Prologue 3 - ...and Bagged


"Guys, I think we're in trouble."

Ryo and Davion looked over at their blonde compatriot in the kitchen. He was washing the dishes, the three of them fresh from eating breakfast and were simply relaxing before they had to go to their day jobs.

"What do you mean?" Davion asked, finally piecing the head of an RG Kazu 2 together.

It felt so surreal to see what should have been Mobile Suits be turned into IS-themed mecha. The large humanoid war machines of the series' namesake were shrunk down into skimpy exo-suits piloted exclusively by females. The 'Kazu' or whatever they called the Zakus of this world looked so...generic that both he and his fellow Gundam enthusiast nearly had a stroke upon seeing them. Even worse was that any anime, or anime analogue to the Gundam franchise, seemed like a parody to them. The franchise had lost its soul, having been replaced with overly naïve and bland rhetoric that it was more akin to a Saturday morning cartoon.

...Which it was in this world.

He could still remember the night where he and the blonde found that fact out. They were looking up any mentions of a Gundam franchise in order to avoid any future copyright problems when they stumbled across 'GunGirl'. Ephraim nearly had a stroke upon seeing the storylines, outright frothing at the mouth the further he read. When he saw the mecha designs, the mechanic barely held himself back from tossing the throwaway laptop out the window of the cheap motel they were staying in.

"They turned Gundam into some sort of Macross Delta and Darling in the Franxx combo abomination!"

"Where is the armor? Where is my god damned armor?!"

And throughout their tantrum, Ryo merely watched as he sipped his can of coffee. He was content in watching the two mecha nerds convulse on the floor in a mix of rage and despair.

"I met Chifuyu while I was tending the bar in the InterContinental." Ephraim turned to them with a troubled look, the lollipop stick between his lips moving about erratically. It was a tic of his, displaying his unease at their situation. He's been doing that a lot since they woke up in this reality, mainly due to the fact that there was a veritable 'Big Brother' in the world.

Specifically, a Big Sister.

"When?" Ryo asked, a sense of dread blooming in the pit of his stomach.

Wiping his hands on the towel hanging on the front pocket of his apron, the blonde teen sighed as he removed the stick from between his lips. "Friday night. She came in wearing this stunning dress and with her hair down. Introduced herself as Madoka Orimura."

Snap!

The stick broke between his fingers, his jaw tense due to the surge of rage that accompanied the name. "Bullshit, that was totally Chifuyu. There's no way that-!" He took a deep breath, holding a finger up as he pushed down the bubbling explosive anger. "Sorry, you know how that name affects me."

"Friday-? Dude." Ryo sat up straight from his slouch on the couch. "I delivered a package for Maya Yamada in the afternoon."

All of them exchanged wide-eyed looks-

Beep!

-before the coffee machine sounded off, causing Ephraim to jolt and raise his fists.

...

"...Overreaction much?" The green-eyed teen commented dryly, his earlier dread having been washed away by his friend's somewhat comical action.

"Shut it." Easing from his stance, the blonde poured the coffee into Ryo's mug. Setting aside the sack of Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee beans, the barista then shut off the machine.

"So...what're we gonna do?" Davion asked, his attention fully away from his model kit.

"I think we should just...go on with our daily lives." Ryo offered, nodding his thanks to Ephraim when walked over and handed him the coffee. "If they notice that we're suddenly tense around them or that we disappear for no reason? That'll get them to come after us for sure." He took a sip from the mug, uncaring of the scalding heat, and visibly shuddered as the caffeine entered his body. A pleased grin stretched his lips, and he let out a long sigh as his body warmed up.

"With Tabane on their side, it'll only be a matter of time before they corner us anyway if we ever did decide to run." The blonde teen grumbled, leaning up on the couch as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Hey, do you think that this is probably gonna lead us to...I don't know, being involved with canon finally?" Davion asked, leaning back on his hands as he sat on the floor. Winter was setting in, and he would forever praise whoever designed heated flooring.

Ryo and Ephraim were quiet for a good minute before the latter palmed his face.

"Ffffffffuuuuuck." He hissed, the sound joining with the courier's long suffering sigh.


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And so the three continued with their day to day routines.

