Disclaimer: I don't own Muv-Luv Alternative or any of the characters. All rights belong to âge.
October 25, 2001
Once again after countering the Ayamine Space Tornado Throw, which was an improved form of the ATT (Ayamine Tornado Throw), I lock both of Kei's arms and I push her into the ground. "Do you give?" I ask her while smiling.
"...cheater." She cracks out a verbal jab.
"Hey it's not my fault you also use the ASTT on me every time you try to go for a finish. Gave me plenty of time to learn how to counter it." I retort back. I let go of her arms as we both lie on the ground to get some rest after sparring.
"I can't beat you anymore…" Kei pouts while complaining.
"It's because you taught me so well." I comfort her. "How is Naoya, is he doing well?" I ask. It's been two years since Naoya was comprehended in the coup. The both of us had managed to convince him to stand down instead of honorably sacrificing himself. As that was not the way the Shogun had wanted things to devolve into. After he had surrendered we had learned that the Americans had a hand in the coup. Not only that, but one of the Royal Guard leaders was the mastermind in pushing Naoya into rebelling.
"Yeah, he's been on good behavior. They say he might be able to get released early in exchange for fighting on the battlefield. After all, we always need manpower and he's a good pilot." Kei replies.
"For all we know, we might meet him in our next operation." I joke. "Let's go back in the base, we have to start preparing for it after all."
"Mmm." Kei nods and follows me back in, while holding my hand.
*shake shake*
My dream once again gets disrupted but I wake up quickly this time. "Good morning Kasumi." I call out to the culprit.
"Good… Morning…" She slowly responds. Once she confirmed I was fully awake, she walked over to the door. "See you later."
"Yeah. See you later." I reply to her as she leaves the room.
"You ready?" Class Rep asks me.
"Yeah, But still… you didn't have to scatter them all over the table." I tell her as I was blindfolded.
"That's just because... " Class Rep tries to explain.
"I know. This is supposed to prepare us for the worst-case scenario." Even though I can't think of a single time when any of this small arms training came in handy. I can't even remember being in combat, much less abandoning my TSF for the reinforced exoskeleton or a rifle…
Once the timer starts, I quickly assemble the rifle. The blindfold doesn't make too much of a difference as I quickly identify the pieces by touch and put them together. After a short amount of time I finish putting it together. "Okay, done."
""Eh? Already?" Tama once again shows a surprised look.
"Okay, go to the range. Don't put the magazine in while you're moving." Marimo-chan orders.
"Understood." I reply as I walk off.
After we quickly did our practice we took a quick break before our next practice exercise. While we were resting, the rest of the squad gathered around my desk.
Class Rep gives me a serious look and asks right off the bat. "Shirogane, have you been conscripted before?"
"Wh-What!?" I was not expecting them to be asking me this question already. I guess I overdid it a bit early.
"This is just too weird… you joined less than a week ago, but you can do everything better than us…" Class Rep points out.
"That is true… you are far from normal." Meiya chimes in.
"You too, Meiya?" Here I thought she would be the last person to ask, since she respected people's private lives the most.
Kei gives me the longest stare. *staaaaaaaare*
"Ayamineee… stop that." I try to get her to stop.
"...you're very incredibly incredible." Kei slowly says the most incomprehensible line ever.
"That's right. You can shoot, snipe, and have crazy stamina and everything." Tama joins in as well.
"Strangely enough, you even know everything we're being lectured on." Class Rep finishes me off.
"Strangely? ... that's kinda mean." I respond.
"B-but… we're squadmates! Whatever you did in the past, as long as you can benefit the squad…" Tama tries to ease the tension that was building up.
"Yes, of course, but still…" Class Rep continues staring at me along with the rest of the squad.
"Fine… I'll give you all a short version. I don't really like talking about my past. I have been part of a squad before, but due to a certain incident, I ended up being the sole survivor of my squad. Due to that, I wasn't able to take the CCSE and I decided to come here once I received Professor Yuuko's invitation. Anyway, I'm getting hungry, so I'll see you guys in the PX." I walk off not wanting to see their apologetic or guilty looks.
That should get them off my back for a bit and make them less suspicious of me. While walking down the hallway to the PX, I run right into someone. "Kya!" a girly voice echoes.
"Whoa…" I breathe out, breaking me out of my thought process.
"Ah… sorry, are you okay?" The voice asks me.
"Ah, yeah… I'm fine, what about you..?" I respond politely as well.
"You're not hurt? You sure you're okay?" The voice asks once again, sounding very concerned.
"Yeah, I'm just… fine…" I turn to look at the person, getting kind of annoyed being asked the same question again. When I see the person, I get surprised. "Ah!" I yell out.
"Huh? Did I do something wrong?" Mikoto asks.
"Y-...yo-... yoyoyo..." I lose my composure, not expecting her to be here.
"Yoyo? Sounds like an animal I've never heard of." She makes fun of me.
"Why are you here so early!? It's only been three days!" I exclaim, as she should have returned on the 5th day.
