Disclaimer: I don't own Muv-Luv Alternative or any of the characters. All rights belong to âge.

October 24, 2001

"Takeru-san! Adjust your posture slightly towards the right. Once you've fully adjusted we can start firing. Miki lies down next to me as we set up our snipers. While we were staying near the back sniping down the enemies, the rest of our squad was fighting in front of us buying time.

"We've come a long way since we've first started sniping together huh." I comment to Miki in order to ease the tension.

"Well when we get back I'll make your favorite meal." She smiles at me. "We might be able to visit Meiya-san as well for the first time in a while."

"Yeah she's been busy being a part of the royal guard. Maybe we should give her some of our flowers in the garden." I start to contemplate which flowers to gift her while continually aiming and pressing the trigger.

"I can't believe it's been almost a year since we married Takeru-san. Even though everyday has been tough, having you here with me was worth it."

It's been a rough year ever since we left the Yokohama base, where everyone on the squad got split up. I decided to go with Tama into the frontlines as a sniper so I could protect her. I wonder how everyone is doing…

*shake shake*

"Hmm… Kasumi, please, just a little longer…"

*shake shake*

… "Kasumi, pleaaase."

*shake shake*

"...good morning, Kasumi."

Oh right, Kasumi always wakes me up the day after I meet her.

"See you later." She leaves the room after making sure I was fully awake. This is the first time Kasumi has woken me up in this world. Hearing me say her name multiple times already might have freaked her out. I should avoid scaring her too much… I wonder how that dream would have ended, too bad I got interrupted.

"... so, lead azide can be used as a substitute for mercury fulminate. And that's the last major type of explosive." Marimo-chan is standing behind her desk explaining. Her holding the notes really takes me back to my old world when she was still my homeroom teacher. A lecture on explosives though… I remember doing the last two loops. Everything about this training is the same so far. Even the meals haven't changed.

"TNT and C4 are the quintessential high explosives. To use them…" Marimo-chan continues droning on. I'm starting to lose attention again. Little plastic explosives like this aren't super effective. I won't say they're completely useless, but it's hard to imagine what they're good for in a war against the BETA. Though at the same time I can't just stand up and tell her we don't need to learn this. It does feel like a waste of time though.

"Shirogane! Repeat what I just said!" Oh crap, it looks like she caught me not paying attention.

"Eh!? Uh… me?"

"That's right. If you know this well enough to stop listening then it should be no problem, right?" Great… how far has she gotten again? I think it was the mock battle, I need to calculate how long she had been lecturing for.

"We went out of our way to alter the curriculum just for you… you better be really good at this." Marimo-chan is staring at me pretty angrily. I better calm her down a bit or else explaining the situation of speeding up the CCSE will be brutal.

I managed to calculate she was most likely talking about mock battles. "You were giving a fictional scenario in which a support unit disrupts the enemy's rear guard facilities just before the actual operation." I respond, hopefully it was on point.

Marimo-chan stays silent for a bit. It looks like I guessed right? I continue on with the scenario. "So it'd be ideal to blow apart the high-voltage cable leading out of their facility."

"Oh? And why's that?"

"In this scenario, "destruction" specifically means "disabling their radar," not necessarily destroying it, so it'd be best to leave the facility intact since we'd be able to use it later on."

"Hmm…" She crosses her arms.

"That'd also be less dangerous than attacking the facility itself, and you wouldn't need to bring as many explosives to do it, so I think it'd improve the chances of survival and mission completion. That's it."

Marimo-chan continues to stay silent… "Umm…" Did I miss the mark? That shouldn't be the case since it worked out last time.

"You may be seated. You're awfully good for someone who stares into space… but pay more attention. Understand?" Marimo-chan looks suspicious of me, but at least she bought into my explanation. I am saved for now at least.

"Yes, I'll be more careful."

After the lecture, Tama walks up to my seat. "Shirogane-san, that was amazing~"

"Yes, I was surprised as well. I was certain she would make you do push-ups for that." Meiya follows up after Tama.

"I thought it was a pretty obvious answer." Looks like Class Rep is still being competitive.

"Still, I am impressed you considered the option of reusing their facility." Meiya looks at me in amazement.

Tama quickly follows up. "Yeah, I wouldn't have thought of that."

"He's certainly clever. I'm glad to have someone like you in my squad." Class Rep compliments.

"Thank you." I respond earnestly to all of them.

"We have field stripping next. We should get going." Meiya reminds us.

