Shirogane Takeru

November 1, 2001

Classroom

"No, you don't understand, Takeru-chan! She shot an Eishi through a half metre crack in his cockpit while midair in a chopper from five hundred metres away. All while the helo and the TSF were maneuvering through the air at different velocities!"

Uh-huh, Tama could probably do that too.

"Maybe but it'd have taken her twice as long to acquire the shot, we definitely, totally would be dead by then! Kasumi-chan is a sharpshooter, she seeks and shoots fast, that's what she does!"

How about that, Kasumi. Sumika's praising you.

"My face blushes." Her face did not blush, although I wasn't exactly in a situation where that was perceivable.

"You two ready? Is the blindfold on too tight?"

After class rep had her fun rubbing her silky hands through my hair pretending to tie the blinder, she switched over to do the same for Sumika. As for how we were baited into this gun assembly competition together, I couldn't tell.

"You kids ever play Russian roulette? Know how it's kinda about testing your luck by putting a bullet in a revolver and shooting? This's like that but giving me seven bullets in case one of them is a dud."

"We invented that, Takeru-san." The bunny girl certainly took her Slav pride without a dose of irony.

Firing range

"Humm… two minutes and thirteen seconds, that's a bit slow, you know, Takeru-chan?" If it wasn't for her literally whispering into my earlobe, I definitely wouldn't trust my hearing. And Sumika had the audacity to grin that delightedly about her supposed easy victory over me in our race to put together a Type-91.

"You stupid retarded dimwit, you assembled it in fifty-seven seconds! Which part of 'in training' did you not understand? I could just about shove seventeen thousand markers into everyone's mouths with how wild they're gaping open!"

"It was pretty good, though, right? For a blindfolded full strip, only twice as slow as a field strip!"

"…Alright, okay. It was some solid stuff, I'm proud of you, Sumika. But the others are probably feeling more than pride right now. Actually… where are they, even?"

"I dunno, they were all thinking about needing some private time, it's weird."

The view behind us as we made our way to the shooting range was almost deserted from any signs of life, last I saw of the others they were still hanging out in the classroom probably exchanging admiration and amazement at our earlier feat. Although far in the distance, I could just about spot the outline of a Yashiro Kasumi haggardly jogging to catch to us.

"…Halt… please… wait." A worn-out Kasumi dragged her feet through the dirt and begged us not to ditch her past five metres. For a shooter as sharp as this young esper, I thought her physical condition would be a step above fictional.

"I like that stamina, Kasumi. You're hella fit."

"…My body… is deemed petite and delicate… hah… it is not designed for physical activities."

"The only place you can say that is under my bed sheets, missy. If we ever start popping dudes on foot you won't be too happy to run at a snail's pace."

"You've to start lifting, Kasumi-chan. You're like an autumn leaf right now, I can probably snap you with my fingers." Why Sumika chose such a disturbing example of Kasumi's fragility, I really didn't understand.

"Anyway, we're here. Show me how good you shoot, woman." Knowing this pink-haired robot, she wouldn't refuse the slimmest of chances to impress me.

"Get ready to have your breath taken away, Takeru-chan! Although which target you want me to shoot at? And how?" Eagerly inserting a single magazine into the bullpup rifle, Sumika keenly pressed the weapon's stock steadily into her shoulder and pulled back on the cocking handle.

"Go for the hundred-metre target. Full-auto, no restrictions."

"Roger, roger! Going hot!"

"That's only for pilots…! Whatever, just shoot." So Sumika naturally clicked the trigger for the firing pin to smash down, and there wasn't anything I could complain about after that.

Accuracy, fire stance, recoil control and overall RoF were all exceeding my expectations, maybe it didn't leave me suffocating for oxygen as the energetic 00 Unit had hoped, but it more than sufficed for any type of combat engagements we could possibly face as infantry.

"~Shot through the heart~! And you're to blame! Darlin', you give love~ a bad name!" A false claim; after exhausting all of her ammunition, the majority which struck the steel target's chest vaporized on contact, it definitely didn't shoot through any heart.

"Oh, wow, a song I actually know! How about that, Sumika. Do more of those and I'll be happier."

"Sure, grandpa. I'll reference more old people stuff just for you…"

"Aw, how kind of you, my—"

"-Or… or! I can make you a mixtape of all the future music! Ohmygod that's so genius how come I didn't think of this earlier— EXCEPT I DID! Take this, Takeru-chan!" Spitting out words faster than an M134 minigun, Sumika hung her rifle by its straps while pulling out some kind of hard drive and very arrogantly stuck it in my face.

"Wut."

"What you mean 'wut', take this USB, you dummy! I made this just for you! I spent days practicing and singing these songs so you can get a taste of the superior 21st century music! And I promise the quality, there's so no way my singing voice could be bad!"

"Huh… no shit? I know you can sing, especially English songs, but you're confident enough to actually put it on tape? I recognize your courage, woman. I'll accept this present and be happy… I am now happy."

Item received: Kagami Sumika's homemade mixtape x1.

—

"Oi! Takeru! Don't pretend you can't hear us!"

"Hum? No, I was just having a heart attack, but it's the special kind of heart attack where you forget everything that happened in the last half a minute." Miraculously recovering from my near-death experience, I came to the realization that the rest of my Company had all gathered by the firing range along with us the elites.

"Haa… I dunno why I bother… but to repeat myself: as a collective, the original members of 207th Training Squadron is proposing a gamble with our newest three members. Do you accept?" Staying true to her name, Chizuru wonderfully represented the team which stood boldly behind while she retold their aim to challenge us.

"What're we betting on? And for what?"

"A sniping competition between any of you and Tamase. If you lose, you'll have to answer one of our questions to completion and it'll be the same if we lose."

What do you girls think? We have more to hide than they do.

"Dew it, DO IT!"

"According to my calculation, my hit miss ratio within two thousand metres is slightly higher compared to Tamase-san. I recommend we accept this gamble."

