Chapter 3: A New Player to the Game

I ran around the corner trying to catch up to Milfeulle. However her scent faded off and I lost track of where she ran too. I decided to start back tracking through the ship in all the usual places she would go. I immediately ruled out her room since it was sealed off. I wasn't sure where her new room was at, now that I think about it, so I'll save that for last. Before I could decide where to look first, however…

"Demon of the West, your presence is requested on the bridge."

"Fantastic timing…" I say sarcastically before making my way to the bridge.

Upon walking onto the bridge, I look at Tact and Lester and say, "Ok, gentlemen, unless this is an emergency, I have a situation with Milfeulle that seriously needs to be addressed."

Before they could answer, another voice from a display behind them spoke up, "Well, well, it seems like you two were telling the truth. The Demon of the West really is getting roped in."

I chuckled as the two men parted and allowed me to look at the display.

"Well, I'll be damned, General Luft Weizen. It's been a little while, what can I do for you?"

His expression dipped a bit as he said, "I'm glad Tact and Lester asked you to go with them to address this raider fleet problem. It's been starting to get out of hand."

I raised an eyebrow before I said, "I'm going to go on a limb and say something happened that has caused an uproar?"

He nodded as he said, "Yes, they have…." Then the channel went dead and played nothing but static.

I growled a bit as I said, "Almo, what happened?"

She was pressing several commands into her display as she said, "I don't know. The Comm systems suddenly failed. They were fine a moment ago."

I placed a couple of fingers and my thumb on my right eyebrow as I said, "Try to get him back please."

After a few seconds of static, the channel closed as Almo said, "The channel's gone completely."

I scoffed before I said, "Figures, first Chitose, then the comm systems. What else could go wrong?"

Tact looked at me in confusion as he said, "What happened with Chitose?"

Before I could answer, however, I felt a significant shift in my demonic aura. Something was coming towards us. I stared forward as I tried to feel who it was as Tact said, "Howard? Hello?"

The only thing I said was, "We're not alone."

Before they could ask what I meant, the proximity alarms went off. Coco called out, "A-A fleet appeared in front of us." Both Tact and Lester looked at me before Almo said, "I can't register an ID on the ships. They're neither military nor civilian vessels."

Tact looked at her and said, "Hail them!"

Almo pressed a few commands into her console before shaking her head and saying, "…No good. No response!"

I channeled my power into my arm, ready to set a barrier in case things got messy as Tact set the ship to yellow alert. As they were talking, I felt something through my aura. It was a familiar sensation, but it filled me with dread and anger. It was odd since I never felt anything like that since my power first made itself known. What could possibly be causing this feeling?

Almo's voice snapped me from my thoughts, "The enemy ship is hailing us!"

I rolled my eyes as I said, "Oh, now they want to talk?"

As Tact ordered the channel open, the most annoying voice I could have expected came over.

"Attention dogs wagging your tails for the old order! You will immediately… Uwaaaah! Y-You!"

I dropped my arm and shook my head in annoyance, "Oh you have got to be kidding me. Guys, seriously? This is your mystery raider that you needed my help to find? Man, this is…..I gotta tell ya, this is embarrassing. You couldn't find this idiot?"

The voice continued, "W-Why is the Elsior here?! I have no luck at all…"

There is no way this jackass was the source of the dread and anger I'm feeling. Whatever it was though, was coming from his ship. What in the hell could he possibly have found that would affect me like this?

"Do no falter, Your Excellency." A woman spoke out.

That voice was like ice down my spine. I've never heard her voice before, but whoever it was, that was the source of my dread. Who was this mystery woman that has me unsettled?

The woman spoke again, "Even the Emblem Frames are no match for your power, Your Excellency. You must remain dignified. Justice is with us."

I scoffed as I looked at Tact and Lester and said, "I'm pretty sure Eonia thought the same thing with the Black moon. Look how that turned out for him."

Then the man spoke up again, "It is as you say. Gwah ha ha ha ha!"

Tact decided to go ahead and speak up, "…Um? Hello? Did you have something to say?"

The man replied, "Shut up! Now you will listen to what I have to say! It has been a long time, brat! I see that you're still on the Elsior!" I couldn't help but roll my eyes as I was forced to endure this idiot again. "But this is where you meet your end! I will erase my disgrace from the previous battle!"

