舞-女神

My Joshin

Flight 02 – Welcome to Fuuka

"Thank you for coming to see me." A young girl with long purple hair sat across the table from Mai. Behind her stood two maids, one with short pink hair, the other with long brown tresses braided neatly. "I'm afraid you've had quite a shocking experience, dealing with the Orphan that attacked. My name is Mashiro, and I am the leader of the Joshin, Windbloom's most powerful defense force."

Mai nodded slowly, unsure of what to say. This girl was younger than Takumi, and yet she was a commander of military forces? When they had first met, Mai noticed she was confined to a hover chair. How did a girl who couldn't even walk gain leadership over what was apparently the most powerful military unit in the Windbloom Galaxy? And what was with those maids?

"I don't know how much Akane and the others explained to you, so I will start from the beginning." Mashiro folded her hands in front of her, pausing to collect her thoughts. "About fourteen years ago, the Fuuka Space Station was merely a small government research base dedicated to studying the stars. One star, in particular stood out to researchers as unusual. This red star seemed to give off strange pulses at random times during the year. The pulse was unlike any other energy previously understood, so researchers were intensely interested in what it did."

Mashiro paused and held her hand out towards the large window that decorated the room they stood in. "At that time, nothing you see out there had been built. Only this building existed, and it was in this building that one of the doctors gave birth to a young girl. Her birth coincided with one of the red star's bursts of energy, although the researchers thought nothing of it until the girl began displaying unusual abilities: namely, the ability to manipulate machines."

Mai nodded. "Yes, Akane told me that part."

"I see," Mashiro replied quietly. "Of course, you can probably guess that the scientists found the red star to be the cause of her powers. They hypothesized that other girls existed with similar abilities, and began searching for them. As you know, those girls are today known as Joshin. And we have reason to believe that you, too are a Joshin."

Mai leaned back in her chair, unsure of what to say. Even now, she barely remembered what had happened on the space ship. Everything seemed so unreal, and here this girl sat, calmly telling her that thanks to some star in some galaxy, she now had the ability to manipulate machines. It was hardly believable.

As if reading her thoughts, Mashiro spoke up, "I understand this is hard for you to take in. To be honest, I'd like to recruit you as a member of the military, but I'll give you time to think about it. In the meantime, please let Aoi show you around the base. Aoi."

The brown haired maid nodded with a smile, "Yes, Mashiro-sama," Turning to Mai, she motioned towards the door, "Tokiha-san, please follow me."

--

Mai shuddered as she listened to her footsteps echo down the long white hallway. "Is it always this cold?" she queried.

Aoi laughed. "You'll get used to it. We'll have to find you some warmer clothes, though," she added, indicating the short skirt and sleeveless vest that Mai currently wore.

The orange-haired girl blushed. "I guess so."

Aoi stopped in front of a large door and placed her hand on the scanner beside it. The door slid open silently to reveal a huge room that looked like a military hangar of some sort. One wall was lined with computers, another with mechanical parts. In the center of the room, a large robot stood, covered in scaffolding. A group of workers stood near the top, installing something in the cockpit.

"Nee-san!" called a familiar voice. Takumi ran up to his sister with a smile. "Isn't this place amazing?"

Behind Takumi, a young green-haired boy approached. "So, this is your sister? From the way you spoke about her, I expected a real goddess," he said calmly. Mai eyed the boy curiously. He was about Takumi's age, but he looked years more mature. His dark green hair was tied back, and his zippered jumpsuit was stained in oil. He wiped his hand on a rag before holding it out in greetings, "Akira Okuzaki. I'm the head mechanic here at Fuuka."

Mai was surprised. "Head mechanic? Is everyone here this young?" she inquired.

Aoi laughed. "It seems the higher up you go, the younger they are, doesn't it?" she said with a smile. "Akira here is quiet talented, and Mashiro-sama…well, she definitely deserves her position."

"I'll say," Akira muttered. "After all that, I'm surprised she's still alive." He glanced up at Mai's shocked face. "Ah, never mind that," he said, turning around. "Now that you're here, I don't have to baby-sit that kid anymore. It's back to work for me."

"Baby-sit?" Mai asked, surprised.

Takumi blushed. "Well, I just asked him to show me around. I didn't realize I was such a burden."

Mai smiled at her brother, "You're never a burden, Takumi."

"Ara, so you must be Tokiha-san." Mai spun around to see a beautiful girl with long mousy brown hair. "Welcome to Fuuka," she said with a smile.

"So, you're the natural with the fire element?" asked another girl. Her long blue hair was carelessly brushed back, and her posture indicated that she'd rather be anywhere but here.

Mai blinked, confused. "That's the second time someone's called me a natural. What does it mean?"

The blue-haired girl answered. "It means you were born under the Joshin star, and have your powers naturally. Naturals tend to display some sort of natural element with they materialize, which is how we can tell them from the mods."

"Natsuki here is a natural," the brown-haired girl said with a smile, indicating the girl with dark blue hair. Her hand subtly reached behind Natsuki and landed gently on the small of her back. "I'm so jealous."

"Shi-shizuru!" Natsuki leapt aside. "What was that for?" she said, face flushed red.

"Oh? What was what for?" Shizuru replied, holding her empty hands up with a look of innocence on her face.

