Muv luv-The last moment miracle

by huuduc

Takeru fell to despair as Kasumi informs him that:He wasn't a Casualty Conductor anymore. He want to rewrite the cursed and twisted fate yet find himself powerless to do so. What can he do to defy fate once again and save everyone he holds dear from their designed deaths.

39. Chapter 38: The sword's dreamlike memory

Chapter 38: The sword's dreamlike memory

"When are you going to wake up Takeru chan?"

Sumika asked as she gazed at her childhood friend.

The test for XM3 was a success but there was no celebrating on that day, it was a gloomy and suffocating one.

33 deaths and 49 injurers, it wasn't all a pleasant number despite how most of the upper echelons of UN army regarded it as a lucky turn of event, casualty was within the minimal range whereas it should have been many time higher than that. Among that, 3 casualties came from A01 with the case of Asakura and Takahara was among the more critical one, a severe burn from laser class's attack and a laceration respectively.

The last in the casualty list of A01 was of course their newest member.

"Luck of devil"

Was the term everyone described him, Shirogane Takeru. Internal bleeding in various areas, one fractured rib, some bruises and light case burn marks, and an average concussion were the only injuries he had in the end. If this wasn't the luck of a devil, what is?

Still, according to the note of the medical ward, it could take a month or two before Takeru could participate in any A01's task again.

Normally, he would be a topic of discussion for everyone else at the moment, but luckily, he wasn't. Currently, there were so many pressing issues that people almost totally forget of how Takeru and Marimo broke the chain of command. Besides, Yuuko has done her part of the job, pointing her finger here and there, resolving it in her own method.

People was shocked of the sudden appearance of the BETA during the trial exam for the XM3, of the sudden ill-fate that befallen on them, the rumours of the insubordination of Shirogane Takeru and Jinguuji Marimo and the strange moving pattern of the BETA during the incident. But it was the existence of the 17 spies that were jailed in the bridge at the moment that brought horror to everyone and turned their track of thought away from everything else.

Yuuko called them traitors of mankind, those captured criminals, condemning them for freeing the BETA from her research faculties, schemed of those sabotages, killing of their people and disrupting ALTERNATIVE IV of its effort. A devious move, Sumika dared to say. Whether Yuuko would lose or it was Shirogane Takeru in this bet, it didn't matter, there was only one single undisputed winner, ALTERNATIVE IV. And it was Yuuko's definite aim from the very beginning. Manipulating, she was, Kouzuki Yuuko, the holy mother of ALTERNATIVE IV.

Outrage, almost everyone at the scene and everyone watched the screen were at those spies and those who controlled them, scheming of this unhuman plan and betray mankind's effort for a victory in the war against the BETA.

Since the XM3 gained its popularity and attracted more attention than it should have been, the Yokohama Incident, or so it was called in news and reports, became the focal point of attention around the world at the moment. If Takeru was to die on that day, undoubtedly, he would be revered as a tragic hero around the world, not a guy with devil luck.

Who are those spies? Which group, which organization and which army they came from?

The convenient status "diplomatic immunity" which had been those spies' shield and even now which ensure nobody could take them into custody, interrogating them or jail them more than two weeks in one place crumbled, dissipating into thin air in front of the fury of the crowd and Yuuko took full advantage of that to do her bidding.

Organisation XXX denied their affiliation with XXX's involvement in the Yokohama's incident. But, according to their spokesman, they will provide any information they can to help the UN investigators' effort in bringing this incident to the light.

That was the format of every organisation that related to the spies that were captured by Yuuko used in their public announcement.

In another word, those spies were abandoned by their organisations since no army, no organisation would be stupid enough to stand on the other side of the table on the receiving end of the wrath of mankind as a whole. Everyone wanted to play the good guy's role, trying to deny their involvement with those criminals, saying that they would take responsibilities for those criminal's crime but not the charge on their honour. The law was still there, the diplomatic immunity status was still there but the fate of those spies was already in Yuuko's hand the moment the committed their crime against her. Nobody would lend them a hand, publicly voicing a concern regarding Yuuko's interrogation on them.

But, it was not the way Yuuko made her stance.

In fact, she had no need to interrogate with any of those spies that she captured. Kasumi was there to assist her, dragging out those spies' secret without wasting a breath on them.

And Sumika thought that was what Yuuko wanted, apparently it wasn't.

Yuuko didn't care what those spies planted to do, digging into her research or sabotaging it, she didn't give a damn. In fact, Yuuko didn't bother wasting her time to interrogating those spies, it was never her intention in capturing them.

It has been two days since the incident came to an end. And Yuuko was still extremely busy, conducting all sorts of meeting and conference within the Yokohama's ground.

The unfortunate organisations that related to those criminals and the masterminds, the true owner of those spies were all sat down, listening to Yuuko's term and were all forced to accept them, collaborating to her bargain.

Instead of cornering those groups and let the public decided their fate upon the moment Yuuko released the proof of her supposed to take place interrogation, the mad scientist chose to string them into her hand, blackmailing them to either work for her instead of her enemies or stay out of her way.

No matter what, ALTERNATIVE IV would win. Yuuko made sure that it would be the only result, and it did, since neither Takeru nor Yuuko actually won over each other.

Kouzuki Yuuko was undoubtedly a genius, not only in quantum physic but in many areas. And thanks to that ingenuity, even without the unconscious Takeru voiced it aloud, Yuuko understood that she was also blackmailed by him in one way or another.

The G-element, the foundation of Yuuko's confident over her unshaken status in the Yokohama base and the world as a whole was extracted from the living generator that was at the bottom of the base and brought out without Yuuko's awareness and was waved around like a toy in her despair. It was a huge hit on her confident and pride.

This was the wakeup call for Yuuko, regarding how dangerous Takeru was. She has never underestimated him, not in the least since Yuuko actually thought highly of him. But in the end, it wasn't enough.

The 00 unit, Sumika herself, the XG, the BETA, the unforseen future, Takeru had them in his grasp, not tightly as Yuuko though if she could, but tight enough to put a serious threat on anyone and anything on this world and especially ALTERNATIVE IV itself.

"Even if you are the great Kouzuki Yuuko, even if you are the smartest person in the world, you are not omnipotent. Do not over estimate yourself."

Yuuko probably heard something like that within her head as she stared at the immobile Takeru on his sketcher two days ago when he was admitted to the medical ward.

If ALTERNATIVE IV was a car, Yuuko and Takeru would be the fore wheels, taking the role of leading the direction whereas Sumika and the Valkyries would be the back wheels, pushing the car. To ensure ALTERNATIVE IV a success until the end, she must work with him in harmony, not commanding him like she did to anyone else, Yuuko has realized.

But in the end, who won in this bet? Sumika pondered and could not come into a conclusion.

Takeru got what he wanted but the result was not favourable for him. On another hand, Yuuko who had the result exactly like she has predicted only to find out that she was blackmailed with silent threat in the end.

So who win? It's not like Sumika really care about that from the beginning. She merely stood only Takeru's side like she always has been in the past then joining Yuuko's side since she had to. But ultimately, she was against the fighting between Yuuko and Takeru, just as reluctant as much as Kasumi since the both of them was just as important to her.

"Hey, when are you going to wake up, Takeru chan?"

Sumika repeated her question, unknowing the number of times that she kept on repeating it, staying on his side was the only thing that she ever wanted.

Cold and dark it was, eerily and yet strangely familiar, the room that Sumika stayed, watching over her childhood friend.

It of course wasn't the bright and cosy medical ward that surround by doctors and nurses. In this room, beside Takeru and Sumika at the moment, only strange looking equipments and weird devices occupied.

So near yet so far, Sumika thought, trying to caress Takeru with her fingers, trying to wake him up like she always did, but unable to. A thick layer of glass separated them, preventing Sumika from touching her most important someone.

Bubbles floated upward, slightly noisy.

"When are you going to wake up, Takeru chan?"

Sumika asked again, knowing that Takeru wouldn't able to listen to. His eyes were tightly close. On his handsome face, an oxygen mask covered, providing him oxygen to stay inside the world of G element liquid that Yuuko said to be advantageous for his recovery.

"What are you dreaming Takeru chan?"

Sumika asked, unable to get a good reading of Takeru's inner world.

Black it was, not of fear, not of despair but of unknown.

With her limiter lifted, it shouldn't happen this way for no barrier could stop Sumika from mind-reading a person, much alone it was Shirogane Takeru, the closest person to her aside Kasumi.

But it was the case. Just like the content of those crimson dreams that Takeru described, Sumika was unable to make a different this time.

