Gender Dislocation
Chapter 7 - Kyoto's brewing menace
Hi guys:)
Thank you all for your continued support:)
I seen the reviews, really appreciate those who commented.
Dear Korak324, thanks for your review. For your first question it's the latter and I will take your suggestion:), as for your second question [Byakushiki] was destroyed when Ichika lost his memories so his IS will be a new model frame. I won't introduce his new IS until halfway through this section on IS Academy.
Dear Lajoie, unfortunately I will have to expand on the OCs (it means 'Other Characters' right? Not related to the original work of course, sorry I'm still new to the terms haha). It's what makes this story have its richness. If you are talking about leaving Ichika and the girls out in a chapter like the section on Britain then yes, I won't do it anymore. But if you are suggesting just focusing on Ichika, his family and the girls then that would be extremely difficult. I hope you can understand this, every story has their OCs.
As for when Ichika will meet the girls again, it should be after this section on IS Academy. But of course Ichika still does not have his memories so I am still debating on how to properly present his amnesia to the girls.
*Did a slight correction regarding Ichika's room size (4th Jan 2013), also corrected the design of the Orimura Mon (16th Jan 2013)
In no further due, IS Academy section will start now.
11th March, Japan, IS Academy, 9:36 pm
"Yamada, how is the tracing?"
"Ah Orimura Sensei! As the data suggests, the new black ISes are a variation of the unmanned ISes that attacked us during the cannonball fast and the class representative battle last year."
"And the blue ones?"
"Though they have a different design altogether, the possibility of it having the same unmanned system is around 96%. Could they be from the same source Orimura Sensei?"
I better not let her know about Tabane's involvement.
In the strict accessed underground level of IS Academy, two teachers resumed their research of the new abnormity that appeared in Italy not long ago.
When the two teachers brought IS Academy's second year to Italy for an exchange programme, they were attacked twice, by unknown ISes at two different venues.
After the battle, the two teachers spend sleepless night trying to trace the origins of the mysterious attackers.
This was of course done without the consultation of the Italian representative pilots.
The only thing they can conclude, is that the blue and black ISes could be from the same source.
Of course, Chifuyu already confirmed that after having a chat with the peerless genius herself.
But in order to draw unwanted attention, she left Tabane's involvement out of the picture.
Ever since then, the two teachers have been trying to solve this mystery without brining Tabane into the picture.
According to Yamada's current report, their assumption is right on track.
But Orimura Chifuyu could not care less about these details right now.
She stood staring at a certain image captured by Houki's IS.
It was the savage smile given by one of the enemy IS pilots.
Orimura Sensei frowned.
That kind of savage smile…
To an ordinary person, it may look like any ordinary smile coming from battle maniac individuals.
But to her, that smile is familiar.
In fact, it is so familiar that it brought her back memories of her younger days.
Memories of them, her parents, her family, Kyoto.
Along with him!
That strict elderly, who trained her from young for as long as she can remember. That same elderly who taught her everything she knew.
That same elderly who strongly encouraged her to fight and to kill.
All for the so-called sake of Japan.
"Yamada, I'll leave the rest to you."
"EEEEHHHH?! No way… I haven't slept for the past two days…"
But Orimura Sensei ignored her, and she soon left the room.
That smile, she could not think of anything else.
After all these years when they stopped chasing her to get to Ichika, they finally showed up.
It looks like those in Kyoto are finally on the move.
She does not know why, but the fact that she knows that they are on the move already indicates that they are up to something.
But how those people get Tabane's ISes?
How did they even reach her?
Knowing that Tabane, how did she even gets interested in filth like them?
These are questions that automatically pop up.
But amidst of all these revelations and questions, Orimura Chifuyu smiled.
Bring it on, you old man, no matter how skilled you trained my cousins, I will thwart your plans.
The era of the Empire of Japan is long gone.
Someone will need to give that old man a smack on the cheek to wake him up.
12th March, Kyoto Prefecture, Orimura mansion, 7:34 am
A gap between the Fusuma (traditional Japanese sliding door) caused the morning light to shine on his face.
Orimura Ichika, the 28th Head of the Orimura family, woke up in the light of the morning sun.
He scratched his hair as his mind became active, finding himself in a familiar place.
He is in his Washitsu (traditional Japanese room) in the family mansion, which boasts having an area of 32 Tatami (about 58.3 meters square in total).
Gaining awareness of the new morning, he sat upright pushing the blanket of his futon down to his waist.
He began to twist his neck to the left and to the right, instigating two sharp cracks from two individual vertebras within his spine.
He then stood up and stretched to his full height, loosening the tensions between the joints around his body that had tightened during his sleep.
He packed his futon and kept it in the oshiire (closet).
That done, he looked down to the side on the floor.
At an area a few inches above where his pillow used to be, stood a table display stand.
On the display stand, it holds two noticeable objects.
A Katana and a Wakizashi with the longer placed above the shorter.
Slowly, Ichika lowered himself and wrapped his right hand over the Tsuka (handle) of the Katana.
The black wrapped Tsuka felt comfortable in his grip.
Strong and solid, with a hint of friction, which is essential so that the blade does not fly off its owner's hands once it becomes sweaty.
Satisfied with its touch, Ichika used his free left hand to take the scabbard off the display stand.
He then drew the blade out slightly, marveling at the well-preserved metal work.
This Katana is old, very old.
It was forged during the Sengoku Jidai somewhere during its beginning years around 1467 – 1469.
It was made by a nameless sword smith.
Though the sword smith is unknown, the Katana was well made, its cutting edge is made perfectly for its former use, to kill.
It is said that the 1st Head carried this sword into battle under the service of Toyodomi Hideiyoshi.
His service was one of many that pleased the Daimyo and the Daymio rewarded the 1st Head in numerous occasions.
It was that period of time where the family name Orimura came into formal recognition, even though the family line as a samurai family went all the way back before the Sengoku Period.
The Orimura family began their history as a continuous line of a samurai clan that traced their lineage all the way back to the Heian era in the 12th century.
As mentioned earlier it was until the Sengoku Jidai that the family name Orimura came into official recognition.
Throughout the Azuchi-Momoyama period and the Edo Period the family stood out little.
The only thing that increased the family status is that sometime in the early Edo period a woman from the family married to Kyoto's Daimyo.
Since then, throughout the rest of the Edo period, the Orimura family had considerable influence within Kyoto Prefecture.
After the Meiji Restoration in 1868, the family Head of that time, the 19th Head, saw potential in the westernization of Japan, particularly the economy.
He directed all the family resources into establishing an economic conglomerate forming a combination of banking, business and industry.
Of all the three, banking was set a priority.
Since the family already had a huge influence within Kyoto Prefecture, seizing control of the banks in the region would secure the family's advantage in the economic monopoly throughout the region.
After various profitable investments the family made sure that their status, as a powerful family company, remained unchanged for a brief period of time.
After that comes business and industry, and soon the Orimura family established themselves as an economic power in Kyoto Prefecture.
Along with many other companies, the Orimura family successfully became one of the Zaibatsu.
It is not as influential as compared to the big four- Sumitomo, Mitsui, Mitsubishi and Yasuda.
But it was influential enough to maintain the status quo within Kyoto Prefecture.
After the Second World War in 1945, the Orimura family made sure that they did not get a lot of attention from the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, or SCAP for short.
