A/N: What?
Another chapter again?
Is this a trick?
Of course not!
Honestly I never expected to put this chapter out this quickly. But after watching episode 9 I just couldn't hold back. I can't believe Shoko betrayed Haruto. Honestly though I was happy because I thought if she betrayed him then them getting together was not gonna happen. But with Kyuma dying (that was messed up but it was an epic way to go) and for the reason he did (hated it when he was like I've been watching you two, I was like aww crap he's gonna die so they still might have a chance and I doubt Haruto would let that sacrifice go to waste) it seemed like Haruto wouldn't give up on her.
And then episode ten had her finding out why he piloted the Valvrave in the first place and it seemed really bad for us Saki x Haruto fans. But it seemed Haruto's beginning to lose his memories so hopefully he'll forget the reason he loved Shoko.
The fight between Haruto and L-elf was pretty funny seeing as they were in space suits. I totally saw Saki saving Haruto and L-elf at the end and I loved her reaction when she saw Haruto. Thank goodness she got away and from A-drei too. For some reason a Saki x A-drei scared me. This anime is so freaking unpredictable you never know wha't gonna happen. We also saw another glimpse of L-elf when he's not in "business mode". I liked it, it showed that he's not always cold and could be normal and show emotions, to an extent.
Anyways, don't expect the next chapter to come out this quickly.
Oh, and another thing.
Soon this fic won't be the only Haruto x Saki fic!
Name is Zidana123
That's right someone else has stepped up.
He (or possibly she can't be 100% sure) and myself have been talking and I gotta say I'm excited. It seems that he's gonna take a darker and angsty tone to his fic, again can't wait. I'm gonna beta read it which means I get to read it before you sucker, ha!
Just joking.
About the sucker part.
Anyways, you other Haruto x Saki fans need to step up, write a fic. At least try a one shot. I actually have a few ideas for future Haruto x Saki stories (most are highschool stories) and if any of you out there wanna write a fic but can't think of an idea message me, I'll help you out.
And is anyone else worried that there won't be a season 3 because if there's not then this ending is gonna be rushed as hell with only two episodes left.
Anyways that's about it.
Oh yeah, so some people were wondering what Haruto and Saki's kid would look like (most likely due to Saki telling Haruto she missed her period in my last chapter) and well that got me thinking. While I knew I want the first kid to be a girl and at least 3 kids overall, I started wondering how I could answer your curiosity. Obviously I'm not gonna get her pregnant anytime soon (I'm not gonna force anything) and even if I did I don't wanna skip through the pregnancy (I'm gonna have fun writing a hormonal pregnant Saki) so it would still be a while for everyone to see their kid.
Then I thought of a way to not only show a glimpse of their kid and not mess with the story.
How would I do that?
Just like the anime's been doing, time skips!
So anything that's underlined will be time skips.
I won't do them every chapter and they won't all be about their kids, some will be about intense moments others about some fluff.
A number of things
But anyways enjoy.
"Papa! Papa! Papa!" a smile graced "papa's" face as he watched his five-year old little girl dash towards him with her arms wide open along with a smile that brightened his world.
Only two people could make him so happy with just a smile.
"How's my little girl been?" kneeling down and opening his arms, "papa" scooped up his little girl in his arms and hugged her tightly.
She was quick to return it.
"Good, but I missed you!" she responded as she pulled back slightly to look at her papa face to face.
"I'm sure you had fun with your mom while I was away." "papa" didn't get the response he expected.
What he got was his little girl crossing her arms and looking away with a pout on her face.
She looked exactly like her mom.
From her pale skin, to her black hair, and, the most noticeable, her violet eyes.
"What's wrong?"
"You didn't say you missed me." that earned a chuckle from "papa". "Why are you laughing?! Mama! Papa's laughing at me!"
"He's not laughing at you." "mama" replied as she closed in on them before giving her husband a kiss.
"He was and he didn't miss me!"
"Of course he missed you." her mama reassured with a gentle smile before it turned mischievous. "But he missed me more!" snuggling into her husband's side, "mama" rubbed her cheek against his.
"No, papa missed me more!" the little girl firmly denied while copying her mama on the other cheek.
"Nuh-uh, he didn't miss you. He missed me."
"No, papa missed me."
As the childish argument went on between mother and daughter, "papa" couldn't help but smile. This was exactly what he needed after having gone out to battle.
This was why he fought.
"I missed you both ok. Now, will you stop fighting?" the two looked at him for a few seconds before turning to each other and pursing their lips to the side.
"Fine." they both agreed before a smile lit their faces.
Wiggling out of her papa's arms, the little girl who looked like an exact copy of her mama landed on her feet before taking one of her papa's hands; her mother took the other hand. Before he knew it, "papa" was being led away by the two.
"Where are we going?" they both looked back over their shoulders and gave him a smile before they answered.
"On a date."
Haruto couldn't sleep.
He had that nightmare again.
The one where Aina dies and he can't do anything to save her. Then suddenly the ground beneath him would turn into water.
But, water isn't red.
That's when he realizes that he isn't swimming in water.
He's swimming in blood.
His throat constricts and his breathing becomes erratic.
The smell of blood fills his nose and his stomach feels queasy.
He has to do everything within his power to keep himself from vomiting.
Then the bodies start floating up from under the surface.
Arms.
Legs.
And then he sees the faces.
Faces he knows.
Faces he promised to protect.
Their lifeless eyes haunt him to no end.
He has to get away.
He has to escape.
So he does.
He swims, in their blood, away as fast as he can, in their blood, but no matter how far he gets, in the ocean of blood of the ones he was supposed to protect, he can never escape them.
But he has to try.
So he swims, in the blood, and swims, in their blood, and then he sees it.
A hand sticking out of the bloody ocean.
It's small and delicate.
And as he gets closer, it starts sinking under the surface.
That's when he begins to race towards it.
It's calling to him.
He can feel it.
He could also feel gut wrenching fear grip him as the thought of not making in time trickles, like blood, into his mind.
He has to make it in time.
He needs to.
But her never gets there in it.
The hand sinks under the surface and his sanity is lost forever.
Then he wakes up.
That nightmare scared Haruto more than anything. It was as if it was telling him what would happen if he failed. He always felt so lonely when he woke up from that nightmare, but this time was different. This time, he had Saki tucked into his side, sleeping peacefully with a blissful smile on her face.
He needed to calm down his erratic breathing if he didn't want to wake her.
He was surprised he didn't wake her up.
Knowing he wasn't going to sleep anytime soon, sleep was hard to find after that nightmare, Haruto just laid in his bed staring at the ceiling.
Two months had passed since the beginning of the four Valvrave pilots training under L-elf and every day was hell. He worked them to the bone, so much so that Saki hadn't seen her room since it started. Not that she was complaining, seeing as she's been staying in Haruto's room every night.
