A/N: Trying to get the hang of social interaction between Ichika and his future Harem (Although I don't think Harem is the right word to use for a bunch of girls fighting for Ichika's exclusive attention, although that could just be me.) Also, please correct me if I used any foreign terms incorrectly. My knowledge of languages only encompasses English and Russian, not Japanese, so I might use honorifics and vocabulary incorrectly. Please inform me if I make such a mistake, so that I may correct it.
Chapter 5
"You're overthinking things." Maya spoke a few moments after Chifuyu had voiced her suspicions to the green haired teacher.
"Oh? And what makes you say that? My little brother has skills he should not have, an IS that's not designed for tournaments, and possible connections to an unknown group. What makes you say I'm overthinking things?" Chifuyu asked.
"Well, for starters, the truth is likely far more simple than that. You know how some corporations are these days, after all. According to what you told me, Ichika-kun has been working around IS suits for quite some time, and it is more than likely that he activated one earlier than he claims to have. Then, the corporation would have hushed things up and secretly trained him in preparation for a big reveal. After all, a male who appears to be a natural IS pilot would make for great publicity!" Maya replied, giving Chifuyu the secondary cover story that had been prepared in case someone saw through the original.
"That explains the skills, but it doesn't tell me why Ichika's IS is built like that, nor about his connections to some mysterious organization."
"That organization likely doesn't exist. If what I said earlier is true, then Ichika designed and built that IS for his own personal use from the start, rather than take over a unit designed for someone else's use. As for his IS design... I don't think he knew exactly what he was doing at the time." Maya's expression grew somber.
"Elaborate."
"Do you remember what you told me a few years ago? Back when you first got your job at the academy?" Maya asked.
"I told you many things."
"I mean your concerns about Dr. Tabane."
"Oh..." Chifuyu trailed off as she remembered that particular conversation.
"Exactly. I believe that whoever mentored Ichika in IS design had similar concerns, and encouraged Ichika to make the modifications to his IS." Maya spoke.
"Si vis pacem, para bellum. If you want peace, prepare for war. The problem with that is, my concerns regard what happens after the Doctor dies, and that definitely won't be happening for a long time. Ichika is simply too early in his preparations."
"Who says it has to happen with the Doctor's death? All it would take is someone else developing their own version of the IS core and making it public. The country that performed the deed would likely keep the method to itself, which in turn would make it a target. That would easily be enough to start a war, and it could conceivably happen in our lifetime." Maya spoke seriously.
"So you say that Dr. White foresaw all this and made Ichika alter his IS to make it better suited to the battlefield?" Chifuyu asked skeptically.
"Exactly."
"But what makes you think that Ichika would want to fight?"
"He doesn't have to want to fight. He is an IS pilot, after all. Should war break out, he will be forced into fighting for his county, just like every other student here." Maya said sadly.
"I understand that..." Chifuyu sighed. The room was silent for a few moments.
"But on the bright side, Ichika's definitely not affiliated with any sort of shadowy organization! I mean, does this adorable face look like it belongs to a terrorist?" Maya brightened up and held up a small photo of Ichika. Then she realized the identity of the person she was talking to.
"Oh? And why do you have a picture of my little brother's 'adorable face' with you?" Chifuyu was smiling as well now, all thoughts of a grim future pushed away.
"W-well... It's not what it looks like!" Maya panicked, blushing. Chifuyu laughed at that.
"So you're into that sort of thing now, are you? Well, don't expect me to just let you snatch him away! I am his big sister after all, and it's my job to frighten away all potential suitors!"
"I told you, it's not like that!"
"You don't have to be so embarrassed about it. After all, Ichika does have quite a way with women." At that, Maya's face had taken on the shade of a tomato.
"N-no! I don't-"
"Don't worry though, Yamada-kun..." Chifuyu leaned in to whisper in her ear.
"If you can impress me enough, maybe I'll let you have him!" That was the last straw for the poor green haired teacher, who promptly fell over in a dead faint, her face flushed red.
"That was too easy." Chifuyu smirked, holding up the photo that Maya had dropped.
"For your sake and mine, Ichika, please prove Maya right." Chifuyu set the picture down on the teacher's desk, before turning and exiting the room.
The days leading up to the duel passed by quickly, with Ichika spending most of his time outside of class training. He had noticed that Cecilia had started training as well now that she had observed his skill and realized that she wouldn't be getting an easy victory. To that end, she had conscripted the aid of several other students, using her name and status to grant them access to the Academy's stores of training IS suits. Ichika had observed one of these mock duels, which pitted Cecilia against multiple opponents in various MPIS Trainers. The trainers were heavily modified versions of their military equivalents, with an improved power source and a smaller variant of the ADS installed. This came at the cost of the Trainer IS units being unable to operate outside of Academy grounds, as their power source relied on Wireless Power Transfer from a generator that had been gifted to the Academy by Dr. Tabane.
From his observation of the blonde, Ichika noted that she did possess a fair amount of skill. However, that skill was often negated by her constant need to show off. Everything about the girl's style seemed to be based around showing off for the crowd, ranging from the way she deployed her IS, with her rifle pointed sideways rather than at her enemy, to the fact that she tended to toy with her opponents before finishing them off, sometimes even allowing them to destroy her remote controlled drones to give them a false sense of victory.
With those thoughts in mind, Ichika walked towards Arena Three. Soon, he had entered the arena's deployment tunnel, where he was met by Houki.
"Orimura-kun? Orimura-kun, can you hear me?" Maya's voice rang out over the intercom before Ichika had a chance to speak to his childhood friend.
"I hear you. Should I deploy my IS now?" Ichika asked.
"Please do. Your opponent is already waiting for you in the arena. You should hurry up and go out as well, there are other people waiting to use the arena after we have finished." The voice of Chifuyu replied.
"Understood." Ichika replied simply as he was once again encased in armor.
"Ichika..." Houki began, but trailed off.
"What is it Houki?" Ichika replied.
"Um... good luck. I hope you win." With those words, Houki left the room.
"Thank you, Houki." Ichika replied right before the door closed behind her. Then, he turned off his speaker.
"Ori, are you ready?" Ichika asked.
"I was born ready!" The AI replied, and Ichika laughed. That was certainly true, both in the literal and metaphorical sense.
"Alright. Infinite Arsenal, launching." With those words, Ichika rocketed out of the tunnel, weapons aimed at his target as soon as she came into view.
"I will give you one final chance. Get on your knees before me and beg for forgiveness, and I will grant it." Cecilia taunted.
"No thank you. I would rather not give up my certain victory." Ichika replied.
