A/N: Alright, this chapter is finally out in spite of life doing its utmost to keep me from writing! Any and all feedback is appreciated, as I am pretty sure that the quality of my writing has been dropping, mostly because of me writing part of one scene, being called away, and coming back a day or so later and either A. Trying to continue from where I left off, or B. Deleting and re-starting the section entirely. Both of these outcomes are not good for the story as a whole, so I would appreciate any feedback in that regard, as well as advice for how to remedy this situation, as the only thing that bugs me more than posting a bad chapter is keeping a partially finished chapter in storage for extended periods of time. Anyway, now that that's been said, on with the show!
Chapter 8
Ichika found Kanzashi in Maintenance Bay 6, working on her IS as always. She had clearly made some progress on her Uchigane refit since he had last seen her, but the IS was clearly still incomplete, as was evidenced by the removed armor plating on the legs, while several manipulator arms worked on the exposed internals. He waited for a few moments by the maintenance bay entrance, the door sliding shut behind him, before walking over to Kanzashi, who was too engrossed in her work to have noticed her.
Casting a critical look over the various monitors, Ichika soon saw what he was looking for.
"Superconductor line D-13 is out of alignment. A particularly violent maneuver or weapon's recoil could knock it out completely and cause an engine malfunction midflight." Ichika said, causing Kanzashi to practically leap out of her chair in shock before looking around, first at the display that showed the problem, and then at Ichika, her eyes narrowing as she did so.
"What are you doing here?" The blue haired girl asked. Her voice was quiet, but she sounded genuinely curious.
"Well, I was honestly wondering if I could help you with your IS. The grade level tournament is coming up after all, and I doubt you want to miss it." Ichika replied.
"So you want to partner up with me?" Kanzashi asked.
"I'm afraid not. Charles needs a partner, and it wouldn't be very nice of me to leave him to the fangirl hordes now would it? Seriously, given how some of those girls act, you would think this is an anime or something!" Ichika replied, earning a small smile from the girl across from him, although she quickly hid it behind her usual emotionless facade.
"Did my sister put you up to this?" Kanzashi asked after composing herself.
"No, she did not. In fact, I think that she would rather I stay away from you, but that's just my humble opinion." Ichika said, and immediately knew that he had indeed said the right thing, as the girl in front of him seemed to relax slightly before sitting back down and turning back to the monitors.
"So which superconductor line did you say was out of alignment again?" Tatenashi asked.
"D-13." Ichika replied, and the problem was soon solved.
It was several minutes later that Kanzashi spoke up again.
"So, is it true that you built your own IS from scratch?" She asked, her eyes not leaving the monitors.
"Yeah, I did." Ichika replied as he scanned the IS for any other issues. He found a few minor ones that he quickly corrected, but nothing else nearly as dangerous as the misaligned superconductor line.
"How long did it take you?" Kanzashi asked.
"It took almost a year between me first designing it and the unit being completely ready, although it only took that long because some of the tech I put into it conflicted with existing equipment, namely the Equalizer and Shift systems, so I had to work around that." Of course, Ichika omitted any mention of the White Pattern IS Core.
"Why would you... Ah, I see now." Kanzashi fell silent after that. The two of them continued to work for several hours, occasionally conversing, but mostly staying silent, engrossed in their work. Eventually though, Ichika stood up, stretching as he did so, before turning to Kanzashi.
"Whew! We managed to get quite a bit done today, didn't we?" Ichika said, smiling.
"Hmm..." Kanzashi looked over the Uchigane refit, her eyes widening as she took in exactly how much the two of them had accomplished.
"This is... At this rate, it might even be ready in time for the tournament!" The blue haired girl exclaimed.
"Exactly. Now, I believe that dinner will be served soon, so we should get to the cafeteria." Ichika turned to leave, but noticed that Kanzashi was not following him.
"I usually eat in here." Kanzashi spoke up, holding up a bento box.
"That can't be good for you. Come on, follow me." Ichika turned away again, only for something to catch his eye. In the corner of the room, he saw the lumpy outline of a sleeping bag and pillow leaning against the wall, along with a teddy bear.
"Don't tell me you sleep in here too!" Ichika exclaimed, pointing at the items in question. Kanzashi followed his pointing finger and blushed in embarrassment as she saw what he was pointing at.
"I-I don't sleep here! Not that often anyway!" Kanzashi denied, waving her hands.
"Being shut in here all day can't be healthy for you. Now come with me." Ichika said, a bit more forcefully.
"But I-"
"No. You are coming out and that's final!" Ichika said, grabbing Kanzashi's hand and pulling her along behind him.
That was how Ichika found himself staring at three girls and one girl in disguise, all of them casting pointed looks at the new arrival.
"Ichika-san! Who is this?" Cecilia was the first to break the silence as she gestured towards Kanzashi, causing the quiet girl to shy away until she was almost completely hidden behind Ichika.
"Yeah Ichika! Who's the new girl?" Rin spoke up, casting a glance at the frightened girl behind him.
"Oh, this is Sarashiki Kanzashi. She's been having problems with her IS, so I decided to help her get ready for the upcoming tournament." Ichika replied, somewhat placating the girls around him.
"Nice to meet you Kanzashi-san!" 'Charles' commented, getting a blush in response from the girl in question.
"W-Well, as long as you remember your promise to me, I don't see a problem with her being here." Houki said after a few moments of awkward silence. Just like that, the tension broke, and soon the group was sitting down around a table, chatting as if nothing had happened.
"So, Kanzashi, are you looking forward to the tournament?" Rin asked from her position on one side of Kanzashi.
"Y-Yes, I think that my IS will be finished by then, so I am looking forward to it!" The blue haired girl stuttered out.
"Wait, your IS is still unfinished? Why wasn't it complete on delivery?" Rin asked again, confusion plain on her face.
"Ah, so that's why your name sounded familiar! You're the Japanese Representative Candidate, aren't you? Didn't your IS get cancelled mid-production in favor of someone else's unit?" Cecilia spoke up, causing the eyes of most of the other girls to widen.
"Y-Yes..." Kanzashi murmured.
"How disgraceful of them! Back in England, they wouldn't have dared to break their word like that!" Cecilia exclaimed, outrage clear on her face.
"I agree. If there's anything I can do to help, then don't hesitate to ask." 'Charles' added.
"Count me in too! I may not know much about building an IS, but if there's anything I can do for you, then all you need to do is ask!" Rin exclaimed, clapping the now blushing Kanzashi on her back.
"W-Well..." The younger Sarashiki was clearly unused to this kind of attention, so Ichika spoke up for her.
"If we need something, then we'll make sure to tell you." Ichika spoke, earning himself a grateful smile from the shy girl.
Dinner was soon finished, and the group soon went their separate ways, with Ichika and Kanzashi heading back to Maintenance Bay 6 to get some more work done on the Uchigane Nishiki, while the rest of the girls headed off to their respective rooms. However, as Ichika walked down the path to the maintenance bay, he noticed that he and Kanzashi were not alone. Looking around, he saw a familiar silver haired girl a fair distance behind them. A quick partial deployment of his hyper-sensor allowed him to get a closer look at Laura, who appeared to be supervising the transport of a large metal crate, its contents unknown.
