Next Chapter. Actual progress in this chapter, nothing else to say for now.

The moon shined brightly over the horizon, illuminating the small beach area with its silvery glow. The view was reminiscent of a painting. Laura also told him earlier about shooting stars arriving by the next half hour, which was something he was looking forward to.

"...This so embarrassing." Face dyed red, Laura mewed softy like a cat and buried her face in her arms to stop Ichika from seeing her pathetic smile, "This is an embarrassment for me both as a soldier and as a person!" She declared loudly.

"Hey, it's alright. You aren't heavy at all." Ichika smiled down at her and gave her a small shake, eliciting a surprised squeak from the silverette.

He couldn't help it, messing with her was kinda funny.

Their talk on the beach lasted for quite a bit. Talking about the most random things they could think of, the stress from earlier just melted away. Things were so much easier when there was no military practice, doctrine, or conduct being crammed down their throats.

Right now, they were just Ichika and Laura. No more no less.

And, as much as Laura would deny it when she was asked afterwards, she was actually having fun. The fact that she didn't have to deal with her comrades giving her catcalls and whistles to 'get on with it' certainly helped that.

"T-That's beside the point!" She reared her foot back and aimed for his head. One shot was all it would take to render him unconscious. If she were lucky, maybe he wouldn't even get a concussion afterwards or require operation. Then again, that might be pushing her luck too far.

"Ow, stop hitting me!" He ducked his head quickly, dodging the incoming strike and nearly dropping Laura in the process. Really, she wasn't making it easier for either of them. Good thing she weighed next to nothing or he'd be in troble.

Oh right, there was the little problem of Laura somehow losing her shoes. She swore she just tossed them back to stop them from getting wet along with her clothes, but that didn't change the fact that they were gone.

Whatever the reason, it didn't change the fact that nobody else was here and that Laura was barefoot. Their clothes were also wet, but that didn't really wasn't a big deal to either of them. It was actually kind of relaxing since the climate was so hot.

They of course missed the fact that the entire group, sans Clarissa and Chifuyu, had sneaked up on them when Laura was recounting on the strange eye shaped robot. They may not seem like it 9/10 times, but there was a reason they were part of the Shwarzer Hase.

Back to the point in hand: The trek to the base would take, at the very least, about 30-45 minutes just by walking. They came here by car, but that was gone as well. Everything in the immediate area seemed to have disappeared with the two of them being none the wiser.

Laura was content to walk back to the base without her footwear, but Ichika, being the gentleman that he is, refused that suggestion. And so, he did the only thing anybody in his position: He picked her up to carry her there.

In other words, he gave her the princess cradle.

A very dangerous technique that's existed since the dawn of time, the princess cradle dated back to as early as the days of the cavemen. Legend goes that the males carried females to their cave using this technique to woo them. This dangerous technique has been passed down from generation to generation, and eventually reached present time.

For the proud Laura, this technique was an insult to her. She was the one who carried allies out of scrapes, not the other way around. If she had a broken leg, she would inject herself with morphine and keep going. Walking for a half-hour barefoot was nothing to her.

Hence, the current situation right now.

"Ichika, put me down!" She barked out, using her authoritative tone. Nobody could resist doing what she said whenever she reached this point. Even Clarissa caved at times like this.

"No..."

Okay, maybe not.

"Wh-Why not!" She tried to once again aim for his head but he was expecting it this time and ducked under it again. She was getting somewhat predictable by now. Well, it was better than giving him the cold shoulder.

On a side note, he was glad that she was wearing pants and not a skirt. That would've made things extremely awkward.

"It takes 30 minutes to get back to the base and the entire area's filled with rocks." To emphasize his point, he kicked a small pebble with jagged edges into a far off area, "You'll probably injure yourself if you walk like this. Besides, it's not my fault you lost your shoes."

"I didn't lose them!" She gritted her teeth and tried to calm herself, "Somebody took them. I know they did. Footwear does not simply disappear when you discard them." She folded her arms across her rather small, pitiful, and completely flat chest.

"...Why do I suddenly feel like I've just been insulted?"

