Disclaimer: Bandai and Sunrise are the undisputed Tyrant rulers of Gundam, RISE UP AND FIGHT THE OPPRESSORS!
"Talking"
'Thinking'
"Radio"
"Alter Egos"
"Jigen Haoh-Ryu techniques"
MS Girls
Kira (Formerly Kenji) Yamato - Freedom Gundam
Lesson Six - Learn to cope with the Unexpected
Evening - The Kho Residence
"Man, I don't know what it was… but hearing Ibuki and the Captain talk about the punishment for Kaede and Chris just really turned me on…" Katrina panted as she curled up on one side of Leon, her head resting on his shoulder.
"It's quite understandable, they were talking about what basically amounts to torture for MS Girls," Leon shrugged. "So you'd seek comfort. That being said, they really did a number on the ship…"
Katrina moaned slightly. "Tell me about it, I think Ryu might also make them fix it all themselves," she said as she snuggled in closer to Leon. "So… how was your day?"
"Showed Ryu and Ibuki around the armory, picking out gear for her and the three Unicorn girls," Leon replied, quickly catching the slightly disgruntled look on his lover's face. "The Kshatriya's weaponry does come built-in to your armour anyway, Kat. Nothing much I can do about that, except give you a beam gatling gun. Your built-in weapons still have more power than that."
Kyou looked at Leon thoughtfully, before asking, "How powerful will my weapons be?"
"Not very," Leon shook his head. "You're stuck with a beam rifle and a shield with a beam cannon and 2 grenade launchers on it. But you do have speed on your side."
"Guess I can't really complain, especially since I'm going to be getting remote weaponry," Katrina muttered, clinging tighter to Leon. "It just doesn't seem fair that those three get so many weapons…"
"Hey, your remote weapons - funnels by the way, are more than enough," Leon grinned. "You've got 24 of them at full load - we're just not sure how to make them yet. Get some small drones from the armory, maybe?"
Katrina nodded before snuggling in closer. "We can worry about that later," she said. "I want to enjoy our time together…"
"So do I. Kyou, if you really have issues with not carrying enough weaponry, we can try to analyse the converted weapons and reverse engineer them manually so you can use some of them," Leon looked towards the bluenette on his other side. "I'm not even sure if you can get an upgrade, the Delta Plus wasn't a very well-documented mobile suit in the series."
"Thanks anyway, Leon," Kyou nodded, before snuggling into said man. "Just as long as I can protect you and anyone else better."
"I'll hold you to it that," Leon grinned, reclining back and wrapping his arms around both of the girls warmly. "I want to be able to treat this colonization effort as a very, very long holiday at some point…"
"Mm…" Katrina moaned/hummed at the thought. "A holiday sounds nice, maybe even go to a beach or something…"
"I'd definitely like to see both of you in swimsuits at some point," Leon agreed. "I don't mind either one-pieces or two-pieces."
"I'll probably look better in a two-piece, actually," Kyou commented. "I think it's my woman's intuition talking, though, but I have the feeling you would love to ravage me while I'm in a two-piece swimming suit."
Leon groaned, looking down at the growing tent in his suit. "Most guys are into that thing, shows more skin," he explained. "Hard not to be into that."
"Mm, I kinda have a sexy one piece I always wanted to try… but never had the figure for," Katrina confided with a sultry smile. "I think it's kinda made for 'fun-time' at the beach…"
The male in the room flinched slightly. "I get the feeling this colony's culture is going to end up significantly different from Earth's," he remarked. "Especially with how sex-oriented MS Girls are turning out to be…"
Kyou blinked for a moment, before she looked at the door. "Someone's at the door, Leon," she informed. "Do you know who could be here, either of you?"
"I'm a little more interested in knowing how you can sense a guy at the door when I haven't heard the buzzer ring," Leon blinked, trying to make himself presentable and urging the girls to do the same as he headed to the door.
As soon as he reached the door, the buzzer rang, before a female voice on the intercom asked, "May I come in? I need to talk… hopefully."
The Asian male turned around to look at the girls, making sure that they had gotten dressed enough. He did catch a slight twitch in Katrina's eye, most likely directed at the female voice though. Once he was sure they were presentable, he turned back to the intercom and replied, "Err, sure. Come on in, whoever you are."
"Thank you," the woman answered, before the door opened to reveal Kira in a female Miltian Military uniform, who took that moment to walk into the residence.
"Oh, Ken… Kira," Katrina greeted. "Out of surgery already?"
"Yes, I am," Kira nodded. "I just wanted to show up to talk right now… will need to find a place to live on my own later, but that can wait, really."
"What did you need to talk about?" Leon asked, before he paled slightly. "It's… not about your little sister and me, is it?"
Before Kira could say anything, Kyou finally connected the dots. "Wait… Kenji?!" she shrieked incredulously. "But… but why?!"
Leon sighed, rubbing his head. "I read the reports from the medical bay, but I think it's better for Ken… Kira to explain it to you herself."
Kira nodded, before starting to say, "It started before I was even born…"
Half an hour later
"…and that's why I decided to be what I should have been from the beginning," Kira finished up.
"Just so you know, I knew about it, and I've been helping her adjust to her new body," Katrina commented as she moved over to Kira and gave the neo-female a hug. "Sorry I didn't tell you, Kyou."
"But… but… oh, you know what? Forget it," Kyou released a frustrated sigh. "Just… how long until you can do anything a female's designed for?"
"Four more days at minimum," Kira explained, holding up a hand and extending all but her thumb.
"I already told her that she can… be with us," Katrina informed, sending a look to Leon. "I hope that's alright, Leon…"
"Sheesh, don't go making decisions like that without my input…" Leon groaned, rubbing the back of his head in consternation. "Especially with the second in command from the Eligor… great, now I'm feeling really awkward here."
"Leon," Katrina spoke up placing her hand on his chest. "She wants to be close to her sister, please… for me?"
Kyou blinked for a bit. "Wait… she wants to be close to me?" she asked in surprise.