After occupying the Daichi Seimei building in Tokyo, SCAP intended to abolish all the Zaibatsu companies in the hopes to demilitarize Japan and break its economical power.
Since the Orimura family's conglomerate is part of the Zaibatsu, it may not be a good idea to make themselves that known.
Eventually the family's company became one of the newly established Keiretsu, and for the remaining generations throughout post-war period, the family members had maintained that status quo.
So throughout the history, the Orimura family had seen 27 generations to get to where they are today.
But that is only on the surface.
Every powerful family has a darker side of their history.
For the Orimura family, it began during the post war period after 1945 during the reign of the 24th Head.
A decade after Japan surrendered, the majority of the family could not stomach the American occupation any longer.
They saw the Americans changing Japan into their image, as a satellite state to repel the growing influence of the Soviet Union.
The once great empire was reduced into nothing but a simple American buffer state in Asia.
Hence they coined the post war and Cold War period as the 'Americanization' of Japan.
Firstly, they just went with the flow just as many other Japanese did.
But when the Americans abolished Shintoism, the 24th Head really struggled to keep the family members under control.
To the family, Shintoism is everything.
It marked the core of Japan's culture.
It has forever been there representing the mythological ages that marked Japan's early history all the way up to now.
Though the abolishment of Shintoism is considered extreme to the family members, it can be understood with proper reason.
The Americans saw Shintoism as a religion that inspired various ultra nationalistic motives, which indirectly lead to the Pacific war.
Throughout the Second World War, it also used as social propaganda by the imperial Japanese government to control public opinion enough to even make the people voluntarily commit suicide.
The famous mass Japanese suicide at the Banzai cliff was instigated by Shintoism beliefs after the Showa Emperor instigated a broadcast promising that those who commit suicide would gain an equal place to the soldiers who died in the war in the afterlife.
In fearing that the current generation of the family would cause Japan unnecessary problems, the 24th Head ordered the family to retreat into the shadows, restricting the family from arousing any meaningless nationalistic obstacles.
Nationalism was the reason Japan started and lost the Pacific war.
Due to that reason the 24th Head condemned nationalism and begin encouraging the family members to be more conservative.
This was mainly for the sake of preserving the remaining cultural links Japan had, particularly since most were lost during the American aerial bombardments throughout the country.
But unfortunately, most family members did not agree with him.
The Head then decided that the best route for the family is to take out potential threats to Japan during post wartime, such as communists and separatist groups during the Cold War.
This would preoccupy the majority of the family who were nationalistic then, as they are still routing out threats to Japan's security and stability.
So throughout the Cold War up to now, the Orimura family became specialized with various occupations such as bankers, businesspeople, agents and assassins.
There is no Orimura who is ordinary, not one.
As time passed gradually, less family members became nationalistic driven.
Now, the current day family members mostly did not care about nationalism, at least to the extreme extent.
Soon it is time to pass the wealth, power and various underground links and dealings to the 28th generation.
Everything will be inherited, with Ichika leading as the 28th Head.
Ichika sometimes pounded on his new status as the family Head.
Who would have thought that he would come so far?
Given the fact that he does not remember anything of his past, it felt slightly awkward that he would accept a position that holds such history behind it.
Shelfing the Katana, he brought it to his left waist and moved to the center of his room.
The wooden Tatami (traditional Japanese floor) felt extremely cold to the touch.
But in maintaining his own mental discipline, he ignored it.
He knelt in Seiza position at the center, taking his time to slide the Katana's scabbard through his Kimono's Obi.
He proceeds to relax his mind and body.
And then, he began.
In one swift motion, he drew his Katana and performed the 10 Iaido katas he practiced every single day.
From the instant he drew the blade, Ichika pictured himself in various scenarios.
Where he might be, the supposed time of the day, the supposed weather, the angle of the sun, the positions of his enemies, how far is he outnumbered, etc.
His muscles and ankles cracked at his movements, at every draw, slash and shelf.
Though he is still young, the sheer weight of the blade can affects his movements and mental concentration.
Without proper control, his blade can slice too far, giving him lesser time to recover from the strike.
If that ever happens in real life combat, he would give an unwanted opening to his opponent.
And if his opponent seized that opportunity, Ichika would be as good as dead.
Each movement was made to be precise and accurate, and few were wasted.
By practicing such moves everyday Ichika found his own senses a little keener, and he became more aware of his surroundings.
Every single detail of the environment around him was taken into analysis.
Do some details pose a threat? Should they be something worth his attention?
By developing such a skill, one can form a wall of awareness.
But Ichika took to heart not to expand too much on this skill.
To take too many details into consideration would eventually make one paranoid of those around him.
Ichika knew that he can do better things instead of continuously suspecting his surroundings.
Besides, all he ever needs is to be more aware so that he can survive at any kind of situation.
After a good focused 40 minutes, he finished the last drill and shelf his Katana slowly.
As he placed the Katana at the table display stand, he can't help but observe the Orimura family's Mon (Japanese family crest) near the Koiguchi (scabbard mouth).
Like all Japanese Mons, it is a circle.
In the Mon, there are three circles.
The outer and the inner are both black, but the middle circle is white.
All three circumferences are pushed to the edge of the Mon, such that the Mon looks generally black.
At the center of the Mon stood an image of a symmetrical heptagon flower in white.
Surrounding the white flower are eight white circles placed around the mid circle at consecutive angles with a common difference of 45 degrees.
The circles are arranged to look purely symmetrical, making it look as if the circles are molting or weaving the flower to the center of the Mon.
Just like the Kanji definition of Orimura 織斑, Molted Weave.
Leaving the Katana at the table display stand, he took deep breaths smelling the sweat that accumulated throughout his body.
Putting on his sandals, he slides the Fusuma and walked out of his room.
The time now is 8:26 am.
It is a good time for a bath in the mansion's hot spring before he takes his breakfast.
Like all traditional Japanese styled mansions, the Orimura mansion stood out huge and vast.
Not in terms of the height of the mansion as usually expected, but more due to the notoriously huge plots of land needed to support the mansion's structure.
It is located not within Kyoto, but close to Kyoto, close enough to give the family access to everything the cultural city had to offer.
Yet, it is also far enough for the family members to maintain a decent level of privacy.
As the Orimura family owned the largest and the most powerful conglomerate in the prefecture, keeping a distance from the former capital sure does gives a secured sense of privacy.
The mansion has a distinct rectangular shape 800 meters by 600 meters long, confined by four distinct walls each 3.2 meters high that formed the perimeter of the mansion itself.
The walls are all covered with dark blue traditional roofing tiles just like all the buildings within the mansion.
Within the middle of each wall there is one gate.
The Main gate stood at the front of the mansion, where it is the biggest and the most welcoming to visitors and guests.
The other three are smaller and are often to be used more by the family members residing in the mansion.
The mansion has multiple housing structures spread around a central open space, which is directly behind the Main gate.
These various housing structures are all connected by a network of stone pattern pathways and structural links built in between the different houses.
The maximum allowed height for each building within the mansion is two stories.
But all the previous family Heads decided to maintain the traditional essence by keeping it to one.
However, the height of the roofs varies depending on the interior design and the purpose each building serves.
Walking through the stone pathway that linked the Main family's apartment to the hot spring, Ichika continuously felt the jingling sensation on his right wrist.
Earlier when he was practicing Iaido, he was so focused in his movements that he is only aware of it up till now.
