Muv-Luv: Breaking the Tide
Chapter 3 / Breaking Ground
By HitokiriOTD
#
October 23, 2001
Sometimes Takeru really hated how often he dreamed.
"Sumika…" he whispered, staring up at the shadowed ceiling of his room in Yokohama Base. Even in the darkness, he could visualize where every crack and smudge was. The thin mattress beneath him was a far cry from his bed back in his childhood home, but he felt comfortable enough laying on it.
Just a day had passed since he'd seen her, but already he was already missing Sumika, missing his home. Getting homesick so quickly… sometimes Takeru felt like he hadn't grown up much at all.
He wanted to see her.
But he couldn't. Right now, all he could see was a brain in a jar. Maybe he could find the body Yuuko-sensei had created for the 00 Unit, but it would just be an empty, lifeless shell. Without Sumika's memories, Sumika's soul, there was no point in seeing it. And Sumika's soul was currently trapped in a horrifying prison, with no body, no light, no sound, no taste, no touch, no…
Takeru's nails dug deep into his palms.
He really wanted to see Sumika. And he wanted her to be able to see him back. But, for that to happen, first he needed to help Yuuko complete the 00 Unit.
For that to happen, the Sumika of this world would have to die.
That was… all he could do for her.
Sumika would die and be reborn as the 00 Unit.
To save the world… to save his friends… to defeat the BETA and return home again… he would have to knowingly make that happen.
It was awful beyond words. But… he had made the choice long ago. He would stain his hands and kill his heart if it meant achieving the things he needed to do.
With a sigh, Takeru pushed away his melancholy thoughts and got out of bed, the mattress creaking beneath him as he moved. There was no point in dwelling on it. He was where he was, and wishing wouldn't help him accomplish his goals faster or get him back home any sooner.
Takeru glanced at the clock on the desk next to his bed and groaned. "Way too early," he muttered, shaking his head ruefully as he made his way to the sink to wash his face.
When he was done getting ready, Takeru left his room and began walking purposefully towards the Post Exchange, intent on hunting down a proper uniform before meeting the girls of the 207th when they started their training.
It ended up being easier than he'd thought it would be. There were a surplus of male uniforms in storage for obvious reasons that Takeru didn't really enjoy dwelling on. Though he couldn't help but wonder why there had always been delays in getting his uniforms in the other worlds.
Proper clothing secured, Takeru headed back to his room to stow away his new garments and change.
It was strange and yet at the same time natural to put on the UN military uniform again. Somehow though, it felt right.
"I shall fulfill my duty to protect international peace and stability by rigidly adhering to the code of conduct…
…By cultivating virtue, training my mind and body, polishing my skills, by not taking part in political actions, and by giving my undivided attention to the completion of the mission...
…I swear never to shrink from danger, but to risk my life to fulfill my responsibility toward humanity."
Takeru mentally recited the enlistment oath for soldiers of the UN Army. There was no one around to witness it, but he swore the oath to himself once again anyway. When he was finished, he finally felt like he was once again officially a soldier of the UN's 11th Pacific Army, even though Yuuko had taken care of all the details the day before. It just hadn't felt legitimate until he took the oath again, even if it was only in his own head.
…It was kind of weird, even for him. Maybe the whole dimensional hopping thing was messing with his head more than he'd thought.
After the oath, there was only one thing left. Takeru looked at the pin in his hands. He had struggled a lot in previous worlds to earn his wings. It felt strange for them to just be given to him on the first day. Still, he had earned his pilot wings many times over, even if it hadn't happened in the world he was currently in. Takeru fixed the pin to the front of his uniform and glanced in the mirror, nodding in satisfaction at the sight.
After he finished dressing, he left his room to meet his squad for morning PT and start the process of winning their respect and hopefully friendship all over again.
Last time around, the first stage in his plan had been to leave his fellow trainees in his dust on the track. The surprised and chagrined expressions he earned when he lapped them for the first time had been delicious. This time, he wasn't a trainee, so he couldn't do that again. He watched the squad's initial laps around the track in thoughtful silence.
The answer came to him just as his old squad mates formed up near Marimo, panting and sweating from the exertion as they finally finished their laps.
Marimo was merciless. "Okay, next!" she barked. "Grab the gear in the cages and march ten kilometers!"
"Un—understood!" Tama managed.
The cadets ran into the nearby storerooms. In his world, the rooms had been used by school clubs, but here they were used to store military equipment, including the cadets' gear for training.
"What?" Takeru asked in mock surprise, glancing at the gear the cadets were putting on. "They're not doing full gear?"
A profound silence enveloped the room as the cadets froze and stared at him with dawning horror. Inside Takeru, the part of him that still giggled at the thought of drawing on peoples' faces as they slept was dancing with glee.
The sergeant looked at him, frowning at his comment. "No, sir," Marimo said after a moment. "Not at this point in their training."
"When I was at this point in my training, I was running in full gear," Takeru commented casually.
Tama's eyes started watering piteously behind Marimo's back.
"…Sir," Marimo nodded. She turned towards her trainees, who looked like someone had just shot their dog. "You heard him!" the sergeant barked. "You'll be marching in full gear today!"
The cadets stiffened to attention. "Understood!" they replied and ran off to don the heavy gear, shooting him dark looks when they thought he wasn't looking.
Takeru could only smile nostalgically. Last time, he had intentionally provoked Marimo into making him run in full gear in order to show off to his squad mates.
…the things he did to impress girls.
