Sorry if this was late. I'm a university student after all. I don't own Infinite Stratos, nor any other elements. The story is mine however.

There wasn't even an echo or a sound when the student crept though the halls of the Infinite Stratos Academy. The windows gave off the moonlit glow that partially lit the hallways up, almost in a haunting manner, like something can strike within the darkness at any minute now.

Security cameras were armed and looking all around the interior and exterior of the dark building, however, they didn't cover every single nook and cranny. Within the shadows, a figure ducked and darted through expertly, the cameras not catching any sort of glimpse nor sound that he's been there. Ichika swiftly hid behind the corner of a wall as a camera slowly turned around. Quietly going through the door once the line of sight passed, he gave a small sigh as he turned around and noticed the flights of stairs behind him.

It felt like a small amount of his enormous tension in his shoulders left him the moment he began to sneak. After dealing with Chifuyu in the computer room, all he wanted was to rest, although getting caught was the last thing he wanted. Additionally, somewhere in his heart, he knew Chifuyu would keep quiet about this. It was a gut feeling, after what he just experienced.

As he climbed the stairs, he thought back to the events that he had to deal with. Dealing with Cecilia, the mercenaries, the Alcott matriarch, Chifuyu, her nanomachines… it was a lot on his plate at once, but that was what happened when you were forced into an academy that trained killers. It was one of those questions he asked himself many times.

If he despises the ISA, then why not just leave?

Furrowing his eyebrows as he approached the next flight of stairs that led to the roof, he would have imagined anybody sane and logical asking that question. However, he always had an answer prepared.

Rule #5: Keep your allies close… and your enemies closer.

It was another one of the rules that he follows, it was like a creed within his heart. While they aren't many, they were the words that he remembers vividly from the past…

… from Yuki. If he closed his eyes, he could probably could have heard his echoing voice reciting it within the confines of his mind. It somewhat soothed his uneasy heart as he left the mortal coil.

Letting out another sigh, he began to sneak up the last flight, but then it began a trudge. Dragging his feet, he couldn't help but miss his older brother. True they were not by blood, but it didn't matter. Family was more than just blood, everybody said, as the people you love and cherish, count more. The Orimura family was nothing to him, as they abandoned him at birth. Yuki was the young man who raised him, who fed him, who took care of him, who doted him, along with the other orphans whom he cares for. He cherished him so much, that he would follow those words of his to the letter. To Ichika, he and the other orphans back at the hideout were family, and nobody else.

'And that's all to it. Nothing less…' He thought to himself as he touched the doorknob, before the young man suddenly stopped. Freezing in his tracks, he was suddenly aware of someone behind the door. Activating his Sharingan, he noticed a figure, glowing brightly due to the nanomachines, behind the door. It indicated that it was a 'she', and that she was a pilot. Flexing his fingers for a quick second, he swiftly grabbed the doorknob, jerked it back, and hopped forward, getting a glimpse of the assassin and rush in, fists raised, for a counterattack, but something within him stopped himself, while immediately cancelling his Sharingan.

"Ara ara, Ichika-kun~!"

The assassin… in question, never wore a school uniform, nor had any weapons pulled out at the moment, and they certainly didn't smile cheekily.

"…" Ichika only held his pose as his onyx eyes looked directly at the playful red eyes of Tatenashi Sarashiki. Even without the Sharingan, it was a little simple trying to read people, however Ichika would admit that Tatenashi would give him a hard time. She wasn't easy to read, he gave her that.

"Ufufu~, so what brings you out to the roof, Ichi-ku-?"

POW!

Nailing her straight in the face, Ichika roughly punched her on the cheek, her feet sliding from the force outputted. She let out a cutesy 'Nya!' as the bluenette landed on her rear, but the blow did not affect her much. "Ah~ that was a good punch you got there, Ichika-kun. Remind me not to get on your many bad side, 'kay~?" Narrowing his eyes at her demeanor, he only had one guess…

'Nanomachines.' To be honest, Ichika should have seen it coming, especially when she was the one who pinned him down from before. Not only that, but she is a second-year, a representative to Russia, and Student Council President. Ichika would have a much harder time against her. 'Hmph. What a life she leads, being part of the big family of IS empires.'

