A/N: The disclaimer: All references, brands, names and other content mentioned in the chapter is owned by their respectful owners. I do not own Infinite Stratos, the cover picture or any other referenced products and/or characters. Again, Sorry for the chapter not coming out for Harry Potter and the Satan's Peerage. I decided to put it on hold right now. I just can't think of anything on the spot. Also, it's been awhile. How about this chapter for everyone who's going back to school! Please enjoy! Into the Void.
Chapter 2: Burdens to Bare
The morning was perfect, the sun had just arose to a new day. Students began their mornings with routines, chatting sessions or even the ordinary for them. Breakfast. Two people in particular were having a bad morning. They began their days with an awkward silence and a large amount of distress. Every action they took in the morning was very awkward, especially when Ichika had gotten up and recalled being hit with a kendo stick.
Ichika stood up from the ground and rubbed his head only to look forward at a figure with a kendo stick in hand. Needless to say, Ichika's morning was rough. After the two's tension filled morning, they both headed to the cafeteria to get their breakfast.
Sadly, the eyes from all other students were still locked onto the two as they ate in awkward silence. In the moment, Ichika felt that Houki was mad at him and didn't want to leave it at that, so he began to speak.
"Psst. Umm, hello..? Are you still mad at me?" Ichika whispered, noting all the student still staring at them both and not wanting to start any gossip about them both.
"I am not mad at you.." Houki replied with a lowered voice, still keeping her furrowed eyebrows as well.
"Then why are you still wearing the mad face?" Ichika asked while turning his head to houki.
"Get used to it.." Houki replied angrily as she continued to eat in silence.
Deciding not to bother her any further, Ichika stared back at his food bowl and continued to eat as well with a sigh. While eating, Ichika took a few pieces from the meat in front of him and smiled happily realizing that it was really good.
"Wow! This stuff is delicious!" Ichika blurted out before digging into it once again.
Houki looked at him with a one-eyed side glance before continuing to eat as well. In the background, three girls were talking about Ichika and Houki. as they talked Ichika turned to the source of the voices then back at houki and asked.
"Hey Houki, do you think-" Ichika asked before being cut off by a loud slam from Houki in annoyance.
"Don't use my first name!" Houki yelled to Ichika as she glared at him.
"Miss Shinonono…" Ichika said with a sad and defeated expression.
Before anything else was said, Ichika was greeted with a familiar face. Ichika looked back to see Kazimir walking up to him and with a tray.
"Ichika, Comrade! Is it OK if I can sit here? Or should I go look for an empty space?" Kazimir asked with a grin as Ichika snapped out of his sad daze.
"Oh! No problem Kazimir! I needed a little company anyways!" Ichika answered while rubbing his head.
"Thank you comrade, it is not easy to walk down hall of girls alone. You are very lucky that you have her!" Kazimir said while trying to pick up the chopsticks but failing.
"You okay there? If you want I can help you?" Ichika asked while holding up his hand with the chopsticks.
"Huh? Oh! No need comrade! I am fast learner! Look." Kazimir said while looking at Ichika's hand and fixing his own finger placement.
"Woah, that's incredible! I guess you are, huh?" Ichika said while they all ate.
"I don't believe me and your friend have met. My name is Kazimir! And what is yours?" Kazimir said while looking at Houki.
Houki gave no reply and instead, quickly glared at Kazimir then continued to eat with a stern face. Kazimir's smile faded slightly as he he laughed nervously.
"I have not told anyone about your clothing if that is the problem comrade." Kazimir said to Houki which earned him a slightly less angry smile.
"Thank you. My name is Houki Shinonono. You can call me Miss Shinonono." Houki replied after a short few seconds.
"Nice to meet you, Miss Shinonono." Kazimir said, accidently adding an extra 'no'.
"Nice to meet you too…" Houki greeted back with only a slight annoyance because of it.
"Hey wait a minute, What did you end up doing with that manual anyways?" Ichika asked Kazimir.
"Out of better judgement, I read manual. Kazimir do not want to remember mother's scorn.." Kazimir looked down afterwards recalling the time when Chifuyu smacked him.
