Episode 1, Chapter 4
Resort colony, Clad 6 - Medical wing
"...e ... na... ake, p... so... n?"
"...n't ...kn... et. It's... sti... too ...oon ...to... ay."
"...ust... alm... wn, Em...lia, o... ay?"
...
'...?'
Lyner didn't know where he was right now, but he was slowly but surely coming to as the disjointed and still somewhat far off sounds of several voices seemed to grab his attention and pull him closer and closer back to the waking world until he finally managed to open his eyes.
"...Oh!"
Something that did not go unnoticed by the others in the room with him.
"He, he's waking up?" said one of the voices, a bit surprised and a fair bit closer than the others.
"What? Really!?" replied another, clear excitement in their voice.
"Mm, looks like, yeah," calmly said a third.
'...Eh? Oh, I think I recognize those voices..,' Lyner thought as his sluggish mind tried to process and figure out who the voices belonged to as he tired to rub the sleep out of his groggy eyes so he could get a better look at whoever it was that was in the room with him.
"Ah! Lyner! You're okay!" happily squealed a blonde in pink as she raced over to give him a hug, catching him toally off guard.
"...Whoa! Em, Emilia?"
"What a relief...!" said a brunette, hand to her chest and breathing out a sigh of relief.
"...Well, , he's tough so it'd take more than some RELICs guardian to take him down," said the third, silver haired girl wearing a blue hair clip.
"...Eh? Yakumo... and Three too?" Lyner said, finally recognizing the other two while gently patting the blonde on the hack.
"..Huh? Wait, you can tell them apart?" Emilia asked, finally pulling back from the hug and looking back and forth between Lyner and a smirking Lapis Unit Three.
"Yeah. See the blue hair clip? That's how."
"Oh, he's right," Yakumo said, realization flashing in her eyes. "Now that he mentions it, the other two had slightly different colored hair clips too. I think the only reason we didn't notice was because they were all blue, just different shades of blue."
"Okay, but why not just have different colored ones for each then?" Emilia asked.
"That's because those three aren't the only ones," Lyner replied. "There's a total of twelve of them, so having four colors in three different shades was just easier. Plus, they almost always travel in groups of three."
"I guess that makes sense when you put it that way," Emilia said, nodding in understanding. "Sill, twelve of 'em though!?"
Lapis Unit Three nodded. "Yup, twelve of us! Anyway, how are you feeling, Lyner? Everything okay now?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm good now... But... um, where are we? And what about that other girl that was with us? Is she okay?"
"You're on the colony of Clad 6, and that girl is fine," replied a newcomer with a slightly gruff voice.
"Oh, Kraz!" Emilia said. "What're you doing here?"
"What? Can't I come and check in on the guy you've been lookin' after? Seriously, you've barely left the guy alone since we got back!" Kraz replied, hands in his pockets. "Just wanted to see what all the fuss was about and get his side of things. Y'know, like I did with yer other two friends."
"Huh? Oh! Right, I knew that," Emilia said before the rest of Kraz's words sunk in and causing her to go beet red in no time flat when they did. "And shut up! I... I was just like, super worried about him, y'know? Jerk! I, I mean... we fought together and everything, so... like, it's the least I could do as his partner, right...?"
'Hm? So, she really doesn't remember the glowing thing then..,' Yakumo thought, glad that she and Claris agreed not to say anything about it for now, instead coming up with another explanation when asked about the strange energy readings they picked up, at least unless or until it happened again anyway. 'Best to take a wait and see approach for now, especially when that weird light was what saved Lyner in the first place...'
"Hm? Miss Yakumo? Is something the matter?" Lapis Unit Three asked, noticing the more serious, somewhat contemplative expression on her face.
Yakumo shook her head. "It's nothing. Just remembering how tough that battle was, that's all."
"I see. Yes, I can imagine, based on those high energy reactions we were picking up before we found you. It's honestly amazing how light the damage you all took really was."
"...Yeah."
Meanwhile, back with Kraz.
"So, Miss Yakumo and that Claris girl, they told me that you and Emilia found and brought Miss Yakumo along to the RELICs' emergency exit in the last sector when you encountered the weird little redhead and the RELICs site's guardian, where all hell broke loose, with the both of you ending up knocked out just after the battle. Is that right?"
