Well, I think my former writing spirit is clearly returning to me. This new chapter adds approximately...I forget...it adds a bunch of new characters to the story, but in no way does it just throw them in! To see just who, you'll have to read and find out. Enjoy. :)
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TIME: 5:15 PM
LOCATION: 5 MILES OUTSIDE OF RANDGRIZ, GALLIA
Outside in the Gallian landscape, the air was beginning to cool, as the sun began to set in the distance. The sunset itself seemed to paint the entire sky a mixture of orange, red and hot pink. The Gallian countryside was undisturbed by neither Imperial or Gallian military movement, and at this very moment, almost anyone could feel at peace out here.
However, for anyone who might have happened to be in the area at the moment, they would have been subject to a tiny ringing noise that could be heard in this area. The noise was small and almost indistinct at first, but it quickly began to build up in volume as time passed. Above, birds flied erratically as the noise affected their hearing, and in a small stream nearby, the same noise caused light trout to collide into each other like bumper cars.
After a few more seconds, the terrible noise dissipated, leaving all those affected at peace once again. The light trout swam in a regular fashion now, and the birds above soared higher now that the noise was no longer bothering them.
A powerful flash of azure light burst outwards on the Gallian landscape, causing tiny animals to scurry away in fear. The light, followed by a instantaneous blue vortex, lit up the dimming landscape for only a second or two before disappearing in a flash. It left something in its wake, and that something was a person, who didn't know what had hit him at first.
Sitting on the Gallian ground was a teenage boy, who at first, didn't realize that his surroundings had changed so rapidly.
"Damn it! Just what the hell was that?" the boy remarked loudly, as he instinctively had been covering both of his ears with his hands. The boy was strongly built, with a head full of light blond hair. He wore a black school uniform with a maroon undershirt, and due to his new surroundings, his pants were already getting dirty with Gallian soil.
A muffled cry could be heard by the boy's right ear, and in an instant, the boy pulled his hand away, only to reveal not what should of his been his right hand, but instead what looked like a tiny, green-haired girl. She wore a tiny, white shirt with the words "I" and "Seiji" on it, and a heart in between the two. Right now, she looked as if she had been squished against something for an extended period of time, and it was easily apparent that she was panting for a breath.
"Ah...my bad. I keep forgetting you're there, Midori."
The girl on this boy's hand shook her head back and forth, before smiling wide as she looked right up to none other than Seiji Sawamura, or as many in his hometown knew him, "Mad Dog" Sawamura.
"It's okay, Seiji-kun! It's not like you meant to do it on purpose!" Midori replied in an overly cheerful voice, while Seiji tried to hold back an urge to groan from her sheer cuteness. It had only been a few days since he had discovered Midori in place of his right hand one morning, and Seiji was still trying to get used to life with a little girl on his right hand like this.
"Hey Seiji-kun...where did we go?" Midori asked, while Seiji looked back at her, suddenly confused.
"What do you mean? We're still right here in my...."
Seiji's eyes wandered all around him, and they fully absorbed the details of the surrounding Gallian landscape. Something clicked in the back of Seiji's mind.
"...room?"
Seiji's expression began to change rapidly from a passive one to a now utterly shocked one. He stood up quickly, and Midori began to get worried as she saw that Seiji wasn't looking too good.
"Wha....where the hell did we go!?! Where's my room? Where's...where's anything!?!"
Seiji glanced all around him, and although nothing about his current environment was necessarily threatening, he couldn't help but feel scared about that fact that he'd somehow been whisked away from his room in but an instant. He knew he wasn't going crazy. One minute, Seiji had been telling Midori to calm down and stop hugging his face, before a horrible ringing noise started building up in his ears. The next minute, he'd been trying to make it stop, only to realize that he was no longer on his bed, or even in his room, but somewhere else completely. Seiji scratched his head in wonder.
"Seiji-kun....I'm confused. Can we go back now?" Midori asked in a meek voice, mostly because she didn't feel too comfortable all of a sudden. She wanted to be back in the familiar place that was Seiji's room more than ever now.
"Go back? I don't even know how we got here! Did you see what happened to us, Midori?" Seiji asked the girl on his right hand, but she simply shook her head in response to his question.
"You had my face squished against your ear the whole time. Sorry, Seiji-kun."
Seiji grimaced when he realized that Midori probably knew as much as he did. The tall boy looked out behind him, and noticed that wherever they were currently was experiencing a beautiful sunset. Seiji couldn't help but smile slightly at the sight. It was actually kind of nice.
"Wow! The sunset looks so...romantic. Doesn't it look romantic, Seiji-kun?"
Seiji wasn't stupid. He didn't dare look down at the girl on his right hand, because he knew she would get all mushy on him at a time like this. For the seventeen years of his life so far, Seiji had yet to get a girlfriend or receive a confession of love, but on the day he found Midori Kasugano on his right hand, that all changed when she admitted that she'd had a crush on him for the last three years.
"Yeah, I guess."
Still, Seiji couldn't have a right-hand girlfriend. It was bad enough that she was even there in the first place, because that meant that he wouldn't be using his fearsome "Devil's Right Hand" much. He didn't dislike Midori, but he couldn't say that he liked her the way she liked him either. He barely even knew her.
"Are you alright, Seiji-kun? You look sad."
