Chapter 2
Wolf awoke the next morning. It was his second day in Japan at the IS academy with and he had a strange mixture of feeling both excitment and apprehension. He was excited because he was about to start training for a potential lifetime career of IS piloting and apprehensious because he foresaw a myriad of likely awkwardnesses ahead dealing with all the girls of the school.
The very first came as soon as he got out of bed and needed to use the toiletry facilities. There were no toilets inside the individual suite bathrooms, only communal excretion berths at the end of the halls. Wolf looked at the clock to assess his options. It was 6:02'AM, exceptionally early. A cramp in his stomach decided things for him and Wolf knew he had to risk running into one of the countless girls.
Wolf stepped out of the room, leaving a still sleeping Ichika behind. He made his way down the hall and entered the common restroom. It was an exquisitely clean, white tiled room with cutting edge appliances. He then heard the sound of water breaking and splashing. There was a girl in the room. Wolf froze, unable to move, petrified with terrified awkwardness. The door to one of the stalls opened, and Cecilia emerged wearing a lacey, white, cleaveage revealing nightie. She became just as suspended and motionless as Wolf himself was when she saw him. All either of them could do was just to stand there and stare at each other for several long moments. The cringes on their faces depicted how unnerved they were by both knowing what Cecilia had been doing a moment before.
"Wolf, um, how... unexpected to see you here." She said.
"Yeah, well, um, you know, uh, stalls." Wolf said, unable to compose himself.
"Yes, well, um, I'll see you in class." Cecilia said.
She then scooted past him and walked out of the restroom with as much elegance and class as she could summon. Wolf just stood there as she left without saying anything else.
"What's the big deal?" Ichika asked Wolf as they got their breakfast.
It had been an hour and a half since the incident in the restroom had occurred. Ichika had given Wolf the tour he'd promised, albeit a quick one. Ichika had shown Wolf how to get from the dorm to the various arenas, to the training grounds, to the class rooms and back to the cafeteria again for breakfast.
"I mean, I really don't get it. You and Cecilia saw each other in the bathroom, so what?" Ichika asked.
They were just taking their meal trays out of the line and were heading for a table.
"Ichika, imagine you bumped into Houki when you knew she'd just gotten off the toilet." Wolf said bluntly.
Ichika imagined it and he stumbled and nearly lost his tray and food.
"Okay, I guess I understand." Ichika said.
They then went over to the booth and saw that all the girls were already waiting in one booth. The guys stared at both Cecilia and Houki for a moment. Cecilia blushed somewhat and looked away from Wolf's gaze and Houki did as well from Ichika, but for the reason that she didn't understand why Ichika was looking at her so funnily. The guys then slipped into the booth adjacent to the one the girls were in. Ichika and Wolf didn't speak through their breakfast due to the awkwardness, and none of the girls spoke because they were upset Ichika hadn't sat with them.
Thirty minutes later, they were all in classroom 1-1. Wolf was standing up in front of the entire class, being introduced by the assistant teacher, Miss Yamada.
"Now class, I'm glad to introduce our brand new transfer student. We had a little trouble getting him here, but he's here now; our new classmate, Mr. Wolf Wilson."
Wolf wasn't paying much attention to her words because he was trying not to pay much attention to her, period. Miss Yamada was a cute woman and clearly a very nice woman, but the dress she was wearing revealed a large amount of the woman's bra, and it was distracting.
Many murmurs and hushed talking erupted from the class.
"I can't believe we've actually got another boy in class now." One girl said.
"Do you think there are more boys like him and Orimora out there?" A girl asked the girl next to her.
"Damn, he's really cute." Another girl mumbled.
"How can he be in this class?" One asked.
"Isn't he a first year?"
"This doesn't make sense."
"Enough!" Chifuyu Orimora shouted.
Everyone quiteted instantly. Chifuyu then stood to address the class.
"Mr. Wilson may technically be a first year student, but he is in this class. All results of his entrance exams showed he is far ahead of the average first year student, so it was decided he would be put with all of you. Now, Mr. Wilson if you'll be good enough to take your seat next to Miss Alcott." Chifuyu said.
"Next to Cecilia." Wolf thought to himself.
Wolf moved through the row and sat down behind the desk next to Cecilia. He looked to her, she looked back and the two then looked away from each other.
