"Oh, crud..."

Morning. 08:30 local time. IS Academy, first day of school. Homeroom period, extended to one hour and five minutes.

"This is-*GULP*..."

30 students all accounted for. Two special individuals, seated in the first two seats of the center row.

"I didn't plan for this..."

Sweating from the tense silence of the moment. Not even a childhood friend, of whom one of the students was well acquainted with, would bother to ease the tense atmosphere.

"This is way, way harder than I expected..."

To the innocent bystander looking from the outside in, it seemed like all students were attentive, waiting for the teacher to make her presence known. But Ichika and Lincoln knew better. All eyes were on them.

The silence was only broken by an automated door letting in a familiar green-haired mild-mannered woman, of whom Lincoln could not ask for deliverance due to the nature of her job.

"Congratulations on making it to the school," she said, "I'm your first year sub homeroom teacher, Miss Maya Yamada."

No reaction whatsoever.

Maya stuttered a little before regaining control of herself, "Uh, starting today, you are now all students of the IS Academy. As you know, this is a boarding school. Students are together during and after school hours, so I hope you'll get along and help each other, making the next three years enjoyable!"

Both boys had the exact same thought, 'Uh, yes, yes, no, and no.'

Maya was nearly flustered, "Uh-I-w-moving on to self introductions! Now, why don't we~~~"

"Ichika..." Lincoln whispered, "Help..."

"I don't know..." Ichika turned to his left, "Uh...Houki?!..."

The girl with the green ribbon looked away.

'Guh...is that how you treat your childhood friend who you haven't seen in six years?...' Ichika turned to Lincoln, "No good..."

"Oh no..." Lincoln freaked, "what do I do?!..."

"Hello! Lincoln Loud!" Maya snapped him out-

"AAA! PRESENT AND ACCOUNT-uh..." He got a big laugh out of all but 2 female students, "Wwwwhat just happened?"

"Ah, so sorry for calling you out just now! But we're doing our introductions by alphabetical order," Maya called, "We started with the A's, and now we're up to the L's, so...would you mind introducing yourself? Pretty please?"

"Easy with the sorry, geez..." Lincoln backed away, accidentally bumping into the desk behind him, "Whoa, I didn't-*GASP*..."

This time, all eyes...all curious, piercing, lovingly predatory eyes...penetrated him.

"Uh...m...my name is Lincoln Loud..." he was about to go under the surface until he heard Ichika whisper,

"Family..."

"Huh?"

"Talk about your family..."

"Uh-Right..." Lincoln then addressed the classroom, "and I come from a family of 13. I have ten sisters. We li-" he stopped when he saw glitter in their eyes.

And then the girls went nuts:

"AAAAA! It really is him!"

"You looked so cool fighting like that!"

"He's so adorable!"

"Ten sisters?! You are so lucky!"

"I wanna be his sidekick!"

"Dangit..." he muttered, "Dude, they know!"

"Crap, then they saw my profile, too!" Ichika panicked.

Lincoln slumped back into his seat, "That's it for my introduction..."

"Well, then we can move on to the next student," Maya checked her roster, "which is...Ichika!"

"EEK-uh...sure..." Ichika slowly stood himself up, "Um...my name is Ichika Orimura...Nice to meet you all-GUH..." he received and even more intense leer when he mentioned his last name, "Uh...that...and, you heard that correctly!... I have one sister...who's the Brunhilde-"

Not again-

"I knew it! That's her brother!"

THAT'S TWO SUPERHEROES IN OUR CLASS! AAAAAAAAA!"

"Our very own Dynamic Duo!"

"Dyna-what?!" Ichika stammered, "Wait-what did I say-AGH!" He was suddenly knocked into his desk.

"Yipe!" Lincoln hopped over his desk, "You ok, man?!"

"I think s..." Ichika looked up, "SIS?!" And they were both promptly hammered on their heads.

"Why me..." Lincoln groaned.

"You will call me Miss Orimura at school," Chifuyu demanded.

"Oh, you're back!" Maya greeted, "Does that mean the meeting's over already?"

"That's right, Miss Yamada," Chifuyu took her place at the front, "I'm sorry about making you welcome my class for me."