Reminding himself that it was past curfew in this prison, Ichika turned around and went to the roof's edge. Right before he jumped however, Tatenashi's hand shot out and grabbed his arm. The Uchiha tried to pull, but the grip was simply too strong and… inhuman. Ichika turned his head to face the bluenette's visage, feeling angered and a little threatened, and his eyes on a full glare. However, he was only met with the face of Tatenashi, crossed between sullen and serious.

"Ichika, I…" Tatenashi quietly muttered, a complete change of tone from her usual playful self. It may have caught Ichika off guard one time, but fool him twice, shame on him. Immediately, his IS was partially summoned; Fukisuna, in its ghostly blue form, emerged from Ichika's back and gave a quick punch towards the unsuspecting Representative, sending her flying and crashing onto the outside walls that housed the stairwell.

'That should at least knock her out.' Ichika, seeing his attack doing damage, gaze a lasting glance and turned around towards the edge of the rooftop, but before he could jump, a familiar joking voice stopped him from doing so.

"Maa maa, Ichika-kun~. I guess that trick doesn't work anymore, hm~?" A silent gasp escaped his mouth before a familiar white lance shot out from the rubble. Immediately, he moved himself to the left, barely dodging the thrust. Ichika, his emotions reigned in, looked towards the blue-haired Sarashiki, her uniform a little dusty and torn, and with her IS gauntlet in partial deployment, holding the lance. But what would have been the strangest aspect was that her skin had no visible injuries or bruises. "Oooh that was quite the flexible dodge, Ichi~…"

"…" Ichika just stood there, outwardly unfazed by Tatenashi's seemingly unhurt form. Inwardly, his mind was trying to go miles per minute, trying to find some sort of weak spot. Blunt force did not work no matter the size.

"So!" Disabling her IS, Tatenashi pulled out what looked like a blue paper fan. She opened it and began to fan herself, smiling with complacency. "I guess it's a good time to ask: What is someone like you, doing out in the building past curfew?" The Sarashiki asked, tilting her head in curiosity. Ichika didn't immediately answer her question, as he had to choose his words carefully.

"Hmph. I could ask the same to you." Ichika rebutted, walking along the edge of the rooftop. He wanted suspicion off of him, especially from someone like her.

"Eh?" Tatenashi, not expecting that answer, simply tried to act playful with her demeanor. "What could you possibly mean~? I just simply wanted to watch the beautiful moon out here. Now then, it's your turn!"

'A bold-faced lie.'

"…" Crossing his arms and closing his eyes, Ichika didn't even want to respond to that blatant lie. His irritation was beginning to rise.

"Ne~. You really need a reminder of the question I asked just a few moments ago? Ara ara so needy~." Tatenashi mock teased, a sly smile lining her face behind her open fan. She begun to take her steps towards Ichika, who was still on the edge of the roof.

"…Why are you so damn insistent on asking me these foolish questions?" Ichika asked, slowly stepping back, wary of what she would do next. His fists tightly gripped, ready at a moment's notice. Tatenashi tilted her head the other way, still pouting.

"Mouu~. Cmon, Ichika~!" Tatenashi avoided the question, acting her usual self as she held the open fan near her face. But then she said something that made him twitch. "Don't you trust me? I'm your friend~!"

'I'm your friend…'

'We're your friends…'

'Don't you trust us?'

"…Trust…?" He rasped out. Near repressed anger shot out from his heart, as he heard those lines before. Instantly, he knew she was untrustworthy judging from those words. Repressed memories were bubbling within him before it surged outwards in his heart. His Kagetsuchi materialized out of instinct, and swung it at the shocked Tatenashi. Barely, she was able to avoid the slash meant for her, but the fan she had sliced in two in a blink of an eye.

"I'M NOT YOUR FRIEND! I'LL NEVER BE YOUR FRIEND!" He snapped at her, enraged at the prospect of being… her friend. His emotions began to bubble over, as small wisps of flames began to wreathe on the blade. Swinging the katana around, his face was brimming with red anger. His eyes transformed into the Sharingan unconsciously, spinning wildly, as he eyed the blue-haired girl in front of him. "YOU HEAR ME?! YOU KNOW NOTHING OF TRUST! NOTHING, YOU HARLOTS!"

