Shirogane Takeru

October 24, 2001

Yokohama Base classroom

"C'mon daddy, let's go daddy, you're my only dicky daddy." Kasumi's voice; it echoed.

"Daddy be nimble, daddy be quick, daddy give me all eight inches of your dick." In a sing-song voice she rhymed.

"One cummy, two cummies, three cummies, four, I'm daddy's princess but also a whore." A distinct fragrance flourished, a woman's smell.

—

"Cadet Shirogane Takeru! What in the world do you think you're doing!?"

"…Mhmmm~ fuck off… Kasumi you slut… call me pedo one more time and I'll fuck you raw in the ass…" As legitimate of a threat as any, Kasumi would know. Also, it was allowed since she was actually over two hundred years old or something.

A soothing period of lull was remarkably preferable in the wake of my questionable dream. Feeling good really was all that mattered.

"SHIROGANE TAKERU! ATTENTION!"

Ruthlessly ripped away from my uncomfortable yet kindling dream, Marimo-chan's mad screech tore away any resemblance my poor self had to a man who got a good afternoon's nap on his desk while carelessly ignoring some seriously boring lectures about why we shouldn't hold rifles upside-down.

Oh joy, I fuckin' love mornings right around lunch time.

—

Kasumi! Pick up the phone! I was anxious to learn the truth behind today's strange dream.

"Shirogane-san, that was amazing! Even though you were completely dozing off and talking in your sleep!"

"Yes, I was surprised as well. For certain my prediction was for some form of punishment to be laid upon you for not indulging in Instructor Jinguuji's lesson." Meiya added, she and Tama were the first to greet me after our class session ran its course.

"Sure, sure."

KASUMI~! You little dipshit I know you're out there somewhere!

"I thought it was a pretty obvious answer, destroying the equipment would be unnecessary."

"Perhaps so, Sakaki. Nonetheless, Takeru's adaptivity and creativity when it came to reusing the enemy's facility instead of destroying it was quite a stroke of relative cleverness."

"…Not listening, smart guy?" Ayamine prodded me twice on the arm to collect my attention on the group's conversation.

"Yeah, what?"

"We were all saying how amazing you were when Instructor Jinguuji asked you the question!" Tamase delightfully praised my nimble thinking.

"Alright whatever, so do you think it's a wet dream if I don't blow my load?" So far during that day, all I really dwelled over was how I dreamt of Kasumi acting like a total slut, nothing else came close in terms of interest for me.

"Hum? What did you say, Shirogane-san?" Drawn by my barely audible whisper, the girls turned to grace me with their focus in anticipation for me to repeat myself.

"…Nothing, not a peep. Don't worry about it." There was no plan for me to disclose my personal struggle beyond the first mention.

"Well then, the next assignment in our schedule is field stripping, shall we proceed?" The blue-haired girl intended on leading our way to the next location.

"Field stripping… I can strip a lot of things in the field."

"Wai- wha…?" Ayamine missed her chance to get to know me better.

—

We really overuse the prefix 'Type' too much in this world. Really though, do believe it's mostly us Asians who do this shit. Type- 84, 94, 97, 00, 74, 77… literally any two-digit number has a 'Type' version… fuck imagination I guess.

"C'mon sit still and get assembled, you bitch." The Type-91 assault rifle which was basically a domestic rip-off of the TAR-21 refused to be constructed in my delicate hands, so all it was getting was less delicacy as I fumbled through each of its aluminium components.

"Finished." I raised my hand to signal the completion of another mundane task.

"Impossible…" Chizuru unintentionally mumbled her bemused remark.

"Huh? Done already? You did this alone, Shirogane?"

"No, ma'am. I had my mini cat-maids fix the gun while I slept, they're kinda like the Shoemaker's elves, but cuter and gay."

Another vein popped on Marimo-chan's aging forehead when she came over closer into view, not saying she was growing away from her younger days because the angry Sergeant was still very much attractive to any man with a sensible head.

"Shirogane! You're in for a rude awakening if you think this attitude can get you anywhere in the military!" The way she worded her warning really left me with no choice other than to lay down and take it.

"Tch… sorry, ma'am. I'm not used to this military thing."

"I understand you just recently got drafted but try your best to cope with your new life! You're not going back to being a kid anytime soon, Cadet!" Realistically, Marimo was one of the most understanding Drill Sergeants to ever grace the earth.

"I apologize."

"Do your best to fix that habit of yours, Shirogane. It's the biggest flaw I see in you."

"I hear you, ma'am."

"Anyway, that was two minutes, thirty-one seconds. Let me take a look, Cadet." So, I willingly submitted the empty rifle for Marimo to fiddle around with for a good dozen seconds, looked like fun.

"…Nothing appears out of order… you've done this before, Shirogane?"

"Relatively, yeah. I guess I'm somewhat of a firearm enthusiast, always played with guns as a kid. I'm really excited about getting to use them for a good cause, actually." Marimo-chan skimmed me an accepting glance, apparently not suspecting a half-spurious tale.

"I see… very well, those skills of yours will eventually become second nature to you. And the rest of you as well! Until now, Ayamine held the record of six minutes and seventeen seconds. But that isn't really worth discussing at this point, make sure to practice and reach his level!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Together the Squadron answered as one voice, but whether their hearts had set the same goal in sight remained to be seen.

"I don't buy it… Shirogane's cheating… probably has a finished one somewhere hidden." Someone's heart was already miles away from the right place.

"Ayamine, I find your baseless accusation to be refutable and reproachable." Speaking as sophisticated as someone of her status would, Meiya defended me against the ridicule of our team's bully.

"No, no, she's got me good. I do have a backup, it's just up my ass and around the corner. Would the kind lady like to check?"

"Shirogane, bend over." Some real courage was coming from the expressionless girl, Ayamine did hate losing as much as everyone else.

"Enough! Focus on your task at hand!" The termination of our momentary quarrel came at the order of the instructing Sergeant.

PX

"You really are incredible, Shirogane-san!" Tama, always the first to praise others.

"Of course I am. You could say that… ~I'm the best…! ~around!" Frankly, there were lots of things I was afraid of keeping me down, but a man doesn't have to constantly confront his fear, or in my case, ever.

"And he is very self-assured in his skills. Truthfully, a man who sees one's own value and acts upon that edge shall be the one to reap the profit of his own confidence." I wasn't too sure if those words meant what Meiya thought they meant, nevertheless, she was always the one to speak cryptically about everything any anything.

"You really are very proud, but not without reason. I may not like it, but you're far better than the rest of us…" How nice of Class rep to admit.

"You are… special, in a good way too… that's rare." And an equally rare compliment from Ayamine.

