Well, welcome back guys; you know what's going on here so lets just get right into things.


Chapter 2: To meet the angels part 2

"...Are you sure this is allowed? I am technically an unknown here so shouldn't there be some sort of security watching us or something?" I asked this of Tact as the two of us, Vanilla- who was still holding onto my arm- and Milfie walked through the halls of the Elsior.

In particular we were walking through the halls of D-deck that contained the engine room, hanger, Infirmary, simulation room, whale room, Forte's private shooting range and gym. We'd just left the infirmary after confirming everything was alright with Dr Cera and now we were making our way to the gym to meet Ranpha.

"Its fine, nothing to worry about... I think." Tact waved off my concern however with a literal wave of his hand and a carefree look on his face.

Oi oi, that's really not the attitude you should take as commander you know.

"...If you say so Tact."

"I do say so."

I couldn't help but smile slightly at his relaxed stance on things.

You really wouldn't think they were in the middle of a civil war with his attitude... then again, that 'they' included me now.

It took the fact that I knew everything was going to be okay- for the most part- to stop me from worrying for the future of the Elsior's crew.

...And my own, I remembered after a moment. Huh, how odd that I'd forget about that.

"So... what's this Ranpha girl like?" My question was innocent enough but I felt the grip on my arm increase tenfold and I had to stop myself from releasing a yelp of pain. Vanilla was giving me a small glare alongside a cute pout on her lips so I quickly patted her head again to appease her.

The grip was immediately loosened and the pout replaced by a smile.

...This really was cause for concern but I couldn't really do anything about it. I'll just have to deal with it for now and figure it out later; hopefully with the help of whoever that woman that sent me here was.

"Ranpha... well you'll just have to see when you meet her."

...Thanks Milfie, that really helped.

Well whatever, I already know her general personality thanks to the games anyway; the question was only to keep the illusion that I knew nothing which I, by all rights, really shouldn't.


It took us a minute or two of walking through the various hallways and meeting some of the regular crewman until we actually arrived at the gym. Naturally of course, the looks we'd been given varied from confusion to suspicion but no words had been given along the way; just the occasional nod or salute.

Of course, the suspicious looks had been directed towards me but I gave them little heed and just focussed on moving forward with the rest of our small group.

Anyway, we entered the gym one after another and came face to face with Ranpha delivering a severe beating to one of the punching bags that were hanging around the room. There were other things in the room of course, there were exercise bikes, treadmills, weights etc...

Basically you name it, this place probably had two of it.

Focussing back on Ranpha though, after delivering a particular strong kick which sent the bag almost flying off its chain- scary- she turned towards us with a surprised expression.

"Huh? What are you guys doing here... and why is Vanilla holding onto that guy's arm?" Expectedly her eyes narrowed in suspicion similar to that of the crewman earlier but with her it came off as a bit more threatening...

What? One of her kicks could probably knock my head off in one shot! There's also the fact that she's able to destroy that probe later on with a single kick... so yeah; having this woman be wary of me wasn't a good thing for my health.

"Haha... if you want to try and take her off feel free... don't think it'll end pretty though; especially for me." I attempted to make a joke out of the situation but judging from the blank look on her face I don't think she found it funny.

"Uh huh... well then Milfie; who is this guy?"

"This is Will, he's the guy Vanilla picked up after the last battle; you know the guy that came out of the worm hole?"

The blonde's widened at hearing that. "Oh, you're that guy?" I gave a nervous nod. "...Are you a relative of Vanilla's or something? She's never been that emotive to someone before."

"As far as I'm aware no. I mean, I'm fairy sure I'd be aware I had such a cute little sister, cousin and something similar." A healthy blush came onto Vanilla's face at hearing me call her cute and a happy smile appeared too.

The sight increased the intenseness of Ranpha's glare; which in turn caused me to unconsciously take a step back.

"So you're not a relative... then you definitely shouldn't know her well enough that she'd cling to you like this." There was anger in her voice now and even my untrained senses could feel killing intent leaking out from her. "I'll ask this in the simplest way possible; what the hell did you do to Vanilla!?"

The sheer ferocity in her tone caused me to take another step back and sweat to fall from my forehead. "Uh, well-"

"Ranpha! Why are you accusing Will of such things!?" Surprisingly it was Milfie that came to my defence.

"Huh? Don't tell me he did something to you too!? Can't you tell just how wrong this scene is!? She doesn't even know the guy and she's acting like a lovestruck teen!?"

