Infinite Stratos: God of Thunder
By: The 483
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the Infinite StratosFranchise.
Spoiler Alert: Warning: Light to mild spoilers for the Anime may be included herein.
Huddle
"My goodness, what happened to your arm?" Pink hair and twitching, metallic rabbit ears danced in front of Catherine's face as Tabane Shinonono focused her attentions on her, energetically probing and examine her in her flight suit, deep in the pit. Catherine, having already endured her eccentricity for the better part of an hour, planted her palm against Tabane's forehead, pushing her back, as she continued to reach out to grab her like a cartoon child.
"I'd say about the same as what happened to your face." She replied callously, using the advice Houki had given her as to how to properly deal with the overactive genius. She had seen a firsthand demonstration, as Houki was forced to make it clear to her sister that they would not be sharing a bed, now that Tabane was staying on the campus.
What Tabane had been asking about, was the large purple, yellow edged bruise that was a result of her missing Tatenashi's punch the day before, that now stood out like a tattoo on the bicep of her bare right arm. Tabane giggled.
"Oh, my. You've got some spunk. Why do you wear your flight suit when your IS doesn't work, eh?" She struggled more, wanting to get her arms around the skinny woman. Catherine held her at bay.
"Because..." She grunted and had to shift as Tabane moved sideways. "...it's too damn cold in this country, and it keeps me warm."
"Nope." Tabane squawked cheerfully.
"Because I am secretly half reptoid, and it hides my scales?"
"Nyope." She purred again, lunging unsuccessfully.
"Severe burns?" Catherine was bemused, and wondered what she would believe.
"Don't think so."
"Ringworm?"
"Not a chance."
"Unrealistic body modesty?"
"BINGO!" She cried, and managed to duck under the arm, and catch her around the waist. "Else you wouldn't be fighting my tender embrace so hard." Her vise like bear hug around her waist could scarcely be considered tender. Catherine pushed down on the clingy woman, trying to get her off like a too tight skirt.
"Maybe...*grunt* it's more that, I don't want to get too *pant* close, so I won't lose control over how much I like you?" She said, making no progress in dislodging her.
"No, no. 'cause that is what Chi-Chan does, and that feels different." She was now rubbing her face against Casey's stomach.
"Alright, you win, but I need you to get off, now, I can't breathe. I'll call Houki if you don't." She was off her so fast, that Catherine stumbled as her resistance was no longer necessary. Tabane puffed out her cheeks in a juvenile pout.
"Aww, Houki-chan has trouble with her love for me, too, poor thing. I remember you, though. You were that crazy guy's sister, yes? With the electric thing, yeah?"
"That is an...alarmingly good way to describe it."" She held out her hand to shake and offered her introduction. "Catherine Elizabeth Chambers, American Representative Contender, and pilot of the IS "Tesla.""
"Wow, someone naming an electrical thing after Nikola Tesla. That is original. What, were Zeus and Thor already registered?" Catherine frowned as Tabane did not take the offered hand. She then reset her face, wiped the emotion, and stared fixedly back at the insulting woman.
"I am an American. We like out clichés." She responded levelly. Tabane narrowed her eyes, and was about to respond again, when something made contact with the back of her head, and she grunted.
"Tabane, stop it. You know I dislike it when you are mean to my friends." Houki had appeared, looking tired, and slapped her older sister in the back of the head. Tabane perked right up, and tried to hug her little sister.
"Aw, Houki-chan! I was not being mean. I was merely..." Houki cut her off.
"Stop it. I know exactly what you were doing. You were being rude to provoke her." Houki looked apologetic, but Catherine had her eyes averted. She hated letting someone else see when she lost her temper. Let alone the girl she had a crush on. Tatenashi hadn't even pissed her off, she had merely irritated her by holding a grudge before Catherine had had a chance to give her a reason to.
"Damn it, Tabane, this is why I don't let you meet my friends." Houki said, sadly. Tabane perked up.
"This is one of your friends?" She asked lusciously.
"Yes. She's also my roommate." Tabane's manner shifted.
"Ah, then I like you if your Houki Poke's friend." She smiled, as Houki went red with embarrassment and rage. She mouthed sorry to Catherine, but she waved it off. She understood.
"So then," Tabane said to the American, "show me."
"Can't." Catherine replied easily. "It's still down for maintenance after getting blasted during the tournament in France." She thought for a second. "I'll tell you what. I promised Houki we'd have a proper fight, if she could beat Ichika for the RC title. She did, but I got busted and didn't get a chance to make good. I can Have the Tesla up to full by Wednesday. How bout we have that match?" Houki looked surprised.
