And another chapter is here, yay! I'm looking forward to writing about Miyuki, since I am Miyuki XD Seriously. We have the same personality.

Neo: Yes, it gets extremely annoying sometimes.

The entirety of this chapter takes place about a week after the previous one, but I don't tell you that until a few parts in. Just so that you don't think that the "about a week later" part is after the beginning, it's at the same time.

Neo: KOS-MOS rox doesn't own anything in this chapter, so don't sue her broke ass.

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Xenosaga Episode III: Lager Unsere Kreuze

Chapter 4: Back to Business

"Get him! Make him suffer!"

"That's it, don't back off!"

A small, plain room echoed with hooting and hollering. Fierce, almost animalistic snarls came from center of the commotion. A small group of people, wearing identical uniforms and ranging in ages of looks from teens to early twenties, clustered in a ring around a source of entertainment. They rudely jostled each other for a better view of whatever was going on in the middle of the circle.

Two males were engaged in a fierce wrestling match on the carpeted floor. Both were slender and muscular, and both were also wearing the identical uniforms and had blonde hair. The warrior who clearly had the advantage looked to be about sixteen years old, with straight hair and blue eyes. The second, about fourteen, struggled against the older one's weight. His green eyes narrowed and a sweat of exertion broke out on his forehead as he tried to lift himself from his pinned position.

"Not gonna get away from me," said the dominant one, huffing and puffing. He held the smaller down by his curly hair.

"Come on, Leviticus! Fight back!" yelled a female voice from the crowd.

"No way, Exodus is going to kick his ass!" a gravelly, masculine voice protested.

The argument continued loudly, with more spectators joining in. They were so wrapped up in their fight that they didn't notice the man entering the room and standing at the door, folding his arms in front of his chest.

Disgraceful, he thought, observing the commotion. With a loud sigh, he smacked his hand on the top of one of the steel tables bolted to the floor.

BANG! The echo of his hand smacking the metal resounded through the entire room, cutting through the yelling and carrying on like a sword. The mob fell silent. Even the two battling teenagers halted their clash, scrambling to their feet. Startled eyes turned towards the solitary figure at the entrance to the room.

Although very young, at the age of twenty-five, Genesis carried himself as a true leader. The second highest rank of the group, he was the unquestioned commander of the faction in the room. His auburn hair was combed neatly, and his brown eyes studied the crowd intently. His attire was considerably different than the outfits worn by his followers. The tail of his black leather coat hung at his ankles. His gloves and boots were slick and polished.

Ashamed soldiers edged from his path as he strode confidently towards them, chin tilted upwards strongly. His disapproving eyes raked along their faces, and they shrank back even further. They bowed their heads in submission.

"You're acting like a pack of rabid dogs," he spoke disdainfully. "And that will simply not do. Not if you expect to defeat the Divine Form. Not if you expect to survive at all."

He looked at one of the spectators, whose deep blue eyes fell to the ground. He had wavy black hair and looked slightly younger than Genesis, maybe twenty-two. "Deuteronomy, I told you to keep an eye on them. You are second in command, you know."

"I...um…" Deuteronomy sighed in defeat. "Sorry, sir."

Genesis scoffed at him and looked over to the sweaty teens in the center of the circle. "Exodus! Leviticus!"

They were both red-faced, gasping for breath. Sweat ran down their faces, their hair clinging to their damp foreheads. They should save this for our foes, Genesis thought, appalled at such a pointless waste of energy. The truly sad thing was that these two were his more reliable assassins.

"Sir, we were just-" Leviticus began. Genesis cut him off with a wave of the hand.

"Save it." Brown eyes meet with the teen's green ones as Genesis said, "Leviticus, the mistress has a job for you."

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About a week later, things were falling into a routine in the Uzuki household. Shion and Allen were getting ready to leave for their first day back to work. They were actually looking forward to it. Life around the house had become a bit boring after a while.

Shion had been constantly sick in the mornings, unable to do almost anything until noon. It had been a concern of theirs for when they were to return to work with the Second Division, but they decided to just hope for the best. Apparently, they had gotten lucky, since Shion hadn't thrown up once yet this morning.