"...I think its really cute actually." was the pinkette's reply

"...I see, so you really did do something to her huh?" There was no rage on her face as she spoke to me but the hairs on the back of my neck still stuck up in complete fear. "In that case..."

'!' In that instance I moved; my natural survival instincts caused me to duck. In the next instance I felt a sharp wind blow for a moment and...

"Oh? So you could pick that up huh?" Ranpha asked rhetorically with her foot where my face had been a moment ago.

If I'd been any slower it would have hit me and I'd have been out cold in an instant.

"You weren't really concealing your intent there; even an amateur like me could pick it up."

"Is that so... guess I'll have to try EVEN HARDER!" In that instant she brought her foot down to smash into my skull.

Thankfully I'd predicted the blow and was already out the way by having my whole body mass roll backwards. Also thankfully Vanilla had already released my arm when the original kick had been shot so I didn't end up bringing her with me.

"Ranpha! You can't just attack him like that!" Milfie's words fell on deaf ears however as Ranpha brought the launched foot backwards into another kick aimed for my head.

Thankfully I was already out of range and was getting back to my feet.

It was odd just how calm I was at the situation. While I wasn't the type of person to cower when someone threatened me on the streets with a knife or something like it or while looking at the sight of someone genuinely wishing to harm me worry would at least cloud my senses.

That wasn't present here, My mind was focused and my eyes were scanning for a means of counter-attack. While it may have been the best option to just let her do whatever she wanted in order to calm things down my body had other plans as it moved a few feet forward and sent out my own kick in the martial artists direction.

Naturally given my untrained state it was sloppy and was easily dodged by the blonde haired woman.

"Is that it? Humph, you're not worth the wasted time then." Ranpha moved immediately; moving past my outstretched limb she lifted her right leg and sent it towards me in a sure hit that would throw me out of consciousness.

I reacted almost as quickly somehow and blocked it with my left arm. Almost immediately pain shot through and the sound of actual bones breaking could be heard but I ignored it in favour of focussing on Ranpha.

"Huh!? How did you-"

I cut her off by taking the opening that had presented itself and threw all of my body weight into a single punch from my right fist.

The sound of an impact echoed through my ears signified the end of the short bout.

Ranpha fell onto her back with a thud and just laid there while I gently placed my right arm on my left to inspect the damage.

It hurt, several of the bones had probably been thrown out of place as several holes had been made due to punctured out bone and on top of it all there were several sprinklers of red falling from them.

Frankly the fact that I wasn't screaming my head off right now was a miracle.

Oh wait... here we go.

"OWW! That hurt like hell! Jesus woman; did you have to kick me that hard!? Were you trying to kill me or something!?" Ranpha gave no reply, choosing instead to remain on the ground.

Suddenly the feelings of pain vanished and a familiar warmth eclipsed my arm. Naturally when I looked Vanilla had already healed the damage and was holding the injured arm like a caste.

"Are you alright Will? Does it still hurt?"

At the girls worried expression I gave a laugh and patted her head. "No, those nano machines of yours fixed everything up already; thanks." A smile of relief washed over the worry in an instant upon hearing that. "Hey, how about you check on Ranpha okay?"

A frown. "But she-"

"She had... I wanna say good reasons but that kick was just as likely to kill me then to just knock he out... either way, just check on her k?"

"...Alright." She released the arm again- causing a sudden emptiness to appear in my heart- and walked over to the fallen angel and placing her hand on her forehead.

A few seconds later she let go and walked back over to me; attaching herself once again to an arm as she did so. "Ranpha is fine, it was just the surprise of the punch."

"That so..."

"Uh, Will... are you sure you're alright?" I turned my head over to Milfie who was looking at me worriedly while keeping another eye on Ranpha.

"Yeah, I'm good... thanks for standing up for me though; I really appreciate it..." despite saying that though I couldn't stop a frown from growing on my face.

Ranpha had a point, I was a complete stranger to these people and yet I had these two willing to take my side over that of their teammate.

The fact that they were willing to do that during this time of war... was I really doing something to them?

"...Hey, you okay?" I asked this of Ranpha as I hovered over her with Vanilla.

"...What's it to you? Going to brainwash me too?"

"Do I look the type of character that can do that? Look... if I could tell you why Vanilla is acting like this I would but I can't... I just can't because I don't know why myself."

"Ha, likely story. If you really don't know why are you so relaxed about it?"

"What? Any guy would he happy to have a cute girl clinging to him right?"

"Pervert."