Looking down, he saw the familiar white bracelet.
The standby form of his own IS.
The touch of the bracelet is extremely familiar, more familiar that the Katana he was using earlier.
Ichika can never recall how long he has been holding on to that bracelet.
He has been holding onto it ever since his amnesia came about.
According to Tabane Sensei, he has been with this IS for about a full year.
Strangely enough, though Ichika cannot remember any details, the familiar feeling is always there.
It is as if the white bracelet has been his closest companion in his life, for he has no current memory of ever parting with it.
True, he does remove the bracelet from time to time.
But that is only when Tabane Sensei wants to update his IS.
Since the amnesia, he has entrusted this IS with his life on numerous occasions, and it never failed him, not even once.
Tabane Sensei described the machine as a partner, but to Ichika it felt a lot more than that.
It feels like he owns it, it feels like an extension of himself, and it even felt like it was part of his own body.
From to Tabane Sensei's analysis, his compatibility rate has already reached S-rank.
The synchronization rate between pilot and machine has reached its peak.
Could it be that this feeling is a side effect?
Could the past champions of the Mondo Grossos also feel this?
He was keeping an absorbed expression as he slowly undressed in the changing room.
As he slowly sinks his body in the warm water, he stopped his current thoughts.
Thinking about all this IS related stuff is currently unnecessary.
It would be better if he asked these questions in front of Tabane Sensei.
But then again, it will take sometime for her to answer his questions.
Her hyper activeness always ended up in her jumping from one idea to the next, making it very difficult to communicate with her.
He could ask Ku-chan, but that girl is also in the dark when it comes to questions regarding the compatibility rate.
Splash!
In order to cool his head he splashed water into his face.
His skin absorbing the heat of both liquid and steam.
When he touched a certain portion of his face, Ichika stopped moving.
Brushing his fingers slowly, he felt the bandages that were wrapped over his upper head.
The bandages covered over half of his face, reminding Ichika that he is only looking through his right eye.
The wet bandages soon felt warm due to the current temperature, and Ichika considered taking them off.
Ichika had suffered terrible wounds like this in the past year.
It was sometime during November that he was hit by a beam shot when his shield energy was close to zero.
The beam shot blasted his head, neck and upper torso, and Ichika recalled how he spent his first recovery week in bandages almost like an Egyptian mummy.
But for some reason, he managed to stay alive.
He has to thank his IS and Madoka for that.
The damage done to his neck and torso had completely healed, but the face had the worst.
Due to the huge loss of blood, the recovery process took slower than what the doctors expected.
It would have been easier if the doctors could find the platelets and the same blood type from blood donators.
But the various doctors who treated Ichika are part of Tabane's former research team voluntarily that went MIA.
There was no chance to get any new blood.
According to Madoka, his facial skin split from the center of the forehead and went into two directions.
One cut down into the left side of his nose before curving leftwards while the other went to the extreme left side of his forehead.
It was bad to the extent that it almost looked like his left eye and cheek was cleaved off from his face.
It took a lot of the doctors' efforts to put everything back together, but they are expecting a huge scar to form from where the skin had spit from the face.
Well, not like it matters much.
Ichika still have his wits.
He can still think normally and his brain can function properly, and that he believed, is more important than his looks.
Slowly and steadily, he removed the massive coils of bandages.
He has to be careful or else he might trigger the wound to bleed again.
First, he removed the knot meant to keep his outer bandages together.
Then he slowly uncoils the massive circular network feeling his suppressed hair loosening up.
He then uncoiled an extremely long strand and placed it to the side out of the hot spring.
But that is only the beginning.
After the outer bandages, he has to remove the patch covering the left side of his face.
The patch is held together by a series of coils done by the inner bandages.
The coils circulate above his ears and around his left cheek, but there is a gap between the coils revealing the patch to other people.
He slid his left hand under the thick piece of cloth creating some space between the patch and his skin.
He then slowly inserted his free right hand in between the patch and the inner bandages directly above his left eye.
After that, he slowly pulled the inner bandages upwards, loosening the entire network.
As the inner bandages come off he felt a slight stinging pain at the left side of his face.
Ignoring it, he removed the inner bandages and then finally, the patch.
Slowly, he opened his left eye.
Now he can see with both of his eyes.
The continuous usage of only one eye has left one of his lines of sight to be brighter than the other.
Looking up, Ichika saw a mass of colors pitting against each other.
But he can easily make them out.
It will take sometime before the pigments of both eyes come to absorb a stable photo frequency.
He then filled both of his palms with water before slowly brushing the liquid to the unhealed wound.
The stinging pain increased but it slowly wear off as the water cleared the dirt.
As he opened his eyes again he saw blood somewhere, but it is expected.
He then washed his hair, cleaning off a weeks worth of unwashed hair.
After fully cleansing himself, he reached for the nearby towel.
Once he dried himself and changed into a new set of Kimono, he bandaged himself with a new set of bandages before proceeding to the biggest and tallest housing structure in the mansion.
The tallest and biggest building by right is the center building, which is directly behind the central open space that can be seen immediately after passing through the Main gate.
It is rectangular in shape with the lengths of the building facing the front and back of the mansion while the breaths faced the sides
This building is mainly meant for gatherings, where all the guests are directed to discuss business of various sorts.
The center building is also primarily used for dining meals where the entire family in Kyoto would gather time to time to have meals together with the Head.
The Kitchen has its own house that is directly behind the center building connected by two pathways at the extreme left and right.
These pathways are built into the two buildings such that it serves as structural links between the two different housing structures.
The kitchen house looks the same as the central building but it is three times smaller.
Though it is smaller than the central building, it has more than enough space to store the various qualities of food the family can get their hands on.
Given the huge size of the family and the number of business acquaintances sometimes invited, it would make sense to have a big kitchen both to cook and store the necessary amounts of food.
When Ichika entered the central building, he found that food is already prepared.
The time now is 8:30 am, it will be from now till 9:30 am that breakfast would commence for those who are currently in the mansion.
Now, any person would expect the dining hall to be full with all the family members present.
But it is not so.
Strangely enough, when Madoka brought him back last year, curfew is not as strict as he initially expected.
Every family member is free to come and go as they please.
Some came earlier for meals, others came later.
As long as they finish their meals within that one hour, they are free to conduct themselves in whatever way is convenient for them.
Amidst all of this, there is a certain level of trust that can never be specified between the members of the family.
Trust in regards to one's capability to keep an appropriate level of conduct.
Perhaps this was why certain family members are tolerated to arrive late for meals.
Ichika is considered to be one of the early birds.
By the time he arrived, only around 5 members from the Branch family are present.
When Ichika enters the dinning hall neither of them saw a need to rise to address the current Head.
Formalities are widely unpracticed when it comes to members of the same family, particularly around those of the same generation.
True, there is a need to know one's status in the family.
But as long as one is aware of where they stand in the family, formalities are no longer needed to distinguish the differences.
As Ichika bypasses them they just gave a simple nod of appreciation.
After Ichika responded similarly they just went back to their own business.
It is too early in the morning for any lively conversations.
Everyone is still absorbed in their own worlds.
Ichika soon walked up to a higher platform to the far back of the dining hall.
On the platform there are three distinct Zabutons (sitting futon).
Two are close to each other in the middle and the third is placed more to the left.
