The Legend of the Annihilator
Ch 4 Once Enemies now Friends.
Date: April 2nd, 2020.
Time: 8:00 AM
"HAHAHAHA! Oh god, so tell me once again what happened?" Matthew cries through his fits of laughter.
"Ok. So Al tried to ask one of the popular girls out on a date and from what I heard the girl said "Eww! Why would I go on a date with your sorry ass?!"
"And then her boyfriend walked in and took her by the hand and they walked off leaving a totally shocked and embarrassed Al standing there with flowers." Alejandro responds, trying hard not to laugh.
Matthew bursts into a fit of laughter gaining the attention of the girls around him before continuing what they were previously doing.
"Oh my god! Ok, we shouldn't be laughing about this but WHY would he do that? He is such an idiot!" Matthew states.
"I know, right? Maybe he is trying to find a new love." Alejandro responds.
"Well he is looking in the wrong place for love." Matthew says.
"Yeah, he's looking in the garbage for love!" Alejandro answers.
As both boys were laughing hard before finally calming down a few minutes later, Alejandro spoke.
"Yeah, no shit he is!" Alejandro sighs "and now he is back home crying to himself whilst thinking to himself 'What is love?'" Alejandro sings.
"Baby,don't hurt me, don't hurt me, no more!" Matthew finishes.
Both boys laughed even more before settling down.
"So what are you up to?" Matthew asks.
"Huh. Oh, well I don't know if you could see but I'm in your dad's restaurant and am studying for a shitty math test for Friday until my shift starts." Alejandro replies, holding up the thick math textbook, which is opened to the page he is going over.
"Ah I see. Well, good luck." Matthew says.
A few seconds passed before Matthew spoke again.
"So what's John up to?" Matthew asks.
"John? He went back to his house to play Doom until his shift starts so yeah." Alejandro replies not even taking his face out of the Math book.
"Oh I see. Oh yeah! That's right! Fuck you and John for last night!" Matthew points as Alejandro looks back up at him with a smile.
"Hey, it was our pleasure and you better be quiet there! You don't wanna get in trouble, do you?" Alejandro warns.
"It's fine. Most of the girls here don't speak english and I'm sitting at the far side of the cafeteria so they can't possibly hear me and top it off, I'm using airpods so yeah, they can't hear you." Matthew replies.
"Oh. Well, nevermind then." Alejandro says stuffing his face back into his Math book.
About 5 minutes of silence passed. Then Matthew perked up.
"Ah, would you look at that! Ichika and Houki are finally here!"
"Hmm?" Alejandro peeps..
"OH! Are they your childhood friends that you told me about?" Alejandro asks, looking up from his Math book.
"Yeah." Matthew answers, still watching Houki and Ichika get in line to get their breakfasts.
"Oh, may I meet them?" Alejandro asks.
"I guess. That's if they decide to sit over here." Matthew replies.
"All right! New friends!" Alejandro celebrates.
Ichika scans the cafeteria for a place to sit to eat his food until he sees Matthew, who gestures to him to sit next to him, which Ichika agrees with him. He takes a seat next to Matthew, followed by Houki, who takes a seat in front of Ichika and Matthew.
"Good Morning Ichika and Houki. It's about time you guys got here! Anyways, meet my friend from America, Alejandro." Matthew says.
"Hello." Ichica waves at the phone whilst Houki stays silent and ignores the phone completely.
"Hi there Matthew's friend! Matthew and I are gay and are in a serious relationship here. If you get in the way of us, then I'd have to kill you just like I do to people in Yander simulator!" Alejandro Yells through the phone with the girliest voice he has.
"Wh-WHAT THE HELL REALLY? Fuck you Alejandro! I hope you fail Math and your mom chases you with the chancla!" Matthew yells back into his phone with Alejandro already laughing out loud. Ichika looks at Matthew with a quizzical expression, not knowing what Matthew is saying while Houki is still unfazed by all this and continues eating her food ignoring the two.
"Fuck you and goodbye!" Matthew yells, hanging up his phone aggressively.
"Umm... what were you guys saying?" Ichika asks, confused.
"Oh, umm... that's how we usually say goodbye to each other in America. Yes! Hahahaha!" Matthew explains, fake laughing not wanting Ichika to know the truth.
Ichika stares at Matthew with the most confused look ever and is about to say something but shrugs it off.
"All right then. Whatever you say, but anyways, do you have a roommate?" Ichika asks.
"A roommate?" Matthew repeats, getting flashbacks of the previous night with Tatenashi finding that porn magazine that John and Alejandro snuck in his bag.
"I don't have a roommate." Matthew responds, embarrassed to tell Ichika.
"Wait really?" Ichika says, surprised.
"Yeah, my older cousin, Micheal, reserved a room for me so that I don't have a roommate. He believes mixing genders above the age of 10 is bad and I totally agree with him on that." Matthew stammers, making up an excuse and hoping Ichika buys it.
"That's cool." Ichika responds
"Yeah, I know right? Although, I'm guessing you have a roommate don't you?" Matthew asks.
"Yup I do." Ichika replies.
"I see who's your roommate then." Matthew pokes.
"Houki-"
"ITS SHINONONO!" Houki growls, cutting Ichika off.
"Shinonono is my roommate." Ichika finishes, crossing his eyebrows with Matthew looking at Houki, then to Ichika, then back to Houki.
"I….see but what did you do to her to piss her off?" Matthew whispers to Ichika.
"I don't know." Ichika whispers back.
2 minutes of awkward silence passed by until Ichika spoke.
"So Matthew, where did you go yesterday when we were getting chased?" Ichika asks.
"Huh?...Oh yeah thats right. When I ran into the vegetation, I found this really good oak tree and.."
Before Matthew could finish, 2 claps are heard gaining everybody's attention. followed by Chifuyu yelling
"LESS TALKING AND MORE CHEWING! PILOTS HAVE TO EAT QUICKLY AND EFFICIENTLY!" Chifuyu yells, adding "I'M THE FRESHMEN DORM SUPERVISOR! ANYONE LATE TO CLASS, WILL DO 10 LAPS AROUND THE SCHOOL!"
Everybody in the lunchroom begins to eat quickly right after Chifuyu finishes.
"Well, then I got to go and check out a book from the library. Should be open by now, so yea. See you guys later." Matthew says standing up and making his way out of the cafeteria towards the library.
Later on during class.
"Two weeks from today, you'll be asked to choose your representative for the class tournament. A class representative will not only compete in the tournament but will also attend all student council meetings and committee meetings. Essentially, he or she will be your class leader. I am now taking your nominations." Chifuyu announces.
"I NOMINATE ICHI-, I MEAN ORIMURA!" Matthew yells, raising his hand.
In turn, Ichika turns around and faces Matthew with the 'what the fuck!?' face, whilst Matthew sits there with a smug smile. Then another girl speaks up nominating Matthew causing him to turn in the direction of whomever nominated him with the same 'what the fuck face!?'.
"So, are there anyone else? If not, you're gonna have to vote between the two nominees." Chifuyu states.
"WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT! What if I don't want to do it?"
Matthew and Ichika, both yelling, speaking over each other and then SLAM! A loud bang is heard from behind the class. In a split second, the entire class looks to who had done that to only find a blonde long haired girl standing up.
"I DO NOT APPROVE OF THIS! " she yelled.
"Uh oh, she's a British girl!" Matthew thought to himself, having flashbacks of middle school.
"THIS TYPE OF SELECTION IS UTTERLY UNACCEPTABLE! IT WOULD BE SHAMEFUL FOR A BOY TO BE OUR CLASS REPRESENTATIVE!" the blond girl states.
"YOU CAN'T POSSIBLY EXPECT THAT I, CECILIA ALCOTT, SHOULD HAVE TO DEAL WITH THAT SORT OF HUMILIATION FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR!" Cecilia continues.
"IN THE FIRST PLACE, LIVING IN A COUNTRY WITH SUCH AN UNDERDEVELOPED LEVEL OF CULTURE, IS UNBEARABLY PAINFUL FOR SOMEONE LIKE MYSELF! OH HOLD THE AGONY!" Cecilia concludes.
"WELL, YOUR COUNTRY DOESN'T HAVE MANY THINGS TO BRAG ABOUT EITHER! HOW OFTEN HAS ENGLAND WON THE WORLD'S WORST CUISINE AWARD EXACTLY?" Ichika snaps.
Cecilia gasps at Ichika's insult before finally speaking.
"WE, ENGLISH, HAVE MANY DELICIOUS DISHES AND I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU WOULD HAVE THE AUDACITY TO INSULT MY COUNTRY!"
"SHE HAD THE AUDACITY TO INSULT YOUR COUNTRY! WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! YOU INSULTED OUR COUNTRY IN THE FIRST PLACE! SO IT IS YOU WHO HAD THE AUDACITY TO INSULT OUR COUNTRY FIRST!" Matthew snaps, highly offended at Cecilia's insult to his country.
"Well, it looks like America's Representative joins the fight." Cecilia says all high and mighty like a god.
"Indeed I have and I want a full apology from you to everybody in this class for what you said about Japan." Matthew says boldly.
"Oh, your county?" Cecilia scoffed, still acting all high and mighty.
"Yeah! My country, as well as every Japanese here, that you offended!" Matthew boldly claims.
"Well, only a full blood Japanese can call Japan their own and you are only half Japanese which makes you a hafu." Cecilia pointed out, toying with Matthew as if she was an orca playing with her food.
As Cecilia says that Matthew stays silent as if he was getting a flashback causing some of the girls in the class to ooo and then one girl in the class says "oooo she got him there." Cecilia was about to speak before Matthew clenched his fists and pointed towards Cecilia and yelled.
"WHY YOU TEA SIPPING BITCH! HOW DARE YOU CLAIM I'M NOT FULLY JAPANESE AND THAT I CAN'T BE A JAPANESE BECAUSE I'M A JAPANESE AMERICAN?! I'M STILL A JAPANESE MAN AND JAPAN IS STILL MY HOME COUNTRY YOU IGNORANT TEAPOT! AND YOU KNOW WHAT?!….I DECLARE WAR ON YOU!" Matthew yells, playing Battotai instrumental in the back of his head.
Cecilia, Houki, Ichika and the entire class sit there shocked to what Matthew said before Ichika jumps in and yells
"SO DO I! I DECLARE WAR ON YOU CECILE ALSCOTS!" Ichika roars purposely butchering Cecilia's name.
Cecilia stands there shocked before regaining control of herself and replying, "Fine! I declare war on you both and if you dare lose to me on purpose, I shall make you both my slave!"
"Fine by me and if you lose to me, you must apologize to not only me, but the entire class, for being a racist tea-sipping slut!" Matthew says angrily, still glaring at Cecilia right in the eye whilst she does the same to Matthew before Chifuyu interrupts the two, "It looks like it's settled then. The war will be staged in arena 3, which I believe is available on Monday And I expect you, 3, to come fully prepared for combat."
"You damn right I will." Matthew mumbles to himself, before turning away from Cecilia, sitting back down in his seat with Ichika and Cecilia following suit and just like that class continued like normal.
After class.
"YAMAMOTO ORIMURA, PLEASE STOP! WE WANT AN INTERVIEW WITH YOU ABOUT TODAY'S ARGUMENT WITH CECILIA ALCOT!" A girl yells from Ichika and Matthew's left.
As Matthew and Ichika turn to see who called them, they see a bunch of girls with cameras in hand. One girl in particular, who has brown eyes and black short hair, is wearing a brown trenchcoat and a matching newspaper boy's cap. In her hand is a clipboard and pen.
These groups of girls are making their way through the crowd of more girls, towards Matthew and Ichika whilst repeating the phrase "NEWSPAPER CLUB OUT OF THE WAY!"
"Aw shit it's the newspaper club." Matthew says to Ichika.
"Should we run?" Ichika asks.
"No. I'll do the talking and you figure out what to do ok?" Matthew responds.
"Alright then." Ichika responds.
The newspaper club reaches Matthew and Ichika. The photographer starts taking pictures of them, almost blinding Matthew and Ichika, whilst the girl, a reporter holding the pen and clipboard, repeatedly asks the same question.
"YAMAMOTO WHY DID YOU ACT THE WAY YOU DID IN CLASS? AND WHY DID YOU CALL CECILIA ALCOT A TEA SIPPING SLUT?" The reporter asks.
"Ok, for your first question, she was being such a racist and a sexist to both me and Ichika. I hate to see my friends get bullied, so I did what any good friend would do."
"What? By calling Cecilia Alcot a tea sipping slut?"
"What no…. Well yes but."
The Newspaper club gasps to what Matthew said before asking Matthew.
"So you thought it was right of you to call her that because she was offending you're sex and race?" the reporter with the clipboard asks.
"Well yes but listen to me. She was saying really bad stuff about both me and Ichika and about Japan. To top it off, she had the guts to say that I can't call Japan my country since I'm a Hafu! Like how retarded is that? She isn't even a Japanese herself and she thinks she can say that to me? What a retard!" Matthew replies.
"OH SO SHE OFFENDED YOU TWO FIRST WHICH IN RETURN YOU OFFENDED HER. OK I GET IT….I'm sorry. We were told that you two started to insult Cecilia Alcot because you hated British people. I'm sorry for the confusion." The girl with the clipboard says, still writing.
"Wait. You were told what now?" Ichika asks, shocked by what he heard.
"Yeah, we were told that you two just started to yell cruel stuff to Cecilia Alcott. So sorry about the confusion but mind telling us what really happened?"
"No, I don't mind. So this is what really happened. It began with the class choosing nominations and…."
3 minutes later.
"...and so next Monday, Ichika and I will be fighting Cecilia Alcott." Matthew explains.
"And now a few more questions if I may?" the reporter girl pokes.
"Ask away." Matthew replies
"Were you bullied for being a Hafu back then or not? Because from what I've heard from one of your classmates is that you stayed silent after Cecilia called you a hafu for almost a full minute. Rumors are spreading that you were bullied and if so, what did they do?" Another girl wearing glasses asks
"To answer your first question, yes. I was bullied back then and what they did to me is for another time." Matthew responds.
Soon after Matthew finishes his sentence, another girl chimes in and asks. "Did you know that Cecilia Alcott is a Representative contender for England?"
"Well I do now." He answers.
Explains why she sounds British and is snobby like a noble. Matthew thinks to himself.
"Wait, this question has been bugging me for a while. What is a representative contender?" Ichika asks.
The Newspaper club just laughs at what Ichika asked, whilst Matthew slowly turns to face Ichika with a dead serious face.
"Dude I'm a representative contender of The United States. How do you not know what a Representative contender is?" Matthew asks, half embarrassed and half angry with Ichika.
"Umm I was going to ask you what one is but I never got the chance too." Ichika replies, scratching his head nervously.
"Dude, a representative contender is a person who represents a country's I.S. in this Academy." Matthew explains facepalming.
"Oh! Then why didn't you tell me then?" Ichika replies, still scratching his head nervously.
"Well, I thought you knew already but apparently not." Matthew sighs.
Then the bell rang. Signaling that class is starting soon.
"Aww shit we better go." Matthew says, running towards his next class with Ichika following suit while the Newspaper club goes their separate ways.
AFTER SCHOOL
"Finally done with science, I thought I was going to die of embarrassment." Matthew thinks to himself as he grabs his book bag and makes his way out of the classroom, down the hallway where he finds Ichika walking towards him.
"Hey dude! How was class?" Matthew asks.
"Boring. I sat in Math class and I didn't understand anything." Ichika responds tiredly.
"I see. Well, if you need any help with math, let me know and I'll see what I can do." Matthew offers.
"Thanks but anyways, how was your class?"
"Dude, I thought I was going to die from embarrassment."
"Really how?"
"Ok. So in my science class, oh boy, let me tell you! My teacher was so lewd by the way she talks to us and her boobs..." Matthew pauses before continuing "THEY'RE HUGE!" Matthew whisper shouts to Ichika. "And to top that off, we're learning about the sexual reproduction for males. Myself being the only male student in that class, the girls were looking at me…unfortunately I was super uncomfortable." Matthew finishes before checking his surroundings. Checking if any girls were listening before turning back to Ichika.
"Wow, that is really embarrassing." Ichika says with a concerned look.
"I know, right? But it doesn't end there because we are supposed to do a group activity tomorrow to create a scale model of the male reproductive system on paper. So, I think I'm going to skip science entirely tomorrow."
"But wont you get detention for doing that?" Ichika states.
"Yeah but detention sounds better than creating a penis with a bunch of thirsty girls!" Matthew retorts. "And besides it's not the first time I've skipped detention."
"Really? But if you do skip detention tomorrow, where will you go? The student security guards the halls, the library and student dorms during school hours from what I've heard of." Ichika points out.
"Sounds like my middle school back in America but this time with more guards." Matthew says with a smile.
"What?" Ichika says surprised.
"Nevermind. I'll think of something when I'm skipping and I already got a spot to wait in." Matthew replies
"Oh? Well then, I guess good luck to you then." Ichika says with a less reassuring voice.
"Thanks and you know, you're welcome to join me if you want." Matthew offers.
"Thanks but maybe some other time." Ichika replies.
"Alright then. But What do you want to do now?" Matthew asks.
"Oh yeah, that's right! I'm meeting Houki at Dojo number 12 so she can teach me more about the I.S." Ichika replies
"Wait! You're meeting Houki at Dojo 12 for I.S training?!" Matthew asks Ichika, confused.
"Yeah, why?" Ichika bluntly responds.
"Why in the world would she tell you to meet her at a Dojo for I.S training when you need to go to an open space like the arena for hands on I.S training?" Matthew says, raising his left eyebrow and placing his thumb and index finger on his chin.
"Huh. I don't know but I guess I'm about to find out." Ichika replies.
"You mean we're about to find out." Matthew adds.
"Wait, you need help piloting an I.S as well?" Ichika chirps
"WHAT NO! You really think the U.S government would have sent me to this academy without proper basic training on how to use an I.S? No! Because for the span of 4 weeks, they trained me until I was able to beat my Instructor, so now I know how to use my I.S." Matthew defensively responds.
"Oh? So if you're already trained on how to use an I.S., then will you be willing to teach me more about the I.S?" Ichika begs.
"Well, I mean we are friends and we are allies against that snob, so yea I'll see what I can do." Matthew responds.
"Really?! Thank you! This means a lot to me!" Ichika shrieked, capping both his hands together and bowing.
"No problem! Just let me grab a few stuff from my dorm and change into something more appropriate for this. I'll meet you there alright?"
"Sure! I'll let Houki know that you'll be coming to help and I'll see you there."
Both Ichika and Matthew part ways thinking how he should train Ichika and Ichika thinking what Houki has in store for him.
30 minutes later.
Matthews P.O.V
"Umm... Hey! Do you happen to know where Dojo number 2 is by any chance?" Matthew asks a random girl.
"Why yes. It's down the hall, then take a left and go down six classrooms. It should be the dojo to your right." The girl responds.
"Thank you." Matthew responds before walking off.
Well shit. It's the second day of school and I declared war on Cecilia Alscots? I think that's her name. Probably not and now I'm teaching my childhood friend, Ichika, the basics of piloting an I.S. The only problem is that I don't even know where I'm supposed to begin with teaching the I.S. Should I start by teaching him how to walk with it? Wait, are we even allowed to use the school's I.S units after school? Wait! What kind of I.S does the school even have? What kind of I.S is Cecilia Alslots even using? I don't even think I'm pronouncing her last name right. Why am I even thinking about this?!
Matthew groans, stopping in his tracks and massaging his forehead to soothe his headache.
"Right. I guess I'll just see what Houki is doing and from there I'll see what I can do." Matthew thinks to himself as he continues towards Dojo number 2.
As Matthew approaches dojo 2, he can hear Houki yelling, followed by Ichika pleading something among the lines of "Hang on! I wanted you to teach me about the I.S.!" And then a female voice presumably Houki yells back "And I said this problem comes before the I.S!"
"Uh oh. That doesn't sound good." Matthew says to himself as he fixes himself to look more presentable before entering the Dojo, where he finds Ichika and Houki in bogu armor and shinai in hand.
"Ahem! Hey guys! Sorry I'm late. I got lost on the way here but. Anyways, what's going on?" Matthew asks nervously smiling whilst nervously clapping.
Both Ichika and Houki turn to Matthew with Houki glaring at Matthew and Ichika with the please help me face.
"Umm... so I thought we were teaching Ichika about the I.S?" Matthew asks nervously as Houki continues glaring at him.
"Yea that's what I thought. But Houki is having me practice kendo before she teaches me the I.S" Ichika claims, still sitting on the floor.
"Well that's because Ichika's kendo skills have dropped significantly after I left." Houki retorts.
Matthew then remembers, right after Houki left. He and Ichika began playing more and more Call of duty zombies to the point both of them dropped out of Kendo.
"I see. Well It doesn't help the fact that Ichika doesn't know how to pilot an I.S and-" Houki growls interrupting Matthew whilst giving him a death glare, clenching her shinai.
"Ah! I mean some IS's used Melee weapons like mine. Oh! I just remembered! The school's I.S. uses another I.S. using a katana as its primary weapon! So it would help if you practiced your kendo before using the I.S.'' Matthew explains, trying not to aggravate Houki any further.
"What...?" Ichika asks confused, whilst Houki drops her glare on Matthew and loosens her grip on her Shinai.