Green lights were lit from my two companions, however, I wasn't exactly fond of their strategy.

"Tama, so you agreed to this, huh?"

"Y-yes, I-I did! It's not meant to be a secret but when it comes to sniping, I'm quite confident…! At least a bit! And more importantly you three have been doing everything better than us after coming here a-and we don't wanna be behind forever."

I saw her little fists clenching together in front of her chest as a beam of stirring will from her eyes glimmered vibrantly in hope of letting her deep determination reach me. If Tamase was still hassled by her usual shy and panicky personality, then it was a desire to overcome that weakness which led her to face us directly.

"And Instructor is fine with this?" I turned to Marimo-chan who only discreetly observed from the afar.

"As long as you all behave within regulation, I trust you to not step out of line in any case." If she was also curious about our back story, Marimo-chan was hiding it pretty well.

"In that case, I see that you mean business, cool. Let's do this, bring out the toys and we'll shoot, you against me."

"Wait, really?"

"Takeru-san, I must inform you it is ill-advised to challenge Tamase-san yourself. I am objectively more suited for long range engagement." It was natural for the two girls on my side to be somewhat reluctant for me to take this role.

Listen here, I'm no punk-ass bitch, yeah? I can do my own thing just fine, you think because Kasumi here is Neo that makes me forget how to hold a gun? I got this. After sharing a knowing glance, Sumika shrugged off her worry and Kasumi replied with her classic one nod.

"O-okay! Let's go with two chances each at the one thousand metre target! Whoever's closer wins!" Simple rules with great ambition, couldn't disagree.

With her oversized Barrett M95 in hand, Tamase took her usual prone position and tinkered incisively with the scope adjustments for the optimal zeroing and bullet trajectory. It was a nostalgic view; dismissing her non-existent booty, I remembered often playing the role of Tama's spotter many times in the past, we worked as a sniper cell and made our shots count on a wide variety of targets.

"Okay, I'm ready here! Please watch carefully!" So she aimed, and she shot.

"Seven, outside the black." With the bullseye as ten, it was already an impressive feat to hit that close to the centre on her first shot. But knowing Tama, even if it didn't show on her serious face, the young girl was disappointed in her initial performance.

"You know, Tama. The first shot through the barrel is always the least accurate, you know why?"

"It's a cold bore shot, when the barrel hasn't heated up yet." Tama spoke distinctively without taking her sight off the scope to rechamber another round.

"That's right, so it makes sense that—"

"-But Takeru-san, that's only a myth." The times where Tama interrupted me could be counted on one hand, so it wasn't too ridiculous to count me as sparsely surprised when that number rose so suddenly.

While my brain ran dry for a retort, another bullet set sail for the heart of its mark.

"I'm seeing a… holy crap, a nine well in the black, on the bullseye line! That's incredible, Tamase!" Class rep was quick to praise the blushing girl after she climbed onto her feet.

"Ahehe… I believed I'd make that shot, and I did! Although it felt a bit strange, having Takeru-san watching me gave me a boost to confidence!" Her innocent smile added a comforting taste to my inevitable defeat, seeing the aptitude beginning to take shape was already more than enough to satisfy me.

"Very good, very good… now I'll try this thing…" However, I was no quitter.

Receiving the M95, I wasted no time with silly adjustments or even dirtying my uniform on the mat. If I couldn't beat Tama when it came to skill, I might as well as try my luck.

"Shot out! …And… shot out!" Two rounds, back to back. Did I aim? Maybe just a bit.

"Takeru! What're you even doing?! You didn't even try to aim that shot! Even if you think you can't win it isn't right to give up!" Class rep obviously had that bone to pick with me, so she immediately complained up a nice thunderstorm as always.

"You claim that, Sakaki. Yet despite all potentiality of a predestined failure, Takeru has not surrendered his game. If you be so wise to exanimate the paper sheet for yourself. I can unreservedly state that I see a bullet hole in the black between eight and nine on the line."

"There's no way…! That's… but that's…!"

"Takeru… buy lottery with me…" Those were more in line with events that had a high likelihood of taking place.

"Y'all know what you actually need? Jesus, the RNGesus."

Classroom

"—Okay, that's enough for today, dismissed!"

"—Salute!" Thus Marimo-chan was done with her whole teaching thing for the day and left.

"Alright then, I'm hungry, you hungry? I'm hungry so let's go grab some goods, yeah?"

"Not so fast, Takeru. You're not getting away from the bet."

How could this happen? I thought they all had goldfish memories.

"Humm… we promised you a single question, right? Fine, I can't talk about classified information but I won't use that as an excuse, ask away."

"I'm glad that you're honouring our game, Takeru. But we're not asking our question yet, it should be the right of everyone to have a say so we'll wait until Yoroi comes back and she gets a good grasp on you three." What Class rep proposed sounded reasonable and altruistic, they wouldn't want to waste such an opportunity to ask me for my favourite food.

"Still… you ain't human, buddy." Ayamine inserted her controversial opinion just as we were about to leave.

—

"Oh no, oh-no! Watch out, watch out, watch out!"

"-Huh-? Ahh-AAAAAAA!"

"OHMYGOD! RKO outta nowhere! She wasn't even ready for it! What an amazing knock-out!"

"You two are terrible human beings, I can't believe you did this."

Kasumi's finger pointing was getting under my skin just a tiny bit, if she knew someone was about to round the corner and smack her right in the face for the millionth time she too would want a perfectly executed knock-out to be performed. As for Sumika's commentary, that I wasn't responsible for.

"Oooow~! ow-ow-ow…! That really hurts a lot! Why was I thrown on the ground?"

"Hey, you okay? Gotta watch where you're going, never know when Randy Orton could just knock you right out." I stretched my hand for the cyan-haired dumbass, she clumsily steadied herself and climbed back onto her feet.

