Legal Blindness: The state of having poor vision, usually defined as 20/200 or worse in the better eye. What the average person sees at 200 feet (60 meters) a legally blind person would see with the same clarity at 20 feet (6 meters), if not worse. Among blind people, somewhere around 15% are totally blind.

When Ichika first fell into the seat of the Infinite Stratos, he didn't really feel much other than a little clumsy- and then he felt. It was a mess of sensation: incredible hearing, the faint creaking of the air vents and faint conversations that must have been rooms away, a general awareness of a body that wasn't his but still felt like it, even when flesh ended and metal began. Even his sense of smell felt sharper somehow, his nose filled with the scent of oil and powder, munitions and supplies for what he was fairly certain was an IS.

But of course, he saw nothing but a blur; apparently, even Tabane-nee's genius couldn't overcome cataracts.

By the time he had been kidnapped, Ichika's vision was already starting to fail- it was something he had accepted, as long as he could see his sister triumph at the Mondo Grosso. That would be the greatest thing he could possibly see, as far as he was concerned. Despite what one might assume, there was no horrifying ocular trauma courtesy of his kidnappers- just a vicious assault by the whims of chance.

Still, Chifuyu hadn't raised him to be a quitter, and it was something he could live with, considering how he was blessed with a sister who cared for him deeply and a nice life. He studied hard- thank goodness for text to speech devices-, cooked for his sister, kept the house, and stayed fit. There was no reason not to.

He'd still swing his bokken around sometimes, feeling the wood under his palms and swinging away until it was slick with sweat. Of course, he wouldn't be reaching the heights Houki had- the national tournament, good for her!- but it was exercise.

Jogging and walking was possible as well, and of course he brought his cane along. Well, one of his canes- he was usually pretty frugal (Chifuyu worked hard for him, he couldn't waste it!) but he had several- few things got him antsy, but the idea of loosing or breaking a cane and being without a replacement… it would be like loosing a limb. It might have been a little silly to say, but it really did feel like an extension of his arm.

Speaking of extensions of the human body, the IS. Ichika was rather shocked by the whole process, of course, but was more interested about how natural it all seemed. Tabane-nee really was a genius, melding all the sensory data into the human mind so cleanly. Getting to experience it truly was a marvel- although sometimes it didn't really feel worth all the trouble it got him into.

Defeating the instructor was more a matter of luck than anything- from what he heard, the woman was seriously thrown off by his gender, and went into a sloppy charge that he somehow managed to dodge. Despite the distressing circumstances, Ichika loved being back in the Infinite Stratos suit- the majesty of the suit, the way it let him dance through the air unobstructed, the way it honed his other senses to perfection… he was practically looking forward to the academy.

Ichika didn't really have much to do other than try to familiarize himself with the Infinite Stratos system as soon as possible- there were still making him going to IS Academy even if he was legally blind, probably for the legal protections the school gave him.

The Infinite Stratos was, quite obviously, a complex system with a lot of moving parts, but Ichika did his best to understand the machine- if he was forced to go this school, the least he could do was make a decent showing. Some part of him desperately wanted to be back in the suit again though- to feel the metal as sure as he did flesh and bone.

When the boy walked into the classroom, everyone couldn't help but fall silent. Of course, the rumor mill went wild when they heard about a male pilot- several girls just couldn't believe it- and the disbelief only grew greater when he walked in with the help of a cane.

He didn't look too bad or anything: he was dressed in the male IS Academy uniform, specially made for him, and the long, white cane with a splash of bright orange was oddly fitting, as were the sunglasses.

Cautiously, he swept the cane in front of him, until he eventually struck a desk. "Ah- could you tell me where my seat is? It's supposed to be number three…" Ichika smiled.

"Of course- let me help you!" She stood up and took a hold of Ichika's cane- before he yanked it out of her hand.

"Sorry- I just don't like people grabbing my cane. It's- well, to put it simply I'd really prefer if you didn't touch it." It was extremely rude, but Ichika certainly hoped it was a honest mistake. "Would it be alright if I took your arm?"

"Of course." Ichika couldn't see it, but the girl had flushed brilliantly.

The class was already whispering when Ichika took his seat. "Could I get your name?"

"I'm Kiyoka Aikawa!" The girl squeaked, before rushing back to her seat. Ichika settled down at his own desk- if he remembered correctly they were holographic. Great.

The teacher, Yamada-sensei, gave them the usual first day at school spiel and made them give introductions- the others in the classroom were whispering a little, but he played close attention to his teacher as she called for introductions. "Orimura Ichika?"

Ichika stood up. "I'm Ichika Orimura, it's a pleasure to meet you all. If you couldn't tell, I have profound visual impairment- I'm legally blind. I don't think there's ever been an IS pilot quite like me before, but I hope you all will take care of me." The whispers reached a fever pitch until the door opened and someone else came in.

It took an embarrassing amount of time for him to recognize that voice as Chifuyu's (sue him, he wasn't expecting his sister to be his teacher), but he couldn't help but feel relief. At least he wasn't completely isolated- although being in a class of his sister's fangirls was pretty bad.

"Don't think you can just coast by, Ichika. I won't tolerate you slacking." Vaguely, Ichika could see his sister's silhouette in front of him, and he could almost imagine her staring down at him.

"Of course not, Chifuyu-nee-"

"Call me Orimura-sensei." She hissed.