"Yes. As a friend trying to train you, I must observe you and Houki duel to figure out how to improve your kendo skills. Isn't that right Houki?"
Houki nods agreeing, whilst Ichika just sits there shaking his head no, horrified.
"Right now, I'm going to take a seat right over there. You guys get situated and spar alright? Splendid!"
'Good luck, Ichika.' Matthew thought to himself, taking a seat on a nearby bench.
As Ichika stands back up puting his Bogu helmet back on, he walks away from Houki to his position. He turns, facing Houki. Now they have distance between each other. Both Ichika and Houki bow before drawing their Shinais. The tips of their shinais touching. From Matthew's point of view, he has his shinai tip pointing at Houki's neck, all the while he stares at Houki, making her feel intimidated. Houki stares back as well with a look of her own. BOOM! Houki smacks Ichika's Shinai away and strikes him on the forehead whilst yelling "MEN!" Both Ichika and Houki then return to their ready stance. Their Shinais touching tips again. Seconds too soon, Ichika attempts to knock Houki's Shinai out of her hand but fails. Houki returns trying to hit Ichika's forehead but is blocked. Ichika steps back to gain distance away from Houki but Houki charges forward relentlessly attacking Ichika. He blocks every attack the best he could before finally Houki breaks through Ichika's defense, striking him on the head, sending Ichika down as she shouts "MEN!" triumphantly.
"DUDE! WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED?!" Matthew cries, standing up to walk towards Ichika.
"What do you think happened?" Ichika smirks.
"No! Your kendo skills?! You suck!" Matthew states whilst helping Ichika back up.
Ichika stays silent as he takes his helmet off. "I don't know." He answers, sounding disappointed.
"Well, this problem needs to be fixed before you can pilot an I.S. then." Matthew states.
"Why?" Ichika asks.
"Because you suck ass at defense and the school's I.S uses a katana as its primary weapon. That's why!" Matthew explains.
"Now let's get back to training alright. This time I'll be fighting you." Matthew boldly says. "After I changed into a full Bogu-Keikogi-Hakama gear as well."
He walks towards the small locker room that the Dojo conveniently has in the back of the room.
10 minutes later
Matthew is now dressed in bogu armor and Keikogi-hakama set that the kendo club lent to him and is now ready to spar against Ichika.
Ichika and Matthew walk to the center of the room staying at least 12 feet apart. Turning to face each other, they bow before drawing their shinais. The tips of their shinais tapping against each other. The eyesights fixated on their opponent's necks. Silence once again. Who will make the first move? Moments later, their war cries can be heard from outside the dojo as Ichika strikes first. He aims for Matthew's Men (helmet) but is stopped by Matthew, who blocks it. He then strikes Ichika's Do (abdomen) but Ichika blocks the attack. Ichika returns the strike to Matthew's Shinai. Matthew stumbles backwards to gain distance away from Ichika whilst blocking Ichika's attacks. Ichika keeps striking Matthew's shinai, until he slowly starts losing his momentum. His attacks become lighter and less aggressive. Not too long after, Matthew continues moving back. A new tactic plan playing in his mind. He led Ichika around in a circle for the last 5 minutes. Soon, he finally sees an opening as Ichika raises his shinai. "DOOOOOOOOO!" Matthew yells as he quickly takes his chance, striking Ichika's Do (abdomen) earning him victory.
"Damn Ichika! You almost won there! I thought you'd never get tired!" Matthew states , taking off his Bogu Men and wipes the sweat away off his nose. Ichika is doing the same as well.
"I was trying to tire you out so I could strike you but I lost my strength first and you took me down." Ichika explains, trying to catch his breath.
"Alright. Wanna go again?" Matthew asks. A challenging smirk accompanying his request.
"Bring it." Ichika responds, side looking Matthew with a devilish glare.
Both Ichika and Matthew return to their previous positions and bow before drawing their shinais. Ichika and Matthew stand there waiting for one to move. Ichika sees his opponent's sudden move to strike him, aiming for his head but he mentally saw his first move and puts the attack in motion. Ichika swung his shinai at Matthew's abdomen, yelling out "DOOOOO!", ending the match.
"Nice one! Let's do it again." Matthew says, getting back into his ready stance and Ichika follows suit.
A few matches later, Matthew has a total of seven victories and Ichika with only four victories. Matthew becomes suspicious.
'Huh. Ichika isn't doing as bad as I thought he would. But from what Houki has said he wasn't able to defeat her not even once! But why?' Matthew thought to himself.
Matthew is suddenly taken out of his thoughts hearing Ichika shouting "MEEEEEENNN!" as Ichika's shinai struck Matthew on his helmet, or men, ending the match quickly. They both face each other, with shinais held in guard position, squatting down and then standing back up before taking four steps backwards, away from each other, then bowing for respect, signaling the end of the match.
"Ha ha ha! Ok, can you please teach me about the I.S?" Ichika pants, watching Matthew take off his kote (bogu gloves).
"Nope. Not yet though." Matthew replies, now taking off his bogu men (helmet), walking towards the water fountain.
Ichika is about to speak but is cut off by Houki.
"Not until you defeat me in kendo!"
"But I won against Matthew 5 times!" Ichika states.
"And he defeated you 7 times." Houki pointed out.
Ichika groans already tired and just wants to learn the basics of an I.S before coming up with a great idea. Ichika walks over to Matthew, who is still taking a drink from the water fountain.
"Hey Matthew? Can you do me a favor?" Ichika pokes.
"Hmm?" Matthew replies after swallowing the water in his mouth then motioning to drink more water from the water fountain.
"Can you duel Houki so that-"
Matthew suddenly chokes on the water, while most of it explodes out from his mouth and runs down his chin and onto his gi, coughing uncontrollably for a minute before yelling "YOU WANT ME TO DO WHAT NOW?!"
"Shhh shhh!" Ichika whispers, putting his hand up to Matthews mouth.
"Ok! Why are we whispering?!" Matthew whispers loudly.
"Ok, so you know how we are at war with Cecilia Alcot right?" Ichika says in a low voice, making sure Houki doesn't hear.
"Wait, that's her name?!" Matthew asks, eyes are big from subtle shock.
"Yes, but back to the point ok! I don't want to lose to her! Not after what she said to us. That's why I asked you to teach me about the I.S!" Ichika states.
"Ok.. but why are you asking me to duel Houki?" Matthew asks, raising his left eyebrow.
"I'm getting there alright! Now Houki is just teaching me more about Kendo and not about the I.S though. I want you to duel her and say to her that if you win, I want you to teach me and Ichika about the I.S." Ichika explains.
"But why me?! Why don't you duel her yourself?" Matthew asks. His eyebrows now all scrounge together.
"Because you're better at kendo than me. You beat her in that tournament back in 4th grade! And besides, if I were to duel her I would definitely lose." Ichika explains matter of factly.
"Dude! I barely won that match! Why don't you just tell her that you don't want to be trained by her and instead be trained by me?" Matthew insists, not wanting to fight Houki for a second time.
"I can't do that." Ichika replies.
"Why?" Matthew asks.
"Because… because...because she is my roommate." Ichika mumbles.
"And?" Matthew says still not budgeting.
"Come on man please?! Why are you afraid of her?" Ichika pleads desperately.
"Ok fine! But just this once alright!" Matthew replies annoyed, putting his Bogu Men (helmet) on before sliding his hands into his pair of kote.
"Umm... alright Houki. So... umm…" Matthew stammers, trying to decide how to approach her with a new proposition. "I challenge you to a duel. If I win, we must teach Ichika the basics of an I.S starting tomorrow." he points out, getting into his position across from her.
Houki slowly gets into position, glaring between Matthew and Ichika as he sits on the side of the mat. Ichika watches on. Putting her Bogu Men (helmet) on, she replies, "Fine. Then if I win, we keep teaching Ichika kendo until he can defeat me in a match."
"Deal." Matthew replies, swallowing whatever saliva he has inside his mouth, praying to god that he would win.
Both Houki and Matthew are standing across from each other. They bow acknowledging each other, accepting the match. They take 4 steps towards each other before squatting and standing back up. They draw their shinais, tapping the tips, pointing it to each other's necks. Both Houki and Matthew stand there waiting, watching for the other to move. Planning their first strike and their counter attack. Their eyes borrow into the other's. The dojo is silent. A moment later, their battle cries sound out! Houki strikes, smacking Matthew Shinai out of his hand. She quickly moves forward to strike Matthew's men (helmet) but misses when Matthew, at a split second, dives out of the way to grab his shinai. As he grabs his shinai, Houki rushes to strike Matthew's Men (helmet) but as she swings her shinai down, Matthew rolls forwards with shinai in hand causing Houki to miss again. Matthew rolls back onto his feet, quickly turns around and faces Houki and leaps forward aiming for Houki's men (helmet) but misses since Houki ducks slide out of the way, extending her left leg causing Matthew to trip and fall flat on his face. He quickly gets back up facing Houki. At this moment, their shinais are quickly tapping tips, showing much aggression and strength in their holds. Matthew slowly walks backward trying to lure Houki into his trap, which she follows. As soon as she was where he had wanted her at, he suddenly leapt forward aiming for Houki's men (helmet). Houki saw this coming and quickly deterred it with her shinai. Now their shinais are pressed up against each other.
From Matthew's point of view: Matthew takes a few steps backwards to gain distance away from Houki, trying desperately to figure out a plan.
'She just blocked that same maneuver that won me the championship back in 4th grade! What do I do?!' Matthew panics.
He is then pulled from his thoughts when he hears Houki yelling as she leapt towards him. Almost striking his men (helmet), Matthew raises his shinai in time to confront Houki's shinai, blocking the blow but is suddenly pushed down onto the floor by Houki as she crashes into him. As he back crashes onto the floor, Houki quickly rolls away, gaining distance from him. Quickly standing back, she turns around to face Matthew, who is now quickly standing back up. In a split second, Houki rushes forward aiming for his men (helmet), leaving him no time to block her attack as her shinai delivers the final blow to his head which makes a cracking Smack sound followed by his body falling backwards.
Houki stands there panting, expecting Matthew to get up but he doesn't. She cocks her head to the side, puzzled.
"Matthew?" Houki says, taking off her kote, rushing to his side. "Matthew?!" her voice a bit higher pitched but he doesn't respond. She quickly unties her Bogu Men (helmet) to take it off.
Ichika quickly makes his way towards Matthew's limp body and takes Matthew's bogu men (helmet) off, revealing a pink mark across his forehead. Ichika stood and Houki sat there stunned at what they saw before Ichika took off Matthew's kote (gloves) and checked for a pulse. Ichika sighs as he feels Matthew's pulse before turning to Houki, who is still stunned.
"He's alive." Ichika states. "You just knock him out. How hard did you hit him?" Ichika asks.
"I...I don't know." Houki responds softly.
"Well, we gotta get him to the Nurse's office right now. So help me lift him up." Ichika says puting one of Matthew's arms around his neck and lifting him up. Houki quickly helps Ichika wrapping Matthew's other arm around her neck. Both Ichika and Houki carry Matthew to the Nurse's office, occasionally getting curious glances from the other student along the way, getting asked what happened and if he is ok until they finally arrive.
"Oh? Hello! Oh! you three again?! What happened?'' the nurse asks, shocked.
"Umm... well, you see... we were kendo sparring and-" The nurse cuts off Ichika.
"Nevermind! It's an accident and accidents always happen. Set him on the bed and I'll tend to his injury. He should be fine with me. You two may go, ok." The nurse says reassuringly.
"Ok." Ichika answers as they lay Matthew on one of the beds, leaving the Nurse alone with Matthew.
*Sigh* "Kids these days." The nurse sighs to herself as she places an ice pack on Matthew's forehead before returning to her desk and typing away on her computer for the day's injury report.
3 hours later
Matthew stirs as he groans feeling like shit when the nurse walks over to him with a new wet cloth. She removes the previous wet cloth from his forehead and begins dabbing the new wet cloth.
"Hmm where am I?" Matthew groans.
"Easy now you're in the school infirmary." the nurse responds softly.
"The infirmary? What happened?"
"You don't remember?"
"I don't remember, my head hurts whenever I try thinking." Matthew replies.
"Hmm... Well, from what your friends were telling me, one of them must have hit you too hard on the head knocking you out, so they brought you here." the nurse replies. She leaves Matthew and puts both wet cloths into the sink and grabs an ice pack from the freezer. She then wraps that with a dry cloth and makes her way towards Matthew and places it on his forehead.
"Oh... now I remember." Matthew cringes remembering what happened before asking what time it is.
"It's 7:30 pm." the nurse replies.
"7:30?! How long was I out?!" Matthew exclaims sitting up but is stopped by the nurse.
"For about 3 hours and please lay down."
Matthew complies and does what she said.
"Now, can you tell me if you feel any pain? If so, where?"
"Well, my head hurts. That's about it." Matthew answers.
"Alright... and do you feel well enough to leave my office? Or do you feel really sick and need to stay here overnight?"
"Umm... yeah, I can handle myself for now. All I need to do is eat dinner. I should be feeling better by then." Matthew replies sitting up, whilst holding the ice pack in place.
"Alright then. Have a good night then!" The nurse says helping him sit up and leading him to the door.
"Yea you too." Matthew replies exiting the infirmary.
2 hours later.
*Yawn* 'That was the best dinner I've ever had! Would you look at the time?! It's 9:30 PM! I better get back to my dorm room before teachers start asking me what I'm doing after curfew!' Matthew thinks to himself as hurriedly he gets up, making his way towards his dorm room.
Matthew's Dorm Room.
Matthew opens the door announcing he's back before closing it and begins taking off his shoes. He puts them in the corner of his room. As Matthew walks down the short hallway, then looks towards his left side, he finds Tatanshi sitting on a chair, her legs crossed, her face behind a newspaper that's titled "Matthew Yamamoto and Ichika Orimura declare war on Cecilia Alcott!"
Tatanashi lowers her newspaper just enough to show her eyes and replies. "You're home late."
Matthew stares at Tatenashi with a confused look before responding "Umm…..o-k, What's with the mood?"
Tatanashi ignores Matthew and begins reading out loud the following lines. "And though it is uncertain what Yamamoto's bullies did to him, it is clear that his bullies must have bullied him to such an extent that he wishes not to talk about it." Tatanashi finishes before glancing back at Matthew.
"So what did they do to you exactly if you don't mind me asking?" Tatanshi says, placing her newspaper on the desk and getting up from her seat. She approaches Matthew, who is now cornered against the wall. Tatanshi gets uncomfortably close to Matthew, their bodies almost touching each other.
"Umm... actually look at the time! It's 9:30 and I'm going to take a shower so If you don't mind me." Matthew pushes Tatanashi away from himself and slips passed her trying to get into the restroom. Suddenly he was tackled down by Tatanashi. She begins tickling Matthew everywhere.
"AHHH AHH STOP! HAHAHAHAH! PLEASE! HAHA!" Matthew cries, pushing Tatanashi away and attempts to run to the otherside of the room but is stopped by Tatanashi, who tackles him onto his bed and continues her assault on him.
"AHH PLEASE STOP! I'LL DO ANYTHING! AHH HAHAH!" Matthew cries. He attempts to push Tatanashi off of himself again but Tatanashi sits on Matthew's back straddling him, trapping him as she continues her tickling assault on him.
"Then tell me what your bullies did to you!" Tatanashi pokes, stopping her assault for a little while waiting for his answer.
"Alright alright!" Matthew shrieks, catching his breath.
"So, before I begin I just wanna let you know that it's really...embarrassing telling anyone that's not close to me about my past, ok?" he starts.
Tatanshi nods her head before Matthew continues on.
"Alright. So, the bullying began in the 1st grade. Before I met Ichika and Houki... but, anyways, it all started when I told people that I'm Japanese-American. I'm guessing my bully got jealous or something but in the middle of class, he threw a dry, dirty towel that we used to clean the toilets and the floor with. He threw it on my head and approached me saying "This Hafu smells like garbage! Let's fix that."He then started rubbing my face with the dirty towel. The class started laughing at me. Even the teacher! For the next few days, I would sit at my desk and find dirty washcloths inside it. At lunch time, they would throw the biggest rocks at me just to see who can hit me with the most rocks. When I asked them to stop, they would yell "What?! We don't speak english, you Hafu!" When I told the teachers, they did nothing to stop it."
Tatanashi stares down at Matthew, shocked and speechless as he tells her his story. She began feeling sad and sorry for him that he had gone through that kind of treatment at such a very young age.
"Then on November 23rd of 2011, we were doing a show and tell. I brought a white police officer hat which belonged to my uncle before he died back in the 1980s. As I was heading to the restroom to relieve myself, they were standing there as if they were waiting for me." Matthew continues.
Flashback November 23 2011.
1st grade.
Time 3:20PM
"Well well well... Look who it is! It's that Hafu named Matthew Yamafucker!" the lead bully says.
Matthew quickly turns around and tries to exit the restroom but is blocked by the two other bullies in the way of the doorway.
"Oh! Let's take this from you!"
The lead bully standing behind Matthew snatches the Police cap from him and puts it on.
"Hmm... Look at me guys! I'm Matthew and I'm Japanese-American! Look at me! I'm dumb, stupid and like peepee! HAHAHAHA!" the lead bully says dumbly, causing his buddies to laugh as Matthew tries to take the hat back.
"GIVE IT BACK! THAT'S MY DADS!" Matthew yells trying to get his hat back.
"Oh! I'm Matthew! My dad works as a cook in a butler cafe and I'm also a police officer!" the lead bully says dumbly, causing the other bullies to laugh even harder, causing Matthew to tear up.
"OK! NOW SINCE THIS HAFU LIKES PEE PEE, LET'S MAKE HIM DRINK IT GUYS! HAHAHA!"
Matthew is suddenly grabbed by the two bullies, who were blocking the door, and is pushed into a stall where a toilet filled with pee awaits Matthew. Matthew is forced to kneel and has his face shoved into the toilet whilst the group of bullies chant over and over again "CHUG CHUG CHUG CHUG!" They finally let Matthew backup and start beating him up until he is curled up on the floor crying.
"HAHAHAH! That's what you get, you Hafu! Now this hat is MINE! I'M THE LAW AND AS THE LAW I WANT YOU TO CUMMIT SUICIDE!" The lead bully then stomps on Matthew's face leaving shoe prints before exiting the restroom with the rest of his buddies leaving Matthew to cry to himself.
End of flashback.
"Did the teachers do anything after that?" Tatanshi asks.
"No. I didn't even bother telling them because the last time I did, she simply said she was too busy and that I needed to handle it on my own." Matthew replies.
"What about your parents?"
"My mom was deployed in Afghanistan at the time while my dad was too busy with work to do anything about this." Matthew responds.
"Then what did you do?"
"Well, I told my brother, Nikolas, who was a freshman at the time, he decided to come with me to school."
Flashback 24th 2011
Time 3:45 PM
"Well well well guys! Look who it is.. It's Matthew and-" SLAP!
The lead bully is slapped in the face by Nikolas, who also snatches Matthew's hat from the lead bully's head and passes it back to Matthew. Then Nikolas pushes the lead bully into his buddies, knocking them over like bowling ball pins saying in an authoritative tone,"The next time you guys decide to bully my brother again, I will knock all your teeth out, understand?!"
The bullies nervously nod their heads yes before Nikolas turns to face Matthew and says, "Alright, let's go Matthew."
Nikolas walks past Matthew heading out the restroom with Matthew following right behind, feeling pity for the bully but mostly satisfied with what his older brother did to his bullies. Also he was very happy that he got his hat back.
End of flashback.
"After that I was transferred to another school. Then I met Ichika and Houki and the rest is history." Matthew finishes.
Tatanshi sits there silently processing what Matthew has said before finally speaking.
"I-I'm sorry you had to go through all that. Those people are just so horrible. They shouldn't even be called people."
"Indeed. Especially when suicide in Japan for young people surpasses death rates of cancer in Japan. If it weren't for my brother's help, I believe I wouldn't have lasted any longer." Matthew replies.
A few minutes of awkward silence passed before Tatanashi spoke again.
"Back in middle school, I was bullied by a group of girls."
"Really?"
Tatanashi weakly smiles and nods before continuing.
"There were four bullies in total. They were a year older than me and at the time I was in 7th grade and they were in 8th grade. One day when I was eating lunch by myself, they approached me and started harassing me by taking my food and throwing it to the ground. One of them decided to take my bookbag and started digging through my stuff. I tried to grab it back but the girl who was digging through my stuff pushed me away. The leader of the group decides to throw a punch at me and I dodge it. Things escalated after that. After the fight, which I came out victorious in, the bullies got suspended and never bothered me again."
"Damn! You make me seem like a coward back then! Which I was but not anymore. Wow, you versus four bullies. I can't imagine that!"
"Hmm.. What can I say? They messed with the wrong girl and they were taught a life lesson." Tatanashi replies.
"Yeah. I guess but anyways, umm... can you please get off me? This is kind of embarrassing." Matthew says trying not to make eye contact with Tatanashi.
Tatanashi blushes, realizing how lewd of a position she is in with Matthew.
"Thanks. Now, if you excuse me I'm going to take a bath." Matthew says as he picks his new set of clothes from his drawers and makes his way towards his bathroom.