Allowing Kanzashi to walk a few feet ahead of him, he quickly called up Ori.
"Ori, can you figure out what's in that crate?" Ichika asked, his voice barely audible even to himself.
'No. No active electronics are present there for me to access.' Ori replied over the watch, and Ichika sighed, before quickly catching up with Kanzashi.
When they arrived at the maintenance bay, Ichika motioned for the blue haired girl to go ahead, while he stayed outside. Once the door slid shut, he quickly spoke to his AI again.
"Ori, can you get into the maintenance bay security cameras and find out what's in that box?" Ichika asked.
"Of course I can! I'll report back to you as soon as you're alone." At that, Ori's avatar disappeared from the watch screen, and Ichika headed into the maintenance bay, where Kanzashi had already gotten back to work on her IS.
The sun was low in the sky by the time Ichika left the maintenance bay, while Kanzashi remained inside, wanting to quickly finish her unit's particle cannons. As soon as he was alone, Ori's avatar shimmered into existence, and made its report, complete with several holographic images of the box and its contents, which turned out to be a large ovoid pod.
"It's just ECM equipment, nothing you need to worry about. It looks like Laura's decided to modify her IS to resist hacking attempts." The AI reported.
"Can it keep you out?" Ichika asked.
"Of course not! Against me, it would be like a stone castle wall trying to keep out an IS! The only thing that can stop me is another AI, and as long as I stay away from Laura's IS core, it will not be an issue." Ichika smiled at that.
"I thought so. Is Laura still in there?" He asked, gesturing towards the maintenance bay doors.
"No, she was just there to supervise the delivery. She left an hour ago." Ori replied.
"That's good to know." Ichika commented as he headed off towards the dormitories.
"Why? Are you planning something?"
"No, just trying to avoid an unnecessary confrontation." Ichika replied. "Speaking of unnecessary, you really should deactivate that avatar before it draws attention."
"Aww, you're no fun!" Ori complained, before her hologram shimmered out of existence.
Ichika continued to walk in silence until a familiar voice drew his attention just outside the dormitory building.
"... Instructor? Instructor, please answer me! Why are you teaching in a place like this?" Ichika heard Laura's voice in the distance. It was obvious who the other member of the conversation was. Sitting down on a conveniently placed bench, Ichika pulled out his datapad whilst simultaneously partially deploying his hyper-sensor array. Immediately, the conversation became clear.
"Don't make me repeat myself. I have a duty here that I must fulfill. That is all." Chifuyu replied from where she was standing.
"A duty? Here, in this far eastern place? Please, Instructor, I need you! Please, come teach me again in Germany! This place can't even properly utilize half of your capabilities!" Ichika heard Laura beg from her position beside his sister.
"Oh?" Chifuyu barely even glanced at Laura, and Ichika smiled inwardly. He knew that Chifuyu never responded to begging like that."
"Please Instructor! The students in this school are not worthy of you! They have no sense of crisis! They mistake the IS as some sort of fashion statement! Seeing you forced to share your time with people like that-" Ichika honestly couldn't fault the girl for her frustration, after all, she was telling the truth. To most of the students in IS Academy, the IS was, indeed, little more than a shiny toy for them to use in glamorous tournaments, rather than the weapon of war it actually was. However, Chifuyu evidently had something to say on the matter, and quickly cut the silver haired girl off.
"That is enough, little girl. In my absence, you've become more than a little arrogant. Honestly, I pity you. Here you are, acting like a chosen one at age 15, but to me you only sound like a hypocrite."
"B-But- I-I'm-" Laura stuttered, but Chifuyu cut her off.
"You claim that the students here mistake the IS for a fashion statement, and you're guilty of the exact same thing."
"W-What do you mean?"
"Earlier today, in the practice arena, you told my younger brother exactly what you thought of his IS, complete with your analysis of his unit's ability. In that manner, you are no different than the little girls who scream out vital information about their IS units in the middle of battle."
"But-"
"But nothing. The odds weren't in your favor to begin with, and you only tipped them further in his favor, and continue to do so by underestimating him."
"How can the odds possibly be in his favor? He has no combat experience, only a month of formal training, and two tournament matches total! How-" Chifuyu didn't let the German girl finish.
"My brother is not a gambler, did you know that? He only ever makes a bet if he is completely certain of the outcome beforehand. He doesn't think he can beat you, he knows he can do so. Besides, what you said about him was merely the official story. I highly doubt that even he can perform as he does with only one month of formal training under his belt." Chifuyu said.
"What? How much training does he have then?" Laura asked, shock clear in her voice.
"That is his secret to tell. Not even I know the truth of what he's been doing for the past five years, only that he came out with a very effective IS and prodigious amount of skill in the field of IS design, as well as some... secrets." Chifuyu's voice turned contemplative at the end, and Ichika could tell that she was talking more to herself than to Laura.
"Then I will find out for you! I will discover his every secret and-" Laura was suddenly cut off by a clearly angry Chifuyu, while Ichika had stood up and began to make his way over to the pair, intent on derailing the conversation as soon as possible.
"You will do no such thing! Ichika's secrets are his to keep, just like my secrets are my own." Chifuyu growled out to a very shocked Laura, just as Ichika came close enough for the German girl to notice.
"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" Ichika asked as he walked up to the pair, causing his older sister to turn to face him while Laura scowled.
"How long have you been listening?" Chifuyu asked, clearly amused.
"Long enough. I'm curious though, regarding what you said about odds. Is there actually a betting pool on my battle with Bodewig-san?" Ichika asked.
"It's traditional. How else do you think we teachers make most of our money?" Chifuyu replied.
"What are the odds?" Ichika asked, genuinely curious.
"Last I checked, they were twenty to one in your favor for when you fight Laura, and I believe it's three to one for you winning the tournament."
"W-What?" Laura choked out.
"Don't worry, Ichika, my money is on you." Chifuyu smirked at Laura's flabbergasted expression.
"Well then, I guess that I'm even more motivated to win now." Ichika replied.
"Hmph!" At that, Laura turned and stormed away, leaving Ichika alone with his sister.
"So, is there anything you wish to say to me now that we're alone?" Chifuyu asked.
"Nothing, really, other than a thank-you for sparing me from additional attention on Laura's part." Ichika replied as he leaned against a tree.
"Really? Nothing else? No questions about Laura, or how she fights, or, well, anything?" Chifuyu asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I probably have the best spy network in the school at my disposal, thanks to the... nature of the students here. I know that she's part of the German military, that she practices in training arena 8, and that her IS unit is armed with a heavy railgun, six wire guided daggers, and hand mounted energy blade generators. In addition to those, the Schwarzer Regen is also equipped with an Active Inertia Canceller, or AIC, which can block almost any form of attack that relies on kinetic energy, but it can only operate over a limited area. The AIC is likely also unable to block directed energy weapons like lasers, which is evident due to the fact that visible light can go through the barrier. As the AIC barrier is one-way, Laura is capable of firing through it with ease, while her opponents cannot do the same. Right now, I can think of two ways that I can beat her in a one on one battle, and that number only goes up when I factor in my partner."