"Well duh, she's your sister," Katrina confirmed with a roll of her eyes. "She knows she can't control your life, but she wants to be near you and help you."
Kyou was silent for a few moments, before she started shaking on her feet, tears breaking free.
"I didn't say I was against it," Leon pointed out. "But this is going to feel awkward to me for a while. It'll take me a while to get used to it."
Katrina smiled at him, giving him a light kiss before moving over and embracing Kyou. "It's alright Kyou, we're all here for you," she whispered in a motherly fashion as she stroked Kyou's hair.
"R… really?" she asked in a whisper. Upon seeing the nod and being released from the embrace, she walked over to her sister and gave her a hug, saying, "Thank you… onee-chan."
Kira nodded, not showing that she did to her sister, before saying, "You're welcome, imouto."
"You'll have time to get used to it, Leon," Katrina assured. "She can't have sex for another four days, so you'll have time to get used to it."
"By the way, did you realize you just spoke in Japanese as well?" Leon blinked, referring to Kira's usage of the word 'imouto'.
"Eh?" Kira blinked at that. "Oh… so I did," she laughed a bit at the end. "Don't know how that happened, actually."
"Hmm, maybe the transformation implants knowledge of language within the transformee," Katrina speculated. "You don't have that accent anymore either."
Kira blinked again. "I don't?"
Katrina shook her head. "Nope, not even a little," she confirmed.
"Huh… that's something," Kira admitted. "Well, hope the next four days won't take up too much time…"
Katrina gave her a sly smirk. "Eager, are you?" she asked. "You want what you used to have inside of you, don't you?"
"Erk!" Kira coughed out. "Y… yes?" she answered.
Katrina's smirk grew as she stepped closer. "To feel it throb within you?" she pressed. "To feel it pound into you like a slab of meat?"
Kira, who was starting to imagine it at that moment, blushed a significant shade of red from the mental imagery.
"To feel his seed being pumped into you," Katrina continued, placing a hand over Kira's abdomen. "To feel your body swell with his offspring?"
Kira couldn't handle the stress of being teased like that any longer, so she did the only thing she knew to do. She pulled Katrina into a kiss and frenched her.
Katrina blinked, but smirked as she returned the kiss for a few moments before breaking away. "While I'd like to continue this," she admitted. "You're going to have to wait four days, Kira~"
"I don't know how long I can last without this, though," Kira admitted herself. "I need what you already have!"
"Well too bad," Katrina said teasingly. "You're going to have to wait, else you might hurt yourself."
Kira sighed a bit, before she said. "Alright… I'll wait on the sex. However…" she started.
"Hm?" Katrina prompted.
"…I'm gonna need some help with finding a suitable swimsuit for Leon's enjoyment," she finished. "If either of you would like to help me, please?"
Katrina smiled toothily. "I may know just the person to help us," she informed with a dark chuckle.
Kira blinked in surprise. "Really? Who?" she asked.
"Another MS Girl like us who happened to be involved in fashion before the Colonization Effort began," she replied, an ominous shadow building up over the top half of her face as her eyes began to glow. "After all, not only are we going to have to get you a swimsuit, we need to get you an entire wardrobe."
Kira, oblivious to the ominous shadow and the glowing eyes, said, "Okay. I'll have to speak with her later, then."
The low chuckle that seemed to be unheard by Kira was definitely heard by Leon and Kyou who both shuddered.
"Should we warn her?" Leon whispered to Kyou.
"I think so…" Kyou whispered back. "Then again, it might not work to simply warn her, we'd need to make sure she doesn't get corrupted."
"Would she really end up getting corrupted into fashion?" Leon looked back at Kira. "I mean… she should still have guy tendencies, right? And guys aren't as into fashion, right?"
"Possibly, but, who knows?" Kyou asked, looking at her sibling at the last two words.
"Hopefully Chris tones it down after being schooled by Ryu and Ibuki?" Leon threw in with a hopeful tone, although both of them doubted that the hyperactive fashionista would not restrain herself.
"I dunno… it's not real likely in this case," Kyou answered, shuddering more.
"Leon~" Katrina called out in a sing-song voice. "Wasn't the shopping arcade slated to open tomorrow?"
"Yeah, it is," Leon confirmed, pulling up his tablet and checking the news section. "Unfortunately only a few shops for now, but just give it a few weeks and everything will be up and running. Do I need to get a trolley to carry everything?"
"What's a trolley?" Kira and Kyou asked at the same time.
Leon paused for a moment. "Don't you use trolleys to move large crates or items around? Three or four wheels, large platform for putting stuff on, handle for pushing them around?"
Kyou blinked, before she facepalmed. "I don't get why the name of it is completely different from what we know of it," she muttered.
"What do you call it?" Katrina asked curiously.
"A loading tray," Kyou answered, feeling shame for one reason or another.
"I guess you use it more for weaponry then?" Leon blinked.
"Regretfully," Kyou replied. "It's not a common sight, anyway."
"Well, I'd say it's time to introduce you Miltians to how we Earthlings do things," Leon chuckled. "On Earth, we use those for shopping as well."
Kira and Kyou blinked. "Huh… that sounds really handy," Kira stated.
"It is," Katrina informed with a giggle. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a vid call to make."
Kyou blinked at that. "Um, is that call to someone important?" she asked.
"It's for the trip tomorrow," Katrina said mysteriously. "The most suitable person on this ship for fashion…"
Kyou blinked again, before she face faulted. "Why… why in the whole universes did we have to merge with your ship, anyway?" she asked from the ground.
"Because you're just that lucky," Katrina giggled as she merrily skipped from the room. "I'll be back~"
Kira blinked as she helped her little sister up off the ground. "Er… is it really going to be that bad for us?" she asked.
"To put it bluntly, onee-chan? Yes, it really is, no matter how you slice it," Kyou answered.
"Going through some culture shock, I see," Leon laughed, patting the Miltian girls on their backs. "You'll get used to it if you keep hanging out with us."
Kira nodded dumbly at that comment.
With Kimiko, Sayane, and Haruka
"Finally calmed down, Kimiko?" Haruka asked as she rolled off the red head, panting heavily with Sayane as their bodies were covered in a thin sheen of sweat.