"Well, I hope she doesn't do that to me too…" Ichika said as he remembered the time as well.
Just as the two continued talking three girls stood next to Kazimir and Ichika with trays of food. Both Ichika and Kazimir looked at them with curiosity until one spoke up.
"Orimura, Soloviev. May we sit next to you?" The girl asked in a polite manner.
"Huh? S-sure, go ahead and have a seat. You okay with that Kazimir?" Ichika said as the three began sitting down.
"It is fine, Kazimir welcomes new friends." Kazimir said in his usual accent.
"Oh Yeah! Aw man! We should have gone and asked him earlier…" The three girls cheered as one of them were discouraged.
"Relax, it's only the second day. No need to rush it." The other girl replied.
"Wow Orimura! You sure eat a lot for breakfast!" One of the girls said.
"What a typical boy!" Another said.
"Actually, I was wondering if that's all you three are eating for breakfast. It doesn't seem like enough." Ichika said while looking down at the three girls trays.
"W-well, umm… sure. I think we'll be ok. Yeah thanks. Because we eat a lot of snacks!" The two girls said in nervous tones as the third one blurted out in joy.
"Kazimir wishes he had ignorance like your comrade." Kazimir said with a concerned look on his face.
Before anyone else commented on anything else, Houki got up angrily and spoke, "I think I'll excuse myself now…" And immediately after, she left.
"Okay, I'll see ya later." Ichika said while going back to eating and chatting.
"So you and Shinonono must be really close friends." The second girl said.
"I heard that even you two are sharing the same room." The first girl added.
"Well, we are childhood friends." Ichika said with his chopsticks in the air.
"You're childhood friends!" The three girls exclaimed in unison to each other.
"Umm, What is wrong with friend?" Kazimir asked, concerned.
"I don't know, she's been like that since this morning. Anyways, we started going to the same kendo dojo back in the first grade." Ichika said before going back to talking to the three.
"Kazimir thinks ignorance is bliss… Why didn't Kazimir get less education!?" Kazimir said to himself, while scorning himself as well.
"We were in class together till fourth grade. Buuut, I don't remember much about it anymore… about the past." Ichika said before being patted on the shoulder by Kazimir.
"Past is past, comrade. Speaking of which, I can't remember past either. Most of it is blur with shoutings. After that, Kazimir don't know. But Kazimir do know one thing! Future is where new memories begin! Like mama Soloviev always said, The past is past, future is now!" Kazimir said before taking a large drink out of his cup.
Kazimir didn't get to finish his drink as a loud clap was heard through the cafeteria. Kazimir then choked on the drink he had before looking back along with Ichika and the three girls.
"LESS TALKING AND MORE CHEWING! PILOTS HAVE TO EAT QUICKLY AND EFFICIENTLY!" Chifuyu yelled as she stood in the middle of the cafeteria with a track suit, pointing.
"What is she pointing at?" Kazimir asked Ichika but got no reply.
Ichika stared on at her sister realizing why his sister never came home as the people around her began to eat faster. Kazimir looked around at the various other girls eating as well and looked back to Chifuyu with the same expression Ichika had on.
"I'M THE FRESHMAN DORM SUPERVISOR. ANYONE LATE TO CLASS WILL DO TEN LAPS AROUND THE SCHOOL." Chifuyu stated as she looked around at the students eating.
Classroom Jumpcut
"Two weeks from today you'll be asked to choose your representative for the class tournament. A class representative not only competes in the tournament but also attends student council meetings. Essentially it's your class leader, okay? I will now take nominations. Any suggestions?" Chifuyu asked as she explained everything to the class.
"I'd like to nominate Orimura and Soloviev!" one girl raised her hand and shouted.
"HUH!?" Ichika and Kazimir said in shock.
"Only one class representative can be selected." Chifuyu stated.
"Dude! I think That sounds like a good idea. One of them could fight and the other could attend the meetings!" Another girl stood and said.
"You do?!" Ichika said still in shock along with Kazimir.
"So, is there anyone else? If not, he'll be elected without a vote." Chifuyu said while crossing her arms.
"Wha- Well hang on a minute! What if we don't want to do it!" Ichika said in disposition.
