This is no joke…

Shinkurou swore he was being toyed with by some drunk deity out there. It was one thing to fight some random assassin or terrorist, but having the Brunhildr of all people as his opponent was on an entirely different level. It was madness.

"What's wrong, Shinonono? Take out your weapons." The woman in black tight-fitting suit and mechanical armors drew out her katana. "We don't have much time and I still have work to do after this."

Damn workaholic… "You really are serious about sparring with me…"

"Of course I am. Now enough chattering."

Shinkurou spat out a sigh. With heavy reluctance and mental tiredness clutching him, the silver-haired boy raised Steel Cutter with both of his hands and expanded his lone wing.

The HUD cleared up to give as much space to see. He expanded his awareness on the logistics, connected his senses with the AI-assisted sensors installed in his unit, and then flooded his focus in compiling the data log that began to grow in size.

So far so good, he concluded at the log. It didn't look like there were faulty parts though the parameters required more tuning; some parts didn't look like they were tuned by the Rabbit but at the very least the unit had been stabilized with an all-rounded settings.

The best thing of the repair would be the dramatic improvement of the fuel efficiency.

"How long can that unit stay active?"

Shinkurou bobbed his head at the black-haired woman's question. "…An hour and a quarter in energy conservation mode. Thirty-five minutes if I push this thing to its limits."

"Then," Chifuyu raised her main weapon. "Let's finish this in five minute."

What?

Shinkurou stared at the Kurezakura – and in the next instance the unit vanished as if it was never there before. Chills ran down his spine. The sensor couldn't detect the unit fast enough, so he immediately revved up the engine…

But coming from his side, a powerful attack plunged in.

A jet-black one-edged sword flashed like a black lightning that forced Shinkurou to dodge with a sudden jump of thrusters. His body spun in the air, his eyes catching the Shield Points reduced by forty-five points.

What the hell…!?

"Now that's a surprise," a voice sneaked from behind him as the sounds of ignited engine doubled. "I didn't expect you to avoid that."

Gh…!? Immediately the former vagrant swung Steel Cutter to the side, but the pilot of Kurezakura dived down and boosted forward, breaking into his range with little to no effort at all.

Without thinking twice, Shinkurou opened the Vulcan Gun hidden in his left gauntlet. He could hit her at this range. Sure, the giant sword was too heavy and useless against an agile opponent but he had his claws and Vulcan Gun.

But as if expecting his move, his foe executed a sudden burst of acceleration that brought her right in front of him.

Chifuyu reversed her grips over her katana and lashed out an attack. The black handle struck his left forearm from below and the attack forcibly closed gun port before it could fire a single lead.

"Damn—!?"

"A cheap trick won't work twice."

The Brunhildr reversed back her grips over her weapon. She drew the katana in and focused her gaze at a spot.

There was no time wasted. Both of her arms blurred and the sharp steel became a streak of lightning.

Before he knew it, Shinkurou felt his body rattled as if struck by a car and he was blasted to the northern walls of the arena.

"What was that!?" Houki shouted as she turned a shocked stare at her childhood friend. "D-Did the Instructor use Ignition Boost as an opening move!?"

"Uh… I think she did." Ichika rubbed his arm as if he had recalled a bad memory. "Chifuyu-nee doesn't like beating around the bush when it comes to one-on-one duel… Wait, don't you also remember what happened when you tried to fight her in kendo match, Houki?"

…Now that I think about it… Houki gulped down as she remembered the beatdown that left quite a scar in her mind. She wasn't sure how did she forget most of it, but it was probably because of the blunt trauma she had received upon losing. I-If the same Chifuyu-san is using the IS she used in Mondo Grosso…

"Isn't this bad…?"

"Yeah, it is." Ichika nodded. "In fact, this is way too unfair for Shinkurou that it's not even funny."

"…He's going to be fine, right?"

Ichika could only look to the side, much to Houki's utter dismay and horror.

"Hey! We just heard something loud!" The door behind them opened, welcoming a cast of familiar classmates who instantly stood still in shock upon watching the live recording. "Wait, isn't that…!?"

As if taking the short pause as a cue, a beam of blue energy surrounded by high-voltage electricity filled the screen.

"Oh, so you're still alive."

So not even that can scratch her. On the ground with Thunderbird form shifting back to blade-mode, Shinkurou licked his upturned lips.

He spat out air and inhaled, gathering air in his lungs as he suppressed the fear and anxiety threatening to swallow his heart. Looks like I really have no choice when it comes to fighting against her.

"Surprise attack isn't really interesting." The boy ignited his thrusters, letting loose a scream of the engines that grew louder and louder. "Sorry, but your opponent is tougher than a cockroach."

The black-haired woman nodded. "I can see that. The brats wouldn't have lasted beyond two hits."

"No kidding," Shinkurou grunted. "That literally shaved two-thirds of my shield points. What savage power did you store in that attack?"

Chifuyu creased her eyebrows. She didn't say anything until she lowered her altitude and let her feet touch the ground.