"Oh? Really? I guess we could..."
"Aw, come on. It will be fun, and I could use the workout. Besides, it will give you a chance to show off how awesome you have gotten to your sister." Houki seemed to respond to this, and Catherine felt a swoop in her stomach. Damn it, she was really uncomfortable ever since Tatenashi had brought the fact that she had a crush on Houki to the front of her mind. She needed to seriously whoop that girls ass one of these days.
"Alright, that does sound fun. Now, before I forget," She rounded on her sister, "what the hell happened to you!" She shouted. Tabane looked confused.
"What do you mean, Houki-Chan?"
"I mean your face! Somebody beat the hell out of you!" Catherine waved to get attention back.
"I'll leave you to it. I'm going to go see Miss Yamada and register our duel."
"Okay, thanks. I'll talk to you after I get this sorted out." She said, before rounding back on to her sister. Catherine had already heard the story with Tatenashi when they were explaining their concerns to Miss Orimura. Catherine liked Miss Orimura. She didn't just dismiss their claims and send them off, but listened, asked a few questions, and asked if what had happened with Tabane seemed to fit with their thoughts.
Apparently, a mysterious woman had appeared, and requested that Tabane assist her Master in making IS Cores that did not have the part that allowed only women to pilot them. She attacked when Tabane refused, and was a match for, if not better in combat then Tabane, except that she was hampered by a need not to kill Tabane, who would not be taken alive. This was interesting, as Tabane was over clocked, and faster and stronger than a normal human. So, Tabane held out long enough to get in one of her carrot shaped conveyances, and launched herself at the Academy.
So, Miss Orimura said she would get back to them when she had had time to process their thoughts, and Catherine offered, if she thought that they might want to reinforce the fortifications at the school, now that Tabane was hiding here, that Catherine had the numbers of a few contractors that were trustworthy.
She found Miss Yamada in her classroom, working at her desk. As Miss Orimura's right hand, She was often busy outside of class hours, but she could often be found at her desk within an hour of class ending.
"Oh, hello, Catherine. Miss Orimura hasn't decided what she wants yet, I am afraid."
"No, that's fine, Ma'am. I'm actually here because I'd like to register a 1v1."
"Oh? Fighting again?" She said with an airy smile. Casey liked Miss Yamada. She was cute, for one, and despite her air of ease and ditzy friendliness, she was actually a remarkably proficient, dyed in the wool bad ass.
"Nah. Just a friendly match between me and Houki Shinonono. Could you give us a date?" She smiled, and pulled out a little notebook, looking to see if there were any scheduled bookings of the field.
"How does Friday, after clubs sound? Give the rest of the students something fun to watch, to help take their mind off the attack yesterday."
"Sounds good to me, Ma'am." Catherine whipped out her phone, used her eyes and glasses to type out a quick text, and sent the details to Houki. "Thanks. When might we get to see you back in the saddle?" Consistent with her innocent persona, she turned slightly pink.
"Oh, it's not likely. I am retired from competition."
"A real shame. You were quite the fighter when you were the RC. The art lost a great practitioner when you stepped down."
"Oh, stop it! Your embarrassing me!" She said. Catherine smiled. Miss Yamada calmed herself. "Anything else I can do for you?" Casey bit her tongue to refrain from making an obvious and rather vulgar comment, smiled, and shook her head.
"Nope, that should be good for now, Ma'am, thank you. Have a nice day."
(...)
Catherine, Cecilia, and Tatenashi were sparring again, Cecilia having started taking it more serious in the wake of attack by the unnamed terrorists on the ocean liner. She seemed to take the war talk seriously, as did Houki, and unsurprisingly, Laura. But then the Germans were always ready to throw down.
Catherine and Cecilia were currently sparring, and Cecilia had improved, enough so that Catherine only had to slow herself by about 30% to not whoop her ass. Catherine was happy with herself, as well, because since she started keeping up with her physical fitness regime, her muscles in the burned areas had not lost control. And she could take a decent amount of punishment in the area without more than the normal, slight amount of residual background pain she felt all of the time, and could easily ignore.
She caught the high kick on her forearm, wrapped her other arm around the leg, and pressed it against her hip before applying pressure and spinning Cecilia and tossing her across the space, where she rolled and lit back on her feet.
"Holy crap!" She said, wiping sweat from her brow. "How'd you do that?"
