[LightDragonman]

The posts probably won't be as long now, but here's the next one.

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".....Haruto?" Saki asked softly as her eyes adjusted to the light. ".....Haruto, is that you?"

Immediately afterwards, Haruto embraced her in his arms, tears welling up in his eyes, as the guilt he felt from leaving her behind and seeing everything she went through finally cascaded on him.

".....Thank goodness....." he wept, hugging her tightly. ".....I finally found you..."

He knew his tears were dampening her prison garb, and he probably looked ridiculous given that he was the one that was rescuing her. Yet all he could think of was just how much she had suffered, his self-loathing nature rearing it's ugly head.

"I'm so sorry Rukino-san." he mournfully repeated over and over. "I'm so sorry!"

As he did so, he felt her arms wrap around his body, returning his embrace as she rested her face on his shoulder, tears of her own falling from her violet eyes.

"Haruto.....thank you." she whispered. "Please, you don't have to apologize."

"But....I left you behind!" he said incredulously, not believing her words, his guilt too strong.

"That doesn't matter anymore."

"I saw your execution! You know what this means for-"

"Yes, and like I said, you don't have to apologize."

"But Saki!" he said, pulling back and grasping her shoulders. "You know what this means for your idol career! And the torture you went through! I saw the notes written by my father.....how can I not be responsible for this?!"

It was taking all of his strength to not collapse into a sobbing wreck in front of her, not helped by seeing Saki's eyes also watering. He was fully expecting her to soon slap him and call him out for everything.

"Shouko felt betrayed by me, and she had every right to after all."

He involuntarily flinched as he saw Saki raise her hand, expecting to feel a stinging pain on his cheek. Yet instead, he found himself pulled into yet another embrace, himself enveloped in his arms, her holding him close to her bosom.

"Haruto." she said, placing her hand on his cheek. "Please stop apologizing. You're here with me now, and managed to free me. We can talk about all this later. Just know that I don't blame you for what happened to me."

"But-"

"Shhh" she said comfortingly, smiling at him. "Don't worry about it. Besides, we still need to get out of here, right?"

Realizing the task at hand, Haruto blushed sheepishly and quickly wiped his tears away.

"Oh, right. Yeah, we've gotta get you to Carmilla. It's located in the storage hanger."

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

With that, Haruto took a few peeks to the left and right of the cell, before gesturing Saki to follow him, all while unaware of her sympathetic look on her face whe was giving to him.

"Oh Haruto....Why do you have to take things so hard on yourself? Don't you know that you don't have to bear this whole burden alone?"


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Seeing that both of the pathways were clear, the two made their way back to Floor 4, as the elevator on Floor 5 was still out. Along the way, Haruto never let go of his grasp on Saki's hand, as if he was worried that she might disappear should he not see her for even a second. The latter for her part, initially blushed at the physical contact, though she couldn't say that she didn't feel some sense of happiness at seeing how much he was trying to protect her.

"Still though Haruto.....you don't have to go to such lengths to protect me. I can handle myself you know."

Finally, the two reached Floor 4. Just a more more hallways to pass and they could make it back to the hanger bays.

"I'm gonna need to retrieve my pilot suit before we can get to Unit 4" Haruto informed Saki, looking back at her. "Don't worry, it wont take long to-"

Just then, he noticed her eyes narrowing. Looking back ahead of him, he saw the reason. A few feet in front of the elevator was the silver haired Karlstein agent, a gun in his left hand, pointed directly at the two.

"So you're the one managed to sneak onto the ship." he muttered. "I have to admit that I'm impressed."

"Haruto, that's the one who captured me, A-Drei" she informed him.

"That's correct" he said, not lowering his grip. "I've tried asking Rukino Saki questions, but she has failed to provide me any answers, even with the promise that I free her."

Haruto was puzzled at that statement, looking over at Saki. "What does he mean by that?"

She tapped her index fingers together while gazing at the ground. "It's a complicated answer, but-"

"So now that I can see more clearly" A-Drei interrupted, "you're the head pilot of Valvrave Unit 01, Haruto Tokishima, and one of L-Elf's right hand men. Something you stole from me. I ask you what I asked her. Was L-Elf really the one who betrayed me, or was he hijacked?"

"If I tell you the answer, will you let Rukino-san go?" Haruto asked, much to Saki's shock.

"Haruto, wait-"

He placed his arm in front of her, before walking up to A-Drei, placing less distance between his head and the gun, before taking a deep breath.