She had a hunch on who took them, and getting proof of it wouldn't be difficult. Oh, they were going to regret messing with her. They thought they were the only ones who could play jokes? Think again. There was a reason she was considered the best soldier both in and out of the training field.

Now, if only she remembered where she hid that stash of gunpowder.

"Doesn't matter. Your shoes are gone and I don't want you to have bleeding feet when we get back there." She glared at him again and he just smiled in response. He stopped taking her glares at face value by this point. She glared at everyone, so it wasn't anything special. He'd taken to thinking it was her way of smiling.

"I won't bleed. I have healing nano-machines in my body that accelerate my body's natural healing factor by ten times. Even my bodily fluids such as saliva contain them." She had a slight hint of pride in her voice, "Futhermore, my skin is tougher than most people. A bullet would have a hard time piercing my skin."

"Nano-machines and metal skin or no, you can still get hurt. Being shot by a bullet and getting an operation to fix it doesn't stop it from hurting." He pointed out.

Laura really wanted to shoot him down, but he had a point. She remembered her first bullet injury vividly. She nearly cried that day (Emphasis on nearly. Of course she didn't cry.). She wouldn't cry from something as minor as a bullet somehow piercing her abdomen.

But damn if it didn't hurt.

If she, with her augmented body and upgrades, felt that much pain, how could normal everyday soldiers survive multiple shots on their body? The human body was a truly remarkable thing.

"But...this is embarrassing..." Her face turned red again and her voice turned meek, losing its sharp edge from before.

"H-Hey, it's not that embarrassing." Ichika assured her, "I mean, it's not like we have any other choice, right? I don't think anyone will make fun of you for trying to avoid getting hurt." If somebody did, they would have to be seriously disturbed individuals.

"But..." She looked down and avoided staring at his face. Her face felt warm for some reason and she didn't want him to see her like that, "Can we at least...change positions?" She voiced out meekly.

Now this was surprising. She was asking him for his thoughts and approval and not ordering him to do it. Was the soldier princess starting to melt?

"Alright, any idea then, princess Laura?" Smack. Another hit, and this time it actually connected. Note to self, never mess with a flustered super soldier. It wasn't good for his health.

Laura coughed and ignored Ichika's pained face, "How about carrying me on your back instead? It's still embarrassing, but it's better than being carried like...this."

With a piggyback ride, she could at least save some face. After all, soldiers frequently did it in times of danger to save their allies and still retain the capability of firing their weapon. It was also more practical since it meant less shaking and risk of bullet damage.

"Huh, alright..." Ichika nodded. He didn't really get her logic or why she was so against being carried like this, but he didn't want to argue with her about it.

Ichika kneeled on the ground slowly and let her jump off herself, making sure to pick a relatively clear area. No sense in her getting injured after that spiel he just made.

"Alright, now climb on my back." He stuck out his arms in a carrying position.

Reluctantly, she climbed into his back again, circling her arms around his neck. Ichika was somewhat surprised by that; he expected her to make a run to the base the second he put her down.

"Alright, hang on." He placed his hands under her legs (ignoring the fact that they were still soft even through the fabric) and lifted her higher. Just like before she didn't seem to weigh much of anything. You'd think a super soldier designed for combat would be heavier for more stopping power.

With the problem dealt with, Ichika continued on his way forward to the base, which was now much easier when he didn't have to dodge attacks every three steps.

Looking back on it, he initially hated the prospect of coming here. Sure he was the one who insisted, but he didn't really look forward to meeting the...trainees(?). Chifuyu had purposely kept it vague as to what they would be doing there. Despite all that, he thought sticking with his sister would be far safer than being alone.

Oh, how wring he was.

Ever since he'd been here he'd been subjected to training from hell from his older sister, the other trainees staring at him all day no matter what he did (And, in one memorable instance, while he was on his way out of the bathroom), and a partner who seemed to fluctuate between shy and meek to threatening to blow his brains out if he did anything she didn't like.

Well, let it never be said that the life of Ichika Orimura was dull and uninteresting. Come to think of it, life back then wasn't that safe either. The only difference was that he had to dodge kendo sticks, katana's, and Chinese swords rather than bullets or kicks that could give him concussions.