"Y… yeah…" Kimiko replied, though she wasn't panting quite as badly as the other two. "That was… a lot of fun…"
Haruka panted heavily. "Good, cause I can't go anymore…" she said. "I don't think I can move very much…"
Sayane just groaned, unable to vocalize more than that.
Kimiko looked at Sayane and Haruka, smiling a bit as she thought about the activities they'd just taken part in. "Sayane… Haruka… Aishiteru," she said.
Haruka looked at Kimiko with a surprised look. "Huh?" she vocalized intelligently.
"I mean it," Kimiko replied. "We've been friends since we were little kids… I guess I could tell my feelings were getting deeper, even though I never really was great at showing them… I guess it just took actually sleeping with the two of you to actually get it through my head just how deep my feelings have gone…"
"Well… I… I love you too," Haruka informed with a large blush. "And… I guess it was the same way for me… to actually admit it to myself…"
Sayane nodded, a massive blush on her face.
Kimiko was also blushing. "Thanks, you two…" she said, before leaning over to Haruka and bringing their lips together, Sayane barely managing to crawl into a position where she could join in.
Haruka moaned slightly as she and the two other girls shared a tender kiss. "So… did you hear about that combat training course they're setting up for those who've been changed?" she asked after they separated. "I hear that one of the captain's lovers set it up."
"I did…" Kimiko replied. "Might be interesting to at least watch… though if there are team exercises, then I'd likely join in if I was alongside the two of you."
"Well, I was planning on joining because they think they know a way to help the transformed girls access their armored forms," Haruka said with a determined look. "I won't let you fight alone."
"Thanks…" Kimiko replied, before she grimaced. "I just hope that Kaede girl doesn't hit me again… that really hurt."
"That really came out of nowhere, didn't it?" Haruka commented.
"To… to be fair…" Sayane said, finally able to speak, even though she still had to pause for breaths often, "your Soten Guren Ken… did nail that lizardman… in the crotch… Don't know if the Captain… was actually watching or not… but…"
"She did seem Yandere-ish, didn't she?" Haruka asked with a sweatdrop.
"Yeah… and a lot more… brutish, I guess…" Kimiko said. "Might have been a side effect of her secondary transformation."
"That was something else," the blonde said with a small amount of awe. "I wonder, could we do something similar?"
"Depends on our forms…" Sayane informed, slowly managing to catch her breath more. "They're still looking through those… 'Gundam' Archives to find Kimiko's 'parent' MS, remember…"
"Right… what was Kimiko's again?" Haruka asked in confusion.
"They said that with its focus on martial arts, it was similar to the God Gundam from that G Gundam series, sometimes called the Burning Gundam," Kimiko replied. "Though it wasn't exact enough to be a 100% match… they're still looking through the other series to try and find a better match."
"Huh," Haruka responded as she suddenly snuggled closer to Kimiko. "Tired…"
Kimiko yawned a bit. "Yeah, me too…" she said. "Let's get some rest…"
A soft snore was her response, looking down Kimiko and Sayane saw that Haruka was already out like a light.
Kimiko was close behind, shortly followed by Sayane.
Ryu's Quarters
Ryu hummed as he looked at the tablet he and Ibuki were studying at the kitchen table as Hanami bustled around the kitchen making something for them all to eat, in the corner Kaede and Chris were securely bound and gagged, whimpering as they strained against their bindings. "I think you're right with the primary focus being increasing their physical capabilities unarmored, but we should also have them run through battlefield tactics," Ryu commented. "We can't have them just milling about waiting for someone to tell them what to do."
"The basics," Ibuki agreed, every now and then glancing over in Hanami's direction with an awed look. "Simple flanking maneuvers, usage of cover, squad combat, that kind of stuff. We can save the advanced stuff for those who really want a military career."
Ryu nodded in agreement as he made a few notes, glancing over at Hanami who seemed to be in the center of a whirlwind of ingredients. "Is that normal?" he asked, pointing to the silverette. "Because, it doesn't seem normal."
"It's… normal for her," Ibuki confirmed. "Not normal for most human beings, but yes, normal for her. In fact, I think she's gotten a lot faster at it since becoming an MS Girl."
"Huh… anyways, we should also find a place to do range shooting," he continued. "Since I'm pretty sure the shooting range wasn't built with lasers in mind, let alone cannons like the one you have."
"One slight problem there - a normal shooting range won't be able to withstand some weapons the other girls can bring out," Ibuki frowned. "We'd need either some kind of large desert area where we can fire with impunity without worrying about killing off too much of the local wildlife, or reinforce the hell out of a normal shooting range. We don't really have enough resources for the latter."
"I'll have some flyers go out and look for a desert region," he agreed. "We'll also need to run them through some swordplay drills, it looks like all of you have one of those beam sabers at the very least."
"Let's see if we can find any swordplay instructors among the crew. It's a dying art though, we might have a lot of trouble," Ibuki suggested. "My training only covered dagger fighting, and our beam sabers reach a lot further than those."
"I know some of the basics and a few advanced tricks," Ryu commented, rubbing the back of his neck. "But nothing comprehensive, I'll ask around the crew."
"This is going to be hard…" Ibuki slumped onto the table for several moments before she sprang back up, surprising Ryu. "I think I might know someone…" she whispered.
"Hm, who's that?" Ryu asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I recognized a name among the list of people with combat skills earlier…" Ibuki scrolled through the tablet, before letting out a small cheer when she pulled up a profile. "Yang Xiao Lin, a Chinese swordmaster with knowledge of at least 4 different styles of swordplay - Japanese Yagyū Shinkage-ryū, Hokushin Ittō-ryū, Chinese Yang-style Taijijian with two swords, and the Spanish La Verdadera Destreza. She basically trained her entire life in swordsmanship until her 50s, then came and joined the colonization effort hoping to pass on her skills. She was among those transformed too, and apparently the transformation de-aged her back to her prime instantly for some reason.