"If you won't submit of your own free will, then I will make you!" Cecilia shouted, aiming her weapon at Ichika. By the time the gun had been brought to point at him however, Ichika had already fired the first shots of the match before rolling out of the way as his opponent returned fire.
"Ori, start analysis of her rifle." Ichika said, and the first use of the Infinite Arsenal's special ability in combat commenced.
"Analysis commencing. Estimated time to completion: One minute." Ori spoke, and Ichika smiled. His IS was primarily defense oriented in its loadout, allowing him to last long enough to analyze the weapon. Of course, with his opponent not yet using her drones, Ichika didn't need his shields, as he was easily able to dodge the incoming shots.
"Analysis complete. Estimated time of fabrication: Three minutes." Ori replied a minute later.
"Don't start fabrication, all my IS unit's weapon hardpoints are full. Wait until she launches her drones, and begin analyzing them when she does." Ichika ordered.
"Understood."
Fortunately for Ichika, Cecilia saw that her current plan of attack was not working.
"Don't think that you are anywhere close to beating me! I haven't even started to fight yet!" Cecilia taunted once more, and with those words four angular drones detached from the back of her IS and flew towards Ichika, weapons blazing.
"Ori, mark one drone for analysis, then I'll take out the rest." One of the drones promptly lit up on his visor, meaning that it was the drone that was being analyzed. Ichika smiled, and activated his point-defense FEL. The shoulder mounted laser swiveled with his line of sight and locked onto one of the unmarked drones, opening fire as it did so. While the beam itself was invisible, the effects were most certainly not, and a plume of fire almost immediately blossomed from the targeted drone.
As his laser was taking out one drone, Ichika took aim with his railgun and fired a long burst at Cecilia, who was currently immobilized due to the concentration required to utilize her IS unit's main weapons. Her eyes widened, and she rolled out of the way, but was still clipped by the first two shots that Ichika had fired.
As Cecilia moved, the first targeted drone exploded, and the rest were rendered temporarily immobile, allowing Ichika to lock his laser on to another drone. That was when Cecilia surprised him by revealing her suit's missile launchers early. In her training rounds, those launchers were always kept in reserve, never fired until the last moment as a surprise attack.
"Looks like she's decided to take this fight seriously." Ori commented as Ichika frantically dodged out of the way of the two rockets, locking onto one with his laser as the missile reversed its direction and came in for another pass. Two large green hexagons bloomed into existence on either side of him as his shield drones activated, blocking the incoming fire from Cecilia's own remote controlled bits. One beam got through though, and Ichika watched his IS unit's shield counter tick down.
An explosion behind him told Ichika that his laser had destroyed the first missile, but it was too late to lock onto the second one, and Ichika barely dodged out of the way of the projectile.
"Drone analysis complete. Estimated time of fabrication: One minute per drone." Ori reported.
"Damn, that's too long." Ichika thought for a moment.
"What's the main reason for that?" He asked as his laser locked on to the other missile and destroyed it before turning back to the damaged drone it has been tracking earlier.
"The drone chassis is easy, and it should only take me around fifteen seconds to build one. However, the weapon is highly complex and takes three times that in order to build and mount." Ori reported.
"Do we have any other weapon systems available that will fit in the chassis then?" Ichika asked as Cecilia fired another two missiles, her second drone exploding as she did so.
"Well, the wrist mounted energy daggers will fit, and they take less time to produce, but that would remove the drone's ranged capability."
"Knife missiles? Perfect. What's the estimated fabrication time?" Ichika asked.
"Thirty seconds per drone."
"Good. Make me six. Be ready to assume control of them once they're deployed. After deploying the first six, continue fabrication of additional drones. Deploy those at will."
"Understood." At that, a timer appeared in the corner of Ichika's HUD. He now had to last three minutes before his opponent, who had just fired yet another pair of missiles, would have the tables turn against her.
As his shield drones kept Cecilia's beam bits from hitting him, Ichika accelerated away from the missiles, his laser locking on to each incoming projectile in turn and destroying it.
A minute passed, and Ichika caught one of the beam bits in his railgun sights and neatly destroyed it. Two more missiles were fired at him in reprisal, with a jet of plasma from Cecilia's sniper following close behind. Apparently his opponent was good enough to concentrate both on one drone and her IS at the same time, as Cecilia's last remaining drone had not stopped firing while Cecilia launched her missiles. However, that drone did not last long, as Ichika quickly lined it up in his sights and fired, destroying it.
One minute remained until fabrication completion.
"Dodge, dodge, dodge! Is that all you can do? Is that the extent of your so called skill?" Cecilia called out as her missile launchers released another pair of homing warheads, her rifle firing streak after streak of blue light at its target. There were eight missiles in the air now, all on Ichika's tail. One went off, the explosion taking out three nearby missiles as well, as Ichika's point defense laser had hit its target. Another missile was destroyed, and then another.
Fabrication complete.
Cecilia's next shot met a hexagonal barrier that now emanated from Ichika's right arm.
"Oh? So you've decided to stand and fight now?" Cecilia mocked.
"Deploy knife missiles." Ichika said simply, and six grey bits shimmered into existence around him.
"Where did those come from?" Maya gasped as she watched the battle from the observation room. Of course, she already knew the answer, having been briefed on Ichika's IS beforehand.
"Ah. I see now." Chifuyu said, more to herself than to the woman beside her.
"What is it?" Maya asked.
"Now I see the real strength of Ichika's IS. It's not its defensive capability, after all."
"What?"
"Notice the appearance of those drones. Coloration aside, they are virtually identical to the ones that Cecilia fielded against him earlier on. It seems that Ichika is capable of taking the weapons of his enemies and using them for his own purposes..." Chifuyu trailed off as energy blades ignited from the tips of all six drones, the weapons in question charging towards Cecilia.
"But didn't Cecilia's drones have ranged weapons mounted on them?" Maya asked.
"Of course. Ichika must have a way of altering the design in combat. It looks like my brother is piloting a truly formidable machine."
Maya stayed silent, and continued to watch the battle.
Houki watched as the first knife missile impacted Cecilia's IS, the drone skidding off the shield and flying back to get some distance between it and its target before coming around for another pass. Cecilia had managed to down one of the drones with a well placed rifle shot, but once they closed the distance it was all over for her. Her gun was too bulky to fire accurately at such close range, and her missiles would end up hurting her as well as the drones.
Evidently, these thoughts had crossed Cecilia's mind, as the girl promptly turned away and fled, the drones pursuing her like a swarm of angry hornets. Houki's attention then shifted to Ichika, who was hovering a fair distance away from his opponent and taking aim with his weapon. As her childhood friend opened fire, however, Houki saw another knife drone appear over his shoulder, activate its weapon, and soar towards its target. Houki's eyes widened.
