Chapter 52: the ambitious one and the mad one

Ikaruga Takatsugu was born in one of the five prestigious ruling reagent households of the Empire of Japan. He was born a noble and raised to be one.

Ikaruga Takatsugu was exceptional as a child. On his tenth birthday, the Emperor paid the Ikaruga family a visit in order to give his blessing the young Takatsugu. The Ikaruga family managed to keep the Emperor entertained and at the end of the party, the Emperor requested a brush, an ink-stick, an ink-stone and a calligraphy scroll and then gifted the Ikaruga family an original poem of his.

The young Takatsugu as a child back then genuinely showed a deep appreciation at the handwriting of the Emperor. He thought that it was beautiful. The Emperor took note of that and happily passed the brush to the young Takatsugu, asking the boy to show off his calligraphy skill to the guests and his family members on the occasion. The young Takatsugu respectfully bowed and received the brush from the Emperor, "Please do not laugh at my humble attempt. I have much to learn," he said to the guests.

The young Takatsugu subsequently surprised the guests by slamming his brush full force against the blank calligraphy scroll. The black ink splashed across the white paper, the tatami and the sleeves of the young Takatsugu's expensive cloth. Then with a clean and sharp movement, the young Takatsugu confidently moved the brush and wrote down words on the calligraphy scroll.

"Hitoridachi"

"Independent"

That word was a spectacle to behold, perhaps because it's high level of artistic or perhaps, because it was written by a ten years old boy. With a single word the young Takatsugu was able to capture the attention of every guess at that party including the Emperor. That one word summed up the young Takatsugu's deep understanding of the state of his nation sovereignty, his deep-seated ambition and purpose. The Emperor praised the young Takatsugu, telling the young boy that he would grow into a fine general in the future.

Ikaruga was said to be an outstanding person even among his talented clansmen at the very young age. He became the youngest to join the Imperial Royal Military School at the age of fifteen, volunteering himself for the program instead of waiting to be drafted. His Drill Sergeant and Instructors quickly noted that Ikaruga was a remarkably hardworking and strong-willed individual despite his noble upbringing. He was more matured than his age suggested and he completed all of his tasks without a single complain and never showed a sign of weakness. He also displayed an extraordinary amount of charisma that was unlikely of his age and won the trust and recognition from his squad mates, those who were older than him.

Ikaruga graduated from the Imperial Royal Military School with the highest distinction. He was then elected to be one of Japan's representative for a foreign exchange program. He first learned the terror of the BETA on the Eurasia front as an apprentice TSF pilot serving a Eurasia joint experimental quick response force. Within the length of four weeks, he fought many battles across Eurasia, notably the BETA infested land of Lithuania, Estonia, England, Frances, etc…

After completed the program, Ikaruga returned to Japan and quickly proved himself to be an extremely capable commander and TSF pilot during the BETA invasion of Kyoto. To his men, Ikaruga was a great commander who was fair, understanding, benevolent but very strict.

Ikaruga was a person who loved talented people. He knew a talented man from the talentless men with a single look. Ikaruga loved to be around the most talented group of people. He loved to make those talented people to become the best version of themselves and that was one of his greatest talents. Ikaruga was the kind of man who wasn't afraid to dirty his hands and the kind of commander who wouldn't send his troops into places that he would not go himself. As the result, Ikaruga was loved by the men and women serving under him.

Ikaruga loved talented people but above all, he loved talented TSF pilots. In his own language, "TSF pilots are future of this country." It's said that Ikaruga's love for talented TSF pilots began from the time he was trained by the Royal Combat Instructor himself and later deepened during his participation in the foreign exchange program.

Despite his love for talented TSF pilots, Ikaruga was very selective in choosing TSF pilots. He solely chose the TSF pilots to serve him base on two important qualifications, skill and ambition. He believed that a man need both skill and ambition to become great. That's why he became extremely adept at grooming skills and ambition of his men.

