The unfortunate truth about being the only man in a school full of women, was the attention. As the only boy, even if girls were not interested in him, they would still be curious about him, and with years of knowing he somehow had this weird gravity that attracted the attention of the opposite Sex, Ichika knew what he would be in for to some extent.
Of course that did not mean he liked having to bolt down the hallways at breakneck speed toward the classroom and almost busting the door down from how suddenly he threw it open, entered, and then slammed it shut, startling many of his classmates. "Safe" he muttered as he took a few deep breaths, thankful that he had been modestly athletic even before becoming a Kampfer.
"Um, are okay Ichika?" Houki asked from her seat, being the first of the half full classroom to manage to speak up.
"Uh," Ichika mumbled as he looked around the class, seeing that Cecilia wasn't around to complain about his existence, or the rumor that was likely the reason why so many other students had decided this morning to try to mob him. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just uh, a whole bunch of girls decided to mob me. It seems they somehow found out I was getting a personal IS," Ichika admitted, causing a few of the girls in the class to simply nod their heads or mutter in understanding.
"Wait, was it supposed to be a secret?" one classmate who Ichika could not remember her name for the life of him suddenly asked as Ichika walked over to his desk and dropped nto the chair.
"No, I just was hoping it wouldn't spread so fast I guess," Ichika said with a heavy sigh. "I just can't keep up with how fast rumors spread here."
"Well, everyone is here for studying the IS," Aikawa spoke up with a small smile on her lips, as if what she was saying was obvious. "I mean, everyone is more technologically inclined than some other girls. And I'm pretty sure everyone is on a social media platform of some kind."
"Yeah, I saw a message among a group of friends from other classes saying you were getting a Personal Is yesterday like, an hour after Orimura sensei said so," another student spoke up with a giggly laugh.
Ichika then promptly dropped his head to his desk in such a way that it made lots of noise and sounded painful, but was not whatsoever. A mostly useless skill he had found was sometimes useful to quiet down raving schoolgirls, mostly due to them suddenly being worried.
Before he could see if it worked though, the sound of the classroom door came, and Cecilia' voice followed right after it. "Hmm? What boorish thing are you doing, sleeping on your desk like that?"
"Not sleeping, just resting my head," Ichika said in response, before whispering to himself. "And imagining how nice of a day this could have been."
"Hmph, that is no excuse to not properly look your betters in the eye when speaking, boorish man!" Cecilia stated as she took her seat, just as the rest of the class began filtering in, while students from others classes were loitering outside and looking in through the windows.
"Hey, uh, Orimura?"
Ichika sat up and turn to Aikawa, who looked slightly nervous for some reason. "Yeah Aikawa?"
"You didn't see Honne on your way to class, did you?"
"No, why?" Ichika replied.
"Well, normally I see her on the way to class, but I didn't, so I just. . . . No, I'm probably just paranoid, she probably just slept through her alarm or something," Aikawa said with a shake of her head just as Chifuyu came into the classroom by the forward door, followed a second later by Maya.
"Alright, class is starting soon," Chifuyu said sternly as she turned her gaze to the throng of girls by the windows, now staring at her and not just Ichika. "All of you get to class!"
The masses outside began dispersing as the windows suddenly solidified and became solid, as if they had always been walls, and never windows. A second later the rear door to the classroom slid open.
"Nohotoke. Class is about to start. Do not cut it so close in the future," Chifuyu stated instantly, causing everyone to glance back to see Honne in the doorway, looking more sleepy than her usual lazy self.
"S-sorry, I had a rough night. Uh, a case of anemia, or something. I was at the nurse's office," Honne said with a bow to Chifuyu.
"Very well. In the future take better care of yourself. Get to your seat."
"Thank you," Honne said tiredly as she did as she was told.
Ichika simply let out a light sigh, annoyed that his sister seemed willing to go easier on the girls than him, but figured it probably wasn't anything new really.
