AN: Well, I don't know if anyone will read this, since it's my first time using an AN. Thank you all, for choosing to read my story in the Muv-Luv fandom. It took me about 6 months to get to the point where I felt ready to write a story for this masterwork, which may or may not do justice to the themes covered in the actual series. This story doesn't really have any direction so far, but it will revolve around the survivors of the main cast in A-01 and Yuuko, as they continue humanity's struggle in the place of the original A-01. As the name suggests, it intends to theoretically fill in gaps in the events between the end of Alternative and the next time the characters appear, which would be Operation Sledgehammer in 2003, as well as my personal take on the way the rest of the world looks after the destruction of the BETA invasion. I may change the time period later, depending, but at the very least the first arc lasts until 2003. Enjoy yourselves!

Chapter 1: The End and the Beginning

Cherry Blossom Trees, Yokohama Base, UN 11th Pacific Force HQ, Alternative IV

January 4th, 2002

'Attention!'

*Swish… thud*

'Salute!'

Suzumiya Akane raised her right hand to her brow, and saluted the cherry blossom trees in front of her. Her gaze lingered a little on a scorched hunk of metal from the training field, before she lowered her hand and bowed her head.

Beside her, 2nd Lieutenants Kazama Touko and Munakata Misae did the same.

The base was still littered with ribbons and banners commemorating the great victory of humanity in Operation Ouka, the mission to infiltrate and cripple the BETA leadership in the Kashgar Hive. Although outwardly Akane maintained a façade of professionalism with the correct amount of pain, inwardly she didn't want to do anything other than sit in front of the tree and start babbling, sobbing, and crying, attempting to speak to her deceased teammates.

Her sister, Suzumiya Haruka, a quiet soul who had nothing to do on the frontline. Her seniors. Captain Isumi, Storm Vanguard 1 Hayase. Her friends. Chizuru, Mitsurugi, Ayamine, and even for a brief amount of time, Kagami. There was a man too, with short hair, a strong figure and an uncompromising attitude. But she could not for the life of her remember his name.

It wasn't right of course, to be clamouring for something as worthless and superficial as recognition when the spirits of her friends were no doubt rejoicing, enjoying the favor of the deities for their contributions. And who couldn't see their contributions? Sadogashima Hive was destroyed. After the victory at Kashgar, BETA activity had hit an all-time low as the now leaderless hives had to direct their own activities without tactical leadership, and with little success. For the first time in almost twenty years there was a glimmer of hope for humanity. The CO was smiling, the news channels broadcasted something other than propaganda, and the young cadets were now regaled with battlefield tales tinged with nostalgia, instead of pain.

But even as the church bells rang, temple monks chanted and lanterns were released all over the country, there would be none who would speak for these seven brave souls. They had thrown away their lives outside of the darkness of war too. Their educations, their families, their friends. They'd been uprooted from all of that too. But no one would remember. While all the acknowledged personnel got a great funeral ceremony with Beethoven's funeral march, these seven heroes got what little music Kazama could provide with her violin, and none of the attention of the world.

A droplet of water slid down Akane's cheek, as she struggled to hold herself together.

'A season too early, Kazama.'

Surprised, the three cadets turned, and immediately fell into brisk salutes on reflex. Before them stood Dr. Kouzuki Yuuko, the leader of Alternative IV, and the ubiquitous presence by her side, Yashiro Kasumi. The Doctor waved away their salutes in her customary laxness, and Yashiro continued staring straight into them with her transparent, yet piercing blue eyes. Instantly, Akane's nerves flooded with calm, and she noticed her two surviving teammates' shoulders relaxing as well. Odd, she thought. Nothing had been said. The next moment Yashiro was looking in no particular direction again, as usual.

'Pardon me, Professor,' said Kazama with a smile, 'one season too early for what?'

'Why, spring of course,' replied Dr. Kouzuki with her customary smirk, though all of them could see that her eyes were tired, and her hair more frazzled than usual. 'How thoughtful of you to give them Beethoven too.'

Kazama blushed and looked down with a small smile, while Akane and Munakata looked at each other in confusion. Beethoven too? Ah. Beethoven's 5th Violin Sonata, Spring. Yes indeed, it was a good choice on Kazama's part after all. Akane turned back to face the professor and her little companion. Her eyes met Yashiro's briefly, before the little Russian girl went back to hiding near Dr. Kouzuki's jacket.

'All jokes aside,' Dr. Kouzuki began, as the three cadets giggled a little over an admittedly horrible joke. 'It is a travesty.'

