Gossip seems to spread faster than S.H.I.E.L.D. bulletins.
In just a single morning.
The rumor that "the instructor was sent to the infirmary by a new little girl, and then another new blonde beauty was even more formidable, not only breaking a 1.8-meter tall man's leg with one kick but also teaching that little brat a lesson" had already spread throughout the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy.
One can only say that a school is a school, after all.
Even in a place that trains Agents, the human nature for gossip cannot be suppressed.
People were very interested in these two monster rebirths.
Noon, the cafeteria.
Annie carried a tray piled high like a small mountain, passing through the crowd expressionlessly.
The tray was stuffed with high-calorie steaks and donuts, forming a sharp contrast with her small, palm-sized face.
As she walked through the aisle, the surrounding whispers began to buzz.
"Hey, look over there, it's that blonde one..."
"I really couldn't tell, she looks so cute..."
"True, I'd want to be kicked by her too... it'd be worth it even if my leg broke."
Annie turned a deaf ear to this; her dead-fish eyes were just searching for a quiet corner, wanting to fill her stomach quickly and go back to her room to sleep.
Just then, a vibrant voice blocked her path.
"Hey! You're the new Annie from today, right?"
Annie stopped and looked up slightly.
Blocking her was a tall, beautiful upperclassman with long, wavy brown hair.
She wore the S.H.I.E.L.D. trainee uniform, her smile as bright as California sunshine, radiating a dazzling confidence and friendliness from head to toe.
"I'm Avril Kincaid."
The upperclassman warmly extended her hand and pointed to the liveliest and most conspicuous area in the center of the cafeteria: "I heard your performance in the combat test was amazing! Do you want to come sit with us? Everyone really wants to meet you."
"Avril Kincaid?"
Su Modie looked at this enthusiastic upperclassman through Annie's eyes, only feeling that she looked somewhat familiar.
Maybe it was an illusion, but there were indeed many named people in S.H.I.E.L.D.
Annie looked in the direction Avril pointed; the trainees sitting at that long table were chatting and laughing. They were handsome and beautiful, as if they came with their own soft-light filter, completely out of place with the miserable ordinary trainees around them. At a glance, they were the prominent figures of the academy, every one of them a damn normie.
That overly dazzling social atmosphere made Annie instinctively feel uncomfortable.
"..."
Annie didn't speak, just silently turned her head and quickly scanned the cafeteria.
Finally, her gaze locked onto the most remote corner of the cafeteria.
There was an empty table... well, it wasn't exactly an empty table, because someone was already sitting there.
Camilla was sitting there all alone, listlessly poking at the salad on her plate with a fork.
She radiated a gloomy, shut-in aura, and no one dared to approach within three meters.
"No thanks."
Annie withdrew her gaze and said indifferently to the enthusiastic Avril, her tone polite but full of distance: "I have plans with... a friend."
After saying that, she bypassed the dazed Avril and, carrying that tray of mountain-like food, walked straight to that darkest corner... the corner.
Camilla was boredly poking a piece of broccoli.
At this moment, her mind was like a movie, uncontrollably replaying that scene from the morning over and over again.
The sensation of being pressed against the rubber mat, the feeling of suffocation when being looked down upon by those azure eyes, and the slight itchiness when the other's hair brushed against her cheek... "Annie Leonhart..."
Camilla gritted her teeth and silently repeated the name in her heart.
"I have to admit, your fighting skills are indeed annoyingly beautiful, but don't get ahead of yourself. That was just my carelessness. Next time... next time I'll definitely let you taste the feeling of being stepped on by me!"
Camilla thought fiercely, her eyes gradually becoming fierce.
However, just as her mind was full of that face that was so indifferent it made one's teeth itch, yet excessively beautiful—
That face actually "jumped" out of her imagination and materialized right in front of her.
"Thud."
The heavy tray landed on the table with a dull thud.
She didn't react at all, looking up in shock, her eyes carrying a hint of inexplicable guilt.
What came into view was precisely the "culprit" she had been thinking about.
Annie was sitting down in the chair opposite her as if nothing had happened, picking up a donut and starting to munch on it, as if this was her seat to begin with.
This donut is big and round
"You..."
Camilla opened her mouth, looking at Annie who had specifically chosen to sit opposite her, a flash of hard-to-conceal shock in her eyes.
Immediately after, this shock quickly transformed into a subtle sense of being flattered.
"Without saying a word, she specifically ran over to sit with me?"
Camilla snorted softly in her heart, and her mood, which had been depressed because she lost the match, actually improved quite a bit for some reason.
She looked at Annie, who was burying her head in her food, and the corner of her mouth couldn't help but hook into an imperceptible arc.
"It seems that although this girl beat me, she still recognizes my strength in her heart. After all, in this academy full of idiots, I am the only one worthy of being her opponent."
Thinking this, Camilla no longer bullied the broccoli with her fork but opened her mouth and ate it happily.
Annie, of course, didn't know the rich inner monologue of the black-haired girl opposite her.
She simply thought it was quieter here.
The atmosphere in the corner was eerily quiet, yet it possessed an inexplicable harmony.
Both of their trays were already half empty, but neither had spoken a single word, and there wasn't even any eye contact.
Around them was the noisy sound of people in the cafeteria, but in this small world of a few square meters, there was only the crisp sound of cutlery clashing with porcelain plates.
It was as if they were conducting some kind of spiritual communication that didn't require language.
Camilla secretly glanced at Annie, who was eating quietly opposite her.
"Hmph... this girl, definitely a tsundere."
Camilla commented silently in her heart.
In her view, Annie's silence was not ignoring her, but a kind of tacit understanding and respect that only exists between the strong.
Since the other party was thin-skinned and embarrassed to speak, as a truly strong person, Camilla felt she needed to show some grace.
Yes, Camilla felt she was the stronger one.
Although she lost to Annie in the combat test, Camilla still had superpowers she hadn't used.
This gave Camilla a sense of superiority, thinking that when she "accidentally" revealed her unique superpower one day, Annie would definitely be full of admiration, realizing in hindsight how foolish her current cold pretense was.
"Forget it, for the sake of your decent strength, I'll give you a way out and take the initiative to break this awkwardness."
Camilla thought this in her heart, cleared her throat, and was about to speak, wanting to expose Annie's inner desire to "really want to be friends with her," waiting to see Annie's shy and blushing face when exposed—
"Um... can I sit here?"
A female voice abruptly cut in.
Before the two could react, Avril plopped down next to Annie, not treating herself as an outsider at all.
She turned sideways, her big eyes staring straight at Annie.
"I wanted to say this just now, Annie, your hair is so beautiful! Is it natural?"
As soon as the words fell, the psychological preparation Camilla had been building for ages was instantly shattered.
The words at the tip of her tongue were forced back down, as if her spellcasting had been interrupted.
Camilla almost spat out a mouthful of blood.
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