Prologue

Year 2034

Quiet sobs wracked the darkness, originating from a small figure. It lay on its side in a barren concrete room, directly across from an old wooden door. Rough rope was binding its wrists and had cloth covering its mouth, holding it unable to move or prepare in any way. It shivered. The cold room was much too uncomfortable for a young boy wearing naught but a school uniform.

The figure was Ichika Orimura, a slightly smaller than average ten year old. His black hair was virtually invisible in the darkness, but his ruby eyes glowed softly, unable to miss. Said eyes were currently brimming over with tears. Ichika had just been sitting down in his home, a modest house in the outskirts of Tokyo, to watch the second Mondo Grosso tournament. Chifuyu Orimura, Ichika's older sister and the reigning Brunhilde, was a favorite to win. Just as he touched the couch a resounding crack echoed from the kitchen. The last thing Ichika remembered was the feeling of cloth against his face and a cloying smell, pushing him over the brink into darkness.

No, Ichika thought determinedly. I have to escape. I can't allow myself to become even more of a burden to Chifuyu-nee. She's done enough already.

Steeling himself, Ichika did the one thing Chifuyu taught him to get out of most bindings. Grabbing his right wrist with his left hand, he prepared to forcibly dislocate his shoulder. Suddenly, loud footsteps resonated from the other side of the door. Ichika froze.

"Hey boy," a rough voice said in heavily accented Japanese. "You awake yet? Wouldn't want the boss mad at me. After all, she did tell us you were to be kept alive. Come on, we need to get you to the operating table."

With that the door set into the wall opposite Ichika burst open, blinding him with the sudden light. A giant man stood in the doorway, backlit by the light in the hallway. He strode forward, grabbing Ichika by the arm and yanking him to his feet. After his vision cleared, Ichika studies the man silently. He had a broad face, with his nose flattened as if he'd run full speed into a wall. His beady little eyes darted around restlessly, his tongue flicking out to wet his lips every so often. Disgustingly yellow and offset teeth poked out from his mouth, and he had a greasy and lanky black beard and hair.

Before Ichika could come up with a solid plan to escape from this man's grasp, he pulled him to a stop outside a set of double doors that looked like they had come from a hospital. He yanked Ichika's arm roughly, turning him around to face him. Ichika had to crane his head back just to be able to see the man's face.

"Okay, listen here," the man said gruffly. "You're gonna be a nice little patient for the doctor, you understand? After all, if she's happy, we're happy. Don't mess this up for us."

A cold wave of fear ran down Ichika's spine as the man spoke. 'The doctor?' he thought. 'What's going to happen to me?' The man shoved the doors open and quickly pushed Ichika into the room, closing them behind him. Ichika ran back to the doors and pounded on them, but they wouldn't open.

"Well, well," a cold voice said cruelly behind him. "What do we have here? Is it another subject for me to play with? Oh, goodie, I was just getting bored with the last one."

To Ichika's horror, he found himself turning around. A rather tall woman stood a few feet behind him, wearing a blue button up shirt and black pants under a white lab coat. Her black hair was bound back in a loose ponytail, and her clear green eyes were hiding behind thick glasses. The woman was smiling cruelly, almost as if she couldn't wait to start with whatever maniacal plans she had in store for Ichika. Ichika started struggling desperately with the bindings on his wrists, forgetting temporarily about his plan to dislocating his shoulder. The woman stalked forwards, and with the speed of a snake, lunged to Ichika, grabbing his shoulder and arm.

"Come on, don't be like that," she crooned, disgusting Ichika with how close she was. "It's been so long since I've had such a young and able test subject! Let's go have some fun!"

Without allowing Ichika to fight back the doctor yanked him on to a hospital bed, strapping him in with surprising strength. Ichika fought her every step of the way, but he couldn't do much with his wrists bound and mouth gagged. Once she had him immobilized, the doctor stepped back with her hand on her chin in the universal thinking pose.

"Now, now," she murmured, just loud enough for Ichika to hear. "What shall we do? There's the classic road of replacing parts, but that's too standard. We could take his memories and work for us, but again, clichéd. Oh, I know!" She hurried away from Ichika's bed and rustled around before coming back at a breakneck pace holding a large syringe filled with a yellowish liquid. "If these nanomachines raise a girl's compatibility with the IS, what could it do to a boy? Questions, so many questions. I guess there's only one way to solve this puzzle."

With a savage and sadistic smile, the woman wrenched Ichika's head to the side and held the needle to his neck. Ichika thrashed about, but the doctor's unnatural strength held him in place.

"This may hurt," she warned, and slammed the syringe into Ichika's jugular. Instantly, liquid fire ripped through Ichika's muscles and veins, causing him to unconsciously throw himself at his restraints. The leather straps actually stretched with the force of his movements.

