Finished on: 11/13/20
Q - Will Shirou have a harem even if his not the MC?
A - Seeing as I apparently have a huge thing for harems and where all my story's seem to be going, the answer is yes, a definite yes chief, even if he currently is playing the role of side character.
FALETarzan - Did you read my mind or something? I actually have an uncompleted chapter for that specific crossover and bit of a spoiler, Bell is a female cuz, cuz yeah... Anyway it's still there and I actually may continue it just because of your review...
Anyway I have a discord, feel free to join and I'll announce things there. Discord thing at the bottom of my profile.
11/04/20 - Well, I'm not dead and I am back as of this moment, yay. I also think I have insomnia, I have a lot of bad things actually. Huh, maybe that's why I'm such a huge pessimist. That's pretty cool.
11/12/20 - Shit, they're officially shutting down the English servers. First the Japanese version now this one too? Why can't I enjoy things in my pitiful life!
Shirou, Ren, and Annie were all escorted by the agents as they all entered a jet-black sedan. As they all got in - Annie was the first to enter then followed by Shirou then lastly Ren - Ren couldn't help but feel like the passenger compartment was suffocating because of the silence. That and there wasn't too much space between all three of them so they were in close proximity of each other. While there wasn't much space between them, Ren couldn't help but wrap her arms around her knees in bewilderment at everything that was happening today and subconsciously leaned towards Shirou as he was unaware.
The reason for his unawareness was because Shirou was in his thoughts thinking about his latest brawl with Ren's unnamed attackers. He mulled about it and couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed at the outcome of the fight because he was actually beaten into unconsciousness. No, he was not an overconfident individual, he was more of a careful person. He didn't want to use reinforcement or any of his magecraft because, well, let's say that humans tend to be 'frail' and when he saw the crack in the ground when the blue haired girl missed her strike he thought that it was the trick of the light to say the least.
Well he paid for thinking that because her attacks were abnormally strong and everything about her seemed... different from the normal human. So when he woke up to the sight of Ren's undergarment and seeing that everyone around them was defeated and on the ground he couldn't help but feel disappointed with himself. He was a person that shouldn't have seen so much combat and death at such a young age, he even managed to fight actual legends in human history, but most importantly he was a skilled fighter.
So seeing - or rather assuming - that his friend, Ren, someone that had no experience whatsoever under her belt, defeated someone that managed to knock him out. To say the least his self esteem definitely took a blow at that moment. Though it was the end result that mattered, if he were given the choice to save the many over the few or the few over the many he would find a way to save them both even if it meant sacrificing himself.
"Ren?" He heard the blue haired twin tailed girl, Annie speak up to Ren as he found her leaning on his shoulder right shoulder. "So... What is SID? You get edgy every time you hear it."
"Where do you come from, outer space?" Ren who was leaning on his left shoulder quickly spoke somewhat confused at her lack of information. "SID is the intelligence department under the senate." She informed her before adding some things she heard about the SID, "Some say SID plays a more important role than the Aegis defense system in keeping New Opulentia neutral. But they're more urban legends about people being taken by the SID only to never come back... It's just horrible." She shivered at the thought of it happening to her right now.
Annie nodded in understanding, "Okay... But then, what's the Academy City?"
Ren stared at her honestly baffled at what she just said before her brows scrunched up in thought at seeing her face in honest confusion, "Wait... Does this girl have no common sense at all? "
Annie saw her surprised face but continued to give her a relaxed smile, "Just relax, we won't have any problems!" Ren felt like she just jinxed it. "Because... you're special." She pointed a finger at Ren who could only stare at Annie due to her reasoning before Annie's finger then drifted to Shirou, "You too, Shirou."
"..."
While Ren may not have said anything she inwardly remarked that weirdness due to Annie's rambling somehow calming down her agitated mind. Maybe it wasn't too horrible to be taken away by the SID... "No. No. It is horrible!" Ren shook her head to rid of the thought.
While the two of them were conversing with each other Shirou decided to turn his attention to the cars window to see where they were going. He noted that the car they were in arrived at the city's bustling business area as they passed by many people and buildings before the car slowed down and drove into a completely ordinary looking basement garage where the car soon enters a car elevator. He briefly heard the agent in the drivers sit speak through their earpiece as the started to descend with a swift movement and the elevator would occasionally move horizontally. Maybe the 'ordinary looking basement garage' wasn't as ordinary as it seemed.
It's hard to imagine that there's an underground maze underneath the business... Rin herself was also paying attention to what was happening around them as thoughts about the SID began to grow in her mind. There were many rumors about where the SID headquarters would be located. Some would say that it was in the south suburbs of New Opulentia and the whole structure of the headquarters was coated with optical camouflage.
Of course, for a building that doesn't exist, the media could and would make up anything as long as it could attract clicks.
