Marine Academy
Part 1
Chapter 09
It had been a year.
A year since Sakazuki returned from his five-month mission in his second year. A year since Murphy's thesis. A year since they had found themselves in the man'sroom. A year that she had "concluded before he found another pretty blonde on a port" as Emma liked to tell her.
The alarm clock rang loudly in the room.
Murphy grumbled, trying to extricate herself from the man's powerful arms to turn off the damn alarm clock. The blonde hit the small object to silence it and curled up against Sakazuki's warm chest, desperately trying to fall back into Morpheus arm's. But that was without counting on the soldier who never turned his back on his duty. The blonde grumbled as she felt the Sakazuki body escape from the bed, taking with him his comforting warmth. She grabbed the blanket and wrapped herself in it, trying to recreate an artificial warmth.
Sakazuki had learned very quickly that the blonde was really not a morning person. Since that night, she had practically abandoned her dorm (much to Emma's delight who now had the room all to herself since Claire left) and was now officially illegally staying in his room.
They only saw each other from time to time, exams and studies oblige, neither of them losing sight of their main objective. But going through all these difficulties together was still much more pleasant, even if the soldier would never admit it out loud. Ego obliges.
He dressed quickly but in silence, letting the blonde enjoy the calm. As the soldier was about to leave his room, he was stopped by a barely awake female voice.
"You're forgetting something."
The way she spoke to him, almost giving him orders but still remaining respectful, made him laugh deep down. The blonde was definitely not like the other women who bowed to him and blessed each of his words.
They had also had intense debates on their respective visions of justice. She advocated justice based on a fair trial with a popular jury. He believed that it was just a waste of time concerning the pirates who deserved, at best, to end up in Impel Down. It had become a subject of discord between them, which is why each of them skillfully avoided starting on this ground, respecting the opinion of the other without accepting it.
He leaned over her as she was lying on her stomach against the soft mattress, and kissed her hair.
"You'll succeed Saka, I'm sure of it." She continued as he left through the door.
The fifth semester was already over for her, unlike Sakazuki who was starting his exams today. Nothing really new: fighting, military strategy and above all, a lot of fighting.
She had never really seen him fight to his full potential on a real battlefield but from the gossip she heard, he was scary. It always surprised her. She knew a mature, calm, reserved, authoritarian but respectful man, very attached to discipline and order.
The den den mushi echoed in the room, once again waking her up from her sleep.
"Hello?" She said in a barely awake voice.
"Murphy where the hell are you?" Emma screamed at the top of her lungs. The blonde felt the stress in her voice.
"At Saka's dorm why?" The blonde asked quickly, putting on her clothes as quickly as possible, feeling the emergency.
"Shit you missed the general order ! I thought you had been back in the dorm since yesterday!" The brunette continued. Muprhy understood through the den den mushi that her friend was having the sprint of her life.
"No, not at all, I stayed to study intensive care at Saka's dorm all weekend!" The blonde yelled across the room as she tried as best she could to tie her hair into a presentable bun. Strangely, the brunette didn't make any of her dirty remarks about night training with the soldier...
"We're leaving Murphy! We're leaving! We're on the list of those selected for the on-board mission! And we're leaving now!"
Murphy froze for a moment.
"But I thought the on-board missions didn't start until the beginning of the month!" the blonde shouted almost hysterically. None of her things were ready, especially for such a long time.
"Not for this ship Murphy, it's serious! Marineford is sending a huge fleet to North Blue, seven warships and two medical ships. They've requisitioned the last years students like us to hellp them. So hurry up Murphy, the ship leaves in twenty minutes!"
Murphy hung up the den den mushi with waiting any longer, stuffed it in her bag, stole an apple from Sakazuki's drawer, scribbled a quick letter that she abandoned on the still unmade bed, and ran off as fast as she could, not even taking the time to lock the door behind her.
She ran down the stairs in a few seconds, not giving a glance to the soldiers surprised to see a medical student in the male soldiers' dormitory, run through the training grounds under the surprised gaze of Sakazuki, ran down the stairs and arrived at the main port in a few seconds.
The two friends found themselves in the crowd and rushed to the warship where they recognized other students also boarded. They barely had time to lean against the ship to catch their breath, that the anchor was raised, letting the ship leave the port.
Murphy felt the sweat on her back. She definitely had no stamina. She wiped her forehead and rushed into the ship at the sound of her professor yelling at the assembly.
The young woman had a brief thought for Sakazuki and the note she had left him in the room, a thin smile on her lips.
"Left for a mission, no return date. I love you."