Their schedule was quite simple.
They'd wake up early, wash their fatigues, take their showers, get breakfast, and then begin L-elf's training. Then after his training Haruto and Saki would have just enough energy to drag their bodies to his room before passing out.
They did manage to complete the running part of their training in a week like they all wanted, but L-elf didn't give them anytime to rest after that. Their weight training started right after they completed the running portion, and just because they completed the running portion didn't mean they were done with it. They still had to run everyday, the only difference was they had weight training on top of the running.
The weight training itself was another hell. The only one who did good from the beginning was Raizo and that's because he'd been working out on his own for a few years already. Sure, Haruto had been working out too before L-elf's training but that was light compared to what he made them do. L-elf's theory was, since they were no longer human and had an unprecedented healing ability, their bodies should be able to recover and develop faster than any humans.
It made sense to push them so hard when he explained things that way.
Even more so when he mentioned that a special group of Dorssia soldiers were trained from childhood. The thought of forcing kids to be soldiers sickened Haruto, and from what Saki told him in one of the late night talks (one of the few times they didn't pass out immediately when they got to his room) it sickened her too. It opened Haruto's eyes a bit more to the true nature of the world around them, and it also showed him something else.
It showed him how far behind him and his fellow pilots were.
If Dorssia soldiers trained since they were kids that meant they had a lot of ground to make up if they wanted to be the best soldiers like L-elf said they would be. Of course, despite it making sense to push them so hard there was still one person who put up a fight when it came to weight lifting.
It was Saki.
She was VERY stubborn about not working out. Haruto knew her figure was important to her as a girl (what he didn't know was that it was important to her because she wanted to look appealing to him, which she was) but they needed to get stronger. But, once again Saki showed how truly stubborn she could be.
He just wished her stubborn pout wasn't so cute.
Made it harder to argue with her.
Eventually, luckily, they came up with a compromise. It was a pretty strange one but Haruto would take what he could get. The compromise was actually Kyuma's idea, (something about needing to know how to negotiate if he wanted his dream, to be the richest man in the world, to come true) it was basically along the lines of Saki would work out but keep a close eye on her body. The moment she saw that her body was becoming too muscular to her liking she would stop working out.
Haruto, taking after Kyuma, was able to at least get her to agree do basic work outs, like sit ups and push ups, if she stopped her weight lifting. At least that way she would stay in relative shape but not too much. In Haruto's opinion, she caused a lot of trouble for such a simple thing as weight lifting, but he just attributed her actions, and stubbornness, to being one of those things boys couldn't understand about girls.
Although, part of him wondered if it was just him.
Especially, when he noticed Kyuma giving him knowing smirks.
Surprisingly enough, while Saki's body got stronger, her muscles didn't form visually like they started for her fellow male pilots.
That made her extremely happy.
She got to keep her girlish figure while continuing with the weight lifting, not that she actually like weight lifting, but she didn't want to be left behind in a figurative sense. Haruto himself was actually pretty curious as to how that was possible. He even questioned Mr. Kibukawa about it, but the only explanation he could come up with was that maybe since she was a female "space vampire" her body developed differently from the males.
In hindsight, it really didn't matter.
In fact, Haruto was glad.
The figure she had was WAY better than it would be if she gained muscles. Speaking of muscles, Haruto was pretty happy with the way his body was developing. It gave him a lot of confidence to see how his body was developing, and he wasn't a hundred percent sure, but he could swear he saw Saki stare at him a few times with a hungry look in her eyes when they started the swimming portion of their training.
Meh, maybe he was being conceded.
He wasn't.
In fact, when they both saw each other for the first time in their respective P.E swimwear they froze for a few seconds.
Haruto wore a simple pair of black shorts but that's exactly why Saki froze with a blush on her face. He was wearing JUST shorts. Leaving his upper body completely exposed, and while she saw him without a shirt a few times when he came out of the shower, the room wasn't well-lit so she didn't get the view she wanted. But at the pool she got a complete view.
She liked what she saw to say the least.
His body was really filling out nicely.
Haruto also liked what he saw when it came to Saki. She wore a simple black one piece but it hugged her curves perfectly. And of course it gave a great view of her thighs.
Luckily for them, while they were staring at each other, Kyuma and Raizo were too busy looking at their bodies in the pools reflection to notice. While Kyuma was a more subtle about it, Raizo was blatantly striking poses with a smug grin on his face.
The swimming portion of their training began two weeks after they started weight lifting, and of course, L-elf didn't take it easy on them. Fifty freaking laps, if they didn't complete it in forty minutes they'd have to do it again.
The pool was fifty meters long.
So, that made their schedule after three weeks, running, weight lifting, and swimming. It was an exhausting schedule but it earned results. And, just like the time when they were stuck on the running portion, Haruto set a goal of one week for them to make the hundred laps in half an hour.
They made it on the last day.
After that L-elf began their hand to hand combat training. As expected, Haruto and Kyuma had no fighting experience. What wasn't expected was L-elf to put Saki against Raizo in a spar on the first day. Haruto was worried, obviously, for Saki's safety despite knowing that she would heal from any injury. Haruto tried to get L-elf to call it off only for him to say that she would be fine.
Raizo himself tried to get Saki to back out, but she rejected the offer with a confident smile that confused the hell out of Haruto. Seeing as she wouldn't back out, Raizo decided to give her a free shot.
That caused a smirk to appear on her face.
That's when things took a turn he hadn't expected.
Deciding to take him up on his offer, Saki surprised everyone, except L-elf, when she raised her fists in front of her and started bouncing on the balls of her feet.
She looked exactly like a kick boxer.
Then she did something that surprised the hell out him.
Saki stepped forward, cocked her fist back, and proceeded to knock Raizo out in one punch. Haruto and Kyuma literally stood there with their mouths hanging open.
No one could truly blame them.
The Saki, Haruto knew was sweet and playful, and of course petite. He would never think that she would be able to knock anyone out. But, not only did she knock someone out, she knocked out Raizo, the toughest guy in their school, not counting L-elf of course.
And she did in one punch.
One hitter quitter, as Saki called it.
It was . . . unbelievable.
He couldn't help but be glad for Takahi's sake that Saki held back and just slapped her instead of, well, doing that to her. He cringed at the thought of Saki not holding back against her. Haruto also recalled when he almost attacked Takahi and received a kick to his gut from Saki.
She was pretty damn strong, even more so now that they had been lifting weights. But even so, Haruto was pretty sure Saki knocking Raizo out wasn't just because of her new-found strength. Especially with the stance she showed before she threw the punch. Haruto wasn't able to judge someone's strength and ability just by looking at someone like L-elf could, but he was pretty sure her stance was of someone who had fighting experience.