If even Sumika and Kasumi could not, the one who could read those dreams probably do not exist. No wait… there was probably one, he just might able to read them, Takeru himself.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Two years, it was just the amount of time to change a person completely. Two years, it was just the amount of time for a normal boy who only knew how to play game turned into a soldier. Two years, it was just the amount of time for even a hopeful, positive and foolhardy kid to change his entire view of the world completely.

Clack clack

The training field was filled with the noise of clashing swords and battle cries. Sharp gales blew through the compound, lingering as though peeking at the duo that completely absorb in their swordplay.

Breathing heavily with his mouth and nose, the young man leaped back, trying to put some distance to his opponent. His arms moaned in pain, full of bruises and bumps, berating the young man of his countless mistakes during the match. Even retaining his grip on the wooden sword was almost impossible for him with his shaking and swollen fingers, yet the man could not avert his gaze away from his opponent. For standing on the opposite corner of the moonlit training field was a breathtakingly beautiful swordswoman. As a girl, she was a stunningly beautiful one. Long and silky hair tied in a pony tail, running down the girl back. Beads of crystal dripped down her temple, nape and drenched her sleeveless training uniform, emphasizing her alluring figure. So far, she was the most beautiful girl that the young man has ever seen. As a swordswoman, it was as though the girl and her sword was made for each other. The bokken on the girl's hand was naturally held as though it was an extension of her arms, not just a mere practice weapon.

What should I do next?

The young man couldn't help but wonder. His sparring partner showed no opening as usual. Reckless attack would only earn him some beating, he has learned that too well with his beaten up body. Yet, if he wouldn't attack, he would lose the match for sure. His sparring partner wouldn't remain defensive for the rest of the day, waiting him to attack. And once that happened, he would be in a passive situation with no way out.

Taking a deep breath, the young man slowly adjusted the grip on his bokken. With left foot stepped forward, he raised the wooden blade to shoulder level. Then the young man charged, leaping toward his sparring partner.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Urg" The young man painfully moaned. His head was ringing and his consciousness was wavering, standing in the border of void and reality.

"You are finally awake."

A warm and worried voice came.

"Were you trying to kill your boyfriend Meiya? That last attack of your could have kill me a hundred time over and over again"

Lying with his back on the ground while his sword sparring partner were giving him a lap pillow, the young man asked, feeling the scorching pain on his neck and his arms.

"I'm sorry Takeru. But, it's partly your fault as well. If you kept on coming at me like that, there is no way I could hold back" Meiya answered, slightly pouting.

"This made my 325 loss, I think?"

With one hand massaging the scorching bruise on his neck, Takeru asked.

"If you included the 19 times that you cheated, it would be 334"

"Wait, are you still angry over those?"

Takeru immediately sat up, away from his lover's lap.

"No, how could I possibly angry over something like that? It was my own carelessness that was to blame." Meiya promptly gave her answer without delay.

"..you are totally angry, aren't you?"

Takeru asked, reading Meiya's expression. It's only two years since he started dating her, but it was like they were with each other forever. The Meiya that he knew were different to the Meiya that everyone else knew. She's cute and can be extremely childish at times, unlike her usual dignified and gallant manner.

"I'm not"

"No, that line is not very convinced if you show me this kind of expression. You are totally fuming red."

"You are such a bully. Why you are only sharp at time like this?"

Meiya complained as she started to stand up and passed Takeru her towel.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Two years has passed since that unforgettable Christmas. It has been two years since I learned that our effort and training were all for nothing for mankind has chosen the worst decision ever, abandoning our rightful birthplace to the invader, the BETA.

The genius Kouzuki Yuuko sensei of mine left, disappeared and totally vanished some time after that Christmas. Nobody has seen or heard of her ever since.

I felt for her…

She was after all, the most devastated one among us, receiving that ill news on that Christmas two years ago.

I wondered if I could meet her again, to tell her just how grateful I was when she got me out of the cold bridge, giving me a new life and identity in this alienated world. If it wasn't for her, I doubt that I could still survive until this day. I haven't had that chance to properly thank her.

Since that Christmas, things in the Yokohama UN base changed, for the worse.

Marimo chan, too, said her goodbye with us some time after that. Since she was originally lent to the UN Army by the Imperial Army, now that Yuuko's research was axed, Marimo chan returned to her old post.

Since that time, our training program has been frozen indefinitely. Nobody bother to keep watch on us, cadets of the 207th squadron. Somehow, I got a feeling that it was because we were related to Yuuko's research in one way or another that we received this kind of treatment. It has been really tough for us thus far. It's hard, without Marimo chan's instruction, without anyone showing us a cue card of some sort. It was hard for us to make any progression on our own.

But even so, we still tried to do our best, to graduate as quickly as possible, even if we must do it without anyone giving us the rope. It was hard, learning and discovering things on our own. Self study, self taught, self train, self discover, somehow, we were able to make some progress. Division of labour, I guessed that how we managed to progress until this very day.

Ayamine Kei at some point became our instructor in CQC and the art of grappling. I could tell that it wasn't an easy job for her, not at all. Since she was so gifted with her odd sense of balance, what she can teach us aside from the basic was little aside from the jiujutsu technique that Ayamine learned from her father. Other than Meiya who could excellently follow Ayamine's CQC lesson thus far, the rest of our squad desperately struggled to follow her instruction and advice. Thus, Ayamine used majority of her time to reconfigure her old style toward the military standard so that we could follow her. She kept reminding us to be flexible at all time in combat rather than sticking with the old style of combat we learned from her. Unexpectedly, she has a teacher quality, though not as good as everyone else.

Mitsurugi Meiya, my lover and also my teacher in the way of the sword was the best of us in the art of kenjutsu. She was someone whose natural aptitude in kenjutsu was on the level of cheating, compare to the rest of us. And that's precisely why, it was hard for her to teach us what she learned through intuition and innate aside from basic technique and skills. Just like Ayamine, Meiya did her best to revise her style so that she could teach us. Though, her specialty was in the art of battoujutsu and iaido, she struggled to make those skills of her useful when piloting a TSF. And she did, but mostly for our sake, reconfiguring her entire skill asset in both the art of iaido and battoujutsu for the purpose of piloting a TSF. Meiya was the one who devised most of our attacking pattern and move-set in TSF's CQC.

Tamase Miki continued to do her old job, sharing us everything she knew about her sharpshooting skill. Well, it's not like she could share with us the ability that help her to shoot that runaway HSST at the range of 500 km or anything. It's just plain stupid to compare anyone else to her, someone who actually nailed down that running away HSST that was beyond the horizon. But, her advice was precise and helpful, compare to that of Meiya or Ayamine. However, since we are more or less relied on our TSF's secondary tracking and aiming system once we boarded a TSF, the kind of manual sharpshooting skill that Tama possessed also need to be revised. That's the reason we were kind of surprised when we found out that Tama has gone around the base, asking other Eishi for advices regarding how to improve herself in this particular department despite her shy nature. Undoubtedly, Tama was the one of the largest contribution to our squad's improvement in marksmanship.

Yoroi Mikoto, too, taught us everything she could, making sure that each and every one of us can survive even on the toughest and harshest environments. She was also in charge of teaching us case studies on field-medical-attention, TSF self-repair, and threat evaluation on battlefield. She might not look like it, but she really struggled to manage that mountains load of works while also improving her other skills with the rest of our squad members. We often saw her running around the hangar and medical ward, taking notes and asking for advices from other officers.

But it was class rep, Sakaki Chiruzu, probably the one had the toughest time among us. At some point we were really worried about her health. She was sleep deprived and has been losing weight in a very unhealthy manner. The pressure on her back was perhaps heaviest among us since she was our squad leader. She was trying to shoulder everything on her own and trying to become a good role model for us at the same time. She went and negotiated with the new CO regarding of our squad's situation at some point and probably dealt quite a number of odd jobs behind our back. It was almost a miracle that we managed to convince her to stop thinking in that way and learned to rely on us as well to solve the problems. However, I guess class rep still determined to live up to her responsibility as our squad leader to the end. If we were to take a military exam at the moment, surely class rep would definitely ace each and every subject with 'A' as her average score, a superhuman feat that could only achieve by the like of Sakaki Chiruzu. Class rep was the one in charge of teaching us analytical skills, commanding skill, and tactical forecast. She also had a tough time of learning those skills on her own after requesting for the material from various sources.

It has been two years since I woke up only to find myself in a completely different world. It has been two years that I have realized that I was the weakest among the six of us, pulling their legs. But it was all the more reason for me to not give up, to work harder than everyone else, catching up with them and able to protect them when time arrived. It might not obvious to everyone, but I considered everyone in the squad 207th as my own family, my one and only treasure in this world. In this world, I have no father, no mother, no Sumika and no blood relatives. I don't even have a home to call my own other than this squad. That's why, more than anything in this world, I'm really scared of losing them, of unable to protect them. Thus, I tried my best and did everything so that they could be safe…even if it was by betraying them behind their back.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Are you even trying? I said 'Do a nose dive after a barrel roll with no time lag. Not diving head first to the ground after a barrel roll. Besides if you had your TSF froze for half a second like that, anyone could get you easily with the help of the auto aiming system without bother aiming properly."

