Infinite Stratos: The Holy Grail War

by zerosaber0

The sequel to my first story Beyond the Black. In a world where the Fate world is destroyed, a refugee mage seeks harbor within the IS universe. However, so has the Grail, and one again brings with it the calamity known as the Holy Grail War.

4. Ch 3 Inherited Existence

Chapter 3 – Inherited Existence

Disclaimer: Infinite Stratos and the Fate universe belong to the original creators. Any use of them is strictly for non-profitable and non-derogatory purposes, covered under the Fair Use Act.

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Prompt: When did I first meet her?

Her name was Madoka Einzberg Orimura, known amongst the boys in the Clock Tower as the Invincible Snow White Queen. Just like the title inferred, she was unbeatable; continually placing first in all aspects of training from theoretical principles to practical application. Her gifts led her to be chosen as the youngest of seven pilots for the newest MagiTech innovation: IS or Instrument Suits.

She was chosen to be a pilot specifically because of the "Invincible" part of her nickname. As part of the mage program, students were expected to compete in any event that could be competed in. It was a practice that not only encouraged independent study and practice, but it had the additional effect of demoralizing the weak of mind and making them drop out early. In a normal school program, this might be considered inappropriate, but those without a determined mindset would not go far in the world of magic. Allowing them to drop out early was actually considered an act of compassion. But even with this practice, the Clock Tower still had hundreds of students, and Madoka Orimura had trounced each and every challenge she was given, overpowering and out-thinking any who stood in her way to be the best.

The other part of her nickname came from the fact that she was also apparently a beautiful girl. I remember one of the more poetic boys describe her as"a rare regal beauty, one supported by the graces of ancient pride and nobility; whose otherworldly pure white skin seemed to defy nature itself with a quiet unmoving power." And then there was her heritage: the Einzberg in her name. Known as one of the families responsible for creating the Holy Grail, the Einzberg were like royalty in the mage world. Anyone bearing that name, even as a middle name, were automatically treated like a noble. From that legacy and that flowery statement, "Snow White Queen" was coined.

But it was the "Invincible" part that earned her the right to accelerate her study and graduate early, then get chosen to be an IS pilot for her troubles. These IS were meant to further the evolution of mankind through the fusion of magic and technology. Should the initial run work, the Mage's Association planned on increasing the number of IS, in an effort to increase the standard of living throughout the world and to expand our presence throughout the universe.

Of course, like any new technology or magical advance, there were bound to be problems. That's why the Clock Tower introduced the IS Support program at the same time as the IS pilot program. It was a program intended to create IS support, basically the compliment to an IS pilot. A support would spend the next year working with the IS inventors; learning how to maintain the prototype IS, studying in depth the theory the IS worked on,and most importantly getting acquainted with both the role and the parts of the IS they were assigned too. However, the qualifications to being accepted were quite special.

Firstly, one had to graduate from the Clock Tower and be recognized as a full, responsible adult mage. Fulfilling this qualification wasn't terribly difficult, as the Clock Tower also introduced accelerated course plans. Anyone who could complete the coursework and prove their competence would be accepted as a graduate. All candidates had one year to graduate from their respective programs.

Secondly, after the ceremony conferring the students' mage rank and title, each pilot will choose one candidate to be their support, meaning that out of all the applicants only seven would gain that coveted position. Apparently, the IS program will respond best in a two-person party. When the pilot and the support have a high degree of affability, known as a sync rate, the IS will become more efficient in power consumption and energy efficiency. This made it easier on both the pilot and the support to perform their tasks.

However, finally each candidate had to be deemed proficient in the arts of both Tracing and Mineralogy. This was the reason why only 12 people even met the qualifications to be considered for the program, although applicants numbered in the hundreds.

Tracing wasn't really difficult, however it took a particular talent a very rare number of people had. The ability to look at a part and Project it completely, recreating its physical structure, its history, and its experience. To those that had any form of that ability, Master Shiro Emiya happily accepted them into his program and carefully cultivated it into something resembling his own ability of Tracing. He was a kind, gentle teacher who had evolved the weak Projection technique into something that could match the Noble Phantasms of the most powerful Servants. Even with the flood of people trying to get into his program after the IS Support program was announced, he calmly screened through each applicant, tenderly comforting those who showed no sign of the ability and patiently assisting the newbies who only had a year to gain proficiency on top of their normal or accelerated coursework.

Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, the excluding factor that condensed the hundreds of applicants to 12 candidates was Mineralogy, taught by Master Rin Tousaka. Master Tousaka was...a person that took constructive criticism to an extreme. I'd put down my true feelings for her and her teaching method, but even now I fear that she'll find some way to reach beyond the veil of death to punish me. Suffice it to say, I had little respect for the woman. And I'm sure she felt similarly.

The reason why these two proficiencies were necessary was because this experimental magi-technology also happened to be very fragile. Without the pilot Reinforcing the IS continually, the IS would fall apart under its own weight due to the density of what it was made of and the Square-Cube law. But it didn't mean that it wasn't prone to parts being broken completely or malfunctioning. It was the job of the support mage to understand the material itself (a wonder material developed specifically for IS) and to Trace that broken part: effectively an instant repair. By combining the two disciplines, it was found that projecting a Tracing onto what it was supposed to be made out of instead of prana caused it not only to retain its shape permanently, but to also not suffer Rank Degradation and be just as strong as the original.

In any case, after the year of accelerated courses and hurried proficiency in Tracing and Mineralogy (somehow), the 12 qualified candidates gathered in a small classroom. Both Master Emiya and Master Tousaka sat at the front, while I sat in the back near a wall, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. It was there that I heard (and narrowly escape) the slamming open of the double doors leading into the room. As if they were one giant entity, the seven IS pilots entered the hall in lockstep, approaching the head of the close where the two magic professors sat.

"Master Emiya, it is … a pleasure to meet you again after all these years," I heard a voice hesitatingly declare. Her clear, strong voice reverberated throughout the classroom.

"Madoka-chan, you don't have to be so formal with me," Master Emiya chirped back, a smile dancing in his voice. "You can call me Father, or Daddy, or Papa, or-"

"Understood, Master Emiya," she coldly repeated herself with a bit more force, interrupting Master Emiya's suggestion."However, 'Papa' is the one who is with Mama. Right now, no one is with Mama, so there is no one to call 'Papa'. There hasn't been one for 12 years, Master Emiya."

Master Emiya's face furrowed in shame. "Madoka-chan, there were...extenuating circumstances. I mean, it was for the good of the world that I left Ilya to join this magic school with Rin. IS has the potential to wipe poverty and disaster off the map, to explore the unknown depths of the see and reach out throughout the universe for knowledge and prosperity. This is the evolution and maturity of the human race we're talking about!"

"Yes, Master Emiya, thanks to you, Master Tousaka, and the IS development team we now have magi-technical suits that allow for new opportunities in our future. I truly do respect your decision, Master Emiya, that's why I'm here as well. So does Mama, she's the one who pushed me to excel this much. However, Master Emiya, that is still...still no excuse to why you couldn't at least write a letter to us!" Her voiced cracked as she let her emotion pierce through her formality.

Master Emiya had no retort, no argument, no excuse to explain his insensitivity to his estranged daughter; nor did anybody attempt to defend him. No matter how kind and gentle he may have acted, it was well known that Master Emiya had struggled these past 12 years trying to bear with both the fact he did not come from a mage family and he headed an unpopular program. Although he was begrudgingly given the rank of Master and a staffing position at the Clock Tower, he was looked down upon by all the other Masters and program heads. And then there was the favor he owed to Bazett...

After a period of uncomfortable silence, Master Tousaka cleared her throat rather conspicuously, drawing attention from the father-daughter confrontation. She introduced the seven pilots to us, whose names escape me at the moment. They each recited their names with feminine voices, and judging from their names and accents they probably had different ethnicities as well. After the curt introductions, Master Tousaka ordered,"Now, please choose amongst these candidates who will be your support." As always, her directions were short and crisp, at least until she got irritated. "You've all been given time to review the specialties and talents of the qualified before you. Once you make your decision, Master Emiya will inscribe the Syncro Seals to the both of you, binding your od to each other and the IS you are assigned too."

Immediately, a woman with a mature-sounding voice called out,"I would like Soki Tousaka, please." I heard a groan from the candidates as well as from the pilots.

Soki Tousaka, the son of Master Tousaka, was famous amongst the entire program for both already knowing how to Trace weapons before enrolling and being the only one able to tolerate and actually benefit from his Mother's. Under Master Emiya's guidance, his skill in creating Swords was almost on par with the Master's. In addition, Master Tousaka spent all her extra time with him, grinding into him advanced lessons in Mineralogy; lessons he would happily extend to anyone who asked. In what was left of his spare time, he helped the rest of the class refine their powers, which had the effect of refining his as well and increasing the group's overall growth. The entire group knew he was the best they had to offer, and it seemed the pilots knew that too. Except for one voice that I was sure did not join in the group's depression. Master Emiya called the two to his seat in the front, and with a low voice even I couldn't hear, inscribed the Seals. Groans of pain came from both Soki and the pilot, groans that would be repeated as the other pilots quickly sought their intended supports before the others took them away. Eventually, the last pilot to choose was the one whose voice did not join the initial disappointment when Soki was chosen.

I heard a chair scoot nosily as Master Tousaka chastised Orimura, "Hurry it up, dear. Shiro's getting tired."

"It's fine, Rin," Master Emiya assured her. "I've made her wait for 12 years, I can wait for at least that long for her. And as soon as this is finished, I'll visit Ilya."

Master Tousaka snorted in disappointment at the sound of her name, but didn't continue her criticism.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Orimura-san spoke, "I choose him."

At first, I thought she had pointed to one of the students. After all, by this time all three of the males save for one had been chosen and by process of elimination, it had to be him. I turned around to head back home, when Master Tousaka's rebuttal proved that my assumptions were not always spot on.

"Ms. Orimura," Master Tousaka,"Please take this seriously. You may have a grudge against your father, but that is no reason to shame his life work by taking a support that is not only physically disabled, but he isn't even a proper mage. What could you possibly need from this one?"

"It's because of that physical disability that I need him," Orimura-san stated. "In case you've forgotten, my focus was in Mineralogy. And as for Tracing, well I am my father's child..." I heard a slight hum as the weapon was thrown, than an audible thwack as the weapon embedded itself in the wall near my head, right where my head would've been if I hadn't stopped in surprise.

Well, that was interesting. I was so engrossed in thought, wondering who Orimura-san had really pointed to, that I had forgotten to flinch. I had thought that I was far enough away to avoid attention like that. I was so shocked by this seemingly random action that I disregarded my policy of inconspicuousness and clearly incanted, "Trace on." The well-known invocation of Master Emiya.

