Chapter VIII
"O-Oh… shit" Ichika whispered to himself.
"What are you doing?!" Cecilia angrily asked.
"I-I can explain!"
"Not only did you not tell us where you were, but you also snuck two girls into your dorm! I-I'm sorry, Ichika, but I shall slay you right here, right now!" Houki said which made the rest of the harem do the same.
Before one of them could hit Ichika, an Overwatch patrol full of Suppressors passed by to see the harem in their partial deployment.
"All of you! Drop your weapons!" a suppressor shouted.
"Or what?" the harem backtalked.
"Overwatch, possible 95 here in grid five dash six" a suppressor said.
"Drop your weapon or we will engage!" another suppressor said.
In the middle of the standoff, the Overwatch voice said on speakers all around the area "Malcompliance detected, all local Overwatch units, code 3" before it shut off.
Meanwhile…
"What in the name of Neptune is happening?" Becker asked.
"Wait, these coordinates… that means their location is the Administrator's room!" a soldier said.
"Shit! All men, converge on their coordinates!" Becker ordered.
"Becker! What's happening?" Chifuyu asked.
"I don't know, but my men have detected a possible threat in Ichika's dorm, we're headed there now" Becker said before leaving with dozens more troops and a gunship.
Back at the dorm…
"Girls, please, you're turning this into a scene"
"You should've told us where you were!" Rin said.
"I don't want to become angry once again! Just comply with my troops!"
"Why should we follow you when you couldn't listen to us?!" Houki said.
Ichika was already infuriated by the fact they wouldn't comply, and before the harem realized it, he snapped.
"I have already forgiven you guys for the times you damaged me psychologically! I kept my promises and often but I get nothing in return! Cecilia, your malcompliance is worse than your cooking! Rin, your malcompliance is worse than China's air quality! Laura, your malcompliance is worse than the Fuhrer's war tactics! Charles, your malcompliance is worse than France's performance in the second World War! And Houki, your malcompliance is worse than you looking like a tomboy! You guys have no sense of safety and consideration for your surroundings, you guys always want your way! For fuck's sakes, just comply with my damn troops! If you try to battle these suppressors, you wouldn't even last a minute!". At that statement, the girls immediately realized their actions and put away their partial deployments, kind of offended by the things he said, before once again begging for forgiveness.
"W-We're sorry, plea-" the harem said.
"It's alright, I forgive you guys. You guys are still alive and that's all I want"
"B-But the things you said about us…?" Charles said.
"I… I'm sorry, I panicked. I just wanted you guys to be safe, so I said all those things in an attempt to get your partial deployments outta here"
"Wait, if that voice from outside alerted the other soldiers, then…" Laura said.
"Oh, you mean the ones coming in three… two… one…"
"Colonel! Are you alright?" Becker asked with his weapon off safe.
"All of you, back to your posts! I've got it under control here!"
"B-But the alert…"
"It's alright, now get back to your post, all of you!"
"A-Are you sure?"
"I'm very sure! Now I won't repeat the same thing five times, get back to your posts!"
"Copy" each soldier said before leaving.
*gunship whirring outside*
"You guys seriously sent a gunship too?"
"Considering that you're the administrator, why not?" Becker said.
"I see. Well then, get that gunship outta here and get back to your post now"
"Alright, see you at the Citadel" Becker replied before making the gunship leave before leaving too.
"May I ask though, who is better, Kanzashi or Tatenashi?" Rin asked.
"Um… I guess it's still Tatenashi"
"'Still' Tatenashi?" the harem said.
"Like I said before, her figure is nice, she's not afraid to be blunt, she doesn't do what you guys just did, and I like her smile"
"That hurts even more than the first time I heard it" Kanzashi said.
"Ugh!" the rest of the harem expressed.
"And she's really playful"
"What do you mean by 'playful'?" Laura asked.
"Oh… um… i-it's complicated"
"I knew it! You've been doing malicious things with her behind my back!" Cecilia said.
"It's not that. H-How about you guys dress up as catgirls and stay with me too?"
"W-What?!" the harem said.
"Please?" Ichika said with a smile whilst having both his arms around both Kanzashi and Tatenashi, which made Kanzashi embarrassed and Tatenashi becoming more 'aroused'.
"…Alright, we'll do it, but you have to keep this a secret" Houki said which the harem agreed with.
Meanwhile, where Becker is…
"Another threat controlled by Ichika… I'm glad he's doing something" he said while walking back to the Citadel.
"Becker!" Chifuyu shouted.
"Hey, good to see you"
"Has this threat been dealt with?"
