Petals of Soliloquy: Legend of Shinano

Chapter 1: Explanations

"Ow... My aching everything..." Shikikan moans painfully as he wakes up in what appears to be a hospital bed. He also notices that he is not alone as a big fluffy tail whaps him in the face- along with eight more.

"Shikikan's coming to!" Kaga calls out as Akagi rushes over.

"Thank god you're all right!" Akagi says as she hugs Shikikan tight, burying his face in her chest.

"Hey... Akagi..." Shikikan winces as the carrier lets him go and he realizes just who is in the same bed with him.

"Are you the dreamwaker that the legends speak of?" Kaga asks the mysterious girl.

"If you speak of the very dreamwaker herself, yes that is me." The mysterious girl replies. "You girls look much like me... Was I a lost soul back then?"

"Now that you think of it... She does look a whole lot like us, doesn't she?" Amagi asks as she walks in.

"She does yes." Akagi replies. "Do you have a name?"

"I am Shinano." The mysterious girl, now known as Shinano says. "I was supposedly a part of your people... And then I fell into a deep slumber, one that I thought I'd never get out of."

"Most odd." Amagi replies. "I've never heard anything about you before..."

"I on the other hand have heard of you." Shinano says. "As the dreamwaker, I have the ability to see different realities... What could have been... But I cannot show them to anyone, so they must trust my words... Are you okay Shikikan?"

"I think I'm all right." Shikikan replies. "I took a few bullets from the attacking zeros but nothing too serious.

"We are so, so sorry about that..." Akagi and Kaga say sheepishly. "Please forgive us..."

"Well... The alarm that you heard was I-19's idea of a practical joke." Shikikan replies. "I don't blame you for mistaking it for an actual attack. At least Shinano didn't fare any worse, did she?"

"She got hit by a kamikaze, but fortunately that wasn't too hard to fix up nya." Akashi says as she walks in with the damage report. "You on the other hand didn't quite get so lucky, it took the nurses a long time to extract the bullets because some of them were still in your body when you were taken in with Shinano. The most I had to do with her was just dust off and caulk up whatever the explosion had taken out."

"Fair enough." Shikikan says as he and Shinano carefully get off the bed and assess themselves. "But I thought this was just a legend... We have THE dreamwaker with us right now."

"It's not as mystical as you might think though." Shinano chuckles lightly. "Because of my strange abilities I tend to fall asleep very often whenever I'm not in battle."

"Oh dear." Shikikan chuckles back. "Is there anything we can really do if you end up falling asleep?"

"I don't know if we want to do that." Akagi says. "I mean she's been through so much, at least let the poor girl have her rest when she needs it."

"I guess." Shikikan replies. "So, is there anything that we need to cover as of today?"

"Nothing that's really out of the question." Amagi says. "The most we really need to worry about is that weird bomb that the Eagle Union's been trying to hide from the world, but we'll also have to make sure that others don't try to go after Shinano."

"You're right about that, these powers could mean everything." Shikikan replies. "But now I've just realized... Where will she stay?"

"If her powers do activate, you're going to want to be the first one to know." Amagi says. "Why not let her stay with you at your residence?" Akagi looks like she's about to leave a giant bump on the battlecruiser's head upon hearing that statement but Amagi quickly shoots her a glare, shutting up the 1st division carrier.

"I wouldn't mind." Shinano replies. "Would you be all right with that?"

"I guess it wouldn't hurt." Shikikan says. "Hopefully Naganami doesn't overwork herself trying to make sure we're okay."

"Worry not." Shinano says. "We'll be okay as long as nothing dire happens to me."

"So... What do we do now?" Ayanami asks as she walks in. "I-19 is currently waiting for you."

"Oh you found her? Thanks." Shikikan replies. "Akagi, you go ahead and deal with her. I'm going to get Shinano used to my place."

"All right." Akagi says as she walks off to deal with I-19 while Shikikan and Shinano head off to the former's residence.