Allen stood over the sink in the bathroom across the hall from Shion's room, shaving. Shion was in the shower. Sighing, he rinsed his face before putting on his uniform shirt. He heard the water in the shower stop running.

"Jin, is that you?" Shion's voice echoed from behind inside of the shower pod. "If it is, get out or I'll snap your neck."

"No, it's me," Allen replied, running a brush through his hair.

"Good." Shion appeared out of the shower, wrapped in a towel. Allen couldn't help but stare at her. Her glow was so beautiful. "What?" she asked, giggling at his transfixed gaze.

"Nothing," he replied, snapping back to reality. He held out a neatly-folded pile of clothes to her. "I brought your uniform in for you."

"Aww, thanks," she said gratefully, taking them from him. "You know, it's going to feel so strange wearing these again," she murmured.

"I know," Allen agreed, reaching into the cabinet for some hair gel. "It almost makes me want to call you 'Chief' again." Shion laughed as she slid her ring, which was on top of the clothes, onto her finger.

"Think anyone will notice?" she asked, smirking as she looked at it. It was the most beautiful piece of jewelry she had ever seen.

"I have a feeling they will."

Shion grabbed a second towel and quickly dried her hair with it. She pulled it back away from her face, and her bangs fell to frame her face. "Does this look alright?" she asked Allen. "I've been thinking of trying this style for a while."

"I think it looks great," he said with a sweet, sappy smile. Shion blushed and stuck her tongue out at him as she applied some moisturizer to her face.

"My skin broke out a few times last time I was pregnant," she explained. "I just want to be careful."

"Ah, Shion…" Allen murmured. "Not to bring up any memories or anything, but…how long were you pregnant with Kevin's child?"

"Eight and a half weeks." A very uncomfortable silence fell upon them.

"I'm so sorry," Allen whispered.

"Don't worry about it," Shion replied, smiling slightly at his nervousness.

She dried the rest of her body off and got dressed. She looked at her reflection in the mirror with a pout. She turned sideways and studied her profile in the full-length mirror, sighing loudly.

"Allen…" she started, still pouting. Allen's eyes widened as his blood ran cold.

Oh no…please, don't ask what I think you're going to ask… he begged mentally.

"…am I fat?"

Dammit. Allen sighed aloud, trying to decide what to say. He knew that he had to handle this issue carefully, or he may get his head chopped off.

"Shion, that's a ridiculous question," he said slowly and thoughtfully. "You're not fat." Shion groaned in frustration as she pointed at her stomach.

"How can you say that? Look at me!" Allen studied her for a moment. True, she had gained a little weight, but that was to be expected. Besides, she was still more slender than most women even wished to be. He could see why she was concerned, though; the uniform she was wearing was very tight-fitting and made the weight gain noticeable.

"Shion, you're not fat, you're pregnant," Allen said softly, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "There's a difference." Shion looked at the tile floor as her lower lip began to tremble. Oh boy. Allen winced.

"Well," Shion said, voice trembling. She looked up at him, emerald eyes glaring at him through the tears forming in them, "it's your fault that I'm pregnant!" she yelled at him. Covering her face with both hands, she began crying. Allen groaned and pulled her into his arms. She stopped crying, wiping her eyes.

"I'm sorry," she said in a pathetic voice. "I just feel so moody all the time now!"

"I know, I know," Allen reassured her softly, kissing her forehead. She pulled away from him and washed the tearstains off of her cheeks. "Look, Shion. You're beautiful no matter what. Besides…" He smirked, looking her up and down.

"What?" she asked.

"I am enjoying those," he commented, grinning and pointing at her chest. Shion immediately felt her cheeks light up with crimson color.

"Have they really gotten that much bigger?" she asked shyly, closing her eyes, blushing redder than a tomato. "I mean, they did feel a bit tender, but…"

"Enough for me to notice," Allen told her, smirking and licking his lips jokingly. Shion giggled and playfully hit him.