Now, it was very rare for Tatenashi to be scared at all. The only times she felt that was when her nerves nearly got the best of her when she fought using her IS, or when she was worried about her sister, or that one time when she met Ichika in the forest for the first time (and only Ichika, Chifuyu and herself knew about it, so it doesn't count). But for her to be truly terrified was a complete rarity.

This was one of those moments. When she eyed Ichika's Sharingan eyes, it felt like absolute terror took hold of her. Like her body and mind was afraid of him, as if he had the power to kill her on the spot. A huge black shadow erupted around Ichika, almost like the blue-flaming gatekeeper to the Underworld. She couldn't even shiver, since her body heat just suddenly… shut off. Her brain and muscles went haywire, almost like she's turning off, ceasing to function. What made this man… no, this demon so terrifying to her?

She felt like blacking out, fainting just from the sight of him. She clutched her head, covering her eyes, and then…

It all just stopped.

When she came to, a few moments later, she saw the rubble that was left intact from when she initially crashed. It was still nighttime.

And Ichika was nowhere in sight.

Tatenashi just stood there, wide-eyed at where Ichika used to be, enraged and rash at what she said. For a few minutes, she just looked, almost expecting a knife to fire towards her…

…just like last time.

'Rule #4: Best beware, for no one is going to play fairly…' Her thoughts replayed those events, with a grim expression. Releasing a breath she held for God knows how long, she felt like tension laid on her backside. Glancing at the fan that was supposedly made of steel, she knew that Ichika was no joke. The sound of a small gust of wind blowing did not help her at all. The only thing she did before going back to her dorm...

…was pull out a cellphone, and began to search for a particular contact in her Contacts list.

.o0o.

Walking through the school halls in the morning never felt so much quieter. The silence was stiff as Ichika walked through the Academy halls, an impassive face, along with many of the female students close to the walls, all of them frightened and nervous. None of them even passed a whisper, after what has happened (or heard what happened) yesterday's match.

Three pilots ambushed the young man. Two burnt alive, one almost joined them, but was discovered to be incapacitated instead.

Even before the morning rose, everybody was whispering, talking, gossiping about what they saw or heard. Rumours like 'Ichika can even breathe fire!' or 'He can absorb and manipulate souls!' or 'None of that was real! …Was it?' flew everywhere. But none dared to mutter a peep around the Uchiha, as he might just unexpectedly do the same to you, they thought. It made them pale in the face.

Ichika however enjoyed the silence of the day, a silver lining in how the day initially began with breakfast. And it all of it had to start with that persistent, irritating Takatsuki.

.o0o.

"…"

The sound of munching echoed within the bathroom. A plate with a few crumbs of germ and bread, along with a drop of golden yoke on the white china, rested on the side of the sink. A piece of toast, with mashed avocado and sunny-side egg was gobbled up as Ichika leaned on the tiled walls. Gripping his second and last piece of avocado-egg toast, he began to take a bite.

"Ano… Ichika, are you still inside?"

"…"

Stopping mid-bite, his eyes slowly turned to the door. He had been holed inside the bathroom for a whole fifteen minutes, a lot more time than how long he usually takes. It was all thanks to Takatsuki Shizune, standing at the other side of the bathroom door. Ichika wanted to avoid contact with ANYBODY in this Academy, even his roommate. So when she's blocking off the only way between the bathroom and the rest of the dorm, words would fail on how irritated he was. So how did he get into this situation? Well, when it was time to eat breakfast, Ichika noticed that Shizune snuck back to the dorm room in after grabbing her food while he was making his meal. Thus, he holed himself up inside the bathroom again.

It probably wasn't the best of ideas, now that he thought about it upon retrospect.

"Ichika…? Helloo?"

He really REALLY did not want to deal with her. The girl should be scared, frightened, deathly silenced by his presence. Did he really do anything to make an impact of fear in this god-forsaken school?!

…Or was it just her?

"Ichika?"

Goddammit!

He did not need to ponder the question. Nor did he want really to. He shook his head. "Tsk…" He clicked his teeth, holding back his emotions. If it is pestering to make himself known about the match a day ago or anything, he'll-!

"…"

Creeeeek…!

"What?"

"Eh? Ichika, y-you've been in the bathroom for f-fifteen minutes… do you mind if I use it now?"