"Yeah! Kazimir do not think that is good idea! No offence comrade." Kazimir said.
"Yeah! None tak-" Ichika replied before being cut off.
"I do not approve of this! This type of selection is utterly unacceptable! It would be shameful to have a boy as our class representative! You can't possibly expect that I, cecilia Alcott, should have to deal with the sort of humiliation for an entire year! In the first place, simply living in a country with such an underdeveloped level of culturism is unbearably painful to someone like myself! Oh the agony!" Cecilia said speaking in a fast pace.
"Kazimir lost you at 'country'…" Kazimir said, snapping back to attention as he tried to recall what she just said in the span of half a minute.
"Well your country doesn't have that many things to brag about either! How often has England won the worst cuisine award?!" Ichika said while Kazimir lifted his notebook with a '10/10' largely written on it.
"We english have many delicious dishes! I can't believe you would have the audacity to insult my country!" Cecilia argued back to Ichika.
"Okay, okay, Kazimir thinks yelling has gone long enough. Speech was uncalled for…" Kazimir said as he stood up and stood in the middle of them both.
There was a heavy silence for a the moment as Ichika, Kazimir and Cecilia all stared at each other. Chifuyu stared at her younger brothers determined looked with a hint of a smile. Before the silence was removed.
"This calls for a duel!" Cecilia exclaimed while pointing at Ichika.
"Fine by me, it'll be easier than debating!" Ichika argued back.
"And if you should ever lose to me on purpose, I promise to make you my servant! No! I shall make you my slave!" Cecilia demanded while stomping closer and closer to Ichika before being cut off.
"Kazimir think you should not go closer." Kazimir said in a slightly deeper voice.
"And why should I listen to a country that's ruled over communism!" Cecilia blurted out before realizing how much Kazimir was twitching with anger.
"...I said…. This is as far… as you go…" Kazimir said putting on a smile and talking in a perfect english accent, trying to mask his anger. Before marching closer and closer to Cecilia.
"Uh...um...o-okay the-n…" Cecilia squeaked out before kazimir went back to where he sat and stood still while calming down.
Everyone has a boiling point. When that boiling point is broken, it's a sign that you should stay away from that person. Kazimir hit his boiling point at that moment but tried his hardest. And I mean HARDEST to keep it in. Luckily, the doors were still intact. So that was a good sign.
"How much handicap will there be..?" Ichika said ignoring the small situation that occurred.
"Are you asking me for a favor already?" Cecilia said, continuing to argue with Ichika and ignoring what just occurred as well.
"No, I was just wondering how much of a handicap I should give you." Ichika said before the entire class, except Kazimir and Ichika, burst into laughter.
"I am confused…" Kazimir said going back to his thick accent once again and calming down.
"Men used to be stronger than women until the IS was invented! Haha-"One girl said as they all continued to laugh.
Ichika and Kazimir stood there with shocked expressions before Kazimir face palmed.
"Kazimir feels outnumbered in situation…" Kazimir remarked while looking around.
"Augh, damn it's right." Ichika said defeatedly.
"As a matter of fact, I'm the one who should be wondering about giving you a handicap. Japanese boys are so humorous aren't they?" Cecilia said while smiling in victory.
Kazimir walked over to Ichika and put his hand on his shoulder before smiling at him and looking at Cecilia.
"Hey if you're nice, a REAL lady might still give you that handicap y'know." a girl with glasses told Ichika
"And a REAL man never goes back on his word. I'll pass." Ichika said.
"Same here. Kazimir honors Men's code!" Kazimir said hitting his fist on his chest proudly.
"It looks like that's settled then, the competition will be staged in arena three. Which I believe is available monday.
"But there is one question left. Who will fighting who?" Kazimir asked while everyone thought it out.
"I know! You guys could do seperate matches! One of you guys can take her on separately!" one girl shouted out.
"Kazimir likes plan. Alright then." Kazimir agreed as the others nodded as well.
"Orimura, Alcott and Soloviev. I expect you to come fully prepared for combat." Chifuyu said.
The Next Day
The day began in class differently. Instead of Chifuyu teaching the quantum physics and battle strategies to the IS tournaments, she cleared her throat and turned to Ichika.