"Hey! You actually remember Randy the wrestler! I'm surprised, Takeru-chan!"

"True… you're correct." And that was all I had to say about that.

"You know, I just came outta the hospital, I really don't wanna go back after so soon!" like the good-old Mikoto, she completely ignored mine and Sumika's side conversation to transform her thoughts into words without consideration.

"Then don't be spooking dudes, my dude. You be acting like the ~Spooky Scary Skeleton~!"

For my first time seeing Mikoto again after appearing in the new world, this wasn't half-bad of an introduction. She was always her usual aloof self, her and her brain which was missing a couple screws since the dawn of time. But that was fine too, there wasn't a single thing I wished to change about our team's utility master.

Mikoto was fine as she was, and her return reformed the team into what it was supposed to be all along.

"Ahh! I saw that show before! Somewhere! It's too bad we don't have much western tv shows here, you know? But I did get to watch a lot of tv while in the hospital and there was this one—"

"-Yoroi-san!' Tama took the mess of a talk off my hands before Mikoto could beat me at my own game of being retarded.

"Aaaaah! Miki-san! It's been forever—"

"-Oh? …what are you doing here?"

"Ah, Chizuru-san!"

"…Yoroi? To be reunited so soon?"

"Meiya-san too! And Kei-san, hi there!"

"So, what happened? I heard someone scream." I determined it was unwise and unnecessary to re-enact our first meeting without being shielded by the safety net of the squared circle.

"She ran into me and I ran her into the ground, I'm really just an immovable object."

"Yoroi, you are not hurt?"

"It's okay, my bones are strong! And spooky!"

"…Whatever. Let me introduce you then, Yoroi. These three here are our new teammates." Class rep pointed in our direction, Mikoto set a bright mood in plain view to represent her vigorous excitement.

"So you guys are the new members then!"

"Uh-huh, I'm Shirogane Takeru. Like you, I am a man." Mikoto tilted her head to the side, an array of expressions shifted across her face.

"You really shouldn't listen to anything Takeru-chan says. I think the only thing you two have in common is that you're both kinda weird, but Mikoto-chan's weird is different from being ~mentally ~disabled! Takeru-chan!" Sumika happily squeezed in to ruin her impression of me.

"Mikoto-san. I'm Yashiro Kasumi." Might as well just kept her mouth shut if Kasumi couldn't invent a gag on the spot.

"Takeru-san, Sumika-san and Yashiro-san! It's great to have three new members! I was in the hospital for a while so I wasn't here when you guys first came!"

"Good news for you, Captain Obvious."

"Well anyway, I've got to hurry up and see our Instructor! If not I'll be late for lunch! Bye, I'll see you later, everyone!" And there she went, such a free spirit.

"-Ah, that's right." Except then she came back.

"Hm? What is it?"

"Let's shake." She merrily grabbed my hand and waved it up and down in a motion that technically would be disqualified for a handshake before doing it to Kasumi and Sumika as well.

"I'm looking forward to training with you!" That was the flat girl's final call prior to disappearing from our sight.

"We should get going too, we don't have much time." Class rep reminded us to fill our stomach unless we craved starvation.

"Takeru, Kagami, Yashiro. The PX is my recommendation for the location of our next jaunt."

"It's yakisoba today…"

"That's your favourite, right, Ayamine-san?"

Another calm day.

November 2, 2001

Shirogane's room

"Takeru-chan! What do you think of these?!"

"Don't fucking talk so loudly, woman. It's tooooo early."

"Sure, sure. But what do you think?"

I dunno, looks kinda gay.

"But I'm a girl though, totally!"

Then it's fine, just get your panties outta my face. I don't give a flying fuck either way.

"Geez! You have like- zero appreciation for the feminine charm! You'll never be married at that rate!"

Okay, thanks, mom. In that case, I'm asexual as much as you enjoy incest.

"Are you implying I won't do you if you're related to me?"

"Wait… what? You're the only child, right? You are the only child?"

"Shush, shush! Keep your voice down, Takeru-chan! Kasumi-chan moved to the room across the hall last week, remember?"

Oh, yeah. I'm surprised you were still able to sneak in after that, you hella stealthy, girl. But then won't she notice what you're doing?

"Haha, no way! I always make sure to fake her senses before I come here, I'm like an F-22, but even more sneaky! She can't feel me unless I want her to feel me."

Your powers, you're really using it better nowadays, huh?

"Yep, yep! The Buffwhite device sensei put in my hairpin is basically useless if I concentrate, but I'll show you just how strong I'm getting some other time."

You think playing around with Yuuko-sensei's failsafe is a good idea though? She might find out, and she won't be happy if she finds out.

"I'm not afraid of her, Takeru-chan! If she's a genius she'll know not to mess with me. And it's not a problem for you to worry about. You just focus on saving the world and that stuff, I'll protect you, promise!"

…I'll allow it, you do good by me, Sumika. I… acknowledge and respect you for who you're to me.

"Thanks, Takeru-chan! I love you, I love you forever!"

Anyway, time for you to GTFO. I gotta take a shower before Kasumi comes to wake me. By the way, can you still smell it? In the room, I mean.

"No, it smells fine now. I'll see you later, Takeru-chan."

Training Field

"Stoooop, give it up already! I'm like the Jackie Chan! The Bruce Lee! The Toshiro Mifune! The Asian Chuck Norris! I can whoop your ass in three seconds flat and still have two seconds to pick my nose!"

"Non-… nonsense! A martial artist has no place so rudely affronting their opponent! Haa… haa… with all due respect, Takeru. You fight without the inner honour of a warrior, perhaps more akin to a brawler, or a vandal."

"Well, this vandal sure as hell is putting your ass in the mud, Meiya! Get the fuck up!"

As soon as my taunt tainted the air with that satirical mix of mockery and motivation, a rain of blows from her plastic knife flew fast as lighting from many angles towards me. Meiya struck with precision and robustness stocked in every jab, slash and thrust, but there was only so much she could do under the pretext of training. Fortunately or unfortunately, the same stayed true by me.

