and shards across the entrance. 

"SUCCESS!" Mika shouted punching the air 

"Hold up." Shogo muttered, squinting. 

Dose anyone... know how he's gonna stop?" 

Haruka went silent. 

Tenka paled. 

Then came in the realization. 

"...OH SHIII-" 

Kentaro still screaming was now flying through the plaza. 

At high speed. 

On a direct collision course with the girl. 

Ice-Breaker hadn't moved. 

She stood still, weeping softly, until her eyes finally lifted. 

And she saw him 

The same boy from before. 

But this time. 

In Mid-air. 

His face flattened by wind pressure. 

Expression somewhere between apology and abject terror. 

Her eyes went wide. 

Not with sadness. 

Not with confusion. 

Pure. Existential. Fear. 

"I'M SORRRYYYYYY!" Kentaro wailed. 

And smashed directly into her. 

The two flew deeper into the plaza, Kentaro spinning mid-air like a panicked human frisbee, trying with all his might to shield the girl from impact. 

He twisted, bracing himself, and wrapped his arms protectively around her as they tore through a frozen display rack and past a crumpled bubble tea stand. 

"This is it," he thought, teeth clenched, "This is how I die," 

With a final, bone-jarring skid, the pair smashed into the floor tiles and came to a screeching halt, right next to the one store Kentaro had actively avoided since he was twelve, a very pink, very overstocked lingerie boutique. 

Panting. Dazed. Dignity in shreds. 

Kentaro opened one eye. 

She was on top of him. 

Not moving. 

Not speaking. 

But breathing, shallow, shaky. 

Her arms trembled slightly, curled in toward her chest. Eyes shut tight. Tears still leaking from the corners, catching on her lashes like frozen rain. 

He could see her now. Really see her.

And she wasn't some monster. 

She was a girl. 

She looked around his age, maybe a little older, maybe just more burdened. Her frame was small, delicate, curled in on itself like she was always bracing for impact. 

Her skin was pale, porcelain, unearthly, but real. Alive. 

Her long, jet-black hair covered a bit of Kentaro's vision, but it was soft, uneven layers. Strands clung to her cheeks where the tears had fallen. 

Even with her eyes closed, there was something sharp in her features, like a doll too carefully carved. 

When she opened them, finally, barely, 

He saw them. 

Cool gray, almost silver, with flecks of blue. They shimmered faintly like morning frost and were filled with something ancient. 

Not power. Not rage. 

Loneliness. 

She wasn't just crying. She was trying not to be seen. 

Kentaro blinked. 

He didn't dare move. Not yet. 

Just breathed. Felt her weight against his chest. Heard the faint hum of the Anchor circlet now resting crookedly on his own head, still pulsing like a metronome, one step from connection, one slip from disaster. 

"She's… just a girl," he whispered aloud. "She's not a weapon." 

But that's when he realised what situation he was in. 

Kentaro jumped up, eyes wide, heart racing 

"I-I'M SO SORRY! THIS WASN'T MY IDEA, I SWEAR!" 

His voice was immediately cut off. 

By her 

Ice-Breaker. 

"You... Why did you do that to me?" she whispered, trembling. 

"Is that how badly you want me gone? 

Y-you launched yourself at me... Just to pin me down?" 

She was crying. Quietly. Shakily. 

Kentaro froze. 

His brain completely blue screened. 

"N-NO! Not at all! It was my friend's idea i swear on everything." 

"I just wanted to talk to you!" he said, backing away quickly, still kneeling. 

The speed at which he scrambled off her surprised her. She blinked, watching him put space between them. For a moment... she trusted him. Just a little. 

"What... is it.... you want to talk about?" she asked softly. 

Kentaro felt a weird warmth shoot through his chest. 

Those words hit like finding the final word in a crossword puzzle. 

Finally... she's not trying to kill me. 

She's actually talking to me. He said to himself. 

"Well... for starters, what's your name?" 

She hesitated, eyes downcast, not wanting to meet his gaze. But she answered. 

"My name.... It's Serica." 

Kentaro's breath caught. 

That name. It's so normal. So, human. So real. 

"She has a name. A real one. And yet they still want her dead..." 

The silence stretched. Serica grew restless again, her fingers fidgeting, still avoiding eye contact. 

"Ah, i see, Serica... that's a lovely name." 

"I'm Kentaro." 

He inched closer as he spoke, but, predictably, Serica shifted back. 

But still... no ice attack. 

Progress, Kentaro thought. At least she didn't freeze me. 

Then he noticed something odd. She wasn't looking at him. Not his face. Her eyes were fixed on the floor in front of him. 

"Hey, umm, sorry to be rude... is there something on my face?" he said while touching it to make sure that there wasn't. 

She quickly shook her head, cheeks flushing red. 

"N-no... It's just, Um..." 

Kentaro tilted his head in confusion. 

"It's...?" 

She covered her face with both hands, hiding her expression. Her voice came out muffled. 

"I've... i've never been this close to a boy before." 

Kentaro's whole face went crimson. 

His heart kicked up like it was training for a marathon. 

"W-well, yeah, about that again, really sorry for the whole flying tackle situation," he laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. 

He sat down, trying to think of a way to close the distance. He still had to get the Anchor on her somehow. 

But. 

"KENTARO?! HELLO? KENTARO, ARE YOU OKAY?!" 

His earpiece exploded with screams. 

"AHHHHHHH!" 

Kentaro nearly backflipped from the shock, grabbing his ear. 

"YES, I HEAR YOU, PLEASE CALM DOWN, YOU'RE KILLING MY EAR, DAMN!" 

The sudden yelling startled Serica. Kentaro turned to her quickly. 

"S-sorry! I'm fine! It's just these guys are loud!" 

