Winds of Destiny: Rising
Chapter Twenty: Hope and Faith
The President of the Hero Public Safety Commission walked into the large conference room on the fifth floor and took her seat. Around the wide conference table sat Shadou, Misaki, Gran Torino, and Detective Tsukauchi. The five of them comprised the only authorized personnel within the hero and police forces who were aware of the full agenda to combat the Paranormal Liberation Front, other than Hawks. She could almost feel a palpable tension hanging in the stale air of the meeting room, likely due to the severity of the agenda they'd gathered to discuss.
The undercover officer they'd planted within the hospital had finally captured photographic evidence of the doctor with a miniature Nomu early in the week. He'd also reported the discovery of a hidden laboratory in the basement that could be accessed by way of the morgue where the doctor was likely to be conducting his research. That, coupled with the coded message Hawks had passed to Misaki during their last outing gave them everything they needed to finally make their move on all the Liberation bases throughout the country, as well as the hospital in Jaku.
Two days ago, a high-priority meeting had been held at the Safety Commission Headquarters for all of the heads of every hero training institution across the country. They had been invited, unbeknownst to them, to discuss the capacity in which their students were to be involved in the upcoming raids. Although the President had the authority to determine any hero's involvement, while the students were still in school, they were ultimately the responsibility of the institution they were enrolled at. The principal of UA had been the only one willing to allow his students to participate in the main battle areas. The rest would be filtered throughout the satellite base monitoring teams for backup.
If the President had her druthers, she wouldn't be sending any of the students into the main battles at all, but the Principal of UA had been confident in his students' abilities to handle themselves safely and professionally in that situation. Given their past involvement as a target of the League of Villains, she had been inclined to agree with him. Even though it made her uncomfortable, the unfortunate truth of the matter was that their involvement was necessary. They would have several of their pro-hero teachers to supervise them, and if their Principal believed in them, she had no reason not to as well.
The President looked around, meeting the eyes of all those in attendance before speaking, "Let's go over the plan. We can't afford to let even the smallest detail slip through the cracks or we're likely to end up with an even greater disaster than Kamino on our hands."
Detective Tsukauchi nodded to her from his seat and began to lay out the plan they'd outlined so far. "Early Saturday morning, the police will coordinate with several mid-ranking hero agencies around the country to move on each Liberation Army base, while the main force, led by Edgeshot, conducts the raid on the Villa at Gunga Mountain. I will be coordinating the raid on the hospital, which will be led by Endeavor."
The detective looked across the table at Misaki who nodded in response and lifted the remote to turn on the television screen on the far wall. A spread of pictures split into two groups appeared on the screen.
The detective continued, "All of the top-ranking heroes in the country will be split between these two teams. Evacuation teams will quickly and quietly usher civilians out of harm's way directly prior to the commencement of the raids. We plan to keep the majority of the fighting as contained as possible within the hospital and the villa, but support teams will be in place should the battle spread outside those zones."
"What about the students?" The President asked, looking to the detective.
"Team A will provide backup support to the villa raid team." A spread of the students that had been assigned to the villa raid team filled the screen. Several of the photos darkened slightly, highlighting four specific students.
"Those who possess quirks which could assist with crowd control will be involved in the initial incursion before being ordered to fall back with the support team, whose main function will be to apprehend and detain anyone who manages to escape the raid on the villa," Detective Tsukauchi explained.
The screen changed again, showing a different group of students as the detective continued, "Team B will be tasked with evacuating civilians from the area surrounding the hospital. These students were chosen for two reasons. Those with quirks that are best suited for evacuation and rescue and those who can protect civilians should any of the Nomu escape from the underground lab."
"We're not really expecting first-year hero students to do battle against the Nomu, are we?" The President asked incredulously, her tone and expression full of concern.
"Not battle," the gruff voice of Gran Torino piped up in response. "Their orders will be to create a diversion and draw the Nomu away from any civilians if necessary. We've included them in the plan as a contingency measure only, should any of the Nomu manage to get past the heroes at the hospital. We don't know how far the doctor's lab spans out beneath Jaku, or what kind of escape tunnels he may have created."
"Speaking of underground tunnels," the detective interjected as the photos of the students on the screen changed to a schematic of the underground tunnels at the Liberation villa. "In conjunction with the main force's attack on the front entrance to the villa, teams will be dispatched to each escape tunnel opening in the surrounding area to plug up all other possible escape routes and keep the battle focused at the entrance. Once that task is completed, the students will rendezvous with the backup support regiments to assist with detaining any Liberation members who manage to flee the battle."
