To how long would you keep holding hands, get in position this instant .
The roaring voice of the captain removed the harmonious atmosphere that was in between the two of us and we complied to the order absent-mindedly and stood back in the line and broke the hand holding .
She stood next to me in the right, while the foreign senpai was standing in the left as before, two beautiful girls surrounding me from the two sides were making the boys boil with envy, but learning from the previous lessons they didn't dare to show any dissatisfaction when they looked at me, some even began to avoid making a direct contact with my eyes .
Now that we are all present and lined, let's welcome a new member to the team properly as the Strikers do .
I was wondering about what he exactly meant by that, but i then saw all of them taking a few formal steps towards the captain, they stood right behind him as if circling around him, then they all raised swords that they conjured, Kuromas and Shiroganes alike and they began to say in unison :
We Are The Strike Of Our People, Our Peace And Our Justice, We Are The Saviors .
I stood there unable to react for a few minutes, what have i just witnessed, i thought that yelling like this was quite embarrassing, not to mention that even though the words held a noble meaning to them, declaring them in such a yelling manner was a whole new level of weirdness .
I nodded at them, but the captain shook his head at me nodding, i was able to discern what he wanted me to do, but i just couldn't put myself to do something like that, i already had my enough share of embarrassing situations and i haven't even been here for more than two days .
But he still looked at me with a look that seemed to imply " say it or we will stay like this for the whole day ", sensing that him doing something like that was indeed possible and the eagerness in the eyes of Evelyn's eyes, no she should be called Tokiko-senpai, i too was eager to ask her about quite a lot of stuff .
So i steadied my heart raised my sword and shouted the same as them with a half-hearted attitude and embarrassed face .
After i did that he nodded at me and asked for the training session to start, but just after the others began to disperse, he called both of me and Tokiko-senpai to stand in front of him, he kept looking at us up and down for a few minutes, then he finally began to say :
So i conclude that you two had previously known each other, a past life comrades or something even more than just that, did i guess wrong Kanzaki ? .
He said and looked at his vice captain who were currently lowering her head and her face was completely red like a tomato, for some unknown reason, that reaction of her seem to take the captain by surprise, he looked to be severely shocked for the first time since i have met him .
But even though she was embarrassed like that, she was able to gather enough willpower to force her body to move and she suddenly clinged to my arm and nodded her head, but she lowered it once again in embarrassment .
I was loss of words to say, i didn't understand what should i do, the girl clinging into me like this was quite an affectionate move, but i felt as if my heart was telling me to embrace her and my mind was telling me that it wasn't the right decision, that conflict made me unable to react and just stand there waiting for what will the Captain say next .
He after a few seconds was able to regain his composure, he came to stand in front of me and put a hand on my shoulder and even smiled at me and said :
I don't how were you able to turn that headache like girl to be like this, but i'm rooting for you, but i will need to ask you two to refrain from acting inappropriately during the training sessions, understood ? .
We both nodded our heads, i wonder what he meant by that headache like girl, but before i even ask, the girl clinging into my arms asked in a serious tone :
Does kisses count as inappropriate ? .
She also said in a natural tone as if what she was saying wasn't the most outrageous thing ever, remembering the words that the captain said before, i was beginning to understand where his impression of her came from, the girl bluntness was outrageous, she was a complete opposite person to the girl i remembered in my past life .
I looked at what will the Captain say in respond to her, but he just took a step forward and clutched her head like an eagle and pulled her off me, almost breaking my hand in the process, before she finally let go, then he began to move her from the place while still holding her the same way, she feigned a pained expression as she looked at me for help, but i had enough experience not to fall for that .
She was berated harshly by the captain and ended up sulking in the corner while drawing circles on the ground, i was beginning to feel pity, but suddenly i remembered that violated feeling i got yesterday and couldn't help but wonder about did she exactly do to me and if she had already recognized me that day, so i forgot all about her sulking .