Tact was silent for a minute before saying, "…Umm….Who are you again?"

I stepped forward and said, "I remember this idiot. Rezom Mea Zomu." I stepped in front of the display as I looked at him and said, "Remember me?"

The color is his face drained as he said, "The Demon of the West!? I seriously have no luck."

The woman then stepped forward and said, "Your excellency, calm down. Do not argue with these peasants."

I scoffed as I replied, "Apparently, I'm going to have to teach your new playmate a lesson too. I am a dog demon, if you're going to insult me, you're going to insult me properly."

She looked at me and surprise shot onto her face as she said, "Wait a moment…your face. But that's not…." She fell silent before Rezom spoke up again. "I am the leader of the True Legitimate Transbaal Imperial Navy."

I rolled my eyes as the woman added, "And my name is Nefuria."

My demonic aura tugged at my soul as she spoke. Whoever this woman was, every fiber of my being was screaming at me to get away from her. Though, I couldn't begin to understand why, now was not the time to try and figure it out.

Rezom continued, "We are fulfilling the late King Eonia's dying wish and leading a fleet in the name of justice!" My blood boiled hearing him use Eonia's name like that. I was there when he died, he said nothing of the sort. If anything, he expressed remorse at not listening to me sooner. Great, just what I needed, salt for an old wound.

He finished, "Hahahahahahahaha. How's that? Awestruck?"

I scoffed and said, "Annoyed would be a more accurate term. Nefuria, how in the world are you able to tolerate that idiot?"

Before she could reply, Tact added his input into the situation. As they continued back and forth, I leaned over to Lester and said, "Mr. Coolduras, I don't know why, but my demonic aura is being tugged by her. Every fiber of my being is telling me we need to get away from her. I don't know what it is, but we need to make short work of this fleet because I don't think this is going to end here."

He nodded before Nefuria said, "Are you so confident in your own strength that you cannot think of any person greater than yourself?"

I threw a dirty look over at Tact before I said, "Well, considering how I've fought armies single-handedly, as well as battled emblem frames in open space with nothing but my abilities, and I stopped the Black Moon's overwhelming power several times before we destroyed it with the Chrono break cannon. Gee, I wonder, why don't you tell me, because I would love to know if there's someone else in the galaxy that is like me."

She simply chuckled as Rezom said, "Now, the true and legitimate Transbaal Imperial Navy will pass…"

I walked over to Almos console and said, "Don't care, fuck off." With that, I closed the channel. I shook my head as she looked at me. I looked at her and said, "How many times do we have to deal with this idiot?"

Almo giggled as Lester said, "I haven't seen that woman before, but she could be another one of Eonia's followers."

I walked back over to the two and said, "No, there was something different about her. My demonic aura hasn't reacted to anyone before. Normally, I can feel the presence of ships, or the life force present in people, but that…" I pointed out in front of the ship as I finished, "…that was something else. Like…like trying to mix two chemicals that weren't compatible with each other in a beaker, causing an explosion. Even now, I can feel her, pulling and testing my aura. The sooner we deal with them and get the hell out of here, the better."

The proximity alarms sounded as Coco yelled, "Incoming missile!"

I shot my arm out and erected a barrier around the Elsior almost as soon as that first trill rang out. Within seconds, the missile hit my barrier, causing a slight discharge to feedback through and jolt my arm. It didn't hurt, but it was enough to cause my arm to suddenly go numb, causing the barrier to fall.

I began to shake my arm out as Tact said, "Howard, are you ok?" I shook my head and said, "Yeah, I'm fine. Arm just went numb, that's all." As I started to get feeling back into it, I lifted my arm to re-establish the barrier around the Elsior. However, as my power channeled into my arm, a sudden feedback pulse erupted, sending me flying backwards and into the bulkhead, causing the metal to cave where I hit it before I hit the ground.

I groaned as Tact said, "Angel wing, deploy to engage enemy forces!" Forte and Chitose rogered up as I pushed myself to my knees. Lester ran over and started to help me up, asking, "My lord! Are you alright?" As I got back to my feet, I noticed several arcs of electricity pulsing across my arm as I said, "No, I'm not sure how, but that missile that I stopped caused a feedback that shorted out my power. I'll be out of action for the time being until I can stabilize it."