Seiji looked back at Midori again, acknowledging her with a small smile. Though he would never admit it, he was glad to have her on his hand for a moment. She had always been trying to cheer him up like this since becoming his right hand.
"Don't worry about me. We should be worrying more about just where we went, and how we ended up here."
Seiji looked up at the sky, which was beginning to change to a shade of dark indigo as the sun disappeared along the Gallian horizon. Midori looked up as well, but she couldn't help but get distracted as she took a moment to admire Seiji's strong features. She blushed to herself and giggled incessantly, as she was sure by now that Seiji Sawamura was really her one true love.
However, something ruined this quiet moment, and Seiji's eyes became serious as he realized he could hear something out of place in this landscape. He didn't even have to look behind him to know that someone was with them. The scraping of dirt on the ground a few feet away was just too obvious.
"Damn Gallian trash!" a voice screamed with fury, and it didn't take Seiji more than a half-second to hear the sound of rough footsteps barreling towards him. He waited for a moment, closing his eyes as his Midori retreated into his sleeve.
Seiji's eyes snapped open, showing pure ferocity that could easily burn through someone's soul. "Mad Dog" Sawamura sidestepped almost instinctively, causing the Imperial soldier's bayonet to hit nothing but air. Turning with near-perfect timing, Seiji's left hand went rocketing through the air, hitting the soldier's jaw with impressive force. Bloodied teeth flew out from the impact, and the soldier dropped his rifle as he fell backwards, hitting the dirt ground with a thud.
"You should fight face to face like a man. You'd still lose, but at least I'd have more respect for you." Seiji said with a devilish grin. Seiji put his foot on the soldier's chest, and leaned hard on his own leg, staring down the Imperial soldier with his piercing eyes.
"Gallian scum...you don't deserve to breathe air that should belong to the Empire!" the soldier shouted up to Seiji with a funny-sounding voice due to some missing teeth. Seiji just cocked his head, and laughed in the soldier's face. Midori remained hidden in his sleeve, a little afraid and not really wanting to be seen in the first place.
"Do you know who I am? Do you want they call me? I'M MAD DOG SAWAMURA! REMEMBER THE NAME, COWARD!" Seiji said in defiance, his voice almost blowing out the soldier's ears. At this point, he could feel the Imperial soldier slightly shivering under his foot, so now satisfied, Seiji took his weight off of him.
With that, Seiji walked over to the discarded rifle on the ground, and picking up, he examined it for a moment. His eyes showed a devilish glint, and with one hand, he smashed the rifle against his knee, showing the soldier just how serious he was. The gun splintered apart and broke into two halves, each of which kicked up dirt as they fell onto the ground.
"Well, there goes your toy. Come back and find me if you ever want a real fight, coward!"
Cleaning off his one hand of wood splinters, Seiji felt like he had done enough by this time. Midori remained in his sleeve, more worried about where they had ended up, and why strange people were attacking her Seiji-kun, and referring to him as "Gallian scum".
"Let's get out of here, Midori. I'd rather not sleep in the wilderness, and maybe there's somewhere around here where we can get a place to stay for night." Seiji told the girl on right hand, but before she could give him a cheerful response, a weak-sounding, but still angry voice emanated again from behind him.
"You goddamn wasted birth!"
The slashing of a Imperial combat knife never came, because it was almost by reflex that Seiji Sawamura turned around, and delivered a fast, painful punch to the stomach of the soldier that had gotten back up and tried to back stab him, The soldier coughed loudly from the blow, but Seiji ignored his pain, giving him a swift roundhouse kick to the face, which made sure he went back down to the ground. By this time, the soldier's knife had already flew out of his hand, and settled a few feet away in the dirt.
Seiji gave the man on the ground a dark glare, despite knowing fully well that he was definitely knocked out by now.
"Like I said; just come back and find me if you want a real fight. Or you can lay on the ground there for a little while. That's fine with me too."
"Can we go now, Seiji?" Midori asked innocently. She didn't really want to see too much of Seiji acting this violent anymore. She just wanted to know what was going on, and why they were in this new place.
"Yeah. Let's go, Midori. It's starting to get dark."
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"Come on, Kyon-san! We don't have all day, and the Edelweiss needs a little cleaning and fixing up done!"
Kyon sighed as Isara pulled him along. By this time, they were already inside one of the many vehicle sheds that were lined up outside of this military academy, and all that was left was to actually reach the Edelweiss tank, which was somewhere inside this specific shed.
I just hope we're not running around all night...
Despite his negative train of thought, Kyon couldn't help but smile just a little bit. He would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy all the sudden attention he was getting from Isara. She was being very friendly, and to a guy like him, who had to deal with the likes of Haruhi Suzumiya on a daily basis, this was truly a godsend.
Soon, Isara had stopped running, stopping with Kyon in front of the massive form of the Edelweiss, which stood still next to other smaller tanks. It was easy to see the size comparison between the Edelweiss and smaller Gallian-class tanks, and Kyon was happy to know that this weapon was on their side.
As Isara pulled Kyon along towards the Edelweiss, two people seemed to watch them with very suspicious eyes. Kyon noticed this. And a few feet away, by one of the Gallian tanks nearby, he spotted a small group of four people, who were clearly eying him and Isara as if they had both committed some sort of crime.