"Gotta say I'm glad y'all understand how much better I am. But that won't do us any good as a team, you girls should step up your game and get on my level." In retrospect, maybe using too much of that 'cool-kids speak' around these relative bumpkins wasn't the smartest of ideas, and that was comparably tame too.

"Shirogane-san talks funny… hehe."

"We will try our best as well. This won't last forever, you know. We'll beat you someday." Class rep declared a challenge for my MVP spot.

"Haha… maybe, eventually." I held absolutely no intention to hamper their progress in growing to become proficient soldiers if that was the aspiration they set for themselves to reach, perhaps it just took a bit of encouragement for them to set that goal.

"Your fateful arrival has affected the Squadron greatly… do not betray our heartfelt trust by allowing yourself be put asunder. Although there lays assurance in my chest knowing that is a baseless assumption."

"Right… not gonna do the thing you're telling me not to do, Meiya. You know it…" My nod towards Meiya contained nothing but the purest understanding of her advice and faith.

"Aiming too high, aiming too high."

"But Mitsurugi's right. If you can raise the bar for the entire squad, we'll have a much better chance of passing the Comprehensive Combat Skill Evaluation."

"The whatever whatever skills whatever test, that's the thing you ladies failed last time, right?" Stealing the optimism away from the faces of these girls was about as easy as one could imagine.

"Yes, we already failed once, a second failure will be the last…" Class rep reconfirmed for me.

"I'm going to ask you guys now, how did you muck it up last time?" To their defence, it would bring the downfall of just about anyone if their mistake was so rashly mentioned. Not one pair of eyes raised up to meet mine as each individual sat in grim silence to pass onward the blame of their own incompetence.

Here we go, boys.

"Squad leader Sakaki here… she believed we had a suicide pact, turns out she's mistaken…" Finally, Ayamine picked Chizuru as her target of a guilt trip.

"What!? So you're just gonna pin it all on me then!?"

"No… we should totally blame the landmine that you led us into…"

"Wha- do you…! Ayamine!"

"-We should just take this problem… and PUSH IT SOMEWHERE ELSE!" A properly referenced macro put an end to the endless bickering between our team's number one trouble-making pair.

"No, seriously. It's not your fault, you only lead; not your fault, you just follow orders; not your fault because you have to be the sniper; also not your fault, can't blame the chick with the sword, can't be Yoroi's fault since she's literally dead, even then. It's probably my fault, right? I should've enlisted half a year earlier to help you lads."

I wasn't certain if their dismay was born from my pushy attitude or from the painfully accurate hypothesis of their inner thoughts at work. Nonetheless, it grew clear how basic the cause of their last failing was, terrible teamwork was always the hardest for a team to admit.

"…How did you know… I had a sword?"

"Not right now, Meiya… let me finish."

"Right… of course."

"Fortunately, what we have is time. The thing is still like- ninety days away and it won't do any good if we panic now. I don't think it's necessary to highlight what could be the obvious culprit at work here that's causing this disruption, so let's all just reflect on what this thing is and think of ways to fix it, yeah?"

Minutes passed as the tension in the air withered away for the girls to truly appreciate the core of my half-baked message. Our malfunction wasn't something to easily mend overnight, but my experience in the past had taught me to be really grateful that the passage of time wasn't based on perspective.

However, the dreadful atmosphere lasted too long even for my liking.

"Ugggrh… now it's all weird… give me something else here, c'mon."

"So… Shirogane-san… you gave me a nickname yesterday, right?" How fortunate for me the course of history decided to bless me with a randomly selected outcome which just happened to perfectly be the topic of discussion I wanted to bring up.

"Factual, Tama. And you're not the only special one here. We got Class rep here, that's all good. There's Kei the Katty Karry Kappa of Kit-Kat. And then Meiya… just Meiya."

"Do I look like a class representative? You guys think I look like one too?"

"Mine is ordinary… what is this anomalous sensation of disappointment?"

"Mine is garbage… Shirogane, jump off the roof."

Sounded like someone is unpleased with my decision, too bad we lived under a Totalitarian State, population, me.

"Then Ayamine you'll be; too lazy to reconsider I am."

"Whatever… Takeru, that's you, Takeru." So the dark-haired young lady wasn't deaf, who'd thunk.

"I for one do not object advancing onto a forename bases with everybody present, it stands to be a more mellow and simplified method of addressing one another. You must also be appealed by the same standard, Takeru."

Mellow and simplified, she said. Mellow and simply.

"Guess we're going to call you Takeru then, you're okay with that, right? Not like you have the ground to say no."

"Then I'll try to do the same as well… Shiro- I mean Takeru-san!- Sorry! I'll try again, Takeru… san!- Takeru-san- …Shiroga— Uuuuhhhh~!" The cat-girl was repeating my name so much it didn't sound like a word anymore.

"Looks good, girls. We don't have any issues, do we?"

"Takeru-chan! TAKERU-CHAN TAKERU-CHAN! Come hang out with Kasumi-chan and me~! We got the good stuff!" The more refined and logical of the young women definitely shared no disagreement to our naming arrangement. It was the problem child that had a problem.

What do you want from me, woman? And why didn't Kasumi answer to me earlier?

"Whaaaaa~! Don't be cray-cray Takeru-chan! And the good stuff is the gooooood stuff~!"

Woman you're literally disabled… fine, be there in ten.

"Kay-kay! Be there or be square!"

Don't say that! Jesus, don't fucking say that one! I hate it so much! It makes no fucking sense! Some people could argue I was too aggravated by the slightest thing, and those people aggravated the hell out of me.

"Alright, girls… I got this thing that needs to be taken care of… it's kinda bad and kinda annoying. So I'm just bouncing outta here right now like the wind."

"Huh? What do you mean- Hey! Takeru, where in the world are you going!?" The squad might have deserved a sooner warning than what I delivered, but I wasn't new to letting down expectations.

"Nope sorry, gotta go faaaaaaaast~!"

Brain room

"Yaaaashiro~ Kaaaasumi~! Wooooha~!" If those doors leading into the brain chamber didn't conveniently slide open I sure as shit would have knocked them down with a sledgehammer.

"Takeru-san… I sense dark thoughts amidst your mind… I implore you to not act irrationally in accordance to your baser impulses and- ~ahhhaahh~ stop… stop… stop please." As tempting as her cutter board chest was to fondle, they didn't provide me with the leisure and fulfillment of a pair of real bouncy breasts.

"Takeru-san is a class A sexual deviant… and a wanted pedophile in seven different countries."

"Huh, didn't know you can tell jokes, Kasumi. That one's pretty good too, I'm impressed."