With that, I left the bridge and made my way down to the medical bay.

As I sat with eight different wire patches sticking out of me, I could only huff and puff as Dr. Cera ran her tests to see if she could figure out what was wrong with me.

"How long do I have to sit here hooked up like a battery?"

She waved her hand as she didn't look away from her monitor and said, "Just a few more minutes, my lord. Please, try to relax." Huh, relax, easier said than done.

While the electrical arcing had stopped, my arm still felt a bit numb. Was it that missile that did it? Or was it because I felt bad about what happened earlier with Milfeulle and Chitose? Thinking back to when I first discovered this power, I remember my subconscious mentioning that it only works if my emotions are in check.

On one hand, I felt really bad that I never got the chance to explain what happened to Milfeulle. On the other hand, I also started to regret blowing up at Chitose the way I did. She was sleeping after all, so that was probably bound to happen if she was exhausted.

While I was thinking about this, Milfeulle ran into the med bay and hurried over to my side, grabbing my hand.

"Howard! Are you alright? I came as soon as Tact told me what happened."

I chuckled as I gave her hand a gentle squeeze and said, "Yeah, I'm fine. My emotions were knocked around after that incident with Chitose earlier and my power backfired as a result when I stopped that missile earlier."

She placed her other hand on my hand as she said, "Chitose told me what happened, and she's really sorry about it. I'm sorry I didn't give you the chance to explain what happened. You would think I'd know better by now." She choked a bit as she held back tears while smiling at me.

Dr. Cera chimed in and said, "All done. From what I can see, physically, you're a bit bruised from that landing you took, so you'll be a bit tender for the next day or so. Apart from that, I can't tell you what went wrong."

I sat up and ripped the wire patches off me as I said, "Thanks Doc….Ow!" My hand shot to my side as I hunched over from the sharp pain I felt in my side. Milfeulle looked at me with worry and said, "Howard! Are you ok?" I waved her off as I said, "Yeah, I'll be fine. Listen, I went down to Chitose's room because I got to talking with Creta and she asked me if I could track her down so she could come to the hanger. When I knocked on her door, however, I didn't expect her to sleepwalk. After you ran off, I kinda….blew up at her."

Milfeulle sniffled a bit before she said, "I'm…sorry…"

I raised an eyebrow as I asked, "Milfeulle?"

Then it all came out.

She started crying as she said, "I'm sorry, Howard!"

I stood up and held her hands as I said, "Milfeulle, calm down. What are you apologizing for my dear angel of luck?"

She continued to sob as she replied, "I was just thinking about the Angel Wing and completely forgot about you!"

I couldn't help but chuckle as I said, "Okay. I don't have any problems with that, after all, you've known them longer than me, except Chitose, but given the circumstances, I couldn't begin to hold that against you."

As she sniffled, she added, "I went to the Kafukafu tree in the park and prayed for everybody's safety…"

I gave her hands another gentle squeeze as she continued, "But I forgot to pray for you and how important you are! So…Howard…"

Dr. Cera sadly said, "My, my."

I shook my head, "Milfeulle, the fact I got hurt only went to show that I didn't feel comfortable with what I did to Chitose or with how I felt about finding you after that. It was my fault in every aspect that I got hurt, not yours."

Dr. Cera chimed in, "That's right. This is nothing to be worried about, he's recovered for far worse injuries than this."

Milfeulle quietly sobbed as she replied, "But…it doesn't change the fact that you got hurt. …Howard. Isn't there some way I can be useful to you?"

I pulled her into a hug and said, "Milfeulle, you are the keeper of my heart. I couldn't possibly trust you with a more important task. You're the first person I've fallen in love with and the fact that you care is more than enough for me."

She sniffled as she gently returned the hug, choosing to remain silent as Dr. Cera said, "I know! I heard mention of you baking a cake earlier. Have you had the chance to try it, my lord?"

I shook my head as we broke the hug and said, "I haven't. I've actually been waiting for Milfeulle here to tell me when she was all ready for it. Why don't we try a piece?"