Classes in the morning were normal. Nothing strange happened at first until the second class of the morning when Ichika noticed a message icon appear at the bottom corner of his desk. The desks were more like computers really. Their whole top was a giant touch screen, and they had access to their books through them as well as physically, and almost all of their assignment work was done directly on the desks themselves. They had a message function to send the assignments to the teachers, but he hadn't seen a message icon pop up on the desk before.
Granted he had never tried and had yet to actually fiddle with and discover what the desk was capable of. It was just a desk for schoolwork after all.
After a couple moments of looking at it, Ichika gently tapped it, and instead of an email window popping up over a portion of his desk, a small and compact Line* Messaging window appeared down at the bottom.
Nohohon: um Orimu, I heard the rumor spread outside of the class. Does that mean you are getting a personal IS?
Ichika smirked at seeing it was Honne sending the message and quickly, and most importantly stealthily, typed a reply.
Ichika: I am. I talked with the company themselves.
Nohohon: Really? What kind of IS are you getting? When is it arriving?
Ichika: I was given a Hologram disc showing it but . . . . I need to ask you a few things about it, so why not talk about it at lunch, okay?
Nohohon: Yay! Thanks Orimu, I'll be there!
Ichika grinned as he closed the message window and went back to paying full attention to class, hoping it would end sooner rather than later.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"So, Nohotoke is here?" Houki said, stating the obvious as Honne took a seat at the table with Ichika and Houki to her visible confusion.
"Orimu invited me!" Honen declared with a smile, causing Houki to look to Ichika.
"Getting along with our classmates is a good idea. And I have a few things to Ask Nohohoke, as she was the one who gave me early warning to getting an IS. Before my sister mentioned it."
"What? How?"
"I overheard in the engineering area," Honne stated with a smile.
"Ah, so you're on the engineering side then," Houki concluded as she began eating her food.
"Yep!" Honne declared as she looked to Ichika. "So, Orimu, can I see it?"
Ichika let out a sigh and pulled out the circular metal disk, the projector he had been allowed to keep for some reason or another, and set it on the table while flicking it on. The small hologram of the Byakushiki's default state appeared in grey and light blue, its weapon hanging to the side as a separate solid blue hologram.
"That is your IS, Ichika?" Houki asked as both she and Honne stared at it. Honne even tried to move the hologram with her fingers, but it didn't react, simply just showing the single hologram with little detail.
"Yeah, it's a . . . interesting design," Ichika said with a smirk. "But it should work for me. Only problem is it's only going to arrive on Saturday or Sunday."
"That, isn't a whole lot of time to get used to it," Houki said with a shake of her head.
"I thought using the training models was supposed to help with that?"
"Training models can be used to get a feel for an IS's basic controls, But every IS is unique and has its own characteristics," Honne said as she had her head almost on the table to look at the hologram from as close as possible. "It's why Calibrating Training models is harder than Calibrating a personal IS."
"Wait, so Training models get calibrations for individuals?" Ichika asked.
"Not normally, it's too much of a hassle," Honne said as a finger was poking through the hologram. "They just get calibrated back to their default state. The AI in the training models isn't as advanced as in a regular IS, but if they get used by a lot of people, the Calibrations go out the window."
"You seem to know quite a lot," Houki commented suddenly, causing Honne to smile.
"I'm here to learn how to modify IS as well as calibrate," she said before sitting up and going at her food. "Don't you know a lot? I mean, your sister is-"
"She is not a sister!" Houki suddenly declared, causing Honne to look shocked, and many others nearby to suddenly quiet down, embarrassing Houki as she leaned over her food. "I . . . she is not a sister, not a good one. She cares, but she is never around, and I don't have many good memories of her."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Honne said as she looked sullen suddenly.
"No, it's, not something I enjoy talking about, but it's not your fault. She's just done a lot of things to my family," Houki said with a shake of her head.
"Well, both of our families have problems," Ichika said with a chuckle before looking at Honne. "You had asked before if you could do maintenance on my IS right?"
"YES! Can I!?" Honne asked, suddenly full of energy as her eyes nearly gleamed with hope.
Ichika nodded. " Having it kept in good condition by someone from the same class sounds like good idea to me but, do you need information on it?"
