Chapter 2: No Longer alone

This has never happened before... How is this possible? Am I truly no longer alone on this loop?

"Shirogane... I have to tell you, as this is all new to me too but the reason why I'm here in this loop, as you call it is because of the combined efforts of Yashiro and the 00- Sumika."

Yuuko rested her chin on her hands while I slouched in my seat. To both of us it was the starting point, a new beginning, so they had to make a significant amount of preparations.

Molding the future to their standards wasn't easy. The thousands of times I had taken to do so was proof of that.

"We've both started a new loop after prematurely ending the last one. Combined with Kagami and Yashiro's aid, we were able to retain our memories of former instances we've gone through in this world. This at least confirms our suspicion about the hidden rules governing our status as causality conductors."

I nodded in confirmation. That was one of the most significant changes we've been able to make. One they saw absolutely necessary to achieve in order to have a chance at ending the war with the BETA properly.

I was just truly and utterly relieved despite not showing it. I've gone through hell and beyond alone, having to start over my progress each and every time I failed. Despite the amount of effort I put in, the satisfactory ending where everyone survives... was never reached.

This time however things were different. This time I'm not alone.

Kouzuki Yuuko had become a causality conductor just like him.

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(October 23, 2001 Tuesday) (Yokohama base barracks)

With our discussion and conclusion of us being casualty conductors we decided to continue the path I did on countless loops until Alternative V was dismissed for Alternative IV. I also gave Yuuko-Sensei the location of my partner and had her bring it back to base as my secret personal unit.

I spent the next day assigned to the same room and getting to know my instructor, Jinguuji Marimo. But when I met her I had the craziest vision ever. Back when I had a loop in my old peaceful world… there was actually a time when I actually… dated Marimo chan. I didn't cry when I saw her. I guess you could say that I got over her death all those time. Her death was one of the first I've ever regretted and that alone brought me so much despair that it broke my resolve.

Getting reassigned back to the 207th cadet training squad is essential for me to integrate my OS and try to keep them all alive.

"I'll be introducing you to your assigned squad" Marimo said to me after she came to pick me up from my room. "It's rare to see male conscripts nowadays so forgive them if they look surprise"

"Yes, thank you for having me, instructor"

"But I have to admit that I was surprised. (Eh?) The Vice Commander, highly recommended you to the training regime and said that you had a special case. She said that you threw away your exemption from draft papers to join"

Smiling at the little white lie Yuuko-Sensei made I played along.

"Ah yes I did" I replied with a bit of determination in my voice "So I'll be in your care ma'am"

"I know that you're just a regular boy Shirogane but… (Hmm?) I have to ask. If the information I ask for is classified then don't tell me. But Yuuko-san asked me to also protect you at all cost and send you to her if you were ever injured in some way" Marimo looked really serious but deep within I can sense some part of the old Marimo sensei. My old favorite school teacher who scolded me whenever I drifted off in class.

"Ah that… I guess you could say that I'm a special case. (Special) I'm a bit reluctant to say anything about it since it's classified, let's just leave it at that, Marimo-chan. (Glare) Ah sorry hehe I'm kinda not a fan of formalities, apologies instructor"

"Hmm… I'll let it slide this once"

Upon arriving at the training center I saw my old squad doing a marathon around the old track field. I remember this place well. I used to have lunch here when I was back in high school. Heck we even had the sports festival here too. Hahaha… thinking about it now… I kind of remember of Class rep's Lacrosse team. Hehehehe… ah damn it… I can't cry for Marimo-chan but I'm crying over a simple sport. Heh… I'm pathetic.

"Squad, assemble!" Marimo called out. My heart skipped a beat for a moment there. Even though I have seen this scene play out over and over again I can't help but feel sad and happy at the same time. Over by the distance I could see my squad slowly coming together in pairs.

On my left running towards Marimo in full speed was Tamase Miki. A little girl who was a lot older than she looked with pink hair and lolicon like figure and a natural sniper. Back in my original world, she was a member of the archery club but gets uncomfortable when people are watching. In my loops I formed a romantic attachment with her in both this world and my old world, she became my wife in one of the loops if I remember correctly. Darn… I guess I had a Lolicon complex myself.