"…Yes, a joke. A subject which causes amusement and laughter, a joke." The implications behind her words surely were just to re-educate me on the meaning of the noun 'joke', I couldn't think of any other reasons she'd say something like that.

"Ah… Takeru-chan! Look at you, smart, athletic, handsome and charming. If only you're not such a disgusting, filthy pervert with a completely sickened mind thinking of nothing but the vilest deeds you'd be like- the perfect husbando!" Interjecting into a conversation only meant for two, Sumika inputted her very biased and unethical opinion of me.

Okay, and what does that say about you, woman? You wanna tell me it's not you it's me?

"Hmm… well, ~Lucky for you, that's what I like, ~that's what I like." An un-mistaken vibe told me Sumika was referencing to something, but the essence of her message was lost to me.

I don't… I don't understand it.

"Ohmygod~! How do you not remember this, Takeru-chan! It's only two decades away! I swear every time we survive just a bit longer you fill your dumb head with nothing but those stupid memes!"

How dare you, they're dank memes.

"Stupid dank memes! If you just remember the blueprint to a super TSF or something we'll be blasting away at the aliens! Useless, useless! USELESS!" How pleasant, Sumika really was everything a man could want in a girl.

Actually stop, woman. I won't waste my time bitching with you like an old married couple, you called me here for something, what is it?

"Oooooh, yeeeeeah! Totally forgot! Sensei said I'll be outta this pod tomorrow! Well, it's actually tonight but after midnight so technically tomorrow." Yuuko-sensei did make this estimation not too long ago, having Sumika with me in physical form this early was a clear sign of fine fortune.

Good, very good. You can do all the fun stuff a normal person would do on a military base, can't wait. Is there anything you're looking forward to? Food, I guess?

"I dunno kinda wanna shoot a gun at things. Fly a TSF, basically stuff you'll be doing soon, Takeru-chan. And now I can be there too!"

Hold on, are you gonna enlist? Like doing all the things I'll be doing? I honestly couldn't remember if Sumika ever received the treatment of a regular soldier on Yokohama Base. She was an exceedingly proficient Eishi, that I could testify for, but actually flying with us would be a problematic situation.

"Wow, it's like you said the exact same words I literally JUST SAID! YES! I'll be enlisting-enlisting to be in your Squadron! And Kasumi-chan too! It's gonna be greeeeat!"

Were I to consider myself unready for this news, I'd be more amazed than dismayed. It was never my intention to have Sumika or Kasumi fighting alongside me on those bloody battlefields where the line between life and death would always be drowned out by the never-ending echoes of gunshots. However, they were proposing an exchange; their safety and shelter for shortening my strenuous path on achieving our dream, and that objectively wasn't a bad deal.

…To be honest, I've so many questions I want to ask. But I guess I shouldn't be surprised really. Tell me this, was it because what Meiya said? My reply to her energetic declaration was moderately sincere and solemn, Sumika picked that up as the hint to drop her humorous mood.

"Yesterday was a calm night, I could hear every word two you spoke… and Meiya-san's right, I've neglected you to fighting this fight alone, that isn't right. We were all so happy when I first remembered the past, I thought we could finally change something… anything about the future. Even if it wasn't enough then, I shouldn't have grown to be so passive."

"We're with you together, Takeru-san, always and forever. We'll prove that there's weight behind our decision. We'll make sure everything works out, we promise." Kasumi's snowy skin still leaked the same splinting cold by every touch of her pale hands, but that coldness didn't feel too bad in my own palm.

You girls… you girls are alright, I ever tell you that? I… errm… am glad, just glad.

"But are you feeling any love, Takeru-chan!? Hu-hu? How about saying you love us?" Was it a mental disability that wouldn't let Sumika hold a serious front for more than three seconds? I wanted to guess yes.

I'll allow you both to fall under the impression of that POV, I'm a generous guy, totally.

"Wow… wow I feel so blessed, wow~ I'm like a stripper who just got tipped a hundred-dollar bill between my cleavage…woohoo." Unexpectedly detailed and refined illustration.

Kouzuki Yuuko's office

"Being waiting for you, Shirogane. Here, first thing first." Yuuko-sensei hurled something my way in an attempt to commit first-degree murder.

"Ah, thanks, sensei. I knew this would arrive first." I observed the lighter that sensei gave me. It was a world war two replica by Zippo. I saw no faults in it, there was a button I'd press and fire would come out, what more could I want in a lighter?

"I don't care what you wanna do with that thing, but if you're gonna smoke don't do it indoors, yeah?"

"What? Me? No, no, nope, never, okay maybe once."

"No, I actually don't care, Shirogane. You're not a kid, and even if you are, you're not my kid. Anything, you're like my genie. And so far, you've been granting my wishes to a certain extent which makes me willing to get you all this stuff you want."

"So you're saying we're like friends with benefits without benefits."

"Sure, basically. Maybe that'll change, maybe not." I wasn't quite sure which part of the whole 'benefit' thing was undergoing development.

"Moving on, here is a very exciting news for you. If all goes according to plan, I can get the 00 Unit up and running tomorrow morning." To represent her superiority, Yuuko-sensei smiled with glee as she informed me of our little project's progress.

"I was told that by Sum- the 00 Unit herself, yeah. Hey, that's pretty good, four days since my arrival and you've already become the world's greatest scientist." Almost let Sumika's name slip out under my tongue, that was whole other can of worms I didn't want to bother for the time being.

"I've always been the world's greatest scientist, I'm just proving that right now. Anyway, it'll be late during the night so just be there. You'll be there, right?"

"Actually no. I don't really care about you killing a brain and uploading it into an android, seen it plenty of times. Also, I'm a bit sensitive about this matter, since technically she's dying and being reborn… kinda."

"I see… understandable, Shirogane. Suit yourself." Didn't seem sensei was even a tiny bit interested in my affairs, couldn't really blame her but didn't mean it wasn't a disappointment.

"I do wonder though, what will you have the 00 Unit do once she's outta there?"

"I don't know, I'll have to run the stability test, compatibility test, some form of intelligence test too. After that's done, she'll have to get comfortable here. If her mind is as functional as you claim, she can be my assistant." That didn't sound awfully terrible as Sumika's role, normally that would be her future for a couple of months.

"She might not really agree to that. But hey, it's none of my business. Although Kasumi does want to talk with you about that stuff." Imagining the scenario where Sumika couldn't convince Yuuko-sensei to release her out to the wild had its merits as a piece of comedy.

"I'll see to it, anything else?"

"Nah, not really. We have plenty of relaxing days ahead of us. Thanks to you rushing your work so hard, there will be lots of quiet, before the storm."