It was impossible for an IS to repair that fast, even if the item being repaired was something as simple as a knife drone. So how... Thirty seconds later, Houki got her answer when another drone appeared, bringing the total amount of active drones up to seven. But then why did Ichika wait to deploy it? Surely it would have been better to launch them all at once... unless he didn't have that drone available back then! Houki gasped as she realized what Ichika was doing. He wasn't repairing his damaged drones, nor was he holding them back in reserve. Instead, he was building new weapons on the battlefield.
Ichika saw a pair of missiles launch from Cecilia's IS, one heading to him, while the other shot towards Ori's drone swarm. The drones scattered, the missile destroying one but leaving the others undamaged, while a laser detonated the second missile in midair.
"How are you controlling these and your IS at the same time?" Cecilia cried out as she fired wildly at the drones pursuing her. Ichika didn't dignify her with a response, instead firing another burst at her from his railgun, but despite her pursuers, Cecilia managed to evade the incoming fire. However, the girl was unable to dodge the newly fabricated knife missile that headed her off, the weapon once again skipping off her shields, doing a small amount of damage in the process.
"Ori, this is taking too long." Ichika said.
"I'm doing everything I can right now. Unless you've got an idea to make this go faster, then just keep firing!" Ori replied as Ichika fired another burst from his main gun.
"I think I have one. Ori, how fast would it take to make one of those drones if we took out the weapon and simply filled the thing with explosives?" Ichika asked.
"Fifteen seconds per drone, but I don't have any explosive available to me." Ori replied.
"Then begin analysis of Cecilia's missile launchers and their ammo. Can you do that while still keeping command of the knife missiles?" Ichika asked.
"Of course I can! The weapon's pretty simple, so it shouldn't take too long." And indeed, barely thirty seconds passed before the AI reported the task's completion.
"It's done. Now, I'll just stuff high explosive into the drone's body and get to work. Now producing suicide drones." Fifteen second later, the first drone of that type shot at Cecilia. Visually, it was identical to the knife missiles, save for the fact that it had no energy blade being emitted from its nose. With a thunderous explosion, the missile struck home, temporarily dazing Cecilia and allowing the swarm of knife missiles to close and deal damage.
"Interceptor!" Cecilia called out desperately, and a blade appeared in her hand. She swatted uselessly at the more agile knife missiles while trying to regain control of her IS, which she quickly managed to do. However, by that time a second explosive drone had already appeared over Ichika's shoulder and was shooting towards her.
Ichika saw the relieved expression on Cecilia's face when the knife missiles retreated, and then saw that expression morph into horror as she caught the second explosive drone streaking towards her barely a second before it slammed into her and detonated. As she struggled to regain control of her IS once again, the knife missiles came back for another pass. Most skipped off her shield, but one did not, instead being halted in the air, its blade several inches away from Cecilia's face. Her IS unit's Absolute Defense System had activated due to her shield's depletion.
A horn sounded out, indicating the end of the match.
"The match is over. The winner is Orimura Ichika." The announcer spoke simply, and Ichika came in for a landing. The knife missiles hovering around Cecilia vanished back into IS-space, where they were soon joined by the rest of Ichika's IS. Cecilia's IS did the same, disappearing in a flash of blue.
"That was a good match." Ichika said as he walked up to his defeated opponent. His offered hand was swatted aside, however, and Cecilia quickly stood up on her own. Then, without speaking a word, she simply turned and left the arena.
"Congratulations on your victory, Ichika." Chifuyu said.
"Thank you, Chifuyu-nee." Ichika replied, and received a gentle rap on his head for his troubles.
"That's Orimura-sensei to you." Chifuyu said, although in a gentle tone.
"Ichika..." Houki then spoke up from beside him.
"Yes Houki?" Ichika asked.
"What was that ability your IS had? It was almost as if it was building its own weapons mid-battle." Houki said.
"That is what we assumed as well, Orumura-kun." Maya spoke up from her spot beside Chifuyu. Good, that meant he didn't have to come up with a lie on the spot.
"You're right, Houki. That was the main power of my IS, and the reason I decided to call it the Infinite Arsenal." Ichika replied.
"Wait, is it really infinite?" Houki gasped.
"Theoretically, as long as Ichika has the time and resources to do so, I believe that he is indeed capable of producing weapons indefinitely. Is that right, Ichika?" Chifuyu asked.
"I... I think so, but there's a limit to how much I can use at once. For example, if I were to order the IS to keep producing Knife Missiles continuously for a week straight at a rate of two drones per minute, I would end up with around 20,160 drones under my control." Houki's eyes widened at that, and even Maya and Chifuyu seemed impressed.
"However, I can't control that many drones at once, so I can't just sit back and flood the arena with knife missiles." At that, Houki seemed to calm down a bit.
"Yet." Houki returned to her previous state of shock when Ichika tacked that last word on.
"I assume you built this system yourself?" Chifuyu asked.
"I did. It was the main thing I added when I was optimizing the IS for my own use." Ichika said.
"I see." Chifuyu was quiet for a moment, before she spoke again.
"Why are you lying to me?"
"What?" Ichika exclaimed.
"It's obvious from your skill alone that you have been piloting IS suits for much longer than a month. How long did you really know of your ability?"
"I... I can't tell you, the people in charge told me to keep it a secret." Ichika said, causing Houki to look at him strangely.
"Ichika? What are you talking about?" She asked.
"Oh, I forgot! You had already moved away by the time Dr. White contacted me and started teaching me about IS design." Ichika replied.
"Wait, you know how to build IS suits?"
"I do now."
"So you admit that you knew of your IS piloting ability long before it was officially announced?" Chifuyu steered the conversation back on track.
"I... I did." Ichika replied quietly. He never did like keeping secrets from his sister.
"Thank you for telling me this." Chifuyu replied gently. "Now, are there any other secrets you would like to share with me?"
"No..." Ichika said.
"I see. Well, I guess that's all I will be able to get out of you for now. Good job out there, Ichika." With those words, Chifuyu left the room, Maya following after her, leaving Houki and Ichika alone in the room together.
"Ichika? Is something wrong?" Houki said, noticing the expression on Ichika's face.
"It's nothing." Ichika replied.
"Something is bothering you. Is it one of the secrets that Chifuyu mentioned?" Houki moved to block him as he tried to leave the room.
"I said that it is nothing to worry about. Say, do you know where Cecilia went after the match?" Ichika asked, remembering something he had to do.
"What? Why do you want to know that?" Houki asked.
