Interlude 2 - Weekend Walks


Ryo took a sip of Jamaican Blue Mountain, absolutely relishing the premium brand after a week of drinking nothing but cheap canned coffee. His roommate had given him his premium coffee bean rights back early, and the caffeine addict was definitely going to make it last.

"Alright," Ephraim grumbled next to him, clad in a short-sleeved button down underneath a charcoal vest. "Why'd you call us here this early, Davion?" He shifted his stance, putting his hands into the pockets of his slacks. The black leather derby shoes squeaked against the linoleum floor as he paced around.

They were in the hangar that the school provided for them, which has now been fully equipped with nearly everything the mechanic needed to maintain and upgrade their suits. In the middle of the hangar itself were the three berths that would hold the suits themselves. They were currently empty, save for one, as Davion had finished repairing the Gold Frame days prior.

By now, the entire school had learned of the duel between the blondes and a majority now looked at the three of them with new light. A few brave ones even approached them, offering joint-training sessions or simple hang-outs when given the chance. The three of them politely maneuvered around the offers, as they didn't really want to be yanked this way and that by the rather overzealous girls.

"So, you know how the Black Boxes need to be decoded right?" The mechanic started, leaning against the sole berth that had its robotic arms latched on to something. Said something was the Red Frame's Flight Pack, having been detached at the request of Davion a few days ago.

"Yeah? You got an update?" Ephraim stopped his pacing and turned towards him, an inquiring glint in those royal purple of his. He was their resident expert in SEED lore, and that included the tech and what they could do. Though, he wasn't as well informed of the deep mechanics of said technology, that was Davion's specialty. Decrypting anything relating to Cosmic Era technology would be a great boon, especially since the Gundam series is pretty much higher in the hierarchy of 'cool' when compared to Infinite Stratos.

"The prototyping is over, I finally managed to get the Trans Phase Shift armor system down!" The grey-eyed mechanic grinned, having the eye bags to prove that he was up all night working on said project.

The blonde's eyes widened in surprise as a battle-hungry grin spread on his lips. "Really? So we're going to upgrade our suits today then?"

"Yup!" Davion gave him a thumbs up before he frowned. "However, the Anti-Beam Coating that were on our shields just aren't viable for the suits themselves."

"Why?" The courier spoke up, having emptied his drink while his two friends were talking. "Something as crucial as that should be standard, right?"

Shaking his head, the mechanic yawned as he rubbed an eye. "The ABC on the shields're in paint form. They're like the Nanolaminate Paint of the Calamity Era but without the Nano part...or the laminate part." He chuckled dryly, closing his eyes to rest the bloodshot orbs. "What we need on our suits instead would be a thinner substance, so that our maneuverability wouldn't be too hampered by the extra weight of the paint."

The roommates glanced at each other before Davion snapped his fingers, his eyes snapping open as he remembered something. "Oh yeah, I also managed to recreate the ultra-compact battery and come up with battery packs that can be jettisoned to avoid being dead weight."

"Extended operation time..." Ryo faintly grinned as he tapped his foot, the rubber soles of his sneaker thumping against the metal flooring he was on. "But how would you integrate the batteries though?"

The mechanic grimaced and it caused Ephraim to narrow his eyes.

"Uh...you...we'll need Flight Packs for them to be viable..." The grey-eyed Neo-Type mumbled.

His friends facepalmed.

"But hey! I can also reverse engineer the Flight Pack easy-peasy!" The mechanic tried to reassure them with a tired smile. "Just uh...it'll take me probably a day or two?"

"So, we all get TPS and extended operation time for Ryo? While any prospect of ABC is still out the window..." The combat assistant groused, dragging his hand down in exasperation. "Well, at least we have real good choices for upgrades. How soon are you able to do them?"

"Once he gets some sleep." Ryo interjected, noting the obvious exhaustion of their friend. "There's still Sunday tomorrow where you can do it."

"Oh, right right...uh...just get on the berths and exit your suits. I'll lock up the place after, then I'll go to bed."


A few minutes later...