The class proceeded as normal with Chifuyu and Miss Yamada teaching about the techincal mechanincs of battle and the inner workings of the Infinite Stratos. It was all a bit dry in Wolf's opinion. He didn't know what he'd been expecting, but from the stories he'd heard, he hadn't thought everything would be so academic.
As class ended, Chifuyu Orimora spoke to the whole class again.
"We'll now be going outside for practical training along with class 1-2."
Ichika stood up and approached Wolf's desk.
"Come on Wolf, we've got to get to the locker rooms before the girls."
Ichika then grabbed Wolf's hand, pulling him to his feet and beginning to drag him away. Wolf took Ichika's gripping hand with his other and locked it into a painful karate grip.
"Ichika, I don't like to be touched like that by other men." Wolf said a bit menacingly.
"Noted." Ichika said.
Wolf then released Ichika and the two proceeded in a hurried, but normal fashion. In the locker room, the two changed into their IS pilot uniforms on opposite sides of the lockers.
"Listen man, I hope I didn't hurt you back there in the classroom." Wolf said.
"Nah, Wolf, it's okay." Ichika said. "It was my fault anyway. I think I've just had a lack of guy interaction for a bit too long."
"I get that. So, we're good?" Wolf asked.
"Yeah, we're fine." Ichika said.
Wolf then stepped around the lockers and the two saw each other in their piloting suits. Wolf's was basically the same as Ichika's except that his was a deep hunter green, the shorts were actually full length, form fitting pants and it covered him completely with no break between the torso and pants sections of the suit.
"Huh. Kinda interesting how yours is different from mine. Guess yours was made in America." Ichika said.
"Yep. Right in my Uncle's factory." Wolf said.
Outside on the training field, the guys waited until the girls came out changed and the entire class then stood in formed ranks.
"For today's practical training, we'll be watching the inherent differences between the long-range and close-range combat styles." Chifuyu said. "Alcott, Huang, activate your IS'."
Cecilia and Rin both stepped forwards and turned on their machines from the bracelet on Rin's wrist and the earrings on Cecilia's ears. ShenLong and Blue Tears activated in a flash. Wolf thought to himself how good Cecilia looked in her Infinite Stratos, like an armored, gun toting princess.
Chifuyu ordered them, "Take to the skies and use the holograms to display the differences in your IS'. We'll begin with the close-range."
Rin and Cecila then both flew up into the air. A lengthy series of holographic targets presented themselves all around the two of them. As she was going first, Rin pulled out a giant, axe like sword from behind her back. The jets of her IS activated more greatly and Rin charged through the targets, swiping and slicing through them. At the end of her run, Rin spun around one-hundred-eighty degrees and used her "Dragon Cannon" to fire energized bolts of atmosphere to eliminate the remainder of the targets.
"As you can see, while the ShenLong is not solely a close combat unit, the close-range style may technically put you in greater danger of retaliation, but, in the opinion of mnay pilots, gives you greater control over the course of the fight." Chifuyu told the students on the ground. "Alcott, you're go!"
Cecilia took out her sniper rifle and began to shoot blue colored laser jolts at the targets, hitting the bullseye with every shot. She then activated her flying laser wings, sending them maneuvering around the holographic targets, shooting their own laser ordinance at the marks, achieving the same accuracy. Cecilia then flew at a marvelously fast velocity, blasting out the targets with all five of her guns in tandem.
Wolf thought it was the most beautiful and elegant display of piloting he had ever seen. The thought was further reinforced when he noticed that there was not a hair out of place on her head despite the g-force winds brushing against her. At that moment, he knew that he was finished. He was caught. He didn't know Cecilia well yet, but he knew that amongst all the girls at the school, she was likely to be the only one he wanted to get to know in-depth and wholly and completely and, in time, foster an even deeper connection with her. He yearned to mentally captivate her into a position where Cecilia would be open to a relationship. Though, he admitted, it was a task he felt was going to be arduous and trying. But, something inside of him gave him the brawn he might have otherwise lacked in his previous life in the US. To him, she would be worth the effort, despite the uncertainty of the outcome.