Milfeulle quietly said, "Something more than a cake…"

I leaned down and asked, "Hmmm?"

She sobbed again and said, "…It's nothing. I…Excuse me!" With that, she ran out of the med bay.

I sighed as I looked at Dr. Cera and said, "Am I all done here, Doc?"

She nodded and said, "She's worried about you. Honestly. It must be hard to be popular." I rolled my eyes and said, "I was quote "popular" unquote back when a lot of these folks' great grandparents were still in diapers. No, this is different. If you'll excuse me Doc…"

I turned towards the door, wincing a bit from another sharp pain in my side and left the med bay. I tried to follow after Milfeulle, but after a few minutes, I lost her scent and she was gone. What is going on with me? First my power backfires, I actually got hurt from the backfire, now my sense of smell is failing. It's almost as if my abilities were being held back or manipulated by something. Maybe it's because I still need to apologize to Chitose for blowing up on her earlier that things are still out of control for me. Well, I'll give it a try in the morning, at the least, I may as well try to get some sleep.

The next morning, I got up and went to Chitose's room to see if I could go ahead and apologize first thing. However, I was only greeted by silence and a solid door. So, I started to make my way around the ship until I found out she was on the bridge with the rest of the senior staff. So, I decided to head up to the bridge to see what was going on.

Upon entering the bridge, everyone looked at me, and Chitose immediately cried a bit and jumped behind Forte. Forte looked at her, then back at me and said, "Oi, that reminds me, you owe Chitose here an apology for yesterday, Howard." I waved her off as I said, "Actually, that was why I came up here was to find her. What I wasn't going to do was interrupt a meeting to do it. So, what's going on?"

Lester and Tact proceeded to fill me in on a voice that the space whale had heard mentioning Eden and the ships systems managed to pick up the transmission, but it was badly garbled. So, they decided to ask Chitose for her help in analyzing and piecing together the transmission. As they praised her, she lightly blushed while brushing them off, though careful not to step from behind Forte into my view.

Forte looked at her and said, "If it's something you can do, then take the lead. Don't ever hesitate."

Chitose bowed lightly and said, "Thank you, Ms. Forte. Then allow me to report on the result of my analysis to all of you. I have nearly completed analyzing, processing, and cleaning up the signal." Wait, she was already done? Damn, that was fast. This had to have been an issue before we met up with that fleet.

She sadly looked away as she continued, "However…I cannot decode some of the words, so I am unsure of the contents." Coco chimed in from her console, "But that's still amazing. Data analysis is a very time consuming process."

Tact asked what the message said, to which Chitose replied, "The message seems to be a broadcast directed to the Children of Eden. For example…"

At that moment, Milfeulle barged right onto the bridge and said, "Howard! There you are, I got you some pain killers from the store…..eh….oh, you're in the middle of a meeting?"

I chuckled and said, "That's right. Sorry Milfeulle."

She sadly said, "No, it's okay. Sorry…I didn't mean to bother you."

As she turned to leave, I said, "Milfeulle, wait a se…." The bridge door closed and she was gone. I put my hands on my hips and said, "By the stars of damnation, I cannot seem to catch a damn break lately." I sighed and turned back to the group as Lester said, "My lord, Chitose hasn't even started talking yet." I threw him a dirty look and growled, causing Chitose to jump back behind Forte as Lester said, "My apologies, I meant no disrespect, I was simply saying…"

I lifted a hand, cutting him off, took a deep breath and said, "Please continue Ms. Karasuma."

She took a step out and continued, "Like I said, the message seems to be directed at the Children of Eden. There are phrases like "Fulfill your mission" and "There's no time left." I placed my hand under my chin as I thought about those phrases. Obviously it was a serious plea, but what was the mission that was apparently so time sensitive?

As the group continued to converse amongst themselves, the main thing that caught my attention that had me confused was the Children of Eden. Was that in reference to Transbaal? Or maybe there were survivors from the Chrono quake that were on a mission to try to rebuild the fallen empire? Whatever the case, unfortunately, we were at a standstill. However, Tact had an idea that some of the lost technology the Elsior found on the frontier before we met up with them might have a connection with the coded message. So, Forte, Chitose, Tact, and myself made our way down to the warehouse.