"Heh. Tossing you wasn't hard. Doing it without hurting you was difficult." Cecilia grunted as she closed, and they boxed again.
"Ugh, I see I was right about you, when we first met. You are an arrogant bitch." Catherine smiled, and broke backward, before immediately closing again.
"Aww, that's sweet. And if anyone would know arrogant, it'd be you." She spat back through gritted teeth as she caught a blow on her bruised arm. They traded another dozen blows, when Cecilia remembered the thing Tatenashi told her she could do if she wanted to get a good hit in.
"Say, Casey, what's this I hear about you having a crush on me?" Casey paused slightly, her eyes getting slightly wide, and *WHAM*. Cecilia hit Catherine in the side of the head, knocking her to the ground. "Oh! I didn't mean to hit you that hard!" She quickly moved over an bent down, just to have Catherine sweep her legs out, worm around, and get Cecilia in an arm bar. "Ow! Ow ow ow! Okay, okay! You win, let go!" Catherine unlocked her grip, and stood, helping Cecilia up.
"Aw, Cecilia, haven't you learned by now that Tatenashi only gives advice on the grounds that the result will be super entertaining to her?" She flopped down on the bench next to Tatenashi, while Cecilia hit on Tatenashi's other side. Catherine pulled a bottle of water from her bag, cracked it open, and took a swig, then passed it to Tatenashi.
"Oh, Catherine, an indirect kiss, how bold." She smiled and took a sip, before passing it to Cecilia. Casey scoffed.
"You know that isn't a thing in the real world, yeah?" Cecilia took a drink, and passed it back, leaning her head on the cool concrete wall behind her.
"Are you sure I didn't hit you too hard, Casey?" Catherine giggled tiredly, and rested her head against the wall, as well.
"You're sweet, Cecilia, but I am fine. It might turn into a bruise, but it was my own fault for letting you distract me." She pulled her shirt out, and made a disgusted face. "Ugh, you two really helped me work up a sweat. I need a good soak." Suddenly, her eyes opened, and she thought heavily. "Idea."
"What?" Cecilia said, not used the someone actually saying exactly what they were thinking. Tatenashi smiled rather loudly.
"Shut up, Tats. Okay, so, now, feel free to say no, but... Tatenashi, shut up." Tatenashi was not saying a word, but her thoughts, at least to Catherine, were ringing out loud and clear. "But, I was thinking, and, seriously, Tatenashi, stop, it's not anything like that, but, um... yeah..." Catherine was clearly flustered, and kept mounting up to what she wanted to ask, and then losing her nerve at the last second. It went on this way for a good minute, Cecilia thoroughly confused, until Tatenashi stepped in.
"Okay, now you be quiet. I've been friends with you for a while, now, let's see if I can read your mind." Tatenashi placed a hand on either of her temples, and leaned in close, crossing her eyes and poking her tongue out the side of her mouth. "Alright, I have it. What she is trying to say, is..." Tatenashi affected an weird accent, and parroted the words she was pretending to hear.
"I want to ask the two of you if you would like to join me in the male open bath, but, because I like girls, I am afraid that you will suspect that it is just the fact that I want to see you naked motivating my actions. I am afraid you will hate me for that if you knew that was what I was thinking, because despite being abrasively confident in most situations, so much so that it irritates those close to me, it is just a front, and I am actually an painfully insecure crazy person." Tatenashi chanted in a monotone. Catherine was staring daggers at Tatenashi, and Cecilia was looking thoughtful.
"Ah, I see..." Cecilia finally said, with a slight smile. Both the other girls looked at her, with Catherine harboring a bit of unease in her eyes. "Well, it makes sense. I've no doubt that she should have a crush on me. I am stunning, after all." The comment broke the tension, and made both girls giggle, although, they both reasoned that Cecilia almost certainly was serious in the comment, rather than making a joke to break the tense air. Both the girls looked at her, then laughed.
"Okay, okay." Catherine said, when her laugh tapered off. "Seriously, though, Cecilia, I am gay, and while I find you attractive, I don't have a crush on you. And, if it doesn't bother you, you can both come and relax in the male bath, if you'd like." Catherine was nervous. She was completely comfortable with herself, but still could not help worrying about her friends ostracizing her if they found her orientation worrisome. To her complete surprise, Cecilia rose, put a hand on her shoulder, and looked into her eyes.
"It's okay, Catherine, because, I've always loved you." Casey's eyes widened, and she was still as a statue for 5 whole seconds, until her mind started working again, and she realized what was going on. She sighed and slumped.