"Just when I was planning to go to Minato City..."

The green-eyed courier looked to his side, where Ephraim was scowling as he glared at his phone. They were on the way to the monorail station that led to the mainland, as the taller Neo-Type had wanted to buy new packs of those chocolate cigarettes he chewed on every night.

"What's wrong?" He asked, putting his hands into the hoodie's pockets. It was a rather chilly morning which was slowly warming up as fresh sea winds breezed through the Academy.

"Orimura-sensei is 'asking' me to aid her in some CQC classes." The blonde sighed, pocketing his phone and rubbing the back of his neck.

"Isn't this the first time you'll assist her?"

"Yeah, it's—"

Ryo gave him a large grin, waggling his brows which caused his friend to turn that royal purple glare towards him. It wasn't a secret between the Neo-Types that Ephraim had a crush on the elder Orimura. It was one of the pervading quirks of the blonde, his interest in and love of strong women that could very well kill him. Being thrown into different worlds had taken it's toll on each of them in one way or another, after all...

"Shut it."

Raising his hands, the grin turned into a smug smile. "I didn't say anything."

His friend kept the glare before he started walking away, heading in the direction of the school proper. Saturday classes weren't as intensive as normal weekday classes, thus there was a small student body that went to the academic buildings.

"Don't go raising any flags!" Ryo called out cheekily, to which Ephraim merely gave him a harsh thumbs down.

Several of the girls that weren't in class, either taking a day off like them or in transit from their dorms, looked at the boys in confusion. He glanced at them, keeping that cheeky smile as he waved, turning around to continue his aimless wandering of the island.


Plum eyes watched disinterestedly as a hundred holographic screens displayed various types of information from all over the world. With a mere glance, she closed all of them with a sigh.

"Boring."

Tabane laid down on the carrot-shaped cushion, limbs splayed out as the darkness of her room seemed to close in around her.

"Everything just seems so...boring."

She stared up at the endless ceiling, hollow eyes looking into nothing as the silence stretched.

...

"Oh, right! I almost forgot about them!"

Her expression visibly brightening, she quickly sat up and swiped at the air. Three large screens popped up before her in response to her actions, each of them displaying an Astray pilot as they did their Saturday routine.

The Gold Frame pilot was wearing a martial arts gi with full sparring gloves on. He was apparently in a CQC class with Chifuyu, and was currently in the middle of taking down one of his classmates.

'Is that...Ichika-kun?'

The male IS pilot seemed winded from being thrown, gasping for air as his opponent eased off his combat stance. She could identify Ephraim's current fighting style as Russian Sambo, and the blonde gave a hand to help the downed teen up.

"Ow..! That's smarts..." Ichika groaned as he was pulled up to his feet.

"Don't go for wide telegraphed swings." The tall Neo-Type scolded him lightly. "The things you see on TV won't work all the time in real life."

"So there's a chance that they could work?"

"...Round 2."

"Wha-?!"

Chifuyu seemed to be facepalming while her cute little Houki fumed and huffed at the rough treatment of her friend.

"Adorable~" She cooed before she turned her head to look at the next screen.

Murakumo was...fishing?

Tabane blinked, leaning forwards slightly in her seat as she squinted her eyes at the surprising sight.

The Red Frame pilot was sitting at one of the piers at the dockyards of the IS Academy, a fishing rod in hand and a bucket of bait right next to him. He seemed to simply be catching fish and then releasing them, enjoying the sea breeze that blew past his hoodie and joggers clad form. There was a sense of peace around him, his expression set into one of satisfaction as particularly strong breeze ruffled his hair.

"Huh." She mumbled, robot ears twitching.

That was quite...mundane.

Turning her head to the last screen, her lips curled into a mischievous smile as she beheld her unwitting protégé.

The mechanic was sleeping soundly in the connected dorm room to the Neo-Type's hangar. His room was still somewhat spartan, but she could spot a cabinet that held multiple figurines of various mechanical constructs. IS Frames, Mecha Frames, and some vehicle frames were placed in those glass displays, all of varying sizes and grades. Some were made with exquisite weathering effects while the others were customized from the base up.