"What is it?" Master Emiya prompted me, a trace of pride in his voice. He had been helping me hone this ability since we first met. I Analyzed the weapon, a spear of about 1.5 meters in length. It wasn't a fancy weapon, it had no engravings nor elaborate features common to weapons of legend. A spear of practicality, the quarter meter head was a simple long triangle, beaten to a hard edge instead of ground like most modern knives. The lance also lacked a guard for the head, making it more like a javelin than a spear.

"A magical spear, it calls itself 'Gae Dearg'," I responded in a dead monotone, not used to speaking in front of a large number of people. In fact, I believe this is the first time I've spoken to someone that wasn't Master Emiya in the past three years. "It has all the Magical Properties of the original weapon, including the ability to sever all ties to prana. This means that this weapon will negate all constructs created out of prana, including Tracings, Spells, and Magical Constructs below its rank. As a physical weapon, however, the edge is dull and the spear itself is full of vacancies and contaminants within its molecular crystal structure. If you tried to use this normally as a weapon, it would shatter as soon as it hit an object off edge or sufficiently harder."

I ran my hand down the shaft of the spear towards the head still lodged in the wall behind me. I stopped at a point along the shaft about 20 cm from the point of the spear. "Excessive transverse load applied here would cause crack propagation that would split the weapon into small pieces. But, it's fixable. Shall I demonstrate?"

"Please do," Master Emiya agreed eagerly.

I Altered the spear according to its memory: how it was forged, how it was maintained, how it was used before becoming known as Gae Dearg. Surprisingly, it allowed me to do so almost instantly. After returning it to the shape it remembered, I Altered the weapon in accordance to its own wishes: streamlining the design to how it thought it should look. Particles of dust fell lightly to the ground as I relieved the weapon of its extra unwanted weight. In addition to that, I Augmented the Traced construct,repairing the crystalline structure of its molecules and removing contaminants within. In the end, Gae Dearg's shape was mostly the same, but I had made it slightly smaller, slightly lighter, slightly more aerodynamic, and gave it a much finer edge; all qualities only a master artisan would notice at a glance. But most importantly, by fixing the Tracing at the molecular level, I had given it much more strength and durability. "This should work a bit better as a weapon," I started in that same dead tone of voice, "at the very least it won't break after a couple of swings like the it would've before. However I can't do anything about its magical properties, and since it's still a tracing, it'll be about a rank weaker in strength."

"I see," Master Emiya responded."Well, in the end the Trace Ranking system is based on my own opinion on things, so we should use a more practical way of gauging its power. RHO AIAS!"

He held up his hand and an iridescent pink flower of seven petals emerged from his hand: the defensive Noble Phantasm Rho Aias, Rank A based on the subjective scale Master Emiya had taught us. It was said that each petal was as strong as a fortress wall, and not even modern weaponry would make a dent within the first petal. Not only that, but the user was Master Emiya, the Origin of Tracing. His Rho Aias would probably defend against nuclear bombs if he needed it to.

"I accept your challenge, Master Emiya." With light steps and single pull, the Snow White Queen approached me and yanked the spear out of the wall and gave it a few quick spins. But something was weird: I could hear it humming, maybe even singing. Even though she was spinning the spear at a fast speed, it was nowhere near fast enough to make any sort of sound simply swinging it through the air. Yet, it was humming; rising and falling in pitch just like a song.

"Hey you," she called out to me,"what did you do to it? It's lighter than when I first traced it. Not only that, but the prana conductivity is incredibly high. I could probably fill this thing with od in a fraction of a second! Wait, is this...Are you telling me this is how this weapon is supposed to be used?"

It didn't matter to me whether she was looking at me or not, all I wanted to do was smile and nod.

The weapon Orimura had traced was long and hard, probably used like a proper lance for mi-range melee combat. But that wasn't the original intended use for the weapon. Rather, it was meant to be thrown like a javelin, to deny and overcome all things unnatural in the world. And in front of me, in front of us, was a big unnatural wall. The epitome of defensive Phantasms was there, a chance to prove to everyone that my deviant skills were just as good as theirs. To prove to Master Tousaka that all those years training with master Emiya were not for nothing.

I turned towards the girl near me, the one who gave me this chance. I don't know what caused me to do so, but I undid the seal on my eyes for one brief moment; just to see the emotions running through her eyes. I peeked beyond the veil of my seal, my circuits stinging with pain as I broke the oath I made to myself. That was the first time I saw it, the gold and silver starbursts of excitement of the girl I love.

I heard the scuttle of panic as the students caught between the ultimate defense and singing spear cleared a path for the spear-like javelin to fly. She brought the spinning spear to a stop, most likely to prepare to throw it. As if a lightning bolt had struck the room, a peal of thunder reverberated around the room as Orimura instantly overloaded the Tracing with her od. Then with a heavy step forward, she threw the lance as hard as she could, activating the Traced Noble Phantasm's full power by shouting its name: "GAE DEARG!"

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June 10 – After the first-years' first partial summoning practical lesson

"Why do you write in such a way that makes me want to ask more questions?" Ichika complained. "I don't know what these terms mean. You're not exactly writing for yourself, you know."

"If I remember correctly...I'm writing a diary," Kail retorted with a yawn. "Unless I misunderstood... the intention of the assignment... I'm just doing this to learn how to write …so I don't get kicked out of school. Theoretically, I could just drill myself...over and over...but this way is definitely more productive. As you can see, I've increased the speed of my...writing...two...fold..."

Then Kail slumped onto Ichika's shoulder. Of course, Ichika had more than enough time to brace himself and quickly righted his drowsy roommate.

"By sacrificing your sleeping habits, apparently," Ichika pointed out, carefully jabbing a finger into the heavy dark bags under Kail's eyes from lack of sleep. Kail flinched away and leaned on the wall to try to keep himself from passing out. After taking care of Ichika's magical accident, he had spent the entire night writing a new diary entry, as evidenced by the numerous energy drink bottles Ichika found on his desk when he woke up.

"I'll be fine," Kail promised. "This isn't the first all-nighter I've pulled. I just don't do well during the morning, normally."

It was about 6 in the morning, a full hour before the time they usually woke up to go to class. Upon noticing Ichika's awakening Kail had asked Ichika to accompany him to the roof. In return, Ichika had asked to read the new diary entry, finishing it about halfway up the elevator ride.

"Anyways, Kail. Want to explain some of these things for me sometime?" Ichika asked him with a smirk.

"Sure," Kail answered, then smacked himself a few times for a brief shot of adrenaline. "What do you want to know?"

"Well, what about the 'blindness' thing? You outright stated it in this entry, but before it was kind of ambiguous. In all honesty, I thought you just screwed up some of the accent marks."

Kail snorted in dismissal, "No, I'm smarter than that – Accent marks?"

"You see, in Hiragana and Katakana there are these little marks that change the sound of the character you are using. If you forget to put them down, it can change the entire meaning of the word. For example, when you were talking about the gold and silver star bursts, I thought you were talking about the stars you see when a girl you like gives you a concussion."

"Ahh," Kail murmured, then opened up his diary to the first entry. "Well, I'll be damned. I completely forgot almost every accent mark in this thing. I'll go ahead and fix this. But, yeah I agree: it's not exactly clear what I mean without the-Wait, what?"

Luckily for Ichika, the elevator door chimed that they had reached the infirmary floor and that the car could not go any higher. Distracted by his task, Kail pocketed the diary and exited the elevator car, Ichika following behind him and silently resolving to think before he says something weird like that. They climbed the stairway leading to the roof and took in the sight that awaited them. The sun had just started peeking over the edge of the horizon, bathing both the sea and the campus in a wildfire of red and orange. If the setting sun was the trigger for peaceful slumber, than the rising sun was the signal for a vibrant awakening. For a second, Ichika entertained the idea of waking up early to witness this event every day. Then he remembered that in order to wake up early, he would give up another hour of sleep. With the extra practice Houki and the others put him through as well as this magic training he just started, he would need every spare minute to rest. That reminded him of that painful explosion of od caused him to fall unconscious. With a grimace, he held his right arm in remembrance.

Kail started drawing what Ichika recognized as that same summoning circle from yesterday, taking the time to improvise tools like last time and make it perfect. While he worked on the circle, Ichika asked for the diary back and Kail continued his explanation from before.

"Basically, back in my world I was functionally blind. If I kept my eyelids closed, I would see nothing but pure darkness. But if I opened my eyes, I would see people as an outline filled with some combination of color. These colors would explode into different shapes depending on the change in their emotions. When I was younger, I enjoyed playing tricks on people to get them to switch their emotions, but that got me in a lot of trouble. When I started learning magic, the first thing I did was seal my eyes closed and try to stay out of trouble."

"You mentioned that in your diary. What exactly is that?

"Umm, basically it's a curse that prevents me from doing something. Unless the feelings behind it are strong, a human's natural resistance will make a curse like that fail. But since it was me who placed it on myself, it bypassed that resistance and made me totally blind for the next 10 years or so. Of course, I could undo it partially, but that caused me pain until I was able to fulfill the oath I made in the first place.

"But since I've come to this world, I've been awed by this thing you called sight. Being able to see things like this beautiful sun makes me feel like it was worth the risk to come here."

Kail stopped to heave a deep sigh. "Of course, I would gladly trade this sight just for the chance to save Madoka." With a shake of his head, he resumed his work in silence.

Even though he allowed Kail his peace to work, Ichika wanted to ask more questions: What's a Noble Phantasm?, What's Tracing?, What happened to Rho Aias? But most importantly, how did you have IS? Well, it's not like our world held a patent on the IS, he rationalized. They must have made similar technological advancement, even with the presence of magic. But it makes me think that maybe I haven't been treating this seriously enough: if Kail's world, that had both IS and Magic, was still destroyed by seven Servants, what hope did this one have?

"I'm going to try to summon again." Kail had finished the circle while Ichika was lost in thought.

Snapping back to reality, Ichika warned him "Are you sure you should try in your condition?"

"...I'm not sure how to tell you this, but last night I felt a crazy amount of prana get used, and it was incredible close to us as well," Kail confessed. "With the amount that was used, I'm afraid a Noble Phantasm might have been used. If that's true, there might be a Servant within this very school!"

"What, a Servant? We should tell Chifuyu-nee!" Ichika shouted, and started for the elevator.

"Wait a bit, Ichika," Kail grabbed his arm before Ichika could get too far. "Like I said, I'm not sure. I want to verify my thoughts before we bother her. If I summon a Servant, that Servant could use its ability to sense the presence of other servants, except maybe Assassin."