"So let's see....we'll definitely need to oil the chassis. I don't think we want the Edelweiss rusting on us anytime soon..." Isara said as she looked up and down at her father's creation, but Kyon's attention was somewhere else. He didn't like the stares he was getting from these people nearby. They consisted of a tall, gruff-looking man, a woman with a sour expression, a blond-headed boy, and a equally young light gray-haired girl.
Kyon didn't like the faces he was being given. The older man and woman seemed to look at them with the most suspicion, while the boy and girl both looked more curious than anything else. Kyon rubbed the back of his head in nervousness, and brought his attention back to Isara.
"...and we should probably check the fuel supply, just in case. I'm sure there's enough to last us a day's worth of battle, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. You alright with helping me with this stuff, Kyon-san?" Isara asked innocently, just as Kyon started listening to her again.
"Um...yeah. I'll help you in any way you need me too, Gunther-san."
Isara giggled at Kyon for his formalities, but admired the fact that he thought about the notion nonetheless.
"Just call me Isara."
Kyon almost blushed at that moment.
It's as if a little bit of Asahina-san had hit me right in the face. It was a sudden heavenly feeling.
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"I don't think I like what I'm seeing right now."
Largo Potter seemed to easily figure out what his colleague, Brigitte Stark, or better known by her former stage name Rosie, was trying to say. She had been eying the girl and boy who had just started fixing up the Edelweiss, but most of all, she had been focusing a lot of her attention on the girl. The embroidered cape said it all to Rosie. This girl was none other than a Darcsen.
"I can't say I don't agree with you. To be honest, I don't like the looks of her friend either. Seems a little too carefree right now, if you ask me." Largo commented, crossing his arms as he leaned against one of the many Gallian tanks around here. Rosie still kept the same sour expression as she watched Kyon and Isara work on oiling up parts of the Edelweiss. The longer she looked at this Darcsen girl, the more she could feel painful memories surface in the back of her mind.
"What's so bad about them? It's just a Darcsen and some guy." the blond-haired boy, Homer Pieroni asked, a little confused as to just why Rosie sounded so pissed off.
"Hmph...just a Darcsen. You say that like it's nothing."
Both Largo and Rosie kept their eyes on the two, making Kyon even more uneasy than he already was. Meanwhile, the girl about the same age as Homer, Edy Nelson, seemed just a little more upbeat than her companions.
"If you want to know what I think...that guy's kind of cute." she said with an almost devious smile. Homer just seemed to feel worse at this comment, though he pretended to not hear it. Rosie just continued throwing Isara a death glare, while Largo's mind was already bored of focusing on the Darcsen and now wandering elsewhere.
Homer just sighed as he got another glance at the look in Edy's eyes. He wondered if it would ever be possible for him in a million years to get close to a girl like her.
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"Damn...you do this all the time?" Kyon said as he carefully poured minute amounts of oil into some of the more miniscule parts of the Edelweiss's frame. Though there wasn't necessarily too much work to be done, Kyon could easily feel his arms tiring. For the last fifteen minutes, he'd been applying this oil to just about every nook and cranny he could find, and it was a bit annoying to do.
"Yeah. It's not really much though. I'm sorry if it's tiring you a bit." Isara said from down below. At the moment, she was currently refilling the large fuel tank of the Edelweiss, just so she knew for sure that they'd have a day's worth whenever their first mission came along. As her eyes scanned around, she spotted a loose screw on the fuel tank, and in an instant, she had her wrench out. Kyon watched from above as Isara took care of the tiny problem in just a couple of seconds.
"You sure know what you're doing." he said, wiping a bit of sweat off his brow as he scooted down the side of the Edelweiss. He came down next to Isara, and handed her the tiny canister of oil he'd been using just before.
"I think I got most of it." Kyon said, trying to sound cheerful for Isara even though he was easily beginning to get sick of this work.
I'm not fit for this kind of stuff. My wrists feel uncomfortable.
"Thank you, Kyon-san."
As Kyon looked back at Isara, something couldn't help but cross his mind. The glares of those people...they were still bothering him. Why was that one woman looking at Isara with such a look? He wanted to know why.
"You wouldn't happen to know what's up with the rest of them, would you, Isara?" Kyon asked innocently as he gestured to the group of people still watching them from nearby. Isara looked over his shoulder, before turning around quickly, her expression changing from a happy one to a more indifferent one.
"Oh...don't worry about it. They just...aren't used to seeing people like me."
Kyon became confused.
What does she mean? What kind of person do these people expect to see?
"I don't understand."
Isara slowly turned back to Kyon, and her voice came out quiet and calm as she spoke. Kyon was listening intently now, as curiosity had fully grabbed him in its grip.
"You probably don't know any of this, but those people are looking at me funny because they can see the cape I'm wearing. The cape tells everyone that I'm a Darcsen."
"Darcsen? What does that mean?" Kyon asked, even more curious than before. If anything, being with Isara right now was taking his mind off quite a bit of things, most of them Haruhi-related.
"It's a bit complicated. Thousands of years ago, people talk about how an ancient race of warriors called the Valkyria rose up and took back their land from the Darcsen race. People look at Darcsens badly these days, because they say they were responsible for a terrible catastrophe, which everyone calls the Darcsen Calamity. I don't really know what to think, but being noticed like this is nothing new. I just try my best to ignore it."
From what Kyon could tell, Isara looked very uneasy. She definitely looked like she wasn't enjoying talking about this kind of thing.
Well...Haruhi would accept you in a heart beat. And I don't see why I wouldn't either...