"Well, a few years ago, I met with her father on a business trip, and he told my mentor to give something to Cecilia. I'm not sure if Dr. White remembered though, so I'm going to try and give it to her myself." Ichika said.
"What do you want to give to her?" Houki asked suspiciously.
"It's private..." Ichika said, which caused Houki to suddenly grow angry.
"Hmph! No I don't know where she ran off to!" Houki said, storming out of the room, leaving Ichika alone. He looked around and spotted a conveniently placed bathroom. He walked up to it, only to remember that the bathrooms in IS academy were not divided based on gender, as almost everyone present was female.
Knocking once to make sure it was empty, Ichika went inside and pulled out his phone, dialing Raymond's number.
"Ichika? Is that you?" Raymond asked when he picked up.
"It is. Listen, do you remember that recording that Edmond asked you to give to his daughter when we met him?" Ichika asked. A few moments later, Raymond replied.
"Damn, I had forgotten about it. Why are you asking?"
"I was wondering if you could send it to me. I think that Cecilia needs to see it sooner rather than later."
"Hmm... Wait a moment please." The line went silent for a few minutes before Raymond returned.
"Yes, I can send it to you. It's already edited to remove any trace of our organization's existence, so secrecy won't be a problem. By the way, how is Cecilia?"
"She's become England's Representative Candidate, just as you said she would. I've just finished a match against her, and if she hadn't decided to show off against me, she could have posed a legitimate threat."
"That's good to hear. At least Ed's gotten what he wanted, even if he didn't live to see it."
"He's dead?" Ichika asked. He hadn't heard.
"Yeah, he died the day after we visited him, actually." Raymond said sadly.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Ichika replied.
"Anyway, enough about that. I'm sending you the edited recording now. A few bits are missing, but the message remains. I hope you know what you're doing, Ichika. Goodbye."
"Goodbye." Ichika spoke, and Raymond hung up. Ichika left the bathroom and headed up to his dormitory, where he pulled out his datapad and looked through his inbox. Sure enough, there was a message from Raymond, with the recording attached. Now, all Ichika had to do was find its intended recipient. Thankfully, the duel meant that classes weren't cancelled.
It took Ichika more than an hour to find Cecilia, the girl having retreated to the roof of one of the academy's buildings. Even in private, it seemed that the proud girl had refused to cry, as evidenced by the lack of tear streaks on her face.
"Come to gloat, have you?" She said in English as he walked out onto the roof with her.
"No, I've simply come to give you something." Ichika replied in the same language.
"What is it, your pity? Are you trying to take pity on your poor, defeated opponent? Then I don't need it. Had I not held back, I could have easily defeated you." Cecilia said.
"I'm not here to give you my false pity. No, I am simply here in accordance with one of your father's last requests."
"That drunk is not my father, so don't refer to him as such."
"Do you remember how, when I first met you, I said that your father seemed like a good man?"
"Ha! As if! That drunk was the lowest sort of scum to ever walk this earth! He drank while mother was alive, he drank even more after he died, and eventually he drank himself to death in my study! I found his body, so I should know!"
"Given what life decided to throw at him, I can understand why he gave in to the bottle..." Ichika trailed off.
"He was weak, just like the rest of you men. That's all there is to it." Cecilia said bitterly.
"Yes, he did seem that way to me, but regardless of who he was, I intend to carry out his last request." Ichika said.
"Then give whatever it is to me. I might as well see what he decided to entrust to you."
"Very well. This is a recording of a meeting between me, Dr. Raymond White, and Mr. Edmond Alcott. The meeting took place the day before your father's death." Ichika explained.
"And why are you showing it to me?"
"At the end of the meeting, Edmond asked Dr. White to give this to you, and the doctor in turn entrusted the task to me once he realized I would be attending IS academy." Ichika said as he pulled up the recording and pressed play.
"So, I assume you are here for the Kestrel?" The voice of Edmond Alcott played first.
"Yes, we at WSI believe that the design still has potential, and thus we would like to purchase it. Name your price so that we may negotiate." Raymond's voice replied, although Ichika knew that the doctor had never said that during the meeting. He assumed that this was the result of Raymond's editing.
"You can keep your money, I've got more than enough of that as is." Edmond's voice replied as the recording continued to play.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean exactly that. You can keep your money, I've got more than enough of that already. No, I want you people to perform a service for me."
"And what would that service be?"
"It concerns my daughter, Cecilia."
At that, Cecilia seemed to start paying attention. As the recording continued to play, the blonde's eyes began to widen.
"You are to make my daughter's dream come true." Cecilia's hand clenched at that. Evidently, she had assumed the same thing that Ichika had when he first heard her father's request.
"I am asking you to turn her into the best damn IS pilot in the nation." That caused Cecilia's clenched fist to fall to her side in shock.
"...Buying her representative candidacy would break her once she found out. No, I want her to earn the damn position, and if you want the IS you are going to swear to me right now that you will do whatever it takes to help her earn that position!"
"Father..." Cecila murmured. Her hands were shaking as she listened to the last of the recording.
"When you think the time is right, I want you to give this recording to Cecilia. Send it anonymously if you need to, but please, make sure she hears this. I want her to know that I have always loved her, no matter what she thought of me." The recording ended. Ichika knew that those last words had been edited, but the feeling behind them had remained the same.
"Father..." Ichika looked over and saw tears running down Cecilia's face.
"Was that true? Was that really what he said?" Cecilia asked.
"He meant every word." Ichika replied. A half truth, but still a truth. That was the last straw, and what remained of Cecilia's composure melted away, the blonde wrapping her arms around Ichika and sobbing into his shoulder. Not knowing what to do, Ichika returned the embrace, allowing the girl whose world he had just turned upside down to stain his uniform with her tears.
He didn't know how long they had stood there, locked together like they were, but eventually Cecilia's sobs slowly stopped, and the girl looked up to see who she had latched onto. A faint blush appeared on her face when she realized how close together they were.
"How? How could he stand it? How could he come home every night, knowing that I would be there, waiting for him, hating him... how could he stand it?" Cecilia said, more to herself than to Ichika. Ichika chose to answer it nonetheless.
"Love makes us do strange things." He said, remembering how his childhood was completely centered around his sister.
"I was wrong earlier, when I said he was weak. For him to endure the hell I put him through..." Cecilia trailed off, more tears forming in the corners of her eyes.
"I spent so long thinking that men as a rule were weak, spineless cowards, blind to anything but their own selfish desires, but I guess it turns out I was the blind one." Cecilia gave a self mocking laugh that turned into a sob halfway through.
"We all make mistakes, Cecilia." Ichika said, causing her to look up again. He then noticed that their arms were still wrapped around each other.