This is where the Head, his wife and the successor would sit and eat facing the rest of the family.
Ichika sat down on the third seat.
Technically he is already the family Head.
But he is still inexperienced when it comes to maintaining the family business so the 26th Head, his grandfather, still has to be in business.
An ordinary guy in Ichika's position would still be identified as the young master, not the Head yet.
But after the death of the 27th Head, Ichika's father, the grandfather felt a pressing need to establish a new Head since he is already in his late years.
He needs a young person to be the next Head, a person who can easily learn.
A person who he can teach his own personal skills as well as secrets to keep the family business in high hopes.
That is why he has to choose someone from the 28th generation, Ichika's generation, not someone from the 27th Head's generation.
Prior to the death of the 27th Head, Orimura Chifuyu was sole candidate to be the 28th Head.
But she did not get along with the 26th, and neither with the 27th.
According to the grandfather's account, she was a rebellious child.
He often said that she was 'wasted' for she was a child prodigy, close to becoming the 28th in just the age of 13.
But something happened.
Something terribly happened that made her… leave.
The exact details were kept secret as to what happened.
Ichika sometimes question if he ought to find out what really happened.
His grandfather forbade him from doing so, but Ichika can't help but be curious.
What exactly happened in this mansion 14 years ago?
Why didn't his father do something about Chifuyu's character?
All these questions are all part of his curiosity.
But Ichika forced himself to think deeper.
Curiosity alone is not a justifiable reason for him to do something.
If he dug out something he was not supposed to see, it might have a great impact on him.
Who knows?
His grandfather might be angry for his lack of control over his curiosity.
Angry enough, to probably disown him.
If he disowns Chifuyu before, he can disown any other member of his family, including Ichika.
Is it a risk he is willing to take?
Is looking up 14 years ago even worth a risk?
This situation is completely unrelated to him as the main people involved are Chifuyu and the 26th Head.
But since Chifuyu took Ichika away from the family, isn't he dragged into this situation as well?
Even with his memories gone Ichika can tell for some reason that he was caught in the middle between Chifuyu and the 26th Head.
What should he do?
Is he even part of this conflict?
If he is, how can he resolve it? How can he get out of it?
If he is not, what can he do about it?
…
…
Sigh… so many questions this morning.
He has to save his thinking for later.
The upcoming mission is going to be very important.
Now, he has to fill his growling stomach.
The morning's main dish is cold Soba, along with cold Sashimi, Hamachi (raw yellow tail), Maguro (raw tuna) and Suzuki (seabass) along with a cup of hot green tea.
The side dishes are cold potato salad, Chawanmushi and Makizushi (rolled sushi) soft shell crab.
Nothing like a good Japanese meal in the morning.
When eating a lot in the morning, the efficiency to work will be greater.
There's scientific proof for this.
Strictly speaking, those who eat a lot during dinner are the weird ones.
All the excess energy that can't be digested will become fat.
That is why every Orimura always follow a strict diet everyday.
1.5 portions for every breakfast, 1.0 portions for every lunch and 0.8 portions for every dinner.
This diet was an efficient way to maintain a consistent balanced intake of nutrients and organic compounds.
"Morning Ichika."
A member of the Branch family interrupted his meal.
Looking up, he saw the familiar face, Orimura Akihiro.
Black haired, brighter skinned with rare blue eyes.
Akihiro was a quarter German because of his half German mother.
In terms of looks, he looked a lot like Ichika himself prior to his accident.
This was due to his face and hairstyle that almost stood on parallel with Ichika.
The only difference is the style of the fringe, though both were also concentrated in the middle.
Unlike Ichika's fringe, which had singular straight strands, Akihiro's fringe had only two distinct strands that curled against each other such that they intersected each other at a common point.
But this was not the only difference between the two.
Their different skin color is an obvious trait and so is their different eye color.
However, the similarities outweigh the differences, to the point where if anyone would meet Akihiro for the first time, he would be easily mistaken to be Ichika's doppelganger.
Fortunately, Akihiro is the only one with such close resemblance, considering how close the blood relationship the Branch family had with the Main family.
"Morning Akihiro, what is it?"
"Your… contact just called. She said that she has just returned to Kyoto."
"Ah yes good. I'll contact her later, thanks for notifying me."
"Mm…"
After giving a simple nod, he turned and left without saying another word.
It looks like their relationship did not improve since Ichika became the Head.
But Ichika was determined to put the past behind him.
He is now the 28th Head, all the other family members, Main and Branch, should already acknowledge his position and character.
Prior to Ichika's return, there were three main candidates to become the 28th.
Madoka, Kanata and Akihiro.
Of the three, Madoka is from the Main family while the other two are from the Branch family.
Technically, Madoka was in line to become the next Head since she was the direct daughter of the 27th Head.
But for the sake of insurance, the 26th Head decided to include two more candidates from the Branch family in case Madoka proved to be… less adequate.
That obviously meant more competition, something the 26th thought to be necessary in order to inspire Madoka to work to her fullest.
Make her feel cornered, make her feel that she is expandable.
Make her aspire to be better, to prove that she is irreplaceable.
From Ichika's own thoughts, this was precisely why Madoka had originally hated him.
After all she had faced, she just could not accept the fact that the 26th Head automatically wanted to make Ichika the 28th from the minute Ichika appeared in the news as the only male who can pilot the IS back then.
But of all the members of the Branch family, why Kanata and Akihiro?
This was the reason.
Both Kanata and Akihiro were the most accomplished family members the 28th generation can provide, both in terms of intelligence and in skills of combat.
They are both close to becoming the valedictorians in their public schools and they aced all their private lessons.
The two of them are smart, quickly adaptive to various scenarios and most of all, well diverse in the martial arts of Jiujutsu and Aikido.
But it is also due to the fact that they aspire well in their different areas of specialty.
Kanata was good in the Sciences where he has keen interest particularly in biology and in chemistry.
If Kanata becomes the 28th, he could expand the family's resources in a particular direction into medicine and chemicals that could improve the variety of products made by the family conglomerate.
Akihiro was more of the economist, who can predict the economic situation more easily than any other member of the family.
His exam essays were very impressive, full of reasonable assumptions with great substantiations, to the point where they were model essays used by the public school.
His economical gift would greatly help the industrial side of the family conglomerate, should he become the 28th.
These high accomplishments mentioned caught the attention of the 26th Head.
But it was not just the accomplishments that they were selected.
Kanata and Akihiro were also selected because their parents were formerly from the Main house.
Their parents were the siblings of the 27th, so it makes Kanata and Akihiro the direct descendents of the 26th.
The reason why Kanata and Akihiro became part of the Branch family was because after Ichika's father became the 27th, his siblings are automatically placed in the Branch family.
This could be the reason why Kanata and Akihiro had some form of a legitimate reason to be candidates to become the 28th even though they are from the Branch family.
This not only made things difficult for Madoka, but also for Ichika when he was brought back to the family.
Once the 26th Head proclaimed that he is going to make Ichika the 28th, Ichika had problems dealing with Kanata and Akihiro.
Their relationship began sourly for the two failed to acknowledge Ichika's presence.
Ichika originally suspected that it was due to his involvement with Chifuyu.
But fortunately, they do understand that Ichika was indirectly involved and would have welcomed Ichika back to the family like a lost child.
The main issue the two had towards Ichika is that this nobody just came back and straight away had the highest chance to become the 28th.
