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nSam 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.

n“I feel like **…” he said, rubbing his eyes before grabbing his glasses.

nSame as the last time one of the Valkyries got injured he spent the night in his lab. 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.

nCursing his luck he picked up his tablet and gave it a look, standing up and heading to the one way glass wall. 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.

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

n“This really is taking too long…”

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

n“Good morning.” Sam said. “Came to check on her?”

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

n“As you can see, there is quite a bit left.” He stopped for a moment, carefully picking his words befor 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.”

n“… I see…”

nThe 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 seems he has yet to grasp Zero Three’s personality that well.

nAs 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, however what made it all the more dangerous was its ability to create replicas of the things it scans.

nApparently on its last breath the Calamity created a perfect replica of Zero Three and used it to attack Five who had her guard down 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.

n“Are you still upset about what happened?” Sam asked, feeling the awkwardness of the situation.

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

n“It’s my fault this happened.”

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

nHis 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.

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

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

n“But…”

n“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.”

nAs 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.

nThat 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.

n“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.”

nZero Three didn’t reply, only nodding her head slightly. A couple of seconds later Sam retracted his hand, however he couldn’t avoid the awkward silence that followed. As the two stood there looking at the glass wall, Sam received a notification that saved him at the right moment.

nIt 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.

n“Guess I should get something to eat for now.” Sam said as he turned away. “What about you?”

nZero 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.

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

n“… alright then…”

nWondering 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.

n“How about you come along?” Sam decided to test his guess.

nAs expected, the young Valkyrie seemed to regain some of her energy as she turned to look at him, a faint red coloring her cheeks.

n“Can I?” She asked with a small smile.

n“Of course.” Sam replied. “There is no rule against you coming to our side, as long as you don’t cause any trouble.”

n“I won’t!” Zero Three replied, barely able to contain her excitement.

nSeeing her mood change for the better caused a smile to appear on Sam’s face. He quickly brushed it off then gave one more instruction.

n“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?”

n“Understood!”

nHearing the young Valkyrie’s cheerful reply, Sam nodded to himself then turned to the door.

n“Alright, let’s get going.”

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