Too deep into the zone.

"He cheated on me!!!" Alice cried, clenching Sam's shirt as he slowly patted her head. "He cheated and didn't even feel bad about it!!!"

Alice was Sam's childhood friend; the neighbor's daughter he had played with when they were kids. Despite being five years older than him, the two spent quite a lot of time together. Obviously, that led to him harboring one really big crush on her, however, she never seemed to notice his feelings, always treating him as her cute little brother and nothing more.

Eventually, his feelings for her died, cremated then scattered in the wind. He gave up right after she got her second fiancé a few years ago, realizing that she would never see him as a man no matter what he did.

But there lies the problem. Alice sees Sam as her little brother so she has no trouble throwing herself at him at every chance. When the alcohol brings out the crybaby inside her, she always calls him over to help put it to sleep.

'This is torture…'

Just like his job so far, Sam is forced to endure the torture of having a beautiful woman so close to him but still being unable to do anything to her. The crush he had did die, of course, but his instincts as a man will never go.

The two of them sat on the couch with Alice leaning on his right side. She had taken her shoes off and snuggled close to him, sobbing as he gently rubbed her back.

Seeing them like this, any sane person would think they were a couple. Sadly the truth is that poor Sam was so deep into the friendzone that she never saw anything wrong with acting this way in front of him.

"Hey, Doctor, tell me…" Alice spoke, her tears having eased a bit. "What should I do?"

"Even if you ask me…" Sam let out a long sigh. "Also, I already told you to stop calling me that. I have a name, you know..."

"Eeeeh!? But I like calling you Doctor! You're a doctor, aren't you, Doctor?"

"Now you're talking nonsense…"

At some point, Sam noticed that everyone had started to refer to him as Doctor. While it does describe his position as the Valkyries' physician, the reality is that it's just a nickname the other soldiers gave him because of his appearance.

Sam never leaves his room without the white lab coat on his back. Add to that the glasses he wears, his silent attitude, cold demeanor, and pale skin you would have the stereotypical scientist one would see in movies and TV shows.

In the forty sixth Resistance base, Sam was a sergeant, much like Kurokami Shizuru, however, everyone referred to him as Doctor. When Alice heard about it she started calling him by that as well, finding it a more fitting nickname than anything she came up with before.

"Who cares about that!" Alice suddenly snapped, going into her angry drunk phase without a warning. "What I want to know is why I always end up alone! Why can't I lock a husband already!!! All my friends have kids! And I'm here trapped in this boring wasteland!!!"

"I don't want to sound harsh but…" Looking away for a moment, Sam spilled a bucket of cold water on her. "You did this to yourself."

"WHAT!?" She looked up at him, her red eyes all the more terrifying when she glared.

"Well, you should've known that a job like this isn't suitable for someone looking to get married, especially women," Sam explained. "First of all, long-distance relationships don't work. You're always busy, and most men wouldn't like that. Second, your standards are way too high. Your success makes it so that the only men that interest you are those at the top of the top, and all of them have options so they won't put up with you."

That's right. No matter how beautiful Alice is, she is still human. Besides her looks, she has nothing that other women don't have. A man with status and wealth would definitely choose a younger woman who would be much less of a headache than Ms. Colonel over here.

"D-Doctaaaaaa!!!" Switching back to a sad drunk, Alice began bawling her eyes once more. "You're too cruel! How can you do this to me!!!?"

"Uh, no, you did this to yourself," Sam replied, looking down at her as she buried her head into his chest.

"Is there no hope for me? Why is... Why is the world so cruel!?"

'The world is cruel, alright.' He thought, wishing this headache would end soon. 'Why do I have to endure all of this?'

The answer was quite simple; Sam could never bring himself to abandon her. He simply owed her too much. Alice was the one who saved him back when the Calamities first attacked, and though he despised it, his current job was something she got for him as well.

Even though she broke his heart and never even noticed it, Sam could never bring himself to stop caring about Alice. The least he could do in return for the many times she had helped him was to put up with her when she was in this state.

"Tell me, Doctor… what should I do?"

The moment she asked that question Sam sighed in relief. It was finally coming to an end.

"You could start by lowering your standards." He said. "How about you try dating someone from the base?"

"Don't be an idiot," Alice said, her voice growing quiet. "There is no way… I would… date… a subordinate…"

"Well, suit yourself. You're the one running out of time here."

"Docuta… so cruel…"

A few seconds of silence passed and weak breathing sounds were heard. Once again Sam let out a long sigh, glad that it was finally over.

He looked down at the woman resting on his chest. Even after passing out drunk, she still looked like a model posing for a photoshoot.

For the first time in a long while, Sam began to feel his heart throbbing, but he stepped on it the next instant reminding himself of the position he was in.

'I already have a beautiful girlfriend so…'

He picked the sleeping beauty and walked toward a door in one of the corners. It led to a small room with a bed on which he placed her down, staying behind for a few seconds to watch as she slept.

If only she had realized how he felt for her, maybe everything about this would've been different. She wouldn't have to worry about marriage, and he wouldn't have to suffer so much helping her get over broken relationships.

'No… that's not it…'