But, since he couldn't do that again, he would just have to do what he could. Mainly, abusing his authority to tort—that is, train his old squad mates. Maybe they wouldn't feel motivated by his example again, but this time he had other ways to encourage them to train harder.
#
A warm breeze ruffled Takeru's hair as he walked slowly out towards the track with his hands in his pockets. Crickets chirped nosily, and the moon shone brightly down on the base. Stars gleamed and blinked in the night sky, seeming astonishingly bright to Takeru, who had been born and raised in a big city. There was something majestic about the sight, and yet he couldn't help but think about all the lights of humanity that had been snuffed out to make the view possible.
His first official day of training with the 207th was over. Takeru felt pretty positive about the results. Certainly, his new—old—squad had taken their training to a new level, whether they wanted to or not. He probably hadn't helped his goal of winning their friendship much, but if they were better able to survive because they trained harder... well, that was an acceptable trade. To wind down, he was enjoying the night air while he wandered over to where he knew Meiya would be exercising.
Just like he remembered, he found her jogging around the track. Despite how hard he'd pushed the squad, including Meiya, she still forced herself to continue her independent training. Meiya's strong will never failed to impress him.
Watching Meiya run, Takeru appreciated her long, graceful strides, and the way her long blue ponytail bounced and swirled behind her. He also admired the way a certain other part of her bounced and swayed as she ran, muted though it was by the black uniform jacket she had donned over her blue UN Army battle dress uniform.
Somehow, Takeru thought he'd grown a lot more lecherous over the past few years. He didn't think he'd paid quite so much attention to certain details the last time he had gone through everything. Maybe it was a side effect of his experiences with the girls back home.
"Hm?" Meiya came to a stop as she noticed his figure standing near the track. "Good evening, 2nd Lt. Shirogane!"
"Meiya," Takeru greeted, unconsciously using her first name as he returned her salute, causing her to frown slightly. "Ah… sorry," he apologized, noticing her discomfort. It was hard for him to remember that he was a stranger to them. From her perspective, he was someone she had only just met. For him to use her first name, and forgoing any honorifics on top of that, must have seemed rude and unpleasant to her.
"I do not mind, sir," she replied stiffly, though her expression didn't really look pleased. Actually, her expression was pretty impassive, but Takeru could tell.
"Sorry," Takeru repeated. "I keep acting like we already know each other. It's a bad habit of mine, I know."
The problem was he did know her. He knew her really, really well. That's what made acting out the play of getting to know her all over again so difficult for Takeru. How could he talk to a girl he loved like she was a distant stranger?
He really missed his Meiya.
She sighed slightly at his response and glanced sidelong at him, but remained silent.
"Anyway, you can relax," he smiled weakly. "Like I said yesterday, I'm not really into formalities. When we're alone, you don't need to salute and stuff."
"…Yes, sir," she acknowledged slowly, looking nonplussed at his violation of protocol as she relaxed her stance.
Takeru frowned slightly in disappointment at her response. It looked like he had a long road ahead of him to get his friends to treat him normally. "What are you doing out here?" he asked, changing the subject.
"I have been running laps on the track."
"Part of your daily training? You're really dedicated," he praised.
"I… yes. Thank you, sir," she responded uncertainly, looking a bit off balance by his praise.
"Since you're working so hard, you must have a goal in mind, right?"
"…I wish to become an Eishi as soon as possible," she explained after a moment, using the Japanese term for TSF pilots.
"Why?" Takeru prompted.
"My reason is quite ordinary," Meiya said, folding her arms. She closed her eyes for a moment, "I want to protect something."
"Can I ask what that is?"
Meiya opened her eyes to look at him. "This planet…" she announced. "As well as the people of this country… and Japan as a nation."
"I see."
Even though he'd heard it before, he was yet again struck by feelings of admiration for Meiya. Her desire to protect resonated deeply with Takeru. But, her desire to protect Japan as a nation… it would cause her a lot of pain in the future.
Takeru wanted to do something about that, but he had no idea what he could do. The mire of agendas that would tear Japan apart was vast and complex.
Still… He remembered Meiya's anguished face, her desperate struggles... her worries for her sister…
Yuuhi.
Meiya's older sister, Mitsurugi Yuuhi—no, here she was Koubuin Yuuhi, the Shogun of Japan.
It was strange to think of her as the Shogun. It was strange to Takeru that there was a Shogun at all; in his world the Shogunate had been abolished long before anyone alive had been born. But Yuuhi especially… her regal dignity certainly fit, but he remembered too much of her as a girl his own age to think of her as the Shogun instead of just Yuuhi. It was hard to think of a girl he'd dated as the Shogun.
More, he remembered Meiya and Yuuhi together. Laughing, conspiring, fighting, making up… they had been close sisters, heated rivals, and best friends. In this world though, that wasn't the case.
In this world, they suffered a lot because of who they were.
Takeru wanted to do something about that, but he didn't know what he could do.
…No.
That wasn't right.
He wanted to do something to help them.
So he would.
That was all there was to it.
"2nd Lt. Shirogane," Meiya's voice interrupted his thoughts. "If I may ask… do you also have something you want to protect?"
"Hmm...? Yeah."
"May I ask what?"
"You."
"Wha—!?" Meiya blurted, stepping back in surprise. Her shocked expression and ensuing blush, faintly visible in the moonlight, looked adorable to Takeru. She opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again, but no words came out.
Oops. He hadn't meant to say that. His brain had still been stuck on thinking about what he could do for the pair of sisters he loved.