While Ikaruga was very selective in choosing TSF pilots, he was very proactive once he spotted people who met his qualification. When he saw a qualified person Ikaruga would do anything to get that person. Sometimes, it was easy to do so. But most of the time, it was a difficult procedure because the many of those qualified people weren't even a soldier of Japan. Sometimes, they were UN TSF pilots. Sometimes, they were ex-US armored marine. Once in a while, they were orbital divers, the most trained and the best of TSF pilot troops to ever exist. Recruiting and pulling those men and women under his service often got Ikaruga into all sort of troubles.

Ikaruga's longtime friend and right hand man Makebe often complained to him regarding his morbid obsession for talented people but that who Ikaruga was, he could not change it like a leopard that could not change its spots.

The person known as Shirogane Takeru was without a doubt a treasured item that Ikaruga wanted to collect. However, despite all that talents he had, the boy was owned by that mad scientist of a woman and he lacked ambition.

"Such a waste of a talent. That woman knows how to develop talent but she doesn't know how to groom ambition. What a waste!"

That was Ikaruga's first word the very moment he was alone with Makebe in his office after their secret business trip to Yokohama UN army base. Ikaruga's office spoke a lot of his personality. His room looked impressive and elegant like it should considering Ikaruga's status, and yet, there was a contrasting air of humility floating within the room itself. The room was about 15m square in width, airy and covered with large wooden French windows on three sides. A silky red curtain embroidered with golden threats tied next to each window added a touch of wealth and power to the room itself. The wall was painted in light yellow paint, the very same color on every wall of the Kyoto IRG barrack. That aside, there was no other furniture in the room other than an expensive looking oaken table, red leathered chairs, an antique table lamp and a cabinet filled with photos and pictures.

"That kid would make a difficult customer," Makebe made a strange comment instead of giving Ikaruga a reply. He knew that Ikaruga really liked that kid from the way Ikaruga acted and thus has already engineered a plan in his head.

Of course, Ikaruga knew Makebe just as well as Makebe knew him. He understood that Makebe would know just how much Ikaruga wanted to wrestle that kid out of that woman's hands. They were together for so long, how could Makebe not know.

"Is it possible?" Ikaruga asked, knowing full well that Makebe must have think up something in his head.

"We can go with the usual," Makebe scratched his chin and replied.

"The usual" in Makebe's and Ikaruga's language referred to materials. A person can be easily tempted by materials as long as he lived, whether it was wealth, power, status, stability, or something else.

Makebe was a man who was exceptionally great at selling and executing Ikaruga's ambitions and ideas. Ikaruga has always left it to Makebe to do the job of recruiting for him, as well as managing his men in a systematic order.

"He care not about wealth or power or status. I thought he did when he made that public announcement but it turns out that I could not be more wrong. He is idealistic. Surely, if we work around that, don't we have a chance?" Ikaruga regrettably sighed as he shook his head.

"No, I'm not talking that. Since that kid is such a fine TSF pilot, surely he would want something better to play around with rather than a Shiranui. And I don't think we could sell our idea to a guy who basically gave such a technology breakthrough invention to everyone for free."

For a TSF pilot, other than stability in life, power, wealth, status or fame, a great TSF is something of great value. Any TSF pilot, especially talented TSF pilot could not help but dream or fantasize of piloting the best TSF that they could put their hand on. And Makebe could provide them just that, a Takemikazuchi, that's too, a usual material that Makebe often employed to recruit talents.

"How?" Ikaruga scowled. He knew how Makebe normally handled the recruitment process and the tactics he employed, that's why Ikaruga asked. Normally, Makebe would invite the person who won Ikaruga's favor to one of Ikaruga's training camp, showing him/her how Ikaruga treated his troops and then gave permission to try piloting an unused Takemikazuchi. And that tactic would not work this time, because of one person, Kouzuki Yuuko. She owed the boy and she would not allow him to venture far away from her hands.

"We will do the opposite this time. Let's send the Takemikazuchi to him instead. Show him how magnanimous you are. That's the first step. In the meanwhile, I will try my luck with organizing a training camp at our base with that woman." Makebe tapped his finger against the table in a monotone and suggested.

"I see," Ikaruga nodded his head and responded, "In that case, I am better to add more chips to the table."

"Lord Ikaruga, just don't do something crazy. That kid might not worth all the troubles" Makebe dreaded. He knew the length Ikaruga would go to obtain a talent he desire and how that would come back kicking Ikaruga in the butt times and times.