Then, at that moment, something happened: An unseen laser shot from nowhere tore through the sky and decimated Cecilia's propulsion wings. She tumbled downward as fast as gravity could pull her out of the sky. She was nearing impact at terminal velocity before anyone really knew what was happening. For the shot to have torn through Blue Tears' flight system, it meant it had annihilated her shield energy, meaning Cecilia was in real and true danger. Rin was flying down to try to catch her and everyone else was watching with bated breath.
Before Ichika could activate his Byakushiki, Wolf ran forward, jumping into action.
"HammerBlade!" Wolf shouted in his mind, sparking off his IS.
No one on the ground caught anything but the feintest glimpse of Wolf's IS because he seemed to have dissappeared completely. All anyone could see was a rapidly dashing blur racing in Cecilia's direction. Cecilia and Blue Tears were about to hit the ground, Rin almost in arm's length of her when the blur jumped up and caught Cecilia out of the sky. She and the blur landed relatively softly, creating a far smaller crater than would have occurred otherwise.
The rest of the class ran forwards and came upon the landing site. What they all saw was Wolf and Cecilia at the bottom of the crater, Cecilia in Wolf's arms as he held her protectively. Both of their IS' were deactivated and gone.
"Everybody alright down there?" Ichika called.
"Yes! I'm quite fine." Cecilia shouted back. "The shot tore through all of my shield energy."
She then looked up into Wolf's eyes. He was panting hard, not just from exertion, but from the now wavering adrenaline spike. His eyes were full of both worry and relief.
"Wolf, you just saved my life." She said.
"Well, it seemed like the gentlemanly thing to do." Wolf said, trying to play it nonchalant. "Can you walk?"
"Yes, I believe so." Cecilia said.
She climbed out of Wolf's arms and stood up.
"I don't think I'm harmed in the slightest, thanks to you."
Wolf stood as well. The two then climbed up out of the small hole and stood with their classmates.
Chifuyu said, "Alcott, you'd better get your IS to the maintenance department then have yourself checked out in the infirmary, just to be safe."
"Yes, Miss Orimura." Cecilia said. "I'll see you at lunch, Wolf."
She then walked away.
"Okay everyone, could we get back to our training now, please?" Miss Yamada asked.
Everyone started to fall back into ranks, except for Wolf.
"Wait, you're all just going to go back to class as if nothing happened?!" He asked with incredulity. "Someone just took a shot at Cecilia!"
"Well, Cecilia's fine and nothing else has happened." Ichika said.
"I don't believe this!" Wolf shouted.
"Get back into line, Wilson!" Chifuyu yelled at him.
"What's the matter with you people?! Aren't you going to do anything?!" Wolf asked.
"And what exactly would you have us do?" Chifuyu asked.
"Get everyone inside, use the school satellites to scan the area, have the instructors suit up and make aerial reconnaissance. Call the cops at the very least!" Wolf yelled.
Chifuyu then stepped closely to Wolf and looked sternly up into his eyes.
"Since you're new and from America, I'm going to let this go this one time. Just know that even though we're not running around in a mad panic over this, it will be investigated thoroughly. We will put every resource of the school into finding out where that shot came from and making sure that it doesn't happen again. If that's not good enough for you, then that's just your problem."
Wolf returned her harsh gaze. He wasn't exactly sure whether she was calculating the situation, was so cold-blooded that she was unfazed by it all, or simply didn't care. Whatever the answer was, Wolf realized soon enough that nothing was going to be done about it at that moment, so he retook his former position amongst the others and the class resumed.
An hour later, the whole group of Ichika, Laura, Cecilia, Rin, Charlotte, Wolf and Houki were all up on the grass lawn on the roof, sitting in a large circle.
"Okay, I'd say we definitely earned our lunch today." Ichika said.
"I'd say that's an understatement." Wolf said.
"Right, I'm going to present the lunch I brought for everone to share first." Cecilia said. "I've made a delicious spread of sandwhiches AND some traditional English Fish'N'Chips. I think the first bite should go to Wolf, the hero of the hour."
She then held out a picnic basket and opened it to reveal the food.
"It looks great Cecilia, thank you!" Wolf said.
He started to reach out to take a sandwhich, but before he took one, the five members of the group besides he and Cecilia got up, grabbed him and dragged him out of earshot within a flash.