"If you're leaving don't expect me to see you to the door." And so it was time for my departure.

"Oh, no. I wouldn't dare."

Kouzuki Yuuko

Kouzuki Yuuko was on her way to the 00 Unit's housing, having nothing else more important to do she decided to honour her promise to the Causality Conductor. Shirogane's existence certainly was an incredible save for Yuuko's project. Looking over the improved theory, there hardly was a possibility of her herself renovating her existing formula to achieve the perfect theory before the deadline.

As the 00 Unit was fully developed, the only task left was to transfer the mind to the body, which should be an easy step that was nigh impossible to fail. The simple reason of why Yuuko wasn't finishing it now was because there will be a thirty-second power outage when the procedure starts, and doing it at night would not be wise.

Brain room

After Yuuko swiped her access card through the card reader. The twin doors leading into 00 Unit's room slid themselves out of her way. The figure of Yashiro Kasumi occupied the forefront of Yuuko's vision as she stood motionlessly like a log while the same aloof expression was there to greet the professor.

"Yashiro, good evening to you."

"Professor Kouzuki, I have something to ask you for." A blunt and straightforward demand, one not normally associated with the discreet Yashiro.

"Then speak, what do you want."

"For me and the 00 Unit to enlist in the 207th training Squadron." As far as requests go, this one wasn't unforeseen by Yuuko.

"Rejected, won't happen, Yashiro." Donning her usual cold appearance without a spark of emotion, Alternative III's experimental clone stared directly into the irises of Kouzuki Yuuko with only periodical blinks to break their connection.

"The 00 Unit won't be pleased by your rather rash decision, Professor. She doesn't take well to rejection, and neither do I."

"What? I don't think your feelings are grand enough to come into this equation. I don't even know why the two of you want to go to battle, tired of living a sheltered life? Want to see how comfy your early graves are?" Yuuko realized her behaviour was grumpier than she believed, maybe it was the way Yashiro ordered her that was intolerable.

"We want to help Takeru-san, he's in a vulnerable state and we think we should be there for him." Yuuko obviously would've guessed Shirogane was the source of all her extended trouble, but still, he was worth that extra mile.

"So now he's having emotional issues? Should've known the young man was too perfect to be true. Did he ask you of this? For you and the 00 Unit to help him?"

"No, we volunteered. It was what we should've done a long time ago. It's not fair for him to be the only one fighting, we have to do our part too."

The pessimistic side of Yuuko was firm in telling herself to wave off Yashiro's absurd demand and return to actual work. However, that didn't sit right with her humane self. Were there still any humanity left in the genius scientist, this definitely was a test for her heart.

"Listen here, Yashiro… it's not as if I don't sympathize with Shirogane's problems, he's done some great things for me and I expect him to keep doing great things. But what I got going on here is bigger than the two of us, I won't risk you and the 00 Unit to heal his wounds, that's not how the world works."

The downcast gaze of Yashiro was depressingly dispirited, Yuuko's heart ached at the poor sight of the Esper's sadness. Nevertheless, her demand wasn't a topic to be haggled with, she already staked everything on the success of Alternative IV, there was no room for error in the formation of her plan.

"I see that I myself cannot convince you, Professor. But the 00 Unit thinks otherwise." Her new disclosure, on the other hand, that caught Yuuko's attention like moths to a light.

"Oooh, now that's very interesting… Are you saying the 00 Unit can express itself with you as its medium? That's something you could've led with, now speak. I want to hear what it says." A simple nod from Yashiro escalated Yuuko's curiosity to a new height.

"-Hmm… I dunno, sensei. Calling me an 'it'? Kinda hurt by how cold you're, you know? I mean I do know I'm kinda only a brain in a tube and am gonna die pretty soon to become a robot brain in a brain, but stillllllll~. I've my ego as a girl, okay? Don't be so hurtful now." While Yashiro's paraphrase delivered the core message of the 00 Unit's personality, it did not express that same enthusiasm.

"Well… well, well, well. What do you know, I never thought I'll say it, but you exceed my expectations… Kagami… Sumika. For a 'person'… like you to react and behave so regularly as only a brain, I'm impressed, truly." A wry smirk crept its way across Kouzuki Yuuko's mouth, the excitement of seeing her research bearing fruit in such a dramatic manner was too vast to be held back as an expression.

"Thank you, thank you, Kouzuki-sensei. I'm thankful to you for giving me a chance, not too sure about the killing my brain part, but I'll manage. In some way, I'm happy to have a real body, being in here just makes my blood boil and my eyes red." Words spoke peculiarly completely opposite to Yashiro's style did not distract Yuuko from the heavy undertone of Kagami's words.

"I promise you, Kagami Sumika, the sunlight will bounce off your synthetic skin in no time. But anyway, you said you want to try to convince me to let you join Shirogane, now convince me."

"Heh… I won't say it's exactly convincing, I think this's what they call an offer you can't refuse. I just won't work for you if you don't let me do what I want, I feel a bit bad, honestly. But I'll get what I want." The threat suggested by an entirely sentient and intelligent 00 Unit stung Yuuko in a weak point she didn't want to admit.

"I'd like you to expand on that… persuasion, Kagami Sumika."

"Ohh, it's easy, sensei. You need me far more than I'll ever need you. Once I'm outta this pod how hard do you think it is to take off this silly tie with your microchip limiter whatever thing it's called? You'll hold no rule over me, sensei, I won't be controlled." The 00 Unit's blackmail for a possibility of treason was as ridiculous as it came, however being a scientist who never discarded a theory without testing, Yuuko knew there was nothing stopping Kagami from refusing her commands.

"Threatening me like that… Kagami Sumika… You might not even make it out of that tube."

"That's fine too, really, I'm okay with that. So Takeru-chan will just shoot himself and spin the RNG wheel again, he'll never trust you more than he does me… and that's a Snapple Real Fact. But for you though, what will the poor Professor Kouzuki Yuuko do if her Alternative IV goes up in flames like the Hindenburg? I think the answer is still up; as in space."

Yuuko needed no reminder of Shirogane's bizarre story on time travel which she only reluctantly accepted, but here the 00 Unit itself was telling her about a future yet to arrive and that worried Yuuko no matter how much she hated being out of control.

"So the once genius professor Kouzuki will waste her life away on a foreign planet reeking in the smell of alcohol day in and day out, lamenting how she failed to bring about the child whose destiny it was to give humanity hope… what a tragic tale."

"…I like that prediction of yours, Kagami. Shirogane told you that in one of your 'loops'?"

"Who knows? There're so many ways things could go wrong, I won't be the least bit surprised if something totally out of the blue happens and turn your plan upside down. 'The only certainty is that nothing is certain', is that the quote? I remember it from a book."