Oh great… This part of training still feels as useless as always. My hands automatically move to assemble the rifle as I have done this enough for it to be muscle memory. My mind starts wandering away. By the time I pay attention to the rifle all I have left is to snap on the upper receiver,

"I'm finished." I declare to Marimo-chan.

"Hm…? You're done?"

"Yes."

"3 minutes, 10 seconds." Looks like I got much faster compared to my previous time. Has it got ingrained into my body that much already? I am kind of surprised.

Looks like I am not the only one surprised. "No way…" Class Rep exclaims in response.

"Okay, I'll check it." Marimo-chan walks over with a skeptical look on her face. "I see nothing wrong…Have you done this before?"

"No… but I had a friend who was in the army who taught me a lot about guns to protect myself." I lie to her. Technically it isn't a complete lie as Miki did teach me a lot about shooting and using a gun.

"I see… very well. Keep training so you don't lose those skills."

"Yes."

"Until now, Ayamine held the record with 6 minutes and 17 seconds. And yet, the greenhorn here obliterated that time. The rest of you, practice until you're just as good." I know I told her to treat me as a cadet while I was in the squad, but her performance is really surprising. Using my ability to hit their pride as a means to urge them to improve is really smart. It really is working well at least.

Once we were all seated in the PX, Miki instantly hits me with her usual excitement. "You really are incredible, Shirogane-san!"

"No I'm not." I respond to her modestly. All of this experience was beaten through me a long time ago. In a sense, it's a good thing I managed to retain all of this experience. Because sooner or later, I'm going to need it."

"Do not be modest." Meiya commented with her head up high while crossing her arms.

"She's right. I may not like it, but you're far better than the rest of us…" Class Rep says happily. It must because it will increase the chances of passing the CCSE.

"You are… special." Kei adds on. The one who rarely speaks finally joins our conversation.

"Don't compliment me so much… you're gonna make me full of myself." I jokingly respond in order to make them stop.

"Then we'll stop." Class Rep complies with my joke.

"Hey now." I follow up.

"Ahahaha!" Tama laughs at our banter.

"But this won't last forever, you know. We'll beat you someday." Good to see Class Rep still has that fire with her. Sticking out like this will increase their competitive drive to improve and beat me. Looks like it's still working out well. Everyone here hates losing after all.

"If you can raise the bar for the entire squad, we'll have a much better chance of passing the CCSE." Class Rep points out.

"That's true… you can't afford to fail it again, right?"

"Yes… absolutely not." Class Rep responds saddened, looking away.

"So… I'd like to ask everyone something."

"What is it?" Tama asks me in curiosity.

"Do you all have something you want to protect?"

"Eh?" Kei looks confused.

"You don't have to tell me what exactly… but do you have something worth risking your life for?" Meiya looks at me intently. She must be remembering the conversation last night.

"Where did this come from?" Class Rep asks with a surprised face.

"People can do amazing things with the right goal in mind… is that it?" Meiya answers with a content smile on her face.

"I think effort creates its own reward. It's not something that has to be rewarded." I follow up after Meiya's answer. "Especially if what you want to protect is something irreplaceable."

"Effort creates its own reward… I see. It is an odd choice of words, but I can feel a strong will behind it." Meiya points out while looking deep in thought.

"I was just wondering if anyone else here thought like that…" I guess it's a good time to reveal some of myself so they can understand me better. "Until two years ago… my own life was more precious to me than anything else. 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…" Everyone stays silent, intently listening to me. "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."

They all show shocked faces. Meiya was the first one to speak. "I see now. So that is why you threw away your draft exemption and came here?"

Ah, it looks like Yuuko is using the same backstory. "Yeah, pretty much." This is making me look more noble than I really am though. "I don't think it's possible to beat the BETA… unless a lot of people with strong wills and noble hearts get together and work as a team. If one of us fails, then what they lose… will affect us all." Especially since losing meant being recycled by the BETA.

Tama looks fired out after my speech. "I understand!"

"So… let's work hard." I smile at the girls.

"Yes!" Tama was the first to respond.

"You're right… let's work hard together!" Looks like Class Rep is fired up as well.

"So now that I'm done being serious…"

"What is it this time?" Class Rep asks worriedly.

"Sakaki, can I call you Class Rep?" I throw out the most important question of all time.

Class Rep makes a dumbfounded face. "...huuuh?"

"Meiya, Tama, Ayamine… that's how I'd like to address everyone. You can call me Takeru or Shirogane or whatever you want."