"And that's where you are wrong my friend. That kid, he is worth every bit of trouble," Ikaruga chuckled.

"But surely you must have realized that at this point all we could do is gamble. That Kouzuki woman has him within her control. She would not make a careless mistake of letting him slip out of her fingers like most people," Makebe reasoned.

"Surely, but, it's worth a try since you are the one doing the recruiting, not somebody else, we have some chance," Ikaruga looked into Makebe's eyes and cut the conversation short.

"As you wish my Lord," Makebe resigned, knowing he could not change Ikaruga's mind and making his preparation.

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"How do you like this place?" the lord asked.

"Lt. Colonel Makebe has treated us well and I'm grateful for that," the boy carefully picked his words as he replied. His palms were sweating and he was more nervous than usual, more than he should. He was alone with Lord Ikaruga in his private office.

After Lord Ikaruga returned from his trip to the Imperial Palace, he had a little private talk with Yuuko, attended and watched the training session of his men and A01 afterwards and subsequently requested the boy's audience to his office.

There was something about the lord in front of him that the boy could not quite put it into words. There was something about this man but the boy didn't know what it was. He felt insecure. He felt uncomfortable and restless. He would rather leap into the battlefield, fighting hundreds of BETA rather than being here, alone with this young lord in the same room.

To him, Yuuhi was Yuuhi, not Her Highness Yuuhi. To him, Yuuko was Yuuko sensei, not XO Kouzuki. To him, Marimo was Marimo, not Instructor Jinguuji. And yet, Ikaruga Takatsugu was Lord Ikaruga. To him, the man Ikaruga Takatsugu could only be Lord Ikaruga, he could not be anything but Lord Ikaruga. Despite the many attempts of Ikaruga telling him to switch into an informal language, Shirogane Takeru found that he was unable to do as Ikaruga request. Ikaruga was Lord Ikaruga for him.

"No, I'm afraid that you have misunderstood me. That is not what I am asking. What do you think about this place? Just relax and answer as frankly as you can. What do you think about this place as a TSF pilot?" the lord chuckled lightly as he fell back on his chair, relaxing.

"It's wonderful. Even in our Yokohama base, I have never seen such wide assemble of TSFs in the same place. Well, that one time during the XM3 was a special occasion. I did not believe it when I saw the authentic and functional models of Typhoon, Rafael and Tomcat in the hangar. It's amazed me the length that you and Lt. Colonel Makebe went to provide the best trainings and living condition for your men. I believe that they are very grateful for that," truthfully replied the boy, yet, still he could not bring himself to relax in front of the lord. He instinctively felt extremely reluctant to do so.

"I have been thinking about creating an experimental quick reaction TSF unit but currently I'm lacking the right person to lead and train such unit. I honestly believe that you are the right person for this job. What do you think?" the lord playfully rested his chin on his bony knuckles as he asked in a joking tone.

It was an unexpected offer. The boy did not expect that. When he was requested for a private audience with the lord, he has simulated many scenario within his head like a person prepared for an interview. He had thought that the lord would ask about the new updates of the XM3 or the Takemikazuchi gifted to him or other things and he had prepared himself for those questions, but he did not expect this one.

The lord looked like he was joking and his tone sounded like he was joking and yet… that offered, it sounded authentic, very authentic.

The boy tried to be calm and composed. "I'm afraid that I'm still very young and I have not had any officer training. No man would listen…" he tried to reasoned around.

"How old are you?" the lord raised his hand and interrupted the boy's excuse with a question.

"I'm 17 this year, sir," the boy replied. His eyes reflexively caught of the many calluses on Ikaruga's raised wrist and he realized the young looking lord must have been piloting a TSF for many decades.

"When I am at your age, I was already a Battalion commander and regarding your lack of officer training, you could take the class while commanding my quick reaction unit. I could arrange a senior officer to help you with managing and commanding the unit during this period. I think it would be a wonderful experience for your maturity as a TSF pilot and officer," Ikaruga, still, with his jokingly tone and mannerism countered the boy's reasoning.