Shadou was the one to speak up next, "We've scheduled a meeting with Yotsubashi Rikiya to discuss the possibility of a joint venture into support items. The meeting will be conducted here at the Hero Public Safety Commission Headquarters at the same time as the raids. Whether he's the real one or a double, as suspected, we plan to take him into custody once we have him secured."
It was a solid plan. But so was Kamino. Where they'd fallen short there had been with their lack of preparation. They'd spent the last three months doing little else but preparing for this battle. Still, she couldn't say she was confident that they were completely prepared for every possibility.
The President glanced down with a severe expression and asked the room, "Where are the possible complications?"
Misaki's somber-toned voice iterated, "Gigantomachia."
"He won't make any moves without orders," Gran Torino countered almost dismissively.
"Provided that the hospital team does their job and keeps Shigaraki from calling for him," Shadou unexpectedly backed up Misaki's sentiment, causing the President to blink in shock.
Misaki appeared to be just as taken aback by the sudden support. It was no secret that the relationship between those two had always been a little contentious. Shadou was known to be a hard ass with very little patience for those who didn't meet his standards, whatever those were. She'd worked side by side with the man for years and she still couldn't say she completely understood what it took to gain the man's grudging respect. She had noticed that he seemed to be quite a bit harder on Misaki than she'd known him to be on others in the past, and she'd never really been able to get him to tell her why. It almost seemed as though he just didn't want to accept her.
"Which brings up another possible complication," the mellow voice of Detective Tsukauchi chimed in. "Shigaraki; how far his modifications have progressed at the hands of the Nomu doctor and how much of a threat he'll pose if he enters the battle."
"That's the main reason we have Endeavor leading the hospital raid team instead of the one at the villa. If it becomes necessary, we'll need him there to engage Shigaraki and the High End Nomu," the President said, acknowledging the man's concern.
With All Might out of the picture, Endeavor was their best hope to combat the Doctor's supped-up Nomu creatures, including Shigaraki. He'd been caught off guard in Kyushu and underestimated the Nomu's abilities, which was what had led to the severity of his injuries. He wouldn't make that mistake again. In concerns to Shigaraki, they were banking on the progress of his modifications being incomplete enough to keep him out of the battle at the hospital. If they were wrong about the time frame, or if the Doctor was somehow able to escape with Shigaraki in his incomplete state, both scenarios would be tantamount to failure for the operation.
"What do we do if Shigaraki does manage to call for Gigantomachia?" Shadou asked, his typically somber tone grave.
The President sighed heavily and replied, "If that happens, which I think we can all agree would be the absolute worst-case scenario, he'll have to get past the massive force of heroes at the villa first."
"And when he does?" Gran Torino asked, his phrasing clearly indicating his opinion about the hero's chances of holding back the giant.
Silence stretched out across the conference room in response.
"Suggestions? Anyone?" The President prompted. They couldn't go into this battle without some kind of contingency plan for their worst-case scenario.
"We dispatch Best Jeanist," Misaki suggested suddenly.
"Jeanist?" Shadou scoffed. "He's in no condition to take on a monster of that size and power."
Best Jeanist's supposedly dead body was currently being held at one of the Liberation Front's secret facilities. The procedure that he'd undergone at Central Hospital to put him in a deathlike state could be counteracted easily by administering a certain chemical compound via injection, but the doctors had cautioned them that remaining in that state for a prolonged period of time would result in a longer recovery time. It was a risky tactic. If they were going to include Best Jeanist in the plan, they would have to calculate the timing of his awakening perfectly.
"Maybe not, but he's the only one who might be able to restrain him until he runs out of steam," Misaki countered, turning toward the television as a map showing the distance between the villa and the hospital popped up on the screen. "The villa is almost eighty kilometers away from the hospital. That's a long way to travel, even for a giant his size. I have to think that battling through the heroes at the villa, and traveling over that kind of distance, will wear him down enough for Best Jeanist to hold him back."
"Having personally faced that monster once before, I strongly doubt that any of that will be enough to tire him out," Detective Tsukauchi commented gravely.