"Orimura, I'm afraid it will be a while before your IS is ready for you. Soloviev, Your IS is fully functional and online, However we could not find a shield gauge on it. Care to explain?" Chifuyu said to Ichika before turning to Kazimir.
"Heheheh…. Kazimir…. Lost it." Kazimir answered while rubbing his neck to answer an impossible question to answer through physics. The gauge is virtual. How do you… oh wait. Nevermind! Back to the story.
"What?" Ichika said with surprise as he was informed his IS wasn't ready.
"On the plus side, due to certain… issues. The school will provide you with a personal IS." Chifuyu said which queued all other girls in the class to gossip about Ichika having his own IS.
"Is having your own IS really THAT major of a deal?" Ichika asked Kazimir who only shrugged in response before being interrupted by Cecilia who slammed her hands on his desk to catch his attention.
"I'm actually relieved to hear that! Afterall, in a class representative match between you both and I the outcome is already obvious. But it's simply not fair for you to use a training model whilst I pilot my own personal unit." Cecilia said with a smug tone.
"Wait one minute… you just… Kazimir saw… how did…? When did you move from desk!?" Kazimir said trying to figure out how she moved from her desk to Ichika without getting up, but was completely ignored.
"Hold on, you have your own IS as well?" Ichika asked with a sigh.
"Oh, you don't know? Very well then. As you are a commoner, I shall have to explain. I, Cecilia Alcott, am a glorious representative contender for great britain. In other words, I currently own my own personnel IS. There are only four hundred sixty seven IS units worldwide. So obviously those who have their own personal units are the elites of the elites amongst the planets population of seven billion!" Cecilia ranted on to explain.
"Does Kazimir need to question why flag came back with picture of you in IS in front of it, or why planet zoomed out and stage lights appeared?" Kazimir said while facepalming and shaking his head in annoyance.
"Only four hundred and sixty seven!? That's all!?" Ichika asked in shock while ignoring Kazimir's question.
"That's because the central component of all IS technology the core has never been released, as a result there are only four hundred and sixty seven machines in the entire world. And doctor Tabane Shinonono has personally produced every one of those cores." A random girl said, while sliding into the picture.
"Kazimir gives up on logic. Brain hurts too much." Kazimir said as he saw the random girl appear out of nowhere and begin sliding in next to Ichika without moving her feet.
"Wait, Isn't that Houki's sister..?" Ichika thought to himself as he looked over to houki.
Houki on the other hand, stared off through the window instead of looking at Ichika to recall thoughts of her sister. When she turned back to face forward, she displayed no emotion on her face and instead… thought. Meanwhile, another random student began explaining that Doctor Tabane refused to make anymore IS cores and as a result, each country from across the globe were forced to divide the IS and use them .
"No comment…" Kazimir said as flashback images and graphs flashed by him.
"To complete are little history lesson, personal IS units were originally only intended for those sponsored by governments or corporations. However, your case is exceptional. Therefore, they will provide you with a personal IS for data collection purposes. Is that all clear?" Chifuyu explained the rest.
"U-uh, I guess so.." Ichika said while taking all the information in.
"Um, excuse me ma'am. Do you know if the miss Shinonono in our class is related to doctor shinonono by any chance?" Random girl H asked. Yes I just lettered them. Don't judge me.
"Actually, your classmate is her younger sister." Chifuyu said blatantly.
"I would have never guessed that comrade was sister..." Kazimir said in a deadpan and sarcastic tone while facepalming as he realized that no one in the world would have a name like that.
Houki stared out in silence as the entire classroom gossiped about her sister and how popular it made her in return. Houki was beginning to crack under the pressure of having to bear her sister's famous title when she rarely ever sees her sister.
"She has nothing to do with me! She's not my sister… and there's nothing I can tell you about her." Houki said, standing by her statement.
There was a moment of silence before Chifuyu finally spoke. Everyone in the class had sighed heavily because they weren't able to get an answer, all but Ichika, Kazimir Chifuyu and Miss Yamada.
"Alright Miss Yamada. Shall we start?" Chifuyu said with an unwavering tone of voice.