And that was where they were all going, all three of them were going to take a step into the core area of this 'non-existent' department. The thought was jarring for her to say the least. "I just hope I won't be made "non-existent" here..." She thought to herself before her mind drifted to her life before all of this, "Well... more non-existent than already." She wasn't a very sociable person and didn't have any friends at all besides Shirou. Now that she thought about it more he was pretty much her only friend.
Looking at her only friend she couldn't help but stare at his face, how different would her life play out if you just removed Shirou from it? She shivered at the thought. For starters she lived in his house so she may be homeless, she also wouldn't get to taste his great food if he was gone, and she would also be more lonely. She realized her life wouldn't just have small changes but instead it would have big changes, and she also noticed that thing she was leaning on earlier wasn't actually a thing but rather his shoulder as she began to grow embarrassed at the thought of her leaning on him the entire way so she removed her head off of his shoulder.
The elevator they were in suddenly stopped as the driver turned around to face them, "Out, don't try to do anything funny."
She took his words to heart as they all exited the car and found themselves standing in front of a corridor wrapped with metal plates. If she had two words to describe the place then it would be technology and abstinence, the corridor they were in gave off a sense of technology and abstinence. Behind them the elevator door automatically shuts as they got off of the elevator and seeing that the corridor lead to only one way they didn't have many options besides going forward. The sounds of the elevator reverberate through the dark corridor as the further they got the more the air around them seemed to grow more stiff and dreary. Ren felt her heart sinking with each step she took.
Soon enough they find themselves in a well-lit, closed room with no one in her sight. It looks like an interrogation room, although they're weren't any chairs or tables. There was also a glazed wall at the opposite side of the room. Ren's curiosity getting the best of her she went to investigate and get a closer look at the glazed wall.
Before she could go any closer and check on the wall, "Uhmm!" She heard Shirou who was behind her grunt as she turned around and found a strangely familiar red haired woman who was in a mainly black and white military dress and on the inside was a white shirt that covered her ample bosom and had a red tie. On her shoulders was a black cloak/jacket with gold-like fabric on the shoulders and gold lining, on her waist was a white belt, and she wore black stockings and high heels.
Her appearance aside, Ren didn't know what to do as the woman now held Shirou in a hold as he struggled and had almost gotten out causing her to tighten her hold, though not too hard. "Well... Judging from your friends reaction, the spy stuff is not for her. You though, you fit the bill." Ren heard the woman speak as Sirou's head was pressed against her chest though it wasn't a comfortable experience with him being in a hold and all that. "I thought we got some body scan errors from the both of you, especially you boy, so I wanted to personally confirm." She wasn't sure how holding onto someone was confirming anything but hey, she wasn't a part of the SID or something so how could she know? "Feels good though." The woman loosened her grip on Shirou letting him free as he turned around warily trying to not do too anything hasty because of their current situation.
Ren looked at her face more closely trying to remember what made her so familiar but when she recalled her dream she felt the piece click in, "Ms... Ms. Mariru?!"
"You know her?" Annie asked not too perturbed on Shirou's earlier plight.
"Huh? Couldn't wait to reveal your knowledge of an agent from another intelligence department? You don't even care about your identity, do you?..." She rhetorically asked her as she looked at Shirou, "You should keep a tighter leash on your partner there." She also jokingly added.
"Gosh! Silly me..." Ren scolded herself in her mind but for a different reason. She scolded herself for not remembering the women in uniform earlier since she was also in her dream though her look was vastly different now. Slim figure, one of the only people she knew that had red hair, the sadistic look on her face, she matched the Mariru in her dream perfectly.
"You must answer my questions honestly now. Don't make any excuses or play any tricks. Interrogation is one of my specialties, you know. I'll pull no punches." Ren felt herself nervously look at the whip she held in her hand.
"You're acting bossy and teasy. And now you're giving us this look with a confident look with a slight sneer." She mentally wailed in her at the possibilities she could do to her and she didn't want to find out. "What's her full name again? Right, it's-"
She was interrupted by none other than Mariru, "Exactly. I'm the head of the SID. My name is Mariru Von Braun."
"Yes, it's her!" She mentally cheered as she tried to ignore her mention of interrogation, "W-wait... Head of SID? B-but I remembered that she was the chief scientist?!" She did feel slightly stupid that she completely believed her dreams, but something about it was different from just any dream. "But having a closer look and shoulder marks, she's probably a big boss if they mean anything..." Her attention drifted downward to her legs as Shirou gave her an odd look, possibly for checking out their interrogator, "Her stocking and high heels are the same as yesterday's though."
Mariru didn't mess where her eyes where going as she brought her out of her musings, "Hey, girl, what are you looking at, huh? At least your partners know what's happening."
"Oh, yeah... right! Sorry, ma'am!"
