The 3rd chapter is here! Now let's see how Banagher will adjust with his new school life shall we? Oh and by the way, thanks for your reviews, fav,and follows. It really gave me more motivation and more ideas to pour into this fic.

As for the reviewers:

Fireminer : Err, Loni is already dead in episode 4, the choice is open for the characters from episode 5 onward.

Cosmic Compiler : Thank you, oh and good luck for your Gundam 00: IS too ;)

Guest1 : Well, better start downloading Gundam Build Fighters then, here's your 3rd chapter.

mega1987 : Ooooh sir, you are sooo eviiiilll...

GundamGuyUC : Here's your 3rd chapter, bro.

Guest1 : I'll think something about that.

worldwanderer2.0 : Well since Beam Tomahawk is absent, how about if I change it with Beam Javelin in future chapter for further upgrades? Man I could imagine if those IS's were upgraded in that way.

Guest : Hmm that could work too, BTW I already put it in 1st chapter like you suggested. Sure, Infinite Stratos without harem isn't Infinite Stratos after all.

kaitz98 : Let see about that later, shall we?

Airhead Fortis : I'll take your idea for future planning. You're welcome :)

Cheery Wolf : I knew that. But to avoid confusion like that, I used Banagher's English VA here. Although most dubbed animes aren't too well appreciated, I found Unicorn is great in either Japanese or English dubs.

Guest1 : I think she meant the seiyuu.

WhoeverIam : I'm afraid the won't be any fight here. I think Tabane would have to join Anaheim Electronics first. LOL. Angelo is... gay? I won't even dare to imagine that...

Just an IS fan : True. I guess that's reasonable. It will be same as in the OVA where he took control of Khsatriya's funnels.

Guest #2 : Thank you.

Guest #3 : Hahaha, thanks for the support. Here you go.

Guest #4 : As I have stated in my previous chapter, Unicorn is an MS IS hybrid so it has some of IS characteristics but not all of them. Even though it doesn't have an AB to protect the pilot when the energy shield reaches 0, to compensate this, the Unicorn has a full frame that covers the pilot entirely from head to toe with ceramic composite armor that could shrug off conventional weapons up to a certain level. I'll leave that to you to figure it out.

Beta by Vandenbz

Chapter 3: The New Student

IS Academy – Infirmary

When the morning sun started to shine over the nation of Japan, including the IS Academy which was located on a separate island, Banagher was prompted to wake from his sleep due to the sunlight that touched his eye. Groaning as he began to rub his sleepy eyes and get up, the brown haired boy noticed that there was something… no, more than one thing placed on the chairs where Chifuyu and Maya had sat yesterday. On the first chair was a neatly folded white blazer with long trousers underneath it and two white sneakers below the chair while the other one held a few stacks of books with a paper note placed on it.

"What's this..?" curious, Banagher then took the small note and began to read it…

To Mr. Links…

Good morning, I hope you're feeling better now. We have prepared your uniform and your textbooks on the chairs.

Right now, the students are still having breakfast, so take your time until your first class begins at 7 A.M.

Your class will be in 1-1, so make sure you bring all the books with you. Okay? You will introduce yourself as the Ireland Representative Cadet.

Well, Orimura-sensei was the who came out with that idea, though...

I'll tell you about your room arrangement after school. Meet me in the teacher's office once class is finished.

Oh, and one more thing. Try to relax a little when you introduce yourself so that you won't make the girls… fall off their seats.

Good luck on your first day in IS Academy.

-Maya Yamada-

When he finished reading the note, Banagher just looked at the uniform and then at the books with a long sigh. He had hoped that the event last night was just a really bad dream and when he woke up he would be lying on the bed inside the Nahel Argama medical bay with Doctor Hasan watching him from his workstation. But it looked like he had hoped too much and he needed to face reality whether he liked it or not: He was in another world, a kinda twisted world where space colonies and Mobile Suits didn't exist, but instead they had these machines called IS which were only operable by females with him and a male student named Ichika Orimura being the sole exceptions.

Looking at the clock on the wall which still read 6:30, Banagher then grabbed his new uniform and stared it for a moment.

"I guess I'll just have to bear with it…" He muttered before he began to take off his shirt, "Well, here goes nothing."

…

Meanwhile, at the same time in the Cafeteria…

"Hey, have you heard about the incident last night?"

"I was already sleeping at that time so I don't know, what happened?"

"Are you talking about the strange object that fell from the sky last night? I was having a snack because I couldn't sleep."

"I heard some of the student council members were sent to investigate it with Orimura-sensei."

"I already asked one of them earlier but she said that Orimura-sensei already forbade them to reveal any details."

"Eeeeh? But I want to know what happened~!"

Murmurs and whispers among the senior students filled the cafeteria as the rumor about what happened last night was spreading like wildfire, especially among the 3rd year girls since they had better connections with the student council members. However, since their idolized super-strict teacher had prevented the student council from telling them anything, none of them could assume what the object that had fallen into the arena last night really was.

