Valkyrie Smash
Chapter 39 - 39: Cheer up.

Sam opened his eyes at the sound of his phone's alarm. Lifting himself up, he stretched his arms while yawning, only to slump forward a moment later.

"I feel like shit…" he muttered while rubbing his eyes. He tried reaching for his glasses but ended up pushing them off the desk by mistake, fueling his irritation even more.

Same as the last time, one of the Valkyries got injured and he spent the night in his lab looking after her. Falling asleep on the desk wasn't that comfortable of an experience leaving him with a stiff neck that probably won't go away for the next few days.

Cursing his luck, Sam picked up his tablet and gave it a look, standing up and heading to the one-way glass wall while doing so. On the other side, one of Eir's containers was still full of the green liquid with the naked body of a young woman submerged in it.

He didn't feel any arousal seeing Zero Five like that. And how could he? She still had two gashes in her abdomen, and although he could no longer see the other side through them, he couldn't help but grimace when faced with the wound.

"This is... taking too long…"

Just as he muttered those words, Sam heard the door open. He glanced behind him expecting to see Nine however it turned out to be the brown haired petite Valkyrie Zero Three.

"Good morning," Sam said. "Came to check on her?"

The young Valkyrie said nothing, only nodding once before returning her gaze to the glass wall.

"As you can see, there is quite a bit left." He stopped for a moment, carefully picking his words before speaking them. "The good news is that the process is what's taking so long. Her recovery is guaranteed so there is nothing to worry about."

"... I see…"

The curt reply was disheartening. Sam wished she would say something like 'I already know that!' Or 'I don't need you to tell me!' However, it appears his grasp on the girl's personality was far weaker than he thought.

As he pondered over the matter he began to recall the cause behind her gloominess. According to Nine, the three Valkyries have come into contact with an S-class calamity, which was terrifying on its own, but what made it all the more dangerous was its ability to create replicas of the things it fights.

Apparently on its last breath the Calamity created a perfect replica of Zero Three and used it to attack Five who had lowered her guard thinking the battle was over. The young Valkyrie blamed herself for that, saying she allowed the monster to scan her as she used her full power, leading to the replica being able to penetrate Zero Five's protective force field.

"Are you still upset about what happened?" Sam asked after a while, unable to hold it in anymore.

The young Valkyrie remained silent for a while before replying in a barely audible voice.

"It's my fault..."

Sam couldn't help but sigh. Forget scoring points to become her master, he had no idea how he should go about dealing with her when she was like this. Trying to make her fall for him was simply impossible.

His only experience with sad women came from Alice, but unlike the drunk crying mess of a commander Zero Three was doing her best to stay composed, although her usually cheerful and energetic demeanor was gone.

After thinking it through for a few seconds he decided to repeat something he had told her the day before.

"As I already told you, if you didn't draw the enemy's attention like you did it would've noticed Zero Five much earlier. And you know how bad the situation would've been in that case, right?"

"But…"

"If there is someone at fault here it would be Five for letting her guard down even when you had yet to confirm that the enemy was completely gone."

As they had described it, the city was still in the process of disintegrating when Five got attacked. That should've been their warning to stay on guard until every last particle had disappeared.

That said, putting the blame on the victim didn't seem to do any good to Zero Three's mood making Sam realize he had been bit too harsh.

"Well, if you consider what would've happened if you failed this time, I would say you did pretty well." After careful consideration, he lifted his hand and placed it on the Valkyrie's head. "Good job."

Zero Three didn't reply, only nodding her head slightly. A couple of seconds later Sam retracted his hand. He couldn't avoid the awkward silence that followed, though. As the two stood there looking at the glass wall, a notification popped up and saved him.

It was a message from Shizuru asking if she should wait for him. Just then he remembered that the alarm he had set earlier was for when the time for breakfast came. He hadn't eaten anything since yesterday's lunch and his stomach made sure to remind him of it.

"Guess I should get something to eat for now." He said as he turned away. "What about you?"

Zero Three looked up with a start, her eyes showing a hint of surprise. She made a show of thinking about it for a couple of seconds but then seemed to realize that she had misunderstood what he meant.

"I... I think I will stay here and watch over Five." She said, forcing a weak smile on.

"... alright then…"

Wondering what the reason behind her reaction was, Sam turned around and walked to his desk. The moment he placed the tablet down something clicked in his mind and he felt like he understood what the Valkyrie wants right now.

"How about you come along?" He decided to test his guess.

As expected, the young Valkyrie seemed to regain some of her energy as she turned to look at him, her eyes wide open.

"Can I?" She asked.

"Of course," Sam replied. "There is no rule against you coming to our side, as long as you don't cause any trouble."

"I won't!"

The excited reply washed away the gloominess surrounding the young Valkyrie, and though she still wasn't back to her usual self, seeing her genuine smile helped ease the worries Sam refused to acknowledge.

"Remember to keep physical contact with the soldiers to a minimum." He said, addressing one of the things they needed to keep an open eye on. "And make sure to never mention anything about our conversations, understood?"

"Understood!"

Hearing the young Valkyrie's cheerful reply, Sam nodded to himself then turned to the door.

"Alright, let's get going."

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