"Lord Ikaruga, forgive me. My position as the leading test pilot and a member of the Alternative IV would not allow me to take such liberty," the boy was desperate for another reason and fortunately, he came up with one.

"Surely, right now, it's impossible for you to have any freedom to liberally choose the path of your career. But within a year, I estimate that the longest would be two, within that time frame, I can make it happen. I just need your cooperation and it would be done. Of course, I would make it so that it would not affect your good image and reputation."

What on earth is this man talking about? That was the boy's initial reaction and he kept his surprise from showing. If Yuuko want to keep him at her side, there would not be a single person in this world could take him away…as long as Yuuko kept providing results with the UN. Also, even though he was completely exposed of his utter lack of understanding toward his political position by Lord Ikaruga, he was pretty sure that the UN Army would not easily yield him to the Imperial Royal Guard. He was the co-creator of the XM3, its leading test pilot as well as Yuuko's accomplice in the Alternative movement. The UN would not make such a stupid decision to release him of his service and relinquish him to Lord Ikaruga. He was not smart enough to completely realize his overall standing but he was not as stupid as Sumika to be completely obvious about it.

Shirogane Takeru was baffled. He didn't know what else, what other excuses he could give to respectfully decline Ikaruga's offer. He could always decline Ikaruga straightforwardly but after receiving many of Ikaruga's goodwill, he felt reluctant to do so. Captain Isumi has told him that Ikaruga's goodwill was no goodwill but the boy has always been grateful of Ikaruga's cooperation regarding his intention. Had it not for Ikaruga's cooperation, they would not be able to delay the assault of Sadogashima. Had it not for Ikaruga, they could not make the Imperial Royal Guard and Imperial Army to implement the XM3 to their TSFs before the assault of Sadogashima. Had it not for Ikaruga, Shirogane Takeru could never exclude the girls of 207B out of A01 with such ease. Then, it's about the Takemikazuchi. He felt like he owed Ikaruga's many favor, too many favors in fact.

"Is there anything that you don't like about this place?" Ikaruga suddenly asked, his voice shifted to a more serious tone.

"No, sir, absolutely. I believe that this is a wonderful place for TSF pilots," the boy hastily replied.

"Is this about those men under Makebe? I apologize for their bad manner. Makebe recruited those men under my command. I know that they are an unreasonable and crude bunch, and they create headache for me from time to time, but they are skilled men, skilled, talented and ambitious. It always pain me when I see talented people who are not put in a position that they could show and develop their talents…" Ikaruga sighed, "Of course, I know that Makebe have put them under appropriate disciplinary action for their action but I feel like I have to explain and apologize to you in person for them."

"No, sir, you did nothing wrong and that thing is inconsequential," the boy quickly reflected, "Such things are common for us soldiers. We disagree and butt head from time to time."

Even as he tried to deny, the boy could not forget those soldiers' word at the party.

"Opportunist, you are all just a bunch of opportunists that reaping your success out of people's misery and death."

"Hypocrite,"

"Poser"

"Did you have fun earning that hero title while plotting Sagiri's demise?"

Of course, these people did not know the finer detail, they were close. However, it was true that Sagiri took the fall for Yuuko to elevate him toward the position of public hero.

He was affected by the words. How could he not? They hit home. He was not a hero. He was an opportunist, a poser and a hypocrite. He was ashamed of that, apologetic about that, but Shirogane Takeru didn't think he could do better.

But, Takeru did not think that Lord Ikaruga and Lt. Colonel Makebe would make such a big deal about that. It was just some verbal exchange, no big deal. Why would Lt. Colonel Makebe lock the thirty of them into cell over such pettiness? And thirty? That was an entire battalion. The boy did not remember that many people involved in the verbal exchange at the party. He remembered there were a couple of men, four or five as most, the rest they were trying to diffuse the situation. Of course, he asked Lt. Colonel Makebe to release immediately them when he heard the news but still, after hearing Lord Ikaruga mentioned about that subject again, he pondered.

"That unfortunate incident, actually, I don't know if I should call it unfortunate or fortunate, I guess it is more fortunate for me since I get to understand your ambition anyway, it was the nail in the coffin when I think about that vacant position for my future experimental quick reaction unit." Ikaruga stated.