"Ah, I need to go see the Instructor." She states while ignoring me. Typical Mikoto, her conversational skills are still on another level. Reminds me dealing with her dad is gonna be a pain.
"Wait a minute! Wait just a minute!" I call out to her before she leaves.
"Eh? What? What is it?" She looks at me curiously.
How should I tell her that I'm here to catch her up with the group's increased pace without sounding overbearing and arrogant… "...well, it's just that…" I trail off.
"I've been in the hospital for a while, but today's the day I can finally come back. Oh yeah, and there's a new guy in my squad now. Can't wait to meet him." She excitedly explains.
"That's me…" I tiredly sigh out. Dealing with Mikoto really does tire me out.
"Ah! Wait a minute… are you the new guy!?" Oh she finally caught on.
"I just said I was."
"Eh?"
"Hey now, I just told you I'm the new guy in your squad."
"Ah, that's right." She still doesn't listen to a word I say. "I'm Yoroi Mikoto, nice to meet you."
"I'm Shirogane Takeru."
"Hmm… you can call me Mikoto. I'll call you Takeru." Like always, she makes things easier for me.
"Okay, I got it." I'm so glad you're still as weird as ever,
"Ah! Yoroi-san!" Tama spots Mikoto talking to me while walking out of the classroom.
"Aaaaaah! Miki-san! It's been forever~" Mikoto walks over to her and chimes.
"Oh? ...what are you doing here?" Class Rep asks, looks like she's also surprised by Mikoto being released early.
"Ah, Chizuru-san!" Mikoto greets her.
"...Yoroi?" Meiya asks, looks the squad is coming out one by one.
"Meiya-san too! And Kei-san, hi there~~!" Mikoto greets the remaining two.
"...yeah." Kei acts like the usual.
"So what is it?" Class Rep asks about the situation.
"I just bumped into her, so we were introducing ourselves." I explain to her.
"I see. I am glad you have become acquainted." Meiya states.
"Ah, that's right! I've gotta go see our Instructor!" Mikoto exclaims, looking ready to bolt away.
"Eh? Ah, hey!" I try to stop her.
"I've gotta hurry up or I'll be late for lunch! Bye, I'll see you later, Takeru!" She's as busy as ever… "Ah, that's right." She comes back.
"Hm? What is it?" I give up trying to stop her.
"Let's shake." She puts her hand out.
"O-okay." I wasn't expecting that. I shake her hand, once again reminded how small her hands are. They really don't look like a survival master's at all.
"I'm looking forward to training with you." She gives me a big smile.
"...yeah." I manage to say.
"Bye now!" She bolts off.
"...there she goes…"
"We should get going too. We don't have much time." Class Rep reminds me.
"Takeru, let us go to the PX." Meiya joins in.
"Don't be too late or you won't get to eat." Tama chimes in as well.
"It's yakisoba today…" Typical Kei and her yakisoba addiction.
To think Mikoto would come back early… That's actually a really good thing for me as it will definitely make the CCSE easier. There should also be less trouble getting the squad to warm up to me now that Mikoto is back.
After getting a quick snack from the PX, we gather for CQC combat once again. We had to pair up to spar against each other and Meiya instantly volunteered to be my partner. It looks like she really wanted to best me in return for the other practices. We were equipped with only practice knives for practice this afternoon, but she was still a fearsome foe.
She quickly lunges at me. "Whoa!" I yelled out as I dodge the knife by a slight margin. She follows up by quickly rotating and letting out a kick. "I'm not... that good!" I grunt out as I block her kick with my arms. Despite being a member of the royal family, Meiya was really incredible. While being hardworking, she refined her close combat skills to such a strong degree.
"Do not be modest. I thought Ayamine was the only one who could do this well at close quarters." She states as she lets out a slash with her knife.
"I'm really not that good at using a knife." I reply while parrying the slash.
We continued trading blows while making sure that I didn't injure Meiya by accident. Thankfully, I know all of her habits. Sparring with Meiya gives me a big advantage as I know her like the palm of my hand.
"Uu!" "Oryaaa!" We yell out while trading blows.
"To be honest, I did not think you would be so skilled." Meiya tells me.
"So you judged me by my appearance?" I jokingly ask.
"Forgive me. There are many who neglect hand to hand combat as they begin to excel in shooting." She explains.
"I can see why they would…" I don't want to imagine a TSF having to fight after it's out of ammo. But in a real battle, you have to be prepared for anything and everything. It's wonderful to excel at something. But if that skill throws off your overall balance, you can't even make use of it. A squad full of specialists is doomed if a single one of them dies. That takes me back. I remember getting lectured on that. "But still…"
"What?" She asks curiously.
"You're not letting me win." I jokingly respond.
"I cannot hold back for any opponent!" She replies as she goes for another swing.
We trade a few more blows and back away from each other once more. While panting Meiya starts another conversation. "Mm! ... th-this will not end soon…"
"What? It's only been thirty minutes… you giving up already?" I taunt her.
"R-remain silent!" Meiya barks back.
Sorry, but I've been doing this for years. Even if it comes down to endurance, I win by default.
"... haa … haa … haa …" Meiya pants, looking deep in thought.
