20 Proposition.

"You are currently single, right?"

The question took Sam off guard and for a moment he didn't know how to answer.

"Yes. I'm surprised you figured it out." He replied sarcastically, trying to hide his nervousness.

Though it would be easy to jump to conclusions, Sam was careful not to let himself do so. The intent behind the question might seem clear at first, however, he feared the possibility of it being just a misunderstanding.

Unless the girl confirmed it herself, he didn't want to make any assumptions.

"Well, I guessed that you wouldn't be eating with me if you had a girlfriend," Shizuru replied, having taken what he said seriously.

"The same goes for you, doesn't it?" Sam asked. "Rejecting Jordan would've been much easier if you were dating someone."

"Exactly. That's why I have a proposition." Looking him straight in the eyes, Shizuru's cheeks took on a faint pink color. "How about we start dating?"

When his suspicion was confirmed, Sam's eyes were lowered into a sharp glare instead of going wide, but that only lasted for a moment. Hoping the Asian girl didn't notice it he tried following with an obvious question.

"Sergeant Kurokami, where did this come from all of a sudden?"

It's not that he wasn't happy about it. The woman he'd been interested in for quite a while was now suggesting that they start dating. However, something felt off about it.

"Well, we're both single and… well…"

The last words didn't reach Sam's ears. Shizuru began fidgeting, her head lowered as her blush spread. From the looks of it, the courage she had before dispersed leaving the embarrassment of the situation to take its place.

After a few seconds of silence, Sam figured that the conversation would probably take a while so he invited her to a small park on the base where they sat awkwardly on a bench for a while.

"When you didn't show up for breakfast…" Finally getting over her bashfulness, Shizuru began talking. "I realized for the first time that we never agreed to meet during meals."

Sam said nothing. He was aware of that fact; after all, she was the reason he always made sure to eat at a specific time. What he didn't consider was that the girl would be bothered if he missed one of the meals.

"It felt a bit lonely and... It made me think; what would happen if we stopped eating together?"

"..."

"That's why I suggested that we… that we start dating," she explained. "We can set a time for when we meet and… tell each other when we can't be there..."

"... I see…" Sam replied naturally, but he knew as well as she did that such a reason was far too weak for them to start a relationship. "We can do those things even if we aren't dating, though."

"Well, being in a relationship would solve a lot of our problems and… I also want to… I also want to spend more time with you…"

"Hm?"

Turning to his right, Sam found the Asian girl staring at him with determined eyes, her cheeks flushed red.

"We don't know if this peace will last." She said, inching closer to him. "Shouldn't we try to experience a normal relationship while we still can?"

He felt the sincerity of her words and that caused his thoughts to halt.

'Isn't this what I wanted all along? Why am I hesitating?'

Just then Zero Five's face flashed in his mind and everything became clear.

Kurokami Shizuru was an attractive young woman, however, when compared to the gorgeous creations that are the Valkyries she suddenly becomes average at best. To Sam who now has the opportunity to enjoy something made to surpass the original, he no longer felt excited at the thought of getting a human partner, and that didn't sit well with him.

"I completely agree with you, Sergeant Kurokami," he said with a nod. "Though I have to say, even if we don't know how much time we have, won't being hasty about such matters backfire on us later on?"

He knew that a big part of it was just so she could reject people like Jordan. Because of that he couldn't help but think it wouldn't work out between them and didn't feel like taking her offer seriously.

"Doctor, could it be that you don't see me as a potential partner?" Turning away from him, Shizuru frowned a little.

"That's not..." The words got stuck in his throat for several seconds. "Wait, shouldn't I be the one asking that question?"

Sam knew very well what it meant for a guy to get friend-zoned. Too well, in fact. Because of that he never thought their relationship would develop beyond being acquaintances or friends, just because the girl never showed any sign of having romantic interest in him.

"Well, compared to Jordan, you're far better," Shizuru replied. "You're always calm, you aren't very talkative, and most importantly you like reading as much as I do!"

"Is… that it?"

Finding it hard to believe that such things could be considered attractive, Sam's reply lacked any enthusiasm.

"You might not know this, but you rank pretty high on the list of potential husbands for many of the female staff."

"Seriously?"

"Well, the list focuses too much on your job and income so…"

"Yeah, I think I get it…"

Basically he was a safe bet for marriage. They didn't really care about being in a romantic relationship with him and just want to exploit him for his resources.

"Ah! But I'm not like that!" Shizuru quickly added, having noticed the slight frown on his face "I seriously want to get to know you better, Doctor. I want us to spend more time together and…"

Once again, as if realizing what she said a bit too late, her face instantly flushed red.

"I thought I didn't think of you that way but…" covering it with both hands she spoke in a low voice. "Maybe I do after all…"

Even if she didn't say it directly, her words so far could easily be interpreted as a love confession. Sam's mood soured a little. He wanted to feel happy about it, he really did, but after what Zero Five said when offering herself for his experiments, Shizuru's words seemed a bit dull.

Even if the two of them started dating, Sam felt that he wouldn't be able to love her properly all while enjoying the three weapons in secret. That said, he also had no reason to reject her; it would be too suspicious for him to do so. Not only would it ruin their friendship, it would draw unnecessary attention to him.

'Wait... maybe I can use this to my advantage…'