While Ichika was trying to escape his living hell, a loud crack resonated through the air of the dark room. Bright sunlight flooded in through a hole in the roof, revealing a teenager in an IS suit holding a large piece of metal. She threw the scrap to the side and dropped in, only to see a flash of white going through the doors. The teenager looked around the room cautiously, and seeing no one, flung herself to the hospital bed, ripping off the gag in Ichika's mouth.

"Ichika-kun," she crooned. "Ichika-kun, how could I have let this happen to you? Why wasn't I there?" The boy cracked open his eyes, tired from the excruciating pain that had been coursing through him until only a few seconds earlier. The girl reared back, startled at the sight of the piercing golden eyes on her brothers face, where before they were a dark reddish brown.

"Chifuyu-nee," he croaked. "Don't worry, I'm fine. Don't cry." Chifuyu reached up and quickly wiped the tears from her face, embarrassed for her brother to see her in such a state.

"Come on," she whispered, cutting through the leather straps with her sword, the Yukihira, easily. "Let's get you home."

It was a full week before Chifuyu let Ichika go back to school, and even then it was only because she was in Germany. Unwilling to let him stay at home by himself, Chifuyu had persuaded the Gotanda family, the owners of a small restaurant and the parents of Ichika's only friend, to allow him to stay with them for the year she had to be away. She had promised the German military a year of her time to instruct one of their squads in exchange for the information leading to her finding and rescuing Ichika from the people who had kidnapped him. Dan, Ichika's friend, had been shocked to see Ichika's new eyes, but he accepted it in stride, saying it made him look like an action hero from an anime. Dan's little sister, Ran, had almost fainted at the sight of Ichika moving into his new room, and had to be carted away by her parents.

By the time Ichika actually got to school it was already lunch time, so he decided to just head over to where he knew Dan would be eating. Ichika himself wasn't hungry, but it would be nice to talk to his friend before he had to go to class. On the way there, he came across an unusual sight.

Just around the corner of a building, out of sight of the ever present teacher watching the students, three burly guys were standing around a small girl. By the looks of her, she was Chinese, with long brown hair tied into ponytails on either side of her head and large green eyes. Something about her made Ichika feel extremely protective, so he decided to try and get her out of the small circle.

"What on earth do you idiots think you're doing?" Ichika demanded, sauntering up confidently behind the guys. The biggest one spun around, making a small swell of fear rise in Ichika. It was the school bully, Keita Sachi. He was the meanest and most ruthless bully in the school, mercilessly picking on anybody who stood out in the slightest.

"What do you want, Orimura-san?" he sneered. "This doesn't concern you. We just need to teach this little Chinese brat a little lesson on how to respect her betters." Keita's thugs, almost as big and almost as mean as him, nodded dumbly, happy to go along with any of his plans. The three probably only shared a handful of brain cells between them, and none of them were particularly smart.

"Well you can knock it off, 'cause she's off limits," Ichika answered with loads more courage than he felt.

"Oh yeah?" the slightly bigger of the thugs growled. "Look at you? What could you possibly do to us?"

"This," Ichika growled back, and with a speed and accuracy he didn't know he had, slammed his fist into Keita's face. It hit his jaw with such brutal strength that the one hit knocked him out cold. Keita's thugs, like all other lackeys, ran off with their tail between their legs when they saw their leader was down. Ichika stepped on Keita's stomach without restraint and hopped over him. He stood in front of the girl who was trying to make herself invisible. With a start, Ichika realized that she only came up to his chest.

"Hey," he said gently. "Are you okay? Those guys can be real jerks, so it's okay if you were scared."

"I…I'm alright," the girl sniffled, wiping away the tears that had collected in the corner of her eyes. "Who are you?"

"Ichika Orimura," he replied, smiling, as he ruffled the top of her head. "What's your name?"

"Lingyin Huang," she said, looking up into Ichika's eyes. "I'm a new transfer student from China. Those guys didn't like where I was from."

"Lingyin-san, huh?" Ichika said, scratching his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm, that's kind of hard to say. How about Rin-chan? Easy to say, nice and casual."

"Y-y-you're giving me a ni-nickname?" Rin stuttered.

"Of course. We're friends, aren't we? Come one, let's go get something to eat. I'm a little hungry." Ichika extended his elbow to Rin, and after blushing cutely, she took it. They passed a teacher on their way to the cafeteria and told him about Keita. The teacher gave them a knowing look, noting the way Rin was wrapped around Ichika's arm and the way Ichika stood a half-step in front of her protectively.

After getting some bread and two cans of coffee, Ichika led Rin to the spot where he and Dan always ate their lunch. Dan noticed the new addition, but didn't say anything until the pair sat down.

"Hey, Dan-kun," Ichika said. "This is Lingyin Huang-san. Rin-chan, this is my friend Dan Gotanda-san. I met him when we were only five."