Davion occasionally spied a street camera aimed at him while he worked at the garage or when he was simply walking around. At times he waved out of a whim, and other times he just ignored it. Between his mechanic job and his underground pit fights, he didn't need the thought of Tabane watching his every move to distract him. Ignorance was bliss, even if it was just for a short time.

He did bump into 'Maiko' whenever he wandered Akihabara and Odaiba for Model Kit Hobbyist shops. The mechanic knew who she really was but kept quiet about it, preferring treat her as a fellow model kit enthusiast that whoever she was supposed to be. She was still shy around him, largely wary due to him simply towering over her, and the fact that he had patches and band-aids on his face that made him seem like a delinquent every time they met up. But their shared passion for creating custom figures helped her get over a majority of that fear. Online, however, they were much more comfortable with each other. Emailing one another about newest model kit releases or simply exchanging tips and tricks on weathering and painting, they talked hours of their lives away ever since that faithful day in August when he knocked her over.

The mechanic was confident enough to say that they were firmly friends by now. He was also very glad to have someone who knows how to talk shop concerning kits, since his roommates didn't share his passion.


Ryo was busy with his jobs, which consisted of courier service and food delivery. He had to explain to his bosses about his 'plight', that being of an orphaned university student working his hardest to earn money, so that he could have a special schedule that would balance out both jobs. Aside from that time Maya ordered that special toolbox, no other staff member from the IS Academy ordered from his courier company. Though he may not have had made contact with any other staff, he did make contact with one of the cast members.

Ichika Orimura.

The protagonist had ordered two large pizzas, one of them Hawaiian and the other a plain Margarita, on Friday night. Ryo was not looking forward to meeting him, mainly due to his deep-seated dislike for Harem Protagonists, but a delivery was a delivery. He took his scooter to a decent sub-urban neighborhood, one that...honestly looked like one of the many generic protag houses in anime. Which it was, actually. So upon ringing the doorbell, he plastered on his best smile and waited for the dense boy to open the door.

When it did, green locked on to brown and he nearly jumped out of his skin as he realized who it was.

Chifuyu had opened the door.

They had a brief stare down before he handed her the pizzas, belting out the usual slogans as she read the receipt. The shorter woman was silent as she handed him the yen. It was only then that the younger brother poked his head out, thanking him with an apologetic grin before his sister dragged him back inside.

Ryo left as quickly and as nonchalantly as he could.


For Ephraim, he met both students and staff of the IS Academy.

In his day job, he was both a waiter and an occasional chef in a fairly popular café around Shibuya. Plenty of students from the IS Academy would enjoy themselves in the trendy setting, and more often than not, he would be the subject of candid photos due to his obviously Western looks and the faint scars that peeked out from his clothes. He would be lying if he didn't preen under the attention though. The uniform of the café was quite sharp on his figure and he used his looks to rake in customers, to the manager's quiet delight.

During his night job, 'Madoka' came into the bar during his shifts. She ordered a different drink each visit and he was treated with the rare event wherein she got drunk and her attitude would turn a 180. She would loudly complain about stress and how her brother kept on getting himself into trouble. He agreed and nodded, automatically falling into the routine of the understanding bartender as she roared and drank. He couldn't help but feel a smidge envious in the warm undertone whenever she complained about her brother, who she aliased as 'Nise'.

But he was quite familiar to situations like this, burying his personal feelings underneath the professional mask of his job as he offered his own two-cents when he was able to. Of course, some of his customers would get a bit too physical in their sobbing or reactions but he was used to them by now. Maybe a bit too used to them, as one night 'Madoka' had practically held him in a chokehold, with him being straight-faced, as she drank her Old Fashioned like it was the last thing she would ever drink.

The philistine.

He was just glad that she hadn't propositioned him for a 'night of passion' like some of the women in the bars he previously worked at.

Unlike many of them, he doubted that he would have denied her. She was a damn fine bombshell that would definitely kill him in the morning-after.


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But alas, as days turned to weeks and weeks to months...

One side had to give.


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Date: Wednesday night, Middle of March.

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"Hey, Aznable-san."

He looked up from wiping a shot glass, right into the piercing red of 'Madoka'.

"...Yes?"

"Come to the IS Academy this Saturday." She huffed, taking a sip of her 3rd Martini. "There's a special someone that wants to meet you and your friends."

The scarred blonde raised a brow, though inwardly his heart was pounding. "...Why...exactly? I mean, I'm just a bartender"

Clink!