"Funny," I stretched out my hand towards her. "How's about we start over huh?" I gave a simple smile and reached my hand out closer towards her.

"...Fine, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt for now." Saying this she took my extended hand.


Ranpha wouldn't admit it but she was impressed. She hadn't expected the self-admitted amateur to actually block that kick or to take advantage of her surprise and actually hit her.

While she wasn't the type to brag- okay, maybe she was but that wasn't the point- she was undoubtedly the physically strongest person on this ship; something that she wasn't actually happy about as it was an 'unfeminine' thing to be.

Hey, don't judge a girl based on her thoughts!

Anyway, it was because of that title that she'd been surprised when he'd blocked the kick; even more so when he hadn't immediately dropped when she'd heard the sound of bones breaking. She hadn't actually planned to let her kick be that strong but with the frustration she was feeling towards that mysterious guy that was how it had come out.

At any rate, it had been when she'd looked into his eyes after the impact that had caused her to stop in surprise.

Those eyes... they contained no sign of pain but only determination. She didn't even know if he himself was aware of it but... the message he'd been unconsciously trying to send had reached her:

Give me a chance.

Those eyes of determination held those words despite the pain he must have felt at that moment.

It was because of that she was willing to give him one... just one.

Unknown to Ranpha, it was that decision that prevented what she feared from happening.


The smile on my face rose at her answer. "Thanks. I guess I should introduce myself proper huh? I'm William Johnson; it's nice to meet you."

"Ranpha Franboise, I hope we can get along."

Our hands shook once and released; there was no feeling of having made a contract like it had with Milfie or Tact- yes, I'd felt the same thing when I'd shook Tact's hand- this time though.

Not going to complain about it though.

"Oiya, mind if I can introduce myself too boy?" A older voice spoke up from the gyms entrance and from the doorway came in Forte... huh, that kinda rhymed.

"Forte Stollen, leader of the Angel wings. Nice to meet you boy." the older woman with a monocle said this with a teasing look on her face as she looked at me and Vanilla... oh please n-

"Oh, seems we're already getting close to someone huh? You say something to her while you were alone on the harvester to get her to cling to you like that?" The words caused a shiver to run up my spine.

There had been a slight edge to her tone beneath the teasing.

"Hehe, don't know really; when I woke up I was already in the infirmary."

"...Is that so?" Oh dear, you could physically feel the disbelief on her face and in her voice.

"Hey Forte, what brought you over here anyway?" Whether she could feel the tension between us rising or not- probably unlikely considering her personality- Milfie spoke up after a few moments of silence.

"Oh... I heard this guy yell out when I was making my way to the hanger." She gestures to me. "I didn't recognise the voice so I went to investigate... wasn't expecting to see him offering a hand up to Ranpha though; you lose a fight with him?"

Said angel looked away with a huff. "He caught me off guard is all. An amateur like this couldn't beat me in normal conditions." I nodded when Forte looked my way after the explanation.

It was true, I'd 'won' our 'fight' due to luck.

If we did a second round now I'd be down in seconds.

"I see... well Mr commander; I was going to the hanger to see if you were there but I don't see the point any more."

"Oh, we were going to head there after introducing Will here to Ranpha." I almost jumped when Tact spoke up; I'd actually forgotten he was even here!

Forte nodded. "Alright, mind if I come with then? there're some things I want to talk to you about."

"Alright, lets go then."

"Sure... let me just talk with the newbie here in private first." Tact and the other angels- minus Vanilla- all nodded and left the room. "You too Vanilla... don't worry; I won't ruff him up or anything." She didn't look convinced but reluctantly- I could tell- let go of my arm- the emptiness appeared again- and followed the others.

Now it was just Me and Forte left. The moment she was sure no one was looking the smile faded into a frown and in the corner of my eye her right hand moved to the holster on her belt.

"...I'll cut to the chase then; I don't know what you've done to Vanilla- don't deny that you didn't do anything- or any of the others but... since Ranpha's willing to give you a change I'll give you one too."

"...I see; thanks." Despite that reassurance I didn't show a smile.

She wasn't done.

"I'll give you a chance but..." She picked up the gun from the holster- a type of revolver from what I could tell- and brought it to my forehead. "If you hurt her or give me a reason to suspect you I'll put a bullet in you before you can blink... understand?"

"Of course," I answered instantly calmly. "I won't waste it... and I'll make sure to take extra care of her. Even if you don't believe me when I say it I genuinely don't know what I've done to her; not yet... I intend to find out though and hopefully reverse it at the earliest possibility."