So, he asked her.
Her response was that the life she used to live forced her to learn to fight.
It made sense to Haruto.
Being a big time idol and all.
Famous people tended to have fans that leaned on the crazy side, she would need to protect herself from them. And while it was true that Saki had taken self-defense classes when she became an idol, she actually knew how to fight before she became an idol. The reason was simply because Saki grew up in the ghettos and ghetto people tended to fight a lot. Even if she never really started any of the fights she would usually end up in one. Of course her childhood was covered up by the company that signed her when she became an idol for the sake of her image.
Not that she minded.
She hated almost everything about her childhood.
There were only two people that she would remember happily from her past.
She told Haruto none of that, she just wanted to get as far away as possible from her past.
But, for Haruto, still knowing she learned to fight in the past didn't make seeing her knock Raizo out any less insane. Good thing for Haruto she would never hurt him.
She actually told him that.
Although, her exact words were "don't be scared, I would never hurt my little Haruto". That being said he wasn't scared, he knew she wouldn't hurt him, but it was still nice to hear.
Made him feel special.
After Saki and Raizo's spare, which couldn't really be called a spar, L-elf pitted Haruto against Kyuma. The end result was as expected, neither one of them really knew how to fight. It was pretty emasculating to know that the girl of the group, who used to be an idol, could kick their asses. At least when Saki had fun with that fact she left Haruto out of it.
Raizo and Kyuma weren't so lucky.
She would sneak up behind them and, with a serious face, yell "move!" or "out of my way!" scaring the hell out of them, before she went on her way with a smirk on her face. Haruto tried talking to her about it, feeling bad for his fellow pilots, but she would respond with a "but it's fun!".
When she did that he found it hard to believe she packed such a punch.
Saki was really full of surprises.
After the spars to see where they stood in fighting capabilities, L-elf proceeded to teach them the basics of the Dorssia Military Martial Arts. From what L-elf explained, it was a mixture of many different fighting styles.
It made sense as L-elf explained why so many styles were used instead of one. If one was trying to raise the best soldiers possible they should use multiple fighting styles instead of one. Each fighting style was designed for a certain way of fighting, meaning it would have gaps and weaknesses, but by adding and mixing in other styles they could cover those weaknesses and make them strengths.
Of course L-elf also explained that mindlessly adding different styles together would do more harm than good. The different styles had to be meshed together and even adjusted so one could seamlessly switch styles during a fight.
There were a lot of styles.
Boxing.
Jujitsu.
Judo.
Sambo.
Krav maga.
Karate.
Aikido.
Eskrima.
Orarnis.
Hapkido.
Taekwondo
Kung fu.
Kick boxing.
Just knowing they would learn all those styles got Haruto's blood pumping.
At one point in his life (a point that wasn't that long ago and yet seemed like it was) Haruto wanted nothing to do with winning or losing. He wanted a world were there wasn't any of that.
Now, he couldn't afford that type of mindset.
He needed to win.
And to win, he needed to get stronger and he knew L-elf would make him stronger.
To start out their hand to hand combat training, L-elf first taught them the stances for each of the fighting styles that were involved in the Dorssia Military Martial Arts and would correct them accordingly while explaining why the stance was wrong and the effect it could have.
A hand too close to the face would result with said hand hitting you in the face when you blocked an attack. Knees not bent enough would make your reaction time slower. Too much weight on one leg would make it easier for your opponent to knock you off-balance.
Stuff like that.
He was awfully informative and talkative (at least compared to his usual self) when it came to this portion of their training.
After L-elf taught them the stances and they got them down correctly (took them about a day) he put them through an exercise where he would call out stances and they would have to quickly switch to them before he called out another. The point of that was to ingrain the stances into their bodies with muscle memory, so they could slip into each one of them quickly when the occasion called for it.
They got it down pretty easily, something Haruto contributed to their bodies learning more quickly than a normal human body. After they got that down, they moved on to actual strikes.
Punches.
Kicks.
Knee strikes.
Grapple moves.
They learned those basics and at the end of each day, L-elf would have them put those moves to the test.
By having them spar against him.
Sometimes, it would be one on one and others it would be all four of them against him. As they all figured, Saki and Raizo did the best. That being said, neither of them actually landed a hit on him, they just came a closer to actually doing it then Haruto and Kyuma.
In short, they all got their asses handed to them.
That frustrated Haruto and he knew it was stupid.
Of course, they wouldn't be able to lay a hand on him, he was an actual soldier, not one in training.
But, Haruto wanted results fast.
He wanted to know he was getting stronger.
Stronger than a week ago.
Stronger than a day ago.
He needed to be able to protect everyone.
To protect Shoko.
To protect Saki.
What the future held was uncertain and he needed to be prepared for it. He didn't have a choice or an opinion in the matter. From what Saki said he was supposed to be the leader. She, and maybe even Kyuma and Raizo, were following him. Haruto had to live up to those expectations, the responsibility, no matter what.
And . . . . he wanted to make Saki proud of him.
He really did.
"That's enough for today." as if to emphasize his words, L-elf tilted his head to the side, dodging Haruto's punch, (which was a lot better than it used to be, not great but better) before grabbing his out stretched arm, throwing him over his shoulder, and slamming him on the ground back first.
After that counter move he had to ignore the death glare Saki Rukino gave him, a glare she always gave when he hurt Haruto.
She was too emotional when it came to him.
Although it did make her attacks more aggressive.
Groaning from his place on the ground, Haruto took the outstretched hands of Saki and Kyuma and was helped up to his feet. None of the pilots were looking too good as Haruto took in their appearances. Bruises and cuts covered all parts of their bodies (mostly their faces) but they knew from experience that those wounds would heal by the end of the day.
That being said, L-elf made it clear that no one was to see their wounds. It, just like everything he said, made sense. If one of the students were to see their injuries, albeit mild ones, and the next day see that they were no longer there, well, it would raise questions. There would be even more questions if they were to heal right before their eyes.
It wouldn't do to let the rest of the students know that they were no longer human. Although, the odds of them meeting one of the students weren't that high now that they started their training. Thinking back on it, Haruto realized that he hadn't actually seen anyone he personally knew apart from his fellow Valvrave pilots, L-elf, and Mr. Kibukawa since they started their training. Their day started early and, now that they ran, weight lifted, swam, and worked on their fighting skills, they ended late. They caught glimpses of a random student here and there due to their running, weight lifting, and swimming training being held either at the school or around the area, but their hand to hand combat training was held in a Training Room in the lower levels of the module.
All that resulted in them not seeing Shoko and the others. That also meant that they were lucky enough not to be attacked by Dorssia in that time since if they had been attacked they would've at least seen them through the video feed. It really hammered home the fact that they truly did live in different worlds.
