Kurokawa gathered the group once more. “Next up, agility training,” he announced, holding up a big paintball gun. “You will run across the field while I try to shoot you. If you get hit, you go back to the start. You can quit if you make it across the field without getting hit. ”

This was probably the strangest and scariest thing Kaen had heard in a while. In his hometown, there had been a gang of delinquent kids running around shooting people with a paintball gun. Kaen had been one of the unlucky ones getting hit in the face and had a big red mark on his cheek for weeks. And don’t even start with the pain. And those kids didn’t even know how to shoot properly; the thought of a trained agent going around shooting a bunch of kids as training was enough to make Kaen’s stomach churn.

On the contrary, Gin grinned, clearly up for the challenge. “Sounds fun,” she said, her eyes gleaming with excitement. Kaen did not understand where her enthusiasm came from.

“Well, I don’t like this,” Ren said, his voice wavering a bit as he took off his blue sweater.

“Me neither,” Kaen said, following suit by taking off his jacket, not wanting it to get ruined with all the colors. Kurokawa took his position at the opposite end of the field, paintball gun at the ready. The group lined up, each of them eyeing the path ahead, everyone mostly looking nervous. Gin looked like she had just won the lottery, way too happy about this.

“Ready,” Kurokawa called out, preparing his paintball gun. Kaen swallowed.

“Go!” Kurokawa shouted, and the field erupted into chaos.

Everyone quickly started running. Initially, everyone managed to weave and dodge the shots. Kaen tried keeping a steady pace, his tactic slow and calculated, trying to see where Kurokawa would shoot next. He looked at the others; no one had gotten hit yet. Even Yuukie was doing okay with this. But then he looked around confused; he didn’t see Gin. He was sure she would be at the front taking the lead, but he didn’t see her. Did she get shot? No, that couldn’t be. He didn’t have to wonder for long, though.

“Sorry, friend, but I don’t wanna ruin these pants!” He felt someone grab onto his white T-shirt, pushing him forward. Before he knew it, he was on the ground, hit in the stomach. “Fucking hell!” He sat up, looking around, wondering what had happened. Ren and Yuukie had also gotten hit; they were sitting in the grass and breathing heavily. Ren had a big green splatter of paint on his white shirt. Then he saw Kenzo running, but right behind him was that silver-haired little gremlin. She grabbed his shirt and pushed him as protection for herself. She had used them as shields. Kenzo screamed before getting hit in the shoulder.

“Motherfucker!”

“Sorry!” she shouted before crossing the finish line. She turned around with a big triumphant grin on her face. Kurokawa approached her, with surprise and praise in his voice.

“Well done on making it across without getting hit,” he said, clearly not expecting anyone to make it through the first round. “But remember, using teammates as shields isn’t the right approach. Your quick thinking is commendable, but direct it toward the challenge, not against your teammates.”

Gin muttered something before sitting down in the grass next to Kurokawa.

“Okay, everyone else go back and we’re doing this again.”

Kaen gave Gin a look. Thinking they were friends now, he was a bit disappointed. She seemed to have seen it because she mouthed something that looked like “Sorry.” Kaen groaned and stood up, walking back to the start line.

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It took two more rounds for Ren to finish. Kaen felt a little envious, but he quickly brushed it off. Ren had been struck on the head, after all. His white and blue hair was now adorned with pink, making him look like cotton candy. Kaen had chuckled a bit at the thought. They went round after round, everyone now looking like someone had thrown a bucket full of rainbow paint at them. The bruises were also starting to form, making Kaen look like someone had drawn red circles all over his skin.

One round, Kaen had gotten about two-thirds of the way there, then he had looked up at Kurokawa’s face and saw a menacing smirk playing on his lips. It unnerved Kaen, distracting him enough that he got hit twice in quick succession, one on his arm and another on his leg.

“Fuck!” Kaen cursed, gritting his teeth against the stinging pain. He shot a glare at Kurokawa, who simply watched, his expression unreadable.

A few rounds later, Kaen and Yuukie got hit again but Kenzo continued running, almost making it to the finish line. But then he was struck in the forehead, causing him to tumble over, blood trickling down his face.

“I’m over this, I give up!” he screamed, standing up and walking off the field. Kurokawa gave him a disappointed look.

“Do you two want to quit too?” He did that thing again, where he asked a question but it didn’t sound like they had a choice. Both Kaen and Yuukie shook their heads.

“Good,” Kurokawa said, motioning for them to return to their starting positions.

They started running again. Kaen felt as if he were almost flying. He knew he had definitely improved at this. Beside him, Yuukie was doing surprisingly well. Nearly every time, she got shot at the field’s first half. But now they were in the last stretch and she was still going strong. Kaen narrowly dodged one that flew right past his ear. Gin and Ren watched from the sidelines, seeing that they were almost there, they started cheering them on. His muscles burned from exertion, but he was determined to do this. Kaen was just a meter from the finish line. He was going to do it, he was going to pass! Then he saw something from the corner of his eye, a paintball speeding right for Yuukie’s head. She didn’t see it coming, too focused on her own evasion.

Instinct took over. Without a moment’s hesitation, Kaen leaped in front of Yuukie, positioning himself between her and the oncoming shot. The paintball struck him squarely on the chest, the impact sending him sprawling to the ground.

“Kaen!” Yuukie cried out, her voice filled with shock and gratitude. She rushed to his side, kneeling beside him as Kurokawa swiftly approached, his expression a mixture of surprise and admiration.

Kaen sat up; it didn’t hurt as much as before since he had gotten shot a lot of times now. He managed a weak smile, looking up at Yuukie. “Are you okay?” he asked, wondering if she had gotten hit anyway.

Yuukie nodded silently, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. He wondered why she was almost crying, but maybe that was just her personality.

Kurokawa cleared his throat, his voice softer than usual. “Kaen,” he began, “that was… a brave thing you did.”

Kaen nodded slowly, acknowledging the praise with a slight nod. “Just… didn’t want her to get hit,” he said, giving her a small smile.

Yuukie blushed a bit; she seemed ashamed. “Thank you,” she mumbled.

Kurokawa looked at his watch before announcing, “Take a 30-minute break then we meet up here again. Do not go anywhere outside this football field and your living space.” Then he walked away, leaving the five of them alone.

“Hey, Yuukie, do you want to…” Kaen looked over at the place she had just been standing, but she was gone. He sighed a bit, wanting to talk to her.

“Eyy, there’s the ladies’ man,” Gin and Ren had walked over to him.

“Oh, shut up, you cheater,” Kaen grunted as Ren helped him up.

“I think that was really brave of you,” Ren said.

“Eh, it was nothing,” Kaen brushed it off while rubbing the back of his head.

Then Ren grabbed his arm, almost hurting him. “No, I mean it. That was really brave.” Kaen gasped; his and Ren’s faces were only a few centimeters away from each other. Something in Ren then snapped and he quickly let go of his arm, taking a few steps back. “Oh, I’m sorry,” he said, giving him a quick sheepish smile.

If someone had done that to Kaen, he’d probably think they were either interested in him or wanted to punch him in the face. But the gaze Ren gave him was neither. It was intense, yes, but also sad, like his big blue eyes would start to water any moment now. It was strange.

“Okay… that was weird. Anyway, I’m tired so I’m just gonna go lay in the grass over here,” Gin said awkwardly before running off to the tree they had been sitting under before.

“Wanna go over there too?” Kaen said gently, placing a hand on Ren’s shoulder.

“Um, yeah,” he said quickly before brushing Kaen’s hand off. Both of them then started to walk over to the already snoring Gin.