She looks like she's desperate for a way to win this. I've been doing this long enough that I can see it on her face. In the two years after they gave up on Alternative IV as well as during the last loop… everyone trained themselves to the bone. After all of that… there's no way I can lose to you guys here.
"...you look as if you can see my every move." Meiya complains.
"Maybe." I tell her.
"...uu!" She sounds out.
"What's wrong? Did you see yourself losing?" I taunt her once again, trying to keep her in the spar.
"...Even if I did, I cannot stop now!" Meiya yells out.
"That's true…" I trail off.
"Take this!" Meiya makes a last ditch charge at me.
"Aaah!" "Yaaaaa!"
After CQC practice, we cleaned ourselves off and settled in the PX for a meal after all the hard work. Once we all sat down, Tama starts off with excitement. "Takeru-san, you're amazing. I can't believe you held Mitsurugi-san off until the match ended."
"...he did not match me, he thoroughly routed me." Meiya states while crossing her arms and closing her eyes in frustration.
"Bur wasn't it a draw?" Mikoto asks.
"...no," Meiya replies.
"Eh?" Mikoto is still confused.
"Shirogane wouldn't let her lose…" Kei helps explain.
"Really?" Tama also shows a confused look.
"Every time Mitsurugi got tired, Shirogane started talking to her. If he'd come at her all at once, he could've ended it whenever he wanted…" Class Rep gives the best explanation.
"You're thinking too hard." I try to play it off.
"Really?" Class Rep gives me a long stare.
"Unbelievable… you were so dominant I do not even feel irritated." Meiya points out.
"Same to you, you're thinking too hard." I point back at Meiya.
"...can't hide it." Kei also says.
"Damn." They totally saw through me...In a sense, I guess that means they got better and was able to see through me. I also couldn't hide it well enough.
"I was able to cross blades with a strong foe. I am satisfied with that. However, Takeru, it will not be so easy next time." Meiya smiles and tells me.
"...be gentle with me." I respond in kind.
"Takeru, you're amazing~" Mikoto chimes.
"Hm?" I look at Mikoto.
"I heard some stuff about you just now. Were you in some kind of elite unit or something?" Mikoto asks.
"Huh?" I don't know where this came from.
"You know, elite squadrons are full of people who can do everything amazingly. Doesn't that describe you, Takeru?" Mikoto says while looking confident at her analysis.
"Hey now, don't compliment me that much. I'm gonna get full of myself." I reply as Class Rep shoots me a long stare.
"Aaah, I should never have gotten injured. Then I could've seen more of this." Mikoto complains.
"Anyway, Takeru being here will raise everyone's skills, as well as morale, so I have nothing to say." Meiya steers the conversation.
"Hey, hey, what're we doing this afternoon?" Mikoto curiously asks.
"First aid training." Class Rep replies.
"Ah, that's right… Takeru, you're gonna be impressed!" Mikoto excitedly states. "Speaking of which, I saw a lot of fun TV in the hospital." There she goes super off topic again… Typical Mikoto…
"TV?" Looks like Tama is also interested in the topic.
"Yeah. You know how we can't change the channel on the TV here in the PX? In the hospital I could watch whatever I wanted." Mikoto explains.
"Wow... " Class Rep looks impressed.
"So then, I saw something really moving." Mikoto continues on.
"What was it?" Meiya also joins in.
"A dog that got left behind when its owner evacuated walked hundreds of kilometers to find him!" Mikoto tells the story.
"Eeeeeeh!? That's amaaaaazing!" Tama is impressed by the story.
"I know, right? You'd cry if you heard the details." Mikoto lets out some fake tears.
"I like stories like that." Kei nods along while Meiya stays silent.
It's probably made up. One of those propaganda programs made for civilians. In this day and age, no one can afford to take care of a pet. Especially if they live near the front lines.
"His wonder wanted to take the dog with him, but he'd gotten lost a few days before he left." Mikoto still goes on with the story.
"How'd that happen?" Class Rep also joins in.
"There was a false evacuation siren in his region, so…" Mikoto explains.
"Aaah, so the dog ran away then?" I point out.
"Yeah… but he wouldn't come back… his owner looked everywhere for him but couldn't find him, and had to leave without him… then two months later!" Mikoto finishes.
Not to mention pretty much all non military dog species have been wiped out. Wel;, eighty percent of all wild animals to be exact. All obliterated by the BETA…
"Isn't it heartwrenching!?" Mikoto asks while letting out fake tears once again.
"...yes, very." Seems like Kei liked the story.
...I guess it makes sense. Before getting commissioned, we didn't know those stories were mostly propaganda.
"And his owner believed that they'd meet again someday, so he made a doghouse and waited… aah, I couldn't watch it without crying." Mikoto stated.
A dog…
"Ah, the dog's back! Come here, come here…" Sumika yells out while holding onto a burger.
"Cut it out already." I tell Sumika.
"Hey, Takeru-chan, can I give it your fries?" Sumika asks me.
"Why my fries? I'm not letting go of them." I complain to Sumika.