That drowning incident from earlier certainly didn't help things. Nearly dying is never good for one's sanity and mental health. He wouldn't be surprised if he ended up becoming crazy or say things like 'people die when they're killed' if this kept up.

Laura herself was also a breath of fresh air. Despite all common sense telling him to stay away from the trigger-happy eyepatch girl, he'd actually managed to coax some friendship out of her. It wasn't perfect, but nothing in life was.

"...Hey ichika, say something." A voice interrupted his monologues, "It's really weird when you're so quiet. Usually you have something stupid to say or ask really obvious questions that even a 5 year old would know."

...Stupid? Really obvious questions even a five year old would know? No, Ichika's heart didn't just break and his face wasn't twitching. Anybody who thought otherwise should get their eyes and ears checked.

"And usually you do something that makes you look like an idiot by now. Like..." Laura glanced forward and pointed down, "There's an anthill over there filled with poisonous fire ants, You'll probably step on it in a few seconds and start jumping like an idiot trying to get rid of them before they infect you with their poison and slowly paralyze your body from the ins-"

"Laura, is there a reason you're saying all this?" Ichika interrupted, eye twitching. Was she getting revenge for teasing her earlier? Was that it? Because he would've someone who's been especially trained like her to be a professional like her would be more...well, professional.

"Huh? I just wanted you to say something. I didn't say anything else." Her voice sounded genuinely surprised, like she didn't just strike a blow to both his ego and intelligence and- Woah, nearly hit the fire ant nest!

Ichika quickly stepped to the side and gave the small hill a wide berth. Maybe he was just hallucinating, but he could've sworn he saw a green rectangular bar above the bigger one's. Okay, better not touch those.

"Alright, well..." He struggled to think of a topic. Things were pretty awkward now that they had nothing but the night air for company. Not even the sounds of the waves reached them anymore, which meant that they were getting close.

"Okay, stupid question, but why did you join the military?" He asked curiously.

No matter how you looked at it, Laura looked way too young to be a recruit for the military, let alone one of their star pupils. In fact, one could say the same thing about the entire Haze. While some of them looked the minimum age, he still saw 15-16 year olds running around with them. How did they not get slapped with Human Rights Violations?

"..." Laura didn't answer and the grip around his neck tightened slightly. He was afraid he might've offended her, "Well, I guess it's no secret." Though her reply was casual, her voice took on a slightly more forced tone, "I was born into it, I guess. I don't really know any other way."

"No other way?" Ichika looked down in thought, "Most soldiers are defenders of their home, but they also had lives outside of that. Family, friends, hobbies, whatever. Outside of their job, they're just normal everyday people...well, except for the crazy ones." He added at the end.

Crazies tend to include people like a guy who ran a pirate gang on a deserted island and frequently talked about the definition of insanity while another guy he kidnapped turned from a civilian who couldn't use a gun properly to a killing machine who could massacre entire camps of armed pirates with just a knife.

Laura really hated going on that mission. 'The definition of insanity' would forever remain engraved in her head after that incident.

"Well, it's more complicated than that," Okay, how was she supposed to explain this, "Well...do you know about cloning?"

"Uh, yeah. It's the process of copying a human being down to their DNA. Kind of like a printer for living things."

"Right," She nodded, "Cloning has been used for both experimentation and research since the past the early 2000's. Experiments on clones tend to be looked down on, but they aren't banned since people believe 'clones have no soul' and are therefore not technically alive."

"Are you saying you're a..." He couldn't finish his sentence. One part of him was afraid of the implications of what he was saying while the other was distracted by the lights getting closer and closer. They were almost at the base.

"A clone?" She laughed slightly, "Don't be silly. Clones are prone to problems such as rapid aging and body degradation. Not to mention that they tend to lack proper capacity to use any upgrades given to them.

Ichika breathed a sigh of relief when he heard her answer. It looked like his worries were all for nothing.

"No, I'm a test tube baby." She said this with remarkable casualness, like she was discussing the weather or commenting that the sky was blue.

"A...what?" Ichika wasn't very smart academically, and he would be the first to admit that, so it came as no surprise to him that he had no idea what she just said.