Wow, you got the tyrannical vice captain acting as if she was a damsel in distress, i'm really becoming more and more interested in you .
A sudden hand put in my shoulder together with another sweet voice saying those words, without even looking back, i was able to tell the identity of who was taking to me .
I didn't know when she appeard behind me but Sophia-senpai words had the whole room gasped in shock of the words she just said and i was no different, due to being still emotionally unstable, i felt my beat go faster at her words, but when i turned and saw the impassive look on her face, i understood that she didn't mean how her words sounded to mean to me and all the others .
But knowing what she meant was something, but responding to it was completely different thing, i didn't know how to respond to her complimentary words, i hope that they were, so i just nodded my head and the conversation came to an awkward pause between the two of us .
But as if she was suddenly hit by the realization of how ambiguous her words sounded like, she began to say while flexing her muscles :
But it isn't like i would fight the vice captain for you or something, you are interesting but you are not quite my type, i will only date a strong guy capable of defeating me in a crushing manner, so you shouldn't misunderstand my words, okay ? .
I looked at her weirdly as i was neither interested in hearing all that nor did i ask her to fight the vice captain for me, i was happy that she cleared the confusion, but was she calling me weak, i felt that the untamed pride that i have in me was flaring up, so not wanting for things to turn awkward, i just nodded at her and was about to get as far away from this weird girl as i could .
But, i remembered that i hadn't still asked her about what she meant before regarding Momochi-senpai's absence being my fault, so i turned to her suddenly and asked her about that .
Oh, right you reminded me that i wanted to talk about that before .
I was speechless and if not for wanting to understand how it was my fault that the senpai was absent, i would have gotten as far away as i can from that strange girl, she suddenly lowered her voice and said in a close to whispering tone :
Do you want to know ? .
I nodded my head and expected that this would be enough proof of my intention, enough for her to start talking, but i saw that she closed the distance and leaned even more closer towards me and said :
Do you really want to know ? .
I was really beginning to lose my patience to the point that i was considering to refuse and ask someone else about it or even asking the Captain if he knew something about this matter, but without waiting for me to respond, she said something that completely stunned me in place, she said :
Fight me, if you win, i will tell you and i might even allow you to date me if you performed well, but if you lose, hehe, you will allow me to kick you down there at least one time, you will also have to apologize to Harukaachii, what do you say .
Her demeanor while she said this suddenly undergo a shift of 180 degrees different, she now seemed to be more serious than before, i finally understood bits of what was going on here, she was most likely seeking revenge against me, the place where she wanted to hit was enough reason for me to refuse her directly .
She was willing to remove that condition, but i was still unwilling to fight with her and begin walking away, but she kept on following me and persistently kept asking me to accept .
The Captain finally noticing what was going on, sighed deeply and stopped instructing the other and came our way and asked about what did i do now .
I told him what had taken place and expected that he would berate her or something, but in fact he actually welcomed the idea of us sparring and i wondered why was he acting like that all of a sudden, seeing my bewilderment, he began to explain saying :
What with the long face, didn't you ask about the tank type Saviors, Sophia here is one of the best that we have in our ranks, if she wasn't the best .
Don't embarrass me, Captain .
Both me and him rolled our eyes at her, before he continued to say :
Cough, as i was saying, this was a good chance for you to test your limitations, i will also tell you that among the Saviors here, Sophia is considered to be something akin to an information broker and she is also Momochi closest friend among the girls, so if you want to know about why Momochi was absent then she is your guy, so i actually want you to accept her challenge .
Captain, but i'm a girl you know .
" shut up " we looked at each other and thought of the exact same thing .
I finally agreed to take her on and once again we both made our way towards the center of training arena, i was being cheered on by quite sum of people unlike yesterday, but the loudest of them all was still none other than Kanzaki Tokiko, i nodded at her and she blow me a kiss, then she asked me to cruch Sophia completely .
