Openings song: The walking dead of Dropkick Murphy's.
Eleventh chapter. I'm fed up with gaming, so I want to write. Going to speed up a bit. But first of all, thanks for the reviews and tips. I hope I can work on them and use them.
About the names, I suck at making names, so I decided to leave them be. One other thing, I write in English, but I'm Flemish.
And weird names, they're just a part of my imagination.
I write for my pleasure and I hope to pick up some skill, but I want to give my stories my own style. Adapting and customising, that's the way of my gaming and my writing.
Maybe my stories are a bit common, but hey, everyone is free to write what he wants here, right.
I'm sorry for my English, if my Word, says it's alright, I trust on that. I try to pay notice to it.
Still, I hope to improve and that you guys like this.
The first free Saturday of the school year.
A guy walked around the city, like he didn't knew where he had to go to. Still, he had some place where he need to go to. He looked around and with his hood pulled up, he stood out. But with his dark blond hair and scarfed face, he would stand even more. After that, he found where he needed to be. He looked at the restaurant and went in.
He gave his accomplice thirty minutes before a petite, black dressed girl came in. She had a kind of aura he found at only one other woman, but she was definitely not the same. She went to sit another table with the back at each other.
"I'm surprised you'd come." He said at a calm voice. "You're really something. I looked in to your past and to be honest. You've got a heck of a life experience."
"Are you here to brag about me or to talk?" She responded coldly. The guy just smiled. Most people would be pleading for their lives if they knew who she was, but he just remained calm. "You know, you really are something. I never met a serial killer who carried around a photo in a necklace of the person she loves and wants to kill on the same moment. Weirder if you think that the person is her sister. Here." He tossed her the necklace she lost during their last fight.
She took it and looked back to her giver. "Why, why, when did you?"
"After the fight." He stated calmly. "Your biological code matched hers, so I decided to check it out. That's the reason I found ya. That combined the fact you visited Ichika in a dream. I did the same thing. Easy if you're his sister, Madoka."
He turned around. "I gave you something. You need to start talking." He said with a serious voice and his eyes were flaming. "You want to deny it, but you're his sister and hers. Don't mind if you want to kill Chifuyu, but if it comes to that, I'll stop you." Her eyes were flaming and she had a furious look. "Don't think about fighting. Phantom Task is here, but even so, I'm good, near her level."
She stood back. She had informed Squall about Chifuyu's level and that man wasn't lying. He sighed. "The reason that I contacted you, Madoka, was to warn you and through you Phantom Task. Something else is on the move. Something bigger than Phantom Task or the ISA. The reason Chifuyu and Ichika live alone. The reason you loathe her."
Madoka's mouth fell open in a shock. "You're telling me that?" Kerlongsj nodded. "Yep, they're on the move. If you ever need me, you can contact me through your IS." He nodded and left.
"Why do you want me and her to be family again?" She asked again on her normal, cold tone.
"Don't know? Maybe because, I don't have a blood family on my own?" And with those words he left the building.
In the mall. Eight guys were walking. They wore the same type of clothes, consisting of a sweater in different colours and a long trouser. The hackers agreed that Ichika could come with them, but only if he threw off the ISA uniform and wore clothes of hackers. Luckily that he had the same size as the twins.
After Ichika came to pick them up, they caught him and asked / forced him to wear their clothes. After that they left to the monorail.
"Do you guys think that I really look good in these clothes?" Ichika was uncomfortable in the clothes, but wearing them made him part of the group. Anaton trained Ichika after Chifuyu ordered him. If Ichika had to choose between him or Tatenashi, he gave the prefer to Anaton. Not because Anaton was kinder to Ichika or less harsh.
No, Ichika ended up more tired or even wounded after a training, but the training payed off. Anaton quickly understand that Ichika was very good at close range, but sucked at long range. So instead of training him on that, he trained Ichika on turning the sides. He let him fight against Tizof and Thazalof. Ichika found him an excellent sparring partner and learned that it was easier to take down an IS than nanite brothers. He needed to focus on two fighters instead of one.
That's why he let Ichika play a video game. It was a first person shooter in which the player had to infiltrate an enemy stronghold. Ichika relied on close range and melee weapons, so Anaton decided to follow his strong points unlike Tatenashi who would focus on Ichika's weak points.
He learned to fight different. Not that he won a fight, no, it took until Friday until he finally won against the twins at the end of the training. But when he did, he got the respect of the rest who saw him as a hacker. Anaton explained his training. "Instead of firing your rockets, focus on close range. Make sure that you have an advantage. Turn the tables in such a way that you have the upper hand." He quickly understood what Anaton meant with that and adapted on that.
