Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the concepts of the Xenosaga games. I'm just playing with them, and then I'll put them back in their boxes, Mommy, I promise. I'm making no profit out of this story, and if you sue me, you'll only get a few lint balls. I wouldn't bother with it, really.

I do own this story, and plagurizing it would make you a sad, sad, creepy little person. It'd also make me angry, and I bite. So save yourself some rabies shots and don't even try to nick it, okay?

Currently unbeta-ed. If you'd like to volunteer for the position I'd love you forever.

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Chapter One

"You," Shion accused a sheepish Jun, "are utterly hopeless." She pushed her sweaty bangs off her forehead and then grimaced at the dust she'd just smeared across her face. "Ugh. No wonder they call them dust bunnies. I swear they're breeding." Shion flapped her hands wildly, vainly trying to chase the dust motes away from her. Jun edged off while the brunette was distracted, wary of the infamous Uzuki temper. Shion let him go. He wasn't really helping her search anyway. She did wonder, however, how on earth he managed to mangle Jin's shelving system so spectacularly. A droll grin appeared on her face as she contemplated taking a picture and calling it art. With a sigh, she resigned herself to the dust, merely brushing off the top book in one of the many stacks surrounding her before plunking the volume in her lap. As much as she hated admitting it, she could see why Jin had started this store. It was... oddly peaceful, sitting on the tatami and watching the dust dance in the sunbeams as you relived the past trapped in musty pages. There were no deadlines, no stacks of paperwork, no nanomachines to go haywire and form themselves into gremlins. Still, a steady diet of loafing like this would soon drive Shion insane.

She tapped her fingers impatiently against the pages of the book on her lap. The Immigrant Fleet's religion was stunningly hard to find. Lost Jerusalem seemed to have a wealth of them, some interconnected, and others simply bizarre in the sheer difference between its origin and evolution. Shion shook her head. "Worshipping planets, worshipping rocks... No wonder the Immigrant Fleet is so weird. Understanding this gobbledygook must take being half insane to begin with."

The search that had begun with looking for a book detailing the meaning of dreams had spiraled outward in typical Shion fashion to include anything that Nephilim had alluded to, anything that related to the series of events that had so diverted her life from it's set path... which meant, of course, that Shion was nearly buried in UMN printouts and musty pages. "I could really use KOS-MOS or MOMO right now," the former Vector Chief sighed, stirring up dust and setting papers fluttering with her breath. Her nose wrinkled as the dust made her sneeze repeatedly. "Bah! Even Miyuki would be helpful." Sometimes she really regretted getting herself fired from Vector.

"Your wish is my command, Chief," a bubbly voice came from the other side of the stacks, causing Shion to startle violently. Miyuki popped out from behind a massive pile of books, her characteristic cheerfulness unchanged if the beaming smile was anything to judge by. "Itsumi Miyuki, at your service!"

Shion blinked at her former subordinate breathlessly. "Miyuki... what are you doing here?"

Miyuki plopped down, settling herself comfortably, despite the cramped space and the rather musty air. "Where else would I be? There's no way I'm staying at Vector if you're gone. Everyone knows they'll probably promote Allen, but Allen's no you, Chief." Miyuki leaned forward, whispering conspiritorily to Shion, "We've got bets running on how long it'll be until he snaps and they come to try and drag you back out of sheer stress." The impish programmer giggled. "So, Chief, when are you coming back?"

Shion blinked again. "...I was fired, Miyuki. I'm not coming back. Since I got fired from Vector I'll probably never work in any competitive industry ever again," she added, sighing wistfully. "And I'll definitely never get within spitting distance of KOS-MOS again. They thought I stole her!" Shion huffed indignantly.

"As if you'd need to, with my wonderful invention to help you kick gnosis butt," Miyuki sniffed, dismissing those allegations with an imperious wave of her hand. Shion snorted, smiling at Miyuki affectionately. "Miyuki, you haven't answered my question at all, you know."

"Aww, c'mon, Chief... we're friends. I wanted to make sure you weren't moping." Miyuki looked around, then gave Shion a wry look. "Which you are."

Shion sputtered. "Wha- what? I'm most certainly am not!"

Miyuki folded her arms. "You're sitting inside on a beautiful day, up to your nose in old, smelly books. You," she summed up succintly, "are moping. And kinda dirty," she added. Shion reached up and easily tipped a precariously perched stack of papers onto Miyuki's head. Miyuki laughed, scooting back to try to avoid the deluge.

"Hey! Friend abuse!"

Shion stood, stretching, "Miyuki, really... I'm not moping. I'm just..." The brunette paused, unable to really explain.

"Moping," Miyuki singsonged, grabbing Shion's arm. "I bet you haven't seen the sun in weeks! You've been wasting away with only the dust bunnies for company to watch your slow decline..." The shorter tech gestured melodramatically with her arm. "Well, there's no way I'm letting you stay cooped up in here. While you're waiting for Vector to come to their senses and come crawling to ask you back, we're going to have girl time!"

"Eep," Shion squeaked, drawing back slightly at the somewhat frenetic light in Miyuki's eyes. "Uh... girl time? But, ah, Miyuki, don't you need to go to work--"

"Allen will be too busy panicking to even notice I'm gone," Miyuki said carelessly, beginning to drag Shion toward the door. "You," the girl stopped short, whirling and pointing a finger that nearly stabbed Shion in the nose, "need girl time. And that means...a Miyuki-chan Super Special Fantastic Makeover!"

Miyuki beamed.

Shion paled. "M-makeover..?" A little voice in Shion's brain began screaming 'run, run away fast before she puts you in some weird manga costume and colors your hair electric pink'. Shion was inclined to believe that the little voice was her common sense, and would've loved to take the advice, but Miyuki was stronger than she looked. Shion had already been dragged outside, and they were swiftly approaching the gate to the small property, where it would take only a few minutes to catch the rail to the main city sectors. All she could do was pray frantically.

"Hey Chief, have you ever heard of Magical Girl Pretty Sammy? Or oooh... You know that new anime they have out, Sweet Love Angel? They have the cutest hairstyles in that, and you know, I bet you could pull off one, you know, the one that the girl with the green hair has..."

Shion whimpered, reaching up the clutch her hair protectively.

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A/N: A special thanks to rdsullivan, my very first reviewer on this story! As a thank you, do you have any requests? Besides chaos, because he will definitely be a major part of this story. I have several theories about our hunky mystery man, and I definitely sense a connection to Shion... This is going to evolve into a Shion/chaos, because really... after seeing that animation for the Dual Spell Ray, how could I not? Heh.

Sweet Love Angel is, of course, some name I randomly pulled out of my head. Any resemblance to the name of a real anime/manga/whatever is purely coincidental.

On a seperate note: This story is rated M for several reasons: there is going to be graphic violence, in the sense that very few of our beloved characters have happy memories, and Shion seems to have gone through a truckload of trauma, there's going to be swearing, because... yeah, some of these situations are gonna make even the most proper little Japanese science geeks pop out a few damns, and well... adult situations. I will reveal no more. Anyone who dislikes any of the afforementioned... well, you have a back button, and the freedom to click, ne?