On to chapter two!
(Marshalanime does not own Naruto or Infinite Stratos)
"...Thus, the basic operations of IS have to be guided by the country. If no permition is granted, we have to pursue criminal responsibilities..." Yamada continued with her lesson ever so eloquently. However, Naruto didn't understand any of it.
Sitting in front of the blond were five heavy books filled with columns of, to the blond, meaningless text. Glancing over at the girl next to him Naruto saw her listening to Yamada's words, nodding, and jotting down notes from time to time. 'I guess it's true when they say IS students start studying before they enroll' the blond thought to himself.
IS pilots have a direct link with the national security strength, so in a certain sense, this school exists to groom the elites. Also, these are scholars who managed to ace exams several times tougher than regular entrance exams.
Even if becoming a scholar wasn't his goal he still couldn't go on like this. Once school's over he'll have to unleash his secret weapon, but for now he'll have to push through and hope no one calls on him.
"Is-is there something wrong?" damn! Looks like the girl next to him caught him staring. Her voice expressed her surprise and nervousness, though her forced smile seemed to give of a sense of expectation.
"Ah, no, it's nothing. Sorry" Naruto apologized.
"I-Is that so?" after hearing that the girl gave the blond a relieved and at the same time disappointed look before she turned back to her notes.
"Is there something you don't understand, Orimura?" Yamada asked after having noticed Naruto talking with the girl next to him. Naruto was understandably taken aback by this, feeling like a deer caught in headlights as the woman stared at him. "If you have any questions, please ask me. I'm a teacher after all" Yamada confidently told him with a puffed up chest.
Well, he was already in ths situation might as well be honest, right? "Maya-sensei... I don't understand any of this" Naruto admitted.
"Erm, e-everything...?" Yamada asked, looking extremely bothered with a stiff expression, her confident stance from just a few seconds ago was gone. Looking to the rest of the class "Th-Then...except for Orimura, is there anybody else who doesn't understand the current lesson up till this point?" Yamada asked as she raised her hand to prompt the class.
Silence. Silence was all that met Yamada's question, reaffirming his notion that he was well and surly behind the rest of his classmates. "...Orimura, did you read the reference book before entering school?" Chifuyu, who had been waiting her turn on the sidelines, asked.
Turning his head to look straight at the woman Naruto hesitantly told her "I-I got through... part of it". As to be expected his answer received him another wack on the head.
"Didn't I write 'compulsory to read' on it, you idiot" Chifuyu told him more than asked. As he was busy rubbing his head she went on "Have it memorized within a week, got it?" Chifuyu instructed him.
"A week?" Naruto shot back before shrinking down under Chifuyu's gaze. "I-I-I'll have it memorized in four-NO! Three days!" the blond declared. It was really a bad habit of his, that look that only Chifuyu seemed to have always had him making bold declarations.
"Is that so?" Chifuyu asked, that stern look of hers refusing to leave her face, in fact it might have grown stronger. "Then you shouldn't have a problem if I test you on it in three days" Chifuyu said.
Shit, no backing down now so all Naruto could do was nod and agree. Looking up to address the whole class "Whether it's in terms of mobility, firepower or suppressing ability, the IS far surpasses all the older weapons in that aspect. If you don't understand this weapon 'thoroughly' before operating it, accidents will occur. We teach you basic knowledge and train you to prevent such accidents from occurring. Even if you can't understand, memorize it, and remain strong and steady. These are the rules and regulations".
Chifuyu was harsh, but he couldn't imagine what his live would be like with out her.
"Ah, can I have a moment?", during the break after second period Naruto was once again approached, this time by an unfamiliar face. This girl was, like him, naturally blond, though she had slight curls in her hair as compared to the seemingly messy spikes of Naruto's. Another feature they shared were blue eyes. She wore a blue headband and her school uniform was modified from the standard, having a long skirt with black frills at the end of the skirt and sleeves. The air she gave of was almost like that of nobility.
Since IS academy has the duty to accept a large number of students it was common to see foreign students. In fact only half the girls in his own class were from Japan.