"Good to hear... and in return I'll keep quiet about this; deal?"

A smile finally managed to make it to my face. "Deal, I'll be sure to meet up with your expectations."

"Good." With that the tension between us dropped and we shook hands.


Forte wasn't sure on what to make of the boy. On one hand he was a true unknown and seemed to possessed some sort of psychic power that potentially messed with the minds of others.

One the other hand he was an honest person with his heart on a sleeve combined with the guts to face a gun to the face and not flinch.

Needless to say that had put him in her good books and influenced her decision in giving him the benefit of the doubt.

Still though, she'll have to keep a close eye on him from now on to ensure he kept his promise.


We released each other from the handshake and I released the small breath that I was holding.

That had been really scary! While my face had been blank throughout the exchange inwardly I was sweating bullet the whole time and had almost shut down when the revolver had been drawn.

Somehow however none of the worry had shown on my face and I intended to keep it that way until I was out of Forte's sight.

"Well, I think we've kept the others waiting long enough. Let's head out and let them know we haven't started killing each other." Despite the bad joke I let a soft laugh out.

"Yeah, best to less we face Vanilla's wrath... you never know what the quiet ones are capable of right?"

"Haha, true... by the way; you never introduced yourself boy."

"? Tact already gave my name but sure; I'm William Johnson; pleasure to meet you Forte."

"Same to you Johnson."

"Will's fine Forte."

"I'm sure it is Johnson but until you've proven yourself I'll keep calling you that; sound fair?" I recognised there'd be no point in arguing and just nodded. "Great, let's head out then."

With that the two of us left the gym.


"...What did Forte say?" The angel at my arms asked this as we made our way to the lounge.

The two of us were currently on B-deck after splitting up with Tact and the others. Since it wasn't military protocol to allow civilians in the hanger Forte had suggested we go and meet Mint so as to complete my introduction to the Angel wings.

Quite clearly we'd agreed.

"Not much really, just to keep an eye on you, to generally be a good boy and keep out of trouble. You know, expected stuff." Naturally I didn't tell her about the threat or the part about the potential usage of unknown powers on her.

Both were likely to go over badly; though for different reasons.

"...Are you sure?" I stopped myself from flinching at hearing the subtle edge in her voice.

"Yes, would I really lie to you huh?"

Yes, yes I would... if only to prevent anything really bad from happening. A little white lie never hurt anyone right?

...Yeah, thinking that's so gonna bite me in the ass later.

"...No, you wouldn't."

"Exactly." I smiled on the outside and frowned on the inside.

Things like this never ended well... but it was the only thing I could do.

We reached the lounge after a minute later of comfortable silence between us. Mint was by herself on a table in the corner with a tray of different treats and a cup of tea in her hand.

"Is that Mint?" Vanilla nodded. "Huh, she's cute; especially the ears... are those real or fake?" I made sure to whisper this directly next to the green angels ear to ensure there was no way Mint could hear me.

If I remembered correctly she really, really hated it whenever her ears were mentioned.

"Yes..." I detected a small amount of jealousy in her voice and immediately patted her head again.

"Let's go and say hi okay?" A nod later and we made our way towards the second youngest member of the Angel wings.

"...Hello, Mint."

"Oh, Vanilla... and you must be the person we picked up earlier." The small girl gave us both a smile while giving an expected raised eyebrow and our intertwined arms.

"Yeah, I'm William Johnson- just call me Will though please; a pleasure to meet you miss Mint." I gave a small bow.

"Hehe, how well mannered of you. I am Mint Blancmanche; though you may just call me Mint. It is a pleasure to meet you as well Will... are you here due to being given a tour by Vanilla here?"

"No actually, we came here because Forte suggested I meet with you; said it was to complete the full meeting of the angel wing."

"Is that so... then would you like to have a drink with me?" She gestured to the menu on the table and then to the other chairs surrounding the table. I gave a nod alongside a smile and sat down on the chair opposite Mint. Vanilla sat on the one next to me.

After taking a quick look through the menu I decided on a breakfast tea alongside a slice of chocolate cake while Vanilla decided on a medicinal tea and quickly left to get the orders from the counter in the centre of the room.

This left me and Mint alone on the table.

Huh, as I looked towards the young girl while waiting a thought came to mind. I never really thought about it before but Mint really was cute. Perhaps it was because I never really bothered thinking about it before but the whole of the angel wing really were beautiful in their own way.