"You've got some guys, huh? Still got your heads in the clouds." She brought her whip up and fiddled with her, "I've heard that you told many horrible stories about SID to this blue twin-tail." Watching her ominously twiddle the whip in her hands she felt herself grow even more nervous and gulps at the sight. "Guess..." Mariru ominously looked up at her and asked, "How many of them are true?"
At her question the urban legends about the SID flooded in her mind, from mysterious disappearances to unknown raids on buildings, from kidnappings to mind-breaking tortures. She panicked at the thought of them being more than mere urban legends "Uh! I'm... I'm so sorry!"
Unlike Ren though, Annie was more shocked on what Mariru had called her instead, "B... blue twin-tail..."
Looking towards Shirou she stared him down, "Don't think I forgot about you red-head, I've worked with people like you before, the results are... unpleasant."
Shirou couldn't help but involuntary shiver at the thought of what she could do to him.
"Now that you know fear," She began, addressing them as a whole, "let's start with your identity." They watched as Mariru opened up a hand-held device that she then used to project profiles on the wall. On each and every image there was a multitude of pictures that captured both Shirou and Ren from different angles and views most likely from a video surveillance. Nonetheless, the facial analysis results on Shirou showed one result, [One match found] and when it moved onto her, [No matches found]
"No arrival records... Aegis fails to identify you. If it wasn't for your poor physical stature and reactions, you would be immediately dealt with as a spy or a terrorist intruder."
Ren feels embarrassed and rubbed her belly unconsciously.
"And you, red-head," she addressed Shirou this time, "at least you did better than your friend here." He didn't know whether to take that as a compliment or not, "But your profile suddenly showed up out of nowhere, no family or relatives, barely any background information about you before you started high school, and instead of being scared like most people when they see the SID, you're always on alert and seem ready to attack. If we didn't learn that you were protecting your friends we would've done the same to you, thought that doesn't mean you're off the hook."
Ren felt herself involuntary blush at the information as she felt thankful for Shirou ready to protect them but also slightly embarrassed that they also could've him "disposed of".
Annie leaned towards both of them, "Ren, Shirou, this girl looks tougher than the enemies we ran into earlier..."
Ren agreed with her, "Yeah... and she won't have any trouble seeing through my lies... I'll confess! Gosh! Whatever!" She began, "My name is Ren Kugimiya. Hmm, where should I begin... It's a bit complicated, to be honest. I'm very confused too. You probably won't believe what I have to say..." She dragged off.
Mariru, growing impatient at what she was saying shouted at her, "Cut to the chase! I'll have my own judgement!"
Ren quickly nodded but didn't know how to explain her dream without it sounding too... crazy, "...Well... I hade this dream." Mariru already didn't look too convinced, "In the dream, me and Shirou went to the Research Center to attend a lecture for our outdoor teaching report... and we arrived right before the closing time. We met you there. And you said that the place has been captured..." Apparently, Mariru takes this as a joke or something, she would too honestly.
"You mean, you met me in a dream?" She duly Stated to her though it sounded more like a question.
"Yes, it was you, Shirou was there too. And you dragged us to a corner..." Shirou sent an inquisitive look her way though he would believe her for the most part, Magecraft can do a lot of things anyway. "And you are an SS-Level scientist recognized by the senate... Dr. Mariru Von Braun. Am I right?"
She slowly nodded, "...That's me. But this information is not a secret - anybody familiar with New Opulentia knows this." She shook her head and rubbed the bridge of her nose, "...Forget it. So, what happened next?"
"You... killed one of the intruders and took his gun. You asked us to stay put and wait for rescue, and you went to the rescue spot with Shirou."
"Hijack spot? Where exactly?" She asked Ren as she appeared to be in a thought for a moment.
"You said it was the Conference Hall. You were about to give a lecture there. You were the lecturer." She added in as her face very briefly was filled with slight shock.
"...Lecture... Lecturer." She looked at Ren more closely as she took her story more seriously than before. "Is she talking about the public lecture on the Ross Goblet that was arranged by WolfGang? But it should've been canceled. How could she know about this?"
"Em... ma'am?"
"Yeah... nothing. Go on."
She nodded, "and some masked gunman came by. I ran downstairs and hid in the shadows of a slate... Sorry but I can't remember what happened there... I somehow fainted and when I woke up, I saw..." She paused as the images of the fire and bodies came to her mind.
"What did you see?" Mariru asked more curiously than she herself had expected.
Ren nervously moved in place at the intense gaze Mariru was sending her but it seemed like Shirou and Annie were also giving her their undivided attention, "Well," she began, trying to recall the scene from her memories, "I saw smoke and flames all around. The Research Center and surrounding buildings were all in ruins... There was also this pungent smell all around the place, it had a heavy saline and bitter taste... The people around me they were turned into stone figures. No, not exactly stone - it was salt." She recalled the familiar scenes, everyone was turned into salt and as she tried to touch them they would crumble.