How could it not when the students lived in the same module, dorms, as them and they, at least he and Saki, haven't seen anyone they personally knew in over a month?
It seemed almost impossible.
But it wasn't.
Haruto couldn't lie to himself over the fact that he missed Shoko.
But, he also couldn't lie about the fact that he missed her a lot less when he was alone with Saki.
That scared him a little, but he couldn't afford to waste time thinking over it, especially, when he'd rather work through the nightmares that were plaguing him from time to time.
Maybe he should see Mr. Kibukawa about those some time?
He seemed like the type to know how the mind worked.
But again, he really couldn't afford to waste time thinking about such things. He had to keep his priorities straight and right now his main one was getting stronger.
"Hey, I'll catch up to you guys."
"Haruto?" while Kyuma and Raizo gave him a tired shrug before leaving the training room, Saki herself couldn't help but question him. She liked their quiet walks to his dorm. Sure they were quiet due to utter exhaustion, but she still liked them.
"I just gotta talk to L-elf about something." Saki opened her mouth to complain but stopped herself short.
She refused to be jealous of L-elf.
Just the thought of Haruto picking him was ridiculous.
And yet . . she couldn't help herself
". . . . You're not . . . " how should she put it? " . . into guys are you?" awkwardly straight forward worked.
"What?! No! Why would you ask that?!" was she serious? "You of all people should know I'm not." a giggle escaped her lips as she put a finger to them and gave him a coy look.
"What do you mean?" of course, she knew exactly what he meant. Over the past two months they shared a kiss here and there, and it wasn't just Saki who instigated them.
Some even got a little heated.
"You know what I mean." Haruto muttered looking to the side while a light blush covered his cheeks.
"Hmmmm?" Saki took a quick look around to see that no one was in the room. "You mean this?" leaning forward on the tip of her toes, Saki gave Haruto a quick peck on the cheek before turning around to leave as well. "I'll be waiting, don't take too long."
Despite wearing cargo pants Saki was still able capture his attention as she swayed her hips while leaving. Haruto had to shake the image out of his head before he left through another door and ran down the hall to catch up to L-elf.
"L-elf, wait! I need to ask you something!"
"What is it?"
"I want you to train me."
"I believe I am training you." he knew what he truly meant, L-elf just needed to hear it.
"That's not what I mean." Haruto shook his head. "I want you to train me personally. After the normal training sessions. Personally."
"Why? My training isn't easy, we both know that. Why would you want to put yourself through more of it?"
"I need to get stronger. I can't afford to be weak if I want to protect everyone." if he wanted to protect Saki. "You can make me stronger. You can give me the power to protect everyone." everything about Haruto screamed determination, from his facial expression to the fire in his eye.
He was set on his course of action.
"Have you truly thought this through? Knowing your immortal allows me a lot of leeway and I plan on using that leeway."
"That's fine. You can break every bone in my body but I'll get back up. I won't stop fighting. I can't." too many lives were riding on his shoulders.
Inwardly, L-elf was smirking.
This was exactly what he wanted.
He himself couldn't pilot a Valvrave due to the fact that he wasn't a part of the VVV Project, and that infuriated him which was something that was nearly impossible. He couldn't wield the power to save Lieselotte or to destroy the Dorssia Military Pact Federation. The most he could do was mold, guide, and direct the ones with that power.
But, the ones with the power needed the will to get stronger. One couldn't give someone that will they needed to want it themselves. That's why Haruto's own willingness to grow was pivotal in his plans. Valvrave Unit 1 was by far the strongest of the Valvraves, so it went without saying that it needed to be the spearhead of their forces. But, when it came down to it, the Valvraves were just weapons, the strongest weapons L-elf has ever set his eyes on, but weapons nonetheless, and weapons were only so strong.
What made a weapon truly deadly was the wielder.
That's why Haruto training personally under him was important. Only a fool would think that growing and then sharpening Haruto's hand to hand combat skills wouldn't translate into his piloting abilities. Valvrave Unit 1 was designed to have superior close-quarters-combat ability, and by its pilot becoming a superior close-quarters-combat fighter himself, it would help maximize its potential.
No only would his training allow Haruto to utilize his unit's nimble joints and high mobility, but it would give him a sharper combat mind. A sharper combat mind would lead to Haruto attacking openings he hadn't seen before and even creating them in enemies formations and individual defense. Disrupting an enemies formations was key in battle, especially, when their numbers were against you.
That would be Haruto's job, and L-elf's job was to get him to that point.
"Very well, I'll hold you to that." L-elf answered before walking back to the Training Room they left not too long ago. "Let's get started than." once they got into the Training Room, L-elf took up a stance which Haruto quickly copied.
Taking a deep breath, Haruto couldn't help but think one thought.
'This is gonna hurt.'
Charging forward, Haruto threw a straight right punch that was ducked under by L-elf. Showing his new-found fighting abilities, Haruto quickly raised his knee to strike L-elf's chin, but unfortunately he was going against a far superior fighter. L-elf effortlessly caught the knee in his palm before reaching up and grabbing Haruto's collar and pulling him down and landing an upward palm strike on Haruto's nose.
Hearing the crack of his protegé's nose, L-elf quickly followed his attack by pulling the collar he was still gripping and elbowing Haruto in the throat before slamming him on the ground.
Air.
At that moment, Haruto wanted air more than anything. But, unfortunately for him, the strikes L-elf dealt him, made it impossible to breathe. His broken nose was filling with blood, his throat was collapsed, and the wind was knocked out of him when he was slammed on the ground.
"Try concentrating on healing your wounds. See if that speeds up the process." it was just a theory but one never knew.
That reminded him, he would need to test the speed of their regeneration and if certain areas of their anatomy healed quicker than others.
"K-Kinda . . . . hard . . . to-" Haruto couldn't finish his reply, instead, he let out a chorus of pained filled coughs; there was also blood accompanying his coughs.
"The knees, crotch, eyes, nose, throat, jaw, temples, and base of the skull are all areas of the body that you must protect during a fight."
"I . . . can see . . . why." Haruto squeezed out as his throat and nose began to heal allowing him to take deep gasps of air. "You really weren't joking about not taking it easy on me."
"The best way to grow stronger is to fight someone who is stronger." L-elf stated as he stared down at the panting Haruto. "Have you given up already? I believe you said you would get back up even if I broke every bone in your body." Haruto couldn't help but chuckle after L-elf threw his own words back at him.
"Yeah, I did say that." pulling himself back to his feet, Haruto readied himself attacking once again.