'...Huh? Knocked out? Wait, but wasn't I... No, I'm sure I got cut up pretty bad by that thing... But then, how am I still here? And why did Yakumo and that other girl say we just got knocked out? ...I don't really get what's going on here, but better keep our stories straight and just ask Yakumo about it later,' Lyner thought as his mind raced to try and make sense of things before quickly deciding to just go with the flow for now. "...Yeah, more or less. Honestly, the battle was so hectic and draining that I honestly don't recall much after we finally took that thing down... Actually, how long have I been out anyway?"
"Not counting you waking up today? Three days," Kraz replied.
...
"Seriously? Three days!?" 'No way!'
Kraz nodded. "Yup, three days. Emilia and the other girls were really freakin' out, constantly going to check in on you whenever they had any free time. It was a freakin' pain gettin' 'em to leave when visiting hours were up too."
Lyner looked over at some of the girls in question, his expression asking 'is this true?'.
Lapis Unit Three just nodded.
Yakumo looked a little embarrassed, but also nodded.
Emilia, on the other hand, was... blushing furiously while looking anywhere but at Lyner himself.
"...Well, thanks you guys. Sorry I worried you," Lyner said, grateful for the girls' concern but a little bummed out that whatever happened took so much out of him but, deciding that now wasn't the time to dwell on that, turned back to a smirking Kraz who seemed more than a little amused at the sight. "...So, what now?"
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"I'm sure Miss Yakumo and that other girl told you about their circumstances, right? Or, more specifically, about how they don't know how they even got here and basically have nowhere to go?"
"Ah, that. Yeah, they did. Crazy story by the way. Anyway, as for what to do... well, Emilia there begged me to hire 'em as part of Little Wing and my boss agreed, so yeah. Which reminds me. You're a solo freelancer right now, yeah?"
Lyner nodded. "Yeah, for the most part anyway. I have the Lapis sisters to help out sometimes, but they mostly handle background support and all that... which actually makes it kinda hard to make enough money to take care of everything..."
"Right, so how would you feel about joinin' up too? Actually, just say yes... or I'll never hear the end of it from the brat... I'll even do ya a solid and throw in a bonus for keepin' her and the others safe. We'll even hire those CAST sisters too. A good deal, right?" Kraz offered.
...
"...Sign me up." 'Yeah, I don't even care if this sounds kinda fishy with yow perfect the offer is, this is just too good a chance to pass up. Besides,' Lyner, while in the midst of his thoughts, threw a quick glance to a still blushing Emilia, a slightly blushing Yakumo and a smiling Lapis. 'it's not like I can just up and leave after all this, right? And hey, it'll be nice to have a stable workplace for a change.'
"What's with the goofy smile there? Oh, and no worries about the paperwork, we'll take care of it," Kraz said, chuckling a bit at how silly Emilia was being, getting teased by Lapis Unit Three.
"...Wait, what? Really?"
Kraz shrugged. "Eh. Little Wing ain't too picky about who works for us or what jobs we take on... Well, except the really nasty jobs and folks though, of course. Right then, Emilia!"
"...!? Wh, What?"
"I'm puttin' Lyner here in charge of lookin' after you and those other girls you found." Kraz ten turned back to Lyner. "Now, before you start complainin', hear me out. Not that I can blame ya with that blonde nitwit-"
"...Hey!"
"-for a partner but see, after talkin' it over with Ursula, our boss by the way, she suggested making this a mission. Specifically, I'll be having you leadin' them as a team while trainin' them. For one thing, two of 'em don't know anyone and have nowhere else to go. For another, Emilia's too much of a pain to deal with for too long but too lazy to do anythin' if ya don't keep an eye on her and give her a swift kick in the ass to get her movin'. Ah, and don't worry, we'll be providin' a small team stipend to help cover supplies and all that."
"Ugh, Kraz! Why did you say all that about me!? What's your problem, huh!?" protested a red faced and deeply embarrassed Emilia bopping away her frustrations ona chuckling Kraz while Lapis and Yakumo giggled at the sight. Meanwhile, Lyner seriously thought over the Beast man's offer.
'Pretty good deal honestly. Plus, I can still keep my promise and let the Lapis sisters see and experience more of the present world. They'll be working too, so they can earn a bit of cash as well. But man,' he paused, glancing over at a still fuming Emilia and now fed up Kraz arguing about something or other while Yakumo did her best to calm down her new friend while Lapis just quietly observed the whole thing, probably with her sisters thorugh their shared network link. 'I seriously got my work cut out for me, huh?'