She looked at Shirou, the same had happened to him and she couldn't believe it. Was... was she panicking? "Hey, it's ok, I'm here." She felt a hand on her shoulder and she saw that it belonged to none other than Shirou. Shirou on the other hand didn't know why she was sending him such a panicked look, like he would disappear any second.
She felt herself calm down at his touch and words, he was right, he was here and nothing happened to him. But it, it felt so real, she felt so useless. She continued on, "I walked around, everything was in ruins and everyone was turned into salt and that's when I found you." She looked at Mariru as she had said that and she sent her a disbelieving look but she would believe her for now. "You were standing behind Shirou, like he had saved you somehow but, but he was also turned into salt..."
Shirou looked at her sympathetically, he remembered a familiar situation, though he was the only survivor. He tightened he hold on her shoulder but not too much, it seemed to work as she had looked at him with fear but it slowly changed when it seemed like he wouldn't just disappear on the spot.
"And that's when I saw something shining in the air. It was like hell, but when I looked at it I couldn't help but feel a kind of peculiar tranquility. It, it felt like something was responding to me, I could hear you yelling something at me... And that was when my memory became vague... There might of been a streak of light but I couldn't remember. And... that's pretty much the end of the dream. When I woke up I found myself in my bed in my room, and it was already morning." Ren concluded her recounting of the dream but everyone there had doubts about it being just a 'dream'.
"Only... a dream...?" Mariru asked quietly to no one in peculiar, "Your olfactory was so vivid as if you were actually there..." Mariru ran over everything Ren had said and a few things stood out to her, What if this pungent smell she was talking about was from brimstone... It's like how Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed as mentioned in the Genesis.
"Yeah...I'm also confused because it felt so real - unlike any other dream. When I woke up I searched for news of any fires or any building damages, but I found nothing. The city looks just as peaceful as it used to be, no fires or destroyed buildings. Except for one thing..." Ren looked downwards and everyone's curiosity was piqued at her words.
"Hmm?" Mariru hummed in equal parts curiosity and wanting her to continue.
"Except for what?" Annie asked in anticipation and maybe a bit of excitement mixed with curiosity.
Shirou checked her body for anything abnormal like an injury, "Is it bad?"
Ren's face begin to take a red tint, "When I woke up... I found that my body had changed to a girl's body..."
The room was enveloped in silence, "Well..." Ren invited them to speak if not a bit awkwardly.
"Huh? Did you say... it changed?"
"I'm not... I didn't look like this before... I... I'm actually a boy!" Ren clarified to them.
"You were a boy?" Shirou asked curiously, he didn't even remember her being a boy. Now that he thought of it, he didn't remember much actually.
"Ewwwwww... a boy?" Unlike Shirou, Mariru went for a more childish answer.
Annie's brain took a moment to register what she said, well, what he said, "Okay... wait, what?"
Mariru leaned in closer towards Ren, "You mean you're a boy, cross-dressing?"
"No, no... that's not what I mean. And don't get this close to me!" Ren stepped back frantically waving his hands. "But... in some sense... Maybe you are right..."
"So you are a boy cross-dressing."
"Oh god, no... how can I explain this!"
"Anyway..." Mariru lifted her hand up and brought it towards Ren, "you've got a great boob job." Her hand came into contact and she was now touching Ren's breast. "So bouncy... Where did you get it done? Such a natural touch..." She pinched her breast eliciting a moan and causing the boy now girl to furiously blush.
"Woo... I want to find out too!" Annie cheered and her hands went to also investigate the fine assets. Shirou meanwhile thought it was best to ignore such a scene and look away with a small blush at the erotic scene.
"Ouch! No... it's not... wait... stop that! He-Help me Shirou!" Her eyes pleadingly shifted to Shirou as he had heard her plea for help while Mariru went to more thoroughly investigate Ren's body. He brought up his hand to cover his eyes to further remove this scene from his sight, maybe not everyone needed help, right?
"Stop moving around you, let me check... slender arms, curvy waistline, perfect. What materials did you use? Especially here..."
"Kyaa! N-Not there!" Shirou could practically imagine what was going, Mariru's arm drifting around Ren's body, investigating every nook and cranny, "Ahhhhh! That's itchy...! Ms. Mariru! Don't touch me there! No...!" That was the last he heard of Ren. Maybe... maybe he should take a break for once, maybe start a restaurant? Yeah, that sounds like a good idea...