She tittered at his splayed out form, before perking up when the double doors of the hangar opened.

"Hmm..?"

A pair of red eyes peeked in, softly calling out for the sleeping teen.

"Sarashiki..." Tabane muttered, both interested and confused as to what she's going to do.


Kanzashi wondered where her friend was. She hadn't seen him in the Saturday classes, the same with the two other test pilots. So she went to see if he was in his workshop, only to find it locked.

Which was odd, since he should normally be up and about at this time of day.

A bold thought came into her mind, of going inside using the password that he gave her.

"In case you leave something inside while I'm away." He had said.

Curiosity overwhelming her, she typed in the code and stepped back as the doors slid open. She peeked in, red eyes looking around the darkened workshop as she softly called out for him.

"Guele-san..?"

Pulling her head back, she looked up and down the hall, watching if anyone was watching. As no one was currently in the area, she slipped inside and nearly jumped when the door closed behind her, heart thumping like mad as she leaned back against it.

"I'm gonna be in so much trouble if anyone finds out..." She whispered to herself, squinting her eyes at the darkness of the workshop. Her hand fumbled for some sort of light switch on the side, and upon finding none, she huffed and hesitantly clapped her hands.

Clap! Clap!


Davion twitched, groggy grey eyes opening...


The lights gradually turned on, illuminating the room in all of it's entirety. Blueprints were spread out on various worktables, mostly just empty print paper but some had scribbles and sketches of mechanisms she barely had an idea about. Sweeping her gaze across the room, she beheld the talk of the school these past couple of days.

The rumored Astrays.

While she was present in the hangar after the Alcott vs Sahaku duel on Monday, this was the first time she had seen the two other suits.

The three of them were identical, with some key differences.

Each of their inner frames were differently colored, with varying reflectivity, and they each had a different kind of backpack.

She already knew the Gold Frame, having had a chance to study it with the help of Davion. It was apparently the most 'default' of the three, with only the Rail Bazooka at its side being the defining feature. Based on what her friend had said during one of their talks in the hangar, their suits had the odd phenomenon wherein the thrusters didn't use any propellant of sorts, rather, it was 'fueled' by the same battery that powered the suit and it's weapons. It was almost akin to that of an IS, and there was no doubt in her mind that the Astrays were indeed one of the Professor's creations.

What she could confidently called the Red Frame had some sort of katana sheath at its side, and a larger backpack than the three. It had a semblance of wings and her keen eyes could make out a total of 8 engine-like exhausts. This unit definitely could fly, though she didn't know how agile it would be in the air. However, if what she had seen of the capabilities of the Gold Frame, it was going to be just as, if not more, agile than the IS.

The last one, the Blue Frame, was simply armed to the teeth. Or at least, it was supposed to be. Various mechanical claws held two rocket pods, a missile launcher system, and two bazookas in their grips. They were all within the berth of the blue Astray, with hardpoints that she could see definitely belonging to these instruments of war. This unit also had a different backpack, though it was more akin to a weapon's rack that could hold all its ordinance. The Astray's backpack was on the back skirt, and now that she looked at the three of them, so was the Red Frame's.

Did they perhaps have some sort of hardpoint-like system that allowed for modular upgrades?

The sound of a door sliding open made her jump, causing her to turn around in a defensive Aikido stance.

Davion stared at her blearily, half-leaning on the doorway of a side room she had only just noticed.

"...Sarashiki-san?" The grey-eyed test pilot mumbled, yawning as she eased from her stance. "What're...you doing here?" He asked, rubbing an eye as her cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

She looked around in a panic before placing a sheepish smile as she crossed her arms behind her back. "A-Ah, I was...just trying to get something I thought I left in here the last time! Also I, um, didn't see you in any of the classes today..."

"Oh...uh...yeah, I don't think I'm gonna take classes on a Saturday." He shrugged, slowly waking up as he slapped his cheeks. "Ephraim's obligated to do it as Orimura-sensei's assistant, but Ryo and I have the day off, basically."