Takeru became increasingly confused. Incident? What incident? That kind of verbal exchange was not at a level that someone would call an incident. Was Lord Ikaruga talking about what happened during the XM3 trial?

"I apologize, sir, what …"

"Humble is a virtue to be enshrined. But, being overly humble is not a good thing. You are a man of many talent. Thus, you should take on a personality to match that talent of yours. Otherwise, people would not be able to know that and you would not get the benefit of being put in the right position for your talent and ambition."

Before Takeru could ask Ikaruga to explain to him regarding the mentioned incident, he was quickly interrupted by Ikaruga's lecture. Humble? What humble? Ambition? Whose ambition? What ambition? Regardless, he resignedly adopted an understood look despite not knowing what the beef Ikaruga was talking about. He respectfully bowed, "I'm grateful for your words, Lord Ikaruga."

"Shirogane, where did you learn to pilot a TSF like that?" Ikaruga curiously asked.

Now, that was a question that Shirogane Takeru has expected and prepared for.

"Lord Ikaruga, I have traveled around the world throughout my childhood. I was fortunate enough to feed myself as an OS writer despite my age. As the result, I see people pilot their TSFs, many, each of them has different styles, tendencies and approaches. The way I see it, even they look the same to most people, every one of the TSF pilot out there, they are very unique individuals. I was fascinated by them and well, I guess I was kind of copying this and that, and well… learning how to pilot a TSF from watching those people."

"I see…" Ikaruga replied, sort of understand it but not understand it at the same time, he subsequently nodded his head, "And that's why you created such an OS, the XM3. Wonderful."

Takeru remained silent, having nothing to add. He was only telling Ikaruga the cover story that Yuuko provided him with. He was merely telling Ikaruga what Ikaruga has already known. He would appreciate if Ikaruga did not dig deeper into that story, because it was all invented, and he might blow his cover story up in no time if Ikaruga keep pressing on that.

"I believe that Professor Kouzuki has done a wonderful job at putting you in the right position for your talent to blossom," Ikaruga suddenly dropped that comment out of nowhere.

"And I'm grateful for that," Takeru replied accordingly.

"That is your talent as a software engineer," Ikaruga added, "But I still do think that she could not maximize your potential and talent as a TSF pilot. As an OS writer and software engineer, maybe, but not TSF pilot. Believe me, I'm not trying to discredit her here. Firstly, she is not a TSF pilot. She is a researcher. She might benefit you as a fellow engineer and researcher but she did not have a full comprehension of you regarding your ability as a TSF pilot. Because that lack of comprehension, she will never be able to maximize your potential. She could throw you into battles against the best opponents, the most talented men and women and allowed you to learn from that experience. However, I will tell you that it is not the correct way of maximizing a person's potential. She might think that she knew what she's doing but she is not. I know the way. I am the only person who can realize your potential and ambition, that I can confidently say."

"So we were talking about my ambition? What ambition did I have?" The boy cursed inwardly while keeping his poker face, "Did I do something that mislead Lord Ikaruga into thinking that? He specifically stated that my ambition as a TSF pilot… what could possibly lead him into believing such thing."

The more he talked with Ikaruga, the further their understanding of each other came to be. He did not understand a beef of what Ikaruga was talking about and neither was Ikaruga understood what he was all about.

"My apology,"

That was his answer to Ikaruga's offer. Takeru finally decided to come clean about it, no more hiding, no more subtlety. It's better for him to come clean now before Ikaruga would dig deeper and deeper and then hurting his own pride.

"A loyal man, I see. You choose loyalty over ambition. I can now see why Her Highness put up good words about you to the Emperor," Ikaruga sighed, "Another plus. Why didn't you come to me instead of that woman?" he sighed again, "Well, I have to thank her for making you known to the world though," he signed again "A pity," and again "Really, a pity," and again with a look full of regret and disappointment.

"My apology for disappointing you," Takeru apologized. He still didn't know what Ikaruga was talking about but he felt like he had to say the word.

"No, you don't have to." Ikaruga waved his hand, wryly smiling. "I respect your decision 2nd Lt. Shirogane. I really am. However, I hope you would think about my offer. If you ever have a change of mind, know that at any time, at any moment, I will be very pleased to have you," Ikaruga said and respectfully saluted.

