"I'm back." Carrying Azusa like a sack of potato, Saori greeted the rest of the squad.
"Welcome back."
"Mm."
"W-welcome back, Leader..."
As Saori was walking deeper into the house, she suddenly noticed an extra pair of eyes looking right on the obje- person she was carrying.
"You're awake." Smiling a little, Saori placed down the unconscious Azusa on the floor, her back leaning against the pillow positioned on the wall.
"...Saori."
"Hm, so it wasn't a coincidence, then. So you do know me." Saori's left eyebrow lifted, intrigued at the fact that someone knew of her even if they have never personally met before.
Her mind swirled with memories of the past, doing missions and scavenging for food.
She tried to find the image of a brown haired girl inside her memories, but it all came blank. The only other brown haired person she was closed to is Misaki, after all.
"Was it from the rumors?"
Kasuka nodded towards the question aimed at her from Misaki.
"Rumors? What do you mean, Misaki?" Saori tilted her head at the new information.
Could it be that there are rumors floating around about her? Well, that was to be expected, she's one of the most skilled child in this generation, after all.
Although she can't be compared to the geniuses, she'd like to think that she's at least on par with the prodigies, the gifted.
"Didn't you know? Being the center of the rumors and all, I'd expected you to already have knowledge about this."
"...Hm. Sorry to break your illusion of me, but I'm not omnipresent nor am I omniscient. I can't be everywhere and know everything there is in this world." Sighing slightly, Saori adjusted her cap, making sure it was placed comfortably on her head.
"I'll get back to you about the rumors later, Misaki. Putting that aside for now, we'll first need to have another introduction session." Saori clapped twice to signal for everyone to gather around.
Hiyori, although hesitant, made her way swiftly, her hands were crossed above her stomach, it was obvious she doesn't know where to place them.
Since Atsuko and Misaki were already close, Saori glanced towards Azusa and squinted her eyes.
'Did I go too hard?' She doubted herself for a second.
'No, I needed to do this, otherwise she wouldn't survive in the outside world. We've been taught this, there's nobody in this world that would side with us. We're merely the extra forgotten in texts and records.'
With great care, Saori gently shook Azusa's shoulder.
But as she did so for the next dozen of seconds, there were no response.
The rest of the squad already expected this, so they didn't say anything. After all, they knew from experience just how hard Saori took it out of them when compared to the others.
But they never resented her. Because even with all the spartan training, they knew it was because Saori cared for them.
There's no way they would ever hate the person who'd lay out a brighter future for them.
Saori's face turned sour as she thought that she might've actually been to hard on Azusa.
But before she could lament anymore, she felt a hand lands on her shoulder.
A streak of brown entered her peripheral.
"...?" She looked at Kasuka, hands still clutching her stomach, her head covered in bandages.
She looked like she had definitely seen better days.
From her eyes, it looked like she was saying 'Leave it to me!'.
Saori's eyes widened as she took a step back, leaving Azusa inside the girl's hands.
Before anything else, Kasuka coughed into her fist. There's no doubt that the kick that landed on her stomach had also done a great deal of damage even if it wasn't visible.
Hiyori flinched at the sound, she was being reminded of the scene she had to witness yesterday.
It only lasted a moment, nobody had the time to react before Kasuka seemingly pushed aside her own pain to help Azusa.
Kasuka shook Azusa's shoulder a couple of times. No response.
Saori thought that the brown haired girl had a surefire way of waking up Azusa, it turns out she was just doing the same thing she had just done.
As Saori was about to recommend introducing themselves first since Azusa was unconscious, Kasuka moved both her hands to Azusa's cheeks.
"?"
"?"
"...?"
"?
Four heads tilted simultaneously.
Stretch~
Kasuka pulled on both Azusa's cheek, feeling the elasticity in her hands.
"!"
She push and pull the cheek, occasionally patting it softly to feel the softness.
A melancholy smile was pasted on her lips, which was not missed by the rest of the squad.
"Ugh..."
Azusa's halo flickered and then it turned on. It turned out, Kasuka's strategy... had worked?
"Wakey wakey~" Through her strained voice, Kasuka began to nudge Azusa to consciousness.
Noticing this, Saori hinted at Hiyori to go grab a bottle of water, in which Hiyori did so in a hurry.
"Awake?"
"Cough Cough..." Almost as soon as Azusa's eyes opened, she began coughing up a storm. Saori's training had definitely done a number on her.
After all, who the heck would expect that every single door inside the building had be equipped with explosives that would be triggered with a single swing?
Naturally, she couldn't even spot a glimpse of Saori's hair the whole time!
Although she felt ashamed of herself, Azusa didn't linger on it for too long... because there's a new crisis at hand.
Black orbs met her own pink which faded into blue.
She moved her head, avoiding the gaze, still feeling guilty about what happened previously.
What she didn't notice was the smile plastered on Kasuka's face, one that shouldn't exist inside this forsaken hell of Arius.
"I'm glad you're alright."
Hearing that familiar voice, Azusa glanced briefly, before quickly covering her face with her hands and knees.
She felt a hand stroking her back.
"I'm glad you're alright."
A hiccup escaped her lips.