"Lucky..." The bluenette muttered before adopting an innocent and apologetic expression. "Anyway, I found my pen! I didn't mean to wake you up..."

"No no, it's alright." He waved her off, cracking his neck as he idly stretched his shoulders. "I didn't really catch much sleep last night, so I was just sleeping in."

Red eyes locked on to the arms, memorizing how the muscles seemed to stretch and relax against the plain white shirt he wore. It was ever a surprise to realize that those same calloused and scarred hands, alongside those firm biceps and triceps, could help craft the most delicate model kits. "Why didn't you get as much sleep last night?" She asked him in concern.

"I finally got the Trans Phase Shift armor working." He grinned, more energy coming into his eyes and movements. "As well as creating a way to extend our operation time. Though, I'd need to make Flight Packs for both mine and Ephraim's Astrays..."

Kanzashi blinked, a brief moment of shock causing her to looked over to the heavily armed Astray. "Wait, so that blue one is yours?"

Davion nodded, scratching the back of his head as he looked at the Blue Frame. "Yup. I'm in the process of installing the TPS in all of our suits, but as I said before, I'll also need to make Flight Packs for all of us."

"Why so...armed?"

The grey-eyed mechanic only shrugged. "Nothing like overkill."


The rabbit professor watched and listened to their conversation.

"'Trans Phase Shift' Armor..?" She mumbled, already typing out and searching through her expansive digital library.

"No results."

"Ara..~" Tabane grinned, a dangerous and hungry glint in her eyes. "Seems like my boy knows a few things that I don't...~"


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"Anyway, Murakumo-san, can you deliver this to the Student Council President?"

Ryo inwardly winced but took the trio of binders from the teacher. "Will do. Where is she now?"

"Most likely finishing up her classes. She's in Class 2-1, it's imperative that you deliver those to her, as they're vital for the upcoming Inter-Class Tournament."

The green-eyed courier nodded, tucking the three items into his messenger bag. "Got it. I'll head over there now."

And with that, he was off.

Fast-walking down the halls, the hoodie wearing teen squeezed past slower groups of students and parkoured up stairs so he could reach his delivery point. He took his delivery jobs seriously, after all. He didn't have 5 star ratings back when he was in NinjaCarriage for nothing!

Eventually, he stopped in front of Class 2-1. Just in time for the bell to ring too, as he stepped aside when the teacher exited. She gave him a surprised look, a silent question on her face but he pointed to his messenger bag. "It's for Kaichou, concerning the upcoming Inter-Class tournament." The courier reported, showing the three binders within.

"Ah, I see." The teacher leaned back inside. "Sarashiki-san! There's some documents for you!"

"Understood, sensei!"

Ryo's right brow twitched.

Blue hair and red eyes entered his vision and he fought the urge to sigh, even more so when she had the fan hiding the lower half of her face. Tatenashi's grin peeked over the accessory the moment she saw him, her eyes looked at his outfit up and down in the meanwhile.

Branded hoodie, joggers that did little to hide his toned legs, and a pair of comfy sneakers. He smelled of the fresh ocean breeze, and she found that quite refreshing from all the artificial scents of the indoors.

"I take it you're not in any classes today?" She asked him with a smug smile hidden behind her fan.

"Not really. Most of the classes are about the IS, and those focus on things such as mechanics and the CORE. Here," He handed her the binders. "These are apparently for the Inter-Class Tournament coming in a week or so."

"Oh, why thank you~" She took the binders without much effort, despite the somewhat heavy weight from all the papers crammed inside. "What kind of reward would you like from me, hmm~?" Leaning forward, her smoldering rubies sent him a heavy gaze. "It can be anything you want~"

Ryo looked up over her, right into the eyes of scandalized, awed, shocked, and blushing girls that were her classmates.

"...Personal space." He stepped back, visibly perturbed as he held his hands up.

Tatenashi lost the seductive gleam in her eyes as she giggled. "My, that reaction was well worth it." She looked down at the binders and opened one, eyes skimming the document at the top. "Hmm...you Astray pilots are included in this, yes?"