The woman sighed heavily, as she set the now empty glass down with a bit more force than appropriate. "Listen, I'm getting tired of this. We've been at this for months, and the deadline is coming up. You don't think we would dig through all of your records? Think again, we did and there's a looot of missing pages in 'em, Neo-Type." She grumbled, retaining that sharp intellect despite her reddened cheeks and inebriated state.

"...Huh?" Purple eyes looked at her in pure and genuine confusion.

'The fuck's a Neo-Type?'

Warily looking around at the near empty lounge, he leaned forward to whisper. "You're clearly drunk, Orimura-san. Should I call you a taxi-"

"Oh, I'm perfectly sober for this." Chifuyu interrupted as she glared up at him. "Just come to the IS Academy this Saturday morning with your friends. I promise that this won't be a trap of any kind, in fact, it's something that will benefit all three of you."

...

He let the 'genial bartender' mask slip.

Eyes narrowed, leaning forward on the counter as he glared back. "Seriously? You want us to simply walk into the IS Academy, your home turf, and expect it to not be a trap?"

"You have my word, 'Aznable'." The elder Orimura growled, jaw tense as she matched the ferocity in those royal purple of his.

"And if your word isn't enough, Brunhilde?" He whispered, a deadly gleam in his eyes. "What then?"

They held the glare for almost a minute, the sheer battle of wills almost palpable in the air as the two barely breathed.

...

"Tch."

Chifuyu rolled her eyes as she stood up from her seat. "Then I'll do everything I can to smooth things out. We're both sticking our necks out for this. I expect that you'll make the right choice." She began to walk away, and the bartender followed her figure to the door. However, she stopped and looked at him over her shoulder one last time.

"Choose wrong and you'll have to deal with something worse than I." The former Brunhilde mouthed, much to his aggravation.

Satisfied with herself, she exited the lounge.

...

Ephraim's shaking knees finally gave out and he sat on the floor behind the counter, eyes wide and heart pounding.

"...Fuck."


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Date: Saturday Morning, Last Week of March.

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"So, no turning back, huh?"

The three of them were on the monorail heading towards the artificial island that was known as the IS Academy. It was empty, as were the cars that were adjacent to theirs.

Ephraim was hunched over in his seat, elbows propped up on his knees as he tented his fingers together. Purple eyes glared at the empty seats in front of them, jaw tense from nervousness. His courier friend sat beside him, twiddling his thumbs as he took wary looks out the windows.

"What did she call you again? Neo-Type?" Davion asked from beside the blonde, deigning to stand and lean against the seat his friends were on. "That sounds like an offshoot of Newtypes."

"I don't like the implications of that." Ryo shot a wary look at the grey-eyed teen as he sat up straight. "That sounds like she was calling you some sort of...I don't know, super soldier."

"Because that's what Newtypes kinda are?" The mechanic shrugged, drumming his fingers against his palm. "Humans that have 'evolved' to become more aware of various things and have the reflexes or reaction times that a normal person just can't keep up with."

"Why the hell did she call you that?" Ryo's eyes were wide in disbelief, as he looked between the two. "Fuck, does she consider us these 'Neo-Types' too?"

"The only explanation..." Ephraim rumbled as the IS Academy grew larger and larger. "...is our boss."

...

"...So is that why we have enhanced...everything?" The mechanic gestured to their bodies with his hands, somewhat hesitantly, as the implications of such a boon just hit him.

"Yes. Possibly. Probably. I don't know. I thought that it was a carryover from last time, but apparently it's from this world." Shaking his head, Ephraim let out a long suffering groan. "I knew that the way we arrived was odd. Not our modus operandi, I should have voiced it out sooner."

Ryo hissed as he palmed his face. "I hate how our boss does things sometimes."


Chifuyu crossed her arms as she waited for the three Neo-Types to arrive.

The whole school was thankfully empty, having had the students' graduation a week prior. The last thing that she wanted was someone freaking out about how random boys were in the Academy, which in turn would have whipped the whole damn island into a frenzy.

"Orimura-sensei, the guards have met with the three and are escorting them to us." Maya reported beside her, looking up from her tablet that displayed the camera feeds.

They were waiting in the main lobby of the school building, with hidden security agents watching over the two. Not that Chifuyu needed it, she was confident that she could take the three on if it came to blows. Though, she had to be cautious either way, as the boys were made to be specialized super soldiers. They may have a sense of teamwork that could overpower even her should everything break down.