Some of them thought that it was a meteor since the crater it had made on the ground was quite large. Some of them thought it was a fragment of a broken satellite. Some of them thought it might be an IS in testing (which was partially true…), and some of them even thought that it was a sign of an alien invasion which was totally ridiculous.

At the area where the 1st year students usually had their meals and talked, a raven haired student wearing a male version of the IS uniform was having his breakfast with a girl possessing long black hair and a green ribbon with black stripes tied around her hair as a ponytail and parted at her forehead. While the boy was enjoying his meal which consisted of a bowl of rice, salmon, and soup, the girl on the other hand was not in a good mood despite having the same meal as him which made the boy feel worried about her.

They were Ichika Orimura and Houki Shinonono, the students of the Class 1-1 and childhood friends to one another.

"Psst… hey Houki, are you still mad at me?" Ichika asked, almost whispering.

"I'm not mad at you." Houki replied, but the look on her face clearly didn't say the same thing that came out of her mouth.

"Then why are you still wearing that face?" He asked again.

"Get used to it." She replied, making the boy sigh in defeat.

As the two continued their breakfast, three girls with one of them wearing a yellow fox hoodie with overly long sleeves suddenly came up to them.

"Orimura, may we sit next to you?" One of the girls asked the male student, Ichika Orimura.

"Oh, sure, go ahead." He casually replied much to Houki's annoyance since she didn't like it when Ichika was being nice toward the other girls although she knew that he did it in a platonic manner.

As the three took their seats and began to eat together, the girl in the fox hoodie noticed that Ichika's breakfast had a bigger portion compared to the other girls.

"Wow, you sure do eat a lot in your breakfast." commented the girl in the hoodie.

"I guess that's because you're a boy." The other girl answered.

"Actually I was wondering if you girls are okay with your own breakfast, aren't you?" Ichika asked in concern about the meals that the three girls had which made them giggle nervously.

"Say Orimura, have you heard the news about what happened last night?" The girl in the hoodie asked again, changing the subject while wiggling her fox ears. (How did she even do that?!)

This made Ichika almost choke on his food as he was afraid if she was referring to the embarrassing incident that he had with Houki during the first night where he accidentally saw her in nothing but a towel which made Houki totally furious and kick Ichika out of the room with her shinai, creating the ruckus in the dormitory.

"Ah, you mean that strange object that fell into the arena yesterday?" The other girl answered her first, "I heard about it from the 3rd year students just a minute ago."

Now this wasn't what he was expecting and piqued his interest. Did something that he and Houki didn't know about happen last night? Well… there was only one way to find out…

"I don't know anything about a strange object from last night." Ichika then asked her, "What happened?"

"Well… apparently there was a strange object that fell from the sky and crashed in the IS Arena." explained the girl with long black hair, "I don't know what it was but I heard that Orimura-sensei and the student council members were the ones who investigated it."

The girl who sat between the girl in the hoodie and the long black haired girl then turned to the hoodie-wearing girl, "Hey Nonohon, isn't your sister also one of the student council members?"

The girl in the fox hoodie, Honne Nohotoke nodded. "She is, but Utsuho-nee said that all of the student council members were prohibited from telling the others about what happened last night. So I don't know anything more than that." She then shook her head in apology at the last part.

"Hmm, I wonder what it could be…" Ichika couldn't help but wonder, especially since his sister had been involved in the investigation. Perhaps, he should ask her after school? Forget it! That was a bad idea if he didn't want to take the risk of getting a smack on his head again by her almighty attendance book.

Suddenly Houki who was sitting beside him all along stood up and grabbed her now empty tray with an upset look clearly present on her face. Why not? She had been totally ignored in the whole conversation and Ichika didn't even pay attention to her at all. Just when she was about to leave, Ichika suddenly called out to her…

"Hey Houki, where are you going?"

"I'm already done here. I'll go first." She simply answered him and left the group.

"Oh… okay then, I'll see you later." Ichika replied, totally not getting the idea that she was upset and jealous enough to leave.

…

Later in the class 1-1…

"Alright everyone, before we start the study session, there's something I'd like tell you first." The green haired teacher, Maya happily announced to the whole class which made all of them including Ichika focus their attention on her.

"We have a new transfer student here!" She exclaimed, clasping her hands and turning to the door from her desk before calling, "Mr. Links, you can come in now."

"Wait! Did Yamada-sensei just say Mr. as in… the new transfer student is a boy!?" One girl asked in surprise.

"You mean there's another boy who can pilot the IS besides Orimura?" Another one asked, excitement was clearly written on her face.

"No way! Having Orimura alone is already great and now we have two in our class!? Waaaaaahhh, I'm so lucky to be in 1-1." Another one squealed in happiness.

Not too far from where the girls were daydreaming about having another male student, a British girl with long blonde hair wearing a blue headband was sitting at her desk with a displeased look on her face, her arms now crossed after hearing the announcement about the new transfer student. She was the representative candidate from England; Cecilia Alcott who came from a prestigious noble family, and an IS pilot who had her own personal IS.

'Another male in this class?!' Cecilia thought bitterly, obviously not liking the idea about having another boy in the class, 'Great! And here I thought that Japanese boy was already troublesome enough for me. No matter, I shall teach him to know his place!'