Gran Torino hummed, a thoughtful look crossing his stern face as he reached up a hand to rub his chin. "There will be a couple of heroes in the villa raid team with quirks that might be able to slow him down, but I'm with Tsukauchi on this. That's a pretty big 'if'."
"Does anyone have any better ideas," the President said, staring around the room at all of them.
Her query was met with averted gazes and somber silence.
She turned her attention to Misaki. "Figure out the optimal timing for Best Jeanist's awakening and pass the order on to Hawks."
Misaki nodded and jotted down a quick note in her black book.
The President turned her attention to the rest of them. "If anything else comes up, contact me directly. Otherwise, we all have our assignments. Let's all do our utmost to ensure the success of this operation."
As they rose from their seats and prepared to leave the room, the President called out, "Misaki."
The young woman stopped in her tracks and turned around to look at her. "I'll be relying on you to lead our onsite command center from Jaku during the operation."
The President herself would be meeting with the CEO of Detnerat during the raids, and she'd placed Shadou in charge of the villa command post in HOMEC, which left Misaki to lead the hospital team. She'd split the duty like that on purpose. If she'd put Misaki in charge of the villa command center, she wasn't certain that the woman would be able to remain objective if something were to happen to Hawks during the battle. His plan was to keep himself and the villain Twice out of the fray, but if something were to go wrong, she couldn't have Misaki losing focus during such an important operation.
Her cherry blossom colored eyes widened in shock and she stuttered in reply, "What? A-are you sure?"
She nodded. "You are more knowledgeable about the Nomu and their capabilities than anyone. There will certainly be several of them waiting in the underground lab at the hospital. Not to mention Shigaraki himself. I need someone in command of our people who understands the severity of the situation and will be able to react accordingly as necessary. Your word will be as good as mine."
Misaki continued to stare at her like a deer in the headlights before replying in a raspy voice, "No pressure."
The President leaned back against the table, crossing her arms and turning her head to regard the young woman. "How are you doing?"
She blew out a sigh and leaned back against the table next to her, lifting her tablet up and clutching it to her chest. She kept her gaze trained on the ground as she replied, "I'm fine. Just ready for all of this to be over."
"We all are," the President sympathized.
Misaki raised her eyes to hers and asked, "Do you really think this will work? All of our planning and preparation... Is it enough?"
She thought for a moment about the best way to phrase her response before replying, "It has to be. After coming this far, failure is not an option. Everyone involved in this operation understands that. And they're prepared to give their all to ensure our success."
"Yeah..." Misaki trailed off, dropping her gaze once more. "I guess I'm still worried about what we don't know. Like how far Shigaraki's procedure has progressed. And how many of those High End Nomu they have waiting in the wings. There's still so much that could potentially go wrong. It just seems like this plan is riding a lot on hope and faith."
The President nodded somberly. "Unfortunately, you're not wrong. All we can do is our best with the time and resources available to us. And yes. Have faith. But not in the plan. In the heroes we have to carry out that plan, and the people working behind the scenes to make sure they have the best chance possible to succeed."
Misaki lifted her head and met her gaze, offering her a small smile before telling her, "You're right. Sorry. I guess I just got a little overwhelmed."
The President smiled back at her cordially. "You're still inexperienced. It takes time to build up a thick skin in concerns to these types of operations. Don't worry, having nerves like those is normal. I'd be more worried if you were nonchalant about it."
"Thank you, Madam President," Misaki said, her tone sincere.
The President reached out to lay a hand on the young woman's shoulder. "I have faith in you, Misaki. Have a bit of faith in yourself."
She smiled a bit tightly in response and nodded. Pushing off from the table, Misaki offered her a shallow bow before turning and walking out of the conference room. The President watched her go with mild concern. When Misaki had come to her and told her about her involvement with Hawks and his assignment, she'd been more than a little reserved about the issue. The woman wore her emotions on her sleeve most of the time, and she was a terrible liar. Not exactly what they looked for in covert operatives. Even though Hawks would be able to guide her, it had seemed like an unnecessary risk.
It had surprised her how easily Misaki had slipped into the act. That was no doubt mostly due to her history and familiarity with Hawks, but she'd been successful at covertly passing intel back and forth without tipping off the Liberation Front to their secret agenda. She had to admit, she was impressed. The woman had never failed to prove that she could do almost anything she set her mind to, and do it well. Her talent and tenacity made her a formidable force within the upper ranks of the Commission, the likes of which actually reminded her of someone she knew quite well. Herself.