...
"Hey, Lyner! Are you listening?" Emilia suddenly called out, finally snapping him out of his thoughts.
"...Uh, sorry, nope. So, what were you saying?" Lyner answered honestly.
"...Geez. You really gotta stop spacing out like that," sniped the annoyed blonde who was rolling her eyes. "Anyway! I said...! Now that you're up, we should go get Claris so I can show you around! Dunno if you know, but Clad 6 is actually a pretty well known resort colony, so there's actually a lot to see and do when we aren't working on any jobs, so yeah! Tour time with yours truly!"
"Well, someone's excited," Lapis Unit Three observed, standing to Yakumo's left.
"She is, but I can't say I blame her," the brunette replied, smiling. "I mean, it's honestly taking everything I have to not freak out after realizing that all this is in space! See, where I came from, just the idea of going up into space, never mind living in it, was all just fiction, y'know?"
"Oh, right. You did mention that, didn't you? Still, you're still handling all this remarkably well," Lapis Unit Three noted, impressed by the girl's mental fortitude.
"Well, I mean... considering everything that's happened, this much is nothing," Yakumo replied before turning to Emilia. "So, where are we starting first on this tour of yours?"
"Hm? Oh, right! Well, I was thinking of hitting up the resort block's shopping district for a bit before heading over to Little Wing's office in the North District plaza!"
"Oh yeah?" Lyner asked.
Emilia nodded. "Yeah. Plus, it'll be a good chance for you to get some exercise after sleeping so long, right? Anyway, I'm sure Claris is done with getting questioned too so let's get going already!"
Not waiting a second longer, Emilia swiftly exited the room, Yakumo and Lapis in hand while calling out to Lyner over her shoulder. "Come on, come on!"
And, before Lyner could respond, much less actually get up out of bed, the blonde was already gone, the other two girls dragged off along with her.
Kraz just shook his head, arms crossed. "Man, I don't think I've ever seen her this energetic and motivated... ever. Man, whatever happened down there really did a number on her, huh..."
"That's not a bad thing though, right?" Lyner replied, slightly shrugging his shoulders.
"Yeah, well. She's a handful, but keep an eye on her for me, yeah? Ursula and Chelsea would have my head if somethin' happened to her..."
"I'll do my best, Boss."
"That's all I can ask of ya. Anyway, better get going before she comes back and drags ya out herself."
"Heh. Yeah, I can actually see her doing that too."
xxx xxx xxx
U.G.C 103, afternoon - Clad 6 colony, Resort Block shopping district - Main Street.
"...So many shops!" Yakumo quietly exclaimed as she and the others took in the sights of the countless clothing boutiques, souvenir shops, restaurants, bars, and other entertainment venues one would expect to see in a resort colony. "And there's so many people around too! Are, are we really in space!?"
Lyner chuckled. "Yeah, that's a resort colony for ya, huh. I heard Clad 6 is also one of Skyclad's too, right?"
Emilia nodded. "Mmhm, it is. It's actually one of their more successful business ventures too. Seriously, Miss Ursula's one scarily talented business lady...!"
"Um, 'Skyclad'?" Yakumo asked, Claris looking just as confused walking next to her... while still happily eating an ice-cream cone Lyner bought her. "What's that? And, I think I heard Kraz-san mention the name Ursula before too. If I remember right, she's Little Wing's boss, right?"
"Skyclad is the name of a general trading company based out of Parum," Lapis Unit One began to explain, even bringing up some holo images to accompany her explanations. "It's not as big or as well known as GRM but dabbles in a little bit of everything but is most well known for its fashion and resort businesses, such as Clad 6 here. That being said, a lot of people, myself included, were surprised that they even decided to open up a PMC division."
"Wait, really? I didn't know that," Lyner said, honestly surprised to learn the new company he'd signed up with was so new. "Huh, well I guess that explains why I've only just heard of them."
"So why'd a trading company want to even break into an industry like this anyway?" Yakumo asked.
"...That's, actually a good question..," Emilia said, finding the decision just as odd now that it was brought up.
