Chapter Text
Long ago there was an Elf, she was lonely because she was different from most people, it's hard for her to talk to anyone.
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Hiruko woke up in the middle of the night with a mild headache. The memories from her last timeline still vivid in her mind. Once again, she failed, and now, she has to be a stranger again, she'd have to see people she has grown to care so much about talk to her like they've just met her.
Morning came, Hiruko went to the Cafeteria for breakfast. As she stepped into the room, she overheard Kako looking for a certain detective story in the Library.
"Have you tried looking at the upper shelves of the novel section?" Hiruko answered absent-mindedly after closing the door.
"Oh now that you mentioned it, I haven't. Thank you Shizuhara!" Kako said as she darted out of Cafeteria.
Hiruko felt a slight twinge in her chest as she heard Kako called her by her surname. It was obviously normal for the younger girl since they've only known each other for a few days, but not for Hiruko. She knew exactly what book Kako was talking about and where to find it, because she was the one to give it to Kako first after all. But not this Kako, she doesn't have any memories of that, she doesn't remember being conplimented once by Hiruko after landing an amazing shot on a Commander, she doesn't remember knowing Hiruko at all, same goes for everyone else in the SDU. They're all friendly, all welcoming of Hiruko, but they treat her with polite and distance, like strangers making acquaintances, not comrades that've been through thick and thin for years.
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She was an outcast even amongst her family, they love her, yet deep down she knew there was no way for them to understand her. Eventually, the Elf believed that she was destined to be alone forever.
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Hiruko woke up to the sound of the alarms blaring in her ears. She got out of bed and rushed to the War Room as soon as possible. After entering, she saw that she was the only one there, none of the other members were presents. The explanantion for that is quite simple, it's because all of them were dead, killed and sucked dry of their cryptoglobin by V'ehxness so they couldn't be revived. The only reason Hiruko was still alive up until this point was simply because V'ehxness decided that she wanted to keep the last one alive to struggle in despair. Without any feasible plan to defeat a V'ehxness who has absorbed so many people, Hiruko reluctantly stepped onto the launch pad and flinged herself into her inevitable demise.
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Thankfully, she was wrong.
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Hiruko's body robotically lifts up her axe as she sees V'ehxness approaching. Her body prepares herself for combag, but her exhausted mind has long since accepted her fate and ready to die to start a new loop. Because of that, it takes her a few moments to realize that someone has stabbed V'ehxness from behind. The bright blue blade pierced through the torso of the Supreme Commander, both her and Hiruko all recognizes it.
"What?! Impossible! How could-GUURGH, AAAAAARGGHHHH!" V'ehxness, as powerful as she was, has unceremoniously turned into a blackened husk, just like what she did to the other members of the SDU. Her mummified body falls down on the ground, revealing the assailant standing behind her, he has red hair with black streaks and is wearing the same type of uniform as Hiruko.
"Takumi!? But yo..." Hiruko mutters weakly before her body collapses.
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One day the Elf met an extraordinary Doctor, he was very much different from her in many aspect, and yet he could understand her struggle, and wishes to share that burden with her.
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Hiruko wakes up in her room, feeling much more refreshed than usual. For a brief moment she thought she was already in a new loop, but the morning annoucement quickly puts that question to rest:
"Up and at 'em, troops! Time to rise and shine!"
"Get ready for your 75th day of active service here at Last Defense Academy!"
Day 75, that's right after the day she fought V'ehxness, Hiruko thinks to herself, but is interrupted by someone knocking on her door. Her first instinct was to go and open it, but she freeezes up as she tries to make out who it could be outside her room. But before Hiruko could come up with any guesses, the other person opens the door anyway.
"Oh hey Hiruko, looks like you were awake after all. How are you feeling right now?" An unmistakeably familiar voice spoke to Hiruko, who was now in complete disbelief.
"Takumi?!? What!? No...but how are you even-"
"Oh I'm Takumi II, not your Takumi, since he's currently, well, dead." 'Takumi' replied in a matter-of-fact way, in stark contrast to the confusion and shocked showing on Hiruko's face
"...Wh-What are you talking about?!" She raised her voice slightly, no longer having the energy to to hide the mess of thoughts in her brain.
"Huh? You don't know? Well that makes things a bit more complicated..., I can explain it to you, but can I come in first?"
Hearing 'Takumi' talking so casually despite the fact that he should be dead was really messing with her head, but Hiruko allowed him in anyway. Then, he began telling Hiruko about the different timelines, about the PLM and how he used it to go from his timeline to hers.
...
"I see, there's more to the time loop than I expected."
"Yeah, I get you, these aren't the kinds of things you can think of if you didn't know about them. Took me a while to get it too."
"That said, you haven't told me why you came here in the first place, Takumi. I can't imagine what you could get out of this doomed timeline..."
"Oh, there's no particular reason, I'm just here for you Hiruko."
"...What did you say?"
"I promised you didn't I? I'll never leave you alone."
"..."