[LightDragonman]

Man, been a bit since I updated this fic. Welp, here goes. Shorter post this time.

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"So I take it you managed to retrieve some valuable info from that Walkit carrier?" L-Elf said to Haruto, the command deck now empty save for the two men and Shouko.

Haruto nodded, before pulling out two data drives from his pocket. "This contains information on both what Rukino-san went through and the true natue of the Phantom ships."

"Glad you managed to scavenge them while you were there Tokishima, lest this plan that I have been working on not have come to fruition. Course, you did exactly what I thought you would, and A-Drei thankfully didn't pose a problem this time around."

".....Wait," Haruto asked, "Did you seriously just base this plan of yours on me doing what I did, when their was no guarantee that I would've even found this data? My main concern was rescuing Rukino-san."

"True, and I did have a back-up plan should you have only rescued her or not even come back. Luckily, my faith in your abilities and decision making was not unfounded."

Haruto could've sworn that he saw L-Elf smiling behind his clenched hands, albeit hidden behind the latter. Though he quickly brushed it off.

"I know you say you need to feed on Runes again, but I still need to work on the plan now that this data is ours. I can't exactly do that if I'm incapacitated, and we know how many Runes you need."

"...I understand" Haruto replied. "Just don't take too long, otherwise...I don't know if I'll be able to contribute to whatever scheme you've got cooking up."

"Don't worry Haruto. I'm not going to let you starve" L-Elf responded. "After all, you are my most important chess piece for this upcoming game, and I can't do anything if you're dead."

Shouko couldn't help but smirk at his statement. "Someone's a bit of a tsundere it seems."

"Now please leave me be. I need to go over these drives to figure out how to integrate them."

"Understood L-Elf" Haruto said with a salute. Though after looking at Shouko, he remembered he still had one other thing he came here to do.

"L-Elf, permission to speak to Shouko for a minute?"

L-Elf looked over to the girl in question. She seemed a bit nervous at the suggestion, and given everything that happened between the two of them, he wasn't sure what exactly to do. After all, he still needed to go over what the updated plan for the next battle was.

Then again, given everything that came as a result of keeping secrets in the past few days, he was also not as willing to let things fester. After all, if this new nation was to fulfill the dream of Lieselotte, they all needed to be much more open.

"Don't worry L-Elf" Shouko finally said, addressing him by his code-name this time. "I was also told to catch up with him under the advice of Inuzuka-san after all."

"...Very well. I'll let you two have a moment. Just remember that I'll need you back here quickly Shouko."

Shouko nodded, and with that, the two made their way out of the room, and to one of the ship's observation decks.

L-Elf couldn't help but feel a slight ache in his heart as he saw the two depart, but quickly quashed the feeling, returning to his task of reviewing the data Haruto had scavenged.


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It was a bit of an awkward walk for the two teens, as they didn't know exactly what to say, given everything that they now knew about each other. This wasn't exactly a conversation Haruto and Shouko were looking forward to having.

At the very least, the former saw Inuzuka and Raizo giving him a reassuring thumbs-up as he approached the deck, while the latter also saw Akira give her an encouraging smile, so they at least felt a bit more comfortable knowing that their friends at least had their backs on this. Though it did give Haruto a bit of pause when he saw Saki reach out to him with her hand, as if she wanted to speak to him, only for her to frown and turn away with her eyes hidden when she saw Shouko with him.

Luckily for them, the observation deck was currently unoccupied by the time they arrived to it. With them locking the door behind them, they looked outside the window into the vastness of space, still unsure what to say to start the conversation.

"S-Shouko, I have to-"

"Haruto, about what happened-"

They both blushed and let out an awkward chuckle as they both tried to start the discussion at the same time. At least the tension was let out a bit as a result.

".....Go ahead Haruto" Shouko said. "I'll let you go first."

Haruto took a deep breath. This was it.

".....Shouko, I know that I've hurt you too much. I lied to you about my true nature, as I was afraid that you would view me as a monster, and I wanted things to stay the same as they always were. And yet it just made things all the worse when you finally did learn the truth. And that's not even getting into what I did to your father."

He could feel himself tearing up. "I-It's all my fault for hiding things from you. Y-You placed your trust in me, w-when all I did was betray you for not giving that s-same faith. I-I understand if you hate me n-now."