Three silhouettes approached the glass doors and the automated system activated in response to their presence, letting Chifuyu and Maya finally meet their 'guests of honor' in all their entirety.

The trio were taller than the teachers, but were almost of the same height amongst themselves. They were young and clean-shaved, with proper postures as they walked. There was an air of caution around them, understandable given the fact that they were in unknown territory.

Ephraim led the three, clad in a classy charcoal three piece with the suit jacket was folded over his arm. His gold choker and cufflinks gleamed against the dark colors of his outfit, which in turn was finished off with the black leather oxfords that were shined to a polish. His blonde hair was styled in a clean semi-formal swept, bringing his image closer to that of a high-ranking executive from a corporation or an organization. Royal purple eyes locked on to dark brown, narrowing as they neared. Oddly enough, he had a lollipop in his mouth, if the stick between his lips were any indication.

Ryo was to the right of the blonde, a plain white shirt peeking underneath a dark half-zipped hoodie. A thin indigo scarf was wrapped around his neck, the ends trailing behind him as he stepped. His jeans were tucked into a pair of combat boots, and Maya recognized them from the most recent fashion magazine. He looked the part of a casually dressed college student, well-groomed with healthy looking hair that had some similarity to Chifuyu's. He even had a pen in his pocket, and Maya briefly thought back to her own days of suffering equations and formulae.

Davion, trailing a bit to the left, wore a plain blue shirt with a black leather jacket wrapped around his waist. His sleeves were rolled up to his shoulders, revealing his toned and muscular arms. Bandages wrapped around his wrists and up to his elbow, and Chifuyu could see telltale signs of bruising and healed cuts on his skin. On the bridge of his nose was a band-aid and his hands were covered in a pair of black-blue fingerless gloves, fully complimenting the 'delinquent' vibe his outfit portrayed him as. It was only by the curious and gentle light of his eyes that prevented him from being classified as one by observers.

"Well." Ephraim brought his hand to the side, in a slightly mocking display, as his expression twisted to one of begrudging compliance. "...We're here. What was it that you wanted to talk about, Ms. Brunhilde?"

Maya's cheeks flushed lightly but kept her stern mask.

His voice was...rumbling. A deep and commanding tone befitting of that of olden nobles. It was like the rolling of thunder, those that send shudders up one's spine when they listened to it.

The dark haired teacher frowned, glaring up at the taller man. "On this island, in this campus, I am Orimura-sensei. Best you remember that." They shared a glare for a few seconds before she nudged her head to the side. "Now, follow me to the IS Hangars. She is already there and getting impatient."

Davion shook his head as Chifuyu led the party, walking a few steps beside Maya. "This won't end well..." he groaned as he crossed his arms behind his head, the muscles tensing and relaxing.

The green-eyed teacher's ears warmed, breaking her stare of the rock hard

She shook her head.

Ryo merely followed, whistling a tune and humming just a bit behind her. His stance was easy, his face calm as they walked through the halls and campus proper.

Maya somewhat envied that calmness. She spied his eyes, how vibrant the vibrant color was and the way they seemed to resemble leaves of trees swaying in the gentle morning breeze. Those eyes looked around in curiosity and slight wonder, taking in the sight of the futuristic island in all of its glory in Spring.

IS Academy is an international institution, after all. The world sent its IS Pilots here to study and learn, to do battle and formulate plans, and to grow as future beacons of hope for the world. Japan may have shouldered the cost and maintenance of the Academy itself, but they spared no expenses in promoting it as a way to show off to the world that 'yes, the IS originated from Japan, and that yes, we're petty enough to rub it in your faces after you dropped the responsibility on our laps without warning.'


Eventually, they entered the secured sector that kept all the training Uchiganes and Personal IS'. This was one of the most secure locations of the island, heavy on security and automated turrets. Teachers and seniors were on-call to equip the Rafale-Revives that were part of the security outfit, and had authorization to shoot first and ask questions later should they encounter any intruders.

The Engineering Bay was empty, the students and maintenance crews that were normally there taking their spring break. The maintenance rooms for the Personal IS' were locked up, the suits themselves having been sent back to their respective countries and corporations by the pilots so they could analyze the data gathered over the school year. It was a somewhat tense atmosphere, as they were silent with only the sound of their steps bouncing off the walls.