"And if it is 'Assassin'?" Ichika sounded out the unfamiliar word.

"Mmmm, he probably would have tried to kill me first, using that Noble Phantasm I mentioned. That's...basically a very powerful magical weapon."

"Oh, I was wondering about that."

"In any case, I haven't exactly been inconspicuous with my magecraft, any focused mage would be able to track me down quite easily. It would be even easier for Assassin. Since I'm still alive, either they both think I'm not a threat or the two are quite incompetent."

"I see," Ichika relaxed the tiniest bit and walked over to the circle. "But if you've thought all of this out, why did you want me to come with you? It 's not like I had to help you move things around like last time."

"You wanted to become a Master to help out, right?" Kail responded. "I don't think you can cast a summoning spell without a medium yet, but it's probably in your best interest to know what the circle looks like."

"Makes sense." Ichika quickly brought out his cell and snapped a high resolution picture of the summoning circle to study later.

After verifying that Ichika was satisfied with the shot, the mage from another world entered the circle like before. Once again, the design glowed white-hot, and veins of deep violet energy raced down Kail's arm. Once again, he poured violet light into the circle while chanting his incantation. But the atmosphere was different from before. During the first summoning ritual, Kail had a sense of serenity and security about him. Like everything was going great, until Ichika fell off the precariously piled furniture and interrupted the ritual. But this time, the look on Kail's face was different: as if he were going to risk everything on this last try. The crest on Kail's left arm, Deep Purple, was quivering uncontrollably, as if it were afraid of what was to come.

"Kail, your arm..." Ichika tried to warn him, but Ichika couldn't finish the warning. He could only silently watch as Kail forced his power into the circle. He recognized that look Kail wore: it was one Ichika had worn when fighting Cecilia in his first real IS battle, the one he wore fighting the Black IS with Rin, the one he wore when saving Laura from the Valkyrie Trace system, the one he wore protecting those illegal poachers, and the one he wore to defeat Silvario Gospel. It was a mask of determination he had donned numerous times to make sure that no one knew just how much pain he was in. Ichika stood up and braced himself; the only reason for someone to wear that mask of determination is when things were about to go out of hand.

Just as the circle's white light was fully saturated with Kail's violet od, a fierce explosion of prana surged from the circle like a geyser, sending Kail flying into the air. The prana looked almost like a cloud, except while the outside was most definitely a dark purple, the interior and surfaces he looked straight at were almost completely transparent. The dark prana gave off a strange chill, a coldness unlike that of which Ichika had ever seen. A coldness colder than the ice, fiercer than a blizzard...and sadder than the regret Ichika felt when he killed all those people in the helicopter in the Sever Recovery Mission.

He didn't hesitate for a second: "Byakushiki!" In the next, the white IS appeared around Ichika, shredding his uniform to his undergarments. One of the only 4th-generation IS in the world, the white IS was built for a overwhelmingly strong and quick offense, with many thrusters installed on the back of his wing-like shoulder guards. The sword Yukihira Type II in his right hand unfolded, and a blade of energy emerged from the handle, easily as long as Ichika's IS was tall.

With all his strength, he swung down at the circle. If he learned anything from the previous attempt, it was that the slightest damage to the circle with stop the spell. But as the blade entered the geyser, it eroded before Ichika's eyes. With a startle of disbelief, he pulled back the weapon, only for it to regain it's proper length outside of the geyser.

"Okay, then, from below!" Ichika stabbed the sword into the ground and flung it up, rending the ground underneath the circle. But it was no good, the blade simply went through the circle, not even scoring the ground underneath the circle proper, yet he could still see the millimeter-wide cut his sword made in the ground prior to the attempt.

"Then, I'll at least save him," Ichika decided, his eyes focused on the helplessly flailing body of his roommate, juggled by the eternal geyser of dark violet prana erupting from the circle.

"Setsura Protector!" he yelled as he jumped into the geyser of prana. The multipurpose unit Setsura rotated and twisted until it resembled a buckler. From that buckler, a wide round shield of translucent energy formed parallel to the circle and successfully blocked the geyser of prana. Unlike a real geyser's water that would be diverted to the sides of the shield, the mana simply ceased to be as it hit his shield, however Ichika still felt the force from the mana erupting forth. The geyser fought hard to resist Ichika's plug strategy, but Ichika ordered Byakushiki to maintain his position using as much counter-thrust as necessary. Byakushiki's thrusters and the geyser fought hard, eventually settling at a height of about 2 meters (the point where Byakushiki's thrust force limit and the geyser's force equaled out). Byakushiki was able to handle the order, but not without cost: the shield itself was draining his AD at a rapid rate, and the thrusters wouldn't be able to last for more than a few minutes at maximum continuous burn.

But he couldn't think about that; with the geyser stopped, the geyser had stopped propelling Kail into the air, and Byakushiki's sensors told him that Kail was now falling directly toward him at a quick velocity. Ichika detached Setsura and placed it in Static Mode. Using strong electromagnetic forces, the shield would stay in one place as long as Byakushiki was within a meter of it. Unfortunately, those same electromagnetic forces keeping it static would transfer to Byakushiki, so Ichika still had to pour on the counter-thrust. But he could still rotate, so he put his plan into action.

He rotated so that he faced the falling Kail, extending the thrusters as far out as possible while still maintaining his counter-thrust. He waited for Kail to fall into his arms before engaging his Ignition Boost, a burst of thrust that far exceeded the thrusters rated limit and made the main thrusters unusable for a great deal of time after. But that was all he needed, the extra thrust had forced his IS closer to the geyser's spout, Kail's summoning circle. Not only that, but with the force of the geyser increasing as he got lower, it actually served to decelerate the two. How come I can only do these kind of smart things when I'm in trouble? Ichika lamented. No, it's no time to discourage myself. I'm still not finished.

With his right hand, he tried to push Setsura further and further into the geyser, but the augmented strength of the IS plus his own just weren't enough to overcome the geyser. Ignition Boost only lasted seconds at best, and there was no time to call for reinforcement.

Wait...That's it! Ichika focused on that feeling from last night, the feeling of opening a faucet that released his own hidden power. He didn't know whether it was from the adrenaline or his excitement, but he watched that pale silver light surround his right arm as if it were in slow motion. He didn't worry about quantities or conservation, but instead he trusted his gut about how much od he needed to use. He noticed alarms and alerts popping up in his AR, but he ignored them to view later. With the Reinforced arm adding to his strength, somehow he pushed Setsura through the opening of that portal.

"That's all I need!" Ichika yelled as he closed his fist tight, just as his thrusters finally overheated. Setsura expanded its shield, just enough to catch the edges of the summoning circle from below the opening, wherever it happened to be. Just like with Ichika's sword, damage done from underneath the circle did no damage to the opening so the shield didn't simple upend the circle. Quickly, Ichika checked his gauge. Luckily, he had only used a quarter of his AD energy, meaning he had a decent amount of time to wait for Kail to regain consciousness and close it himself.

Just then, Ichika got bitten by the curiosity bug: exactly what was inside that geyser? He gazed deep into the circle, and was met with a sight that was quite difficult to describe. Within that chaos of mana, that unyielding torrent of energy, he saw dozens upon dozens of people locked in a bloodthirsty battle. Both men and women fought tooth and nail on a empty featureless field, except for the scars of battle running like wounds across the barren earth. He focused on the face of the closest person to his field of vision, the IS helping to adjust his focus.

The man he chose was a brute, a large man whose roars shook the very battle field, yet no one else paid them any mind. Every time he moved, his hair shook with wild abandon, like a fertile, dense jungle during an earthquake. He was almost totally naked, except for the loincloth around his ankles. His muscles were huge and taut, and his skin was dyed a dark brown, as if he had toiled under the sun for years. In those muscular hands, he held a giant slab of stone that could barely be called a proper weapon. He swung that weapon recklessly but accurately, targeting the head of a small girl clad in pink.

The girl, for lack of a better description, fit the image Ichika had of a magical girl. She appeared to be both the requisite age and height of those he saw in anime: about the size and age of a middle schooler. Her clothes were fancy and puffy, and bore no practical reason for being so inhibitory. Her clothes resembled that of a sailor uniform, although he couldn't remember offhand a school that used pink as their primary color. She had also had long hair, but had the good sense to at least tie most of it back. The parts she didn't tie hung past her cheeks like sideburns, but didn't seem to impede her vision no matter how hard she shook her head. Yet despite the handicap, she was able to evade each and every blow by millimeters, and even able to counterattack with small bursts of pink light. Yet they had no effect to the half-naked barbarian, not even slowing him down for a millisecond.

Out of nowhere, the half-naked giant was assaulted with a dozen giant arrows, each as long and thick as Ichika's arm, with a rotating tip that drilled its way further into the giant's body. With another earth-trembling roar, he frantically dug them out not because of the pain, but because they impeded his movement. Luckily, that brief moment of immobility gave the girl in pink a moment to break away, then with a mighty leap jumped towards Ichika's vantage point. A black shadow from out of nowhere wrapped around the girl in pink, and then the girl became a monster: some kind of feral beast with an indefinite form, it reminded Ichika of watching old, grainy Bigfoot and Loch Ness monster videos.

It clambered through the air, rending handholds in the air itself as it attempted to climb its way up to the summoning circle. Ichika looked past the monster back to the battle behind it, expecting the giant to follow his former battle power. But he simply jumped into a neighboring quarrel, and like all the other people ignored the departure of the monster and its attempt to escape the infinite battle. With a fierce roar, it opened its mouth, intending to eat both Ichika, Kail, and the IS serving as a plug for the geyser.

"I could really use some help here, Kail," Ichika urgently shook the unconscious boy at his side.

No response from the boy's blackened body, probably an after effect of being bathed in that violet light. His uniform was torn in multiple places, but it fared better than Ichika's. Or maybe not: underneath his exposed skin, Ichika could see red crisscrossing underneath his skin like veins, but in a definite pattern. Not like the magic circuit he showed him before: a random bunch of lines extending to his fingertips. This was a deliberate, sophisticated and complicated pattern that definitely held some significance.

But he had no time to analyze the complicated pattern, that monster was almost upon him. He rotated again, flinging the unconscious body of his roommate into the air. Continuing the rotation, he found himself completely within the mouth of the monster, its teeth obstructing the last few rays of the rising sun. Luckily, he had thrown Kail clear of the monster's reach, but what about him? Would he just float there, allowing himself to get eaten? Was this the end?

