Of course, that line came from Hoshina. In one breath, Bloo drifted back like a shadow on a breeze, no more trudging at that slow crawl.
“This is the gun-fighting style I built for you. Bloo just gave a rough demo. Those things are models, not brawlers.” Hoshina flicked her wrist, and a swarm of tiny bots scurried like silver ants to tidy the field. A virtual screen bloomed like a glass lake, her fingers rippling its light. Under her pink hair, her eyes shone sharp as cut crystal.
“Hoshina, can I try? Same intensity as Bloo just now?” The blonde girl’s heart fluttered like a sparrow; her fingers itched for the trigger.
“Well, if you’re set on it, I won’t stop you. But fair warning—don’t cry when you get beat, okay?” Hoshina turned to Xiao Qianxue, a crafty smile sliding over her porcelain face.
“Let her try.” Bloo’s voice came cold from behind, like a pebble dropped in still water. Click-click—he slotted a regular handgun and a Magnum into the rack, metal biting like winter teeth.
“I’ll do my best!” The blue-haired youth handed over a helmet. Surprise pricked the blonde’s face like light rain; it felt like the first time Bloo had ever handed her anything.
“Put it on… I kinda want to see a calico—your face all mottled with bruises.” Bloo tossed a small joke like a paper kite, then turned and slipped out of sight.
“Bloo’s been chatty lately. Xiao Qianxue, do you and my Bloo have something going on?!” Hoshina blinked after his retreating back, then pounced toward Little Loli, voice ringing like a bell.
“Huh… what’d you say?” The golden-haired girl was still turning Bloo’s words over like stones in a stream, jolted by Hoshina’s sudden shout.
“Forget it. Get into the range.” Hoshina pressed a hand to her brow, her sigh drifting like a faint breeze.
Xiao Qianxue strapped on the helmet. She checked her suit and the Eternal Twin Stars, then slipped into the range like a dart through silk. “By the way, I swapped all ammo for special rounds. They won’t injure you. Otherwise the fallout would be… a storm.” Hoshina’s voice poured from the helmet, a soft echo in a steel shell.
“Got it, got it. Let’s start!” Her petite frame was hugged tight like a second skin; the lines of her body flowed like a lithe reed under moonlight.
“Three, two, one—start.”
Bang-bang-bang-bang—unlike the first test, the models spat firetongues in an instant, a hailstorm of bullets beating down like iron rain. The surge of danger hit Xiao Qianxue like a freezing wave, and she snapped into shooting mode.
“Damn…” Her golden irises pinpricked to sparks, tension ringing like wire. The Eternal Twin Stars danced in her hands like twin swallows, returning fire against the incoming storm. “There’s too many!”
A bullet slipped through her net like a fish bursting a weave, slicing for her waist. Even in bullet time, the pressure now was a mountain on her back, her moves fraying at the edges.
Right leg—bend—drive. She blasted upward like a spring uncoiled. In midair, Little Loli twisted a clean 180, head down, feet spearing the sky. Arms straight, she kept firing, weaving through most of the bullets like a leaf through rain. Two models had their rifles chewed apart by her shots, but under this flood it was a bucket against a river. To most eyes, the motion was a blink; to her, it stretched like a slow-blooming flower.
“Earlier, Bloo only used a regular handgun. Your Eternal Twin Stars are way better.” Hoshina’s voice chimed in the helmet, her tone noticing the pinch like a crease in paper.
“Can’t keep this up.” Frustration knotted like thorns. She’d been fighting step-in, step-out, just holding a crumbling line. Mid-flip, she slammed in a fresh mag, teeth gritted, and chose to strike back. Eternal Black Star and Eternal Silver Star turned fierce, their shots like falcons diving. Every bullet came off careful judgment, each one breaking the enemy’s fire by three, four rounds.
She whipped her body back in a snap, and bullets whooshed past the visor like cold wind. Sweat salted her flawless cheeks, shining like dew. As she pushed forward, hard as walking into a storm, a model lunged in from the flank, gunning at her just like with Bloo before.
“Crap! Forgot that!” No room to slip away; her jaw locked like iron. Xiao Qianxue shoved Eternal Black Star into the bullet’s path, trying to mirror Bloo’s easy grace. The move now felt like lifting a stone door.
Smack. Pain bit her forearm like a hot brand, and Eternal Black Star tore free from her right hand.
“Damn it.” She rolled sideways, a tumble like a willow sweeping the ground. With only Eternal Silver Star left, her fire thinned like a river in drought. She was reduced to endless rolls and rare snap-backs, almost no bite left to resist.
Rat-tat-tat—her body wavered for a heartbeat, and bullets found flesh in a scatter, each hit a drumbeat on skin. Even the helmet thumped once, a hollow bang. Without it, a bruise would’ve bloomed like ink on her face. Now she finally got Bloo’s “calico” joke.
“No!” She burned the last mag dry, but bullets still screamed in like a black flock. She dropped to a crouch, arms over her head, a turtle under storm. Her strength was spent; her golden eyes slipped back to normal light, the shooting mode ebbing like a tide gone out.
“Stop.” The helmet caught a few more shots with dull taps, but her body was a map of aches. Hoshina’s voice rang from all directions like temple bells. Every model froze in a heartbeat; even bullets fell from midair like dead leaves.
Hss… The blonde eased her breath and yanked off the helmet, her small face scrunched, teeth bared like a kitten. “Who said it only stings a little? It hurts—a lot!” The places hit pulsed with a fine, needling pain.
“I can’t help you there. You asked for this.” Hoshina shrugged, guiltless as a cloud.
“Rest up. Training starts soon.” Bloo stepped into the range right on cue, his presence like a cool shadow.
“You’re kidding me!”