"You've certainly thought this through. Remember though, that Laura will have a partner as well." Chifuyu cautioned.
"From what I know of Laura, she will likely believe that she can win every battle on her own, and thus not pick out a partner that compliments her, instead having her partner selected at random and ordering them to stay out of her way. She does not seem to be well versed in teamwork, although I could be wrong, given her military training." Ichika replied, and Chifuyu laughed.
"That description certainly fits her. She was raised in a highly competitive environment that assessed its inhabitants on an individual basis, after all, so she is somewhat lacking in the teamwork department. While she knows the theory, she has next to no practice in that regard, that much was evident back in Germany, as well as just now."
"I see... Anyway, I should really go now. I'm sure that I've taken up enough of your time. See you tomorrow, Chifuyu-nee!" Ichika smiled, before heading off to the dormitory building.
"It's Orimura-sensei!" Chifuyu called out, trying to sound stern, but Ichika could tell that her heart wasn't in it.
Ichika soon made his way to room 1025, hearing the shower running as he entered.
"I'm back! Charles, are you in there?" Ichika asked, setting his things down on the bed. Then he remembered the bottle of body soap that he'd requisitioned earlier to replenish his supply. Checking in the closet, he saw the bottle was still there.
Picking it up, Ichika walked over to the shower and, steeling himself for the upcoming awkwardness, opened the door.
"Hey Charles, we're all out of body soap, right? I've got some more right... here..." Ichika trailed off as 'Charles' opened the shower door. Knowing what to expect did not make the moment of discovery any less awkward, after all.
Ichika blinked once, then twice. The girl across from him did the same, before squeaking and hiding herself behind the shower door..
"So, Charlotte, here's the body soap..." Ichika trailed off as the girl in question quickly snatched the bottle out of his hand.
"T-Thank you..." The beet red girl stuttered out.
"No problem..." Ichika said as he backed out of the room. As the door slid shut, Ichika let out a long sigh.
"Called it."
Nearly an hour passed before Charlotte exited the shower and walked to her bed, staring straight ahead as she sat down.
"So..." Ichika began, causing the blonde girl to gasp in surprise. "How about I make us some tea before we discuss this."
"Y-Yeah, that sounds nice..." Charlotte murmured, firmly avoiding his gaze.
Soon, two cups of hot tea were placed on the table in the room, with Ichika sitting on one side, while Charlotte hesitantly took a seat on the other.
"So... um..." Charlotte began, but Ichika soon cut her off.
"Don't worry, I knew for a while. I just wanted to get it out in the open, at least between us." Ichika said, causing the French girl to blush.
"Y-You mean you knew I was a girl before you walked in on me?" Charlotte asked, her face beet red.
"Yes..." Ichika replied.
"Ichika no ecchi..." Charlotte's blush deepened.
"Ah... I guess I deserved that. Anyway, all I really want to know is why. Why did you pretend to be a boy when you entered the academy?" Ichika asked.
"Well... It's what my father ordered me to do."
"You mean Raphael Dunois?"
"Yes. As you know, he's the president of the Dunois Corporation. It was on his orders that I did this."
"What do you mean? Why did he do it?"
"Well... It's mainly because I'm not his wife's daughter. You see, my mother raised me away from him, but when she died two years ago, I was taken to the Dunois Corporation. They ran some tests on me, and discovered that I have a very high IS compatibility score, so I was made an unofficial test pilot. During all this time, I've only met my father twice. We haven't even spent an hour talking to each other." Charlotte paused for a few moments, before continuing on.
"Anyway, the Dunois Corporation soon began to fall behind its competitors. Even though it was the third largest producer of IS units in the world, it lagged behind regarding the production of third-gen IS suits, as the Revive, which was the main reason behind the corporation's success, was a second generation machine. After all, the new third generation will soon render the second obsolete. That's why people like Cecilia-san and Laura-san are here, after all. They're supposed to gather trial data for their third-gen IS units that have already been built, and while the Dunois Corporation has began its own research in that regard, it is still lagging very far behind. At this rate, their development rights will be revoked and handed to another company."
"But what does that have to do with you pretending to be a boy?" Ichika asked.
"Simple: I'm supposed to gain publicity. Plus, as a boy, I can get close to the irregular case that occurred in Japan, and from that position, I can gather information on the machine that he uses. That's right, I was told to spy on you, under orders from my father." At that, Charlotte smiled and breathed a sigh of relief.
"It feels good to get that off my chest. Thank you for listening to me, and I'm sorry for lying to you until now." Charlotte sighed again, no longer smiling.
"Are you alright with that?" Ichika asked after a few seconds.
"What do you mean?" Charlotte asked as Ichika walked over to her bed and sat down beside her, causing her to gasp slightly when he turned her head to face him.
"Are you really alright with what your father has done to you?" Ichika asked again.
"Well, he is the only family I have left, and-" Ichika cut the French girl off before she could continue.
"I have one mother and one father. Without them, I would not exist. However, I have no parents. You see, they abandoned me soon after I was born, and Chifuyu-nee hasn't even told me their names."
"W-What?"
"You know, if my mother was to walk into this room, at this very moment, and order me to do something, I would simply ignore her. She wasn't there for me when I was a child, so she has no right calling herself my mother, just like your father wasn't there for you, so he has no right to that title! Therefore, he has absolutely no right to order you to do anything!"
"Ichika..." Charlotte gasped.
"So now you have a choice. Will you continue this charade for him? Or will you abandon him like he abandoned you and live your own life out of his shadow?" Ichika asked.
"W-Well... Since my status as a girl has been revealed, I'll most likely be called back to France. From there, I don't know what will happen. I'll most likely end up in prison. It has been nice though, being here with you, and Cecilia-san, and Rin-san, and Houki-san... I'll miss you." Ichika saw the tears gathering in the blonde's eyes, despite the smile that she was evidently struggling to keep on her face.
"Then why leave? All I have to do is keep my mouth shut, and all our problems are gone! Not to mention that even if your status was revealed, it would mean nothing, as neither your father nor his company can do anything about it! After all, the IS Academy is independent from all nations in order to provide an unbiased training environment. This means that, as long as you are enrolled here, you are not a part of the Dunois Corporation, and thus they are unable to intervene for the next three years."
"But what about after that? Once those three years are up, I'll be forced to return!"
"Ah... Regarding that, I have ways of keeping your father off your back once you graduate." Ichika replied.
"What? How?" Charlotte exclaimed.
"I am presently not at liberty to divulge any more information regarding those ways."
"Oh..." Charlotte quickly wiped the tears off her face before turning back to Ichika.