A demanding low voice rang though the squad 207's communication channel with the demonic drill instructor manner.

"Are you for real? How many people do you think out there could do a nose dive in that manner with no time lag with a Gekishin? Besides, with the height of 50 meters, I don't see how it is possible for anyone to do a nose dive like that." Chiruzu reasonably argued, venting her frustration. If it wasn't a simulation, her TSF has already exploded after that failed nose dive, crashing head first to the ground like a meteor.

"…Impossible," Ayamine curtly voiced her opinion, agreeing with Chiruzu. Her TSF too, sank at least 4 meter into the ground, resignedly pointing its legs toward the blue sky.

"It's kinda weird hearing such thing from Takeru," Mikoto admitted, half laughing. Her TSF was not particularly in a better condition than her squad mates, lying flatly on the ground, spreading eagle.

"No talking back, do it again. If you can do something like that, anything less than that would be a walk in the park," Takeru growled over the intercom, slightly frustrated.

"Is it just me or did you start to resemble Instructor Jinguuji and Professor Kouzuki these days?" Chiruzu apparently didn't back down. What is unreasonable remained largely unreasonable for her, no human could do something like this, not with a Gekishin and not with that kind of demand from Takeru.

"There there, there is no use in nitpicking at Takeru like that. If that's what Takeru believed, we should at least try," Tama offered her opinion. She rarely took a side in an argument with her timid nature. Still, she apparently gained some collar bone these days, often pacifying dispute among the group.

"Miki san, we have been continuously doing this for the past 2 hours," Mikoto timely complained. Two hours of vanity it was, the whole squad has kept on doing the exercise with only frustration rewarded their effort.

"No, I believe that Tamase is correct about this. There is no point in nitpicking and complaining at Takeru. He is doing what he thought would be the best for us," Meiya opened her cherry like lips and voice her opinion.

"…"

A mutual silence was the reply that Meiya received.

They all knew it was the case, how Takeru has been doing his best to make them improve. Still, his demand was largely unreasonable at times. Other than him, there would hardly anybody could handle those bizarre aerobatics with such ease. But, that side made Takeru the best and the worst TSF piloting instructor out there.

"Aren't you taking on Shirogane side a little bit too often these days Mitsurugi?" Chiruzu jokingly broke the awkward silence with a devilish grin pasted on her face.

"W..wh…what are you talking about?"

Meiya stammered and flushed red openly, quickly denying the accusation from her friend in which Takeru too, voiced his deny in unison with her.

"Idiotic couple" Ayamine grumbled

"You won't convince anyone with that kind of face you are making, Takeru" Mikoto mercilessly pressed the attack.

"That's none of your business. If one of you could not execute the manoeuvre at the end of the day, that will be a 500 push up for the rest of the squad, myself exclude of course."

Takeru growled, still with his demonic drill instructor manner like that of Jinguuji Marimo.

"Ehhh? I thought that we are of the same squad and if we were to be punished for something, you should accompany us as well. Didn't Instructor teach you that?"

Mikoto relentlessly prickled Takeru with another remark.

"…"

Covered in sweat, Takeru was unable to give an answer.

"He was just being lazy," Chiruzu flatly stated with a know-it-all expression pasted on her face.

"He's still the same Shirogane san in the end," Tama slightly snickered.

"Lazy," Ayamine mercilessly pointed out

"Stop nitpicking. Since I'm training you all in the place of Jinguuji Instructor in this subject, I might as well take her place seriously until the end. Therefore, it was perfectly natural that I will not accompany with you in your punishment. I mean…doing something like that would create a bad mindset on you all," Takeru immediately growled, protecting his fading honour.

"Takeru…" Meiya herself could not do anything but look at Takeru with eyes of a disappointed mother on her child or perhaps of a girlfriend whose boyfriend was an embarrassment to her entire life.

"All right. Everyone, let's continue. If one of us could not do that manoeuvre at the end of the day, we all will be punished for it," Chiruzu wrapped up, strangely agreeing to Takeru.

"What are you planning?" Takeru was slightly taken aback, sensing something wasn't right from the extremely cooperating Chiruzu.

"Nooothing. Since you are no longer the Shirogane Takeru you used to be a long time ago, I think that you might have the right for that. Ahhh, I slightly miss the old Shirogane kun, he could not do anything at all, even dragging out legs at that time"

"…"

"And then, we must keep doing our exercise altogether with him until he finished his," Chiruzu grinned as she spoke sarcastically, delivering a wicked sucker punch at Takeru via the common channel.

"…"

"Yeah, right. I miss that Takeru a lot," Mikoto followed her squad leader's lead, cornering the tyrant to his doom.

"Yeah, yeah, we must accompany with him at all time back then," Tama slightly giggled, mercilessly jabbing.

"Truly incompetent," Ayamine delivered the final blow.

"ARRRRG! I got it. I will accompany you all to that punishment, happy?" Takeru blew, covering his bright red face in utterly embarrassment, remembering of his past failures.

Laughter filled the intercom.

"Chiruzu, you are getting good at stringing Takeru along your wish," Meiya half laughed, paying her respect to Chiruzu's devious and skillful manipulation technique.

"You bet. All these years having such a troublesome person in this squad taught me something." Chiruzu giggled, shrugging her shoulders.

In these two years, everyone in the squad 207th went through a lot of difficulties. But it seemed to Meiya that it was Takeru who had the toughest time of all despite his usual antic of being a laidback person covered it.

He was behind everyone in every subject except TSF piloting. And the amount of effort that Takeru paid to catch up with everyone in the unit wasn't small at all. If Meiya and the rest of the unit worked really hard in order to improve themselves despite their advantage in talent and experience, Takeru must have worked even harder than any of them since he was slowly catching up, if not on par with everyone at the moment.

When and how he did that, nobody knew, he just did it. Hardwork triumph everything, even genius and gifts, that was the only explanation that Meiya could came up with.

Everday, after a day of training with the squad, Takeru disappeared without a trace, only to come back to his room in the morning around 4 am. Needless stalking him, Meiya knew that Takeru went out to attend remedial training with her trusted chamberlain and friend, Tsukuyomi, according to some strange rumors that circulated around the base at some time.

Still, he looked just as laidback as he used to be two years ago when interacting with the squad. But it wasn't the reality at all, everyone knew that Takeru worked just as hard as anyone else behind their back.

Never Meiya has seen Takeru read his TSF control manual book which just as thick as an encyclopaedia during the time Instructor Jinguuji was still around. Jumping straight into the TSF, relying on his instinct and weird visualization until he figured out the control was all that Takeru ever did.

It was just that easy for him to master the art of TSF piloting.

But, Meiya at some point noticed that the book given to Takeru was clearly worn out, indicating that he has actually read it.

Why did he read that book when he already became so good at piloting the TSF?

It wasn't too long before Meiya figured out the answer to that question.

To build up the basic that he skipped, to understand the difficulties that Meiya and everyone else went through, to understand just how difficult it was for a normal person to control a piece of complicated craft such as a TSF, Shirogane Takeru did that. Since everyone kept on telling him that his piloting technique and thinking style was abnormal. Takeru has tried to put himself under everyone's shoes in order to become squad 207th's TSF instructor.

Furthermore, Takeru actually took a further step than anyone else in the squad, challenging Eishis around the base into TSF battles in order to improve his technique and getting first hand experience. Thanks to that, Takeru was pretty popular around the base, widely accepted among Eishis and engineers in the base, males and females. For an entire year, he was the topic of gossiping, discussion and rumour around the base due to the war that he waged against Yokohama's Eishis.

It was really a war back then.

The pride of veteran Eishi, those who made a name for their skill, those who stood at the top of the summit, those who were challenged by Takeru was at risk.

Their opponent, the challenger was but a cadet who has yet experienced his eight minutes of death or even graduated from the flying school.

Yet, one by one, the so call veterans, those who stood at the pinnacle of the summit was defeated at the hand of that cadet, handicapped or not.

Someone has to defeat him.

Engineers and Eishis that came to watch those matches found themselves flabbergasted, losing their betting money again and again. And soon, they all never bother to open a betting pool again in those matches. The result was certain and absolute.

