Thank you for your reviews. Happy New Year to anyone celebrating it!

I'll keep the honorifics as they were in the show.

1: Forward momentum

Akira was tired. She had done it, hacked every system she could get her hands on and showed the ugly truth to the world. The broadcast had shocked her too, since she had just heard the basic outline of the conspiracy from Haruto when he briefed everyone. The way the council had pinned blame on her schoolmates and caused a massacre was, in a way, a great plan, but she was just so angry and tired. She was angry at the council for killing her schoolmates and pitting them against each other. Angry at Shoko-chan, for the way she put her work ahead of her feelings.

And so, so angry at that bastard who killed Yamada. But Akira hadn't had a chance to extract revenge, when the enemy unit attacked one of his own. They fled the battle scene to the other side of Module 77, but she didn't pursue, figuring she was better help against that enemy Valvrave.

Now that the first unit had stopped moving after the fierce fight, she thought she would help Haruto to get to the module, and opened a comm channel to Hito.

"Y-you okay?"

No answer came immediately. Nor there was anyone sitting on the pilot's seat.

"Haruto?"

"Renbokoji Akira. Help us to the module. I can't pilot this."

L-elf floated to the view in the cockpit. He had the same Dorssian uniform he had had in that broadcast, Akira realized. It had to be the same, since one of the sleeves was covered in blood.

"Where's- "

"Tokishima Haruto is dead," was the blunt answer.

Akira froze. Not another fellow pilot.

"Renbokoji! Can you move? Get us to the module!"

"O-o-okay," Akira answered silently. Another comrade was dead. Thanks to that Dorssian and that fucking council and her uselessness. Silent tears fell down her cheeks. She didn't know how L-elf was suddenly in Hito or how Haruto had died or how the hell they were going to survive anymore.

She moved her Valvrave to grab Hito and took course towards the module.

Floating from the pilot's seat back to Haruto's side L-elf briefly wondered what had occurred during their battle in space. He hoped the module was okay enough to keep it as their momentary base. It's not like they had any choices.

And then there was the matter of Haruto. Truly, Tokishima still managed to irritate L-elf beyond belief even when he wasn't really there. He kept monitoring his physical state, which remained the same. He didn't still wake up, no matter how stimulated. If this condition kept and the body itself didn't die, L-elf had just to find a way to wake him. His highest hope was that he could recover Haruto's memories somehow, however unlikely it was. Runes were still an area of science that required more research.

There also was a chance that Haruto's body itself died. L-elf wondered if he had to get a freezer for him, and let out and near hysterical laugh. In that case Haruto was truly dead. He couldn't resurrect people! Dead or brain-dead, he was a lost hope, but considering the state the body was in that moment, he would wager Haruto was alive in there somewhere. He refused to believe otherwise.

"L-elf?" Hesitant question came from the newly opened comm channel. Renbokoji had pulled herself together at some level and now just looked sorrowful.

"What is it?"

"What happened?"

Now here is the cover story L-elf has to pull off. He can't reveal the truth of Tokishima's state and his plans concerning him. The idea to pretend he was dead was a surprise even to himself, but it would work. It would let him run the country and look for solutions behind the backs of the incompetent people the students majorly were. The research could be interpreted as human experimentation if revealed to the mass media, so it was very bad PR for an already battered nation.

"I jumped in from the module," he explained and shifted back to the pilot's seat to talk. "Tokishima Haruto jacked my body and we fought Cain, a Magius, who piloted that Valvrave unit. Apparently Tokishima ran out of runes."

He glanced at the screen where the AI was holding something—someone in her arms. He would have to get an explanation from them too.

Renbokoji nodded slowly. "What do we do now?"

"Get to the module, regroup and take stock of everything. We need to also see who's alive," L-elf explained calmly. Most likely there was no one alive on the module, but there were students in the escape ships somewhere.

"Yamada is dead," Renbokoji replied quietly. "And his Valvrave destroyed. Rukino-san is probably fine…" Quiet sniffles could still be heard. L-elf guessed she wasn't fine mentally. Not many would be in the same situation.

"Can you contact Rukino Saki?" Had they lost every pilot?

Renbokoji was quiet for a moment and L-elf could see her fiddle with the controls.

"R-rukino-san?"