"Here you go~" Sumika grabs some of my fries and gives them to the dog.
"Ah!? Hey!" I cry out. Damn this stupid dog… those little round eyes of yours are just asking for it!"Grrrrrr…" I growl at the dog. "Owie!"
Sumika pinches me."Stop it, you idiot!" Sumika scolds me. "Here you go, eat as much as you want." Sumika gives more of my fries away. My fries!~~~
Sumika…..
I haven't gotten any older. My body hasn't aged either… but my memories are fading and meshing. My old, peaceful life. My time with Sumika. Moving between parallel worlds. The annihilation of humanity. All the suffering she has to go through. I really want to see Sumika again, I need to complete the 00 unit to do so…
"Is something wrong, Takeru…?" Meiya asks me.
"...hm?" Why is she looking at me with such a concerned face? Class Rep also shows a shocked face.
"...you're crying." Kei tells me.
"Eh…!?" Wait what!?
"She's right, your eyes are watering!" Mikoto leans in and yells out.
No way!? "I-it's nothing!" I try to cover it up.
"Ah! That means… you were reaaaaally moved by that story!" Mikoto misunderstands.
"O-of course not!" I yell back.
"Don't be shy!" Mikoto tells me while smiling.
"That's not it! I just… remembered a certain someone…" I try to explain.
"...a certain someone?" Class Rep asks with a confused look.
"...a childhood friend." I tell them.
"...was she evacuated somewhere?" Meiya asks.
"She's currently very injured but she will get better." I tell them a half lie.
"Takeru-san, where'd you use to live?" Tama asks me.
"Hm…? When I was really young… I lived here." I explain.
"Eh!?" Class Rep looks very surprised.
"Back when there was still a town here… I mean." I clarify.
"I see…" Meiya breathes out.
"And Sumika lived next door to me…" I continue.
"Sumika? Is that her name?" Class Rep questions me.
"Ah.. yeah, it is… her name was Kagami Sumika." I finish the story.
"I see…" Class Rep looked a bit sad.
"Kagami's kind of a rare surname." Mikoto points out.
"I hope she gets better soon then!" Tama tells me with a comforting look.
"I told you guys, it's okay! She always used to act like a dog, hahaha, so that story just now reminded me of her!" I explain to them. "Come ooon, come ooon! Mikotooo, got any other fun stories?" I try to change the mood.
"Eh… ah… hmmmm…" Mikoto starts thinking.
"That's right! Didn't you see some weird educational program?" I try to remind her.
"Eh? Eh?" She still hasn't gotten it yet.
"You know, that nationwide hit with the weird doll… aah, what was that puppet called!?" I try to remember it's name.
"Do you mean Chop-kun?" Class Rep remembers.
"Ah, they were showing that one!" Mikoto finally remembers.
"Ah, yeah, yeah, that one! I've been told I kinda look like him." I jokingly tell them.
"Eh? Takeru and Chop-kun….?" Mikoto asks with wide eyes.
Everyone starts staring at me. "What? What on Earth is Chop-kun?" Meiya confusingly asks.
"...I think I can see why." Kei points out.
"Weeell, more like it's kinda obvious why." Mikoto makes fun of me.
"Whoever said that had some good eyes..." That was you Class Rep, you said that…
"But I can't believe that's still going!" Tama exclaims.
"I know! It was such a surprise~" I follow on. Not that I have any clue what it's about. This feels just like old times…
"If someone's lost consciousness and stopped breathing, that doesn't necessarily mean they're dead." Mikoto explains in the middle of our first aid class.
"That's true." I agreed with her.
"There's other things you need to check." She continues.
"Yeah." I nod.
"Are they bleeding? Are they conscious? Are they breathing? And you need to check their pulse as well." She points out.
"Got it." I note down.
"Now, onto artificial respiration… Takeru, would you lie down?" She requests.
"EEEH…..!?" That's right… I totally forgot about this part!
"Wouldn't it be better to demonstrate? Come one, lie down."
"...f-fine." Let's just get it over with.
"What is it? Your face is bright red." Meiya points out.
"Th-th-th-that's not true at all!" I reply while being flustered,
"Then lie down~..." Mikoto happily orders.
I lie down while Mikoto asks if I was ready. I tell her to begin and she lowers her face over mine. As she kisses me, I am reminded how soft her lips are. And then she starts blowing air into my lungs, ending my fantasy. It was nice while it lasted...
Once the demonstration ended, I sat back up and we continued onto the next section.
"Now for hemostasis." Mikoto starts up.
"Okay." I nod along.
"There are three types of hemostasis: applying pressure for normal wounds, pressing your fingers down on a bleeding artery, and using a tourniquet on potentially lethal wounds, like this…" Mikoto explains while advancing towards my arm.
"Wa! Hey! ... what're you doing!?" I try to ward her off.
"Stay still… this is how you do it using a string… there." She finishes tying the bandage on my arm.
"I-I got it." Please don't come any closer. Why do I have to relive this part too!? I didn't ask for this! Even if I wanted some reminders on first-aid, this isn't funny anymore. This part hurts after all.