"I want to protect all my comrades," Takeru took pity on the gaping girl. "You…" Takeru repeated, meeting her sapphire eyes seriously, "…the Class Rep, Ayamine, Tama, Mikoto, Marimo-chan, Yuuko-sensei, and everyone else in this base. I want to protect everyone. And…"
He paused for a moment, closing his eyes. The image of humanity's home shone in his mind's eye, a bright blue jewel amidst the sea of stars.
"…I want to protect Earth and humanity."
That hadn't changed.
A soldier had to fight for the people beside him. Captain Isumi had taught him that. Grand ideas like fighting for humanity, or for a nation, or for an ideal were great. But ultimately, those were just too big, too impersonal. But fighting for the people beside you… his heart could firmly grasp that simple concept perfectly.
At the same time though, Shirogane Takeru was the only witness to humanity's fall in that other place and time. He had no choice but to carry that burden, to remember it and fight to prevent it.
"You are… admirable, 2nd Lt. Shirogane," Meiya said quietly, giving him a tentative smile. "Now I understand…"
"What?"
"Why you have been entrusted with such an important mission… you are indeed special."
"I'm not really…" Takeru began to deny automatically.
Certainly he knew he was special, but that was only because he had somehow become a strange, unstable existence that could move across parallel worlds. When you looked at Shirogane Takeru's accomplishments, he really was nothing special without that.
He'd made so many mistakes.
He'd left so many people behind.
Takeru was sure that if someone amazing like Yuuko-sensei or even Meiya had the same power, they would achieve so much more than he ever could.
"You need not be humble," Meiya cut him off. "Did you not survive fighting the BETA on the frontlines? Were you not picked for a mission that could affect all of humanity? To accomplish so much… you must have a very specific goal in mind."
Maybe Meiya was more comfortable around him than he'd thought. She was actually conversing normally with him. Takeru had missed that. He'd had no idea just how much he'd missed talking with Meiya until she reminded him of what it used to be like.
Takeru swallowed the lump in his throat, reigning in his emotions. After a moment, he nodded, "Yeah… people can do amazing things with the right goal in mind."
"Oh…?" she murmured. "Those are good, concise words. 'People can do amazing things with the right goal in mind.' I will remember it."
He had learned it from her, during his very first journey to this world. But he couldn't tell her that. "Yeah," he agreed, smiling wistfully. "It's a nice, simple saying. A really great friend taught me those words."
"Is that so?"
Yeah. A really, really great friend. A better one than he had ever deserved, in his opinion.
"Well…" Takeru coughed and changed the subject. "I was just going to run around a bit. Want to join me?"
"I see. I was just about to finish," Meiya shook her head regretfully. Then she blinked and suddenly the relaxed Meiya he had been talking to disappeared, "I mean… if you would like me to, then—!"
"…perhaps we can run together next time." Meiya had told him that last time, offering to train together with him of her own free will. It was such a simple thing, but…
"No, it's okay," Takeru interrupted, swallowing his disappointment. For a few precious moments, Meiya had seemed to forget about his rank and interacted normally with him. He was making progress after all, even if he desperately wished it had lasted longer. "You can go, Meiya. See you later."
"Yes, sir."
Takeru wistfully watched her back for a moment as she departed. When she disappeared into the nearby building entrance, he headed to the cages to don the same heavy gear he'd made his friends run in before beginning his own laps around the track.
#
That night, Takeru dreamed of home again.
In his dream, there was a girl with midnight blue hair and eyes like sapphires.
She was, for all intents and purposes, a princess. The girl possessed wealth and power that a regular student like him couldn't even hope to comprehend. Beyond that, she was peerless beauty with an incredible intellect, and she had her own ninja-maid. They came from utterly different worlds, and the gap between them was enormous in almost every way.
Yet, she had come seeking him, all because of some offhand words he had spoken to her when they had met utterly by chance in a neighborhood park when they were little kids.
He had promised to marry her when they grew up.
She had taken him seriously.
…really, she had no common sense whatsoever.
But, no matter how eccentric or rich, no matter how much she had overturned his peaceful ordinary life, he had been drawn to her.
By some strange miracle, she had loved him. She had loved him for years, holding on to his promise like a lifeline as she was subsumed beneath the overwhelming weight of the duty as a member the Mitsurugi dynasty. After they had met again, even though he had forgotten her entirely, even though he was just a regular goofball kid while she could probably influence the whole country, she had fallen in love with him again as a person rather than just an idea.
He hadn't known what to do. He had been afraid of upsetting his comfortable life, of the choices she was unwittingly presenting to him. So he had waffled and dithered until suddenly they had crossed some deadline he hadn't known existed, and she had left. She had vanished from his life as if she had never been there.
But she had been there. No matter how cleanly she erased her presence, she couldn't reverse the time they'd spent together.
Somewhere along the way, she had become an irreplaceable part of his life.
And somewhere along the way, Shirogane Takeru had started to love Mitsurugi Meiya.
So he went to get her back. Against all odds, and with a little bit of help, he had been able to.
In the end, he'd fulfilled his promise to her.
Their relationship had been like a fairytale from the start, and like in a fairytale, they built their happily ever after together.
Takeru missed his home.
More than that though, he missed Meiya.
#
October 24, 2001
Marimo stared down at her notes for the upcoming day's lectures, struggling to focus. For some reason though, she couldn't seem to make much progress, even though she only had a few hours before she would have to actually conduct the lessons. It was early in the morning, to be sure, but she wasn't too tired to concentrate. It wasn't because she was sick, or worried about some major event, or anything serious like that.
If she had to pinpoint a cause… yes, it would probably have to be the man sitting next to her, staring at her as she tried to work.