"Naturalis Historia, a book by Pliny The Elder, he's a Roman Author." Yuuko was never a fan of history books during her youth, she always had her sight set on the future, not the past. That wasn't a habit she was seeking to abandon anytime soon.

"Right, right. He's the one that said 'fortēs Fortūna adiuvat', 'fortune favours the brave'… wait, or was that from an older play? I can't really remember." The off-topic babble could be seen as nothing other than the 00 Unit's frisky gloat.

"…Kagami Sumika, you know, I like you. I really do like you, you're someone who knows what they want and how to get it. You are aggressive and driven in satisfying your desire."

"Thanks, sensei. Although Takeru-chan just calls me spoiled."

Shirogane's room

October 25, 2001

What did I ever do to deserve this.

"Takeru-san, morning is the most important time of the day." Who ever imagined that two little hands could be responsible for so much devastation, to a man's peaceful sleep.

"More like… more like the most… the most dick-sucking time of the day, now shoo, shoo… pls."

"Takeru-san, is a morning fellatio something that could encourage you to wake up?"

"Not when you've to ask me… Kasumi, also I don't fuck kids, except for when I do, but right now I don't, so get." The docile warmth of Kasumi's body was climbing itself into my sheet as I spent the minimum amount of energy to hold down my last of line of defence.

"Takeru-san, have you masturbated anytime during this new loop?" Always the one with the most essential questions, that Kasumi.

"No, wasn't in the mood. And I still am not, so stop trying to seduce me already, woman! I woke! Gonna stay woke so stop raping me with your eyes."

"But daddy said if their eyes turn into hearts it won't be categorized as rape."

"Stop… I can't right now, just no… and I fucking knew it was you." The core difference between my sex jokes and hers were that my emphasis was on 'joke' and hers was on 'sex'.

—

I took my time to go through my morning routine after drilling the true, actual meaning of the term 'no means no' into Kasumi's head.

"Good news, Takeru-san. Professor Kouzuki approved of us joining the squad. I will be training together with you now."

"Huh, how about that. So Sumika did convince sensei to let you two run wild." I was positively pleased by said news.

"I would not assess the method as a conviction."

"That's okay too, we're gonna spend a whole lotta quality time together. I appreciate what you two are doing for me, really."

"No, Takeru-san, you deserve much more than this, we're here to make sure you're properly rewarded for your effort. Henceforth we'll be in your care."

"You got nothing to worry about girl, we're going straight to the finals."

Yokohama firing range

"Squad, regroup!" By the time we arrived at the field, the rest of my team was already set to go.

"207th Squadron assembled!" Class rep called out once everyone gathered.

"Before we start our training today I've a new member I'll introduce to the Squadron. You probably seen her around the base before with the Professor, she's being sent to join our squad, here's Yashiro Kasumi." Marimo-chan swung her arm to direct the attention of the girls to us, mostly to Kasumi who stood as her usual dull self.

"Cadet Yashiro Kasumi, starting now a member of the 207th Training Squadron second class. It's my wish to get along with everyone here and do our best to complete our training as soon as possible." Kasumi saluted the rest of her unit and spoke at length about herself, not something she regularly does without reason.

"Shirogane, come here for a bit." I got called by Marimo-chan as the greeting continued in the background.

"Reporting, Instructor Marimo. What do you want?" She mustered only a sigh, I thought 'Instructor Marimo' was a good compromise between my habits and her preference.

"Shirogane, you know why Yashiro joined the squad? I can understand you being put here with them, but Yashiro? I've to say I have my doubts."

"Well, you know Professor Kouzuki, she's got her own agenda all the time. I know partly what she wants, but she really insisted that only I know." As long as I wasn't lying outright, it didn't have an effect on my conscience.

"Aw, That Yuuk –Professor Kouzuki really is… unrestricted." Unrestricted was a good word to replace whatever she had in mind.

—

From the limited time of which I was present during the girls' conversation, they had taken a liking to Kasumi. Not saying she was someone obnoxious, just that Kasumi's lackluster personality could be a bit of a turn-off. Although the young Russian girl I saw was socializing quite comfortably outside her comfort zone.

"Alright, squad! That's it for the welcome, we're moving onto today's shooting exercise. Yashiro, do you have any experience with firearms?"

"I do."

Huuuuuuuuuh? You shot before, Kasumi? I was definitely less accepting of this fact than anyone else.

"Please specify, I've in fact shot many things before."

"Very good, be careful not to injure yourself, Yashiro. Join the rest of the Squadron."

"Yes, ma'am." Marimo-chan moved the group along to the range and left me to follow their footsteps as a baffled but cute man.

—

"Pew! Pewpew! Pew! Pew!"

"Shirogane! Stop making those noises!"

"Pow! Powpow! Poooffffff!" That was an RPG.

"SHIROGANE! SHUT UP!" After Marimo-chan denied me a slice of fun during our free practice time, I decided to wander by where Kasumi was improving her marksmanship skills which I didn't even know she had.

"Hey girl, you popping some fools?" She sure looked like it with her shooting glasses on.

"No, Takeru-san, I am firing this Type-91 in burst on full-auto towards the steel target distanced at thirty metres." Why was Kasumi always the fun police?

"But are you pretending you're popping some fools?"

"…I'm pretending I'm firing this Type-91 in burst on full-auto towards the stationary Tangos distanced at thirty metres." No fun allowed said she.

"You know, I wasn't told you can shoot, and this good too."

"I've plenty experience with all forms of firearms, except for LMGs… they're too heavy." Totally understandable.

Her accuracy was absolutely not an attribute I could sweep under the rug at a moment's notice. From thirty metres away, Kasumi almost nailed the bullseye with every bullet. This was incredible by so many different standards, as I didn't even believe she could hold an assault rifle without smacking her toes with it.

"I wonder though, why do you hold the gun like- sideways?" She tilted her rifle at about forty to forty-five degrees to the left, I couldn't declare this as a conventional shooting style since half of the weapon's stock had to be raised above her shoulder for her to see through the iron-sight.

"I'm used to an offset red-dot sight, it doesn't feel right to hold the gun straight."

"At this distance? You use a canted sight at this range? What scope do you even have?"

It wasn't irregular to mount a smaller sight in addition to whatever scope was on the gun, in situations where CQC was unavoidable having a shorter ranged reticle certainly was very useful. However, still using a canted scope at this distance was quite unusual, I never knew anyone who would use it beyond ten metres.

"Leupold Mark 4 LR, normally at 6.5 to 20 magnifications."

"Yo, quite a sniper you are. On what gun?"

