Shuri let out an exasperated sigh.
It had been about a week since the Incident. While their victory was thankfully without casualties, she knew that they were only lucky on this occasion. Their next encounter with the Antagonists would not be like this. Though that wasn't quite clear to many of the other cadets as of yet, as they had taken to acting like they were invincible. But Shuri knew, there were points during the battle where many of them, herself included, were a hair's breadth away from their own deaths. She was unnerved by that fact, and perhaps, so were her fellow cadets, and they were just behaving that way to get their minds off it.
But that wasn't the cause of her exasperation.
During the Incident, her Flight, with added support from Koujirou's sister, had been integral to the battle's success. Which, in the aftermath, had led to them being pestered by the other cadets on a regular basis. Being an ace, she was already used to this sort of thing, and while her fellow cadets were a little more enthusiastic than normal, she knew how to get them to leave her alone. The other members of her Flight on the other hand, were not.
At first, Setsuna sputtered at the fanfare, not knowing how to react to it. Now she just wished it would end. She had barely any time to herself anymore, and had taken to running in the opposite direction any time someone called out to her. Thankfully for her, it was starting to die down. Anna was initially in a similar predicament, but after another stern warning from Instructor Leonhart, the other cadets left her alone. The other two members of her Flight received the worst of it.
Two important things had occurred during the incident. The first was the discovery that Koujirou's Kandakara, was one of the 300 Frames. That threw quite a few people for a loop. The other was that when their Instructors had been out of commission due to injuries, most of their squadron was in a panic because they didn't know what to do. That was, until Sandra took charge of the situation, and got everyone to calm down. She then proceeded to devise a plan that allowed them to fend off the Antagonist forces until reinforcements arrived. It was needless to say that both of them were starting to forget what alone time was like.
And that brought Shuri back to her current source of irritation. Their Flight had come to the Cafeteria to grab a quick lunch and then head down to one of the Simulation rooms for training, only for Sandra and Koujirou to be swarmed immediately. So now she stood, several feet away from the ever growing crowd, tapping her foot impatiently as her two Flight members grew increasingly uncomfortable. Setsuna was off to the side, silently fuming about something.
At this rate they were never going to have time for training.
"That's it, I'm gonna teach these idiots a lesson on respecting personal space!" She ground out, finally fed up with the other cadets.
But as she stepped forward, a flash of red hair briskly walked past her and towards the crowd. To both her and Setsuna's surprise, it was Anna. She had been silent the entire time, and would normally choose to not get involved in these situations.
So why was she doing so now? And what exactly was she going to do? And that was when they both noticed one thing about Anna that made them freeze on the spot.
As Anna reached the crowd she started pushing her way through, many of the cadets surprised and even a little annoyed at suddenly being shoved aside. But those sentiments soon faded away and were replaced with what could only be called abject terror the moment they laid eyes on their aggressor's expression. Anna looked absolutely livid.
No one had ever seen her like this. Her eyes were wide and looked like they were about to start firing beams at the crowd if that were possible. The corners of her mouth were curved downward to such a degree that calling it a frown or even a grimace didn't do it justice. It could only be described as "Anna preparing to open her mouth and devour everyone in her way".
Other cadets in the crowd noticed the sudden commotion, took one look at Anna and started warning their friends, causing the crowd to quickly make way for her as she passed through, finally stopping in front of Sandra and Koujirou, who were just as taken aback as the rest of them.
Silence permeated the Cafeteria. Anna turned her gaze from her Flight members to the crowd, now standing a good distance away from them.
"You all need to understand something," She said, in a firm and surprisingly calm tone. Then with her left hand, she gestured toward Sandra.
"This-" she began saying before lifting the poor girl off the ground and slinging her over her shoulder.
"-is mine."
"W-what?! Anna, what are you saying? What are you doing? P-put me down this instant!" A flustered Sandra protested to her best efforts, but she went unheard.
"Lilies..." muttered a now dumbstruck Koujirou, but soon he found an arm wrapping around his waist and hoisting him off the ground as well. Speechless, he looked up and saw Anna, who was now holding him under her right arm, the flailing Sandra still slung over her shoulder.
"And this, is mine." She stated, before swiftly turning around and carrying them over to an empty table and gently seating them.
Setsuna, recovering from her momentary shock, immediately rounded on Anna.
"A-and just what do you mean by that, Anna?! Koujirou is... is... Wait, w-what are you-"
"And this,"
Anything Setsuna was about to say was cut short as she too was literally swept off her feet by the girl she was attempting to chastise.
"Is mine." said Anna as she carried the now beet red Setsuna to the same table she had placed the now equally red Sandra and Koujirou.
Shuri looked on in bewilderment as her fellow ace sat the other girl down. And then she realized that Anna had now turned her attention to her and was walking her way.
"No. No no no no no no. Now you listen to me, Anna, you are not picking me up like-" Shuri started, attempting to make her objection, but it was to no avail as she suddenly found herself off the ground and then seated at the table with the rest of her Flight.
"And this, is also mine." simply said Anna as she stared down the crowd.
"D-did she just do that?!" Hissed out an indignant but slightly flushed Shuri, addressing her now speechless Flight.
Anna then promptly walked out of the Cafeteria to everyone's confusion. Exactly a minute later she walked in carrying a stupefied Yukari, whose blush matched those sported by the members of her Flight.
"And this is mine too."
After placing Yukari at the table, Anna turned to the crowd once again.
"There's something else that's mine though it hasn't shown up yet, but have I made my point clear?" She questioned, in a manner not unlike a Commanding Officer addressing her subordinates. She then gestured to her Flight and Yukari for emphasis.
"These are ALL mine. Understood?"
The other cadets, cowed under her glare, all nodded and stuttered out hurried utterances of "U-understood, Ma'am," before dispersing and going about their days, vowing to never bother Anna Sanchez's Flight again.
Anna watched as the cadets made themselves scarce before closing her eyes, and letting out a deep breath. Opening her eyes once again, her facial expression returned to normal and her shoulders sagged just a bit. She then turned to them before stating,
"That Acting Class I've been taking here has been rather useful. Should we get something to eat?"
No one made a sound. Koujirou's mouth hung open. Sandra and Setsuna's eyes were covered by their bangs. Poor Yukari looked as confused as she did when she was brought in.
Shuri let out an exasperated sigh before burying her still red face in her hands.
