Greetings Muvluv fanfic readers. This is simply a short on a certain idea that had been gnawing on my head that had been preventing me from writing my other stories. It's been an idea that just won't leave so I had to write it out.
I've been following the writers for Muvluv so I think this may be rather unique in terms of premise.
Ah please note that I haven't played Muvluv in ages so there may be inaccuracies... hopefully none exist in this short
Hope you enjoy reading this!
Disclaimer: I do not own Muvluv or its characters
==[The Witch and the White Knight]==
Shirogane Takeru slowly opened his eyes to see the familiar remains of what used to be his room. He could feel no hint of sluggishness or sleepiness in his body, unlike the other times he's woken up in such a manner.
'…It seemed to have worked well enough.'
He listed off a few select events in his mind to check his memory.
The memories he had of his comrades and friends.
The memories related to Alternative IV, Sumika, Kasumi and Yuuko.
The training he's taken for god knows how many times already.
All the skills he's learned, the knowledge he's gained.
All the battles he's fought and will have to fight again.
The countless moments of love, of hope, of passion, of agony and of despair.
He couldn't remember all of them perfectly but he was able to recall them well enough.
'Looks like I've got a good handle on them… my time in the Imperial Guard under Ikaruga seems to be still pretty sketchy but at least I can recall it to some extent…'
He shook his head to stop himself from reminiscing and got up. Mulling over the past lead to stagnation, a lesson he learned the hard way. He took a cursory glance of his room and took what he could use.
He then found himself a broken mirror to check his appearance.
What looked back at him wasn't the naïve teenage high school boy that he once was. What looked back was soldier forged in the flames of war against monsters, someone who had trained and fought for what amounted to an eternity.
He could only wish that was exaggeration.
'Looks like small changes in my appearance was retained too… I guess I'll keep the hair for now…'
His hair had grown long, a relic of his time in the Imperial Guard in a loop that had occurred a long time ago. He had reverted to his original hairstyle at some point but there was a need for him to grow out his hair once again for the sake of an experiment.
He spent a few moments to fix his bed head with his hands before getting his bag and leaving the house. The game guy inside wasn't really all too useful to him now but it made for a fun distraction every now and then.
He moved casually and took in the scenery. Within sight was the tattered remains of his town. The place was as eerily quiet as he remembered, reminding him that it was completely devoid of life. There was probably going to be a time when he could go back home and see it in pristine and untouched once again but that was a far off dream.
The broken down TSF lodged in his house served to remind him of the type of world he chose to stay in. He considered visiting the Sakura tree but thought against it.
The people who were honored there were alive once again and he intended to keep it that way so it would have no meaning.
He spent a moment of silence, reminding himself of what he fought for.
'Time for another round…'
==[The Witch and the White Knight]==
Building up his resolve he moved on and proceeded to Yokohama Base. It had taken the place of his school in the original world and had been occupied by the UN 11th Pacific Army. It could also be considered his current home.
'Well… hopefully everything worked out. If it did then I won't need to greet these guys anymore.'
He approached the gate and hoped that he wouldn't have to go through the usual conversation he had with the two. If they asked for identification then it would mean the experiment had failed and he would have to start from scratch again.
'Come on, tell me what I want to hear.'
"Hey there, any chance the witch informed you of my arrival?"
He greeted the guards with a wry smile as he spoke the phrase that should clue them in to who he was.
The two guards glanced at him and seemed to be on high alert. One of them took out his radio and contacted the witch in question while the other kept observing him.
"… Yes. The witch has informed us that… her knight will be arriving soon."
The guard spat out sarcastically after apparently confirming his identity and then gave him a smile. They both seem to relax after the confirmation.
They then suddenly switched gears as they were escorting him to the Vice Commander's office.
"So kid… are you some kind of secret lover for our Vice Commander or something? She had this pretty smile on her face when she gave us those orders…"
"Yeah kid, believe me, you rarely see the Vice Commander smile like that!"
The guards had talked to him as if the earlier suspicion and hostility had never existed. The two were playfully teasing him like an old friend.
'It worked. Thank god I don't have to start over. These two are a bit too friendly with me though, Yuuko must've given them some specific info about me. I'll have to ask her later about that.'
"Ah no…. we're pretty close but not to that extent."
"Hah! Can't fool me kid, I know how to call it when I see it!"
