Four hours ago, Freyja and Hayate's "Usual Spot"
Freyja fidgeted nervously as she sat in the cafe's deck area, wondering if Hayate would come. She had knowingly come early, but it was almost the time that they agreed on in the morning, and he hadn't showed up yet.
"He wouldn't ditch me, would he?" She pondered nervously.
No sooner did she finish that thought, the unexpected but familiar sound of a fighter landing broke her train of thought, in fact startling her and the cafe's patrons, both with the sudden loud sound and the fact that a fighter in its half fighter, half battroid mode had landed less than ten feet from the cafe deck area. The cafe deck area was elevated about fifteen feet off the ground, though this height was somewhat dwarfed by the Siegfried. As Freyja turned toward the Siegfried, she was surprised at how close it was to the deck area of the cafe. She couldn't help but gawk as the fighter deployed its left arm to the cockpit to reveal a figure wearing a flight suit with the familiar teal colors that matched the wing trim of his fighter. She smiled as the fighter's arm hovered slightly above the rail of the cafe deck and the pilot jumped down. One thing that Freyja couldn't help but notice was that the pilot was wearing a helmet. She smiled at his entrance but couldn't help the feeling that he might be showing off.
"You sure know how to make an entrance, don't you, Hayate?" Freyja laughed softly.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to, but the repairs took a little longer than I thought it would, and so I didn't really think you'd mind if i showed up like this." Hayate responded as he took off his helmet and placed it on the table that Freyja was sitting at.
"I don't, but the owners might..." Freyja mused as she noticed the mixture of looks she and Hayate were receiving, a few being annoyed or upset, but the majority being some form of shock. A few were smirking at the notion of the singer's boyfriend being a pilot.
"Well, that aside, what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?" Hayate asked, remembering the way Freyja was acting in the morning.
"Oh," Freyja sputters, forgetting that she told him that earlier in the day, "Umm... I, uh,"
She was promptly cut off by Hayate, who wrapped an arm around her waist, causing her to yelp softly, as he wrapped the other around the middle of her back, which placed her head slightly angled upwards towards his head. She felt her cheeks flush at the sudden contact, and yet, she couldn't bring herself to push him away.
Her eyes bulged when she heard him softly say in her ear, "I hope this isn't you worrying about if I look at you as just as a friend,," he squeezed her tighter "because I, love you, not just as a friend, but as the woman that I've chosen to spend the rest of my life with." Freyja, at this point, was both extremely happy and extremely confused, as expressed by her rune glowing brightly enough for the nearby cafe patrons to see.
"Ha-Hayate, wh-where did that come from?" Freyja softly says, her voice shaky and her eyes wider than he'd ever seen them.
He sighs for a brief moment, before pulling away just enough for Freyja to get a direct look at his face, which was unexpectedly serious, much to the latter's surprise.
"Freyja, I'm not nearly as clueless as you and the rest of Delta Platoon thinks." He says matter-of-factly, stunning her. Before she can respond, he continues on. "I was well aware of the way you and Mirage felt about me since the more recent incident on Voldor. I just didn't want to act on it until I could give you both a straight answer, without any possibility of regretting it. Having said that, I'm certain of this much," as he pulls her close enough for her to gaze into his unwavering, azure eyes, "I want this to be clear, to you of all people."
"I love you, Freyja, and no other girl in this universe will change that."
Freyja felt her heart both flutter and skip a beat, as evidenced by her rune glowing even brighter. She took a moment to process all the information she just absorbed. She smiled and spoke, all doubt erased from her mind, "I love you too, Hayate." What she did next shocked him, everyone in the area, but not herself. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately. Hayate was taken aback for a brief moment before he leaned in and pressed her tightly against his body, lifting her off the ground ever so slightly.
When they finally released from each other grasps' they looked into the other's eyes and smiled. For a moment, they felt like they were the only ones in the world. Until someone in the cafe decided to cough loudly. They both tensed up, though in different ways. Hayate, sometime during the kiss, let his hands wander down to Freyja's waist, inadvertently squeezed her waist, causing her to yelp and put Hayate in a surprisingly strong neck hold, causing the latter gasp for air before Freyja realized she was choking him. She released him shortly after, and they both separated to a less intimate distance.
Hayate, somewhat annoyed by this, took Freyja by the hand and led her to the Siegfried's arm, which was still next to the cafe deck's rail. Freyja, knowing what Hayate was doing, hopped over the rail and onto the fighter's hand, followed by Hayate, who remotely activated the fighter's proximity unlock feature to open the cockpit. He hopped in the pilot's seat, followed by Freyja, who decided to ignore social norms and hopped in Hayate's lap, much to the shock and dismay of the cafe patrons. They took off, leaving the cafe patrons in a state of awe, impression, and shock.
When they came back to the Elysion, Hayate docked his Siegfried and Freyja followed him to his quarters, where they opted to take a nap together, enjoying each other's presence for a few hours.
The present, the Elysion's bridge.