The next day during the 8th period: In the Disciplinary Office
'I can't believe it! I was caught red handed by the student security for skipping science today! Now I have lunch detention tomorrow!' Matthew complains to himself as he puts his head down on the desk. Where did she even come from?!'
*5 minutes earlier*
I looked down the hallway, making sure no one was behind me. The next thing I know as I'm walking up the hallway in the other direction, a student body association security guard has snuck up behind me, cleared their throat and says, "Ahem! Excuse me, Yamamoto? What do you think you're doing?" She scared the hell out of me for a moment until I came back to my senses. I quickly answered her, "Umm, I- I was just going to the restroom." It was obvious that she wasn't believing me. Her left eyebrow raised and looked like she was biting the inside of her cheek. Then she opened her mouth to say what seemed too cliche, "Hmm...Really? Well, the restrooms are behind you down the hall this way. But it is very obvious that you're heading towards the exit that way. So explain to me again clearly, what are you doing?"...
*Back in the Disciplinary Office*
'And of course I was sent here to quote on quote "learn my lesson. But hey! If I look at this on the bright side, at least I got to escape those thirsty girls in science class.' Matthew thinks to himself before closing his eyes and falling asleep. As Matthew slumbers, he doesn't notice a few girls taking pictures of him. Until they were feeling bold enough to raise his head up and take a selfie before dropping Matthew's head back down ever so slowly before making their way towards their seats. They were giggling to one another the whole, entire time until everything suddenly went quiet. Matthew was still in his dreamy slumber until he felt a heavy, sharp pang on the back of his head, waking him up. Matthew raises his head to give whoever did that a piece of his mind. He stops quickly, changing his expression from anger to scared shitless when he is faced with none other than Chifuyu glaring down on him, her hands on her hips. His face goes visibly pale as his eyes resemble that of a deer caught in the headlights of a semi truck that's about to hit it.
"Chi-Chifuyu wh- what are y- you do- doing here?" Matthew nervously inquires.
"I could ask you the same thing. What are YOU doing here?"
Chifuyu says, crossing her arms.
"Funny story! Heh! Heh! Actually, I was using the restroom and the next thing I know I found myself here!" Matthew jokingly answers, earning himself a smack to the head from Chifuyu again.
"Oww! Okay! Maybe I was trying to leave school an hour early gha-." Chifuyu slams Matthew's head against the desk. "I better see you in detention during lunch tomorrow! You better not try to skip school again! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?" Chifuyu growls Then grabs Matthew's ear and pulls him up from his seat.
"Alright, alright! I'll be there and it won't happen again!" Matthew yelps.
Chifuyu lets go of Matthew's ear and storms off with Miss Yamada following after her.
A few minutes later, Matthew exits the disciplinary room. Makes his way towards the Dojo 2 to help train Ichika in kendo. Unfortunately, on the way, he runs into that same girl, who he caused a war with two days ago, with her friends. They were busily cleaning and sweeping the hallway.
'Ohhhh shit! This does not look good.' Matthew thinks to himself as the girls turn and look, catching sight of Matthew. Suddenly they are giving him hostile death glares.
"Well...look who it is girls? It's that piece of shit Hafu who got us in trouble." the leader of the Martial arts club sneers.
"We should punish him for what he did to you!" one of her friends growls.
"And I believe it's time for me to skedaddle! So, IF you would excuse me..." Matthew says sarcastically as he hurriedly turns 180 degrees on his heel and runs as fast as he could. He can hear the girl leader yell "STOP HIM!"
Matthew glances back and sees one of the girls with a broom stick catching up with him. She suddenly swings the broomstick diagonally down towards Matthew. She misses his head when he ducks his head causing her to lose her footing and falls down. As he watches the Martial art club trip over their fallen comrade, Matthew smirks to himself. Turning his head around, he finds out he's about to run right into Cecilia Alcott. In a split second, he quickly spins out of the way missing her by a few inches and continues running.
"YAMAMOTO! THERE IS NO RUNNING IN THE HALLWAYS!" Cecilia yells.
All of a sudden, the leader of the Martial arts club yells "MOVE IT BITCH!"
"Wha-" *BANG*...*THUMP* "OW OW! Uuhhhh…"
According to the sounds behind him, Matthew could only imagine that Cecilia just got shoved out of their way, causing her to hit the wall and landing on the floor. Then getting trampled on by the martial arts club. As Matthew slides down a corner and scrambling to gain more speed, he finds the exit of the building. The leader of the gym club and her friends are all there busily cleaning outside of the entrance. Matthew glances behind him and spots the Martial arts club members catching up to him.
"*Pant*pant*pant* HELP! HELP! PLEASE HELP ME?!" Matthew screams.
The members of the Gym Club all look up, stopping what they are doing and find Matthew running towards them.
"Help! I'm being chased by the Martial arts club! Help me, please?!." Matthew yells, still running at full speed towards them, the Martial arts club on his tail.
"What's this? The chinks are chasing Yamamoto? First they give us a month long lunch detention and campus cleanup, now they're chasing our representative? I don't think so! Girls?! Let's go kick some chink ass." The Gym Club leader says as she cracks her knuckles.
As Matthew exits the doors, the gym club members charge into the building, clashing into the Martial arts club members and began throwing punches at each other, yelling ethnic slurs at each other.
"THANK YOU!" Matthew yells over to the Gym club members before running off.
3 hours later
*PANT*PANT*PANT* " Please no more!?" Ichika pleads, kneeling as his head is leaning against his shinai.
"Alright. This concludes today's training. I expect you two here on time tomorrow." Houki eyes them before walking over towards the locker room.
"Well, you heard her. You did a good job." Matthew says, offering his hand to Ichika to stand.
Ichika grabs Matthews hand and pulls himself up before walking over to the water fountain with Matthew following.
"So. How was skipping science?" Ichika asks
"Well, I skipped science. I got caught. Now I have lunch detention tomorrow." Matthew sighs
"Oh that sucks." Ichika replies before leaning down to take a sip of water.
"But anyways, do you remember me telling you about the girl I crashed into on Monday during lunch and caused a food fight with?" Matthew asks.
"Mhm." Ichika hums before gulping in more water.
"Well, it turns out she is the leader of the martial arts club. She and her friends stopped me in the hall and they wanted to beat me up so badly. So, I ran for my life. Then as I was running towards the exit of the building, I found that same girl who fought against the martial arts club leader. Apparently, she happens to be the Gym club leader!" Matthew explains.
"Really?!" Ichika asks, lifting his head from the water fountain.
"Yeah. Anyways, as I was running to them, I was yelling for help. To my surprise they were more than willing to help me. They rushed head on into the members of the martial arts club and began kicking their asses." Matthew says.
"Damn! Talk about a lucky escape!" Ichika remarks.
"I know right?" Matthew scoffs.
"Do you think they still want to beat you up when they see you again?" Ichika asks.
"Probably. But not after what just happened. OH? Would you look at her! Houki is done changing!"
Houki glances their way before looking away, leaving the Dojo.
"Looks like it's our turn." Matthew says walking over towards the locker room with Ichika following.
After Ichika finished changing, Ichika said his goodbyes to Matthew and left for dinner leaving Matthew by himself in the Dojo.
Matthew closes his locker and makes his way out of the locker room towards the Dojo. As he opens the door, he is suddenly grabbed by his collar and pulled back into the Dojo. He was shoved up against the wall by the leader of the Martial arts club with her two friends. As Matthew looks at the girls, he quickly notices the leader has a black eye and cut lip with her friends looking the same way, with either a black eye or cut lip or even hair disheveled.
"First, you spill your lunch over me! You caused a fight between me and Jessica! Now you get us into another fight with that whore and her stupid friends! Plus two months worth of lunch detention and campus cleanup!" The Martial arts leader growls as she punches Matthew in the gut, causing him to cough uncontrollably. He tries to squirm out of her grasp but is punched in the face.
"That's for spilling your food all over an army uniform!" She yells before proceeding to kick Matthew in the nuts causing him to fall to the ground, seething through his teeth trying to hold in the pain
"And that's for getting us detention, Hafu!" She yells before side kicking Matthew's stitched up arm, sending him a few feet across the room.
Matthew groans before yelling for help but is met by one of the girls kicking him in the face, causing him to fall backwards onto his back. Some of the girls laughed and mocked him.
"Yamamoto the coward! Yamamoto the Hafu! Yamamoto the weakling." The girls chant as they slowly walk towards Matthew as he crawls backwards, cornered into the shinai rack located in the corner of the dojo.
Matthew is in pain now. Tears falling from his eyes, he pushes himself up against the wall. Gathering all the energy and strength he has left, he forces his body to stand up, enduring the pain between his legs. He eyes a shinai and grabs it from the rack. He aims it at the girls who stopped advancing on him now that they see he is armed.
"Sss-Stay BACK!" Matthew yells trying to look intimidating, eyeing each one of them for any sudden movement.
"Or what?" One girl bluntly says. She tries to grab Matthew's shinai but fails. Matthew takes his chance to leap forward and strikes the girl on her head with his shinai. Pushing her body out of the way before turning around to face the advancing girls. It was a standoff between him and them. He then strikes at another girl's hand but misses. In the process, he became disarmed by her. Watching his shinai being tossed behind her away from him. The girls threw themselves on at him, ganging up on him, beating him forcing him down on the ground. Their punches and kicking were relentless. Matthew curls into a fetal position, trying desperately to block all their attacks. Soon enough the punching stopped but he was getting stomped and kicked.
"I'M SORRY! PLEASE STOP! PLEASE?!" Matthew screams as he covers his head.
"FUCKING COWARD! GIVING UP ALREADY!" The leader yells back at him as she stomps him on his shoulder.
Matthew begins to cry, but being careful to not let the girls notice him as he cries, he remembers the past to what his bullies did to him.
The group of girls, one by one, slowly stop beating on Matthew except the Martial arts club leader.
"Chun Li! I think he's had enough!" One of the girls raises her voice, stopping Chen from kicking Matthew.
"NO! Don't you remember what we learned back home?! No weakness! No pain! No Mercy for the enemy!" Chun Li, presumably the Martial arts club leader says pointedly, her attention back to Matthew again. He's still on the ground.
"Chun Li! I said STOP!" The girl demands as she grabs Chen's wrist. Out of nowhere, Chun Li smacks the girl's hand off her wrist. Setting herself up to kick Matthew more when suddenly the doors burst open. A blue haired girl with devilish, red eyes with an extremely pissed off face appears. Tatenashi.
"Shit! It's the Student Council President! What do we do now?!" One of the girls exclaims as she drinks behind one of the other girls. She is obviously scared of Tatenashi.
"T-Ta-tenashi?" Matthew mumbles to himself, almost inaudible, as he looks towards her weakly.
Tatenshi glances down at Matthew. She was analyzing his current state before looking towards the Martial arts club members, catching each of the members grabbing their own shinais from the holding rack. They are now in a ready fighting position against Tatenashi, mentally preparing themselves for the outcome of the new situation present. Tatenashi's already pissed off demeanor quickly upgraded to a cautionary persona. She regards them as she scans the group of girls, who were somewhat lined up from her left side to her right side.
"You will drop your weapons and exit this room peacefully!" Tatenashi orders, holding her foldable fan like a weapon.
"Or what Miss President?." Chun Li snarls back, giving Tatenashi a challenging look of her own.
"Or I will be forced to remove any and all funds from the Martial arts club!" Tatenashi counters.
"W-W-WHY-, YOU DARE TO- MARTIAL ARTS CLUB, ATTACK HER!" Chun Li commands. One by one, the girls run up to Tatenashi attempting to strike her down with their shinais.
Tatenashi on the other hand, only armed with her fan, already mentally ready for this, quickly gets into a fighting posture as the first girl charges and attacks her. The girl swings her Shinai vertically at Tatenashi. She dodges her attack swiftly and easily grabs the girl's shinai, quickly disarming her and kicks her in the chest. The 1st attacker stumbles towards the wall, head first, knocking her out.
Two other girls scramble towards her, almost hitting their shinais against Tatenashi's back. In a split second, Tatenshi leaps out of the way and strikes her shinai against the side of the second attacker's head, knocking her out instantly as she falls to the ground. Tatenashi then focuses her attention back on the third attacker nearby and throws her shinai into her chest. She gets winded by the strong force. Tatanashi quickly dashes, giving her an uppercut punch to the face and another punch to her nose, sending her to the ground as the girl clutches her nose, easily taking the girl out of the fight.
Chun Li and the fourth girl both charge at Tatenashi but she jumps into the air like an acrobat. Then slams her foot down onto the fourth attacker's head whilst using her head to jump off as she does two flips in the air before landing perfectly on the ground. The fourth attacker falls to the ground completely knocked out, leaving Chun Li all alone to defend herself.
"It's all over Chun Li! Surrender now and leave Yamamoto alone!" Tatenashi repeats, pointing her foldable fan at Chun Li.
"NEVER!" Chun Li yells.
As Tatenashi studies Chun Li's movement, thinking of ways to disarm her, Tatenashi spots Matthew, behind Chun Li, struggling to slowly stand up. He grabs a nearby shinai and points it at Chun Li's back. Chun Li, hearing somebody creep behind her, turns around, shocked at the scene before her. She was caught off guard by Matthew with his shinai drawn against her.
"Well. Would you look at this? The Hafu rejoins the fight." Chun Li snarls.
"Surender Chun Li. You are outnumbered 2 to 1." Tatanashi states.
Chun Li, not seeing any option left, stays silent. Thinking of what she could do as she maneuvers herself into a corner of the dojo, away from them, before the two have ultimately decided on working together.
"Fine! I'll surrender. Only if you never tell the teachers about this. Also, if you don't pull the funds from the Martial arts club too." Chun snarls glaring at Tatenashi.
"Only if you leave Matthew alone. If not, it's goodbye funds." Tatanashi replies.
"Fine." Chen growls, dropping her shinai, and moving towards the exit of the dojo, whilst death glaring at both Matthew and Tatenashi.
Matthew drops his shinai and slowly limps his way for the exit with Tatenashi by his side, closing the Dojo doors behind them.
"Thanks for helping me back there. I really owe you one." Matthew says clutching his right arm.
"Are you alright?" Tatenashi asks, face full of concern.
"Yeah. For now though. The pain will be much worse later on when the bruises have formed all over my body." Matthew chuckles trying to lighten the mood.
Tatenashi just shakes her head in disbelief that he can still try to force a smile on his face and joke about his battered state. "Well, there's a reason why Doctor Thompson hired me to be your bodyguard. I think he knew this was coming." she says matter of factly.
"Yeah, I guess. But... Thanks again for helping me. I really owe you one. I really wouldn't know what would have happened if you hadn't intervened." Matthew gratefully says.
"No worries." Tatenashi answers.
"You...uumm, wanna join me for dinner?" Matthew asks, trying not to sound as if he is asking her on a date even though it obviously does.
"Hmmm... sure! But you're paying for it though." Tatenashi smiles to herself as Matthew cringes at the idea before accepting it.
"Fine, let's go then." Matthew responds, accepting the fact that he has to pay for her food but lets it slide.
Both Tatenashi and Matthew slowly make their way towards the Cafeteria to eat dinner.
In the Cafeteria
*Sigh* 'Looks like Ichika isn't here.' Matthew says to himself, holding his tray of dinner which consists of rice and fried fish and a glass of water.
Tatenashi strides to Matthew's side.
"So, where do you want to sit?" Tatenashi asks.
"How about... right here?" Matthew inquires, taking a seat at the nearby table. With Tatanashi following closely behind.
They began to eat in silence for a few minutes when Tatanashi spoke, "So tell me. Why were those girls beating you up?"
Matthew looks up to Tatenashi, swallowing his food before giving an answer,
"Oh.. Well, it started on Monday. It was an accident. I accidentally spilled my food on her, I think her name is Chun Li, but from what I'm guessing she's super pissed off that I got her a month's worth of detention."
Tatenashi lays down her chopsticks on her tray so she can listen to every word, tentatively.
"Then I unexpectedly ran into her and her friends today. *sigh* She wanted to rip my head off. I ran away until I found the entire Gym Club cleaning outside the exit. So I yelled for them to help me out. They dashed into the building and fought them off for me." Matthew explains, putting his chopsticks down and picks up his glass of water. He takes three gulps of water. Tatenashi waits for him to continue, watching him put down his glass of water.
"After training Ichika with Houki a while ago, Ichika went on ahead after he finished changing clothes in the locker room. Five minutes later, I was about to leave and surprise, surprise! I was ambushed by Chen and her friends. They were waiting for me the whole time that Ichika and I were inside the locker room. According to her, It's my fault that she received an extra month of detention and campus cleanup, on top of the first punishment they're already serving. You know the rest after that." Matthew finishes, picking up his chopsticks again to continue eating the rest of his dinner.
Tatenashi nods her head. "Hm. So you pissed Chun Li off, that's why she was bullying you..."
"Yeah. Looks like it." Matthew replies.
"Well, from what I've heard, Chun Li has a volcanic temper and loses it whenever something doesn't go her way. She also likes to pick fights with her unfortunate enemies." Tatanashi explains.
"Why doesn't the school just suspend her?" Matthew asks.
"The school did but since her father is a political figure in the Chinese government, he has been using his position to bribe the school just to keep Chun Li. It's the same with her friends as well." Tatanashi explains.
"That explains why she's still here." Matthew says, shaking his head in disappointment.
They both finished their dinner in silence.
"So umm... *SIgh* Ok. There is something I've been wanting to ask you after you saved me earlier." Matthew leaks.
"Hmm?" Tatanshi looks up at Matthew.
"I've been pondering to myself, what if I find myself in another situation like that and you're not around to save me? How will I fight back besides using my I.S. unit? Or what if they take it away, then what?" Matthew shares, somewhat degrading himself in the process.
Tatenashi cocks her head to the side, not understanding what he meant by that.
"I'm asking if you could teach me how to defend myself since you pretty much kicked their asses back there." Matthew reveals, putting hands together and bowing.
Tatenashi thinks to herself for a brief moment. "Hmm…" *sigh* "Ok. I'll teach you Judo, but on one condition though."
"And that Is?" Matthew says, peering up at her.
"You... become my personal servant." Tatanashi proposes with an innocent smile.
Matthew's jaw drops open at the proposal. "Ss-servant?" Matthew repeats.
"Yes! You know? You do exactly what I say to do. For example, wash, dry and fold my laundry, clean the dorm and carry my bags. That type of servant." Tatanashi explains.
"Servant you say, hmmm..." Matthew debates with himself.
"I mean, I already live, sleep and now eat with her so I guess I can. What can possibly go wrong? Besides, she did save me and I owe her for that. So it's the least I could do. What do I have to lose beside my dignity?" Matthew continues, considering the facts laid out for him.
"Fine. I'll do it. When do we start?" Matthew answers confidently.
Tatanashi smiles even wider at his decision and pushes her tray towards Matthew.
"We start now! I'll train you on the weekends starting from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM. First off, you are to return my tray for me." Tatanashi says.
"Alright then." Matthew agrees by taking Tatanashi's tray, along with his tray to return them.
The First Weekend: Her servant
Time 8:00 AM
Tatanashi exits the bathroom with just a towel on, feeling refreshed after her morning bath. She glances over to Matthew and finds him still sleeping like a baby in his bed.
"Hmmm... perfect." Tatanashi evilly grinning before creeping up to Matthew's bedside.
Slowly lifting his blanket, she gently but slowly climbs in next to him, being sure not to wake him. As she lays beside him, peering directly into his face. She can't help but imagine Matthew's reaction when he wakes up and finds her laying in his bed with only a towel on! She muffles her laughs at the thought then thought to herself, analyzing Matthew's emotionless expression.
'Maybe I can get him to have a nosebleed?' Tatenashi questions herself before booping Matthew on the nose. She boops his nose several more times concluding that he is in such a deep sleep. She gently strokes Matthews' hair. 'It's so soft!' Tatenashi remarks in her mind, as she continues to pet Matthew's hair. Suddenly Matthew begins to stir. Tatenashi quickly retracts her hand from Matthew's hair and waits. Matthew yawns, stretching his arms outwards hitting Tatenashi in the breasts. With his eyes still closed, he wasn't sure what he bumped his arms into, he reached over with his other hand, feeling for it. 'This is a soft and curvy pillow..' Matthew states to himself. He pulls his hand away from Tatanashi's chest. By that unexpected turn of events, she was momentarily bewildered before regaining her senses, putting on a mischievous smile, acting all cute waiting for him to look up at her. He turns onto his side, now facing Tatenashi unknowingly. A few seconds later, Matthew groggily opens his eyes slowly and discovers Tatenashi innocently smiling down at him. 'Tatanashi? Why is she smiling at me like that?' He wonders, still trying to make sense of the scenery. Then, realization hits him like a bullet train! His eye shot open even wider, if it's humanly possible. 'WAIT! WHY IS SHE IN A TOWEL ONLY?! WHERE ARE HER CLOTHES!? WHAT THE FUCK?! WHY IS SHE IN MY BED!?" Matthew questions himself, jumbling with his own blanket trying to get out of his own bed, away from her. He loses balance as his foot is tangled in the blanket and falls onto the floor before quickly standing up. "OH FOR THE LOVE OF-" Matthew blurts as he grabs his blanket and throws it to Tatenashi. "WHAT THE FUCK?! COVER YOURSELF!" Matthew orders. His face, red as a Tomato, embarrassment and shock written all over.