Following right behind her were Chizuru Sakaki, AKA: Class rep and Ayamine Kei.

I too had romantic relationships with both of them. Class rep was strong, dependable but stubborn at time. If I remember correctly, her father is supposedly the current prime minister of Japan but they had an argument over her conscription that's why she joined the UN army here in Yokohama base. Back in my world, she was the captain of the school's Lacrosse team and a fiery bunch. In both world loops I married her, she was the woman that made me focused on whatever task I had. Heh… even now those memories are…

"Takeru... I'm glad I met you..."

"Sakaki!!!!"

ah… forget it. Those memories aren't needed right now.

As for Ayamine… well let's say that she's a bit of strange one in this world and the other. Back in my world she had a rather strange relationship with a doctor named Sagiri Naoya who… in this world is a captain of the imperial defense. That reminds me… he was also the one who led the rebellion on the 12/5 incident. I'll have to do something about that and make sure no lives are lost on my squad. Her late father was a General in the Imperial army. Ayamine is a person who you would call an odd ball. But in every way she resembles Class rep a lot. She's stubborn, but she follows her own rules and doesn't tolerate incompetence.

These two often fight with one another like a viper and mongoose. They're natural enemies but they tolerate their existence for the sake of the mission.

"Oi! Mitsurugi, come on, hurry up!" My heart froze at the call of the name. As my eyes turned to the left there stood a girl who was just finishing her rounds. Her long blue hair and eyes and slender body was difficult to miss.

"Meiya…"

"Takeru... pls get it over with..."

"No! Meiya there has to ano-"

"TAKERU!"

I stopped in shock.

"You have no choice... I'm fatally wounded and no amount of *Cough* medical assistance will help me... "

" Meiya..."

"At the very least… I would like the… the person that I loved… to be the one… to send me… to my grave"

" I beg you Takeru. SHOOT!"

"Forgive my tardiness. I had just finished doing my laps" yup. There was no doubt about it. This is Meiya. Her cool samurai look, her calm presence. If she stood in the middle of crowd you could probably pick her out in space. I know her like I know myself. In my world she was the youngest daughter of the Mitsurugi financial group. She came to my house on October 22 to win me over. In my time loop I made a promise to her when we were kids. After that I married her and my life became such a hell full of studying and politics. Thankfully I had the Sunday off. In this world however… Meiya was different. She was the sister of the Grand Shogun of Japan but has very little connections to it. The government sees her more as a nuisance rather than an asset. But in the end… they see her as nothing more but a political tool. Something which I'll plan to change.

I remember those last moments when I fought the core Hive of BETA during my last loop. Meiya fought so hard and even lied to me about our comrades and in the end I had to be the one to end her life. I pulled the trigger to the particle cannon that destroyed both her and the core. My eyes watered a bit as I saw her. To see someone that I also cared about deeply… killed by my own hands was just something too cruel for me to bear.

Wait a minute…

I remember seeing Meiya's sister in this world but… was she in my world too? I began to see pictures of my old school and Meiya standing at attention with her sister, Yuuhi. Wait… here she's called Yuuhi Kobuin… but there she's Yuuhi Mitsurugi. She wasn't in my school there in my world… but if so… what are all these memories?

What the hell is going on?

"Alright, everyone. I will now introduce to you the newest member of your squad" Marimo-chan announced to them in a professional manner. "This is Cadet Shirogane Takeru, newly assigned to squad 207. He will be training with us starting tomorrow. He was highly recommended by the Vice Commander, Yuuko Kouzuki so we will test him later on. Get along with him, understood? (Ma'am!) I've already given him the tour around the barracks so Sakaki (Yes!) show him around the rest of the base so he'll become familiar with the place. (Understood ma'am) We'll train for ten more minutes. Shirogane, you watch for now"

I saluted and followed her orders to the letter. Watching my friends pass me by like a newbie I felt a slight ting of happiness within me. Though much of my thoughts were troubled I had to leave them for a later time.