"I am honored," Shirogane Takeru saluted accordingly out of reflex.

"I will really respect your decision. So please, do consider about the offer," Ikaruga jokingly insisted after he broke out of his salute.

"I will," Takeru had no choice but to give his word as the result in order to save Ikaruga some face.

"That was a good talk Shirogane," Ikaruga said.

"I think so as well," Takeru replied, not really thinking that.

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Even while she was in a stranger's place, Yuuko was still being Yuuko, she never changed, the boy thought. She acted her part, playing the role of an eccentric genius that she was. She would come and observe the joint training from time to time with her usual poker face. When the commander asked her regarding the result of their training, she showed a "meh" reaction as if there was nothing they could do to impress her. Once in a while, she would criticize something, either it was about the units that actually handled and transported the G material extracting equipment or it was about something completely irrelevant to the operation which was the case most of the times. People just could not figure her out.

Every now and then, Lt. Colonel Makebe would ask her for a private audience in his office, they would have a very long discussion every time.

On the fifth night being the guess of Lt. Colonel Makebe, Yuuko invited Takeru to the sky lounge, and to be honest, he was very impressed by it. Lt. Colonel Makebe has arranged Yuuko's private quarter to be the most luxurious VIP sky lounge on top of the control center. Lord Ikaruga's office could not even compare to the grandeur of this sky lounge. Yuuko really got the best room to use as her private quarter, a complete change from her underground room. In a base of exposed steel, yellowed concreted wall and fire retardant wood, this sky lounge was like an out-of-place facility, something didn't belong to because just how grand and picturesque it was. The color of the room was a strange mesh of shiny gray of the metallic walls and tea colored furniture. However, with a click of button from the remote control in the hand of Yuuko, the scenery inside the room would slowly change from a lifeless gray of metal to a small picturesque wonder that could pull a string of even the most hardened men's heart.

He could see the warm glow of neon lights of the capital city Kyoto on one side while admiring the moonlit sea in the opposite. The other side of the lounge showed a white court yard covered in snow and the ceiling revealed a bright crescent hung above a starlit winter sky. It was like a scene came straight out a romance movie except that it completely wasn't because his company was Yuuko herself.

Yuuko complained about how lousy it was to wake up inside this sky lounge. "Only a mountain goat would enjoy something like that," or, "This room makes me feel like I'm in the wild," complained Yuuko with an extremely reluctant look. Takeru knew Yuuko was fond this room more than she thought.

As he was still emerging himself with the beautiful scenery that the sky lounge offered, Yuuko uncorked a red wine bottle on the sofa table. She put an ice cube from the ice bucket placed on the table and dropped into the empty glass, then filled it with the red wine.

The words associated with Yuuko were many, cold, calculating, devious, merciless, crazy, insane… there were many more words that could use to describe Yuuko but never the words "vulnerable" or "fragile."

The boy thought he must be crazy to associate those words with Yuuko the moment he saw her gave a toast to herself and drained a glass of red wine. What a lonely back, he thought to himself. Her shoulders were small and thin that it was hard to imagine that a person like Yuuko could bear the weight of one billion lives on those shoulders.

The boy thought that he was crazy and it turned out he was crazy for real. What made him realized that he was crazy was the strangely familiar scent of Yuuko's hair that mixed with a faint odor of sweat, cologne and alcohol.

His face has buried deep into the cascade of Yuuko's shoulder length dark hair and his arms squeezed the contour of her thin waist tightly. When he realized what he was doing, he separated from Yuuko in a hurry. His face flushed and he stared at his own hands with a doubting look, wondering just why he did what he did, "Sorry," he apologized.

Yuuko turned and stared at him with a complicated look. She slowly put down her empty wine glass on the table and raised the corners of her eyes, "If you want someone to give you a hug, try Marimo when she wakes up. If you are missing a woman's warmth, go look for someone else," Yuuko sighed, "Now, I think about it. You have told me that our relationship was that of accomplice and partner in your previous iteration. Is that the full extent of our relationship? Please don't tell me that something like this did happened between you and me," Yuuko expressionlessly made a vulgar hand gesture, putting her thumb in between her middle finger and fore finger.