"My guess? I'd bet a thousand meseta that this Miss Ursula had something to do with it, seeing as she's its boss on top of being one of Skyclad's top execs... as well as being some genius businesswoman and fashion designer on top of all that. Oh, and I also heard she's drop dead gorgeous too. Really, talk about being the whole package," Lapis Unit One expalined.
"...Wow...! Is this Ursula-san really that impressive?" Yakumo asked, wondering whether to take the new information at face value or if this was just another case of people exaggerating someone rich and powerful again, like what one might have done with similarly powerful people back in her old world. "She honestly seems too good to be real..."
"...Yeah, you'd think so, right? But I've met her before and can confirm that she is, indeed, the real deal. She's Little Wing's boss after all... which was totally her idea, by the way. As for why we aren't exactly well known except in specific circles? ...Well, that's because a lot of the jobs we take tend to be... legally ambiguous. Even more compared to regular already grey field of mercenary work. Well, barring specific kinds of nasty and illegal jobs of course," Emilia said, recalling the woman from her memories.
"Heh. I can't imagine you guys being all too popular with the GUARDIANs then," Lyner commented with a smirk, only to notice the slight dulling in Emilia's crimson red eyes and sour expression on her normally energetic and cute face.
'...?'
"...Milia, okay?"
"...! ...Eh, what? Claris? Wha, what's up?" squeaked out a spooked Emilia jumping up a bit from the shock of being gently tapped on the shoulder by a concerned, almost childlike Claris.
"...I think Miss Claris just saw how uncomfortable you looked when the topic of the GUARDIANs came up," Lapis Unit One explained, getting a nod of agreement from said redhead. "Is everything alright, Miss Emilia?"
"...Oh, um. Yeah. I'm, I'm fine. I, I just... never had the highest opinion about the GUARDIANs... And, the worst part is that I don't even remember why..."
"...Oh, shit! My bad! I, I didn't realize! I shoulda-" Lyner began, before quickly getting stopped by a now mildly flustered blonde.
"-No! No, it's fine. I didn't really mention it so there's no way you could've known. And, it's sweet you're so worried about me. But really, it's fine. Okay?"
Lyner, deciding not to press his luck and say something dumb again, just nodded before spotting a ramen shop. "Oh, hey! How about getting something to eat? I mean, we've been walking around for awhile now and this'll make for a good change of pace for a break too! Plus, it's ramen! It might not be my favorite food, but I haven't had ramen in like, I don't even remember either! Maybe they even have extra spicy pork cutlet ramen!"
Almost everyone's eyes followed Lyner's hand to where he was pointing, easily spotting the lightly crowded outdoor ramen stand/restaurant to varying degrees of interest. Claris looked legitimately curious while Lapis Unit One didn't show much emotion one way or the other. Emilia, quickly letting hunger take over and grateful for the out, was the first one to find a seat. However, it was Yakumo, who had the strangest reaction though, now slightly wide eyed and staring at a once again worried Lyner with a very hard (at least to him) to read expression on her face.
"...Crap! Did I mess up again!? ...Oh, shitshitshit...!'
"..."
"...Um, did I... Did I say somethi-"
But, before Lyner could finish, he was cut off by the brunette's sudden bout of giggling as she casually made her way over to the now very lively ramen stand/restaurant, grabbing a seat next to Emilia, Claris, and Lapis Unit One.
"...Um, what just happened?" '...Okay, that was weird... Well, I mean. As long as she's fine, I guess it's okay...?'
Shaking his head, Lyner figured the best move now would be to simply give up trying to figure out the mysterious creature known as women and just go eat some ramen.
"What's up? Spacing out like that again," Emilia said after swallowing a mouthful of ramen. "Y'know, you do that a lot, huh? Anyway, this ramen's great!"
"Glad to hear it, and uh... you might wanna..."
"Hm? What?" Emilia asked, a quizzical look in her eye... only to notice the meaning of where he was pointing. "...! ...Eep!"
"...Milia's a messy eater," Claris observed... while already working on her second bowl of extra large bowl of beef ramen.
"Heh. Right then, can I get a bowl of extra spicy pork cutlet ramen?"
"Coming right up!" said the cute ramen cook before heading on back to get Lyner's order ready.
xxx xxx xxx
Clad 6, North District plaza - Little Wing PMC office.
"Ah! Ca y est~!" cheerily declared a bubbly, friendly and very attractive light green haired, orange eyed CAST woman who spoke with a very unique accent. "And with that, Little Emilia's new friends' paperwork is all done~!"
