Chapter 1: Genesis
Ichika Orimura, the first ever male I.S pilot, was having a normal day like any other. Waking up, taking a shower, eating breakfast, it was all the same. He had this routine for years now and it hasn't changed. At least, that's what he wanted to think. His routine has drastically changed than what he used to have.
His sleeping hours became shorter, he became tired faster than he normally would. He brushed his teeth more sloppily, making it prone to more bacteria and his breath stink a bit. He didn't have any appetite to eat breakfast, making him grow hungry faster. These were all signs leading towards mental decline.
He didn't know how it happened. Things were all going normally in one day, then all come crashing down the next. He didn't now what was the cause of it or how to prevent it. He wanted to get some help, but was to afraid to do so. He didn't want to worry anybody about his own problems.
No matter, he'll deal with it later as he was soon approaching his class. It was the start of the second year so a lot of new theoretical and practical things were needed to be learn. It was gonna be hard, especially with the immense pressure from the world and the academy, but he was gonna fight through it. Made easier with his frien-
"Ichika! You're late again!" As he opened the door, he was met with a big military grade rifle pointed right at his head. "What the hell took you so long?" She questioned.
"Look, point the gun away and I'll explain…" He nervously requested.
"Not until you answer my question!" She shoved the barrel closer to his head.
"*Sigh* It's that, I slept too late." Ichika sighed, there was no convincing these girls.
"Don't sleep too late again okay? You're getting us worried for no reason!" She then shoved the barrel full force, knocking him over, his butt flat on the ground. She then put away her gun, making it shrink to fit inside a little necklace.
"Ugh, I hate my life." He whispered. This was normal. Everyday, anything that he does slightly wrong, like being late, misunderstandings, doing the assignment wrong, talking to other girls, he was always berated for it. And not the kind of verbal berating, no, physical. It got so bad, he even ended up in the hospital at one point, all because he chatted with a senior, who happened to be a girl.
Speaking of 'these girls', they are the harem to Ichika Orimura. Houki shinonono, who is his first childhood friend and longtime friend. She was born in Japan and her sister is the creator of the I.S. Then we have Cecilia Alcott, who is the representative of Britain. She is good at piano and the violin, but terrible at cooking, like, really terrible.
Next is Lingyin Huang who is the representative of China. She's the second childhood friend of our protagonist and is really good at cooking Chinese dishes, due to the fact that her family owns a restaurant. Our fourth girl is Charlotte Dunios who is the representative of France. She originally came to the academy to spy on Ichika by disguising as a boy, but was easily caught. Due to him being the only male pilot, her dad was curious and sent Charlotte as a spy.
And finally, we have Laura Bodewig. She's the representative of Germany and was secretly a military experiment design to pilot the I.S better from an early age. She then got enrolled to the academy. She had a rough start with the cast, but eventually gave in and started socializing with them, easily getting accepted into the Ichika fanclub.
Now with all that said, why does Ichika Orimura seem to hate his life? Well, he has everything. A loving sister, a harem, an education in an all-girls school, the only male pilot, it's a dream come true! That is until, you start to see what it really is in the Infinite Stratos Academy.
The girl that had just berated was the hotheaded Lingyin. Her attitude is by far the worst according to Ichika. Though, he doesn't tell anyone. He keeps these thoughts and emotion all bottled up. He got up and picked up his bag, saying sorry to the teacher for being late. He walked and sat down on his seat, starting the class and learning as usual.
Time passed, and it was now lunch break. He went to the cafeteria where they have provided food for the students, some students like to cook at home and bring it to school, but he isn't really in the mood to cook in the mornings, or, any time lately.
"Maybe I should start cooking again." He wondered. "I've been eating a lot of junk food lately, I should get back to my former self." He got his food and went to the rooftop, the only place where he ever liked eating. He didn't like eating in the cafeteria due to the flock of girls swarming to him to try and eat with him. Added with his Ichika fanclub coming in and abusing him for it.