Ichika on the other hand was having different thoughts as his face was full of happiness for not being the only male student anymore.

'Another male student here? Thank heavens! I finally won't be alone anymore!' He silently prayed his thanks to the heavens for granting his desperate wish ever since he had arrived at the academy.

When the door slid open, Banagher stood there wearing a uniform which was identical to Ichika's while holding some textbooks in his right hand. Before he proceeded in, Banagher looked at the whole class with eyes widened in disbelief. That woman, Chifuyu Orimura hadn't been kidding to him yesterday!

Everywhere he looked inside the class were the girls eyeing him with piercing stares like a pack of wolves looking at their prey, well… safe for one male student who gave him a good luck sign with thumbs up who he assumed to be Ichika Orimura from what Chifuyu had told him yesterday.

Slowly walking inside the class, Banagher then put the books on Maya's desk before introducing himself as his name appeared on the monitor board in kanji.

"My name is Banagher Links and uh…" He nervously introduced himself due to the classroom's heavy atmosphere before regaining his composure. "Starting from now I'll be in your care, so I hope we can get along. Nice to meet you everyone." He finished his introduction with a bow. Although in his life he had never been in Japan before, he knew various customs from reading the books about Earth's culture on different countries, so he knew how the Japanese people introduced themselves formally.

For a moment, the whole class was silent while Ichika closed his ears in anticipation of what would happen next…

"IT'S REALLY ANOTHER BOY!" All the girls squealed in unison which startled the brown haired boy at the reactions he got.

"Just look at his hazel eyes! He's so charming!" One girl happily exclaimed with sparkling eyes.

"His looks really give an aura of a prince from a far off country!"

"And he's so polite too! I think I'll stalk him after school!" Another one said while staring at Banagher with a predatory look that one even could see her drooling from closer.

While Ichika could only sympathize with Banagher as he had experienced the same feeling although not at this extreme level before, Banagher on the other hand was totally dumbfounded.

'W-what's wrong with them?! They're acting like they've never seen a guy here before!' thought Banagher. Somehow his Newtype sense warned him something dangerous coming from the girls. Not something that would threaten or end his life but it was still bugging him. 'And why do I have a feeling that they won't leave me alone after this?'

"SILENCE ALL OF YOU! THAT'S ENOUGH!" shouted a loud stern voice which came from Chifuyu Orimura as she entered the class. The girls immediately shut their mouths and behaved.

Lowering her head with her arms crossed, the black haired teacher then began to explain.

"Banagher Links here is a representative cadet from Ireland and starting from today he'll be the part of this class." Chifuyu then looked at Banagher. "Now Links, you can take the empty seat beside Orimura."

"Okay, Orimura-sensei." As Banagher took his books again and went to his seat, Ichika was now more than relieved. Not only had the new guy been transferred into the same class but was also sitting beside him? At last he finally could enjoy a companionship with another guy in this 'all-girls' school'.

"Okay, now that everyone is here, let's start with a quick review about what we learned yesterday." Maya then turned on the monitor board which displayed an image of a girl in some kind of astronaut suit, only it was bulkier and resembled a mech with two engineers beside her.

While most of students including Ichika were paying attention to what Maya was explaining Banagher on the other hand was having different thoughts. He felt that his life had been turned 180 degree completely from a Gundam pilot carrying the fate of the Universal Century's future into a schoolboy in all-girls school. Usually this kind of thing only happened from those fictional stories his classmate often talked about. What was the genre called again? A harem?

With a low sigh, Banagher looked out the window to calm his mind, his gaze met with the view of a vast ocean and a couple of seagulls passed by. The sound of the waves and the birds somehow had brought peace to his mind. It was pretty different from when he was travelling through the desert with Zinnerman that at the thought of that man, he recalled back their conversations back then…

"It's all humanity's doing. Indiscriminating development, dropping the colonies and that asteroid (Axis)... If humanity is a product of nature, then that makes all of mankind's wastes and poisons natural products too. And even if it's rendered unfit for human habitation, it'll be a result of nature achieving a new balance I guess. Mother Nature has absolutely no mercy and our ancestors in the past understood that. As the products of nature, they knew it instinctively."

"And that's when the people began to create civilization and a society in order to survive in that cruel world. But before they even knew it, everything had become complicated. So they decided to find a new place in space while trying to establish a different system. But the Earth's old system rejected that because systems from two different birthplaces are never compatible, thus in the end, one always tries to make the others submit..."

"Alright, I think that's enough for now. Now please open your textbook to page 17." The voice of Yamada-sensei brought Banagher back from his thoughts and he immediately grabbed the indicated book and opened to page 17 which was focused on an IS's internal structure.

Ichika who sat beside him noticed how his classmate was kinda distracted during the review, so he moved his head closer to Banagher.