"What...she really does teach here?..." Ichika was amazed.

"Yeah, I told you last week," Lincoln whispered.

"I thought you were just making that u-"

"Quiet at the front," Chifuyu ordered, to which the two had to obey. After they settled down, she addressed the rest of the class, "Alright, class! I'm your homeroom teacher, Miss Chifuyu Orimura! It's my job to~~~"

Lincoln zoned out and watched the other students, who were showing dangerous signs of ecstatic bursting. "Psst," he whispered to Ichika, "cover your ears."

"Why?"

"Just do it!"

They were wise to do so, because halfway through Chifuyu's introduction-

"AAAAAAAA!" The girls let out their...admiration?

"LADY CHIFUYU! THAT'S REALLY LADY CHIFUYU!"

"THE WOMAN WHO INSPIRED ME TO COME TO THIS SCHOOL!"

"SHE'S SO INCREDIBLE! I WOULD DIE FOR HER!"

"Is it safe?" Lincoln asked.

"I think so..." Ichika muttered, and they both unplugged their ears.

Chifuyu groaned, "I'm amazed at how many nut jobs come to this school every year...Do they put all the loonies in my class on purpose?"

"YES, LADY CHIFUYU! SCOLD US MORE! CUSS US OUT!"

"Not safe!" Lincoln quickly replugged his ears.

"TRAIN US SO WE DON'T MISBEHAVE!"

"My ears..." Lincoln muttered.

"My big sister is my homeroom teacher?..." Ichika still didn't comprehend the situation.

"So," Chifuyu crunched her knuckles, making both boys flinch, "have the instructions regarding addressing your instructor not taken yet?"

"Uh-I-" Ichika felt a tug in his back.

"Just go with it..." Lincoln whispered.

"Uh..." they both relented, "Yes...Miss Orimura..."

"Orimura! Then that means!..."

"Chifuyu's little brother! He's here with u-"

"That's enough!" Chifuyu called the class to attention, "Your syllabus for the next six months begins with memorizing all data concerning the IS. After that, practical training, where you'll have two weeks to master the basic maneuvers. So, have you got that? Even if you don't, say 'Yes, ma'am'!"

"YES, MA'AM!"

The next class was simply an introduction into the world of the Infinite Stratos. Lincoln could keep up with the lecture, but when he asked why the plans for use in space were put on hold, no one could give him a straight answer, and Maya said that that was a topic for next month. He was tempted to ask what the point of the IS was if it was solely just a tool to brag to other countries until he saw how they were being used in the real world outside of competition. He didn't know whether to feel scared or relieved...or disappointed.

The first break came. The students were fantasizing on about how the world's first male pilot lived together with the world's youngest pilot. Ichika was still at unease after not being able to communicate with Houki.

But Lincoln...

"They virtually canned space travel!" ...had more pressing concerns, "All for "sport and competition"...How backwards is that?!"

"Yeah...pretty messed up..." Ichika couldn't stop looking at the eyes.

"Now, I see why everyone keeps bragging about the IS. It's all this 'advanced technology' stuff that they wasted on cannons and giant guns and-"

"Ahem."

Houki came up to them and interrupted his rant.

"Can I talk to Ichika for a minute?..." she asked while looking away from him.

"Sorry, Linc..." Ichika got up, "I gotta take this."

"Oh, ok..." Lincoln waved, "See you...in...class..." he was now alone against the wall of girls, "Uh...hi?..."

They giggled.

And he...was interested, too, "Huh...maybe this won't be so bad..." he left his seat and walked over to the girls, "Uh, hi. Nice to meet all of you."

"Hihi, Nice to meet you too, Lincoln!"

"Wait...how'd you know my name?"

"Duh!" Another girl showed him a paper, "You and Ichika were all over the news! The brother of the Brunhilde, and the Hero of Royal Woods!"

"Speaking of, is it true that you have ten sisters?!"

"Oh, believe me," Lincoln said, "It's not as glamorous as it sounds."

"Well, your sisters must be a handful to deal with, huh?"

"Yeah, but I'm the middle child, so I got workarounds," Lincoln turned his brain off and counted the number of people in the hallway, "but then I come to Japan, and I find out I have to look after 30 of you, with the same age and-"

"Did you hear that?!" A girl squealed, "We're sisters to him!"