"Haaa, some nice peace and quiet." He relaxes and decides to dig in on his meal. He didn't have any breakfast this morning so he was feeling very hungry. But his peace and quiet was short lived when a very energetic and teasing girl came into the picture.
"Hi ichika-kun~" A light blue haired girl with crimson eyes said her greetings towards the pilot.
"Oh, hey Tatenashi-san." He unenthusiastically greeted back. Her name was Tatenashi Sarashiki. She is the representative of Russia and is considered to be the best pilot in the whole of the academy. She even has a twin sister named Kanzashi Sarashiki whose whole personality is the opposite of hers, quiet and timid. She's also the president of the student council.
"Why so down Ichika-kun? Are you not happy to see your favorite and voluptuous friend?" She faked beating sad and teased him by shoving her chest in front of his face. Oh yeah, she's also very teasing.
"U-um, of course I'm happy to see you. It's just that, I was in the middle of eating." He blushed at her gesture but compiled himself up to answer.
"Ah really? Well, sorry for interrupting." She poked her cheek and winked, trying to look and act cute. "But seriously, why do you always eat here? I've noticed that you started ever since the last month." Tatenashi broke her character and asked him a question regarding his habit of eating alone.
"Ah well, it's because of noise in the cafeteria. I like a bit of peace and quietness when it comes to eating." He stuttered coming up an excuse. Trying not to say that he doesn't like all the crowd of people swarming to him or his friends.
"Hmm, alright then." Tatenashi could see the hesitance in his voice and the slight nervousness on his face, but she decided not to pursue any further. She then sat down next to him.
"You don't eating together right~" She sat close to him, he blushed. "U-uh, n-no."
"Great!" She hugged his arm. Honestly, the reason why she stuck with him for so long was because of the fact that he gets flustered so easily. She would kill to see that face anyday and everyday.
He started eating again, albeit, a bit harder this time due to a very cute girl hugging his arm. Especially when her assets were pressed against it. He continued eating as usual before it laser passed him. Wait a minute, lasers aren't supposed to be fired at a rooftop indescrimanetly!
He looked back and saw five, very angry and psychotic girls. And all that anger was directed at him.
"Ichika, dear, why are you up here with her?" Cecilia asked in sickeningly sweet way. Her eyes devoid of life.
"Yes Ichika, why are you here with her of all people?" Houki got her wooden katana out and pointed it right at him.
"Ichika! As your groom, I will help you dispose of this vile creature!" Laura announced and then turned into her I.S.
Actually, all of them turned into some form of their I.S. Some changed halfway, like their arms, while others fully changed into the military weapon. Unsurprisingly, to Ichika at least, they all charged at him In anger.
Houki charge in with only her arms changed to better handle and amplify the power of her katana. While Cecilia opeted for a more distant approach and summoned her sniper aiming towards to poor man.
Laura and Lingyin had decided to turn fully into their I.S. taking out weapons of mass destruction that could easily destroy a city if they wanted to. Laura used her homing missiles while Lingyin took out her prog knife from her shoulder, going for the melee attack. Charlotte decided to go for the standard assault rifle as she summoned hers in her hand. With their weapons at hand, they all came towards the boy who was denser than a black hole.
"I hate my life." He whispered unconsciously. He then morphed a bit of Byakushiki, only forming her shield. He blocked some the incoming attacks, but somehow a rocket had pierced beside him and blew him up, severely injuring his left arm.
"Aaaaahhhhh!" He screamed In pained, his cries for help had traveled throughout the academy. He closed his eyes, trying to hold onto the pain. But then, he heard some silent cries. He opened his eyes and what he saw broke his heart.
"*hiss* damn it, it hurts." It was Tatenashi. Her leg had gotten hit from some of the shrapnel. She whispered in pain, trying not to alert anyone. He saw her, in pain, because of them. He wanted to help her, he wanted to get up and comfort her, but can't . All he could do was wallow in pain.
