Chapter 27
Seven times, seven times.
Kurozuka Kirishi turned his face away without leaving any trace, avoiding the patrolling gaze.
For some reason, every time Soshiro Hoshina stopped in the training ground, turned around, and scanned every team member, his eyes always fell on her.
Not far away, Tana Sonoko and Itami Koji were lazing around together.
The two heads were almost touching, and their whispers were barely audible amidst the noise of the training ground.
"Do you think the vice-captain is particularly concerned about Kurozuka?" Tana Sonoko said in a low voice, glancing at Hoshina Soshiro who had once again stopped beside Kurozuka.
"Every time I finish instructing others, I always go around to her and stay there for a while. This seems like—"
"I like her!"
"Target her!"
Before she finished speaking, Tanai Sonoko's fist had already landed on Itami Koji's head.
"Are you stupid?" She widened her eyes in annoyance. "It's obvious that he likes her! How can you not see it's so obvious?"
"Ahhhh——??!!" Itami Koji instantly turned into a screaming chicken, and his exaggerated screams successfully attracted the attention of Hoshina Soshiro who was patrolling.
Kurozuka Kirishi watched the deputy captain walk towards the two funny guys and breathed a sigh of relief.
It was lunchtime and the cafeteria was bustling with people. Just as Kurozuka Kirishi found a seat to sit down, she saw that familiar figure carrying a tray and naturally sitting down opposite her.
Her fingers gripping the chopsticks tightened slightly, and she almost wanted to get up and leave immediately.
It's not that she hates him, but his recent behavior has been too eye-catching. All kinds of rumors have spread in the team, saying that the vice-captain is interested in her.
But how is this possible...wait? Is it really impossible?
The chopsticks suddenly slipped, and her thoughts became tangled like a ball of yarn played with by a cat. At this moment, a light laugh interrupted her wandering thoughts.
"Pfft! Do you like this dish so much?"
When the teasing words sounded, Kurozuka Kirishi looked down. Very good, she had just put her chopsticks into the other person's plate to pick up some food.
The chopsticks holding the dish stopped in mid-air, she was in a dilemma. She glanced at the guy who was smiling with his mouth corners raised hard.
Kurozuka Mist: ...
She didn't say anything, but just handed over the food with chopsticks, then watched Hoshina Soshiro lean over and eat it.
But when she was about to withdraw the chopsticks, she found that the tip was bitten and she couldn't pull it out.
"Are you a dog?" Heizhong Wushi narrowed his eyes, with a helpless tone in his voice.
But... maybe more like a cat than a dog? A black cat with a bad temper, yet it's hard to get angry at.
Hoshina Cat said nothing, but tilted her head deliberately. Kurozuka Kirishi didn't bother to talk about protecting their reputations anymore. She simply reached out and pinched his cheek: "Let go."
It wasn't as difficult as I expected, the other party was very obedient and let go.
After getting the chopsticks back, Kurozuka Kirishi didn't have any extra thoughts about doing anything else and started eating his meal quietly.
"What's so surprising about this? You men are trouble!" Tanai Sonoko said, while trying to close the jaws of Fujimine Tsukasa and the others with her hands.
"Huh? Then I won't be in your group next time! You think I'm troublesome anyway!" Itami Koji immediately stiffened his neck and yelled, like a big, sulky dog.
Tian Nai Yuanzi glared at him unhappily, feeling speechless in her heart. She was so conspicuous that she should not have been so soft-hearted as to agree to his confession.
Just when Fujimine Tsukasa was about to start teasing this pair of "happy enemies"——
Woo-woo-woo!
The sharp and rapid alarm sounded without warning, ripping through the noisy and playful atmosphere in the cafeteria. It was like a bucket of ice water being poured over everyone's heads, instantly quieting them down.
Fujimine Tsukasa swallowed back the words that were about to come out of his mouth, and suddenly turned his head to look at Itami Koji, his expression as if he had seen a ghost: "...Your crow mouth has been blessed, right?!"
"I..." Itami Koji was also dumbfounded, opening his mouth not knowing what to say.
But no one was in the mood to joke at this moment. It was almost an instinctive reaction. The second the alarm sounded, all the team members stood up in an instant, and the relaxed smiles on their faces disappeared instantly.
The sound of tables and chairs colliding was heard briefly, and the next moment, everyone gathered quickly but orderly like a flood, and the air was instantly filled with a tense pre-war atmosphere.
The commander's voice rang out over the communication channel: "Target confirmed, vibration wave level β, coordinates C7, main interception team, please take position."
"Small to medium-sized ones, it seems there's no need for Captain Yabai to take action." Hoshina Soshiro put down the binoculars and nodded his earphone.
His voice was transmitted to all the team members through the headset: "I will be responsible for defeating the main beast, and the rest is up to you."
The battle went smoothly at the beginning, however, accidents always happened at the seemingly stable moments.
The commander's voice suddenly cut into the communication channel between Hoshina Soshiro and the on-site team, speaking at a faster pace: "Deputy Captain! At three o'clock, about fifty meters away, a child failed to evacuate in time and is trapped in a damaged shop on the southeast side! The signal is weak and has just been detected!"
Hoshina Soshiro fiercely blocked the monster's claws with a single blow, quickly scanning that direction and giving the order: "Kurozuka, you're the closest and most mobile, so you'll be responsible for covering the evacuation! Everyone else, please provide assistance!"
"Understood!" Heizhong Wushi responded crisply and immediately left the battle formation and rushed to the indicated location like a gust of wind.
Hoshina Soshiro quickly dealt with the main beast in front of him, and kept an eye on her movements from the corner of his eye. He saw Kurozuka neatly split the obstacles and successfully rushed out of the shop with the child.
Just when he felt relieved and was about to order Heizuka to return to the team quickly,
Something unexpected happened.
Perhaps it was the rebound of fear from being out of danger that caused the child to struggle violently in her arms and cry, thrashing around with his hands and feet.
Kurozuka Kirishi was concentrating on avoiding the rubble that kept falling from above her head, as well as the vibrations caused by the indiscriminate attacks of the monsters in the distance. The sudden and violent struggle made her stumble and lose her balance instantly.
It is this fatal delay of a few tenths of a second,
call--!
With a teeth-grinding sound of breaking through the air, the monster's thick and hard tail swept across with a tremendous force, just at the moment when she lost her balance.
"Bang--!"
The heavy muffled sound clearly reached the ears of Soshiro Hoshina not far away.
He didn't even have time to think before he saw a figure in the distance, like a kite with a broken string, being whipped away by a huge force and crashing into a broken concrete wall without any buffer, raising a cloud of dust.
"Kurozuka!!" The cry of Itami Koji, who was closest, and the gasps of Tana Sonoko and others were heard in the channel.
Hoshina Soshiro's heart almost stopped, but he quickly reacted: "Sengoku! Call for emergency medical support! Itami, Tana, suppress it with full firepower! Fujimine, follow me!"
His voice remained calm, but if one listened carefully, one could detect the violent fluctuations beneath the calmness that could not be suppressed.
He gave the order almost instinctively, and his body had already rushed towards the direction where Heizhong Wushi fell.
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