This took a while. I've had some plans and drafts for the first four volumes, but not so much from here on out. I'm both excited and worried.

Anyway, here's Volume 5!

Volume 5 Cover Image:

drive@google@com/file/d/1s38A9u_4DW_6mWJrdgkvcrtNzNFf1Zwx/view?usp=drivesdk

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Little Wing It

Volume 5

The Rising Of The Switch Beast

Prologue

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"Hey, Emilia, you living someplace different lately?"

Yut idly asked as we sat in our ship. We had just completed a relatively short mission, so no one was really that tired. Therefore, boredom struck, and Yut must have noticed something that piqued his curiosity.

The person he was asking, Emilia, blinked her eyes in confusion, not really getting the gist of what he was getting at. Nonetheless, she still gave an answer.

"Huh? No, Yut, I didn't move, if that's what you were asking."

"Really? Then why do I always hear your voice from Kara's room?"

"Urk!"

What the hell was 'urk' supposed to mean?

In any case, I suppose an explanation as to what's currently going on is in order. Well, the short version is, there is nothing that's currently going on.

I haven't really kept track, but it's been a few days since our trip to Parum, and also Rykros, to find the runaway Emilia. Who, by the way, was now responding to Yut's interrogation via strange noises.

Nothing of note has really happened since then, the looming end of the world notwithstanding. The investigation on Inhelt was still on pending, so until no official collective decision has been made by Little Wing, the Guardians, and the AMF, we're basically on break.

That said though, you can't really expect any of these problem children to sit still in one place for any period of time. So with that in mind, we went and retrieved our ship which Emilia used on her little trip. Thankfully, she locked the hatch and we didn't have a lost ship on our hands.

Once that was taken care of, we went on a few missions here and there, but so far, there hasn't been any sign of Shizuru. We know he's after Emilia, and Mika, but he hasn't made a move yet. I don't know if I should be glad or worried.

But in spite of that, a close eye is being kept on Emilia at all times. Whether it's Kraz, Chelsea, or us, we make sure there's always at least one person with her.

Which brings us to the conundrum that Yut was raising.

"Y-you're probably just imagining that, Yut."

"Not a chance!"

When I said that there's always someone with her, I meant that I was almost always around her. Or perhaps it was more fitting to say that she was almost always around me.

Although she's always been often together with me before, ever since that conversation we had in our room, she's made it a point to stick around for as much as possible. While it's good that I don't have to worry about her too much, it's still a little weird that wherever I go, she follows, like a moth drawn to a flame.

In fact, the only time I'm ever without her for long is when I sleep, and even then, I usually awake to find her sleeping in my couch or munching on something, usually my food. And that's not getting to the occasions that I had to sleep on the couch because she took my bed!

I know I internally promised to be there for her as long as she needs me but there's a limit, you know?

"Are you sure you're not just hearing things?"

"No, it was definitely your voice! And I heard you crying too!"

"Oh... I, uh, I think I know when you're talking about..."

Emilia's face flashed a bit of wistfulness as she smiled at the memory, which brought a little tug at my emotions too.

Unfortunately, while Yut meant well and that he was genuinely concerned, the way he goes about it is kinda...

Face-to-face.

"Something bothering you? Something you can't tell me?"

"N-no, it's nothing like th-"

"Hey! What did you do to make her cry, huh?!"

Get off my case. If anything, I should be the one crying.

Half the time, I can't even use my own bed. I'm almost always out of stocked food, and I can't even drink coffee in peace! That girl just does not shut up, and although she's alright with me just listening, it feels awkward to just be on the receiving side.

And I don't fancy feeling awkward! I don't not do well with strangers just because!

Thankfully, Emilia moved to stop the commotion being caused by Yut, despite it being just us in the ship.

"Yut, calm down, it's nothing!"

"What's this, then?"

"Oh great, the midget's in on this too."

Unfortunately for her, Red emerged from the inner compartments of the ship, a mischievous smirk on her face and obviously having heard whatever it was that was happening.

If there's mayhem that's happening, you can always count on Red to follow suit.

"You know, when Kraz told you that you could do what you liked, I don't think he exactly meant whatever you liked..."