"Damn it! I'm so useless! So dense, so selfish." He thought in his head. "Why can't I just get up and help her, why do I only care about my own pain. I'm so god damn useless."
"Ichika!" The girls all collectively gasped in shock. They all heard him scream and stopped immediately, and once they saw him all hurdled up in pain, their hearts were broken. They then immediately changed back into their normal attire and ran up to him, checking if he's okay.
"Ichika, are you alright?" Lingyin asked. "Do you think, I look okay." He bit through the pain, and sarcastically answered. "Damn it Ichika! I'm trying to help you idiot!"
"Tatenashi!" Charlotte then notice the limping Tatenashi trying to walk towards them, Charlotte ran to her and put her(Tatenashi) arm around her shoulder.
"We have to get these two to the infirmary quick!" Charlotte said as she carried the limping pilot on her shoulder.
The girls agreed and carried Ichika to the emergency room, still having time to complain on who gets to carry him. They all arrived shortly after. A nurse who was minding her own business heard tons of footsteps coming towards her. She looked up and soon enough she saw the groaning Ichika and the limping Tatenashi.
"Oh my goodness! What happened to them?" She gasped. "Sasha! Call the stretches stat!" She called her coworker to get the stretches to carry them to the ER.
"Please explain to me what happened."
"Well, we were playing on the roof and a missile was blown up beside them." Lingyin explained, glossing over more critical details.
The stretches arrived and the girls put the duo on them. "Don't worry, we'll get them fixed in no time." The nurse reassured them and brought the victim's to the ER. They all stood there, nervous and scared on their conditions.
Chaos, discord everywhere. Flames erupted, the world was in panic. Every world government was in fear, fear at the situation, fear at the future.
The ground was in rubble, as a man with dark blue hair, Walked in the endless debris. He didn't know where he was, he didn't know how he became to be, but all he knows, is that the goal, was just up ahead.
He walked, he walked some more. He was getting closer to the goal that he was striving for. He didn't care what people say, he didn't care about what others think, he finally discovers the truth. The consequences, the failure, the karma. It all leads up to this.
"ICHIKA!"
Ichika awoke as he had been asleep ever since he was injected with anesthesia. He opened his eyes, seeing the surroundings of his room. He then looked at his now bandaged arm, contemplating on life.
"How has my life lead to this?" He wondered. "Abuse, torment, pressure. Is it all worth it in the end? Who am I trying to impress?"
"Am I living? Or am I surviving?" He looked away from his hand, trying not to look deep into it any further. He scanned the room some more and saw familiar looking blue hair. He looked and saw Tatenashi asleep on her bed.
"Tatenashi…" He whispered. "I totally forgot about her. Man, what a terrible person I am." He then noticed her eyes flickering a bit. She then fully opened them, getting up and scanning the room like he did. She looked around at saw Ichika sitting on the bed next to her.
"Ichika-kun…" She whispered, but he heard it. "Hey, Tatenashi. Are you okay?" He responded, asking her if she's okay.
"Ye-yeah, what about you?" She stuttered a bit, and asked if he's okay as well. "Yes, I'm fine too."
"Look, sorry for not helping you earlier. I just decided to watch instead of disarming the situation. I should've done better as the president." She confessed, "And a friend." She added lastly.
"Its fine." It's not fine. "I should've talked to those girls to calm down instead of engaging in battle." I didn't engage, I was protecting myself.
"You really shouldn't blame yourself y'know." Tatenashi got worried by his nonchalant excuse of blaming himself.
"Am I?" He questioned innocently. "Yes you are, dummy." Tatenashi chuckled at his denseness. "Oh, then I'm sorry." He apologized.
"*Sigh* You're never gonna change, do you." She muttered. For as long as they've been friends, she has noticed his habit of apologizing, even if it's not his fault or something insignificant. It can be a bother sometimes when he doesn't get the jokes she's making.
