Marine Academy
Part 1
Chapter 4
"Excuse me?" Murphy asked, incredulous. The brunette in front of her smiled at her with all her teeth, her gaze playful.
"You really did very well, young girl. You exceeded all my expectations even!" Exclaimed the student, tying her hair carelessly.
"Tell me exactly what happened !" Ordered the blonde, worried and scared at the idea of discovering the whole truth.
Emma put on her sports shorts.
"You'll ask Claire for more details because everything is a bit blurry for me too, I was a bit drunk from our evening... But the third year girls told me that late in the evening, a charming and very charismatic young man had shown up at the main door of the dormitory. This handsome man explained that he was coming to take you back to your dormitory so that you could sleep in your room. Apparently, you were asleep like a baby in his muscular arms."
Murphy vaguely remembers two strong arms gently wrapping her as she was invaded by a soft comforting warmth.
"The girls were dying of jealousy! I must say that he has his charm... Quite austere, but charming..."
"Stop it Emma" The blonde grumbled, trying to hide behind her hair, red with shame at the idea that other girls could have seen her in this situation.
"He simply laid you down on the bed. Claire was helping me throw up in the toilet and took him out rather quickly. He remained courteous and left without making a fuss."
"Oh my God..." The blonde despaired.
"Well now, you better find a damn excuse for this whole scene because all the girls in the dorm know about it now. And the referent is pissed that a man entered the dorm. If you had crossed paths with her last night, you would have probably had a bucket of water thrown in your face." The brunette finished as she laced up her running shoes.
Murphy lay down on her bed, her face horrified. She certainly didn't want to be associated with a man, especially in this environment where gossip spread at a prodigious speed.
She looked out the window. Emma had just left their room. All of Claire's things were s no longer there. She had probably gone back to see her relatives during this week of vacation. The blonde couldn't afford this luxury, the Academy was five days by boat from her home island.
The young woman sighed. She was horrified, but she knew she couldn't change the past. So she had only two options: continue to lament her fate and stay hidden under her duvet for a whole week. Or continue to move forward, hoping that the gossip would quickly stop after the holidays.
The blonde took a deep breath, tried to motivate herself again and rushed to take an ice-cold shower to get her ideas back in order: she had just validated her first semester, with honors, and had spent a pleasant evening watching Sakazuki train, who in the end, had been exemplary.
"He could have let me sleep on the beach. Or been a big pervert who would have gone to look into my closet while I slept" The young woman put things into perspective while brushing her wet hair. She looked with conviction at her reflection in the mirror.
"You're going to do it. You're going to take responsibility until the end."
The blonde glanced at her uniform, but quickly changed her mind: it was the holidays, so she might as well make the most of it. She put on a long, loose summer dress, perfect for the actual heat, grabbed her bag and stormed out of her room, as if to force herself not to think and rush straight ahead.
The young woman crossed the gardens, greeting a few girls who were taking advantage of the shade of the trees to read something other than medical books. The blonde continued at full speed, stopping only to avoid hitting the old chemistry teacher, and arrived a few minutes later in front of the entrance door of the fourth first-year class.
She expected to find final-year students in the entrance office, but the latter, in addition to being a monstrous mess, was deserted. She vaguely heard men training in the distance on the back field. A small group of soldiers in civilian clothes called out to her.
"Hey, aren't you the little medical student from the training room? Hey, I'm sick here," one of the soldiers said, lifting his shirt, revealing his abs.
Murphy sighed. Her day had already started off very badly, she didn't want to put up with these lunatics either.
"I'm looking for Sakazuki," she replied curtly.
The men froze at the sound of that name. One of them grimaced and continued on his way without answering.
"Third floor, room 11," one of them said before leaving in turn.
The blonde was surprised by this change in behavior, but forgot about it pretty quickly. She walked through endless corridors and finally found herself in front of the door.
The young woman didn't even have time to knock before the door suddenly opened.
"What are you doing here?" the soldier asked in a harsh voice.
Murphy felt a shiver run through her. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all. But she didn't get discouraged: her parents had raised a polite and respectful woman.
The blonde bowed slightly to the man.
"I want to thank you for getting me back to my dorm safely." She replied a little solemnly.
The man seemed slightly disconcerted, but barely let it show. He glanced down the hallway to check that they were alone. The young woman slowly straightened up and fixed her gaze on his, a sort of glint of challenge in her gaze. Sakazuki held his gaze for only a few seconds before looking away.
A silence settled between them, awkward. Murphy continued to stare at him without saying anything. If there's one thing she likes, it's challenges. And she wanted to know what this man who intrigued her was made of.
Faced with his lack of response, she looked at him without discretion. Sakazuki had also abandoned his uniform, but was still dressed in a rather strict manner. He had abandoned his cap and she could finally see his face in full.
"You're welcome" He said after a few seconds, visibly disturbed by the young woman's behavior which was frankly not usual for him.
But the blonde continued to stare at him intensely, still that glint of challenge in her eyes, visibly not satisfied with his answer that she considered incomplete.
"Are you going to invite me to lunch or am I going to have to wait in the hallway all day?" she asked, her arms crossed over her chest.
Sakazuki couldn't help but let out a mocking smirk. The blonde was definitely not afraid and seemed to know how to steer her own ship. It was the first time a woman had dared to speak to him like that.
The man turned around, a discreet smile on his lips, grabbed a light jacket and left his room, leaving Murphy to follow closely behind him.
This promised to be interesting.
She had won.
[...]
"That's crazy," the man noted as he watched the blonde swallow a cotton candy three times the circumference of her face.
Crazy was definitely the word that characterized Murphy. He described her as a free electron, unpredictable and somehow interesting.
"What's crazy, Sakazuki, is that you've never been to the cinema." The blonde immediately replied, her mouth half full of pink sugar.
She felt strangely comfortable with him. Even if he wasn't the type to talk, and even less to try to make her laugh, she appreciated this constant self-control that he displayed and that in a way reassured her. Being in his company was reassuring, but also pleasant in a way.
He let her express herself without judging her or trying to change her. And above all, he knew how to speak to her with respect. Their conversation, on the surface banal, allowed them to understand each other, to get to know each other and the more the day went by, the more she appreciated being by his side.
The blonde finished swallowing her cotton candy and grabbed her cocktail. They had been sitting for a good two hours on the terrace of this surprisingly empty café on this first day of vacation, enjoying the warmth of the sun on their skin. A little rest did them both good. She slowly sipped her drink, spying on him discreetly. He was impassive, but she felt his gaze detail her skin.
"Sakazuki..." The young women looked at him, a sly smile on his lips.
"I feel like we're going to spend a long time together." She said, putting down her empty glass, passing a strand of her blond hair behind her ear absently.
She was bold, and he loved that.