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


    "I feel like shit…" he said, rubbing his eyes before grabbing his sses.


    Same as thest time one of the Valkyries got injured he spent the night in hisb. Falling asleep on the desk wasn''t thatfortable of an experience leaving him with a stiff neck that probably won''t go away for the next few days.


    Cursing his luck he picked up his tablet and gave it a look, standing up and heading to the one way ss 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.


    Sam 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.


    "This really is taking too long…"


    Just as he muttered those words Sam heard the door open. He nced behind him expecting to see Nine showing up 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 ss wall.


    "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."


    "... 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 seems he has yet to grasp Zero Three''s personality that well.


    As he pondered over the matter he began to recall the cause behind her gloominess. ording to Nine the three Valkyries havee into contact with an S ss cmity, 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.


    Apparently on itsst breath the Cmity 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 med herself for that, saying she allowed the monster to scan her as she used her full power leading to the replica being able to prate Zero Five''s protective force field.


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


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


    "It''s my fault this happened."


    Sam couldn''t help but sigh. Forget scoring points to be 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.


    His only experience with sad women came from Alice, but unlike the drunk crying mess of amander Zero Three was doing her best to stayposed, 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 that 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 waspletely 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 everyst particle had disappeared.


    That said, putting the me 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 considerationhe lifted his hand and ced it on the Valkyrie''s head. "Good job."


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


    It was a message from Shizuru asking if she should wait for him. Just then he remembered that the rm 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." Sam 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 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 ced the tablet down something clicked in his mind and he felt like he understood what the Valkyrie wants right now.


    "How about youe along?" Sam decided to test his guess.


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


    "Can I?" She asked with a small smile.


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


    "I won''t!" Zero Three replied, barely able to contain her excitement.


    Seeing 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.


    "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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