Monday morning arrived. After a weekend of isolation, Ichika was determined to fix whatever has plagued his friends. He spent the night by himself in 1006 and waited until breakfast hour was called. Then, he went back to 1025 to check on his sibling group.
"Hello?" Ichika called, "Anyone up yet?"
Chifuyu was slumped over by the bed, still unable to shake off what had happened a few days ago.
"Hey, Chifuyu..." Ichika rubbed her shoulder, "You doing ok?..."
Chifuyu didn't say anything.
"Lori?" Ichika turned, "Are you ready for school?"
"I think so..." Lori nodded, already ready for the week to be over.
"How's your head?"
"I only had three shots. I'm fully recovered."
"Good. How's Lincoln?"
Lori grimaced and turned to her younger brother and sister, who were still asleep thanks to Card Counter.
"They'll be out for a couple more days," Lori flatly answered.
"Two days and two hours, to be precise," Card Counter said, "The damage to their psyche isn't permanent, but I need total isolation for this first phase." She dematerialized her laptop, "You were right to bring them here. The infirmary would've been overwhelmed with eager peepers by now."
"Let's make sure it never gets that far," Ichika nodded, then turned to Lori, "Well, we have to go."
"Why?" Lori questioned, "School's not in for another half hour."
"I have to meet with some people," Ichika said while leading them out.
On the way to the classroom, they came across the student body. Only this time, the students were giving them concerned looks as if they just saw two dirty bums wandering aimlessly around the pristine campus.
"Why are they looking at us like that?" Lori hid her face.
"Probably because they just came back from a week break...after they saw what we got up to on the weekend," Ichika said.
Inside the class halls, they were greeted by Rin, Laura, and Charlotte.
"Morning, gang," Ichika fist bumped the group.
"Morning, Ichika," Charlotte greeted, "And a good morning to you too, Miss Loud."
"Thank you," Lori bowed.
"So, are we all clear on today's agenda?" Laura asked.
"Yep," Rin nodded, "Today's assembly, we announce the formation of the ISL. We're gonna have a surveillance team to be our eyes in the sky, and a frontline team to lead on in the field."
"And we have our reasons why we should enact the ISL," Charlotte said, "No matter what, we must convince the students to allow this to happen."
"What about me?" Lori raised her hand, "Where do I fit in all this?"
"We can sort out the specifics later," Laura pointed to the clock, "Right now, we have other issues to tend to."
Everyone settled in their home room periods. No one dared look any of the pilots in the eyes. Maya had to take over Class 1-1 teacher duties since Chifuyu could not be found by anyone outside the usual group.
"So, today, we will have a special assembly to stand in for our normal first period," Maya said, "I would ask all of you to ~~~"
Ichika kept his eyes front and centered. He didn't need to look behind him to know that all eyes were on him, except four. Cecilia and Houki couldn't get over the image of Ichika holding a sword to Chifuyu's neck. They wondered if they did something to finally make him snap.
Class 1-2 was almost normal, save for the obvious change of mood, having been half the class evacuating most of the staff during the attack.
Classes 1-3 and 1-4 were the most tense of all. They have just learned of Lori and Leni's condition, and they grew all the more fearful of her lashing out. Not that it was possible given the very public display after the water park incident, but it didn't help that, for a brief moment, she was caught in a drunken rampage with Chifuyu. Not to mention that for the first few weeks of school, they couldn't decide whether to keep Lori in 1-3 or 1-4 due to the sheer number of disproven complaints against her, so they had to alternate her between classes, until Tina volunteered to be the Class 1-3 representative, leaving Lori to represent 1-4.
At the school assembly, the students gathered in the school park for an announcement from Tatenashi.
"Welp," Tina whispered to Lori, "we got a problem."
"You think?!" Lori whispered back, "What's a southern girl gonna do against a bunch of northerners?!"
"I think you'll be might surprised..." Tina winked.
"Literally no."
Ichika looked around him. He was all by himself in the front, with his usual band of friends in the middle of the pack. He tensed up when he saw Tatenashi approaching the pulpit, "Here we go..."
"That's her," Laura said, "We must go now."
"Hold," Charlotte held her back, "Look at her face."
"What are you-oh," Rin saw it. Tatenashi was not her usual cheerful self. She wore a serious face with her fan hidden from the crowd, "What got into her lederhosen?"
"I'm not sure," Laura responded, "But we have to make a move soon."
Cecilia and Houki just sat still as Tatenashi spoke:
"Let me make this clear: The IS Academy will always be the premier destination for IS pilots all over the world to come to train and hone their skills to be a master at the craft. We provide a safe place for students and instructors to thrive in an enriching environment."
Ichika groaned. He couldn't believe that Tatenashi would start her speech with this flowery language.
"But there was an incident this past weekend..." Tatenashi ate her own words (to Ichika's unknowing), "...an incident that necessitated the need for additional protection. Something that was prodded by one of the students involved in that incident."
"Oh, don't you dare..." Ichika muttered.