"He is serious it looks like." Meiya points out.

Kei looks at me with a weird face. "...only mine's normal."

"Would you prefer I called you Kei?"

"...stop." She instantly raises a hand up in response.

"Well, I'm the new guy here, after all. So I'd like it if we all opened up to each other before the Evaluation. We're gonna be trusting each other with our lives, so I'd like to feel a little closer to all of you." I give out a reasonable explanation.

"I see. Very well, I am all right with any form of address." Meiya is definitely the easiest one to convince.

"Mine makes me sound like a cat." Tama points out while slightly blushing.

"I think it's cute. Do you mind?"

"No, not at all."

"Feel free to call me Takeru-san in response, so that way we're both less formal." I happily respond.

"O-okay… are you sure?"

"Yes, it feels more comfortable for me and seems more natural for you."

"O-okay… I'll try, Shirogane-san!"

"Hey." I instantly call her out.

"Ah, I mean, I'll try! Ta-Takeru-san." Looks like she's still embarrassed. She'll get used to it in due time.

"I've never seen someone tell others how to address them." Class Rep shows a tired look.

"Don't worry about it, Class Rep. So, what about you, Ayamine?"

"I don't care...do as you please."

"Okay! It's decided then."

"Huhu, you're so forceful." Meiya shows an entertained look.

In the afternoon, we started our shooting practice. In order to speed through the training required for the CCSE, I had Marimo-chan include training in the afternoon as well as morning.

"Aim for the 100 meter target! Fire one round at a time on full auto!" Marimo-chan gives us our orders. We aim our sights and set our stance. "Now!" We start firing upon the targets. After a short amount of time we finish as Marimo-chan shouts "Okay!"

After a few rounds of practice, I decide it is a good time to fix their firing habits. "Instructor! I have a favor to ask."

"Hm!? What is it? Speak!"

"I'd like to gather everyone together so we can talk about something."

"Namely?"

"Something is bugging me about their shooting technique. Please."

After a bit of silence, she accepts my proposal. "Very well. Sakaki, gather the others. This had better be good."

"Thank you very much." I give her a quick salute.

Class Rep quickly tells the squad to cease fire. Once the group forms together, Meiya asks right off the bat. "What is it?"

"Shirogane has something to talk about." Class Rep declares.

"What is iiit?" "Tama impatiently asks.

"Everyone… please don't get mad, but…"

"Impossible." Kei gives me an irritated look.

"Someone's got a short fuse…" I remark.

"Okay, now what is it?" Class Rep joins in,

"Anyway, I saw how the rest of you were shooting, and I was wondering if you'd gotten so used to training that you were starting to focus on the wrong thing." I start explaining.

"What do you mean?" Meiya asks.

"I told Class Rep just now that she shoots too soon after raising her weapon. That's probably because she's too used to the firing range."

"Eh?" Tama shows a surprised look.

"This is just small arms training… but if we let bad habits form now, we're gonna have problems shooting in our TSFs later."

"TSFs? Why?" Class Rep still hasn't fully understood.

"In a TSF, you've got a lot of things humans don't. Like a lock on feature, on top of a bunch of automated decision making and optimization. So if you all get too used to what we're doing now, you might start pulling the trigger as a reflex and waste ammo instead of properly using all those systems."

Kei starts paying closer attention.

"There's little risk of friendly fire thanks to the IFF, but battlefields are in constant motion. You might have to shoot around some inconvenient cover, for instance. So, if you pause for a moment before firing, and focus on improving accuracy, you'll have a chance to make critical judgments like that, and less difficulty adapting to a TSF. Basic weapons training is important and all, but since we're here to become pilots, I think that's a better approach.

Everyone stays completely silent for a bit. Is it too hard for them to accept this early? I should do some cover up so it's easier for them to take in the information.

"This is based on stuff I read up on details we need to pay attention to from an experienced pilot."

"I see." Meiya accepts the explanation.

"I certainly hadn't thought about that before." Looks like Tama also buys the excuse.

"So you're basically saying… Think about the purpose of your training so you can improve the results." Class Rep crosses her hands and closes her eyes deep in thought.

"...so knowledgeable, Shirogane." Looks like even Kei is accepting it.

"Sorry about spring this on you guys so suddenly. I don't really like lecturing people too much, so I wasn't sure whether to bring it up…"

"That is merely emotion. What matters to me is that you have made a sound argument." Seems like I can keep using this to improve Meiya's skills.