"My favourite is the SCAR SSR, but that gun won't be available for another… ten years. After that, I like the M39 EMR or the HK417, but those are also a few years away. Right now, I'll settle with an SR-25, but if I can get a Mod 1 or 2 I'll be happier… I don't like Mod 0, it's boring."

As things turned out, Kasumi was adequately knowledgeable about all aspects of modern firearms. Some of the guns she talked about were only distant memories just triggered by her mention. Based on appearance alone nobody would wager this fragile looking girl as a shooter of her skills, but I fortunately didn't fall for that stereotyping gimmick.

"So you're like- pretty good with a gun, huh?"

"Subjectively correct. My sisters call me Master Wick whenever I demonstrate my talents with a firearm, I don't exactly understand the premise of that nickname." I knew nothing of that reference as well other than it sounded cool as hell.

"Shout out to your sisters, Kasumi. They're clones too?"

"Yes, I hope you can meet them this time."

"Sure, maybe… although you totally reminded me about one of my traditions, you know what I'm talking about, right?"

—

"Squadron assembled!" Chizuru signified the rally of the three other members of my team before Marimo-chan, Kasumi and I. I asked the Instructor for a favour so I could talk to the squad about some important topics, relatively important, anyway.

"Alright, girls. So I'm noticing that you all are firing your weapon immediately after aiming. This is good, but only when your boots are on the ground. Unless someone was feeding me bad info here, I'm certain that this is going to be a TSF squad. So if you are in your TSF, the system will be different."

"Your unit comes with auto-aim, auto-lock and a bunch of stuff it will do for you, which all have a delay. So when piloting your machine, make sure to wait a few seconds, observe the situation and then proceed to fire. That may waste a little time but it's good practice in the long run."

Seriously hate long speeches so much, I'm missing anything, Kasumi? My advice wasn't necessarily bad, they were top-notch, in fact. It was just the constant talking which was getting boring.

Negative.

"So overall. Just make sure you remember to change your style when you are on the ground verse piloting. That is all."

"Shirogane… have you piloted a TSF before?" After a bit while passed, Class rep was the first to ask the obvious question that no doubt dwelled in the minds of all other.

"…Don't really wanna talk about that yet, I'm sure it isn't hard to guess though." The wave of dubious glances was not easy to swallow, it surely wasn't the comfiest sensation to act fishy around people who were with me literally twenty-four seven.

"C'mon, give this thing a try. I don't think it'll even feel that different, if at all." Around this time was when the boredom of our tacky training really started to screw with me.

—

"Proceeding, I personally think nipple piercings are not explicitly painful as compared to nose piercing. The amount of flesh which exists on the nostril is more sensitive than the nipple, and the jewellery is in a much more exposed location compared to the nipple. That often led me to accidentally play—"

"-What in the actual holy fuck are you talking about, Kasumi?" I couldn't listen to it for any longer, half-asleep or not.

Waking from my absent-minded daydream of absentmindedness, I found myself leaning on the thin wall separating each of the lanes in the gun range. To my right there was Kasumi, the young esper had taken aim with a Walther P99 pistol and fired on the target for however long she was there. There was an indisputable sense of minor puzzlement as to even how I could hear her over the blasting shots or the earmuffs.

"I was retelling the story of how I received a nose piercing."

"And I baited you into getting that? You?" Kasumi wearing any type of piercing was an image I could not fathom beyond my wildest dreams.

"You were very influential during your youth, Takeru-san."

"…Hmm… if I ever meet me from my kid days I'm gotta kick that little shit right in the sack, what an asshole I was. I'm sorry about that, Kasumi. You're beautiful no matter how you are, piercing or not. Nose ones just aren't my thing anymore… apparently, nipples I'll give a pass."

"It's alright, I can't say that it wasn't enjoyable to a certain degree. And it had become one of my more lapsed memories." At least it wasn't all bad.

"You know, you two remembering all this stuff is really helpful to me, honestly. I'm like an old gramp with Alzheimer's at this point, so many things just don't seem to carry over through these damned loops. So you having photographic memory is a really nice save."

Hey! You kids get off my lawn!

My vivid imagination earned an infrequent chuckle from Kasumi, leading to her messing up the reload of her pistol almost hazardously.

"It wasn't always beneficial to remember everything… I suppose rewarding is the proper term. There were so many nights where I missed the sound of your voice, the poise in your smile… the warmth of your touch. And even so… I don't remember everything I should, something's missing… but something's always missing."

An introspective mood weaved seamlessly into our nostalgic chatter, an odd sensation of longing struck an alien part of my heart as those words sent flashes to my vision. The Kasumi standing before me somehow appeared unlike her normal self, the vulnerable shadow of this matured child took a novel shape.

"I learned so much… I did so much for us…but it wasn't enough for my eyes to see the future."

She drawn the gun closer to her eyes and deformed the previous Modern Isosceles Stance of shooting, the fingers on her left hand wrapped over the knuckles of her right and tightened its stiff grip on the weapon, her thumbs too overlapped firmly together to add to the solid hold. With both of her arms bending inwards near her chest and tilting her gun, this uncanny figure very closely resembled a boxer's stance.

"The flame of war was never once smothered, we could never let go of our desire to exhume the ways of old…" Taking that peculiar posture, Kasumi pulled the trigger of her P99 once more in rapid succession.

It was an unbelievable sight to behold, firing her pistol as fast as her trigger finger would allow, Kasumi's bullets stuck near impeccably on the forehead of the steel target with flawless precision. The single dent created by her 9mm rounds was obscured in the dense powder of the pulverized ammo, yet a mere visual obstruction was helpless in hampering Kasumi's accuracy.

"And amidst all that, I still strived to remember your names, your faces, your lessons. I never forgot you, or the things you've left behind." By the time the slide locked back and the smoke cleared from the barrel, she had emptied the fifteen-round magazine under five seconds.

"Kasumi… that was…" I didn't fault myself for being rendered speechless in the presence of her performance.

"To me, there are two dates I could never hope or hope to forget in my short life." Three bullets were picked out from the pouch lying to her side, one was inserted into the chamber through the ejection port and two were pressed into another mag which she slipped back into her magazine belt.

"January first of 2002, the day we first launched Operation Cherry Blossom…"

From somewhere I was oblivious to, Kasumi retrieved three empty beer bottles and immediately hurled them across and over the field faster and further than I thought possible.

"And the second date is January first of 2049, that day also held significant meaning to me."