"Setsura Cannon!" Ichika disengaged the shield allowed the unit to rotate into its Cannon Form. As soon as it finished the reconfiguration, he fired a dense ball of energy filled with the remaining strength in his IS exited the weapon with an astonishingly slow velocity. It smashed into the stomach of the monster, and somehow began dragging it down. Ichika had expected it to explode, but this was good enough. He rotated once more, towards where he knew the open sky was. Although he couldn't manifest Yukihira II's energy blade, the fold-out armor it was made of had an edge that was more than sufficient for cutting his way out of the monster's mouth.

With a few cuts, Ichika had forced his way back into the red morning sunrise, catching the rapidly falling Kail. He stared back into the circle, watching the ball of energy, the last bit of potential of his IS, drag the monster back down to the infinite battle. With a reality warping shudder, the monster crashed into the chaotic battle, scattering warriors into the air as if they were toy soldiers. With an explosion of pale blue, the monster separated into two forms: the magical girl clad in pink, and what Ichika would term a "Dark Magical Girl."

Unlike the conservatively dressed pink one, the dark one dressed in barely any clothing at all. Rags of black swathed her bust and pelvis, with a tattered red cape hanging off her shoulders. Her skin was the same dark brown of the giant's, but she had the same undeveloped middle school body as her pink counterpart. Even including her face. Ichika did a quick comparison between the two, but besides the clothing and skin color, both dark and pink looked exactly the same. Except while the pink one had a look of confused silliness on her face, the dark one purposefully met Ichika's eyes. Ichika was never a good judge of reading women's emotions, but he was sure that the dark one had a mixture of both anger and frustration on her face.

Then, the portal disappeared in a flash of light, revealing that the circle had cut away the roof in that specific area. Ichika gazed into the room, an unused infirmary unit complete with patient gowns.

"Well, better than that monster trying to eat everything in sight, I suppose." he descended into the hole, barely big enough to squeeze his IS through. After laying the unconscious Kail on the bed, he dismissed his IS. Kail's body, at least the exposed parts, were still dyed the same violet as the prana geyser, with that odd red pattern running under his skin.

"This isn't good, how far did this spread?" Ichika removed the tattered uniform, exposing Kail's sturdy chest. Compared to the last time he saw it (an experience he would much rather forget), it was in a much worse shape. The same deep purple had spread to his torso, with the red pattern underneath getting more and more sophisticated. It reminded Ichika of the tribal fad, a popular fad that consisted of getting tattoos similar to that of Aborigine or underdeveloped tribes living in jungles or whatnot. Taking off Kail's pants, he discovered that the pattern continued below Kail's waistline.

Just then, a door opened with a slam. "Aah, Ichika!" A familiar voice sounded from outside the hall.

"Rin? What are you doing here?" Ichika rushed to meet the Chinese girl at the door. With Kail almost naked and unconscious, the last thing he wanted was for Rin to enter the room and pass the curtain that obstructed the patient's bed from the visitor at the doorway. Luckily enough, the hole in the roof was also occluded by the curtain and no rubble was created when the hole was made, so as long as Rin (or anyone else) did not clear that obstruction, Ichika was free from misunderstandings.

"Ichika, w-w-what are you doing in the infirmary so early? And so...lightly dressed?" she stammered, clasping a hand to her mouth and looking him up and down. If he focused, he could see a faint tinge of red spreading over Rin's petite face. He looked at himself up and down. Thanks to the emergency summoning, his uniform had shredded off completely, only leaving his undershirt and boxers (and modesty) intact.

"It's no big deal, childhood friend #2," Ichika began, calling Rin by his title for her. "You know I like sleeping in light clothing. I remember stripping down to underwear like this back when we were younger and I overstayed my welcome at your parents house."

"Yeah, but we're adults now, Ichika," Rin argued, drawing up close and sticking a finger in his face. Then, she retreated and returned her hand, only to start playing with her fingers. Avoiding direct contact with Ichika's face, she pressed the tips of her forefingers together, than began toggling them up and down uncomfortably. "As an adult, how am I supposed to react when a guy opens up the door in his underwear?"

"Last I checked, Rin, we were still teenagers," Ichika pointed out, a smile of smug satisfaction on his face. "In any case, I'm fine with you seeing me like this. If it were Cecilia-san or Char, I'd be really embarrassed," he added with an uncomfortable shrug.

"And what about Houki-san?" Rin asked him with a cute pout. Ichika liked that about his second childhood friend, how easy it was to tease her and not take a shinai to the face. She wasn't exactly laid back, but she was definitely one of the easier girls to get along with. Still, there were limits to her patience, so Ichika decided to answer honestly.

"I only lived with her for a short time, so I'm not completely sure, but when we did she would be very secretive when we changed. She would force me to change in the bathroom whenever I had to, and force me to wait in the bathroom when only she had to. Yeah, I would suppose I'd meet the wrong end of a practice sword if I greeted her like this," he guessed, spreading his arms wide and giving Rin an unobstructed view of his outfit.

"You know," Rin folded her arms in front of her and nodded, "Judging from the short time I've known her, I'm inclined to agree."

"You know, I think I would too," a voice from behind the curtain added his opinion.

"I didn't ask your opinion, Sever-san," Rin shot back angrily, recognizing the voice.

With a gulp of apprehension, Ichika turned around to look at the newcomer to the conversation. Kail – no, Sever while with company – emerged from behind the curtain half-dressed, but Ichika could see he had fixed his tattered uniform using that Alteration skill, and his skin had returned to its normal light brown. There wasn't even a sign of the tribal patterns he had seen before anywhere on his torso. Whatever he did to fix it, it seemed he was fine for now. In fact, if one were to be uninformed of the morning's activities, one would probably think he had just woken up and gotten ready for school like normal.

Sever shrugged his shoulders and apologized, "Sorry, but its about time for class, according to the clock over there." He nodded at the wall clock, which indeed read 15 minutes before class.

Ichika slapped his head in disbelief, "Crap, how long did we take!" He tried to push past Rin to get to the elevator, but after pulling up her sleeve, she simply grabbed Ichika by the back of his shirt. The fabric stretched as Ichika fought her grip, but it was futile as Rin pulling up her sleeve also meant she was ready to use the power of her IS to retain him.

"Now that I think about it, what were you two doing up here...together? If I remember correctly, there's...o-o-only o-o-o-one b-b-bed," she stammered out, but this time out of irritation.

Ichika could imagine the gears in her head turning, especially after the rumors had circulated yesterday. No, he did not want to appear that way in front of his precious childhood friend!

"It's not like what you might be thinking, Rin!" Ichika shouted. Rin released her grip so that Ichika could turn and face her. He crouched a bit (quite a bit!) in order to meet Rin's line of sight and started to fidget, rubbing his hands together. "We just crept up here so we can...uh..." He glanced at Saver, who motioned behind him. Towards... "The rising sun! So we can see the rising sun!"

"The rising sun, eh?" Rin smirked with disbelief.

"Right, right, the rising sun. it's quite beautiful, you know."

"So, you're telling me you spent the night up here just so you could see the sunrise together."

"Right."

"In a room with only one bed."

"Right..." Ok, Ichika thought to himself, this is not heading in a good direction.

"...How...romantic?" Rin spat out the word as if it were rotten food.

"Now, hold on just a minute!" Ichika interrupted. Once again, he glanced at Sever. Instead of assisting him, Sever simply smirked back. That bastard! Ichika thought. He's enjoying this!

"You know," Sever started, still smirking behind Rin's head, "We really didn't do anything romantic." He stressed that last syllable. Rin turned around to face the speaker. "In all honesty, there was no love to speak of. We just slept together."

That ass! Ichika screamed in his head. I'm going to kill him for this. He would've yelled that last part, but Ichika was struggling to breath while being crushed by Rin's choke hold.

Somehow, Ichika managed to get a hand into the tight hold and pry it open enough to hoarsely protest, "Look, Rin, I didn't use the bed. I slept on the floor, like when we were kids. Nothing happened like you're imagining, I swear!"

"Well, then if it was just like when we were kids, you wouldn't have any problems sleeping with me, right?" Rin yelled.

"Right, right, of course, Rin-sama!" Anything to get out of this mess, Ichika thought.

"T-t-tonight! Tonight is fine, right? And we'll see the sun rise together?"

"Yes, yes, anything you want!"

Rin abruptly released her hold on Ichika, finally allowing him to get the necessary air for proper respiration.

"Well, then I'm going to class, then!" Rin said cheerily, sidestepping the collapsed Ichika and headed down the hall towards the elevators.

"Well, that was interesting. I'll have something fun to write in my diary, tonight," Kail commented, lifting Ichika bodily by his armpits. Ichika responded by driving his elbow into Kail's ribs as hard as he could. Kail stumbled back, definitely feeling the pain but still standing strong.

"That's the second time. At first, I thought you were just out of it and it was just a simple mistake. But you said that kind of thing on purpose, didn't you?" Ichika accused him.

"Totally. I may have payed for it in injuries and embarrassment, but the reactions I get out of you and your friends are hilarious!" Kail declared with a chuckle.

"Shut up, you," and with that, Ichika smacked the back of Kail's head rather hard in retribution.

Just as they reached the elevator door, it suddenly opened, and Rin was once again in their presence.

"Ichika, you'll keep your promise, right?" she verified, a cat-like grin spreading over her face.

"Yes, yes. I will," Ichika responded. With that answer, Rin turned away to hide her face. Ichika took the opportunity to take Kail aside and ask, "What did I promise Rin?"

"You'll sleep with her. Tonight apparently," Kail whispered back.

"Right, right, I'll sleep with her." Ichika nodded in agreement. "Wait, WHAT?"

"I wouldn't worry about it, its just like when you were younger," Kail responded in a soothing whisper. "Not only that, but if I recall correctly, neither of you are adults yet, or something like that, I suppose. Just treat it...innocently."

"Ah!" Rin spun around, pounding a fist into her palm in recollection. "I almost forgot, this isn't why I came back! And as for you -" she grabbed Ichika by the collar of his undershirt "- get ready for class!" And flung him into the elevator, using a strength only called upon by sufficiently pissed off women.

"Don't forget your promises so easily!" Rin yelled into the car. Ichika had been thrown with enough force to send him flying for at least 2 meters horizontally, however that inertia had been arrested by the back wall of the elevator after only one. It wasn't enough to injure him heavily, but Ichika knew he was about to fall unconscious. With blurring eyes, he saw Rin press a button in the car and then quickly exit before the doors shut. As they closed, Ichika heard Rin declare, "Sever-san, I need to discuss something with you."

"Ahh, I feel a lot better, now. I think I advanced quite a bit with him," Rin sighed in relaxation, stretching her arms out wide. "What do you think, Sever-san?"

Sever opened his mouth to answer, but instead a yawn came out. He quickly attempted to stifle it as Rin chuckled good-naturedly.