"Just Ichika and the girls in what was presumably a 'heated' rivalry"
"Okay… well then, how are you doing?"
"I'm okay, just headed back to my personal quarters"
"Oh. Can you perhaps… show me what your quarters look like?"
"…"
*Flashback*
Becker used to have a girlfriend named Amelia when he was working in City 14, presuming that Civil Protection officers had their own personal quarters and which they can decorate on their own. Amelia was also a Civil Protection officer.
"Alright, you've seen my personal quarters. Now, let me in yours" Amelia said.
"Okay…" Becker said before opening up his door.
Becker's room was full of anime girls, as he was what society called a "weeb". Before he became an enthusiastic extrovert, he was an introvert, only talking to those he was really close to. He would only talk when he was asked to, but other than that, he would never talk.
"I-I think it's better if we stay friends" Amelia said.
"By the fact that my quarters still looks like this, I guess so"
"I find it weird that your superiors allowed you to keep all of this"
"You weren't the first to see this, y'know?"
"Wait, what?"
"Sofia and Emilia have seen this too"
"And how did that end up?"
"The same as what's happening right now"
"I see. Well… is it okay if I take my leave now?"
"Yeah, go ahead" Becker said before Amelia left.
"Man, I wish I could show someone all of this without it always ending up with a break-up"
*Flashback end*
"Maybe I'll show you my quarters another time, that okay with you?"
"That's okay, but why?"
"It's… complicated"
"Okay, that's okay"
"Alright, guess I'll be… on my way now?"
"Oh, yeah, yeah, sure"
"See you later then"
"We still on for Saturday?" Chifuyu asked.
"Yeah. See ya!"
The next day…
Class had started with Ichika studying for a while. Due to what happened the other day, Ichika wouldn't stop staring at Houki, which made her embarrassed and made most of the other girls jealous. By the time class was done and they were on break, Ichika went up to Houki.
"You wanna go eat with me?" Ichika asked.
"A-Are you sure?"
"Yeah! I mean, remember what happened yesterday?"
"Don't be so loud!"
Yesterday…
The entire harem got into the same bed Ichika was in and started acting like cats, to which Ichika happily enjoyed his 'luxurious' life. He was really relaxed to the point he let his guard down, causing Tatenashi to lick him on the cheek, to which Ichika said "Um… Tatenashi, what are you doing?" to which Tatenashi just smiled and said "Don't cats lick?" before licking Ichika again. When they thought they were completely safe and no one would never find out what was happening, Becker and Chifuyu unknowingly came in.
"See, I told you he was…" Becker said before looking straight at Ichika and the harem in shock.
"L-Lieutenant! I can explain!"
"No, no, this is none of my business. Enjoy the rest of your evening, colonel" Becker said before running straight out the door.
"So, I see all of you are at this stage" Chifuyu said.
"W-Wait, Orimura-sensei! This isn't what you think!" the harem said.
"As long as you don't cause any problems, I'll leave you guys to it" Chifuyu said before leaving.
"Man, I wish I got to see her in a cat outfit too" Ichika said.
"I-Ichika, what's gotten into you? You normally get embarrassed on what we do to you, but you're different this time" Tatenashi said.
"I don't know why I'm like this, I guess it's because of a long day of work. I-I guess I'm sorry, you know, for acting like a pervert to all of you, I'm sorry for making you guys dress up in cat outfits"
"W-Wait! There's no need to feel sorry, we actually liked it!" Charles said which made the rest agree with her.
"You did? Well, okay. It was nice being with all of you. You guys were really cute" Ichika said which made the harem have a smile on their faces. "Well… guess I'm gonna go to sleep now, after all, we still have classes tomorrow and we don't want Chifuyu-nee to be pissed off, right?"
"R-Right, see you tomorrow, then" the harem said before leaving, except Charles, since she was Ichika's roommate.
"Ch-Charles?"
"Yeah?"
"Could you perhaps… sleep beside me tonight?"
"W-What?"
"You don't want to? Okay, goodnight then"
"W-Wait! I'll sleep beside you" Charles said before getting in the same bed with Ichika.
"Mind if… I hug you?" Ichika asked but just hugged her without hesitation.
"Ichika, you pervert"
"You don't want a hug? Okay"
"W-Wait! I do like it!"
"Haha, I knew it. Goodnight, Charles"
"G-Goodnight"
Today…
"Loud? Pretty sure I wasn't"
"Just forget that, please?"
"…Okay, now come on! Let's go eat together!" Ichika said before pulling Houki away.