Meiya often found herself on cloud ninth, listening to someone else gossipping of her boyfriend. They praised him, making strange rumours about him, but ultimately, they all accepted his worth as an Eishi and a soldier.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Excuse me, I believe that this compound reserves to our squad alone. May I ask of your intention, wandering here at this hour?" Shirogane Takeru politely asked as he walked toward an unfamiliar figure in the squad 207's training facility.

A young girl, probably in the middle of her twenty was standing on the training compound, giving Takeru a dazed look.

There shouldn't be anyone other than the member of the 207 squadron using this facility, especially this hour. Besides, Takeru wasn't informed of any performance check or any visiting of some sort from his superior. Takeru was somewhat being suspicious of the stranger regarding the reason how she was able to slip through the facility door that could only open by his squad and the engineers in charge.

"Ahhaha, my bad. Our squad used to own this facility in the past… I was being reminiscent of the past that I forgot to ask for permission." The girl smiled, shrugging her shoulders lightly in reply to Takeru's serious attitude.

Who is this idiot pretending to be an airhead?

Takeru impassively stared at the blue head whose eyes still wandering around, emerged in the world of her own memory. Then, he noticed that he was speaking to a higher rank officer, a First Lieutenant to be precise with the help of the ranking insignia on the girl's chest.

This is going to be a pain in the ass

If this lassie was going to pull her rank, it would be a real pain in the ass for Takeru.

"Don't give me that look. I'm someone that you should address as sempai. After all, I was also a member of the 207 squadron under Instructor Jinguuji's command."

The blue head bashfully ran her fingers into her long and silky hair as she noticed the weird look that Takeru gave her. Strangely, the image of the blue head being shy and all didn't sit well with her image for some reason.

Serious?

Takeru couldn't help but throwing an unbelievable look at the blue head, wondering if she was joking or not. It was this moment that Takeru realized that the person in front of him was also an Eishi like his squad mate and himself, the wing emblem clearly embed in the left side of her shirt. On both shoulder of the blue head's uniform, a strange logo positioned. A strange insignia indeed, Takeru who actively involved in many TSF battles against each and every armoured units belonged to the Yokohama base has never seen this insignia before. A warrior maiden, with a pure white armour and a winged helmet, wielding dual swords in a cross guard posture was the image reflected in Takeru's eyes. Valkyrie, that was the first thing appeared in Takeru's mind as he related the strange logo on the blue head's shoulder to his gamming knowledge from the previous world.

"Well, please excuse me for that. So what are you doing here at this hour?"

Takeru apologized and once again repeated his question.

"Ahh…" in a long ah, the matured girl scratched her head, seemly searching for an explanation. Then she exasperatedly sighed, resigning in the search of some convincing excuse. "I will assume my new post tomorrow with the Imperial Army. So today is my final day in this base. And I couldn't help but wanting to spend some time reminiscing around…"

To be truthful, she has decided.

"Well, you can move around as you please, I guess. Still, I hope that you would not be offended if I will accompany you," Shirogane Takeru replied, feeling sorry for the girl as he could not let her freely roam around in his squad's facility even after listening to her story. This is this and that is that. This place is a facility given to his squad and thus, it was the squad 207's responsibility to keep it. Even if Takeru felt sorry for the lassie, he couldn't afford to let her wander alone in this compound even if she was an ex-member of the 207 squad.

"I will take up your offer then," the blue head smiled amiably as she extended her right hand, offering a handshake.

Normally, people of this base would give him a salute in this situation, stiffed and discipline soldier like, completely unlike the friendly and natural air that this strange girl that he was talking to. However, Shirogane Takeru was the sort of person whose personality didn't sit well with formality and discipline. He couldn't help but feel glad for the warmed informality treatment that he received at the moment.

"My pleasure," Takeru accepted friendlily the invitation, wondering just how strange the blue head is, comparing to everyone else in the base. "By the way, I'm Shirogane Takeru. Nice to meet you"

"…so you are that Shirogane…heh? That's unexpected," the girl in azure stared at Takeru with an utterly surprise expression on her face, replying to Takeru's greeting in a strange manner. The way she carefully leered at him was like a merchant who trying to evaluate an item's true worth.

That Shirogane? What is this all about?

Takeru couldn't help but shrank back, feeling embarrassed from the hot gaze the girl poured at his body, from the top to bottom.

"I have been dying to meet you from a long time ago," tightening the grip on Takeru's hand with that of her own, the blue head fervently stepped closer to him.

What is this all about?

Takeru immediately shrank, retreating from the blue head and soon found out that his back was against the facility's wall. Without offering an explanation, the temptress leaned her body, cutting Takeru off his last escape route by pressing him against the wall. Takeru could even feel the blue head's breath on his face. Sweat oozed crazily and Takeru felt that his heart beat louder than ever, realizing the passionate blue head has cornered him.

"Forgive me, I have already had a girlfriend"

"Fight me"

Just as Takeru growled, giving his reply to the forceful advance of the blue head, thinking that she would force a kiss on him, he heard a strangest love confession in the world.

Fight me?

Girlfriend?

A brief silence awkwardly descended as Takeru and the blue head blankly stared at each other with incredulous eyes. The question 'what the hell did I just hear?" completely spread across their face.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Shirogane Takeru felt completely like an idiot for thinking that he was once again being proposed to.

Hm hm hm hm

Cheerful humming sound rang, filling Takeru's eardrums with the blue head's voice. Through his retinal display, the blue head happily hummed in her cockpit while setting the stage for the incoming battle.

The blue head was a walking disaster, a troublemaker and an extremely weird person to boost. It was as though that she didn't realize that she was a girl and Takeru was a boy without someone spelled it aloud for her, a very troublesome existence indeed.

On the other hand, it seemed that Takeru's winning streak against the veterans around the base in TSF matches spread… to a scary extend. Rumours of a young genius Eishi who challenged against best of the best of the Eishi in a dojo crasher's manner at the Yokohama Base were a hot topic a year ago and even now. Undefeated, the said young genius Eishi fought valiantly against many veterans who made a name for themselves around the base for their piloting skill. Blah blah blah… the content of those rumour was simply too farfetched and embarrassing for Takeru to swallow all at once that he was the main character in those popular rumours.

However, it was true that he was still undefeated until this day. Since that Christmas, he has never lost in any TSF match, whether it was against his friends or against anyone else, handicap or not.

"Is this set up fine with you?" The blue head cheerfully asked as she patched the setup content to Takeru.

No time limit. Last man stand. Free for all. Hiragi town. TSF- Gekishin.

"Well, that's alright I guess. You don't mind if I use my Gekishin's data for this battle instead of the one in the simulator?"

"I don't see a reason to not use it. In this case, I will use mine as well," the blue head replied in a very innocent manner.

"Let's have a good match then," Takeru replied as he sorted out the data from his Exo suit. In that instant, the innocent and cheerful expression of the blue head turned into that of delight, as though the queen of thousand beasts licking her lips upon savouring the best quality of meat.

"You best not hold back," the blue head grinned widely in excitement as she warned Takeru.

Immediately, the HUD in front of Takeru turned black and a count down appeared. The moment the darkness disappeared with the countdown, the scenery of an abandoned Hiragi town reflected upon Takeru's eyes. Same scenery as ever, his abandoned house and Sumika's crushed house were still there along with the ghost town like atmosphere of his home town.

Upon Takeru's command, his Gekishin catapulted into the air like a bullet.

The wind soared, hailing the grace of the undefeated giant of steel.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Regretted, she was. Unable to do anything, unable to help, unable to change the fate of ALTERNATIVE IV from its doom fate, Hayase was frustrated. Everything was for naught, the effort, tears, blood and the sacrifices that were made, everything.

When did mankind choose to forgo its rightful birthplace to the aggressor, planning to runaway to a faraway star? When did mankind decide that they could not win against the invading monster, resigning to the awaiting apocalypse?

Upon that Christmas, those decisions were made and the last hope to regain mankind's territory from the BETA disappeared into oblivion. ATERNATIVE IV was scrapped. Anything and anyone related to the Fourth plan fell out of favour, silenced, mysteriously disappear, or trashed into garbage dumps.

Not long after that Christmas, the brain of the fourth plan, the mad scientist Kouzuki Yuuko disappeared, leaving the entire body paralysed and deteriorated through out the passage of time. Admittedly, it has been two years of vanity that the Valkyries fought, protecting what little remained of the ALTERNATIVE IV with their dwindled authority. And upon the first light of the next morning, the faithful guard of the Fourth Plan, the Valkyries would be dissolved. And there was nothing that Hayase or any member of the Valkyries could do to change such fate.

"This not the time for it," Hayase mumbled, shaking the painful memory away and fixed her sight upon the HUD. She was not likely to have another chance, fighting against the rumoured undefeated genius Eishi. This match was what she longed for a long time ago. At least, let the last memory before parting with her second home a good memory. Hayase thought as she compelled her machine flying low through the ruin of Hiragi town, searching for the enemy.