'But that is the way it has to be, at least for a while. You know, the usual red tape, regulations, restrictions. Nothing personal.'

She walked closer to the tree, and knelt by the little piece of metal.

'But it's nice, isn't it, Marimo?'

Dr. Kouzuki stood in silence and joined the three soldiers. Out of the corner of her eye Akane saw Yashiro walk with little steps towards the tree, and place something on it. The Russian girl knelt for a few moments, then backpedaled to join the line. Ha, a little rabbit figurine, made of light brown wood. Reminds me of… no one. Did Haruka-nee give me one before? No, I saw a boy holding that. Who was it? Did he have white eyes? Wh- No. Must have been some kind of hallucination after battle. They sold hundreds of those things in those funfairs that she used to go to as a child. Well, how thoughtful of Yashiro then. She nodded to Yashiro, who as usual, regarded her with her cold, icy gaze.

'Well,' Dr. Kouzuki said after a while. 'You're soldiers. And you know, the war isn't over.' She paused a little and seemed to bite her tongue, before she continued. 'A-01 will remain a personal squad under my command.

'2nd Lieutenant Asakura will be back from hospital the day after tomorrow, so give her a warm welcome, won't you? As of now, I hereby promote Lieutenant Munakata to Captain, and the rest of you to 1st Lieutenants. We leave the day after Asakura comes back, for Russia.'

She looked up at each of the cadets, who nodded in return, and dropped a set of Captain epaulettes into Munakata's hand.

'Now you are dismissed. Rest up and recover soon.'

The three stood still for a second, before Munakata remembered her promotion, and shuffled the trio into a line in front of Dr. Kouzuki.

'Attention… salute! March off!'

Kouzuki Yuuko looked at the retreating silhouettes of the three cadets, pulling her lab coat closer around herself. She felt bad about forcing them away from their grieving, but she'd seen enough of bereaved soldiers to know what happened when you left them alone for too long. Bereaved soldiers, left alone in their little echo chambers of misery and sadness, spawned unproductive movements like the RLF and Allegiance. She'd rather kill herself than see one of her personal warriors fall into such a pit.

She turned back to Yashiro's purple twintails, where the owner knelt in front of the little rabbit figurine she'd placed under the tree. Instantly she was struck with a stab of sadness, just from looking at the little girl. The feeling intensified as she stood and walked back to Yuuko's side, the two making eye contact briefly. To any outsider, ESPer Inia Sestina, or Yashiro Kasumi in Japan, was hardly affected by anything that happened around her. Her calm face and small stature reflected nothing but the visage of a child who knew nothing of what was happening. But Yuuko, with her admittedly stronger bond to Yashiro, was susceptible to 'leakages' of the ESPer's emotions as she projected them onto third parties unwittingly. So Yashiro was very affected indeed.

The duo stood in silence for a while, until Yuuko opened the conversation.

So, were you thinking about Him again?

'Him' and all its derivatives were the word that the two had chosen to refer to that shadowy man who had been so integral in everything that Alternative IV had accomplished. That bratty savior from some other place, who had come at the right time and done what no other would have done. He who had journeyed across space-time and saved a world, only to disappear into nothingness after that, as though he had never existed.

Shirogane-san, you mean?

The two stilled their thoughts for a moment as the ground near the tree crackled and flashed with little motes of white light. The little rabbit figurine lifted off the ground slightly, before it fell again.

This wasn't the first time it had happened. The causality links between their world and wherever He had gone were still strong. The very mention of this person, whose existence and metaphysical equation for existence in that form were not even conceived in this world, threatened to tear apart the barriers that maintained the separation of the two dimensions. Of course, as the two timelines drifted further apart from each other from this point onwards the link weakened, but every mention of His existence was the equivalent of all the heavy people in a boat slamming their weight on one side of it to force it onto a certain course, instead of using a rudder. Jarring, destabilizing, and dangerous. The first few times the duo had been obliged to come clean up the torn up turf around the tree. Especially since the two of them had had the strongest connections with him by far. Yuuko remembered several planning sessions and debates with Him. Yashiro had slept in his room and twined with him telepathically in the Susanoo IV's cockpit. Consequently, that little girl now stored all of the causality information that proved His existence at all, and for the last 48 hours after his departure she'd desperately been entering down all she could remember into physical mediums. Even ESPers' minds weren't immune to ageing and forgetfulness. Even if she, as the only remaining Causality Container*, could remember everything clearly while everyone else only perceived a vague shadowy figure that worked miracles, there was nothing wrong with erring on the side of caution. As long as his name was never spoken, at least.