"Psst… hey Links." Ichika whispered, getting his attention as Banagher turned toward him, "I know it's not easy on the first day, but try to pay attention if you don't want to get hit by-"

"Orimura! No whispering during the class!" Chifuyu's stern voice immediately made Ichika stop and focus back to the textbook. She then looked at Banagher with the same stern look. "And you Links! Pay more attention to Yamada-sensei if you don't want to run ten laps on the track!"

"S-sorry ma'am!" Both of them said in unison while lowering their heads in shame. Upon seeing this, the girls including Houki couldn't help but snicker a bit after finding out that both of them were quite similar when scolded by Chifuyu.

The same thing however couldn't be said for Cecilia as she eyed Banagher with full of contempt from the corner of her eye as if she was looking at a sworn enemy. The bitterness she had earlier were now replaced with utter shock and contempt upon learning the identity of Banagher Links who was a Representative Contender of Ireland.

Truth be told, Ireland was actually the country that was in competition with England to gain more of IS cores. Despite the fact that England had better technology and economic power to get their hands on IS technology, Ireland managed to catch behind thanks to the joint research and development program with the neighboring country Scotland that they were able to mass produce the 2nd Generation IS with the cores they had as well.

However, that was the problem…

Nowadays the nations without an IS program or a very weak one, were likely to be under the sway of those with a powerful IS program. The England was worried if this competition was a hidden attempt for both Ireland and Scotland to get off from UK's influence and become independent or worse trying to triumph over England in IS field. While there was nothing bad actually happened between their relationships on the paper, the political situation was actually almost at during the cold war.

For Cecilia, this was like setting on an old flames of war again as she knew the history of her country England, Ireland, and Scotland that were adversaries centuries ago. As a girl who came from a long line of royalty, the British girl still hold to the aristocracy belief where nobles ruled over common people and the latter must respect the former. Both Ireland and Scotland didn't have any old bloodline nobles left ever since a very long time ago, so she considered their people as below her breed or commoners as she usually referred them.

And on top of that, Cecilia believed that her country England was the strongest among the United Kingdom and took a high pride of it. To have these two neighboring countries whose resources were below England trying to rival it was the most absurd thing she ever heard in her life, almost like a direct offense to her status and her country's pride.

And yet, right here and now, her adversary was sitting in the front desk beside the Japanese boy, completely not aware of her presence…

'Great! Not only now I have two males in the same class, but one of them is an Irish!?' thought Cecilia irritably as she shot another glare towards Banagher. Both her hands on her desk slowly curled up into fists while taking a mental note to speak with the Scottish boy later so he would know who she was. Representative or not, he must be taught to learn his place.

'No matter! Just like that Japanese boy, I'll make sure that he knows his place here!'

When the class had finally ended, Banagher was bombarded with questions from the curious girls. Before he even knew it, his desk was already surrounded by the girls and he had nowhere to run.

"Hey, so what is Ireland like?"

"What's your favorite color?"

"What's your favorite food?"

"Do you like video games or anime?"

"Do all Irish people have the same eye color as yours?"

The Gundam pilot wasn't even sure what to answer first because too many questions were being asked at once. For once in his life, the boy wished that he was in the middle of a battle, fighting some Mobile Suits or maybe facing Full Frontal and his Sinanju. Feeling that he had to help his fellow male student, Ichika who saw what happened from outside the class went inside and made his way through the crowd.

"Excuse me… please give way… I'm sorry…" As the raven haired boy finally met with the brown haired boy, he patted Banagher's shoulder which made him turn to see Ichika giving him a friendly smile. "Hey Links, wanna have lunch with me and my friend in the cafeteria?"

Banagher just stared him for a moment before answering, "Uhhh… sure, why not?"

"Great! Let's go then! She must have been waiting for us already." without any second thoughts, Ichika immediately grabbed his hand and left the classroom with Banagher, leaving the mesmerized and blushing crowd of girls at how the two were holding hands like a scene from the yaoi manga they often read as they began having weird thoughts and...

"L-look at that! They're holding hands!"

"But they've just met and..."

"KYAAAAAAAAHHH! IT'S A BOYS LOVE!" once again the girls squealed in happiness.

…

Later in the cafeteria…

"What took him so long? He was the one who asked me to have lunch together and yet he hasn't come!" Houki grunted from the table where her food was already waiting to be eaten. Almost five minutes and thirty seconds since Ichika had asked her to lunch, and she had already ordered her meal which was the same thing that she had for breakfast, except there was grilled chopped meat in the salmon's place.

Shortly after that, the ponytailed girl finally saw Ichika coming to her table with Banagher trailing behind him. Crossing her arms as she stood up, Houki glared at Ichika, "About time you showed up! What took you so long, Ichika?!"

Still panting from running away from the girls, the raven haired boy weakly answered her, "Haaa… haah… s-sorry Houki. We need to escape from those girls first…"

"Remember that you were the one who asked me first and…" Houki suddenly stopped in the mid-sentence as she noticed that Ichika was still holding Banagher's hand. Turning red from blushing and angry at the same time, Houki accusingly pointed her finger at Ichika.

"W-why are you two holding hands like THAT!?"