"Therefore, to make a long story short," Tatenashi then made the decision for him, "I am announcing the formation of the Infinite Stratos League."
Ichika quickly covered his mouth. Cecilia and Houki just stood there wide-eyed and gap-jawed. Rin and Laura gasped. Charlotte nearly screamed.
"If this past month is of any indication, it's that the enemy can strike whenever, wherever," Tatenashi continued, "We must have a standby team ready to defend us at all times, and an intel team that can scour the country for any and all possible threats to our school. The incident in Michigan and Ohio of the USA made that apparent, and the attack on our school made it a necessity."
The students murmured in solemn agreement.
"Luckily, we already have a group of students willing to take up the cause," Tatenashi pointed to the lights, "Those students just so happen to be in the audience right now, and they just so happen to have their own personal units."
Suddenly, all spotlights were shone upon those who had personal units, aka the usual bunch.
"What the hell?..." Rin stared upward.
"Did she integrate her plans with ours?" Laura tensed up.
"What do we do?" Charlotte whispered.
"I don't think we have a choice..." Rin said.
"This is a joke," Ichika muttered, "She has to be joking."
"Now, will the pilots participating in the ISL please step forward?" Tatenashi asked.
"Well...not how I envisioned my image here..." Cecilia muttered.
"Come on," Houki urged.
Tina saw the spotlight on her...and Lori.
"Huh?!" Lori shrieked.
"Wehehehellll!" Tina quipped, "Looks like that figure of yours shone through!"
"I don't have a personal unit!"
"Oh, just play along."
"No!"
"Come on!" Tina dragged Lori up to the stage.
With great reluctance, the group assembled in front of the student body... and behind Tatenashi.
"Ladies and ladies!" Tatenashi declared the start of an era, "These are the brave pilots who will defend the IS Academy! And, by extension, the whole of the IS World Community!"
The group went "WHAT?!"
But their confusion was drowned out by the cheers of the students and staff, who were ecstatic to see their kind rise up to defend them. Completely unaware that it was Tatenashi who was pulling the strings on them.
During lunch period, the group ate outside to discuss the potential consequences of the assembly.
"Well," Ichika groaned, "this means I can never turn off my brain even for a millisecond."
"I think it will require more than that," Charlotte nudged him to the scene unfolding before him.
"Who does that blueberry squash think she is?!" Rin growled, "Thinking she can just lasso us into her schemes, huh?! Well, I'll show her!"
"I thought you wanted an Infinite Stratos League," Laura said.
"安靜，吱吱！"
"真沒禮貌。"
"And why am I in this?!" Lori wailed, "I don't have a personal unit! I don't even know if I can even touch one!"
"Don't worry about it," Houki said to her without batting an eye, "I'm sure baby brother Lincoln can rustle one up for you."
"What?!..." Lori was shocked to have heard that.
Cecilia glared, "Apparently, I'm not the only one with good connections."
"Hey, lay off her!" Tina commanded.
"Don't you have any concern over her manipulation?!" Cecilia griped.
"And you can do it better than her?" Tina grinned.
Cecilia was about to say something, "How dare you, you hillbilly-"
"ENOUGH!" Ichika shocked everyone by bellowing to attention. So loud, that the students in the cafeteria heard him.
"Clearly, we have a case of the double compromise surprise," Ichika continued, "Tatenashi didn't realize that she'd have to give up something to keep the ISL under the wraps, so now she's making us give up something to get the ISL going."
"But what?" Lori wondered, "What could she be so upset about that would make her do this?"
"I'm gonna find out," Ichika stood up, "We have a joint practical session next, so we have some time to prepare."
"I'll go with you," Houki quickly stood up with him, "I'm gonna give her a piece of my mind."
"I'll join you two," Cecilia stood up next, but-
"Nooooope," Ichika shoved them back down, "You stay here."
"Oof!" Cecilia hit the ground hard, "Wha-why?!"
"Because y'all still have some trust issues to work out," Ichika said.
"If you think that I would for a second allow that..." Cecilia pointed at Lori, "...thing to come anywhere near me-"
"-then, you're two necklaces away from cramping your head up your own ass," Ichika muttered as he walked away.
"Ah!" Cecilia couldn't believe what she just heard, "How obscene!"
"Not even I would've said that..." Houki thought.
Cecilia shot her eyes at Lori, "What ramble have you been feeding him?!"
"Oh, boy..." Tina groaned.
Lori rolled her eyes and continued eating.
"Cecilia?" Charlotte attempted to reason with her, "I think you've made your point."
"But she hasn't!" Cecilia snapped, "I guarantee you, if she hadn't muddied the waters here with her rotten feet, none of us would be in this position!"
The group suddenly turned their eyes to Lori, waiting for some kind of response from her. But Lori knew better.
"I only came for Lincoln," Lori said, "No one else."
"You can't even muster up a simple comeback to that," Cecilia scoffed, "Of course you can't-"
"Lori. Tina," Charlotte suddenly grabbed their arms, "Let's go."
