A few minutes later, the atmosphere in Unit Seven's living room had settled into something that felt formal without losing its warmth between colleagues.
Kyouka and Tenka sat across from each other on the plush sofas, separated by a small wooden table where two cups of coffee sent up thin, comforting wisps of steam. The white curls drifted between them, carrying the scent of freshly ground, carefully selected beans. Behind each of them, their respective unit members stood in casual clothes, creating an interesting contrast between the military authority their titles carried and the easy rhythms of everyday life.
Tenka lifted her cup and took a slow sip, savoring the well-balanced bitterness. She then turned a small, charming smile toward Yuuki, who was standing off to the side looking unsure of himself.
"Mm. You make excellent coffee, slave-kun." She said lightly, her eyes curving with pleasure.
Yuuki felt a faint warmth creep into his face at the offhand compliment, his chest giving a small, traitorous flutter over something so simple. The reaction didn't slip past Nei, standing beside him, whose eyes narrowed with immediate suspicion.
Naoki, standing calmly next to Yachiho, kept the observation to himself.
*(At this stage, Yuuki is no different from your standard harem protagonist, flushing over a throwaway compliment. He'll grow past the awkwardness eventually, sure, but even so, he'll never quite find the nerve to actually cross the finish line the way I did.)*
"..."
Kyouka glanced briefly toward Naoki, taking note of how composed he was, before turning her attention back to her old friend.
"So, what brings you all the way here, Tenka?" she asked directly, dropping any formal title between them. The casual flatness of her tone made Yuuki aware of just how deep the bond between these two Captains actually ran.
"You received the government's warning too, didn't you, Kyou-chin?" Tenka set her cup back onto its saucer with a soft clink. "That's what brought me here. The Humanoid Shuuki. Up until now, every unit has been operating on its own, but this time we've been ordered to work together. This threat is too large for any one unit to handle alone."
"Ah. I see." Kyouka nodded with a thin, knowing smile.
"Who even cares about some new type of Shuuki?" Yachiho cut in suddenly, her voice carrying its usual edge of arrogance. She crossed her arms over her chest. "This wouldn't even be an issue if you'd just eliminated it outright. Especially with Naoki around, whose strength rivals the Supreme Commander's. It's hardly a serious problem. I heard the Vice-Captain of Unit Seven lost consciousness from their attack. Frankly, that's rather embarrassing."
Naoki exhaled quietly to himself watching the exchange.
*(It's obvious Yachiho is worried about Himari. And yet she goes and chooses words like that, words that just end up sounding like an insult. Her way of showing she cares is genuinely strange and roundabout.)*
"..."
Himari's brow furrowed, her small hands curling into fists at her sides. She looked visibly rattled, while Kyouka's expression hardened perceptibly at the provocation.
"You're nothing but an embarrassment to the Azuma name, Himari." Yachiho continued, her gaze dropping to her younger sister with undisguised contempt, though a flicker of something closer to worry passed through her eyes all the same. "You'd be better off resigning from the Corps and going home. The battlefield isn't where you belong."
"..."
Himari lowered her gaze, her lip pressed tight to hold back the emotion rising in her throat. Naoki understood well enough that behind those cutting words, Yachiho simply didn't want her little sister anywhere near greater danger. But for Himari, those words were still a thorn driven straight into her pride as a soldier.
"In any case." Tenka stepped in, her voice gentling to ease the thickening tension. She looked at Kyouka with a quietly supportive expression. "The Humanoid Shuuki are genuinely formidable. Your decision to put your unit's safety first was exactly the right call, Kyou-chin. Their lives are worth more than the satisfaction of a win."
Kyouka offered a thin, effortful smile. Somewhere inside, she knew her personal grudge against the Shuuki sometimes clouded her judgment, and Tenka's gentle reminder pulled her back toward the objectivity she owed her unit as their leader.
"I've heard Unit Three has already encountered them as well." The white-haired woman said, steering the conversation toward recent intelligence to give Himari's temper room to cool.
Tenka gave a sober nod, some of the lightness leaving her face. "That's right. Their members gave chase, but it ended in a decisive defeat. Unit Three will be standing down for a while to recover. And according to the official report, the enemy they faced had different characteristics from the one that attacked your unit."
"So there's more than one type..." Kyouka murmured, her brows drawing together. "In that case, our units really can't afford to keep working in isolation. We need to coordinate tactically."
"You always cut straight to what matters, Captain Kyouka." Yachiho interjected again, casting a sharp sidelong glance at Himari. "But the person you've entrusted as your Vice-Captain, if I'm being honest, falls considerably short of what the Azuma clan would consider an acceptable standard."
"Yachiho. You've said enough." Naoki placed a hand lightly on her shoulder, applying just enough pressure to signal that it was time to pull back before she cut any deeper.
Yachiho turned to look at him, and for just a moment, something like quiet gratitude passed through her eyes. She knew, somewhere beneath her pride, that her words had landed hard on Himari. But her ego, both as an elder sister and as an Azuma elite, wouldn't allow her to show regret openly. His touch was enough to bring her back.
Sure enough, Himari's composure cracked. She clenched her fist until it trembled, staring at Yachiho with barely contained fury. She wanted badly to fire back, but she held herself in check out of respect for Kyouka's presence, and for the guests from Unit Six.
"To face this new threat properly, we need an honest measure of where our units actually stand." Kyouka said then, her words catching almost everyone in the room off guard. "What if we held an Exhibition Match, with all members of both units taking part?"
Nearly everyone reacted with surprise. Naoki was the exception, offering only a quiet smile, having already known this was exactly what Tenka had come here to propose. It was a move he had seen coming.
"You always know just what to say, Kyou-chin." Tenka smiled, clearly pleased to find her old friend thinking along the same lines. "That's precisely what I came here to offer. Consider it accepted."
"Good. I'll send a formal request to command right away. We should be ready to move forward within a few days." Kyouka said with quiet finality, marking the beginning of a new rivalry that would put both units to the test.
"Then I'll go and get the rest of our participants ready." Tenka said as she rose from the sofa with effortless grace, her outfit shifting softly with the movement.
With the formal agreement settled, she prepared to leave Unit Seven's headquarters, accompanied by her unit's Vice-Captain, who was still looking every bit as haughty as when they'd arrived, and of course the boyfriend who had been quietly drawing eyes from the moment he walked in.
"Until next time, slave-kun." Tenka said to Yuuki as she passed, delivering a smile so warm and disarming that the boy simply froze in place, face burning red.
Naoki gave Yuuki one last pat on the shoulder before making his way to where the portal would open.
"I'm looking forward to our match at the exhibition, Yuuki. Though I'll say upfront, I already know which side is going to win."
He felt no sense of threat saying it. As someone who had full command of his own abilities, he had no intention of losing to the original protagonist in this particular contest. He would prove that the path he had chosen was the most effective one.
*BUZZ!*
The familiar hum rang out. The black portal with its violet-edged border tore open once again at the center of the room. Tenka stepped through first, followed by Yachiho, who spared one last pointed glance at Himari on her way out, and finally Naoki, who disappeared into the swirling spatial current.
In the living room that now felt very quiet, Yuuki could only stare at the place where the portal had been. The weight of their presence still lingered in the air. He had the distinct feeling that a significant storm was brewing for Unit Seven, and that he had better be ready when it arrived.
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