"Sorry, all jokes aside I haven't been sleeping well. Well, at all, actually. But I'll swing by the vending machines and grab an iced coffee in a bit," Sever informed her. "As for Ichika, well, why don't you just ask him directly how he thinks of you?"

Rin shyly twirled her foot into the ground and distractedly played with her long twin-tails. "That's...uhhh...well...really d-d-direct, you know?" she stammered shyly. "I mean, it's easier to do something and sees how he reacts to it."

"So...throwing the guy you like into a solid wall is easier than simply asking him out?" Kail pointed out.

"Kyahhh!" Rin attempted to suppress a squeal of embarrassment as she cringed into a small ball. "I didn't say anything of the sort! I...like...Eyaaaaahhhhh!"

Rin rocked back and forth, lost in her own dream world undoubtedly filled with Ichika. With a sigh of resignation, Sever lightly tapped the fantasizing Rin with his foot and asked, "Was this what you came back to do? I mean, I don't really mind talking about stuff like this, but I don't feel like it's so important you need to backtrack all the way back up here."

Rin froze, then slowly stood up to her full height. With a serious look on her face, she turned to meet Sever directly eye-to-eye. "I'm sorry, but can you repeat that again?"

"Uhhhh..." Sever hesitated, "'It's not so important to backtrack up here'?"

"No, further back."

"Uhhh... 'Throwing the guy you li-'"

"No, no! Between that and the one you said before!" Rin clarified, a slight blush on her face.

"'I don't mind talking to you about things like this'?"

"Yeah, that!" Rin once again made eye contact with Sever. "Do you mean that? Relax, and tell me truthfully."

With a yawn, Sever attempted to comply, "Yeah, sure. It shouldn't be a problem."

Rin searched the boy's eyes, but found only calm acceptance for the situation with no irritation. With a sigh, Rin broke eye contact by turning her head down. Sever followed the bob of her head with his eyes, worried that Rin found something wrong with his admission.

"OK, I remembered what I came here to do. Follow me, Sever-kun," Rin ordered, switching her honorific to the more informal "kun" suffix.

"Sure, Huang-san." Sever responded.

"Rin is fine, remember?" Rin informed Sever as they entered the room opposite to where he and Ichika had "watched the sunrise". With an upturned flat hand, she motioned for Sever to wait a second as she moved the curtain obscuring the bed from his view. Sever's jaw dropped as revealed before him was the unconscious body of his sister, Natalia Fairs.

"What, when?" Sever stammered. "Is this what she-? What exactly happened to her?"

"Hey, hey, sit down," Rin advised, "You're shaking really badly." True enough, Sever was shivering as if someone had opened a window in the small room during a blizzard. Rin wasn't surprised, she had reacted nearly the same way after she first visited Natalia in the infirmary.

"You remember that little trip you took down to your home in Hawaii, right?" Rin asked, waiting for Sever's affirmation before continuing. "You see, after you left but before we knew that you had left, a silver IS identified as America's Silvario Gospel. We...were told that it was an unmanned IS, and...fought with intent to destroy it. Eventually, Ichika was able to use his sword to pierce through the IS and force it to deactivate." Rin paused for a second, giving her a chance to gauge how Sever was reacting to the news. Sever showed no emotion on his face, save intense concentration. Rin thought he had stopped paying attention before he lifted his head to look at Rin, wondering why she had stopped. With a nod, she continued her story.

"America told Orimura-sensei that they would recover the IS itself, so we returned back to the resort. It was there that Orimura-sensei informed us that someone had hijacked America's communications and was using us to fulfill their dirty work. She had us scramble: Cecilia, Bodewig, Dunois and myself to recover Silvario; Houki, Ichika, and herself to intercept the recovery team and...to recover you."

"Yeah," Sever answered for the first time since the story began. "I remember that clearly, that they came to get me."

"I'm surprised you made it out alive, honestly, especially with the skills you showed us yesterday. Of course, your IS was heavily damaged apparently, so in hindsight I'm not quite that surprised," Rin remarked. "Even though we say it jokingly, I guess you proved that 'One IS could beat an army.'"

"Actually, they defeated themselves," Sever clarified. "All sh-*yawn* I did was take cover and take them out one by one. Their confusion and panic mixed with high yield explosive weaponry did the rest."

"I see," Rin nodded. "Well, before you fall asleep in your chair, I should finish my story."

Sever nodded and straightened his back in an attempt to focus on the most relevant portion of Rin's story.

"We were worried that Silvario would revive itself into some 3rd form or something, so we decided to have Bodewig take point and fire a rail-gun shot at the 'debris' of the deactivated Silvario. We asked Yamada-sensei for permission, and since we still believed it was an unmanned IS, she allowed it. She said that it would have a 'black box' – an indestructible record of activity of the IS it came from. We watched the projectile explode, then carefully approached the …'wreckage', scanning for that black box. But when we got there, we discovered that – well, there's no delicate way to admit this – we were misinformed of the pilot's status. Instead of being piloted by a drone body, we found out it was actually...her."

Rin bowed low to Sever, tears welling up in her eyes. "I'm so sorry, Sever! I had no idea that Nefe...Natalia was actually the one piloting the out of control IS. Please forgive me!"

"I...I...don't know what to say," Sever answered. Rin looked up at the boy, who kept his face turned away from both her and his sister. "I mean, I'm not quite too sure how to feel about this."

"S-say what?" Rin stuttered in surprise. "I'm admitting to almost killing your sister and you don't know how to feel? Get mad! Get angry! Get sad! Get indignant! Get...something!"

"No matter what you say, I'm not really sure how to act. I'm...more in shock than anything else. I...need to process this for a moment," clarified Sever. "But, I know one thing: I'm relieved that Nef...Natalia is alright."

Rin and Sever stood in silence, not knowing what to make of his statement.

"Have you been with her all this time?" Sever's question broke the silence with an innocent inquiry. Glad for the change in topic, Rin responded, "Mostly. Sometimes Cecilia or the other girls would visit, but it's important that Ichika doesn't get wind of this. He has to think that Silvario Gospel was an unmanned IS."

"Why is that? Why the conspiracy?" Sever asked, noticing the stress Rin put on the last sentence.

"According to Houki, Ichika took it really bad when he found out that his actions were directly related to the deaths of the recovery team he was sent to intercept. I shudder to think what would happen if he found out that he impaled the sister of his roommate, too."

"...Agreed. He doesn't take kindly to death," Sever remarked with a contemplative look on his face, although Rin did notice that he still avoided looking in Natalia's direction.

"Hey, why don't you get a good look at her? I mean, even if she's unconscious, you really should give her some support or something. Hold her hand," Rin suggested.

"...Right," Sever hesitated, then slowly stretched out his right hand.

DING! "Rin, Sever, it's almost time for class!" Ichika's voice resounded down the hall. As if stricken, Sever's hand shot back to his side and down into his pocket. "Oh no, class is about to start, better get going," he stated as he quickly stepped out of the room.

Rin shook her head in disappointment, then turned to see Natalia wide awake with a worried expression on her face.

"Class rep," she began, "do you see what I'm talking about?"

"Yeah, I do, Nefer-san. But what does it mean? Sure, his personality seems to have changed completely since he revealed his true gender. But, he looks exactly like the Sever I knew for the past year, just without makeup and a boy's uniform."

"Correction, class rep-"

"Rin, what about you?" Ichika yelled to her. Normally, Rin expected Ichika to simply come and retrieve her, but Sever must have stopped him somehow due to her request.

"Uh, I'm assisting one of my sick classmates," Rin replied semi-honestly. "It's one of my responsibilities as class representatives. I'd say to wait up for me, Chifuyu-nee isn't all that lenient, is she? Go on ahead, I'll catch up."

"Oh crap, you're right. Sever, let's go!"

Rin heard the door ding open as Ichika and Sever went to class together.

"As I was saying class rep," continued Natalia, "he looks similar to the Sever you knew. But that man is not my Ate (pronounced Ah-te, Filipino for big sister). And judging from the little communique we had earlier, I'm fairly sure that that man is nothing like her, either. That person we just met is a completely different person than my sister."

"How are you so sure? My memory is particular robust, and he looks exactly like he always did save for the uniform and makeup. I don't have any reason to doubt my own memory," Rin countered, unwilling to take the word of the injured girl over her own memories.

"You've met my sister only last year, and not even a full year at that. I've known her for my entire childhood, and I know her better than anyone here. And it doesn't take a detective to see past the similarities and see the differences in personality, in people, between my Ate and that man," Natalia stubbornly declared.

"Differences in personality can be explained by PTSD or some other trauma!" Rin fired back. "Did you know what happened to your sister while you were out fighting us!"

Natalia flinched, unable to reply while Rin was overcome with a severe feeling of guilt for mentioning that fact.

"I'm really sorry," Rin apologized, once again bowing her head low. "I know you were being controlled and that you felt helpless and all, but I can't imagine why you'd deny your brother like that. I mean, I know he pretended to be a girl all this time, even hiding it from you, but he's still family and he probably loves you very much."

"Sever did love me very much," verified Natalia quietly, "but I know that Sever was always a girl. I knew she had secrets she couldn't tell me, but this wasn't one of them."

"You suffered severe mental trauma thanks to those nano-machines, remember?" Rin reminded her classmate. "Maybe you just remembered wrong...it's better than denying your own family."

With a shrug, Rin explained, "My parents are divorced, and the last thing my mother said was that she wished she never met my father. My father said that if they had never met, they wouldn't have had me. My mother...didn't reply and disappeared from my life. She...it seemed like she denied my existence or something, only my father's love and encouragement kept me going. So please, don't treat Sever like my mother treated me. Remember that he's still your only family in the world."

Rin was answered with silence, Natalia evading eye contact. With class beginning soon, Rin decided she couldn't wait for Natalia's answer so she quickly walked to the door.

"I'll think about it."

Without looking back, Rin headed for the elevators with both a smile on her face and tears in her eyes. "Dad," she called out loud in the safety of the empty elevator, "I think I get it now. Why you and Mom split up. But, I still don't understand why Mom left us like that, and why she didn't even look at me. But, you still recognized me. You pushed me to be the best representative for China and even pulled the strings to get me Shenlong. I...I think I can stop crying now. Even on days like yesterday. I...think I can mean it now, Dad."

'"Happy (Belated) Birthday to Me.'"

"Why is it so empty today, Kail?" Ichika asked (fully dressed after replacing his shredded uniform) as they reached the classroom floor and exited the elevator car.

"Mmm, you said it was time for class. Maybe we're tardy and everyone's already seated," reasoned Kail as he bought a coffee from the vending machine near the elevator with his cell.