Beep beep

The warning siren suddenly howled, detecting laser sight and Hayase immediately reacted to the warning, twisting her TSF to evade. Less than a second, the wall behind Hayase's Gekishin erupted into debris and dust.

"Woa, that was close," Hayase breathed out in admiration realizing that she barely evaded what could put an end to the TSF battle. Still, the position of the sniper wasn't displayed on Hayase's HUD. No heat source detected. No sight, no seismic reaction, and no engine noise detected by the up to date radar of the Gekishin.

Scooping down into the abandoned infrastructures, blending in the shadows of the ghostly town, Hayase urgently hid her TSF while running a simulation within her TSF to generalize the position of the invisible sniper from the angle of impact of the previous bullet that failed to hit her machine.

Back to back with a 9 storeys shopping mall, Hayase was waiting for the result of the simulation on her HUD. However, before the result that Hayase was expecting displayed on the HUD of her Gekishin, a fiery explosion sent the heavily armoured Gekishin into the opposite corner of its hiding place.

"How the heck that he was able to detect me?" Hayase surprisedly choked, expelling the compressed air within her lungs. She was sure that she had lost him the moment she blended her machine into the abandoned infrastructures of Hiragi shopping streets.

In a quick succession of inputting command, Hayase ordered her machine to stop the series of undignified rolling. On the lower left corner of Hayase's HUD, the position of the invisible sniper revealed.

"Are you for real?" Hayase couldn't hold back her surprise once again. 40 meters away from the ground, 2148 meters away from Hayase's current position, laying prone behind the shadow of the television tower was the sniper. The dusky Gekishin was of the size of a sesame if it wasn't for the advance zooming option of Hayase's TSF. It wasn't a fluke. Hayase understood it painfully well. Whether it was the work of devil or a brush of ingenuity, the sniper was able to track Hayase down and even score a hit despite the large distance in between.

"Aren't you so cool, Shirogane kun?"

A savage smile spread across Hayase's face as she compelled her Gekishin flying toward the opposing counterpart of her machine in max thrust.

Beep beep.

The siren within Hayase's cockpit ran once again warning of the auxiliary tracking system of her enemy still sticked on her TSF. The moment Hayase performed a barrel roll with her heavy machine, the earth below flared up.

"Wow, that's some accuracy," Hayase cheerfully commented, realizing that she only evaded that 120mm bullet by a hairbreadth.

The sharpshooter on the other end of the battlefield had the kind of accuracy that was completely off the chart. To hit a moving object that was more than a kilometre away, the Eishi who managed that feat was praiseworthy even after acknowledging the help of the advanced tracking and aiming system of his TSF. Inadvertently, this kind of sniping proficiency immediately reminded Hayase of her own squad mates specifically Isumi, Munakata and Haruko.

But that what made it easier for Hayase to evade his shot with such large distance in between.

As long as Hayase got her timing right, evading that kind of shot at the current distance is but child's play.

"As expected from my kouhai, I guess" Hayase chuckled as she rushed forward.

Beep beep

"Persistent, aren't you?" responded to the wailing sound of the siren, Hayase exploded a volley of 66mm rounds toward the faraway sniper, pre-empting her kouhai from pulling another shot. How many of those bullets would hit the target? Even Hayase herself had no idea, for the current distance between her TSF and her kouhai's machine was almost half a kilometre away from her comfortable range. So hitting the target was on the hand of luck, Hayase herself has never expected to hit the opposing TSF with this volley either, it was a mean to intimidate the sniper on the other end of the map until the auxiliary tracking system on her machine locked on the sniper.

It took Hayase only less than two seconds to realize that something was amiss. Without wasting a moment, Hayase veered the control sticks of her TSF wildly. Before the heavy Gekishin could finish its manoeuvre, a blast of explosion sent it away from its flying path. A violent shock channel through out the cockpit, this time exceeding the shock absorbing capacity of the Gekishin.

Hayase endured the dizziness, furiously shrugging her head in an attempt to maintain her focus. The left shoulder of her Gekishin was flashing orange upon the system check. Hayase quickly came into the conclusion that the latest 120mm shell from her kouhai gazed her machine's left shoulder and then exploded shortly, resulting from the shockwave that hit her Gekishin from behind.

What mentality!

Hayase couldn't help but like the boy even more. To able to make that kind of accurate shot under that circumstance, the boy either had a gut of steel or a hardcore gambling streak.

After cancelling the auto-balance assisting system by tapping her Gekishin's leg on a nearby building, Hayase immediately switched her machine into zigzag flying pattern, approaching the sniper with more caution this time.

"How are you going to respond to this?"

Before Hayase could actually finish her question with a cutely 'desu' at the end of the sentence, she received an answer. An 120mm round of sabot exploded in the air, almost chewed Hayase's Gekishin into Swiss cheese if it wasn't for her tactical shield and Hayase's trained reflex. Orange flame danced as shrapnel struck the reactive layer of the shield and immediately disappeared within a second, channelling their fury through out Hayase's cockpit and robbed her TSF of its balance.

"That's close," Hayase happily muttered as she felt the cold sweat on her palm. Other than Isumi and Munakata, nobody has ever made Hayase felt like she could lose in a TSF battle as she is now. Yet, before Hayase could settle down the raging excitement within her heart and the fleeting revelation of expectation toward her opponent, she was once again surprise.

Leaping away from its initial hiding place, the dusk coloured Gekishin denied its own advantage in geography, charging at Hayase's machine. In blissful delight, Hayase exchanged the greeting with her kouhai, expending the 66mm shells in her assault cannon. Accordingly, the dusky Gekishin gave his reply in an even manner, saluting with his own volley of uranium shells.

Hayase didn't realize that she was laughing hysterically as she evaded glowing shells of 66mm. Her heart leapt in joy, utmost pleasant like a bride on her wedding day just by merely anticipating of what the next surprise that the other party saved for her.

The distance of 1600 meters gradually grew short with neither side was able to land a clean hit on each other. Despite using the predate Gekishin which speed and mobility was like a slug comparing to the other TSFs of the current generation, Hayase and her genius opponent made full use of the machine's thrusters to evade dancing shells that could easily ripped through their enamoured body.

Hayase propelled at max thrust with her supplemental shield high in the similar manner to her opponent. 40 meters, the salvo from the opposite direction stopped and a small sub-arm appeared, latching onto the assault cannon of the dusky coloured Gekishin, filling empty cartridge with new rounds.

Bullet counting, inexperience soldiers often neglected this skill, especially those who was confident in their sharpshooting skill. And sometimes, they could pay dearly for that, such as now.

Realizing that it was her chance, Hayase instantaneously shifted the centre of gravity of her TSF, spinning and then flung her tactical shield on her right toward the reckless sniper.

Almost got caught by the colossal spinning shield in the chest, the dusky coloured Gekishin timely twisted its body, evading its doom. Still, the shied hit the assault cannon off the dusky machine's hand, along with its right sub-arm and threw the armoured Gekishin off balance.

Seizing her chance, Hayase aggressively launched forward, unsheathing the blade behind her back and lashing it toward her staggering opponent in one motion.

The dusky coloured TSF barely saved its life by blocking Hayase's swooping blade with its bulky supplemental shield, at the same time fighting to regain its balance in mid air.

Without further ado, Hayase discarded her rifle and unleashed a flurry series of hacks and slashes, robbing the gigantic shield from the dusky coloured Gekishin.

Unable to withstand against the furious assault of Hayase, the pitiful counterpart of her Gekishin twisted its body, turned, trying to put some space in between.

Matching the speed of her opponent, Hayase kept the distance between her machine and the dusky TSF the same. "You are mine," Hayase exclaimed, ending the battle with one large diagonal swing.

Unexpectedly, two lengthy objects protruded from the back of the dusky machine, forcing Hayase to defend herself and forgo her killing blow. Hayase subsequently sent her opponent into the air with a powerful horizontal strike, barely recovering from the shock.

"What the…!?" Hayase couldn't believe in her retinal display any longer.

The two melee halberds Type 74 PB blades behind the dusky Gekishin's back were what saved its life. Shifting the back and shoulders Mount Pylons, the youth whose face hidden behind his TSF moved the two melee halberds at his back to brace against Hayase's killing blow…or perhaps delay it. Induced into a forward flip by the force of Hayase's blow, the dusky TSF crumbled away from Hayase's Gekishin.

Finally recovered from the shocking display of innovative of her opponent, Hayase persistently seized her advantage, chasing after the defenceless Gekishin. Yet, to her surprise, an incredulous display of TSF control unfolded, reflecting in her marbles and forever carving its vestige within Hayase's consciousness for the rest of her life.