"What are you guys doing?" Wolf asked loudly, shocked by the outburst.
"We're trying to save your life!" Rin whisper yelled at him.
"You don't know what you're getting in for!" Ichika warned Wolf.
"Oui, her cooking is incroyablement terrible!" Charlotte added.
"It's like swallowing nuclear waste." Houki chimed in.
"Ja! You should listen to them." Laura said.
Wolf then stood up and looked harshly at them.
"If you all don't mind, I think I'd like to find out for myself."
He walked back over and sat down in front of Cecilia again.
"Thank you, Cecilia. These look wonderful." He said.
"Thank you. I hope you like them." She replied.
Wolf took one of the sandwhiches and a handful of breaded fish tenders and french fries out of the basket. He lifted the sandwhich to his mouth and took a heaping bite out of it. Everyone else was watching him, waiting, anticipating. After several moments, Wolf's mouth stopped chewing and he swallowed the first bite.
"Wow! That's the best sandwhich I've ever had in my life!" Wolf shouted.
"Really?" Cecilia asked.
"Really?! The five others yelled.
"Yeah, I've never had anything this good before." Wolf enthused.
"Oh, Wolf, you're so kind! Please, take as much as you like." Cecilia said.
Wolf then began to dig into the food while still being modest and mannerly.
"That's the best he's ever had?" Houki thought in her mind.
"What's he been living on 'til now? Fried tire rubber?" Rin thought.
"This is potentially a very interesting situation vith many possibilities." Laura thought.
"I guess it really does take all kinds." Ichika thought.
"Perhaps he is just trying to be kind." Charlotte thought. "Oui, that must be it."
The rest of them then reformed the circle and began to eat their lunch.
"Mmm!" Wolf groaned happily as he bit into the fish. "I haven't had food this good in years."
"You're quite flattering, but surely your Mum must have made food better than this." Cecilia said.
"She couldn't not have." Rin said sarcastically.
"Yeah, she used to." Wolf said, his tone full of melancholy.
Cecilia then asked, "Used to? Does she not cook anymore?"
"Not for a long time." Wolf said.
He then saw that everyone was becoming deeply curious about his words.
"So, what do you guys do for fun around here when you're not training or studying?" Wolf asked to change the subject.
"Vhen ve are not training or studying?" Laura repeated the question.
"Huh, come to think of it, that's kind of a good question." Ichika said.
"I guess it's easy to ask that on just your second day." Houki said. "Here at the academy, fun is mostly whatever down time you get. You'll figure that out soon enough."
"Oui, either relaxing or participating in practice matches or school tournaments." Charlotte said.
Rin then said, "Speaking of IS', Wolf, how'd you do that whole speed thing when you saved Cecilia?"
"Yes, I'm curious about that myself." Cecilia said.
"Well, I activated HammerBlade, obviously." Wolf said.
"But, we didn't even see it." Ichika said.
"I told you guys it was designed to be faster than any other IS."
"Tres incroyable!" Charlotte exclaimed. "You were practically invisible. Now I truly cannot wait to see your match with Houki."
"No kidding!" Houki enthused. "Our fight is going to be awesome!"
"How exactly does your IS achieve zhis speed?" Laura asked.
"I could give you the overview, but the rest is trade secrets and kinda over my head anyway." Wolf said, partially laughing.
"Well, will you tell us?" Rin asked.
"Think I'll save it for during the match itself. My Dad's a writer and I know the importance of saving a surprise until the right moment." Wolf said.
"Oh, Wolf, you're an awful tease!" Cecilia said with a smile.
Wolf smiled back to her and they all continued to talk pleasantly as they ate their lunch.
The rest of the day proceeded largely the same as the first half with classes on mechanics and theory concerning the IS. Although bored nearly out of his mind, Wolf still payed attention, absorbing all of the information. He might not have been the most studious student on the campus, but he had no intention of failing out. He had technically skipped the first year after all, so he had an image to protect.
Shortly after classes had ended, the whole group had met up again at arena no. one for the match. Houki Shinonono vs. Wolf Wilson. Akatsubaki vs. HammerBlade. Houki and Wolf stood on opposite ends of the arena in their piloting suits while the rest of the group were in the stands.