The test pilot sighed, palming his face briefly. "Yes...yes we are, at the behest of the Professor. She wanted combat data of the Frames against the IS."

"Well then." She closed the binder and sent him an expectant look. "I can't wait to see your match."

"I can." He snarked, turning around and starting to walk away. "I don't want to be a part of some tournament."

A hand wrapped around his arm, and he fought the urge to growl.

Tatenashi leaned over by his side, sending him an unimpressed frown. "It's not that easy."

Ryo didn't know if she was talking about getting away from her or from the tournament.

"Besides, do you really want to disappoint the Professor?"

"Kinda, yeah-"

Her grip tightened and he grimaced.

"Naughty boy~" She giggled, a dangerous look in her eyes despite the merry tone of her voice. "And here I thought that you were a gentleman~"

"I am, but when I'm dealing with stubborn women, being a gentleman gets tiring." He grunted, ignoring all the stares they were getting as they walked down the hall. "Also, can you let go? I was planning to go to Tokyo and wander."

"Well~" She drawled as she placed a finger on her chin, and Ryo's stomach lurched as he felt something bad coming. "That was the last of my classes so...~"

Ruby eyes glinted as they looked up to wide green.

"You're treating me to lunch to make up for that ungentlemanly behavior just now...would you kindly~?"

Ryo gulped.


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"Sensei, I'll be heading out now-"

A hand landed on his shoulder, stopping him from exiting the dojo. The last lesson of the day had just finished and he was really looking forward to go to the mainland for some window shopping.

"You still have duties to do after lunch." Chifuyu tightened her grip. "A student asked for some help concerning their IS performance. You won't have to do anything strenuous, just stay on the ground and shoot at Orimura."

Ephraim groaned.

So much for his Saturday!

...

Wait.

"Shoot at Orimura-san?" He whirled around, hints of sadistic pleasure revealing itself in his growing smirk. "May I ask what this request is about?"

The teacher rolled her eyes, already well aware of her assistant's disdain for her brother. It irked her greatly but as long as Ephraim didn't harm him out of malice, she was willing to let that spite slide. "Don't get carried away. Ichika asked me for some help concerning the Byakushiki, his IS, and I referred you to him because you're my Assistant. He apparently needs some help in learning how to dodge after watching Alcott and yours' duel last Monday."

"This'll be his first flight, yes?"

"It is. That's why I'm asking you to not get carried away."


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Later that night...

Ryo entered his dorm, wallet feeling emptier and definitely mentally exhausted.

What was supposed to be a simple lunch had turned into a shopping spree and then a pseudo-dinner date!

Tired green met equally tired purple as Ephraim, clad in a simple white shirt and sweatpants, leaned against their kitchenette's counter. The coffee brewer was on, and an opened bag of Jamaica Blue Mountain beans was next to it.

"...The hell happened to you?" The blonde asked, a faint set of reddened handprints around his pale neck.

"Tatenashi happened to me." Ryo groaned, also leaning against the kitchenette counter. "You?"

"I uh...got carried away on a request and got throttled by Orimura-sensei." The teaching assistant grumbled, rubbing the back of his neck as an embarrassed blush appeared on his cheeks. "I may have shot Ichika one too many times with the Gae Bulg when he was trying to learn how to dodge. Good news is that he managed to activate the 1st form of the Freedom-knockoff. The bad news..." He traced the scars and handprints gingerly, a distant look in his eyes as his expression rapidly became indifferent. "Being throttled brought along some...bad memories."

Nothing was said, but the mere action of the blonde brought more tension than what words ever could.

Grimacing slightly at the hollowness of his friend's eyes, Ryo attempted to cheer his friend up. "...I checked up on Davion on the way here and found him working on your Flight Pack."

"Really? He's not building one for himself?" Ephraim perked up as turned around to press the off button for the brewer.

The green-eyed courier mentally patted himself on the back.

'Brooding averted!'

Ryo took out his personal coffee mug, a light blue colored one and placed it next to Ephraim's, which was a simple black. "He said that being grounded works for him far better than being in the air. Something about only having to worry about aiming up."