"Akira-chan! Are you okay?" Enthusiastic reply came from a new comm channel. "I'm moving the module away. Have you contacted Haruto? I can't contact anyone, guess something was broken."

"Connect her to this unit too," L-elf instructed Renbokoji and the comm channel opened. "Rukino Saki."

Rukino's expression was one of confusion. "L-elf? When did—"

"Regroup inside the module. We'll meet at the academy. Tokishima Haruto is no longer with us." He was forward enough to stun Rukino. Renbokoji could deal with her better and save him headache, so he closed both channels and lifted himself towards Tokishima.

First, he had to get a professional medic or doctor to check if Haruto was brain-dead. Someone who could also keep quiet of the matter. His best bet at the moment was one of the remaining teachers. Kibukawa Takumi most likely could identify the state of the body, but he was no medical doctor. If it was some sort of a coma, L-elf would have to get equipment to keep the body running. And if it was runes Haruto needed, he would need to acquire that special equipment that was onboard of the Phantom. So someone knowledgeable from the Magius Council could be required.

Then there were the scientists involved in the Valvrave project. They had to know about runes, since the units ran on them. They must know something about the pilots and how they handled runes. He would also have to ask Kibukawa what he knew about the students, since they were somehow designed to pilot the Valvrave units. It was a shame that he and his former comrades killed most of the personnel when they first infiltrated the module.

And then there was the little matter of a nation. There were probably only fewer than 50 students alive, including the Prime Minister Sashinami Shoko. Their module, their only sanctuary had taken damage and the school, which had acted as a governmental building, was filled with dead bodies. They had a lot to do. He had to make everyone understand his plans for a united country, where everyone could live, regardless of their immortality.

Haruto was dead.

That thought, that crushing thought, crept somewhere inside Saki and squeezed her insides with claws. They swore not to give up, no matter what, but Saki found herself willing to do just that right there. Tears were dripping down her cheeks and sobs wracked her body. She released her control of her unit and just gripped her head tightly. The module and her unit stopped moving.

How did it come to this? Haruto seemingly kept his promise; he hadn't given up, even when death was the only course for him. Akira-chan had explained what she knew to Saki. Rune depletion… at least he hadn't suffered, had he? He just lost memories one by one. Everything, from meeting her and kissing her and… well, everything. Just to make sure his precious Shoko-san survived.

Fury flared. Shoko, his childhood friend, who rejected Haruto when the curse was revealed. Rejected him when he wanted to explain and reconcile, according to Akira-chan. Shoko-san didn't deserve Haruto's loyalty, she didn't deserve anything! Saki was there for Haruto, and—

Well. Fat lot had she helped. He was dead.

She punched the dashboard in anger. Soon it subsided and shame and guilt settled in. She couldn't fault Shoko-san, not really. Who wasn't shocked when they realized their friends were immortal? And the way Haruto had to feed wasn't exactly human, either.

Saki sighed deeply and slowly took the controls back into her hands. She wouldn't be fine, for a while, but she had to be strong enough to protect everybody, even when they had turned their backs on her.

Overheat level still acceptable, she flew her unit to the other side of the module. That enemy unit, Kirschbaum, which had remained close to her, followed. It most likely was one of those old comrades of L-elf that had left Dorssia because of the recent events. She disregarded it and tried to see if Akira-chan and unit one were close. Seeing them, she took course towards the module's entry point.

She wasn't fine. But she would be.

Feeling gravity settle in, L-elf glanced up and saw they finally were inside the module. Renbokoji was dragging the first unit towards the academy, which was in a bad condition. Windows were broken, walls riddled with bullet marks and bodies were littered along the floor and the ground inside and outside. Thankfully, it seemed the Allied Forces had abandoned the whole module.

Renbokoji placed Hito on the ground so that L-elf could easily jump out of the unit. But here was the difficult point: he had to hide Haruto. If the students wanted to hold a funeral, he would need to produce another body from somewhere. Lies about the body destroying itself or something close to it were not going to work, since they knew what happened to runeless bodies, as in Nobi Marie's case.

He had to create a distraction.

L-elf opened the hatch and stepped out of the unit. Fresh air was welcomed. Predictably, Renbokoji didn't step out of her Valvrave and just settled the unit down. Soon, Carmilla flew into view from somewhere close to the entry points of the module. Behind it, a Kirschbaum was following. A-drei, probably, if one could assume from the unique coloring of the unit.