Ibuki continued reading for a few moments before noticing a handwritten note at the bottom, signed by Ryu's second-in-command. "Oh, a note from Leon - this trend has been noticed among MS Girls with True GN-powered mobile suits as parents. Suspected to be related to Innovator gene type… whatever that is. Theory, original series pilots' gene types are bleeding into MS Girls. Look up database entry on Gundam gene types for more details."
"Gene types?" Ryu asked as he pulled up the info. "Newtype, Coordinator, Innovator, X-rounder… huh, this is going to be a lot of reading isn't it?"
"Yeah, it is," Ibuki scratched her head. "I can't believe I'm studying anime of all things…"
"Honestly, it makes me worried," Ryu admitted as he stared at the tablet, a deep frown on his face. "I mean, really, without outside intervention, what are the odds of all of these changes not only being beneficial but… being so goddamn close to what we know."
"So should we be worried that there's… something watching over us?" Ibuki frowned.
"That's what makes me worried," Ryu said, folding his arms. "First: If something has a hand in the changes, why? Second: What do they have planned for us? Thirdly: What has the kind of power to initiate those kinds of changes?"
"Maybe we should save that kind of ominous stuff for later," Ibuki sighed, patting Ryu on the back. "For now, let's just do what we can to survive."
"Agreed," Ryu said with a sigh as he rubbed his eyes. "I just know that I'm going to be grey before forty."
"You're not even going to reach forty at this rate," Ibuki chuckled. "Remember, we're de-aging the more we stay with each other."
"Huh, so what do we do for birthdays then?" Ryu asked humorously. "Make up numbers?"
"We'll need a new calendar along this planet's time first," the mother pointed out.
Ryu smirked at her. "I know this game, women never want to admit to their true age," he commented. "Making up excuses now?"
"I thought I already told you I was past menopause before?" Ibuki raised an eyebrow. "That should've been enough of a hint as to how old I was."
Ryu chuckled before pulling her in and kissing her on her temple. "I know, I'm just teasing you," he soothed.
"You had better be," Ibuki pouted, pulling off the look rather well due to her recovered youth.
"Mmmmmmph!"
Ryu looked over to Kaede and Chris who were both squirming desperately. "Think they learned their lesson?" he asked. "After last night and this morning?"
Both girls nodded furtively.
"Ryu-koi, you do realize they're going to go right after you once you set them free, right?" Ibuki pointed out neutrally.
Ryu gave her a dry look. "You do realize that they'll only get worse the more we put this off, right?" he asked. "It might be best to deal with them now, rather than later."
"Point," Ibuki conceded, while looking over at Hanami. "Should we save lunch for later then? This might take a while."
"No, I'm going to need the energy," he said with a sigh. "Something tells me it won't be just those two I'll be 'satisfying'," he gave Ibuki a pointed look with a small smirk.
"So… do we untie them before or after lunch?" Ibuki asked, an ominous gleam in her eyes.
"After," Ryu declared, suppressing a smirk at the desperate whimpers behind him. "Might as well make this a family thing."
"That's mean… slightly," Hanami remarked as she walked over to join the two at the table, toting several plates of food at once with her enhanced strength.
Kaede gave the traitorous silverette a hard, stern look that she completely missed.
"Perhaps, but is it not better to do things together?" Ryu asked with a wide smile. "Speaking of family…"
"Mmmm?" Ibuki looked at Ryu curiously, only to jerk backwards in her seat in surprise when she saw him kneel in front of her.
"Now, I know this isn't the shiniest or most beautiful, but…" he reached into his pocket and pulled out a simple ring, it was unadorned and a silverish-grey color. "Ibuki Serizawa, will you marry me?"
"R-R-R-Ryu-koi…" Ibuki's jaw was hanging wide open - she hadn't been expecting the big question to come out of nowhere like that! "I-I-I…"
Hanami gaped at the scene ongoing before her, her face turning bright red.
"I know that it's probably sudden and, not exactly romantic… what with your daughter and her friend trussed up in the corner," Ryu said, a pair of muffled shouts punctuating his statement. "But… I have strong feelings for you, all of you, and… yeah…"
"Of course I accept!" Ibuki leapt at Ryu happily, knocking him to the ground and hugging him while making sure to control her strength to not accidentally crush him.
Ryu smiled as he returned the hug, enjoying the warm feelings emanating from Ibuki. "Thank you," he whispered into her ear. "My love."
"Ryu-koi…" Ibuki whispered affectionately as she nuzzled into the crook of his neck. "Thank you too…"
"There is something else, dear," Ryu whispered quietly so that only she could hear, although he was content to stay in the position. "Hanami, Kaede and Chris…"
"Them too, now?" Ibuki chuckled, releasing Ryu and wiping a small tear from her eye with a hand. "Alright, Ryu-koi, I'll leave you to it."
Ryu sat up, keeping her in his lap as she tried to get off, before giving her a firm kiss, putting his emotions for her into it. "I love you just the same," he whispered. "Plus, I think I'm going to wait until they're legally of age."
"The physical side might come a lot sooner than you think, the way they're aging up," Ibuki pointed out cheerily. "Hanami's already complaining about her suit getting tight."
"Don't remind me," Ryu said with a sigh. "But I am going to wait until they are eighteen rather than looking eighteen."
"Fair enough," Ibuki shrugged, before pausing and wiggling her butt in his lap slightly. "Ryu, your body is telling me you can't really wait till they're actually eighteen…" she smirked.
Ryu rose an eyebrow at her. "No it's telling me that there is a beautiful woman in my lap," he responded. "And asking me why I'm not ravishing her body yet."
"That sounds about right too," Ibuki grinned. "I hate to blue ball you though, but we really need to eat before we get around to that. I don't want you to dry up too fast on us later."
"Agreed, I am one who tries to please his ladies," Ryu commented, returning the grin as he pinched her butt.
Ibuki raised an eyebrow at the action. "That hurt a lot less than it should," she remarked, obliging and getting off anyway. Before returning to her seat though, she turned back towards Ryu and held out her left hand with a bright smile, wiggling her ring finger.