"Simply put: Babies that are made outside the body." She couldn't see it, but Ichika's eyes were wide open in shock, "Starting from 1978, test tube baby's became more and more popular for couple's who had a hard time pro-creating. However, they gained another use later on."

"Another use?" Ichika had a feeling he was going to dread hearing the answer to this question.

"You see, clones have a high chance of dying when experiments are performed on them. Without being born from both a mother and a father, their body's can't take the pressure and most end up dying. Test tube babies, on the other hand, can be ready made, provided you can find a woman who can wait on them for a year or so. Both the benefits and none of the loss."

"Except for breaking both the law and morals.." Ichika deadpanned.

"Laws and morals don't get results." Laura sounded like she was reciting from a handbook, "That's the justification for everything. I don't hate them for it. On the contrary, I wouldn't be alive if not for them. It was only because they wanted the perfect super soldier that I'm here."

"So...you're saying that's the reason you don't know anything outside the military?" Laura gave him a tap on the head, most likely meaning yes, "Then, can I ask you what they meant by the perfect super soldier?"

"The perfect soldier is one who always follows orders. Both a prodigy in physical and mental warfare, his/her capabilities exceed that of an ordinary by at least tenfold. However, their greatest strength lies in both their absolute loyalty and uflappable demeanor."

Ichika halted his advance and looked up the sky. Laura wondered what he was doing before he suddenly yelled out,

"You're not just a super soldier, you're Laura! Don't talk like you're just an experiment!" He yelled this out as loudest as he could. Thank the maker they were in the middle of nowhere.

The intensity in his voice shocked even her, "Wh-Why are you yelling!" She yelled in response.

"Well, I guess that means I can rest easy knowing it's not true." Ichika's voice suddenly relaxed and he quickened his pace.

"What does that mean?" Laura asked suspiciously.

"It means that they didn't make the perfect super soldier after all." He replied casually. A vein popped on Laura's forehead as she heard that. Was she calling him a failure now?

"So you're saying I'm a failure now?" The slight anger in her voice was unmistakable. It sounded different from her normal irritated tone.

"Let me ask you this: Who has the best performance in your group?"

"Me, of course!" Laura replied with obvious confidence. It didn't matter whether it was from physical fitness or mental aptitude, she had the best grades of them all.

"Alight, would you say you're loyal to your country?" He asked again.

"Of course I am! What kind of question is that?" She touched her eyepatch lightly, "It is because of them that I'm here, and I would give my life if they asked for it." She said this without a hint of shame or hesitation.

"And what would you do if I suddenly dropped you right now and made a run for it?" They were a few steps from the gate. Ichika could've let her down now without her being injured.

"I would kick you upside the head so hard you'd get a- KYAAAAHH!" Just as she was about to finish her answer, Ichika promptly dropped her butt first into the grassy ground before running for the gates, laughing as he went.

"Come back here!" Laura yelled in a rage, chasing after the Japanese teen, "I said get back here!"

"What will you do if I stop!" As he continued to run, it became quite obvious he wasn't taking this the least bit seriously. Laura was faster than him by a landslide, but the headstart gave him a huge advantage.

"I'm going to ram my foot up your a-

*Honk* *Honk*

A duck family in the distance suddenly quaked in terror. Something was wrong, there was a...disturbance.

"No thanks, I'll take my chances!" Ichika yelled back with a huge grin on his face.

"Aaaargh, get back here!" This was completely unlike her. Normally she'd be calm and organized, maybe set a trap or two here and there to help her catch him. What she didn't expect to do was run around sans footwear yelling curses upon curses at him as he continued to somehow evade her grasp.

The chase continued on for quite a bit. Neither of them knew how long, but by the time it finished they were both on the ground panting in exhaustion from the effort.

" .You." Laura ground out between bated breaths. This was the first time in month's she'd even been out of breath at anything. Even worse, it was because she lost her cool.

"And that!" He collapsed on his back, staring up at the sky, "Is my proof right there!" The grin hadn't disappeared from his face. She really wanted to wipe it off him.

"Of what exactly?" She sat down next to him and looked up at the sky too. The stars thankfully illuminated the area, so they could see relatively well.