"Huh?" confused from what she said, Ichika looked at his hand and realized that he was still holding Banagher who had a rather confused look on his face. "Whoa! Sorry about that, Links!" He apologized as he released his hand, but the ponytailed girl still had the wrong idea in her mind.

"Ichika… I didn't know that you're actually…" Houki was completely taken aback and was now wondering if Ichika preferred 'that kind of relationship' with another guy as she stepped back in disgust.

"Wait Houki! This isn't what you think!" Ichika frantically replied while waving his hands in denial. Although he had been the only guy in IS Academy before Banagher had joined, he was still a healthy young man and completely straight. Now just because he had to pull Banagher's hand while escaping from the pack of wolves, Houki started to think that he was… gay?

Banagher on the other hand knew that the girl was having those kinds of thoughts, so he decided to straighten out everything before things started to become even more complicated…

"Um... I think there's a misunderstanding here." Banagher said, finally getting both of their attentions as they turned toward him, "Orimura here was just helping me to escape from the girls in the class, that's all."

Houki looked at Ichika for a moment before looking at Banagher, with an uncertain look on her face. "Are you sure?" She asked the two boys who each gave her a nod as their response.

"A-ah, so that's how actually it was... (Phew)" after hearing his explanation, Houki held her chest and sighed in relief while Ichika did the same only for a different reason because he was glad that Houki didn't think he was gay anymore. After the situation had finally calmed down, Ichika started to explain…

"I brought Links here to have lunch with us together, Houki." Ichika said, turning at Banagher, "Hey, come to think of it, we haven't properly introduced ourselves, right?" He then began to introduce himself and Houki, "I'm Ichika Orimura, but you can call me Ichika. And this one is Houki Shinonono, my childhood friend."

Houki was embarrassed a bit upon hearing the childhood friend part before she introduced herself to the male student, "I'm Houki Shinonono, but you can call me Houki."

"Banagher Links, but I guess you already knew that." He replied with a small smile, "Just Banagher is fine."

"Well then Banagher, I think we better get our lunch first." Ichika said as he pulled Banagher to the line to get their meals. "Chifuyu-nee won't be happy if she found out that he hadn't finished our lunch yet when the next bell rings."

Banagher chuckled a little at his words. For him, this guy's friendly attitude at least reminded him of his friend from Anaheim Industry Technical School, Takuya Irei, except he wasn't a mech otaku when it came to things like Mobile Suits. When the two had taken their meals from the counter, they proceeded to the table where Houki was impatiently waiting for them. While Ichika took his seat beside Houki, Banagher took his seat beside Ichika.

His meal was also different compared with what Ichika and Houki had; while the two had the same meals for their lunch, Banagher just had a hot-dog with chili and mustard sauces for his lunch. As the three were having their lunch altogether, gossip and whispers about the new male transfer student could be heard among the girls who sat not too far from them.

"Hey… isn't that the new transfer student from class 1-1?"

"I heard he's the 2nd man who could pilot an IS besides Orimura. He's also a representative candidate from Ireland."

"Really? Then that means he must be strong if he could become a representative of his country."

"I heard that the representative candidates have their own personal units, I wonder if he has one too..."

"This is interesting! I'm gonna tell Mayuzumi-senpai from the newspaper club after school!"

…

Back in the class 1-1, minutes before the next study session…

Banagher sat behind his desk with his chin propped on his hand again while looking at the window. So far, he had to admit that his new life as a student of IS Academy was quite peaceful. No battlefields, no exploding Mobile Suits and ships, no gunfire, and no more innocent people getting killed. But still… he felt that he was… out of place as this wasn't his world after all… No! Even back in his own world, he wasn't even sure about where his place was supposed to be until he met her on that fateful day…

The day where he found her falling in the sky…

The day where he learned the truth about his family and his past…

The day where he piloted his Mobile Suit which carried 'the key to Laplace's Box'…

The Day of the Unicorn…

'I wonder if there's a reason why I was brought here…' He thought as he looked up at the ceiling with a rather sad look on his face. The boy suddenly felt guilty and wanted to blame himself when he realized fact that the people he cared about aboard Garencieres and Nahel Argama were still out there and might be pursued by the conspirators of Federations and the Sleeves over the secret of Laplace's Box he was carrying without knowing the fact that he was in Universal Century no more...

Clasping his hands together, Banagher silently prayed for their safety while waiting for his return.

'Everyone… be safe, okay?'

Too preoccupied with his thoughts, the Banagher didn't notice a certain British girl walk to the side to his desk. Now standing right beside him, Cecilia crossed her arms while glaring at the (supposedly) Irish student who seemed not aware of her presence as he shifted his gaze to windows outside.

'How rude! Do all men like him have no manner of how to treat a lady?!' thought Cecilia. She then cleared her throat, expecting that he would turn around.

"(Ahem!)"

Much to her annoyance, Banagher didn't even move his head an inch which made the British girl's face turn red from anger, upset for being ignored again. It was then when Cecilia finally lost it…

"HEY! DON'T YOU KNOW THAT IT'S PRETTY RUDE TO IGNORE A LADY?!" She shouted, slamming the desk which startled Banagher from her outburst.