Later…
Ichika was on the rooftop with Houki eating together. Ichika knew that a tournament was coming up and decided that he would do something he could never do, and that was to go out with the winner of the tournament, and rooted for Houki.
"H-How are you feeling?" Houki asked.
"I'm okay since I got to eat alone with you"
"O-Oh…" Houki said and blushed.
"Houki, I'm gonna announce something to the class later"
"Oh, what is it?"
"It's an announcement, remember?"
"S-Sorry…" Houki said with a worried face.
"What's with the face?"
"I don't know… I feel you may announce that you're gonna leave again"
"No, no, that's not it"
"Are you-" Houki said.
"Houki…" Ichika said before hugging Houki.
"I-Ichika…"
"Yes?"
"W-What are you doing?"
"I thought hugs can make people feel happier, especially since I'm the one hugging you"
"Oh…"
"I… I'm just gonna tell you what I was gonna announce later"
"What is it, then?"
"I'm… I thought of something a while back"
"I made the decision that I will go out with the winner of the next tournament"
"W-What?"
"And you better win this, Houki"
"D-Does this mean…?"
"I made a promise, remember? I keep my promises"
"Th-Thank you, Ichika…"
"Now, shall we get back to the classroom?"
"…"
"M-Maybe after a m-minute"
"Okay"
A minute later…
Ichika was standing in front of everyone in the classroom but had not said anything. The harem was wondering why he was just standing there, with some having the same thought that he was going to leave again. However, Chifuyu knew what he was going to announce. Ichika stood in front for two full minutes before saying "Alright, I have an announcement…" before the other girls started asking "Are you leaving again?" and "Are you in love with someone?".
"All of you! Quiet!" Chifuyu said.
"Thank you, Chifuyu-nee. Now, where was I?"
"You said you had an announcement…" Laura said.
"Right. Everyone, I have decided…"
"Yes…?" everyone said.
"I have decided that whoever wins the next tournament, gets to go out with me!"
"What? Really?!" everyone started asking.
"I'm very sure, right, Houki?"
"Oh, what…? Yeah, yeah, he's very sure"
"You knew about this?" Rin asked.
"She did ever since we ate alone on the rooftop"
"You what?!" the harem said.
"And when I hugged her for more than five minutes…"
"What?!" everyone said.
"And I could do the same thing to one of you IF you win the tournament, okay?"
"I'm definitely winning this!" one of them said.
"I'd like to see you try!" Cecilia said.
"Oh yeah? I'm gonna destroy all of you!" Laura said.
The girls kept arguing and arguing over which one of them would win until Chifuyu shut them up again. Ichika then said "There's a catch, though" to which everyone asked what was the catch.
"The catch is that if you wanna spend the whole day with me, you have to wear a cat outfit!" Ichika said as he looked at his harem.
"Wait, what? No!" Charles said.
"Are you sure you don't wanna go out with me?"
"Grrr… I'll do it" Charles replied.
"And how about the rest of you? Hmm?"
"W-We'll do it!" everyone said.
"Good, now that is all, and enjoy the rest of your day!" Ichika said before sitting down.
After class…
Ichika had gone out fast to go talk with one of his troops, which turned out to be a woman, but she wasn't an assassin, she was one of the new Civil Protection officers, as the Advisors' had ordered Ichika to start recruiting people to become part of the Infinite Stratos' universe's Civil Protection. She was the leader of one of the 600 new Civil Protection teams all around the globe.
"How's life as a Civil Protection officer going?" Ichika asked.
"It's going pretty good. I like wearing this uniform, makes me look intimidating"
"That's the point of it"
"Well, all these people can't find out about the truth of the Union, right?" the Civil Protection officer asked.
"They can't, and you have to make sure of that"
"So, I also heard you were Becker's ex-girlfriend, right?"
"Yeah, I was"
"Y-You're… Emilia, right? Emilia Schmidt?"
And there it was, one of the "new" Civil Protection officers turned out to be Emilia, Becker's ex-girlfriend who was now on off-world relocation.
"That's right, so I heard Becker became a charger?"
"Yeah, and my personal bodyguard"
"It's nice to see that he's a higher-ranking now"
"I guess it is"
"Tell him I said 'hi', okay?" Emilia said before leaving.
Ichika thought no one had seen them, but the harem saw him and got jealous of Emilia. "So, he's going out with his own troops?" Laura jealously said. "Let's talk to him when he gets to the cafeteria" Charles said.
To the cafeteria!
Ichika had sat down and relaxed himself, but his relaxation was short-lived as the entire harem sat with him.
"Oh, what brings you guys here?" Ichika asked.
"We were wondering what you were talking about with your 'girlfriend' back there…" Charles said.