That had been the driving force behind her decision to entrust the leadership of the hospital raid team to her. To call it a test would be downplaying the severity of the assignment itself. She would never have considered placing Misaki in a leading role if she wasn't absolutely sure that she would excel at it. The success of the operation was far too important to risk on a possibility. Not that her counterpart was particularly accepting of her assessment of the woman.
As if he'd known she'd been thinking about him, Shadou stepped out of the shadow behind the conference room door and addressed her acrimoniously, "I don't agree with this. Testing out her leadership abilities during an operation of this magnitude."
"Call it a good opportunity to evaluate her potential in action, since you appear to value my opinion on the matter so little," the President replied, her tone just as spiteful.
"I don't doubt her potential. What I doubt is your faith in her to live up to it in this capacity. This operation is too important to leave in the hands of a twenty-two-year-old with only a year of experience. If this goes sideways, it'll be our heads on the chopping block," he iterated harshly, tapping his finger on the table with some force to reinforce his point.
The President held her ground, meeting his critical stare with one of her own. "Which is why we are going to such painstaking lengths to make sure we have planned for all contingencies. This will be the largest organized hero operation in the history of our society. It must be a success. At all costs. Otherwise, we really will have failed society as a whole, and we might as well just step down anyway."
Shadou clicked his jaw, staring down his nose at her coldly.
The President relaxed her stance and sighed. "All I am asking is that you give her a chance. Let her prove that she has what it takes to lead under pressure. If she folds, by all means, take command. But if she thrives… Let her handle it. I'll take the blame if it all falls through."
Shadou held her gaze for a moment, frowning deeply. He slowly shook his head before commenting darkly, "For the record, I am opposed to this course of action."
The President narrowed her eyes and inclined her head as she replied, "Noted."
Misaki walked through the external entrance to the UA High School grounds and stopped short at the sight of a familiar face awaiting her just inside the gate. "Principal Nezu?"
The mousy principal smiled up at her in greeting. "Good afternoon, Torimodo-san. Would you mind if I walked with you?"
She returned his warm smile and softly shook her head. "No, of course not."
They both turned and began walking in the direction of the teacher's dormitory. After a moment, the Principal broke the silence and addressed her, "I wanted to thank you for all of the support that you've given to Eri. I doubt she would have been able to make it this far so quickly without your help."
Misaki slid her hands into the pockets of her tan jacket and shrugged. "I think it had more to do with Eri's motivation than anything else. She's always had the same goal in mind. To undo the damage that Overhaul's manipulation of her DNA has caused or may cause in the future. For someone so young, she places a lot of responsibility on her own shoulders."
The Principal nodded, ducking his head and clasping his hands behind his back as he walked. "Too true. Considering all of the progress she's made, once she is able to safely control her quirk, we've decided to start looking for a permanent home for her."
Misaki turned her head sharply to stare down at him in shock. "What?"
The Principal raised his head and smiled a sad sort of smile. "Of course, everyone here has enjoyed having her around, but she can't live at the school forever. She needs a stable family to adopt and care for her."
She couldn't deny his point, or the pain she felt in her heart at the thought that her visits with the little girl would soon be drawing to a close. She ducked her head and commented dejectedly, "Yeah, you're right."
"Would you consider it, Torimodo-san?" The Principal suddenly asked.
Misaki turned her head and blinked down at him, asking, "What?"
He stopped walking and turned to look up at her as he said, "Becoming her family."
She couldn't help the startled gasp that left her in reaction to the sudden suggestion. Raising her hand to clutch the lapel of her jacket over her chest she asked in shock, "Me?"
The Principal turned his head to stare across the lawn at something with a fond look on his mousy face. "She's comfortable with you, and we all know that you care very deeply for her."
She was almost too shocked at the suddenness of the situation to react, shaking her head and hastily replying, "My life is far from stable! I work such hectic hours, and I'm hardly ever home. Bringing a child into that environment…" Misaki turned her head to look out across the lawn at Eri, playing with her third-year aids in front of the dorm. "It wouldn't be fair to her."
The Principal's hand gently patted her on the leg as he told her, "I am only asking that you consider it. For Eri."
She turned her head to glance down at him, attempting to smile but feeling like it came off looking like more of a grimace as she said, "Okay."