"Hey. You shouldn't worry about it much."
Kyon slowly put his hand on Isara's shoulder, and he tried to give his best concerned look to her. Perhaps it was because she reminded him of Asahina-san in some ways, but he almost beginning to feel a strange connection to this girl. She was certainly someone he could easily consider a friend.
"I could care less if you were Darcsen or if you were from Mars. Trust me when I say that back home, I've got friends who are quite...interesting in their own right." Kyon told her, making sure he carefully worded the last part. In response to Kyon's kindness, Isara smiled wide up to him. Something about his presence made her feel a lot better all of a sudden.
"Thank you...Kyon-san. I'm glad I found a friend like you."
Deep down in her chest, Isara could feel a warm and fuzzy sensation the more she looked at Kyon's face. At a moment like this, she almost wanted to hug him, but she made sure to stop herself. Instead, she just felt very glad that she had met this boy.
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"Everyone, in line!"
Responding to Alicia's command in unison, the now fully gathered Squad 7 stood up straight and faced forward. This time, Haruhi was lined up behind Kyon, so he didn't get to see if she had messed up on the command or not. Nevertheless, he assumed that she actually had the resolve to listen to others for once, and that she had lined up and got into correct posture just like everyone else.
Alicia looked back at all of Squad 7 with an indifferent face. She could easily recognize Kyon, Haruhi, Susie and Welkin next to her, but as for the rest of the squad, she'd yet to meet any of them. Nevertheless, introductions would come later. She had a job to do, despite not really wanting it in the first place.
"Command Gunther of Squad 7 will now commence with his inaugural speech." she said with a now passive face, and Welkin began to speak only moments after she had finished. His voice was calm, and concise.
"My name is Welkin Gunther, and as of today, I will be joining you as your commander in this war. It's nice to meet all of you."
In response to Welkin's introduction, all of Squad 7, including Haruhi and Kyon, saluted to the commander in a respectable fashion. Kyon resisted the urge to look behind him and see if Haruhi was actually saluting, so he assumed that she was.
"I think we can cut down on the formalities now." Welkin said with a carefree smile. Alicia's face became surprised all of a sudden, but she quickly regained her composure as she issued an order to the rest of the squad.
"Um...at ease, everyone!"
Slowly, the members of Squad 7 went into a more relaxed stance, and at this point, Kyon took a quick glance behind him. He spotted Haruhi, who was at ease like everyone else. When she saw him, she just threw him a glare, causing Kyon to turn back around in an instant. He sighed to himself once again.
I wonder if she's angry at me for something I've yet to do....
"This doesn't sound too appealing if you ask me. This Gunther person doesn't sound like my ideal pick for a lieutenant, much less a squad commander." Largo said to Rosie, who stood in line right next to him. As if reading his mind, Rosie's facial expression showed only disappointment.
"You don't have to tell me. The fact that he's accepting a Darcsen like nothing is more than enough to convince me that he's not the kind of commander I want to serve under." Rosie replied with obvious discontent in her voice. A few people away, Haruhi heard some of the things they were saying, and although she didn't really like Welkin a lot yet, she couldn't help but feel as if they were picking on him a bit too much. If anything, she should be the only one to say things like that.
"Now before I say anything more, I want to tell you all something. It's the most important thing in any battle. Would any of you happen to know it?" Welkin asked, only to get a slightly obnoxious response from Largo.
"Ha. That's a bit useless to ask. It's nothing short of experience."
Welkin looked to one side for a moment, absorbing Largo's response.
"Well...that's one important thing, but it's definitely not that most important."
Largo felt surprised all of a sudden, and Welkin looked up again, now addressing the entire squad as a whole.
"If anything, your life is the most important thing!"
Kyon raised a questioning eyebrow, while Haruhi seemed to be half-listening and gazing up at the ceiling in boredom.
Isn't that kind of obvious?
"What...what is this fool saying?" Largo said quietly, and at the same token, Rosie seemed to feel just as skeptical about Welkin's statement.
"We're in a war now. That is more than obvious. And while we're in this war, all of us are going to have quite a lot of experiences. Some might be happy, some might be frightening, and some might be sad. But no matter what they are; none of you will be able to feel any of them if you aren't alive. Because if you die, everything just ends for you there."
As Welkin spoke, Alicia seemed to become very interested in what she had to say. Her mouth was slightly open in awe, and she could feel a certain strength to his words. She wondered why he didn't speak in this manner more often. She would certainly like him a bit better if he did. At around the same time, Kyon was a bit surprised as well, not having expected to hear something meaningful come out Welkin's mouth. Even Haruhi was beginning to seemed interested in what he had to say, no longer looking at the ceiling, but at Welkin as he continued.
"As long as you're living, there is always hope. I want you all as members of Squad 7 to remember that. None of you should even be thinking of falling in battle. As the commander of this squad, I will take an oath to do my best in protecting your lives. That's why I want the rest of you to try your best in making it through this war."
Alicia took a quick glance towards Largo and Rosie, and she could easily see the disapproving looks on their faces. She sighed quietly to herself, and although she understood why they might not like what Welkin was saying, she still couldn't help but feel like she was more on his side than anything else.
"Remember my words. That is all." Welkin said, finally concluding his speech. Rosie and Largo still didn't seem satisfied, much to Haruhi's own annoyance, as she gave them both a glare from a distance.