"Ichika... can I keep this recording?" Cecilia asked, hesitantly.
"Of course! It is your property, after all." Ichika said. "I'll send it to you later today."
"Thank you." Cecilia sighed, her grip around him tightening.
"Cecilia?" Ichika asked, alarmed. That caused the girl to notice what she was doing, and the pair promptly sprang apart.
"I-I-I... I didn't..." Cecilia said, her tear streaked face now crimson. The girl took a brief moment to compose herself before speaking again.
"When I... When I was crying into your shoulder, why did you return the embrace?" Cecilia asked, her features suddenly unreadable.
"It seemed like the right thing to do at the time." Ichika replied nervously.
"I see..." Cecilia said, leaning against the railing. The sun was setting by now, casting the rooftop in its orange light.
"Can you stay up here with me? Just for a while?" Cecilia asked when Ichika began to walk towards the door. Ichika didn't reply, instead he simply turned around and walked up to the railing, leaning down beside the English girl.
"I'm sorry..." Cecilia said after a few moments had passed.
"About what?" Ichika asked.
"Back in the classroom a week ago... I apologize for what I said to you." Cecilia replied.
"It's alright. I forgive you." Ichika replied.
"Thank you."
The pair simply stood there for a while, watching as the sun slowly set.
"Ichika? Are you... up... here..." Houki's voice caused the pair to turn around, and Ichika saw the girl in question standing in the doorway, eyes wide and mouth slightly open. Ichika noticed that while he and Cecilia had been watching the sunset, the girl had wrapped one of her arms around him without him noticing.
"Houki?" Ichika asked, which seemed to snap the girl out of her shocked state and cause her to run back down the stairs.
"I'm sorry Cecilia, but I have to go now. I'll send you the recording later as promised." Ichika replied, before rushing down the stairs. He didn't see the dejected look that crossed Cecilia's face at that declaration, and he was in too much of a hurry to see the blonde girl turn to follow him, staying just out of his sight.
Ichika found Houki under a tree a few minutes later, the girl having grabbed a branch and, swinging it like a makeshift Shinai, the enraged girl advanced on him.
"How dare you Ichika!" The long haired girl cried as she swung at him, the branch being parried by Ichika's partially deployed baton.
"What did I do wrong? I just gave Cecilia what I needed to, and then stayed behind to comfort her when I saw what she was going through!" Ichika replied.
"Oh, so that was you comforting her that I saw?"
"Of course! She asked me to stay with her for a while and I did!"
"How convenient! I suppose you would have done anything she asked you to then?" A blue ray of light shot between the fighting pair, incinerating Houki's weapon.
"How dare you! How dare you assume that I would take advantage of Ichika like that!" Cecilia stepped out from behind a nearby tree, one of Blue Tears' drones hovering over her shoulder.
"I know your kind! Of course you would!" Houki shouted back while Ichika slowly backed away from the pair.
"What is going on here?" That voice made everyone present freeze. Ichika turned around to see Chifuyu staring at them.
"Well..." Ichika began, but his sister cut him off.
"I see now. Ichika, I pity you. Now, all three of you, ten laps around the school track." Chifuyu spoke.
"What?" The same word came from all three students present.
"You heard me. Miss Alcott, you are being punished for partially deploying an IS without permission. Shinonono-san, you are being punished for instigating the fight. As for you, Orimura..." At that his sister looked at him critically.
"You could use the exercise." With those words, the three students marched to the track, Chifuyu following after them.
"How... did you run so fast?" Cecilia panted as she finished her last lap. Houki and Ichika had finished a few minutes earlier and were now resting in the shade of a nearby tree.
"It seems that unlike you, the two of us understand the importance of physical fitness." Houki taunted, although her exhaustion showed in her voice.
"I thought it was pretty easy... at least this time I didn't have a crazy Russian running after me." Ichika commented. That second part was mumbled under his breath.
"Hmph! A noble lady like me shouldn't have to do this... not that I find it unappealing or anything!" Cecilia hurriedly tacked on the second part after noticing Ichika was nearby.
"Let's not start fighting again, please." Ichika sighed as he lay down on the grass. A few moments later, Cecilia lay down beside him. Not wanting to be outdone, Houki lay down on his other side. The tension between the girls was easily noticeable, so Ichika decided to do the smart thing. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, intent on acting as a buffer zone between the two girls around him.
Ichika awoke on a bed rather than on the ground where he fell asleep. Looking around, he saw Cecilia sitting on the bed beside his, while the sound of a shower running indicated that someone else was in the room.
"Is this my room?" Ichika asked as he sat up, still half asleep. He knew the answer before Cecilia confirmed it.
"Yes, it is. The two of us had to carry you up here..." Cecilia trailed off.
"Thank you." The room was silent for a while, save for the sound of the shower running.
"Oh, I almost forgot!" Ichika looked around for his datapad, finding it on the bedside table.
"Where should I send the recording to?" Ichika asked after preparing an email.
"Oh! Give it to me, I'll handle it." Cecilia took the device from him, typed in an email address, and sent herself the message.
"Thank you." The British girl said as she handed back the device.
"It's not a problem." Ichika replied. The room was silent once more, as not even the shower was making noise now.
The door opened, and Houki stepped out of the bathroom, already dressed in a pink bathrobe.
"You two had better not been up to anything indecent while I was in the shower." Houki threatened.
"Of course not! Why would we be doing anything like that?" Ichika said. Houki simply stared for a few seconds.
"The shower is open, if you want to use it." She said a few seconds later, and Ichika nodded his thanks. As he was about to enter the shower, he turned around and saw the two girls already glaring at each other. Knowing Houki, Ichika realized that he had to defuse the tension somehow, preferably before his room was turned into a warzone.
"You two better not start doing anything indecent while I'm in here!" Ichika called out, attempting to ease the mood with a joke. In retrospect, he realized that those words were probably not the best thing to say at the moment, as the two girls turned to him, faces crimson. Cecilia's left eye was twitching, while Houki's right was having similar problems. Ichika hurriedly slammed the door shut and locked it, feeling a pair of bodies impact against it less than a second later.
Ichika's sigh of relief was short lived though, as moments later a wooden blade punched through the door, courtesy of Houki.
"Pervert! I knew you just wanted to peek at me!" Ichika shouted out through the newly made hole, moving his head back just in time for a second gap to form in the locked door.
Needless to say, the following shower was one of the most uncomfortable experiences he had ever been through.
"Move over! I want to see too!" Ichika heard Cecilia's voice over the sound of running water.
"Make your own hole! This one's mine!" Houki's voice replied. Cecilia took that as her cue to partially deploy one of her Blue Tears, using the drone's laser as a blowtorch to make her own peephole.