"In here." Chifuyu stopped beside a large entryway that Maya recognized as one of the many empty maintenance rooms. Typing in one of the general override codes the faculty were issued to, the reinforced doors slid open to reveal a dimly lit interior. "Get in." The teacher ordered, and once more had a brief stare-down with the blonde. Snorting, he went inside first with a guarded pace.

"This looks...really ominous." The courier in their midst chuckled uneasily, looking up and down the hall in trepidation. Davion merely shrugged and went inside, popping his knuckles as he did so.

In short order, they all filed in, with the door closing behind them not too soon. Enveloped in darkness ,with only the dying floodlights in the near-empty room illuminating them, the group unconsciously stuck closer together. Chifuyu stared straight ahead, uncaring of the presence of the taller blonde beside her as his royal purple looked around warily. Either it was a trick of the faint light or something else, the three boys' eyes seemed to glow or reflect light. Maya's own verdant eyes looked at the forest green of the courier, watching as they narrowed and sharpened.

Poof!

Suddenly, a confetti began to rain around them. A sole spotlight shone down as a figure dropped to its center with arms wide and a bright grin on their face.

"Surprise~!"

"Knew it..." Ephraim's growl caught her attention, tearing her gaze away from Ryo's eyes to see Professor Tabane waving at them. The rabbit-eared woman carried with her a briefcase, but one could never know what was contained within. She began to skip over to them as the lights in the room turned on, her speed gradually increasing the closer she got.

"Hello, boys~! Hello, Chi-chaaaan~!"

Chifuyu quickly stepped to the side, dodging a tackle-hug from Tabane. "Can we just get this over with so I can go back to my office?" The former Mondo Grosso champion growled as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Mean~!" The eccentric inventor whined from her position on the ground, voice muffled by the metal flooring.

"Professor Tabane Shinonono." Ephraim rumbled, his face set in a look of...well, Maya wasn't sure what to exactly call it, but it sure was negative. "Creator of the Infinite Stratos..."

Ryo placed a hand on his shoulder, raising a brow when their eyes met before giving a smile to the rabbit-eared woman as he helped her up. "It's an honor to meet you, ma'am. May I ask why you wanted to see us?" The courier greeted her with politeness that more than made up for the vehemence in his blonde friend's tone.

Standing up, Tabane placed a hand on her cheek bashfully, actually blushing as she smiled up at him. "My, you're quite the gentleman Murakumo-kun~!" Her plum eyes looked over to each of the boys, a smug grin on her face as she placed a hand on her hip. "As for why I'm here..!"

She pointed at each of them, her earlier elegance having been replaced with a playful air.

"I want to be your sugar momma!"

...

Maya's face erupted in a fierce blush.

"You can't maintain it all by yourselves, you know! It needs the tender love and care of a mother!" The Professor cooed, making bringing her lips together and making smooching sounds at the boys. Somehow, the three of them kept a straight face despite the...whiplash-inducing turn of events.

Chifuyu facepalmed.

"I assume..." Ryo merely kept his smile, as if what she just said didn't bother him in the slightest. "...that you know of our...suits, then?"

"Of course!" Tabane nodded seriously, though the pout on her lips somewhat broke that air. "They're my creations after all."

"What." Davion deadpanned, staring at her in incredulity. "Hold on"

"Mine~!" The rabbit-eared woman repeated, her pitch a bit higher.

"I'm pretty sure that there's no IS Co" Ephraim tried to speak his mind-

"MIIINE~!"

"Er..." Ryo cleared his throat, glancing at each of his friends worriedly. They merely stared at the rabbit-eared woman with varying states of disbelief and annoyance. "What do you exactly mean by 'yours'? Do you mean to tell us that you made the Astrays?"

"That's their name? OhYES!" The Professor cleared her throat, puffing her chest out as she placed her hands on her hips. "Yes! I made the Astrays! Me! Tabane the Genius! Wahahahaha!" She belted out a proud laugh, mixing in a bit of the mad genius she played herself up to be.

Bonk!

Chifuyu removed her tablet from on top of the eccentric woman's head. Tabane wilted, clutching her head as she sunk to her knees. "Quit stalling and get it over with! You're confusing Yamada-sensei!"