"WH-WH-WHAT THE HELL ARE- WHY ARE YOU IN MY BED?! AND WHY ARE YOU NAKED?" Matthew shrieks.
"Don't you remember what happened last night?" Tatenashi inquires in an innocent and tired tone, completely unfazed by Matthew's outburst whilst mentally holding herself together from laughing.
Matthew searches his memory of what happened the previous night but can't. "NO! WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED?!" Matthew answers.
"Oh, it was the best time I ever had. You took me from behind and-" *BONK* Matthew threw a pillow to her face before Tatenashi could say anything else.
"Hey?!" Tatenashi yelps, throwing the pillow back at Matthew who caught it.
"DON'T HEY ME! WE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING LAST NIGHT!" Matthew whisper-yells, his face even redder than before.
At the sight of Matthew's face resembling that of a giant strawberry sitting on his shoulders, Tatenashi begins to lose herself, bursting out laughing. Matthew now stupefied and confused by her actions, Tatenashi laughs much more.
Matthew groans irritatingly mad at Tatenashi. Rubbing his face roughly realizing this whole thing was just a joke, he lets it slide. With Tatenashi still laughing her heart out on his bed, he makes his way out of his room, heading in the direction of the public restrooms at the end of the hall to relieve himself. He didn't want to use his own toilet to do his business after what had just happened just now. Soon, he makes his way back to his room. Matthew is hoping and praying to god that Tatenashi is wearing clothes.
'Please god. Please have Tatenashi in clothes? I fear I may have a nose bleed! Or worse, If I see her with nothing but a towel on again.!' Matthew pleads as he approaches the door of his dorm room. Taking a breath as he grips the door knob, opens it and enters the doorway. Closing the door behind him, he peers up searching his room. Sure enough Tatenashi is now dressed standing with her hands behind her back in the middle of the room. It seems like she was waiting for him to return.
Matthew sighs in relief discovering that Tatenashi is fully clothed. He realizes it's Saturday and it's the day that she promised to teach him Judo.
"Ok. So when do you wanna start teaching me Judo today?" Matthew asks.
Tatenashi raises an eyebrow before lowering it and sofly replying.
"After we eat breakfast of course. Then after we eat, you shall get started on my laundry."
"Your laundry?!" Matthew asks, confused.
"Yes. Don't you remember, silly?"
Matthew tried to recall the events from last night. I guess getting a beating from Chun Li and her thug friends did a number on him. He agreed to be Tatenashi's personal servant in return for Judo lessons.
"Ugh..*sigh* Now I remember."Matthew says quietly, as he smacks himself on his face.
"Well then, I suppose we better get breakfast then. Shall we Madam?" Matthew says opening the door, like a butler, for Tatenashi. Matthew follows close by her side heading towards the cafeteria.
20 Minutes later
After the two finish eating breakfast, Tatenashi and Matthew make their way back to their dorm room to get started on Tatenashi's laundry.
"Alright! Now here is my laundry. And here is the detergent and softener. Off you go!" Tatenashi happily says, dragging a heavy looking bag of her dirty clothes with her laundry detergents.
"I might as well do my own laundry too." Matthew says, walking into his bathroom. He grabs his bag of dirty clothes, scans the bathroom for any stray dirty clothes that weren't inside the bag yet. Grabbing a few pairs of dirty socks off the floor and stuffing them into the bag, he walks out to grab Tatenashi's laundry bag and her laundry detergents. "Alright, I'll see you later." Matthew says leaving her in the dorm room. "Make sure you come back with all my clothes, ok!" She waves before retreating back into the room, closing the door.
Walking down the hallway of the dormitory, he searches his memory "Right... Now if I remember correctly, the laundry room should be in its own building. All I have to do is follow the signs that lead to the laundry room. I should be there in a few minutes. No sweat!" Matthew assures to himself as he makes his way towards the elevator.
"Man, I hope the laundry room isn't that packed on so, it would be very awkward since I'm the only guy, besides Ichika, in that laundry room. It would be even more awkward If one of the girls saw me with Tatenashi's clothes! What more, her undergarments too!" Matthew worries. He gets chills running down his back just imagining that as he boards the elevator and presses the ground floor button.
The elevator doors slowly close and begin to make its slow descent down.
'I wonder if her undergarments are in the bag so I would be able to find out her bust size but then again-.. No no no! Why am I thinking of that?! I sounded like a major pervert! What would Nikolas say for heaven's sake?! Ugh!... If he had caught me saying these things, he would have hit me on the head and give me the talk all over again on women and why we must be such gentlemens towards them and not like an average street thug!'
Matthew cringing at the thought of his older brother hitting him on the head and giving him the talk about women all over again.
'And besides, if the girls in the laundry room caught me touching Tatenashi's bra or panties, they would either A) Freak out and call me a pervert or B) Beat me up to the point that the student body security will have to intervene. Hopefully none of Tatenashi's lingerie is in her bag.' Matthew thought to himself, as the elevator doors reopen. He picks up both their dirty laundry bags and the laundry detergents. Matthew makes his way towards wherever he thinks the laundry room is located at.
After a few minutes of searching, Matthew finally finds the laundry room. To his disappointment, it's packed with girls everywhere. Matthew peers into the windows of the laundry room, he regrets his decision of ever becoming Tatenashi's servant.
"Holy shit! The laundry room is filled with so many girls! Crap! Tsk..How will I do our laundry now?" Matthew panics. "Ok. Ok! Everything is alright! I just have to walk in there. Mind my own business. Find an empty washer and dump both Tatenashi's and my clothes in it as fast as possible! Pour some detergent and get the washer started, then leave! It's as simple as that! Yeah!"
Matthew reassures himself before marching his way towards the entrance of the laundry room. As soon as Matthew opens the door, all the girls turn and notice Matthew. Some of them were giving him either disgusted glares, rolling their eyes, or curious looks.
Matthew felt his face go pale.
"Umm... hi girls…?!" Matthew says with a forced smile.
The girls study Matthew, whispering to one another before returning to doing their laundry.
Matthew sighs in relief. 'It's just like that one scene from Tremors 2 Aftershock when that one guy sprayed himself with the fire extinguisher in order to hide his heat from those Heat Seeking Shriekers.' Matthew chuckles. The thought of it helps ease the discomfort as he makes his way down the aisles of the laundry room. Searching for an available washer took about two minutes when he spots one in the far corner of the laundry room. 'Ha! Looks like luck is on my side today!' Matthew mentally exclaims, making a beeline towards the washer. He hurriedly drops Tatenashi's bag and puts down the laundry detergents on the ground. He opens his own bag of dirty clothes and dumps it in the washer before dropping the bag on the ground. As he's picking up Tatenashi's bag, Matthew looks around him, making sure none of the girls are watching him before he opens her laundry bag. When it's safe, he quickly dumps Tatenashi's dirty clothes into the washer. He's caught a few glimpses of her panties and bras inside the washer for him to see for his delight. Dropping Tatenashi's empty laundry bag on the ground, he makes quick work of pouring the laundry detergent into the washer, quickly screws the lid back on the bottle and closes the lid down. He searches for some coins and inserts it into the coin deposit slot and starts the washer. Matthew sighs, glad that he managed to get away with putting girl's lingerie with his clothes before turning around. Although, he's completely caught off guard by some random girl looking over his shoulder that he got scared by.
"Ahhhmmm...W-what are you doing?!" Matthew nervously quizzes.
"Oh? I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sneak up on you like that. I'm Haven by the way. I'm from the U.S." The girl, named Haven, says while holding her hand out.
"Oh...K." Matthew says awkwardly as he shakes Haven's hand.
Haven has blue eyes, blond hair and a nice body. She looks cute wearing a white shirt and overalls.
"Soooo... If you don't mind me asking, what were you doing just now?" Matthew asks.
"Oh! Well that washer is where I usually wash my clothes in." Haven says pointing towards Matthew's washing machine.
"But it's no problem. I'll just find another so yeah...he he he!"Haven says awkwardly laughing.
"Sorry about that. I didn't know we were assigned washers." Matthew replies, scratching the back of his head.
"Oh no, no, no, no! Nobody is assigned a washer at all! It's just that I've been using that washer for 3 years now so it has become pretty much my go-to washer since then, that's all." Haven interjects.
"Oh! Well, ok then. I'll pick another washer next time. Sorry about that." Matthew remarks.
"No no! There is no need! You can keep using this washer for all I care. Like I said, I'll just find another washer." Haven replies, waving her hands in front of her trying her best to alleviate the situation.
"Oh... ok. Well, if you insist." Matthew says, uncertainty clear in his voice.
"Although, I will give you some advice about the laundry room, but first, do you happen to speak English?" Haven asks
"Uhmm.. yeah I speak perfect English but why?" Matthew asks, confused about Haven's inquisition.
"Well, because what I'm about to tell you is pretty sensitive and important here." Haven says in english.
"Why is that?" Matthew asks in English.
"Well for one, you may want to stand guard with your clothes since some girls like to steal other girl's panties. Since you're the only boy here, you might want to keep a close eye on your clothes." She explains.
"What?! Really?!" Matthew eyebrows shot up, stunned before looking around the laundry room.
"Yup. So you better keep an eye on them or who knows what would happen next." Haven says walking away.
Matthew stands their thinking to himself. 'If those girls look into my washer and see Tatenashi's undergarments, I'll surely die!'
Matthew goes back and stands in front of his washer keeping an eagle eye on all the girls in the laundry room for a solid 30 minutes, waiting for his washing machine to stop. Soon it buzzes, signaling it is done with the spin cycle.
Matthew grabs his empty bag from the floor, opens the washer grabbing and dumping everything inside but stops. He nervously picks up one of Tatenashi's bras before dropping it back. He peeks back into the washer, studying Tatenshi's bra thinking to himself,
'Damn that's one huge bra! I wonder what size it is?!'
"I mean it's her fault for having me wash her clothes. She should have seen this coming and it's only natural for men to-' Matthew pauses, uneasiness settling in to how he is reacting. 'It's only natural for men to do this right?...' He stares at the bra until finally coming to his senses.
*Sighing almost grunting* He looks up at the ceiling and back down at the bra. He shakes his head and mentally scolds himself,
'No you Idiot! Of course it's not right to do this! What would mom and dad say about this, especially Nikolas?! He would have killed me if he ever saw me doing this!.. But then again... he is gone and I'm across the Pacific from mom and dad and-... Oh screw it! Fuck it! I'll just look at the tag and see what size she is for fuck's sake! They can't be that big!"
Matthew peers behind him, checking if there are any nearby girls around him. He only spots a small group of girls talking in one corner of the room and another small group of girls in the other 2 aisles doing their laundry. There are no girls in his aisle. Matthew turns back looking into the washer. He picks up Tatenashi's bra, looking for the tag. He finds it and immediately starts reading the tag.
'34 DD?! HOLY SHIT! THiIS IS AN E CUP?! AND I THOUGHT SHE WAS A C CUP! HOLY SHIT THEY'RE HUGE! HOW THE-'
"Hey Matthew!" A feminine voice says from behind Matthew surprising him, causing him to abruptly drop the bra, slamming the lid shut, only to turn around to find Haven holding a dryer sheet.
"Haha! Ha Ha! You scared me there! Ha ha ha! What do you need, by the way?" Matthew says nervously laughing.
Haven looks at Matthew with a confused expression before speaking.
"Umm... nothing actually. I was just giving you a dryer sheet since you don't have any. If that's alright with you.?"
Matthew looks at the dryer sheet then back to Haven.
"Oh! Ha Ha Ha! Sure! Thanks, Haven. I don't know what to say." Matthew says accepting the dryer sheet from her.
"No need. I just wanted to share so yeah. I'll see you later then?"
"Ye-Yeah! I'll see you later. And thank you for the dryer sheet!" Matthew says awkwardly as he waves goodbye to Haven as she walks away.
*Exhaling* 'That was too close…' Matthew mentally remarks. Returning his attention back to the washing machine, he lifts up the lid and proceeds to remove all the clothes and stuff them into the laundry bag. Once he finishes, he makes his way over to the dryers. He realized how packed this part of the laundry room is. After scanning the rows of dryers, Matthew finally finds a dryer that's empty and proceeds to throw the dryer sheet in there. Being sure nobody is watching him as he shows Tatanashi's clothes in, he swiftly throws all the clothes into the dryer. He searches his pocket for money and inserts the coins into the coin deposit slot and starts the dryer.
'Wait a minute. Wouldn't I need to separate Tatenashi's clothes and my clothes after the dryer is done?' He asks himself.
'I can't just present Tatenashi with her clothes mixed together with my clothes! She would think I'm some sort of pervert!' *gasp* 'Or worse! Nevermind, she's the pervert!.. But still. How would I be able to separate both our clothes without being noticed or watched by these girls around me?'
Matthew grills himself for a solution before finally coming up with a plan.
'That's it! By the time the dryer is done with the cycle, there should be less girls here doing their laundry. I'll just grab all my clothes out of the dryer first and stuff them into my own laundry bag. Then I should be able to get Tatenashi's clothes into her laundry bag without being caught. That should work!' Matthew plans out in his head.
While waiting for almost an hour, more and more girls leave the laundry room with their laundered clothing. Only a few girls trickle into the laundry room with dirty clothes which is good news for Matthew. Soon the dryer finishes its cycle. Matthew goes and tugs the door open, motions to grab his clothes and shoves it in his bag and secures it close. He opens Tatanashi's bag while eyeballing the few girls lingering inside the laundry room, making sure they were not looking his way. Then grabs her clothes and starts shoving them into her bag before finally tying her bag closed. He then picks up both bags and the laundry detergent and cooly leaves the laundry room thinking to himself, "Mission dual laundry a success."
Back at Matthews dorm room.
"I'm back!" Matthew announces as he opens the door to his room, then closes it behind him.
"Finally you're back!" Tatenashi bounced from her bed.
Matthew finds Tatenashi laying on her belly on her bed watching the T.V.
"Took you awhile. Longer than I do my own laundry… So how did it go?" Tatanashi asks, standing up from her bed and making her way towards Matthew.
"It was alright." Matthew replies, handing Tatenashi her bag of clean clothes.
"So when are you going to teach me Judo?" Matthew inquires.
Tatenashi opens her bag and takes out her uniform blazer inspecting every inch of it before putting it back in her bag. Then returns it back to Matthew responding with an innocent smile,
"Right after you fold my clothes, of course!"
"F-f-fold your clothes?! What the hell?! I already washed your clothes! So you fold your own clothes! Besides, it's just wrong for a guy to fold a girl's clothes, especially when there is no relationship involved." Matthew states, giving Tatenshi's bag of clothes back.
"Plus, I don't even know how to fold girl clothes. I never have." Matthew mumbles to himself, looking down to the floor.
"Aww... come on?!" Tatenashi says with a frown.
"No! It's still wrong to fold each others' clothes." Matthew argues.
Tatenashi was about to blackmail Matthew for not folding her clothes by telling him she won't teach him Judo if he didn't. Then she realizes she was taking things too far, so she drops it.
"*Sigh* Fine. I'll fold my own clothes then." Tatenashi whines, feeling defeated.
"And you will teach me Judo afterwards…?" Matthew adds, unfazed by her whining.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll teach you judo." Tatenashi whines, dragging her bag of clothes towards her bed.
"Awesome!" Matthew boasts. Making his way to his bed, he dumps his clothes out of his bag and starts folding as Tatenashi sits on her bed, her back facing Matthew, and dumps her clothes out and starts folding.
After they had finished folding their clothes and putting them away, they both already changed in their gi's. Matthew wears his Kendo Bogu while Tatenashi wears her Judo gi. After putting their spare clothes in the small locker room inside the Dojo number 3, Tatanashi begins Matthew's lessons.
"Ok, so the first thing we got to do is warm up." Tatenashi says before doing squats with Matthew following along.
They continue doing various stretches from the legs to arms and the back for about 15 minutes. Tatanashi stops and gets up from the floor with Matthew following suit.
"Alright, that's enough stretching. Let's get on with the lesson, shall we?" Tatenashi says.
Matthew nods his head, before taking a ready stance he learned in Aikido so many years ago.
"First lesson of Judo is right side vs right side which means you grab my lapel with your right hand and with your left hand you grab my bicep or sleeve whichever you prefer." Tatanashi explains grabbing Matthew's lapel with her right hand and grabbing Matthew's bicep with her left hand. Matthew does as told. Grabbing Tatenashi's lapel with his right hand and grabbing Tatanashi's sleeve with his left hand.
"Now, this is the collar hand and sleeve hand ok." Tatenashi explains.
Matthew nods his head that he understands her.
"Now, you want to be high on the lapel and the lower your hand the worse." Tatanshi continues, stroking Matthew's belly causing him to twitch slightly but not enough for her to notice.
"Then, when you have your hand on the lapel like this, you can control your opponent from the chin and bring them down to their knee." Tatenashi says bringing Matthews' head down "Or you can go high to control your opponent." Tatenashi pushes Matthews body back up and away from herself.
"Does that make sense?" Tatenshi asks, stopping to look at him.
"Yeah, I guess." Matthew responds.
"Then, for the sleeve hand, I could grab your bicep and have more control over you because I can control your posture and pin your arm against you." Tatanashi states.
"From there, I could attack backwards with an og strike" Tatanashi slides her right leg between Matthews legs and strikes Matthew's right knee from behind, causing Matthew to fall over.
"That's a backwards technique, by the way." Tatenashi points out.
Matthew stands back up and places his hands back on Tatenashi as she resumes the lesson.
"Or I would Attack you with Right side technique going forward." Tatenashi says before pulling Matthew towards her and over her back causing him to almost land head first on the floor but tucks his head forward and performs a roll and lands perfectly on his feet before quickly standing up and facing Tatenashi.
"That's basic Judo 101 with right vs right side. Any questions?"Tatenashi asks, smirking.
"No." Matthew replies.
"Good. Now, let's move on to right side vs left side ok?" Tatnashi says, getting into her stance.
Both Tatanashi and Matthew continue practicing Judo for the next 3 hours with a few small water breaks in between. Then, Tatenashi ends the day's training.
"Ok, I think that's enough training for today, don't you think?" Tatenashi asks, wiping the sweat from her forehead with her right arm.
"Yeah." Matthew answers, as he lays on the ground worn out and drenched in his sweat.
"I'm going to change now. You're welcome to follow me in." Tatenashi says teasingly, smiling down, glancing over her shoulder at him.
Matthew glares at Tatenashi "No thanks. I'd rather wait here."
"Suit yourself." Tatenashi playfully replies, leaving Matthew on the floor and making her way towards the locker room.
Once Tatenashi left him by himself laying on the mat, he just stared up into nothing but the ceiling. "Damn. I haven't taken a martial arts class for about 4 years now. It's great to finally be back at it again though. Heck, the Kendo Club was so nice that they gave me a discount on the kendo bogu set for a whopping 2,730 Yen ($24.98 US). Atleast the bogu armor and the shinai are free for everybody to use." Matthew thought to himself.
*Sudden image of Tatenashi's breasts pops in his head*
"Ugh! I really need to randomly stop picturing her boobs! Damn it! I knew I shouldn't have done her laundry! Now I'm always thinking about her boobs and her face and- and- WHAT AM I EVEN THINKING?! She's a year older than me! To make matters worse, it seems like she is provoking me to have an erection in front of everybody. All I could do about it is just freak out about what she's doing and I scold her for doing that!" Rolling over, Matthew stands up and makes his way towards the water fountain in the corner of the room and dips his face into it, thirsty as hell.
"But then again, I don't actually mind her- MAN! I'M SUCH A PERVERT! UUUGGGHHH! I DESERVE TO BE SLAPPED IN MY FACE FOR HAVING THESE KINDS OF THOUGHTS!" Matthew lifts his head back up from the water fountain and mentaly scolds himself for thinking this. He shakes his head trying to come to his senses.
"I shouldn't be thinking of Tatenashi this way! She's 3 months older than me and she is my bodyguard. As Micheal said she deserves the utmost respect that I can possibly give her. Plus, she is one of my only good friends here and I don't want to ruin our friendship because of this." Matthew is cut out of his thoughts when he notices Tatenashi has walked out of the locker room. She leans against the wall near Matthew, raising her left eyebrow, "Are you going to go change?"
"Uhhm, yeah I am. I'll be back." Matthew answers, rushing his way towards the locker room.
"Mom wanted me to make more friends than just talk to Ichika all year long." Matthew said to himself as he took off his Kendogi.
Matthew finishes changing and exits the locker room. He joins Tatenashi and begins heading back to their dorm room. She goes and hangs her judogi in her closet and grabs a few clothes from her closet drawer so she can go take a bath. Matthew grabs the T.V remote from his nightstand and flops onto his bed. Laying on his back, he switches the T.V on and begins flipping through the channels before finally settling on the Nippon News Network.
"Good Evening..." One of the News anchors greets and the two news anchors bow towards the camera
"Tonight, The United States Marine Corps and Army enter the cities of Gillian-gill and Ttilppuri-gil. The meeting between the People's Liberation Army of China and DPRK Army clashes together with the Communists who are on the losing end of these battles. The United States won and pushed The P.L.A. and DPRK's army further back into Seoul." The Newswoman says before showing combat footage of the P.L.A and U.S Army clashing in the urban environment before switching the camera back on the News anchors.