"But this is still pretty loose, so you need to slide a stick through here and twist it… there. You need to raise the arm until it's higher than the heart too… here goes!" She finishes the demonstration.
"Owwwwwwww!"
"You're a man, aren't you? You can take this." Mikoto softly smiles.
"Even the toughest cadets do something shameful in front of the orderlies." Class Rep laughs.
"Shut up! Owwwwww!" This stuff really hurts!
"By the way, Takeru, have you ever read about this in a book?" Mikoto asks me after I take off the bandage.
"Not a book, no. Umm… I knew someone who'd done this in the past." That was you by the way…
"Ah, I see… then I guess there's no need to tell you whether to loosen the tourniquet or not." Mikoto looked impressed.
"You can't loosen it. If you let the blood start flowing again, then you lost everything you gained by stopping it in the first place. That's also why you have to get to a doctor within two hours, since they'll start to suffer necrosis... right?" I remember.
"That's correct! You're amazing, Takeru!" Mikoto jumps towards me and hugs me.
"H-hey… don't squeeze me!" I start to get flustered.
"Eheheh… so smart, so smart~" She starts rubbing her head on my arm.
"A-anyway, let go of me!" I tell her. She's going to start making me imagine things I shouldn't.
"Eh? Why?" She asks innocently.
"Why do you need to ask!?" It should be obvious!
"...do you hate me?" Mikoto starts looking sad. Meanwhile everyone else in the squad lets out tired faces.
"That's not the issue!" I try to point out.
"You're lying." Mikoto refuses.
"Liar…" Kei joins in to mess with me.
"Eh? He is?" Poor innocent Tama fell for it.
"How would I know!?" I retort back.
"...moving on. There's one other important factor you have to consider when dealing with a patient." Damn it Mikoto, why are you so spontaneous?
"...you have to get rid of any mental anxiety, right?" I answer.
"Yes! That's right~! So first off, stay close to them so you can reassure them." Mikoto turns to me again.
"...hm?" I have a bad feeling about this.
"Also be sure to loosen clothing, and if their head is okay then lay it down below their feet and let them sleep. You also have to keep them warm so their internal temperature doesn't drop." Mikoto continues explaining.
"What are you doing?" Oh no, I think I know what she's up to.
"You need to give them courage to keep them from freaking out." She answers.
"No, I didn't mean that…" I meant why are you lying down!?
"So, Takeru!" She calls out.
"What do you mean by that?" Don't tell me…
"Don't you feel anxious when you catch a cold?" She gives me a weakened look.
"That's not what I mean!" This is going in the completely wrong direction!
"Do you… not want my help?"
"It's nothing like that…"
"You don't have to worry about it… I don't mind or anything."
"That's not it either…"
"I'll close my eyes."
"No!" Stop already damnit!
She gets up and faces me. "Takeru, you're weird."
"No, you are!" I facepalm.
"Hey, hey, Takeru, why do you keep avoiding me?" Mikoto asks me once we step into the PX. We were here to grab dinner after the first aid class.
"I'm not avoiding you or anything." I try to explain.
"It's not your fault. I was in the hospital." She reasoned.
"What do you mean?" I don't know what she's getting at.
"It's too bad we couldn't see each other on the first day…" She starts.
"I don't think that had anything to do with it." I respond while still confused.
"But one week apart can't come between us, right Takeru?" After she said that, everyone instantly turned and looks at me.
"Hey now!" Why do you have to say it like that? …though I guess it's still my fault for letting you steer the conversation…
"Oya, isn't that Mikoto-chan!?" Someone walks up and asks.
"Ah, it's Kyozuka-oba-chan!" Mikoto exclaims.
"I heard you were in the hospital. You recovered already?" Kyozuka-oba-chan asks while smiling.
"I got back yesterday, but it was insanely busy here that day so I didn't get a chance to eat yet…" Mikoto answers her.
"Oya, I see, sorry to hear that. It was really crowded that day... " She remembers.
"And now I'm baaaack!" Mikoto shouts.
"I hear you! ...so, is this the newbie I've heard so much about?" She looks towards me.
"Hello, I'm Shirogane Takeru…" Kyozuka-oba-chan… I haven't seen you in ages.
"Hmm, hmm… not a bad man at all… you're even standing up straight… yes, you'll be a good soldier… okay!" She walks up and pats my back, causing me to jolt. "Oooh? Your body seems pretty tough too… I've been told you were good at the physical and mental stuff… so it wasn't just lies." She laughs.
"Whoa! Who'd you hear that from?" I ask her.
"That's a secret. A lot of secrets get flung around in a place like this." She laughs out.
"That doesn't sound right… If anyone would tell you about that… Marimo-chan maybe?" I guess.
"Ahahaha… you're pretty bold… using the Instructor's first name." She crackles.
"Ah… crap!" I let that slip out my mouth.
"Well, I don't mind it at all, so don't let it worry you." That saves me from being ignored by Marimo-chan again.
"Thank you." I thank her sincerely. That was bad… Oba-chan hasn't changed one bit, so I lapsed back into past behavior. Well of course she hasn't changed, I haven't met her before in this loop.