She sneaked a sidelong glance to the left, then glanced hurriedly back down at her notes. Yes, he was still staring.
Second Lieutenant Shirogane Takeru was a very strange man. Marimo hadn't always thought so. At first, he'd seemed like a capable officer, if a bit too relaxed about some things. He was a combat veteran whose skills Yuuko had personally vouched for. How could Marimo not have some high expectations after hearing that?
But now Marimo's expectations were sinking by the moment.
He just kept staring.
She knew he was an observer, but she was pretty sure he was taking his job a bit too literally. Didn't he have something else to do other than watch her work?
Marimo couldn't take it anymore. "…Sir?" she gritted out finally, unable to keep her irritation from coloring her voice as she set down her notes and turned to face him fully. "Do you need something?"
She had politely asked him the same question before, several times in fact, when he'd first showed up in her office over an hour before. He'd waved her off each time. This time, the sharpness of her voice practically demanded an answer.
Outranked or not, there was only so much Marimo would put up with.
Far from being cowed though, Shirogane Takeru smiled slowly, looking almost mischievous. "I'm glad you asked!" he said cheerfully, oblivious to the way Marimo's hands twitched in fury. "I was thinking, since your lesson plans for today aren't quite ready…" the sergeant's teeth audibly ground together, but Shirogane blithely continued, "…that maybe we could do something a bit different."
Marimo leapt out of her chair and wrapped her hands around Shirogane's throat.
…at least, she did in her imagination.
In reality, she could only stare at the beaming second lieutenant in disbelief.
"Was that why you—!" it took a titanic effort of will to choke back her angry outburst. Marimo counted slowly backwards, taking deep breaths. She had to calm down before she did something rash. Assaulting a superior officer would have been satisfying, but it was also a good way to ruin her life. "Haaa…" Marimo heaved a heavy sigh as reason successfully quelled her irritation.
Infuriating manipulation aside, it was true that her lesson plan was a bit too hazy to be put to use. Normally she'd just focus on physical training instead, but… well, he did outrank her. She pretty much had to hear him out anyway, whether she liked it or not.
Marimo stopped rubbing her throbbing temples. "…What would you like to do, sir?" she asked eventually, deeply reluctant.
#
Yokohama Base's PX was noisy and bustling by the time Squad 207 was finished with the day's lectures and exercises. Takeru was looking forward to eating his fried chicken meal set, synthetic though it was. Somewhere along the line he'd gotten used to the bland and sometimes strange tastes, and when he was hungry he could even enjoy it. That being said, he still sometimes fantasied about the culinary masterpieces he had enjoyed back in his home world.
As he took a bite of his artificial fried chicken, Takeru couldn't help but feel a pang of longing for Tsukuyomi's cooking. Despite that, he shoveled food into his mouth energetically, partly because he was genuinely hungry and partly to distract himself from the awkward silence of his friends.
Takeru had been acting out his role as an observer for two days, but he hadn't made too much progress in breaking the ice that separated him from his old friends. His talk with Meiya on the track a few nights before was his greatest success yet, a fact which was simultaneously encouraging and discouraging. It was encouraging because it was a sign of hope, and discouraging because such a meager success was all he had to show for his efforts.
He was being too impatient. Takeru knew that, even if his heart chafed at every awkward silence or distant word his friends spoke. While he had known them for years, they had only known him for a few days. All he could do was be patient and keep trying. Eventually, he would be able to break down the walls between them.
"-irogane? 2nd Lt. Shirogane?"
Takeru blinked, startled back into the present. "Huh?"
"Are you… okay, Second Lieutenant?" Tama asked hesitantly.
"I'm fine. Why?" Takeru gave her a puzzled look.
"Um… that's…" Tama groped for an explanation.
"You looked like you were thinking about something painful," Chizuru butted in, taking pity on the flustered Tama.
"Yeah," Takeru heaved a sigh. "I was just remembering your pitiful performance in the war game earlier."
"That was—!" the Class Rep bit her lip and looked away.
Takeru had hijacked one of Marimo's lectures—and boy, had Marimo-chan been mad—in order to play a war game against the cadets. He'd pitched it to Marimo as a comprehensive test of their tactical thinking abilities, but in truth he'd had another objective. Not only did he have to win their respect and earn their friendship, he also had to help bind them together as a team.
The reason the squad had failed their last evaluation wasn't because they were lacking in ability. No, it was because their teamwork had sucked. It was up to him to help change that. So he'd designed a scenario that required them to work smoothly together to accomplish their objective.
They'd failed miserably.
It was disappointing, but not unexpected. Hopefully it at least would get them thinking about their teamwork issues. It would also give him a solid excuse to meddle.
"That was a huge failure," Takeru said bluntly when Chizuru remained silent. "I don't know how you all expect to pass the evaluation when you can't even work together to win a war game in a classroom."
The girls were unable to say a word in their own defense. The atmosphere around the table became downright gloomy.
Takeru bit back a groan. Maybe he'd gone too far. "Listen, you can't afford to fail the evaluation again, right?"
"…Yes, sir," the Class Rep replied slowly.
"Since that's the case, I'd like to ask you all something," Takeru said seriously, looking at each of his friends in turn.
"What?" Chizuru asked uneasily.
"Do you all have something you want to protect?"
"Eh…?" Ayamine made a questioning noise.
"You don't have to tell me what it is," he said quickly. "Just… do you all have something worth risking your life for?"
They all did. He knew they did. But Takeru needed to get them thinking about working together again.
"Where did this come from?" Chizuru wondered, taken aback.