He silently stood there, his ears hearing every noise that was made. He didn't know which was worse, seeing what was going on or hearing what was going on. He lost track of time and eventually the noises stopped and he heard the cry of someone being defiled, "Believe it or not! I was a boy until yesterday! There was no surgery, you have to believe me..." He allowed his eyes vision once more and he let out a sigh of relief, all the while Ren sent him a dangerous glare that promised revenge in the foreseeable future.
Mariru had backed away from Ren like Annie had and nodded, "Yeah, no doubt about this. Such a complete gender change is impossible with the current technology. You cannot do this unless you replace every single bone in your body." What ever shred of hope Ren had was instantly smashed the next moment, "Which means you are, and have always been, a girl."
"What! I've told you! I woke up as a girl." Ren denied her once more.
Mariru placed her hand on her hip, "Do you have any proof? Anything to prove that you used to be a boy?"
"Well... proof... Yeah right! Shirou knows that I was a boy! There's also my student ID card!" Ren almost thought she had all but would convince Mariru, that is until she remembered the subtle hints that Shirou actually and somehow didn't know that she was previously a he, she could be observant too ok? At least she still had her ID card. Well, she didn't have it on her since they had to give them all of their belongings, which Shirou and Annie didn't have any on them. So she was the only one to give them her ID card and discarded clothes.
Mariru looked at Shirou for an answer and as Ren had guessed, he didn't actually seem to remember as he shook his head and lightly shrugged. Mariru didn't seem to mind since the more believable proof was within her hand-held device and with a few taps Ren's ID card soon shows up for all to see.
"Yeah that's it! That's the proof!" All to eager to prove she was a male, Ren furiously pointed at the person within the ID card. The features were rather similar besides the hair and eye color.
"The facial features do look a bit like you, but this is hardly any proof..." She began tapping on her hand-held device as she continued, "Let me retrieve all footages of Ren for the last month in the metropolis system..." As they watched on and Ren noted that she may have looked a bit excited at the whole situation.
"I thought it was only a dream when I saw those ruins, that everything would go back to normal when I wake up. But now, here I am, suddenly a girl." She sighed to herself when she finished her musings.
"Apply bone change corrections. Activate gait analysis on your footage at the corridor just now..." Mariru completely disregards her musings and focuses on the tablet in her hand.
"Maybe it's not a dream. But now, everything looks fine. No fire, no destruction. Ugh... I'm totally confused...! I can't get things straight..." Ren grabbed her long hair in frustration and she would've even pulled on it if Shirou didn't put a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, it's okay. I'm sure Mariru will believe your a boy sometime." She remembered all the times he would try to comfort her, when she did poorly on a test, when she didn't have a place to stay, and many more times. One thing remained similar throughout all of those situations, Shirou was rather bad at comforting someone. But it worked so who was she to question?
"...Gait pattern matches."
"What does that mean?" Ren asked curiously as she refocused her attention on Mariru.
"Gait pattern is the signature control pattern of a person's muscles when walking." She idly responded, "Even the best agents can't disguise it." She looked at Ren, "Although scientifically unexplainable... You are Ren Kugimiya, no doubt."
"A... are you sure...?" Annie tentatively chimed in, shocked at the now confirmed information. Shirou couldn't help but feel disappointed in himself for seemingly forgetting that, and a lot more. Maybe it was because he 'died' in Ren's 'dream'?
"Finally... I thought you guys knew something about this..." Ren sagged in relief though she didn't know what to do to fix the problem.
"So," Mariru began, less interested in her identity problems and more interested on the events, "do you know of the Ross Goblet?"
"Ross Goblet? The thing that suddenly disappeared under video surveillance, according to the news this morning... but I haven't seen it in person yet."
"Well, if you're telling the truth... It will probably be the only reason that I would agree to give this boring lecture for free. The 'thing' is a substance H found on the Ross Islands. Four gems with remarkable purity are mounted on the exterior."
This Ross Goblet, she remembered seeing something similar that matched her description, "I did see something that looks like a shining goblet in the sky after I climbed out of the ruins. It floated in the sky, emitting a faint red light." She wasn't sure if she could forget that image ever.
"Faint red?" She repeated as her mind began relaying information to and fro. The faint red liquid in the goblet had been a mystery... This is confidential information, and has never been made public even though the risk rating of the goblet was lowered to 'safe' as of lately. No once could give such details without having seen it before... "Regardless of whether it was a dream or not, I'm afraid we need to confirm more information with you. Since this morning, we have received several alarms of Spacetime Fluxes in New Opulentia. It's like something was activated last night..." With a few taps on the tablet an image of Ren was shown in Shirou's clothing which he gave her a curious glance while she awkwardly laughed, "Satellite imagery shows that you disappeared at one spot within the flux area, and showed up out of another spot not long after, together with two people. We understand how the red-head showed up with you." A satellite image of Shirou was shown also within said flux area, "Like you he shown disappeared and was found with you. But blue twin-tail..." She dragged off while looking at Annie who looked shocked at her using the same words again. She continued, "Where you showed up, the flux automatically stopped."