Ichika wouldn't stand a chance against Tatenashi, but he could take down Rin and Cecilia together. Tizof and Thazalof grew up in the fighting they had. Ichika also understood that the boys got tough training that was rival to most soldiers training. That was because these guys were meant to stop Infinite Stratos. For that reason, they trained and expended their bodies from a young age. Basically, they trained their bodies of the extent of a human body. They were three times stronger and faster than normal humans.
You could call them super humans, but they got nanites in everything of their bodies in their muscles what also explained a lot.
To the anger of his harem, Ichika became also friends with the hackers. It was worse enough for them that Anaton seized him in the evenings, but now Ichika was more at ease between the rough soldiers. They respected Ichika and treated him like friends. Of course, they'd call him Moron, but because those guys were doing that do each other, Ichika didn't find it weird.
They were followed by six girls. The guys agreed that they would leave the girls alone and just go to shopping. They found a decent hard ware store. "I hope they speak English."
"I hope they accept euros."
Ichika looked up. "Why would you need euros? You got your allowances." The guys looked to each other and started laughing. "Ichika, believe me. If we want to pay with that, we make a debt for ten years. That's why."
The guys went in and asked Ichika to come with them in case they needed him. They went to the older man on the desk. "Can I help you?" He asked. The guys were relieved. "Yes, we need everything that's on this list." They handed it over and the man looked in disbelief from the list to them. "Eh, you are serious."
"Of course, we are. We need everything. We can pay."
The old man looked back to the guys. "You really serious? Prove" Anaton showed him a paper of an account.
"Yes, look. But we can only pay in euros. Is that a problem?"
The man looked back from the guys to the list. "Give me a second". He searched on his computer. "Well, I got everything in store. And you can pay?"
The guys nodded. "Yeah, but only in euros. We don't want to play a joke on you." The old man started to laugh.
"You don't know how happy you made this old man. With this, I can pay off my debt, have a nice profit and the best has yet to come. Everyone." He shouted. Three young guys assembled. "There is good news. We have good customers. Bring everything on this list to them. You're free for the coming three weeks, but I'm going to pay you double."
In twenty minutes, Ichika saw a huge amount of hard ware assembled. "With this money, I can finally do my trip to Europe. You made a dream true for this old man." He emotionally shook the hand of Anaton. " No problem, sir. Our friends wants these and you're happy."
"Are you guys European?" He asked. "Yeah, we're Flemish. You really need to visit us." The old man was happy of those customers. After it was assembled, they went to his desk. "Anything else?"
"Can you deliver this to our dorm house?" Anaton asked. "Where's that?"
"The ISA. By some crazy circumstances, we're staying there. Don't ask about it."
"I can't deny good customers. Thank you. I'll make sure of it." Anaton payed him and they left. "You guys give me the money back." He said. After that, they left. Ichika was blown away. Everyone in the store waved them goodbye." They left and saw that the old man hung up a paper. "In holiday for three weeks because of empty stock."
"For how much did you buy?" Ichika asked disbelieved. "You don't want to know and believe me, Ichika" Anaton said when he was serious. "You don't want to know how we got that money."
The guys hung around in the mall. Everyone except for Ichika saw how they were followed by a certain group of six females. They ignored them and around the middle of the day, they heard a large grumble from Erzof stomach. Most high school girls around them were grossed out, but the guys started to laugh, Ichika included.
"Let's grab a meal." Anaton proposed. At a nearby restaurant, the guys got to sit. It was from a Belgian emigrant who still could talk Flemish. The guys ordered a meal from home and Ichika vowed that he would come over to visit Flanders one day.
They saw the girls siting a table away. Unlike Ichika who enjoyed the meal, they were all disgusted by it. Houki and Rin were grossed out of the mussels they ordered. How could food of the sea so disgusting? Kanzashi began to tear when she heard she ate a rabbit and Charlotte was furious about the owner claiming that Belgians were earlier with fries.
Laura had problems with the steak and Cecilia never saw someone combining the steak like that. Again, they lost a point to Ichika who enjoyed his meal. After that, the guys were happy they pissed off the girls by that.
"Eh, Ichika" asked Tizof. "Do you know about?"
"Don't ask him, lad." Erzof responded. "He probably wouldn't know."
"What are you guys talking about?" He asked. "Well, before we got to Japan, we saw a chariot vessel passing. Do you know about it?"
Ichika knew immediately about who they were talking, but he decided to leave it be. "No, I have no idea."
"What did I told you?" Anaton said.
At the other table, they all turned to Houki who buried her face on the table.
In the same mall, but at the other side of it.
Kerlongsj sat down on a table and waited until the older of the sisters he met sat down. Not that he would tell Chifuyu about the fact that he met Madoka. She would kill him. Not that it would be easy, but she would succeed eventually. Kerlongsj wasn't afraid to die.