The Principal smiled back at her and bowed his head before turning to walk off toward the dorm, passing by Eraser Head who was walking toward them from the opposite direction. When he stopped in front of her, she asked, her tone aghast, "Did you know?"
He stood there with his hands in his pockets, staring back at her evenly as he replied, "I was the one who recommended you."
Her jaw dropped and she stood there, just staring back at him in shock.
He averted his gaze after a moment, reaching up to scratch the side of his head while commenting dryly, "It's not really that hard to believe, is it? You've seen the way she lights up when you're around. You've gone out of your way to make time to help her, even when you've been so busy with work. All we've ever wanted is to find a home for her with someone who will make her feel safe and happy." He turned his gaze back to hers as he finished, "And cared for unconditionally."
Misaki was completely speechless. She'd had no idea they'd been considering asking this of her. Nor had she even thought to consider the possibility herself. She could barely take care of herself half the time, how could she ever hope to care for a child? There was no way! It was just ridiculous… Wasn't it?
"Just, think about it," Eraser said before turning and heading back toward the dorm, leaving her to stew in her disbelief on her own.
Two nights later, Misaki sat comfortably in her lounge chair with her legs crossed, resting her chin on her hand and staring forlornly down at the list of houses on the screen of the laptop that was balanced a bit haphazardly in her lap. Her eyes had almost completely glazed over by that point and she was starting to have a hard time discerning which ones she had already looked at. She scrolled her fingers down on the trackpad to move further down through the listings before letting out a heavy sigh. She felt like she'd been scrolling for hours and she still had no idea what exactly she was looking for.
She hadn't actually made a decision one way or the other on whether or not to adopt Eri. At the moment, she was still having trouble wrapping her mind around the thought of becoming the little girl's mother all of a sudden. Considering that she was a single woman with a full-time job that sometimes required her to work a substantial amount of overtime, she couldn't help but feel like they were asking a little too much of her. The last thing she wanted to do was stick Eri in daycare all the time while she was working; in that case, there would be no point in adopting her at all.
Sitting back in her chair, Misaki reached up to rub her fingers over her tired eyes. She'd spent the entire night after her visit to UA tossing and turning while overthinking herself into a mess of anxiety and indecision. It had started out nice enough as she imagined what it would be like to spend her days together with the child. Eating breakfast together, getting ready for work and school in the mornings, and coming home to have dinner and work on homework or read a story, maybe watch a movie, or play a game. That had quickly spiraled into Eri entertaining herself while Misaki did her own work at the dining room table, and then at the office late into the night while Eri waited for her at a daycare center, or worse, at home alone.
By the time the sun had begun to peek through her curtains, she decided that thinking about what their life would be like together was only going to be hazardous to her health. Not wanting to set the issue aside though, she'd decided to switch gears and start considering the logistics of the adoption instead, putting her tendency to overthink things to good use by making real plans. The first thing she'd realized was that her current living situation was going to need a significant upgrade if she was going to be welcoming Eri into it.
Her phone suddenly began to buzz on the table, drawing her out of her musings. Shock flashed through her at the name on the caller ID and she quickly tapped the button on the screen to answer it.
"Hi," she answered, her voice somewhat husky from the onslaught of unexpected emotion.
"Hey. This a bad time?" The voice of Hawks greeted her from the other end of the line, his tone slightly tinged with concern.
She softly cleared her throat and said, "No, it's fine. I wasn't expecting you to call tonight."
"I just wanted to hear your voice all of a sudden," he crooned in her ear as she walked toward the balcony and stepped outside.
The smile that suddenly tugged at the corners of her mouth filtered into her voice as she replied, "Sweet talker."
She heard him chuckle softly before he asked, "We still on for our date tomorrow?"
Right, the date - aka: the raids.
She immediately sobered and slipped into work mode before responding. "Yeah. I managed to work things out with the office. Is everything good on your end?"
"All set," came his somewhat clipped reply a moment later.
"Great. I can't wait…" She trailed off, making an effort to sound less somber than she was feeling about the situation at the moment, not really confident that she'd succeeded.
She'd been so wrapped up in thinking about the possibility of adopting Eri, that she hadn't had much time to think about the upcoming raids. Not that her work had suffered because of it; she'd been compartmentalizing her job duties and her personal agenda practically since she'd been assigned the task of decoding Hawks's correspondence. She was focused on work while she was there, but she hadn't allowed herself room to dwell on any of that after she walked out the door. There were other, equally important things she needed to be thinking about outside of work at the moment.
