A/N: I had this chapter written simultaneously with my first chapter, so pardon any errors/flaws that I have yet to fix. I thank you all kindly for your reviews, and they will be taken into consideration for my following chapter.
Chifuyu's brows stitched together, lips pulled taut as she frowned at Tabane. Just what was she planning? Of all the emotions she ever freely expressed, irritation, impatience and various others were among the top of the list. And, primarily, they were often-times directed at Tabane. So, she grabbed Tabane by the shoulders, pulling her forcefully away from Ichika and gave a firm shake. "Tabane!" She hissed, "why now of all times?! The last time I left him with you, mind you, I swore never to do so again, you experimented on him!"
"Ehe~" Tabane giggled once more. "Sorry about that, Chi-chan!" She answered sheepishly. "But this time will be different..." She assured, to which Chifuyu scowled.
"Oh, how so?!" She demanded of Tabane in her patented, rough tone. And as per usual, the only one daring enough to interrupt her was Ichika himself.
"Chifuyu-nee, I think you should start heading off to the competition..." He suggested, eyes darting to the digital clock on the stove. It was starting to get late...
Chifuyu released Tabane rather reluctantly, who then immediately latched on to Ichika, grasping his right arm like a body pillow, sandwiching it in the valley of her chest, rumpling the front of her dress. Chifuyu cleared her throat awkwardly at the sight. "F-Fine... But only because I don't have the time to figure something else out, and I have the strangest feeling that something was going to happen to him sooner or later. Call it my intuition..."
"Great! I knew you'd agree!" Tabane grinned. "See you!" She sang to a grumpy Chifuyu.
Chifuyu spent the car ride to the Arena in utter silence. The cab driver was gripping the wheel so tightly, that his knuckles were paper white from the strain, sweat trickling down his back, his perspiration causing his shirt to cling to him uncomfortably. He trembled in his seat as he sped along, the asphyxiating presence of the Brunhilde left a sense of urgency in him like no other. The need to transport her to the competition in the shortest amount of time possible, urged him on, like having to run away from a rampaging goddess, which, wouldn't be vastly different if he had failed at the task.
Chifuyu was unaware of this, of course, for she spent the time by sorting and sifting through her thoughts. By the time she had exited the car and entered the building, her head was clear of all else, but the match. She would make doubly sure to win her match today, and in a timely matter at that. Besides, Ichika would be waiting for her...
"I-I can't believe you convinced me onto that th-thing!" Ichika gasped, gripping on to the door frame as he tried to keep his breakfast from resurfacing. His visage embodied that of pallor, as the world swam before him, his thoughts reeling as he keeled over.
The ride to Tabane's base had been less than ideal. She had led him out the back door of his house, holding his arm in the same blush-inducing manner, and talked animatedly all the while they had flew inside of a sizeable metal carrot. As was presumed, she had built the massive mechanical unit, resembling that of rabbit sustenance, and Ichika had lurched about through space, without any safety measures, at several times the speed of sound. Even though he wasn't surprised, since this was her favourite mode of transportation, his stomach was quite disagreeable on that matter.
"Ehe~" Tabane giggled again, "sorry about that Ikkun." She answered in a lilting tone, neither sounding apologetic or worried of his condition. Instead, she directed her enthusiasm towards finally having him alone and to herself, in her militarized base nonetheless. "I'm so glad you're back, Ikkun!" She exclaimed to his doubled-over figure.
"Y-Yeah..." Ichika swallowed thickly, the colour gradually returning to his face as he slowly straightened when his vision was no longer blurry. His stomach still protested, but it was manageable for now.
"I'm so glad..." Tabane admitted, as she led him downstairs to her work place. "It's been how many years now...?" She trailed off as the lights automatically flickered to life.
"Far too long." Ichika quipped as he followed her descent. He didn't remember a whole lot of his last visit, to be honest, but some things remained the same. As per usual, the stairs gave way to metallic walls, walkways and ceilings, among other things, and she had insisted that they would remain like so for durability purposes. An ethereal blue glow emanated from hidden lights in the walkways, leading to various rooms of the expanded... basement. To further cement the idea that he was inside a futuristic space ship from movies, a sliding door greeted them up ahead, with a clear key pad that Tabane furiously typed at, before it hissed open, bathing them in an eerie crimson light. It was rather nerve racking at first, but Ichika promptly adapted.
Screens spanned the entirety of one wall, and half of the others, each displaying something entirely different from the other, with breath-taking clarity. He could even see the individual eyelashes of someone who was now on the screen, and could count them if he felt inclined to. The long, dark lashes quivered from her movements, and when he finally managed to stop staring at only her eyes, his breath hitched in his throat, only one coherent thought in his mind: Wow, she's beautiful.
Long, silken, raven locks, bound by a matching jet black ribbon, was flowing along with the gentle breeze, dancing in a guided waltz. The Infinite Stratos, or, IS powered suits, wrapped snugly to her, somehow, further accentuating her athletic, buxom figure. She held her weapon with a drawn expression, focused and fearsome. Even in his eyes alone, the view of such a woman was awe-inspiring, and simply the embodiment of seraphic beauty, that no god could reproduce. And as luck would have it, the woman on the screen was his elder sister, Chifuyu Orimura. Only now, did the thought of her sensual figure finally settle in his head. It was real, and it would be all his if he so desired.