"Yes, but that would need to be gotten from you using it," Honne said, before her expressions shifted. "Though, if I could get some combat data from you using a Training IS that might help with its early calibrations when it arrives."
"You need to practice Ichika," Houki suddenly spoke up. "Why don't we use the training models after class, and Nohotoke can get data from both of us to help her and you?"
Ichika leaned back in his seat a bit as he mulled over the options. He did need more practice with IS in general, especially as he was going to have his own. Both his and the training models used swords primarily, so it wasn't like he was going to use something he had no skills in, but there still was a couple problems. His bracelet would probably try to act up, and while it was invisible to others, he was very worried about what would happen if he transformed in an IS. Then there was the fact that if his bracelet was trying to activate it would ping other Kampfers bracelets that there was one active nearby, meaning it could bring those two blues calling, or could lead to them getting a hint that he was Kinoen. Houki or his sister finding that out would probably be the death of him too.
Even with all the negative possibilities though, there really was no other choice. Ichika nodded. "Yeah, that sounds fine. I may not be able to it for long though."
"Why? You have the stamina," Houki commented.
"I need to study."
"didn't you catch up though?" hone commented, making Houki to lock her gaze on him.
"Yes, but I feel that reading ahead might be a good idea so I don't get left behind," Ichika explained, hoping he could use that as an excuse if his bracelet was acting up far too much.
"Well, I guess that makes sense," Was Houki's only comment before the conversation drifted to other things, allowing Ichika to Finish his food before lunch ended and they had to get back to class.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"I don't like this," Ichika said as he walked into the Arena's equipment bay where he and Houki would suit up in the training model IS.
Houki was wearing the girls normal IS uniform, which was essentially a one piece swimsuit made from heavier material, and not actually a swimsuit as they also had leggings of the same material or the IS's metal would hurt the body when put on and used. Honne was still in her normal excessively long sleeved uniform with a tablet in one hand and a stylus in the other.
"What isn't to like?" Honne asked with a grin as she looked at Ichika, causing Houki to turn to him as well.
His IS flight outfit was strange. The girls made sense due to how the IS covered their bodies, but his was just odd. Very tight pants were one thing, but wearing a sleeveless top that was also skintight, and for some reason left his entire stomach out in the open, made no sense to him whatsoever. It was also just award to wear, being nothing most men would ever even consider wearing.
"Well, I don't see the issue," Houki said after a second of silence.
"This outfit, it feels, odd. To open I guess," Ichika said with a shake of his head.
"Would you prefer one of the girl ones?" Houki asked with a huff and a shake of her head.
"No, what I would prefer would be a normal pilot-suit, or even just a Plug-suit. Something that doesn't lave my guts open to get stabbed."
"You won't get stabbed the IS have absolute defense to protect the pilots," Honne said as she gestured to the Two IS that sat in a closed forms in front of them. "You both ready?" both Ichika and Houki nodded. "Okay, then climb in and switch them on."
Houki went straight over and climbed up and into hers, while Ichika stepped up to it and touched the metal. The Uchigane, a Second generation model designed for ease of use and simplicity in defense. Armed with a katana style sword they were the academies training units. Touching it felt odd though, like it was hollow. Devoid of something it needed. Shaking his head Ichika removed the thoughts from his mind and climbed up onto it and slid his legs into the IS's leg openings. When he had piloted the Is at the Hall they had made him strip down to his pants and it had been, odd. Now though his legs went in smoothly and his bare feet felt almost at home inside the machine. Leaning back into it, the Is wrapped its mechanical parts around his chest and waist while he slipped his arms into the Arm slots.
The IS came on automatically, likely having been primed by Honne, and Ichika found himself standing fully up and taking a step off of the IS's dock a moment later.
"Good, no issues in either of your startups," Honne said, sounding almost professional as she tapped something, the nearby door to the arena proper sliding open near soundlessly. "Go ahead go beat each other!"
"Wait, you don't need any initial tests or anything?" Houki asked in surprise.
"No, not really. The IS are already transferring basic data to the tablet but . . . . If it was a personal IS either of you were using for a first time I would, but since those are training units, they rarely get above forty percent synchronization with the pilot."