"Why me?" Ichika said to himself as he raised the water's temperature, causing the room to fill with steam, while he struggled not to scream in pain at the newly scalding water. Oh well... his privacy was worth the pain.
The next day saw Class 1-1 outside on the academy practice field, practicing basic IS maneuvers.
"Orimura, Alcott. As you two are in possession of a personal IS, you will be used to demonstrate. Please deploy your IS." Chifuyu ordered.
"Understood." The two named students chorused, and complied. Less than a second later, both Blue Tears and Infinite Arsenal were deployed around their pilots.
"Alright, now get into the air." Chifuyu ordered, and the two IS units rocketed into the sky, climbing until they had reached around two thousand meters, where they leveled out.
"Is everything alright Ichika?" Cecilia asked.
"Everything's fine. Why are you asking?" Ichika replied.
"Well, from what I've heard, you've only been flying an IS for about a month, so..."
"Don't worry, my instructor made sure I was more than capable of something as simple as this!" Ichika replied.
"Oh... You must be a natural at this then." Cecilia commented.
"You should have seen me when I first started out! I'm pretty sure the training room floor hasn't had the dents taken out of it yet!" Ichika laughed, remembering his first attempt at flying an IS under Yukari's tutelage.
"What happened?" Cecilia asked.
"Oh, I just tried to follow what the manual said. I imagined a pyramid, and ended up flying headfirst into the training room ceiling, and then I accelerated downwards at full speed. I nearly forced this thing's ADS to engage from the impact." Of course, the Kestrel didn't have an ADS, but Ichika had indeed lowered the shields to critical levels from his first flight attempt.
"That must have been embarrassing." Cecilia laughed.
"Oh it was. I remember this one time when I-" Ichika began, but was cut off by an incoming transmission.
"Alright, cut the chatter. Orimura, Alcott, I want you two to perform a vertical dive, pulling up and coming to a complete halt within half a meter of the ground." Chifuyu ordered.
"Ladies first." Ichika gestured as he and Cecilia hovered in midair.
"Such a gentleman!" Cecilia called out, right before she accelerated down towards the ground. A few seconds later, she kicked up a plume of dust as she pulled out of the dive centimeters above the ground.
"Alright. My turn." Ichika said, before deactivating his IS suit's PIC and going into a dive at full throttle. The lack of a PIC allowed him to dive much faster, but he was now constrained by inertia, meaning that it would be much harder for him to pull out of a dive, and that doing so would put his body under forces exceeding 12-Gs. Fortunately, Ichika had a simple way of countering this.
As he dove for the ground at just below the speed of sound, Ichika suddenly reactivated his PIC, allowing him to quickly flip the Infinite Arsenal vertically without putting any stress on his body, while his machine's thrusters and newly reactivated PIC brought his IS to a halt. As the dust plume he kicked up settled, Ichika saw the entire class staring at him.
"As you can see, a simple dive like that can easily allow you to disengage from unfavorable combat conditions, or it can allow you to quickly get the drop on your opponent. It is a technique that I have employed several times during the Mondo Grosso, where I would rapidly dive on my opponent without giving them a chance to truly react, while simultaneously increasing the power of my own attack." Chifuyu lectured. While she did so, Cecilia hovered over until she was standing beside Ichika.
"How did you do that? You managed to complete the dive almost half a second faster than I did, and our IS specifications are almost identical in terms of speed!" Cecilia asked.
"Oh, it's an easy trick. I just deactivated my PIC and then re-activated it right before I pulled out of the dive." Ichika replied.
"But that..." Cecilia trailed off.
"Yeah, I know about G-forces. That's why I am essentially restricted to going in a straight line while doing so, otherwise I could end up hurting myself pretty badly." Ichika replied.
"But how did you deactivate your PIC in the first place? I thought that systems like it were under the control of the IS Core Control System."
"Oh, that's easy. When I designed this IS, I simply added in the ability to temporarily assume control of various systems from the ISCCS. Then, I simply had to practice doing it at a much slower speed until I could finally manage it when going full throttle." Ichika explained. While this wasn't true, it allowed for him to explain away some of the things that Ori's presence allowed him to do.
"So you really did build your IS..." Cecilia began, and then paused.
"Can you look over mine then? To see if there's anything that can be improved of course?" Cecilia asked.
"Of course. Then again, if your IS was built by professionals, there's likely not much I will be able to do, but I guess I can spare some time to take a look." Ichika said.
"Thank you! I'll meet you near Maintenance Bay 6 right after class is over, if that's alright with you?" Cecilia asked.
"That sounds good. I'll meet you there." Ichika replied.
"It's a date then!" Wait what? Ichika's mind froze at that.
"Alcott! You can ask Orimura out later! Right now, I want you two back up in the air, but at low altitude this time around. You will be demonstrating simple evasive rolls." Chifuyu shouted out, and Ichika saw the rest of the girls present gasp. He also saw Houki's fists clench, the girl clearly enraged.
"Great. Now look what you've done!" Ichika complained, but Cecilia didn't hear him, as she was already taking off.
"Just what I need. A bunch of girls fighting over me." Ichika muttered to himself as he followed the English Representative Candidate into the sky.
"Orimura! As you seemed to be quite adept at dodging incoming fire during yesterday's duel, you will be the one demonstrating evasive maneuvers. Alcott, you will be shooting at him. Begin!" Chifuyu ordered as he slowed his climb and came to a hover several hundred meters away from Cecilia.
"Ready Ichika-san?" Cecilia asked, raising her rifle.
"Fire away." Ichika replied. The blonde haired girl in front of him took aim and fired, the blue streak of light flying through the space that was occupied by Ichika's body a second previously, but Ichika had already dodged out of the way.
"Again!" Chifuyu ordered after a few seconds of lecturing.
Ichika complied, and soon he was dodging and weaving out of a constant barrage of fire coming from Cecilia's IS.
"Alright, now switch. Ichika, you will now be shooting, Cecilia, you will now be evading. Begin!" Chifuyu said, and Ichika raised his own double barreled railgun.
"Ready?" He asked.
"Of course!" Cecilia replied, and Ichika fired a two shot burst at her. Soon, Cecilia was dancing through the air as he had been minutes before, dodging out of the way of railgun shells fired towards her at hypersonic speeds, her hyper-sensor temporarily slowing her perception of time and allowing her to clearly see the incoming projectiles.
"Alright, that is enough for today. Store away your IS units, both of you. As for the rest of you, you all will be practicing these maneuvers later this week, so I expect you all to remember this demonstration." Ichika gulped as Chifuyu spoke. Now it was time to land and face the music.