"The flux area? You mean the Research Center?" Ren asked as she remembered as she recalled the events.
"Yup." Mariru replied.
"Could it be a machine failure? I had never left the street.
Mariru's face hardens, "Do you think anyone can enter or leave the Spacetime Flux as they like?"
"The Flux... Is it really that mighty?"
"You really know nothing, do you? I can assume the same thing then from your friends face. Spacetime is fundamental in physics. It's like the coordinate system of our universe. No matter how particles move within the system, the coordinate system must remain stable. If it shifts the slightest jitter, it will be devastating to the order of particles within it. Let's say 5% of the particles of a building shift randomly just by 1 micrometer, the material structure will be completely destroyed and the building will immediately collapse. But you are perfectly fine now, and the building areas within the flux are intact." She paused to let all of this information to sink in. Research on the Divine Touch shows that humans with the 'GHOST' are unable to enter the flux area. She idly noted as she looked closely at the person of interest, "In a word, it's like you were placed in the eye of a Category 5 hurricane, came out intact, and even quieted the storm." She simplified what she said they for them to better understand what she had just said.
"..." Ren thought about the implications of what this could mean, but what about those girls who attacked her and Shirou while they ignored Annie, "Could the flux be caused by those people who attacked us? They seemed insane..."
Mariru eyes widened, "Hang on! I have to brief the senate now-" everyone stiffened at her words, besides Annie of course, "There's this creepy guy among them who likes to run lie-detector tests at the conference calls. So, the little I know the better." She shrugged at that while Shirou and Ren seemed to lose all of the tension within them.
"Your comments on the Senate... are really an eye-opener." Ren commented.
"And girls should know when to lie-"
"I'm not a girl!" Ren furiously cut her off from finishing her sentence. "Alright, I'll keep it to myself..."
Mariru let a sly smile come on her face while Shirou and Annie felt left out the entire time they were here, "In recent years, there are only four Spacetime Fluxes recorded globally. They're mostly related to the mishandling of Substance H. When an unknown Divine Touch is suddenly activated, catastrophic events are very likely to follow."
"Is everyone ok?" Shirou chimes in as Ren was about to say a similar thing. Maybe she was spending too much time with him, no way, there's no such thing as 'too much'.
"In the most severe incident, there were tens of thousands of casualties. But Academy Cities would speak with one voice and tone them down as 'regular incidents'... Gas leaks, air crashes, terrorist attacks, and so on..."
Shirou gritted his teeth at the revelation. "So, this time..."
"This time was different." Mariru answered, "There've never been successive fluxes at such a scale... So severe that it goes beyond the imagination of our highest-level propaganda. So we'll literally run out of lies..."
The small group seemed distraught, if the most severe incident had tens of thousands of casualties and this flux was even larger than imaginable, it left little to be desired, "Is it because of me? If there is anything I can do..." Ok, maybe she was spending a bit too much time with Shirou.
"Oh, cut it. Your body transformation might have something to do with the crisis, but you alone are impossible to create such a disaster at this scale. If you really want to find clues, I can arrange my men to take you to the site." If it's true, then she might be the only possible solution... "But, never push yourself too hard, and don't mention anything about your body. Is that clear? The same goes for you two also."
"No mention of my body... Do you mean... I have to pretend that I've always have been a girl?" That was one thing Ren didn't want to do. She was a boy through and through, even through these uncertain times. She hoped.
"You know..." Mariru began idly looking around, "The supremacy of science has been at the heart of New Opulentia's governance. If your experience goes public, you'll be seen as a 'guinea pig' and taken to a research institution! I bet lots of men vowing to devote themselves to science would line up to study your body..." Mariru leaned towards Ren "As it's rare to have an experimental subject as cute as you-"
"... I... I see! I will keep my mouth shut!" She even brought her hand to her mouth and 'zipped' it.
"Alright, alright, I'll get my men and you'll be escorted to the site, and don't do anything reckless." She tapped on her tablet and stared at it for a while, she soon held it by her side once again when she was finished.
"I'll make sure these two won't do anything reckless officer Mariru." Annie waved her hand and once she looked at her she smiled, "I'll make sure of it." She eyed Ren in particular.
"The cars here. I have something important to attend to so I'll be at the site after you."
"We'll do our best Ms. Mariru!" Ren shouted out to her disappearing figure. "So, does anyone know where the car is?"
"Maybe we go back to where we came from. There was an elevator that brought us in and it looks like the only lace a car can come from." Shirou suggested to the two and they both nodded, Mariru wouldn't just leave them by themselves and let them get lost would she? Ren hoped not, she seemed like the type of person to do exactly just that
Coming back from the way they came from they saw the same jet-black sedan waiting for them in the elevator and could the same person who had drove them here. They all entered the vehicle and the elevator they were in soon began to move.
