[New Fanfic: Arcane: Welcome To Zaun]
The current time was around four in the morning on September 17.
The sky was still dark, but the eastern horizon had already begun to glow white.
In summer, the sun rose fairly early.
At most, it would begin peeking over the horizon in another two hours.
As for this uninhabited island, it had been thoroughly ravaged. It looked as if it had been plowed over several times.
A small mountain that had once stood here had now been flattened.
Training had stopped for the moment.
"Haaah…"
A very contented sound slipped from Suzumiya Haruka's lips as damp warmth wrapped around most of her body.
"I didn't think we'd even get to soak in a hot spring."
Hayase Mitsuki sounded slightly incredulous, and her voice was filled with comfort.
"Good thing I found it in time. Otherwise, one more shot and who knows if it would have survived."
Isumi Michiru sounded as if she were fishing for credit.
Once live fire had been officially permitted, the island had undergone an inhumane baptism, and that had unexpectedly blasted open a hot spring. She had been the first to discover it.
After a bit of simple work on the area, they had turned it into a hot spring pool.
Now that training had stopped, everyone was enjoying a hot spring bath.
"Heh. Right now, I could take on Valkyrie Squadron Two all by myself."
Valkyrie Squadron Two was also an escort unit assigned to the XG-70b Susanoo II.
Michiru felt that if she piloted an XV104, she could thrash Squadron Two in five minutes at most.
"That is because you would be using a machine far beyond any TSF."
Takamura Yui frowned slightly as she spoke. She felt that Michiru should not develop that kind of attitude. It was not good.
"I know."
Michiru shrugged. Of course she was not truly trying to show off. She just wanted to get everyone talking.
The corners of her mouth lifted slightly. Yui's stiff, serious attitude made her want to "educate" her properly.
After moving closer as if by accident, Michiru reached out with her wicked hand. She did not attack from above. That would be too obvious, and Yui would guard against it. Instead, she launched an underwater assault.
"Ya! What are you doing?!"
After crying out, Yui's voice immediately turned angry. She shot up from her seated position and covered herself from behind with one hand, because this woman had pinched her there.
Was this woman some kind of pervert?
"Mm. Very nice. Bigger than mine."
Michiru spoke as if savoring the lingering sensation in her hand. Before Yui's eyes could start spraying fire, she added:
"Yui, how many times did you hit Instructor Kain's face?"
That sentence cut off Yui's anger before it could erupt.
"What are you talking about?"
"Heh. So you did hit his face too. Don't pretend. Your expression is way too guilty. How many times?"
"I did not!"
Yui answered coldly and sat back down, glaring at her as if to say she would not be polite if Michiru got handsy again.
"After you hit him, did you notice any reaction from the instructor?"
Yui remained silent.
Michiru's gaze swept across the others, passing over Haruka, Mitsuki, and Instructor Jinguuji Marimo in turn.
Mm-hm. It looked like everyone had launched that kind of attack on Instructor Kain.
"Haruka."
"I don't know. I don't know anything!"
"What about you, Mitsuki?"
"You want to get hit?"
Mitsuki's face flushed red, and she clenched her fists.
"What about you, Instructor Jinguuji? You have the best figure, and you're taller than us too. You definitely hit him."
In response, Jinguuji closed her eyes, acting as if she had heard nothing.
She had decided. Once the operation was over, if Michiru was still alive, she would double her training.
Correction. What did she mean, if Michiru was still alive? That was not the kind of thought she should be having.
Everyone would survive.
"Fine, we won't talk about that. Then, what do you think about Instructor Kain's abilities, Mitsuki? For example, does he have someone he likes?"
"Are you a gossiping old woman?"
"Mitsuki, I would accept that from anyone else, but coming from you, that is just wrong. Look at your own face. You clearly want to know too."
"I do not."
"That means you do. So, do you all think Mr. Kain has some kind of relationship with Deputy Commander Kouzuki?"
After saying that, Michiru looked at Instructor Jinguuji. After all, she was very close to Deputy Commander Kouzuki, close enough that they seemed like sisters.
The others looked as if they did not want to hear this kind of gossip, but in the end, curious eyes still turned toward Instructor Jinguuji.
Even Yui. Michiru noticed that her gaze had shifted over as well. She clearly cared.
"Don't look at me. I don't know."
Jinguuji answered without opening her eyes, but she could tell that everyone's gazes were on her, seeking an answer.
"Instructor Marimo, do you think Mr. Kain was trained by Commander Kouzuki? Is that why he was so calm when guiding our sensation-sharing training?"
"Isumi Michiru, stop making up nonsense!"
Jinguuji had no choice but to open her eyes and glare at her.
"I'm just curious. Earlier, when we invited Instructor Kain to bathe with us, he said he had to go receive some new equipment. Was that just an excuse to leave because he felt embarrassed or shy?"
"Shy? I can't imagine it."
Haruka murmured.
"Right? Haruka, you're curious too, aren't you? Or rather, seeing Instructor Kain look embarrassed would be interesting, wouldn't it?"
"N-no."
That was what she said, but Haruka could not help imagining it a little, and for a moment, she became somewhat curious.
"He doesn't seem like the type to get embarrassed. Could it be that he doesn't like women?"
Mitsuki, who had not intended to join this topic, ultimately could not hold back and offered that hypothesis.
"Hm?"
Everyone suddenly went quiet, silently staring at her. That made her feel a sudden pressure.
It looked like her assumption had been far too malicious.
The reason she had made that assumption was also because she felt a little annoyed.
When it had been her turn for sensation-sharing training, there had been a small incident. Her chest had been touched by him.
Of course, it had not been because he was being lecherous. At that time, when the machine shook, her body had been thrown forward again, almost smashing into his face. As a result, he had quickly pressed her back.
W-was that disgust?
Because Mitsuki remembered that, she could not help making such a slightly mean-spirited guess.
"Uh, I was joking. Haha."
Everyone remained silent, which only made her pressure grow even heavier.
At that moment, the sound of water came from behind her, and Mitsuki's body stiffened slightly. She suddenly understood what everyone's gaze had meant. They had not been looking at her, but behind her.
She turned her head mechanically and saw someone with a bath towel wrapped around his lower half stepping into the hot spring pool.
"Don't mind me. Keep talking."
He said that, but how could they possibly keep talking?
"What is it? Don't be shy. Especially you, Isumi. I could hear that loud voice of yours from far away. You seem concerned about me. Concerned about why I stayed calm around you all, correct?"
That made Michiru very awkward. But what did he mean by loud voice? Her voice was not that loud.
"Right. Then why were you so calm, Instructor? It can't really be like Mitsuki said, that you don't like women, right?"
She simply went all in and asked.
"My preferences are perfectly normal."
"Then prove it."
Michiru said it with a mischievous expression, and what she received in return was his silence.
Perhaps it was only her imagination, but she seemed to see the corners of his mouth lift slightly.
A few seconds later, he suddenly stood up.
At that moment, Michiru's eyes widened more and more.
Not only hers. Everyone's pupils dilated as they stared.
None of them had expected such a terrifying kind of proof.
(End of Chapter)
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