Ch 54: A hidden ally

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Third person's point of view


Lovro's words settled over the range like the heat itself.


Hayami's fingers tightened around her rifle. Chiba didn't look away.


Neither of them appeared surprised anymore.


Only certain.


Ginka lowered her eyes.


For several seconds... No one spoke. Her grip tightened. She didn't move.


Lovro waited. No pressure. Just certainty.


"...Understood."


She shifted the rifle. The hesitation wasn't because the movement was unfamiliar. 


It was because everyone was watching.


She adjusted her stance. Her front foot shifted half an inch. Her shoulders loosened.


The rifle settled naturally into her hands.


Different. Subtly. Completely.


Most of the class wouldn't have noticed. Hayami did. Chiba too.


The rifle no longer looked like something she was carrying.


It looked... Comfortable.


Natural. Like it belonged there.


Lovro's expression sharpened.  Chiba didn't blink. '...There it is.'


Without another word—Ginka raised the rifle.


The range seemed to fall silent. Only her breathing remained.


Slow in. Slow out.


The front sight stopped moving. Her finger tightened.


Pop.


The balloon vanished. Not grazed. Not clipped.


Gone.


She shifted. Another target.


Pop.


The burst before the fragments of the first had fallen. Another breath.


Pop.


Center. 

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