"Uey!" Lori stammered, "What gives?!"
"We don't need to listen to a spoiled child's ramblings," Charlotte said out loud.
"And we're blonde, and I can be very dumb," Tina said, "So what does that make her?"
"Empathetically retarded," Charlotte quipped.
"Oh, hell no!" Houki shouted, "You better take that back!"
"It's useless, Houki," Cecilia growled, "They're too far gone."
"Grrr..." Houki pouted, "I wish I said something to really grind their gears."
"And make them slip up?" Cecilia was somewhat surprised, "You would do that?"
"Of course."
Laura interjected, "At what expense?"
"Oh, shut up, Bodewig!" Houki said, "You wouldn't understand."
"And I don't suppose you would help me understand?"
Houki was had. She knew that Laura was deficient in emotional comprehension, and most likely didn't understand a single thing that was said.
But instead of bothering to explain, Houki simply went, "All you need to know is how to stay out of our business." And she took Cecilia and left.
Rin was nonplussed, "Do they know we still have ten minutes left?"
Laura shrugged.
Meanwhile, nothing had changed in 1025. Card Counter was still tending to Lincoln and Leni, "Hmm...Mind readings are fluctuating at an inconsistent rate. I'll have to increase intensity."
"In what, may I ask?..."
"Miss Orimura," Card Counter acknowledged, "I take it you have fully recovered from your personal issues?"
"Not really..." Chifuyu was disheartened by what she remembered, "I just made worst mistake of my life..."
"Reveal a secret to your own student, instead of your own kin?"
"...I was gonna say, 'Piss myself in front of a kid,' but yeah..." Chifuyu threw a water bottle across the room, "...that works too..."
"Do you need a therapy session as well?"
"No," Chifuyu flatly said.
"Then, when can the students expect you back?"
"Tomorrow," Chifuyu went to the bathroom, "As soon as I get everything straightened out."
"Well, you better hurry," Card Counter said, "The ISL was approved by the Student Council President herself. Mister Orimura is on his way to her right now."
"That little-" Chifuyu hastened her personal preparations.
After school. Tatenashi was walking from the training hall when she saw Ichika, "Well, look who decided to show to training today! You had a good weekend off, right?"
"Save it, lady," Ichika demanded, "What are you pulling here?"
"Oooh! Perked up, have we? Or are you just not coming along well?"
"Don't you even!" Ichika snapped, "What are you trying to pull with that stunt?!"
"Ugh. Rude," Tatenashi playfully wafted past him, "And here I thought you would be grateful."
Ichika sighed and asked her straight away, "Yes, you approved the ISL. What do you want in exchange for that?"
Tatenashi stopped. There was a glimmer in her eyes that he didn't notice. She strutted her body towards him and shoved her fan into his sternum, "Until the next school festival, you will give me your undivided attention. Every little whim that I fancy, every crack in my conscience, every single thing I find wrong with the daily rituals of this school...you will attend to."
Ichika sighed. He knew that he would be immediately shut down if he ever tried to ask anymore questions, but he did have one burning his mind that he couldn't ignore, "And what if my friends need me?"
Tatenashi knew that question would come up. She still felt like she had to keep up a front, so she said, "What friends?"
"Excuse me?" Ichika growled.
"They only like you because you're the only Y-chromosome in twenty miles. Why do you think Cecilia and Houki were trying to pal around you all the time?"
"Come on! They haven't been doing that!"
"Oh, poor Ichika," Tatenashi sighed, "Pretending to be perceptive of everyone..." Then, she walked away, "We start tomorrow, so start saying your 'Goodbye-for-now's."
Ichika was stunned. Not only was there a very real possibility that he was going to be Tatenashi's personal assistant, he would also have to keep up his training, possibly away from the ISL, away from his friends. Away from Lincoln and Chifuyu. "God, what is she thinking?..." he muttered as he went back to 1025 to check up on the two. Leni and Lincoln were still knocked out, but Chifuyu had left the room. "Oh boy..." he slowly walked toward Card Counter, "How goes it?"
"Progressing smoothly," Card Counter responded while typing on a holographic screen, "I put Ace in a virtual scenario in which his family was swapped with his companions, and that produced satisfactory results."
"Uy..." Ichika winced, "What did he put in his heart to contaminate his blood?"
"Nothing. Rather, he took something out," Card Counter said, "He's currently in the process of re-manifesting that object."
"And Leni?"
"A simple confrontational exercise."
"You didn't..."
"No, I didn't," Card Counter smirked, "That would cause irreparable damage..." She waved her hand and showed another screen, "No, I just simulated a therapy room and encouraged her to express herself."
"How is she?" Ichika dared to ask. He tapped the screen and-
"WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE?! THEY THINK I'M THE STUPID ONE FOR MIXING EVERYTHING UP! DID THEY EVER SHOW ME ANY OF THAT CRUD?! NO! THEY THINK THEY KNOW ME, BUT REALLY! THEY THINK THAT I-"
-immediately dissipated it, "So...How is she?..."