"Anyway Chizuru-chan and the others should be glad they have such a strong man on their squad." She tells us.
"Hahaha… I guess so." I respond.
"Make sure you make good use of him." She tells Class Rep.
"I plan to." Class Rep responds while smirking.
"No way!?" I jokingly respond.
"You only just noticed?" Kei remarks with wide eyes.
"That's just mean…" I follow up.
"Ahahaha, you're fitting right in, good man. Dinner will be ready in a minute, so wait right there." She tells me. I miss those days where she forced me to eat twice as much rice as the others. There isn't a reason for her to do that anymore. It does still feel a bit lonely…
"That's Sergeant Major Kyozuka Shizue. She's in charge of providing meals for everyone in the base." Class Rep introduces.
"Basically, she's the cafeteria lady." Mikoto dumbs it down.
"Okay…" I reply to Mikoto's introduction.
"She's really trustworthy. Especially to you, Ayamine-san." Tama adds on.
"... you didn't need to say that." Kei makes an annoyed face.
"...why not?" I am genuinely curious.
"Hahaha… that is because Ayamine eats the most." Meiya explains.
"...don't say weird things." Kei blushes and looks away.
"Don't hide it either." Tama grins at her.
"Kei-san, you always do some kind of exercise when you're bored, of course you get hungry a lot!" Mikoto laughs.
"You eat quite a lot too, Yoroi." Class Rep reminds her.
"Ahaha! I'm just having a growth spurt." Mikoto replies.
"Don't lie." I sternly tell her.
"I mean it. Besides, it feels like my breasts have gotten a little bigger lately." Mikoto blushes while looking up at me.
"!?" Why did you bring that up agaaaaain!? All the girls look at me with wide eyes.
"Eeeh? That must be nice… I wish I could grow a little more too…" Tama complains.
"In height?" I joke. Everyone instantly glares at me. Oh maybe that joke was a bit too far…
"Shirogane… you may be an incredible soldier, but… you don't always listen to people." Class Rep tells me off.
"Ah, they're already lining up! We'd better hurry!" Mikoto saves me from the scolding I was about to receive.
After grabbing our food, we all sat down at the table.
"Time to eat!" Mikoto claps her hands and prepares to eat. *munch* *munch* *munch* "Aaah, I feel at home again~" She lets out a satisfied sigh.
"Yoroi-san, why weren't you here this morning?" Tama curiously asks.
"Being in the hospital for so long messed up my sense of time… so I overslept… ahaha…" Mikoto explained.
"Come to think of it, you weren't here for roll call." I point out. They've gotten so used to her not being around they didn't even notice.
"Which they chewed me out for later." Mikoto sighs.
"Why were you hospitalized anyways?"
"Eh? Why would you ask a girl about that sort of thing?" Mikoto asks in return.
"Huuuh?" I was just curious. I was never told after all.
"Ah, although in your case, Takeru… maybe it'd be okay." Mikoto blushes.
"I no longer have any reason to ask." I joke.
"How cruel…" Mikoto complains.
"Yoroi being here really makes things more lively." Meiya laughs.
"More than they should be." Class Rep laughs along with her.
"After being gone for more than a week, it's gonna take a while to get used to having you around again, ahahaha…" Tama states.
"Eh? I don't think it'll be that hard." Mikoto turns to Tama. "So, what were we talking about?" She lost track again…
"... you haven't changed." Kei deadpans.
"Everyone, we have to talk." Class Rep gathers our attention. "It's almost November. There's less than a month left until the Comprehensive Combat Skill Evaluation. Will we… be ready in time?" She nervously asks.
"Yeah, I'm always ready for it." Even if it gets pushed forward.
"No problem at all." Mikoto confidently says even though she just came back.
"Yes." Meiya nods confidently.
"...yeah." Kei silently says.
"Me too!" Tama pumps her fists and shouts.
"I should tell you now, Shirogane. It may be an Evaluation, but people do die in it." Class Rep warns me.
"I know. I'm prepared for that." I tell her.
"Passing it will mark the end of basic training, allowing us to move up to TSF training." Meiya explains.
"I know that too." I remind her.
"So we don't have to tell you what it is either?" Class Rep asks.
"Yeah, they do it on some random Southern Island. And that means there'll be a jungle on it." I recall to them.
"Yeah!" Tama nods.
"It happens twice a year, summer and winter, and this is the winter one…" I trail off.
"Yeah, we failed the summer one already, so this is our last chance…" Mikoto sighs.
"Suzumiya, Suzumiya…" Kei echoes.
"Ayamine… you don't need to bring that up." Class Rep angrily replies.
"She's the other squad leader. Her team passed the Combat Evaluation last time, and they're doing TSF pilot training now." Mikoto explains to me since I was "new."
"Squad 207 was actually split into two teams." Tama follows up on the explanation.
"Suzumiya Akane… right?"
"Ho-how do you know her name!?" Class Rep shows a shocked look.
"Well… I just happened to hear someone mention that name before." I make up an excuse.