Meiya's gaze was contemplative. "'People can do amazing things with the right goal in mind…'" she quoted softly. "…Is that it?"
Takeru nodded at her, pleased that Meiya was once again unwittingly helping him drive the conversation towards the point he wanted to make. "Right. And if you all want to have a chance at passing the exam, maybe you need to think about why you're all here in the first place again. Because today, I didn't see much effort out of this squad."
"Wait a second!" Chizuru protested. "That's not—!"
"We tried our best!" Tama burst out, glaring at him with red cheeks, somehow managing to look affronted and scared at the same time.
"Really?" Takeru set down his chopsticks as he looked around at the defiant looks he was getting. "Then tell me why you all failed each scenario so quickly?"
"Uuu…" Tama had no answer for him.
"…squad leader's fault," Ayamine muttered.
"You…" the Class Rep growled. "It was your fault! If you'd just listen to my orders for once—!"
"We would have just gotten killed faster."
The two girls glared furiously at each other. Tama's gaze swung fretfully back and forth between Chizuru and Ayamine, while Meiya quietly listened with a frown, her eyes closed.
Takeru grimaced. "It was everyone's fault!" Takeru snapped, interrupting the burgeoning fight. "You all failed because you couldn't work together as a squad!"
Silence descended again.
Inwardly, Takeru cursed.
Chizuru was still alienating Ayamine and vice versa. Those two had always gotten along like oil and water, and short of cramming them into a room until they hashed out their issues or killed each other, Takeru didn't know how he could fix it. And even if he wanted to do that, he half suspected that without him around one of them really would end up dead if they were stuck together. Somehow they had come to some kind of uneasy truce in the last world, but he had no idea how it had really happened.
The team didn't just consist of those two either.
Tama was too timid to speak up when Chizuru and Ayamine butted heads, Meiya remained too aloof from her squad mates, and Mikoto—the biggest space cadet on a squad of full of weirdoes—was languishing in a hospital bed.
Somehow, he had to bind them into a team again. But how in the world was he going to fix their teamwork without being part of the team? It seemed like he was just making things worse at the moment despite his efforts. How was he going to get them to see that they couldn't just do their own thing if they wanted to pass the evaluation and, in the long term, survive on the battlefield?
Takeru needed them to survive.
But he couldn't protect them by himself. He'd learned that lesson…
A light bulb blinked to life in his head. That was right. He'd almost forgotten the words he'd first heard from the Class Rep.
"Until four years ago… my own life was more precious to me than anything else," Takeru broke the silence.
Had it really been four years since his first journey to this world? Takeru wasn't really sure. He had no way of knowing when his first journey actually was, given how scrambled his memories of that experience was. His subjective sense of time was an utter mess. It seemed like it had only been a few days, and at the same time it felt like it had been lifetimes ago.
Takeru shook off the train of thought, focusing on the conversation again, "It's still important to me, but I understand now that there are things I have to protect even if it means putting myself in harm's way."
The last time Takeru had said those words, he really hadn't understood a thing. At that time, with his memories of the world after Alternative V locked away, he hadn't really known what putting himself in harm's way meant, nor what it really meant to protect something.
He had lost a lot of precious things learning those lessons.
But, now… now he knew exactly what he was saying and how heavy those words really were. And he was still able to say those words and mean them, despite their weight.
"Even if I want to protect myself more than anything else, and even if there are other things I hold dear, I can't do it alone."
Kashgar could not be conquered alone. He couldn't save his friends all by himself. Shirogane Takeru needed his comrades in order to save the things he held dear.
Chizuru gasped softly, her green eyes widening behind the clear round lenses of her glasses as his words struck her. Takeru smiled faintly at her. It was her words he was borrowing, after all.
"I don't think it's possible to beat the BETA unless a lot of people with strong wills get together and work as a team." Takeru's hands tightened into fists. "If one of us fails, then what they lose…" he glanced around at his friends, meeting their gazes one by one, "…will affect us all."
Takeru's palms were slightly damp with nervous sweat. He relaxed his fists with a conscious effort, his anxiety rising. Had he gotten through to them?
"That's why teamwork is important," he continued earnestly. "You're all individually extraordinary. Even after seeing you all in action for such a short time, I can tell. But… you all saw the results of the exercise earlier, right? No matter how talented you all are, if you can't work together as soldiers, not only will you fail your missions, but you'll all end up dying cheaply!"
He took a breath, restraining his passion. Takeru cared way too much, but he couldn't let them see it, not so soon.
"You can't survive alone against the BETA," he concluded quietly. "If you want to pass the evaluation and become TSF pilots… if you want to protect the things that are important to you… if you want to make a difference in this war… you can't do it alone."
The girls stared at him in silence. He didn't know if that was a good sign or a bad one.
"…I…" Tama timidly spoke after what seemed like an eternity. "…I understand!" Tama offered hesitantly, nodding several times as if to prove her sincerity. He resisted the urge to reach over and ruffle her hair.
Takeru smiled faintly at her, "…I'm glad."
The pink haired girl beamed.
Slouching, Takeru sighed softly. He didn't remember the speech being so draining before. But then… he had experienced a lot of things since then. His words had gained entirely new dimensions of meaning to him.
"You're right…" the Class Rep nodded slowly. "Let's work hard together!"
"Indeed," Meiya smiled in agreement.
Even Ayamine seemed to unwind, her earlier irritation bleeding away.
It looked like his point had gotten through. Now he could relax a bit.
"Now that that's out of the way…" Takeru straightened and looked at Chizuru intensely.