"She'll recover by tomorrow afternoon," Card Counter said.
"...ok," Ichika nodded and tiptoed out of the room.
It didn't help that Tina overheard his spiel with Tatenashi from the classroom walls. She slammed open Houki and Cecilia's door, "Guys! Big news!" And promptly shut and triple-locked it.
"Ua! Do you mind, woman?!" Cecilia griped.
"We're in the middle of ramen enhancement!" Houki shouted-
"Just listen to me!" Tina shoved her hand into Houki's mouth, "Tatenashi just make Ichika her personal assistant! She's forced him into servitude!"
Cecilia shook her head, "What?"
"I heard them outside my classroom while I was drawing," Tina said, "Ichika was like, 'You approved the ISL. what do you want in exchange?' And Tatas was all, 'You will tend to my every whim, and tickle my fancy on demand.' And then, Ichika asked, 'Well, what about my friends?' And Tatenashi shit him down-'QUIET! Now, do as you are told! Lest ye incur the wrath of SHIIIKKIIIIIIII!'"
Cecilia was lost, "What the hell?..."
Houki sighed, "She means, Tatenashi will make Ichika pay for the ISL with his service. While he's out running God-only-knows-what for Tatenashi, we may be called to missions without him."
"We're going to have to operate without him for a while," Tina said, "At the very least, until the next school festival."
"Geheheh..." Cecilia nervously chuckled, "Then, that means..."
Just then, Charlotte, Laura, and Rin entered the room.
"We got the news from Ichika," Charlotte said, "We're on our own for a while."
"We must assume that Ichika will be out of our reach," Laura said, "We will have to rely on each other for help."
"Dangit," Rin grumbled, "If I see that conwoman again..."
"Not worth it," Houki calmed her down.
Meanwhile, Ichika tracked down Chifuyu to the train station, "Hey! Chifuyu!"
"Ichika?" Chifuyu turned around, "What are you doing here?"
"Finding you," Ichika said, "You're not thinking about going out to face the public, are you?"
"No," Chifuyu said, "This is the spot where the sunset hits the campus just right."
"Really?" Ichika saw it for himself. The sunset shone its light brilliantly upon the island; its rays passed directly through the entire campus and stretched its glow across the ocean, and into the perfectly lined streets of the mainland, "Oh, I get it..."
"Yeah..." Chifuyu said softly, "If that ain't a metaphor, I don't know what is."
Ichika was hit with a sudden urge to tell Chifuyu everything, "So, about that...you know..."
"Yeah, that was uncalled for...for everyone," Chifuyu sighed.
"Before that happened," Ichika said sheepishly, "I looked at Lincoln and Leni cowering in each other...it reminded me of that night."
"Ichika, don't," Chifuyu turned away.
"No, hear me out," Ichika got in front of her, "That happened because we got in over our heads, right?"
"What's your point?" Chifuyu questioned.
"My point is..." Ichika felt himself trail off further from his point with every word he said, "...that we should..."
"Yeah?"
"...keep nothing from...each...other?..."
Chifuyu immediately deciphered that sentence, "Ok... I have plenty of reservations with that notion..."
"I know, but..." Ichika sighed, "This all happened because we kept things hidden from each other. I think we need to re-establish a foundation for us to trust each other."
"Like we don't already?" Chifuyu raised an eyebrow.
"I mean, you didn't tell me that I had a twin sister," Ichika dropped a bomb, "But you trusted Lincoln enough to tell him, and he trusted me enough to tell me. So, you and I have to be doing something wrong."
Chifuyu remained silent.
"Well?" Ichika egged on, "Aren't you gonna say anything? Like how I'm not making any sense?"
"No..." Chifuyu muttered, "...you're making sense..."
"Whoa...didn't expect that..."
"What else can be said? We're a mess. As I'm sure you've seen this past weekend."
"Well, I..." Ichika slumped over, "Yeah, you're right. The facade's done."
Chifuyu looked out to the empty train tracks and pondered. She tried to think of when the first signs of a crumbling relationship were made apparent to her, but she couldn't think of anything like that. Just then, the train arrived. The only passenger, Lori, exited with two full suitcases.
"Alright," Lori said, "I'm ready."
"Taxi's that way," Chifuyu said, "You'll set up base with Maya."
"Lori?" Ichika said wide-eyed, "Whoa...what's happening here?"
"Ichika, come here," Chifuyu wrung her arms around his neck, "I have a plan, but you're not going to like it..."
"Plan?!" Ichika freaked, "I'm over here laying my heart out in the park and all you can talk about is a plan?!"
"Just lay off for one moment!" Chifuyu shushed him immediately, which took Ichika by surprise. But she grabbed him, "Look...you're right. About everything. And...I have been keeping some things from you."
"Yeah, but why?"
Chifuyu sighed, "I'll tell you later, but right now, I need your help to fix this mess."