"Hah- hah… aha! Gotcha-bitch!" When one of her fateful stabs came so close to grace my left ear, I grabbed that outstretched hand of hers and threw her over my shoulder, making all Judo coaches around the world proud.

"Woohoo! Hell yes! Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee! The hands can't hit what the eyes can't see!" I stepped away from Meiya as she sluggishly got back up onto her feet, by that time I could notice a part of her fighting spirit had already escaped through her eyes.

"I… I am not ashamed to meet defeat at your hands, Takeru. Thus, I shall tolerate this unassailable humiliation. Laugh now if you will, however, forget me not for I swear to one day earn mastery that of which surpasses even your aptitude." The young samurai bowed down before me humbly, fortunately, there was still plenty of time left for her to improve massively in all subjects.

"Well… I wasn't really expecting this, to be honest. You're pretty good already with a knife, girl, there's literally nothing wrong with losing to me at this point. You remember who I really am, right? Don't beat yourself up over something so trivial. Also, I'm kinda sure you got that thousand-folded blade stashed up somewhere in your room."

"While what you claim may stray no further from the truth than reality itself, I still shall not evade the consequences of my loss. Incidentally, the competition between us is locked to short blades alone, borrowing the asset that is Minaru Kamui would be a dishonesty to the rules." So self-righteous, was she too self-righteous?

"Ahh- hmm, that's a bit going too far, I thin—" If a flying body didn't interrupt my sentence, I'd have said something about how fighting a Meiya with her katana is more on-par to me.

However, the corpse of one short-haired trollster cut across the sky and smashed away our discussion and probably a few of her ribs. Analyzing her short but painful course through the air I could conclude without a doubt that Ayamine was sent flying by a force of great momentum that a normal human being shouldn't be capable of.

"Arrgghh… fuckin… what…?" With the actual manifestation of agony growing on her face. The poor girl squirmed raggedly on the dirt ground until she gathered enough strength to pull her injured body upright and face her attacker.

"What in the world…! For Ayamine to be slung over such an enormous distance!"

"Jesus Christ. Overkill much, woman?" I didn't understand why she had to be this way, which part of her physical violence could be used for close combat anyway?

"Snake, try to remember some of the basics of CQC." Towering over her defeated opponent, Sumika demonstrated the actually meaning rubbing salt over a flesh wound.

"Kagami… you female ape… get over here…!" Taking the scarce initiative given to her by a boasting Sumika, Ayamine leapt off the ground and recoiled her fist for a devastating punch.

Sadly, Sumika just kinda weaved her hand and slapped the girl back in the chest. Strictly speaking, it was an open-palmed strike applied to the centre of mass on Ayamine, but seeing the 00 Unit performing anything professionally just made it appear silly.

"GG no RE! you tried, Ayamine-san. That's what really matters!" While Ayamine took her time choking and coughing after being bashed down ruthlessly, Sumika still merrily gloated on as if she didn't even break a sweat during their skirmish.

"Ayamine! Are you unhurt?! There are bruises visible over a vast area of your skin!"

"…Mitsurugi, don't do it… she's too strong for you… it's all over for me… save yourself… run." And then Ayamine died in Meiya's arms, literally.

"Awwa, well guess it's over then. I thought she'd provide a challenge to me." Behaving like the classic Shonen villain she was, Sumika shook her head and was ready to exit the scene after leaving her real opponent with the dying wish of the one she slew.

"…Halt! Kagami Sumika! If you would be so kind to spare me a fragment of your moment during your hectic hour, I feel I must bring a proper conclusion to your battle against Ayamine."

"Huuh? And what's you want, Mitsurugi-san? I'm not really busy right now since it's free training, but I do wanna snuggle up with Takeru-chan if there's nothing else!" Good for Sumika on finding a way to drag me into this.

"Abiding by that rationale, I must regrettably ask you to postpone your longing for Takeru. For I believe there is a need for you to apologize to Ayamine."

"…Yeah, say sorry." I personally didn't think the corpse's words should count.

"Whaa? But she's the one who lost! How is it my fault Ayamine-san couldn't hold out? And she picked the fight too, saying how she's gonna kick my bum!" That sounded credible enough, Ayamine did enjoy starting shit.

"Regardless of the foundation of this inefficacious duel, I do not recall the purpose of today's training was to strike each other to the point of corporeal exhaustion. Rather we were meant to study the correct mindset of a warrior amidst the battlefield, of which you have performed poorly."

"Blah, blah, blah! Blah, blah, blah! You just won't stop talking with those super complicated words, won't you, Mitsurugi-san! If you really are so unhappy with me winning then we can rough it up too!"

"Exactly as I desired. I am now announcing my intention challenge you in combat!" Like any good main protagonist, Meiya shed a single droplet of tear as she tenderly released the dead chick's cold body.

"Oh, wha? I was kinda joking about tha-… whatever! More importantly, you didn't even defeat Takeru-chan, how could you stand a chance against me? I've never lost to him, not even once!"

Buzz, buzz. My bullshit detector is picking up a big fat pile of crap.

"Shaddup, Takeru-chan! I'm about to have me some fun! And if you don't bother us you'll see some fun too.

I said nothing, what do you mean I was warning you two not to kill each other? I highly doubt they were capable of harming the other in any serious manner at this stage in their training, but I had been wrong before.

"Your underestimation of my abilities will be your downfall, Kagami. I shall serve you the crisp taste of this plastic blade."

"C'mon, Mitsurugi-san you know that's not true! I know you're not used to the reach of a tiny knife, go fetch that big ol' Imperial katana of yours, I'll be patient and wait."

"Unrequired, Kagami. You yourself are unequipped with any tools to enhance your own capabilities."