All the while they were in the car, Ren stared outside of the window and she couldn't help but feel worried. If what Mariru said was true than she had to stop this, and she knew she was involved in this way more than she would of liked. If all the fluxes also had insane people with inhuman strength attacking them then she wasn't so sure she would make it out alive. She was lucky that they practically ignored her.
Wait, she didn't get her ID card and Annie's bat back yet. She also forgot she was still wearing Shirou's jacket. She silently took it off and offered to give it back to Shirou, "Hey, Shirou. Thanks for letting me use your jacket."
"There's no need to thank me, but you can keep it." Was his reply as he pushed her hand back and she held it in her grasp. She soon heard Annie snickering to herself and heard words like 'body oder'... She wasn't into his oder, when will she learn that! It wasn't like that...
Arriving at where the flux area should be, they got out of the car and saw many men and woman in a similar black suit and some wore sunglasses which kind of intimidated her even more. She noticed that one area in particular was devoid of any agents and that everyone was around it. She breathed in, she wanted, needed to learn more about this situation and what better place to do that then at the eye of the storm.
"Are you sure we should do this?" Annie spoke, cautiously eyeing the area, "How do we even know if this will work? Mariru said we couldn't just enter and exit a flux as we please."
Shirou nodded, "She's right, if we want to know more about these fluxes we would have to be in one, but that will be difficult."
"I... I dunno... We could search the area, see if anything reacts?" Ren suggested to the two with a questioning shrug.
She looked around and nearby she saw a small group of people discussing with each other and they soon approached them, "If you three are going to investigate the flux area then we will have to escort you inside, but if anything happens it will be out of our control. Are you ready?" The man in front of the small group asked her and she resolutely nodded. He turned around and a silent command was given out and they surrounded the three which made Ren even more nervous about the entire thing.
Ok, you can do this. She inwardly cheered herself on, she had to be related to this incident somehow. Her body wouldn't have changed just for nothing and summoning Annie out of a bat was even weirder. She didn't need to question that though. The entourage trekked forward and towards the flux area and once they entered everything felt more normal than she would've thought. She looked around once more to observe the area, nothing was out of the ordinary and it was just a normal street.
She felt herself sigh in relief at knowing nothing terrible had happened and they walked deeper into the area. "Somethings wrong." They heard Shirou speak and before anyone could ask the three suddenly disappeared without any warning.
The leader of the agents quickly turned around and faced another person, "Damn! Contact Mariru, let her know what happened." With an affirmative nod the man ran back towards the exit of the area.
"W-what happened?" Ren clutched the blue bat in her hand more tightly as she frantically looked around noticing that the agents accompanying them had all but disappeared.
"I think we're inside the flux." Shirou answered her question as he observed everything in his sight, looking out for anything. An arrow soared through the sky and towards it's target, Ren. "Look out!" Before he could try and stop the arrow or push her out of the way the same blue haired fighter showed up wielding a steel beam that was slightly taller than herself of all things. Two swords appeared in his hand to block the beam and he went in for a strike of his own as she dodged.
Luckily for Ren, Annie was just as observant as Shirou as she pulled her out of the way but not before it managed to strike true. She let out a pained scream as she stared at the arrow in her arm in muted terror. She felt herself panic and freeze up, she's never fought someone before but the idea of killed or be killed scared her. She could hear the clash of metal, the sound of someone yelling at her, she felt her body love against her will.
"Re... Re... Ren... Ren, look at me!" She felt herself being shook as her eyes began to focus again and she saw Annie shaking her shoulders and looked back at the arrow in her arm and felt nauseous at the sight, "Ren listen, we can't pull it out, it'll just cause more damage. So we have to leave it in for now and get some help, okay?" She's never seen such a serious side of Annie, she nodded her head either way.
Ren wasn't some medical expert but she felt even more nauseous at the thought of pulling out an arrow out of your body. Especially if they had those barbed tips. She heard the sound of metal, arrows hitting the ground occasionally, and she heard the loudest sound she ever heard in her life. If playing games taught her anything then that was a gun, she couldn't help herself and looked around the corner and saw three other people besides Shirou who was fighting them.
The one that caught her attention was the one who was carrying a black and pink sniper that shot actually bullets. Her outfit was mainly black and light green accents like her hair. She wore a black beret and had a pair of black goggles that were resting on her head. Her eyes were a light green and her equally light green hair reached her waist and her bangs were flat. She had a black and pink cloth that hid the bottom half of her facial features, black gloves that reached her elbow, a black and green shirt with no sleeves that showed some of her cleavage, black skirt, and wore black boots with green accents that had heels and also reached her thighs. Appearance aside she had a gun and she was trying to shot them and if it weren't for Shirou somehow deflecting the bullets with two beautiful black and white falchions that he suddenly had.