"No, this all some kind of misunderstanding! Nothing's wrong, and nothing happened!"

Emilia angrily rebutted, losing her cool over Yut's overzealousness, and now Red spinning it into something completely different.

That, however, didn't pacify anyone.

"Ah, shush. When a girl cries, it's never for no reason. Tell me, was it that guy? I knew it."

Knew what, exactly? Why don't you come over here and say that to my face?

Emilia sighed in exasperation, having noticed that she lost her temper over nothing. Gotta give her credit though, she's no longer jumping at anything Red says. That doesn't stop the redheaded troll from trying, but at least she no longer has a 100% success rate.

"Look, I just told you-"

"What'd you do?! What'd you say to make her cry, huh?!"

"Wha- hey!"

"Yut, Kara didn't do anything, stop it!"

"That's right, he didn't do anything. That's exactly why she's upset, right?"

"Th-that's...! What are you implying?! Ugh! Enough! Nothing happened, no one did anything to me in the slightest! I was just visiting my partner's room! Is that so bad?!"

Thankfully, it looked like Emilia's outburst calmed down Yut, at least. Still, he didn't look particularly convinced, but I guess it's good that he's no longer up in my face about it.

As for Red...

"C'mon, can't I give one of my teammates a hard time in peace? Heh heh."

Well, at least she's openly admitting to it. That's gotta count for something, right?

Emilia sighed as he sat back down, fed up from the antics of the two. Seems like her current problem was resolved...

Or was it?

"You could just tell them, you know?"

"Bwuh?!"

I could have sworn she did a spit-take as soon as the words left my mouth. I honestly didn't know why I felt the need to butt in now, after I've been silent for the entire shenanigan.

But I can say Emilia's reaction made that decision worth it. Really, with all the trouble she's inadvertently causing me, she should be the glad that this is as much as I'm doing to get back at her.

As Red laughed and Yut remained clueless, a red faced Emilia angrily turned to me and gave me a furious glare to answer my grin.

"Will you knock it off? There's nothing to tell! End of discussion!"

And that was when she stomped out of the ship's command center. Uh-oh, looks like we made her mad.

Well, I'm sure once she calms down a bit, she'll realize that we were just messing around. Really, after all the things that've been said between us, it'd be really anticlimactic, and not to mention dumb, if she just runs off again.

As the commotion died down, the comms suddenly started beeping, signifying an oncoming call. I immediately went over to it and put the caller through.

"Hello, can you read me?"

"Loud and clear. What's up?"

Ursula's visage was the one to appear, with a somewhat urgent look on her face.

"The Inhelt operation is a go. Someone from the Guardians has come to explain the situation. I want you and your team to hear this too."

So, it looks like something finally gave in, huh? The investigation is on, after what felt like several dead days.

Still, I know the Guardians are part of this operation too, but haven't we been spending quite a bit of time alongside them lately? I'm not sure how Emilia's gonna react to this.

Though I do wonder who the Guardians sent. Lumia? Maya? Lou? Someone we haven't met?

Well, no use wondering now.

"Understood. We'll be right there."

"Little Wing office. Come as soon as your ship arrives."

As I relayed my confirmation, a notification that Clad 6 was only a few minutes away was displayed by the ship. Ursula hung up after that, and I prepared for landing.

"A Guardian, huh? Think it'll be the Hero this time?"

"Ethan Waber? Nah."

Red's guess warranted attention, but I don't think it's likely. If what I heard about Ethan Waber is right, he's really not the type to explain situations. Not that he doesn't want to, rather, he sucks at it.

That's what the rumors say, at least.

As Red shrugged her shoulders in response to my dismissal, Yut's ears perked up in recognition.

"Oh! The Guardians are nice. One of them gave me my wand!"

It's a good thing he's not going ham on that thing. Wouldn't want to suddenly have a case of Magical Jungle Boy Yut on our hands.

But It would probably be hilarious, I'll admit.

With that idle conversation out of the way, I motioned to the two as we entered Clad 6, reissuing manual control over the ship for a smoother landing. Emilia still hasn't returned but I'm sure she heard the system's announcement.

"Anyway, strap in, we're about to land. Looks like things are about to get hectic soon enough."