"Thank you, Ichika. Thank you for everything!" The blonde girl leaned into him, and soon the pair were locked together, arms wrapped gently around each other. Ichika noticed that the zipper on Charlotte's jacket had lowered a little, revealing some of her rather generous cleavage, but he wisely refused to comment, instead concentrating on the rest of the girl in his arms.
A knock on the door, however, caused the pair to spring apart, blushing as they did so.
"Ichika, are you in there?" Tatenashi's voice called out.
"Charlotte, get under the covers and pretend to be sick. I'll handle this." With those words, Ichika stood up and walked to the door. However, as soon as it was opened, he was grabbed and dragged out of the room, the door being shut behind him. Quickly breaking the hand off his collar, Ichika found himself staring into the eyes of a rather angry Tatenashi.
"Come with me. Now." The girl ordered, before grabbing his hand and dragging him along behind her. After about a minute of following behind the furious blue haired girl, Ichika suddenly came to a stop when Tatenashi threw open the door to her room and dragged him inside, slamming the door behind her.
"So, what is all this about?" Ichika asked once the girl had let go of him, causing Tatenashi's eyes to narrow.
"You know damn well what I am talking about. What the hell are you trying to pull with my sister?" Tatenashi growled out.
"I was simply helping her with the construction of her IS. Given the progress we made today, I believe that we can be finished in time for-" Ichika began, but Tatenashi cut him off mid-sentence.
"Bullshit! You're trying to press her into the Organization, aren't you!"
"Of course I am. Weren't you listening back in the storeroom where we first recruited you? We were already planning to induct her before you joined us, your presence changes nothing."
"Dammit, you will leave my sister out of this! Why do you think I joined you in the first place?"
"You have no say in this matter. I have my orders, and I intend to carry them out."
"So if they ordered you to jump off a cliff, you would do it?" Ichika's eye twitched at that.
"You know what I mean. I have been ordered to befriend and assist your sister in order to provide her with a friendly face once she is inducted, and I intend to do just that."
"And that is something I cannot let you do. Ever since she was born, I took it upon myself to keep her safe, and that is exactly what I intend to do."
"Don't make me pull rank Tatenashi. If you keep this up, I can have you held for insubordination." Ichika's face was grim as he said that.
"Fine! Do whatever you want to me, but if you so much as lay a hand on Kanzashi, I will-" Ichika spoke up again, interrupting Tatenashi's rant.
"You know, for someone so concerned for her sister's safety, you seem surprisingly eager to leave her out in the open at the head of a now defunct organization with a giant target on her back."
"And would shoving her on the front lines of a secret war be any better?"
"Tatenashi-san, your sister was on the front lines of that war ever since she was born! Sooner or later, Phantom Task will find out that the Sarashiki family isn't quite as dead as they would like it to be, and they will come back and try to finish the job! Even though the family as an organization is long since dead, you and your sister are both loose ends that they would rather eliminate. You are already part of something bigger that can take them on, but your sister is not! Will you be able to protect her if you are deployed on a long term mission while they come for her? Of course not, so let me bring her into this."
The room was silent after Ichika had finished speaking. For a long moment, the silence dragged on as Tatenashi stood in the middle of the room, fists clenched as she tried to think of a response. Finally, the blue haired girl sighed and broke the silence.
"Fine. But please, keep her out of active combat duty. She's all I have left of my family and if the worst happens..." Tatenashi trailed off, blinking rapidly in an attempt to stop herself from crying.
"I cannot guarantee that she won't ever be placed on active combat duty. Her status as Japan's representative candidate all but cements her eventual placement there." Ichika replied, causing Tatenashi to grimace.
"Then what can you do? Is your rank in the organization just an empty title meant to inflate your ego?" That actually caused Ichika to laugh.
"Pretty much. I was only given the title of IS Wing Commander because there was nobody else available to take the position, and it would take too much time to train another candidate. I haven't led any real operations, nor do I even really have anyone serving under me aside from you. The only times I've ever commanded someone was when I led a few training flight of rookie IS pilots around the base, so there is no way that I can keep your sister off the active combat roster should command decide to place her there. However..." Ichika paused to think for a few moments.
"What? What can you do?" Tatenashi asked.
"However, I do believe that I can ensure that she will, for the time being, be placed on the reserve combat roster. I'm in a similar situation, after all, as I likely won't be placed on active combat duty until I graduate from IS academy. The same will likely be done with Kanzashi, with her being placed in reserves until her graduation."
"I see..." Tatenashi sighed at that. "I guess that's all I'm going to get out of you."
"I will try to keep Kanzashi safe, but I cannot promise anything more than that." Ichika replied. Tatenashi was silent for a few moments, before she sighed once again and sat down on the bed.
"Very well then, Ichika, I guess I have to let you recruit my sister into a secret global paramilitary organization that is currently waging a secret war against the largest terrorist organization in the world. However, before you leave this room, I want you to promise me something." Tatenashi's already solemn face grew even more so.
"What is it?" Ichika asked.
"You know that I've chosen to work in the Intel department, right?" The blue haired girl asked.
"What of it?"
"Ichika, during my time at Organization HQ, I saw some of the casualty reports from our operations in Eastern Europe... They were not pretty to say the least. I want you to promise me, right now, that you will do whatever it takes to make sure that Kanzashi does not end up as another name on one of those lists. I don't care what you have to do, just please, keep my little sister alive, no matter the cost!" Tears were once again starting to form in Tatenashi's eyes as she looked up at Ichika, who answered without hesitation.
"That is something that I can guarantee. I promise that I will do everything in my power to protect Kanzashi... and I always keep my promises." Tatenashi smiled through her tears when she heard those words.
"Thank you, Ichika... just please, don't break your promise. I've already lost the rest of my family, and to lose her..." The older girl trailed off as Ichika sat down beside her, placing his hand on her shoulder as he did so.
"Don't worry, Tatenashi-san, as I already said, I keep my promises." That caused the blue haired girl to laugh.
"Then I suppose I should congratulate you on the engagement!" That in turn caused Ichika's eyes to widen.
"H-Hey! I didn't know what Rin meant when she said that! And how do you know about that anyway?" Ichika stuttered out. In response, Tatenashi drew out a fan and snapped it open, revealing the words 'Intelligence Officer' on it.
"Take a wild guess." The blue haired girl laughed.
"I should have known. Anyway, I should get going. Dunois-san is sick, so I should be getting back to him." Ichika said as he stood up.
"Don't worry, I'm sure that she will understand." Tatenashi replied, causing Ichika's eyes to widen slightly.
"Don't act so surprised, Ichika! It wasn't that hard to figure out, even without the dossiers' help! Don't worry though, I won't expose your friend, I'm not that kind of person." Tatenashi finished, smiling, as Ichika shook his head and left the room. As he closed the door behind him, he didn't notice the smile on Tatenashi's face melt away.
"I hope you know what you are doing, Ichika." The blue haired girl muttered as she lay down on her bed. That night sleep did not come easily for Sarashiki Tatenashi, her dreams being full of the memories that conversation had brought back.