Then was when I observed what was arguably the finest example of the unrivaled marksmanship in history. Instantaneously, Kasumi shot one glass bottle straight out of the sky within milliseconds of her left hand returning to the gun. The reload that followed was so ridiculously swift I barely caught a glimpse of the old magazine which was swung out from the grip hitting the right panel of the booth. When I looked back, she had already pulled back on the slide of the pistol in her canted grip and proceeded to shatter the remaining two bottles before either hit the ground.

"What? …What year did you—"

"-I'm sorry, Takeru-san. I shouldn't have spoken about that, the memories from a long time ago seems to have made me sentimental… please forget I said anything…"

"-Yashiro Kasumi! Watch where you're throwing your magazine! You do that on the battlefield you might as well smack whoever's to your right over the head!" When I was lost amidst wondrous confusion, Marimo-chan interrupted our mystical and baffling conversation.

"Yes, ma'am. I apologize."

"I don't really think you are! State what you're saying loudly and clearly!"

"Yes, ma'am. I apologize." It was literally the copy pasted sentence, Marimo-chan must have noticed too.

"Ahh… forget it. But what you displayed was some pretty good shooting, if you just be careful with your wild motions you'll make a great sharpshooter, Yashiro." A rather modest Instructor Jinguuji scolded Kasumi for her habit, her departure was replaced by the rest of the Squadron.

"Wow! That was amazing, Yashiro-san! I can't believe you're this good at shooting!" Tama rushed in and was the first to praise Kasumi for her achievement.

"I've to admit, I can't dream of shooting like that, Yashiro. Where did you even learn this?"

"Basically superhuman…"

"That expertise of yours in firearm manipulation may very well be the zenith of human capability, to this accurately strike the same location on a target in rapid succession and to virtually reload and fire again spontaneously with that speed hitting three midair objects… I grant you my heartfelt acclamation, Yashiro Kasumi." Ending off the applause for Kasumi with a long ass speech from Meiya, the young Russian girl only nodded in response.

"But why do you hold your gun sideways though, Yashiro-san? It looks not really comfortable."

"It's called C.A.R… it's a complicated shooting system, we should talk about it later, the Instructor is calling us." Was Kasumi a mind-reader or something? Marimo-chan did, in fact, summon the team a few seconds later.

I considered it unfortunate I didn't get to see Tama's sniping skills that day, but instead, I did get to lay my eyes on some seriously top-tier shooting by one of the people I thought I knew best.

Hallway

Kasumi, you know what blue balls are?

"Are you requesting me to elaborate?"

No! But if you know, why you gotta do that to me?

"Please elaborate."

Damn it girl you know what I mean! I'm actually not that shocked about the shooting thing, but what's up with 2049!? That's almost fifty years away! I'll unironically be having Alzheimer's at that age! And now I'm mad I didn't save this joke for later!

"Takeru-san, if this is a serious topic. I ask you to trust me that I am only withholding information for your benefit. I love you, I'll never do anything to potentially ruin you, please trust me, even if just this once." The way which she worded her lines left me with little room to refuse if any.

Alright… fine whatever, I obviously didn't know you as well as I thought I did- that or I forget, but it's refreshing. We're sharing a deeper bonding experience, that's pretty good, right? I believe you'll let me know what I should when I should, Kasumi.

Again, a single nod back was Kasumi's answer. After that, we headed for our usual classroom in silence, the squad trailing behind us seemed to be enclosed in their own little discussion, whispering stealthily into each other's ears and all that.

"Boss, grab that door, yo." By the time we reached the sliding door guarding our classroom against all sorts of danger not really, I invited class rep to announce our arrival.

"Oh…! Yeah, yeah. I got it… Excuse me! 207th training Squadron reporting!" Skimming the entrance across the floor, Chizuru saluted who she assumed was Instructor Jinguuji that sat by the podium.

"AHAHAHA! Welcome, my minions! I have been waiting for you! And you! And you! And you! And- not really you, Takeru-chan, your face gets old. But also Kasumi-chan! Hallo, hallo!"

About right, about right.

"Huuuh…?" Without seeing her face, it was hard to determine the magnitude of surprise on display for Chizuru, although it was a sign of something when her hands casually reached for the hostler only to realize she wasn't armed.

"-Well, don't block the door, Cadets! Into the room!" Marimo-chan's voice had a habit of randomly appearing that day.

So, we did follow her order and seated ourselves into our regular spots, as for Kasumi who wasn't assigned a desk she took the one closest to my right. Sumika was just kinda there on the stage, looking retarded.

"Believe it or not, squad, we're receiving one more member to the team today courtesy of Professor Kouzuki. This here is Kagami Sumika, the Professor stated that she's someone equally or more special compared to Shirogane, I'll leave it to the rest of you to figure out what that means. That'll be it for today, dismissed!"

One standing salutation later.

"And yeah! I'm Kagami Sumika! Apparently a Cadet of the 207th Squadron. Nice to meet you? Nice to meet you girls?" The ever so energetic 00 Unit glued a bright smile on her face and merrily greeted the team, she leaned forward keenly to study the features of her teammates who she already was familiar with, but she never grew tired of acting friendly.

It was Sumika again. The Kagami Sumika who, in a way, transcended humanity was again shining beautifully before my very eyes. It had been too long, while also not long enough of a time since the last time I set my sight upon her alluring yet wholesome physique.

And thus, one by one the girls shook hands with Sumika, each briefly introducing themselves and sending forward a wish for a fruitful relationship. When it was Kasumi's turn, they shared a tender hug as a token of bonding the two had embraced over the years.

"And Takeru-chan! I'm back from the dead, yo! You want a kiss!? Chu-chu! Smooch, smooch!"

Stay hella away from me, woman. A man recognizes a cockblock when he sees one, and I sure as shit haven't taken a dive in that sweet pink yet. I clicked the tips of my fingers together to emulate breaststroke swimming, she surely understood.

"Tccccch~! What a freaking degenerate, Takeru-chan! No fun time for you tonight!"

So what, I got my V-card on lockdown, I haven't felt the hormones yet and you won't either. My longest dry streak after arriving in a new loop was three months, didn't even jerk off once too, very proud of that one.

"Wait… so like- Takeru-chan haven't done 'it' yet? Not even with Kasumi-chan?"

"Negative, I too retain my virginity."

"Huh… huuuh… hnnnnnng~?" The glint in Sumika's eyes just fluttered to reflect an abnormal light as she slowly raised her fist to her teeth and bit down harshly on the index finger.

The staring contest going on between the three of us was beginning to get uncomfortable, and that was on top of how uncomfortable it was already in the room since we all communicated via telepathy. The group of regular humans minus me were intentionally letting their questioning gazes be known.

"Dibs."

"FUC—! I mean- freak! It's not fair, Kasumi-chan! It's NOT FAIR! You always take it! Imagine this like the two of us racing in a marathon but you have a car!"