Shiro took in the scene with a mix of annoyance and a hint of surprise.
On the lower level of the bridge, or a stage, as it appeared, was Makina the pink-haired mechanic, a green haired girl with pointed ears, a red haired woman wearing a fedora, and most noticeably, a woman with long, flowing violet hair. He would have gazed at the latter most woman had it not been for the other three girls and the situation they found themselves in. The pink haired mechanic had what appeared to be a pink and black fish tail wedged between her breasts and was crying out for Reina, presumably her green haired friend, to help get it out. The problem was, Reina, wasn't actually helping, and Makina was squirming on the floor in what appeared to be a mix of embarrassment and unwanted arousal. Her green haired friend was standing next to her with a rather devious smirk on her face. Shiro looked at the other two girls who weren't helping and saw that while they wanted to help, the red haired woman either didn't know how to, or she didn't want to make it any more awkward than it already was. The violet haired woman looked like she was in shock at the whole situation.
Shiro sighed before walking down the stairs toward the squirming mechanic, ignoring the inquiring looks of the red haired woman and the violet haired woman. He walked over to Makina, and knelt down to her, holding her shoulders still, telling her, "Hold still." in a firm tone of voice. She did so, mostly, although she couldn't completely, as the fish tail was still squirming about in her cleavage. Shiro grimaced for a second, before returning to his normal expression as he grabbed the fish tail without touching Makina in a way that could be considered sexual harassment. As soon as he pulled the fish tail out, it turned to face him, and Shiro saw that it had eyes and a small mouth, reminiscent of a small face. A memory flashed in his mind, and instinctively, he released it, backing away before pulling out his sidearm from his jacket pocket and leveling it at the creature.
He was immediately stopped by the red haired woman, who yelled, "Wait! It's just a mercat!"
The green haired girl joined in, stating, "One of ours, to be exact."
Realizing that the mercat, as they called it, was harmless, despite its resemblance to certain beings that he encountered. He holstered his weapon quickly before grimacing at the mercat once more.
He turned towards the red haired woman, saying, "Please excuse my actions, I did not realize this creature was both harmless and different from a similar being that I've encountered before."
"That's okay, I guess. My name's Kaname Buccaneer. I'm Walkure's official team manager. It's nice to meet you, Shiro Okumura."
"You already know me? I don't believe we've met before."
"We haven't, but I was part of the group that scouted you out. Back there's Reina, the other one that scouted you out." She motioned towards the green haired girl who was holding the mercat. "She's our information specialist."
"I've already met your friend, Makina, she's a mechanic, yes?"
"That's correct, and here's Mikumo Guynemer, she's Walkure's lead singer. There's another girl, Freyja Wion, but she isn't here yet."
"It's a pleasure to meet you all." Shiro says as he looks around. "If you know about me already, then do you know who I'm assigned to protect? I assume that, since all of you are a part of the Tactical Sound Unit, Walkure, that you all have a high enough security clearance to hear all of this?"
"How do you know that we are a Tactical Sound Unit?" Kaname asks, certain that she didn't reveal that to him at least.
Shiro levels his gaze at Kaname, who is somewhat taken aback by his calm, almost emotionless demeanor, as he states, "Please don't insult my intelligence, Miss Buccaneer, I may be new and unfamiliar with the manners and beings of this planet, but I am most certainly not on the intellectual level of the average NUNS grunt. I believe that I am correct in my thoughts that a group of girls with the ability to relieve others of a dangerous level of Var Syndrome and the support of a skilled group of pilots is no ordinary girl group. Especially given the fact that we are meeting on the bridge of a Macross-class warship."
Kaname, realizing how she must've sounded, quickly apologizes. Shiro dismisses the apology, describing how he didn't intend to bash on her, only to prove himself. Makina and Reina proceed to ask him questions about the swords sheathed on his back, although the topic of the questions were either something he couldn't answer, or preferred not to. Before they can continue further, however, the sound of the bridge doors opening draws their attention as Captain Ernest and Captain Arad walk in, followed by a blue-haired individual who looks a little young to be a pilot, and a girl with voluminous peach hair. Shiro mentally assumed this was Freyja, as there would be no other reason for a girl like this to even be on the bridge. There was already a man with brown skin and a husky figure, and most noticeably, gills on his neck. Captain Ernest calls everyone on the stage up to the upper levels of the bridge where his seat is.
"Well everyone," Ernest states, "assuming you haven't met him already," gesturing towards Shiro, "this is our new operative, Shiro Okumura, and he is the newest member of Delta Platoon, although he isn't a pilot."
"I believe we should get the introductions out of the way before we discuss other things, Captain." Shiro notes.
"Right. This," as he gestures towards the blue haired individual, "is Second Lieutenant Hayate Immelman. Over here," he gestures towards the peach-haired girl, "is Freyja Wion. Lastly, this is Second Lieutenant Chuck Mustang." He gestures towards the man with gills on his neck.