Said woman was looking at the two parties in pure confusion.

"Owie! I just wanted to play with them a little bit, Chi-chan!" The Professor whined as she stood up, her rabbit ears twitching and glitching from the impact. The teacher did not deign to give her a glance, crossing her arms and closing her eyes as she took a deep breath. The three boys looked at each other with unreadable expressions, and Maya could only hope that this meeting wouldn't blow up into violence.

Ephraim huffed, crossing his arms as the vibrant purple of his eyes gleamed with clear annoyance. "You know, claiming something that isn't yours is bad. Plagiarism is a crime, is it not?" He snarked, brow twitching in restrained anger as his two friends shared a wide-eyed look.

"Ara~?" Tabane turned to him, her suddenly hollow plum eyes staring right into his. "So you mean to tell me that you don't want the umbrella of protection I'll give you~?"

"Wait wait wait," Davion pulled the blonde back from the glaring contest, ignoring the growl of the taller boy. "Can you elaborate on the protection bit?"

The blue dressed woman skipped around them, swinging the briefcase carelessly as she hummed a jolly tune. "Weeell, if it isn't obvious, once word of the existence of your suits and their male pilots get around the world, think of all the countries that will lust over your tech! Think of always being hunted down, of all the chaos!" She then tittered in a gleeful tone.

"And that's not to mention my own criminal charges that I'll pin on you~"

The three boys stared at her with barely disguised anger and horror. Maya herself was looking at the Professor in open shock, and her fellow teacher clenched a fist. It was a tense moment of silence between the two parties, one broken by the courier as his expression faltered.

Ryo let out a quiet sigh. "We've thought about that multiple times, yes. Of us being fugitives for breaking multiple laws..." He trailed off, glancing over to his friends with an annoyed glint in his eyes.

Ephraim particularly looked like he bit down on a very sour lemon. "...So you're going to claim our suits as your creations, thus bringing us under your 'umbrella of protection' as you so aptly put it. Or else, we get treated as criminals, our bodies dissected after we get incarcerated, and the suits torn apart by either you or the damned governments..."

"Mhmm~! I've been covering for you, by the way~ Who else would have been able to erase any videos of your suits in action from the internet?" Tabane leaned forward, smiling up at him 'innocently'. There was naught a glimmer of kindness in those eyes, and the blonde saw a glimpse of the true Tabane.

The three boys paled visibly.

"We got filmed?!" Davion yelped, almost settling into a combat stance as he looked around them in panic.

"Yes, you did." The Professor waggled her finger at him, like...well, a professor to an unruly student. "But I erased them, so you're safe and sound!"

"And...that means we owe you a favor." Ryo's smile grew increasingly strained as the mechanic barely calmed down.

"Yup yup~!" Her eyes widened as she brought the briefcase forward, sending a smug smirk up at him. "Actually three favors! One for your enrollment, one for the videos, and one from that naughty boy over there!" She pointed at the confused courier. "Don't think I missed you destroying one of my IS Cores, Murakumo-kun!"

"You what?!" Both Chifuyu and Maya screamed, and the other two boys stared at their friend in shock. The green-eyed boy merely looked away, a bead of sweat trailing down the side of his head.

"Oh...Lords below..." Ephraim sighed, palming his face as he leaned against a worktable. This was whole deal was going sour on their end, and the last thing he wanted was to be indebted to the rabbit-eared woman!

She opened the briefcase and pulled out three folders. "Tutururuuu~! Your identity papers~!"

"Huh?" The grey-eyed boy tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

"It's a comprehensive set of official documents that will fully establish you as having existed outside of the Neo-Type Program." Chifuyu provided the explanation, grabbing the folders from her friend's hands and passing them to each teen. Once more, the boys shared an unreadable look at the mention of said Program. "It wasn't hard to legitimize those false identities you've created for yourselves." She sent a wary leer at her friend, who merely bounced on her feet with a carefree smile.

"Ephraim Sahaku. Son of the last 'pure' Sahaku, the late Rondo Mina Sahaku and an unknown German father. A dual citizen of Germany and Japan if only to due circumstances."

Ephraim blinked in confusion and opened his folder, reading through the documents with the fervor of a madman.

"Davion Guele. Real surname unknown, but adopted by one Lowe Guele in Brandenburg, Germany. Officially, however, you are an Italian Citizen."