Ichika started to breathe rapidly, "What?...You need my help?..."
"Yeah..." Chifuyu nodded, "I literally cannot do this without you..."
"I..." Ichika didn't know what to say. He knew that Chifuyu would trust him with something personal, but he never once expected to hear that from her mouth. In person. In public, nonetheless, "I didn't..."
"Um- Miss Orimura?!" Lori shouted while struggling to handle her suitcases, "I don't think I can-WAAH!" She crumbled under the luggage.
"We'll talk about this in the new room," Chifuyu rushed them inside, "For now, help!"
"Uh-yeah, yeah," Ichika scrambled with Lori to pack her belongings into the taxi.
But while that was going on, Lincoln was trapped in his own IS subspace, dealing with a wild vision...
"Yo! Up and at 'em, Stinkoln!"
"Huh?!" Lincoln suddenly woke up to-
"Cannonball!"
"Wait wait wait-" FLOOF! "-WAAA-Uy!"
"You can't expect to wall away with nothing! We gotta go, man!"
"Alright, Lynn. Just let me...LYNN?!"
"What?"
"Your hair! When did you-"
"My hair's always been like this. What'chu mean?"
"Uh-eep..."
"Lynn! Those wackos have destroyed my makeup shrine!"
"You knew what you were doing! Don't lie to me!"
"Well, you'll be happy to know that-"
BOOM!
"What was that?..."
"That was your room. Being destroyed by my accessories."
"Oh, hell no! Get away from my stink!"
Lincoln shook his head. Of all the illusions the subspace could conjure, this was by far the worst. He was back in his old house, with his...family.
That was Lynn, but she didn't look like Lynn. And that was Lola, but it didn't sound like Lola. In fact, it sounded like Cecilia if she was American.
"What the hell is going on here?..." Lincoln muttered as he bolted down to the living room and got his answer.
It was the IS subspace screwing with his mind. He was back home, and life had almost returned to normal; the only change was that his sisters have taken on a more mature appearance... and they look like his friends from the IS Academy.
"Ugh...Leni!" That was Chifuyu's voice from upstairs, "What did you put in the bathtub?! It's literally causing a blockade?"
"I saw a conditioner on TV, and it worked wonders!" That was Maya.
"That's not conditioner! That's malachite cream!"
"Pocky bite glean?!"
"Malachite! It's a permanent green dye!"
"Waaah! My hair!"
And then, Tatenashi's voice: "You know, they say, "The grass is always greener on the other side." But I think you took it a little too far."
"Luan?! How can you say that?!"
"Because you're always green with envy! Hahahahahaaa! Get it?"
"Only my hair's green?!"
And then, for some reason, "If the inferior female siblings are quite finished," Kanzashi...with no lisp whatsoever, "we might make for the college entrance exams now."
"What's the big rush, Lisa?" Chifuyu said, "You are never this eager to get us out."
"I do have a reason," Kanzashi said, "It all pertains to-"
Out of nowhere- "Pour some sugar on meeee~"
"...that," Kanzashi sighed.
This was a voice Lincoln hadn't recalled, belonging to someone he never met and didn't want to meet.
"I'm hot, sticky sweet~"
"Christ!" The girls blushed.
"From my head, to my feet-AOW!"
"Luna!" Chifuyu bellowed, "We can hear you!"
"Not to mention, there's a horn dog in our midst!" Rin shouted.
"You can't stop the music, dudes!" 'Luna' snapped.
"Well, you have to!" Cecilia popped out of Lola's room, "Your incessant yodeling has ruined Lily's ponytail!"
Except it wasn't Lily. It was Charlotte, whose braided ponytail was completely cut clean off, and whose French accent was gone, "You're gonna pay for this, throat goat!"
"What? What happened?" Houki came out to see the damage, and the moment she laid eyes on Charlotte... "BAAAHAHAHAHAAAAAA! Never heard of musical barber shops till now-hahahaaaa!"
"Hey-ooo!" Tatenashi high-fived Houki.
"It's the worst thing that could happen to me! How can you encourage this?!" Charlotte wailed.
That scene broke Lincoln, "Where am I?...what's the IS trying to show me?!"
"Depends."
"YEE-HAA!" Lincoln jumped so hard his head hit the ceiling.
"Are you ever going to not fall for that?"
"Ow...depends," Lincoln limped back towards the staircase, "Are you ever going to-AAH!"
He was looking at Laura. Not only did she lose her German accent and her Orin's Eye implement, but she kept her red eyes, height, and silver hair; everything else was gothic.
"You remember that today's our weekend off, do you not?" Laura said.
"Uh...huh..." Lincoln whimpered.
"You sure you're ok, dude?" Rin popped out from behind, "He's looks really out of it."
"Must be the nerves," Laura commented.
"Whaaaat?! Pfft, I'm totally fine!" Lincoln said unconvincingly.
"Riiiiiight..."
Just then, the doorbell rang.
"Boo-boo-bear!" Chifuyu suddenly bolted down the stairs and yanked the door open, "Bobby!"