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It was night now. The cool Gallian air moved throughout the various vehicle sheds outside of the academy, and outside of one of them, Welkin stood by himself, looking up at the stars. He had a lot of things on his mind at the moment.
For one thing, they had a mission tomorrow, and it was one he hadn't yet mentioned to his squad. He would do it tomorrow before they headed out, but even still, he almost felt he was betraying his squad by not informing them immediately. Welkin knew that basic training for them beforehand would probably be bad enough without a mission right afterward.
Welkin sighed. Though he didn't show it, the idea of just being commander was stressing him out a bit. He wondered how Faldio was able to act so calm and collected all the time, and if he felt that way on the inside too.
As Welkin thought to himself, he began to hear what sounded like footsteps close by. He looked up, and in the distance, he could see what looked like a person walking towards him. As Welkin squinted in the darkness, not being able to see all that clearly, he could make out that the person wasn't dressed in a Gallian uniform. From Welkin's perspective, they just didn't look plain friendly.
And so, as if by reflex, he reached for the pistol in his pocket, slowly bringing it up by his side. He called out into the darkness, his voice sounding unsure.
"Who's there? Identify yourself!"
The person didn't respond. Welkin began to fear the worst. He slowly brought his gun upward towards the person approaching him, trying his best to focus his eyes in the darkness ahead.
"Did you hear me? Identify yourself! I will shoot if you give me cause to!"
Welkin was trying his best to sound threatening, but the fact of the matter was that this was more a fear of the unknown than anything else. He continued to point his gun at the approaching figure, which seemed to move faster in response to his statement.
"Stop! I will fire!"
Welkin steadied his aim, but to his surprise, the figure moved faster than expected, ducking down quickly as it sped up towards him. He became panicked, and started to change his aim, right before the dark shape bolted upwards. Welkin's grip on his gun suddenly slackened, as something hard and fast hit him right in the jaw, causing him to drop his pistol onto the ground. The figure was more visible now, though Welkin could barely make the person out as he fell back onto the exterior wall of the tank shed.
Welkin rubbed his throbbing jaw. That punch had been quite powerful, and he was surprised he hadn't been knocked out by it. Looking up, Welkin could now fully see the person towering over him, the moonlight illuminating them from behind.
It was a tall, dark blonde-haired boy, and judging from his facial expression, he didn't look to happy. His left fist was visible and clenched. From what Welkin could see, he was wearing a black uniform of sorts, and for all he knew, it could very well be Imperial-affiliated.
"Trying to shoot me, are we? Your little friend from before should have already told you about me!" Seiji Sawamura shouted down at Welkin, clearly unaware of the noise he was making. In Seiji's right sleeve, Midori hid, her green hair barely visible as she waited for this conflict to end soon.
"What...who are you? Are you some sort of Imperial assassin?" Welkin asked, backing up a little more into the shed wall and wondering just what he could do to gain the advantage of this situation. From the boy's movements before, and the punch he had just dished out, it was obvious that he was quite the fighter.
"You want to know who I am? I'm Mad Dog Sawamura, that's who!"
Seiji was already getting more ticked than ever now. He'd been targeted once already today, and now that this guy was trying to down him too, Seiji's anger was flaring up badly. However, another presence broke Seiji's train of through, and he could hear the sound of a serious voice to his right side.
"Don't even move a muscle. I promise that I will shoot you if you do."
Welkin looked to his side, and so did Seiji. Standing there was none other than Alicia, who steadily held a rifle in front of her, with the barrel pointed directly at Seiji Sawamura's face. Seiji's expression contorted in even more rage, but before he could do anything, he heard the sound of another person speaking right behind Alicia.
"I would probably listen to her. I wouldn't want my head blown off anytime soon." Kyon said in a relatively carefree voice, as he came up beside Alicia, who continued to keep her aim steady on Seiji. At this point in time, the rest of Squad 7 had gathered behind Alicia, and Seiji was easily beginning to notice that almost all of them had their rifles out, and smiles on their faces. Now outnumbered by gun-wielding soldiers, Seiji just grimaced angrily, and in his sleeve, Midori just tried to hide even more, as she began to shiver in fear.
"What...you damn cowards! This isn't a man's fight!" he argued, only to be responded by the loud and bossy voice of Haruhi Suzumiya.
"Man's fight? I'll give you something to complain about!" she said, and as Seiji turned to see the speaker, he was only met with a hard rifle butt to face, which smashed hard into his nose and blurred his vision in an instant. Midori squeaked in a terrified voice, and she was shaking in absolute fear.
Haruhi seemed to be smiling triumphantly now. Seiji moved back and forth erratically for a few moments, before he felt very dizzy, and in but a moment's notice, he fell backwards onto the ground. Members of Squad 7 moved in quickly, but Mad Dog Sawamura was already unconscious. Welkin got up, brushed himself off, and watched with serious eyes as Kyon and Largo proceeded to begin tying up Seiji's hands. However, Largo yelped in pain all of a sudden, and pulled one hand away. From what Kyon could see, something had bitten him, creating a tiny cut on his right index finger.
"You hurt my Seiji-kun! Don't any of you dare touch him!" Midori yelled in a nasty tone, revealing herself to everyone now. Almost all of Squad 7 looked very surprised at this strange sight. Kyon had his mouth open in awe, as he could fully see that this boy had what looked like a talking puppet of a girl attached to his hand.