"Did you have anything special planned?" Hawks asked, successfully regaining her attention.
Misaki mentally prepared a brief, coded reply to signal him about their initial incursion plan. "I figured we'd start by taking a walk through the main thoroughfare since the side lanes will probably be blocked off by food stalls and such. Unless you think we might stand out too much?"
"Nope! Sounds perfect," came his immediate response. "Do you wanna meet up at the park or somewhere close by when it's time?"
He was asking if they were prepared to move on all locations within the designated timeframe.
"You know, it'll be busy no matter where we go. Why don't we just talk about it when we're ready to meet up," Misaki replied, indicating that they were ready.
"Sounds like a good plan," his even tone voice sounded in her ear. "Were you going to be packing a lunch?"
A lunch? Was he asking what she was going to be doing during the raids?
"I'm gonna be busy looking after my coworker's cats that morning, so I won't have time to make anything," she hesitantly replied, using the word 'cats' in reference to the Nomu, indicating that she would be involved with the raid on the hospital.
His tone dipped a little with concern when he asked, "Really?"
Misaki cringed slightly, trying to keep the trepidation out of her voice as she continued, "Yeah, she's going out of town for the weekend, and since I'm pretty knowledgeable about cats, she asked if I could help look after them while she was gone. She's an older woman who lives alone, so she's very protective of them."
She'd been prepping nonstop since the President had informed her that she'd be leading the hospital raid command center from Jaku during the operation. They had assigned thirty Hero Public Safety Commission analysts who would be under her direct supervision to man the outpost. Detective Tsukauchi would be directing the heroes and the police officers while she and her team would be in charge of threat analysis, technical support, and evacuation coordination.
"That sounds like a lot of responsibility," Hawks commented. His tone was light, but she could tell from the way he'd spoken that he was concerned for her.
She leaned back against the balcony railing and crossed an arm over her ribs as she replied, "Yeah. But it's nothing I can't handle."
Truthfully, she was a ball of barely contained anxiety about the task. She had everything planned down to the letter, but she would be dealing with people, not machines. She could direct them, but it was up to them to interpret those orders and follow her directives. Most of the analysts they'd assigned to her team had several years of experience on her, and they were suddenly being asked to trust her to lead them during one of the biggest and most important operations in the history of hero society. She still wasn't sure that she really trusted herself to do that.
As if sensing her unease, Hawks's typical jovial voice sounded over the speaker a moment later to say, "That's too bad! I was hoping I'd get to taste your home cooking."
Misaki welcomed the lighthearted tension breaker, laughing softly under her breath before responding, "Maybe once the festival is over, I'll invite you over for dinner."
"Finally gonna let me see your place, huh?" Hawks's interested voice asked.
She smiled to herself and said, "I'd say you've earned it."
"I'm really looking forward to getting to spend some time alone with you," his suddenly soft, but serious voice drifted into her ear through the phone speaker.
"I—" She started, but swiftly cut off as her breath suddenly caught in her throat.
The realization that their somewhat forced separation would be over after the raids tomorrow suddenly crashed through her. There would be no more fake dates, or coded messages, or people spying on their every interaction. She felt both relieved and terrified at the prospect that they might finally get to address all of the subtle, and sometimes not too subtle innuendo that had been tossed around between them since he'd called out to her at the Safety Commission headquarters almost four months ago.
"What's up?" Hawks's voice lightly quipped in her ear.
Her low-toned voice quivered a bit as she quietly replied, "I'm looking forward to tomorrow too. I better go. It's getting late. Goodnight, Hawks."
"Dream of me," she heard him say as she prepared to hang up the call.
A small, nostalgic smile spread across her face as she faintly told him, "In your dreams."
She could hear his reciprocating smile in his voice when he responded, "Always. Goodnight, Misaki."
She hung up the call and stood there for a long moment, staring down at the phone in her hands as she leaned back against the balcony railing. The late evening wind blew past her and she almost thought she heard it bring the faint sound of fluttering wings with it. She huffed, blaming the notion on the sense of nostalgia still clinging to her from the end of the phone call, and moved to head back inside.
~ Author's Note ~
Uuuuwwwwaaaaa! We made it to the war arc! Banzai! It sounds like a filler chapter, I know, but there were several things that were important to set up going into the climax of this story, and anyway... I hope you enjoyed it!
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