Only to what kind of damage the two would bring and how many innocents would die if the two would go all out.
"Kerlongsj." He heard a soft voice saying. "Chifuyu. Good to see you." He said on the same calm tone. She sat down. He was grinning and she had a smile that for some reason suited her without it freaked Kerlongsj out.
"Been a while since you and I met. Sorry if I couldn't come with the youngsters. I had some things to arrange." He smiled and made it clear that he excused himself from the week. He sighed. He didn't have a lot of sleep last week. From Flanders to Paris and in one line to Japan. He could have taken an airplane or using a hackers ship, but he had to go by train. That was a lot safer.
"You look like hell. Well, I didn't have it easy neither. Ichika and your kid." Kerlongsj tensed up.
"Did they fight?"
"No, it's just that every other girl in the whole academy is at war with the hackers."
"In which the hackers outclass them in every way." Kerlongsj added to her.
"Yes, they're very well trained. Strong, rough, good warriors. It's a disgrace to see that pilots from now are nothing more than a bunch of prideful women." Kerlongsj clicked on his tongue.
"Yeah and if I know my guys a bit, they don't take that kindly. Being humble means getting respect from them, proving yourself means their gratitude. What didn't work, because of the duel. Being a worthy opponent means their comradeship, but the girls didn't take it that way." He ended with a grin on his face.
"No, they didn't take it that way, neither." Chifuyu replied on a cold tone and Kerlongsj stopped immediately. Even he couldn't go on to Chifuyu like this. "And the link between Ichika and Anaton?"
"Well, you're the cause of it. Because your nanites are in all our systems, that gave us this link. Did you never thought of it?" Kerlongsj looked away.
"Of course, I did. The link was indeed something that would come. In theory, it would work. The chance of real happening, far lower. But I didn't get what you meant with link. Shortly, what is it?"
Chifuyu smiled. "Something that our siblings together" and she came closer to the guy. "Ichika and Anaton have access to each other's weapons, skill and knowledge. What for that idiot is a convenient asset."
"You're talking about my idiot or yours?" Kerlongsj asked with a grin.
"Mine. Something else?" Chifuyu composure was lost somewhere.
"Yeah?" Kerlongsj had a weird look in his eyes.
"About a few months ago. You and I. Before you left."
Kerlongsj's face cleared up. "Oh, you mean that. Don't worry. I haven't told anyone about it and those on the ship haven't opened their mouths. Why do you ask?" He still had a questioning look in his eyes.
"Well, Anaton shut Ichika down, because he wanted to tell in the whole class about that." Kerlongsj looked back. "That's isn't a good thing, right?" He had a shameless grin on his face.
Both thought about the path they walked. For some reason, life was hard them. Chifuyu even more than Kerlongsj. They never saw someone with a similar path in life who was as strong as themselves. Both of them met each other in the past decade and somehow being together put them at ease. Kerlongsj openly admitted he enjoyed the stay at the Infinite Stratos base. He had sharpened his skills by training every day with Chifuyu. Now, he could start teaching on the ISA for the hackers. Maybe traveling the road together was for the best.
Chifuyu had come closer to Kerlongsj. The two faces were inches away from each other. The two were startled and began to blush, but they didn't moved away. They came closer and just before their lips touched, the lights turned off and they heard the sound of windows shattering.
"Goddammit." Kerlongsj shouted.
"That can't be good." Chifuyu responded at the same tone.
"Shattering windows, lights turning off simultaneously. An attack." Kerlongsj said at the same tone, but only after that, they turned away.
"Clean up this mess and we go on?" Kerlongsj asked.
"Yeah." Chifuyu responded with a smile. She opened her luggage and took a katana and wakizashi out of it. Kerlongsj equipped a hidden knife on each hand.
The two crouched and moved on. Chifuyu pointed to four guards storming in. She avoided the machine gun before jumping off a wall, she got at the two and cut them down. Kerlongsj had sneaked after them and buried them in the ground with his hidden knives.
"We're a decent team." Chifuyu responded when she sheathed the two weapons.
"We've always been." Kerlongsj reacted when he stood up and took the two knives out the necks of his targets. "Hey, did Anaton and his friends got to this mall as well?"
"Yeah, together with Ichika and most likely his friends."
"We got ourselves an army." Kerlongsj said. Chifuyu take her hair in a ponytail and Kerlongsj took his sweater on and pulled his hood on.
The two climbed up the second floor and started to run to the middle of which the most noise came.
And I'm done with this chapter. Didn't took longer than I thought. I wanted to put the whole take out thing in it, but I decided to leave it for the coming chapter.
I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did for the writing. I hope I can do the next chapter coming days.
Stay safe.
Kerlongsj.