"Anyway! We cannot allow ourselves to fail! Don't you dare forget that." Class Rep orders.
"It'll be fine! We have Takeru this time." Mikoto reassures her.
"That is true. We must not slack off, but there is certainly less to be concerned about now." Meiya agrees with Mikoto.
Class Rep shows a long face. "Class Rep, why the long face?" I call her out on it.
"It's nothing…" Class Rep looks away.
I think this is where I should ask her why they failed the exam last time. While I was still thinking on how to approach the situation, Class Rep calls out. "Why don't I try to guess what you're thinking."
"...eh?" I unexpectedly call out.
"Why didn't we pass last time? …am I close?" She asks. Hey now… "You don't want to know?"
"Well no, of course I'm curious…" I didn't expect Class Rep to bring it up herself so suddenly…
"...an incompetent squad leader who couldn't control her team, and subordinates who wouldn't obey orders… is about right." Class Rep raises her hands.
"S-Sakaki-san…" Tama mutters out.
"Wh-why're you bringing this up again?" Mikoto tries to stop her.
"No it isn't. The land mines got us because we obeyed your orders…" Kei argues.
"Ayamine-san too!?" Tama cries out.
"...Yoroi advised us to take a detour. At the time we knew how important it was to value Yoroi's intuition…" Meiya adds onto the chaos.
"Meiya-san!" Mikoto can't control the situation anymore. Everyone stays silent for a bit.
"Awawa… what do we do?" Tama asks, on the verge of crying.
"Don't ask me, I don't know…" Mikoto makes a hopeless face.
What can I do to defuse the situation… I might have to say something extremely harsh to get through their thick skulls… "Hey…" I call out to them. "I know I don't understand why you two felt the need to bring this up… but can I say something?"
"What?" Class Rep replies bluntly.
"I'm gonna be blunt, okay?"
"...okay." Kei pays attention as well.
"You're all playing the victim." I call them out. They instantly stay silent. "When you want to do something as a group, organization is vital. And that organization needs an absolute chain of command. Since we're cadets, we're all inexperienced and the 'organization' is pretty small, so I can understand how this happens… but that's not what the real thing's like. However they got in command, the leader is the leader, and insubordination is intolerable. If you don't like it, become the leader yourself. With everyone's approval, of course. That's how you live within an organization. But still, the leader has to value the lives of their subordinates. Orders are absolute, but there are some guys who really shouldn't be giving them." I give them a long explanation.
"I think you're right, but… isn't that kind of extreme?" Mikoto questions.
"Well… it is. But that's exactly what I was trying to say. You can understand it, but can't accept it, right? Is that because of how I worded it?" Mikoto stays silent. "For example, if you gave an order to everyone on the base… how many of them do you think would obey it?" I give out a hypothetical question.
"...well... " Mikoto struggles to answer.
"If the CO for our whole base told everyone to die, and you told them to live, how many do you think would obey you?" Mikoto struggles in our conversation. " Of course I don't think every single one of them will die. But if you can't understand a simple example like this, that proves you're being naive. There's no right or wrong when it comes to orders." Everyone starts closing their eyes in thought. "But… think about it. Do you think someone who said crazy stuff like that could ever become a military officer? Do you think they'd be given authority? Anyone authorized to give orders will have the skill and responsibility to do it right. Isn't that a safe assumption?" I finish with a question.
"Not at all…" Kei answers.
"Hm?" I ask her to elaborate.
"There are powerful people with no skill…" Kei reasons.
"I can't deny the possibility that they exist. And I understand that… the people giving orders and those in the field may not see eye to if they both have the same overall objective, they'll have very different opinions on how to achieve it… I get that. But for those giving orders, the objective will always be the top priority, and the lives of their subordinates have to come second… that's inevitable." I tell them the harsh truth.
"!?" Kei shows a shocked and angry face.
"Wipe out the BETA, and survive afterward… it's easy to say. But when things go to hell… what can you do? Annihilating the BETA is the ultimate goal if we want to survive as a species. And the people who give us orders are responsible for deciding what we need to do to achieve it."
"They might get us killed for no reason." Kei still tries to argue.
"That's true, there may be an incompetent commander who gives a bad order and gets people killed. But still...What if you were given a good order, but chose to not obey it and got overrun by the BETA… isn't that just as likely? Not to mention, it's subjective whether anyone's death was in vain. In fact, the disobedience I just described could get a lot of people killed too." I explain.
"Shirogane's right about following orders." Class Rep tries to support my standpoint. Of course she does. "But you say it as if… you've experienced real combat before…"
Of course I have. I can still remember it very clearly. Humanity abandoning Earth… and those left behind. "I have experienced something which made this issue personal… and I'll leave it at that." I never want to feel like that again. Never again…!
"That is a rather unclear statement, but,,, I see what you mean." Meiya tells me.
I have no real confidence that I got across what I wanted to say. Interrupting those two was the goal anyway… so this is good enough. Besides, none of these girls have seen what happened, so I can't blame them for feeling differently. "I was being too forward. That must've made you all mad… sorry about that." I apologized to them.