"Wait, I wanna be the older sibling!"

"Oh! Can I be your younger sister?!"

"No, that's not-" Lincoln realized too late the damage he had done, "What I meant to say was-"

"Aw, I like you already!"

"I hope we can get along with each other!"

"I'll see you after class, little brother!"

And that was when the bell rang to resume class. Lincoln walked back to his seat, and covered his head with a notebook.

The day progressed. Another class was basic components of the IS...only with unusually detailed information about those components. Lincoln was struggling to understand some of the content, but nowhere near the degree of Ichika, who couldn't understand any of it. Lincoln his behind his textbook while he heard Chifuyu clock her brother in the head for trashing a book he was supposed to read. And yet, he felt a burning sensation in the back of his neck, as if someone was watching both of them the whole way through.

Another break came. The two boys were talking about the book.

"How'd you trash it?" Lincoln asked, "It said "REQUIRED READING" in giant bold yellow letters."

"It must've been in that bag I asked you to throw out..." Ichika mused.

Suddenly, a blonde British girl approached them, "May I have a moment?"

The boys went "Huh?..."

"Wha!...what sort of response is that?!" She retaliated, "You should be honored that I bothered speaking to you in the first place! Don't you think you two should behave in a more appropriate manner?!"

"Look, I'm sorry," Ichika said, "but I don't know who you are, ok?"

"Ah! How can you not know?!" She slammed her hands on his desk, "Surely, your younger companion must have at least heard of me!"

"Uhhh...Nothing..." Lincoln said.

"You don't know either?!" She rambled on, "I'm Cecilia Alcott! England's Representative Contender! The one who scored highest on the-"

"Ok, Whoa! Hold on a sec!" Lincoln slowed her down.

"We have something to ask you..." Ichika said.

"Oh? Well, it is the responsibility of nobles to address the concerns of the lower class," Cecilia smugly smirked, "Do go ahead."

Lincoln thought before saying to Cecilia, "Ok, you said you're a Representative Contender."

"But this is the first we've heard of it," Ichika finished, "What's that even mean?"

Literally everyone collapsed, as if they heard a pair of village idiots just make the wrong signal.

"Overly expressive much?..." Lincoln observed.

"What was I saying again?..." Ichika whispered.

"Oh, the sheer agony!" Cecilia reacted, "I can only hope that every man of your stature is not this utterly devoid~~~"

"Yep," Lincoln grumbled, "Lola 2.0..."

They took the full brunt of her long-winded, self-heightening explanation of a Rep Contender, how she was the elite of the elite for actually defeating an instructor...and how she was insulted by Ichika's simple maneuver to let an exam proctor crash into a wall, making his exam the fastest pass in the Academy's history.

When the first day was over, Lincoln made a mad dash to his dorm room. Lori had woken up early to prepare for her first day back at school.

"Yeesh!" Lori said through the webcam, "and I thought Lola had the case of the mirror mirror look sees."

"Ohoho, Lola is a Good Samaritan compared to that Alcott woman!" Lincoln griped, "She keeps going on about how lucky we were to be in her presence. I don't know how she wasn't singing praises to the high sky about her own greatness!"

"Well, tell her not to hold her breath," Lori said, "She has to let out all that hot air soon. Then, we can get a nice pat on her back."

"Haha, funny thing is, she has your look."

"And that long...long...way too long hair. She literally curled her hair to look like drills."

-KNOCK-KNOCK-

"Oh! That's my roommate!" Lincoln hurried and opened the door.

"Oh good thanks..." Ichika plowed through him and locked the door, "Guh...I cannot relax around these girls...

"What did they do now?..." Lincoln asked.

"I don't know. All I did was ask where Houki went, and they just-"

"Hello?" Lori called over, "Is He your roommate?"

"Ah, Yeah!" Lincoln scooted them over to the laptop, "Ichika, this is my oldest sister, Lori."

"Oh, uh...pleased to meet you, Miss Loud," Ichika bowed.

"Hmhmhmhm, you don't have to be so modest," Lori waved her hand, "but maybe you could drill some of those manners into Linky-dink over there."