As we made our way down there, I said, "Hey Chitose, can you hang back here with me for a minute?"

She seemed extremely hesitant to leave the group, but Forte gave her a nudge to hang back with me while we walked through the passageways. When she was next to me, I sighed and said, "I owe you an apology. I shouldn't have blown up on you like that back at your quarters yesterday."

She jumped a bit as she said, "No, m-my lord. I should be the….."

I raised my hand and continued, "You were asleep and I should have probably known that could have happened by waking you up. I was upset that Milfeulle had misconstrued what was happening at that point in time and I took my irritation out on you. I sincerely apologize and hope you'll forgive me." I bowed lightly to show my sincerity.

Then she did something I haven't seen her do at all in the time I've known her.

She smiled.

"Thank you, my lord. While I still think that I'm more to blame than you are, I accept your apology and hope we can work together from here on out."

I nodded and we caught back up to Forte and Tact as we arrived at the warehouse to find Milfeulle inside, catching us offguard.

I raised an eyebrow as she said, "Huh? Howard? And everyone else?"

Tact was the first to speak, "Milfie! What are you doing here?"

She smiled and answered, "I'm helping the space convenience store. I can at least do that much." I couldn't help but chuckle and shook my head. That's the Milfeulle I know, always willing to lend a helping hand. She added, "Why are all of you here?"

Chitose stepped forward and replied, "We came to look for relics from Eden's era."

Forte started to look around, as did Tact as I looked at some of the crates myself. Food….clothes…machines…

Tact made the suggestion that we split up, so I decided to head towards the back corner of the warehouse by myself, that way I can collect my thoughts, as well as cover more ground. Milfeulle then chimed in, "Let me help too then!"

Chitose looked at her with worry as she asked, "Ms. Milfie, don't you have other work to do?"

She shook her head and said, "It's okay, he said that it wasn't urgent. Um…first this container! Here we go…!"

Forte quickly yelled out in shock, "Hey, Milfie! The one above that will fall!"

Chitose also cried out, "Look out!"

Milfeulle cried out as the containers fell, to which I used my demonic speed to leap into action and knocked her out of the way, which led to me getting clobbered by the crates. Forte and Chitose ran over to Milfeulle while I pushed the crates off of me. Tact asked if I was alright, I waved him off and told him to check Milfeulle.

After I freed myself from the mess, I ran over to Milfeulle, who had scraped her elbow and knee from me pushing her. I sighed a bit of relief, as did everyone else as she said, "I-I'm sorry…"

Forte then said, "Hey, just leave this to us and take care of your own work."

Milfeulle got up and shook her head as she said, "N-No! Please let me help! I'll be careful this time!" I smiled as I said, "Definitely have to admire your dedication." Forte was in shock as Chitose said, "Um, Ms. Milfie. We'll be okay with just us…"

Milfeulle looked at us sadly and said, "…Yes…I understand…" With that, she walked out of the warehouse. It doesn't take my demonic aura to feel how sad she was at not being able to help.

Forte then perked up and we each split up and made our way to our own corner of the warehouse. As I looked through the crates, I had a realization. I was able to use my demonic speed to save Milfeulle and I didn't get hurt. So, on one hand, if there's danger present, I'll be able to use my abilities without any difficulty. On the other hand though, I don't think I'm out of the woods quite yet with Milfeulle, though I did take a step in the right direction with apologizing to Chitose.

Within a few minutes, Chitose's voice rang out as she found the container with the lost technology. I quickly ran over to the container and Chitose found something that would help her finish decoding the message. So, at least that issue was resolved. So, I decided to try and track Milfeulle down.

I made my way to the bridge first, where Tact was filling Lester in on what happened in the warehouse. I stepped in and said, "Hey guys, quick question, have you seen Milfeulle at all?"

Lester shook his head, "No, not since earlier…"

Then Almo spoke up, "That's really hot, my lord! Unable to leave your girlfriend alone for a moment…right?" I threw her a dirty look before I said, "Really?" Coco chimed in and said, "No?" I couldn't help but feel like I just got blindsided as I said, "Well…maybe…"

Almo continued, "See Coco? I told you." Coco replied, "But, we've never actually seen them…"

I raised an eyebrow as I said, "Ok, what are you two talking about?"