The next few weeks passed by in a whirl of activity, as the various IS academy students prepared for the coming tournament. Ichika had declared 'Charles' to be his partner, much to the disappointment of a horde of anonymous fangirls, and the two of them had continued to train regularly after class alongside Rin, Cecilia and Houki. Cecilia and Rin had decided to partner up as well, leaving Houki alone, the Japanese girl resigning herself to having her partner chosen for her.
Training and class time aside, Ichika spent every waking moment in the IS maintenance bays, working on the Uchigane Niishiki with Kanzashi. The blue haired girl had partnered up with Honne Nohotoke, one of Ichika's classmates, and had begun training for the tournament using one of the school's Raphael Revives in place of her personal unit.
Kanzashi's IS was finally completed two days before the start of the tournament, and Ichika soon found himself in the arena, facing down against Honne and Kanzashi as part of a stress test of the Uchigane Niishiki's capabilities.
"Everything looks fine so far! No problems with the flight system!" Kanzashi called down to Ichika from the roof of the arena, where she was currently hovering.
"No surprise there, considering how much we tested it already!" Ichika called back from where he hovered just above the ground, his IS deployed around him.
"Well then, shall we get on with it?" The Japanese representative candidate asked.
"Yes, please, I didn't come here just to watch you guys run some tests!" Honne chipped in.
"Alright. Let's start the match!" Ichika replied, taking aim at Honne while the two girls formed up together.
"Let's go!" Honne shouted, signalling the start of the practice match, only to immediately dodge out of the way of a burst of plasma. However, Ichika couldn't follow up on his attack as a swarm of missiles erupted from the wings of Kanzashi's IS, the warheads spreading out before converging on his position. A high pitched whine indicated the FEL locking on to one of the incoming warheads, and an explosion moments later signaled the missile's destruction. However, there were far too many warheads for the laser to eliminate, forcing him dodge out of the way, firing at Kanzashi as he did so. Even then, one of the missiles clipped him, while the rest simply looped around and zoomed towards him again. Fortunately for him, this clumped the missiles together in one group, and a single explosive drone detonating in their midst was enough to eliminate the threat. Bringing his weapon to bear once more, he took aim at the nearest target, which happened to be Honne, the girl dodging the first few shots, but several jets of plasma slammed into her shields, knocking her off course and sending her plummeting to the ground. However, Ichika was once again unable to press his advantage as a barrage of particle beam shots forced him to stop shooting and concentrate on Kanzashi once more.
"Don't ignore me Ichika! It's my IS we're testing here!" Kanzashi called out as she fired off another barrage of missiles, the projectiles forcing Ichika to stay on the defensive. That was when a group of knife missiles materialized over his shoulders and shot towards the missile swarm, the homing systems switching targets and locking on to the drones, which drew the missiles away from Ichika and towards Honne, who had recovered from her dive and was climbing back into the air to rejoin the fray. Suddenly, the missiles looped around and shot back at Ichika, although the drones continued along their course, keeping Honne occupied with evading them.
Dodging out of the way of the missile swarm, Ichika saw Kanzashi hovering high above him, the girl's attention focused on an array of holographic screens projected in front of her. Evidently, she had assumed manual control of the missiles once she saw how Ichika had diverted them. However, that move had left her immobile, as all her attention was focused on directing her weaponry.
Taking aim even as he dodged, Ichika fired a burst up towards her, more intent on getting her attention than actually hitting her. The ploy worked, as Kanzashi was forced to relinquish control of the missiles, just in time for Ichika to release several more explosive drones. The missile swarm locked on to them, and barely a second later a series of immense detonations shook the arena as the sky was cleared of explosives.
Casting a quick glance at Honne, who was still fighting against the swarm of drones, Ichika zoomed up at Kanzashi, blazing away with his dual barreled plasma rifle as he did so. Kanzashi sped away, flying as erratically as she could in order to evade the incoming barrage of plasma. As she did so, the particle beam cannons mounted on her IS unit's waist swiveled around and returned fire, their electronic targeting systems locking on to the Infinite Arsenal, and released a barrage of accurate fire that splashed over the barriers deployed by Ichika's shield drones. That in turn caused the cannons to adjust and open fire on the drones themselves, slowly drawing the shield drones away from Ichika, creating an opening in his guard that Kanzashi could exploit. Suddenly reversing direction, Kanzashi shot down towards IChika, activating her unit's Ignition Boost as she did so, and in a blink of an eye crossed the distance between the two of them. Thrusting forward with her energy halberd, Kanzashi slammed into Ichika, their two IS units plummeting out of the sky, while Ichika's shield began to rapidly drop from the attack.
Suddenly, a black drone appeared between the two IS units in a flash of light, its built in plasma cannon already pointed at its target. Startled by the drone's appearance, Kanzashi broke away, just barely evading the drone's shot as she did so, allowing Ichika to slow his descent until he was once again hovering just above the ground.
"I guess everything is in working order on your end!" He called out as he once again aimed his weapon at the blue haired girl's IS.
"It's all working perfectly! Thanks Ichika!" Kanzashi replied as she opened fire with her particle beam cannons, the blasts once again slamming into the shield drones' hexagonal barriers.
"That's good to know. It also means I can stop holding back for fear of causing damage!" Ichika replied... Right before an Uchigane's Katana slammed into his back, causing red warning lights to fill his helmet. Cursing, Ichika turned around to see Honne, her IS unit clearly having taken a beating, raising her weapon for another strike. Activating his wrist mounted shield, Ichika blocked the incoming blow while simultaneously bringing his gun to bear, swinging the weapon around until the barrel was touching his opponent's energy shield. A long burst of plasma later, and the Uchigane's ADS engaged, knocking Honne out of the fight. Ichika realized too late that it was all part of her plan, as a volley of particle beam fire hit him from behind, courtesy of Kanzashi. Dodging out of the way of a second volley, Ichika turned to face his remaining opponent, seeing his two shield drones lying on the ground, their shields having been overwhelmed and their frames destroyed while he was busy eliminating Honne.
Quickly checking his shield levels, Ichika saw that his energy shield was almost entirely depleted. Had this been an actual battle, Ichika would have switched off his ADS in order to allow his shield to recharge, but as this was a tournament style duel, it meant that he was one hit away from losing, a fact that Kanzashi seemed all too keen to remind him of.
Quickly deploying a curtain of knife missiles, Ichika retreated, creating a second group of beam drones as he tried to get some distance from his opponent. Said opponent, however, was none too keen on allowing him to get away, as a point blank missile volley quickly eliminated the knife missiles, damaging her shield in the process. Weaving her way though a barrage of plasma with her guns blazing and her halberd raised, Kanzashi shot towards him, a second ignition boost allowing her to catch him, his wrist mounted shield barely coming up in time to block her weapon's strike. However, that left him open to her particle beam cannons, which fired just as he fired off another volley from his plasma gun.
A blaring siren signaled his ADS engaging, while Kanzashi stepped back from her downed opponent and dismounted her IS. Storing away his own unit, Ichika stood up, smiling at the blue haired girl who had just defeated him.