"…"

CRACK!

A huge slam was heard a few seconds after Ichika shut the door, almost sounding like he punched a wall. A few more seconds later, he opened the door, china play in hand and his usual apathetic expression on his face, walked past a surprised and terribly confused Shizune. She wanted to ask what was wrong, but she got her answer by noticing a small crater of cracks on the tiled walls of the bathroom.

.o0o.

He inwardly groaned to himself from that foolhardy incident from this morning. At least everybody moved out of the way, halted their infernal whispering and gossip, and stopped acting all… lovey-dovey.

Ergh… That gave him the shivers.

It was then that he stopped himself from walking (which made all the girls nearby stiffen). In front of him was someone that would be the last person to approach him.

"A-Ahem…" An uncomfortable fidgeting Cecilia stood straight in front of Ichika, nervously turning her foot on the ball. She couldn't even meet his gaze, after he defeated her fair in square and subsequently destroyed all three interfering mercenaries, sent out to kill him. Cecilia could not deny it; Ichika was terrifying. "I… uh…" The blonde Englishwoman stuttered, unable to form any coherent phrases. The nervousness was overtaking her, something Cecilia was not willing to show. The phantom pains that she felt from yesterday's match; she was still feeling it now, even after all her injuries were treated. It can't be helped sadly.

Ichika just furrowed his eyebrows at Cecilia, annoyed that his peace and quiet would be disrupted, but after the events of last night and what she went through…

"…" He decided to keep shut. Besides, even though she looked like she did her hair, her eyes looked a little puffy and her clothes were a little disheveled. Overall, she looked dead tired.

"Listen, M-Mr. Ichika…" She finally began speaking, albeit meekly. "I… I wish… I wish to apologize for my behavior!" She blurted out, forcing the foreign words out of her system. Now, many who knew her as the rich princess and IS representative, some of them gasped and others went wide-eyed. A noble apologizing? That only appears in storybooks! Ichika just stood there, unmoving and seemingly unconvinced. "I was… mean and horrible to you… Plus my country has disgraced me by… sending mercenaries to you… I…" Cecilia quickly bowed her head, almost like she crashed her vehicle. "In the name of my country, I again apologize, Mr. Ichika!" She cried out, tears brimming in her eyes.

Silence reigned throughout the halls, the many schoolgirls quiet on awaiting Ichika's response. Some stepped back a little more, awaiting an outburst, but to the surprise of many, all Ichika did was close his eyes and lower his head slightly. His emotions were unreadable at that point. Even Cecilia held her breath, as she did not want blood on the hallway floors.

However, Ichika just stayed silent. To be honest, inwardly, he still doesn't like her, but he has been dealing with quite a load of heavy stuff, both himself and… Cecilia. His hatred still applies to her, considering her blood and breed, but in the end, her family disowned her, and at the same time, disowned them and their values from her life. Plus, he acquired all of the monies from Alcott with ease, and Ichika, admittedly, could not have traced it back to the Alcott mansion and finances without her. With that, he has something to start with; a whole lotta funds, monies, businesses and a safe haven in case things go awry. It was complicated, enough to make him twitch a little in his eyebrow.

He wanted to punch the daylights out of her. Make her cry for being an Alcott, but at the same time, a little tiny voice in his head wanted him not to. It was telling him that she has fallen from a great height above others; that she was in unfamiliar territory, scared and alone for the second time in her life.

She has suffered like him, and that she would make a great ally… or a rusted tool. He wanted to ignore that innocent-sounding voice deep within his head so damn bad… but in this case, there was a benefit to it.

It made him sick to the core.

Opening his eyes and releasing a breath, Ichika looked at her bowing form, as it looked like the young British woman was stuck like that for a good minute. Eventually, Cecilia did go back to a straight posture and looked at him straight in his eyes. Oh his eyes; at that point, she understood everything within Ichika's eyes.

It was clouded with hate, anger and flaming rage, but past that… there was a glimmer that felt different…

It was understanding.

So what will he say to her? Yell to her? Shout to her? Do to her? That's easy: nothing. He understood her plight that she suffered just one night ago, for he has suffered too. And for once, with the probability of winning the lottery thirty thousand times…

He was sparing her.