"What is it this time?" Chizuru asked uneasily.
"…can I call you Class Rep?"
"…huh?!"
A memory danced in front of Takeru's eyes, a bright and happy exchange... teasing between friends to break the tension.
A lump formed in Takeru's throat. No, he couldn't very well do that again, could he?
After all, these girls weren't his friends. Not yet.
To them, he was just a veteran passing along some hard earned wisdom.
"…Sir?" the Class Rep prompted.
Takeru wiped the melancholy thoughts from his mind. He smiled sadistically at his cadets, "Now let's go over how you all could have done better in the war game scenarios today. And none of you are leaving until you can get it right!"
#
Half of him had expected that they'd be in the PX the whole night. The teamwork of the squad was pretty awful, and a few words weren't going to instantly change that.
The other half had expected they'd breeze right through the exercises once they made a sincere effort to work together. His girls were amazing, after all.
The reality ended up being somewhere in the middle. Takeru had kept them at the table for a few hours, discussing how they would approach hypothetical combat scenarios—many of which he'd shamelessly lifted from his memories of the Valkyries—as a unit until he was satisfied. By the time Takeru had released them, they had pretty much been the only ones left in the PX except for a handful of others, but it wasn't as late as he'd feared they would finish.
After leaving the PX and cleaning up in his room for a while, Takeru quietly slipped out and headed towards the next item on his agenda, meeting Kasumi again.
Yashiro Kasumi.
A young esper produced by the Soviet Union's Alternative III and a key player in Alternative IV.
Not only was Kasumi a critical part of Alternative IV, she was also one of his precious friends. In his world, she had become something like a little sister to him.
A little sister he wasn't actually related to by blood, which in two years had gone from adorable to an amazing ethereal silver-haired beauty that could stop traffic.
…Okay, so maybe there had been something to Yuuko-sensei's accusations after all. But this Kasumi was different, and still firmly in the little sister camp.
He just hoped he could keep his memories from running wild around her.
Takeru made the familiar trek through the base, down to level B19, the heart of the Alternative IV plan.
It was, as always, utterly empty. Takeru could count the number of times he remembered seeing anyone aside from himself, Kasumi, Yuuko, and later Sumika on floor B19 without running out of fingers.
His environment abruptly changed as he entered the door next to Yuuko's office. The boring bare white hallway transforming dramatically into something Takeru had always felt was like the bowels of some sci-fi alien ship. The lights were dim, and dark metal walls loomed ominously, creating a loud echo as his footsteps pierced the oppressive silence.
The door to the brain room opened with a quiet hiss. Takeru's eyes were immediately drawn to the cylinder that dominated the center of the room. A human brain and spinal cord floated in an otherworldly liquid, trapped in a clear, glowing tube that emitted a strange blue light.
Sumika.
For a moment, it was all he could think of. His eyes watered.
Kagami Sumika.
His precious childhood friend.
His lover.
His…
Sumika meant so many things to Takeru, he couldn't possibly put it all into words. Takeru's emotions, which he had thought were under control, raged wildly through his chest.
Only a few days ago, she had been right next to him. If he tried, he could still remember the feeling of her soft, warm skin against his.
Not to mention her violent, totally unjustified punches.
And yet, he could also remember the Sumika of this world, screaming, smiling, weeping, moaning…
"…Takeru-chan. Thank you… so much… so, so much…"
Dying.
A small, distressed noise startled Takeru. He glanced up, finally taking note of the delicate girl with long silver hair and strange, bunny-like mechanical hair accessories watching him with wide, wary silver eyes.
With an effort, he pushed aside the image of Sumika and smiled at Kasumi.
"Hi," Takeru greeted her with a wave.
Slowly, Kasumi began to back away from him.
"I'm not going to bite."
She paused, her hair accessories twitching. Takeru had always wondered how those things were able to move.
"Nice to meet you," Takeru gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile.
'Nice to meet you,' huh? It felt a bit sad to once again be saying that. How many times would he have to start all over again?
"I'm Shirogane Takeru." No reaction, aside from another twitch of those ear things. "And you are…?" he prompted.
The silence stretched in response. Causality conductor and esper stared at each other, at an impasse.
"…Kasumi…" the girl finally murmured, her voice barely above a whisper. "Yashiro… Kasumi."
"It's nice to meet you, Kasumi," Takeru replied happily, grinning in delight. He stepped towards her, stretching out his hand. "Since it's our first meeting, let's shake hands."
"Shake…" her head tilted.
Takeru reached out and grabbed her small hand, which was warm and soft to the touch. "Shake," he repeated, moving his hand up and down slowly in example. Kasumi made no effort to pull away, her hand pliantly following his.
Making contact like this was important to making friends with Kasumi, all the more because she'd had so little normal human contact over the course of her life. It was up to him to teach her what friendship was like, and to help her create memories of her own to cherish.
After a moment, he released her hand. Kasumi stared up at him expressionlessly, but Takeru thought she seemed a bit more relaxed than before. For some reason, her cheeks seemed to look a bit flushed, but it was probably just his eyes playing tricks on him in the dim light.
"I'm really happy we got to meet," Takeru told her earnestly. "I'll try to come by regularly from now on. Next time, let's do something fun, okay?"
Her bunny ears twitched.
"Great!" Takeru beamed, taking that for assent. "Well, I've got to go talk to Yuuko-sensei, so I'll see you later."
"…bye-bye."
"It's not 'bye-bye,'" Takeru corrected reflexively. "But 'see you later,' okay?"