Ryu grinned as he slipped the ring onto her finger before giving her knuckles a kiss. "I casted the ring myself, we had spare titanium around so… I may have pinched a bit for it," he admitted.
"We're going to need a formal ceremony for this sometime," Ibuki laughed, before frowning slightly. "I'm a little… scared of my MS Girl transformation breaking it though," she confessed.
Ryu grinned in response. "I admit to cheating a little, I had one of the Engineers who also transformed test going into armored form with it," he explained. "It comes out just fine, not sure why, they think it's a sympathetic metal reaction or something like that, they lost me when they started going on about matter breaking down."
"That's awesome!" the mother grinned right back happily, before turning to the blushing silverette on the other side of the table. "Hey Hanami, wanna be my bridesmaid for the ceremony?"
A large puff of steam escaped Hanami's ears, before she started spluttering unintelligibly. When she realized she was doing so, her blush spread to her neck, and she hurriedly nodded violently. A few seconds later, she passed out onto the table.
Ryu blinked and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Why would that embarrass her to the point of fainting?" he asked in confusion. "I mean, after the sex, I can understand, same with her perverted NT-D mode, but… this…"
"She's imagining herself in my shoes too," Ibuki pointed out cheekily.
"Well damn, it'd be hard to do her ceremony if she keeps fainting like that," Ryu chuckled as he moved and grabbed the plates of food Hanami had prepared. "Still, better not waste lunch."
"You… could always do it with me," Hanami suddenly spoke up in an odd tone.
Ryu and Ibuki blinked, Ryu's eyes widening as he recognized the sultry tone. "Wait… but… you're not in NT-D…" he pointe dout.
"Ryu-kun, Ryu-kun, who said I had to be in NT-D to come out?" Hanami chided, sitting up and propping her head on her crossed hands. "It's getting so boring in the back of her head~"
"I… I got nothing to say to that," Ryu admitted. "Dear, meet Hanami's exhibitionist perverted side."
"I think we might get along as well," Ibuki grinned, extending a hand. "Hello, perverted Hanami!"
"I like to think of it as being… truthful to my inner voice," Hanami giggled, reaching out to grasp her guardian's hand. "And technically I'm still the same person anyway. She's just being a closet pervert."
Ryu sighed as he rubbed his forehead. "So long as you don't start trying to get into my pants in the middle of a crowded hallway," he said with a stern look before he began eating. "Although, I got to say, you have some timing considering what's going to happen when those two are untied."
"Ara, how could I let myself miss out on some fun time in bed when she's passed out?" Hanami laughed sultrily, reaching over and drawing circles on the back of Ryu's hand. "An MS Girl can never have enough sex," she nodded sagely.
Ryu snorted. "I don't mind so long as I don't end up as a shrivelled husk in the end," he chuckled. "Other than that I have no complaints with four beautiful women being affectionate with me."
"Glad you know a blessing when you see one!" Hanami exclaimed, picking up her spoon and chopsticks. "Now… time to build up some energy for sexy time later!"
Ryu chuckled as he dug in. "Looks like we won't be getting much done today, will we, dear?" he asked Ibuki.
"Apparently. Are you complaining?" Ibuki began to eat as well.
"Nope," Ryu returned with a somewhat perverse grin. "Not in the least."
Residential Block B, Yang Xiao Lin's residence
"Well, this is quite obviously a Chinese house," Ibuki laughed sheepishly.
Ryu sweatdropped slightly at the chinese lanterns that hung at the entryway to the residence, as well as the upside-down Chinese character for 'fortune' pasted on the door. "Quite," he responded, looking at the Chinese character. "Why is 'fortune' upside down?"
"It's Chinese culture. Supposed to represent fortune flowing into the house," Ibuki explained. "Oh yeah, it was supposed to be Chinese New Year a while back. That explains it."
"Ah," Ryu responded, rubbing the back of his neck. "We study a lot of languages back in the temple when we're young, but… not very much culture."
"The only reason I know is because she explained it to me once when I asked the very same question," Ibuki chuckled, stepping forward and activating the intercom. "This is Ibuki Serizawa. Xiao Lin, are you in?"
Someone could be heard bustling around inside, before the door slid open… and no one was there. Ibuki looked around at her eye level in confusion.
"Down here!" an indignant shout came from below.
Ibuki had to crane her head to see around her chest. She blinked in surprise when she saw who appeared to be a small girl with blue and white hair in a bowl cut with a Chinese bun on the back standing in front of her tapping her foot impatiently.
"I know I'm a midget now, you don't need to stare!" the midget snapped.
"Umm… this is new," Ryu admitted with a raised eyebrow. "Yang Xiao Lin?"
"Yes, I'm Yang Xiao Lin," the midget confirmed, turning to look up at Ryu while folding her arms. "And you are?"
"Captain Ryu Hisanaga," Ryu responded plainly. "I'm here to enlist your services as a sword instructor for the MS Girls."
"Finally a chance comes around!" Xiao Lin smiled. "Although I must warn you I'm still trying to get used to this midget body of mine. I likely won't be able to do any instructing for the first few weeks or so."
Ryu nodded in understanding. "We need to work on increasing their general strength and endurance anyways before we can get started on any serious training," he said. "Have you managed to awaken your armored form yet?"
"Unfortunately no," Xiao Lin shook her head. "It's hard enough for me to move around with these proportions - urgh, damn these short legs. I used to be so much taller!"
"Well, we can help you awaken it when you feel you're ready for it," Ryu nodded. "Do you have any questions?"
"Yes," Xiao Lin's face soured slightly as she glared up at Ibuki. "Your useless flesh got bigger since the last time I saw you, didn't it?"
"Don't call it useless!" Ibuki grumbled, folding her arms around said 'useless' flesh. "And it happened during the transformation, I couldn't help it."
Ryu let out a small snigger. "I think she's jealous," he commented. "Was she flat before all this happened?"
"A swordswoman has no need for such flesh!" Xiao Lin declared, although Ryu could tell she was jealous by the way her eyes kept darting to Ibuki's chest.
