Chapter 13

Before we even had a chance to properly thank Yu for his sacrifice, one of lieutenant colonel Guren's squad members called to him. "Special Private Yuichiro Hyakuya. Come." Yu turned around to face us, a smile on his face. The poor bastard didn't know what was waiting for him. Yu gave us a toothy smile, "okay, time for me to get an earful." Shinoa tried to go with him, wanting to tell the truth to Guren and push all the blame on herself, one after the other we all stepped forward, ready to be blamed for our prank. But Yu only shook his head and said "Don't worry guys, I'm used to get scolded by Guren", waving, he casually walked off into the building where Guren's black haired squad member had retreated to.

It didn't take more than a few minutes of Yu having entered the building than a scream erupted from it. Yu's scream. Without a plan we all jumped into action, running into the building looking to help Yu. I gasped in horror at what was in front of me, our comrade hanging over a fire, being strung up like a pig to be cooked. "Hot hot hot! Dammit you bastards!" Yu was kicking around frantically.Without hesitation Shinoa summoned her cursed gear. "Wait" Kimizuki shouted but Shinoa didn't listen and slashed her scythe trough the illusion. It wasn't until the illusion had disappeared that I noticed the mist surrounding us. "What kind of a joke is this, lieutenant colonel?" Shinoa asked. When she did the fog separated slightly making way for Guren and his squad members, together with Yu. The colonel smiled coldly."This is your punishment, Shinoa." He said and held his sword against Yu's throat. I stilled, they wouldn't kill one of their own soldiers for the sake of a punishment right?"This is what you get for not confessing yourself. I'm here to show you that following orders can easily get your comrades killed." He said it so casually as if he wasn't holding another person's life in his hands right now. I shuddered. Shinoa let her weapon disappear and seemed to calm herself before speaking. "Yes I know that. I am well aware of what I did was wrong." Shinoa admitted."That's not good enough! You have never experienced what it's like to truly care for another person. Therefor you don't understand the fear of loosing someone. But from here on, it's different. One mistake can lead to a comrade's death. As team leader their lives are in your hands." Guren said.I gulped, it felt like a blow to the gut when Guren said that, knowing I had failed my whole squad and led them to be killed. The colonel continued, "let's do a little test to see if you can handle your team right here and now. Only three from my side, me, Mito and Shinya, against you and your squad. The fight begins in ten seconds" he said casually as he started to count down from ten.Shinoa was stunned, not sure if the lieutenant colonel was messing with her or not. As the count came down to five Shinoa had decided it would be a real fight and she ordered us to get some distance. We ran.

Even though we had little time Shinoa managed to come up with a good strategy to beat them. But as the fight started I soon realized we had never stood a chance. I lifted my face from the concrete, feeling the bruises already starting to form. Mito had punched me so hard I had gone flying into a pile of rubble, face first. "The fight is over kids!" I hear Guren shout from somewhere further down a corridor before a huge blast throws me out of the building. Landing ungracefully on the parking lot we all had been assembled on earlier. I looked up, seeing Guren holding a blade to Shinoa's throat, murmuring something to her. I looked around and saw all the other soldiers watching us, as if it wasn't embarrassing enough already. "Alright, as you can see these newbies need some help, take care of them you guys!" Guren says loud enough for all the soldiers on the parking lot to hear him. After having collected ourselves a voice addressing Guren cut the silence. "May I speak Lieutenant Colonel?" The brown haired guy from earlier said. His squad close behind him. I finally got the chance to assess the guy better. He was tall, a few years older then them probably, with a ponytail and a mole under his right eye. His cursed gear was a trident which was strapped behind his back. I had seen him before, when I still was with my old squad. Narumi was was his name. I hadn't spoken to him before but I had seen him around the mess hall and training grounds a few times. Guren grunted, giving Narumi approval to speak. "I am against bringing these newbies to the battlefield sir. They can't follow orders and have no sense of teamwork, they would only drag us down."Guren hummed, pretending to think on it a bit before replying, "you have a point. That is a problem but how can we fix that." He turned to look Narumi's squad, a ghost of a smile playing on his lips."Oh I know, then you guys take care of them." Guren's command shocked both us and Narumi and his squad."W-what?!" Narumi said bewildered."Shigure, rearrange the squads. Team up Shinoa's squad with Narumi's" he said looking at his dark haired team member who's name is Shigure. "Yes sir" she replied curtly."Wait, please reconsider this lieutenant colonel-" Narumi started but was cut off by Guren. He turned to Yu who was standing closest to him, "this is sergeant Makoto Narumi. That's Rika Inoue, Taro Kagiyama, Yayoi Endo and Shusaka Iwasaki." He named all Narumi's squad members in the order they were standing. Narumi held the same irritated facial expressions as Rika and Taro did, but Yayoi smiled softly at us while Shusaka kept his face emotionless."They are an excellent squad. They will train you well." The colonel said looking pleased with himself. Narumi tried to argue some more but was cut off once again by the lieutenant colonel."Listen up! Play time is over. Let's focus, we've got a mission!"