"Does that mean we can't pilot them perfectly?" Ichika asked as he took a step forward, finding nothing to be an issue. Yet.
"Nope! You'll feel tugs, maybe even a bit of resistance, but that is normal for training units," Honne said with a shrug, causing her sleeves to flap about. "I'll be by the entrance watching you two fight, so don't worry about me!"
"Right I'll meet you out in the field Ichika," Houki declared before she turned and took three large steps before her IS took to the Air and flew out into the arena.
Ichika watched her go out and then took in a deep breath and let it out.
"Nervous?" hone asked upon seeing what he was doing.
"Last time I was in an IS I beat a person, and got sent here, which had led to a whole bunch of issues," Ichika said bluntly, avoiding the fact that it was his bracelet he was worried about. "So yes, a little bit."
"You'll do fine I'm sure!" Honne said gleefully. "You know how to fly, right?"
Ichika just smirked as he turned in place, "I should be asking you that."
Before Honne could voice her confusion Ichika took a step with the IS and burst forward with its thrusters to join Houki in the Arena.
xxxx
Their practice ended up being simple, less of them dueling, and more just simple actions. Running, turning quickly, finding out the bendability of the IS framework compared to their bodies and getting down how the ID did flight. Moving at high speed in the air was not hard for Ichika, much to Houki's surprise. What was the hardest was actually hovering in place just above the ground. After all, air control was normal for Kampfers with their leaping ability, but hovering was something utterly alien. They did do some simple dueling, but neither of them got too heavily into it and Dinner came quickly, forcing them to head back to the bay where Honne was waiting, appearing to be tapping rapidly on the tablet with its stylus wrapped in her sleeve.
"You both did really well, your syncro-rates are above the average for training units!" Hone said enthusiastically. "Especially yours Orimu!"
"That, is good then," Ichika said nervously as he moved the IS to its spot and began powering it down.
"It is! This will help with calibrating your IS when it arrives!"
"Good, well, I'm going to hit the shower before heading to dinner," Ichika said before turning to head toward the men's change room. A room that had probably at one point been a simple private change room for the teachers.
"Alright, shall we meet at the cafeteria then?" Houki asked.
" uh, does that include me too?" Honne asked cautiously, her pen still tapping the screen of the tablet she was holding, her wrapped sleeves making it very difficult to tell what she was actually doing.
"Well, I guess so… you did help get our data, and that will help us later to," Houki said, once more proving she was a tsundere.
"Well I'll meet you both there then," Ichika said as he headed into his change room as he heard Honne and Houki begin casually chatting in the bay as he left.
It was a good thing for both of them Houki was too standoffish to most people and had few friends in the school it appeared, and Honne was perfect in how energetic yet lazy she was. As he changed out of the IS pilot outfit and into his normal uniform Ichika found himself looking at his Kampfer bracelet, its red color glowing ever so slightly. It had been only slightly warm for most of their training, and had only become truly hot when he and Houki had done their short duel with the training units.
"So it reacts to adrenaline while in the IS then maybe?" Ichika mused to himself as he shook his head and turned to the door out of the room, only for his bracelet to then flash and turn burning hot in an instant. "What the-" he began to say until he heard a hugely loud crash from the bay.
It wasn't hard to connect the two events and in that same instant Ichika let the bracelet run loose and Transform into Kinoen before rushing out the changing room back into the bay.
What she saw was both Honne and Houki leaning against one of the computer consoles while Tina and her dark haired ally stood before them, with Tina holding her smaller pistol pointed between them, clearly threatening them. Surprisingly none of them seemed to see her despite her bright gold hair, so Kinoen leapt straight up into the scaffolding above and listened in, trying to figure out what was going on.
It was not hard with how loud they were being.
"What are you doing? Do you even know-" Houki tried to say in indignation as her eyes looked around for anything to use as a weapon as she stood slightly in front of Honne to protect her.
"Shut up Princess!" the black haired Tanto user snapped as she threw one of her blades, it embedding deep into the console beside the two girls.