"Smart." The barista poured the premium coffee into their mugs. "And that means that you'll have to teach me on flight maneuvers."

"Please," Ryo rolled his eyes, taking his mug and taking a light sip, ignoring the searing heat. "As if you don't have some flight experience in that head of yours. You'll get the hang of it without my help."

"Aye, that's true." Ephraim modestly affirmed, cooling his coffee with a few blows before he took dignified sips.

"Wow, so humble."

"Of course I am. I'm me, a gentleman."


AN:

Just something short written to show the downtime of the Neo-Types between episodes.

Speaking of, it came to my attention that there isn't any mention of dates in each episode. So I took it upon myself to establish some sort of timeline, where each Episode takes place a week apart since Season 1 takes place in One Term. The Season 1 OVA takes place in a week before Summer and in the Japanese Education System, Summer is July to August. So those 12 Episodes take place within April to July, which is just 4 months.

4. Months.

Talk about escalation, eh?

In terms of tech, the Neo-Types will only be able to access those from the Cosmic Era. Their Astrays came with black boxes that contain the necessary blueprints and instructions on how to make them but are locked behind encryption after encryption. It'll be a somewhat gradual upgrade process to let the trio explore each upgrade and be creative on how they would use them.

This is Cipher, signing off.

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Omake: What if? The Red Baron

Blue eyes widened as she barely dodged the yellow lance of light, maneuvering her IS erratically in order to throw off her opponents shots. More yellow beams brushed past her, taking chunks of her shield energy in the process.

'This damn..!'

Cecilia Alcott was in a pinch, as much as she would hate to admit it. Her Optical Bits were all gone, sliced into pieces of useless slag by the yellow beam saber of that infuriating man. She could barely get a lock on with her Blue Pierce, and any missile she launched at him would get sniped just when they were a few feet away from her. What's even worse was that her opponent was literally flying circles around her.

'I underestimated him.'

It was a bitter pill to swallow, but it was true. She had underestimated her opponent greatly and now she was paying for it. What she thought would have been an easy match had turned into a humiliating display for someone of her skill and prestige. She looked around, ignoring the cheering and jeering crowd far below as she searched amidst the clouds for the damnable male.

"Hiding like a coward, hm?" She taunted, trying to cover her aggravation behind her smug veneer. "I knew that you were all talk-!"

A white bolt, accompanied by the twinkling of bells, flashed through her mind.

!

She rolled to the side, just barely dodging the red mass that would have rammed into her. Blue glared into sea-green in the milliseconds that they locked gazes, and she barely could turn her head before he was lost within the cloud cover again.

"Face me like a man, you cur!" She yelled, abandoning her calm façade as she got to her wit's end. "Fight me fair and square!"

She got a haughty chuckle in response.

"As you wish."

A good portion of the clouds were blasted away from the sheer strength of the engines of her opponent, revealing him in all his entirety.

His figure was covered completely in red armor, the color broken only by the steel grey of the joints and the black-gold of his livery. A pair of wings, packed with powerful thrusters, spewed out blue-white flames that kept the suit in flight. A large shield, was attached to his left forearm and in his left hand held the same beam saber that destroyed her Optical Bits. In his right hand, he held the rifle that outsniped the Blue Pierce by a magnitude far greater than what she expected. The sole sea-green eye flashed with a dreadful hum as he bowed, the horned helmet dipping with the action.

《 Well then...Let's test the performance of your new IS. 》

Without giving the noblewoman a chance to retort, he rocketed forward. In the span of a second, he was right up in her face, the monoeye flashing once more in the reflection of those Ocean Blues. Cecilia's eyes widened in fear before his knee caught her in the stomach. She coughed up spit and bile before he turned that knee into a harsh side kick that sent her flying away.

The Sinanju tracked her body, watching as it disappeared through a nimbus formation several meters below. Behind the helmet, Ephraim Aznable calmly smiled, for he knew a fact that was undeniable.

The world simply wasn't ready for a Red Comet.