Davion's grey eyes were wide as he opened his folder, taking a few steps away from the group so he could read uninterrupted.

"And finally, Ryo Murakumo. Orphan of unknown lineage but now officially a Japanese Citizen. You have the cleanest slate out of the three."

Ryo raised a brow as he took his folder, opening it and skimming the papers within.

"Lowe Guele is a recent false identity that I've created~!" Tabane chirped beside Chifuyu, ducking underneath a backhand with a giggle. "I did it so us genius mechanics can stick together!" Her eyes glinted with mischief as she hopped in place, alternating on one foot then the other.

"You can call me Papa or Mama~!"

"Ugh..." The mechanic grumbled, sparing her a single withering glance before going back to reading.

"And your Sahaku parentage will need to be verified via a blood test, Ephraim." Chifuyu looked up at the blonde, whose brows were increasingly furrowed as he flipped through the pages. "You may very well be the last of a long line of royalty, defunct royalty, but royalty nonetheless. The Japanese Government has a few relics and artifacts that-"

"Ahem..." Ryo cleared his throat to gain their attention, having looked at the opened folders of his friends to compare with his own. "Did you put in the correct ages?"

Maya tilted her head, while Tabane's grin turned vulpine. "Is there something wrong~?" The rabbit woman asked in a sing-song tone.

"Yeah, uh...we're not in our 20's." The green-eyed courier clarified with a sheepish grin.

...

"What." Chifuyu ground out, fixing a glare to Ephraim who turned away as he continued reading, audibly murmuring nonsense to himself.

"Ephraim is 18, I'm 17, and Davion is about to turn 17 in April." Ryo chuckled weakly, closing his folder as the rabbit-eared professor started barely stifled her laughter.

"Well~!" Tabane clapped her hands, cheeks puffed out in mirth. "Perfect! I don't have to actually change my plans much!"

"I dread to ask but..." Davion grimaced walking back into the conversation. " 'Plans'?"

"Why, your enrollment to the IS Academy of course~!"

The three boys shared an unidentifiable look as the former Brunhilde erupted.

"And that's what I hoped you wouldn't say, Tabane!" Chifuyu growled, pinching the bridge of her nose. "How would that even work anyway! They aren't Infinite Stratos pilots! There'll be snakes slithering in trying to take their tech!"

"Relaaax~! We're inside the IS Academy aren't we~? The most secure place they can be! There was also this one little loophole in a certain piece of paper thaaat..~!" The rabbit-eared woman's grin was wide as she trailed off, glancing at the trio of boys who looked increasingly uncomfortable. They nudged each other, daring one of them to step up. With great reluctance, the blonde did.

"...According to the Alaska Treaty, any new technology tested within the premises of the IS Academy can be kept confidential by their researchers and or developers." Ephraim picked up after the professor, a sharp glint in his eyes despite his grimace.

"Bingo, my bright student~!"

"Don't call me that."

"So..." Davion hummed, tapping his chin as his trouble grey eyes stared off at nothing to the side. "We have protection due to the Alaska Treaty...and with you practically sponsoring us, by claiming the Astrays as 'yours', we're virtually untouchable from the world governments?"

"Yes yes! Oh, you're so sharp! Give mommy a hug!" She squealed and clapped, skipping towards him afterwards with an affectionate smile.

"Eugh! Get away!"

"I'll be counting on you, Chi-chan~! Give these three strays a good home!" Tabane laughed as she chased after the panicking mechanic.

Ryo released a hybrid of a sigh and a laugh. "Wow, that was...god, that joke..." he shook his head, his lips set in a troubled smile. The tall blonde merely pinched the bridge of his nose, a vein visibly throbbing on his temple.

Chifuyu grit her teeth, sharing the blonde's pain as a migraine made itself known.

Throughout all this, Maya's eyes swirled as she made sense of nothing.


AN:

And so, the trio are enrolled into the IS Academy. Not of their full free will, of course, but it's better than the alternative of being hunted down. Canon is fast approaching for the Neo-Types and with it comes the troubles of being in a Mecha-Harem anime.

Dense Protagonists.

Volatile Tsunderes.

Ecchi Moments.

Aneurysm-inducing logic.

And so...much...more.

May Lord Hokusai show mercy on the three poor, lost sheep.

Cipher out.