"If you think that you're wrong! I'll get my own weapon too, obviously. Or what? Afraid that you can't win even with a mighty sword given to you by the Empire? Guess that make sense though, you'll be shaming the Shogun… Kouboi or something?" Two things captured my interest as the feud between Sumika and Meiya escalated; how the android got herself a weapon and how she had the guts to insult the samurai's heritage.

"Wow, wow. That's like- a bit much, Sumika. Even I wouldn't say that…"

"Kagami Sumika! You have spoken enough! You stand to be a member of the 207th Squadron, therefore my teammate and my acquaintance. Nonetheless, I only just realized how I find your attitude and personality to be absolutely disagreeable."

"Then why don't you do something about it, Mitsurugi Meiya!? I never liked how high and mighty you always sound!" We were really turning up the temperature on the field to eleven, even when November's chill was freezing the air I could still feel the raging heat of passion dripping from the two absorbed combatants.

"Our desires align, Kagami. My return shall be swift, however no swifter than your defeat."

"Yeah, whatever. BRB so I can kick your dumb butt!"

While the contestants retreated to prepared themselves for war, I cleared the fresh remains of the dead off the course.

"Oh, man. I'm actually a bit excited to see them throw down, I can't remember the last time we had a good PvP fist fight!"

"…Not worried about them hurting each other?" Ayamine whispered her murmured into my ear as I leaned her against a tree for shelter and a good view of the arena.

"Nah, nothing wrong with boys getting a bit dirty with one another. That's how growing up is like."

"…We're all females here."

"And I'm all about gender equality."

—

"For your own safety, I shall not unleash Minaru Kamui from its sheath. However, if the tools you have prepared are keen blades, feel unreserved negligence in unbridling them."

"… Don't really understand what you said, but what I normally use are blunt!"

Zealously stating her readiness to fight. Sumika drew from her special duffle bag a pair of wooden tonfas. The reflective pale colour of the processed oak left behind a blurred line as she spun them by the handle in both hands, one clockwise and the other counterclockwise.

"Tonfas… now that is a close-range tool I have not had the pleasure to witness in action in ages."

"Oh, don't worry. I'll make sure you get a good look at them, the best look, in fact."

"I shiver at the idea, however are you properly trained with these tools, Kagami?"

"What? They're like sticks, Mitsurugi-san! I'm just gonna hit you! Although I did consider brass knuckle or Tekko, those are a bit too lame though, so I went with these bad boys! -Ah! Takeru-chan! What is your humble opinion!?" Sumika did a little spinning jig as she bragged on about her twigs, even asking for my input in that matter.

"You fucking Edgelord!" I shouted back at her, just covered by the leaves of the tree above sitting beside Ayamine.

"Well, I expected nothing less, to be honest." Sumika shook her head to fake disappointment.

"We shall start whenever you stand ready, Kagami. Furthermore, with your prowess, this shall not take long."

"Then I'm ready right now! Let's GO!"

—

"It's… it's still going, they might die like this, Takeru…"

"Yeah, well. I think that's an ending they'll both be happy with. We really should strive to do what pleases us the most in life, you know?"

"Understandable… that's my philosophy."

So like any good fight between longtime rivals or short-termed rivals, or just regular enemies. It was the part where they beat the shit outta each other that remained to be the reason why people were so attracted to violence. Sitting alongside Ayamine watching the entire pleasant ordeal take place was certainly a unique experience, even by my standards.

"Oooh… Meiya just got bashed on the skull! Jesus this's hella messy…" Maybe it wouldn't be too strange for me to be worried about their health.

"…How will the instructor be okay with this?"

"She will be if she doesn't know. Besides, this's like watching Rocky II here with how hard they're kicking each other's shit. I dig it, good stuff." Ayamine silently contemplated my words before returning her sight to the field.

When the fight first started both girls were braced for the inevitability of eventually receiving a clean hit, so their stance was cautious, their senses tuned to be sprung at the slightest movement. However, as the fight prolonged and they both were credited with some solid hits, it became more a savage beatdown than a civilized duel.

The samurai fully utilized the advantage of her treasured sword as her strikes were always fleet and rapid. Meiya's training elevated her to a position higher on the skill chart than Sumika, her expertise with her katana delivered that edge faster and steadier than Sumika's blows whenever the android was too slow to block.

But for those precious moments when Sumika did connect her tonfas to any part of Meiya's body, the damage was rather extremely overwhelming. Being the none-organic 00 Unit, her smacks were on a power level incomparable to a normal human. If Meiya didn't avert the full-blown force of her attacks she could no joke be dead.

Eventually though, Meiya's speed decreased at an equal pace to Sumika's burliness. Both girls suffered immense tiredness from the lengthy exercise, the reddish bruises scattered all over their body proved to be the testament of their will to continue the contest for as long as possible.

"…Might be over, Takeru…"

"…Yeah, agreed. Think you can move now? We gotta hop out." If the responsibility for preventing serious injuries to my teammates during training was mine, they should've left a memo.

"…Okay… dunno these losers."

If this really was a climactic battle scene, then no doubt the dramatic moment would be when both of those completely wearied girls threw caution to the wind and strived for one final swing to end the battle. But since their fight had literally no meaning, they looked absolutely stupid earning a double knockout as everyone else finally noticed the commotion and summoned Sergeant Jinguuji.

PX

"Man… oh, man… this's actually so gold… look at you two, you two are like idiots. If you were chickens you'd be like Kentucky Fried idiots! Marimo-chan literally had fire bursting outta her ears when the nurse was patching you two up, you kids are something special, I'm telling ya."

Claiming the PX at noon was a gloomy environment was probably the understatement of the century. After their grand showdown, Marimo-chan had these spiteful trainees patched up in the medical bay while shouting every insult in the instructor's book at them, also confiscating their nice weapons until further notice.

"Instructor Jinguuji's overreaction was substantially superfluous, withstanding abuse should be considered a common trait in soldiers." Meiya commented as she swallowed her lunch while maintaining her dignified aspect.

