PHASE 1.1
Ichika

Tokyo, Japan
Present day_

Ichika Orimura gave the vacant house one last glance. Summer vacation was over, and it was now time for him to get back to IS Academy for the new school term.

He let out a long sigh at that thought. Ever since the day the girls visited him at his house, his older sister, Chifuyu Orimura, had never come back home again. All he knew was that she planned to fly to Singapore on some 'official business', and as usual she didn't disclose him with further details.

He permitted himself a small smile. She rarely tells me more than what I need to know—she can be quite cryptic at times.

He strolled down the road towards the skytrain station. He always tried to tell himself that he was used to her long absence from home, but he couldn't stop the sinking feeling deep down inside him that he really did miss having her around. Chifuyu was all that he was left with after their parents abandoned them many years ago, and she was forced to take up the responsibility to bring him up on her own—Ichika was well aware how hard it was for her back then. Of course, at that point in time he was too young, too immature to truly understand the pain she was going through. There were occasions where he threw tantrums at her for being too harsh on him, and how he envied other kids of his age for having a warm and loving family.

Then the kidnapping incident when he was ten years old woke him up from his childish trance: Chifuyu gave up her chance at the second Mondo Grosso finals just to rescue him, and she had to repay the German army with a one-year service for providing her the information to get him back. His heart was filled with guilt—for a moment he was convinced that his existence was the cause of his sister's suffering, and he was determined to do whatever he could to share the burden with her, to be independent enough so that she wouldn't have to worry herself so much to look out for him like before.

"I…Ichika!" the sound of someone calling his name brought him back to reality.

"H-Houki?" He looked up and spotted the slim figure of his first childhood friend Houki Shinonono in her white IS uniform, her long dark hair tied up behind her head with a large green ribbon, her shinai hoisted on her back wrapped in a navy-blue cloth. She wore her signature pout on her heart-shaped face, her arms crossed before her chest that made her radiate with a rather intimidating aura. As Ichika fixed his gaze on Houki's breasts, memories from the night at the beach flashed across his mind; even the time he had spent with her on Tanabata became fresh behind his eyes. He grinned at her, trying to look casual, but he couldn't stop the heat slowly creeping up his neck to his cheeks.

A heavy awkwardness hung in the air between the two for a moment, until Houki broke the silence, "Um, so… S-Shall we go to school t-t-together?"

"Uh, sure, I guess?" Ichika was finding it harder to keep up with his plastic smile. He couldn't understand why he was starting to feel very conscious around her. She's only a childhood friend, he told himself firmly. He was a little amused when he noticed that Houki's mood became considerably brighter and her frown vanished, replaced by a rare sweet smile. Her eyes met his questioning stare and she hurriedly turned her head away, but not before Ichika caught her blushing face.

Even though she always put up a tough front, her soft side is actually kind of cute… Wait, what the hell am I thinking? Confusion clouded Ichika's mind. Ever since the two incidents with Houki, he was becoming less certain about how he should deal with their relationship. What's going on between us?

"I didn't expect you to be as sneaky as Dunois, Houki Shinonono!" A new female voice pulled him out of his little mental struggle. He looked around to see another girl in IS uniform appearing from behind Houki—his second childhood friend, Huang Lingyin. Or better known by her nickname…

"Rin?"

Rin threw back her twin ponytails and pointed at Houki, her finger trembling from her anger. "I can't believe that you're actually this kind of person…"

"Of course I'm not!" Houki snapped back. "I…I just happen to pass by! What about you? Why are you here?"

"Now, now…" Ichika stepped in between the two girls. "L-Let's go to school together, shall we? Well, I don't want to keep the rest waiting—"

"The rest?" Both Houki and Rin narrowed their eyes at him.

"Oh, I'm actually meeting Char, Laura and Cecilia at the station… ow!" He winced when they whacked the back of his head with their bags.

He let out a tired sigh and followed behind his still-fuming childhood friends. What a way to start the new school semester.

The unnerving silence continued throughout the walk to the skytrain station; though, Ichika was glad he was still in one piece instead of receiving more beatings from a furious Houki and an equally irritated Rin.

The skytrain station was packed with people: not like there was any festivals or events going on, but a center point where anyone would naturally flock to in every district, every town, every city. Among the crowd of brunette passersby, the silver and blond hairs of the remaining three girls stood out easily, like a landmark in a sea of black.

Ichika, who was taller and had longer legs than his childhood friends, was the first to reach the trio of foreign exchange students. "Cecilia, Char, Laura!"

The first of the two blondes was Cecilia Alcott, hailing from England and also representing them (known for their terrible sandwiches). The other, Charlotte Dunois, represented France, whom Ichika first met as 'Charles', her crossdressed self. The silver-head with an intimidating black eyepatch over her left eye was the representative of Germany, Laura Bodewig.

"Ichi—" Cecilia waved back with the biggest smile on her face to start off her day with him, but the cheeriness vanished instantly when her blue eyes locked to Houki and Rin behind her (not-so-secret) crush. "Ichika, can you please explain to me what's the meaning of this?"

"Yeah," Laura seethed, the twisted anger on her face was enough to make Ichika felt like his knees were going numb. "Or else you're going to answer with your life." Thank goodness the sensible Charlotte was around to stop the German girl from summoning her personal IS in front of so many defenseless civilians, but in exchange earning himself with a look from the French that clearly read: be prepared to die.

Not again, Ichika had to do an internal facepalm as he cringed at the icy tone that laced over Cecilia's over-polite greeting, shuddering to Laura's and Charlotte's death threats. "It's really a coincidence," he insisted, taking steps back to edge away from the glares of five mad girls. "There's nothing more, really!"

"Really?" The staring match continued on.

"Really."

The chime from the clock-tower in the middle of the station broke the tense moment, startling the sextet to be more aware of their surroundings… and the time. Charlotte glanced at her watch. "We're going to be late. We'll save this lesson for later." With one last look at Ichika, she dashed to the gantry, turning around to beckon the rest of the group to come over. "Hurry!"