"Hey, one of them isn't our enemy, thoughts?" Tina asked as she glanced at her ally. "I wasn't expecting someone else to be here."
"Well if you hadn't just rushed in and shot right away before confirming which one was our enemy, we wouldn't have this problem," the black haired girl said as she shook her head. "I say we kill both of them."
"Um, I'm not sure I'm comfortable with killing someone who isn't a Kampfer," Tina admitted.
Her ally let out a low yet loud groan. "Idiot, normal people are not supposed to now about us and you just threw the name around! Besides, if we kill her she'll just cease to exist, just like we do if killed without our insurance."
It was at this moment that Kinoen decided to act, leaping down from the above catwalk and raising her Nodachi with a scream. "Cascade!"
All four girls looked up at once, but their reactions were slow and Kinoen landed between the two pairs, her Nodachi coming down on the chain that held the black haired girls two Tanto together and severing it without resistance. She then, much to Houki's clear surprise, spun at an angle and swung her blade with its tip cutting through Tina's drawn pistol, taking the entire top of it off again with no resistance. She stopped her swing mere millimeters from hitting Houki, then swung it up and over her shoulder pointing at Tina's ally.
"Both of you, go," Kinoen ordered with a feral grin. "It's me they're after, not you."
"What, who are-" Houki began to say, only to get pulled away by Honne's sleeve wrapping tightly around her wrist.
"No time, let's just get out of her, she'll be fine!" Honne declared as she pulled Houki along.
"Wait!" the black haired girl yelled as she tried to throw her other Tanto at Houki and Honne's Backsides, only for Kinoen to knock it out of the air the second it left her hand.
"I don't think so!"
"What, why are you stopping me!" the black hair demanded as she caught her one Tanto, then yanked on the reconnecting chain and pulled her other out of the machine an into her hand. "Even if we are enemies, normal people are not supposed to know about Kampfers!"
Kinoen shrugged. "Killing those unrelated to our little secret war doesn't sit right with me. Besides-" Kinoen took a step forward and her Nodachi flashed forward, Spearing the barrel of Tina's second pistol as she summoned it into her hand. "I'm in the mood for a challenge, so both of you come at me at me at once!"
Both girls were silent for a moment before the black haired one rushed forward, thrusting her Tanto back and forth while using the chains sway to help guard her from return swings. "Why are you here anyway?!" She suddenly demanded as Kinoen used her Nodachi to deflect or block each strike from the small yet sharp blades.
"Oh, what do you mean by that?" Kinoen asked in a friendly tone as she blocked a low, and then arced a swing to catch a bullet sent from Tina, who had used the chance to back away and re-summon her first pistol.
"You! You work out of Kyoto I've heard, so why are you here at the IS Academy?!"
"For schooling, duh," Kinoen answered with a coy tone while sticking out her tongue.
"You look to old to be in high school!" the black haired girl yelled as she suddenly swung both of her arms back and caused the connecting chain between her blades to swing forward like a jump rope, allowing her to gain some distance and jump backwards to Tina's side.
Kinoen smiled and rested her Nodachi on her shoulder, then, much to Tina and her allies surprise, strethed both arms behind her head, amplifying her chests in a very sexy manner. "Didn't you know, one of the Boons you can get from being a Kampfer allows you to personalize your Kampfer form? That's why mine is as sexy and individual as it is," she declared as she used one arm to push her hair back into the air, causing it to glisten.
"So, you're saying you are our age, your Kampfer form just looks older because you wanted a sexy body?" Tina asked in surprise, thoughts seeming to drift into her mind if the glint in her eyes was any indication.
"Of course! If I'm going to fight for my life, I want to look good doing it," Kinoen said as a devious thought crossed her mind. "Besides, it makes it easier to do some more, extracurricular work in making money, don't you think?"
Both girls simply looked at her, but it slowly dawned on them what Kinoen meant, causing their cheeks to flush in embarrassment. "Wait, you mean y-you-" The black haired girl stuttered in complete and utter embarrassment, going so far as to cover her face with her hands.