"Nope, I'd say she used to be a C or so," Ibuki mused, dodging a swing from a sheathed sword the midget had apparently pulled off the wall in the blink of an eye.
"Hm, impressive speed," Ryu commented idly, tracking her. "Man, really got the short end of the stick, didn't you?"
"Don't call me short!" Xiao Lin snapped from behind Ryu, swinging her sword at him only for Ibuki to get in the way and catch it between her hands.
"Xiao Lin, I know you're mad about your height, but you didn't need to attack Ryu over it…" Ibuki sighed, grasping the sheath with one hand, reaching forward and flicking the midget's forehead once.
"Don't treat me like a kid either, insolent brat!" the midget grumbled, but withdrew anyway, replacing the sword on its holder on the wall.
Ryu chuckled in amusement as he shook his head. "It seems I'm going to be working with yet another interesting character," he mused, holding out his hand. "Look forward to working alongside you, Xiao Lin, maybe we can spar sometime."
"Of course, I haven't had a good one in a long time," Xiao Lin nodded, accepting the hand and shaking it. "Would be a good time to get some use out of my old bones… wait, I can't use that one anymore."
"No more than I can," Ryu countered with a grin. "Technically, this is including time in cold sleep, I'm around a hundred."
"You don't look that old," Xiao Lin grumbled. "And it doesn't seem like the men were affected by whatever did this to me."
"Well, considering I spent a total of eighty years in cold sleep, are you really that surprised?" Ryu asked dryly. "I was a unique type of warrior priest, they didn't want me going around and making my own decisions with what to do with my strength."
"I see," Xiao Lin nodded slowly. "Well, at least one thing I can't complain about is getting my youth back… even if I'm too young."
"Sure you're not one of those types that look much younger than what they really are?" Ryu asked. "What was it called again?"
"Loli?" Ibuki suggested helpfully.
Xiao Lin reached for her sword again.
"That was it," Ryu affirmed. "Again, sorry for your luck."
Ibuki caught the sword that flew at Ryu once again between her hands.
"Of all the techniques I taught you, you just had to pick up the Mutodori with that level of mastery…" Xiao Lin groaned in exasperation at failing to hit her target once again.
"Well, I liked the idea of catching a sword with my bare hands," Ibuki grinned, redirecting the sword off to the side.
Ryu smirked, his eyes having followed their movements. 'Hm, I'd probably need to activate the combat augs to keep up with their armored forms,' he thought to himself. "Yup, definately meeting some interesting characters."
"So, Mr. Hisanaga, what can you tell me about the armoured forms the other girls have obtained?" Xiao Lin asked.
Ryu hummed in thought. "Well, they all seemed to be based off of that old TV series, Gundam where the mecha are called Mobile Suits, hence the name MS Girl," he answered. "Ibuki here is based off of the 'Wing' Gundam apparently, and they all seem to have a unique variation of weapons, although there have been reports of people with family ties apparently turning into the 'grunt' mobile suits."
"Kids these days have a lot of imagination," Xiao Lin sighed. "Things all used to be so much more simpler…"
"Well, we do get a lot of perks out of being MS Girls," Ibuki grinned, manifesting an armoured gauntlet around her right arm and flexing her fingers before dismissing it. "Like our super strength and super speed, not to mention all the guns we can use…"
"Gun nut," the midget muttered.
"Not ashamed of it," the gun nut returned cheekily.
"Hey don't knock guns," Ryu said. "I'll have you know there's plenty a gun can do that a sword can't, even with your superpowers."
"Mr. Hisanaga, you cannot feel the weight of a life with a gun like you can with a sword," Xiao Lin said gravely, drawing her sword just a little bit out of its sheath, showing the glint of the perfectly polished 1.5m long katana within. "With a sword, you need to exert force against that weight. You need to impose your will to fight, to live… to kill, on your sword. With a gun, you don't feel life - only the cold, hard metal of the trigger greets you as you snuff out a life."
"It's never that simple, especially for those who are snipers," Ryu countered with a shake of his head. "We watch as they die, as we track our target, the target and the shooter, become something more than themselves, the connection they share, is deeper than that of lovers, and we watch as the light that is their life, fade from their eyes and their movements still, before repeating the process all over again."
Xiao Lin shook her head. "I see you have your own philosophy as a sniper, but you do not have to exert force to sunder flesh and sever bone. You do not look your opponent in the eyes as they cross over to the next world. You are not subjected to their hateful stare, the weight of their whole life's work, their resentment towards you, their regrets at not being able to see their loved ones again, their honour, all behind that stare. It is… chilling. But such is the path of the sword."
"The sniper's way is no different, even if to them we are an unknown face in the distance. To us, they are all we see," Ryu said somberly. "But enough of that depressing talk, we need to plan out the training, don't we?"
"Very well, I suppose we must agree to disagree on the way of the sword against the way of the firearm," Xiao Lin sighed, straightening herself up. "Physical training is of course necessary to use a sword, but exactly what kind of training will depend on what kind of sword my pupils are intending to use. A rapier is different from a dao, a Chinese saber in that it relies more on high speed thrusting movements rather than crushing strength. Similarly, a katana requires speed and precision in comparison to a broadsword's powerful two-handed swings."
"Many use what's called a beam saber," Ryu informed, Ibuki summoning the weapon and igniting the blade. "They're all similar to that, but there are those that have different types of weapons as well, there's some who have two shorter physical blades, some have claymore like weapons, hell, there's one who has one that can switch between pistol mode and blade mode."
Xiao Lin thought for a moment. "I will need to see them, feel them for myself before I can decide on suitable training."
Ryu nodded in understanding. "Of course, we're going to have to spend a bit of the first day awakening many of their armored forms before we begin with any serious training," he explained. "You can take your time to study their melee weapons then."
"Well, that's fine…" Xiao Lin sighed. "I'll just find a place to train and try and get used to my body. Goddamned young hormones making me feel a little hyperactive."
Ryu chuckled in response. "Let me know if you want a sparring partner," he offered. "Need to work out some kinks myself."