"So, what's the story here?" Dan asked impatiently, not being one for small talk. "Has my boy Ichika-kun here finally gotten a girlfriend?"

"Ichika-kun saved me from a group of bullies that were picking on me because I'm Chinese," Rin said affectionately. "I think I'd like to your friend. Could we be friends, Ichika-kun?"

Ichika laughed at the puppy dog eyes Rin was giving him. Having grown up around Ran, also known as the Master of Puppy Dog Eyes, he had gotten enough exposure to only be affected by them if he chose to. It helped in certain situations, like when Ran wanted something that Ichika didn't want to give to her, but he decided to allow it this time. After all, who gave him the right to toy with people's affections?

"Sure, Rin-chan," he said while smiling warmly and patting her head. "We can be friends." Rin glowed under Ichika's attention, rubbing her head up into his palm.

Dan, meanwhile, was smiling at Ichika's oblivious luck. Just by being himself, he could attract all kinds of girls, but one type more than the rest. The girls that felt like they needed protection, for whatever reason, were attracted to his friend more than any other. Rin was probably that type, judging on how they met. It also helped that Ichika would zealously guard whatever he deemed as his.

Ichika lifted his had away from Rin's head, much to her disappointment, and turned back to his food. He wolfed the bread down with surprising speed but forced himself to slow down with his drink.

'Must have been that fight, however one-sided it was,' he thought. 'I must have used more energy than I thought. Maybe it had something to do with what that woman did to me. What was it she said? Increase compatibility with the IS? Wonder what that means to me?'

Dan alternated his gaze between Rin and his golden eyed friend. 'Something must have happened in that week he was off. He's acting really strange.'

Rin was watching her saviour with an almost religious intent. His pure, golden eyes had caused her to go weak in the knees when he looked at her after knocking out Keita. He had looked at her with such a worried gaze just because she might have been hurt. That was the first time anyone had ever looked at her like that, and it felt really good. Almost like she was…worth something. Coming from a household where her two parents fought almost every waking moment, it was nice to be worth something.

After the slower two were finished eating, Ichika stood up and held his hand out for Rin to take. Ichika was looking away, but Dan didn't miss the way she blushed. He wordlessly shook his head. 'Ichika-sama, you lucky bastard. Teach me, oh wise one, the way to attract girls like you do. Please?'

After dumping their garbage in the nearest trash bin, the trio headed to class. It seemed that Rin had transferred into Ichika's class while he was away, leaving Dan to walk to his own room by himself. Ichika laughed at his retreating form, noting the way his head and shoulders were drooping with more and more with each step. Rin was still wrapped around his arm, so he escorted her into the room in the way a gentleman should, opening the door for her and leading her to her seat. Rin was happy to see that the desk in front of her, which had previously been empty, was actually supposed to be filled by Ichika.

Lessons for the day were quite boring. Even though Ichika had missed an entire week, they hadn't moved on much and were still on content that he recognized. The lesson actually seemed simpler to understand, but Ichika just credited that to the odd doctor's experiment. When they were finally let out for the day Rin immediately latched on to Ichika's arm again, making him sigh and shake his head.

Dan met them outside the classroom, having been let out earlier than they were. His class was filled with the loudest and roughest students in their grade, so it made sense that the teacher wanted to get rid of them sooner. Even the most patient adults had a breaking point, and both Dan and Ichika were surprised that this one had managed to keep a hold on her sanity for the entire year so far.

"Hey, you two," Dan called out as Ichika and Rin walked out of the doorway. "So, what's on the schedule for the night?"

Ichika looked down at Rin with a curious smile on his face. "I have no idea. Rin-chan, any suggestions?"

"I'm fine as long as I can stay near you," she said, then bushed immediately at her own comment. Ichika's grin widened, but he looked away out of respect. With his free hand he scratched the back of his head. It was a nervous habit of his whenever he got into an awkward situation, and Ichika being who he is, it happened a lot. Dan was honestly surprised at the fact that his skull wasn't showing through his thinning hair.

"Well, then," Dan said slowly, trying to break the tension. "How about we head back to the restaurant? We could get some food and play some games."

Ichika nodded. "Sounds good. I've been meaning to kick your ass again, and a game's a good way to do it. How about you, Rin?"

"Sounds like fun. I've never played a video game before."

After scraping their jaws off of the ground with a spatula, the boys gaped at the small girl. "Never…played…a…game?" Dan said incredulously.

Rin shrugged. "My family's never even owned a system. They said that I needed to work on my cooking and housework, as a good wife should, not spend my time on pointless games."

Ichika narrowed his eyes. "It seems like I'll have to teach your parents a thing or two about the true value of video games!" As he spoke he pushed his chest out and turned his head to the side. Any girls that were passing by were immediately caught up in his pure heroic aura and stopped what they were doing, their hands clasped over their hearts with their eyes wide. Even Rin was caught up in it, but being the closest to Ichika, she was affected the strongest. Only Dan stood normally, shaking his head and scowling.