"No, that can't be right," Ichika verified the time on his cell. "OK, a minute left. But when I went down earlier to change into my uniform the elevators were basically empty. I mean, after I woke up, I realized that others were probably going to be using these same elevators to go up, and I'm basically in just my underwear. I almost died of embarrassment when the doors opened, but luckily only Nohotoke-san was there, and she didn't even seem to notice me. I slipped by without anyone seeing me, but it felt really weird."

"Well, are the girls on our floor usually early?" Kail downed the cup of coffee in a few gulps and purchased another.

"I guess, I find myself usually slipping into class at the last moment, sharing the elevators with the more relaxed upperclassmen. On the few times I get up early enough, I do notice that it's usually us first-years who get up that early in the morning."

"Hmm, I guess that's weird," Kail downed the new cup in a few gulps and bought a third coffee.

"How many credits are left on that thing anyways?" Ichika inquired. "I mean, you bought, like, 15 energy drinks last night, and now three coffees?"

"A good amount, apparently Sever was a rich girl," Kail replied, stacking the three cups and throwing them in the nearby trash bin. "Speaking of energy drinks, I'm really gonna need a bathroom soon, Ichika. Is there one on this floor?"

"Not for us. Usually I just head to the dorm." Ichika glanced at his own cell to read the time. "30 seconds, start walking. But in all honesty I would hold it. Chifuyu-nee's kinda scary when she's in teaching mode. If we get some practicals in, you'll be able to nip by the dorm to let it out."

After a second of thought, Kail announced,"Ugh, fine I'll hold it in. If she's as scary as Sever remembers, I'm better off clamping it shut."

"As Sever remembers? What, you can remember her memories but not her fighting skills?" Ichika teased, referring to Kail's abysmal attempt at partial summoning combat.

"Seriously, that was the first time I got up close and personal like that. You gotta remember I used to be blind," Kail responded dejectedly. "But yeah, it seems like I've inherited her memories, but I can't seem to call them up as if they were my own. I guess I need, like, a prompt or something. Ah, we've arrived."

"Right, Sever," Ichika answered as they walked through the door. As Sever had guessed, all of their classmates in 1A were attending. Even Charlotte and the two other girls from his class who had a case of food poisoning yesterday seemed energetic and well. Of course, in hindsight Ichika probably could have guessed they were OK after talking with Rin, who was also sick.

As expected, Orimura-sensei coldly gave them the evil eye as the two boys took their seats right before Ichika's cell vibrated an alarm in his pocket. Just as always, he had made it to his seat by the slimmest of margins, technically not allowing his sister to give him extra homework for truancy. Of course, had he been truant by even one second...

"Not that we've all assembled," Orimura-sensei began, an icy stare at the two latecomers, "I'd like to inform you of some changes to our syllabus."

All of a sudden, the blackboard behind Orimura-sensei flickered to life, showing the Class 1B on the other side, as if the wall between them was invisible. Ichika noted with a sigh of relief that Rin had made it in time as well, but immediately the room erupted into whispers and comments.

"What's going on? We've never done this before."

"Where's 1B's teacher? Shouldn't we be seeing C and D as well?"

And the like, but Yamada-sensei silenced both classes with a loud shush, aided by the equipping of her Rafael Revive II and an incredibly stern look on her face. This was really out of character for the mild-mannered assistant teacher, although when in an IS Ichika noticed she wasn't really that mild.

"Thank you, Yamada-sensei," Orimura-sensei said as Yamada-sensei dismissed her IS. However, that stern look remained on her face. "As I mentioned, you first-years will have some changes to your syllabus, starting today. Although you will become second years in a couple of months, we've decided to accelerate the schedule and form you into squadrons."

Normally, the girls would've started excitingly whispered amongst themselves, but with the uncharacteristically serious face on Yamada-sensei sweeping over both classes, the girls were too intimidated to gossip.

"The reason for this is simple, right now, we don't have enough Uchigane to ensure everyone gets piloting experience."

"Wait! We all came here to become pilots! What do you mean we don't have Uchigane!" A girl near the middle of the other class exclaimed. Orimura-sensei turned to face the speaker.

"...You are Tokomo-san, right? I'll forgive you once for speaking out of turn since you're not in my class, however, understand that right now I'm in the middle of that very explanation. I will not leave any detail out nor will I reject any questions. But please save them for the end of the announcement, impatient girl."

With an embarrassed glance downward, the girl Tomoko-san sat down quickly, a flush of red spreading over her face.

"If I may continue," Orimura-sensei sarcastically queried, an angry look at the girl through the blackboard monitor, "the reason why we don't have Uchigane is another secret that, if leaked, will be punished under the Alaska Pact."

She turned around to cast her gaze on the Gossip Trio: Nohotoke Honne and her friends. Ichika saw that the two girls he could never seem to remember straightened in their seats to pay better attention and seriousness, but Honne herself had fallen asleep on her desk. Orimura-sensei's eye twitched upon seeing this, but instead of waking her up, she passed over her and simply continued.

"None of you are aware of this, but a severe majority of the ore used to create IS parts – Managem - is mined in the frozen tundra of Russia. We have a non-aggression pact with Russia to exclusively mine and distribute the ore found in these mines, in exchange for devoting time and resources to special technology designed by their own IS researchers.

"However, some entity is attacking and taking control of the mines under our protection, most likely the terrorist group Phantom Task. I'm sure all of you know by now about who they are, but we've uploaded more information about the group and their equipment into our database. Feel free to browse through it at your leisure.

"Even though we are allowed to mine there, Russia has no obligation to protect those mines for us, so we've sent both our second and third years in their squadrons, along with all of the teachers except for Yamada-sensei and I, to intercept and put a halt to the threat to our mines.

"Now, even though the squadrons have already been divided into support and attackers, we still had to send out almost all of our Uchigane, as well as mobilizing the upperclassmen with Personal IS. In addition, the teachers have customized all of the Rafael Revive II we have and customized them for their own fighting style. In the end, in addition to Yamada-sensei's and my custom IS, and the personal IS already distributed to six of our students, we have only three Uchigane left. As such, all of you regular students will learn to become IS mechanics and supporters, while the three highest ranked Uchigane users and the personal IS users will be remain pilots.

That was it: this last statement was the drop of water that spilled over the cup of indignation building up in the students.

The girl directly behind Ichika slammed both her fists down onto her desk, shouting "This isn't why I came to this school! I want to fight and protect my home with the power of IS!" Shouts of agreement and discontent flooded the room, coming from both sides of the blackboard monitor.

SLAM! Orimura-sensei brought her fist down onto the podium in front of her, using so much force that the casing compacted and folded into itself. The loud noise quickly silenced the rampaging girls to a dead quiet. Well, almost: a small snicker escaped from the back of the class, but Ichika dared not to look back to identify the source.

"Ummm, Orimura-sensei? Your hand..." Yamada-sensei started to mention, but Orimura-sensei ignored her and swept her hand backwards. The motion caused small drops of blood to spray from her hand all over the blackboard behind her, but Orimura-sensei didn't dare show any sign of pain.

"And where do you think that power comes from!" she roared in a heat of impatience. "It just doesn't grow on trees! If you'd just think a moment and do the math, you'd realize why we do things like this. There are only 400 or so IS cores in the world, which means there are only that many IS in the world. In addition, about 200 cores have been distributed around the world - each with an assigned pilot - with the 200 remaining in our care. Each year has about 150 students, which is a grand total of some 450 students. As far as the math is concerned, there simply aren't enough cores for each pilot to have an IS!

"That's why we have you first years all train as pilots for a whole year. Normally, we have a final practical which tells us who's better suited to become pilots, but we simply don't have the luxury anymore! If you want to remain pilots, than prove it to me with your scores! Until then, we will be splitting into different roles now, regardless of your own aspirations, until we contain this mess and are able to return to our normal agenda. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Orimura-sensei!" the class responded. Even Nohotoke seemed to have awoken and quickly realized the gravity of the situation, also responding with the class. Ichika noticed one of her friends whispering in her ear, probably trying to fill her in on what's happening. To her credit, it seemed like she was already aware, not even batting a sleepy eye. Guess that's the power of the Gossip Trio's leader: never fazed by the latest scoop.

Orimura-sensei exhaled slowly, trying to regain her calm yet stern tone. "Now, I'd like all of the Uchigane users to remain in the classroom. We've already arranged for one of the mechanics still here to come and give you a quick introduction to the repair bay and the tools they use. As for the top three Uchigane users, we haven't included the data from your partial summoning, so please be patient and obedient towards the mechanic. Her opinion on your understanding of the IS is a big part of what we consider a highly ranked pilot.

"Personal IS users, please go with Yamada-sensei. Except for Orimura and Panganiban." Ichika perked his ears when he heard his sister call for him and his roommate. "Come with me to to my office. We need to have ...a talk. Yes, that's a good way to put it." She flexed her openly bleeding hand, letting drops of blood fall to the ground. Ichika audibly gulped, for whatever reason Chifuyu-nee was extremely aggravated and was probably the angriest he had ever seen her.

Ichika stood up to follow his sister out, then turned back to see if Kail followed suit. Unbelievably, he remained in his seat, an odd defiance in his face. He was deathly focused on something. Following his eyes, Ichika noticed he was staring right at his sister's eyes. No, more like the space right above her head.

Apparently, his sister noticed as well, first turning her eyes to the same spot Kail did, then turning to meet Kail's eyes head on. "Is there a problem with the corner, Panganiban?"

Kail hyperventilated, clearly intimidated by Orimura-sensei's show of aggression. Yet, with great difficulty, he somehow gathered the courage to request "Orimura-sensei, is it possible to remain here, instead?"

Orimura-sensei's eye twitched, a sure sign that her anger was about to peak. She walked slowly towards the boy, somehow making each of her footsteps as imposing as a giant's. She walked right up to him, exhaled loudly, and answered him: "No."

Then she slowly lifted her head. Amazingly, as if hypnotized by her piercing stare, Kail started to rise. His knees cobbled and shook, as if he wanted desperately to stay seated, but it seemed the fear of breaking eye contact with his sister was far more hazardous.

And then Ichika noticed why he was so resistant to moving from his seat. As he attempted to quell his own reaction, he took stock of the room as they realized what he had. The girl next to Kail stifled a familiar-sounding giggle he had last heard after his sister slammed her fist on the console. Nohotoke had reddened to a considerable degree, almost as if she were suffering a fever. Cecilia hid her face behind her handkerchief. Laura hadn't reacted at all, simply waiting for Yamada-sensei to lead the way. Houki...well Houki was caught between feminine decency and teenage curiosity, flip-flopping between totally averting her face and sneaking peeks at the scene.