After recovering from his shock, Banagher then glared back at her, annoyed. "What's your problem? If you want to call someone, then just say it out loud."

"What's my problem?! YOU are the problem here!" She replied, pointing her finger accusingly at the boy before she turned around and placed her hand on her temple in distress. One could say that she was being overdramatic here.

"I can't believe after that Japanese boy, out of all males in the world, I have to be in the same class with this Irish lowborn! As the proud representative of England, I Cecilia Alcott won't accept this!"

Banagher frowned. It wasn't even a minute and he could already tell that this blond haired girl would give him a hard time here. He knew what kind of person this she was: the snob who think themselves high and mighty above others because of their social status. He never liked this kind of attitude because it was just so wrong in his eyes.

It wasn't that he was against the aristocracy, he could accept that since it was the nature of the social life itself, but he just felt that everyone deserved to be treated fairly with respect regardless of his or her social class.

But he knew better that this time he shouldn't waste his time into a verbal fight with her, so instead of taking offense from her words…

"Hey, if you're here only to boast yourself to me, how about you just leave me alone?"

"What!?" Cecilia was shocked by Banagher's response and immediately turned around to face him, "Do you have any idea of whom you're talking to? I'm Cecilia Alcott-"

But before Cecilia could even finish her sentence, she was cut by Banagher first…

"Listen! I don't care about you being whatever what you just said, but can you just leave me alone now? I need time for myself to think." He said with a hint of pleading in the last part.

Cecilia however took his words as an insult as her face began to turn red from anger. "W-why you..!" just before she could say anything more, the bell suddenly rang again, signaling that the break was over. Turning away from Banagher, Cecilia pointed her finger while glaring him for the last time.

"Don't you think that this is already over, Irish. I'll have you know that I, Cecilia Alcott is the best IS pilot here who had defeated the instructor during the exam during the exam, so be grateful that I'm still kind enough to be in the same class as yours and you better know your place here! Understand?!"

Without saying anything as he watched her go back to her seat, Banagher took a deep breath and sighed in relief that the British girl finally left him alone.

"What a snob…" He muttered under his breath.

"Hey Banagher, what's wrong?" asked another voice which belonged to Ichika who had just gotten back.

"Just… having a bit of a problem with a high class girl, that's all." He answered, giving a quick glance to Cecilia.

It didn't take too long for Ichika to understand what he meant by that as he patted his shoulder, "Relax buddy, she was like that to me yesterday." the younger Orimura then went back to his seat and sat back while giving him a reassuring look. "I'm sure that she'll forget everything that just happened by tomorrow."

"If you say so…"

As everyone had gathered in the class, the door slid open and revealed Chifuyu in her usual black suit walking toward the teacher's desk. Giving out an aura more like a powerful politician than a teacher behind the desk, she began to give an announcement to the whole class.

"Two weeks from today you'll be asked to choose a representative for the class tournament." She said before giving elaborating, "The class representative not only competes in the tournament, but also attends student council meetings and committee meetings. Essentially, it's your class leader, okay? I'll now take nominations, any suggestions?"

"I'd like to nominate Orimura." A girl said, raising her hand to Chifuyu.

Ichika didn't expect this at all and was utterly shocked for being nominated, "Huh!?"

"Actually, I think that Links would be a better choice for that position." objected another girl as she stood up.

"What!?" This time it was Banagher who was taken aback with his sudden nomination.

"So… is there anyone else?" Chifuyu asked, crossing her arms while waiting for the answer only to get the whole class being silent for a moment, save for two boys who had a rather dumbfounded look on their faces. "Okay then, since we have two nominations, I'll start with Orimura first. Who will vote for him?"

"H-hold on a sec! Don't we get a say in this?!" Ichika frantically asked his sister to protest this outcome since he didn't want it, but Chifuyu's piercing glare quickly silenced him.

Almost half of the class then raised their hands in voting, much to Ichika's horror. Being the male student here was already tough for him, and now he had to deal with this class president thing? Knowing that he didn't have anything to say in defense, especially against his sister, Ichika lowered his head in defeat and could only hope that Banagher would get more votes than him.

Looking at the students who raised their hands to vote for Ichika, Chifuyu mentally counted the number before she finally made a final decision.

"Since more than half of the class is voting for Orimura, it's decided that he'll be our class representative then."

The girls who rooted for Banagher sighed in disappointment while Banagher was relieved that he didn't get that position, although he felt a bit bad for Ichika who also didn't want it either.

"Just… my… luck…" Ichika muttered, slumping in defeat over the result.

Suddenly Cecilia slammed her hands on her desk and stood up with a severely displeased look on her face.

"I do not approve of this!" She shouted in anger while glaring at Ichika, "This type of election is utterly unacceptable! It would be shameful to have a boy as our class representative! You can't possibly expect that I, Cecilia Alcott to live up with that sort of humiliation for an entire year! Besides, to stay in a country with such an underdeveloped culture and to be in the same class with that Irish over there is already an unbearable misery for someone at my level!"