This would definitely cause the two to have some form of shock or setback.
Obviously, they would fail to register this sudden turn of events and refuse to acknowledge this change.
Though Ichika had little to do about the 26th's decision, he was automatically caught in between the two.
But eventually, Kanata started to be open up due to his interest in the IS after seeing how Ichika and Madoka practiced together at the island villa.
He soon got along well with Ichika, and through his example, other members of the family also follow suit.
However, Akihiro turned out to be less sociable.
By the time everyone had acknowledged Ichika's presence he is still… precautious.
He did say that he acknowledges Ichika's existence, but Ichika suspected that there is still more to it than just that.
…
…
Sigh… competing to become the 28th sure makes Ichika suspicious of his relatives.
But there is no point in further dwelling on this thought.
The important thing right now is that Ichika's contact has returned to Kyoto.
He better make an appointment immediately before the Russian faction reached Japan.
Since the Japanese faction is going to work with the Russian faction, the up coming mission is going to demand a lot for teamwork.
IS Academy, lunch break, Houki POV
Sigh… another day just passed just like that.
Well, news of how the entire second year almost got killed in Italy really became the topic amongst the third and first years.
The second years were the continuously asked to share their experience particularly to the first years, who were hyper about such a 'story plot'.
Sigh… those juniors… thinking about what happened in Italy as some kind of movie scene without knowing the seriousness.
To be honest I am tired of this current situation.
I am tired of not knowing.
I have [Akatsubaki] with me, yet I can't do much.
The events in Italy are sure nut cracking.
Male IS pilots and nee-san's involvement.
Sigh…
"Houki-sama! Houki-sama!"
Oh no…
"Could you show us that kendo sequence again?
"We want Houki-sama to help us with the IS!"
"Oh! Make it Practicals!"
"Eh? We need help with the theories too!"
"Can you tell us about what happened in Italy again? Is it true that you defeated two of the blue auto-manned ISes in Milan singlehandedly?"
"Ok HOLD IT!"
I shouted.
The juniors immediately shut their mouths.
Seriously… this is getting out of hand.
"If it is IS Practicals, I will gladly help you. But in terms of the theory, I am a little short handed. You might benefit more if you ask someone like Kanzashi or someone from the Maintenance Branch."
These juniors really are driving me nuts.
They are so into me and [Akatsubaki].
It's worse when they are also from the kendo club.
The fact that I won the national tournament made me stand out pretty well among the juniors.
"Excuse me."
What now?
Oh…
Its Laura and Charlotte.
Unlike Cecilia and Rin who were called back to their own countries, Laura and Charlotte received no news from their respective governments.
"Houki-san, are you free now… oh I can see that you are currently busy."
"… Stop smiling like that Charlotte-san."
From the moment Charlotte smiled, she entranced the juniors with her angel face.
"… Charlotte Dunois? The Bishounen girl who crossed dressed before?"
"The Representative cadet of France?"
"And right beside her is the Bishoujo Laura Bodewig… the representative cadet of Germany?"
"KKYYYAAAA! I AM SO GLAD TO BE HHEERREE!"
And there goes another hyperactive outburst.
SLAM!
Laura slammed her fist onto the wall.
As the first years got shocked, Laura said with a cold tone,
"This is second year building. If you are not here for any lessons, get the hell out. You juniors are in the way."
…
…
"That-That sempai's amazing..."
"I want to be scolded by her, stared down by her, looked down by her!"
"KYAAA! JUST LIKE ORIMURA SENSEI! SO IT IS TRUE THAT SHE WAS HER PERSONAL STUDENT?!"
"P-Personal student?"
Laura did not see that coming.
"Umm… first years." Charlotte came in to save her roommate.
Her angel face immediately caught the juniors' attention.
"I understand that you want to learn from us, but unfortunately this is not the right time. The two of us here needs Houki-san to discuss an important assignment. I hope you can understand."
"But Sempai, isn't it lunch time now?" one of the juniors asked.
"Ah yes, but we need utilize all our pockets of time to do our work or else we will have a rough schedule. We can't have free lunches all the time, especially when you are in the second year and third year, so I hope you would understand that and not bother Houki-san for now."
…
…
"That makes sense."
"Yea… maybe next time."
Charlotte delicate speech, along with her smile, easily won the juniors over.
But for some reason, the smile on her face had a lot of pressure.
As the juniors went ahead to the cafeteria, I breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thanks Charlotte, you save me this time."
"Ah no problem. Like what Laura said, we ought to watch out for each other right Laura?"
"… Instructor's personal student…"
Wha… she is still on about that?
9 minutes later, School cafeteria, still Houki POV
"Have you heard about Europe recently Charlotte?" Laura said.
After 5 minutes, she managed to recover.
"No?"
"Apparently, Clarissa called me recently to report about some sort of crisis."
"What kind?" I said.
"Britain got attack by strange IS pilots."
…
…
…
"B-But how?" Charlotte asked.
"I am not sure. Their security has been very uptight ever since last year, even more than my homeland Germany."
"Hold on a minute, is the culprit Phantom Task or those male I – "
"Shush! Charlotte!" I immediately covered her mouth.
"W-What?"
"Don't mention about them at all! Don't you remember how Orimura Sensei warned us of the consequences if the world knew about them?"
"Yes, Charlotte, you should pay more attention. The instructor warned us specifically."
"S-Sorry."
"So back to the topic, their security is very uptight but they got hit hard. I heard that even the British National Representative failed to compromise the intruders."
"The attackers are that good?" I asked.
"Or so it seems. Now France is under suspect."
"EEHHH? Why?" Charlotte cried.
"Because these intruders fled into French mainland. You country's president is denying all sorts of relationship with the intruders. But the various politicians and the British people suspected something different."
…
…
"Sigh… just what has my country been up too?" Charlotte said.
"From what I hear from Clarissa, the political relationship between France and the rest of the EU had turned from bad to worse. It appears that the EU refused to revise the terms of the 'Ignition Plan'."
"So that means that my country is still stuck with finding their own way to make a 3rd generation IS… sigh…"
"I'm sorry Charlotte."
"No its not you fault Laura."
"Perhaps there is something different going on." I interrupted.
As Charlotte and Laura turned their attention, I brought up my thoughts about that day where the rescue team declared Ichika KIA.
I told them about how the pilot of [Silent Zephyrs] was not found, and even raised the possibility that Ichika might be held captive in Phantom Task.
"I guess you are still not convinced Ichika was dead Houki-san." Charlotte said.
"Aren't you?" I replied.
Charlotte just kept smiling.
But this time, her smile just seems to say 'I will never think Ichika to be dead'.
"Fu… I'm glad to see that we are not giving up on the rookie." Laura said.
It appears that we are all in synchronization, we want to see Ichika's face again.
"So now what?" Charlotte said.
"Since we all want to do something, I mean get Ichika back, where do we start? Surely we cannot start here? Orimura Sensei would not appreciate this."
"We need to work with someone outside IS Academy, someone capable and able to keep our secret." I said.
"I'll call in the Schwarzer Hase, we can use their help. I will just tell Charisa to leave it out of their government reports."
"But Laura… aren't you taking a risk involving a legitimate military squad? Not to mention, the squad that has 3 out of 10 IS cores registered to Germany?" Charlotte pointed.
"Relax, ever since I started talking to the other members of the squad, we developed some sort of trust between us, and I doubt that even the government can do anything to separate those bonds."