"You're staring, Ikkun." Tabane teased, wrenching him from his own thoughts. Surprisingly, his brain was already conjuring up scenarios and fantasies he was never even aware of. He ought to thank her. Was he now considered a man? Could it be that his newly awakened libido was now a dominant force of his mind?
"Chi-chan is going to win again soon, by the looks of it, so I'll try to be quick about this... Did you tell her already? About how you really feel about her?" She inquired in a matter-of-fact manner. Ichika had the strangest feeling that she already knew the answer to her question, but wanted to hear it personally from him.
Ichika instantly coloured at the open interrogation, his cheeks quickly colouring a light roseate hue. However, he did not miss the wistful expression on her face, even though she sounded relatively indifferent to the matter. "Wh-What do you mean, Tabane? What are you trying to get at...?"
"You know right well what it is I am alluding to, Ikkun. Don't you remember anything of your last visit here? Surely by now, you understand the difficulty of this situation...? I've felt the same as Chi-chan all these years, but she would have my head if I had indicated so prior to your... awareness, for lack of a better term." She confessed, the words growing softer with each one following, her expression now uncharacteristically shy. She had averted her gaze, and took to staring at the polished floors instead. This was part of the beauty of knowing Tabane. She only showed this side of her to two people: Chifuyu, and himself. She was apathetic towards others. This was quite flattering for a young boy, to have the world's most esteemed genius care for him.
The moment she had said this, memories were carefully sifted through, and indeed, Tabane was right. She had shown it all along, and he had just been too... oblivious to notice. Ignorance wasn't necessarily bliss after all, he supposed. He had missed all the hints, partly due to his young age, even though he was always quite perceptive and intuitive, but Tabane had made amends with that, seeming as she had promptly drugged him, and experimented on him while Chifuyu was occupied.
Realization must have dawned on his face, so Tabane was instantly all-smiles once more, when her eyes darted up to lock on his. But with a heart-felt response, came many others that she wasn't particularly fond of hearing, especially at that time.
"Wait! But what does that have to do with us...?" He asked, staring incredulously at her. "I mean, okay, I'll say this now: I really l- like you too, Tabane, but you literally used me as an experiment!" He stated plainly. Ouch. But he had also noticed that ever since he was able to tell even his own sister that he loved her, however 'forbidden' it was, it was becoming easier for him to do so. Besides, the three of them had spent countless hours together, so an intimate bond, he reasoned, was inevitable, and therefore not something to be ashamed of.
Now it was Tabane's turn to sport a rosy flush on her pale cheeks. "R-Really...?" She sounded doubtful, or insecure on the matter, and this only served to trigger his protectiveness over her. He completely forgot about the latter half of his questions, in lieu of her reaction to his confession. He figured there would always be another time to ask anyways. Leave it to Tabane's selective hearing. He didn't have the heart to point that out for the moment, as she was so elated at the news.
"Well of course! I mean, why wouldn't I? You can be a little over the top at times, but I-" Ichika was cut off when a strange tune reverberated through the room. Was that... a ringtone? He supposed it was, for a phone appeared on the nearest screen, and Tabane's brows instantly furrowed, mumbling of how a certain someone just had to interrupt, as she answered the phone: "Hey, hi, hey! It's Tabane the genius!"
A sigh echoed in the room, and a voice soon followed: "Cut it, Tabane, where's Ichika?" The voice was Chifuyu's and not a moment later, since it was rather unavoidable, a private channel was established between the two, Chifuyu's face finally coming into view. It wouldn't do to incur her almighty wrath.
Chifuyu breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of Ichika still fully conscious, and in command of his own body, unlike last time. Well, at least that was an improvement. Hopefully, this would last. "That has got to be one of my quicker matches. The American didn't stand a chance. What did you think?"
"I... Uh..." That's right. Ichika had said he would watch her match, and yet.. here he was, having seen nothing but... her, and her figure. Well, he was thoroughly enraptured by her, and then.. immersed in conversation with Tabane, so he had successfully watched absolutely none of the actual fighting that admired.
The slight hesitation was already enough, triggering a deep frown from the other. She had just completed her match, peeled off her attire, changed into a fresh one, and now, this. Wonderful.
Instantly, Ichika protested in defence, much to Tabane's surprise and pleasure. "It's not Tabane's fault, I swear! Please just listen. You see... Uh... How do I put this...?" He trailed off nervously, suddenly feeling very nervous.
"We confessed." Tabane promptly answered for him, much to his chagrin. She either didn't care for the possible consequences, or was not aware of the possible repercussions. He cried inwardly of his short life.
But, much to his surprise, Chifuyu did not throw a fit, or cleave heaven and earth with only a swing of her sword. She exhaled sharply through the nose before boring daggers through Ichika first, and then at Tabane. "You work fast, Ichika..." She imparted to him before adding: "Stop looking so smug." to Tabane.
The absurdity of it all d not make sense to Ichika, and it would take quite some time for him to adjust to. But, in the mean time, many more issues would soon arise. This was due, in part, to Tabane's failure in convincing Chifuyu not to appear at Tabane's base, and thus would arrive at her sanctuary in a short amount of time. Ichika, too, had protested, but for entirely different reasons as Tabane. She needed to rest for the finals tomorrow! So when Chifuyu finally appeared, busting down Tabane's front door, with a determined expression on her face, Ichika realized that tonight, was definitely going to be a long night.
A/N: Thanks for reading, and as always, please leave a review!