"Lotus!" Kinoen called out as she lunged forward at Tina with the Pommel of her Nodachi. Tina, who was almost as embarrassed as her ally, couldn't react in time and found her stomach being slammed by the Nodachi's Pommel, a burst of energy emanating out from the connection point and sending her flying backwards into a Deactivated Training IS with a heavy crash.
"Wha-" the black haired girl exclaimed in sudden shock as she dropped her arms and leapt backwards, her act saving her as Kinoen's Blade swung though where she had just been and caught her uniform shirt, cutting through the cloth and revealing her bare belly. "You, you lied just to trick us!"
"Hardly," Kinoen said with a laugh. "Why would I lie? Just because you two are innocent to such things doesn't mean it's my fault! Beside, You know I operate out of Kyoto normally, so you must know something else about me. Right?"
"What?"
"Only Kapfer from Kyoto itself would know that's where I live, and as I don't recognize you, you are either new, or know someone from Kyoto, or who used to live in Kyoto, right?"
". . . My senior, she told me about you,"
"And what did she tell you, hmm?"
"That you and the other two rom your videos were extremely dangerous, and to never let my guard down if I ever met you," she answered grimly.
"Well You've already failed that," Kinoen stated before leaping forward and swinging her Nodachi at the girls Knee's. She jumped up to dodge and swung one of her Tanto down, only for Kinoen to bring her blade back mid-swing and catch the blade. She then Thrust it forward and caught the girls upper uniform, Tearing the cloth and revealing a light blue lacy bra. In response the other Tanto came up at her side, forcing Kinoen to twist to avoid it. She then slammed the tip of her sword into the ground and used the force to propel herself up, and then spun her blade in midair, catching the girls hair and sending strands into the air and to the ground before she landed a meter away with a grin on her face that was a bit beyond mere enjoyment. "Hmm, not bad, nice color, you've got potential, I'll give you that!"
"What?" the girl asked in confusion, only to then squeeze her one arm close to her body when Kinoen Pointed to her shredded clothing and visible Bra. "You creep! Pervert!"
Kinoen let out a raucous laugh. "Clothing damage is common, especially if you fight a Zauber. But you let Modesty keep you from fighting at your best, you will die. Also, you know that most Schwert with a chain connecting blades can control the chain too, not just the blades, right?"
"What, why are you telling me this?" the girl asked in perfectly Fair concern.
"Because I like a challenge," Kinoen stated simply. "What is your name? Your Kampfer name I mean, not your real name."
" . . . . Kuro."
"Imaginative," Kinoen said with a grin. She then held her blade to the side. Come, let's see what you can do!"
"Alright!" Kuro exclaimed as she threw one Tanto, then the other and turned her head. "Tina, now!"
Kinoen parried both blades and smirked. "You didn't notice, huh?"
Kuro looked at her as she yanked her chains back, and then realized what Kinoen meant, looking around to find Tina lying on the ground where she had been thrown. Utterly unconscious and not in her Kampfer form. Not that it was much different than her normal looks. "What did you do?!"
"Nothing special, she just got unlucky an hit her head," Kinoen said with a rin and she lunged forward and swung he blade, forcing Kuro to duck, bob, and weave to block the wide yet swift strikes. "Lotus is a purely forceful technique that can send people backwards with immense force. At its full strength I've sent other Kampfer though Cinderblocks and concrete. That was at about half strength, so she likely her head on the machinery just right to knock her out."
"You, that wasn't just kinetic, it had energy, but you're a Schwert!" just how many Boons do you have!?" Kuro demanded to know as she continued to block blows, trying to use her chain to entangle Kinoen's blade as she did, but having strange amounts of difficulty doing so.
"Oh, Twelve," Kinoen said simply.
"What!?" Kuro exclaimed in shock, again leaving herself open from shock.
Kinoen took the chance and swung her leg out, catching Kuro's and causing her to drop to the ground. " Hope you have the insurance boon!" she then Declared before thrusting her blade forward, only for Kuro to roll to side, making the blade miss by a fraction and only cut her cheek as she moved.