"Fair warning, Wolf: just because this is your first real match doesn't mean I'll go easy on you!" Houki shouted.
"Funny. I was gonna say the same thing to you." Wolf hollered back.
The two smiled at each other.
"Akatsubaki!" Houki shouted out loud, for a change.
The bells on the belted wristband on her arm glowed brightly and the Akatsubaki activated. Houki stood nearly seven feet tall as the red colored machine enveloped her in its defensive technological superiorty.
"HammerBlade!" Wolf yelled.
The belt around Wolf's waist ignited with light and the HammerBlade turned on as well. Houki, Charlotte, Laura, Cecilia, Rin and Ichcika then all got their very first look at Wolf's Infinte Stratos. He had not been exaggerating when he'd said it was extremely disparate from the standard IS model and, in fact, it looked nothing like a typical IS. There was thick metal covering his entire form, more like a combat armor than an IS. Wolf had a protective helmet on his head with a glass visor shielding his eyes. The whole suit was the same shade of hunter green as Wolf's piloting suit with black accents on his hands, feet, knees and the sides of the helmet.
"So, that's his IS." Ichika commented in the stands.
"Is that even an IS?" Charlotte asked.
"It doesn't look anything like one." Rin said.
"A very intriguing design." Laura thought out loud. "Zhis should be interesting."
"Go on Wolf, show her what you can do!" Cecilia cheered him on.
Down in the arena, Houki said, "I have to say, I wasn't expecting that. Now, I'm even more excited to see what you can do."
"Please, ladies first." Wolf said.
Houki smiled, drew her two swords and charged forwards at top flight speed. Wolf stood motionless, seemingly unworried as Houki approached. She closed the distance and was about to strike when it happened. Wolf vanished and Houki crashed into the arena wall. Everyone was shocked and surprised, jumping to their feet as they waited for the dust to settle so they could tell what had happened. The cloud of debris cleared and they saw Houki climbing out of a hole made in the wall. Wolf was on the other side of the arena, where Houki had been standing previously.
"What just happened?" Ichika asked no one in particular.
"Confused?" Wolf asked Houki. "See, aside from the design, what makes HammerBlade so much different is the propulsion system. Instead of installing a traditional flight system, the guys at my Uncle's factory invented a new kind of even more powerful micro-jet. The micro-jets are spaced over every surface of the suit, allowing me to move, dodge and maneuver at even greater speeds than your Akatsubaki."
"Huh. Very interesting. It'll be fun beating you." Houki said.
Houki then charged again. Again, Wolf waited until she was just in front of him and then jumped. He leaped up into the air at least fifty feet. Houki stopped herself before a second crash and waited until Wolf had landed to turn to him again.
"And, to help make up for the lack of flying, they gave the suit neumatic amplifiers and neuro-muscular enhancers to give me phenomenal jumping ability and near super-human strength, to help mitigate the lack of weapons." Wolf explained.
He then took off running, nearly invisible, moving at unbelieveable speeds. He ran up behind Houki and punched her in the back. Her shield took the impact, but she went hurtling across the arena until she collided into the wall again. She clambored out and checked her shield energy. It had been reduced from eight-hundred to five-hundred from Wolf's punch and her two crashes.
"Wow! I'm really impressed. You pack quite a punch." Houki said.
Houki then charged him for a third time. Wolf thought that she just wasn't learning, but, when he began to super-speed away, Houki swung her Karaware katana and a crescent laser wave came out of the blade and struck him in the chest. Wolf crashed into the ground from the hit and dug in, the earth clumping up behind him as he ground to a halt. Several moments after he stopped, he clambored to his feet, looked at Houki and smiled.
"Letting me think you were just trying the same thing again. Nice decption." Wolf praised her.
"Thanks. I thought that would work." Houki replied.
"Won't work again." Wolf said back.
He ran towards her again and Houki shot rapid lasers at the blur that was Wolf with her Amatsuki sword. Wolf dodged the blasts and closed the gap between them and performed a jumping, flying side-kick into her, making her fly up into the air. Houki used her flight system and stabilized herself before clashing into the stands.
"Since you've admitted you can't fly with your HammerBlade, I think I'll stick to using an aerial advantage." Houki said.