"Are you listening? Hello?" the girl questioned after Naruto failed to respond to her first question.
"Yeah, I'm listening. Was there something you wanted?" Naruto told her.
After hearing the blond's reply the girl deliberately increased her volume. "Wait a second! What are you saying? Just the fact that I'm talking to you should be enough to make you feel greatly honored. Shouldn't you have a better attitude towards me?", and with that Naruto immediately wanted nothing to do with this person.
No matter what world it was there always seemed to be people this attitude of 'I'm so much better than you' and unfortunately that attitude has increased among this world's women since the IS showed up.
"Who are you?" Naruto asked, partially because he was only half paying attention to that morning's introductions, but mostly to piss her off. It seemed to work.
Narrowing her eyes she spoke in a tone conveying utter contempt, "You don't recognize who i am? You don't know who Cecilia Alcott is? You've never heard of me? The representative candidate student for England and the top scorer on the school's entrance exam?".
So her name's Cecilia then? Good, knowing that should make it easier to avoid her. Though... something she said did stick in his mind. "Can I ask a question?" Naruto asked the girl.
"Humph, it's the job of a noble to answer the requests made by people of the lower class, so you may ask" Cecilia responded, making Naruto feeling like walking away and asking someone else. However he was already here so he might as well ask.
"What's a representative candidate student?" Naruto asked and was immediately aware of the girls who were eavesdropping by the sound of them dropping face first onto their desks. Was it that bad of a question?
After a moment to get over the absurdity of his question Cecilia asked "Are, are you serious?". She really looked angry now. In response Naruto gave her a 'yes I'm serious' look. "I can't believe this, this is really quite unbelievable. Though this is a land to the far east, this is not some under developed country. This is common knowledge, common knowledge. Don't tell me you don't have a television..." Cecilia insulted as Naruto's patients grew ever shorter.
"What is a representative candidate?" Naruto simply asked again, trying desperately not to get into an argument.
Choosing to answer his question this time Cecilia explained "The pilot of a country's IS is decided from the pool of representative candidates, which means the elites...you, should be able to understand what the words mean".
"Hm, that does sound familiar" Naruto thought out loud.
"That's right, we're elites" Cecilia declared. At least she's in a better mood again, joy. She then pointed a finger at the other blond, the tip nearly touching his nose, "It's a miracle for you get into the same class with the chosen ones... you should feel blessed. Do you realize the situation that you're currently in now?".
"Yes, so very fortunate" Naruto breathed out as his head lowered ever so slightly.
"...Are you trying to making fun of me?" Cecilia asked, and if Naruto was being honest he didn't mind if that's how it came off as. "In the first place, you knew nothing about IS', and yet you were able to make it into this school. When I first heard that you were the only male in the world who could pilot an IS. It had me expecting a lot more of you" the girl told him.
"Maybe you shouldn't judge people before you meet them" Naruto told her.
"Humph. Because I'm an elite, I'll even be nice to people like you" Cecilia declared, to which Naruto immediately started to wonder what she did to people she really didn't like. "If you don't fully understand anything regarding IS, hmmm... if you cry and beg me, I may be inclined to teach you. After all, I'm an elite among elites, the 'only' one who defeated an instructor during the entrance exam" she told him, making sure to emphasize 'only' in that statement.
Originally Naruto was going to tel her that he'd never beg for her help in a million years, but then a new question popped into his head. "Is... it unusual to beat the instructor during the entrance exam?" Naruto asked.
"Of course it is! Only the most elite of the-" Cecilia was in the middle of bragging when Naruto interjected.
"I beat the instructor as well" the moment the words left his mouth something seemed to snap in Cecilia as her eyes widened in utter shock.
"Y-You did?" the blond girl asked.
"Yeah, I mean, I kind of assumed you had to beat them to pass. Guess I was wrong" Naruto admitted.
"But, but I heard that I was the only one?" Cecilia said to which Naruto just shrugged his shoulders. "In-in other words, I'm not the only one?" the girl asked as she tried to wrap her mind around this new information.
"Seems like it" Naruto told her before the bell rang, ending their conversation.