"No! You're lying! There no way you have Twelve! I've been a Kampfer for nine months now and only have five!" Kuro Yelled as she rolled further and got up to her feet, throwing a Tanto up just in time to block Kinoen's strike, though the force of the blow made her stumble backward a bit.
"No, I'm not lying," Kinoen said with a smirk. "I live in Kyoto. Do you know just how many Kampfer are in Kyoto? There are hundreds of Kampfers across the city at any one time due to the cities size and the population density. Some even forms gangs or groups. It's learn fast, or die quickly in Kyoto. I have two friends who are also Kampfer, so we were able to support each other, that's all."
"So the other two are Kampfer then!?" Kuro exclaimed as she made the connection to the online videos.
"Yep, not that it matters right now," Kinoen said with a grin as she gripped her Nodachi with Both hands. "Because I'm going to Slay you right here, and gain myself thirteenth boon!"
"Not a chance I am letting you-" Kuro began to yell, right up until a heavy crash echoed out inthe bay as the far doorway began to lift open with mechanical hisses and clanks.
"Shit," Kinoen muttered as she noticed a pair of legs beneath the opening doorway. "Grab your ally and get going, teachers finding her here will only cause all of us problems."
"What are you planning?" Kuro asked nervously as she watched the doorway open up, making it clear the pair of legs were from older women, not students.
"I'm planning for us all to not get caught; I'll catch their attention, so go!" Kinoen Yelled as she ran at the opening doorway and then dropped, sliding out from under the doorway into the open late afternoon sun.
And finding that the two women outside waiting on the door were none other than Maya Yamada, and Chifuyu Orimura.
"wha-, who are you!" Maya demanded, not thinking of the situation as Kinoen slid past them and sprung to her feet with her sword in clear view.
"Maya get away from that thing!" Chifuyu commanded as she pulled out, much to Kinoen's surprise, a small pistol and aimed it at her, firing without even a hint of hesitation.
Kinoen spun to a stop and swiped the bullets out the air harmlessly, but couldn't seem to move further away as Chifuyu glared at her.
"What, Orimura what is-" Maya tried to speak up in confusion.
"Maya!" Chifuyu suddenly called out interrupting her, her tone tinged with seriousness. "Stay behind me. That thing right there is one of those entities the government told us to a watch out for. A Kampfer."
"Hoo, so the government and you already know about us eh?" Kinoen asked with a grin as she bent forward at the waist provocatively. Resulting in Chifuyu firing another round that she was then forced to bat out of the air with her sword. "Wow, rude much?"
"Be quiet! You will answer my questions! Who are you, and what are you Kampfers? Why are you here?" Chifuyu demanded instantly.
Kinoen stood there for a moment before resting her free hand on her hip. "Oh, you don't know me? Most of the students here do you know?"
"I meant who are you in actuality!" Chifuyu snapped.
"Yeah, I'm not telling you that, never heard of secret identities?" Kinoen asked before batting another two bullets out of the air and shaking her head with a click of her tongue. "Wow, you're pretty trigger happy, aren't you miss Brynhildr?"
"You will answer my questions!"
"No, I won't. You can't really make me. I mean, sure, you're the Brynhildr, but without an IS your just an athletic woman with a small peashooter," Kinoen said as she batted another bullet out of the air and then hopped backwards almost five meters in one go. "Good luck killing me with it by the way. I'll just be going now!"
"No you are not!" Chifuyu called out as she ran forward, shooting the pistols last few rounds until it clicked out of ammo.
Kinoen simply smiled as she batted the bullets out of the air and then, utilizing a Kampfers natural prowess, burst across the grass toward the main school buildings, underneath one building, dashing around a corner, another, up over a wall, over a roof, and then down to the backside of the school classic gymnasium, an area that was dark and shady, and had no cameras of any kind. And was of course far away from the arena and Chifuyu.
Taking a second to make sure nothing came out after her, Kinoen let her Transformation slip and returned to being Ichika, who then proceeded to casually walk out of the shady area and back into the school, very thankful that a Kampfers transformation fixed their default clothing, and didn't carry over things like sweat.