Kasumi stared inquisitively. At least, that's what it looked like to Takeru.
"We're going to see each other again, so it's 'see you later,'" he explained. "'Bye-bye' makes it sound like we'll never see each other again… it's just too sad."
If pressed, Takeru couldn't really explain where he'd first gotten that impression. He'd probably heard it from some TV show or something when he was a kid. But that was how he felt, irrational as it may have been. He never wanted to hear his friends tell him 'bye' like they were parting for good.
"…see you later."
"Yeah!" he nodded, pleased. "See you later!" he waved before turning to head to Yuuko's office.
Deliberately, he kept himself from looking back, hoping that Kasumi would silently follow like she had before. Kasumi's impressions of him were an important part of winning Yuuko's trust.
"Excuse me, Sensei," Takeru called as he stepped into Yuuko's office. As usual, the place was a mess, with books, papers, and boxes scattered haphazardly across the blue carpeting. Yuuko was scanning through the wooden bookshelf on the right side of the office near her desk when he came in.
She gave him a sidelong glance as he came in, then her eyebrows raised and she turned to face him. "Oh?" she said, looking past Takeru. "What brings you here?"
Kasumi walked silently by Takeru and approached Yuuko, who kneeled down to hear the silver haired girl's whispering. Takeru waited impatiently for their conversation to finish, wanting nothing more than to be able to hear what she was telling Yuuko about him. Yuuko stared over Kasumi's shoulder, smiling slyly at him as she listened to Kasumi's observations.
"Hmm… I see…" Yuuko murmured, her grin widening.
Takeru itched to know what she saw.
The whispering continued a little longer. Finally, Kasumi stepped back pace and Yuuko stood. "Thank you," she said, smiling briefly at the younger girl and patting her head.
Kasumi nodded slightly in response and turned to face Takeru. Takeru stared into her eyes, willing her to tell him what she'd told Yuuko about him. The esper proved to be a tough nut to crack though, merely blinking slightly in the face of his intense physic assault.
"Yashiro says you're mostly normal," Yuuko interrupted Takeru's stare down. She gave him a sidelong glance, unimpressed by Takeru's attempts to cow Kasumi with the power of his mind. "…I have my doubts about that though."
"I don't want to hear that from you!" Takeru forfeited his staring contest with Kasumi to glare at Yuuko.
"So?" Yuuko asked, ignoring his objection. "What is it?"
"Err…" Takeru wondered how to broach the subject. "I wanted to play a game with you."
"Shirogane," Yuuko frowned at him, folding her arms. "I have no time to indulge your lusts right now. Go bother someone else."
"That's not what I—!" Takeru swallowed his protests, catching sight of the amused twitch of Yuuko's lips. "Hah…" Takeru sighed, shaking his head. He had forgotten that the Yuuko of this world could be just as much of a mischievous witch, if not even more so, than the one from his origins. "You know what I mean," he grumbled.
"Such a boring reaction," Yuuko made a disappointed expression.
"Did you want me to flirt with you?" Takeru shot back.
Kasumi twitched, inadvertently breaking the challenging stares the scientist and the solider had begun to exchange. She made a beeline to the door, keeping her eyes averted from Takeru.
When the door hissed shut behind her, Yuuko's expression turned serious. "So what do you really want?"
"Like I said, let's play a game," Takeru huffed. "You have the bag of stuff I had with me when I first came here?"
The professor nodded. "It's on the desk," she gestured. "The electronics you had with you were… interesting. But, tell me… how long will this take?"
"Umm…" Takeru looked up at the ceiling, trying to remember how long it had taken him to beat the game originally. "Maybe around… a week?" he said tentatively. Really, it depended on how much time she could spend per day on it.
"I see," Yuuko frowned. "Shirogane, I'll say this again since it seems you didn't hear me the first time. I don't have time to indulge you right now."
"What?"
"How much free time do you think I have to play games?" Yuuko demanded.
"But, with this, you might be able to complete Alternative IV!" Takeru protested.
"Is there any proof of that?" the professor asked coolly.
"Eh…?" Takeru blinked in realization.
That was right.
He had forgotten this conversation. Before, they'd had it at another time and about a different subject, but essentially… he hadn't yet proven a single thing to Yuuko.
How had he forgotten that fact so quickly?
"I don't know what you were thinking, but I'm still not convinced that your information is trustworthy yet," Yuuko said. "Everything you've told me so far can be explained by delusions, espionage, and good acting. I'm busy working on Alternative IV… do you really think I can just spend a week playing some game, without any proof that anything you've told me is true?"
"…No," Takeru sighed.
He had gotten impatient. No matter how much urgency he felt, Yuuko had to be convinced first. And to do that… he had to wait until he could predict something no human possibly could.
The BETA's attack from Sadogashima on November 11th.
Until then, he couldn't prove a thing in a way that would fully convince Yuuko.
"You're right," Takeru admitted. "I was getting impatient… sorry about that."
"Oh?"
"I will definitely give you your proof soon," Takeru said firmly. "Then… we'll discuss this again."
"I'm looking forward to it," Yuuko said neutrally.
Objective stymied, Takeru could only nod at Yuuko and turn to leave, gritting his teeth in an effort to tamp down on his frustration.
Was that really okay?
Could he really afford to just wait around until the last possible choice?
Yet he had no other options. From Yuuko's perspective, putting aside her critical work on Alternative IV to waste time on some shitty video game for a week made absolutely no sense. Takeru couldn't convince her otherwise until he could show her some proof that his story was not just some delusion of his.
But…
He had to do something.
Takeru stopped at the door.