When it fully opened, Lincoln had his mind thoroughly raped up the cerebellum.
It wasn't Bobby Santiago. It was Ichika, "Hey, sugar plum!"
"Oh, it's been too long!" Chifuyu hugged him.
"Yeah, one week too long!" Ichika KISS?!
The other girls came down to see him and chat with him. Lincoln teetered down the stairs, trying to comprehend the message of this current vision...if there even was one.
"Hey, there's my main man!" Ichika came up and bro-hugged Lincoln, "How you doin'?!"
"Uh...fine," Lincoln feigned enthusiasm, "And you?"
"All too well!" Ichika said, "And Ronnie Anne's here to see you, too!"
"Huh?!" Lincoln didn't like where this was going and decided to peek over to the porch, "Ronnie AaAAA!"
As expected, it wasn't Ronnie Anne. As nowhere near expected, it was Madoka, without the angst, "Oh, relax, Lame-o. I didn't bring a pie or nothing," and...landed a wet one on his lips...
"Well...it... not..." Lincoln was close to hyperventilating at this point.
"Why? Just because I chose something different for a change?" Madoka flaunted her sleeveless crop top and baggy shorts.
"A little dated, don't you think, lil' sis?" Ichika mouthed.
"Shut it," Madoka grumbled.
"We're not a-OOF!" Lincoln felt a shove from behind.
"Well, go on, Casanova!" Rin nudged him forward.
"And don't come back until you two kiss!" Laura shouted.
"Kiss?! What?!" Lincoln yelped, "ARE YOU OUTTA YOUR MIND?!"
"Aw, just leave them," Madoka wafted, "They're jealous that their dates aren't doing anything fun."
"Fun?! What do you call-HLAGCK?!"
"Come on, blubber ball!" Madoka wrung her arm around his neck (aka dug her side chest into his nose), "There's not a minute to lose!"
Lincoln was dragged into whatever awaited him in subspace, and it was an absolute field day for his conscience. Throughout the entire affair, his mind was rattled with disturbing parallels between his old life and this current happening. The burger joint, the skate park, the random pranks they pulled along the street, next to no difference. Except for the faces of his old family being nowhere to be found, which freaked him out even more. He didn't know whether or not he should go along with this, or stop everything and make her tell him what was really going on. But he lost so much of his mental fortitude that he forced himself to go along with whatever laid before him.
After a hard play at the arcade, Lincoln and Madoka found a nice tree in the park to catch the sunset under and set up a little picnic.
"Sucks to be you!" Madoka happily proclaimed, "I got you beat in darn near everything!"
"I'm not supposed to be here..." Lincoln mouthed, "I'm really not supposed to be here..."
"Ok. What're you yammering about?" Madoka questioned while placing her corn dog on his lap, "Are you seeing something weird again?"
"Yes, I am!" Lincoln freaked, "This! This whole setup is weird! This isn't supposed to happen! Why are you here?! What am I here?!"
"Easy, Fido," Madoka tried to rub his leg, "We're on a hill-"
"I betcha if I rolled down from here, I won't feel a thing!" Lincoln jumped back, "What the hell are you doing to me?!"
Madoka scoffed, "Nothing. It's what you're doing to yourself."
"What?!" Lincoln was bewildered, "What am I doing to myself, may I ask?!"
"Pft-fuck if I know...but if I had to guess..." Madoka stretched herself out on the cloth, "...you're in denial."
"Denial?" Lincoln said, "Goodbye."
"Well, you've even acting dodgy all day, and you aren't gonna tell me why," Madoka turned her big brown eyes to meet his, "so that's what I came up with."
Lincoln could already tell that the IS subspace has completely screwed with both his heart and brain, and he could tell that it was not going to let him go until he's learned whatever lesson he was supposed to learn. So he gave up and sat down next to Madoka, "Alrighty, then...enlighten me. What was my reason for not telling you?"
"I dunno. You tell me. You're the one keeping me in the dark."
"God, a septic tank clean out..." Lincoln could not believe what his own IS was making him do, but he didn't have a choice, so he laid everything out on the floor for her to see, "I feel like my life has been one big lie! Ok?! My family's built me up on a big lie! My friends are a big lie! My past is a big lie! And only recently did I find out that Ichika and Chifuyu's 'seeming special bond', yes that one...SHE LIED ABOUT MADOKA! Well, actually, I don't know that, but she HID HER FROM HIM! DID SHE TELL HIM MADOKA WAS DEAD?! WHAT OTHER TREASURE TROVES OF SECRETS AWAIT DISCOVERY?!"
"Whoa..." Madoka mouthed, "You're not saying that you're confused, are you?" She brushed his cheek, which made him flinch. And right away she could tell what was going on in his mind, "This isn't your life, is it?"
"No, it's not!" Lincoln backed away, "I should be at the Academy! I should be with everyone at school, and you should be trying to kill me! And what are they doing here?!"