He was trying his hardest to not break down, not helped by Shouko also seeming to become emotional. He fully expected her to yell at him at any moment.

To his surprise, he found her placing a hand on his cheek.

"...Haruto, I'm sorry as well" she said with a sniffle. "I saw the data that you sent to Akira, about you choosing to become what you are now for my sake. For me to treat you the way I did after finding out.....I was in the wrong as well."

"As for my father, I'm guilty of keeping that a secret as well" Shouko admitted. "I tried to keep it a secret, as I didn't want to lose our relationship, and I know how much knowing you caused it would destroy you. To be honest, I'd be lying if I didn't harbor some resentment towards you for what you did to me."

Haruto's face fell, and he struggled to hold back his tears. However, he noticed that Shouko too was beginning to cry.

"Y-Yet I know now why you did everything. It was all for m-my sake right?"

He nodded.

"A-And that's why I c-cant stay mad at you. You didn't e-even murder my father knowingly, s-so I don't blame you for t-that either. While you did h-hurt me, so did I. We both d-did one terrible thing to each other."

Wiping the moisture from her eyes, she stood tall. "That's why I forgive you Haruto. I don't hate you, nor do I want to see you suffer. We're still friends after all, and like you said, we share our struggles together."

Haruto was silent for a bit, before the two of them embraced the other.

"Shouko.....thank you. Thank you for forgiving me for what I've done. I promise that I won't hold any more secrets from you."

After a few seconds, the two finally released the embrace. Haruto then noticed that Shouko had yet another melancholy look on her face.

".....Haruto, about that childhood promise. Do you still remember it?"

".....Yeah, we both said that we would elope and never leave the other alone again."

".....Do you still think it is possible now?"

Haruto paused. So here it was. The other pressing matter he wasn't exactly looking forward to talking about.

"What do I say to her? Given everything we are now, I don't know how to break the news that-"

".....That silence says everything I need to know" Shouko said with a sad smile gracing her lips.

Haruto sighed. "It's true Shouko. While my feelings of love for you were true back then, now I simply can't hold onto them. I lied to you about my true nature, as I didn't trust you enough, and that alone made me realize that things simply can't work out between us, even if we promise to never hold things back from each other now."

"...I understand Haruto" Shouko said with a sniffle. "In truth, that's the answer I was hoping you'd give me. Given that you're now going to live far beyond my own lifespan, and the fact that I now have responsibilities as the PM of New-Jior, the only way for me to move forward is to let go as well."

Haruto gave a bitter chuckle. "Things sure have changed so much haven't they? What with me being an inhuman Valvrave pilot and you ruling an entire nation.....Yeah, we both have to move forward from our childhoods. I'm sorry that we can't be together."

She gave a bittersweet look at him. "At the very least, we'll always have that moment in the cave as children right?"

"Yeah, I'll never forget those moments we shared."

With that, it felt as though a weight had been lifted off the two teens back. After giving one more embrace, the two left the room.

"...Haruto, thank you for everything" Shouko thought. "I hope that, in lieu of being with you, what Mikhail and I are working on will give you new motivation."


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"So I take it you have worked things out with Haruto?" L-Elf asked as Shouko re-entered the command deck.

She nodded. "It's funny. I thought that I'd be much more saddened at the fact that we can't be a couple, yet now that we both came to that understanding, it feels like I'm now more content."

"That's the same thing I felt once I realized what Lieselotte truly wanted for me as well." L-Elf said, the ache in his heart now completely gone. "And now, I have something to show you, both for her sake and Haruto's."

"Then lay it out for me Mikhail!" Shouko said boisterously.

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And with that, one of several interactions during the downtime is complete. Though I may go back and edit Haruto and Shouko's conversation, as I'm not sure it's all that well done.

At any rate, while those two will remain friends, they're not gonna get together. Heck, the constant simping of Haruto for Shouko, despite all the evidence showing that they'd be better able to mature if they moved on from each other, was a huge complaint I had with the show. Even with Inuzuka's last request, that didn't do anything to endear me to the two being a couple, as that just sounds like one being forced together for the sake of a dying man's wish, rather than what actually makes sense.

So yeah, there's that. Any thoughts?