"Come on kid, tell us how you did it! The Vice Commander is as icy as anyone can get"
The three of them casually conversed, mostly about his apparent intimate relationship with the vice commander. He had no real need to be escorted since he knew the base better than anyone else but he needed to respect that the guards were just doing their jobs.
They eventually reached the lower floors and the guards reverted almost immediately to the disciplined soldiers they were. They approached a hallway with three doors and stopped at the center one.
He gave the two a nod and a word of gratitude before entering. Though usually the guards would escort him inside, it seemed they were also instructed to simply leave him outside of the lab.
He entered the room, unable to contain his smile as he saw the person he liked to consider his 'partner in crime'. Though that phrasing was more Yuuko than him.
"Ahhh my dear knight, you have finally arrived!"
He saw the all too familiar sight of Yuuko, sitting comfortable in her chair.
Unlike other times however, she was neither guarded nor suspicious. She didn't bother hiding a gun in her coat ready to shoot him. She didn't look at him like he was some kind of spy or assassin out to get her.
No, this time she had a wide grin plastered on her face, like a villain that was pleased that their convoluted master plan had worked.
Oddly enough, that was a pretty accurate description.
The greeting she just gave him was somehow both monotone and overly dramatic. How that was possible he could only attribute to his Yuuko's genius.
"You know, do you ever bother cleaning this place? I know you like it this way but it's just plain messy"
"My dear knight, you've traveled far and fought countless battles… however I fear that your effort isn't enough to save this world…"
Yuuko stood up and approached him, completely ignoring his snipe at her inability to keep her lab clean and orderly. He could only smile and stifle a laugh as he tried to remain serious in the face of Yuuko's one woman performance.
"Sir Knight, take my hand and give me your soul! With my genius and your strength, we will rule the world!"
She finished with a melodramatic rendition of what was a classic offer made by the final boss to the hero. She extended her hand wildly, waiting for him to respond.
At that point he couldn't even contain the laugh anymore and took her hand.
"You know, I thought we were supposed to be freeing the world from the BETA instead of conquering it"
"You and I both know the idiots up top wouldn't know how even if we gave them a five hundred page detailed instruction manual. The second we take out the BETA from the equation, they'll start acting like ravenous vultures trying to pick of the remains of what resources we have left in this world."
Yuuko momentarily tightened her grip on his hand, as if to confirm he really was there with her. She breathed an audible sigh of relief while shaking her head before going back to her chair. She made herself comfortable before raising up her head and giving him a serious look.
At that moment he knew that the period of messing around was over so he responded with one of his own.
"So… how did things go for you? Was it successful?"
She asked with a concerned look thrown at him.
"I remember most of the important things. Not everything but I'm sure those will pop up when I need it. What about you side?"
"Unfortunately, my memory retention didn't nearly go as well. I can't give out concrete details of specific incidents that had transpired in former loops but can give a general overview. Was this the same for you?"
"It was actually worse. I barely remembered specific incidents until something made me recall it. From experience though, it gets clearer the more times you go through a particular event."
"I'd rather not allow it to get to that point. Come on, grab a chair and let's start this discussion."
He proceeded to do just that, careful not to step on some important files as he walked towards Yuuko's table.
'I'll just deal with those later'
"Let's review our current situation."
Yuuko rested her chin on her hands while Takeru slouched in his seat. To both of them it was the starting point, a new beginning, so they had to make a significant amount of preparations.
Molding the future to their standards wasn't easy. The thousands of times Takeru had taken to do so was proof of that.
"We've both started a new loop after prematurely ending the last one. Combined with Kagami and Yashiro's aid, we were able to retain our memories of former instances we've gone through in this world. This at least confirms our suspicion about the hidden rules governing our status as causality conductors."
Takeru nodded in confirmation. That was one of the most significant changes they've been able to make. One they saw absolutely necessary to achieve in order to have a chance at ending the war with the BETA properly.
He was truly and utterly relieved despite not showing it. He's gone through hell and beyond alone, having to start over his progress each and every time he failed. Despite the amount of effort he put in, the satisfactory ending was never reached.
This time however things were different. This time he wasn't alone.
Kouzuki Yuuko had become a causality conductor just like him.
He didn't approve of it at first. The fact that the Kouzuki Yuuko from his original world, a laid back teacher with a penchant for mischief and abuse of authority but was still very much a normal human being, would be subjected to the same experiences as him made him furious.