The Mount Pylons that snapped, bent and damaged after went through the experience of defending against a sword strike that they weren't designed for, purged, separating from the falling body of the dusky TSF, along with the twin melee halberds. The falling Gekishin that exposed its defenceless back to Hayase's crashing blade suddenly plunged into a series of frenzied manoeuvrers. Spinning with a kind of speed that abnormally went beyond the capacity of a Gekishin, the dusky TSF smashed its arm into the chopping blade of Hayase, barely blocking it with the cost of a large deformation across its thick forearm armour. Then, taking advantage of the shockwave resulting from the collision, the machine lunged itself toward a nearby building on the right, running on wall and leaping toward the purged Mount Pylons.

Not that Hayase allowed her opponent to freely do what he wanted, she pursued closely, lashing her blade with all her might. Yet, she was always a step behind her opponent.

Steel fervently waltzed and Hayase unexpectedly found herself driven back after defending herself against a series of onslaughts. Using her skilful control of thruster nozzle, Hayase swiftly distanced herself from her opponent. By the time Hayase regained her footing, her widened marbles reflected a fierce god, sword on both hands, reverse grip on left and forward grip on right.

"You are the best, Shirogane. I like you even more now," Hayase laughed elatedly, unknowingly. She has never felt so excited, fighting against anyone like she is now. This is the first time for her, the undisputed ace of the Valkyries to feel such elation in a duel.

Propelling her TSF through the air, Hayase furiously whipped her blade, exchanging blows with her beloved opponent. Slapping her opponent swords with her own, out wide using the weight behind her Gekishin's arms and carbon actuators to the utmost capacity, Hayase unleashed an unexpected attack, bringing her right foot of steel high, slamming into the undefended torso of the dusky TSF.

Sparks crackled through the air and dust erupted the moment the shadowy Gekishin touched the ground with its legs. Yet, it remained strong, completely unaffected by the prior blow. Even if the kick failed to cause any damage upon the heavy armoured Gekishin, it should affect the Eishi inside the Gekishin to a certain extend as the impact would have exceeded the shock absorb capacity of machine. But, it didn't look that way to Hayase at all. Therefore, the dusky Gekishin must have leapt back, absorbing her kick.

Landed her TSF on the ground, Hayase stood on the equal ground with her opponent, sword held high. Then once more time, Hayase propelled her machine toward her opponent with a powerful leap, truthfully confessing and thrusting every bit of her unsuppressed emotions at the boy who stood on the other side of the battleground.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Which one is crazier, the existence of the undefeated Eishi or the existence of one who can fight on equal ground against the undefeated Eishi, only god know.

Swords of hardened carbon clashed like clap of thunder.

Clang

Sparks of yellow pierced through the atmosphere like flame that dwell within Hephaestus's smith.

Clang

Buildings turned into rubbles, concrete turned into dust. Fictional infrastructures collapsed, unable to withstand the might that was at odd with the current dimension.

Clang

Wind trembled and wailed like a newborn, totally at the mercy of the wraith of the gods. It was physically impossible for anything or anyone to stop this duel.

Clang

The sound when blade met blade was enough to make the entire atmosphere to screech in pain. The knots of white when blade clashed against blade were enough to make even the world biggest muscle head to think twice, before approaching the two fierce gods.

Old steel of the past they were. Remnants of mankind's endeavour to create something that match the might of the BETA they were. Discarded and replaced by their younger family members as time passed as they were deemed insufficient against the might of the extraterrestrial being. Yet here, in this virtual air space, they displayed their true might that nobody has ever seen, or dare to imagine. It was the kind of might that made even their brother and sister of the newer generation trembled, ashamed and envious even.

Being the eldest of the family doesn't make them the weakest of the family. Being discarded and replaced doesn't make them decrepit. It's just that people tend to forget something important. In jousting, it wasn't always the steed's fault that it lost a race. The jouster was just as equally important as the steed. It was the same for piloting a TSF.

"Look, this is what we are truly capable of"

The oldest and earliest members of the TSF family laughed in exhilaration as they charged at their equal. Under the virtual space of the ruin of Hiragi town, two Gekishin clashed blade against one another.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Cracks spread in circular area around the crushing footsteps. Concrete was grinded into iota upon the moment of contact. Knot of sharp gales ripped through the veil of dust, revealing a pair of metallic giants who feverishly wrestled against each other with all their might.

Takeru has never believed that there was someone who could stand and fight on equal ground with him on a TSF, at least until now. The hundred duels he participated, fighting against the veteran Eishis around the base could never compare to this. The hundred battles he had against his squad mate, too, held no candle against the intensity of this one to one duel. Nobody has ever matched against him evenly in a TSF battle or last this long against him handicap or not, nobody except for the unanimous blue head of a weirdo that he just met.

Takeru himself was too overwhelmed with mixed feelings to even comprehend the full extend of his surging elation. Strong and experienced was his opponent. Her control was precise and lightening. Including the first rate reflex and masterful kenjutsu skills of hers, Takeru could understand that he was behind the blue head in many aspects.

By no mean that Shirogane Takeru was a CQC specialist. Admittedly, he understood well the fact that he lacked experiences, skills and talent for it. That's why he could only practice, day and night so that he could at least hold his ground against those two beasts in his squad in CQC battles. And until this day, his effort wasn't all that rewarding. Even though he could match against them with his improved physics, he couldn't in term of skill and experience. And this factor was his gravest inadequacy in the art of TSF piloting despite Takeru's natural aptitude in being a pilot.

His friends could improve their piloting techniques and let their TSF accumulated their strength through the data feedback links and become much stronger as Eishis. However, Shirogane Takeru who without a good basic, other than his praised aerobatics and natural aptitude, utterly lacking edges in other fields will eventually fall back in this race.

Initially, he could win against Meiya in a TSF CQC by taking advantage of her mistakes and unskilful control. But gradually, as Meiya got a hang of the control, she caught up, becoming a serious threat to Takeru even with her unsurpassable kenjutsu skill transferred into her machine. Therefore, Takeru was not so stupid to not realize that if pitting against veteran Eishis who were both superior than him in term of experience and precision in control, he would lose in a TSF duel nine out of ten. In order to overcome such visible Achilles' heel of his, Shirogane Takeru needed a lot more than just effort and determination. Otherwise, he could only but wait for the girls to catch up with him.

That's why Shirogane Takeru felt extremely ecstatic, fighting on an equal ground with such monstrosity of an Eishi at the moment, his training wasn't all for naught.

The blade in Takeru's left hand dexterously danced under a shower of sparks, mostly defensive whereas the blade in the forward grip exclusively existed for the sake of offensive.

He was getting a hang of this, Tsukuyomi's encouraging words ghostly resounded within his eardrums, driving him into an ecstatic onslaught.

This was a result from those remedial trainings with Tsukuyomi every night, dual-wielding to juggle between offense and defense at the same time, covering glaring openings within his attack and defence. This is one of the reasons that Takeru remained undefeated until this day in tens of hundreds battles among his peers.

Still, Shirogane Takeru was fighting against a monster, the strongest of the nine, the strongest battle maiden of god, the ace of the Valkyries. As a master of hand to hand combat and the strongest master to boot among the Valkyries, Hayase wouldn't allow a draw on someone who inferior to her with the help a paltry trick.

It would take some time for you to master this kind of style.

Takeru once again made to understood of Tsukuyomi's words as he was gradually pushed back.

The disparate gulf in experience and technique widened or perhaps was revealed.

The relative amount that Takeru could retaliate and set counter with his right sword dwindled, becoming less and less and subsequently ceased. Slowly but vividly, an insurmountable wall pushed Takeru back, overwhelming him even. Clumsily, he frantically moved his swords, guarding against the blows that ripping his defense open.

A shoddy Moulinet lured Takeru to raise his left sword high which immediately led to an explosive lunge that slipped through Takeru's defense. Reflex saved him, fortunately. Slapping the blade of his opponent with just the hilt of his sword, Takeru deflected the point of the penetrating sword in the nick of second, just before it could claim a victory over him by piercing through his machine's cockpit.

The curve of the penetrating blade however left a disgraceful cut over Takeru's flank. Upon that moment, rage replaced uneasiness and hesitation within Shirogane Takeru.

Takeru twirled a pirouette just before he reached the blue head's machine, right sword cutting a gracefully crescent arc and his left sword following in a deceptive uppercut.

The Gekishin in azure twisted its body, evading the uppercut and put a backhand block on the other.

But, Takeru's attack was no where from finished. He set his right sword into a series of short, malicious jabs that kept the blue armoured TSF retreating for a dozen steps. Just as the TSF in blue took a backward leap that was slightly more powerful than usual, the blade on Takeru's left hand spun unforeseenly across his metallic fingers, into a forward grip, and immediately slipped through the azure giant's defence with an illusionary thrust.

