Phoe-chan: Yatta! Phoe-chan came back! She's returning! And talking in third person!

Joak: *smirks, but refrains from commenting*

Phoe-chan: Anyway, whadaya think, so far? Chapters longer or shorter? Juicier or drier? Chocolate or vanilla?

Joak: They get the picture.

Phoe-chan: …On with the fic?

Joak: Most definitely.

Disclaimer: We do not own.

Chapter Rating: PG

The Call

Chapter 2 :: The Simulation

Misao tore her gaze from the cloaked figure upon feeling a hand rest on her shoulder. She looked up to spy her older sister, Katsumi, looking down at her.

"Ne, typical of my imouto. She comes back and doesn't even inform her sister of her return."

Misao smirked. "Like you wouldn't have found out anyways?"

"I know."

Misao took a moment to look up at her older sibling. Katsumi was a bit taller than her and had a more developed figure. A gray tank top was plastered to her skin, drenched with sweat and grease. It gave away her occupation as a mechanic. She also wore a worker's dark navy jumpsuit, however the upper half was hanging from her waist. To complete her outfit, a silver cross hung around her neck. Even with the short choppy locks of hair that covered her head, she looked the same as Misao remembered her.

"Tadaima, Kat."

"Okaeri, Mi."

The two had grown up mostly apart from each other. When Misao transferred to Katsumi's base, the two stayed on bad terms for a while. Eventually they put the past behind and learned to be friends, and even, on some levels, sisters.'

Soujiro "ahemed" and nodded his head toward his cargo. "Let's get her into the infirmary."

Katsumi threw a questioning glance to the girl in Soujiro's arms, but Misao shook her head. "I'll explain all in due time."

As the small group walked into the building to their right, the cloaked anomaly eyed them from a distance, before returning back to his squadron.

Soujiro rounded the hall and stopped in front of the double doors that entered the medical ward of the building. Katsumi stepped ahead, pushing the doors open for him. There was a soft "Oof" as the left door came in contact with someone on the other side.

Katsumi blinked and stepped through the other open door, followed by Misao and Soujiro, who laughed at the doppelganger sitting on the tiled floor. The boy, who strikingly resembled Soujiro, stood up and dusted himself off. "Very funny. Who knocked me over?"

Misao grinned, arms folding across her chest. "Who do you think? Who else is that accident prone than my sis-Ow!"

Misao rubbed her side where the monkey wrench had poked her in the ribs. Katsumi shot her a glare before putting the wrench away. "Sorry, 'Kita. Didn't know I had to look both ways before opening a door."

Soujiro chuckled at the exchange between the two. "If you don't mind, dear brother, I need to get by."

Okita complied, stepping aside as Soujiro walked off down the hall. "I was looking for you, Makimachi. I heard you were back, so now we can do the sims test that they're wanting to run. All pilots have to go."

Misao nodded, turning towards the exit. "Coming, Seta Okita? Or are you gonna stare at my sister all day?"

Katsumi shot Misao another warning glare as Okita flushed and ran after Misao, mumbling a short "bye!".

Katsumi sighed and raked a hand through her hair, before returning to her work.

Misao sat down in the cushy simulator, strapping herself in and slipping on the helmet. She leaned back as the air field appeared in front of her. As the remnants of her squadron reported in, along with the Shinsengumi squad, she took the time to look at how detailed everything was. The breeze made the grass sway, and it looked so real.

As soon as the last one reported in, she grinned fairly maniacally, flipping a few switches. The engines came on, and she shoved the throttle forward, letting out a wild whoop of enjoyment as the fighter lurched forward, and she eased the joystick back to let it gain altitude.

Her radar suddenly started beeping, and she looked at it as though it was malfunctioning. How could anyone be that far out already? She paid it no mind until she saw the trails of smoke and the insignia of the Choshu Squadron.

"Nani?"

She banked almost immediately, shouting orders to her squadron to bank out of the way. The fighter tore through, obviously with a skilled pilot. Micro missiles flew from the wing pods, and at least three of the Shinsen fighters fell. Curses flew from the other nine as the fighter shut off the afterburners long enough to make a sharp turn. He banked around, heading right towards Misao. Switching on the afterburners again, he rocketed straight towards her.

Misao, nervous about colliding with him, banked out of the way, and another set of micro missiles flew, decimating the five ships of her squadron. She growled, banking as hard as she could. She then began a corkscrew as the warning signals flared, indicating the arrival of the remaining Choshu ships.

Though not as skilled as their leader, they were giving all but two of the Shinsen ships trouble. The two systematically destroyed the ones attacking them, leaving the others to fend for themselves.

The main Choshu pilot turned on Misao, and she gritted her teeth as the warning signs tacked up, indicating more and more micro locks. She waited for her own, and let them fly at the same time, her jaw dropping as each of his missiles destroyed hers.

He opened fire on her with his machine gun, and as they streaked past, he turned as tightly as he could, ignoring the warning klaxons that blared. He let loose another micro missile barrage, and this time, she watched with tearing eyes as they came on, unable to avoid them.

Her simulator went dark, just the confused sounds of the remaining Shinsen ships being destroyed. And then the clear, commanding voice of Shinsen 1, Okita. The two remaining Shinsen, 1 and 3, worked together to destroy all but Choshu 1. She listened in awe as they tried again and again to trap the remaining Choshu, but a lucky shot took a chunk of Okita's wing, and he had to return to base.

Then it was down to Choshu 1 and Shinsen 3, head to head. It was this one moment, and then-"They're both down! But Saitoh went down first! Choshu Squadron takes the victory!"

Misao climbed out of the sim cockpit, enraged beyond belief. She ran straight toward the Choshu Squadron's wing, and found them halfway between simulator and the mess hall.

She raised her arm to strike, but paused when their cloaked leader's amber eyes fell upon her. She could feel no emotion from him, and it froze her heart.

When she regained her nerve, most of them had passed by her. As she spun, the leader turned gave her a smile of contempt. "No wonder you lost half of your squadron and they had to bring us in."

Those words made Misao snap, charging at him with a hand raised to strike. As it arced toward him, he raised his arm, casually blocking the strike. Immediately after impact, she let out a cry of pain stumbling back and cradling her hand.

"You should not mess with what you don't understand."

Misao barely heard his words as he turned and left. All she could see was red. She would get him back. Makimachi Misao did not get pushed around by anyone.

Kaoru came to in an unfamiliar room. Struggling to get her vision to clear, she turned at the sound of something behind her. She fixed her eyes on Soujiro, who was reading through some files at a desk. Kaoru then realized she was in the medical wing. "Ano…"

Soujiro looked up from his files and turned to Kaoru. "Ah! Kamiya-san. You're awake."

"How long was I out for?"

"About an hour." Soujiro replied, walking toward where Kaoru laid. "How do you feel?"

Kaoru gave a tight-lipped smile and sat up. "Terrible, Seta-sensei. But, tell me something. Why did Misao-chan want me to come here. What is so special about your treatment?"

Soujiro gave a grim smile of his own before holding up the file he had been reading. "I study cases of those infected by the touch of dragons, like you, Kamiya-san. But, I must say, your case looks to be the worse I've ever seen for someone to still be alive."

Kaoru looked down at her fists. "I don't have long to live, do I?"

Soujiro shook his head slowly. "Unless we find a way to help you, I highly doubt it."

Tsuzukeru…

Phoe-chan: *Dances* And I thought I deleted this chapter, it was in another folder! HAHAHA!

Joak Drysso: *sighs*

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