Carmilla descended. Its frontal legs had taken a lot of damage, but the unit seemed to work even without them. The unit landed very carefully and Rukino Saki stepped out. She was distraught, although she tried to hide it behind confidence. L-elf could feel something like sympathy towards her, but now was not the time.

The Kirschbaum landed close to them. A-drei hopped out, taking his helmet off after he was standing on solid ground.

"What are you planning, L-elf?" A-drei inquired. The question was somewhat nonchalant, but it also held a serious tone in it.

"Revolution," L-elf deadpanned. A-drei smirked in reply.

"Is Haruto… is Haruto's body inside his unit?" Rukino cut in, hesitant in her words.

L-elf couldn't let her close to it. Preferable was she didn't see it at all. "About that. We leave his body here. We're going to hold a mass funeral, are we not? "

Rukino visibly shuddered at the idea of all the dead students and glanced at the academy grounds. It wasn't a pretty picture. It was the bloody cost of lies. The academy would be a grim reminder for a long time for everyone.

"Rukino, you have to bring me up to speed. What happened after the broadcast was cut?"

She told him what she had gathered from the news report she had had open while moving the module. Allied Forces was no longer allied. ARUS withdrew from the contract and had not made any moves after. Dorssia was in uproar, on the brink of a civil war; unrest spread like a wildfire.

L-elf knew from experience those uproars would be smothered effectively. So effectively no riots were possible without the people getting hit by enforcement. Enforcement that meant rioting people blown up with precision strikes, which later were blamed on an enemy, namely ARUS. Or New JIOR, which was most likely going to get the most of the bullshitting claims.

L-elf thought for minute and came to a decision. "Three ships managed to escape. We should contact them and tell them to return," L-elf said and turned to Renbokoji's unit. "Let me in."

"Wait a minute, Shoko-san is not going to listen to us!" Rukino exclaimed and threw out her hands exaggeratedly. "As far as she is concerned, we're monsters! And she doesn't trust you anymore."

Sashinami was naïve. She could be made to trust. He regarded Rukino coolly. "I'm sure I can convince her. Let me in, Renbokoji." Before going over to the unit, he turned to A-drei.

"And just what are you going to do, A-drei?" L-elf could see Rukino also turning towards the Dorssian in curiosity.

A-drei was holding his helmet tightly and looking at the roughened academy building. "Are you really immortal monsters?" He asked, keeping his gaze at the school. "Because I see many dead bodies. I don't see them moving anymore."

"Only the pilots are blessed," came a reply from the opened hatch of the sixth unit. Surprised, both L-elf and Rukino turned towards Renbokoji. He hadn't expected Renbokoji to actually let him in without a struggle, much less to start talking to a stranger like A-drei.

"Blessed? More like cursed," Rukino spat bitterly. "The pilots are immortal to a point but not the other students."

"We're… we are touched by God. That's what Aina-san said, back …then," Akira said quietly. "I want to believe we're not cursed. We're not!"

The quiet but fierce admission seemed to placate Rukino. "Blessed or cursed, it was still innocent blood that those Allied Forces spilled here. We may be monsters. But not them," Rukino nodded towards the school solemnly.

"So the Magius are behind your massacre and behind the rot that is left of my motherland. I barely recognize it anymore. And the way they put the world against you completely…" A-drei was part of the ruthless Dorssian military, but L-elf knew he still had morals and a heart.

"I fear a revolution is not enough. Not anymore. We need a new start," A-drei turned towards L-elf, "and what better place to start than a whole new nation?"

This time L-elf felt like smirking. "Help us, and we'll help you with certain pests." Even Rukino cracked something resembling a smile at that. A-drei walked closer and offered his hand to L-elf, which he grabbed and shook firmly.

"I'll convince Sashinami to change her mind," L-elf repeated to Rukino and went over to the sixth unit. Renbokoji dropped down and planted herself to the pilot's seat and began connecting to the ship she knew Sashinami was on.

Finally something was going better than planned. Now he just had to win Sashinami over and find a place to keep Haruto in.

"Prime Minister, we've got a call," Iori hollered from the control room of the ship. Shoko was tending an unconscious student and changing the bandage of a bullet wound.