Milfie was simply a pink haired beauty that could easily catch anyone's affection with her smile.

Ranpha was the type of girl that could win anyone's heart if she really tried but she, probably because she was looking for someone really specific or due to having too high standards, hadn't found someone yet.

Mint, again, was really cute that would probably grow to be really pretty when she was older.

Forte... well just give her a dress and put her in a room. She'll be the star of the show.

As for Vanilla-

"Uh, Will? P-please stop thinking such things."

My musings here cut short when I heard Mints stuttering voice and seeing her flushed face.

"Hmm? Something wrong?"

"Uh, well..."

A smile slide onto my face; it was one filled with amusement. "So you really are a family of telepaths."

The shuttering stopped and confusion rose around the girls facial features. "...Huh?"

"I'd heard rumours that the Blancmanche family were telepaths so I decided to test it by thinking of something you'd react to. You seemed the type that give and not take so an embarrassing thought for you came to mind."

"...While I'd certainly heard those rumours as well it was rather rude of you to do something like that. Perhaps I should search up an embarrassing secret and broadcast it among the crew as punishment?"

Hey, don't say such scary things with a smile on your face. It'll scare people away.

"Is that not the point?"

...Stop that.

"May I say no?"

I glared at her 'oh so innocent' expression for a few moments before we both broke out in laughter.

"Hehe... seriously though; you... don't find the fact that I have telepathy concerning or frightening?" The laughter died down after a few seconds and the atmosphere completely dropped when Mint asked that question.

I just rose an eyebrow in confusion, as if to say I found it stupid.

Quite obviously, I did.

"Why would I found it disturbing or feel the least bit frightened by it? While its true most people would find the thought of someone being able to look into their mind unappealing since its apart of you- and because I'm sure you'd never abuse it for your own gain- I have no problem with it. To tell the truth I find the fact that you possess such an ability amazing; I guess the angel wings really is full of amazing people huh?"

Mint gave no reply, she simply looked at me like she would a newly discovered species. It was actually kind of funny to see her open and close her mouth like a gasping fish... okay that was actually a morbid image to compare it to.

Stupid brain.

"...What a bizarre person." Was Mints eventual response.

"Am I? Certainly it may seem strange to you but to a completely ordinary human like me after being apparently dragged through a wormhole across space onto a legendary warship and meeting the legendary pilots of the pinnacle of lost technology something like meeting a telepath or a user of nano machines is just, as they say, par of the course."

My response actually earned a giggle. "You certainly have strange expectancies of what's to happen now don't you?"

I shrugged. "Honestly I'm just happy you guys didn't decide the 'mysterious phenomenon just happened, lets shoot it' approach or the 'mysterious guy showed up out of nowhere, throw him in the brig' method of dealing with problems."

Another giggle. "Well, we couldn't just throw a person that should have been dead but was still alive anyway in the 'brig' where he actually could have died could we?"

"...Point."

More giggles were released and a smile crawled onto my face as I let my eyes wander around.

It was only just now sinking in that, yes; I was on the Elsior. That yes, I was meeting and befriending- somewhat- the Angel wings and Tact. It was a complicated feeling knowing that I was meeting people who I thought to be fictional characters until a few hours ago.

Somehow though, it wasn't a hard thing to grasp. It was something that I could just accept quite easily with a smile and a 'wish me luck' on my lips.

Perhaps then, that made me the strangest thing about this whole ordeal.

It was something to think about at any rate.

"...Will?" I left my thoughts at the guidance of Vanilla's voice as she came back with the ordered drinks and cake. I gave a quick thanks- gaining a smile from the girl- and took the first bite of the cake.

It was good; just like the current feeling in my chest as I sat together with the two girls.


Well, that's the end of this chapter guys. Next time we'll get the bridge scene out the way as well as the prep for the picnic done with the one after that being the picnic itself and potential the space fight as well.

Again, do look forward to when they come out k?

Will:...*sigh*

Something wrong?

Will: I read ahead a bit... you really gonna pull that thing with me and Sora?

If you're talking about the powers then yes, considering the characteristics of the White and Black moon I thought they were appropriate.

Will: But mine... I don't like it... I REALLY don't like it.

Yeah well neither do I- Will: Then why are you using it then!?- but its necessary for some other things I'm doing.

Will: The 'other things' are complete bullshit.

My story. People don't like it they don't have to keep reading.

Ahem, sorry about that. Please R&R and I'll see you guys and girls next time.