He tried to convince her with everything he could, tried to steer the events towards her release from her status as a causality conductor, but in the end Kouzuki Yuuko had made the same decision he had in the past.
She decided to stay and try to save this near hopeless world.
He could think of a lot of reasons why she had decided to do so. Maybe it was because she knew her genius intellect could be put to use, or rather, her genius intellect was the only thing that could really save this dying world.
Maybe she couldn't bear to give up and run away when she knew her other self had sacrificed so much for this world.
He never really asked. All he knew was that he had to do everything in his power to preserve his teacher's sanity. To make sure nothing can ever harm her physically, mentally or emotionally.
"I'm fine, Takeru"
She spoke and smiled gently as she leaned in and pinched his cheeks, breaking him out of his musings. Even now he wasn't entirely used to being called by his first name when Yuuko was concerned but it became normal for her to do so when she became a Causality Conductor.
Probably one of the greatest change in their relationship was that it was pretty much built on trust and loyalty. It served as a stark contrast to their former relationship dynamic.
Yuuko withdrew her hand after seeing Takeru nod and continued.
"Through Kagami and Yashiro, I had become a Causality conductor like yourself. However I've been subjected to the same experiences as you, namely my inability to recall other loops and instances I've had in this world…"
The meeting the two of them had when Yuuko first became a causality conductor was an odd one for him. He'd known the BETA world's version of Yuuko far too well to not notice the changes she underwent.
They had to deal with a lot of troubles to even get a coherent grasp of what had transpired. For one, Yuuko had to deal with memories of her BETA version's self, wreaking havoc in her mind. Another was the fact that when they looped, Yuuko would have no recollection of what had happened in the former loop, making Takeru's efforts to help her adjust to her condition invalid.
It took several loops before they could get a proper handle on things and several more in order to remedy it and take advantage of it.
Everything they'd worked for had led to where they were now.
"Now that we've been able to have a functioning method in carrying over our memories like this, we can immediately start making preparations. I need you to re-start the Valerg-ON initiative with Yashiro. I'll be working on Kagami and the base's situation, I already have everything prepared including your identification files and clearance so we have no time to waste. "
She handed him several files. He briefly glanced at the contents but had no real need to review them.
After all, they were his research.
"How are we going to approach the situation this time? Will you introduce me as a superior officer or have me go through the cadet route?"
"The former. I can't have you wasting time with your harem, I need you to focus on bringing the TSF to the level of progressed we've reached before. The faster you do so, the faster we can get proceed with Alternative IV."
He would have face faulted if not for the fact that he's both used to Yuuko's teasing and his training in discipline as a soldier.
"Understood. I'm assuming you already have Yashiro working on the framework of the new OS so I'll just get settled in and started."
"Hmph… you used to be more fun Takeru."
"Unfortunately, you're gonna need some new material if you want me to react like in the original world."
Silence followed when he brought up the original world. That particular topic was rather loaded since one of the most common arguments they had involved it.
"I certainly do miss dressing up Marimo-chan. This world's Marimo is a bit too difficult in comparsion."
"There's a world of a difference so I doubt you could pull that off."
They both opted to simply avoid the topic. They knew each was as stubborn as the other and neither of them were the type to simply change their belief so it was best to avoid a clash.
Takeru stood up and put the files in his bag.
"We'll start tomorrow so get yourself ready."
He nodded and made his way to the door.
"Takeru…"
"Yeah?"
"Let's have dinner later with Yashiro. It's been a while since we've had a peaceful one"
"Got it… see you later"
They smiled at each other before separating.
They've both experienced failure after failure and knew they would face more in the future.
This time though, things were going to change.
The BETA wouldn't know what's coming to them.
==[The Witch and the White Knight]==
Author's corner:
So what did you think of it? Like I said, it seemed pretty unique though other writers might have touched on the idea before and I just failed to notice.
I've always had that question floating in my mind... "What would happen if Yuuko was a causality conductor along with Shirogane?"
Oh if anyone's curious, this version of Shirogane has gone through all possible versions of Muvluv including TDA so he's on the mature side of things. Shirogane retains his TDA appearance in this fic while Yuuko wears her usual uniform. I wanted her to wear something similar to her look in Extra but it felt off to do so in a military base.
Oh well, that's pretty much it. Hope you had a good time reading.
Finally... I've finally gotten this out of my head! I can go back to my main stories now...
Read if you have the time~ Thank you in advance!