Adopted Soldier

When Alex and Rachel exited the home depot, Rachel felt extremely tired for some reason. The task was done and she was finally able to go home. The first thing she will do when she gets home is take a shower since she smells like sweat. It was then that Rachel finally noticed that Alex was standing very close to her, so she tried to distance herself from him since she didn't want him to smell her.

Yet every time she tried to move away Alex would closely follow her. She was already used to Alex sticking this close, but this time was different since she was really smelly at the moment. Rachel gave up in moving away from Alex since if Alex decides to stick to her this much, there's nothing much she can do about it. She could try saying something to make him move, but she was scared that he might say something unexpected again, resulting in her blushing and feeling embarrassed.

The silence while they walk continued, Rachel couldn't say anything since she was fully concentrated on her problem of being smelly, Alex, on the other hand, was looking at the surrounding area, trying to see if something dangerous might come up.

On the other hand, the people who saw them simply walking without talking, felt like they were a picture-perfect couple, unaware of the current awkwardness that was happening. Once the two were in a more deserted street, they were approached by some overly dressed men.

"Heya princess, how about ditching the boring guy over there, and have fun with us instead?" Alex who saw the approaching men didn't bother to engage them since they didn't look to be any threat to him or Rachel. All they did was talk to Rachel, they haven't touched her yet, nor do they show any signs of attacking... Yet when Alex heard how the man so casually talked to Rachel, he felt a bit irritated for some reason.

"Not interested." Rachel refused the man with an ice-cold glare. Instead of feeling demoralized one of the men felt even more excited, while one of the men from behind whistled.

"Come on, what's a hot fox such as yourself, doing with this scrawny loser?" One of the more muscular men in the group pointed at Alex. Since Alex's muscles aren't really the bodybuilder type the men couldn't see it while he was wearing his shirt.

"It's none of your business. I decide who I want to be with. So just leave while your bones are still intact." Rachel warned the frivolous men while glaring at them.

The four men who were surrounding them started laughing. "Hahaha, that's funny princess. Are you actually threatening us? Who's going to break our bones that guy?" The man who seems to be the leader pointed at Alex. "That guy doesn't seem like he could even break a toothpick much less my bones."

Alex didn't react to the man's provocation, ever since he had reentered normal society, his father had warned him numerous times not to strike first. Seeing Alex's nonchalance and poker face, made the man a bit irritated, but he didn't bother with Alex and focused his attention back to Rachel.

"You got three things wrong. First I'm not threatening you, I'm simply stating a fact." The men who heard Rachel's ice-cold tone of voice started frowning.

"Oh really? Then what, pray tell are the other things I got wrong?" The leader of the frivolous men asked Rachel, feeling a bit angered by Rachel's act.

"Second, this guy is not the one who's going to break your bones it's me!" When the men heard Rachel declare that she could break their bones, the men started laughing.

"Really princess? Enough with the jokes, just come with us. We promise will show you a good time." The man was about to touch Rachel, but Alex didn't move since it looked like Rachel wanted to do this herself. If Alex moved now, he might break the third clause in the mission revision, which was don't make the target hate him.

When the man's hand extended towards Rachel, she reacted by trying to reach for her bow, but then she remembered that she left it back in the clubroom before leaving the school. Rachel evaded the man's hand. 'Tsk, I didn't want to use it, but these guys are really making me angry.'

"Hehe, little kitten don't run away." The man smiled lewdly at Rachel. When the man was reaching for Rachel, a sudden heavy feeling hit his chin, and just like that, he had fainted. The other guys who were with the lewd man saw Rachel had punched their companion with a fast palm strike to the chin.

Alex who saw the move, and the stance Rachel has taken smiled. This was the stance of the Ultimate martial art Dan Regius invented. Dominant hand extended a bit forward, dominant foot also facing forward, while the other hand is opened up for defense. This was the basic stance of the martial art her father made.

Rachel didn't wait for the other men to move and swiftly attacked them. The men caught by surprise couldn't react on time and are practically cannon fodder to Rachel's attacks.

The only one left standing was the man who had a bodybuilder's body type. Due to the weight difference, and Rachel's inability to use the techniques of her style properly, the man was still able to stand.

'It's been a while since I used that deadbeat's martial art, if it was me from before, I could've ended this guy with one strike.'

The last man standing from the frivolous group no longer took Rachel lightly and raised his arms in a guarding position. Yet even with this Rachel got near in one step and pierced through his defense with a straight punch aimed at the body. That punch from a tiny girl who was three times smaller than him, took his breath away, in a literal sense. The last man dropped to his knees.

Alex who had watched the whole scene felt a bit sad. Rachel clearly had talent, but it was obvious she hadn't practiced the art for a very long time. 'This must be because she hates her father and everything related to him. I hope everything goes well when they meet on Wednesday.' Alex was now feeling a bit anxious in Rachel meeting her father again.

"Oh right and lastly, this guy you're trying to diss, can actually kill you if he felt like it." Rachel said her final line to the remaining guy who was still conscious.. 'Also don't you dare get in the way of a lady and her bath time.'