"Great job Kanzashi-chan! Your first time fighting in that IS and you managed to beat me!" Ichika exclaimed, causing the girl to blush at the praise.
"W-Well, it's not like I did all the work. If it weren't for Honne-chan sneaking up on you, I doubt I could have beaten you. Plus, you were holding back in case something went wrong with my machine." Kanzashi replied as Honne walked up to the group.
"You did great anyway Kan-chan! When I distracted him, you destroyed his shield drones and took him out! We worked together, and we beat him, and that's what matters!" Honne complimented her partner.
"I know that... Say, Ichika, how were you holding back anyway? You knocked out Honne without even trying and you almost got me too. One more hit from that plasma cannon and I would have been knocked out as well." Kanzashi asked.
"Well, you remember the drones I sent at you, right? Well, my IS can control about a hundred of them without any impact on its performance. I can control more as well, but that would force me to divert my attention to directing them. Plus, I didn't use my copying system to assimilate your IS unit's technology, that would just be unsporting of me." Ichika replied, mentally adding that he didn't use any of Ori's abilities to assist him.
"Ah... I see." Kanzashi looked somewhat crestfallen at that revelation, so Ichika continued.
"I still hold back when I'm training with the rest of the girls though, and they've only managed to defeat me three times so far, so don't sell yourself short Kanzashi. As Cecilia is so fond of saying, you're a representative candidate. That alone means you've got the skills of an elite pilot! Now, let's go and look over your IS, I want to make sure everything is still in working order. After that, I think I'll leave you to practice with Nohotoke-san. After all, with the tournament coming up, I wouldn't want to take up too much of your time!" With those words, Ichika turned to leave the arena, pausing to look and see if Kanzashi was following him. The blue haired girl was right behind him, having stowed away her IS before walking after him while Honne brought up the rear.
As expected, the inspection of the IS revealed no glaring flaws or damage, so Ichika left the pair to their own devices. After a few moments of thought, he headed up to the office where Maya was currently grading the latest tests that the class had submitted. Arriving at the office, he knocked three times, paused, and knocked twice more to let Maya know exactly who was standing outside.
"Come in, Orimura-kun." The green haired teacher called out as the door slid open, and Ichika complied.
"So, what is it you want to talk about? I'm afraid that I don't have any presents for you from R&D... Speaking of which, have you finished your evaluation of the MPTIS units yet?" Maya asked once the door had closed.
"I have already submitted it. However, that's not what I'm here for. I just wanted to let you know that Kanzashi's IS is completed, and I was just wondering when we will finally be recruiting her." Ichika replied.
"I see... I was thinking of doing so immediately after the tournament. Why do you want to know? Has something come up?" Maya asked.
"No, nothing of the sort. I was just curious."
"I understand. I will brief you fully right before we contact her, but for now I'm still working out some of the minor details myself."
"How hard can it be to ask her to join us?"
"Oh it can be very difficult. It's not like just asking a favor of someone, you are asking someone to commit their entire life to a cause they are completely unsure about. I have to understand how the target thinks, how they feel about the various things they will be involved in as a member. In the end, I have to plan things out down to the very things she will say, and how I will respond to them. After all, I'd rather avoid wiping the memory of someone because they decided not to join!" Maya finished, smiling.
"I see. I'll leave you to it then." Ichika replied after a few moments, before turning and leaving the room. He leaned against the wall for a few moments, just processing what had just been said. In hindsight, he really shouldn't have been surprised by what Maya had said, as his own recruiter had said quite a few things that he wouldn't have known without some extensive digging into his past, but still...
After a few moments, Ichika shook his head and stood up, heading down to the cafeteria, where dinner would soon be served. In the end, he thought, it didn't matter how he was recruited, only that he had joined the right cause.
Dinner was a rather quiet affair, although it was a silence of anticipation. After all, the students who had not yet chosen a partner would soon find out exactly who had been chosen for them. Most students had already finished eating by the time the official announcement was made by a rather enthusiastic sounding Tatenashi, who posted the list of pairs for the grade level tournament on the wall. As soon as the student council president had left, the unpaired students crowded around the list, eager to see who they would be working with. Houki was one of those students, Ichika following her to see who she would be partnered with. Looking at the list, Ichika saw his own name alongside Charles Dunois, as well as Cecilia's name next to Rin's. His eyes continued to scroll down the list, spotting Honne and Kanzashi together before they came to rest on Shinonono Houki and... Ichika heard Houki stifle a gasp when she saw exactly who she would be partnered with.
The name by Houki's was none other than Laura Bodewig. Looking around, Ichika saw the silver haired girl staring up at the list. A few moments passed before she looked over at Houki, her features morphing into an expression of distaste.
"Hmph." The silver haired girl simply snorted before she turned away and left the cafeteria.
"Don't worry Houki. If worst comes to worst, I'll take care of it." Ichika smiled at the still shellshocked girl, breaking her out of her stupor.
"It's not that... It's just that if I win, you'll end up losing the bet you made with her!" Houki exclaimed.
"Our bet hinges on me defeating her. It doesn't matter if you beat me afterwards, although this doesn't mean I will hold back on you." Ichika replied, causing the Japanese girl to smile.
"Don't worry. I'll beat you no matter how you come at me!" That in turn brought a smile to Ichika's face.
"That's more like it Houki. We should get back to our seats though, or our food might get cold." That was the que for the two of them to head back to their table, where Cecilia, Rin and 'Charles' all sat, eagerly awaiting the identity of Houki's partner.
"So, Shinonono-san, who is it?" 'Charles' was the first to speak.
"Yeah! Who's your partner?" Rin asked.
"It's Laura." Houki replied simply.
"Oh... It must have been quite a shock to find that out!" 'Charles' said after a few moments' pause, voice filled with sympathy.
"How unfortunate... I was hoping to crush her early on in the tournament, but now that you are her partner..." Cecilia trailed off.
"Don't worry. I will be sure to succeed in spite of her." Houki replied simply, but Ichika could tell that she was still very concerned.
"If you have a problem, don't hesitate to come to me." Ichika said, putting a hand on her shoulder and causing her to blush at the contact.
The rest of dinner passed by quickly, as did the rest of the day. Before Ichika knew it, he found himself falling asleep in his room. However, the silence was broken when Charlotte spoke up from the nearby bed.
"Ichika, are you awake?" The French girl asked.
"What is it Charlotte?" Ichika replied.
"Well... I just wanted to say thank you..."
"What for?"
"For everything really... For keeping my secret, for partnering up with me... And for being my friend. You're a really good friend, you know that?"
"Charlotte?"
"Ah, it's nothing... Goodnight Ichika!" With those words, Charlotte fell silent, leaving Ichika to fall asleep as well. However, he couldn't help but feel that Charlotte had meant to say something else as well.
The next morning passed by in a whirl of activity as students made last minute preparations for the tournament, reserved practice areas for later in the day, and, most of all, gossiped.