"Speaking of ISes, Houki-san… have you tried ask your sister about those ISes we encountered in Italy?"
"…"
Damn it! I hate it whenever this topic comes about.
"I have tried. She did not answer me. And Orimura Sensei has been avoiding me whenever I asked her about Nee-san."
"Oh… never mind then."
"The instructor is keeping quiet? No matter how you look at it, even if it is instructor, doesn't that seems suspicious?"
"Orimura Sensei must have her reasons."
"Perhaps she is doing what we intended to do, and refused to let us be involved in case something happen?"
"It would make sense, but it is not like the Instructor to keep those who are really involved unnoticed. There has to be another reason."
"What I find strange though is that she kept staring at some twisted smile when I showed her the images of the black ISes." I brought up.
"The instructor?"
"Yes, I do not know what though."
"Sigh… if Ichika was here, he might be able to come up with something about Orimura Sensei's weird attitude." Charlotte said.
The other two immediately nodded.
Kyoto, Tendo Sushi restaurant
It may be lunchtime now, but the Sushi restaurant was almost empty.
The crowds won't actually start coming until evening since the local populace would prefer to enjoy Sushi and Sake after their long day of work.
Sushi restaurants are a common sight in Kyoto city, common enough to easily blend in with the crowd.
This can make one anonymous easily, especially when one intends to have a private conversation.
This was the reason why Ichika chose to make an appointment now in a Sushi Restaurant.
His contact was a female in her twenties named Iso Kimo, who was already there sitting at a table at an extreme corner.
She chose the seat well, not many would be able to overhear their conversation.
As he crossed the restaurant, no one paid any attention to the Head of Kyoto's most powerful conglomerate.
To those who know him outside the family, he was a simple teenager by the name of Orimura Saiyoka, one of the various rich youths in Kyoto who wasted their money on whatever that intrigued their interests.
Since he lost his memories, Ichika took practice to take on a false identity and a false character.
He did not want anyone to identify him, not until he recalls every single detail of his past.
His bandages on his head already helped him with his looks and appearances.
Now what he needs is a false identity to cover up Orimura Ichika, and temporary replace Orimura Ichika with Orimura Saiyoka.
As Ichika sat down he helped himself to a cup of hot green tea that he will have to pour by himself.
In Sushi restaurants in Japan, rarely are there waitresses or waiters.
One has to come up directly to the Sushi chef to order whatever dish they are craving for.
This actually makes things more comfortable for Ichika since there would be no risk of some random staff member walking around overhearing his conversations.
In the Tendo Sushi restaurant, it is highly common for rich people to gather to make various deals and bargains.
The chef and his serving staff knew better to respect the confidentially of their customers.
Rich customers mean that more profit can be made, which is why the chef and his staff merely just do their jobs making Sushi and not be bothered with the various business their customers are having.
"It's been a long while Saiyoka." Miss Iso said.
"Yes indeed. Three weeks?"
"Hai. Why is it that we always have to meet here?"
"I rather not have my family members know about our exchanges. Besides, things should be comfortable for you. I am treating you every time for a meal in case you are hungry."
"Fufufu, I think I understand completely. Many of my other clients are like you, reluctant to share their areas of interests to their family."
Miss Iso was a leading procurer of political information within Kyoto.
Her parents were former politicians, meaning that her house had access to various types of government information in the past.
She would sell any information regarding any ministry, at the right price of course.
In order to gain her attention, Ichika has been posing himself as a secretive rich youth who has interests in politics where his parents rather have him studying economics.
This would make him an easy client for Miss Iso since she can earn easy money without much concern about the consequences.
To her, Orimura Saiyoka is a consistent client, eager to know more about the government politics, who is also greatly dependent on her to get what he wants.
If she can satisfy his materialistic interests, she just gets paid without much labor work.
For Ichika, Miss Iso has her uses.
She is consistent and successive in getting the information that he needs.
Even with the underground connections the Orimura family has, very few are connected to the government.
But these sources are usually ambiguous, since government information is not easy to come by.
This is where Miss Iso comes in, her credibility so far made Ichika believed that she is useful.
That is why Ichika would continue to play his current role.
A simple rich boy paying to satisfy his curiosity in government politics.
In short, it is just mutual benefit to each other.
"I hope you are successive in getting what we last discussed." Ichika said.
"I promised success, as always. And as usual, you won't be disappointed." She said with a sly smile.
She then reached down to the side of her bag and took out what appears to be a long plastic tube like container.
The container is sealed on both ends, but she just removed one cover and revealed the contents.
They are thirteen pieces of A2 sized paper.
Looking closely, it looks like building plans, plans used for building constructions, containing the building layouts and the foundations.
"There you go Saiyoka, actual copies of the plans for Japan's IS Academy."
Ichika soon took the huge masses of paper and studied the plans.
Each overall have a lot of similarities.
But strangely, some are not the same as other.
Ichika grew frustrated.
He was expecting a single detailed plan that accurately portrays the IS Academy, not multiple variations.
There is no credibility in following multiple plans, as there would only be ambiguity as to how the academy is really designed.
"Why is it that these plans differ?"
"Well, since Japan is forced by the UN to house the world's only IS Academy, various architects from across the world gathered in Japan hoping to leave their mark as the academy's designer."
"True, being IS Academy's designer sure does have commercial impacts."
"So what resulted is that all these architects gathered together and managed to agree on a single design. From there, they narrowed the designs, but each designer has their own interpretation as to how the school should be like. Hence, all the various plans came out."
"There is no single plan for the school?"
"Now that is heavily classified information, something that even I could not get my hands on. Even if I could get it by chance, it counts as illegal."
"Everything you do ought to count as illegal shouldn't it?"
"What I am doing is different. I am only getting what my clients want. They can get what they want only when I see that it can be done."
"I see, how many sets of plans are there exactly?"
"You should be happy, I dug up all thirteen for you."
"Are you 100% sure?"
"Relax, as you knew from the start, my parents were formerly politicians. Even if they are not doing politics anymore, my house still has old political information, old enough to have no relevance to the current government. So that means I have any political information within the government from the past decade."
"Are you sure the authorities wouldn't come after you? You are handling government information. I do not want to get this only to be arrested in the end."
"If the present is comfortable, who gives a shit about what the government did ten years ago?"
"… That makes sense."
"Don't worry, since you are a regular client, no one will know of our exchanges. I am only agreeing to do this for you because I knew in the end, I may have to… renegotiate our original price."
Now Ichika is not happy.
"I thought we agreed on a fixed 5 million yen? (50 000 US dollars)"
"Need I remind you that normally most procurers such as myself won't accept this request?" she said.
Ichika sighed.
"This was a difficult assignment." She continued.
"About 97% of my own sources do not even have a clue as to who drew the plans for IS Academy. I promised you success and I really dug up all possible sources that can tell me where to get the plans."
"Well, congratulations on being successful. You have only made yourself a better contact whom I can look forward to future dealings."
"Thank you, just to let you know, I had to spend five times more of my normal operating costs just to get these plans. But since you are a regular client I am willing to only charge you an extra half of what we originally agreed."
Sigh…
Ichika knew that three weeks of wait would eventually result into something like this.
Now, he got rid of any hope that this meeting would end with an easy pay.
As the 28th Head of Kyoto's richest conglomerate, he had all the funds and resources necessary to pay off this small charge.