"Give me time to get used to my younger bones first. I'm still having some trouble gauging distances because of this body," the midget swordmaster muttered.
Ryu chuckled as he tempted fate, reached out and ruffled her hair. "Sure, Loli-sensei."
Ibuki intercepted Xiao Lin's sword again.
"Call me that again and I'll kill you a hundred times over!" Xiao Lin snapped.
Ryu chuckled as he looked at Ibuki. "Note she didn't protest the hair ruffle," he commented.
Xiao Lin groaned and rubbed her forehead. "Damned young body. Damned hormones."
"And now denial," Ryu chuckled. "Oh, I have a feeling this is going to be fun, hey, dear?"
"Well aren't you a bold one, Ryu-koi?" Ibuki laughed, leaning against Ryu.
"Finally stopped moping around that other brat you were with?" Xiao Lin noted the new ring on Ibuki's ring finger.
"I asked, she said yes, a very enthusiastic yes." Ryu confirmed as he wrapped an arm around Ibuki. "With a reward shortly after."
"And yes, I figured it was time to move on," Ibuki kissed Ryu's cheek lightly. "Plus, there were circumstances…"
"And those circumstances leave me dehydrated and needing five galleons of water," Ryu muttered. "Not that I'm complaining about them."
"I'm not going to ask," Xiao Lin folded her arms. "So is that all, or are you going to go back to your own room before you do it?"
"Hmm," Ryu hummed in faux thought. "Maybe we should 'christen' her entryway, Ibuki? Or maybe her bedroom?"
"Get out of my house!" Xiao Lin shouted as a tick mark developed on her forehead, making shooing motions with her sheathed sword. "Out! Out!"
Ryu laughed as he and Ibuki were herded from the home. "Oh, I'm sure you'll change that tune soon enough," he said mysteriously.
"I said out!" the midget pushed the two out of the house proper, and pressed a button before the door slid shut, the red light on the keypad indicating it was locked.
"Ryu-koi, you're really fearless, aren't you?" Ibuki remarked, dusting herself down before pulling Ryu's arm into her bosom cheerfully.
Ryu chuckled in response. "Ah, what's life without fun," he asked. "Plus, I knew you had my back."
"Still… I'm actually a little scared of what she'll do when she runs low on energy," his partner confessed, looking back at the door fearfully. "And after she does it with someone."
"Hm, maybe we should have warned her," Ryu admitted. "But… she seems really… pent up."
"Well, she never married and devoted her whole life to the sword," Ibuki explained, scratching her head. "That might explain it. Plus her hormones are apparently back in full force…"
"Man, when the dam breaks, she's… going to be wild," Ryu predicted. "…You don't think she'll be trying to get into my pants, do you?"
"That might… depend on who's closer to her when it does," Ibuki mused. "But will you even fit into her with her body like that?"
An odd silence ensued for several moments as the both of them produced their own mental images of the scene Ibuki had just described.
"That's… a bit disturbing to think of," Ryu said finally. "Doesn't help that it's an oddly arousing thought, by Santiss you all corrupted me."
"It does seem a little… illegal, doesn't it?" Ibuki muttered, her cheeks slightly reddened. "I mean, she is physically a loli now… even if mentally she's a sword-obsessed grandma."
"I don't even know what the laws of it would be…" Ryu scratched his scalp. "Let's just… deal with it as it comes."
"Yeah…" his partner sighed. "But Ryu-koi, you don't seem to be against the idea of having another person in the harem?"
"At this point, it's easier just to accept it rather than fighting it," Ryu said with a sigh. "Can't really complain about it though… despite its trials, it's… made me happy."
"It had better!" Ibuki put her hands on her hips as she turned towards Ryu with a smile. "We go through so much to make you happy, it had better be worth the effort!"
Ryu chuckled in response as he placed his hands over hers on her hips. "Of course, and I appreciate every bit of effort you four put into it." he whispered to her, kissing her cheek. "You've all made me very happy."
"Right, now I would very much love to get right to what Xiao Lin was suggesting," Ibuki nodded happily, before pausing in thought. "…I think my endurance is getting better and better lately."
Ryu smirked as he pulled her closer to him. "I know the feeling," he admitted, kissing along her jaw, making her shudder slightly. "Were… were you just thinking about tying me down to the bedframe for the rest of my life?"
A shocked look appeared on Ibuki's face for a moment, before she schooled her expression back to normal and looked slightly away. "Errr… no! No I wasn't!" she denied.
"You were… and somehow… I could tell?" Ryu muttered, a frown flickering across his face. "What in the world?"
Ibuki slumped and rested her forehead on Ryu's shoulder. "I thought our radio telepathy thingy didn't work unless we were transformed…" she grumbled.
Ryu ran his hand through her hair soothingly. "I don't think that was you," he said with a confused look on his face. "It's strange, but I think it was me."
"Think we should bring it up with Doctor Wilson and Leon?" Ibuki frowned.
"At some point yes," he agreed. "But right now, I'd rather focus on you."
"Fine, fine," Ibuki conceded, kissing Ryu's cheek lightly. "Shall we get back to our room then? I think Hanami might still be up for round three…"
"Sure," Ryu agreed with a warm smile. "Let's do that."
With Kimiko, Sayane, and Haruka
The three friends, now lovers, after waking up, had decided to go see if there was any training going on yet.
Bad news: It wasn't just yet. Good news: They finally knew what Kimiko's 'base' was.
"Build Burning Gundam?" she asked the tech who had told her about it. "Doesn't sound like something from a traditional Gundam series."
"Surprisingly, it is," the technician informed, a middle aged man with black hair and viridian eyes. "It's similar to the God Gundam, biggest difference - other than color scheme - is the usage of Plavsky Particles."
"Plavsky Particles?" Haruka asked.
"In the show, they were special particles used to animate scale plastic models of Gundams," the tech explained further. "Using the particles, they could make the plastic model move, and also generate special effects like beam weaponry, physical bullets, even creating the environment on which the battles take place and even deform the plastic model according to damage taken during battles - called Gunpla Battles."