"While IS was built for sport and entertainment, that doesn't mean everyone would follow the rules every time." The pilot of Kurezakura raised her katana and readied a fighting stance. "The Mondo Grosso, for example, isn't only a world tournament meant to flaunt the advancement of technology a country has and promoting how great the IS are."

"…Ah, so that's it. Political leverage, arms race and all that," Shinkurou sighed. "Sounds like a pain in the ass. I guess that means your style is all work and no play, then."

"Don't be silly. Do you think I have the leisure when idiots scurry around without a care?"

Good point there, Shinkurou thought. Even though ten years had passed, he could remember Orimura Chifuyu's behavior. Always so serious, levelheaded, and responsible to a fault. It was mostly because she had been in a bad situation which forced her to focus in maintaining her household, and even her participation as an IS pilot was related to her family circumstance.

Had her younger brother not been involved in a terrorist incident, Chifuyu could have taken a little break once in a while, but…

"As if you could." Shinkurou scoffed as his lone wing unfolded, revealing steel feathers that ejected light, heat and noise. "You consider family as sacred and you won't stop at nothing to protect what is important to you. You can't hold back even if you want to, right?"

And now I just compared her with those main characters of the shitty comics hidden in the student council room. Man, the imagery makes me sick…

"If you know already, then this'll be quick." Chifuyu readied a stance. "Show me what strength you've gained until now, Shinonono."

The boy bent his knees and leaned forward. The single wing behind his back moved to align itself with his spine, the thruster ramping up the rotary engine and his sight locked on to his target.

"Fine," Shinkurou spat out. "I'll be sure to do just that, Instructor."

With that, air exploded behind him and brought him to the sky.

To any who were watching, the following battle would at least instill the ideal of 'fast' in their mind.

Blades clashed and orange sparks scattered. Blue jets burned behind the two combatants as they danced in a rondo of steel and heated air. Rays of light sprinkled the sky, damaged the surface of the arena and struck the barrier that protected the viewing gallery like a rain of light.

At the same time, two manned machines drew trails of light in the sky above the arena.

One was exceedingly fast with timed precisions that far surpassed any record of the Representative Candidates currently enrolled in the Infinite Stratos Academy. Her katana flashed like a flash of black lightning, striking true at her target while permitting not even a chance for failure in her every move.

How nostalgic, the woman – Chifuyu thought as she parried a downward slash. This is an experience I never thought would feel again.

She had once retired from piloting an IS, and had lived a life of a teacher for years. She could tell that her skills had dulled somewhat, since IS operated unlike the likes of the heavy power armors. However, she also admitted that she wanted to go out without a restraint for once.

So this is quite a turn of event.

Her foe was a silvery white one-winged knight. With an outdated design that was lackluster and putting emphasis only in protection, the clipped angel flew with reckless abandon while occasionally displaying savage battle instincts like a cornered wounded animal.

"Dammit, just hit already!" The pilot of Ashen Crow fired his composite railgun until the barrel overheated. "Tch…!"

Chifuyu accelerated at the chance. Closing in, she swung her katana only for her attack to be blocked before the blade could reach the neck of her opponent.

Steel groaned, sparks showered the silver armor covering Ashen Crow's pilot. The arms holding the swords trembled, and a question appeared about whose arms were trembling. Be that as it may, Kurezakura moved her thrusters and aimed them at her foe.

There was a surprised sound spilling out.

Then there was a burst of heat, noise and power.

A loud sound of an impact followed after the thrown off Ashen Crow. Shinkurou's limbs flailed as he lost all of his balance and composure. He shook his head as if to clear off the sudden detonation that swallowed him but it was too late.

Chifuyu pursued him and her katana slashed forward, biting into the armor plating as sounds of shrieking metal and solid resistance transferred back through her weapon and arms.

But in a split second, the sensation vanished as her vision was blinded by a curtain of blue light.

"What?!" Chifuyu responded by driving back at once.

She noticed a shallow decline in her Shield. Her sensors picked up heat and noise that could have torn the eardrums and laid serious burns on the skins – and she realized that her student had distracted her by turning her tactic against her.

"Hah… Ha!" The boy forced a laugh as he regained his stance. "How's that for you, huh!?"

Well now, Chifuyu bobbed her head a little, intending to give a response but keeping it as vague as possible. That was a genuine surprise, who'd ever thought he'd just go up and steal my trick.

Although it wasn't a bad thing, it was quite a rude act of thievery.

Others like her brother and some of his friends would have been agitated by the fact that their techniques were copied after they showed it off once. If it's an intentional form of harassment, then this brat certainly did it flawlessly.

As a teacher, Chifuyu's assessment would be 'still needs massive improvement'.

As a tactician, Chifuyu would say 'crude idea no different than a Swiss cheese'.

As a warrior, however…

"That's a good move," said the pilot of Kurezakura. "Then let's see how many skills you can steal with that power of observation of yours."

Chifuyu felt thrilled by the potential her opponent carried.