Almo looked at me with determination as she said, "My lord!"

I looked side to side without turning my head as I said, "Yeeeeesss?"

Then her expression turned into a happy one as she asked, "What is it like?"

I blinked twice before I said, "Uuuuhhhh, what is what like?"

She playfully scolded me as she answered, "Now, now, don't play dumb. Shouldn't you know with Milfeulle?"

I looked at Tact and Lester, who both just shrugged their shoulders as I said, "What about her?"

She then turned in her seat to face me as she fiddled about and said, "I mean, you and Milfeulle, um…How far along is your relationship, I guess."

I was so confused at this point, so I pursed my lips before saying, "Our relationship…? Uh…not sure what you're referring to here."

Coco decided to step in, "Almo, you can't ask like that."

Almo looked at her and whined, "What? You were curious too."

Coco calmly replied, "You have to be more direct or how's he supposed to understand?" I get that I'm a demon with superhuman senses and powers to match, but telepathy is Mint's schtick, not mine.

I simply blinked as I waited for someone to clarify what was being asked.

Then Coco turned to face me, "My lord, I'll ask you straight on…Are you two going out?" I couldn't help but stifle a laugh as I said, "Well, yeah…"

Coco then caught me off guard when she asked, "Then, have you kissed?"

My jaw hit the floor and I was left in shock at the question.

Almo sparked up, "You like each other and dated for six months, right? There's no way nothing would happen, right!?"

I gulped a bit as I said, "Well….the first 3 of those months she was settling into her new home…"

Almo playfully scolded me again as she said, "Come on. So how about it? How many times have you kissed?"

I can't believe I'm actually embarrassed to say this.

I found myself stumbling over my own words, "We….uh…well…..haven't actually…..had one yet…."

She cried out, "No way!"

Coco whined out next, "…Unbelievable…Aaaah, that's horrible…"

Almo joined in, "My lord, is this true!?"

I honestly felt like I was being entrapped here. I raised my hands and quickly said, "Yeah. I'm more than happy just to have Milfeulle with me. I'll be honest, the thought never really crossed my mind until you mentioned it."

Coco tilted her head and asked, "So, it's more of a platonic relationship then?"

Almo quickly retorted, "But that's not the same as how true love should be. Love's more burning up and makes you feel on fire, right? Barriers to two people's love! So it burns up! That's true love!"

I blinked before I said, "Almo, no offense, but you reeeeeaaaaalllyy need to stop hanging around Ranpha so much. She's rubbing off on you."

As the two continued their barrage, I couldn't help but wonder why I was being left to the wolves by Lester and Tact. Then the two started to debate what kind of kiss that Milfeulle wanted from me. At this point, I was flabbergasted beyond words. I was stuck here trying to figure out how the hell this even came up when Lester finally stepped in to try and pull me out of the fire.

He calmly said, "Idiotic."

Almo retorted, "It's not idiotic! It's very important!"

Then Tact came in, "Now, now Almo. Lester likes married women. He's not interested in stuff like this."

Almo cried out, "Eeeeeeeeeeeeehh!?"

I burst out laughing, leaning over the railing for support as he quickly lectured Tact, "Hey! Tact! Who said I liked married women!?"

Almo sadly sniffled as she said, "No way….Subcommander Coolduras…You're that kind of man…"

He quickly turned and said, "Aaahh! Shut up! Knock it off Almo!"

Coco then added, "He's not denying it, Almo. So…he really does…"

I was cracking up so badly at this point that I couldn't move. Realistically, I should have taken this golden opening while I could and got the hell out of there, but this was too funny, even by my standards.

Lester continued to deny it before demanding Tact to fix the mess he caused. To which I was able to regain my composure enough to say, "You know what, I'm going to go ahead and…uhh…go and find Milfeulle. Pfffft…" I ran off the bridge before I started laughing again, and funny enough, Tact was right behind me.

