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"Kafka, you're up next! Lane 4!" they hear Vice-Captain Hoshina shout over the sound of gun fire, not looking up over the clip board in his hands.
"Yes, sir!!" Kafka yells back before he turns to Ichikawa with a big grin. "I'll make it into the top 5 this time, you'll see. I finally got the hang of it!" He gives Ichikawa a thumbs up and runs off to take his position at the assigned lane.
Ichikawa’s smile falters as he watches Kafka from behind the safety glass struggle to pick up the enormous gun with both hands and his right knee.
"I see that Hibino Kafka is as incompetent as ever."
He throws a sideway glance at Shinomiya, who appeared next to him after finishing a perfect round.
"He's doing just fine, thank you," he says with a scowl. In the same moment Kafka drops the gun after he finally carried it to the firing line. They can hear an embarrassed ‘Sorry!’ yelled in the direction of the cringing technicians.
Shinomiya crosses her arms over her chest. "He obviously still can’t use his suite. Why is he not using his kaiju strength?"
"Because he’s human," Ichikawa retorts, "He doesn't need his kaiju form to be a valuable troop member."
"...They don’t want a repeat of last time, do they?"
Ichikawa grimaces. "You can stop worrying. I’ve been training with him every night in the past weeks. I can assure you; Hibino is doing just fine—"
A huge blast echoes through the range. Turns out Kafka shot into the overhead safety baffles and rattled the whole room. He looks around sheepishly with a mouthed 'Sorry!!' on his lips.
"I'm sure," Shinomiya deadpans.
Ichikawa chooses not to answer. They watch Kafka hoist the gun up again and clumsily get back in position.
"He should spend more time with me."
Ichikawa’s neck cracks with how fast his head whips around to look at Shinomiya.
"Excuse me?"
"Maybe if he kept closer to me, he'd actually learn something. I am almost at Captain Ashiro's level, you know."
"In your dreams…" Ichikawa mutters annoyed. "I'm telling you; he's got this."
"He don't got this."
Both jump at the sudden voice from behind their backs. "Vice-Captain!"
“What are you two talking about?” Hoshina looks between them. “Kafka’s growth is obviously thanks to the rigorous training I’ve been putting him through from the moment I allowed him to join the third unit,” he says with a completely straight face.
“Uh…”
“He did bulk up nicely…” Hoshina continues, but he seems to be talking more to his clipboard now, “Hmm… He’s still only at 3 percent release force, but his muscle definition and overall mobility are definitely above my expectations…”
Shinomiya huffs and flips one of her high pig tails. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll always be stronger than him, because it is my responsibility to stop him, should he ever go on a rampage again. That’s why he should stick with me.”
Ichikawa’s eyes narrow dangerously. “Thanks, but no thanks," he spits out. "Hibino is going to be just fine. And you know why? Because I will be strong enough and right there to support him. We don't need your help."
“Maybe if we gave Kaiju No.8 a gun…” Hoshina mutters into the clip board.
Ichikawa and Shinomiya exchange concerned looks.
Another blast rips their attention back to the shooting lanes. Kafka's second shot stayed on the right trajectory, but it missed the target and instead put a scorched indentation into the backstop. "Oh fu-! Sorry!!"
Ichikawa tries hard to not let the pain show on his face.
"Anyways," Shinomiya turns back to him as if nothing happened and starts stabbing him in the chest with her finger, "I'm the strongest, so obviously I should be the one to watch over Hibino Kafka and make sure he doesn't mess up—"
"But I've known him the longest and he trusts me with his life. If he needs help, he'll obviously turn to me—!"
"Did you guys forget that I already fought Kaiju No.8? And I can with absolute certainty say that neither of you has any chance in a fight against him. I've been studying his moves ever since—"
The sound of someone clearing their throat interrupts the heated argument.
"I think all of you fail to consider one very important detail."
Three heads whip around when Ashiro's calm voice reaches them.
Ichikawa and Shinomiya instantly straighten their backs.
"Captain Ashiro!"
"Captain!"
"Oh?" Hoshina cocks his head in question.
Suddenly, a huge explosion shakes the very foundation of the training facility. Ichikawa and Shinomiya topple to the floor with a couple of others. Everyone is looking around in alarm, firearms raised and ready for command.
"MINAAAAA!!! DID YOU SEE?!? I DID IT! I DID IT, MINAAAAAA!!"
They look over to where Kafka is jumping up and down like a big puppy and waving his hands with a grin on his face.
Hoshina doubles over with laughter while Ichikawa just sighs. Shinomiya is full facepalming.
"MIIINAAA, WERE YOU WATCHING??? I HIT THE TARGET, MINA!!!"
Ashiro closes her eyes like she's trying to suppress her own laugh.
"Maybe we should leave him to decide for himself?" she asks with a small smile before she turns around and walks away.
"Kafka!" Hoshina yells, wiping tears from his eyes. "50 push-ups for addressing your superior without proper honorifics!"