Unlike last time, Haruto moved in with three quick left jabs that met L-elf's open palms as he stepped back to keep Haruto from closing the distance. Knowing his jabs would be blocked, he was fighting L-elf after all, Haruto snapped a front kick out towards his opponents midsection.
Catching the kick, L-elf twisted the foot, forcing Haruto to swivel on his other foot (ending up facing the other direction) and roll forward. As he rolled forward, Haruto brought his heel upwards in an attempt to hit L-elf's hand but said person's hands let go of his foot, dodging the kick. Haruto figured he wouldn't land the kick and he was happy to just have his foot back.
He had a feeling L-elf was planning on breaking his ankle if he hadn't freed himself.
As the saying went, no pain no gain.
"Don't attack first, let your opponent attack and react to it."
"Wouldn't that leave us just standing here waiting for the other to attack?" in an instant, L-elf closed the gap between them and faked a right hook before throwing a left roundhouse kick. Haruto couldn't dodge so he brought his arms up to the side of his face and barely blocked the kick. But, the kick held enough power to knock him off his feet forcing Haruto to roll when he hit the ground, an act that let him avoid having L-elf's heel slammed down on him.
"Does that answer your question?"
"Y-Yeah."
"Then let's continue."
What had Haruto got himself into?
One step.
"Ow."
Another step.
"Ow."
Another step.
"Ow."
Every step Haruto took towards his dorm was painful. L-elf really wasn't kidding when he said he wouldn't hold back. Two hours of one on one training left Haruto a bruised mess, but it was worth it.
What felt like hours later, Haruto finally made it to his room only to realize he didn't have his key with him. Saki must've took it when she left so she could get into his room. He didn't really mind (although it did make him feel like they were a couple) he just hoped she wasn't awake to see the state he was in.
She could really be a mother hen at times.
Yet another side she only showed Haruto.
Slowly opening the door, Haruto had one thought running through his head.
'Don't be awake. Don't be awake. Don't be awake. Don't be awake.' as Haruto stepped into the room he was greeted with the sight of a sleeping Saki who had a book resting on her chest. The book itself was a war strategy book that Haruto remembered Saki reading in the library a few months ago.
Prying the boots from his feet, Haruto decided to sit on the edge of his bed and watch the sleeping Saki instead of going to sleep himself. He figured she waited up for him, got bored, and decided to use her time smartly by studying up but eventually fell asleep.
It was a nice feeling knowing Saki was waiting for him, something she would be doing a lot of since he planned on continuing his private training with L-elf. He would need to tell her and hope she didn't get too overprotective.
"Haruto." even in her sleep he was her main thought.
Smiling at the sleeping Saki, Haruto took her hand that seemed to be searching for him. It was hard to believe that his curse was the thing that brought them together. Hell, it was laughable that his curse, his darkness, was what brought him Saki, his light. It no longer surprised him how significant she was in his life, he just simply, gratefully, accepted it.
(Yawn)
He needed to get some sleep.
Taking the book and putting it aside, Haruto slipped under the covers only for his side to be quickly occupied by the still sleeping Saki, who let out a content sigh when she felt his warmth.
"Haruto." she once again mumbled in her sleep.
"Yeah, it's me. Sorry for making you wait up." using his free hand, Haruto petted the top of her head getting the reaction he figured he would get, even if she was still asleep.
"~Hmmmmm~."
Content was the one word that could describe how Saki woke up in the morning with Haruto by her side. She had no clue when he finally came back but she was just glad to have him by her side when she woke up. Although, whatever he did that made him late must have exhausted him, seeing as he was able to sleep through the incessant beeping of his alarm clock.
Damn, was that thing annoying.
Hitting the snooze button a little harder than necessary, Saki (who was wearing one of Haruto's shirts and a pair of panties) stared down at the slumbering Haruto with a thoughtful look on her face. She was pretty sure Haruto stayed behind with L-elf to train. Ever since she mentioned how he was their, her, leader Haruto had tried to live up to that role.
It was little things, like leading by example and always pushing himself in their workouts, or encouraging Kyuma and herself when they had trouble continuing on.
Raizo didn't need to be encouraged since he always believed in himself no matter what. Saki hated to admit it (internally of course because she would never actually say it) but that idiot's unwavering self-confidence was an admirable trait.
That idiot aside, she figured Haruto wanted to train one on one with L-elf to get stronger, faster. The dried blood on his shirt was also evidence to that. She had to hold herself back from, as Haruto called it, going into mother hen mode. Haruto was turning into a man and Saki didn't want to hold him back, she wanted to support him.
She did feel guilty that her words are what spurred him on which resulted in him getting hurt more (she didn't care if he was immortal, she would never like the idea of Haruto getting hurt) but she would be lying if she said she wasn't happy that he held her opinion in such high regard.
All in all she was conflicted.
The loving side of her wanted to wrap him up in bubble wrap and hide him away from all danger, and her realistic side knew he would need to be as strong as he could get for the struggles that were to come.
And there were going to be struggles.
Anyone with a brain knew that.
ARUS, JIOR, and The Dorssia Military Pact Federation were either enemies or would be in the future.
The Dorssia Military Pact Federation not only wanted them dead for resisting their great nation (arrogant, racial supremacist, pricks) but they also wanted the Valvraves, their only deterrent and protection.
ARUS was really all but run by the United States of America despite the ruse of an alliance, and even though the US pranced around acting like they took actions because they were "right" and "just" they really were nothing more than a cold, calculating machine that didn't do anything without it being thought out, and, most importantly benefiting them.
She wasn't stupid, she knew the fleet ARUS sent under the pretext of protecting and evacuating the survivors of module 77 was nothing more but a ruse to get their hands on the Valvraves. She could understand their reasoning though, as much as she didn't want to. ARUS was a world super power more than capable of going toe to toe with Dorssia if they ever went to war. But if they got their hands on the Valvraves and had them lead their forces then they would have the upper hand, and if they were able to reverse engineer the Valvraves and mass produce them, well, what would happen next went without saying.
Last, but not least was JIOR.
They were the ones that created the Valvraves in the first place, so it obvious that they would want them back. No nation liked wasting time and resources for nothing. On top of that, they must've known what the pilots of the Valvraves had become, and there was a good chance that they would want to study them like lab rats. Saki refused to be anyone's research project and she would rather burn the world to the ground than let them get their hands on Haruto.
A little over the top she may be but she couldn't careless about anyone when compared to Haruto and his safety.
He was her everything after all.
In short, the only way for the fighting to end was for their newly born nation to gain enough power to make fighting against them not worth it or for them to win this "game". And for them to win the "game" the other sides had to lose. Unfortunately, she didn't know what they needed to grow to such a point. The only one that knew what they needed was L-elf. He, no matter how much Saki hated it, was key to their survival.