"It wasn't even that big of a deal, honestly! Look at me! I'm still in great shape as— ow-ow-ow-ow!" What brought me relative surprise was the injury Sumika sustained wasn't all that apart from Meiya, so either she too had the capabilities of a regular human in terms of endurance, or the purple-haired girl was a hidden beast in disguise.

"I can't believe you just watched them and did nothing, Takeru." Class rep was quick to point fingers.

"Implying it's my job to babysit? Hello? We're military dudes, right? Why'd I wanna stop them from duking it out?"

"But there's a limit to how far things should go! Look at these two! They're hurt all over!"

"Well… well…"

I was willing to admit her allegation had no shred of fallacy whatsoever. Both Meiya and Sumika were covered by bruises and band-aids from head to toe, some more severe injuries included a trauma gash on Meiya's forehead above her left eye that just happened to be gushing blood minutes before we patched her up with the doctor.

For Sumika, she received a straight, nice cut across the right side of her cheeks at an incline about forty degrees down from her ear. Since Meiya never once drew her steel blade, the slash represented the terrifying proficiency of which that royalty wielded her katana. And all that wasn't even including what sensei would do once she found out about Sumika's little accident.

"I'm seriously worried here! Can you two even participate in the exam? It's only in two weeks and I don't think those scars will heal in time!"

"Gratuitous agitation, Sakaki. Mere flesh wounds shall be of no concern during the examination, it will not stand as a hindrance to my abilities."

"Same here! Not the first time I bled while doing sports anyway." Their reassurance seemed to have settled class rep's nerves.

"Haa… still, you two are really brutal during that fight, I was honestly scared to step in until the very end… and to think I thought what I held against Ayamine was hatred. Do the two of you even know each other to… you know, do this?"

Class rep's insightful inquiry connected the gazes of those two vengeful rivals, they stared on into each other's eyes for what felt like an eternity until finally Meiya was the one to crack under the pressure.

"I shall state this, Kagami Sumika. I do not dislike you, for there lies no vendetta between us. However, the sight of you heightens my recognition of restlessness… I vow upon my own name, you have taken something from me before, something that was a part of myself. Therefore, even if my only evidence in your misdeed is my belief, I cannot allow myself to let down my guard."

Perhaps the sharpest thing Meiya owned wasn't her precious katana, but her vigilant mind.

"…Interesting you'd say that, Mitsurugi-san. Lemme ask you this, do you believe in the afterlife and resurrection? It's like the things they talk about in Shinto."

"I… am unsure whether it is the right time for my faith to be laid upon a religion."

"I see, well I don't believe that stuff either. Anyway, I guess I must've offended you in our previous life… or we're fated to be enemies forever. But that's not what I want, it's not right for us to fight on everything. If I have to say it, I'm sorry for whatever I did in the past and how I make you remember bad memories."

I listened, but I chose to not comment on the predicament two of the most important people in my life had found themselves in. It wasn't my place to direct their feelings of the heart. Even God admitted to not wishing for the will of man to be controlled, and just because I was a bit better than God didn't mean it was my right to do what he didn't.

"Kagami… you receive my appreciation for understanding my absurd demands. Perhaps the you that subsists before me can assist me in overcoming your phantom which subsists within my mind."

"So like- I can be the Exorcist? That's pretty cool! You know what I'm talking about, Mitsurugi-san? It was like… The Power of Christ compels you! The Power of Christ compels you! The Power of Christ compels YOOOOOOU!" Sumika then proceeded to wave around her fork like a Christian Cross in the face of a greatly confused Meiya.

"…Ahem, anyway. And of course, I too must sincerely apologize for my own delusion. I am sorry, Kagami Sumika, I am to blame for driving a wedge between our mutually beneficial relationship. I hope you can find it within you to forgive my insolence." She bowed her head low, but still full of nobility as she apologized to the 00 Unit.

"Ahahaha…! It's really no big deal, Mitsurugi-san! You probably noticed already but I'm kinda a bitchy person too, and I know there're just people you can't get along with. Maybe that'll change in the future, if not, it's not something we should fight about all the time, right? Let's just makeup and not piss each other off too often."

"Huu… I find that to be a highly desirable conclusion, let us not discord on meaningless topics. I shall set aside my personal feelings regarding you and hope you too can do the same."

"Sounds good to me, there's nothing wrong with peace, after all." So apparently the trick to not ripping their adversary's limbs off was to simply have a civil discussion, I counted myself as surprised by their willingness to negotiate and just how quickly it was done.

"Alright, I'm happy you two solved your problem so fast, because we still got that first-aid training in the afternoon and lunch is almost over." By class rep's reminder, we all gobbled down our meals at a lightning pace.

—

Kasumi, hey, Kasumi.

"You summoned me, Takeru-san?"

Give me the definition of dyke.

"Dyke, often spelled d-i-k-e in British English is a naturally occurring or artificially constructed ridge, fill or wall with the purpose of regulating water levels."

Yeah, okay. You pass. That dyke had no idea what I was actually thinking about.

The afternoon lesson was so-so, Kasumi shoved her tongue down Mikoto's throat when I opted out for being the practice dummy of the CPR training. That Russian girl must had misinterpreted a medical procedure to mouth raping her teammate, but accidents like that happened all the time. Also, that chick was undeniably, positively the dictionary definition of a lesbian, just surprised nobody else noticed.

After that, there was Sergeant Major Kyozuka again behind the counter. She was alright, kinda like my mom when it came to the cooking department, but then my mom in this world was dead as shit so not really like my mom. More like Sumika with the uncalled violence, but that was alright too.

"Fuck me, look at all this. It's like the Mt. Everest of rice, how in hell am I suppose to eat all of this rice? And why is it only rice!? Can I have some soy-sauce or something?!"

"Jeez, Takeru-chan! Are you a peacock or something? Do you measure your rice intake by counting it!?"