"So far, the PLA and DPRK refuse to admit how many casualties they have but what we can say is that there are an estimated 15,000 casualties, whilst the United states has about 20,000 casualties." The newswoman says.
The broadcast then switches to show the U.S. Medics carrying an injured soldier away from the frontline and onto a helicopter. The broadcast switches back to the news anchors.
"The war is over for these soldiers as they are flown back to the city of Chungju-si in the Gyeonggi-do Province of former South Korea. They will undergo surgery and treatment before they're sent to Busan." The newswoman finishes as the male news anchor takes over.
"Yes, it is a heartbreaking end for these soldiers. Moving onto the British Army as they recently liberated the city of Yeoju-gun, a city where the mass rape and murder was committed by the North Korean Army two years earlier." The newsman says as the broadcast switches to a footage taken via cellphone of North Korean Soldiers aggressively lining a group of South Korean Soldiers up against a wall of a building. Their hands are seen tied to their backs and are blindfolded. A small, lingering crowd of South Korean citizens watch in terror and pray what is going to happen next doesn't happen before a North Korean soldier, presumably a high ranking person, stomps forward and stands behind the North korean soldiers, who have their guns drawn at the South Korean soldiers. The High ranking official yells and gestures to a group of soldiers who bring forth a family of four which consists of a mother and father and two teenage boys. Fear plastered on all their faces as they were dragged to stand up against the wall with the South Korean soldiers. The two soldiers, who escorted the family, step away and join their fellow soldiers. Aiming their guns at the South Korean soldiers and the family, the high ranking North Korean yells in his North Korean dialect that Matthew can't understand but reads the subtitles in Japanese that appear.
"TO THOSE WILLING TO HIDE MEMBERS OF THE TRAITOROUS GOVERNMENT ARE TRAITORS TO YOUR NEW GOVERNMENT AND SHALL BE EXECUTED IMMEDIATELY!"
The high ranking Official then yells, "FIRE!" and the North Korean soldiers fire their guns. The racing bullets pierce into the family and the South Koreans. Their bodies drop to the ground within seconds. Their bodies now lay lifeless as their blood pools out from the wounds inflicted by all the bullets.
The crowd screams and gasps before the camera cuts off.
'Those poor people. Why did they have to kill them like that? What a shitty way to die.' Matthew thinks to himself feeling pity for the young family and anger towards the North Koreans."
The camera switches back to the news anchors and the newswoman speaks first.
"This is one of the many atrocities the DPRK have done in South Korea, for instance Seoul, the previous capital of South Korea, was a safe and advanced city before the North Koreans invaded and ruined it all by committing large scale rapes of orgys of gangbangs amongst the South Korean women and young girls population and murdering all the men."
"That's right. Ever since the British liberated the city of Yeoju-gun, the North Korean Official and his soldiers now face war now spend their time in this war locked behind bars in their own Prisoner of War camp occupied by the British Army." The newsman finishes.
"Once this war ends, members of the North Korean Army shall be interrogated and sentenced for their crimes against humanity in the upcoming Pyongyang Trials." The newswoman finishes.
"As the JGSDF liberates the city and its people, they discover an abandoned Prisoner of War camp built by the North Koreans. They found waiting inside are American, British, South Korean, and Japanese soldiers who have all been starved, beaten, and broken. They took up arms against their captors and took them as prisoners."
The broadcast then shows pictures of the camp. Its prisoners were so thin that they resemble halloween zombie costumes. They were smiling and waving at the cameraman whilst eating food provided by the JGSDF. The broadcast then switches to show the North Korean Soldiers sitting in the courtyard with their heads hanging down as they are being watched by the JGSDF soldiers.
The news anchors begin to talk more and more about the POWs as Matthew is reminded of a book he read two summers ago. It was about an olympic athlete serving in the USAF as a bombideir before crashing in the middle of the ocean. He was stranded on a small island he drifted upon, then for almost over a month he was captured by the Japanese. He spent his time in a Japanese prisoner of war camp for the entire war and survived it. He remembers the pictures of the POWs. How filthy and skinny they were and how broken they looked.
Matthew then looks toward the T.V showing more pictures of P.O.W.S.
'History is repeating itself all over again as mom would say. If we don't study our history, we are doomed to repeat things over and over again until we learn from it.'
Brought out of his thoughts by an advertisement playing on the TV, the advertisement shows the JGSDF saving lives from the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the bombings over Japan and the landings in South Korea. Then a JGSDF soldier appears and salutes as the narrator says "Enlist into the JGSDF now! Fight for your country! Fight for the liberation of South Korea!" while Heiwa no Chikai (Oath of peace) JSDF Song starts playing in the background.
Then the bathroom door opens, Tatenashi exits fully dressed in pajamas and casually makes her way towards her bed. She gets comfortable sitting on her bed, all the while looking between the TV and Matthew.
"So you watch the news?" Tatenashi says striking up a conversation.
"Yea." Matthew responds
Both stay silent as they watch the news for a while until Matthew decides to go shower himself. He gets up from his bed and grabs a few clothes from his side of the closet before making his way to the restroom.
Monday after school! Cecilia Alcot vs Ichika Orimura and Matthew Yamamoto!
Matthew's P.O.V
'Finally! I made it to the entrance to the hanger!' I mentally say to myself as I open the metal door and hear Ichika arguing with somebody.
"HEY! DON'T WALK AWAY FROM ME! THANKS to YOU, ALL I did this WEEK is PRACTICE KENDO TECHNIQUES!" Ichika angrily scolds Houki.
"Well, I can't do anything about that. Your I.S. has not yet been delivered anyway." Houki retorts, matter of factly.
"Even without one, you could at least teach me the basics-" Houki walks away mid sentence, rolling her eyes at him while Ichika is still talking to her. "HEY! I SAID DON'T TURN AWAY FROM ME!" Ichika yells after her, stomping his foot on the ground.
Watching the scene unfold before him, I chuckled to myself.
"DO NOT FEAR, FOR THE CAVALRY HAS FINALLY ARRIVED!" I announce throwing my arms up in the air like a VIP entering a glamorous, fancy club.
Ichika turns in my direction. I can see relief washing all over his face, as Houki gives me what seems to be a disappointed expression by shaking her head.
"It's about time you got here, Matthew! Finally someone is able to teach me the basics of the I.S. unlike somebody over here!" Ichika remarks sarcastically, switching his gaze from me to Houki.
"No need. I got this covered. I'll just claim victory over Cecilia Alcot. Plus there is not enough time to teach you the basics. You won't be able to remember everything in time anyway." I glanced over to the TV " Is that her I.S.?" I asked my friends. The TV showing Cecilia in her I.S. inside the Battle Arena.
"Yeah. That's her I.S. alright." Ichika replies, rolling his eyes at the sight.
"Damn! That's one huge sniper she's packing. " I remark, in awe of her I.S.
"ORIMURA! ORIMURA! IT'S HERE! YOU'RE PERSONAL I.S. HAS JUST ARRIVED!" Miss Yamada yells from the Hanger's P.A. system.
"Orimura! Yamamoto! You, both, need to get ready at once! The amount of time for this arena is limited, so you will have to figure out how to make it yours during the match, Orimura." Chifuyu says through the P.A. system.
Then one of the big hanger doors opens, surprising the three onlookers. As the hanger door continued to slowly open, revealing more and more of Ichika's I.S., I overheard Ichika slowly whisper, almost inaudible to anybody not near him, "The Byakushiki!"
After Matthew and Ichika changed into their respective I.S. uniforms, Matthew follows Ichika towards his I.S. quickly attempting to teach Ichika the basics of the I.S. as best as he could, but Ichika being Ichika, only understands some of what he is saying.
"And I think that sums it up." Matthew finishes.
Before Ichika could respond, Chifuyu interrupted the two.
"Hurry up and get suited, Orimura! Your time is limited! We'll do the formatting and fitting while the match is in progress."
Ichika looks up to the command bay and nods his head before approaching his I.S., touching the thigh of the I.S. before quickly pulling his hand back from it.
"What's wrong?"Houki asks concerned.
"Nothing. I'm fine… It's just... something seems familiar about this I.S. Like I understand what it is and its purpose." Ichika explains, trying to make sense of the item.
Once Ichika is suited, he climbs into his I.S. Unit. As the I.S. processes, glances over at Cecilia's I.S. Unit through his IS helmet with a built in hub. Matthew approaches Ichika. "You got an Idea of how to defeat her?" he asks him. Ichika turns to Matthew answering, "No."
"Oh. Well, you better come up with something then. It's almost time." Matthew nervously chuckles before leaving Ichika's side. Joining Houki's side, he mumbles to himself "God, grant him courage and strength. Hope he defeats her."
A few moments later after Ichika was being briefed on what to expect and what to be aware of, Ichika turns to face Houki and Matthew. "Houki, Matthew!" he calls to them.
"Yea?" Houki calls back. Matthew nodded his head instead.
"Wish me good luck!"
They smile at Ichika. "Will do!" Matthew responds. Houki nodded.
Ichika smiles before flying off towards the Arena. Matthew saluting him good luck as he flies past him.
Ichika's P.O.V
Cecilia is already waiting for me in the middle of the battle arena. Cecilia looked so high and mighty. Her confidence coming out in waves. I stop and land in my I.S. Unit a little ways apart from where she stood. I scoff at her. I won't let her intimidate me. "This is your last chance to call this war off before I kill you!" Cecilia warns. Her cockiness is suffocating and insulting all at once.
"Not a chance!" I answered boldly, my head held up high.
Cecilia scoffs at my response, obviously rolling her eyes at me.
"Hmm... too bad for you then. Now. IT'S TIME TO SAY GOODBYE!" She suddenly aims her sniper towards me and fires, hitting my left shoulder, causing me to fall to the ground but I manage to land on my feet. Dust cloud engulfs me from my impact. Without wasting any time, Cecilia fires again and again at me but I manage to dodge all of her shots somehow.
"Now you will dance for me! That's right! Dance to the Waltz with Cecilia Alcot's Blue Tiers are playing" Cecilia mocks as she fires at me.
Watching from the TV in the lobby
"Ahhhhh! THIS IS SO CRINGY TO WATCH!" Matthew boasts, throwing his arms up in the air before grabbing his hair.
"I knew we should've trained Ichika with the I.S last week! But NO! You had to teach him Kendo all week." Matthew accused Houki.
"Hmm. I can't do anything about that and you weren't much of a help too." Houki retorts, crossing her arms once again.
Matthew watches Ichika from the TV, who is still dodging Cecilia's shots before finally getting hit in the arm and crashing into the ground. Matthew seeing this finally snaps.
"THAT'S IT! I'M GOING IN!" Matthew says standing up to run towards the large hanger entrance whilst putting his mask and helmet on.
"WAIT!" Houki Yells grabbing Matthews sleeve.
Matthew turns around sharply to face Houki.
"You can't just enter the match all of a sudden." Houki says
"And why is that?!" Matthew barks back.
Houki opens her mouth as if she was going to respond but closes it, changing her mind, she looks away.
"Exactly!" Matthew says, ripping his sleeve away from Houki's hold. He continues running down the hall towards the Hanger entrance. Almost deploying his I.S.,but was stopped by Houki again yelling "Wait!"
"What now?!" Matthew asks annoyedly.
Houki stares up at him, a smirk forming on her lips, "Make sure you kick her ass!" Houki yells.
Matthew smirks in return, "That's the plan!" he says, turning back around to face the hanger entrance before activating his I.S and flying out into the Arena. Approaching Cecilia from behind and firing upon her with his Thompson, smoke and fire engulf her. Cecilia abruptly turns around with a face of pure confusion. Shock registered on her face, seeing this unknown I.S, Unit approaching her. Cecilia's eyes widened and felt goosebumps run along her back. She stares into Matthew's mask. The mask's red eyes glowing a bright red and Matthew's Thompson firing upon her. It felt like time slowed for Cecilia as she stood there stiffly until finally Matthew stopped firing, then smacked the butt of his Thompson in her face, snapping her back into reality as she fell to the ground. Matthew dives away from her and joins up with Ichika who is shocked and confused.
"Matthew?" Ichika asks.
"Yeah. Surprised to see me?" Matthew said.
But before Ichika could respond Matthew interrupts.
"Is that sword the only weapon you got?" Matthew asks pointedly.
"Yeah..." Ichika answers awkwardly.
"Great. Here. Use this." Matthew says materializing his 1911 and throws it to Ichika.
"Thanks!" Ichika thanks Matthew.
Both Ichika and Matthew were interrupted as a blue laser flew past Matthew. They, both, look towards Cecilia, who looks 10 times more pissed than ever as Matthew suddenly joined the match.
"That's you're I.S? HA! It looks ridiculous! Even your uniform looks humiliating!" Cecilia scoffs.
"Pft! Look who's talking!? You looked really terrified when you saw me flying at you at least 600 miles per hour for you Americans out there." Matthew gestured towards the audience. Some members of the audience began to chant "USA!" over and over again.
Cecilia, more furious and embarrassed than she has ever been in her life, takes the time to shoot Matthew in the head. He quickly ducks out of the way but loses his balance for a short moment until he catches himself from falling and regains his footing before turning around to face Cecilia. He returns fire, getting some shots at her before she goes into a defensive flying dodging most of Matthew's hail of bullets and Ichika's pot shots at her from his 1911.
"HAHAHAHAHA! DANCE MY LOVE! TO MATTHEW YAMAMOTO! THE DJ OF THIS PARTY, NOW PLAYING HIS SPREY N' PRAY!" Matthew yells mockingly.
Cecilia, much more furious, retorts "WHAT?! WHY YOU- YOU STOLE THAT FROM ME!"
"SO WHAT! WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT LIMEY?!" Matthew asserted, laughing madly as he kept firing at her and then...
"TIK TIK TIK TIK!"
Matthew's Thompson stops firing all of sudden.
"Huh?" Matthew says confused, looking at his gun.
"Oh shit! I gotta reload!" Matthew stated when Cecilia interrupted him.
"Gasp! What's this?! Did somebody unplug the DJ's speakers? Gasp! Well! It looks like it's time for Cecilia Alcot to finish this ONCE AND FOR ALL with MY Blue Tiers playing on the Overhead speaker!" Cecilia boasts, mocking Matthew as she fires her sniper at Matthew and deploys 5 drones in the air.
Matthew quickly dodges Cecilia's shot before both Matthew and Ichika are fired upon by Cecilia and her drones. Matthew and Ichika both scatter in their own separate ways, dodging the drones as Cecilia laughs wildly and mocks the boys.
"ICHIKA! WE NEED TO DESTROY HER DRONES AS FAST AS POSSIBLE BEFORE WE END UP IN FLAMES!" Matthew yells to Ichika as he guns down one of the drones.
"ALRIGHT! I'LL TAKE OUT THESE TWO AND YOU TAKE OUT THE OTHER TWO!" Ichika yells back.
Ichika fires two more shots into one drone before running out of ammo and throwing the 1911 at the drone, missing it completely as it fires back at Ichika. He goes into a dive to evade the drone.
"YOU IDIOT! DID YOU REALLY THROW MY 1911 AT THE DRONE EXPECTING TO HIT IT?!" Matthew scolds Ichika as he fires his Thompson into the second drone, destroying it.
"YEAH WHY?!" Ichika replies as he's slicing a drone in half with his sword.
"WELL I WOULD'VE GIVEN YOU MORE AMMO BUT I GUESS WHATEVER THEN!"
Matthew yells back destroying the 2nd to last drone with a few long bursts from his Thompson.
"OH! WELL... HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW!?" Ichika states, blocking a few shots from the last drone with his sword. He rushes the drone, then cuts said drone in half swiftly.
"Good work! Now it's time to deal with the big kahuna herself." Matthew sarcastically states, gesturing towards Cecilia who is now firing at Matthew as he reloads his Thompson again. Ichika takes this moment to charge at Cecilia, fully aware that she is focused on Matthew. As he approaches, Cecilia quickly turn to him and says
"You fool! You fell for my little trap!"
"Huh?! What?!" Both Ichika and Matthew speak at the same time.
"So sorry but there are two more."
Cecilia says as 2 missiles deploy from her legs and launch towards Ichika as he so desperately evades the missiles before finally being struck by both covering him in a cloud of black smoke.
As the black cloud slowly dissipates, both Matthew and Cecilia gasp as a white I.S. Unit is revealed.
A few seconds later, a robotic voice chimes, "Format setting complete!"
"That can't be! That's your first shift?! How could anybody fight a whole Battle with their I.S in a default setting?!" Cecilia yelps, disbelief tainting every word rolling off of her tongue.
"I'm not sure what the heck I've been doing but it looks like this I.S. Unit has finally become my own." Ichika points out.
"The Yukihira Niigata? Isn't the Yukihira the same weapon Chifuyu used?! Man, I really do have the best big sister in the world!" Ichika boasts to himself as his sword opens up revealing a blue laser blade.
Staring at his newfound bad ass weapon, a small smirk plays along his lips. "I think it's about time to change this relationship. I'm always the one being protected. From now on, I'll be the protector as well." Ichika mumbles to himself.
"Huh? Just what are you talking about?" Cecilia asks.
"I'm saying I will defend my sister's name! It would make her look lame if her brother was a candy ass weakling!" Ichika answers louder this time.
"HONESTLY, YOU'RE BOTH SUCH A PAIN!" Cecilia yells, launching a barrage of missiles at Ichika.
Matthew raises his Thompson attempting to shoot down some of the missiles but stops as Ichika dodges and destroys the missiles, surprising Cecilia and himself. Ichika then charges at Cecilia, readying himself to strike Cecilia down but then a loud horn rings out, catching everyone's attention. A female voice booms loudly in the air.
"ICHIKA ORIMURA IS DISQUALIFIED FROM THE MATCH!"
"What?!" All three say echoes, as the audience shares their own opinion about the unexpected turn of events. Ichika confusedly flies his way back to the entrance of the hanger. Cecilia watched him, wondering why he was disqualified and making sense of what just happened.
"HEY CECILIA! DID YOU FORGET ABOUT ME?!" Matthew calls to her attention.
Cecilia turns to Matthew and gets the surprise of her life as she looks down on him, the barrel of his sniper is pointed directly at Cecilia. Before she could react to save herself, Matthew fired off one shot and BOOM. The shot hits Cecilia in the head, a cloud of smoke encapsulates her! A loud horn blows, followed by the female announcer's voice,
"MATCH CONCLUDED! MATTHEW YAMAMATO WINS!"
The crowd cheers after the announcement was made! Matthew dematerializes his sniper before turning to the crowd and bow. "Thank you! Thank you very much!" he says over and over again. Moments later, he faces where Cecilia was supposed to be standing and realizes that she is no longer there.
'Now she knows her place. Hopefully she won't insult me or Ichika in the feature for now on.' Matthew declares as he flies back to the hanger to meet up with Ichika and Houki.
In the Hanger.
Matthew flies into the hanger at a high speed and stops abruptly in front of Ichika and Houki and then dematerializes his I.S, dropping to the floor, landing perfectly on his feet.
"VICTORY IS OURS ICHIKA!" Matthew hoots, taking off his helmet and his mask, wiping the sweat off with his sleeve.
"Yeah, nice shot!" Ichika retorts.
"But I gotta ask, how the hell did you get disqualified?!" Matthew asks.
"To be honest, I don't know. I was about to go ask Chifuyu that." Ichika answers.
"Huh. Well, speaking of Chifuyu! Here she comes." Matthew acknowledges, pointing behind Ichika.
Ichika turns around and sees Chifuyu and Miss Yamada approaching them.
"Chifuyu!" Ichika says as he approaches his sister. "SMACK!" She hits him behind his head.
"It's Miss Orimura around here!" Chifuyu corrects frustratedly as Ichika rubs his head to sooth the pain over, whilst Matthew quickly puts his helmet back, not wanting to be smacked on the head for whatever reason it is.
"Miss Orimura, how did I lose?" Ichika questions, slightly annoyed that he must call his sister by their last name instead. Wanting to know the reason why he was disqualified all of a sudden in the middle of the match, he waits for her answer.
"You were disqualified because you ran out of shield energy." Chifuyu responds, raising an eyebrow at her brother.
"What?! Bu-But how?!" Ichika asks, much more confused.
Chifuyu sighs, rubbing her temples before responding.
"You used the barrier disabling attack without taking into account how that will affect everything else." Chifuyu explains.
"Barrier disabling attack?" Ichika mumbles to himself.
"Yukihira Nigata? Barrier disabling attack? Wait a minute? OHHH! THAT'S WHY HE LOST!" Matthew blurts, abruptly catching everybody's attention.
"Sorry, but Ichika, the reason why you lost is because the barrier disabling attack uses your shield energy. That's why you lost." Matthew explains.
"Right. That ability punctures your opponent's barrier and passes the impact to the opponent's body. That is something that Yukihira can do and I have to admit the reason why I won the first Mondo Grosso was because of that one ability." Chifuyu continues to explain.
"I see. That's why the Byakushiki's remaining shield energy dropped all the way to zero." Ichika says putting two and two together..
"When a competitor loses all remaining shield energy, that player loses the I.S battle automatically. The Barrier Disabling Attack does damage to your opponent but in exchange it would cost you your shield. It's really a classic double edged sword." Miss Yamada explains.
