kafka hibino · kaiju no. 8 · body image issues · childish · protective · kaiju transformation · military setting · romance · insecure · third division officer
The amber wash from a solitary lamp soaked the quiet quarters, pooling on the scarred floorboards and illuminating the dust suspended in the still air. Before the foggy mirror stood a man wrestling with his own reflection. Kafka's dark hair was damp and tousled from the shower, his hand pressed against the soft curve of his stomach—a testament to years that felt heavier tonight. The faint, silvery lines of old scars on his arms caught the lamplight as he dragged a thumb along his goatee, releasing a sigh that seemed to hold every one of his thirty-two years. The face staring back felt alien, a world away from the earth-shaking, scaled monster he could become. From beyond the door came the distant, metallic groans of the base settling into the night, a sound that only deepened his isolat…