“Ha~~”

Fire ate through the dry wood making crackling sounds that echoed through the quiet forest. As she stared into its depths, Ichigo let out a long sigh then placed a large piece of meat into her mouth.

“Ichigo, try holding back a bit, okay?” Triska said, giving the pink haired Valkyrie a side look as she waited for the skewer in her hand to cool down a bit.

“… Sorry…” Ichigo sighed once more, her gaze returning to the fire a moment later.

“Just leave her be.” B3 said with a wry smile. “She’s just worried about Doctor.”

“More like she’s sad that he didn’t take her with him.” Venti said before biting into her skewer. “Ah! Hot hot hot!!!”

“… I thought I would get the chance to help…” Ichigo said.

“And you will. We just got here, after all.” B3 said.

With the sun gone the first day of the expedition into the Nephilim world came to an end. A couple of hours before the Doctor sent word that he and the four that went with him would be spending the night with the human survivors, which meant those waiting at the ship didn’t have to wait for him to return.

Some of the girls had the brilliant idea of camping outside so they got to it right away, but after a while they realized they went a bit overboard.

Some cut down trees to build a simple shelter but ended up with quite the elaborate wooden cabin, complete with multiple bedrooms, a kitchen and a dining room. Others went out to look for food and came back with a few rabbits and a deer. The animals were two times their normal size but the Valkyries failed to notice that.

Once the sky began to darken they sat around a bonfire and began grilling the meat. It was an entirely different experience from what they were used to, but then again everything was new now that the war against the Calamities has ended.

“But seriously, where did you learn how to prepare wild meat, Juni?” Venti asked.

“Ah! Well…” scratching her cheeks awkwardly, the Valkyrie in question hesitated to give an answer. “I… used to watch the soldiers do it… in secret…”

“Whoa… seriously?”

“There wasn’t much to do back in the base, okay? If I didn’t sneak out every now and then I would’ve died from boredom!”

Just by looking one could tell that Juni wasn’t the kind who would sit around patiently waiting for orders. She had quite the tomboyish appearance with an athletic slender body and short black hair. Her skin was quite tanned as well showing how much she liked to spend time outside.

“You actually left the base without anyone noticing?” Venti asked. “That’s crazy…”

Contrasting her somewhat sharp tongue, Venti had quite the reserved appearance. Her shoulder length green hair was tied into one big braid and the round glasses she wore hid her dark purple eyes when the light reflected on them at the right angle. She also wore a uniform with long sleeves and skirt, but that did little to hide her massive chest.

“Well, as they say, everything is good as long as you don’t get caught.” Juni let out a nervous laugh then looked at her fellow Valkyries and placed a finger on her lips. “Make sure to keep it a secret, okay?”

“Forget it, they probably knew all along.”

The five turned toward the voice and saw Sitta walking in their direction. Taking a seat on the log beside Triska, she crossed her legs and rested her chin on her palm.

“W-what do you mean, Sitta?” Juni asked, her nervousness peaking at that moment.

“We all lived in military bases, did you really think you can come and go without anyone noticing?” Sitta sighed. “It goes without a question that they monitored every action we made to make sure we stay in line.”

“Seriously!!?”

𝑜𝗏𝗅xt.𝒸𝑂𝗆

“Ah, that makes sense, I guess.” B3 said. “The commander back at my old base was quite soft as well. She let us do what we want as long as we didn’t mess with the humans.”

Memories of the time she spent in the forty fifth base resurfaced in her mind. Though most of them were happy memories, there was no avoiding the pain she felt in her chest, caused by the loss of the comrades she led to battle herself.

Back then they were all called Anti-Calamity weapons. Their emotions were suppressed to make sure they wouldn’t hinder them in combat so they never gave much thought to the loss of their friends. Now they were free to think and feel however they want, but sometimes B3 found herself wondering whether it was for the best.

“Whoa… this is actually good…” Sitta was quite surprised by how the barbeque turned out.

“I know, right?” Juni said, happy to hear her cooking being praised. “The others don’t know what they’re missing!”

“You could’ve earned yourself some points if Doctor was around.” Triska commented with a smirk.

“Really!?” Juni’s eyes sparkled.

“Of course. Humans really love good food.”

“Who doesn’t?” Venti said before biting into another skewer.

“Well, I guess I will save some for him then. Maybe that way I will get closer to joining his personal Valkyries!”

Ichigo twitched at the mention of the word.

“You too, Juni?” Venti asked, her eyes slightly lowered. “What’s up with everyone wanting to be close to him all of a sudden?”

“You know what it’s about.” Sitta said. “They want to try doing ‘that'”

“Oh, ‘that’, huh?” Venti sighed.

Every Valkyrie knew what ‘that’ referred to. Shortly after the war, Nino gathered them saying she had something incredible for them to see. None of them understood what they watched, but what they knew was that it made them feel a bit weird. It was only after Elina gave them a proper sex ed class did they learn what was happening in those videos.

“I asked Zero Three the other day. She said it feels incredibly good!” Juni said, voice full of excitement.

“Really? The females always sounded like they were in pain.” Triska followed.

“Well, those were humans. Our bodies are built different.” Sitta added. “Four of us have already tried and they all seemed to like it.”

“Is that why Ichigo wants to be Doctor’s personal Valkyrie as well?” Triska turned to the pink haired Valkyrie as she asked that question.

Ichigo looked up with a start, her face tomato red.

“N-no! It’s not like that!” Her flustered response made her look even more guilty.

“What’s so embarrassing about that? You should be more honest about your desires.” Sitta said, smiling. “Even I want to try it sometime.”

“I said it’s not like that!”

Everyone.

The atmosphere took a drastic change all of a sudden as everyone’s expression became serious.

“Something wrong, Trenta?” B3 asked, one hand on her ear.

Something is flying in our direction. Trenta said. And it’s not small.

“Couldn’t they wait till morning? I hate fighting in the night.” Juni puffed her cheeks.

“Alright everyone, the party is over!” B3 said as she stood up. “Ichigo, contact the Doctor and tell him we have got visitors. The rest of you, prepare for battle. Sitta and Triska, you two manage the ship’s barrier. Juni, strike down whatever it is that’s heading our way.”

“Are you sure?” The tomboy asked, her weapon already forming in her hand. “We don’t know if it’s the enemy.”

The first time they were attacked in this world turned out to be because of human survivors. That made some feel a bit hesitant about taking action without having enough proof.

Just then a light flashed in the distance. Sitta calmly held her right hand up, the red halo over her head glowing as it rotated. The next moment something exploded against the invisible barrier she created around their camp.

“Does that answer your question?” B3 said.

“Y-yes!”

Juni planted her feet on the ground and prepared for a counterattack. The others were on the move as well, except for Ichigo who was tapping the screen of the tablet in her hand repeatedly.

“Um… B3…” she said, her face a bit pale. “I can’t… I can’t reach the Doctor…”