Ending her thoughts, Saki threw her fatigues in the washer/drier before making her way to the shower. Stepping out twenty minutes later, Saki saw that Haruto was still asleep and flopped on the bed beside him to simply stared at his face.
His peaceful smile that he had on his face was so beautiful to Saki she couldn't bear to wake him up, especially, when she knew L-elf didn't take it easy on him when Haruto stayed behind. She decided she would set the alarm for seven so he could get just a little more rest. L-elf no longer monitored their training until they got to the hand to hand combat portion. He saw no need since he knew they understood that cheating on their training would help no one. So, Haruto could get some rest, he had to earned it if he had one on one training with L-elf.
"Sleep well, tiger." leaning down, Saki placed a chaste kiss on his forehead before getting dressed and leaving.
(Beep)
(Beep)
(Beep)
Shutting off his alarm clock (he was beginning to hate that thing as much as Saki) Haruto began the uphill battle of opening his heavy eyelids only to realize that something was off.
Something was . . . missing.
.
.
.
.
.
"Saki?"
That's what was missing.
She wasn't curled into his side like she always was, and . . . . he didn't like it.
He didn't like the empty space at his side.
He didn't like the lack of warmth.
He didn't like the missing weight of her head on his shoulder.
He didn't like not having Saki at his side.
Sitting up, Haruto frowned when he didn't hear the shower running.
"Where is she?" he got his answer when he laid his eyes on his clock. "Seven!? I'm so late!" clambering out of his bed, Haruto dashed into the shower, throwing his fatigues into the washer/drier on the way, and turned it on without thinking.
That resulted in . . .
"Too hot!"
. . . him burning himself.
Once he got the water to the right temperature, Haruto quickly rushed through his shower, before tripping out of said shower when he ran out of it.
"That hurt." he grumbled as he put his hands on the sink's counter top and pulled himself up. It was then when he saw a message written on his foggy mirror. It was one of those messages that could be written by using your finger to write on the mirror so when it fogged up, the words that were written didn't, thus leaving a message.
It was a simple message left by Saki no doubt.
[Good morning tiger. Hope you slept well.]
Haruto couldn't help the smile that found its way on his face.
God he hoped it was left by her and not someone else.
That would be beyond creepy.
"What am I doing!?" Haruto snapped out of the moment of happiness that was provided to him from Saki's message. "I gotta hurry up!"
Two minutes later Haruto was dressed in his fatigues and was running through the halls debating internally if he should get breakfast. If he did get breakfast it would make him later than he already was. If he didn't he'd be training on an empty stomach all day. On top of that, Saki would probably notice and scold him about not eating properly.
He had a feeling that his usual "it's not like I can die" response wouldn't go well with her this time.
(Growl)
Well, that answered that.
Breakfast it was.
Getting something he could eat quickly, Haruto slammed his food on a table and began to inhale his food. Another change that occurred as their training went on was his, along with the others, appetite growing due to their bodies needing more energy. That of course meant he would take longer to eat.
"There he is! Haruto! Haruto!"
"Hmm?" lifting his head, with a piece of bread sticking out of his mouth, Haruto was met with the sight of Yusuke, Satomi, Takahi, Marie, and Shoko all rushing through the empty cafeteria with looks on their faces that demanded answers, except for Marie whose stayed the same. "What's up?"
"What's up?" that was weird, Haruto never heard them all talk in unison like that before. "What's up?! You go missing for months and that's all you say?!" it was really weird.
"Definitely gonna be late." Haruto mumbled catching everyone's attention.
"Late for what?" they all questioned.
"Ok, first you gotta stop talking all at once. It's weird." Haruto stated before moving on to their earlier question. "You wanna know where I was?"
"Yes." they all answered with a nod of their heads.
"Um . . . well . . ." for some reason Haruto began to feel sheepish.
He couldn't think of a reason for feeling that way. If anything, he should feel proud about how much he grew. He was no longer the weak, indecisive, doormat Haruto he used to be.
He'd grown.
Grown enough for him to be proud of himself.
Grown enough for Saki to be proud of him.
Yet, he still couldn't shake that sheepish feeling.
Maybe it was because they all knew the "before" and now they would see the "after", although, he was still growing but it was his mentality that changed.
"Well, L-elf's been training us." he decided to push his feelings aside and answer them before they mobbed him.
"Training you?" Shoko questioned with a raised eyebrow. "How?"
"First we started with running to the shrine and back."
"That's not that bad." Yusuke commented. "I thought L-elf would've been a whole lot tougher than that." everyone else nodded their head in agreement.
"Ten times."
"Oh."
"In an hour."
"What?!" Haruto couldn't help but smile when he saw their reactions. He couldn't help but wonder if L-elf felt the same way, despite his stoic face, on the inside.
"And you all managed to do it?" Satomi couldn't help but voice his skepticism. Haruto had never been the most athletic person and the running he said they had to do was more like a marathon.
"Yeah." Haruto replied as he took a bite out of a piece of bread. "It was really hard though. If we didn't do it in time L-elf would make us run again until we did it. So, basically we ran all day everyday for a week before we got it down. Man that was tough."
"After that we added weight lifting and then swimming a fifty laps in forty. That took us a week too." while the group was a little taken aback at the work out schedule that the Valvrave pilots had to go through, Yusuke noticed something else.
"Holy hell, Haruto! You're ripped!" that caught everyone's attention causing them to actually take in his appearance.
What Yusuke said was true, to an extent.
Because of the tank top he was wearing, Haruto's upper body was easy to see. And they could see how his muscles were not only larger (not the size of Raizo's but still bigger) but more defined and cut.
(Poke)
(Poke)
(Poke)
(Poke)
" . . . . Can you girls stop poking me?" true to what his question implied, Shoko, Marie, and Takahi couldn't help but poke Haruto while a blush covered their faces.
Marie's blush was almost impossible to notice.
"S-Sorry!" while the girls, except for Marie, blushed more and looked away nervously, Satomi and Yusuke couldn't help but note their lack of muscles.
It stung their pride as men a little.
"Anyways," thanks to Saki, who was far less shy about poking his body, Haruto kept himself from stuttering and was able to force down his blush, "these last couple of weeks L-elf's been training us how to fight. I think we've been getting better, but we still can't get one hit on L-elf even when we're all trying." instead of feeling down, Haruto gave them a confident smile.
"But, we'll get there."
There was something different about Haruto, Shoko noted.
He no longer had that hint of uncertainty in his eyes. There was that fire in his eyes that he would get when he went at something with all his will. Only a few times did she ever see that look in his eyes but Shoko would recognize it anywhere. But, even though she recognized it, she couldn't help but feel that it was different. She would know, she was the one that helped cultivate that side of Haruto that would give his one hundred percent when he set his mind on something.