"Oh, what girlfriend? Unless one of you is the one I'm gonna go out with once the tournament ends, remember?"
"Hehehe… now tell us" Charles said as she gave Ichika her demonic smile.
"T-Tell you what?"
"You're going out with one of your own soldiers and ditching us, are you?" Cecilia said.
"Wait, you mean Emilia? That's Becker's ex-girlfriend"
"Oh, what?" the harem said.
"She was his second girlfriend"
"O-Oh! Sorry, Ichika, we shouldn't have made such wild assumptions!" Laura said.
"It's okay, she's short so it may seem like she's the same age as you guys"
"And who are you talking about this time?" Becker asked out of nowhere.
"Oh, lieutenant!"
"Yeah?"
"Emilia says hi"
Becker froze and stood there in confusion as to how Ichika knew his ex-girlfriend before straight-up asking him "H-How do you know my ex-girlfriend?"
"She's on off-world relocation and got assigned here, thought you should know that"
"Shit, shit, shit!"
"Why?"
"I normally get embarrassed when I'm around women I used to go out with, especially with her! I spent a lot of time with her!"
"I don't see why you should be so-" Ichika said.
"Leutnant!" Emilia shouted.
"Fuck! What should I do, what should I do?"
"Lieutenant, you're not being normal"
"Then what am I supposed to do?"
"Be confident. Act like you're talking to a friend, but leave out the inappropriate parts"
"Alright. I got this, I got this…"
"Hey, Becker! Schön dich nach was wieder zu sehen? Zwei, drei Jahre...?" Emilia said.
"Sgt. Schmidt, schön dich wieder zu sehen" Becker said in a flaky tone.
"I like listening to this conversation, mind if you guys speak English?"
"Of course, colonel" both said.
"…It's TSgt. Schmidt now"
"Oh. H-How's your life been going?"
"It's going great, now that I'm on another Earth"
"'Another' Earth?" Houki asked.
"This isn't the only Earth, there are thousands of other universes that contain different versions of you guys, with different personalities, with different traits"
"S-She's right"
While talking, Chifuyu had noticed Emilia, unaware that she was Becker's ex-girlfriend and assumed that they were talking about Overwatch-related stuff but immediately realized that they wouldn't be talking anything Overwatch-related when the harem was around and went right up to them thinking Becker was hitting on someone else.
"I was wondering what all the noise from this side was all about, I didn't know you guys were here" Chifuyu said.
"Chifuyu, h-hey!" Becker said in the same flaky tone.
"May I ask, who are you?" Chifuyu asked Emilia.
"I'm TSgt. Emilia Schmidt, a captain of a local Civil Protection unit and…!"
"And what?"
"I used to be the girlfriend of Lt. Becker here"
"I'm sorry, what?"
"I was the SECOND girlfriend of Becker over here"
"Second, how many did you have?" Chifuyu asked Becker.
"Y-You're the fourth one already" Becker replied.
"What?!"
"Chifuyu, I'm sorry, I should've told you"
"Why didn't you tell me this earlier?!"
"Up, up, up, lemme tell you something, first" Emilia said.
"What is it?"
"He wants to forget anything he thinks is 'bad' in his memory, so he chose to also forget the break-ups as that made him depressed"
"O-Oh…"
"But if there's one thing I know, the lieutenant over here can be trusted, he's kind-hearted, and you should take advantage of that"
"I see…" Chifuyu said before looking at Becker "I'm sorry, Becker, I just seem to become possessive when I'm around you. I grew up with Ichika my whole life that I treasure the people who I trust a lot and I trust you, forgive me".
"It's alright, Ichika told me how much you struggled after your parents abandoned you guys, I shared the same fate except my mother left my dad and I when I was very young"
"I'm sorry…"
"And Chifuyu, act strong, these students see you as an inspiration, except for the beatings, of course"
"Hahaha, I know. Especially Laura, she sees me as her idol"
"Is that true?" Becker asked Laura.
"T-That's right"
"By the way, where's Watanabe? I haven't seen him for two days"
"He was sent to stamp down a rebellion in the 'Zulu' universe"
"So, did they succeed?"
"Yeah, he'll be back in a week"
"Good"
"I guess… I'll see all of you later?" Becker asked.
"Lunch time's almost ending, so me and the girls have to get back to the classrooms" Chifuyu said.
"I'll get back to patrolling" Emilia said.
"And how 'bout you, Ichika?" Becker asked.
"I guess I'll stay for the rest of the day"
"Copy, I'll be on my way now" Becker said before everyone left and he left.