"Instructor, I'd like to try Shirogane's suggestion." Class Rep quickly goes and notifies Marimo-chan.

"You have grasped most of basic training at this point… very well, I'll allow it." This is good, with Marimo-chan's approval, we can speed up training even more.

After everyone tried the new firing method, I decided to see how good Tama's skills are at this point. I wonder if I can push her to be even better than last loop.

"Tamaaa, Tamaaa!" I call her from across the field.

"What is it~?" She comes over pretty quickly.

"Can you hit that?" I point at the 800 meter target.

"Good question… I could probably do that…"

"What about that one?" I point at the 1500 meter target.

"That's really far! I'm not so sure…"

"I heard you were really good at sniping, so…"

"Eh? I'm really not that good…"

Class Rep walks up. "You don't need to be modest about it. Tamase, show Shirogane here what you're made of."

"Ahaha… I'm not good enough to show off…"

"Come on, take his breath away." Class Rep encourages Tama. "We can't keep losing to him, now can we?"

"Uuu… that's true, I guess… okay, I'll try!"

"You did a good job convincing her." I tell Class Rep.

"Oh? I was being serious."

"Ah… should've known. You are the squad leader."

"Is that sarcasm? Huhuhu… anyways, watch. Tamase really is incredible. A genius, even."

That's right… and she works insanely hard on top of that. At this stage, she's still suppressing her panic attacks through sheer willpower. I know that, but she still doesn't show any sign of it. Tama's really pushing herself.

"Hey, can I use the prone position for this?" Tama asks me politely.

"Ah? Do it any way you want. I'll even join you, I want to try it out as well." The rest of the squad looks surprised.

"In that case, here goes… the wind's kinda bugging me." Tama already looks focused on the target.

"Think you can hit it?" Class Rep asks the both of us.

"...yeah, this isn't too bad… okay now…" Tama mumbles.

I also prone down next to Tama, we both adjust our scopes and aim down sight. This is giving me a nostalgic feeling. My body feels really comfortable and my mind is fully in focus. I adjust slightly to the left. Tama fires a shot and it hits slightly to the right of the target, about 3cm off.

"Ah! I hit it!" She happily exclaims. I fire slightly after her, hitting the dead center. Tama looks over to me super surprised. I don't blame her, even I am surprised myself. The rest of the squad continues staring at the target with blank looks.

"You're amazing Takeru-san! I need to improve some more so I can catch up to you!"

"It was just a fluke, haha." I tell Tama, I really don't think I can consistently hit the spot that well. Though I wonder why I managed to focus so well that time, it has never happened before. Was it because of this morning's dream?

While the squad was still looking dumbfounded, I walk over to Marimo-chan so I can tell her about the CCSE. She wasn't paying attention to the sniping, instead looking through the training schedule and her notes.

"Marimo-chan, I need to tell you something about the CCSE." I call out once I was in front of her.

"How many times have I told you to stop calling me that…" She sighs. "What is the problem with the CCSE?"

"I have talked to the XO and we've decided to do the evaluation on the 30th. This way we can get a headstart on TSF practice which is more important."

"That's far too rushed! That's three weeks ahead of schedule! How are you going to make sure they pass? I know we're ahead of schedule right now but there's still Yoroi who hasn't come back yet." She looks at me with wide eyes.

"With the girl's skills right now, I'm already confident they can pass the CCSE next week. Furthermore I can guarantee they will improve much more by the end of the week. As for Yoroi, I will make sure to catch her up to speed the moment she comes back. Her skills were already topnotch after all. Remember, I will also be participating in the CCSE, which is already kind of unfair. At worst, I will just pair up with Yoroi and keep her safe."

"Very well, I can't refuse an order from the XO… but if I see that there is no chance in them passing the CCSE I won't allow them to take it!" She looks at me sternly.

"Thank you Marimo-chan. I will make sure they pass." She huffs and walks away from me, notifying the squad that practice was over as we part ways to get some rest.

After the double practice today, I do feel quite tired. I should grab some food and finish carving the Santa Rabbit before I sleep…

AN: Pace is picking up for the squad preparation for the CCSE~ Pretty slow chapter but here we see some "dreams" of Takeru. Be prepared to see quite a few more~

Btw, thanks for over 100 views of the story! Appreciate you guys enjoying my selfish story, I originally started writing this to see through my ideal ending. Glad you all are enjoying it as well! ^^