"A-ah! Alright!Now then, re-" Miss Yamada continued on as she went back on track with the lesson.
Ichika on the other hand, wasn't listening. He was more curious as to why Houki thought about her sister the way she did. He thought to himself that He couldn't remember any bad blood between the two sisters. As he thought, Houki stared off to the side to think and avoid Ichika's gaze.
"The IS or Infinite Stratos deploys a special energy barrier that operates as protection for its pilot. The unit's system has something similar to a consciousness, so through sheer dialogue and time spent together, the two of you will actually get to know each other. Depending on how much time a pilot spends controlling an IS it begins to understand the user's Characteristics." Miss Yamada explained as the class listened.
"I just don't understand this…" Ichika said, talking to himself silently.
Ichika thought about his predicament, but then looked back to Houki who was writing and focusing on the subject very well, And then… Ichika had a slight idea.
"Now where was I. So Your IS isn't just a tool, instead think of it as your big mechanical partner! Are there any questions so far?" Miss Yamada asked the class, immediately getting an answer.
"Yes ma'am! So did you mean partner, as in boyfriend or girlfriend?!" Random girl I aske-WAIT HUH!?
"Kazimir feels like question is not supposed to be question." Kazimir mumbled out while turning to Random girl I with a disbelieving face.
"A-agh, oh! I'm not sure! I'm not experienced that way, so I'm not sure. But I wonder… oh~!" Miss Yamada said while swooning over the thought of… I don't even know, that really did stump me just now.
"Is this really an all girl school atmosphere?" Ichika thought to himself while looking around and then at Kazimir.
Kazimir simply shook his head in his hands before Ichika turned his attention to Houki who was looking out the window in silence. Ichika started to think that there was something troubling her and it bothered him intensely.
Kazimir Soloviev
After class, Ichika got up and headed towards Houki's seat before asking a question, Kazimir had been sitting down getting a few notes finished as Ichika did this. Before he finished, He found Ichika on the floor with Houki standing in shock.
"You okay comrade? What did Kazimir teach you two about peace?" Kazimir said while getting up to check on Ichika.
"Agh, ow… You're so strong. I'm fine Kazimir, it's nothing..." Ichika said before getting up.
"Yeah well, maybe you're the one who's gotten weak. That was a little trick from my kendo training." Houki replied while folding her arms and looking off to the side.
"Kazimir has feeling that comrade is Tsundere…" Kazimir said with a depressed expression.
"Umm, We think that maybe we should, pass this time…" The three girls said before sliding off.
"Aww…" Ichika said silently before looking back to Houki.
"Yeah what? You have something else stupid to say to me?" Houki said with one hand on her hip and one eye directed at Ichika.
"Houki.."
"I told you not to call me that!" Houki said before being lead out of the room by Ichika.
"Come on, let's go eat."
"Hey! Give it a rest!" Houki protested.
"Shut up and let's go." Ichika said before grabbing Houki's hand and leading her to the cafeteria room.
"Kazimir, you coming with?" Ichika asked as he passed by.
"Dah! I will be there shortly." Kazimir said before waving goodbye to his friend.
"Now then… How does Kazimir solve this...?" Kazimir said while looking at the complex equation on the board.
Meanwhile
"You didn't have to get so upset like that. I was just trying to look after you, you know?" Ichika said while waiting in line with Houki behind him.
"Yeah, who asked you to do that anyway?" Houki said in a stubborn mood.
"Even if someone asked me, I wouldn't normally do that. I did that because it's you Houki." Ichika replied.
"What? What's that mean?" Houki asked.
"Look, I owe a lot to your aunt too. Besides, we're childhood friends and roommates, so at at least let me meddle in your life a little?" Ichika explained as he started to pick out his own meal.
"Well, I guess… thank you." Houki said, becoming quieter at the end.
"Thank you. Hey Houki, did you see any empty tables on the way in?" Ichika said as he thanked the cafeteria worker.
And with a heavily annoyed sigh, Houki passed Ichika and answered. "There's one right over there."