Shoko felt heavy. She had to keep brave face for everyone's sake. Nothing was right anymore, her friends dead or chased away because of hysteria. She felt like she could just collapse, legs crumbling and just lying on the floor. It was the weight of her actions, of what she needed to do as a leader. That weight was so heavy on her shoulders. She felt like sleeping a century, away from this nightmare.

"I'll be there," she replied and finished tightening the bandage. It was all she could do to her schoolmates. She was powerless, even in her position.

Shoko shook her head and kicked herself up from the floor and made her way to the control room. "Who is it?" She asked as soon as the door to the room opened.

Iori pushed a button and L-elf's face appeared on the bigger screen. "Prime Minister. Are you well?"

Shoko could have puked right there. There was the best strategist they had and whom Shoko had sold in her struggle for freedom, calling her… from Valvrave unit six?

L-elf probably saw from her expression what she was thinking and went straight to business. "Where are you?"

"We're close to the original place of Module 77," she answered hesitantly.

"Good. Return to the module. We'll regroup at the academy grounds. Allied Forces won't bother us anytime soon."

That she could just guess from the news. As good as returning would feel there would also be resistance on the ship. Everyone was scared, many were hurt and blame for it was placed on the pilots. Decision lied on her shoulders, on top of everything else. Shoko had to think the most beneficial resolution to all. Was returning the best choice?

"If you want to treat the students better, you should return," L-elf continued. "I believe you also want explanations."

"Who else is there?" Shoko had to appear determined.

"The pilots and an ally," he left it there cryptically. And his face betrayed nothing.

Was it a trap? Maybe he wanted revenge for selling him back to the place he left? The thought crept in, but again Shoko shook her head. Haruto wasn't that petty. He wouldn't hurt Shoko or let L-elf do it. If he was himself anymore. If he had given in to—

No, he's not a monster!

Shoko was fully determined now. "We'll come back."

Next to her Iori wore an appalled expression and opened her mouth to protest, but Shoko cut her speech before it even started.

"Let's go so all the students can get a place to rest," she addressed everyone in the control room. "Contact other ships and take course to Module 77."

Few mutters could be heard, but soon enough they opened new comm channels and gave orders.

"I'll send units four and six to accompany you," L-elf said and cut the call.

Shoko had more confidence now. They would get to relative safety, get treatment and maybe mend broken friendships. She would have to use the advice Nanami-sensei had given her earlier.

"How many Familiars do we have left?" L-elf asked Rukino as soon as he had stepped outside of unit six.

"I saw three of them in the hangar," Rukino replied. She had sat down on her unit's arm and was still looking at the school. She looked like she was in deep thought and not fully present.

"You and Renbokoji Akira will go and meet the escape ships halfway and guard them. Take the Familiars with you."

While Dorssia was fighting itself, ARUS might not let them rest. A surprise attack fell still into the realm of possibilities. It's what L-elf would have done: wait for the enemy to return (which was inevitable, with hurt students nowhere to go) and then launch an attack capable of wiping out the rest of the so called monsters. There was only A-drei's Kirschbaum left for defense, but ARUS would assume no one was at the module anymore. That's what L-elf was counting on.

And by sending both Valvrave units, he won himself time. A-drei would have questions, but it wasn't like he would tell the rest of the students, if L-elf even answered to him. He had time to hide Haruto's body and loot the Phantom. It wasn't right, that he had to use all those humans hooked up to those rune-transfer machines, but if it was the only way to save his friend, he would do it.

Rukino seemed to consider his order for a second, and slowly put her helmet back on. Taking a hold of her unit to climb it, she stopped, back towards L-elf.

"…what's the point?"

L-elf felt irritated. Rukino generally was a rebellious spirit, but when she got a job, she also saw it to the end properly. If she questioned his orders privately or between other pilots, he didn't know, but she hadn't openly challenged him before during important missions. He didn't have time for this.

"To get the students to safety." L-elf said while gritting his teeth.

Rukino was silent and still for a moment, but seemed to gather herself and climbed into Carmilla. L-elf didn't see her expression, so he couldn't really tell what she was thinking. He assumed it was the supposed death of Tokishima Haruto that affected her, but he hadn't assumed it would affect her so strongly. Either they were closer than he initially thought or something entirely else was gnawing at Rukino.