"You all stay away!" Midori said defiantly, but something caught her attention before she could say anymore. That something was the fact that almost everyone around her was armed with a rifle each. Midori's body began to shiver in fear again.
"What...what is that?" Haruhi asked, but before Midori could give a response, she seemed to just faint from the fear of guns surrounding her and her beloved Seiji-kun. As they watched this little puppet-girl faint right before their eyes, most of the members of Squad 7 were simply dumbstruck at the sight.
"This...is quite strange." Welkin said as he rubbed his chin in curiosity, observing the now fainted Seiji Sawamura and Midori Kasugano, his mind in wonder at the strange phenomenon that these two were. As Kyon glanced at Haruhi, he could see a strange, but familiar glint in her eye. He gulped nervously as he held onto his rifle.
Oh no...I think have a really bad feeling about this...
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There was a painful light in his eyes. Seiji didn't know where it was coming from, but he knew fully well that it was there. He coughed, and slowly began to regain his vision.
"I don't understand. An Imperial assassin...with something like this on his hand?" Captain Varrot said in confusion, as she looked down at the still-fainted figure of Midori, which was tied up separately from Seiji's other hand. As Seiji Sawamura began to come to, he realized that he was restrained in some sort of hard wooden chair, and that Midori was clearly in the view of those around him. Though he was still groggy, Seiji looked up, recognizing the man from before who had tried to shoot him, and a green-haired, glassing-wearing woman who he didn't know. He was in some sort of small, quaint room, filled with simple furniture and a bookcase in the corner.
"I can't say I'd be able to explain something like this. I just know that this boy attacked me outside, and after Private Suzumiya knocked him out, we found that he had this strange little being in place of his right hand." Welkin replied, slightly nudging one of Midori's arms. It was obvious that she was still unconscious.
"Hey! Don't touch her!"
Seiji's voice was very loud, and intimidating surprising both Welkin and Captain Varrot. The captain narrowed her eyes, and Welkin just made his own voice serious. He wanted answers from this boy now.
"You called yourself Sawamura before. Why didn't you identify yourself to me? Are you working for the Imperials?"
Seiji looked up at Welkin with devil's eyes, before gritting his teeth.
"Why should I answer any of your questions? You tried to blow my head off, and one of your toy soldiers nearly broke my nose." Seiji replied indignantly, much to Captain Varrot's dislike. Seiji could still feel the pain of the hard wooden rifle butt hitting against his nose.
"I don't understand why we're even doing this, Lieutenant Gunther. This boy is obviously affiliated with the Imperials in some way. I believe we should just send him to Randgriz. They can keep him comfortable in prison until he's put on trial." Captain Varrot said, but Welkin was thinking otherwise. For some reason, he wasn't convinced that this Sawamura boy even knew what the Imperials were. He was getting the same vibe from Sawamura that he had gotten when he first encountered Haruhi and Kyon back in Bruhl.
"Can you tell me where you're from?" Welkin asked, and Seiji looked up at him, his expression changing to a more passive one.
"Not from here, if you want an honest answer. I don't even know where the hell here is, and why people are pointing guns at me every other second. All I wanted was to find a place for me and Midori to sleep for the night."
Despite what Seiji presented himself like, Welkin couldn't help but almost believe the boy's words. He looked down at him, searching for an answer in Seiji's eyes. Welkin then looked back at the tiny girl that took the place of his hand. He had referred to her as Midori. To Welkin, something seemed out of place here. This boy was obviously confused.
"I've heard enough of these lies." Captain Varrot said, having become annoyed to even her limit. She didn't like this disrespectful boy one bit.
"Wait."
Captain Varrot put on a surprised face in response to Welkin's statement. He was a bold man to actually go against her words.
"I'd like to hear this, Lieutenant Gunther." she said, crossing her arms and feeling sudden disapproval towards Welkin.
"I think I know a better punishment then sending this boy to prison. I believe we should conscript him into the Militia instead. He doesn't seem to have any idea where he is, so I doubt that he's affiliated with the Imperials."
Captain Varrot raised a very questioning eyebrow. Was Lieutenant Gunther even thinking right?
"What?"
"I know it sounds strange, but trust me on this. I'll even take him into Squad 7. I'll make sure that he understands his offense."
Seiji could easily hear this man's words, and although he had the urge to say something against them, he didn't. In all honesty, Seiji was still confused as hell to where he even was. Looking back down at the still unconscious Midori, Seiji thought long and hard about his options. He wondered if what he was thinking was really a good idea at all. At the same time, Captain Varrot wondered if she should really allow what Welkin was saying. She thought about for a second, and by chance, she decided that she would give in to him just this once. She was curious to see the outcome of his choice; almost as a test of sorts for the lieutenant.
"What do you say, Sawamura? Would you consider joining Squad 7 as a pardon to your assault against Lieutenant Gunther?" Captain Varrot asked reluctantly. She didn't agree with Welkin one bit, but for some reason, she couldn't help but trust his judgment at the same time. She still had no trust for this Sawamura character however, and the fact that he had this little girl for a hand was disturbing her as well.
Seiji looked down for a moment, then glanced back at the unconscious Midori again. He didn't really have many options now. He sighed to himself, before answering quietly.
"Alright. You win for now."