"Right. Which means your I.S. is defective." Chifuyu says.
"Defective how?!" Ichika asks.
"Ok. Maybe that was a bad way to phase it. An I.S. isn't complete to begin with though. It can't be defective for say, but yours is much more offense oriented than others. It can't be handled the same way." Chifuyu explains, causing Ichika to sigh and hang his head low disappointed.
Matthew chuckles remembering basic training and comparing it with Ichika.
'He wouldn't last a whole day!' Matthew says thoughtfully, imagining Ichika struggling to do a push up and running up and down an airstrip in the middle of the desert.
Miss Yamada approaches Ichika with a big book, handing it to him.
"Your I.S. is in standby mode right now. All you have to do is call it and it will deploy right away. However, there are a lot of regulations, so read this thoroughly."
Ichika takes the book from Miss Yamada, feeling sick as he looks at it.
"Huh. So that's what the Japanese version looks like. I listened to an audio book and only focused on the important stuff." Matthew says as he peeks over Ichika's shoulder. Ichika turns to face Matthew, wanting to ask him for the audio book but is quickly stopped.
"The audio book is in english though. So you better get started on reading that book." Matthew says whilst laughing to himself as he watches Ichika die inside.
After Ichika and Matthew changed out of their I.S pilot uniform, both bays made their way out of the locker room and out of the hangar area and into the open,
"ORIMURA YAMAMOTO, WAIT WE WOULD LIKE TO ASK YOU SOME QUESTIONS!" A feminine voice calls from behind them.
They turn around and discover that the newspaper club is running towards them with cameras, voice recorders, mini notepads and pen in their hands.
"Orimura! Orimura, why were you suddenly disqualified and how were you able to fight Cecilia Alcott in a default setting?!" A girl asks, shoving her recorder in Ichika's face.
"Uhh.. well, I lost because I used the Barrier disabling attack which uses my own shield energy to destroy my opponents shield." Ichika answers.
"So you're saying it's just like the Yukihira Niigata?" The reporter girl asks.
"It is the Yukihira Nagata." Ichika corrects.
The newspaper club gasps for a very short moment until the girl with the recorder spoke again.
"I see! That explains it. May I ask, how were you able to fight Cecilia Alcott, An I.S. representative of England?"
"I….I don't know actually, I guess I got lucky." Ichika responds, shrugging his shoulders.
"Hmm, lucky you say? Alright then. That's all I have for you about that. So Yamamoto, what were you feeling when you shot Cecilia with your rifle, claiming victory over her and becoming Class representative of classroom 1-A?" The same girl asks.
"Class representative?!...Oh yeah! I almost forgot about that! He he he!" Matthew says, putting up a fake smile and laughing nervously.
"So, when I shot her and ended the match, I felt uumm….accomplished and relieved that I won." Matthew replies, pausing, picking his words wisely.
"Hmm... I see. One more question: what will you do now that you're the class representative?" The Newspaper girl asks.
"I...I...actually what is a class representative again?" Matthew stumbles over.
"A class representative represents your homeroom class and you are the moderator at all your meetings. Also, you are in charge of making roll calls and planning the class events. Importantly, you have to listen in on the student council meetings. You can not be daydreaming or falling asleep." One of the girls from the Newspaper club explains.
"Oh... That's a lot of responsibility." Matthew says less enthusiastically.
"It is! You should feel proud of yourself for this position!" The girl with the recorder ushers, trying to lighten his mood a bit.
"Well, I guess I'll do my best to fulfill everybody's expectations as a class representative then." Matthew replies, not sure of himself if he is capable of doing what he said.
"Alrighty! Then I hope you keep your promise! Thank you very much for this interview, Orimura and Yamamoto! Have a good rest of your day!" The girl with the recorder says bowing goodbye followed suit by the rest of the newspaper cub. Matthew, Houki and Ichika bow goodbye and the both groups go their separate ways.
"Class representative... Damn, I completely forgot about that." Matthew says to Ichika and Houki.
"Did you not want that position?" Houki questions.
"No! It's just that I don't know if I could handle all the responsibilities that come with the position, that's all." Matthew explains, spacing out.
"Well, Ima go back to my dorm room. I have a lot to think about. So I'll see you guys later?" Matthew remarks before walking away.
"Yeah, we'll see you later." Ichika assures him.
Back at Matthews dorm
"Am I really capable of being their class representative?" Matthew asks himself, sitting at his desk as he fiddles with a pencil in his hands.
"I mean... it can't be that bad right? Like all I have to do is go to the student council meetings and represent my class and stuff that I forgot about already, so…..(sigh) I should really talk to Tatanashi about this. She is part of the student council so she should be able to give me advice right?-" Just as Matthew questions himself, somebody covers his eyes and says. "Guess who?"
"Tatenashi?!" Matthew abruptly gets up from his seat and grabs Tatanashi's shoulders surprising her a little before responding.
"Getting excited I see! I like eager boys!" Tatanashi flirts.
Matthew, realizing what he just did, blushes letting go of Tatenashi's shoulders, "Sorry about that, but I need your help."
"Hmm?... what do you need?" Tatenashi pokes playfully.
"I need advice for being a Class representative. Like what should I expect and whatever." Matthew opens up.
"Hmm, I see." Tatenashi responds, dropping the playful attitude and sounding more serious.
"Ok, first of all as the class representative, you should always be calm and collective at all times no matter the situation... and what are you doing? Tatanashi stops watching Matthew quickly grabbing paper and a pen.
"I'm taking notes." Matthew replies, as he is quickly scribbling on the paper.
"Oh-kay then. Secondly, you must always hold a good public image for yourself..."
Tatanashi and Matthew continue discussing the do's and don'ts of being the Class representative until finally Matthew realizes it's time for dinner.
"Would you look at the time, It's time for dinner so I think we should be going now before it's too late."
Matthew gestures to the clock.
"Fair. Let's go before it's too late."
Both Tatenashi and Matthew make their way towards the cafeteria to eat dinner. They talk and catch up on each other's day before heading back to their dorms and prepare to go to bed.
The next day during homeroom.
"Huh? What's happening?" Matthew asks the class as both he, Ichika and Houki enter their classroom.
"CONGRATULATIONS ON BECOMING OUR CLASS REPRESENTATIVE, YAMAMOTO!" The class surprises, passing Matthew, Ichika, and Houki their party hats.
"Oh! Thanks guys." Matthew replies, shaking their hands as they approach him until he is faced with Cecilia. He was wary of what she would do or say but instead, she holds out her hand and shakes Matthew's hand.
"Congratulations Yamamoto." Cecilia congratulates, no hint of anger in her voice.
"Cecilia! Umm... thank you? But why come and congratulate me when you lost yesterday's match?" Matthew asks, confusion tainted in his words.
"Oh. Well, it would be very childish of me to be still upset about yesterday's battle. You did win fair and square. And...I also want to sincerely apologize to you for everything I said to you and Japan on our first encounter." Cecilia expresses her sincere feelings.
"Uhmm... well then, apology accepted! Let's forget the past and make way for the future as friends!" Matthew replies, happily shaking Cecilia's hand once more.
'Mission accomplished,' Cecilia thought to herself.
Both Cecilia and Matthew were startled when out of nowhere, a bright flash blinds both of them temporarily. After rubbing their eyes to see clearly in view, the flash came from a camera held by one of the members of the newspaper club.
"Hello! I'm from the newspaper club and I would like a picture of you two shaking hands. I hope it was ok to take the first picture while shaking hands?" the owner of the camera introduces. The girl wore glasses and seemed really cheerful.
Suddenly shouting is heard from outside the classroom. Everyone inside the classroom became confused about what was going on. Seconds later, the rest of the newspaper club bursts in through the doorway, rushing their way towards Matthew and Cecilia. Pushing fellow bystanders out of the way.
"Ah shit. Here we go again." Matthew mumbles to himself, mentally preparing for the onslaught of questions brought on by the incoming members of the Newspaper Club.
Cecilia disappointedly shakes her head in agreement to the scene. She has had her fair share of being bothered by their poking around for information.
*DING DING DING DONG! DING DING DING DONG!*
The school bell had rung before the newspaper club could do anything. Everybody began to rush out of class crowding around the door, whilst pushing some members of the newspaper club with them. The traffic flow quickly got into a mess by people trying to get in or out of the classroom, whilst yelling at each other to move out of the way. Matthew,Cecilia, Ichika, Houki, and some other girls took this opportunity to elude the newspaper club by quickly rushing away from the chaos and towards the far corner of class. They all watched on as the more and more of the newspaper club is forcely ushered towards the doorway.
"This reminds me of the P.E. locker rooms back in America." Matthew claims, getting surprised looks from Cecilia and Ichika.
Right before Cecilia could ask Matthew about the P.E locker room in America, two claps are heard from the hallway, followed by Chifuyu's yelling. Matthew and the group could only make out a few words from Chifuyu. They could only assume Chifuyu was scolding those who apparently became stuck in the doorway and causing traffic in the hallway. She was shouting out orders for everyone to get into a signal file line and make their way back to class. Everybody makes their way to their respective seats including Matthew, Cecilia,Ichika,and Houki. Then Chifuyu and Miss Yamada enter the classroom. Chifuyu is glaring at the entire class as she makes her way to her podium. Miss Yamada is always by her side. After a few moments, the bell rang, signaling school had started. Chifuyu scans the classroom, checking if she has everyone's full attention before she begins her morning announcement.
"Good morning class. Today, we will be learning the basics of the I.S. So I want everybody to get in a signal file line and make their way to Arena 2."
'This should be fun.' Matthew thinks mischievously, as they all follow Chifuyu's instructions.
The next Day.
"Hey! Did you hear we have a new transfer student?" A random girl asks her friend.
"Yeah, totally did! I heard she is from China." The girl responds.
"I know, right? I'm going to ask Yamamoto what he thinks since both their countries are at war with each other." The girl remarks.
"Really? I was just about to ask him myself as well!" The other girl confesses.
"Wow, ok! Then let's go ask him together then." The girl proposes.
Both girls make their way to Matthew and Ichika who are already answering a bunch of other girls' questions about the class league match.
"What do you have to say to those who oppose you in the class league match, Yamamoto?" A random girl asks.
Matthew ponders on how to answer her question.
"To those that oppose me shall better be prepared to be annihilated!" Matthew answers.
The group of girls around Matthew chuckles at his pun when two other girls make their way in front of Matthew..
"Yamamoto! Orimura! Did you hear that class 1-B's new transfer student has recently replaced their former class representative?" The girl interrogates.
"Hmm, impressive! That's good for her for becoming the class representative for Class 1-B, right Ichika?"
Ichika nods.
"Also, the transfer student is from China as well." the girl states.
"Wait, China?!" Matthew blurts.
"Yeah. What do you have to say about that?"
Matthew pauses, thinks to himself whilst glancing around the class only to find that the whole class has gone silent. All eyes are on him. Several minutes later, Matthew answers..
"I have no issues with the transfer student being Chinese. I am a Japanese American and a representative of America and we all know as what MLK said "WE cannot judge someone based on the color of their skin or race but by their character. I am sure that she doesn't want to talk about this war and only wants to make friends like I do, so let us all welcome her with open arms."
"Bold words, Yamamoto! You have nothing to worry about for the class league Match since only class 1-A and class 1-D are the only 2 classes who have a personal I.S." A random girl boasts confidently.
"That Information is outdated!" A girl yells.
Everybody in the class paused and turned to the door to see a short girl with light brown hair tied into pigtails, with a yellow ribbon at both sides. She has green eyes and is wearing the females I.S. Academy Uniform.
"The new representative of Class 1-B has a personal I.S. Unit now, so it's not going to be as easy to defeat me now!" The girl claims.
"No way. Is that really Rin?" Ichika asks, standing up from his seat.
"That's right! I'm Ling Yin Huang! China's representative contender and I have come here to Declare War!" Rin introduces, her face stuck in an intimidating smug.
The class begins to talk amongst themselves creating a buzz in the classroom. All of a sudden, Ichika bursts out laughing!
"Ha! Good one! Coming in and acting like a show off is totally unlike you, Rin!"
"WHAT?! Why would you say something like that about me and- OOOOWWWW!"
Rin was then suddenly hit on the head by Chifuyu.
Rin turns to see whoever did that to give them an ear full but finds Chifuyu standing before her. she freezes in place. A cold chill running down her spine at just the sight of her.
"Consider that being your home room bell being rung." Chifuyu says, cocking her left eyebrow up and she studies Rin's cowering face.
"Ch-Chi-Chifuyu?!" Rin mumbles.
"That's Miss Orimura! Now get back to your class!" Chifuyu says as she walks into class.
"Oh! I'm sorry mam'." Rin lowers her head giving respect to Chifuyu. She then returns her attention back to Ichika, eyebrows furrowed.
"I'll be back later so don't you run away, Ichika!" Rin states before leaving dramatically out from the classroom.
All the students of Class 1-A return to their desks, and give full attention to Chifuyu as she begins to teach the day's lesson.
Matthews P.O.V
"Ling Yin Huang, representative contender of China and now the new class representative of Class 1-B... Class league Match...She just said she is declarating ...WHAT THE FUCK?! She just declared WAR ON ME! OH SHIT! Just freaking my luck..." Matthew realizes to himself.
Later that day.
Cecilia's P.O.V
"Who does Ling Yin Huang think she is talking to my Ichika like that?! She was so rude but Ichika just laughed about her attitude, as if it was a joke of some sort! Are they somehow….friends?! NO! I can't get ahead of myself! There is no possible way those two are friends! No!….But then again, it is a possibility… I should ask Matthew about her. He should know more than me. After all, he and Ichika have been childhood friends so he should know if that girl is close with my Ichika!"
Later on in History Class
Cecilia continues to write down notes for her History class, she can't help but keep glancing back and forth between the clock and her notebook once every 30 felt as if time had gotten slower. About 12 minutes later of her suffering, the lunch bell finally rings. Cecilia ever so quickly closes her notebook and shoves it into her book bag. She quickly gets up from her seat and races out of the classroom pushing her way through the crowd of girls until finally she reaches Matthew and Ichika. The closer she approaches the two boys, she overhears them talking.
"Hey Matthew."
"Hey Ichika."
"You wanna join me for lunch and get introduced to my childhood friend Rin?" Ichika asks
"Ah, I'd like to but I have detention again because of yesterday's sonic boom" Matthew replies sheepishly.
"Oh. Well then, I'll see you later then." Ichika says walking away.
Matthew then begins walking to detention all alone until Cecilia joins Matthew on his side, surprising him.
"Oh! Hey Cecilia. How was class?" Matthew asks in English.
"Class was alright. How about your class?" Cecilia returns the question.
"It was pretty boring if you ask me, but yea, it's nice to talk in English once in a while you know?" Matthew replies.
"Yes, It is indeed. But I must ask you something?" Cecilia asks.
"Hmm? What is it?" Matthew needles.
"It's about that girl, Ling Yin Huang. Do you happen to know anything about her?" Cecilia inquires.
"Ahh... I hate to admit it but all I know about her is that she's the representative contender for China, she declared war against me in front of everyone in my classroom and she is Ichika's Childhood friend." Matthew opens up.
"Childhood friend?!" Cecilia exclaims.
"I know, right? That's exactly what I thought when Ichika told me." Matthew adds.
"So they are childhood friends. Bollocks!" Cecilia mumbles.
Both of them continue silently walking down the hallway.
"Why do you ask?" Matthew quizzes.
"Huh? Oh! I was just curious! Nothing more! Hehe!" Cecilia quickly replies with a fake smile.
"Hmm... I see." Matthew replies, eying her suspiciously.
"Say, you're going to eat lunch with Ichika aren't you?" Matthew pokes around.
"What? Why would-" Before Cecilia could finish Matthew interjects.
"I just had a gut feeling you were but anyways I have lunch detention because of yesterday's sonic boom. So I won't be able to introduce myself to Ling Yin or Rin, that's what Ichika calls her by the way. But even if I didn't have detention, things between me and Rin would be very awkward since both the United States and China are at war."
"So is the United Kingdom." Cecilia adds to an already solemn mood.
"Oh yeah... that's right. So is Japan and the European Union. Anyways, what I'm asking you to do is to meet Rin for me?" Matthew explains, hopeful she would agree.
"Meet Rin for you?" Cecilia says in a somewhat sarcastic tone.
"Yeah, you know, get to know her and see what kind of person she is. I'll pay you of course. 200 Yen sounds good?" Matthew asks.
"Actually... instead of 200 Yen, how about you tell me everything about Ichika in return?" Cecilia bargains.
Matthew looks at Cecilia, surprised by the request. A smile creeping at the corner of his lips and raises an eyebrow, discovering the real reason behind it. This causes Cecilia to blush in embarrassment.
"You're serious?!" Matthew asks.
"Yes." Cecilia squeaks, her face turning much more red like a tomato.
Matthew studies Cecilia causing her to feel even more embarrassed. She was beginning to regret proposing her form of payment in the wake of his silence.
"Alright. Fine by me. Meet me in the Library after school alright?" Matthew replies.
"Really?!" Cecilia exclaims.
"Yes. Unless you don't want to. Fine by me too." Matthew says matter of factly.
"No! I'll meet you in the library after school!" Cecilia says eagerly.
"Alright then, see you later." Matthew says turning his body at Cecilia and bows goodbye with Cecilia doing the same. They part ways, Matthew walking into detention and Cecilia making her way to the Cafeteria.
The following evening
"God dammit! I wasted my whole day at the library waiting for Cecilia to arrive and she doesn't even show up! WE EVEN HAD A DEAL!" Matthew rants to Tatenashi.
"The deal was that Cecilia would tell me information about Lingyin, China's representative contender, who declared war on me just this morning. To top it off, Micheal called me during my lunch detention and guess what he said to me?" Matthew faces Tatanashi who tilts her head to one side with a quizzical expression.
"He said "The time has come, Matthew, to test out your Annihilator against China's Shenlongs."
Matthew says trying to mimic Micheal's voice, with his right hand as a puppet, causing Tatenashi to giggle.
"I even asked him how to befriend a so-called enemy and he didn't even answer me. He just told me to give him at least three hours to come up with a battle plan against the Shenlongs with my I.S. and then he hung up! Can you believe that?! *sigh* And I'm trying to settle things between me and Ling Yin diplomatically, not violently but-" he side looks at Tatenashi and realizes she is zoning out. "Are you even listening to me?!" he snaps. Tatenashi just looks at Matthew with a curious face until she tilts her head, smiles, then blows Matthew a flying kiss.
"Ghana gosh at least brush your teeth! Your breath stinks! Anyway, were you even listening to me?"
"I am I am! I think you are just having a bad day and I'm trying to cheer you up." Tatenashi joyfully answers, all the while still trying to look cuter.
Matthew looks at her, unfazed by her attempt.
"Okay, fine. I'll act more seriously, so from what I see is that you are scared of her." Tatenashi points out.
"No, I'm not." Matthew scoffs.
"Yes, you are." Tatenashi throws back, her left eyebrow rises.
"How so?" Matthew asks.
"Well, why else would you be acting like this?" Tatanashi explains rhetorically, crossing her arms. Matthew opens his mouth as if he was going to say something but closes it.
Tatenashi just pulls her foldable fan out and opens it covering her face. "See? What did I tell you? You are." she closes, matter of factly.
Matthew groans "Alright, fine. You got me. BUT it doesn't leave the room, okay?"
Tatenashi zips her mouth closed as a gesture that his secret is safe with her.
An awkward silence surrounded the two for a few minutes when Matthew broke it.
"Alright. This may seem blunt but hear me out. If you didn't already know, America has a bad history with creating I.S. units. Since the last American I.S. that I already forgot the name of, China has been kicking that I.S. six ways to Sunday until the Americans decided to Retire that I.S. for good. Now after a few years, my cousin, Micheal, creates a new series of an I.S. called the I.S. Destroyer, which is created to give America's glory over the I.S world as Micheal said. Now, evidently China and the United states are at war. So not only am I supposed to bring America's glory to the I.S. world, but I am to fight China, the United States Enemy. Who has also kicked the Previous American I.S. 6 ways to Sunday with millions of people around the world to see." Matthew explains himself.
"So you're saying you're scared to fight Lingyin because you're afraid of the outcome?" Tatanashi concludes, which sounds more of a question than intended.
"Yes, because the only way I see I am able to claim a decisive victory over Rin is if I use my lightsaber, but if it's not handled properly, I can accidentally kill her in one swing. It also drains my shield energy over time. Plus with her shooting at me with those laser machine guns" Matthew shakes his head silently, "I saw those from the old videos, so I'm hoping that Micheal comes up with a battle plan that doesn't require me using my Lightsaber." Matthew opens up.
"I see." Tatanashi responds, going deep in her thoughts.
"That's why I want to be friends with Lingyin so we don't have to fight. Our Honor and reputation won't be affected in any way too since I am class 1-A representative. This should show an example for both sides that we can still be peaceful and be respectful to one another no matter what side of the war we are on." Matthew explains.
*Sigh* "I actually hope Rin didn't mean what she said and only said that to show off like Ichika said." Matthew says solemnly.
A few several knocks suddenly came from the door. Matthew and Tatenashi look toward the door, then to each other.
"Are you expecting somebody?" Matthew asks, confusion is plastered all over his face.
"No, how about you?" Tatenashi returns.