He couldn't question her further when she closed the hatch of her unit and booted up. Renbokoji prepared her unit in similar fashion and they both took flight to the nearest hangar.

Now L-elf had his only chance. He saw A-drei raise his eyebrows in his peripheral vision but pointedly ignored him and set forward to the first unit.

When inside, he first made a check on Haruto's condition. It remained the same – deep breaths and the slow beat of his heart were still present. L-elf took a holding grip of Haruto's torso and lifted him onto his left shoulder, so that Haruto lied on him on his stomach. The pilot suit added some extra weight and L-elf found himself moving more carefully. He took note of the AI on the screen, flying around with that… guy she had held in her arms earlier.

Maneuvering himself outside, he saw A-drei had come closer and wore a confused expression. "Is that—"

"My right arm, yes," L-elf answered curtly, referring to their discussion at gunpoint back when he had taken control of the school. "I need you to keep quiet about this. Officially, Tokishima Haruto is dead," he explained and adjusted his hold on Haruto. "But somehow he's alive. He just needs to be woken up."

"Officially dead? Why can't you reveal his state to others? And how is he 'somehow alive'?" A-drei looked unimpressed and just more confused.

"I'll explain the pilots and their condition later," L-elf stated and started walking towards the abandoned city.

"No, explain now! I know they can… hijack a body, and basically can't die," A-drei insisted and fell into step next to L-elf.

He assumed it was Rukino who had given an explanation while in captivity. It certainly explained how A-drei knew it wasn't L-elf himself who had shot his eye, and why he had released Rukino in the first place. It made things easier for him. He just had to consider what he could tell A-drei about Haruto.

"He jacked my body, so we had a better chance against Colonel Cain. After the battle, Tokishima most probably ran out of runes. Runes are information particles; memory, DNA and such. They fuel the Valvrave units and they can be acquired from humans the best," L-elf explained while walking. "In other words, Tokishima is a kind of a vampire. He needs to feed on humans and then the runes he acquires are distributed to all Valvrave units. Because he hadn't fed in a while, the runes used as fuel were his own. In the end, he lost his memories."

A-drei seemed to contemplate for a minute. "Why can't he be woken up then?"

"That's what I need to find out. I think he's in a coma-like state," L-elf replied and glanced at A-drei. "I have my reasons for hiding this. I want you to keep this to yourself and help me with this matter, when I need it," L-elf requested. He hoped A-drei wouldn't need more convincing. Relying on their odd friendship seemed like his best course of action.

"Of course," A-drei replied firmly, like they never had had a falling out. L-elf assumed he still had questions, but he was willing get more detailed explanation later. The thought of that trust put L-elf at ease more. He had someone to rely on this matter; best of all, A-drei had connections he didn't have, and was willing to help him in the time of need.

Speaking of connections. "What happened to X-eins?" L-elf suddenly asked A-drei.

A-drei replied by closing his eyes and shaking his head. He had died, then. It was probably that same Kirschbaum unit he saw blow up when he had run to Haruto's Valvrave unit.

"I fought Q-vier," he also admitted, sounding genuinely regretful. And because it was A-drei who was left standing, it meant Q-vier had died too. L-elf also felt a pang of regret resonate somewhere inside him. Former or not, they had still been his comrades since the beginning in Karlstein Agency.

L-elf also shook his head at A-drei. "You had to," he concluded, and marched steadily to the downtown of the module. He knew the module had a small clinic – it would have to suffice.

Saki was lost. It was the only label for the feelings she had. Haruto, her guiding light, wasn't there anymore. All she had left was her friends – even them, limited, because she couldn't trust everyone. She couldn't trust Shoko-san after she had announced her policy when it came to the pilots.

Flying in the middle of space towards their determined meeting point Saki had time to think. Too much time, in her opinion. Too many questions were left open, like why had Shoko-san changed her opinion on the pilots so radically. All she could conclude was that she had found out they were 'blessed', as Akira-chan had put it. But the rejection was so unlike the usually tolerant Shoko-san.

She had to ask for a second opinion and opened a comm channel to unit six. "Akira-chan?"

She nodded in response on the small screen.