Yuuko herself remembered scarce little about Him, though she could at least remember his face and mannerisms. But she knew that this was only due to her strong bond with Yashiro. Without the mental support of an accomplished ESPer her memories of him would have faded long ago. At the very least, her complete comprehension of the Quantum Causality Theory allowed her mind to contain the shock of accepting this alien equation without it spilling over into the world too much.

You know you need to stop doing that.

Yashiro shrugged.

If we're doomed without Him from now on, I'd rather the entire world die knowing the name of their savior, than arrogantly and uncomprehendingly going to their doom with fanfare and pomp.

Well, Yuuko thought. Irrational, but it's a huge burden, to remember all this when no one else does. Yashiro did not retract her statement, but Yuuko eventually did feel a tendril of something called 'reconciliation' appear in her mind, and she accepted it. It dissipated.

The others haven't forgotten yet. Yashiro said, idly inspecting the hems of her customized uniform for dust. That figurine nearly caused Suzumiya to remember. I had to stop her.

Good thing you did too.

Do you think He remembers us? Yashiro looked at Yuuko. Wherever Sumika-san sent him.

Yuuko knew Yashiro had as much understanding of the Theory as she did. There was no need to ask this question. After all, there was only one answer, and it definitely wouldn't be what Yashiro wanted to hear. She considered lying to her, but immediately realized there was no point. Yashiro's memory was far beyond any other's, and she had full view of her mind anyway.

Like energy, Causality Information cannot be created or destroyed. It can only be converted from one medium to another, or transported in the same vessel in the same form from one place to another. Additionally, the myriad worlds react against alien Causality Information the way a body reacts to foreign cells. This is the way Causality Information behaves in humans. Since His Causality Information has been converted to Memory Information in your mind, there is no way He would remember it, wherever it is He has gone. You already know this, don't you?

Yashiro nodded silently, and a little sullenly.

Hmm, Yuuko continued. Sometimes I wish I didn't remember.

Yashiro looked at her.

I remember the conversations I'd have with him in the office. I remember teaching and explaining to him, and him matching me, helping me. For the first time there was someone there who could understand the burden on my shoulders, who I could give my opinion to uncensored. I watched him grow, I watched him become strong. Now what will I do, without Him around? Talking to the other cadets seems so rote and mechanical in comparison. It's almost unreal.

Yuuko looked at Yashiro and saw the girl's eyes brimming with tears as she nodded. She understood how it felt. The day He left, the two of them had been more alone than ever. All the special ones, the applicants to A-01, had more or less perished. The ones left lacked personality and daring, humbled by the deaths of their comrades, deprived of the fire of passion by victories. Altogether they were purposeless and the world was surreal. But while Yashiro felt it on an emotional scale, Yuuko simply saw the dearth of meaningful conversation with anyone other than Yashiro. Who else would be able to keep up?

The two continued staring into space, watching as the air around the tree seemed to distort and twist in response to their thoughts.

Maybe this is how He felt, Yuuko thought, knowing my machine could take him back to his world, and this world could just go and die.

Perhaps it's good he doesn't remember then. Sumika-san wanted him to be happy.

Indeed, indeed.

The afternoon sun had turned to evening, and the 'prairie' of the flattened city was bathed in soft, golden sunlight. The skies were clear, with nothing but wisps of cloud. No jets, only the occasional TSF, and no Laser-class BETA. It really is surreal, Yuuko decided, with a small smile. But quite beautiful.

And the whole world could look like this once they had finally defeated the BETA for good. Forget Shiro-Him, she decided. He's earned his rest. He's done what only He could do. But we'll do what we can do for our world. The war isn't over, and won't be for at least twenty or thirty years. Destroying all this that he and the seven of them gave their lives for would be an even greater crime than forgetting Him.

She could feel Yashiro considering this, and eventually deciding on the same course of action.

The two turned in unison and began walking back towards the gates of the base.

So, how do you feel about Russia?

Would be nice to see my sisters again, though my handlers not so much. Finland would have been better, if only to satisfy Tamase's craving.

Well, Yuuko responded with a laugh. Finland will come in time. Russians never knew where to stop when going westward.

Yashiro smiled.

1. I put my own spin on the Quantum Causality Theory here. Kasumi was made to absorb and store the Causality Information about Shirogane in a similar way to what she had done when he was going between dimensions, and that's where all his memories went, as per Sumika wanted for him to have a carefree life after Alternative. I also know that my point about how Causality Information cannot be created or destroyed doesn't seem to support the other Kasumi in Final Extra looking like she remembers everything, but not only is it merely implied, these two don't know, and Kasumi isn't fully human herself.