"Okay!" Shinoa called out in the training hall on Sunday in the afternoon. "That's very good!" She had just released three Fourth Horsemen of John and had Yuu, Yoichi and Kimizuki go up against them. Needless to say these weren't the real thing of course. No one would be insane enough to do THAT, but the models looked very much like the real thing, and acted that way too.
"Can we take a break?" Yuu asked. He was heavily panting. The monsters were defeated and the three boys were all worn out.
"Stupid Yuu-san," Shinoa smiled sarcastically at him. "Do you think they, or the Kyuketsuki, will take a break just because you are a bit tired?"
"But we've been doing this for hours!" Yuu exclaimed.
"What a wimp," Kimizuki mumbled as he got up. He too had been too tired to stand for a shorter while, but now he was all good.
"Don't pretend like you're not worn out."
"Actually, you are the only one worn out, Yuu-kun," Yoichi said. He had been standing up all along.
"You're the one having it easy, Yoichi," Yuu snapped irritated.
"Okay," Shinoa said cheerfully. "Let's go get some drinks and then we go back to training."
All the boys were grateful as they followed Shinoa out the training hall and down the hallway, towards one of the vending machines they had placed a little further down there.
However, the four didn't make it far before they were stopped by Shigure who suddenly turned the nearest corner and blocked their path.
"Shinoa-san, Guren-sama requests your presence outside," Shigure said quickly. "Actually, he requested your entire squad."
"Already?" Shinoa asked. "I thought we would have until tomorrow, but seems I was wrong."
"What? We are going to fight now?" Yoichi asked.
"I've been waiting for this forever!" Yuu exclaimed in excitement. "It's like our final test!"
"If we make this…" Kimizuki trailed off with a thoughtful and hopeful expression. He stared ahead, but Shinoa had a feeling he wasn't seeing anything.
"Well, everyone." Shinoa looked at her squad mates. "Let's go." She then started heading towards the exit of the building.
"Hold on!" Yuu called out as he walked up to walk by her side. "What about our drinks?" he asked.
"Canceled. We don't have time," Shinoa answered in a slightly strict tone as she increased her pace towards outside. It wasn't a good idea to let Guren wait for them for too long when it was this important. It had to be important if he would call for them one day earlier than expected.
"Stupid Guren," Yuu mumbled irritated.
Shinoa found the fact that Yuu called Guren stupid a bit amusing, but she said nothing as they continued.
When they got outside, they could see Guren standing with a girl. Her hair was yellow and put up in pigtails. She glared as she laid eyes on the four approaching. More specifically, she glared at the girl in the middle who sent her a sarcastic, kind smile in return.
"I don't understand that you, Lieutenant Colonel Guren, could sign me up for a squad full of newbies and make that Shinoa Hiragi the leader!" Sanguu Mitsuba said irritated as she continued to glare at Shinoa's smiling face.
"Just face it Mi-chan," Shinoa said. "I have always been better than you. You may have been under training for longer than them, but I heard someone say that you tend to act without thinking, therefore I for one understand why you're not leader."
Mitsuba frowned. "Having to train some newbies of your own hasn't helped," she said.
"I doubt you haven't become stronger during the past two weeks, and you haven't grown either I see," Shinoa said, pointing out Mitsuba's shorter legs.
"Shouldn't we stop them?" Yoichi whispered to Yuu.
Yuu looked from Shinoa to Mitsuba. "I don't know …"
"They're girls," Kimizuki said. "It's no good to get involved."
"What are you three newbies whispering about?" Mitsuba yelled, causing both Yuu and Yoichi to jump slightly, and Kimizuki to move a lot quicker than usual. All were surprised at her yelling.
"As you may have already guessed," Guren started while placing a hand on Mitsuba's head. "Sanguu Mitsuba here will be your fifth squad member. She was the best we could find who had not been assigned to another squad."
Unlike the others, Mitsuba had been out on the battle field before. Once in a magical girl's training they would have to go on the battle field with another squad. Shinoa had been there when she was seven. Mitsuba was out last year. It was a simple task, but somehow, only Mitsuba returned from the mission. It took them a while to get it out of her what had happened. It turned out she had been acting without thinking and therefore she was given the punishment of not returning to the battlefield for three years.
"But Mi-chan," Shinoa said as she remembered this. "Your punishment hasn't run out."
"I don't care," Guren said. "Shinya should be talking to Kureto about calling off the suspension right now."
"Yeah, you would probably just fall asleep," Shinoa said
"I know not to lay down my guard in front of the enemy," Guren said as he looked annoyed at Shinoa. "Time is short so it's better to have two things done at once."
"So?" Shinoa asked. "I was wondering why you called for us one day before we were ready. I was hoping for at least so much time to finish preparing them."
"I'll get right to it then," Guren said, signaling for Shinoa and the three boys to come over and stand with Mitsuba.
Shinoa walked without hesitation, she was actually skipping rather than walking. Yuu, Kimizuki and Yoichi were a little slow to follow her. They weren't really sure.
As they were all gathered, Guren started explaining the situation to them with brief sentences.
"A Fourth Horseman of John is attacking in the North District. It is creating chaos and more are being attracted to the scene. Your task is to kill the one causing trouble, before it can attract too many of its kind," he said.
"Understood sir." Shinoa put on an ironic smile as she saluted Guren. "Is there any more important information?" she asked.
"There might be members of the Kyuuketsuki in the area. In fact we suspect they lured the thing there," Guren said. "If they should appear, don't engage in battle with them. Retreat immediately," he ordered.
Shinoa answered by performing the same gesture as before.
"Do you always have people salute you here?" Yuu asked Guren in a familiar manner.
"What?" Guren asked, tilting his head. It caused him to give off an impression that he didn't really care about the question, and also it really was unimportant.
"Because I'm not gonna salute you, stupid Guren."
"Eh?" Guren smiled. "So you say. Apparently Lieutenant Colonel is not the most respected title here. That would by my rank if this was an army anyway." He smirked. "It would be more wise to salute the real rulers of this place though."
A door slammed. Sayuri came running out. "Guren-sama! Sanguu Mitsuba has been allowed to enter the battlefield!" she called.
"Good, Tell Shinya he's slow!" Guren demanded, appearing to be in a good mood. Then he turned to Shinoa's squad. "That's it. Get out there," he demanded.
Shinoa turned to her now five-man squad. "You heard Guren, Let's go," she said before leading the way towards the North District.