"Ok, Miss Bosswoman," Lincoln joked, "We've gotta go!"

"Fine, fine," Lori ended, "Take care, Lincoln."

"So, she's the oldest, huh?" Ichika commented.

"Yep. Also has a boyfriend."

"Figured as much. Hey, wanna hang out for a little bit?"

"Sounds Good! As long as we come back to get our homework done."

Ichika grabbed the door, "Don't worry, Grandpa. I'll be sure to-"

The moment he opened the door, they were confronted with a swarm of girls.

"Hey, it's Orimura!"

"And there's that cute little Loud!"

"1025! That's their room number!"

"That's a good thing to know, right, girls?"

"The perfect combination of toughness and charm!"

They slammed and locked the door.

"I'm gonna go prep to find Houki..." Ichika went back to the closet.

"And I'm gonna ask Lisa to make a cheat sheet for the both of us," Lincoln went back to the pantry and searched for any instant ramen packs.

Lincoln spent the rest of the day studying whatever he covered in class and Ichika tried to reconnect with his friend, but they didn't have very much progress. After 22:30, they called it in and went to bed. But the adrenaline was still pumping through them, preventing them from sleeping.

"Psst...Lincoln..."

"Yeah?"

"How's your first day?"

"It's overwhelming, but... I think I can make it."

"Yeah. Chifuyu-nee says the first week is always the worst. It'll get easier from here."

"Hope so...um, who was that girl with the green ribbon that dragged you away?"

"Oh, that's Houki Shinonono. She has a complicated past."

"Like, how complicated?"

"Her sister's the creator of the IS. The robot super suit?"

"Ohhhhhh...that complicated."

"Yeah. It's been six years since I last saw her...after she'd been taken into hiding."

"Dang...must've been some serious secrets to hide..."

And they really couldn't sleep with her backstory swimming around their heads.

The next morning, they were dragging their feet to the cafeteria. Ichika saw Houki and nudged Lincoln to sit with the two of them.

"Um...good morning, Houki," Lincoln said.

"Oh, hello," Houki responded.

"Morning, Houki," Ichika said...

"I told you not to use my first name..." to no response...

"Psst...Houki? Hello?...Are you mad at me?"

"I am not mad," she said.

"Then, why are you wearing the "mad" face?"

"Get used to it."

Ichika took a bite out of his breakfast, "Hey, this stuff is delicious!"

"Ooh, can I try it?" Lincoln asked.

"Top corner," Ichika allowed Lincoln to sample a bite before turning to Houki once again, "Hey, Houki. Do you think-"

She slammed her tray, "Don't use my name!"

"BUH-" Lincoln spat out his mouthful.

Ichika sighed, "Oh...Miss Shinonono..."

"Yep...she mad..." Lincoln whispered before hearing someone call to them.

"Orimura? Loud? May we sit next to you?" One of the girls asked.

"Uh, we don't mind," Lincoln said.

"Go on and take a seat," Ichika welcomed them.

The girls situated themselves while the boys continued to chow down.

"Wow," a girl in yellow pajamas said, "You two must really eat a lot."

"Well, you know what they say about growth spurts," Lincoln joked.

"Actually," Ichika looked at the girls' trays, "I was gonna ask if that's all you're eating."

"Oh, uh, I think we'll be ok!"

"We brought a lot of snacks, so it's all good!"

Houki got up, "I think I'll excuse myself now..."

Lincoln followed her, "Ah...I'll come with!"

Houki saw him out the cafeteria, "I don't need any company."

"Maybe you need help with your stuff, or your bamboo blades?"

Houki stopped, "Huh?! How'd you know about those?!"

"Eek!" Lincoln was on damage control mode... and he might have made it worse, "Uh...me and Ichika were...talking about you?...last night?..."

"R...really?" Houki blushed, "I mean...he couldn't be that talkative, right?"

"No, he just told me the basics. Kendo, childhood...and how the past is all a blur to him."

"Oh, that's all?..."

"Well...he did say you don't like to talk about your own sister."

"Uh..." Houki was a little more stern, "Yeah, He's right."

"Oh..." Lincoln stammered, "Uh...was she-"

Chifuyu came in and clapped to make sure everyone saw her, "Less talking and more chewing! Pilots have to eat quickly and efficiently!"