The bulky right shoulder armour of the azure Gekishin flew along with a portion of its head unit, revealing texture of hydraulic joints and mechanical engine beneath after heavily dropping on the dusty concrete.

Relentless onslaughts followed, settling Takeru's opponent into an easily predictable rhythm, purely defensive and Takeru himself in a tireless seethingly explosive fury. Upon his wrathful assault, Takeru completely ignored his opponent's coaxes, letting him see false openings. He tirelessly launched attacks after attack with an extraordinary combination of deceptive footwork and lightening swordplay.

There is no point in playing a game that he wasn't fond of, Shirogane Takeru has finally realized it. He could neither see through the blue head's feints nor her misdirections nor openings. He knew only the basic of basic of hand to hand combat whereas his opponent was a master. If he played under her rule, sucking up to her tune, only defeat awaits him. A copycat he is, but he was by no mean a genius copycat who was equal to the original one, be it CQC or sniping or logistic or anything else. Shirogane Takeru could only do what Shirogane Takeru could do and born to do.

If he could not read the feint, misdirection and the real opening from the fake one and his skill could not match her, Shirogane Takeru just had to do what he's best at to overcome them. Movements that people said to be impossible, movements that people told him to be crazy, movements that people could not visualize of, Shirogane Takeru's instinct told him otherwise. He could do it, making the most impossible manoeuvrers possible. The Gekishin wasn't created to do aerobatic manoeuvre, but nobody said that a Gekishin could not perform aerobat. And Shirogane Takeru's ingenuity existed solely to prove this point. His natural aptitude and imaginative, Shirogane Takeru let them all exploded here, to the truest essence of taming mankind's mightiest crafts.

Nearly tumbled on its own legs after a desperate effort to evade the arching blades of Takeru, the giantess in blue struggled for balance, opening a large hole in her defence that Takeru couldn't possibly resist with the rage that blinded his judgement.

The lightening thrust flashed, and the giantess's sword miraculously connected with Takeru's blade, slapping it away, out wide and setting a path to victory for its master, the unanimous blue head.

A vicious hack that surely could have split Takeru's machine into two halves harmlessly passed through thin air, however.

The gulf in technique and experience between Takeru and his opponent was wide. Rationally, there was no way for him to win this match. He couldn't under whatsoever circumstance. But that's how it has always been, this way.

If only this wasn't a TSF battle, the result was already determined with Takeru on the losing side ten out of ten.

Only the art of piloting a TSF was different for Takeru.

People always thought those illusionary aerobat was the kingdom that Takeru reign, the greatest weapons among his arsenal. But it was his imaginative, aptitude and instinct that was to fear.

The imaginative that was required to visualize of how to confuse, to overwhelm, and to completely crush those who had more experience and better skills was what driving him.

Next came his instinct, uncanny like that of a beast, the instinct of that of a weak herbivore, the strongest weapon that solely existed for the weak to survive against the strong. To avoid death when it was predetermined, to outrun death himself and to escape unfavourable outcome, Shirogane Takeru was able to accomplish almost anything of that calibre with his instinct until now.

The aptitude which said to be the most important to determine a person's worth in becoming a pilot of a TSF was the sole reason that made Shirogane Takeru stand out despite his deficiency in fitness, experience, knowledge, expertise and skill. It was said that his aptitude was the highest in the history, almost like cheating. And it was this cheating aptitude that combined the visualization inside Takeru's head and his instinct together, resulting in the undefeated Eishi that Takeru is today.

Barely evade the killing blow by a hairbreadth by bending his machine's centre of gravity abnormally low, Takeru continued to unleash his unsurpassable fury. Kneeling on the left leg and using it as a rotating torque, Takeru delivered a hooking low kick and one backhand punch with his right hand, followed by a horizontal slash with his left sword.

This time, the giantess in blue was robbed of her balance for real. The metallic heel of Takeru hit squarely on the giantess's right tibia the moment she leapt back, slowing her retreat and completely destroying her momentum. Subsequently, the backhand punch swept, slapping the Type 94 PB blade out of the giantess' grasp.

However the killing blow of Takeru was extraordinarily avoided a paper width margin. Expelling flame through out her Jump units before the horizontal slash claimed her, the azure giantess prostrated flatly on her back for a moment, then rolling, somersaulting away from the reach of Takeru's blades.

However, Takeru relentlessly pressed on his attack. Using the carbon actuators within the left leg as a large spring, Takeru thrust his trusted steed forward, chasing after the running giantess in max thrust with the help of his flared up Jump units.

In quick successions of low thrusts and high cuts, Takeru forced his opponent into solely defensive, with evading was the giantess's only option.

Needles of white spread every time a piece of armour chipped from the giantess in blue, inciting the Gekishin in blue into a hysterical exhilaration. A reckless side kick which followed by a rapid reverse roundhouse stopped Takeru completely from his overwhelming momentum, giving the blue giantess just enough space to deploy her melee weapons.

Arm-sheath in left ejected a dagger like object in which the azure Gekishin grabbed it with her right hand before using the left arm to unsheathe the long melee halberd at her back.

Masterfully twirled his swords in crescent arcs, Takeru dived in, taking the invitation from the blue Gekishin.

Dance with me

The words remained unsaid yet they were somehow passed unerringly to the Takeru.

The sound of clashing swords became the music that they danced to. Masterful swordplay overlapped with ingenious footsteps, resulting in the most beautiful waltz that the Yokohama UN base ever witnessed. The Gekishin of dusk and the Gekishin of azure linked with one another through an exclusive melody that they created and danced to. Some time, they could even feel the heat of each other, for what separating them was nothing but a sliver of their armour. Arms in arms, blades in blades, and the duo waltzed, completely disregarding of the world around them. Only the reflection of the machine in blue existed within the eyes of the machine of dusk and it was the same for the azure Gekishin, their world rotated around each other.

Sparks of orange, winds of colourless and dust of grey resigned their rightful place to the passionate duo, mesmerizing in silent applaud.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Time span for an infinity.

That was how people think if they were to witness the match of the two raging metallic giants, for a waltz was not it looks like to anyone else other than the duo.

It was anything but an infinity to Hayase for she hasn't had enough of it, not even near.

The exquisite display of deceptive footwork of the dusky giant was soul-stirring but it was the bestial demonstration of unearthly reflex and recklessness of the giant in azure that made people speechless and trembled in fear.

It would be an experience that people would never hope to go through, anyone but Hayase. She has never felt so happy before.

Making a good memory and alleviating her regret was Hayase's initial intention in challenging the youth to this match. Like the taste of a forbidden fruit, Hayase could even become addict to it, fighting against this heavenly one in the life time match.

Never has she thought that she would ever be on the defensive side of a grappling match and yet here she was, barely holding her ground against the relentless onslaught of said undefeated genius Eishi. If this wasn't a dream, then it surely was a forbidden fruit, one that drove Adam and Eva from the heavenly garden.

Hayase's eyes bubbled with elation, completely ignoring of what people might think of her if she ever became addicted to this match.

A downward slice followed with a diagonal chop.

Hayase somehow managed to block them with her knife and sword in the last minute. Seizing a small opening, Hayase rushed her sword toward the dusky machine's side, matching her opponent's speed.

A single edge blade sneaked right into Hayase's defence, toward her chest in a linear thrust which Hayase timely deflected with her knife in the last second. However, it upset Hayase's attack, diverting her slicing sword into empty air.

It was always like that. It's not like she could not find an opening from the dusky machine's attack. Unlike Hayase herself who intentionally showed more openings than she should while aiming for counter, the dusky TSF on the other hand revealed genuine openings within its attacks. But breaking away from the relentless assaults of the Gekishin of dusk was hard, much alone seizing the openings. And even when Hayase seized her chances, lunging for a kill at the opening of the dusky TSF, an unexpected attack would come and once again settled Hayase on the defensive side.

A flurry blows came straight in and Hayase worked frantically to keep them at bay. Crouched and faking a low sweep with his blade, the dusky TSF leapt at a building on his right, barrelling after using the building's surface as a platform and following with an overhead chop.

Reflex saved Hayase, bending her bulky Gekishin backward and escaped her beheaded fate by a sliver of luck and skill. Still, a small shock straddled her Gekishin. Hayase set fire into her thruster, distancing herself from the dusky machine to run a quick system check. The secondary hydraulic vein within the right armourless shoulder was nicked, spewing coolant around.

"Damn, you are seriously amazing Shirogane Takeru," Hayase unconsciously curled her lips and praised. Seven inches deeper and the right arm would have been useless with both the secondary and main hydraulic motor dead.