Banagher's eyes twitched in irritation. This girl now had crossed the line. Trumpeting herself was one thing he could overlook since he didn't too much care about that, but looking down on other people at the point of insulting their respective countries as well? If he could compare this girl's attitude with the people from Universal Century, then she would be not only the Sleeves and the Zeon Remnants supporter, but also of the Titans who glorified themselves as better than spacenoids. It sickened him when he remembered those days where Titans were still holding power which fortunately now was no more...

Ichika balled up his hands into fists and was about to stand and counter back Cecilia's insult with his own, but…

"You've gone too far! What gives you the right to talk down another country like that!?"

All eyes, including the teachers shifted to the source of the voice which was none other than Banagher who now stood from his seat, glaring at Cecilia.

"Oh-ho~, what's this? Helping your fellow male classmate, huh?" Cecilia taunted back, giving Banagher a smug look while placing her hands on her hips before answering him. "Well… for starters, my homeland of England had been known for leading the-"

"I don't give a damn about that!" Banagher interjected, surprising Cecilia while still giving her the same look, "The point is that you just insulted his… no! Just look around you! Don't you even realize that you just had insulted the majority of this school, including your own classmates and teachers!?"

Cecilia gasped in realization at his statement. Just like what Banagher said, when the blonde haired girl turned around, her eyes were met with several glares from the pissed off students, including Houki, save for Maya who looked nervous and Chifuyu who seemed rather amused with this turnout, especially at Banagher as the black haired teacher crossed her arms. Feeling angry and yet embarrassed at the same time after being humiliated by the Irish student, Cecilia pointed her finger at Banagher.

"You! This calls for a duel!"

The entire class, save for some gasped at her statement. Despite her attitude, Cecilia was actually quite skilled in piloting an IS and lived for her status as a representative contender of England. It was even reported that she managed to defeat the instructor during the entrance exam.

Everyone was silent, waiting for Banagher's response as they were looking at the said person. However he gave Cecilia an unexpected answer...

"I refuse."

Another silence until they finally were pretty sure what he just said and...

"E..."

"EEEEEEEEEEEHHHH!?"

The entire class exclaimed in utmost shock as if they couldn't believe that the boy just answered 'no' for a challenge. That was completely against their knowledge about men and their pride of not chickening out from a challenge from their references (mainly shonen manga) they read. Banagher then spoke again.

"You can't even answer me back, now you challenge me with no reason as your last ditch effort? Only a sore loser who will pull out something like that. Now apologize to everyone here!"

Those words really struck Cecilia's pride really hard because the said girl flinched and held her chest as if she just got a heart attack. The girls were genuinely astounded by Banagher's boldness that some of them even began whispering among themselves, ignoring the fact that they were talking in class with their most fearsome teacher around.

Chifuyu had to admit that despite his outburst earlier, Banagher handled Cecilia's tantrum more like an adult. If it was her brother, Ichika would have taken her bait and accepted her challenge which was nothing more than digging his own grave since she knew very well that he was a complete amateur who didn't even know yet the basic and advanced controls of IS except activating it.

Even Houki couldn't help but admire at Banagher's bravado and boldness to stand up for Ichika… no for everyone in this class, including their teachers despite the fact he wasn't Japanese at all. It was rather uncommon for a foreigner to defend a country that wasn't his origin from being trash talked.

However, after the British girl had finally calmed herself down, a cocky smirk appeared on her face.

"Heh… just as I thought, you men are all nothing but talk and cowards. If anything, it's you who are the real loser here!" She taunted, pointing her finger at him. "You don't want to accept my challenge because you're afraid that I'll definitely defeat you, right? How about you just kneel before me and admit to everyone here that you're a weakling who only tries to act tough? Maybe I'll forgive you and let this slide and-"

"I already told you that I'm not interested in your challenge!" Banagher suddenly cut Cecilia, surprising her again. His expression remained stern and firm. "But if you really want that fight so bad… Then it's a fight you get."

After learning a thing or two about what an IS actually was and how the form of sport it took was a combat sport, Banagher got a grasp that these ISes were almost like the scaled down Mobile Suits except they were prohibited for warfare. As much as he hated to fight over a simple matter like this, he didn't have a choice if he wanted to get the British girl off her high horse. Besides, she was saying that he was weak as if she was implying that she was strong. Did she even know the meaning of that word or did she only know it as physically better than others? Was she strong enough to go through what he had been through so far before arriving here?

"Now that's more like it." said Cecilia with a proud look as she walked up to Banagher, "However, should you lose on purpose I promise to make you my servant. No! I shall make you my slave until I graduate from here!"

"Whatever you say then… but if I win…" Banagher then looked at the students on his right and left then looked back at Cecilia, "You'll have to apologize to Ichika and everyone in this class!"

"I accept your condition. Besides, I wonder how good your fighting skill on the battle is, especially since you're a male IS pilot." She then turned away from Banagher and glanced back at him over her left shoulder before she returned to her seat, "Don't disappoint me, Banagher Links."