She then fired the laser bolts from both of her swords down at Wolf. Wolf spent several minutes speeding around the arena, dodging her blasts to try to save his shield energy. Just as he was making a short jump to dodge a crescent laser, he was struck in the back by another bolt and was sent into the ground. Houki then pressed on and pummeled him with repeated lasers. She cut off her assault a minute later and looked down to see. Wolf slowly straightened to his full height and looked up at her.
He said, "Well, I wasn't planning on showing this for a while yet, but I'm having too much fun to end this fight now, so check this out."
Wolf then jumped up into the air and, instead of falling, a platform spontaeneously appeared beneath his feet in mid-air and he jumped off it as well, repeating the process over and over until he reached Houki's altitude.
"How... how? You said you didn't have a flight system." Houki said.
"I technically don't, but, as you pointed out, not being able to go skyward is a great disadvantage, so they put forcefield generators in the hands and feet so I could create platforms for which to traverse the air."
"Hmm. Works for me." Houki said. "Wouldn't have been much fun to win that easily anyway."
Wolf and Houki then struck, rushing each other at their top speeds. The two assaulted each other with rapid hits and evasions, each combatant clouting each other and dogding the other's blows at an even ratio. To the others in the stands, the streaking lights of the IS' in the sky looked amazingly similar to a World War II dogfight. They could easily tell which was Houki and which was Wolf, not only because of the colors from their respective machines, but because of the patterns created by the colors. The pattern from Houki's was perfectly symmetrical and flowing from her normal flying while Wolf, with his rabbiting swiftly from forcefield platform to forcefield platform created a jagged looking zig-zag pattern through the sky. Every time the two patterns intersected there was a huge crack of sound to coincide with their clashes.
Houki slashed across Wolf's shield with a fast pass and her fold-out armor. Wolf struck Houki with an uppercut then leapfrogged off a platform created above Houki and fell swiftly down towards her again and hit her with a spinning axe-kick. Houki then extended the laser blade from her foot and swiped at Wolf with it, hitting him diagonally down the chest.
After that, Wolf fell down through the air, but out of control and with no purpose on his part. He seemed to be either knocked out or severely dazed. Despite the IS' protection protocols, Houki's worry for her new friend compelled her to fly down to try to catch him. Once she was in range to grab onto him, Wolf's eyes suddenly opened, a glow of laser energy emanated on the front of his right leg and he activated the micro-jets in the suit leg to put a massive strike into Houki's shield, sending her tumbling away as he made another platform to stop himself.
"Sacre bleu!" Charlotte gasped.
"Did you see how sneaky that was?!" Rin asked.
"What a brilliant tactic!" Cecilia declared.
"Just like an American for you." Commented Laura.
"But you have to admit, that was cool!" Ichika said.
Houki then recovered and looked at Wolf with a wry smile.
"Payback for my sneak play?" She asked.
"Only seemed fair." Wolf responded.
"I have to admit, you're a much better pilot than I figured. Your IS is amazing." Houki said.
"Same to you, Houki. This is the most fun I've had in years."
"Me too, which is why I'm sorry to say you don't have much of a chance here."
Houki's Akatsubaki then began to glow a golden aura.
"That was my Kenran But?." She said. "Means I just recovered all of my lost shield energy, so its just like the fight's just started for me."
"That is an impressive ability." Wolf said. "And if it weren't for HammerBlade's very own one-off attack, then I'd definitely be in danger of losing this fight."
"So, it's a duel of our greatest abilities now." Houki said.
"Good luck, Houki." Wolf said.
"You too." Houki said.
She blasted towards him at her full speed with her katanas. Wolf dodged, jumping up over her and leapfrogging from platform to platform as she chased him all throughout the air. Wolf then stopped leaping and ran forward at his top speed. Houki began to close on him. One more decent blow with her swords would empty his remaining shield energy and win her the match. Just as she'd gotten into striking distance Wolf suddenly jumped upwards with an even more powerful and faster burst of speed, made a platform, bounced off of it upside down, got positioned behind Houki, careened off another two platforms and dashed at her with his greatest speed yet, a super-sonic boom accompanying him. Wolf punched Houki with all his enhanced strength at a speed of of mach one-point-four. Houki toppled out of the sky and collided with the ground hard. Her shield energy had been reduced to zero with his one punch. Wolf had won. The match was over.