"Well, I see why you don't want to relocate," Orimura-sensei commented, visibly more serene than she was a moment ago. She turned on her heel and walked to the door.

"I don't want my office to get messy. Change out of your uniform first."

Kail quickly exited through the back door, a wet, sloshing sound with every step.

Shaking his head with a smile, Ichika followed him out. Well, this was far better revenge for the thing this morning than Ichika could have ever dreamed up.

After a quick shower, Ichika and Kail made their way through the empty halls.

"Guess you don't need that bathroom, anymore?" Ichika asked.

"I swear, I will never attempt to hold it in while in a class with that woman ever again," Kail answered, his face still flushed with embarrassment. "Seriously, how do you stand living with her as your sister?"

"Well, she's only scary when she's irritated," Ichika responded. "Once you get to know her, you realize behind that angry face is a person that seriously cares about her students."

"Mmm, I can see what you mean. Sever's memories seem to comply with what you're telling me. It's just, I don't know why she was so aggravated in the first place."

"Wasn't it because of that one girl in Rin's class?"

"No, I noticed she was irritated as soon as we walked into class today."

"Well, we were just seconds from being tardy. Maybe she's just mad at our lack of punctuality."

"You know her better than I do, man. Is she the type to get angry over something like that?"

"Hmmm," Ichika thought for an extended minute before responding, "yes, she would be irritated, but I've never seen her get mad to the point to destroying equipment and disregarding her injuries. Actually, it kind of reminds me of the time I was kidnapped."

"What's that about?"

"A few years ago, when I was in middle school, I was captured by some group in order to make my sister to forfeit a really important IS tournament. With intelligence from the German government, she rescued me. But I remember the look on her face, at least the one before the one she had when she realized I was safe. It was the same as the one she had on when she slammed down on the podium. It was a face of desperation, as if things were going crazy and she had only the slimmest grasp of control."

"So, she felt like she was losing control of the class?"

"Maybe," Ichika agreed. "But she's made of sterner stuff than that. Her stares are usually enough to keep the class from getting too rowdy. I really hope that the combined class announcement was the only thing stressing her out."

"Ah, excuse me," a woman with long pink hair and a white lab coat pushed by the two boys as they walked down the hallway. Ichika felt that this person resembled a certain someone, but he just couldn't think of her.

"No problem, Nebata-sensei," Kail forgave the woman, speaking for the both of Ichika and himself.

With a smile and a nod, Nebata-sensei headed back the way they came, to the classroom where Nohotoke and the other Uchigane users awaited.

"That's Nebata-sensei. She and Sever worked together to work out the kinks in Sever's IS," Kail explained, pointing to his head saying another memory was triggered.

"You remember anything else?" Kail asked, trying to recall exactly where he had seen her face.

"She's really close to your sister. She calls her Chi-chan when she gets excited."

"Geez, that's totally Tabane-san," Ichika realized. "Couldn't she think of a better cover?"

"Well, it makes sense. I mean, IS Academy is protecting you as the first male pilot, they have secret IS mines, and they're keeping Silvario Gospel under wraps. Why wouldn't they also harbor Shinonono Tabane: number one wanted person in the world?" Kail pointed out.

"Another memory got triggered?" Ichika asked, not showing any sign of surprise at the convenience of the recollection.

"Only about Shinonono-san, and they're mostly schoolbook facts and such. A good amount of what Sever actually did in her life is still not clear to me."

"Geez, what's that like? Kinda like knowing a word, but not being able to say it?"

"It's like a pain in the ass," Kail answered. "Seriously, I'm going to be in serious trouble keeping up this identity if I have no idea what kind of personality she showed other people."

"Then, why don't you just 'become yourself'?"

"...I have no clue what you mean."

"Just 'act like yourself'. To be perfectly blunt, that little stunt back there had already shattered the reputation Sever had built up before now," Ichika explained. "You can chalk up a lot of the discrepancies to your behavior to shell shock or PTSD or something like that. And in general, you're a friendly enough person. Just pretend you remember anyone who claims to be your friend, and try to avoid making fun of them. Sever never really did that, and I'm sure the people I've seen you with would appreciate it."

"Well, I guess that's a good place to start. Who have you seen me with?"

"Besides myself and your sister, Nefer, it's Nohotoke and Laura, really. We did hang out with Cecilia, Charlotte, Rin, and Houki once, but I'm not sure about anymore. Do you remember any of the girls?"

"I remember Nefer and Rin, and Shinonono-san's trigger happened during a rather brutal part of yesterday," Kail responded, wincing at the memory of that specific trigger. "As far as Alcott, Dunois, and Bodewig, I know their faces now, but I can't seem to remember what kind of relationship they had with Sever."

"Why do you remember your sister, Rin, and Houki, but not the others?"

"Don't know. I guess I have to spend some time with people to get memories that aren't simply facts and figures. Makes sense, Sever spent time to cultivate those relationships, so I probably have to do the same."

As Kail finished his hypothesis, the two reached Chifuyu-nee's office. Ichika knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Once again, the the found themselves in her office. They immediately took the seats Orimura-sensei offered with a freshly bandaged hand.

"Panganiban," she started, "have you decided what you want to wish for?"

Kail hesitated, "...I know I'm not going to wish for the restoration of my world."

Ichika gasped with surprise, but his sister betrayed no such astonishment.

"In order to restore my world without repercussions, I'm going to need the prana equal to the amount used to destroy it, ultimately dooming this world," Kail explained. "In all honesty, I lied when I said I didn't know what I was going to wish for before. Ever since I made the decision to risk coming to this world, that was my final goal. But retelling the Monkey Paw story reminded me of the inherent problem with any magical tool. No matter what legends are behind it, a tool still requires an input of some sort. Even one like the Holy Grail. If you think about it, it's simply a manifestation of the core tenet of magic: it will make any desire come true.

"But I digress. Ultimately, that wish would simply sacrifice one world for another. And a sacrifice like that wouldn't be one that she would approve of. For now, I guess I just want to have it and make sure no one else uses it."

"...Still an acceptable answer, but not the one I wanted to hear. In addition, who's she?" Orimura-sensei mused.

"His girlfriend, Chifuyu-nee. The one in the other...world..." Ichika's explanation trailed off, uncomfortable to finish that sentence.

"It's fine, Ichika. Madoka's gone. But she's always with me in here," Kail beat his breast with a fist, indicating his heart. "No matter how corny that line was."

"Well, I like guys who can say corny lines like that without shame," a new voice came from the doorway.

Ichika and Kail twisted in their seats to look at the newcomers as they opened the door. The voice belonged to a woman about Orimura-sensei's age. She had a sleek face, Japanese features, and her hair was dyed a light purple. Interestingly, she had on colored contacts, making her pupils an odd purple-blue color. Next to her was a giant of a woman, dwarfing the former in comparison and making Orimura-sensei own unnaturally tall height seem normal. Ichika estimated the woman to be 2 meters tall, no, more like 1¾ meters. The taller one had a similar dye job as the former, but more of a lavender than purple. Her face was set with a strong jaw and European features, but the glasses she wore somehow refracted the light so that he couldn't see her eyes clearly. She reminded Ichika of the stern, schoolteacher type he saw in anime. Both women wore business-casual skirt suits, with long pantyhose all the way to their low heels. The taller one carried a clipboard while the shorter one held her hands together girlishly.

"Emiya-san, your timing is impeccable as always," Orimura-sensei remarked as both Ichika and Kail gave up their seats for the newcomers. Orimura-sensei nodded with satisfaction at the chivalry of her two students before continuing, "This is Emiya Sakura-san and her assistant, Ms. Media Ryder. Emiya-san, Ryder-san, this is my brother Ichika and his roommate Sever Panganiban."

Ichika and Kail both blinked in surprise at the name. After all, it was the same family name as the person in Kail's diary. But then again, the most likely reason is it was just pure coincidence. After all, the Orimura Madoka in the diary wasn't related to neither Orimura Chifuyu nor Orimura Ichika. Emiya Sakura probably also had no relation to the Master Emiya Shiro in Kail's diary.

They both shook off their surprise at the coincidence and introduced themselves to the newcomers with a handshake. "Orimura-san, I've already taken care of all the arrangements for the mission. Ryder?"

"Yes, madame," the tall woman curtly responded, handing the clipboard over to Orimura-sensei.

Orimura-sensei flipped through the contents before setting on her desk, "Thank you very much for the information and equipment. That will be all I need from you."

Emiya clapped her hands in pleasure and continued, "That's great. In that case, we'll make our way to your kitchen. Will that be alright?"

"Of course," came Orimura-sensei's reply.

"Well, then. Excuse us, please," Emiya asked, then gently pushed Ichika out of the way to exit the office, Ryder following closely behind.

"What was that about, Chifuyu-nee?" Ichika asked, retaking his seat. Kail closed the door behind the leaving ladies before doing the same. "What mission was Emiya-san talking about?"

Chifuyu sighed deeply. "Ichika, Kail, this is really hard for me to say, but I need for the two of you to be strong."

"What does that mean?" Kail asked.

"You two, along with Laura Bodewig and commanded by Yamada Maya, are hereby ordered to infiltrate a Phantom Task research center. This order cannot be denied due to the authority of the IS Academy Director's Board," she read aloud from the clipboard in front of her, spitting in disgust as she read the last part of the order.

"Wait, what?" Ichika asked incredulously. "I'm sorry, but I don't understand. Why us? Why were we chosen? Why not you and Yamada-sensei?"

"Because the Board is filled with smart, heartless businessmen, Ichika," Orimura-sensei spat out with disgust. "If these problems haven't been cropping up one after another, we wouldn't have to use you this way. Not just you, but those second- and third-years, as well."

"What exactly is wrong, Chifuyu-nee? Tell us! We can help!" Ichika pleaded.

"You shouldn't need to help!" Orimura-sensei countered. "The mining problem should have been handled by the teachers, not the students. But those suits still mobilized the majority of our student body to protect their oh-so-precious mines. I understand that there are more mines than teachers, hence the need for extra forces, but why did they send their forces out so thin? Just because the enemy doesn't use IS doesn't mean you should underestimate them and only send three per mine!"

"But Chifuyu-nee, the IS AD protects the pilots from all damage until it runs out. Small fire and even munitions won't be enough to beat an IS, much less 3 of them at once," Ichika returned.

"Pride goes before a fall, Ichika," Orimura-sensei reminded him. "Weapons technology is evolving more and more, especially since IS is recognized as the strongest weapon in existence. As long as those mines are in operation, we can control both the creation of IS parts and IS economy in the world. The Board wants to kill to birds with one stone, both protecting the mines and proving to the world that IS is the new military power with one quick blitzkrieg."