Shoko always felt that she partially owned that look, as weird as that sounded. She felt like it was something she helped create and felt not only pride for Haruto but a little pride in herself. But, as she looked into his eyes, she couldn't shake the feeling that those eyes, that fire, wasn't the same one she helped grow. She felt like it no longer belonged to her and Haruto. It was almost as if in the time they didn't see each other someone else came in and took a place in Haruto's life. Like a bird taking another birds nest when it was away.
Shoko wasn't sure if the way she was feeling was just baseless assumptions, but her gut was telling her she was right.
"You look happier." despite how she was feeling, she was glad to see that, along with that fire, there was a happy radiance in his eyes.
"I do?" blinking owlishly, Haruto couldn't help but think about Shoko's words.
Was he happier?
Yeah, he was definitely happier then he was a few months ago.
When he was alone struggling with his curse with no one to rely on.
The fear and anxiety that filled his mind was no longer there.
The curse he shouldered was no longer his to shoulder alone.
All that was gone.
Because of Saki.
A smile made its way on his face as Saki's own smiling face flashed in his mind.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." he was without a doubt happier ever since Saki made her way in his life. Glancing at the smiling Shoko (who had a glint in her eye that looked a little sad) Haruto couldn't help but feel bad for not feeling about, possibly, replacing Shoko.
While he still cared for Shoko and would go to Hell itself to save and protect her, Haruto couldn't help but notice that what he felt for her wasn't the same thing he felt for Saki.
But, what did that mean?
Did it mean he wasn't in love with Shoko or that he simply wasn't in love with Saki?
Or maybe the feeling one had when loving someone differed for each person one loved?
.
.
.
.
Ah! It was too confusing!
Why did girls have to make life so complicated?!
He cared for Saki and he cared for Shoko!
That's all he needed to know for the moment.
He could figure the rest out later.
At the moment he would rather ask something that was bugging him since he saw them.
"So, why were you all acting so frantic when you saw me?" his questioned earned a fierce look from Shoko.
"You, Saki, Kyuma, and Raizo hadn't come to class in months." Shoko scolded while wagging a finger at him. "All the students have been getting scared for a while."
"Scared? Why?"
"Since no one saw you or any of the other pilots rumors started going around that you were all gone." Satomi replied before Marie decided to continue with her normal stoic tone.
"Or dead, or kidnapped, or went over to Dorssia's side."
"What?!" Haruto gave her an incredulous look before breaking out in laughter. "Hahahahahahaha! You guys are crazy! Joining Dorssia?! Hahahahahahaha! That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard! That would never happen!" neither would them dying but they couldn't know that.
"Stop laughing it's not funny!" Shoko puffed out her cheeks as Haruto tried to calm himself down.
"Sorry! Sorry!" Haruto after a few minutes, was able to get himself under control. "I just never thought everyone would freak out like that."
"Well," Takahi began with a slight blush still staining her cheeks, "the Valvraves and you pilots are our only form of protecting against Dorssia. It's not really a surprise that everyone would become worried when they stopped seeing you around."
"I guess that's true." Haruto agreed with a thoughtful look on his face before it turned determined. "But that's why we're training. It's our responsibility to protect everyone, so we need to be stronger."
"You should at least go to class every once in a while." Shoko stated but Haruto merely shook his head at her response.
"Our training starts at six in the morning and by the time we're done it's late and we're all so tired we can barely walk."
"Six?" Yusuke spoke up. "Then you're late."
"Yeah I know. Saki didn't-" Haruto's mouth shut and his eyes shot wide open. He almost let it slip that he and Saki had been sleeping in the same bed together. If they, especially Shoko, found out about that things would get pretty weird.
"Didn't what?" Shoko questioned.
"She didn't stop by my room and wake me up like she usually does." he had to mentally pat himself on the back for his quick thinking seeing as they bought it. "And about the classes, I don't really see the point anymore honestly."
"The point is for us to have a sense of normalcy." Shoko defended not understanding why Haruto had changed his mind on the matter.
Hadn't he supported her when she told him about continuing classes?
"That's the problem, Shoko. This," Haruto motioned his arms around the cafeteria, "isn't mine, Saki's, Kyuma's or Raizo's normal anymore. This can never be our normal. Our normal is that we're at war with Dorssia and if we want to survive we can't afford to pretend that things are normal anymore for us." Haruto's words weren't loud or aggressive but they still held strong conviction in what he believed.
No longer was it just Shoko that realized that Haruto had changed, it was everyone else that came to that realization. He was stronger, more confident, more mature.
"The students here can't protect themselves, but we can. We have to. I don't want what happen to-" Haruto never got to finish his sentence as he was cut off by a blaring alarm.
An alarm that indicated they were soon to be under attack again.
"I guess this was a long time coming." Haruto mumbled as he shot up from his seat. "Come on! We have to get down to the lower levels!" not wasting anytime, Haruto took off in a dead sprint followed be the everyone else.
"Damn, he's fast!" Yusuke shouted as him and the group tried their best to keep up with Haruto.
They had no chance.
Haruto was gone, running like an Olympic sprinter.
For Shoko and the group it was amazing to see anyone move that fast, let alone Haruto. For Haruto himself, he didn't really notice how incredible his new found speed was compared to a regular person's since he'd been running with the rest of the Valvrave pilots, who's speed was roughly around his own. That and he was too focused on getting to his Valvrave to be impressed by it. He also wasn't impressed with himself when he jumped a flight of stairs in one leap, turned the corner and jumped another flight of stairs before landing in a roll and taking off once again.
A minute later he found himself impatiently tapping his foot as he waited in one of the many elevators that were specifically designed to go to the module's lower levels to get him to his destination. Once the door opened, Haruto was instantly bolting through the halls towards the Pilot's Locker Room. Wasting no time when he got into the room, Haruto quickly changed into his Pilot Suit.
'I wonder if I beat the others here or if they're already waiting for me.' that thought ran through Haruto's mind before he tucked his helmet under his arm and sprinted towards the hangars.
As he made his way through the hangars, Haruto couldn't help but notice the students that were prepping the Valvraves and preparing for its launch. It may have looked like a large number of students but percentage wise it was small compared to the actual number of students. Haruto couldn't help but respect those students who were willing to help in any way they could out of their own free will.
Pushing off the ground, Haruto drifted towards his Valvrave and quickly made his way inside as he put on his helmet. Powering the Valvrave up, Saki's face immediately popped up on his screen.
"Hey, tiger. Sleep well?"
"Saki?"
"The one and only."
"Why didn't you wake me up this morning?"
"You looked like you could've used the rest. Why, are you mad at me?" Haruto couldn't help but smile while he shook his head at Saki's playful tone.