"They who?"
"Them!" Lincoln pointed to Daryl and Forte hanging out with Maya and Cecilia, "Why are they having fun with each other?!"
"Well..." Madoka gave it some thought, and then winced, "...oh god no..."
"What?!" Lincoln begged, "What is it?! Tell me!"
Madoka tried to keep a straight face when she said, "...you learned a lesson...forgot it... and now you're having to relearn it..."
"Wha...huh?!" Lincoln didn't know what she meant, "Why are you talking about a lesson-"
"HAHAHAAAAA! How dumb are you?!" Madoka started giving him a noogie, "For all your smarts and instincts, cycling ain't your best catch, is it!"
"Let go! Hey! Aaaaaagh!" Lincoln tried to break free, but she was just too strong.
"C'mon! Say it!"
"Mmohmmmmhmhmm-"
"Say i~~~it."
"UNCLE!" Lincoln shouted, "UNCLE!"
Madoka let go, "Exactly!"
Lincoln dunked his head in a bowl of fruit punch, then shook it all over the area, "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"
"You are," Madoka shrugged.
"Huh?"
"Listen," Madoka pulled him back down to the grass, "I don't know what life you want, but it sure as hell ain't this. All's I know is: you gotta sync up whatever's going on in here-" tap his forehead "-with whatever's going on in here." Grope
"Lady-" Lincoln swatted the hand away.
"Hahaa! Did that get the point across?"
"Well..." Lincoln blushed wait what, "... I should know... but I-"
"Oh, you, still stuck in your old ways," Madoka gently laid him down with her foot, "We're gonna take the next big step in our lives! What's keeping you from committing?" When he was about to answer, Madoka stopped him, "Oh wait, I know!" She sat up and got in his face, "It's your ego."
"Ego..." Lincoln was slightly offended.
"The very thing that's got you in denial," Madoka said, "When you were younger, the entire world revolved around you...which got annoying, but there it is."
"For your information!" Lincoln jolted, "I am nowhere near-"
"Well, then," Madoka turned around and threw a hardball of a question at him, "What if I told you that you never mattered to the world?"
Lincoln went into momentary shutdown. He rattled his mind trying to find a workaround, but there was no way he could ignore that statement. Until Madoka derailed his train of thought.
"Haha, I'm just messing with you!" Madoka slapped his back.
"Oh, you..." Lincoln growled, "You led me on..."
"Had to," Madoka said, "Wouldn't be able to tame you otherwise."
"Tame me?!" Lincoln stood up, "Oh, now you're gonna get it!"
"Try me, donkey teeth!" And with that, Madoka engaged Lincoln in a pseudo-wrestling contest and easily beat him, "Man, you never learn, do you?!"
"Oh, shut up!" Lincoln shouted.
"Well!" Madoka released him, "Feel anything?"
"My neck, for once..." Lincoln rolled his head several times before he discovered something unusual, "And...lighter..."
"Poor confused creature, this one is," Madoka sprawled herself on the grass, "You love your new life so much that you wanna build onto this one and toss away your old one. If I were speaking metaphilosophically...you've become a weeaboo."
"Uh-The what?!" Lincoln was deeply offended, "Excuse me, Miss Taken!"
"Well, you were so busy with me, that you didn't care what life you had," Madoka said, "Or was that too much stimulation for you?"
"The hell does that even mean?!"
"Dunno...but you do!" Madoka grabbed his neck and brought his nose against hers, and smirked, "I can retrieve it from deep within you if you want."
"OK OK I GET IT!" Lincoln lost his mind and fled the picnic. But he stopped at the water fountain, where Madoka was already waiting for him, "Aaa! How did you-"
"You done trying to run?" Madoka managed to momentarily charm him with her half smile, but he quickly snapped out of it.
"Yeesssss..." Lincoln gave up.
On the way home, Lincoln verbally reflected on his supposed 'playdate', "Man, I don't know what you said, but I just heard a bunch of cacophony for the majority of the day, and then a bunch of stupid ideas at the end."
"That's your life in general," Madoka joked.
"Is not!"
"When's the last time you talked to a camera?"
"...well..."
"Oh, fuck off!" Madoka punched his shoulder, "It's official! You've completely lost your way!"
"So what ?!"
Madoka roped him into her chest, "Man, I didn't think you were this stupid-Hahahaaaa!"
Lincoln went blank until he made it home. But by then, the damage was done. He had full exposure to Madoka'a wild side, fully contextualized everything that she said and did, and mirrored it all with his actual life.
Madoka hopped him onto the porch and punched the door open and saw Chifuyu and Ichika, "Hey-o! We're back!"
"Just ten hours?" Ichika waved, "Thought you would've been longer."
"Oh, we would have," Madoka wagged her finger, "But the sound of Lori's insane rambling worried me."
"Hey, it's nothing like that!" Chifuyu snapped, "All we did literally was watch a bunch of movies!"
"Lady, you can't fool me," Madoka smirked, "We both know what that means."