The two had finally sat down to enjoy their meals when suddenly, a question popped up in Ichika's mind. Having no clue how to operate an IS Correctly, and an uneasy feeling of losing to cecilia, Ichika decided now to ask Houki if she could help him. Houki was hesitant for a small while until a girl with orange hair appeared and began to talk to Ichika.
"Aren't you the one that everyone's talking about? You're going to be competing against a representative contender, but you've never flown for real have you? If you want, I can teach you lots of things about the IS"
"No thanks, actually I'm going to be the one who's teaching him." Houki said, cutting off the girl from getting an answer.
"But you're a freshman too right? I'm a senior after all, I think I'd do a much better job teaching him the ropes." The Random girl said, while fixing her bow cockily.
"Yes, But I… am Tabane Shinonono's sister. But thanks for the offer." Houki said as the other girl became shocked and walked away while muttering.
"Fine! I guess somethings can't be helped."
"So then, you will teach me?" Ichika asked for reassurance but instead only received an strict stare from houki.
Kazimir Soloviev
"Kazimir wishes school was not so tiring…" Kazimir said as he slightly moped to cafeteria only to find he was one of the last ones there.
Kazimir sighed in sadness as he realized his friends were long gone by the time he arrived. Instead of moping for the entire length of his late lunch, Kazimir decided to Perk up and sit down at a nearby table alone while he ate. After finishing a large course of foods, he decided to walk to the training field. Kazimir's sluggish movement from the meal faded as he got to the changing rooms and began to put his IS piloting latex suit.
Kazimir had a certain grudge against the suits. Although the suit was latex, providing a minimalistic and slim nature for less aerodynamic lag. He preferred to wear his ushanka over his head. It reminded him of his home and his nostalgic past that he could never forget.
Kazimir finished changing and checked the bathroom mirrors out of curiosity. His brown hair and slightly matured face showed in the mirror as he checked himself out. He proceeded to inspect his black latex suit for any tears or revealing areas. Finding none, Kazimir gave a smile and a nod of assurance as he walked Into the IS Chamber.
"Da! Comrade. You are as shiny as ever! Tomorrow, Kazimir has match against first rival! We must train hard for battle! Opponent is flashy, but we are strong!" Kazimir while Patting the large grey IS in front of him.
Kazimir's IS was a grey color with red streaks across its entire form. It's arms showed to have a semi large look with a gauntlet type look. The legs were equipped with strong thrusters and on it's sides were two large hatchets.
"It is time to train comrade! Let us go!" Kazimir said while the IS jumped to life on it's own.
As Kazimir and the IS linked up kazimir looked around to check for any virtual damage. After everything was accounted for, Kazimir brought up the Shield gauge that had been placed into his IS.
"Who ever you were… Kazimir still does not trust you…" Kazimir said as he stared down at the shield gauge before entering the training field for practice.
The Next Day
The long wait had come. It was time for the match. It was Ichika and Cecilia's fight to determine who was the victor. Afterwards, Cecilia would fight Kazimir who wanted a duel in order to defend both Ichika and his own dignity. Many students had gathered to watch the fight mainly due to the fact that the battle would determine who would be the class representative in the IS Tournaments.
While the students began to grab their individual seats to watch the fight a certain pair of childhood friends and an amped up russian were waiting for an IS to arrive.
"Uh, Houki?"
"what now?"
"Well Thing is, you promised me you were going to teach me about the IS."
"ugh."
"Hey, Don't turn away from me!"
Ichika and Houki had been in a slightly discomforted position. Ichika had been training with the aid of Houki who had been teaching him Kendo moves instead of the basics of an IS. Meanwhile, Kazimir had been waiting patiently beside them listening to the conversation.
"Thanks to you the only thing I've done this week is practice Kendo Techniques." Ichika said while placing his hands on his hips in a sassy manner.
"Well, I can't do anything about that. And your IS hasn't been delivered yet anyway." Houki said while looking away from Ichika.
"Even without one, you could still at least teach me bout the basics! And I said don't turn away from me!" Ichika said agitated while stomping his foot down.
"Comrade, relax yourself. Kazimir has learned that anger can ruin your concentration." Kazimir said calmly.
"I'm not mad it's just…! I gotta fight Cecilia in a few minutes and I don't know the first thing about the IS!" Ichika said while throwing up his hands.
