Chapter 84: Both Teammate and Lover
Hearing the smile in Asagiri's voice, Ashikaga sensei fell silent for a few seconds. Then she loosened her grip, let the black pistol clatter onto the wooden floor, and spoke blandly.
"Yes. I lost."
Not far away, Asuna and Megumi watched Asagiri standing there, still smiling, and their emotions turned complicated.
Rubber bullets used rubber only at the tip. They would not pierce the body like real rounds, but the structure and muzzle speed were essentially the same. At close range, they could still injure someone, even kill.
And just now… Asagiri had been hit from under ten meters away. Yet he never even slowed down, as if pain did not exist.
Was he… really human?
"You did well."
Ashikaga sensei stepped back, picked up the pistol, clicked the safety on, then looked at Asagiri with the same calm tone as always.
"When facing an enemy with a gun, you can't charge blindly. You'll get hit in a vital area and lose the ability to fight on the spot. But you also can't panic and dodge too much. The faster you close the distance, the less time your opponent has to aim."
She raised her hand and adjusted her glasses, gaze steady.
"Predict the bullet's line, keep your vital areas from being struck, and get in as fast as possible. That was the correct choice."
She paused.
"It's just…" Her eyes narrowed slightly. "From your reaction, you don't seem unfamiliar with the pain of being shot. And even with a gun pointed at you, you showed no fear at all."
Her voice lowered.
"Have you… experienced something like this before?"
"Of course."
Asagiri answered with a carefree smile.
"Getting hit by a bullet is nothing. I've even been shot dead by an automatic rifle once."
Ashikaga sensei sighed, sounding faintly resigned.
"Shot dead once? Then what's talking to me right now, a wandering spirit?" She waved it off. "Fine. If you don't want to explain, don't. Let's continue."
What she did not know was that Asagiri was not joking.
A Persona was a projection of the heart, tied directly to the user's will. In the previous Dungeon, Human Asura had been riddled with automatic rifle fire and killed. In a very real sense, Asagiri had felt that death through it.
"Next is the second part of training."
Ashikaga sensei set the pistol aside and picked up the camouflage painted automatic rifle instead. Her tone remained flat.
"Personally, I think this is meaningless compared to what we just did. It's not training. It's pure torture." She glanced at him. "But you asked for it, so I won't argue."
Asagiri retreated until he was about twenty meters away again. He bent slightly at the waist, smiling like he was about to start a game.
"Getting used to that torture is the whole point."
"High school students these days," Ashikaga sensei muttered. "Their chuunibyou is seriously advanced…"
Asagiri burst forward with shocking speed.
Ashikaga sensei raised the rifle and fired without hesitation.
This time, Asagiri did not dodge.
Against a rapid fire weapon at this distance, predicting each bullet and slipping past it was practically impossible. Instead, he lifted his arms to shield his face and pushed through the hail of rubber rounds.
Step by step, under Asuna and Megumi stunned gazes, he closed in on Ashikaga sensei.
…
Two hours later.
The dojo floor was scattered with rubber debris. While Ashikaga sensei cleaned up, she looked over at Asuna, Megumi, and Asagiri, who had already changed into clean clothes and were preparing to leave.
"Utsunomiya, have you ever considered becoming a fighter?"
"A fighter?"
Asagiri pulled on his jacket, since early spring nights still carried a bite of cold.
"Those so called fighters are just beasts raised by big conglomerates for entertainment. Gladiator pets." He shrugged. "Not interested."
Ashikaga sensei nodded, expression unreadable.
"Correct."
Outside the dojo, Megumi turned to them politely.
"Thank you for bringing me to special training today. I'll head home now."
"I told you, you don't have to be so formal, Megumi." Asuna waved with a gentle smile. "Next time we train, I'll message you ahead of time."
"Okay."
Kei left, her figure fading into the night.
Asuna's smile slowly disappeared. When she turned back to Asagiri, worry filled her eyes. She wanted to touch his shoulder, but even her fingertips trembled, as if her body could not decide whether it was allowed.
"A… are you okay?"
"What is that face?"
Seeing her troubled, almost sorrowful expression, Asagiri reached out and stroked her hair, teasing lightly.
"Looking at you like that, I'd think I died and you became a widow. It was just training. Of course I'm fine…"
"You're lying."
Asuna cut him off softly. She took his wrist, then used her other hand to pull up his sleeve.
Bruises spread along his arm, dark and purple, ugly under the streetlights.
Asuna lifted her head. Her eyes trembled, bright and painfully beautiful in the dim glow.
"Even with your current body, rubber bullets won't cripple you, but they still leave marks like this." Her voice shook. "And… it must hurt."
"It doesn't matter."
Asagiri shook his head, tone light, smile easy.
"As my stats improve and Human Asura's resistance keeps rising, it won't be long before I can tank bullets head on. So the sooner I get used to the feeling, the better it'll be when I face Black Watch again."
Asuna pressed her lips together. The light in her eyes dimmed slightly, and her grip on his sleeve tightened.
"You're already thinking ahead and forcing yourself through that pain…" Her voice dropped. "But I…"
"I know you're impatient," Asagiri said, cutting her off before she could spiral. "But don't rush."
He looked at her directly, voice firm.
"You can't call yourself useless. In the beginner Dungeon, you helped me uncover the hidden rules. In the second Dungeon, while I held back the Floating Corpse Evil Spirit, you were the one who eliminated its main body. If I were alone, I couldn't have done it."
He did not pause, as if he had all her doubts written down already.
"And in the last Dungeon, you cleared ordinary infected and Special Infected nonstop. You bought me time to recover stamina, and that's why I could kill five Black Watch soldiers." His gaze softened. "How is that useless?"
Asuna blinked, startled. A blush crept onto her face.
"You… you remember even things I don't remember that clearly…"
"Of course." Asagiri's tone turned serious for half a second. "As captain, I have to keep track of the KDA. If yours doesn't meet the standard, I'll kick you out."
Asuna could not even be angry. A laugh slipped out.
"So you're that heartless. Sigh… just like when the cunning rabbit is dead, the hunting dogs get cooked."
"Oh," Asagiri said, perfectly calm. "So you're a hunting dog."
Asuna froze.
Then her face heated up, and she snapped back, flustered and indignant.
"You're the hunting dog!"
A beat passed. Then Asuna seemed to remember something. A shy flush spread across her cheeks, but she still forced herself to look up at him.
"Back in the last Dungeon…" Her voice softened to almost nothing. "The thing I promised you. Why… why didn't you ask? Did you forget?"
She meant what she had said before leaving, that if he returned safely, she would kiss him somewhere other than his cheek.
"Forget?" Asagiri smiled. "How could I forget?"
Then his expression turned unusually sincere.
"But if I brought it up myself, it'd feel like I was pressuring you. Like blackmail. That's unnecessary."
Asuna lifted a hand and tucked her hair behind her ear, eyes flickering.
"Actually… I was kind of hoping you would bring it up…"
She stepped forward, closing the distance. Then she quietly shut her eyes and tilted her face up, delicate and determined.
Her meaning was obvious.
"Then…"
Asagiri leaned in. He wrapped an arm around her back, felt her tremble with nervousness, and kissed her lips.
A few seconds later, they separated.
Asagiri looked at Asuna's uneven breathing, her flushed face, and her eyes shimmering like she had just woken from a dream. His voice was soft, almost gentle.
"Then I hope my teammate Violet will stay by my side, from now on, not only as my teammate…"
He smiled.
"But as my girlfriend, Yuuki Asuna."
.....
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