"Uh-dangit..." Chifuyu blushed.
Madoka leaned into Lincoln's ear, "Two years into college, and already they think we're nonexistent..."
"Maybe that's a good thing?..." Lincoln said worriedly, but Madoka shrugged.
"Welcome back, male sibling unit," Kanzashi suddenly appeared in front of him, with a pink haired woman with rabbit ears that he had never met.
"Hey..." Lincoln waved.
"Took your sweet time, didn't you, bruh?" The pink haired woman winked.
Lincoln caught himself fantasizing, which made him stumble into Madoka's arms.
"Luna was rambling about how she influenced you with her songs again," Kanzashi murmured, "Please help me relieve her of this absurdity."
"Don't try to deny it, dude," the woman said, "You heard my sweet tunes too."
"Which did nothing."
"Ok..." Lincoln breathed, "I need a moment..."
"We got a fresh smoothie in the fridge," the woman pointed.
"Good..." Lincoln limped his way to the fridge, but he went for a bottle of water instead. When he splashed it on his head, he found himself back in 1025, with Leni right beside him in the same bed, "Thank goodness...I'm back in the real world..."
As soon as he said that, Leni was abruptly up woken, "AAAAAAAA!"
"HOLY-"
"What?! Where?! Who's me?! Why's me?! When's me?!"
"Leni-Leni-CALM DOWN!" Lincoln grabbed her waist and held her still, "Calm down...relax..."
"Lincoln..." Leni took a moment to peek around before realizing where she was, "Oh... I don't know what-"
"I should say something, actually..." Lincoln said.
Leni clammed up. She was absolutely scared of what she would hear.
But Lincoln said something completely unexpected, "Look... I didn't know that any of this would happen. But there's no reason for me to dwell on it."
"Why?..."
"Because...in the grand scheme of things...I don't matter."
Leni's eyes widened, "...what are you saying?..."
"I don't matter anymore," Lincoln said, "And if I don't matter, no one's going to pay attention to me. And if no one's paying attention to me, then... I can do whatever the hell I want, no one would notice, and then I'll be free from whatever baggage that's tying me d-well, I'll still have that baggage, but there's no one...nothing to constantly shove it in my face!"
"What are you saying?..." Leni grew scared of Lincoln, but he grabbed her hand.
"Let it go," Lincoln said, "Just-everything, just let it go."
"But... I got-"
"I know what happened to you, but I'm telling you right now: dwelling on it is gonna hurt you. The best option is just to screw everything and act you. Take command of your life. Nobody knows about it. Nobody cares. We can do whatever we want, and it's all just hogwash to them."
Leni reflected on those words and relayed them to the mental therapy session she just went through. All the therapist did was encourage her to keep talking, and talk she did. The talks slowly went from her trouble with the festival, to how she felt caring for Lori, to how she felt under appreciated when she was with her siblings, to how she felt her family changed in the worst way possible, to her lashing out at everyone she knew just because they wouldn't forget that she was supposed to be the dumb sibling, to the therapist room being torn apart, ending with her storming out the door.
And suddenly, everything clicked, "Yeah... you're right...we're this far down the rabbit pole! Why not?"
"Rabbit hole," Lincoln responded, "Pole is something completely different."
"We need to get out there and stop worrying about everyone and everything! Don't care about anything! Just do anything!"
"Exactly!" Lincoln shouted, "Starting right now!" He grabbed Leni's hand and ran out into the open, "We're gonna rub it in their faces!"
Just then, Tatenashi showed up to block their way, "Hold up, Loud! I need you for-"
"MOVE IT, AIRCHEST!" And Lincoln shoved her down...
Meanwhile, Ichika, Chifuyu, and Lori have fully renovated the leftover storage room into a makeshift dorm room.
"Well, Lori," Chifuyu said, "I've literally overstepped my boundaries by giving you this dump heap."
"Sorry you have to do all this," Lori bowed.
"Easy," Ichika rubbed her shoulders, "Let's just take it one step at a time."
"You two remember the plan, right?" Chifuyu asked, "Nothing will change unless you limit your time with Lincoln."
"Yeah, we know," Ichika sighed, "We'll do what we can."
"This is gonna hurt more than help..." Lori groaned.
"But it's necessary," Chifuyu reasoned, "He needs time to grow."
They nodded in agreement before hearing someone whooping in the park. They all went out ready to punish the troublemakers, only to find Lincoln and Leni venting their frustrations in the school fountain,
"AND THEY CALL ME STUPID?! GIVE ME A BREAK!"
"I OUGHTA PELT THEM IN THE EYE SOCKETS FOR WHAT THEY DID!"
"I WANT THEM TO FEEL WHAT I FEEL!"
"WHO WANTS A PIECE OF ME?!"
and the IS representative candidates in absolute shock.
Ichika shot an irritated look at Lori, "He's your brother..."
"I know," Lori groaned.
"Punishments..." Chifuyu acted like she had lost the will to live, "Punishments all around..."