As soon as the IS had returned to IS-space, Ichika found himself confronted by a very angry Houki.
"What was that about Alcott asking you out?" Houki asked. Ichika could see that he was treading a very fine line here, as hesitating too long or giving an incorrect response would further enrage his childhood friend.
"Oh, she just asked me to look over her IS after class. It shouldn't take too long." Ichika said nonchalantly.
"Then I hope you don't mind me coming with you! After all, I would like to see you at work as well." Houki said, before turning away. Ichika sighed in relief. At least he could recognize the warnings given out by angry women and take steps to defuse the situation before he found himself on the receiving end of a Kendo stick... or worse.
Ichika held true to his word, and after class he and Cecilia made their way down to Maintenance Bay 6, with Houki meeting up with them along the way.
"What are you doing here?" Cecilia demanded as Houki followed them into the workshop.
"I simply wanted to see Ichika at work. Is there a problem with that, Alcott-san?" Houki asked. Cecilia simply growled before turning away.
The workshop itself only had one other occupant, a blue haired first year who sat at a computer terminal, a clearly unfinished IS beside her.
"Well, the facilities here are better than I expected. I'm pretty sure I can build my own IS in here given enough time." Ichika said after taking a look around.
"Really?" Cecilia asked.
"Of course. Now, deploy your IS so I can examine it." Ichika said, and Cecilia complied.
"Before I begin, can you tell me if you notice any problems with Blue Tears?" Ichika asked.
"Well, the only real one I can think of is that in order to control the drones I have to sacrifice both my mobility and other armaments." Cecilia said.
"I noticed that during the battle." Ichika replied.
"Wait, during the battle, I saw you moving and controlling your knife drones at the same time. How did you do that?" Cecilia asked.
"Oh, I simply let my IS unit's control system do the work. It's similar to how I cut out my PIC during class earlier today." Ichika replied.
"Then can you install that module into my IS?" Cecilia asked.
"I'm afraid not. Not only will it require some special parts to be flown over from WSI, the module itself closely interacts with the IS core, and will likely require a complete rebuild of your unit from the ground up to install." Cecilia's face fell at that.
"Of course, that is far from the only solution to your problem. One way I can think of is to simply program the drones to move independently while you are not focusing on them. You know how in most video games there is some form of AI programming that allows the computer to mimic a real player to a certain extent? You could install a similar program into the IS, and thus allow the drones to move independently from your control. The problem with that, however, is that a simple AI system like that is predictable, and will likely be inferior to your ability to control the drones." Ichika said.
"Is there any other solution?" Cecilia asked.
"Well, I believe that with a few modifications we can take an AI program and give it the capacity to 'learn' so to speak, allowing it to base its attack patterns on how you control the drones yourself. Essentially, as you use the drones, the AI will learn to think like you and eventually start to use them in a similar manner. Granted, it will take a while for the AI to learn, but eventually you will see results." Ichika replied.
"Then can you do that for me?" Cecilia asked.
"Well, it will take a while for me to get everything ready, but I believe I can have it ready in around a week." Ichika replied.
"That fast?" Cecilia asked.
"Well, it's not like I'm writing the program from scratch, I'm just adapting an existing one for your use." Ichika said. 'That, and I have a little friend with me that could really speed up the process.' Ichika thought, remembering Ori's capability with computer programming. She was a computer program herself, after all, so she could easily have the program done in the allotted amount of time.
"Alright. Is there anything else you want to do?" Cecilia asked.
"Well, I might as well examine your IS for any simple mechanical flaws that could be corrected." Ichika said, and began his examination. As expected, no other glaring flaws were found. The IS was built by professionals, after all.
"Alright, that should do it for today." Ichika said, putting down his examination equipment.
"Thank you Ichika!" Cecilia said, her IS vanishing in a burst of light.
"You're welcome." Ichika replied as he watched the British girl walk towards the workshop exit.
"Are you coming?" Cecilia paused by the exit. Ichika realized that she was leaving.
"Not yet, I would like to familiarize myself with the facilities here. I'll be out soon." Ichika replied. That was the blonde's cue to leave, and Houki followed her out, leaving Ichika alone in the room with the blue haired girl.
His curiosity getting the better of him, Ichika approached the quietly working girl, intending to investigate the IS. Said IS seemed to be a repainted Uchigane, although the IS was clearly modified. For starters, the arms were missing, as was the Katana that all Uchigane units were equipped with. Instead, the girl seemed to be altering the design for ranged combat, as was evidenced by the large racks of missiles present in its main wing array. A second pair of wings was also present, their ends seemingly altered to act as arms. Perhaps a method to extend its reach in melee combat.
"What are you doing here?" The blue haired girl asked quietly, not looking up from her computer screen.
"Just examining the IS. I have to say, you have chosen an unconventional arm design, if that is indeed what those wings are." Ichika gestured to the second, smaller pair of wings.
"Hmm." The girl grunted, not really listening.
"Out of curiosity though, why are you working on your IS? Shouldn't it have been complete upon delivery?" Ichika asked.
"Mmh." The girl didn't reply again, although Ichika noticed that she seemed angry now.
"Well, I won't bother you any more then. If you ever want my help though, don't hesitate to ask. I have a Class Four ISDL, so I've got plenty of experience working with IS suits." Ichika said.
"I won't need your help. I can do this on my own. I have a Class Three ISDL, so my skills are sufficient." The girl replied simply.
"Good luck then." Ichika replied, turning away to leave.
"Oh, before I forget, may I ask who you are?" Ichika asked.
"Kanzashi. Sarashiki Kanzashi." The girl replied simply.
"Thank you. I'm-"
"Orimura Ichika. I know." Kanzashi replied.
"Alright then, I won't take up any more of your time." Ichika said, and left the room. He recognized the girl's name from the dossiers that Maya had handed to him on his first day of class. She was the Japanese Representative Candidate, and was particularly unlucky in that her IS was designed by Kuromochi Machinery Development, only to be abandoned in favor of an order from the JSDF which requested for an IS that could surpass all other third generation units in the world at the time. Thus, development of Kanzashi's IS had been halted in favor of the JSDF's request, leaving Kanzashi without an IS by the time she came to the academy.
However, the Sarashiki family was none too happy about the current turn of events, and through a series of lawsuits managed to temporarily acquire the IS core that was originally supposed to be used in Kanzashi's IS, and now it seemed as if the girl had decided to retrofit one of the Academy's Uchigane trainers into a True IS for her own personal use.
Ichika's thoughts, however, were focused on something entirely different that was also present in the girl's dossier. A simple, two word phrase that ended the report. 'Potential Recruit'.