"What exactly happened at the school?" What the hell was Shoko-san thinking?

Akira-chan was quiet and frowning, probably thinking where to start. She didn't look well, like she could collapse anytime.

"T-they showed your…" execution went unsaid, "live. And there was a journalist team at the school, who somehow found the Phantom we had hijacked… a-and then the ARUS president blamed Shoko-chan and they just started shooting everyone and—"

"It's okay, it's okay!" Saki tried to calm her down. Akira-chan was holding back tears and panicking. She was going to hyperventilate at this rate. "Calm down, it's okay. Why don't you tell me about the… the Phantom, was it?"

Akira-chan hiccupped but tried to control her breathing. She was silent while trying to collect herself, clearly living out the horrible memories.

"…it's a ship. A Magius ship. They have humans inside it and, and some kind of a machine that collects runes from them. They—that journalist team, I mean – found it and they showed footage of it live, too," she finally told her.

And it caused panic. It caused a massacre. Saki felt sick. The whole school, the module was set up as monsters to the world and it prompted military response. An alliance dedicated to decimating them. And nothing but innocent people just trying to survive were killed. What kind of sick bastards could launch such a campaign?

And a machine that collects runes. How was that possible? What was the point of it, even? Probably so that those Magius could feed without a hassle, Saki thought and fought against the bile in her throat.

They were their true enemies. At least they were exposed, so they couldn't pull the strings behind the world's stage so effectively now.

While thinking, she realized they had reached the coordinates for the meeting. She and Akira-chan stopped the Valvraves.

"15 minutes to contact," Akira-chan said quietly. Saki nodded at her and tried to relax but found herself unable to do so. Too much was on her mind.

How are they going to live on in a world set against their existence?

The front door of the clinic was unlocked. The place had been evacuated in a hurry, so the front information desk was a mess. Some chairs were upturned and other miscellaneous stuff was lying around. The clinic was small – it could receive ER patients, stabilize them and then send them to a more advanced hospital in a bigger module. But it had no means of sustaining patients for a long time, save for a few ones. It was commendable how they had managed to get the patients evacuated. But it meant fewer beds and next to no medical equipment, especially when the students had looted the place. Only three moveable beds were left.

L-elf frowned at the realization, but chose the room that could be defended the easiest. He lowered Haruto's immobile body the bed inside the room and set him so he was comfortable, if he even felt it.

A-drei had followed him and was now on the doorway of the room looking at him curiously. L-elf had explained the Magius, runes and the plan that had made the world their enemy in detail to him on the way to the clinic. But he still hadn't told why he was hiding the body. A-drei didn't need to know, and thankfully, hadn't asked. Odd friendship indeed.

"Help me get his pilot suit off. I have to prepare a body to show for everyone," he asked A-drei. He nodded and they carefully extracted the suit, so the body had nothing but the slim under suit on it. He knew the red suit on someone similar looking would fool everyone who didn't take a too close look at it. It meant he had to keep an eye on the body and take care of its funeral.

L-elf folded the suit on his arm and made a final check on the body. He didn't know if Haruto could sustain himself on his own, and would he need runes or more solid nutrition. That's why he had to inspect the Phantom to see if he could hook Haruto up on it.

"You should return to Dorssia," he abruptly said to A-drei.

He was thinking the same. "I agree, but I need to know what you're doing."

"I have a plan," L-elf answered stubbornly. A-drei looked like he was going to protest, but let the matter go.

"I know, but fine, be cryptic. I'll go back and see what information I can dig up." A-drei would make a fine spy for them. He was probably planning to try and get the royal family back on the top, but he would need help for the Magius hunting. That's where L-elf and the module would come in.

"Could you get your hands on those transportable medical beds?" was his next question. A-drei knew why.

"I can, but how could I get it here?"

"Send it to Module 19. Then send a message to me, and we'll know what shipment to intercept," L-elf explained. Module 19 was the biggest Dorssian module. There were lots of packages going in and out, so it wouldn't look out of place.

"You really have a plan for everything," A-drei said good-naturedly. They had an agreement.

Besides the obvious reasons, L-elf knew now why he had so suddenly decided to hide the truth. He wanted to get even with the world that had played with him for so long.

There was no better way of achieving that, than by doing the impossible: saving his friend while building a nation never foreseen.