"You shut your mouth, woman. You know I can be a pig god if I wanna be, but I consciously chose not to. Unlike some people."

"Hey! I never get fat! Never, never, never!"

"There has never been a statistical recording of Sumika-san gaining any weight since her awakening." The addition of Kasumi into our argument tipped the scales out of my favour, and a smart man like me always knew when to withdraw.

"But you know what won't make you fat? Exercising. And you know when we're gonna do the most exercising? During that damn skill evaluation thing— ugggggghh~ I don't wanna go outside though!"

"What're you even complaining about anymore, Takeru? I find it hard to believe that you haven't already passed the exam, to be honest." Some unanticipated praise from class rep strangely felt more bemusing than joyful to me.

"But what does that mean? It means work, and I totally hate working in any capacity."

"Then it'll be really unfortunate for you, the exam isn't something you can just sleep through like you do most of the classes. I don't wanna scare you but people have died out there, there won't be any help unless we wanna fail the test."

"That sounds super dangerous and stuff, where is this thing anyway?" There was nothing too mischievous about having the same conversation again but with vastly different responses from me.

"It's on a tropical island somewhere to the south, the whole place is a big jungle." Mikoto added.

"So you're basically saying it's a jungle out there, with disorder and confusion everywhere?"

"Yeah… I guess you can say that, sure." A bit puzzled, but class rep nodded regardless.

"We really have to pass this time, it's our last chance…" A bit of a sombre update brought to us by Mikoto again.

"Suzumiya… Suzumiya…" Now that was a characteristic line from Ayamine used to prick Chizuru like always.

"Ayamine… I don't need you to remind me."

"We're playing catch-up… might not make it."

"And that's why we cannot fail no matter what we do! You understand that too, right Takeru?"

"Yeah, okay. Let's just all look at me for some reason, are my clothes shining?" We got ourselves into a pretty stressful situation all of a sudden, it was obvious this topic still stuck around as a recovering wound in the mind of some members.

"It may very much be an insult to the pride of everyone present for the truth to be observed, however, the three of you persists to be our best chance at success."

"So you all could just be shit outta luck if we're not here to carry you… interesting."

"What do you mean carry? We can walk just fine on our own." Class rep let her inner peasantry run wild for a brief second.

"…Whatever, so remember how I asked you guys about the last time you did the thing and how you completely didn't pass? I wanna know why now."

"…Class rep tried to kill—" I appreciated her enthusiasm to contribute to the discussion, other than what she suggested wasn't the mindset of the group.

"-Someone that's not Ayamine, please." Again, my request was met by that common awkward silence, I was all too used to not having an easy time bringing up the team's previous defeat.

"…We had an ineffective squad leader who couldn't control her team, and subordinates who wouldn't obey orders. That about sums it up." Another age old classic excuse spewed from the direction of class rep.

"Sakaki-san…"

"Wh–why're you bringing this up again?" Tama and Mikoto were both afraid of another fight, I couldn't predict whether the events would transpire as they always did.

"The land mine got us when we obeyed your orders…"

"Ayamine-san too?"

"…There is nothing to be gained from revisiting this argument yet again, we have discussed this topic ad nauseum already." Meiya stepped in as the sensible one in her attempt to cool the heating topic.

"And we agreed it was Sakaki's fault…"

"Says the one who just left the group halfway through the mission!"

"…I'd be the lone survivor if I kept going on my own."

"Cease this pointless debate as of this moment, both of you. Ayamine, you have done nothing to consolidate with your teammates even once during the examination. Sakaki, I believe you shall be held fairly responsible for ignoring the advice of Yoroi, your second-in-command, regarding the landmine."

By Meiya's authoritative remark, the girls all quieted down voluntarily or not.

"Hmm… everyone's just kinda slapping the victim card all over themselves on this matter. Well, it's not really my business since I don't care but does Takeru-chan wants to say something?" Sumika rolled her eyes goofily while dodging out of the conversation to leave me with some serious leadership work.

"Nah, same as you. I don't really care." Reading everyone's expression, especially Chizuru's told me my reply wasn't within their realm of expectation.

"If you don't even care then why ask?"

"I thought it'd be an exciting answer, something like: we couldn't drive the DeLorean pass eighty-eight miles per hour. Or, the liquid nitrogen didn't freeze that T-1000 and now we look super lame. Or, KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNN! But it's none of those, I lost interest."

"Then you just don't have any opinion whatsoever?" Class rep didn't seem to be satisfied when I refused her the criticism she thought I had in mind.

"Well, my opinion is you lot all fucked up, maybe not to the same degree but it's mostly everybody's fault here or there. But that's in the past, right? This time you know to work together for things to end differently. And in worst case scenario, we can be your failsafe."

"Failsafe? What do you mean by this?"

"I hope you realize you won't be the squad leader for much longer? I'm not even insulting you here, class rep, but it's kinda obvious who's gonna be the boss after this. Everyone else kinda agrees, yeah? I don't want this to be awkward."

I took a quick survey to ensure nobody displayed any visual signals against my aspired ascension to the position of Squadron leader, except for Chizuru, of course. She was building up a nice, warm ball of fury in her chest at a slow and steady pace.

"…What!? None of you thinks this is wrong?!" Half angrily and half disappointingly, class rep demanded answers from the rest.

"…Takeru hasn't failed us so far, unlike someone else…"

"Sakaki, you understand that I too wholeheartedly believe in the systemic structure of the military. I will not argue against the commander on site whoever shall it be. Nevertheless, I too support the promotion of individuals who deserve to authorize and issue orders to his or her subordinates. In this particular case, it is Takeru who proven himself to be the most valiant."

I couldn't predict what Chizuru was feeling when she was rejected twice, once by the most reliable member of her team and once by the most unreliable. However, her expression wasn't that of a dispirited soul after accepting a defeat one could not recover from. There still was a fire lit in her eyes, I wanted to believe in that.