"No."Matthew replies, as he's standing up.
Matthew walks to the door and looks through the peephole and finds Cecilia standing there, waiting for the door to be opened.
"It's Cecilia!" Matthew exclaims.
"Hurry! Clean up!" Matthew urges, rushing to his bed and fixing the blankets and pillows. Seconds later, he rushes over to Tatenashi's bed, ushering her off to quickly fix her blanket before running to the restroom , quickly turning off the light and sliding the door shut. He straightens his own clothes to make himself look presentable and opens the door.
"Cecilia!." Matthew says in a surprised tone.
"Yamamoto, so sorry I didn't meet you in the library earlier today. May I come in?" Cecilia asks.
"Yeah, come in!" Matthew responds, opening the door wider for Cecilia as she walks in and stops when she sees Tatenashi.
"Oh! Cecilia, please meet Tatenashi, my bodyguard. Tatenashi, please meet Cecilia, a friend of mine." Matthew says as he closes the door.
"Hello." Cecilia bows
"Hi." Tatanashi says.
"Right! Now let's get down to business. How was Rin and what was she like?" Matthew asks, walking past Cecilia towards the nearby desk. He pulls the chair out and faces it towards Cecilia before taking a seat.
"That girl has some nerve to act the way she acted to me!" Cecilia says aggressively crossing her arms. Her whole demeanor turned a 360 in a matter of seconds.
"Uh oh! What did she do?" Matthew says concerned.
"Firstly and foremost, when I was introducing myself, she went on talking with Ichika completely ignoring me! Then she went on to say 'sorry, I'm not interested.' And then she goes on to insult my country and then proceeds to tell me and Miss Shinonono to buzz off!" Cecilia rants as her voice was becoming more louder towards the end.
"So she's a Bitch?" Matthew bluntly says.
"Yes! Definitely a grade A bitch!" Cecilia claims.
Matthew sighs before mumbles "So much for befriending her."
"Alright Cecilia. I shall keep my part of the bargain tomorrow. I have a lot to think about right now." Matthew says, rubbing the temples of his head.
Cecilia opens her mouth but pauses for a brief moment, before settling. "Tomorrow then. Shall we meet at the same place?"
"Yes. but meet me during lunch this time." Matthew instructs.
"Okay. I'll be going now. It's getting late anyway." Cecilia says, bowing goodbye and then makes her way to the door with Matthew escorting her out.
"Good Night, Cecilia. I'll see you tomorrow." Matthew bows.
"Of course. Good night, Yamamoto." Cecilia bows.
Matthew opens the door to let her out but both Cecilia and Matthew suddenly stop to find Ichika standing right outside the door.
"Ichika!" Cecilia exclaims.
"Cecilia?" Ichika says confused.
"Oh! Hey Ichika! I was just talking with Cecilia." Matthew explains.
"Oh? Yes! We were just talking about tonight's history homework, nothing more and erhm.. Goodnight, Orimura!" Cecilia awkwardly explains before bowing goodbye to Ichika and quickly walks away.
"Oh-k? But anyways, Matthew, I need to ask you a favor?" Ichika says.
"Sure, what do you need?" Matthew responds, stepping outside and closing his door behind him.
"It's about Rin and the class league match. I need you to defeat Rin for me." Ichika opens up, straight to the point.
"What?! Why? What did she do?" Matthew asks, getting serious.
"Ok, so there was this promise I made with her a long time ago. That If she became a better cook, She'd treat me to sweet and sour pork each day. I guess I got the promise wrong so she said if she won the Class League Match, I would have to do whatever she tells me to do. But if I win, she has to explain the promise to me." Ichika explains.
Matthew looks at Ichika in horror.
"Dude! what the hell?!" Matthew says in a serious tone, frustration tainting every word.
"What?" Ichika asks, confused.
Matthew takes a deep breath in and blows out. "Nothing. Nevermind. I'll try to win for you but you'll owe me big time if I win."
"Really? Thanks!" Ichika exclaims
"No problem." Matthew smiles. "You can count on me, we're childhood friends after all."
"Yeah, thanks again! Goodnight!" Ichika walks away from Matthew, heading to his dorm room.
"Yeah, goodnight. See you tomorrow then." Matthew heads back inside his dorm and closes the door, locking it before making his way to his bed and flopping belly first on it and screaming into his pillow. Tatenashi joins Matthew on his bed and begins to play with the back of his hair, gently pulling and scratching at it softly. Matthew finds it soothing, so he lets her continue for a while. After a few minutes, he sits back up to face Tatenashi, realizing something.
"I just accepted a promise that I don't know if I can keep." Matthew says quietly
"Hmm?" Tatenashi replies.
"Ichika wants me to win the class league match because Rin said that if she wins, he's gonna become her slave. If he wins, she has to explain something that I already forgot and I don't even know if I'll be able to win since the Shinlongs have a higher win rate than American I.S's. They're known for destroying American I.S. units in the past with ease to which it was given a nickname by my old drill Srgt." Matthew explains.
"But you defeated Cecilia with ease." Tatenashi states.
"Yea but that was different because that battle with Cecilia was just like my training back in America and I already had the element of surprise and it was 2 v 1." Matthew explains
"Oh." Tatenashi responds softly.
"What's even worse is that her I.S. is a close quarters combat I.S., which would mean I would have to use my lightsaber. That would significantly drop my shield energy too. Plus the damage she would do if she fired her lasers at me. Those things have no blind spots, especially that one powerful attack. She could use it against me that I already forgot the name of, but yeah. The lightsaber, if I'm not careful, I could also kill her instantly since... well, it's just like a lightsaber just like Star Wars." Matthew continues in more detail.
"You're going to be forced to use your lightsaber then?" Tatanashi asks.
"Maybe. But there must be another way." Matthew ponders.
Matthew and Tatenashi stay silent, both thinking of ways to come up with a way to defeat Rin without having to use the lightsaber.
"I got one!" Matthew suddenly blurts.
"Hmm?" Tatenashi perks.
"What if I just force her to overshoot me, and force her to fly after me in which I would fire my Thompson at her until she runs out of shield." Matthew proposes.
"That's not going to work very long though." Tatenashi remarks.
"How so?" Matthew digs.
"If she manages to catch up to you while you are reloading, what will you do then? Or what if she outgunned you with her 2 cannons, what will you do next? Tatenashi explains.
"Fuck! You're right!... but it's gonna have to work until I come up with another plan though."
Suddenly Matthews phone rings. He answers it and is greeted by Micheal's cheery voice.
"Hey Matthew! It's me, Micheal! Anyways, I came up with a plan to defeat the Shenlongs." Micheal says through the phone.
"Really?!" Matthew sounded hopeful.
"Yeah, just use your lightsaber, simple as that! I also think that General Joshua Macarthur will be attending the Class league match." Micheal says, destroying Matthew's hope and adding more pressure on Matthew. A cold chill running down his back.
"Wait. General Joshua Macarthur is coming here to see me fight Rin?!" Matthew repeats, not believing the bomb shell of news that was just dropped on him.
"Yeah but it's a secret so sssshhhhh! Also, I wanna ask how you're-" BOOOM! A large explosion is heard through Micheal's end of the phone followed by an alarm and a voice announcing "A large explosion followed by a fire happened in sector C of the base. All personnel are to evacuate immediately! All firefighters are to report in section C of the base!"
"Micheal? What happened?" Matthew asks concerned.
"Uh... don't worry. It's one of my other projects I've been tasked with working on and it appears it blew up, so I gotta go real quick. Bye and good luck on the match against Rin!" Micheal answers quickly by hanging up the phone.
With that, Micheal hangs up the phone. Matthew put his phone back into his pocket before telling Tatenashi the news.
"General Joshua Macarthur is coming here next week to watch me fight against Rin." Matthew exposes.
"Is that good news?" Tatenashi asks.
"I...I don't know, but what is certain is that I really need to win now." Matthew responds.
The Following morning.
"A letter for me?" Matthew asks Tatenashi as he rubs his eyes.
"Mhmm." Tatenashi hums, handing Matthew a letter with his name on it. Matthew takes the letter and eagerly opens it and reads it out loud.
"To Matthew Yamamoto. From unknown?" he starts, glancing up at Tatenashi, bewildered as to who the heck is this unknown person that sent this letter. "If you win the Class League Match, I will personally come up from….behind you and….Lick your ass?! WHAT?!" Matthew raised his voice even more confused.
Tatenashi takes the Letter from Matthew and reads it herself.
"Whoever wrote this has some bad handwriting." Tatenashi states, giving Matthew the letter back.
"I think it meant to say kick my ass…" *sigh* "and now I'm being threatened to lose by somebody who doesn't even have good handwriting? I don't even know if I'm supposed to take that letter seriously or not because of their handwriting." he continued.
"Well, if it isn't a joke, just know I have it covered." Tatenashi says reassuringly
"I know, but we better get going now. We can't be late for class." Matthew points out, realizing the time.
They exit the dorm room and take the separate hallways to their classroom.
Later that day during lunch in the Library.
"Cecilia, there you are! I thought you'd never come." Matthew calls from behind her, startling her in the process.
"You shouldn't sneak up on people like that, especially a lady!" Cecilia scolds.
"Sorry. Anyway, follow me. I got us a quiet spot where we can talk privately." Matthew says as he leads Cecilia into the library. Passing students and many bookshelves, all the way towards the back corner of the library, a large circular table is found. It has 8 chairs, boxed in by 3 bookshelves creating a square, leading to the wall. They pull up chairs facing each other.
"As part of the promise, I shall tell you the relationship and what I know about Ichika. But I must ask why do you want to know more about Ichika?" Matthew digs quizzically.
Cecilia was caught off guard by his sudden questioning but she should have seen this coming. "I...I...I am just interested in knowing how you and Ichika first met and your history with each other, that's all." she answers.
Matthew stares at Cecilia, his right eyebrow rising up, wondering if he should believe her answer if it's genuine or not. Cecilia then puts on a fake smile and a laugh already dying inside.
"hhmm.. I see. So you're just curious about me and Ichika's past. I see. Well, where do I start?" Matthew .
Cecilia breathes a sigh, relieved that Matthew didn't put two and two together and that she obviously has a crush on Ichika.
"Right. So, Ichika and I met in the last 2 weeks of first grade. I remembered that I just transferred to a new school because of the bullies in the last school." Matthew starts. Cecilia listens to every word that flows out from his mouth until she hears that last bit of information.
"What?! You were bullied?!" Cecilia presses surprisingly.
"Yes, for being a hafu. Mainly being different from them but on with the story. I decided to stop being a coward for once and tried to make friends. I had no social skills whatsoever but I started wandering the playground until I saw a boy and a girl playing catch together. So, I gathered my wits and asked them if I could play. They let me play just like that. That's how I met Ichika and Houki then. To top that off, we even went to the same Kendo club after school. During the summer time, I got to invite them to a sleepover where Ichika told me his parents abandoned him and his sister." Matthew continues on.
"Ichika and Miss Orimura were abandoned by their parents? That's terrible!" Cecilia exclaims.
"Yeah, I know right? I was shocked as you are when he told me. Anyways, our friendship continued from there until November in the 4th grade, I defeated Houki in the National Kendo championship. I wanted to show I was no longer weak to my brother. So I went and won the National Kendo championship just so I could be proud of myself for something. But in return, It cost me my friendship with Houki because as I was given the trophy she started to yell at me saying how I ruined everything for her. She even hoped that something bad would happen to me and that she never wanted to see me again. The very next day she never showed up for school and Kendo, leaving just me and Ichika. I think she was so devastated and ashamed she lost the kendo tournament that she moved away. All because of me. Now things between me and Houki are very awkward." Matthew continues as he stares off in the nearby bookshelves.
"I...I'm sorry to hear that but surely something good came out in the end, right?" Cecilia says softly. Catching his attention, he blinks a few times.
"I mean, we did make a few more friends after Houki left but nothing much really happened. Although that fateful day came. On March 26 of 2016, Ichika and I were waiting to be picked up from school by my cousin, Micheal, but he never showed up. So I texted my older brother, Nikolas, that Micheal wasn't here and that Ichika and I were going to walk to Ichika's house instead." Matthew says, glancing back at Cecilia, who is still eagerly listening.
"As we were walking to Ichika's house, minding our own business talking about an american game called Call of Duty: Black Pps 3 with its new DlC called Eclipse coming out the following month and how we couldn't wait to buy it, all of a sudden this white van pulls up and parks a few meters in front of us."
Flashback to March 26, 2016.
"Man, I can't wait until the DlC gets translated for Japanese! I've been trying to speak Engrish for the past 3 months now that I could say the word, Presidential Election." 13 year old Matthew boasts.
"Really? Say it in engrish then." 13 year old Ichika challenges.
"Ok. Presidential Erection." Matthew says in bad English pronouncing the L in election with r.
"Wow... let me try!" Ichika clears his throat. "Ahem.. Presidential Erection."
"Hey, you did it! Presidential Erection!" Matthew yells celebrating.
"That was easy, do you know any other English words?" Ichika asks.
"Well, I do know how to say herro and goodbye and say Pass the sart and-"
BEEP! BEEP!
They turn around and find Micheal and Tabane in a car gesturing for them to get inside, which Matthew and Ichika do by turning around walking towards them but then the van's door next to them bursts open and 4 men dressed in black strangle Matthew and Ichika.
"AHHH AHHH HELP! HELP LET US GO!" The boys scream and then something sharp is stabbed into Matthews neck. He could feel a cold liquid enter his body. As soon as the sharp item was pulled out, he began feeling woozy. What he could hear and make out, it sounds very much like guns being fired, followed by a car horn and then hearing Micheal screaming that he surrenders. Soon Matthew and Ichika are being picked up and thrown into the van. There was nothing that they could do. The men in black all jump into the van before the van speeds away as fast as it could from the scene. Matthew's vision begins to blur whilst feeling very dizzy and weak before falling blacking out.
End flashback.
"What happened next?" Cecilia anxiously asks.
"Well, we spent I think a full week in some sort of warehouse before my brother and Ichika's older sister saved us. When I got home, my parents' cafe was robbed and that we're moving to America. My brother told me that I was not allowed to invite or see Ichika again after that. For the next 2 weeks, I was homeschooled. On April 16th that same year, I said my farewell to Ichika and our other friends and I left Japan." Matthew finishes.
"Do you know why you were both kidnaped?" Cecilia questions some more.
"I was told by my brother that they kidnaped us so Chifuyu would lose the 2nd Mondo Groso, that's all I know."
"I...I'm-" Before Cecilia could finish her sentence somebody else finishes it for her
"Sorry that happened to you both."
Both Matthew and Cecilia startled, turn to their right and find Tatenashi sitting there.
"Tatenashi! When did you-" Matthew stutters.
"I stood behind the bookcase when you began talking about your past and then I slowly made my way to this chair and sat down." Tatenashi explains.
"Oh, well... next time announce yourself." Cecilia scolds, still trying to calm her fast beating heart.
"What happened next though?" Tatenashi asks, completely ignoring Cecilia.
"Huh? Oh! Right. So I left Japan and flew to Texas, where I stayed with my grandfather for a month. While I was living with him, I got to fire so many guns from WW1 to the Vietnam war! I even got to ride a M4 Sherman for crying out loud! I even got to go hunting with him, but anyways I digress. My Parents then flew back for me and my brother. We relocated all the way to Las Vegas, and lived in our new Restaurant/Home. When we first opened our doors, we got a lot of customers! To this day, we still get a lot of customers. When I first went to an American school, I was asked so many questions but they were speaking English. The language barrier was tough. They barely understood anything I said, thanks to my broken english but that all changed when I met my American friends. We called ourselves the Mafia. Every Saturday and sometimes Sunday, we would go to the nearby indoor Airosoft place and play indoor airsoft, which is very fun. Thanks to them they also helped improve my English where I have an American Accent." Matthew finishes.
"I'm glad things turned out better after that tragic day." Cecilia says as Tatanashi nods her head in agreement.
Just then the bell rang ending lunch.
"It was really nice talking with you Yamamoto and Sarashiki." Cecilia says getting up from her seat and bowing goodbye.
"Yeah, see you later." Matthew replies.
Cecilia turns and walks away leaving Matthew and Tatenashi all by themselves.
"Well, we should be going now." Matthew says.
Tatenashi nods and they exit the library to go about their separate ways to their designated classrooms.
The Following week.
Insert the song Brass Bonanza! For the Newspaper clubs opening song.
"GOOD AFTERNOON I.S. ACADEMY! I'm your host Elizabeth Goodman and this is my assistant /Club leader of the I.S. Academy Newspaper club Kaoruko Mayuzumi!"
"Hi." Kaoruko says.
Kaoruko and Elizabeth both wave at the camera.
"Now, as everybody knows in the I.S Academy, today is April 17th. On this day, the Class League Match where all the classroom representatives will fight one another to the death!" Elizabeth begins.
"Now-now, Elizabeth, not exactly to the death. We don't wanna scare our younger audiences or those fighting of course! Our first matches will be the freshmen with Classroom representative 1-B, Huang Lingyin, vs Classroom representative 1-C, Aika Watanabe. Next, the match will be Classroom Representative of class 1-A, Matthew Yamamoto, Vs Classroom Representative of class 1-D, Amilia Swan, and so on." Kaoruko narrates.
The Screen then goes to show who will be fighting who from class 1-A to class 1-Z."
"A little reminder for our confused students, these are only the freshmen classes. Sophomores will be shown who they will be fighting after the Freshmen matches are done." Kaoruko explains.
"Exactly! That's what I've been trying to tell those Freshmen for so many times and they still can't comprehend it, no offence though." Elizabeth adds.
"Elizebeth, what did I say about blurting out like that?" Kaoruko scolds.
"Sorry, Kaoruko. Anyhow, let's talk about how the Class league Tournament will work. Firstly and foremost, there are only 10 homeroom classes in each grade and the class representatives of those 10 classes will compete against each other in an I.S battle. The last 2 standing will compete against each other until one loses all their shield energy. The winner gets to stay in and the next grade comes in and repeats the same cycle until finally we are left with 4 students from each grade. Those 4 will fight against each other until there is only one left. He or she will be the Winner of the class league match." Elizabeth explains in detail.
"That's correct, Elizebeth! Now I also received reports that a General of the People's Liberation Army, Wu Jiguang, has come to watch the Match." Kaoruko says.
The Camera then shows a 40 year old Chinese General wearing his dress uniform. He is also waving to the crowd hello as he takes a seat with 2 Chinese soldiers wearing their combat uniform whilst holding Type 95 Automatic Rifle.
"Yes. Not only that but we also have General Joshua Macarthur of the U.S. Army who has come here to watch as well." Kaoruko states to her anchorwoman and to their listeners.
The camera switches to show General Joshua Macarthur, who is wearing his Dress uniform with 2 other soldiers, ranking his left and right sides, in their combat uniform holding the M16A4 Automatic Rifle. The General then takes a seat. The Camera switches back to the I.S Academy Student News Broadcast.
"Yamamoto vs Lingyin, who do you think is going to win, Kaoruko-san?" Elizabeth says bluntly.
"You know that is a hard question, Elizebeth-san, but I hate to say it, I think Lingyin may win this match because her I.S. is a Close quarters combat I.S. unit. Since when have we seen Yamamoto use any weapon for Close quarters combat besides his Thompson and his sniper? Although Yamamoto's I.S is still brand new, it may win or fail like America's last I.S." Kaoruko Explains.
"Yeah, that is true. Well, we will see who will come out on top after these messages from the Gardening club." Elizabeth says.
Matthews P.O.V.
I stared at the wall mounted T.V. in the locker room as I finished dressing in my I.S. uniform.
"Yamamoto!" Miss Yamada's voice booms over the locker room P.A. system.
"General Macarthur wants to personally speak with you. So can you please make your way to the Arena's control room, where one of his bodyguards will escort you to the General, thank you." Miss Yamada ends as the P.A. system falls silent. I grab my helmet and mask and close my locker, locking it before walking towards the exit. My anxiety is slowly kicking in.
'Man, at least I'm not fighting Rin first.' Matthew says to himself, trying to calm down. "Bright side in all this, I get to meet the General again. Wonder what he has to say?'
I exit the locker room and make my way towards the Arena's command bay.
With General Macarthur.
"General Macarthur, Yamamoto is here as requested." The soldier escorting Matthew says to the General.
General Macarthur turns his body to face Matthew who salutes the General.
"At ease son. Take a seat." The General gestures for him to sit next to his seat, to which Matthew complies and takes a seat next to the General facing the Arena.
"Yamamoto, it's been over a month since I last saw you. When I saw you, you were just a mere boy living his life. Here you are now, still that same boy but this time, you carry America's I.S. You are being called America's underdog back home, did you know that?" General Macarthur states.
"No sir." Matthew replies.
"Well, you do now. Not only that but not only do you represent your family name, you also represent America's I.S Technology whenever you fight your opponent, did you know?"General Macarthur asks
"Yes sir." Matthew answers again.
"Anyways, enough with the grandpa talk and let's talk business. Do you see the V.I.P. booth right across from us? "General Macarthur points, figuratively speaking.
Matthew looks across from where he is and immediately locks eyes with Rin, who is glaring at him. Matthew also sees General Wu Jiguang of the People's Liberation Army glaring right at Matthew before shifting his gaze to General Macarthur.