"It's nice to meet all of you." Shiro glances at the faces surrounding him. "I suppose this would be a good time to ask me important questions."
"Why are you specifically a part of Delta Platoon if you barely have any flight experience?" Hayate asks.
"Captain Johnson has yet to inform me of the specifics, but I know that I was hired because of my specialization in a variety of combat skills."
"What combat skills do you specialize in?" Mirage asks, somewhat skeptical about Shiro's statement.
"Most kinds of close quarter combat, close to mid range firearms combat, and some heavy weapons." Shiro responds, his expression a blank.
Chuck whistles before saying, "That's impressive, but do you have any aerial combat skills?"
"Unfortunately, I have none of the sort, but that was a part of the terms I agreed to with the Captain: I am supposed to receive enough flight training to meet the standards the Captain set. In return, I am supposed to train all members of Delta Platoon to be sufficiently proficient in close quarters combat should the need arise for any of you to engage an enemy on those terms." Shiro explains.
"Well," Captain Arad says, "your flight instructor will most likely be Mirage, seeing as how she has experience training new pilots." as he glances at Hayate and Mirage.
"Understood. In the mean time, please explain who the High Value Individual that I'm supposed to protect is, as I believe that is my primary objective, is it not?" Shiro asks.
"That would be Mikumo Guynemer, the lead singer of Walkure. I understand that you've already met her?" Ernest asks, glancing at Shiro.
Shiro rubs the back his head before replying, "Well, I met Ms. Guynemer, but we didn't exactly have the time to get well acquainted due to certain unforeseen circumstances."
"In that case," Ernest says as matter-of-factly as he could, "you two should spend the majority of tomorrow to get to know each other, seeing as how you'll constantly be around her the majority of the time from now on."
"I don't have any objections to this, but is there a possibility that you could explain to me what so special about Ms. Guynemer that someone would attempt a coup d'etat just to possess her?" Shiro asks, the lack of information in this area bothering him greatly.
"I would greatly appreciate it if I wasn't talked about like I'm not in the room." Mikumo states, gathering the attention of the individuals on the bridge.
Shiro briefly nods before apologizing, "I apologize for that, Ms. Guy-"
"Please, call me Mikumo, I find it a little too formal to be addressed like that."
"Right, Mikumo, what makes you so much more special than the other members of Walkure that NUNS would be willing to openly attack us instead of negotiating for you?"
"I have one request before I reveal that to you."
"...and that is?"
"Please take everything I say seriously, even though I understand it may be a little hard to believe."
"Of course. I've seen and heard some things that others would be hard-pressed to believe, so I'll trust what you say."
"Okay, I guess I should start from the beginning, as some things wouldn't make sense if I just started from the beginning of the Windermerean War."
She then proceeded to explain the history of Windermere's initial fight for independence, and the events that transpired during the closing stages of the conflict, including the details of Hayate's father being forced to take the fall for NUNs' use of a dimensional warhead. She then explained how she was groomed to be the perfect unconventional weapon of Lady M, and how Lord Roid of Windermere attempted to use her to seize control of the galaxy. Which led to the events of late. Throughout the whole explanation, Shiro's expression didn't change, save for when she mentioned that during her time under Roid's control, she was controlling the minds of millions of people throughout the galaxy, or so everyone assumed. Captain Ernest noted Shiro's reaction, making a note to question him later.
After she finished her explanation, everyone returned to their respective quarters, except for Captain Ernest, Mikumo, and Shiro.
"Mikumo, are you finding your quarters suitable?" Ernest asks, needing to confirm protocols.
"Yes, I have no problems."
"Good. Then, if you don't mind, I would like Shiro to be posted in or near your quarters. Given that we have yet to vacate the quarters adjacent to yours, I think it would preferable to have Shiro in close proximity versus him having to travel across the ship to you should an event occur."
"Does it not concern that Shiro might try something if he and I are alone in my quarters?" Mikumo asks, somewhat suspicious about the placement.
"I assure you," Shiro states, "I will not try anything that could bring harm on you in any way, shape or form. I understand if you don't quite trust me as a person yet, but please trust me as your bodyguard, Mikumo." His face was stern, but at the same time, there was concern in his expression.
Mikumo, surprised by the sudden emotion in the otherwise calm and reserved Shiro, couldn't help but allow it. When they reached Mikumo's quarters, Mikumo blushed visibly, thinking about where Shiro would sleep, considering the possibility of him sleeping with her in her bed, but before her mind could overload at the mere thought, Shiro, sensing her embarrassment, decided he would sleep against the side of her bed, facing the door and not Mikumo's sleeping figure. Given that the both were considerably exhausted, they didn't argue and they quickly fell asleep, unaware of the events that were set to take place tomorrow.
Alright guys, sorry about this chapter being so long and a little late, but I couldn't find a spot to leave off of without being abrupt, so please excuse that. Also, the chapters are most likely going to get longer, due to me trying to fit in more development where it belongs. I apologize if this isn't something you want to deal with. Anyways, please review, and leave likes if you want to.