"Hm? Thanks a lot Chelsea. I'll take care of processing it, so go ahead and take off. Gotta earn my keep and all that..," Kraz lazily said as he tapped a few keys on his terminal and accessed the files the bubbly CAST of many talents finished writing up. "Oh, by the way, mind if I ask yer opinion on somthin' real quick?"
"Hm? What is it, Boss?"
"What are your thoughts on the recent hires?"
"Hm? You are asking, moi?"
Kraz nodded. "Yeah. I hate to admit it, but Ursula's right. Ya got the best eye for that sort of thing. Y'know, that whole 'lookin' underneath th' underneath' thing."
"..Hmm."
Putting a delicate finger to her slender chin, Chelsea closed her eyes and seriously gave her boss's question some thought for a long moment before finally answering.
"If it's about the two mysterious girls, Miss Yakumo and Miss Claris, then I don't think you need to worry. They don't seem to be intentionally hiding anything, though they do seem quite skilled. More importantly, I think that they will make good friends for for Little Emilia, oui~!"
"Mm. I think so too, but what about Lyner and those CAST sisters?"
"Ah, well. Nothing in what I was able to find contradicts the information he gave us. Mister Lyner has been a freelance mercenary for about half his life, has mostly taken on escort and protection jobs, or helped with larger ones when the need came for it, but otherwise, not much else is known about him. That said, he is still fairly well known for his skills and reliablility, mostly from back when the AMF, GUARDIANs, and the larger PMCs at the time were busy dealing with the SEED Incident three years ago. Since then, and after the job that led him to meet the Lapis units, he's used that reputation to take on higher paying jobs... probably to help pay the bills with that many more mouths to feed."
"...So there's nothing to worry about then? Good."
"Oui, it is very good~! Plus, Little Emilia seems quite fond of Mister Lyner too~! Rather, I do not think I've ever seen her smile so much before~ Ah, do you think...~"
"...Ggrrr... I'd, rather not think about that... It's bad enough she's such a lazy, emotional brat as is... I don't think I can handle it if she suddenly adds first love to that either... Though, I will admit that all these new friends she's made have been good for keeping her focused..."
"Aw~ Boss is worried about Little Emilia~? How cute~!"
"Oh shut up! Anyway, what about those Lapis sisters?"
"...Ah, well, it is a shame, but I wasn't able to find anything out about them... Or rather, any information about them only appeared a little under three years ago, but anything before that? Rien."
"What, so they're like those two other girls then?"
Chelsea shook her head. "Non, I do not think so. They don't seem to give off the same feeling of 'coming from somewhere else' like Miss Yakumo and Miss Claris do. Rather, they feel as if they are quite old... though I can't really explain why I feel that way, je suis desole..."
"It's fine. But no real red flags, right? I mean, nothing that would keep us from actually hiring them I mean." '...Not that that's a particularly high bar to get over...'
"Ah, no worries there Boss~ Other than some simple and obvious, if very well done, ID forging, there's nothing else~ And we hire plenty of folks with forged IDs, non~? So no problems~!"
"... Sigh... Right then, thanks. Anyway, sorry to hold you up."
No problem~! Well, I'll be off then~!"
"Mm."
Once Chelsea left and Kraz was left alone, the older, scruffy looking Beast man let out yet another long sigh before getting to work on enrolling the filled out personnel forms into Little Wing's database.
'...Still though. What the hell have you gotten yourself into, huh? Well, if nothing else, I'll be sure to put you and your new friends through the wringer to make up for the headaches you lot gave me!'
With a slightly sadistic grin, Kraz set about gathering up a a list of tough but still (barely) beginner friendly jobs for the blonde little brat and her merry band of walking mystery misfits.
xxx xxx xxx
A/N:
And done! Lyner, Yakumo, Claris and the Lapis Unit sisters are now a part of Little Wing!
Tbh, in my burst of inspiration that led me to write up this chapter, i did not expect myself to use so may small little Naruto references here but... oh well. They fit. Oh, and this Yakumo never met her world's Naruto and only heard about their ramen obsession from others, which was why she was laughing but chose not to elaborate on simply because there'd really be no reason to.
Anyway, next chapter will finish up the tour around Clad 6, meeting Sayo, and the first encounter with Mika the Ancient.
Anyway, until the next update!