"Like I said: You're more than just the perfect soldier, you're Laura too."

"And what is your so called proof?" She questioned dubiously. Unless he managed to pull medical records out of his bum, there was no way he could disprove that.

"You just did it" He held up his pointer finger, "A super soldier is known for always being calm and collected along with having an unflappable demeanor."

"Yes, and what does that have to do with anything?"

"Simple really" He stood up slightly and turned to face her, "A super soldier wouldn't have gotten mad if I dropped her. We were already at the base, so she would've just continued on. Laura would've gotten mad and threatened to kill me even if she was in her underwear and with no weapons. Now, which one did you do?"

Confusion turned to realization, realization turned to anger, and anger turned into embarrassment. She had fallen for his trap. Her, the one who had decoded a terrorist cipher on her spare time and once made a strategy to beat even her own Commander, was fooled into playing along his ridiculous scheme.

"Th-Th-Th-That doesn't count!" She denied hotly, face steaming red from embarrassment, "I-It only proves that you're so annoying that anyone would be bothered by you!"

"That still proves my point. A super soldier would've just ignored me and keep going. You would've tried to kill me. Seeing as you didn't ignore me when I dropped you, I'd say there's a flaw in your logic."

"Th-That's Mpgh Gah!" Oh no, she was reverting to gibberish. He was already getting close, too close for comfort. The professionalism was vanishing and she was starting to act like an idiot.

Abruptly, she stood up from her spot on the ground and tried to go past him. She needed to think on this, to try and calm down before she did something she was going to regret.

And she would've succeeded, had he not grabbed her by the wrist and pulled.

"Fwah!" She toppled backwards, landing awkwardly right on top of him. Instead of placing her back next to him, he circled his arms around her and held her close.

"I-Ichika, what are you-"

"Shooting stars!" He pointed up and Laura couldn't resist looking. Sure enough, he was telling the truth.

Dozen's of bright blue ray came down onto the earth, showering the night sky with their bright light. With the light, she could see everything in the camp, from the target practice to the bunk room.

What she could see the best of all, however, was Ichika.

Despite holding her in a typical lovers embrace, he just continued to stare up to the sky with a bright, oblivious smile on his face. He was unaware how uncomfortable he was making her. He was so close, and she couldn't do anything about it.

"Laura, did you make a wish?" Ichika looked down at her with a smile, leaning close. Their faces were only millimeters apart, and one push was all it would take for them to make contact.

The next part came as a blur. All she remembered were the falling lights, the shocked expression on Ichika's face, and the feeling of his lips on hers. She was on top of him, though she didn't know why.

She'd wanted to do this for a while now. All those close calls, all those times she had to back away when she had the chance. All those times when she acted hostile towards him to mask everything. All of that came crashing down. She didn't care anymore.

One thing she noticed was that he tasted sweet. She couldn't explain it; it just made her want more and more. She was aware that she was being a disgrace as a soldier, but she wasn't a soldier right now, she was Laura.

She felt intoxicated. She wanted more and was going to get it. Forcing his lips apart, she pressed the kiss deeper till they could hardly breath. She could do this forever. She wanted to do this forever. It felt like nothing else mattered.

And then the bright lights disappeared.

All the feeling of boldness disappeared. Reality came crashing down on her, and it wasn't what she wanted to see. Laura quickly separated herself from the stunned boy beneath her, a look of bewilderment on her face. She pressed her hands into her lips softly, unable to speak a word.

She stood up and ran back to the bunkhouse, and this time Ichika didn't stop her.

Ichika himself was also at a daze. What had just happened? Did she just? Did he?

*Ring* *Ring*

Praising the phone for a distraction of what just happened, he picked it up from his pocket and checked the message.

"Ichika, me and Clarissa are in town. Meet us over here. Laura should know how to use one of the vehicles there, so both of you go here together."

With a groan, Ichika collapsed back into the ground. Could things get any more tense?

Well, first kiss done. I was tired of blowing it off, so here it is.

Updating Future Imperfect next. Please don't forget to read and review. Oh, and cookie for whoever gets the reference.