"Eh?!" Lincoln was stunned, "When did she-"

Houki pushed him back to Ichika's side, "Trust me, the less you know, the better."

"I'm the freshman dorm supervisor!" Chifuyu said, "Anyone late to class will do 10 laps around the school!"

"I'm back," Lincoln tapped, "What'd I miss?"

"Um...not much..." Ichika said, "but I do feel silly for worrying about her."

The second day of class began, and already things were moving at light speed, far too fast for them to sleep through.

"Two weeks from today," Chifuyu announced, "you'll be asked to choose your representative for the class tournament. A class representative not only competes in the tournament, but also attends student council meetings and committee~~~"

Lincoln zoned out when he heard that last bit. He could barely handle the day one class load, so he didn't want to task himself with something that Lisa would consider slightly above child's play. And don't ask about the tournament when the max he could get was five minutes-

"Ooh! I'd like to nominate Orimura!"

"Dude, I think that's a good idea!"

"Eh?!" Ichika stammered, "You Do?!"

"Well, I'll nominate Loud!"

"I'll support him with everything I have!"

Lincoln snapped back to reality, "Wait-HUH?!"

Chifuyu crossed her arms, "So, is there anyone else? If not, then they will be the candidates."

"Um, Miss Orimura?" Lincoln tried to voice his objection,

But Ichika got up first, "Hang on, what if I don't want to do it?!"

"I do not approve of this!" Cecilia shut them both down, "This type of selection is utterly unacceptable! It would be shameful to have a boy as our class representative! You can't possibly expect that I, Cecilia Alcott, should have to endure such a humiliation for an entire year!"

Lincoln knew what she was doing, and he tried to warn Ichika not to fall for it, but he played along after Cecilia threw jabs at Japanese culture. Ichika threw jabs at England's "world's worst cuisine award."

To which Cecilia simply responded, "This calls for a duel!"

And Ichika accepted, "Fine by me. It'll be easier than debating."

"Whoa!" Lincoln shouted on deaf ears, "That is not how politics work!" He tried to drown out their argument, but he caught the bit about handicaps.

"How much of a handicap will there be?"

"Oh? Are you asking me for a favor already?"

"Huh? I was wondering how much handicap I should give you."

The entire class started laughing, and then it became clear to Lincoln that this school did not operate under any set of standards other than their own. And he could've just accepted that he would be called to fight...

...if he hadn't heard:

"Men used to be stronger than women, but that was before the IS was invented!"

"People say that if men and women had a war, it wouldn't last three days!"

And that set his inner Lynn off. Rather than confront her about that claim, Lincoln chose to sneak under the desks and shimmy his way to his target. At the most opportune time, when no one paid any attention to him.

Almost. "Oh my..." Maya noticed that white tuff of hair floating past the desks while the Cecilia and Ichika continued to throw down.

When asked if he would be really nice in order to receive a handicap, "I'll pass," Ichika rejected.

"Um...you're seriously underestimating her..." a classmate said.

"Oh, posh!" Cecila gleefully taunted, "I'll be more than happy to put this deluded boy in his place!"

"No, but seriously..."

"Huh-AAAAA!"

Lincoln sent his steely grey eyes throughout the entire class up and scared Cecilia by getting directly behind her. Undetected. And there he stood, one arm deployed, cards at the ready.

She didn't know what he did, "Haaahahaaa...how did you-"

"You had a good hand," Lincoln said as he walked by her, "You should have kept all of it."

Ichika added to keep her wrath on himself, "Not to mention we got nominated twice, but nobody nominated you."

"GUH..." Cecilia became enraged, "Take that back, you pompous windbags!"

"No way," Ichika said, "A man never goes back on any of his words."

"I was thinking about going easy on you, Lincoln...but now I shall not stop until you two are my footstools!" Cecilia declared.

"I'll call," Lincoln retracted his IS.

Chifuyu looked on, satisfied, "It looks like that's settled, then. The competition will be staged in Arena 3, which I believe is available Monday. Orimura. Alcott. Loud. I expect you to come fully prepared for combat."

The three pilots stood locking down on each other's eyes once more before taking their seats.