"Ichika-kun," he warned. "You're doing it again. Stop it before Koichi-sensei finds you and decides to give you detention again."

Ichika quickly let off on the Hero Aura, as Ran dubbed it, and shuddered. The last time he had caught their math teacher up in it she had given him a…special incentive to stop doing it. Coming from a fifty year old woman, it was a damn good reason to stop.

It only took the trio ten minutes to walk to the Gotanda Eatery, and they went straight to Dan's room to fire up his Stratos-Blaster. It was a brand new console, and it had cost the full of both Ichika's and Dan's savings. As far as they were concerned, it was worth it. To Chifuyu and Dan's parents, not so much.

Rin somehow claimed Ichika's shoulder as her seat as she tried to figure out the rather complicated controller. Ichika didn't mind, seeing as how she was so small and he had always been rather strong, but a part of him wondered why a girl would even try to get so close to him. It was only a small part, though, and it was soon silenced as the rest of Ichika's mind beat it down and forced it to stop questioning and enjoy it.

Dan's mood got lower and lower as Rin, a girl who had never even picked up a controller before, soundly wiped the floor with him. Ichika did as well, but at that point it was kind of expected. They had been playing games together since they were both big enough to turn on the console, and Dan had only beaten Ichika twice. The first time was because Ichika's controller had died, and the second was a complete fluke. Ichika had shot at Dan and missed, and somehow the bullet had found a gas tank. The gas tank blew up, shattering into a million pieces, and one of them just so happened to hit Ichika, killing him instantly. Other than that, Ichika soundly beat Dan into the dirt over and over again.

Eventually Ran got home from her school, a private academy not too far from her home. She had been practicing with the tennis club, so she was still in the short skirt and tight blouse she played in.

"Hey, Dan-nii, I'm home," she called out. "And I'm kind of hungry. Could you make me a snack or somethi-"

As soon as she opened the door she froze. Ichika looked over and studied what she was wearing. "Ah, you were at tennis?" he asked. "Hold on, I'll make dinner. What do you want to eat?"

Ran blushed and blinked a few times. "A-a-anything's f-fine," she stammered. "I-I forgot you were here, Ichika-sama."

Ichika replied by smiling and picking Rin up off of his shoulder. She squeaked when his hand slid under her bottom to pick her up, but he was quickly forgotten as she returned to playing with Dan.

Ichika went to the kitchen, noticing absentmindedly that neither of Dan's parents were in. They often worked strange hours, so it wasn't really a surprise. Just as he started to fry the chicken for a stir fry, Ran showed up in the kitchen. She had changed into a white dress, and had her scarlet hair held away from her face with a white headband. She silently entered the kitchen and took a seat on one of the stools, content to watch Ichika as he worked. He didn't mind being watched. After all, Chifuyu could probably burn water if Ichika wasn't there to cook for her. She may have won the First Mondo Grosso, but anything other than fighting was a complete mystery to her. The best thing she could do while she was home was have a drink and a snack as Ichika took care of the housework.

"You're a really good cook," Ran commented as he added the sauce. "And the apron looks really good on you."

"Thanks," Ichika replied while grinning. "Chifuyu-nee couldn't cook to save her life, so she usually just leaves it to me. I guess having only take-out food is a good incentive to learn how to cook properly."

"Who taught you?"

"Ah, do you know Tabane Shinonono? The creator of the IS? She did. Apparently she had thought of an experiment involving cooking, and she needed my help for it. Oh, that reminds me." Ichika pushed his hand into his pocket and fished out his phone while trying to stir the food with only one hand. He quickly dialed a number and held it up to his ear.

The answer came after only one ring. "HI, hi, hidey-ho, it's Tabane Shinonono!" the girl on the other end sang in a sing-song voice.

"Hey Tabane-chan," Ichika said with an amused tone. "It's Ichika. Do you have a minute to talk? I wanted to ask you something."

"Ichi-nii! It's about time you called me! I heard you got kidnapped last week! What happened?" Tabane was actually the same age as Ichika, a fact that most people tried to forget. It was particularly hard for them to accept that a five year old had designed and created the world's most advanced weapon, something hundreds of years of war hadn't been able to reproduce.

"It's nothing, but if you have the time, I wanted to ask you something. If not, it's okay. It's not that important."

"Sure, what is it?"

"Tabane-chan," Ichika took a deep breath. He wasn't sure how Tabane would react to his request, but it had to be asked. After all, if he couldn't protect anybody by using the IS himself, he would at least be able to design their armour and abilities as best he could to protect them from the shadows. As much as he didn't want to ask for the fear of appearing like a fool, it had to be said.

"Tabane-chan," he repeated. "Please, I beg of you. Teach me about your IS."