"KENTARO! KEN! KEN! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!" Shogo screamed again 

"IT HURT'S WHEN YOU SCREAM SHOGO!" Kentaro yelled, curling into a ball on the floor from pain. 

He groaned. 

And heard something unexpected. 

"...hahahah..." 

It was soft at first. Light. 

Then louder. 

"Ahahaha... hahahahHAHAHA!" 

Genuinely. Loudly. 

Her voice echoed across the icy plaza, bubbling with warmth for the first time since he'd met her. 

"hahahah... Kentaro... y-you're so.... funny!" 

He blushed deeper, ears still ringing, but couldn't help smiling. 

Then Tenkas voice returned, much calmer this time. 

"Ken, thank god you're alive. What's your status?" 

Kentaro updated her quickly, from the crash to Serica's name, to the sudden laughter. 

"Serica, huh? That's a Pretty name," Tenka said, a little teasing. 

Kentaro chuckled, until Serica turned to him, her expression shyer now. 

"K-kentaro... could you maybe... Close your eyes, please?" 

He blinked. 

She had powers of no normal human and something from out of this world. He felt hesitant in saying yes 

But. 

"Do it, Kentaro," Haruka's voice said gently. 

"Her happiness meter's stable. I think she wants to trust you." 

Kentaro gulped.... then shut his eyes. 

He could hear her circling behind him. Soft footsteps crunching ice. Then, silence. 

"Okay... don't get mad," she said nervously. 

"This will help me... look at you." 

She reached over his head and placed something soft, oddly soft on his face. It hugged the middle of it, snug and comfortable. 

He didn't say anything. But his brain was screaming 

"Is this... a towel or fleece?" 

"You can open your eyes now." 

He did slowly. 

She was standing in front of him, smiling, eyes finally looking straight into his. 

It was beautiful. 

Until. 

He caught his reflection. 

In the ice behind her. 

And on his face. 

Was a pair of women's underwear. 

Not a mask 

Not a towel. 

A soft, Lacy, Red pair of panties. 

He stared. Froze 

"OH WHAT THE?!" 

"HAHAHAHHAHAHAH!" 

The entire Halycon command crew burst into laughter through the earpiece. 

"I'm sorry Kentaro it's just the only thing i found" Serica softly said. 

But then her faced brighten and she smiled 

"Now I can look at you Kentaro!" 

His face ignited. 

He wanted to yank it off and run straight into the frozen wilderness. But one glance at her smile... 

And he stayed frozen 

Maybe it was worth it. 

After a quiet laugh, Serica began walking across the icy plaza, her steps lighter than before. Something in her expression had softened. She stopped at a frost-dusted bench near the plaza's centre and gently sat down, brushing a few snowflakes off the seat. 

She looked back and smiled at Kentaro, then patted the empty space beside her. 

Kentaro hesitated for half a second, then walked over, all the tension melted into trust. 

He sat beside her, close not touching. Just a single arm's length apart. 

That, apparently, was enough. 

Because as soon as he sat, both of them froze slightly, cheeks tinting red. 

The memory of her lying on top of him in that chaotic crash smacked into his brain like a truck. 

Serica, equally flustered, looked straight ahead, trying very hard no to laugh again. 

"Don't make this weird. Don't make this weird." 

Kentaro chanted mentally. 

But he remembered what Tenka had said, what they were all waiting on. 

This wasn't a date. 

This was a mission. 

He had to move forward. 

Even if that meant talking through the awkward silence. 

"S-so, Serica..." he began, eyes drifting anywhere except her face. 

'Yes, Kentaro?" She replied softly, hands folded neatly on her knees. She was staring down now, focused, reserved. 

"I want to ask you something. A-about your powers... how you became like this." 

The moment the question left his mouth, the air shifted. Her energy changed completely. Her soft smile faded, her posture stiffened. 

Kentaro felt it immediately. 

Crap. Did i mess up? 

He watched her closely. 

Still looking down. Still quiet. But her hands had begun to tremble.

Then, a small breath. 

Serica slowly exhaled, trying to steady herself. 

"I... i don't really know" she said at last, her voice low. 

"It's all kind of blurry." 

She raised her head just slightly, eyes locked on the far wall like she was looking through time. 

"I remember... around seven years ago. I was in an orphanage. 

I don't remember arriving. I don't remember leaving. 

I just.... knew i didn't have parents." 

That landed hard. 

Kentaro's chest tightened. 

This girl wasn't just being hunted. 

She had no one. 

Serica kept speaking, voice a little lighter. 

"I lived there for most of my life. Went to school. It was an all-girls academy" 

She laughed, awkward but sincere, flashing him a glance that hinted at that earlier moment. 

Kentaro couldn't help but smile too. 

"And now..." she said. 

"Now everything feels like its" 

She stopped mid-sentence. 

Her eyes locked forward, then slowly unfocused. 

Her fingers curled into her knees. 

Kentaro tilted toward her slightly, sensing something was wrong. 

"Serica?" 

No reply. 

He leaned in a bit more. 

Her skin had gone pale. 

Then the hum began. 

Low. Subtle. But unmistakable. 

The anchor circlet on his head pulsed, once, then again. 

Like a heartbeat from something buried deep. 

"Serica...? What's wrong?" 

She blinked. Just once. 

Then the bench beneath them hissed. Frost slithered along It's legs. 

The air chilled by several degrees. The breath in Kentaro's throat came out as fog. 

Across the Plaza. 

A metal lamppost cracked apart, the shards drifting like glass butterflies before turning to snow. 

Oh no. 

She wasn't doing this consciously. 

She was breaking. 

From relaxing. 

From remembering. 

Because some part of her had decided... 

"If you feel safe, you're weak." 

Kentaro's voice trembled. 

"Serica, i need you to listen," 

And that's when the world cut in half.....