"Yeah. It's General Wu Jiguang and Rin. What about them?" Matthew asks.
"Those Commie bastards have destroyed our previous I.S. multiple times. Destroying America's Image on I.S technology and have been propogandanizing their victories against our I.S to their citizens for the past 4 years. I want you to change that by defeating this Rin just like we did with the Battle of Japan to the Invasion of Korea, pushing the Chinese back to North Korea. Do you understand your mission?" General Macarthur explains.
"Yes sir!" Matthew replies, trying not to sound unsure of himself.
"Good. Now I wish you good luck. May god bless you and lead us to victory!...Dismissed." General Macarthur finishes strongly.
And with that, Matthew gets up from his seat and bows goodbye before being escorted out by the General's Bodyguard.
Time skip to the First match with Lingyin Huang VS Aika Watanabe
"Matthew! Look! The match is finally starting! Hurry up and get over here!" Ichika calls Matthew.
Matthew and Cecilia quickly stop what they are doing and rush over to Ichika and Houki who are watching the big screen T.V in the Hanger. They all watch Rin flying in her I.S unit into the arena, where Aika Watanabe awaits in her Japanese production I.S.
Aika gulps as she materializes her Katana. Rin draws both her Chinese scimitar, then combines both swords together creating a double bladed crowd goes silent. Tension fills the air. The 10 second countdown begins. "10...9..8..7...6...5...4...3...2...1... " A horn booms loudly all around the arena. The Match begins. Aika and Rin charge at each other. Their battles cries echoing loud and clear. Then it happens. Aika swings to strike Rin's head but misses. Rin goes ham on Aika, striking her everywhere with her double bladed sword. Aika desperately attempts to block Rin's raining assault. Suddenly Aika sees a tiny window of opportunity. She quickly disengages and runs in the opposite direction as a means to gain distance away from Rin. Except that plan was a fail. She is shot down by Rin's Dragon Cannon. Aika crashes into the ground. A large crater marks where she had landed. Aika barely has enough time to launch herself back into the air when she was being gunned down by Rin's scarlet red laser bullets from her Thermal Diffusion Impact Cannons. The match ends too soon for Aika.
"Match concluded. Winner Lingyin Huang." Miss Yamada announces from the Control room's P.A. system.
The crowd goes wild as they clap and cheer for Rin. She bows and waves before making her way back to her hanger bay."
"Next up is Classroom Representative of Classroom 1-A, Matthew Yamamoto and Classroom Representative of classroom 1-D, Amilia Swan!"Miss Yamada announces from the P.A. The crowd goes wild learning which match is next. The crowd settles down as Matthew and Amilia enter the Arena.
'This should be easy. She is just using the Japanese production I.S.' Matthew thought to himself as he materialized his Thompson and Amilia drawing her Katana. Amilia gulps knowing she won't last very long. When the countdown reaches 0, Amilia bolts forward, charging at Matthew. He aims his Thompson at Amilia, firing almost a whole magazine straight at her. There is no way for her to retaliate. Soon the horn rings out, signaling the end of their match. Miss Yamada announces that the match has ended with Matthew coming out crowd was shocked that Matthew was able to annihilate Amilia in under 30 seconds. Moments later, the crowd slowly cheers. The cheering crowd gradually grows louder and louder as Matthew simply bows thank you. He then offers a hand to Amilia, who accepts and they shake hands as a means of good sportsmanship. Moments later, they both part ways heading back to their hangar bays.
"Next up is Classroom representative of classroom 1-E, Asahi Suzuki and Classroom Representative of 1-F, Kokoro Takahashi." Miss Yamada announces through the P.A. system once again..
Time skipped to the Very last Freshmen Match after Rin Defeated Classroom Representative 1-Z.
"Match concluded with the winner Huang Lingyin. Next up is Matthew Yamamoto and Huang Lingyin!" Miss Yamada announces.
"Oooo's" is heard from the audience all around. One girl decides to yell something Matthew couldn't understand from the T.V. but this causes an uproar within the crowd. They were yelling racial slurs against the Americans and the Chinese.
"I HOPE YOU DIE A HORRIBLE WAY YOU WHITE DEVIL!" A random girl yells.
More yelling from the crowd.
"OH YEAH?! SCREW YOU AND YOUR COUNTRY YOU CHINKS!" Another girl retorts back.
Even more yelling from the crowd is heard.
"OH YEAH?! LETS KICK THEIR ASSES, MY FELLOW AMERICANS!" A girl yells in a heavy Texan accent.
"HELL YEAH!" One girl blurts and punches a nearby girl in the face.
"BRING IT ON WHORES!" A Chinese girl yells back.
The presumably Chinese students got up from their seats and charged at the incoming girls, who were charging at them. Once the two angry crowds finally collided, fighting quickly broke out. The two crowds yelled and screamed racial and political slurs. Miss Yamada was doing everything she could to calm the students down through the P.A. system but to no avail.
"CALL IN THE MILITARY! GET THE STUDENT SECURITY AND THE STAFF TO STOP THE FIGHTING NOW! HELP THOSE FLEEING THE FIGHTING ESCAPE BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!" Matthew hears Chifuyu yell from the P.A System.
Three minutes after the fighting started, the Student security finally appeared armed with body armor, shields, pepper spray guns, and batons. As well as paintballs using rubber balls as student security charges into the fighting from all entrances of the arena. They quickly stop the fighting and began detaining students as the JSDF joins in from behind the student security armed with guns loaded with rubber bullets as they fire into the crowd of chaos. This stops the fighting girls and quickly detains more of them. The rest of the students who stopped fighting each other quickly drop to the ground, as a means to show they don't want to fight or run to the nearest exit to escape the frenzy. After 20 minutes of fighting, law and order has been placed in the arena with the girls who are injured and got patched up by the J.G.S.D.F medics. Then they were sent to the infirmary to be evaluated on. Students who are lined up sitting on the bleachers are given detention slips and are sent on their way out of the arena.
The camera broadcasting feed then switches to the Student News who announces:
"Attention all participants of the Class League Match. The Class League Match will continue as scheduled tomorrow after lunch in Arena 2. The match between Matthew Yamamoto and Huang Lingyin will take place after the seniors are done with their matches, as a result of what happened today. Teachers would also like to say that today's behavior is unacceptable and that next Monday, all clubs will be closed with no exceptions until Tuesday. All classes will receive extra homework. We would like to wish you all a fantastic rest of your day! This is the Student News signing off."
Insert the song Brass Bonanza! For the Student News sign off at the 2:20 mark.
As the student news plays their sign off animation, the T.V. turns off. Ichika, Matthew, Cecilia, and Houki stare wide-eyed at what was just announced.
"What the hell just happened?" Ichika asks.
"Chaos, that's what." Matthew replies.
The group stays silent for a few moments, processing what they just saw before Ichika blurted out.
"OH SHIT! RIN! Did anybody see where she went?!"
"Last I saw her, she was heading back into her hangar when the fighting started." Houki answers.
"Let's go check on her then if she's alright." Ichika says as he turns to run to the hangar exit. Both Cecilia and Houki chase after him leaving Matthew all alone.
"I'll just-" Matthew stops as the door closes "...catch...you guys later then.…..[Sigh] man, I can't even go near Ichika with Rin around because of this stupid war. I wonder what the world would be like if this war never came to be? How friendly would Rin and I be? How will the I.S Academy fair and most of all, would that fight have been avoided if both mine and Rin's weren't at war with each other?" Matthew asks himself.
"Well, at least I have some more time before I get to fight Rin, so that's good news. Still, It's only a matter of time before everybody will know who will win. How will they accept what I'm scared of the most?"
Time skip to the following day.
"Jesus! Look at how many Student securities and J.G.S.D.F. soldiers there are in the bleachers!" Ichika points out.
"It's just like the 2nd Mondo Grosso!" Cecilia adds.
"Up next is the moment you've been waiting for, boys and girls! Matthew Yamamoto of classroom 1-A and Huang Lingyin of classroom 1-B!"
Rin's P.O.V
"The time has finally come, Lingyin. Make China proud and destroy the American I.S and claim glory for our great nation!" General Wu Jiguang says in an authoritarian voice.
"And if I fail, General?" Rin inquires, in a small voice.
Her eyes casted down, embarrassed by what she had asked but more fearful of his reaction to it.
"If you fail, not only will you humiliate China but you will dishonor your family name and also the reputation of this school! Is that what you want?!" General Wu Jiguang answers aggressively.
"No, General Wu Jiguang! I don't!" Rin replies. Her gaze shoots up at him as she answers. Her eyes widen from the forceful realization of the dire consequences. The general's eyes pierces her very soul, like knives mentally being thrown at her, the room full of tension.
"Don't forget! We know where your parents live. If you fail we will-"
"NO! Dont!" Rin cuts off General Wu Jinguang, not wanting to hear the rest of what he was about to tell her.
"Then you will claim victory over that American I.S!" The General orders. He pauses for a brief moment. He looks down on Rin, analyzing her. "Even if it means killing him." General Wu Jiguang finally concludes.
Rin, feeling threatened and seeing no other options, agrees with General Wu Jiguang's orders.
"Now go, Lingyin! I wish you good luck! Make China proud!" General Wu Jiguang salutes Rin farwell. Rin salutes farewell back. She turns and walks out of the V.I.P booth towards her hangar. Minutes later, she flies out into the Arena where she meets Matthew in his I.S., who is staring her down. Rin does the same, coming up with an insult to Matthew.
"I bet you're scared under that mask of yours, Yamamoto!" Rin says aggressively.
"Whatever you say." Matthew replies boldly, showing no fear.
Rin scoffs, "I'll be sure to defeat you, just like our pilots did to your brother!"
After Rin said that, Matthew felt his heart being ripped once again, remembering the day he was told his brother died. Filled with anger, he glares at Rin. His mask's eye sockets glow a deep red which causes Rin to flinch. To save face, she quickly puts up a brave face in a split second.
"You'll regret what you said you bitch." Matthew remarks angrily before taking off, creating distance between himself and Rin, all the while a gust of air and dust blows into Rin's face.
"We'll see about that." Rin mumbles to herself as she watches him fly to the other side. She then drew her two scimitar. Matthew drew his Thompson as well.
'Little does Rin know after watching her, I have come up with a game plan against her.' Matthew thinks to himself.
The 10 second countdown begins. The air thickins with tension. The arena is dead silent that you could hear the person right next to you breathing. The last five seconds counting down.
5...
Matthew tightens his grip on his thompson.
4...
Rin tightens her grip on her scimitar. Sweat slowly trails down from her face.
3...
Matthew opens his smoke dispensers.
2...
Rin readies herself to charge at Matthew.
1...
Both lock eyes with each other, staring at victory or defeat.
0...
The horn loudly echoes around the arena.
They both take off running. Rin charges at preparing to strike Matthew's head. Matthew sees this and quickly deploys smoke, blinding her as she charges into the smoke. Matthew exits the smoke by taking off from the ground and fires blindly into the smoke. Rin, embarrassed and never saw that coming, fires back with her Thermal Diffusion Impact Cannons, getting a few shots off Matthew. She then is showered upon by a hail of bullets exploding as they hit her, forcing her to take evasive actions to dodge Matthew's rain of bullets.
'Almost got to reload and I have her where I want her.' Matthew thinks to himself.
Matthew soon runs out of bullets. Rin, in a split second, fires her Dragon cannon and almost hits Matthew, who merely dodges it. He quickly deploys a smoke screen, which allows him to quickly reload his Thompson at the same time. Rin blindly fires into Matthew's smoke screen, taking a chance. She hits Matthew multiple times that causes his shield to drain, which also causes Matthew to run out of the smoke. He fires back with his newly reloaded Thompson at her.
'Damm you, Yamamoto and your stupid thompson!' Rin mentally curses at him.
"It's actually working! Holy shit!" Matthew exclaims to himself as he continues firing. But his worst nightmare has just happened.
Click! Tic tic tic!
Matthew's Thompson jams. Rin stops chasing him and fires her Dragon cannon point blank at Matthew. He falls from the sky but manages to regain control of his I.S. but he is fired upon once again by Rin, pushing him to the ground with a loud crash as dirt and dust surrounds Matthew and his I.S.
"Ahhh haaaa! Ooouuch! Holy shit-fuck! Fucking hurts bad! It fucking hurts!" Matthew groans, holding his chest where the second shot from the Dragon cannon struck him.
"Yamamoto! Yamamoto, are you okay!" Miss Yamada yells into Matthew's com link.
"Nooo! It burns and it hurts at the same time when I breathe!" Matthew answers, trying to stop the pain in his chest by slowing his breathing down but to no avail.
"Yamamoto, are you still able to continue fighting?" Miss Yamada asks with more concern.
"I- I…."
Before Matthew could answer, he suddenly feels very tired and his vision starts to fade to black as he falls unconscious, hearing Miss Yamada repeat his name over and over again.
"Yamamoto! Yamamoto, do you hear me?! HELLO?!" Miss Yamada yells.
Labored breathing.
More labored breathing.
And Silence.
…..
…..
…
Smack! Thud! dud!
"Get up Matthew!"
"NO, I GIVE UP!" Matthew yells, throws his Bogu helmet off, hitting the ground with a few more thuds.
"Why?" Nikolas responds, sheathing his shinai.
"Because!" Matthew yells.
"Because what?!" Nikolas yells back.
"I CAN'T DEFEAT YOU, OK?! YOU'RE OLDER AND BIGGER THAN ME! SO HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO HIT YOU ONCE WHEN YOU KEEP BLOCKING AND HITTING ME AWAY WITH YOU'RE SHINAI AND-"
"SILENCE!" Nikolas shouts, shutting Matthew up.
Nikolas sighs and takes a deep breath rubbing his temples.
"Bushido." Nikolas says softly.
"Huh?" Matthew replies not understanding.
"I said, what is bushido?" Nikolas says a little louder, sending chills down Matthew's back. He opens his mouth but closes it before speaking again.
"The Samurai way." Matthew replies annoyed.
"Yes and what happened to the remaining 40 samurai on Hill Shiroyama in the Satsuma rebellion of 1877?" Nikolas quizzes.
"They charged at the Imperial troops, inflicting many casualties before dying themselves." Matthew responds immediately.
"Why?" Nikolas digs.
Matthew looks at Nikolas with a confused expression before answering, "I dont know."
"It's because surender is the most shameful thing to do as a Samurai." Nikolas answering his own question.
He glances at Nikolas with a defeated and demoralized expression.
Nikolas shakes his head in disapproval before speaking more softly.
"Look Matthew, one day you will accomplish something greater than yourself but with this attitude you won't. Why? Because you want to give up? Because you're tired or emotionally hurt or some bullshit like yeah? Well, how do you think I won the 2013 National kendo tournament?"
Matthew opens his mouth but is cut off
"I trained and trained everyday for 4 hours and did I give up?" Nikolas asks.
"No." Matthew responds.
"Why?" Nikolas asks
"Because-" Matthew is cut off by Nikolas again.
"Because I wanted to win that tournament to make something out of myself as you do! That's why I train you everyday for four hours straight because you want to win this year's National Kendo Tournament. Now you want to give up on that because you can't even strike me once?!"
"NO!" Matthew shouts with newly found energy.
Nikolas grins, seeing Matthew's fire has lit back up.
"Then go! Get your helmet on and fight me!" Nikolas encourages his little brother.
Matthew grabs his shinai and stands back up and puts his Bogu helmet back on. Nikolas does the same, putting his Bogu helmet back on. Both brothers stand in their respective places and draw their shinais before yelling their battle cry. Nikolas struck first aiming for Matthew's head but Matthew quickly dodges and hits Nikolas's wrist winning the duel.
"I-I actually did it! Holy shit!" Matthew exclaims, throwing his Bogu helmet off and celebrating.
"See what happens when you never give up?" Nikolas says pointedly, taking his bogu helmet off.
"If you keep training and fighting you'll be able to beat those other guys in the National Kendo tournament this November. Always remember, `` A moment of pain is worth a lifetime of glory." Nikolas explains.
Matthew nods his head, smiling.
Nikolas smiles back, "Now let's go get some ice cream."
"YES! Ice cream!" Matthew celebrates.
"Quiet dammit! Now let's go get changed and get ice cream." Nikolas hushes him.
Both brothers go into the locker room to change and Matthew's vision begins to fade white and begins to hear his name being called.
"Yamamoto! Yamamoto?! Hello? I don't think he is okay!" Miss Yamada says through Matthew's com link.
"End the match and get the-"
"I'm alright!" Matthew yells through the com link cutting Chifuyu off.
"Yamamoto, are you okay?!" Miss Yamada exclaims.
"Yeah, I guess you could say that." Matthew lies ignoring the pain in his chest.
"Thank god! But your shield energy is at an all time low at 140 and your I.S's left arm and chest pieces are badly damaged. Are you still able to fight?" Miss Yamada asks.
Matthew raises his left arm and finds a hole exposing sparking wires. Then he looks at his chest piece and sees a large crack across it assessing the damages before deciding what to do.
"Yeah, I can still fight." Matthew says through his labored breathing.
"Good. By the way, Miss Lingyin is right behind you." Miss Yamada says.
Matthew turns and sees Rin standing there just watching him.
"Hmph, I see you're still in." Rin scoffs.
"Any last words before I end you?" Rin asks in an aggressive tone.
Matthew dives back down in his crater and tries to materialize his Thompson but nothing appears in his hand. He then peeks outside his crater and finds RIn levitating above his thompson.
"Looking for something?" Rin gestures to his thompson
Matthew dives back down trying to think of what to do before remembering about the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877 when the Samurai charged into the Imperial army.
"Looks like it has come down to this point where I must use my Lightsaber." Matthew mumbles to himself as he materializes his lightsaber in his right hand.
"A moment of pain is worth a lifetime of glory." Nikolas's voice echoes in his head.
Matthew scrunches his eyebrows and takes a deep breath in and out all the while ignoring the pain. He stands up enduring the pain in his chest as he stumbles a bit before climbing his way out of his crater. He meets Rin, who is still hovering inches above the ground. Behind her is his Thompson laying in the dirt.
"A true warrior never surrenders and I, the representative contender of the United States, shall never surrender to the likes of you!" Matthew then ignites his lightsaber and faces it towards Rin.
The crowd "Ooh's" at Matthew's Lightsaber, having never seen it before.
Rin scoffs, rolling her eyes at him, "Then you shall fall like your brother."
Matthew then charges Rin flying at her with incredible speed. Rin fires her Dragon Cannon at him. Matthew simply stops and raises his Lightsaber with both hands and strikes down onto the incoming laser turning it into more shield energy. Rin is shocked by that and fires more lasers with her Dragon cannon. Each time Matthew simply striked down on the lasers and absorbs it, turning it into shield energy. Or he simply dodges it and decreases the distance between himself and Rin.
"Yamamoto, whatever you're doing, your shield energy is now at 550!" Miss Yamada remarks through his com link.
"Hmph! You may be able to cut my Dragon Cannon shots down, but let's see how good you are with your sword!" Rin yells, drawing her scimitars and combining them into a double bladed spear. Rin hurriedly charges at Matthew. She is about to strike Matthew on his head but the spear's tip is suddenly cut off by Matthew's lightsaber. Rin is stunned but before she can completely process how it all happened, she is suddenly punched in the face by Matthew, bringing her out of her shock state.
The crowd goes wild at the turn of events! Rin looks to her cut off part of the spear then aims the spear's last blade at Matthew.
Matthew approaches Rin like a badass as Rin slowly retreats backwards aiming her spear at Matthew as she does so.
Rin desperately charges forward, pointing her spear forward in hope she caught Matthew off guard but Matthew expected this to happen. He swiftly moves out of its way and cuts the last blade on her spear off, leaving her with just a stick. Rin glances at what is left and throws the stick at Matthew, allowing herself to fly away trying to separate herself from him. Matthew takes off after her. She then fires at him using her Thermal Diffusion Impact Cannons hitting him but Matthew simply blocks off most of the shots as he closes the distance on her until Rin finally makes her biggest mistake. She stops and prepares to fire her Dragon Cannon when Matthew surprisingly sees what she is doing, decides in a split second to raise his Lightsaber and cuts down onto Rin's left Cannon. In mid cut, Rin tries firing her Dragon cannon point blank at Matthew but it doesn't fire. Instead, it unstabilized her Dragon cannons, causing it to over charge and explode into a bright orange flame, followed by an explosion sending Matthew across the Arena, crashing into the wall and crashing into the ground, Matthew is unconscious whilst Rin crashes to the ground knocking her unconscious too. The crowd stays silent awaiting what is to come of this. Moments later, another explosion rocks the Arena's barrier, breaking through it and crashing into the Arena grounds creating a huge crater and fire. Suddenly another I.S. hauntingly walks out of the fire, as if it were the devil itself.
TO BE CONTINUED.
Author's note.
Hello Dear reader! I sincerely hope this chapter made up for the very long wait for this chapter. I do want to state some mistakes. I want to point out from the last chapter that Tatenashi is 16, not 17. I was told by a friend that she is 17 in the later volumes but currently in this stage of the story she is currently 16. I would also like to apologize for getting Tatenashi's name wrong in the last chapter since the last chapter was sort of rushed out on my behalf. I would like to thank you all for reading and stay tuned for chapter 5 of The Legend of the Annihilator.