"Damn it, Tatenashi, you already told her."
"Yes, I did." She replied with a chuckle.
"You are lucky that Houki would be mad at me if I broke your nose again."
"Yes, I am." She replied, with the same smile on her face. Catherine groaned, and pushed herself up.
"Well, then you both can kindly go screw yourselves. I, however, am going to go soak until I feel human again." And with that, she promptly left."
"Hey! Wait for me!" Cecilia called, and gathered up her bag, before dashing after her flustered friend. Tatenashi just smiled, very pleased with herself, and followed leisurely after them. By the time Tatenashi caught up, Catherine had fought her way into a light windbreaker, and was walking completely at her ease, as if the discomfort she had spent so long worrying over was completely gone. When Tatenashi caught up, and was walking in tandem with the others, Catherine spoke, to both.
"I need to go back to my room, first, but I will meet you out front, if you want to come in with me."
"Of course." Tatenashi said. There was never a qualm in her mind that she was anything but comfortable.
"That is fine, if you do not mind me joining you." Cecilia replied, and an unusual moment of humbleness.
"Alright, then I will meet you outside in about 5 minutes. But you have to wait. I asked Miss Yamada if I could bring guests, but she said I needed to be with them, or I would get in trouble."
(...)
"Why are you moving around so much?" Cecilia asked from her perch near the corner of the bath. After that first time when Ichika had walked in on her, Catherine had fashioned a crude paper door hanger to indicate, unmistakably, when she was inside. This was for his benefit, not hers. While she did not care if he saw her naked, he had an extremely adverse reaction to it. But, on a rare occasion, when he was in a hiding mood, he would join her, with her covered. But she marked it with a signifier showing there was more than just her inside, so he would not venture in.
"Because, I cannot use the pool here, and I like to swim. It was part of my physical therapy, and the nice warm water is a total plus."
"So, then, you going to tell us what happened so that you needed physical therapy?" Tatenashi said from her reclined position.
"Someday." She replied, running her hand down the twisted, scarred skin. She thought for a second, and sat up suddenly. "You know what, you guys are two of my best friends here, screw it. Okay, so, my brother was working on one of his pet projects, and, I do not know what really happened. I went to walk outside, going back to the main house to start dinner, and wham, next thing I know, I am waking up from a drug induced coma about a month later, all burned. All the investigations and such say that whatever the explosion was caused by was in the device that the explosion came from, and there were no signs that any sabotage or anything went on. But, no one really knows what he was doing, as all his notes on the experiment were destroyed with him."
Tatenashi looked to Cecilia, eyebrow raised.
"What do you think?" She asked. Cecilia rubbed her chin.
"She originally told me a shark took her leg off. I don't know." Tatenashi nodded, like she had expected that response.
"And she told me it was a motorcycle accident. Think this one has any truth to it?" Catherine looked at them curiously.
"Okay, that is fair. But this time I am serious. I can pull up some articles talking about it, from back in the day, if you'd like." Tatenashi shook her head once.
"Nah, we'll believe you this time. Until we find out you made it up, anyway." She then changed the subject. "Are you excited about tomorrow?"
"Hell yes I am. Houki's fun, but I haven't gotten a chance to actually open up on her with my full skill yet. I've just played with her pretending I fought like Ichika. So, Yeah, I am thrilled. I got an idea of the kind of heat she can bring to the table, and I am interested to see what more she can do." Tatenashi and Cecilia both just stared at her, wordlessly, until Catherine reviewed what she said, and frowned. "Oh, to hell with the both of you. This is why I don't share." She cupped her hand and slashed it forward, splashing the other two women, who giggled, and splashed back.
(...)
Wind whipped around the open bay of the large, Military grade aircraft as it flew, based on the estimates of the scientist back at base, was 5000 feet above any possible radar the academy should reasonably have. Three women stood, identically trimmed hair flapping in the howling air currents. Sapphire, Emerald, and Diamond, not triplets genetically, were so in their skill set and training, and the brutal world that had been their life for the last 5 years in the covert IS program they were purchased to be a part of. As one, the ducked, took two steps forward, and dropped from the plain, their only gear the skin tight IS soft suits and their IS's, stored as bracelets. The fell several hundred feet, unconcerned with the double dozen of unmanned IS's also participating in the raid, as they activated their IS's in sync, and continnued to plummet toward the unsuspecting acadamy below.
End 11.