"Oh, it seems that you two are finally awake." A nurse who was on duty came to check her patients, and saw the two now fully awaken. "Hmm, let me see." She got her clipboard out too check something.
"Hmm, ah, here it is. Patient Ichika Orimura and Tatenashi Sarashiki. Am I correct?" They both nodded. "Well, it seems that you two are in medications until the next day. Your absence will be excused." She explained.
"Wait, does Ms. Orimura know about me?" he asked. He knew his sister was always worried about him, even something as insignificant as a paper cut, she would always be there for him.
"Uhh, yes, she does. She actually visited you hours ago." She notified. Wait, hours?
"Um, miss, how long have we been in here?"
"Well, you two were brought in here at 10:30. Currently, it's 6 o'clock . So, roughly 8 hours and 30 minutes." She answered.
Man, has it really been 9 hours? It didn't feel like it. I mean, he was asleep for so long that he got into rem sleep, producing that nightmare for him. Nightmare.
"Was it really a nightmare?" He went into deep thought. It didn't feel like one, usually, he would scream, cry in terror, at the images that were presented to him. But that, it didn't have that impact. It felt, more like a dream. He didn't feel fear, he felt brave. He didn't feel terror, he felt happiness. He didn't feel like it was a nightmare, it felt like a dream. A dream.
Was it really a dream? The world around him was on fire, the buildings all turned into rubble. He even heard cries, maybe cries of help or fear, maybe even both. And that voice. Who was that? who called him at the end? was it his friends? was it his sister? He didn't know. For all he knows, what he just had wasn't a dream, it was anything but. He didn't feel like it was a dream or a nightmare, it felt like it was both. A dream and a nightmare.
"Uh, Ichika-kun?" Tatenashi poked him. He jumped a bit. "Um, enjoy your food." She pointed at the food in front of him. Wait, how did that get there? Was he so deep in thought that he forgot about his surroundings?
"Oh, uh, sorry about that. I was just, deep in my thoughts. That's all." He stammered, coming up with an answer. I mean, he wasn't lying. He was deep in thought.
"Heh, how long has it been? 6 months? 6 months, and I still don't get you." She teased. "You really are something else, Ichika ~"
"U-um, hey, le-let's just start eating, shall we?" He stuttered. He really couldn't handle any of her teases. It's like his ultimate weakness.
"Haha, yeah, let's, shall we?" she grabbed her fork, digging in on the meal they gave. He did the same, only this time, be used chopsticks. They both ate until they were full, and talked to each other about topics at hand, occasionally getting visited by the nurse who checked up on them and took away their rubbish.
They chopped onions until they were tired, it was late at night now. They both agreed to sleep and bid goodnight to each other. The nurse had closed down the lights, making it easier to sleep. They both layed down, going into deep slumber, with Ichika having more peculiar dreams.
-0-
It was the next day. Tatenashi had woken up first admiring thee sleeping black hole beside her and admiring the Sunshine that was emitting from the nearby window. She decided not to wake him up as she not only wanted to see more of his sleeping face, but also wanted to be nice.
She waited for few minutes, just doing nothing. She didn't have a book, a pen or paper, or even a friend to talk to. She was just, Tatenashi, alone on the bed, waiting for the nurse to come. Of course, in the pursuit to eliminate to emotion of boredom, her mind on instinct began to think. Thinking about life, people, the world, anything really.
"Hmm, Ichika's really cute~" She thought. "Well, that's kinda obvious." She looked at him. "Though, I still wonder how he even got to pilot an I.S"
This was still speculated and discussed among many scientists and world governments. The Infinite Stratos can only be operated by a female, so haw was a male even begin summoning it and piloting it. Was it because he was chosen? But how can machines choose? Was it because he's feelings were that of a girl? But, sometimes women have that feeling too, and they still can operate. Her head was spinning and coming up with theories on the boy's ability.