"It-it's not like it's a bad thing, Sakaki-san! Being the leader all the time must be tiring, r-right? Think of it like you're taking a break from all the work and just let Takeru-san help you instead!"

"That's good enough… I suppose… but aren't you celebrating just a bit too early, Takeru!? Nothing about this has been decided yet! Don't try to kick me off so soon, you got that!?" That shot of tsundere was what I missed dearly from class rep's personality, and it eased my mind to know she wasn't seriously holding a grudge against me.

It was good enough for the time being, they had already improved so much in such a short period.

"Ha! Ahahaha! You fools shall never overtake me in a million years~!"

Mitsurugi Meiya

Yokohama base, barracks hallway

Another regular day was coming to its subsequent end as Meiya was treading carefully through the hallways, keeping her good watchful eye on the pavement below her. The bandage that wrapped around the itching wound on her forehead only added to the salty scar in her heart. The gift left by Kagami was not only traumatic to her pride as a warrior, the remnant still strung her body as her right eye only saw a field of blurred mist causing her steps to wobble.

"…~Si-side to side~! …"

Kagami Sumika was an opponent of equal or even greater strength than Meiya, she understood that painfully through her body. But why was the girl even her nemesis in the first place? This, the samurai did not receive the answer to during their fight. There existed only a vague feeling of her heart that led to the fiction which sparked between those two young women, that feeling of rejection and sorrow Meiya tasted every time her vision landed upon Takeru and Kagami together.

"…~I seen you before? ~…~I Remember those eyes-eyes~eyes~!"

Regarding Takeru himself, Meiya couldn't help but be fascinated by that man. He was almost a complete mystery to the rest of her team, other than herself who was informed in secret about his true rank. That acknowledgement from Takeru on its own already bought a light smile to Meiya's lips, although it again redirected her mind to the idea of how Kagami must know more than she did.

"~So dance-dance like it's the last-last night of your life-life—Gon' get you right~!"

When Meiya finally realized the faint beat of music vibrating through the air wasn't a trick played on her by her drained sanity she had already pinpointed its source to a room at the end of the hallway. She was confident only cadets from her Company resided in that area of the barracks so it was plainly evident whose room it belonged to.

Self-restraint and respect clashed violently against curiosity in a bloody battle which lasted over decades in the span of a second. At the end, Meiya couldn't contain her inquisitiveness for the unknown. Those foreign lyrics sang to an atypical tempo of melody she never heard before, if she had to guess, the connotation of those electric beats was in complete contrast to everything she was taught during her upbringing.

However, the voice that performed the song she couldn't be mistaken about even in a million years. So Meiya listened devotedly, aided by the sliver of gap in his ajar room door. If only her perception didn't fail her at such a critical time she could easily spy the image on Takeru's screen in clarity.

"~Cause baby tonight! ~The DJ got us falling in love again~!"

Kagami Sumika's unique song in English accompanied by a bizarre dance Meiya barely caught on the monitor ended before she could decipher a single word in her lines. As for her review, Meiya wasn't sure what to think of something she had never been exposed to prior in her life. Kagami's voice was astounding, that was all she thought of.

"…That was pretty good, honestly pretty good. I like how she's got them dance moves down while singing. …Yeah, that electric voice too, guess it shouldn't be hard for her to change her tone." Soon after the end of the music, Takeru suddenly and strangely began to apparently speak with himself.

"…I really don't know, Sumika likes these future songs but I can't remember them. …You don't have a preference? …That's fine too, not like you even have a taste in music. …You probably know some slav songs, right? …Woah, actually burned me, who'd thought. …What? Today? Today was okay, I wasn't planning on ranting about duties and shit for hours, you wanted that or something?"

Meiya couldn't stop landing herself in utterly outlandish scenarios one after the other that night, or perhaps it was a continuation of the last incident. Nonetheless, Takeru was undeniably amidst a conversation with someone who by some means didn't vocalize their voice for words to be spoken. Either that or the new member of her team had gone crazy, but Meiya only imagined that possibility as the last resort.

"Oh yeah by the way, start working on the XM3 for me, okay? You have all the data it needs, right? …Noice, I want that up and running once we're back from the CCSE. Also, convey the Niigata invasion for me, spin it however you want, but I want a rough estimate of caged Tangos. …Huh? Those two? I don't really care, it's basically the same as dying before my arrival, can't do shit."

The conversation Meiya peeked in on only grew more riveting and riveting as Takeru shared his thoughts out loud, not a shred of concern for potential eavesdroppers. Although it was just the way that man was, his inveterate habit of revealing the secrets of his brain openly was not uncommon for Meiya to witness.

"…Alright, sounds good to me. …Yeah, yeah okay. …Sure, sure love you too, Kasumi. Not get outta my head."

Even Meiya's sober strict self couldn't prevent a crimson blush from surfacing onto her face when she heard Takeru's declaration. The concept of the untold relationship between their talented new recruits ran wild in her head with no boundaries in sight, but Meiya halted her own baseless reverie rather quickly. It was most likely a simple way of greeting for that man, it surely held no deeper meaning than showing his esteem for his good friend.

Satisfied by her own explanation, Meiya stealthily crept away from Takeru's doorway and returned to her original route. On her way back, two subjects of tremendous importance latched onto her thoughts like no other. How was he able to communicate seemingly without any device and why did she so casually assume his talking was a usual quirk of his that made him speak his thoughts.

And one final unsolvable question remained vividly as well; why did she remember Takeru's every action so fondly, as if they had spent lifetimes together in loving intimacy.

—

Updated on 09/09/2017

Author's note

When Italic text appears somewhere in the story, it's either used for thoughts, telepathic thoughts or words in a different language. I know it's confusing, but it shouldn't even matter that much.

If there're inconsistency between the updated chapters and the not updated chapters it's perfectly normal. I'll flush out the bad stuff eventually, for real.

BETA done by chad001