Ichika was so focused on these two words that he didn't notice a pair of crimson eyes watching his every move on his way to the Cafeteria.
"Congratulations on becoming Class Representative Orimura-kun!" Ichika was greeted by his entire class gathered around one table, with balloons and streamers indicating that the girls had planned this event out in advance.
"Congratulations!" The assembled girls chorused as Ichika sat down, Houki and Cecilia sitting down on either side of him.
"Congratulations, Ichika. I'm sure you will serve our class well in your position." Cecilia spoke in English, which seemed to infuriate Houki.
"Whatever she said. You better not fail in the coming tournament." Houki said in turn.
"Don't worry, I will do my best in the Interclass Tournament, and I can all but guarantee that Class 1-1 will be the winner." Ichika spoke. A camera flash punctuated his statement.
"Hello! This is the newspaper club! Do you mind us taking your picture Orimura-kun?" The girl holding a camera asked.
"Haven't you already taken one?" Ichika asked.
"Well, that was just to get your attention. Oh, and why don't you get in the picture as well Cecilia? Your duel with Ichika is still a really hot topic around the Academy!" The girl said.
"Really?" Cecilia asked.
"Of course! You two came in as bitter enemies, rivals who would rather fight to the death than sit so close together, but here you are now, together, as if you have been friends for your entire life! This will make for an amazing story!" The other girl replied. Ichika noticed Houki growling on his other side.
"I will get a copy of this picture, right?" Cecilia asked.
"Of course!"
"Then I don't see how this could hurt..." The blonde stood up, pulling Ichika up beside her. She leaned into him, his hand firmly clasped in hers. Ichika heard the girls around them sigh in equal parts admiration and envy.
"Alright, that's perfect! Smile for the camera!" The two of them smiled brightly.
"That's perfect! Alright, I'm taking the picture!" The girl's finger came down, and the camera flashed. At that moment, Ichika was sure that the rest of the girls in his class had somehow discovered a way to bend spacetime itself, because just as the camera flashed, he and Cecilia found themselves surrounded by the rest of Class 1-1. He saw Cecilia's features morph into an expression of outrage.
"What are you all doing here?" Cecilia shouted.
"Well... We couldn't let you get a head start on us now could we?" One of the girls explained. Cecilia's eye began to twitch.
Later that night, Ichika found himself reading over Kanzashi's Dossier one more time. The girl was quiet and introverted, practically the polar opposite of her older sister personality-wise. She also seemed to be somewhat detached from the rest of her family, and possessed a significant inferiority complex due to her constantly being overshadowed by her older sister. Her bad luck regarding her IS was then discussed, and then, at the bottom of the page, were those two words. 'Potential Recruit.'
Did that mean that the Organization wanted to recruit her? The girl's inferiority complex, coupled with her love of Anime heroes, might make her susceptible to the workings of an Organization recruiter, but why was that included in his dossier? He would need to ask Maya as soon as he had the chance.
"Ichika?" Houki's voice brought him back to reality.
"Yes Houki?" Ichika asked, closing the dossier.
"Where did you get that knife?" Houki gestured towards the weapon that now lay on the bedside table, Ichika having removed it from its concealed location on his leg before taking a shower.
"Oh, that?" Ichika internally cursed his carelessness.
"Yeah. Where did you get it, and why do you have it now?" Houki asked.
"You probably don't know about this, as you moved away before it happened, but I was kidnapped when I was ten years old. One of the people who rescued me later gave me this when he started training me." Chifuyu already knew exactly what Giorgi was teaching him, even if she didn't know why he was doing it, so Ichika assumed that he could tell Houki as well.
"Training you? In what?" Houki asked.
"He called it the Systema Spetsnaz. That was how I managed to match you in combat when we first... met in this room, despite me having quit Kendo after you left." Ichika said, referencing their fight on the first night of school.
"I see... Are you sure it's safe to keep that here?" Houki asked.
"Well, Chifuyu-nee knows about it, and it's not like that's the most dangerous thing I have on my person right now." Ichika said, indicating his IS.
Houki was silent for a while, before she spoke up again.
"I... I'm going to change into my sleepwear now, so can you please face the other direction?" Houki said.
"Alright." Ichika replied simply as he turned around. He heard Houki slide a divider into place. Then, he heard the soft rustling of her undressing.
"Well this is awkward..." He muttered, more to himself than to his roommate. About a minute passed before Ichika heard the divider sliding back, Houki then indicating that he could look. He turned around again and saw Houki wearing a pink yukata.
"Is that a new Obi?" Ichika asked after taking in his childhood friend's appearance.
"You noticed? You really are perceptive..." Houki said, her voice friendly and holding none of her usual grouchiness.
"I'm with you every day. How could I not notice?" Ichika said.
"Of course, that's it..." Houki trailed off as she sat down on her bed. "Alright, let's get some sleep now." Houki said, turning out the light before lying down on her bed. The room was silent for a while, before Houki spoke again.
"Ichika... earlier when I asked about the knife, you said you were kidnapped..." Houki said.
"Oh, yeah. It was a long time ago though." Ichika replied.
"Do you know who did it?" His roommate asked.
"Not really, I just know that they didn't want Chifuyu-nee to win the second Mondo Grosso." Ichika replied.
"I see..."
"Don't worry, they didn't do anything really bad to me, and the Japanese Government sent troops to rescue me before I was gone for too long."
"I see then."
"Is there anything else you want to ask me?"
"Not really... Goodnight Ichika."
"Goodnight Houki."
With those words, the two roommates drifted off to sleep.
A/N: Alright, this chapter was my first real attempt at writing the interactions between Ichika and the girls, so if you notice any problems please let me know. I also featured Cecilia quite a bit in this chapter, as I felt that she was somewhat of an underdeveloped character in Canon. I mean, her story essentially boils down to 'She's rich and has daddy issues, so she hates men in general, but Ichika beat her so now she doesn't and has fallen in love with him instead." Thus, I wanted to make Cecilia a little more than the token competitor and comic relief source that she is in Canon and make her into a fully fleshed out character in her own right.
I also introduced Kanzashi early on, although she didn't make much of an appearance yet. Canonically, she shouldn't be at IS academy yet, but since Ichika has the Infinite Arsenal in this fic, KMD doesn't have to rush the Byakushiki into production at the expense of her own IS. However, I do like how she had to design her own IS in canon, so I introduced the JSDF's request as a way to justify her doing so again, although I also allowed for her to get to school immediately instead of waiting for six months before attending as she did in canon because I want to start developing her and Tatenashi early on. I have plans for them, you see!
Anyway, Read, Review, and don't hesitate to correct me on any mistakes that I have made. Until next time!