'Tekkadan... thank you for the opportunity that you've given me to take back and save this world'

My comrades… all of them… all of them are still alive. Just looking at them sweating and laughing from here made my heart feel like it had been pried open and allowed all the sadness to go away. My eyes watered and I choked a sob. How pathetic of me.

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About fifteen minutes later I made my way to the cafeteria to meet with the squad. They haven't changed a bit. But hey why are there only four? Oh wait that's right I remember. Mikoto's probably still hospitalized right now so I won't meet her in a couple of days.

"Shirogane, over here" I heard Tama's voice calling me to her direction. She seemed to be eating a synthetic sandwich of some sort. I gladly joined the group as they discussed about random topics altogether.

"There's this really odd looking TSF over by the hangar did you guys see it??"

"Shiori, that might've been just a banged up Shiranui right? "

"No, Shiori's right that TSF looks odd alright it looks too specialized, and the weaponry seems to be for heavy firepower but the frame looks as light as a Shiranui"

"If you say so Nagato"

I overheard a trio of eishi pilots commenting on my partner. The Barbatos was specialized to be a melee heavy hitter with powerful range weapons as a backup weapon. No wonder they were talking about it. Still couldn't believe it's here with me actually.

"Oh that was quick" Meiya stated noticing Class rep was the one escorting me. I already knew this base like the back of my hand but I quickened our little boring tour to spend more time in the cafeteria.

"Yeah, he really didn't need my help" Chizuru replied taking her seat next to Meiya. "He knew this base like the back of his hand and it was obvious that he wanted to end the tour as quickly as possible"

"That only means that I've been preparing for this, Class rep. (Eh?) (Class rep?)" ah crap I've been using that name over and over again. I guess that's a habit that'll never change. Class rep will always be class rep in this world or the other.

"Would you quit calling me that? It's squad leader, not Class rep" Chizuru whined at me.

"Ah sorry. It's just that you look like the class representative from my school" I gotta stop acting like I know her. If I burn my bridges before they're even finished I'm screwed. This team will be the pinnacle of humanity's last hope I have to make sure that their morale is at an all time high and that they would be ready for anything. And with Barbatos in the picture that morale will be higher. But to do that they'll need to experience all the sad and painful things that will keep them going. I know it's cruel to experience these things over and over but if humanity is to survive I will have to mold them into perfect fighters with no regret, doubt, or hesitation.

"Haaa… well anyway. Let's continue with dinner and sleep early. We have roll call early at seven"

"Oh that reminds me Shirogane. Here" Meiya handed me a sheet of paper with the oath code written on it. "It's the UN oath. You have to memorize and recite it tomorrow to be able to enlist"

"Huh? Oh the enlistment oath. I've heard about this from my friend"

"You know it?" Ayamine asked from her side of the table.

"Yeah that guy practically said it in his sleeps" and when I meant 'that guy' I meant me.

"Well you'll do fine" Tama reassured me with her usual cat-like smile. "Memorizing it doesn't take much effort. Unlike the weapons manual that we had to remember by heart"

"By the way, Shirogane" Chizuru opened up with a serious tone placing her tray onto the table. "There's something I wanted to ask you. (What?) I'll be blunt about it but… can we expect much from you? (Huh?) Instructor Jinguuji said that you were a special person. Is that 'special' compared to us, the country or the planet?"

"Well… we won't exactly know until we find out" came my vague answer.

"That's pretty broad for an answer" Meiya replied bluntly. "We do not wish to know how your 'special'. But it does give us hope. And if the professor recommends you then that only adds to your credibility" the others seemed to agree with Meiya's words and nodded in synch.

Chizuru nodded too until she raised her hand up to get their attention. "A month from now we will be having a Comprehensive Combat Skill Evaluation. We will have to succeed that this time" Oh yeah. The Southern Island 'vacation'. The way Class rep said it, it sound a lot like a technical training but in truth I would call it the midterm exams for TSF pilots.

"We'll have over a week to train for it" Meiya added sounding rather hopeful as well. "Yoroi should return in time to join us. The squad needs to be as strong as possible when the time comes"

"Yoroi san was hospitalized after the last training exercise" Tama explained which I already knew. "Her skills in survival is needed since she alone is second to none"

Well this time things will be in our favor... I swear it.