But now, he is not Orimura Ichika, the ridiculously rich 28th Head of the Orimura family.
He is now Orimura Saiyoka, a fortunately rich youth who can only afford this much just to get what he wants.
He must make an effort to negotiate.
If he does not negotiate down to the last possible yen, it might seem unusual.
Not only would it seem unusual, it would also make Miss Iso bargain higher costs the next time he look for her.
"8% bonus. That's all I can give."
"Oh come on, don't be stingy. For my gracious efforts I say at least 45%."
"You know I am not that rich. 12%."
"40%!"
"18%."
"38%!"
"20%."
"36%!"
"22%."
"34%!"
"30! I can't afford anymore for now. I am even going to pay your bill for this meal."
…
…
"Done!"
They shook hands, the deal is done.
After collecting the plans he gave Miss Iso the privilege of helping her clear her restaurant bills.
As she left the restaurant, Ichika walked up to the casher.
He first showed the casher a card containing his false identity and the Orimura family Mon.
From the instant the casher saw the Mon, he treated Ichika with new regard.
Almost every restaurant is aware of the Orimura family conglomerate since it has contributed to their supplies.
Having just one regular customer from that family always meant good profit.
"I'll pay for that customer. Keep the change."
The original bill is 8270 yen (82.7 US dollars), but Ichika paid 30 000 yen (300 US dollars) just like that.
He can see the casher's mouth drop.
But Ichika went further.
"Tell the chef I like his Sushi and that I'll recommend this restaurant to my acquaintances."
Ichika is not lying.
He did love the Sushi there.
Doing this would establish a long-term relationship between the restaurant and his family.
This would result in special privileges the chef would come up with, reserved specially for any of the Orimura family.
This is obviously good for Ichika, since he does come here often.
After leaving the Sushi restaurant, he saw a familiar black Aruca MDX.
As he approached the car, an elderly got up from the drivers seat and addressed Ichika with upmost respect.
"Ohaiyo Ichika-dono. Did you have a good business?"
"Hai Fukusuke-san, I would like you to drive me back home first. Then I will need you to drive me to the airport."
"I understand. Would you like me to take that off your hands?"
"No. This… is something I would like to have a look on the way home."
"Understood, but watch yourself Ichika-dono, reading on a driving car would only cause you to strain your eyes."
"Note taken, thanks."
Oyobe Fukusuke was an elderly chauffeur who was hired by the family.
The family employed him for five decades, during the time that he managed to get to know the family members well.
He came from the Oyobe family, who had served the Orimura family for continuous generations.
He had taken the effort to communicate with Ichika, to the point where Ichika counted him as a friend.
As he drove the car back to the family mansion, Ichika decided to take his advice not to read as the car is moving.
He placed the plastic tube container right next to him.
As he was about to rest his eyes, his white bracelet vibrated.
As he looked down onto it, the white bracelet summoned a holographic screen.
One that Ichika is all too familiar with.
It is the holographic screen used by male IS pilots to send private messages or notifications.
There is a new message.
It is from the leader of the Russian faction.
It reads… 'My plane just touched down on Kyoto, want to talk?"
It looks like home will have to wait.
Kyoto airport, A family restaurant
The Kyoto airport never existed in Japan until the 27th Head came into power.
In using a significant portion of the family's reserves, he commissioned the construction of the airport, with the approval from the government of course.
After its completion the family conglomerate contributed a great deal to the economy of Kyoto.
Tourists now used the new airport instead of having the trouble to travel to Kyoto from the Kansai international airport.
This encouraged more tourism to Kyoto such that visitors from all around the world increased by 25% within the past decade.
Amidst all the tourism benefit, the Orimura family also gains the most profit since the family conglomerate owned the airport itself.
As more people used the Kyoto lines, the family gained a significant amount of profit further increasing the already powerful status the family conglomerate has.
But Ichika also though that even though the airport is built for tourism benefits, it is also built for convenience sake.
Since the family owned the airport, they can use it to their advantage.
Since they owned the airport, they might as well use it for free.
The airport was then consistently used by the family members to travel to various locations around the world to commence their underground missions.
This helps to save up various cash the family have to use to get one member to the right location in order to participate in their underground mission.
However, Ichika believed that the airport was also the reason of the sudden drop in the number of family members in the 27th generation.
With the new airport as their own property, the number of underground missions undertaken by the 27th generation suddenly escalated as the family can now explore new opportunities.
As there were new opportunities in the underground world, the risk of death also increased.
The missions the members of the 27th generation undertook became more risky and more difficult.
Before the 26th Head knew about it, the number of deaths in the 27th generation escalated until only a few number remained.
Out of desperation to keep the family line in check, the 26th Head imposed martial law in the family forbidding anyone from further taking part in any underground mission.
But it was too late.
By the time martial law was put into effect within the family, the 27th Head and his wife were gone.
The grief of the 26th Head could not be described as he put a temporary halt to the family's capability to undertake underground missions.
After a few months, the 26th Head lifted the martial law but with new restrictions as to the total number of missions the family can take within a month and as to the number of family members involved per mission.
When Ichika became the 28th, he decided to increase the number of restrictions.
In his strong opinion Ichika believed that too many had died.
Now is not really the time for underground missions but more of a time for the family to recuperate and regenerate.
Even as he sat in a family restaurant within the airport, Ichika could feel the weight on his shoulders.
How can he say… this feeling is indescribable.
This airport was the reason why most of the 27th generation had died, the reason why many of his generation now will not see their parent's faces again.
He just does not know how to respond.
But Ichika knows, as the 28th Head he can't just close this airport.
Even if he wants to, the reason for closing down the airport is not justifiable.
This airport has its uses in helping the family conglomerate.
Keeping it alive would gradually help the family instead.
As long as his relatives don't partake in any risky underground mission the family might be able to preserve the line and forget the past.
Just like how previous generations kept the line going, but their past is mostly forgotten.
"давно не виделись Ichika." (long time no see)
Suddenly, there is someone sitting opposite him.
Ichika must be so caught up in his thoughts that he failed to sense that someone is approaching him.
He cursed himself for the lack of awareness.
But Ichika knew that he does not need to rely on his own awareness to stay safe.
His IS is capable to detect the threat level of anyone near him within a 100 km radius, if there is someone with killing intent, he will be notified automatically.
The fact that he was not notified would mean that in that long period of thought, there is no one threatening to kill him.
You save my skin again partner. Thank you.
The white bracelet gave him a satisfying tug.
Banishing all sorts of thoughts in his head, he focused his attention on the person in front of him.
He is tall, very tall.
Judging by the height as he is sitting, he should be 1.90 m tall, though he looks 17 years old.
He has short brown hair styled with high slope up cut, clean-shaven side burns along with a long fringe that leans to the right side of his face, extending until it reaches the tip of his nose.
Along with his bright green eyes and bright peach skin, Ichika immediately recognized the person in front of him.
Avernayov Trovalkhin, the leader of the Russian faction.
"Ah yes it has been a while."
"You look so disturbed. Have some of your memories returned?"
"No… this airport just gives me an unpleasant feeling."
"Even if your family owns it?"
"Yes. Well, you look pale too. As pale as the winter."
"Well, 'Mom' is the word."
"I take it that the cold in Russia is still as ridiculous as the time I was at Vosgunav."