Natsuki looked away, flustered. "A-anyway," she continued. "Mods are girls who weren't born with Joshin ability, but were genetically modified to have similar powers."

Mai stared at Shizuru. "So you're a mod, then?"

Shizuru nodded, "That's right. I underwent quite a lot to get this way, but it was worth it," she said, glancing at Natsuki. "So Tokiha-san, are you joining us?"

Mai turned away, uncertain. "I…I don't know. This all seems so strange to me, I don't think I can handle it."

Shizuru smiled, "I'm sure you'll be able to. Natsuki here has had to deal with it all her life."

"Eh?" Mai asked, surprised.

Natsuki turned away. "Feh. I was the first Joshin discovered. Not as if it matters."

"Oh!" Mai exclaimed. "Then you're the one who was born here."

Natsuki shrugged. "Yeah, that's me. And I'm telling you now, it's not that great of a life. I'm not a huge fan of having to answer to some little girl all the time," she remarked, sneaking a glance at Aoi to gauge her reaction. When the maid showed no change in emotion, she turned away. "My point is, unless you're stuck here like me, you're better off going somewhere and living your life for real."

Shizuru chuckled softly. "My my, dear Natsuki sounds like a certain redhead I know."

Natsuki glared, "I'm nothing like that perverted flirt!" she declared angrily. "She only stays here because men like her pretty little Joshin uniform!"

"Who wouldn't like the uniforms?" Shizuru said with a smile. "You certainly look good in yours."

Natsuki turned bright red. "Shizuru!"

"Well, well. It looks like the Bubuzuke Onna is busy annoying people again," remarked a female voice. Mai looked up to see two more girls. The one who spoke had long golden hair. Beside her—no, behind her stood a shorter girl with short brown hair and glasses. The golden-haired girl turned to inspect Mai. "So you're the natural everyone's talking about. Well, I'm Haruka, Unit Koumokuten, HiME class Joshin, and I'm the best fighter in the squash."

"Squad, Haruka-chan," the other girl corrected. "And I think Nina-san holds the record for best combat record," she added timidly.

"That's not important, Yukino," Haruka declared confidently. "Now introduce yourself to the new Joshin."

Yukino nervously adjusted the glasses on her freckled face. "My name is Yukino Kikukawa, I pilot Unit Diana, and I'm a HiME class Joshin. It's a pleasure to meet you, and I look forward to working with you in the future."

Mai took a step back. "Wait, who said I was going to be working here?"

Yukino looked up, surprised. "You're not? But isn't that your Unit?" she asked, pointing into the hangar.

"Eeeh? That's mine?" Mai cried, staring at the large robot housed within.

Takumi smiled. "Akira told me about it. It's name is Kagutsuchi, and they're designing it to work with your fire abilities."

Mai stared in dismay. "But I didn't even agree to stay here…"

Natsuki rolled her eyes. "Agreeing is just a formality. To be honest, you don't really have a choice, no matter what that little girl says."

"Now, now Natsuki, we don't want you scaring our new friend away, do we?" came a mocking voice from behind them. Mai whirled around to be confronted by a short young boy with white hair.

"Nagi!" Natsuki exclaimed. "How long have you been there?" she demanded.

Nagi shrugged playfully, "I can't remember," he said glibly. "But you should play nice, my Joshin."

Mai stared at him in fear. He looked like a child, but somehow, he looked so much older. His eyes were like cat eyes, and his false smile barely hid an evil smirk. "Who are you?" she asked hesitantly.

"Me?" he blinked. "Call me Nagi. I don't work here, but I can assure you that I have a vested interest in the Joshin project, and I'm delighted to meet our newest recruit."

"Now hold on!" Mai snapped. "I keep telling you people, I never—"

Mai's outburst was cut short by the sound of a large explosion. The ground rocked precariously, and for a short moment, the lights flickered.

"Whoa, I feel sick," Mai commented, clutching her stomach.

"It's to be expected," Aoi replied. "When the power shorts out, the gravity system turns off as well. If you're not used to the sudden changes in gravity, you might feel a little queasy."

"You should be feeling better now," Yukino added. The shaking had stopped, and no further explosions had followed the first.

Haruka put her hands on her hips. "What was that all about, then?" she remarked in a huff. "Are we under attack or something?"

Nagi smirked, "It's hard to tell Haruka-san, but I'm pretty sure that explosion came from the direction of the hospital."

Whoo! A lot of characters introduced in this chapter. They're all familiar faces, though, so I hope you were happy to see them. For those wondering about the name of Haruka's Unit: in the My HiME manga, Haruka is a HiME with a Child named Koumokuten. I'm drawing from the anime, manga, and a bit of the game/visual novel to create this story.

And in response to the comments left for me:

Eagle8819: Haha, yeah. Now that you mention it, it does seem a lot like Candidate for Goddess. Hopefully it isn't too much like it. I haven't seen the whole series, so I really don't know. ;; As for pairings, I'm basically sticking to the canon pairings that Sunrise used… .
Sumiregawa Nenene: Thank you for the comment! I've already outlined the entire plot, so I definitely know where the story is heading. This chapter has a lot of exposition and not as much action, sadly. Hopefully you'll stick around a little while. I promise more action to come. -