"I'm telling you, it's true! The winner of the tournament gets to date Orimura Ichika-kun!" The boy in question heard as he entered the classroom. As soon as he did so, the room fell silent, before the chatter started up again. Eventually, Chifuyu shut the class up and began to teach as usual.
The rest of the school day passed by as normal, although once school had ended the IS Academy once again became a hub of activity as students ran off to practice or to prepare. Ichika was heading off to the practice arena he had reserved with Charlotte when he heard a trio of girls run by.
"I heard that three representative candidates are having a battle in Arena Three!" One of them called out.
"What? Really?" Another asked as they continued to run.
"Yeah! I heard that German girl was one of them!" The first girl replied, drawing Ichika's attention.
"Change of plans Charles, we're going to Arena Three." Ichika replied, running after the girls, the French girl right behind him. They arrived just in time to see a massive explosion obscure the arena, Houki running up behind them. Evidently, she had heard the news as well.
"It's Fan-san and Alcott-san!" 'Charles' exclaimed as the dust cleared, revealing the ShenLong and Blue Tears hovering in front of a crater in the ground, facing Laura in the Schwarzer Regen.
"Take this!" Rin screamed, opening fire with her Impact Cannons. However, Laura merely laughed and a shimmering field appeared in front of her, catching the incoming fire. Laura simply laughed.
"That is useless against the power of the Schwarzer Regen!" The German girl mocked as the dust settled. However, Ichika could tell that Rin had not intended for that shot to hit, and was merely probing her opponent's defenses.
"So that's the AIC..." 'Charles' mused from beside him.
"That's it... Since she's using it, she isn't even thinking of evading..." Houki commented.
"Interesting... I wonder, is it simply a modified PIC or is it something entirely new?" Ichika wondered.
"I don't know... but it certainly is effective." 'Charles' replied.
"It completely negates the movement of any mass... A perfect defensive weapon." Houki said.
"It's not perfect." Ichika replied as he watched Cecilia and Rin continue to probe their opponent's defenses.
"What do you mean?" Houki asked.
"It does not negate all movement. If it truly did so, it would cool the area it is affecting to absolute zero, and that is clearly not the case. A laser might be able to get through, although I have no concrete proof... yet." Ichika replied as he watched Rin stop shooting, followed closely by Cecilia.
"Let's drown her in tears Cecilia, just like we practiced." Rin said after a few moments' thought.
"I was just thinking the exact same thing!" Cecilia exclaimed, and promptly launched her four beam drones, the bits quickly surrounding Laura, who quickly took off and began to dodge the incoming fire. Then Cecilia launched a barrage of four missiles, simultaneously opening fire with her rifle, while Rin went around and added her own firepower to the mix.
"Another apparent flaw in the AIC is that it seems to only cover a limited area. Attacks from multiple directions, like what Cecilia is doing, cannot be effectively blocked simultaneously. Her IS can attack from five separate directions, nine if you count the missiles, and Rin brings the total up to ten. Laura cannot effectively cover all those avenues of attack at once." Ichika watched as Laura ducked, weaved, and blocked her way through the incoming barrage. He had to give the girl some credit, she was clearly a very skilled pilot, but in spite of her skill, a few shots got through.
After one such hit, Laura clearly decided that it was time to change tactics. Mid dodge, her IS suddenly released six wire guided daggers, which shot towards Rin, chasing after her when she tried to evade. Five were dodged, but the sixth struck its target, clamping on to the ShenLong's leg. Even as Rin attempted to use her blade to cut her self loose, the rest of the daggers closed in and restrained her, before dragging her down to the ground. Reeling the pink IS in, Laura held it in front of her, intending on using it as a makeshift shield, while covering the rest of herself with the AIC. Immediately, Cecilia stopped firing, drones and rifle alike falling silent.
"I must admit, you two were better than I expected, but in the end, I am still the superior fighter." Laura taunted as Rin attempted to free herself.
"Oh really? You really should look down before making such claims!" Cecilia replied, causing the silver haired girl to look down... and at that moment one of the missiles that Cecilia had fired earlier in the match streaked in from above, exploding in the narrow gap between Rin and Laura, blasting apart the wires and allowing Rin to separate herself from her stunned opponent. As soon as she was clear, the barrage of plasma started again, while Rin flew over to her partner.
"Rin-san, are you alright?" Cecilia asked.
"The shield took the blast for me. I'm alright, but I'll have to be more careful from now on. I still can't believe Laura fell for that!" Rin replied as the smoke from the explosion cleared.
"Was that all? Good. It's my turn now." Laura replied, letting her daggers fly at Cecilia's drones. One was caught, and was quickly reeled in and destroyed with a single blow of Laura's energy blade. The rest of the drones began to take evasive action, allowing Laura to stop evading and take aim with her unit's railgun. With a series of loud 'CRACK!'s, the weapon began to fire, sending Rin and Cecilia into the air as they tried to dodge and return fire. Unfortunately for them, Laura's AIC absorbed their incoming fire, while the railgun was able to return fire with pinpoint accuracy due to its firing platform remaining stationary.
After nearly a minute of constant evasion, a lucky shot caught Rin square in the chest, propelling her IS back towards the Arena barrier. As she struggled to regain control of her IS, Laura drew a bead on her and began to place shot after shot into her as she slowly slid down to the ground. Ichika knew that her shields were low, and that her ADS would engage soon, but what then? The ADS only covered the pilot, and left the machine vulnerable, and if the IS took enough damage...
Using her daggers to keep Cecilia occupied, Laura jetted over to where Rin had fallen, planting her IS' foot on the other girl's chest, a cruel smile on her face. One shot, and Rin's IS was immobilized, its ADS engaging to keep the pilot safe. At that moment, Ichika deployed his IS. After ensuring nobody would hear, he spoke to his AI.
"Ori, can you get me through the Arena barrier?" He asked as Charlotte and Houki gaped at him.
"Let's see... Yes, I can do that." Ori replied. The barriers that separated the stands from the arena proper were overpowered variants of the IS energy shield, and could be brought down by a skilled hacker, or a powerful enough attack from an IS, hence the presence of blast shutters to protect the audience in the event of that happening.
"Do it." Ichika replied simply, and the barrier dropped. As the two girls around him gasped, he shot through the opening, the barrier re-activating behind him. Just as Laura prepared to fire a crippling shot at her opponent's IS, a volley of plasma fire slammed into her from the side. Turning to face him, Ichika smiled under his helmet at the shock on his target's face.
"Didn't they teach you not to waste ammunition on defeated opponents?" Ichika asked as Laura moved towards him.
"Ichika-san!" Cecilia called out from above where she was still pursued by a pair of daggers.
"If she was weak enough to end up in this situation, then she deserves what she is about to get." Laura replied, keeping her gun trained on Rin.
"And what would your precious instructor say about your current behavior?" Ichika asked, and he smiled as fury flashed through his opponent's eyes, causing her to bring her gun to bear on him and open fire.