With an angry glare on her face Cecilia told him "I'll be back! Don't run away! All right?" before moving back to her seat. Well fuck him, this was the exact opposite of what he wanted. Now he was guaranteed to talk to her again.
"For the remaining time, we'll mainly be describing all sorts of equipment that can be used in actual combat, and their characteristics" Chifuyu told the class having replaced Yamada, who taught the first and second period lessons. It seemed like this was important, as even Yamada took out a notebook.
"Ah, but before that, we have to decide on the class representative who'll take part in the inter-class tournament" Chifuyu announced. Thinking about it Naruto did seem to recall that she'd mentioned it before. "The class representative is as its name indicates. The class representative will not only compete in the tournament, but will also attend student council meetings and committee meetings as well. Well, you can consider it like a class leader. On a side note, the inter-class battles are meant to gauge each enrolled class' ability. Though there isn't much difference right now, competition will encourage further improvement" she further explained.
The class was instantly in a buzz at the news. Naruto however decided to remain silent, not having any suggestions. Though with that said he did the same thing in middle school, just stayed quiet and let the other students work this stuff out. That's when it started.
"Sensei, I recommend Orimura" one student said before several others agreed and backed up the nomination. Quickly looking around the room Naruto couldn't believe what he was hearing. Why did they want him the be the class representative?
Before he could make a remark about not wanting the position the sound of Cecilia slamming her hands down on her desk rang through the room. "This kind of election outcome is totally unacceptable! Anyway, having a man as our class representative is totally disgraceful! Do you expect me, Cecilia Alcott to endure this embarrassment for a whole year? In terms of ability, it's obvious that I should be the class representative. It'll be troubling if some rare far-east monkey is to be chosen because he is a rare breed! I came to this island country to polish up my IS skills, and I have no interest in joining a circus! Only the most talented can be the class representative, and I'm the most suitable one!" Cecilia went on, her words growing more crude and anger based as she went on in her outburst.
"In the first place, living in such a country with an underdeveloped level of culture is excruciatingly painful for me—" Cecilia was continuing when Naruto shot up from his seat as well and cut her off.
"Well aren't you being arrogant. Please, tell me how many years has Britain won the world's worst cuisine award?" Naruto asked the girl before turning to face her. What he saw when he faced her was a through and through furious woman.
"You, you, you! Are you insulting my country?" Cecilia demanded, trying not to completely loss herself in rage. In the next few seconds the pair glared at one another before Cecilia slammed her hands back down on her desk as she declared a duel between them.
"Bring it on" Naruto told her, clenching his fists.
"You talk big. Since you deliberately asked for defeat, I'll accept you as a servant—no, a slave!" Cecilia told him, her confidence ever so blatant.
"Don't look down on me. You don't stand a chance of winning if you don't take this seriously!" Naruto told her and was taken aback when not only Cecilia, but the other girls in class started to laugh.
"O-Orimura, are you serious?"
"Isn't a man being stronger than woman a story of the past?"
"Orimura-kun. Maybe you can pilot an IS, but that's just overdoing it"
Hearing the remarks and laughter had Naruto gritting his teeth and tightening his fists to the point that his knuckles turned white. "Man, woman" Naruto quietly said as his classmates continued to laugh. "What does that have to do with anything?" the blond all but shouted, ending the laughter as everyone's eyes were now locked on him. "It doesn't matter who you are, if you're willing to put in the effort in then anyone can become strong! I wont just stand here and let someone like you brush aside all the work I've done like I'm some piece of trash!" Naruto said, directing his last part of his statement directly at Cecilia.
As the their classmates were getting over Naruto's outburst Cecilia just crossed her arms with a 'Hm!'. "Japanese men really do have quite the sense of humor" the blond girl muttered under her breath.
"Then, we have a common understanding. The battle will take place next Monday in the 3rd arena. Orimura and Alcott, make sure you are well prepared. Now, let's get back to the lesson" Chifuyu announced with a clap as she brought their 'conversation' to an end.
With one last glare between them Naruto and Cecilia returned to their seats, the upcoming battle on their minds.