Soon after, the nurse from last night had entered the room. "Hello there. Sorry for being late a bit, I overslept haha." She apologized, Tatenashi dismissed it. "Well, it seems that you don't have to be on this bed anymore. But you two still do need to take additional medicine to kill the pain and heal it faster." She added.
"Thank you, miss-?" She gave her thanks but didn't know her name yet. Should've asked sooner. "Miss Fuyutsuki." She smiled. "Thank you, Ms. Fuyutsuki." She returned the smile.
"You're welcome. Now, could you please that man over there and we'll be on our way." She pointed at the sleeping Ichika. "Don't worry, I got it."
"Ichika darling, wake up~" She whispered in his ear and blew a hot breath, causing him to wake up. He flickered his eyes open and felt some unusual hot wind blowing in his left ear. He checked and wouldn't you know it, it's Tatenashi.
"Aaaahhhh!" He jumped. "Ahh- Ooww!" He didn't realize that his arm was still hurting and felt the jolting pain when he hit it on the wall. "*Hiss* Ah, crap." He hissed in pain.
"Oh Ichika, never change." She teased and went up to him to help. She comforted him by hugging him on the side and patting his back. He silently appreciated it.
"*Sigh* Well, at least the pain seems to be going away." Fuyutsuki sighed. "You two get up, we'll get your new medicine down the hall." She motioned her head towards the door.
"Yes, we'll get there right away." Tatenashi acknowledged. "C'mon Ichika, let's get Lil'ol you some medicine" She said to him like he was a baby. He blushed beet red, seeing his reaction made her chuckle.
The two finally got up, with Fuyutsuki leading the way. They got their prescribed medicine at the counter, getting explained the details, how much and when to eat them, etc. The signed some forms and got out of the infirmary. Without saying goodbye to their nurse of course.
"Ah finally, we get to leave and walk all we want!" Tatenashi declare taken a few short strides, before tripping over as the pain in her leg had caught her up. That is before Ichika had noticed and swooped in to the safety.
"Woah, careful there. You're still recovering y'know ." He charmingly said, not noticing his tone. "And you are too~" Tatenashi fired back as she pointed at his left arm, which was all bandaged up.
"Hahaha. Well, guess we're both the same." He pulled her up, balancing her just in case she falls again. "Looks like you need help." He sees her trying to hold in the pain as her left leg was shaking a bit.
"You caught me." She poked her cheek. "Well prince charming, what're you gonna do about it?" She poked his cheek next.
"You always make things hard y'know." He sighed and pushed away her finger. He put her arm around him and wrapped his bandaged arm around her waist, essentially making himself her living crutch.
"Huhu, I didn't know Ichika-kun was so daring~" She cooed. "How will the others think about this." She can already see the jealous faces the girls are gonna make, oh how she strives on that.
"Le-let's just start walking okay." He blushed and started, making Tatenashi smile even more. He looked away in embarrassment and the two begin to start walking towards their classes. Not noticing that someone was watching from a distance.
"Miss, the target has been secured." A mysterious woman with grey hair spoke to her landline phone.
"Good. Have you noticed any type of behavior that he posses?" Another mysterious woman spoke from the other side of the line.
"Yes, he apparently has a low self esteem, is easily intimated, and is very attached to his friends." The grey haired girl answered.
"Good, good. I will be notifying when I will intercept. Your job here is done. Congratulations. Goodbye, for now." The woman form the other line said her farewels and stopped the communication.
"So, it seems, that it has started." The mysterious woman spoke in stoic way, cracking a very small and over so slightly smile.
"Prepare, Ichika Orimura. For the conclusion is coming closer than you think." She then got off from her chair and headed towards and elevator. Getting inside and ascending towards the upper floors.
This, was the genesis of her scenario.
Author's note:
Hey everyone, hope you like this first chapter of the fic. It's probably gonna be like, 5 to 6 chapters long, but who knows. If you have any comments or criticism, please let me know in the comment section. Oh and I do not own Infinite Stratos.
Thank you and see ya later!