Troublemaker - ❌Juuzou Suzuya❌

10 - Final Preparations

Hiyori spread her figure across the ground in a messy, panting fashion. Her hands were now red and there was a beat up ghoul next to her, lying helplessly.

Of course, it was just a fake ghoul, one to test her limits with, but its an accomplishment nonetheless.

Shinohara ran over clapping and shouting ecstatically, cheering her name as she gave a weak smile, before her face collapsed once more.

Off to the left, Juuzou and Haru quietly watched. Juuzou was still jumping around at how amazing he thought Hiyori was, while Haru just smiled at her progress. The two of them had made progress themselves, too!

Juuzou could now read and identify lots of different sentences, such as
: "I'm a ghoul investigator, don't be alarmed", or " Have any of you seen a man with [red hair and white clothes] around here", as well as "can I have more sprinkles on that please".

Even Haru made progress, as he was now a hell of a lot more patient, and was able to understand Juuzou's dialect better than anyone. This didn't sound like much, but it was great fpr teamwork... And the extra patience was something Haru kinda needed.

After finally calming down, Juuzou jumpef into a sitting position and frantically closed all his books, before stuffing them into a brand new spotted backpack that Shinohara had bought for him. Haru did the same, except a bit gentler and with more care, before the two treaded over to Shinohara and the exhausted Hiyori.

Up close, Juuzou and Haru saw Hiyori's improvement for the first time.

She slowly got up, and you could now see much better that she had done some intense work. They weren't bulging, but you could see the tones outlining her muscles, and with the sports bra she was wearing, you could see some abs as well as more leg and back muscles. She wasn't the same, weak, plain-bodied girl anymore. She managed to get muscle while keeping her "feminine" beauty. Even Haru blushed for half a second.

"WOOOOAHHHH HIYORI!!!
You look so much cooler now!!" Juuzou's comment, which intended to be a compliment, was met with nothing by a slap.

"You perv... And does that mean I didn't look cool before??"

"O-ow... That hurt way more than last time..."

"Well duh... Have you seen the amount of training this guy has put me through?? I'm probably better than you at this point!!"

"Now now, you two," Shinohara stopped them, "you can't start fighting now. You know when the exams are, right?"

"Uhhh..."

"Tomorrow..." Sighed Hiyori and Haru in unison to cover up for Juuzou's cluelessness.

"Right. It's 3pm now, and as promised I'll let you go 6 hours early. Take a good rest, maybe read or take a nap or something, and have a good dinner and breakfast. Tomorrow's a big day."

The three nodded, realising what they were up against.

Juuzou personally wasn't worried, but its fine cos Hiyori was worried for him.

"I told you the details of this exam a while ago, but I'll recap for the just in case someone wasn't paying attention." Shinohara's eyes flickered towards Juuzou. "There are three parts to this exam. You'll be up against other teams too."

Shinohara smiled at them and just... Well... Stood there.

The three, utterly confused, just awkwardly stared, looking at one another, and then back at the silent Shinohara.

"So..." begun Hiyori.

"Is that it?" Finished Haru.

"Well of course. Why wouldn't it be?" Shinohara tilted his head as if the little amount of info was to be expected.