"No, I'm not mad. I don't even think I can be mad at you." his response earned a beaming smile from Saki.
"That's because I'm special to you!"
"I guess you are." Haruto conceded. "Shouldn't you be a little more serious? We are about to fight against Dorssia again." Saki opened her mouth to respond but stopped when an open channel link request popped up on their screens.
They of course accepted.
"Nice of you to join us, Haruto. What took you?" Haruto couldn't help but roll his eyes at Kyuma before Raizo butted in.
"You almost missed out on all the Dorssia ass kicking!"
"Right." they really weren't acting like they were about to go to battle, then again he was a lot calmer then he used to be.
[Open channel link requested.]
Accepting the link, the pilots were greeted with the sight of the Command Room and the usual faces that would be in there. The sight of his classmates caused Haruto to chuckle.
"Now look who's not being serious." Saki teased with a smirk on her face.
"Sorry, I just remembered something."
"What the hell is it?" that of course was Raizo.
"Well, when I was eating earlier," Haruto stopped to let out a few chuckles before continuing, "I met Shoko and the others, and they told me since the students haven't really seen us since we started training, rumors started going around the school."
"Hmm?" Saki hummed as she raised an eyebrow. "What kind of rumors?"
"Hehehehe. Listen to this." suppressing another fit of chuckles Haruto pressed forward. "Some of the students thought we might've been kidnapped or killed." the other three pilots had to suppress their laughter at the thought of everyone fearing that they died.
It was impossible after all, but they couldn't let the others know.
Although Raizo had to be convinced a while back.
He actually wanted to show it off, but he was eventually talked down.
"But that's not what's so funny . . . . . There were also rumors of us joining with Dorssia!" with that the dam broke and all four pilots bursted out with laughter.
"Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"
That was the most ridiculous thing they've ever heard.
Them, join with the Dorssians?
They would rather die.
Even if they could die they would rather die.
Each one of them laughed in their own way but they laughed their asses off.
Saki had her hands covering the visor for her helmet while kicking her legs like a child.
Kyuma held his aching sides with his head tilted upwards.
Raizo pounded a fist on his Valvrave's control panel.
Haruto had his arms folded on his own control panel his head buried in them.
The thought of anyone thinking they would join Dorssia was too much. Especially, after they've been working themselves to the bone so they could fight better against them.
"Stop laughing, the students were really scared!" unfortunately for the pouting Shoko, her words had the opposite effect.
"Hahahahahahahahaha!"
"Should you all really be laughing at a time like this?" Ms. Nanami's concern was warranted.
Dorssia forces were looming on the horizon and the only people, her students, that could stop them were laughing their butts off. She hoped the stress wasn't getting to them.
"I can't believe they actually thought we joined with Dorssia." Saki managed to speak as her laughter turned into giggles. She would never join the bastards that killed Aina. On top that they were the ones that caused Haruto to receive his curse and forced him dirty his pure, innocent hands with blood.
Saki would make them pay for what they did.
With those thoughts in mind, Saki's laughter completely died off and her smile was replaced with a grim look. At almost the same time very similar thoughts ran through the other pilot's minds causing their laughter to also stop. While their thoughts weren't exactly the same as Saki's, specifically the ones centered around Haruto, they were enough to kill any of their laughter and replace them with sheer determination.
"Now that you're all done acting like children," L-elf spoke up for the first time, "I suggest you deploy."
"Right." the four pilots responded simultaneously before signaling to the maintenance crew that they were launching. Raizo and Kyuma were the first two to launch and of course Raizo let out a battle cry causing Saki to roll her eyes.
"He's such an idiot." Saki sighed before giving Haruto a wink. "See you out there, tiger." Saki said more out reflex, not really paying attention to the fact that everyone heard her and the affectionate name she called him by.
"Right." he responded, already used to his not so new nickname. Taking a deep breath and letting it out, Haruto gripped his controls and began to move out as well. "Here we go again."
A/N: This probably wasn't my most interesting chapter but they all can't be winners. As you seen their training as progressed but I had to skip past the physical work outs because I didn't think anyone would want to read those in detail, and I honestly didn't want to write about it. But I also couldn't completely skip without at least summarizing it. I will go into more detail about their hand to hand combat training and firearms training, especially when they get the simulators I mentioned a few chapters back.
I want them learning how to operate like an actual military squad, like in the movies. Watching each others backs, infiltrating enemy bases. And this will be without the Valvraves just them with guns. That's why I need the simulators to create different scenarios.
I pretty much stabilized Haruto and Saki's relationship for now, since they're at a good point. I can't have their none relationship, relationship advance too quickly. And as you seen, Haruto had some more character growth in this chapter and is stepping into his role as leader a bit more and that'll start influencing the other characters that aren't pilots but have political positions in New JIOR.
Like Yusuke and Satomi those people.
They'll eventually start studying and learning how to do their positions better.
And as I showed, Saki can kick ass, not as much as L-elf but she isn't one to be messed with. You also caught a little bit of a glimpse of her past (again it won't be the same as canon, it'll actually be a lot worse, poor Saki) and I'll show more as the story goes on.
Now to answer some questions.
BisharptheAvenger: Akira will become a pilot but I wanna have Shoko introduce Saki to her and then eventually have Saki open up to Akira about how she was bullied as a kid so they could bond and Akira can trust her more. And then I want Shoko and Saki to try to slowly get her over her phobia. The piloting will come later. As for the end of episode 9, I've been thinking ways to try to add that into my story but I don't think I will. What I have planned will be messed up if I had the whole world turn on them like the anime. I want them to get to earth and establish themselves and start growing into eventually down the line an empire.
In the anime Haruto supposed to have built a kingdom but I like empire better.
Just imagine it.
Emperor Haruto and Empress Saki.
Christemo: Besides the magnetic strips I introduced in the first chapter, all the weapons were canon. I was pretty surprised when I went on the Valvrave Wikia and found out the other weapons the Valvraves had. Especially Haruto's his has a lot of different weapons I don't even remember him using at the time. That's the reason I went into so much detail about them. I figured I wasn't the only one that didn't know he had so much weapons.
wiki/Valvrave_I
That's the link (or it should be but for some reason when I save it it gets cut short but I think typing those words still works) to his Valvraves profile page if anyone wants to see pics of the weapons they're after the descriptions.
And tell me what you guys and girls think about the time skip.
Did you like it did you hate it?
Should I not do anymore or continue?
That about wraps things up.
Remember give writing a Haruto x Saki fic a try and message me if you want help or someone to bounce ideas off of, I'm happy to help.
Don't forget to review they motivate me and I wanna have the most review in the Valvrave section. I refuse to let Haruto x L-elf fics beat me or Haruto x Saki fics.
We shall prevail!