Welkin smiled at Seiji's response despite the undertones in it. Though he only speculated the nature of how this boy came to them like this, he still felt better knowing that at least he was on their side for the time being. Rubbing his jaw again, Welkin realized just how much that punch of his had hurt.
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Seiji liked the feeling of being able to feel his one wrist again, and not being restrained in that uncomfortable wooden chair. With his eyes focused ahead, he could see the door he was looking for up ahead, with the number "56" on it. He looked at the small, old key in his left palm, before glancing at the sleeping Midori in his right sleeve. Though she looked comfortable now, he still couldn't help but worry about her a little bit.
But for now, he had been given a place to stay, and despite not exactly knowing where it was, it was better than sleeping the wilderness. Seiji wondered to himself if agreeing to join this Lieutenant Gunther's squad was really such a bright idea.
As Seiji fiddled with the door to his room for the night, he could hear voices from down the hallway. Glancing to his side, he spotted what looked like three girls, and they were watching him as he struggled to get his door open. All three were looking at him with curiosity, though they seemed to keep their distance.
"He doesn't look very friendly." the usually quiet Marina Wulfstan said to the two girls with her, Edy Nelson and Susie Evans.
All three of them, along with the rest of Squad 7, had been informed by Lieutenant Welkin that this boy they had detained before, who Welkin had referred to as Private Sawamura, would officially be conscripted into their squad as of tomorrow. Being the most curious out of the three, Edy had managed to convince her two friends to investigate this newcomer. However, all three of them still kept their distance, and at a time like this, the two parties watched each other from afar in an awkward fashion.
Seiji wondered just what they were saying, but as he struggled to open the door in front of him, he wondered if they were scared of him like most everyone else he knew, or if they were perhaps just curious. A ray of hope shined in his heart for a moment. He smiled just a little bit.
"I think he's much cuter than that Kyon guy! Maybe one of us should go talk to him." Edy suggested in a semi-whisper, the look on her eyes clearly telling Marina and Susie that she was beginning to get interested in this new guy. The mostly silent Marina said nothing, and Susie just felt uncomfortable all of a sudden. When she glanced at Seiji again, she thought she saw him looking at her for a moment.
"You go ahead, Edy-san. I'm a little scared..."
Edy put a friendly arm around Susie's shoulder, and just smiled as she spoke in a voice that might have been a little too loud.
"Don't be shy, Susie! This guy's a catch that we shouldn't let get away. I bet he's probably a sucker for cute girls like us."
Seiji almost couldn't help himself at this point. He was admiring one girl in particular from this distance. The blond one with the pink ribbon in her hair specifically. Seiji could feel his cheeks go hot, much to his own embarrassment. He was beginning to think that this one girl was really kind of attractive. He hit himself in the forehead however, realizing that he had stopped attempting to open his door while staring at her like an idiot. Edy laughed at this, and turned to a still nervous Susie. Next to the two of them, Marina stayed silent, content with not providing any input.
"Did you see that? I think he likes what he sees, Susie." Edy said with a giggle, causing Susie to blush bright red. She looked away now, unable to cope with the idea that someone, especially a boy, was noticing her like this.
"This is embarrassing, Edy-san. Can we go now?"
Seiji had finally gotten his door open. Giving the three girls one last look, he rushed inside, having felt too much like an idiot already. Closing the door behind him, he sighed to himself, and made sure that Midori was still asleep. Much to his relief, she still was.
"I think he likes you, Susie. You shouldn't be so shy about it. Guys like girls who are more forward! You should have given him a wink or something. That would definitely make him want you to come back to his room with him!"
Susie blushed brightly now, and replied to her friend in a much louder sounding voice than before.
"Edy-san!"
Edy giggled to herself again. It was fun teasing Susie like this.
"I'm just joking. We should get back to bed now anyway. It's getting late."
Susie sighed in relief, while Marina thought long and hard about what had been said. There was something the quiet girl thought she might have missed in the exchange.
"Good grief...." Susie said to herself, feeling a lot better now that she didn't have that boy staring at her anymore. Even still, when she thought about it, she found herself blushing again.
"You like him, don't you?" Edy asked again, a devious smile appearing on her face when she noticed Susie's blush.
Susie easily got all flustered again at Edy's accusation.
"Oh...please just stop already..."
Back in his new room, Seiji Sawamura was laying down on one of the bunks, grunting slightly as he tried to get comfortable. It was a rough bed, and definitely nothing like his much more comfortable one back at home. Nevertheless, it was better than nothing. Near his ear, Midori slept soundly on the other side of the pillow. Seiji couldn't help but admit that she was cute when she was sleeping this peacefully.
Still, that girl's face almost immediately came back into his mind. He had thought he saw her blush, and then turn away from him. Come to think of it, her one friend was very loud, and it sounded like they were saying things about him, but he couldn't really figure out what.
He saw the image of Susie blushing in his mind again. Slowly, Seiji could feel a big grin forming on his face. He began to feel very, very good.
"Maybe this place isn't so bad after all..." he said to himself, before closing his eyes, and wishing for a good night's sleep that he badly needed.
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TIME: 9:12 PM
LOCATION: 30 MILES FROM RANDGRIZ, GALLIA
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It was starting again.
The noise. It was nothing more than a low ringing, but it continued to rise in volume as time passed. The ringing noise pierced into the ears of all the animals of the night, causing them much discomfort as it kept going. Tiny shrieks could be heard, and creatures of all kind screeched and cried in pain at the terrible noise.