"Anyways…do you think anyone would care if I didn't wear my uniform?" she asked, trying to move the topic of their conversation away from her breasts.

"Of course not. You're the Chief, remember?"

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Allen's sedan came to a stop in the shadow of a ten-foot-high, barbed wire fence that encompassed all of Vector's Second Miltian Headquarters. KOS-MOS, as well as a few prominent members of the First and Second Divisions, had been transported from the Dammerung. The facilities at this building were better for the job they were doing than the Dammerung, because there was a large "joint lab". There would be more room for the employees to do their work.

A middle-aged guard placed his hand on the roof of the car. "I'll need some ID, please," he said. Shion and Allen obliged and handed them their electronic cards.

The officer scanned their cards before looking up. "Thank you, Chief Uzuki and Vice-Chief Ridgeley." He gave a small hand motion, and the gate swung open. Allen nodded at him and continued to drive.

About half a mile later, they went through the same process at a second station. "Come on…I mean, we've been through this a million times," Shion murmured sarcastically. Allen smiled and snickered lightly. They followed the road for a small bit longer and pulled into the employee parking lot. Allen pulled into a spot and killed the engine.

"Hey, Allen." Shion looked up at him.

"Hm?"

"I don't think we should tell anyone here about the baby," she continued. "I mean, it'd be better to wait until we were married. Besides, this is probably against some protocol somewhere."

"I agree," Allen replied. "But I'm sure we can tell Miyuki and Togashi."

"Well…maybe Togashi." Shion smirked. "I don't think I trust Miyuki with that sort of knowledge. She'll probably make me some kind of outrageous new invention…I don't even want to think about it." Allen laughed as they exited the car and walked across the landscaped threshold.

Once they entered the main building, they proceeded from the lobby to a long hallway, where a voice-scan gate blocked their entry. The young guard on duty looked up at them. He had astonishingly bright blue eyes and jet black hair. "Good morning, you guys. How was your break?"

"It was very good, Lawrence," Shion replied, smiling softly.

"We're looking forward to getting back to KOS-MOS, though," Allen added.

"I imagine so," Lawrence commented. "You look nice, Ms. Uzuki."

"Thank you," she said meekly. She was dressed in her normal outfit of khaki capris, red tank top, and dark jacket.

"And, I also notice a new accessory," he added slyly, pointing at the ring on her finger. "Who's the lucky man?" Shion blushed.

"Well, uh…" she said, laughing nervously, "you're looking at him." Allen grinned and scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment. A wide smile broke out across Lawrence's face.

"I knew it! I always knew that you two would end up tying the knot!" he half-yelled enthusiastically. "Congratulations!"

"Thanks." Shion blushed.

"Ah, hell…" the guard said, still smiling. "Anyways, you know the drill." Shion nodded and leaned towards the microphone.

"Shion Uzuki." Instantly, the frequency concentrations of her voice were recognized by the computer. The gate opened and she stepped through. Allen repeated the process.

"Have a nice day, you two," Lawrence called after them, smiling and waving as they heaved towards the lab where they would be working.

"I think this is it," said Allen as they came to a door. A temporary sign read "Vector First and Second Divisions – KOS-MOS Project – Authorized Personnel Only".

"Looks like it." Shion nodded. "Now, remember, don't say anything that would give away that I'm pregnant. Let's just hope that Miyuki and Togashi didn't tell anyone that we're even engaged.

The door slid open automatically. About six or seven employees from both the First and Second Divisions jumped out at Shion and Allen, led by Miyuki and Togashi.

"Congratulations!" they yelled excitedly, grinning. Miyuki squealed and waved both arms in the air.

Shion and Allen looked at each other. This was going to be harder than they thought.

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-Sniff- I'm so sorry for the shortness of this chapter, but I'm starting school in two days. I don't wanna go to high school…-Cries- Updates may become more sporadic from now on, but bear with me. XD

But OMG. Less than a week until Xenosaga 3 comes out! Even though I've spoiled almost everything, I can't wait to actually play it. O.O

Jin gets romance in the next chapter, mmmkay?