"So… rather than a giant mecha, Kimiko's armor is based on a plastic model interpretation of said mecha?" Sayane extrapolated. "On top of that, it's one that is original to its series?"
"Yep," the tech nodded. "Don't diss it though, the Build Burning was quite powerful. The only limitation is that it's stuck with martial arts attacks. No beam sabers, no nothing. I assume Kimiko here can't hit the flat side of a barn with a sniper rifle from 100m away."
"No, not really," Kimiko huffed. "My focus is the same as the armor - Martial Arts. Definitely a good thing that the armor matches that - and that it seems to mesh well with Jigen Haoh-Ryu."
The tech blinked a few times, before replying, "Well, you're using a form of martial arts right out of a TV show then, because the pilot of your parent mobile suit also used that.
Kimiko blinked. "Huh," she said. "Never expected that."
"I wonder which was developed first?" Haruka asked. "Did Martial Artists in real life come up with Jigen Haoh-Ryu before the show, and the developers of the show like the look and decide to use it? Or did they make it for the show, with help from Martial Artists to get the forms right, and those Martial Artists passed it down from there?"
"Well, I doubt we can just ask the show's creators," Sayane remarked.
"Of course you can't, they're probably all dead anyway," the tech said gruffly, returning to his work tinkering with one of the merged tanks, now apparently sporting a large Miltian plasma cannon. "Besides, we don't have the means to get a message back to Earth."
"Well, no sense worrying about it," Kimiko remarked with a shrug.
"Point," Haruka replied.
"Agreed," Sayane said.
"I wonder how everyone else has been doing since the recon on the colony base?" Haruka asked curiously. "Should we check in on them?"
"Probably," Kimiko replied.
"Where would they be though, we don't know what quarter's they were assigned," Haruka commented. "Any ideas?"
"Well, I know those 'Unicorn' girls were with the Captain," Sayane remarked. "Maybe check his quarters?"
"Best place to start, I suppose," Haruka agreed as they started moving.
"Yeah, though if they're not there, we'll have no idea where they actually are," Kimiko remarked.
"Well we could alwa- omph!" Haruka started only to run directly into another body, sending her and the other sprawling to the ground.
"Gah! Son of a bushwhacker!" the other person, who sounded like a girl, yelled out in pain. "What just hit me?!"
"Ugh, feels like I hit a brick wall," Haruka groaned out.
"Who are you calling a brick wall?!" the other girl shouted, even as she scrambled to her feet. "Mein Himmel, you must be more full of muscle than anything else!"
Haruka glared in return, climbing to her own feet. "Well maybe if you were paying attention to where you were going this wouldn't have happened!"
Before the first girl could start a shouting match with Haruka…
"Hulde, that's enough!" the second girl interposed herself between them. "We shouldn't be making enemies of fellow colonists!"
"But Solvig—!"
"She's right, you know," the third girl interjected from behind. As if noticing the other three girls, she said, "Hello, my name's Karola Tannenbaum. These are my triplet sisters, Hulde and Solvig."
As the three lovers looked at the Tannenbaum triplets, they noticed that the girls had dark-gray hair with red streaks in it, green eyes, and wore sky-blue dresses that went down to their thighs, plus green socks and brown shoes. Hulde had straight hair that wasn't tied together in any way, Solvig had her hair in twintails, and Karola had her hair in a bowl cut, though Karola's hair had a fringe across her forehead, as well as two small ponytails on her shoulders.
"Kimiko Saotome, Disciple of Jigen Haoh-Ryu Martial Arts," Kimiko introduced. "This is Sayane Tokiha and Haruka Takamachi."
"Well, what a nice surprise," Karola said, a smile on her face. "You three have the first letters of our names, which is hard to come by in a grouping like this."
"Karola, what are you doing?!" Hulde turned to face her sister, anger in her eyes. "Don't get chummy with these imbeciles, mein gott!"
"Excuse me, are you calling us idiots?" Kimiko asked, frowning.
"No, I'm calling you geniuses on par with Einstein's wife," Hulde said, sarcasm flowing out of her mouth.
"Oh… no problem, then, though I think only Sayane's quite that smart," Kimiko remarked with a smile, though Sayane and Haruka facepalmed.
Hulde spun around to face Kimiko and snapped out, "Haven't you heard of sarcasm, you retarded monkey?!"
*CHOP!*
"Owie!" Hulde cradled her head from a knifehand courtesy of Karola.
"No calling others retarded, Hulde," Karola chastised her sister.
Haruka placed a hand over Kimiko's mouth, preventing her from replying. "Kimiko can be rather dense, at times, and sarcasm simply seems to fly over her with frightening regularity," she said.
Solvig winced at that description. "I bet… I've heard autistic people are always blind to sarcasm, though I wouldn't really know if that's true," she explained.
"Well, Kimiko isn't autistic as far as I know," Haruka replied. "Just unbelievably dense." Kimiko had something of a pouting expression in her eyes at the remark.
Karola winced at that. "Well… hopefully we can be good friends," she said, her eyes showing her sincerity.
"If only that wench apologizes for running into me," Hulde scoffed, arms crossed under her considerable bust.
Haruka frowned. "Did it ever occur to you that you might be the one who ran into me?" she asked, crossly.
Karola cleared her throat, before saying, "How about this… both of you apologize for not looking where you were going. Now." The way she said the last word broached no arguments.
Haruka actually shivered a bit. "S… sorry…" she muttered out timidly.
Hulde shivered as well. "Y… yeah… same here…" she spoke softly.
Karola clapped her hands together. "Okay, it's official!" she said cheerfully. "We'll be really good friends, won't we?"
"Sure!" Kimiko said, finally getting Haruka's hand away from her mouth.
"Y… yeah," Haruka added, still a little nervous from what had just happened.
Sayane simply nodded.
"Well… who wants to go get some food from the cafeteria?" Solvig asked.
Kimiko's stomach chose that moment to let loose a rather loud roar.
"I'll take that as a yes," Solvig said, before heading in the direction of the cafeteria. "Let's go eat."
END CHAPTER