That lone understanding in his eyes made Cecilia tear up again. Everybody saw that, and while their first impression was those were tears of despair, Ichika just simply walked around her, towards his homeroom door. Right before he completely passed the young woman, she said in a meek, but thankful voice:

"Thank you…"

Ichika didn't change his hardened expression when he passed by her, but he indeed heard her. Other students began to clear out of the hallways, as it was almost time for homeroom. Cecilia was the only one left in the room by that time, but with a renewed sense of hope, she walked towards her homeroom. However, before she opened the door, the sound of running heels caught her attention.

It was Yamada Maya, her homeroom teacher, and she had a nervous and panicked expression. Apparently, it looked like she was sweating buckets.

"Sensei!" Cecilia looked surprised. Normally Yamada, while still looking a little anxious, never looked like she was going to have a nervous breakdown. Plus, she does not have any books with her, which is odd considering she is a homeroom teacher of 1-1.

"Ah, Cecilia-san!" Yamada perked up the moment the teacher heard the ex-noblewoman's voice. Turning around while fixing her glasses, she attempted to bring up a smile and a wry laugh to hide her worry. "I didn't expect you to see me like this! Hurry inside the room, I'll allow this late penalty" Cecilia wasn't convinced.

"Ummm okay, but… where's Orimura-sensei?" Cecilia inquired, looking at the direction her homeroom teacher came from, but then noticed on how stiff Yamada became. She awaited an answer, but all Yamada answered was this:

"…changed…"

"Huh? Changed? Changed what?"

"Huh?! Oh I mean uhhh, eek! Errr, ehhhh, hmm, she's… incapacitated! Yeah, she's incapacitated! Yeah, ehehe…! A-Anyway, we both don't wanna be late, get inside!" Yamada quickly insisted, pushing a bewildered Cecilia inside, trying to hide the fact that Chifuyu Orimura, the Brunhilde, is incapacitated.

.o0o.

"Nurse, is she-?"

"She's fine, nurse. It'll be fine. We have nothing to worry about."

"No! I'm not talking about her physical health! I mean…"

"Look, I know that you idolize her, but… she isn't going anywhere. We have all the time in the world to find a way to return her back to the way she was before."

"Thank God! I would have a heart attack if we found no way…"

"Don't worry. We'll find a way to revert her…"

The two nurses looked inside a large glass container, glowing blue. Nurses, scientists and doctors ran around the room, operating machinery, while others were studying the phenomena within the glass container, enough to stuff a den of lions inside. Suddenly, everybody grabbed metallic reflective goggles and stood still, looking at the container, containing their subject.

"GOGGLES ON, PROCEED WITH THE PROCEDURE!"

The lead scientist pulled the lever and a harsh electric current traveled through the wires and into the container, shocking the subject with a large number of volts. A female scream rang within the corridor in pain. After a few seconds, the electricity wore off and everybody else looked within the container, but they only saw the same failed results.

"I-Ichika… n-nii-chan… h-h-help…"

It was Chifuyu Orimura but something changed. She wasn't the Brunhilde, but not as a towering, serious Amazoness, but into a shivering cowardly woman, with the heart reflecting a crying, unloved little girl.

Finally, I'm back! I wanna keep this short. I take a long time making these chapter. It's hard writing for them, trust me. Again, sorry if this took so long. Here's an omake to cheer you all up!

OMAKE! "Did he really?!"

Cecilia kept her eyes tightly closed, awaiting a response. She didn't want to upset the young man who has beaten her black and blue, and utterly destroyed mercenaries her ex-aunt sent. However, he was already walking towards his classroom, going around the girl and into the room. However, as she was about to mope, she noticed a piece of paper in her hands.

"Huh?" The blonde Englishwoman noticed that it was an envelope, styled in pink hearts and frilly yellow borders. Everybody else noticed this and cowered over to look at the envelope.

"What's that, Cecilia-san?"

"It looks like a love letter."

"Did you make it, Cecilia-san?"

"N-No... I didn't make it." Cecilia muttered before opening the letter.

"I got my eye on you~! Let's talk on the rooftop after class. 3"

It looked like it was drawn with black crayon, with a red pattern of a Sharingan eye at the end.

Every female student was silent until:

"EHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!?"