In max thrust, Hayase pedalled her machine toward the dusky TSF, hastily retaliating before the Gekishin of dusk could resume his attack.

Blade high, knife low, high chop, low thrust, Hayase feverishly executed her attacks with different variations in which the dusky TSF kept at bay with his twirling blades.

In a desperate attempt, Hayase plunged herself at the tip of the left melee halberd in the hand of the fierce god, receiving a cut that barely almost eliminated her from the duel as it ripped through her cockpit, missing her by inches. She laughed with her shaken machine, delivering a backhand cut with her blade sweeping the other blade of the dusky TSF away. Hayase's knife followed closely, aiming straight at the cockpit area of the dusky TSF, delivering a sure kill doom, one that it could not possibly block.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Sweat drenched the Exo-suit that tightly wrapped around the blue head, emphasizing her curvy figure. However, the girl in the middle of her twenty seemed to pay little heed to that, she hastily walked toward Takeru, slightly wobbling, hinted of fatigue. Years of companying in a unit full of flowers made the blue head simply forgot that she was in the present of a member of opposite gender. Though, the girl was utterly elate, in blissful pleasure to realize how tired she was or be mindful about her manner.

"To think that you have something like that, I don't know how should I response to it," the blue head flashed a smile as she friendlily extended her hand, offering a handshake.

"Well, I appreciate that if you could keep it a secret between the two of us. It was meant as a last resort. I have never expected that I would actually use it at all, at least not in a friendly match like this," replied Takeru, slightly troubled more of the blue head's unawareness of her smoking figure than disclosing a secret to a girl who he barely knew.

"Hehe. You can trust me on that. But on one condition," the blue head impishly replied, tilting her head to the side.

"…please name it," Takeru spoke as he gulped, slightly anxious.

"Until the next rematch, survive and become stronger," smiled sweetly, the blue head named her condition, however with a tinge of sadness hidden behind her smile.

What lays waiting for those who related to Yuuko's research was a bleakish future. They would be dealt with, one way or another. And Takeru wasn't too stupid to not understand of that, these two years that he went through proved it.

"That I will," Takeru gave his promise. He didn't merely make an empty statement but reaffirmed of his resolution, to be stronger than anyone else so that he could protect his family.

"That's so cool. I can't help but like you even more now," the blue head giggled delightedly.

"Stop that, you are making me blush," scratching his head with one hand, Takeru waved his remained hand with clear perturbation. For some reason getting himself liked by this cute girl who in the middle of her teen hit a wrong button on Takeru's danger sensor. However, whether it was because he feared of Meiya's jealousy or it was another reason, Takeru had no idea.

"But man, that was the most exciting battle that I ever had. I almost wet myself in the simulator,"

"…" Takeru this time was at a loss of word. Takeru's eyes inadvertently drew to the blue head's nether region then quickly fixed on his own feet. His face felt hot, flushing openly. Either that he didn't strike as a member of opposite gender to the girl or the blue head was a weirdo, forgetting her sense of shame in her mother's womb long time ago. Otherwise, he didn't see how a girl could possibly say something like that in front of a man she just met.

"Hm? What's wrong?" asked the blue head after noticed the red colour on Takeru's face.

"…nothing…by the way, I should have asked of you from the beginning … your name," Takeru curtly replied and briefly shifted the conversation into a different direction. Two years staying in a unit full of girls taught him how to deal with awkward situations like this, plentifully.

"Oh, my bad. Sorry about that. How rude of me! I'm Mitsuki, Hayase Mitsuki of A01, Isumi's Valkyries," Hayase apologized and quickly introduced herself, just realizing that she hadn't done her part of the conversation.

"And you said that you are my sempai…"

"Well, we both study under Instructor Jinguuji and you could have became a part of my unit with that kind of skill if it didn't happen," Hayase explained, a little bit stiff at the last part and her mood clearly swung down as she mentioned.

It probably referred to that Christmas two years ago, the day where ALTERNATIVE IV was officially scrapped.

"Break me"

The thing that Yuuko said on that day couldn't leave Takeru's head for the rest of his life. The way that his haughty and confident sensei broke down in the most unlikely manner that unfitted of her stature could never fade from Takeru's memory. The way she broke down, crying her eyes out on Takeru's chest would forever sealed within Takeru's mind.

"…it must have been a tough time for you," Takeru chose his words and spelled them out.

"Yes," replied Hayase "That makes every single one of us, even you must have it tough…we all are in these days…"

Suddenly a drop of crystal appeared on the girl's eye, dripping down her cheek on fell on the floor.

The icicle unyielding eyes melt, flooding with hot liquid and Hayase started to sobbed, unable to control her emotion any longer.

"Huh?"

The girl confusedly looked at the transparent drop that landed on her hand. She couldn't understand what was happening to her at all.

Never has she cried in front of anyone else whether it was Haruka, her best friend or Isumi her direct superior or anyone else in the unit. And never has she cried since that crimson Evaluation Exam.

I want to be strong, strong enough to protect everyone, Haruka, Akane, Isumi and everyone in the unit.

And so she did, attaining the kind of strength that make herself look like a monster comparing against a normal human. But it remained the same, watching was the only she could offer against the cruel joke that fate scripted for the Valkyries.

Forever strong, forever optimistic and forever unshakable was how Hayase lived her day, putting a strong façade in front of her friends. And Hayase has faithfully kept that mask on her face ever since she seized the title of the ace of the Valkyries. She wasn't allowed to cry, to be weak, and to be sad and broken in front of her friends. That was her curse and her responsibility from the very moment that the call sign Valkyries 02 was embed on her back.

And she actually forgot how to cry.

But why did her body behave like this, shaking up in this manner? Why did her vision distort, shearing hot with tears?

She was crying, sobbing.

How? Hayase has once thought that she could cry no longer. How was it possible that something like this could have happened to her?

But she knew, she neither has no emotion nor has a heart of steel. In fact, more than any person of her unit, Hayase knew better than anyone else that she was a coward at heart, much weaker than everyone and anyone else. Physically, she was stronger than anyone. Mentally, she was not as strong as people imagined her to be, like a crab that enamoured itself with sturdy armour but its inside was all soft and mushy.

And the curse that she put upon herself broke, unknowingly.

Salty tears flooded, drenching Hayase's cheeks and Takeru's shoulder like a broken faucet.

Hayase could not understand how was that she could cry yet again, and in front of a guy who she barely met nonetheless, nor could she stop crying. She just cried, as though it was only natural that she could cry and revealing her truest self to Shirogane Takeru, a guy who she barely knew anything about. And so she did, crying like she never did.

Shirogane Takeru might be hailed as king of the blockheads in the past, but he wasn't nearly as stupid and uncompassionate as not to lend a girl a shoulder in her moment of weakness. In fact, he too, was affected by the atmosphere, feeling like crying about what happened to his squad and what's about to happen to them in the next year. He too acted strong, remaining stupidly strong to encourage his friends and lover despite the fear that grew within his chest. It's not that he was any different to the blue head who crying her eyes out on his shoulder. Bird of the same feather, they were.

And thus, he licked her wound just like she was licking his. They cried, relieving themselves of their curse in the muffled unintelligible sobbing sound within their throat.

Time span mercilessly for the two wounded beasts as the training facility filled with their cried. For an immeasurable length, the two awkwardly separated.

"I'm sorry about that… It's weird. Haha... I've never done anything of sort like this before," the girl in blue apologized as she wiped the tears in her eyes, half choking half laughing.

"Me too, I don't know what came over me," Takeru too, wiped his tear smeared face with the sleeve of his exo suit, embarrassed of his unmanly display.

As she was clumsily laughing, Hayase's eyes stumbled on the clock at her side "Well, it's time I guess. I should head back to my unit."

"Where are you answering to after this?" Takeru asked, slightly pity the girl.

"Well, I don't know at the moment. My unit was originally lent to the UN army, so now we are called back," Hayase replied sadly.

"…it may be thoughtless of me…but I want to give you my blessing. I hope that it would be a sooth sail for you and your unit."

"Hahaha, you are really something. I've never expected these words," Hayase chuckled half amused, half depressing, "then, I must respond in an even manner."

Hayase moved her hand toward the insignia on her right shoulder, ripping out the prided emblem from the fabric.

"Our pride, our hope, our will and our strength, I want you to inherited them all. A01, Isumi's Valkyries can be disbanded or erased but our existence would live on, within our heart and within your heart. That's what I would like to believe." Hayase whispered into Takeru's ear as she passed the Valkyries' exclusive insignia to him.

And that's how the ace of the Valkyries said her goodbye.

"That I will" Takeru gripped into the insignia, muttering his farewell.