"You do not need to apologize… but… I want you to be aware that whatever you experienced does not guarantee that you are correct." Meiya argues.
"What do you mean?" I ask her to elaborate.
"As you stated earlier, there are powerful people with no skill." She points out.
"I only said it's possible." I reply.
"There are no absolutes in human behavior. That is the one thing we can be absolutely sure of." she states.
"That makes sense." I agreed with her.
"It felt to me as if, while acknowledging that fact, you still upheld the simplistic view of obeying any order no matter what it was." She points out. "Of course I will obey my orders. But that does not mean there are no situations in which I would pause to reconsider. In order to become the leader yourself, as you said, you need to be able to evaluate the consequences of different orders. I doubt someone like yourself would overlook that contradiction... That is all I wish to say." Meiya reminds me.
Well done, Meiya… you hit the mark exactly. I guess it was obvious for her. Last time, I didn't have enough resolve, everyone helped me realize how childish I was being. After seeing them all react to my dry argument this time, I can tell. They're really good at balancing things. "I know this will sound weird after what I just said, but… I agree that for now, we could do fine simply being friends and respecting each other." I tell them honestly.
"...yeah." Mikoto nods and agrees.
"That's plenty for the time being. But…" I trail off.
"What you were saying earlier was for when that isn't enough, right?" Mikoto asks. "Like after we all graduate, then get broken up and assigned to different units…"
"...yeah." I nod. Though the different units part won't apply, but she doesn't know.
"...I'll be going now…" Class Rep sounds out. I quickly look at her. "Don't worry. I'm not going because this conversation made me feel bad or anything… anyway, bye for now." She gets up.
"Hey, can I ask you something?" I say before she leaves.
"What?" She responds.
"Why'd you bring up the subject in the first place?" I ask her.
"I wanted to find out… what you'd think of it." She bashfully responded.
"That was it? I guess I played right into it." I tell her. "But doesn't that mean you were one step ahead of me?"
"Huhu… I hope so… bye now." She leaves. At least her mood was brightened.
"Should we be going too?" Mikoto asks the group.
"Probably…" Meiya answers.
"Yeah." I agreed. We all got up and left the PX, going our separate ways.
*Slides*
Walking into Yuuko's room, she instantly raises her head from the Game Guy. Wow, she's still at it, are those black rings starting to form on her eyes? She really needs to take care of herself better.
"Oh? Perfect timing, I was thinking of calling you here today." She calls out.
"I came here because I had a feeling you would." Yuuko's been busy with both trying to mass produce the games and dealing with the changes to the 00 unit. So I've been trying not to disturb her…
"You've been visiting Yashiro, right?"
"Yes, quite a bit."
"How is it? Anything different from what you remember?" She smirks.
"You mean about Kasumi?"
"In general."
"Everything I remember is happening, the biggest change would be Mikoto coming back early, which is a beneficial change. For now I'll lay low and focus on the CCSE until it's over. Once that happens I'll inform you of the next big event."
"Hmm, got it. I have my hands full already."
"Please make sure to take care of yourself, even if the games are high priority, you should still get some more sleep."
"Yeah yeah, what are you, my mom?"
"I won't nag you anymore, but you're still one of my precious people." I tell her as I leave the room.
*Slides*
After leaving Yuuko's office, I head to the brain room to leave the recently finished Santa rabbits with Sumika. Maybe it's because I have experience in carving it, I managed to make two fairly quickly. Walking into the room, I see Kasumi standing near the tank like always.
"Hey, I'm back." I call out to her. She looks at me and nods in return. "I made these for both you and Sumika." I hand her one of the Santa rabbits. She looks pretty happy receiving it. "Can you find someplace to hang or have it near Sumika?" I ask her. She nods and hangs it at the bottom of the cylinder where it isn't transparent. "Can you help me try to talk to Sumika? It will be short, I promise."
"Okay... " She grabs my hand and walks near the tank. Once she was there, she puts her hand on the tank and started acting as a bridge for me and Sumika.
The moment she touched the tank, I started feeling scrambled and fuzzy colors show up in my mind. I focus on these colors and shout out Sumika's name. In return I started receiving garbled noises. It was like a radio that hasn't fully tuned to a channel yet. I spent another 5 minutes trying to focus and find Sumika. Even though the noises were a bit more clear, it wasn't fully there. I ended up just telling Sumika about the Santa rabbit and telling her I will be coming back in the next two days. I'll leave it to Kasumi to try to tell her about me, maybe she will have more success when Sumika is less in shock.
"See you later." Kasumi says as I leave the brain room.
I desperately need some rest as today was an extra long day. The CCSE is soon and there is a lot I need to do once we get past it… Darkness quickly takes over my vision as I fall into slumber.
AN: Phew, this chapter took me forever… Man it kept dragging on. Next chapter will either be the CCSE or I will just cover the last two days of training. Feel free to let me know if you all want me to write all the way to the end of the CCSE next chapter! I'm gonna get a bit of rest in the meantime~
I also did some updating of the previous chapters, decided to look over for proofreading and found out that FF decided to screw up my italics formatting :c