The other new girl had a bow instead and used it to shot at them with frighteningly good accuracy. She had a pink flower ornament on the left side of her light blue hair that just passed her shoulders and the inside was pink like hers. She wore what could be described as a sailor uniform though the top was blue and the skirt was red, she wore white stockings with red stockings visible at the top, and she wore sandals. Dodging one arrow may be easy but when she had the ability to shot multiply arrows at once and so suddenly caused Ren to be nearly hit multiple times.
But a strange thing she noted was that she was now seeing the same blue haired girl from last time. She expected a lot when she heard about these fluxes, something more abnormal but it seemed rather normal besides how frighteningly strong everyone is. She also noted how everyone she's seen in these fluxes were girls. As soon as she had said that a swarm of small flying robots came out of nowhere and also began attacking Shirou. She considered shutting her mouth
She felt herself pulled back, "Ren! What are you doing?! You're going to get shot again!" It was Annie's turn this time to look around the corner but it wasn't out of curiosity like Ren had. "Okay, okay. The arrow that in your arm isn't barbed or anything so you should be safe if we take it out, we just need to stop the bleeding with something." The thought worried Ren. Annie turned towards Ren... I'm going to pull it out."
"H-Huh!? B-but...!"
Before she could protest any further Annie interrupted her, "Trust me." She stared into her eyes and she could feel her thoughts having a war with each other, what should they do? We should do this or we should do that. She nodded her head, "Okay, give me Shirou's jacket, it can work as a bandage for now." Annie ripped a sleeve off as a Ren silently apologized, "I'm going to take it out at three." Ren nodded again as she gritted her teeth as hard as she could for the possible ensuing pain, "Three! Sorry!"
That wasn't how it was suppose to work! Annie quickly wrapped the sleeve around the wound and tied it as hard as she could so there would be enough force to stop the bleeding for now. She also wasn't a medical expert. "Ok, we did it. Now we need to run, this is out of your league!" She heard the sound of footsteps as she turned over and saw Annie running towards where she was taking cover.
She peeked around the cover while she held the sleeve on her wound and saw that Shirou, the ever selfless and kindhearted boy was now fighting for their life. It hurt her to see this, not only because she couldn't stand the thought of seeing him die again, but because she was useless and hiding to avoid getting killed, "B-but what about Shirou! We can't just leave him!" She saw the girl with the sniper point the gun towards her and she immediately pulled her head back to avoid being killed.
"You're already injured in that surprise attack." She gestured towards her left arm which was bleeding in many places and then towards her foot which she may have sprained by falling down. "Plus, I'm sure Shirou wouldn't just let himself die like that. I'm sure he'll come back."
"How are you so sure? They have someone with a gun, someone insanely strong, and someone who can fire off 10 arrows at once!" If they left him she was sure he would die, she's never seen him fight before, at least before today, but if he was fighting people this dangerous...
Annie looked at the fight and noticed how he was holding steadfast though he was narrowly dodging the bullets or deflecting them with his two black and white swords, "Ren, we aren't prepared for something like this. You never even had the chance to properly know how to use my bat, and you can't just swing it."
"B-but..." Ren couldn't resist her words and what she said was correct. She knew little to nothing on fighting and she would just be dead weight since she also couldn't help. "Why are you so sure he'll escape then?"
"Because I trust him?" She a said in a questioning tone, as if it was normal to trust someone she just met.
But... maybe she was right. If all of these fluxes had dangerous people and things that constantly wanted to kill them, then she just had to get stronger. It felt cool to say that, seeing all of these main characters from games in such being badass... Maybe she should focus on what was important, Annie's trust, she felt embarrassed as a friend. A stranger could have full confidence and trust in her friend but she, the person who actually knows him didn't trust him. "Ok, I'll trust you, Shirou." She said that more to herself. She quickly brought her head around the corner and yelled towards her friend, "I trust you Shirou! So you better get out!"
She didn't wait for a response as they both ran towards where they had initially entered the flux area in hopes that they would escape.
Next update - The Selfless Commander
Yay, the chapters done. How'd you feel about it? Was it good or bad, leave a review if you want. I for one thought that this lacked, well, lacked a lot so yeah. In other words I think it's kinda shit if you want me to crudely say it. Well, I think everything's shit but in varying degrees though to 'really shit' and 'not so shit'. I say that word a lot...
Update - Shit, I actually messed up in writing, Rens's name isn't actually Ren but that's her/his new identity name. I mean, at least it can be both masculine and feminine but now I have to come up with a new identity or I can go back and change it in the stories.
I'm getting too into games... that's why I want to write so many new story's and my current ones... And damn this autocorrect.