"Ugh, my sister popping up was the worst possible thing to happen," He muttered to himself as entered a hall and began heading to the cafeteria, sure that Houki and Honne had likely already arrived there after escaping. It also made him suddenly worry about why Chifuyu had gone to the bay itself. Had Houki called the teachers about them being threatened perhaps? Was it simple coincidence? Or was it something else? "Argh, there's no point in worrying about it I suppose, it's not like I'll find out anytime soon anyway."
With a final shake of his head Ichika headed to the Cafeteria, ready to hear both of the girls give complaints about where he had been. Chased by other students alongside the rumor of getting a personal IS seemed like a good excuse.
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"You are sure?" the headmistress of the IS academy asked seriously.
"I am," answered Chifuyu. "She admitted she was one of those entities the government warned us about."
"Troubling," the headmistress mumbled to herself before looking back at Chifuyu. "Bullets did nothing?"
"No. she moved as fast as an enhanced IS, if not faster, and simply cut them out of the air. No normal person should have been capable of moving that size of a blade so quickly."
"Even you?"
Chifuyu did not answer.
"I understand. As expected, none of the academies cameras picked up anything, just like the government told us they wouldn't."
"What is our plan of action?" Chifuyu then asked seriously.
"We will have to play it by ear. No government on the planet has yet to catch one of these Kampfer, or admit to it at least. They do not appear on sensors or cameras and are clearly beyond human. If you have a chance to attempt to catch one, please do. You are allowed to carry more weapons on your person if you wish. Would you like access to an IS?"
"No, I will use my sword. That should be sufficient to test their strength if I manage to meet one again."
"Very well. Hopefully there are no more issues, but their presence is something to worry about."
Chifuyu nodded and took that as permission to leave, turning toward the door.
"Ah, one last thing, Orimura?"
"Yes?"
"I realize it is not just your actions doing as such, but intentionally putting your brother on the spot as you have been is not something a teacher should do. During class you must be impartial and fair, and with the situations he is now in, I am feeling truly bad for him."
"The class decided upon it, nothing more. Please excuse me," Chifuyu said as she left the office, leaving the headmaster to her thoughts.
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Authors note: Alright, I had been originally intending for this chapter to have Ichika getting his IS, but this feels like a better place to leave this chapter strangely. So gaining his IS and fighting Cecilia will be next chapter.
Also, from peoples answers I have decided to show off Ichika's boons, but only the ones that have been shown thus far In the story.
Remember. Boons are gotten every 3 times a Kampfer beats another, not necessarily kills. Also boons that are tabbed below another means its dependent on the prior one to unlock. Hopefully this makes sense.
Ichika Orimura/ Kinoen Boons.
Death insurance – If defeated three times, the Kampfer with this boon is not erased from existence, but simply stops being a Kampfer. Economic or material boons not directly related to being a Kampfer may be kept.
Custom Form – this boon allows one to customize the body shape and appearance of their Kampfer form.
Alternate personality - this boon allows the Kampfer to have an alternative personality when I their Kampfer form to asset in protecting their identity. This personality can be automatically created, or manually created. But only once when the boon is chosen.
Chosen weapon – this boon allows one to choose what type of weapon they wield. It does not change their classification as a Kampfer and the weapon must still be of their class. Only can be chosen by Schwert or Gewehr.
Energy manipulation – This boon allows the formation and manipulation of energy. Difficult to use on its own, it is a precursor and required for other combat focused boons.
Custom skills – this boon allows one to design and manifest customized skills that may enhance their ability to fight. It is required to learn custom skills with each skill costing its own point.
Skill – Lotus – a customized skill that burst the user forward and strike the enemy with the weapon pommel. It has high burst power but requires a moment of prep.
Skill - Shrike – a customized skill for impaling enemies. It pierces Zauber spell effects and is very fast, but linear.
Skill – Cascade – a customized skill that is conisered a trick skill. It releases a wave of scintillating energy that carves through metal, but does not damage flesh.
Invisible contract – this boon makes the users bracelet invisible to all people, regular humans and Kampfer, when not in their Kampfer form.
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