As I walked through the hall, I looked at Tact, who caught up to me and said to him, "You're an ass. Grade A class act, but still an ass. Ha ha ha ha. Though, I should be thanking you for bailing me out of that firestorm." He laughed as he said, "No problem, I figured it would buy you enough time to get off the bridge. Sooner or later, they'll figure out that he's not like that, but I like messing with him every now and again."

After a few minutes, we parted ways in the passageway and I made my way back to my room. Once the door had closed behind me, I took my pauldrons and armor off and set them to the side. I don't know why, but my side had been killing me ever since I left the med bay, so I wanted to take a look and see if maybe I had a bruise or not. Sure enough, upon opening my under kimono, there was a large bruise about the size of a watermelon on my side. Granted, it didn't hurt unless I twisted too much or pressed it, but it was still going to be a nuisance for at least the day.

I let out a sigh and turned towards by nightstand, which had the bottle of painkillers and a note on top of them. Seeing as the only person with access to my room is Milfeulle, not to mention she tried bringing me painkillers earlier on the bridge, didn't take much to figure it was from her. So, I picked up the note and read it:

'These are pain killers from the space convenience store. The clerk told me they work very well for all kinds of aches and pains if it's not enough to make you go to the med bay. I wanted to give it to you myself, but you looked really busy with that meeting. Oh yeah, be sure to take them at least half an hour before you go to bed or do any sparring with Ranpha. They should help you feel as good as new.'

I couldn't help but chuckle as I looked at the painkillers and mumbled, "I swear, that girls heart has got to be made out of gold. She knows I don't need these, but she still wanted to look out for me…"

I set the note down and noticed there was another one on my pillow. Tilting my head, I picked that one up and read it as well:

'P.S. Howard, I'm trying my best to be useful to you and everyone else! Please keep believing in me.'

I put the note on my nightstand and I placed a couple of fingers on my temple as I shook my head. Despite all my reassurances, she still doesn't believe me. Well, damn. Ok, I'm going to have to actually sit her down and try to get to the bottom of her worries.

After quickly getting back dressed and putting my armor on, I began to roam around the ship. It didn't take long for me to pick up Milfeulle's scent. What confused me though, was it went towards the shooting range.

She NEVER goes down there.

Granted, as long as Forte was down there, there wasn't anything to worry about. Still, why would she head there? She usually would wait for Forte anywhere else except there. Only one way to find out.

As I walked into the shooting range, I could hear Forte and Milfeulle talking. Upon rounding the corner, I caught probably the single scariest sight I've ever seen in my life.

Milfeulle was holding a .45 berretta pistol.

Forte was coaching her on how to hold it, which Milfeulle followed, but sounded nervous as she replied to Forte.

Calmly, Forte said, "Come on, relax your shoulders. Pull your chin up more."

Milfeulle replied, with a bit of hesitation, "Ahhh…yes!"

"Ok, now slowly pull the trigger. Fire!"

The pistol rang out as she fired, causing me to shoot my hands to my ears from the level of the sound. For normal people, I'm sure that would have been a scare, but for me, that was damn near deafening. I should have known better, but I was too enraptured and terrified at the fact that Milfeulle was holding a gun.

Within a couple of seconds, a light ping was heard from the ground as Milfeulle said, "Oh! The gun spit out a bullet."

She began to move to pick it up when Forte quickly said, "Hey! That's the cartridge casing! Don't touch it, you'll burn yourself!"

Not long after, I heard Milfeulle yelp.

The two continued to converse amongst themselves as I shook off the ringing that was washing out most of my hearing. After a minute, I finally was able to hear again when I looked up and heard Forte yell, "MILFEULLE! DON'T…"

The next thing that happened, another gunshot rang out and I felt something shoot inside my mouth and jerk my head back, knocking me off balance and hitting the bulkhead to hold myself up as I heard a scream.

A/N: Hi everyone! I sincerely apologize for the lack of updates over the course of the last couple of months. Had a lot going on between back to back anime conventions, holiday prep, and getting ready to move to Japan.

Howard: Probably the only time I can honestly say that he wasn't being lazy. So I express my sincerest apologies as well.

what are you apologizing for?

Howard: For not being proactive and poking you to continue the story when you had spare time.

*shaking my head* Geee, thanks. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please like and review and we'll be sure to get the next chapter out before the new year. Until then, have a happy holiday!