"Kazimir will tell you few things about IS while we are here. Alright?" Kazimir said as he put his hand on Ichika's shoulder.
"Alright." Ichika replied after a short silence.
"Now comrade. This is important, IS have shields to protect self while battling. When Shield reaches Zero, you will feel full force of attack instead of half. Try to dodge in IS as much as possible. Try not to get hit often. Da?" Kazimir explained as Ichika listened intently.
"Yeah, I think so." Ichika replied while memorizing the fact that he was given.
"Good. Looks like big book helped! But, book cannot help you practice now. There is technique that Kazimir slightly remember, but Kazimir is not certain what technique was. Sorry, Comrade." Kazimir said while trying to think back to his memory of the technique.
"It's alright Kazimir, thanks for the advice though." Ichika said while looking slightly better.
"Alright, good luck in match friend!" Kazimir said while patting Ichika's back.
"Thanks Kazimir. So that's her personal IS… woah." Kazimir said as he witnessed the blue IS on the monitor piloted by Cecilia.
"Orimura! Orimura! ORIMURA!" Miss Yamata exclaimed through the hangar speakers to the three teens, "It's here! Your personal IS has just arrived!"
"Orimura. You need to get ready at once. The amount of time we can use the arena is limited. You'll have to learn how to make it yours during the match itself." Chifuyu stated as a large metal door began to open to their left.
The door revealed a large Grey IS Which stood taller than all three of the students. It amazed Ichika as he stared on in awe. After what felt like hours, Ichika placed his hand onto the IS before pulling away suddenly in shock.
"What's wrong?" Houki asked from behind Ichika as he peered at the IS in front of himself.
"It's not like the first time I touched an IS. There's something different." Ichika replied while thinking back to a previous memory.
"Orimura, Are you alright?" Miss Yamata asked while looking through the camera installed in the launch bay.
"Uh huh. I'm just fine. There's just something, familiar about it." Ichika said after snapping out of his trance like state.
"I can understand it, what it is and it's purpose." Ichika stated as he looked up at the IS once again.
"Show you entrust your life to it, let it take control, the system will optimize the rest." Chifuyu ordered as Ichika linked up with the IS.
"Access granted. System start." A gravelly AI voice spoke out as Ichika's IS booted up.
"Biyakushiki. This is Byakushiki." Ichika said more to himself than anyone.
"Cecilia Alcott's machine is called blue tears. It's a long range model IS." Miss Yamata explained through Ichika's communicator.
"Blue tears, got it." Ichika repeated while remembering the name and model.
"Kazimir has feeling that comrade will be fine." Kazimir said to Houki as she looked at Kazimir with less worry than before.
"How so?" Houki asked as Kazimir stared at the Byakushiki.
"Kazimir may not be wise, But there is great hidden potential in comrade! I can feel it!" Kazimir said while hitting his chest lightly with his fist.
"You sure?" Houki asked again with a her worry coming back to her.
"Kazimir has never been wrong before. Only time Kazimir has been wrong is when Kazimir fought Famous complete fighter in all of Russia!" Kazimir said while grinning and remembering his small battle with the fighter.
"Famous complete Fighter? Who was that?" Houki asked curiously.
"Yuri Boyka. Kazimir and Yuri have declared truce on battle. Both of us could not win against each other." Kazimir said, staring off into the distance with a smile.
Houki was in the middle of trying to find out who Yuri Boyka is until she was snapped out of it by Ichika calling out to her.
"Hey Houki."
"Hm? Uh-huh?" Houki replied with a start as her worry returned.
"Here we go."
"O-ok! Win this!" Houki said enthusiastically, feeling her confidence return.
"Comrade! Before you go, there is one thing I remember from ancestor. War cry of russia. URA! You can do it comrade!" Kazimir said excitedly.
"Alright. I'M OFF!" Ichika said as he nodded to both Houki and Kazimir before launching out of the bay and into the arena with Cecilia.
Ichika launched out of the bay and entered the arena to see Cecilia in her IS hovering near him. Ichika and Cecilia hovered at a distance as they readied to fight, just before it Cecilia had shouted.