Wolf unhurriedly and gently slid to the ground until he'd landed near Houki's crater. He stepped down into it and moved close to her just as Houki deactivated her IS and Akatsubaki retracted into the bells. Wolf made HammerBlade retract as well. He then graciously held out his hand to help her up.
"Great match." He said, smiling.
Houki returned the smile and took his hand. He pulled her to her feet.
"You too." Houki said. "I really didn't see that last punch coming."
"Guys!" They heard Ichika shout.
He and the rest of the girls were standing at the mouth of the crater.
"That was so awesome!" Ichika said.
Wolf and Houki then climbed out of the hole. Houki took notice of the fact that he didn't let go of her hand until they were up on the ground level and wondered if it meant something that she didn't take her hand away herself, despite the fact that Ichika was the one man she liked and wanted. At least, that's what she thought.
"Guys, that was one of the coolest matches I've ever seen." Ichika said.
"Yes, it was incredibly impressive, Wolf!" Cecilia beamed.
"Ah, it was nothing." Wolf tried to be modest.
"Nothing?! Your performance was amazing!" Charlotte said.
"Yes, you vere surprisingly imposing out there." Laura said.
"Yeah, it was a lot of fun. Personally, I had a blast." Houki said.
"Vhat vas zhat attack you used to finish the match?" Laura asked.
"Yeah, I've never seen anything like that!" Ichika said.
"Oh, that was my super-sonic punch." Wolf said. "Pretty cool, huh? It's a one off attack because it dumps almost all of my shield energy into the micro-jets to increase my speed even futher and hit my opponent while moving faster than sound. It's also a tricky attack to pull off because I need an unobscured and direct line of sight to my opponent. At those speeds, if I move even the slightest to the left or right then I'll miss my opponent completely."
"Well, you pulled it off beautifully." Cecilia said.
"Wolf, you and me are- going next! Right now!" Rin proposed with a smile.
"How 'bout tomorrow, Rin?" Wolf asked. "As you can probably imagine, HammerBlade might have some advantages over standard IS', but it does take a lot more physical effort to pilot it. I'm not wiped, but I'm nearly there."
"Alright, tomorrow's fine." Rin said.
"And I vill go after Rin." Laura stated matter-of-factly.
"And then me!" Charlotte said.
"Everyone, please!" Cecilia butted in. "I'm sure we all want to have a match against Wolf now, but if we make him fight us day after day then the poor boy won't have the strength to lift his head, much less compete in any school tournaments or events when they come around."
"Thank you, Cecilia. That was very well said." Wolf said.
"You're very welcome." She then turned to Ichika. "Now, Ichika Dear, it's time for your training."
Cecilia moved over and draped herself all over Ichika's arm.
"Come along, we've lots of work to do." She squealed happily.
She then began to almost drag him away by force.
"Hey, get back here!" Rin shouted angirly.
She and all the other girls scowled and began to follow them. Wolf sighed to himself. He considered all six of them to be his friends, but they were a bit exasperating and there was no doubt that it'd be a while until he wasn't the new guy in the group, especially considering that all of them were still crazy over Ichika. Although, by Cecilia standing up for him to keep the others in check, he thought he might already be making progress with her, and it made him smile. Wolf then hurried off to watch and see what exactly the girls would do to Ichika; he didn't want to miss that. He had a sneaking suspicion that it would be entertainment unlike any other.
In a highrise in the city, a woman with black hair and her face hidden by a hood over her head stepped into the main room. She crossed the room and stood in front of a comfortable looking couch. On the couch was a beautiful, tall, blonde woman wearing an evening dress and sipping a glass of wine. She had an air of authority about her, yet seemed to be unconcerned with everything besides her wine and her view.
"Did you do it?" She asked the black-haired woman. Her tone was measured and saturated with control.
"Yes."
"And?"
"It's confirmed. The American boy is at the IS academy." The black-haired woman reported.
"Does he have it?" The blonde woman asked.
"Yes. He has the HammerBlade, but he doesn't seem to have unlocked it's true potential yet."
"Perfect." The blonde woman said with an almost laughing tone.
She then waved the black-haired woman away and continued to sip her wine.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please review and follow. More will be coming.