Retrospective Beloved

A Super Robot Wars Fanfic

By Takeshi Yamato

Author's Notes: Here we are at Chapter 2.

Here, things start to advance slightly. We'll start with a brief scene in the Infirmary, showing just how constant Ryusei's vigil at Mai's bedside is. After that, well, you'll just have to wait and see.

Now, let's get this party started! :D

Chapter 2

Before My Dying Wish

Location: Infirmary of the Space Noah-Class Carrier Hagane

Two days after the battle with Shu, Mai's condition remained unchanged. Ryusei was still at her bedside, and was currently asleep in his chair.

The door opened, and Mai's older sister Aya walked in, carrying a tray of food. Aya smiled briefly as she saw Ryusei still sitting by her sister's side, and walked over to him. Tapping him on the shoulder to wake him up, she handed the tray to him as she said, "Breakfast time, Ryu."

"Thank you," Ryusei said as he took the tray without looking up. Even as he began to eat, his eyes never left Mai's unconscious form.

Aya pulled up another chair and sat next to Ryusei as she said, "You know, you haven't left her side at all for the past two days, even eating and sleeping in that chair. If I was in her position, I'd be flattered that someone cared for me that much."

Ryusei replied, "I just wish that it hadn't taken her almost dying for me to realize how much I cared about her. And she hasn't gotten any better yet, so there's the possibility that she might still die without knowing how I feel. I try not to think too much about that possibility."

Aya thought about that. "I see," she commented. "Well, I don't know if this will help any, but we'll be reaching Izu Base tomorrow, and the medical facilities there are much better than those here on the Hagane."

Ryusei nodded. It didn't help much, but it helped. All he could do now was continue his vigil, and hope Mai pulled through.

Two days later

Location: Izu Base Hospital, Mai's Room

Once the Hagane had arrived at Izu, the only thing that changed was Mai being moved to a room in the Izu Base Hospital. Everything else about her situation (her condition, and the fact that Ryu continued to remain by her side 24 hours a day) remained the same.

Currently, it was around 6:00 AM. Ryu was in his chair, gradually waking up. One of the hospital nurses was going to be bringing him breakfast in about 15 minutes.

A low, feminine groan quickly brought Ryu fully awake, his gaze snapping over to Mai's face, and he could tell that she was slowly regaining consciousness, her head slightly shifting every few seconds.

"Mai," he called, his voice filled with a cautious hope.

Mai's eyelids fluttered open, revealing her sapphire blue eyes. She was honestly surprised to be alive, having resigned herself to death when she had saved Ryu during the fight with the Neo Granzon. Her eyesight focused, and she looked to the side of the bed, seeing her crush sitting in a chair beside her. Weakly, she said, "…Ryu?"

It took all of Ryu's willpower to avoid enthusiastically embracing her as tears of joy fell from his eyes. She was awake. She was finally awake!

That said, his cries of exultation proved to be so loud they brought doctors and nurses running from all over the hospital worried for a second they thought one of their patients had just coded (as soon as they had all regained their hearing, that is).

Over the next two weeks, Mai slowly but steadily continued to recover, the doctors and nurses monitoring her very closely to ensure that she didn't strain herself and accidentally undo any progress made. Ryu helped them as best he could while remaining at Mai's bedside, refusing to leave her side even after she had regained consciousness.

Their other friends visited often, as well, and Mai was glad to see them, but she was amused and glad at how Ryu hadn't left her side, even when he was eating or sleeping.

By the end of the first week, Mai was able to stay awake for several hours at a time, and could even hold medium-length conversations, most of them with Ryu as the two of them discussed topics ranging from weather to robots to Ryu's childhood. Mai's childhood would have been one of the topics, but most of her memories from before joining the SRX Team were from the time when she was Rebi Torah, and neither of them was all that comfortable bringing it up (and understandably so), so the topic was avoided.

By the end of the second week, Mai was able to sit up for a couple of hours at a time, could hold extended-length conversations, and was even able to eat without assistance, although Ryu continued to eat with her.

The topics of conversation between Ryu and Mai continued to grow more and more varied, and they eventually got around to discussing what had happened during the fight with the Neo Granzon…

"So, Shu's dead?" Mai asked.

"Yeah," Ryu replied. "I made sure of that. After I thought you had died saving me, killing him was the only thing on my mind. It was only after I had done so that I caught a faint trace of psychic energy emanating from the ART-1's remains, indicating your survival."

"I guess I'm lucky that you were able to sense that, then," Mai commented, chuckling. Ryusei joined her with some light laughter.

"To be honest," Mai added in a more serious note after the laughter died down, "I wasn't really expecting to survive that."

"What?" Ryu asked, flabbergasted that Mai could think such a thing.

"I knew you couldn't survive it, so the chances of my surviving it were less than slim," Mai continued. "But I didn't really care—I don't think I could live without you, and if that meant I had to die in order to save you, I'd gladly do so."

"Mai," Ryu whispered, touched and shocked that she would go to such lengths just to keep him alive. A couple of moments of silence followed.

Mai was the one to break the silence, saying, "You know, when I took that attack in your place and had resigned myself to death, my only regret was that I hadn't gotten around to doing one thing."

Ryu, curious, asked "What one thing was that?"

Mai smiled mischievously, her left hand reaching out to grab the back of Ryu's head and pulling him closer to her. In the barest of whispers she said, "This," before closing her eyes and touching her lips to his.

Ryu's eyes widened in shock. Mai was kissing him. And it was a full-on lip lock of a kiss. This was not something that he'd expected…. This… this…

This felt so….

Ryu's eyes closed as well as he melted into the kiss (partially from surprised shock and partially from pleasure), his arms gently encircling her waist even as her arms wrapped around the back of his neck. Mai's tongue tapped against his lips, asking for entry…

Outside the room, Aya Kobayashi smiled at the two as she quietly closed the door and walked away. She was glad for her sister, and was glad that things were going so well between those two.

As Aya headed to a private meeting with Chief Viletta—a meeting that Aya had to admit she was looking forward to—she silently wished Ryu and Mai the best of luck, and hoped they managed to find happiness together.

To be continued…