"Yes, Orimura-sensei." The muttering only grew greater at that- he and his sister really were cursed with fame, huh?

The break was a relief; the class was rough, even though he had actually looked into the systems of the Infinite Stratos (if he hadn't he really would have been in trouble). Still, understanding the machine was a very different beast from actually controlling it- all the reading in the world would only get you so far. He managed to survive class, at the very least.

"Can we talk for a minute?" The blur in front of him seemed to be a student.

"I suppose?" Ichika cleared his throat. "Who am I talking to?"

The figure huffed. "It's me- Houki. Your childhood friend?"

Ichika smiled. "Really? It's been a long time since we've seen each other- you won that national kendo competition last year, right? Congratulations!"

"What?" Houki's voice seemed… shrill. "Where did you hear about that?"

"… the news?"

"Look- can we go talk somewhere a little more… private?" The last part came out as little more than a whisper.

"Sure- just please, not somewhere too sunny."

"Why not?"

Ichika shrugged and pointed at his sunglasses. "I don't just wear them for show- the cataracts make me light sensitive, and I do not need a headache on top of all these classes."

"Cataracts?"

"Yes. They might have been from head trauma when I was younger- not really important. My vision was already starting to go by the Mondo Grosso."

"Wait… you activated an IS while legally blind?"

"Yeah." Ichika shrugged.

Before Houki could form a response, their conversation was cut off by the bells, and the start of more classes.

Cecilia Alcott was… proud. That would probably be the best word to describe her if you had to pick one, and it seemed like she took Ichika's presence as some sort of personal insult. She was also very fond of shouting- he did not look forward to any future conversations with the girl- not sure why she felt the need to talk with him more if she looked down on him so much… but maybe she just had a compulsive need to berate him.

After the last class drew to a close, Ichika made his way in the direction of the dorms- he had gotten many, many offers to be guided around the campus, and while a helping hand would certainly be nice, he wanted to get used to walking around on his own. Also, it would hopefully show the gaggle of girls that felt the need to follow him that he was fine without their help, thank you- unless they were just watching him like some sort of zoo animal.

Once he had gotten a general idea of where the dorms were, it wasn't even that hard to get there. He swept his cane across the ground in front of him, keeping him safely on the path that led him to the dorms.

However, there was a bit of a problem when he reached the building- how exactly was he supposed to find his room? He was given a slip of paper with his room number on it, but… well, he couldn't really read it now could he? Well, there was no reason not to ask for help, was there? He did need sleep, after all.

"Excuse me, could you please read this for me?" He passed the paper to one of the many girls following him (didn't they have something better to do with their time?) and after a moment moments of chattering he received a response.

"Yes- you're assigned to Room 1025, Orimura." After a moment of silence, she spoke again. "Do you need some help finding it?"

"If you'd be willing…"

"Of course, Orimura!" She chirped. "Now, you take my arm, right?"

"Yes." Ichika tried his best to ignore the giggling, chattering, and expressions of jealously (what for?) as the girl led him down the halls, eventually depositing him in front of his home for the next few years.

"Hey, isn't it strange that Orimura's room isn't set off from the rest of ours?"

"So this is where his room is? Interesting… very interesting." Ichika didn't really like how that sounded, but he supposed that the girls might be a little worried about a man in their dorms- could be a little unnerving.

Initially, Ichika assumed that he was rooming alone, as the only male, but maybe that wasn't the case? He decided to err on the side of caution and knock. The door swung open, revealing… well, he couldn't see clearly, but he could certainly hear all the girls whispering about "Shinonono-san," and unless Tabane had made a visit…

"Houki?"

"Ichika?!" Her voice was awfully shrill, wasn't it? "What are you doing here?"

"This is the room I was assigned, so I'm here to sleep, I suppose."

Houki started sputtering. "But we can't just share a room together like this… It's indecent!"

"I think so too, but it's the room I was assigned- not much I can do about it."

"Really? And what if this is some scheme of yours-" What would the end goal even be there? It wasn't like Ichika could sneak a peak…

"No seriously, Shinonono, this is the room he was assigned to!" The girl who led him to his room spoke up, before passing what sounded like a piece of paper to Houki.

Houki huffed. "I suppose this is your room after all- just get inside before you cause any more trouble."

This fic was inspired in large part by a show called H2O: Footprints in the Sand, or at least the first episode. Seems like a fairly standard harem anime, but what caught my interest was the blind protagonist. AND THEN THEY DROP THE BLINDNESS AFTER ONE EPISODE. Or at least it seems like it- I haven't watched through the whole series yet.

There's so much interesting stuff you could do with that- exploring the lives of the blind (research for this chapter has been interesting), seeing the blind person adapt to his new life (whether in a normal school or an IS school in this fic's case), some interesting interactions with the harem… So I wrote this. I've always liked Infinite Stratos, even knowing full well it is harem trash.

I'd like to note something here: Ichika will not be "cured" of his blindness. If/when I get around to making this a long fic, he will stay legally blind. If you're interested in writing about the blind, I'd recommend mimzy-writing-online on tumblr. Their posts have been helpful in this. I really hope I'm getting this whole blindness thing right.

So… is it good? Worthwhile idea or nah? Oh and please tell me if I've gotten anything wrong. I really, really don't mean to offend.