"Alcott-san, get Rin out of here. I'll distract Laura." Ichika ordered as he watched the daggers pursuing the blonde break off and head for him. His FEL swiveled and opened fire, quickly severing the daggers' lines and causing them to fall to the ground, useless. As his laser took care of that particular threat, he turned his plasma rifle on Laura and opened fire, sending a barrage of superheated blue gas at Laura, who simply threw up her AIC and smiled as the shots impacted.
"Ori, aim the FEL at Laura, I want to test something." Ichika ordered once the last dagger had been severed.
"Roger that!" The AI exclaimed, and the laser turned to target Laura. Ichika relished the utterly shocked expression on her face a few moments later when she saw a plume of fire erupt from her IS unit's chest as the laser met its mark.
"Just as I suspected. Alright Ori, that's enough. No sense in letting her figure out what's going on." Ichika ordered after a few moments, and the laser shut down. Looking around, Ichika saw that Cecilia had managed to carry Rin out of the arena and was now coming back to assist him.
"Cecilia, we're leaving. There's no point in fighting her." Ichika said as he opened a communications channel with her.
"But-" Cecilia began, but he cut her off.
"Cecilia, staying here does nothing but inform her of our capabilities. We're going to thrash her tomorrow anyway, so there's no point fighting." Ichika replied, causing the British girl to sigh.
"Very well Ichika-san, but if you end up facing her first tomorrow, I expect you to pound her into the ground, understand?" Ichika smiled at that.
"Of course. Now, shall we go?" He said as he headed back to the arena exit.
"Dammit, you are not getting away so easily!" Laura cried out as she charged at him. Ichika twisted to face her, an energy shield already blooming into existence on his wrist, but Laura's energy blade never landed.
With a loud 'CLANG!', a giant katana taken straight from an Uchigane parried the blow, causing both Ichika and Laura to gasp, both at the feat and at the identity of the blade's wielded.
"Instructor?" Laura choked out as she realized what she had done. Chifuyu merely sighed in response.
"It's because of things like this that I've grown tired of handling kids."
"Chifuyu-nee?" Ichika wondered, having barely seen his older sister move.
"I am perfectly fine with you having mock battles, but I believe that subverting the barriers of the arena goes too far. As a teacher I cannot stand for this."
"Ori? I thought you made sure not to alert anyone when you dropped the shield!" Ichika asked, shutting off his speakers.
"I didn't alert anyone!" Ori replied.
"This mock battle is now cancelled. Any grudges between you two are to be settled at the coming tournament. Are we clear?" Chifuyu asked.
"If that is what the Instructor orders." Laura replied as she stowed away her IS.
"Orimura, Alcott, is that fine with you two?" Chifuyu turned to them.
"Yes, Orimura-sensei." Ichika replied.
"I am fine with that as well." Cecilia added.
"Good. In that case, you three are prohibited from participating in any mock battles until the Inter-Class Tournament. Dismissed!" Chifuyu called out, and the trio left the arena, Laura going off on her own while Cecilia and Ichika met up with Rin. Houki and 'Charles' joined them as well.
"It would have been fine even if you didn't come and save me!" Rin muttered as she stowed away her IS.
"Yeah, I could have beaten her, even on my own!" Cecilia chipped in.
"I have no doubt about that, but from where I was standing, it looked like Laura was about to inflict critical damage to Rin's IS, and if that had happened, both of you would have been disqualified from the coming tournament." Ichika replied, causing the two girls to look at him skeptically.
"He's right, you know. If an IS takes critical damage, it has to be repaired in a specialized facility over the course of several days. In addition, using a damaged IS in a tournament could cause permanent damage which could lead to your representative status being revoked." All heads in the room turned to face the speaker. Satisfied that she had the room's attention, Maya continued on.
"You two should thank Orimura-kun. If it weren't for his intervention, you two would not be able to compete in the tournament, which would in turn leave a poor mark on your records as representative candidates. After all, the main purpose of these tournaments is to gather data on your IS units."
"That reminds me, Ichika, how did you shut down the barrier? It's supposed to be there to stop IS units, after all." 'Charles' asked, curious.
"That is exactly what I am here to find out. Orimura-kun, will you please come with me? This shouldn't take long." Maya said, before leading Ichika out of the room. After a short walk, the green haired teacher stopped and leaned against the wall.
"Orimura-kun, while I cannot question the motive behind your actions today, the fact remains that you nearly caused a major breach of secrecy today when you hacked the arena barrier controls. Had your AI been a little less careful, it would have tripped something and next thing you know, I would have to break out the memory drugs and start erasing loose ends. I will let you off with a slap on the wrist just this once, but in the future I will have to take real punitive action should you continue to place the Organization at risk in this manner." Maya said, looking Ichika in the eye.
"I understand. What is my punishment?" Ichika asked, sighing inwardly. Maya smiled in response.
"Until further notice, your IS wing has been grounded due to the security risks posed by 50% of its members. Until these security risks are removed, your wing is prohibited from undertaking combat operations." Maya finished, and Ichika sighed in relief.
"I see what you mean by a slap on the wrist." Ichika smiled.
"This is not a laughing matter. Should this happen again, you run the risk of being detained for breach of security. You have been warned." Maya's expression became serious once more.
"I understand. Is there anything else?" Ichika asked.
"At the moment? No. I will notify you if anything else comes up. You may return to your friends. Oh, and in the future, I recommend that you sit close to one of the pit entrances so that you can intervene without having to hack the energy barrier." Maya said, before she turned and left Ichika alone in the hallway. Once she was gone, Ichika sighed audibly in relief before he headed back to where his friends were waiting.
A/N: Alright! This chapter is FINALLY done! I had to stay up a little late in order to finish this, but I'm actually kind of happy with how the non-piecemeal written half of this chapter turned out. However, I am kind of regretting introducing the Sarashiki siblings this early in the story, as this means that I have to insert them into events where they didn't technically exist, plus I am having some trouble writing their dialogue for some reason... Anyway, that's my general thoughts on the matter.
In addition, I have altered the chronological order in which a few minor events appear, nothing major, but it helps make IS Academy look a bit more 'Professional' IMO. In the anime, a lot of school events are only really revealed at the last minute, which is all well and good for theatrical value, but in a real school things like the fact that the tournament will require a partner are planned out weeks, if not months, in advance rather than revealed with less than a day to go to the actual event. Hence my slight alteration of canon there... That and I didn't notice it until I re-watched the episode after I had already written the section, but don't tell anyone!
Also, I am thinking of creating a companion 'fic' to this that essentially keeps track of the various IS units/other important technical bits that I intend to add/modify later in the story. This will let both you and me keep track of exactly what Ichika has in the Infinite Arsenal, the various modifications I intend to eventually make to canon IS units, as well as the original units and tech that I plan to add in. I might call it the 'Codex Stratos', or 'The Organization: Classified Files', or something along those lines. it won't be a real fic, but it will be a good way of keeping up with the technical developments I intend to make in this story. I would like your thoughts on the matter before I make it, however.
Anyway, now that that's all been said, i hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please fav/follow/review as it suits you. I'll try and update whenever I have the chance.