"Why would they want to even attempt such a thing? In chess, a blitzkrieg is a dangerous opening gambit that leaves you defenseless if it fails," Ichika pointed out.

"It stems to a certain incident, that happened a few days back, involving a single damaged IS and the demolition of a small Hawaiian island," Orimura-sensei answered. "Somehow, they got the idea that if one personal IS was able to demolish a group of professionally trained mercenaries with heavy arms, a trio of IS per mine would be more than sufficient to suppress the guerrilla tactics being used.

"Look, I'm getting off track, Yamada-sensei will be finished with the mission briefing soon, so I better continue."

Orimura-sensei goaded the two now nervous boys to approach the desk and look at the clipboard she set down. She flipped to the second page, a map of a group of islands labeled "Northern Mariana Islands", off the coast of Guam. There was a satellite photo taped to the empty area of the map, with an arrow pointing at one of the islands in particular. The photo was of an overhead view of a large building the basically encompassed the entire island. It was designed in the shape of a huge cross, with a glass ceiling or dome at the intersection. According to the scale, the island itself was like a 500 square meter plateau rising out of the ocean, its shore completely made up of rocky crags.

"This building, modeled after Catholic cathedrals, used to be the home of a certain eccentric billionaire about 50 years ago. However, due to it being right over the Mariana Trench, vents of natural gas had forced the occupants to vacate.

"A short time ago, American pilot Elly Shivers and her IS Fang Quake had flown out to do its annual appraisal of the island. About one mile from reaching the shore, the systems on her IS halted and she fell out of the sky. Currently, she is being treated at the field hospital in Guam, and is in serious danger of flat-lining until proper medical care can be provided.

"But wait, shouldn't the AD protect the pilot from even impact damage like the splashdown?" Ichika asked, but deep in his heart he knew the answer. It's the only reason why his sister would even mention this little detail.

"The AD had completely failed. Luckily, she was cruising at low attitude, but the momentum she had and the extra weight of the IS combined caused the serious injuries upon splashdown. I received pictures, but I refuse to show either of you them."

"What does this have to do with us?" Kail spoke up.

"Obviously, we are going to investigate the island," Ichika declared, starting to get pumped with excitement.

"That's correct," Orimura-sensei admitted, bit with a bit of depression in her voice.

"What's wrong, Chifuyu-nee?" Ichika asked, noticing her unusual tone. "Isn't this just simple exploration?"

"It's never that simple, Ichika," Orimura-sensei shook her head sadly. "This is normally top secret information, technically only America should have this information. We received this information at great risk to our informant, Emiya-san. The other side to this matter is that America will be sending a squad of soldiers to do the same. It's imperative that we learn what the source of the IS neutralization is and either recover it or destroy it before the Americans. That's an order from the Board."

"Why is it so important?"

"The same reason why we sent so many of our people to the mines, Ichika. This neutralizing effect is a serious threat to IS. If America were to weaponize it, the world's balance of power could be thrown off, especially with their tendency to go on 'Crusades of Justice'."

"But aren't they allies, or something like that?"

"At the very least we have a mutual relationship, but something that can completely neutralize IS is something the Board doesn't want anyone to have, including our 'allies'. As I said, they are smart, heartless businessmen," Orimura-sensei concluded. "Mission details will be given to you by Yamada-sensei. Are there any questions?"

"Why just us four?" Ichika asked. "Why aren't you and the rest of the girls going?"

"As I said, there's an IS negating effect on the island, which means I can only send people with experience fighting without IS. That narrows it down to you, Panganiban, Bodewig, Shinonono, Yamada-sensei, and myself. The Board won't allow both of us to go, so Yamada-sensei was selected so she can provide support and direction. As for Shinonono, the weight limit of the craft is dangerously close to overcapacity. The Board decided to have Shinonono remain here due to the fact that on paper, Panganiban seems to have more practical combat experience."

"Wait, what? I never heard of this," Kail complained. "She can take my place."

"That's unacceptable, Kail," Orimura-sensei retorted, referring to him by his real name. "The decision is final. You absolutely have to go. As long as you are 'Sever Panganiban', you are a student of this Academy and thus are obligated to carry out this mission, as much as it pains me to admit."

"But, I'm not like Sever," Kail protested. "I'm not a former assassin or a free runner or some awesome IS pilot. I'm just a support mage. I don't have any combat ability whatsoever."

"I know, you don't have an aggressive bone in your body, you liability," Orimura-sensei's voice took on the same tone as when she spoke about the Board earlier. "If I had the authority I would remove you from the mission, but I can't do that without revealing your identity as not the real Sever. Can I really do that without compromising your preparations for the Grail War?"

Kail shook his head, "No, I still need some time and the protection of the Academy."

"Well, now is the time to pay up for that time and protection. You will have to just make due with the skills you have right now," Orimura-sensei shot back. "But I want you to know, if Sever was here, I would have a lot more confidence in the success of this mission. You are the wild card in this mission, Kail. With your powers as a mage, you could make up for your combat deficiencies and take on a forward support role, but I have no idea what your normal skills will enable you to do."

"Chifuyu-nee, lay off him a bit, he's not taking this well," Ichika noticed, defending his friend. Kail had gazed downward, furrowed eyebrows told Ichika that Kail was deep in thought about what he could do. "He's doing his best to adjust. It's only been two days since he fled his world."

"I can't be as understanding as you, Ichika," Orimura-sensei stated disappointingly. "I have the responsibility of protecting the students of this Academy, even more so now because I and Yamada-sensei are the only teachers left. And even though it's one of your good qualities, you can't be so understanding to everyone you meet, either. Kail's performance could decide the success of the operation. Without the use of IS, failure to secure the target would also mean capture or even death."

"...I'm aware of this, Chifuyu-nee, but Kail's not the only one with a few new tricks." Ichika grabbed a stiff, 100 yen coin he had in his pocket. He focused on the feeling he had this morning, the feeling of Reinforcing his hand. A pale silver aura again surrounded his arm. Using his gut instinct to gauge the od he'd need for this operation, he folded over and crushed the coin multiple times in front of Orimura-sensei's bewildered eyes.

"Ichika, when? How?" Orimura-sensei sputtered in surprise.

"I've been having this guy teach me," Ichika thumbed over to the now smiling Kail.

"You learned that way too fast, man. You might just have the knack for this," Kail commented. Ichika smiled with pride at his words. "Tell me, how did you know how much od to use?"

"I used my feelings and instinct."

"...I see. Alright, keep practicing that whenever you get a chance. Also, try Reinforcing other objects as well. See if you can cultivate an instinct for other things besides your body. This is Reinforcement as its meant to be used. As for the amount you should use, well, you'll find out as you practice."

"Sounds like fun, Kail," Ichika said gratefully as he received his new magical training assignment.

Suddenly, the sound of a phone ringing echoed from Orimura-sensei's pocket. She greeted the caller with a curt "This is Orimura," then concluded the call with an equally curt "Understood, arriving in five."

"That was Yamada-sensei," she reported to the two boys. "She's finished telling the others what I just told you. I need to remind the two of you that only we and the girls Yamada-sensei took with her are privy to this mission. This is to be kept on a strict need-to-know basis. It would send the students into a fit if they found out the Board was sending out other students into battle without IS."

"Understood," the two boys said, before getting up to leave.

"Ichika, one moment. I need to talk to you. Panganiban, please go on ahead," Orimura-sensei interjected. "I need to talk to Ichika."

"Oh, that's not a problem, unless it's private," Kail mentioned. "Actually, I have to tell you something as well. I can wait."

"That will be fine," Orimura-sensei acquiesced. "Ichika, I have something to give you: our family's ancestral sword: Yukihira."

She turned in her chair to carefully unlock and open the sword case behind her.

"Isn't that your IS melee weapon, Ichika?" Kail asked.

"Well, my Yukihira II is based off Chifuyu-nee's Yukihira back when she was a Mondo Grasso contender," Ichika answered. "That Yukihira was designed to have the same feel and balance as this Yukihira, the sword traditionally passed down in our family. I've never seen it myself, but apparently it's perfect for my sword style: Iaido."

Click! Orimura-sensei had retrieved the sword in question, gently laying it into Ichika's outstretched hands.

"What is this?" Ichika inquired with disdain.

"Our ancestral sword, Yukihira. The mysterious sword given to the current head of the Orimura family," Orimura-sensei explained.

"It's a metal bokken," Ichika stated, clearly expecting something more extravagant.

"It's perfect for you, wouldn't you agree?" Kail pointed out, showing no sign of surprise nor disgust by the revelation.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, as far as Reinforcement is concerned, it's easier to perform on a blunt instrument rather than a sharp one. Not only that, but since it lacks edges, it can't kill inadvertently."

"It can still kill, though," Ichika pointed out disparingly.

"I've seen you practice, Ichika. You are sufficiently skilled to control that sword even without an IS," Orimura-sensei encouraged. "Just remember: the focus of this Yukihira is 'Impact', not 'Penetration' like Yukihira II's. Aim to smash, not to pierce or cut."

"Right, Chifuyu-nee. I'll treat it well," Ichika accepted the gift gratefully.

"Now, Panganiban, what did you need to say?" Orimura-sensei turned to the other boy.

"Just this," And with slight gasp of pain, he wrenched off the emblem fused to his right hand. Ichika gasped as he cleaned the blood off of the trinket with his uniform. He set the dull bronze but blood-free IS inactive form on the desk.

"I'll do it, Orimura-sensei. I'll use magic to help make this mission succeed. As long as I do it covertly, no one will realize that I am a mage. However, in addition, I still need to be Sever for a little while longer. So please, fix that IS and help me at least become a little more competent."

Orimura-sensei smiled an evil smile. "That's...possible."

Kail and Ichika exchanged glances after hearing that ominous statement. Kail gave Ichika a worried glance that screamed, "What did I get myself into?" Ichika smirked, silently replying, "You did want this."

"Alright, Yamada-sensei is waiting for the two of you by the dock for the actual mission briefing and equipment familiarity. Mission starts at 1200. Panganiban, I will have Nebata repair this as soon as possible. Report back here afterward for... a special lesson." Again, Orimura-sensei smiled that dark, devilish smile.

"Yes, Orimura-sensei!" Ichika and Kail saluted, although Kail's reply wasn't as crisp as Ichika's. Or clear. Or audible, really. It really felt like his sister had something against the guy, but then again, she also really enjoyed her own personal flavor of teaching. Maybe this a fusion of the two; Ichika was interested to see what kind of training his sister had in store for him.