"You said that so casually like you even know what a real battle is..." Banagher muttered in low voice so Cecilia couldn't hear him as he sat back in his chair and looked at his hands with narrowed eyes, feeling a bit remorse for a moment. His mind then went back when he witnessed the chaos and genocide that happened in Industrial 7 and Torrington Base…

'You don't have any idea how cruel it could be... chaos and destruction everywhere... countless dead bodies... the people who had plans for tomorrow... for next week... for their future but died in vain...'

"It looks like it's settled then." Chifuyu said, making everyone focus on her again, "The competition will be staged at Arena 3 which I believe shall be available on next Monday. I expect that both of you will be fully prepared for combat."

After Chifuyu finished speaking, the girls began to whisper again about how the two would fight next Monday, especially since both of them were representative candidates who were known for being the aces from their respective countries.

Ichika on the other hand was glad that he had a new friend and a classmate like Banagher, although deep in his heart he also wondered how strong Banagher actually was because of his status as a representative cadet too. Perhaps instead of planning to ask Houki to train him how to pilot the IS, he should talk to Banagher. After all, both of them were boys and he would feel more comfortable with that.

.

.

.

Rewloola Class – Command Bridge

Inside the glorious flagship of the Neo Zeon's Rewloola, a blonde haired man wearing a red eyed mask in a red Neo Zeon uniform which more resembled a royalty suit was standing in the middle of the command center, looking at the main monitor with his left hand on his hip. Beside him was the captain of the ship who appeared to be in his 40's was sitting in the chair, looking at the same direction as him. While the captain's expression was a mixture of calm and lazy as if there was nothing to worry about.

The masked man in red on the other hand was quite different as his expression was an enigma due of the mask he wore to cover his face, except for the lower part which exposed his lower nose and his mouth that he kept shut and straight. On the monitor that those two were watching was the Earth Federation's battleship Nahel Argama with The Sleeves' camouflaged freighter Garencieres on its side sailing through space together with the Rewloola after surviving the attack from the Earth Federation's flagship: Dogose Gear Class – General Revil that intended to wipe them both out with all means to keep the secret of Laplace's Box.

However, thanks to the man's actions along with his subordinate who came to rescue them, the General Revil had been forced to retreat, allowing the two battleships to escape and join forces. Minutes had passed without the two saying even a single word until the sound of the sliding door behind them caught their attention.

A curly grey haired man who wore the similar uniform as the masked man walked in, except its color was green instead of red. Carrying what appeared to be some kind of report in his hand, the man in the green uniform gave a salute to the two.

"Captain, the result of the analysis from the information center has been determined." reported the man as he brought the paper up to his face and began to read it, "It seems that the white Mobile Suit had indeed disappeared inside the strange green light when it was about to leave the Earth's atmosphere. Right now, its location is currently unknown, sir."

The man who known as the 2nd coming of Char Aznable, Full Frontal nodded after hearing his report. "Hmmm… so the 'key' has decided to conceal its presence from us, huh?" a small smirk formed on his lips as he rubbed his chin with his finger.

"How interesting, to think that even the machine itself didn't want to be found by us… anything else to report, Lieutenant Angelo?"

"There is, sir." The man in green, Angelo Sauper quickly replied before continuing his report. "It appears that in the seconds before the white Mobile Suit's signal was lost, there was another strange energy reading coming from inside the light. Our men believe that the strange signal was the cause of the white Mobile Suit's disappearance."

'A strange energy reading from the light…?' The masked man then lowered his head in thought, 'Could that be… that strange reading was the cause of 'those two's' mysterious disappearance?'

*BEEP!* *BEEP!* *BEEP!*

The sound of an alarm suddenly caught everyone's attention. Turning toward one of the operators, the captain asked, "What is it?"

"There's a thermal signature coming from 6 o'clock!" The operator answered, turning to the captain, "It's a Mobile Suit! And it appears to be riding a Geta!"

"The Nahel Argama has already dispatched their Jegans and ReZels." The other operator informed, "What should we do, captain?"

"Have the Sinanju ready for sortie!" All eyes then darted toward one person who said that who was none other than Full Frontal instead of their captain.

"Sir! You don't have to waste your precious time over a single Mobile Suit!" Angelo interjected just before Full Frontal could leave the room, "If it's just one Mobile Suit, then just let them take care of it! Or I would gladly do that for you."

"You stay here, Lieutenant Angelo!" commanded Full Frontal as he began to walk to the door. "Someone has to watch over the Nahel Argama and Garencieres while I'm off anyway. And besides…" a small smirk was formed on his lips as he stopped near the door, "I get a feeling that our guest will lead us to the key's hideout…"

Knowing that he couldn't argue back his captain he respected so much, Angelo just gave him a salute and replied: "Understood, Captain!"

When I saw the 1st episode where Cecilia insulted about Japan, there was one thing that came across my mind: DID SHE REALIZE THAT SHE JUST INSULTED THE MAJORITY OF THE SCHOOL?!

Hohoho, Full Frontal has finally made his appearance in the end and looks like he wanted to bargain with someone. Next we will see how Banagher will show the true color of his Unicorn during the battle and how he will be assigned to his dorm, so stay tuned.