".....It's just as you suspect. L-Elf was not in control of his body when he shot your eye out."

A-Drei's eyes widened in realization. "So that means that L-Elf didn't betray me?"

"That's right. He was indeed hijacked."

"And you know this because?"

"Haruto" Saki pleaded, "Please don't..."

"I know......because I'm the one that did it."

Saki gasped as Haruto admitted the truth, paling even more as A-Drei's expression hardened, and both his hands came to grip the gun.

"....Bastard! It was you?!"

Haruto nodded. "That's right. The one that took out your eye and caused a rift between you and your friend was me."

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't put a bullet between your eyes right now!" A-Drei roared, his hands grasping the gun even tighter.

"Haruto!" Saki shouted in alarm. "Don't let him do this!"

"It's okay Rukino-san" Haruto said calmly. To her horror and A-Drei's shock, he placed his hand on the gun, and pressed it to his forehead.

"Go ahead, you have every right to for how I tore apart your friendship with L-Elf. I deserve everything that you put Rukino-san through, and I can handle whatever torture you have planned for me. Just promise me that you'll let her go."

"No....Haruto" Saki said with tears in her eyes. "Then what did I go through all of this for?"

"Please Rukino-san" Haruto responded, looking back at her. "You've suffered too much for my actions. I should never have left you back there. Had we had you with us, then maybe L-Elf would still have Lieselotte, and the secret wouldn't have gotten out."

"And my relationship with Shouko wouldn't have turned out the way it did" he added internally.

At the mention of Lieselotte's name, A-Drei froze.

"The Dorssian Princess?"

"Yes. We tried to rescue her, but she ended up dying to make sure that we could escape. It hit L-Elf extremely hard, and after that, the purge happened."

"If I was there with Carmilla, then you think you could've saved her?" Saki asked.

"No doubt the odds would've been better. It's all my fault for not making a harder effort to find you." Haruto said, closing his eyes.

"But Haruto...You shouldn't-"

At that, the sound of sad laughter reached their ears.

"Heh, heh, heh. So that's how it is" A-Drei said softly, the gun trembling in his hands. "I shouldn't have doubted you at all L-Elf. Look at what's happened thanks to me. The princess is dead, and the royalists are being hunted down like geese as a result."

He looked over at Saki. "I put you through so much pain, things that Dorssia are never supposed to accept, all because I still had my doubts about my friend's true allegiance, and as a result, so many lives are now lost. I wanted to save innocents through a revolution with L-Elf, and yet the opposite has happened."

A-Drei then looked at Haruto, tears beginning to form. "And now I see the man that caused this rift between us; the one who shot my eye. Yet you're no monster. You're giving up your life to save her. Why? Why are you accepting this punishment? You know exactly what's in store for you?"

Haruto shrugged. "I've caused too much sadness as well. It's only fitting that I get what Rukino-san didn't deserve."

"Please...Haruto..."

At that, a sad smile graced A-Drei's face, as he lowered his gun away from Haruto's forehead.

"Heh, what kind of former prince am I, if this is all that happens thanks to me and my distrust?"

He pointed the gun at his head, eyes forming tears. "Ahhh, what am I even doing still alive? Forgive me L-Elf."

Before he could pull the trigger though, he found his gun knocked out of his hands by Haruto.

"Don't. If anyone deserves to die, it's me, and obviously, that won't happen. If you truly want to atone to L-Elf, then go to him directly and admit the truth about it all to him."

"Are you telling me to betray Dorssia and join New-Jior?"

"Do whatever you want A-Drei" Haruto said firmly. "But if what I'm hearing is true, then you wanted to revolutionize the country with L-Elf at your side, and you aren't happy with the way things are now. He's still planning to change Dorssia, but he could use someone close to his side right about now, especially with Lieselotte gone."

After a few moments, A-Drei finally nodded.

"...Alright, I'll join you, if only for L-Elf. I'll help you two escape, and then follow you to him in my Kirshbaum."

"And how can we tell if you aren't lying?" Saki asked, still not trusting him.

"You can't. But know this; I must make things up to my friend, as well as the rest of you for what I've done. Should you see even the barest sign of betrayal, you have the right to kill me."

"Understood."

"Lead the way A-Drei" Haruto said, helping him up. "We still need to get to Carmilla after all!"


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And with that, Haruto and Saki are about to escape, and A-Drei has joined the heroes!

Again, shorter post than before, but I want to have the next part have more dialogue between Haruto and Saki (it's criminal how little they shared in the second half), so yeah.

Thoughts?