She have been stealing glances at our interaction earlier and heard about the little bet we have, so i was able to understand why was she saying things like that, i was also a bit glad seeing her acting so carefree like that, it filled my heart with a warm feeling, that i was beginning to get addicted to, but i once again discarded of all this miscellaneous thoughts and focused more on the battle at hand .
I readied myself and wondered about what was so different about the tank type Saviors, i summoned my weapon and noticed that she still hadn't do so for some reason, seeing me looking at her she taunted me with her hands as if asking me to attack already, i wondered if she had hit her head when she was little, weren't we waiting for the Captain to give the order of commencing the battle .
Soon the captain issued the order to start and she didn't gave me anytime before charging at me, probably wanting to stop me from using Paradox, but that wasn't possible anymore, my speed in using Paradox had reach the instant level, just before the punch she threw at me hit, i was able to evade her attack and even counterattacked by putting the sword on her neck, i thought nimbly that this was my win, but that thought was completely wrong .
The moment i stopped moving, i was actually knocked back by the air shockwaves that her punch created in the air, i also let out a little cry of pain due to feeling like something was wrecking havoc in my body, was that caused by her attack, I couldn't help but wonder what kind of attack that was and how does it work, i'm certain that i parried her attack just now, yet i was still hurt by it .
What, are you done already, we were just getting starting .
I know that she was angry for Momochi-senpai sake, but i still don't know what that have to do with me, even though i seemed to have gotten knocked away, my injuries weren't that severe, but i now can tell that she wasn't holding back anything in that fight, my carefree mood was swept away in an instant the moment i saw the shockwave that radiated from her punch .
I stood up but didn't respond to her, instead i began to write another new spell that i had recently remembered its incantation, the spell i used to heal myself back in the previous vision, WRITE :
< TIME IS LOST, TIME IS FAINT, TIME IS LEFT, HEAL MY SCARS, RETURN MY TIME, BACK TO ITS BEST, REMOVING THE AILMENT SWIFT AND SWIFT > .
HEAL .
A green cyclone of energy appeared and engulfed my chest, then whatever that was causing havoc inside my body disappeared without a trace, thanks to heal that had effect of returning my body back to its peak performance state, but this skill only apply to me and disappointedly it wasn't a spell that i can use to heal others, the spell i used on my mother and Evelyn back in my vision was a different spell .
Seeing me making my way towards the center again as if there was nothing wrong with me earned me a raise of eyebrows from my opponent, i nod at her with an impassive face and strengthened my resolve and this time, i was the one to take the initiative in attacking .
She wasn't still able to react to my attack and with the dull side of the blade in hand, i slashed at left shoulder, then the moment the blade made contact with her skin, sparks that shouldn't have appeared, appeared rendering me completely speechless .
Was her body made of steel or something, she seeing that i had stopped moving attacked me, but this time i retreat before she even strike at me, then when my thoughts cleared up, i was able to understand that my blade made contact with the Prana on her body and not her actual body, i once again launched another attack, but this time i had a clear plan in mind .
I got close to her and tried to use the effect of reversing time, but the second i did this i lost the enchantment i had on my speed, but not only that, the effects after using the reversing effect of Paradox was completely unsatisfactory, the Prana on Sophia were turned off for a fraction of a second then it was turned back on instantly .
I was aware due to the fact that i was now forced to bear the incoming attack of Sophia who was enhancing her strength using Prana, my whole body tensed but my brain did not, it kept giving me ways to parry to the side or retreat backwards, if i sidestepped i would be able to parry her attack, but my body won't listen to my brain at this point, so in the end the attack hit .
And i was sent flying in the air and crashed into the walls of the arena, i was about to lose conscious thinking so that was the strength of a tank type saviors had, that was how powerful Prana was, when i saw that i was suddenly being engulfed in a black like second skin, my eyes shook involuntarily as i began hearing whispers in the back of my mind and then all i saw was darkness, i thought i finally lost consciousness, but that wasn't the case
( Recalling Of Memories ) :