Something… something…
What could he do?
It had to something that didn't require Yuuko to waste too much time or make any kind of major move that could have repercussions. She wouldn't exert much of her influence or resources on his behalf just yet. Was there such a thing? Was there really a small request that she could fulfill that could somehow save time or improve the future?
"That's easy. I'll arrange it immediately."
…There was!
"How long are you going to stand there?" Yuuko asked, sounding annoyed. "I'm kind of busy, you know?"
"Sensei!" Takeru turned around again and walked back towards her.
"…What is it this time?"
"Let's make a new operating system for TSFs!"
"…Hah?" she blinked, nonplussed.
"Last time, we made a new OS for TSFs called the XM3 based on the ability to perform cancels and combos. It can give TSFs a big increase in agility and response time, and let them perform moves that no one here even thinks are possible right now! With that, TSFs can gain a big tactical advantage against the BETA compared to now!"
"…I never know what's going to come out of your mouth next," Yuuko murmured as she put down the file she had been reading and gave him a curious look. "Okay," she sighed. "I'll bite. Tell me the details."
"It's based around cancels and combos," Takeru began.
"Cancels… and combos…?" she made a puzzled sound.
"The current OS has automated safeguards, like the balance stabilization that kicks in when the TSF is about to fall over," Takeru clarified. "But while it's doing that, the TSF can't do anything else. In a combat situation where seconds can be critical, it's a huge waste! So a cancel function would allow the pilot to override those automatic maneuvers."
"I see… so you want to make it possible to input an additional action which would cancel the usual recovery sequence?"
"Right."
"But then you wouldn't be able to recover from a fall, you know?"
"Being able to shoot while falling is more important," Takeru stated firmly.
"Sounds like it will put a big burden on the electronics and the fuselage…" Yuuko muttered. "The mechanics will want to kill you for that."
"If it helps save lives on the battlefield, I don't care."
"Oh? A brave answer," she smiled as if he'd told a funny joke. "And what about combos?"
"It's when a certain series of commands are given with a certain period of time, making the unit do something it normally wouldn't. In other words, it's a combination of actions or moves."
"Why a series of commands?" she raised a finger. "Wouldn't it be better to put the combination into a single command?"
"You could, but… if I'm in the middle of a combo, and then something bad happens, I need to be able to cancel the move at my discretion. Otherwise it won't be flexible enough for combat," Takeru explained. "To sum it up, the OS would allow for the complete automation of the most frequently used moves, and the ability for the pilot to cancel the TSF's automatic actions at any time."
"I see… and you think I can do all of that?"
"I know you can," Takeru placed his hands on her desk and leaned forward. "We did it before, after all. You and Kasumi were about to design it in just a few days after I gave you the idea, and with my piloting data, we refined it to the point it could be used by everyone in no time."
"Hmm…" she made a thoughtful noise. "So, how did I do it?"
"I'm sure you already have an idea," Takeru said. "You should have one, right? A computer with parallel processing capabilities fast enough to control the movements of a TSF while acting on the thoughts and commands of a human pilot."
For an instant, Yuuko's expression tightened, her violet eyes narrowing sharply. Then she sighed, her expression relaxing, and smiled ruefully. "Sometimes you blurt out scary things," she murmured. "Really… I used something like that for a TSF?"
"With that, you can raise a TSF's processing power enough to handle the concepts of the new OS." He wasn't entirely sure what that even was, though he knew it had to have been some kind of computer Yuuko had been developing for the 00 Unit. It hadn't been enough for that purpose, but it was more than capable of handling a TSF.
"It's quite an interesting story," Yuuko said finally. "But… I've never heard anything about the current TSF operating systems being lacking. Do you have any proof that this isn't just another waste of my time?"
"Yes," Takeru nodded. "You still have the data from the simulator courses you had me run?"
"It was interesting to see you in action, but… how does your performance help your argument for a new OS? You didn't seem to have any trouble at all fighting with the current one."
"You have the control logs?" Takeru asked.
"Of course," she turned her chair again and typed a few commands into her computer. The control logs appeared on the monitor.
"Okay," Takeru walked up next to her and pointed a finger at the monitor. "See here, where I boost jumped? Here's where…"
It was a bit tough to explain all the concepts to someone who had never piloted a TSF before, but Yuuko grasped the concepts relatively quickly. She was a genius, after all.
"…I see," she said finally, once he had finished making his case using examples from his simulated combat data. Yuuko adopted a thoughtful pose, staring off into space for a few moments. "All right," she nodded. "I guess I can come up with something in my spare time."
"Really?!" Takeru exclaimed.
"I just said so, didn't I? No need to shout."
"Thank you very much!" Takeru was about to burst from glee.
Maybe this wouldn't help him change events much, but if they could perfect the new OS faster, then… perhaps some lives would be saved that otherwise would have been lost. Or maybe nothing would change.
No. He couldn't think like that.
Takeru was finally doing something.
The world would change, little by little.
#
Muv-Luv was the created by Age, not me. All the concepts and characters from the franchise are theirs. This is a non-profit work of fiction.
Author's Notes:
Thanks for reading the second chapter of Breaking the Tide. I'd also like to say thank you to everyone who has left a comment or a review about the story so far. I really appreciate all your feedback.
I proofread this chapter by myself, so there may be (or rather, almost certainly will be) mistakes that I missed. If you see any, I'd be grateful if you pointed them out so I can fix them. And of course, I always want to hear any other thoughts you may have about the story. Any comments and/or criticism you have on grammar, spelling, or the story in general would be highly appreciated.