The boy was stupefied for a full second and grew flustered, "No, that did not happen," he shook his head and denied.

"Thank you," Yuuko said with a disgusted look, "If you had say yes, I would probably pull out my gun and blast my brain out of my head. Thank you for saying no," Yuuko immediately poured more wine into her glass, rinsed her mouth- and drained it in a hurry, shuddering as if she had a chill.

"I heard that Makebe's men making contact with you recently," only after draining the fifth glass, Yuuko lazily sunk into the soft sofa and got the serious talk going. She was completely in a relax mode.

The boy shook his head lightly, removing his sight from Yuuko's bare thighs, "It was nothing serious, really. It was just some minor argument and some small talk about TSF piloting, you see."

"Hmm, it is either that Isumi must make some mistake or that you are too stupid to even realize that. I'm leaning on the latter…" Yuuko sighed, "Turning you into a double agent for me seems like a far fetch botched idea. I wonder why I even thought about it… hah," Yuuko sighed again.

"Double agent?" the boy tilted his head in confusion.

"Yoroi detects some strange movement within the rank of the Imperial Royal Guard and he advises me to watch out," Yuuko once again poured wine into her glass, then gestured the boy to fetch the ice.

The boy wordlessly reached for the ice bucket and dropped a cube of ice into Yuuko's glass. He then drained the glass and put it outside of Yuuko's reach as Yuuko was staring at him, jaw dropping. The wine bottle, he corked it and dropped it into the ice bucket.

It was that moment, he stared at Yuuko and then his own hands as if he just came to, "What did I just do?" he asked.

"I am about to ask the same question. Why did you do that?" Yuuko scowled and mustered some will power to sit up from the sofa and reached for her wine bottle. Her hand was halfway to the bottle and it was slapped away, "What's wrong with you today?" Yuuko squinted her eyes and stared into the boy.

As if he was stuck in a game glitch, the boy had that "what did I just do?" look in his face, staring at Yuuko then at his own hands, "I think I must have gone crazy," he replied, still staring at his own hands.

"Yeah, do me a favor. Go back to your quarter and have a good rest. We will continue this talk tomorrow," Yuuko waved her hand and shooed the boy away.

"I will," the boy replied and approached Yuuko. After the second stepped, he snapped out of it, "What was he thinking?" He inwardly asked himself, "Why on earth would he do that?" he was thinking about bridal carry Yuuko into the bed, put a blanket on her and gave her a goodnight kiss, "Why would he even thinking about it?

The boy slapped himself with both hands, blushed and hastily reached for the door knob, "Sorry, I am seriously don't know what is wrong with me today," he apologized, leaving the room in a hurry, "Sweet dreams," turning off the light as he closed the door. He ran as if he was trying to escape a crime scene, his face felt incredibly hot. After three seconds, he came to, turn back and knocked on the door of Yuuko's room.

"Come in," Yuuko said.

The boy opened the door and turned on the light, "I'm sorry," he bowed to Yuuko, then closed the door and ran out leaving a perturbed Yuuko staring.

"What was that?" Yuuko stared at the door as she questioned. After a while, she gave up on thinking, trying to reach for the wine bottle inside the ice bucket with the tip finger, she couldn't and switched her strategy to use the tip of her toes, and failed once again. Only then, she gave up completely on draining yet another glass of wine.

Sweet dreams, who does that guy think he is talking to? A baby? A teenage girl? Ah, I have forgot to tell him about that… Never mind, tomorrow…

Yuuko complained in her mind and resigned herself to her mental fatigue. She felt strangely drowsy, must have been the wine, she thought and yawn widely. She searched for the remote control in her pocket and switched off the room lights. The pale moonlight of winter traversed through the glassy ceiling and lit the room in a jade colored light, soft and tender was the light, it caressed the tormented soul of a woman and accompanied her into her slumber.

Sweet dreams, that would not come true, nor it will ever be, for that would be her fate and punishment. But Yuuko found her sleep easily that night, must have been the wine, she told herself as she found comfort in those gentle words, sweet dreams.