"Just so you know, This is your last chance!"
"To do what?" Ichika asked while keeping his caution.
"It's obvious to everyone that i'm going to defeat you overwhelmingly. So why not Simply apologize to me right now and I just might be able to forgive you." Cecilia said cockily as she hovered just above Ichika.
Just as she said this, the Byakushiki readied it's combat systems as Ichika said, "You can't really call that a chance."
"Oh you can't? Well too bad for you. Now then." Cecilia stated then entered firing stance.
Before Ichika could react, he was struck with Cecilia's blast.
Meanwhile
"I'm starting to hate walking…" The watcher said as he continued down the street of busy people and families.
After making a deal with the russian, the Watcher began his walk back to his home due to his lack of transportation. He was only slightly annoyed when a young girl bumped into him causing the girl to fall onto her butt. Of course, the Watcher didn't fall from the collision but was still thoroughly annoyed by the incident.
"Oh! My bad! I'm so sorry!" The girl said before looking at the man.
She hesitated before looking away from the markings on his hands and began to pick up the many things she dropped from her hands. The Watcher looked at her in a deadpanned expression as she continued to fidget around and pick up her things.
After what seemed like an eternity, the girl finished putting her things into the one of many bags with her and continued. The watcher pulled out a gold pocket watch and looked directly into it. The hands on the clock began to move faster and faster as the watcher stared down into it. After the pocket watch did this, the Watcher looked to his left and then to his right, only to see an out of control bus heading straight towards himself and the girl.
The watcher sighed before putting the Pocket watch back into his coat and looking at the girl.
"Ahem….Hello? Miss? You might wanna move..." The Watcher said annoyed as the girl continued to collect her belongings off the ground.
The downsides to being a watcher was that people who surrounded you could see you but would not notice you. Sort of like the extra people in movies to make the scenery look less bare. The Watcher gave the girl a deadpanned expression as the bus came ever so closer to them both.
"To hell with it…" The Watcher said as he turned and continued to walk away.
The bus had finally arrived in front of the girl, but by the time she realized it, it was already too late. The bus had floated directly over her, closing in on the ground. The girl stared at the bus that was inches away from her face before closing her eyes and blocking reflexively. Many things passed through her mind, such as her brother, her mother, her grandfather. And her crush.
It seemed as if an entire hour passed before the girl realized that she was still alive and breathing. The girl opened her eyes to find that the bus was now stopped a few feet away from herself with a large dent in it's front. The driver of the bus and the passengers aboard swiftly got off before they could be shocked anymore and slowly trudged away from the bus.
"Kid. Next time, forget about the bags and just keep walking…" A man said in a deep and pissed off voice.
"I'm… I-I'm alive…" The girl said before looking back at the bus and noticing who was talking to her.
Watcher 47 was halfway imbedded into the bus as one arm was positioned to stop the car and the other arm carried all of the bags, along with it's contents safely inside.
"Are you just gonna stare at me all day or are you gonna get up…?" Watcher said as he removed himself out from the massive dent.
"Uh, no. Sorry. Who… who are you?" The girl said while looking at the man with astonishment before noticing the marks on his hands once more.
"Alright, you can stop now." Watcher said as he walked up to the girl before heading the same way the girl was facing when she bumped into him, "Well, c'mon. You wanna get home or not?"
"W-wait! Hold on a second!" the girl said before running to catch up with the Watcher.
"What?" The watcher said before looking at her while walking.
"I just… have so many questions, how did you stop that bus and how did you get all of the groceries in the bags and why aren't you hurt and and… and who are you?!" The girl exclaimed before giving the Watcher a confused look.
"I'd love to explain this to ya, but I don't know a single thing about you either. So, how about this. Start off from the beginning. My name is Watcher. Watcher 47. And you are?" The Watcher said while extending the arm he just protected the girl with.
"I'm Ran. Ran Gotanda." Ran said before grabbing Watcher's hand and shaking it.
"Well then Ran, Have I've got a Fffucking story for you. Sadly, this is the end of the chapter." Watcher said as the two walked to Ran's house with one of them feeling confusion and the other, annoyance.