And then, as quickly as it came, the noise stopped. The night became peaceful again, and it seemed as if all was well as before. The various animals around the area stopped their noises, and those who roamed during the day returned to a sleeping state.
A brilliant flash of blue light blasted through the darkness of the night, scaring many creatures that had previously been subject to the terrible ringing noise. Following the flash was an almost instantaneous vortex of blue energy, which disappeared almost as quickly as it came, leaving behind five separate figures, each of which seemed to react in almost an instant to their change of location.
"Well....that was certainly unexpected." a voice said, belonging to one of these five strangers in the quiet forest. The speaker in question was a short Chinese man dressed in a green robe, who had a strange, almost excited glint in his eyes. He stood with his hands in his sleeves, looking around calmly even though he didn't have much of an idea where he was.
"You didn't have to go telling me, Kensei. Although I'm wondering just what the hell happened in the time between us being in separate parts of the dojo to being together like we are now." another, much more manly voice said, this one belonging to a large, heavily built man. He was very tall, and a nasty scar was noticeable on his face, sitting horizontally above his nose.
"Apachai is confused! What happened to the game? I was winning!" the voice of a truly gigantic man said next, although it sounded very childlike in comparison to his appearance. He was much larger compared to his companions, and he wore the kind of clothes usually seen on a kick-boxer.
"I...was losing. The place around us...it's different." a slow-speaking voice said, which belonged to a beautiful and imposing woman, who was clad in a purple kimono which did little to conceal her noticeable bust. Multiple swords could be seen resting on her back.
"I have good news for all of you. I think I understand what happened. Yes. It's very clear now." a final voice commented, belonging to a man in a white gi, who had a thin mustache on his face and an almost unnatural glint to his eyes as he rubbed his chin inquisitively, looking up at the stars in the night sky above.
The other four masters of the Ryozanpaku Dojo; Ma Kensei, Sakaki Shio, Apachai Hopachai, and Shigure Kosoka, all looked towards the final speaker and master, Akisame Koetsuji, who still was looking up at the stars with interest.
"Let's hear it then, Akisame! What the hell just happened to us, and why are we in some random forest?" Sakaki said in his usual loud voice, and in response, Akisame smiled strangely. He wasn't smiling because he had a perfect response, but more because the situation was beginning to be very interesting in his eyes.
"I believe that the stars above say it all. Their alignments are off. In this clear of a sky, free of light pollution of any kind, I cannot spot a single recognizable constellation. Therefore, the only possible answer is that we seem to no longer be on our own planet Earth." Akisame replied, his eyes still searching the stars above, but knowing full well that he would find nothing he was looking for.
Apachai made a funny face, and it was one that signified that he was now a little scared, and quite a bit confused.
"Apachai doesn't like this! Let's go back to Ryozanpaku! Apachai wants to see Kenichi again!"
Ma Kensei had already taken a look at the stars as well, and he too knew full well that Akisame was right. From what this Chinese master could see, they definitely weren't on what they knew as Earth any longer.
"This is very disappointing. I was beginning to enjoy training that boy." the Chinese master said in a saddened voice. From behind him, Shigure seemed to almost pop up out of the darkness, holding in her hand a long kitana, with over eight large fish stuck upon it in the fashion of a make-shift kabob.
"I found food. The forest is very big. No one else for miles." she said in her usual, slow tone of voice, causing Ma Kensei to look up behind him, only to see still flopping fish on that sword of hers.
"Damn it! Just what the hell happened to us, Akisame? When did we just leave our planet like nothing?" Sakaki asked, clearly pissed off to his limit now. In his anger, his fist went straight for a nearby tree, and a terrible cracking noise could be heard as he punched a hole right through the thick trunk. Wood splinters flew through the air, and Ma Kensei grabbed one in an instant with lightning fast speed, putting it in the corner of his mouth like a toothpick.
"Unfortunately, I cannot answer that question, my friend. I only know that we have left our Earth, and we are somewhere else entirely." Akisame replied, and in an almost impossible motion, he stepped down on some of the larger splinters of wood from the tree Sakaki had punched through, and turning his foot with perfect precision, he created enough friction from the force to cause a burst of flame to sprout up from the wood on the ground. Pushing a few more pieces of discarded wood into the flame, Akisame had made a fire in seconds, and with minimal effort.
"We should eat." Shigure said to the others, before putting her kitana above the now lively fire, and beginning to roast the fish she had caught so they would become nice and brown.
"Apachai is sad. I miss Kenichi!" the great Muay Thai master said as tears began to to form in his eyes, and as he sat down, the other five masters followed, each taking their place around Akisame's newly created campfire. Ma Kensei patted Apachai's back, hoping to make him feel just a little better.
"There, there...we'll be back to Ken-chan in no time."
As Shigure continued to watch her stuck fish burn in Akisame's fire, the Jujitsu master looked up again at the stars, wondering in the back of his mind just where they had gone. He looked back at his fellow masters, and couldn't help but feel a strange sense of insignificance. It was a time like this where the concept of the "universe" suddenly felt very, very small to this martial arts master.
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Hope you enjoyed that, and liked the appearance of Seiji Sawamura and Midori Kasugano, a lot more of the Valkyria Chronicles cast, and the five masters of martial arts from History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi. New chapter to come soon enough, with even more surprises in store! :D