"The motherland is harsh, but it is because of that we Russians can endure almost any hardship."
"I hope that includes the IS. Are you ready for the next mission?"
"Yes, I did check up on the Russian National IS Representative."
"Sarashiki Tatenashi? So you are ready then?"
"Not until I hear what plan you have in mind. I trust that you have been doing some homework."
"Obviously. If not then I might as well relinquish my position as family Head to someone else."
"So, what have you got?"
"Not here, let's go somewhere more private."
6 minutes later
"Seriously Ichika? A room on the top floor of a 5-star hotel?"
"My family owns this hotel. We won't be interrupted here."
After leaving the airport, Ichika gave Trovalkhin a ride to the nearest hotel.
Since the Orimura family owns the airport, they might as well place a hotel under their ownership right next to it.
They gave tourists a special discount since they took the Kyoto airlines.
This would only attract more tourists to use the Kyoto line and the hotel, adding more profits to the family conglomerate.
"Now, down to business." Ichika said.
"I just managed to get this."
Ichika took out the 13 plans for the IS Academy.
And laid them on the table.
"13 plans?"
"Yes, There is no set of unified plans."
"Ichika… don't every building has one exact set of plan that represents the building itself?"
"My sources managed to get this close. The exact plan itself is classified information under international surveillance."
"How then can we be assured of where we are going? We can't trust the accuracy of these drawings."
"We can't, the risk is just there. At least we know the thickness of each shaft and floor."
"… Are you sure there is no other way to deal with this Sarashiki family?"
"There are. But we need to attack IS Academy."
"Why is that?"
"It's a specific instruction given to me by Dr. Shinonono herself."
"… So what's the game plan?"
"I will go to Tokyo and confront the 16th Head of the Sarashiki family. The main objective is to find out if the family is a threat to us."
"For them to survive Phantom Task after so long, they must be really strong. We better tread lightly Ichika."
"Of course. The diversion, this is where the Russian faction comes in, will handle the ones in IS Academy."
"Tell me one thing, why are you relying on us to deal with Sarashiki Tatenashi? This is not just some test to see if we Russian males can match up with Russia's top female IS pilot now is it?"
"According to my sources Sarashiki Tatenashi is the 17th Head of the family. Since she is the future leader of their family, we need you to see if she is a threat to us. The Russian male vs Russian female thing is just a bonus."
"What about the younger sister?"
"Sarashiki Kanzashi may not be much of a concern compared to Sarashiki Tatenashi. Our objective is to see how much of a threat the family can be to us so there is no need to spill any unnecessary blood."
"You think that the Sarashiki family might be a potential working partner?"
"If things progressed according to my expectations then I might suggest the idea to Dr. Shinonono."
"But even if I handle Sarashiki Tatenashi, won't her younger sister intervene?"
"If she does, try to knock her out. If the Sarashikis prove to be a valuable working partner we want to make sure that we don't kill anyone from their family."
"So no killing Russia's National IS Representative? Well I guess defeating her should be enough for now. But aren't you putting up a big risk Ichika? Your sister, who is considered the world's strongest IS pilot, is in IS Academy."
"Don't worry about Orimura Chifuyu, the Orimura family will take care of her."
"Family business? Then I'll leave that part into your hands."
"But that is not all, we got a side mission."
"… What?"
"Last year, during some event called the Cannonball Fast (LN volume 7), Dr. Shinonono sent 5 of her [Golem III]s to attack IS Academy."
"… *Whistle*…"
"Her objective is to obtain data from the first 4th generation [Akatsubaki]. During the attack, all five of the [Golem III]s were wiped out."
"5 of Dr. Shinonono's personally made [Golem III]s wiped out. Aren't the females there strong?"
"Not that strong. The French representative cadet Charlotte Dunois and German representative cadet Laura Bodewig won by a margin. Besides, you have Britain's representative cadet Sara Welkin and Cecilia Alcott, China's representative cadet Lingyin Huang who piloted the personal IS [Shenlong], Fort Sapphire who piloted the personal IS [Cold Blood] (LN volume 7) and Daryl Cayce who is the pilot of the personal IS [Hellhound V2.5] (LN volume 7). You also have the Russian National IS Representative Sarashiki Tatenashi. Plus if you count me before I lost my memories and the first 4th generation, it should be expected that the 5 [Golem III]s would be wrecked."
"Daryl Cayce graduated already. So we will be expecting less resistance right?"
"Yes that's right."
"So what does this have to do with Dr. Shinonono's orders?"
"She learnt that after the assault, two of her IS cores are not destroyed and one of her [Golem III] frames is not completely obliterated."
"She wants us to retrieve what she had lost."
"Yes."
"This… would make things more difficult."
"Why do you doubt Trovalkhin?"
"I believe we are short on man power. No matter how you see it, I think we need at least three factions for this mission."
"That is why we are discussing this now. The other factions already got their hands full."
"So you are expecting me to be successful, where we might be outclassed, and part of the Japanese faction won't listen to my orders. Not to mention besides defeating the Russian National IS Representative and Japan's Brunhilde, we got to defeat all the other pilots and spend the trouble to retrieve what Dr. Shinonono lost."
"…"
"I'm just being realistic Ichika, charging into IS Academy with our current numbers is not brave nor is it courageous. It's stupid."
"… We are not the first ones to attack IS Academy."
"But the thing is that those who attempted always fail."
"…"
"That is why hitting the heart of the female IS pilots won't work, Ichika. IS Academy is an international state of art. It ought to have the highest security since it is where the future of a country's power comes from. Plus all these recent attacks by Phantom Task and by us, their security is rumored to be upgraded to top notch."
"Is that all your Russian contacts are telling you?"
"This is general knowledge. Everyone is talking about this."
"We can't walk away Trovalkhin, not this time."
"No, we know we ought to walk away. But we can't. Now that is the problem, since we can't afford to go against Dr. Shinonono's orders to retrieve the two IS cores. If it weren't for that order, I would have refused participating in this mission."
"Sigh… so you want to walk away? Or is it that some in the Russian faction refuse to participate?"
"I did not say that we are walking away. Let's gut those feminine bitches."
"We will begin our assault once everyone arrives in Japan. If there is any advantage during the assault, it would be within the next four days."
"How so?"
"For the next four days, some special VIPs from government defense ministries and IS industries are going to visit IS Academy for the class representative battles. If we are on schedule, our attack would begin just as one of the fights is going to happen."
"Their security would remain vigilant but more at the IS Arenas so that means we have a higher chance of infiltrating without problem. Besides, what is a few soldiers at the front gate compared to an IS pilot?"
"Not only that. If we wait long enough, the various ISes used by the females will be drained of their shield energy due to the class representative matches. Class representatives are usually the ones with personal ISes. With them out of the way, you might stand a better chance."
"That's more assuring."
"There is one more thing we need you to do."
"What is it?"
"Ever since what happened in Italy I half expected that the public would be full of news about male IS pilots. But since the public is oblivious, we can assume that the female IS pilots kept it secret from their government or the various government censored the information from the masses."
"… You want me to reveal that now males can pilot IS, in front of the public?"
"If you meet resistance from the female IS pilots, take the fight out of the Academy, draw them out to the nearby city. Send the message that the feminine age is over."
That will be it for now until I finish the next chapter.
For those who are expecting Ran, she will be in the next chapter.
That's it guys, please continue to review:)