"I can't drive."

"Freaking you know what I mean! You can't have him this time! I want him! I WANT HIM!"

"But you can't retract my dibs, I won't allow it."

"Sounds unlucky, Sumika."

"-Ahem! My intuitions tell me this is not the introductory confluence amongst the three of you. As in that case, I suggest we relocate to a more suitable location for this eventual joyous reunification. Under this pretext, May I suggest heading to the PX?" Gloriously interrupting us with her antiquated pattern of speech, Meiya did bring a valid point of us standing around like idiots.

"All I heard was '~hur-hur-hur-hur~ look at me I'm old!' Mitsurugi-san, was it? That's kinda weird! Takeru-chan! Why does she talk like that!?" The eyes that found themselves trained onto the red-haired girl by her boldness stared on in disbelieve.

"…Kagami… Sumika, I must ask you to repeat yourself, Kagami Sumika. For I believe there was a qualified gradation of misinterpretation on my part, were you saying something?"

If this was my old world and was in the sixties and Sumika was the USA and Meiya the U.S.S.R, the nukes launched would damage the earth about as much as that iceberg did to the Titanic.

PX

By the hand of God or some other miracle, the shots fired between Sumika and Meiya somehow ended with their initial blows. The scene had calmed down enough for Tama to post an innocent question around the time we found some seats in the PX.

"So, Kagami-san. Why did you join the squad?"

"I… err, was in a coma… actually, for three years after the BETA built their— wait, that's kinda spoiler-ish, I'm not allowed to talk about it. Anyway, I was in a coma for quite some time, I woke up about a couple of months ago and just got back on my feet." The lies mingled with spices of truth sounded plausible enough, if only she just avoided talking about it altogether and stuck to the question it would've been better.

"Insightful backstory, Kagami. However, I believe the inquiry imposed upon you was for what reason did you enlist in our Squadron." Meiya asked, applying an atypical strategy of passive aggressively mocking Sumika.

"Picky, huh? Also prickly. Whatever. You guys know Professor Kouzuki? I'm kinda a big deal for her so she's keeping me around. But I enlisted here because I wanna be with Takeru-chan! You're welcome, Takeru-chan!"

"Eat yourself."

"~Om-nom-nom-nom~ tasty!" Sumika feigned a lunge at me and tried to lick my face in a very non-erotic or cute way, only creepy.

"This woman's weird, girls. I'd apologize for her if it's my fault but it ain't, try to get along, yeah?"

"Of course, Takeru. After all, a constructive team is comprised of many unique individuals."

"Some are more unique than others though! And some are just plain useless." Spitting hot fire, on an elementary school level.

This whole dynamic going on, I wasn't extremely fond of. Sumika showed up for half an hour and she was turning into Chizuru's Ayamine for Meiya.

"Well, I think it's great that we suddenly gained so much new member in such a short time. The upcoming exam should be made much easier that way too." Class rep appeared to share my notion of growing sick of the quibble between the samurai and the android.

"And if they are Takeru-san's friends, then I'm sure we have nothing to worry about! Just look at Yashiro-san and her shooting earlier!" Tama happily added.

"That assertion I shall agree to. In reality, I see you as a likely prospect of great potential, Kagami Sumika. There lies no doubt in my mind that you stand as a competent personage of variable skills."

"Thanks, Mitsurugi-san. And I'm sure you can chop a lot of things with that sword!"

"…How do all of you seemingly know about the existence of Minaru Kamui?"

Was this how my old days were like? I wanted to believe yes.

—

The evening period for the PX was always eerily devoid of life, I could spot a couple of soldiers scattered around the café, but they were all dudes doing their own thing without a care for anyone else.

The Squadron had all left for their rooms one by one after dinner, I too returned for a shower and some quality gaming before venturing out again with another goal in mind, one I wasn't too keen on sharing with the girls of the training Company.

If only I can just buy some Bubble Tape I'll be solving two problems with one childishly laughable gum.

"I spy with my little spy… a Takeru-chan trying to buy some cigarette! I can't believe what I'm seeing, Takeru-chan!" That high-pitched yelping voice echoed loudly in the empty PX, almost attracting unwanted attention to my purchase.

"You mean a 'Takeru-chan who already bought a box', check it, this's my master card." Sumika was not very interested in the military issued credit card gifted by Yuuko-sensei.

"Smoking's bad for you, Takeru-chan! You're cancerous enough already, you really want more cancer!?" So, as it turned out Sumika wasn't even sincerely trying to stop me.

"Shut your mouth, woman. This's just a habit… I haven't smoked for decades or something."

"Well, it's not like I don't trust you or anything. I know you haven't touched anything hard in a long time. You actually-actually don't like drugs, huh?"

"Is that supposed to be weird?" Why she had to say it like I was in the wrong? Sure, I did try a lot of that stuff when I was young, but nothing stuck more than this mild fixation on tobacco which I already cured.

"Not really, it makes sense. Although it's just kinda lucky, you're allergic to marijuana, meth, and maybe heroin too. You're a natural anti-drug symbol! Literally the DEA's poster boy."

"How does that… in any way make any sliver of sense? On a side note though, not weed too? Well, I sorta remember wanting to try it out, guess that solves that question. Regardless, I won't smoke this, promise."

"I know you won't, you aren't that easy to tempt, Takeru-chan."

"Exactly, I am a man of principals and iron-will."

"~Huhu~ I feel like I should put that to the test."

Giggling sweetly, Sumika's blushed cheeks leaned daringly close and planted a deep kiss on my lips. When our mouths parted, the string of wet saliva followed her movement until it snapped apart as she blew a breath of moist air on the rim of my right ear while nibbling on its edge. At the same time, Sumika's tender, smooth fingers drew a wavy line across the side of my face, eventually reaching back around to pinch my bare neck.

"C'mon Takeru-chan, you should've known I never respected dibs."

"That's just plain rude, woman. Don't you ladies have a Bro-code too? Like a Hoe-code?

"We do, sure. But rule one in the Hoe-code says to value our pleasure above all else."

"Sounds bitchy, I dunno, Maybe I should consult Kasumi."

"A better idea, how about you pretend… ~to be my prisoner for the night?"

"Huh… bold."

"…~I want you to make me feel~ like I'm the only girl in the world~…" For unknown reasons, other than triggering my memories of seductive Sumika thanks to her scarce act of seduction, her last sentence also made me remember crashing my car.

—

Updated on 13/08/2017

Author's note

If you read the old version of my chapter, pls forget about it. That's hopefully what a rewrite does though. Anyway, thanks for reading. If you got anything hit me up.

BETA done by chad001