Authors note: Okay, this chapter took way too long to complete, it just would not cooperate, but it's finally done. It does jump around a bit, having events over two days, so I hope it isn't to odd in that regard. Hope ya like it.
Akira: Good morning mister Orimura. I am pleased to inform you that I will be arriving at the IS academy just before lunch today with the Byakushiki.
Ichika: Awesome, where?
Akira: Landing pad three, I believe it is on the far side of the academy from the actual school buildings. On the other side of the arena's.
Ichika: Okay, I'll be there when you land. Is there anything I need to bring or be ready for?
Akira: I have a mere three more pages of paper work to sign to give you ownership of the Byakushiki, and one more that the eggheads are insisting upon so that the technical data deal can be guaranteed. You will also need to speak to someone from the academy itself about a storage location for it if you have not already.
Ichika: I assume a teacher will also need to be present?
Akira: Yes. I have already informed the headmistress of my time of arrival and she said that she would be there.
Ichika: understood, I'll be there, probably with the one who will do my maintenance too.
Akira: that is fine, just please do not make a big vocal deal of things. Transport of an IS is a delicate business. I will see you then.
Ichika smiled as he put down his phone and stretched in his chair before checking the time and seeing it said it was 11. "Just enough time to see if I can find Honne before heading over then,"
"Something wrong Boss?" Skewered scorpion asked from on the bed where it was laying down.
"No, my personal IS as arrived is all," Ichika said as he got up from his desk and looked at the drawers with his clothes in them, and then shrugged. Casual slacks and a short sleeved shirt were fine. It was Sunday after all.
"Oh. So you are going to retrieve it then, right?"
"Yep," Ichika said as he grabbed his shoes and slipped them on; pausing as he suddenly shook his head. "Hopefully being a personal IS will make it less likely to try to activate my bracelet."
"I cannot say either way. I have not been given any more information on that matter as of yet," Skewered scorpion said simply, though apologetically.
"It's fine. Though at some point I really do need to figure out a way to get straight answers from the moderators."
"The moderators do not speak directly to Kampfers."
"I know, that's the problem," Ichika said before shaking his head. "Not your fault though. Alright. Hold down the fort for me, I'll be back later."
"Will do Boss!" skewer called just before Ichika left the room.
The halls of the dormitory area were quiet, and outside of the building it was quiet as well. Some students were gathered in groups in some areas, but there were far less people around than during the school days. Many students were likely outside of the academy on their day off, or in the case of foreign students, probably resting in their rooms.
Ichika chuckled as he recalled the day before and how Cecilia and the other non-Japanese students reacted to the fact that they still had classes on a Saturday. It was comical, especially as they seemed to have a hard time focusing because of it.
"Now then, where will Honne be?" Ichika muttered to himself before smiling and pulling out his phone. He didn't have her number technically, but the class had a directory for contacts in regards to projects and the like, making it very easy to find Honne's number. Within a minute it was ringing.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Honne? It's Ichika. My IS is arriving today," Ichika said as soon as he heard Honne's voice, getting right to business.
"Really! Where are you!?" Honne exclaimed in a tone that was simultaneously happy yet sleepy, making Ichika wonder if Honne had been asleep. It was hard to tell when she sounded always a bit tired or lazy.
"I'm just outside the dorm building by the gardens. Are you by the mechanical area's?"
"No, I'm in my room. Can you wait a bit for me to come out and head over with you?" Honne asked as it sounded like something was being dropped in the background.
"Yeah, I can wait," Ichika said simply. It wasn't like he needed to be at the pad in an instant after all.
"I'll be right down then, where am I meeting you?" Honne asked energetically.
Ichika glanced around and noticed two things. The first being that he caught a flash of blue from over by the arena's, and that there was a large clock tower nearby. "The clock tower by the courtyard. The one with the holographic display."
"I'll be right down then, see you in a bit Orimu!" Honne exclaimed before she hung up, almost cutting herself off as she did.
Ichika simply shook his head as he we t to put his phone away, only for it to then start ringing. Lifting it back up he looked at the Id and scowled when he saw it was his sister that was calling him. The first time she had called him in almost two years. He considered just letting it ring for a second, but then let out a sigh and picked it up and brought it to his ear. "Hello."
"Ichika, your IS is arriving in under an hour at-"
"I already know," Ichika said, interrupting Chifuyu from saying anymore.
" . . . I see. Good. If there is-"
"My chosen mechanic will be there as well," Ichika interrupted her again, rolling his eyes as he did.
"Then, can you be at the pad a few minutes early?" Chifuyu asked, her voice shifting from serious, to sounding almost awkward. The reason making itself clear a second later. "I would like to talk to you about something."
Ichika hesitated for a moment before replying. "Fine. I was planning on being early anyway."
"Good, then I will see you shortly," Chifuyu said before hanging up.
"Seriously? What is it with people hanging up without warning?" Ichika muttered as he looked at his phone then shook his head and pocketed it as he walked over to the base of the clock tower to wait for Honne.
He did not have to wait long.
"Orimu!"
Ichika turned to Honne's voice to find her bounding over to where he was, but was surprised at what he saw. Honne was not wearing her uniform, but appeared to be wearing nothing but an oversized hoodie that hung down to her knees and trailed over her arms, and knee socks with simple shoes. Knowing how many women's fashions actually were he figured there was a very good chance that Honne was wearing shorts or at least a skirt underneath the hoodie, but the appearance of wearing nothing but the loose hoodies was, surprisingly effective at making the mind wander.
"Hmm, something wrong?" Honne asked as she stopped just a bit away from Ichika.
"No, sorry, just finding it amusing that you wear just as poofy clothing on the day off from classes is all,"
"Oh, do I look strange?" Honne asked, suddenly seeming very worried as she looked down at her sleeves of the hoodie.
"No, it suits you," Ichika asked as he motioned for them to start walking across the academy grounds. "Though, can I ask you why you wear clothing so obviously larger than what you would need?"
Honne's gaze turned toward the ground as they walked. "Well, I uh. There are a few reasons."
"If you're not comfortable saying them that's fine, I was just curious," Ichika suddenly said surprising Honne and making her almost freeze in place.
"Oh uh, well, it's not like they are, uh. . . .i uh, I'll think about it," Honne ended up stating, seemingly undecided on if she wanted to tell or not.
"It's fine, everyone has secrets," Ichika said with a shrug, just as he began feeling his bracelet start to warm.
"Um, isn't that why you have been acting distant to your sister?" Honne asked, making it clear that his distancing had been noticed by others and not just Maya and Houki.
"It's complicated," Ichika said with a sigh as he felt the bracelet stay warm. In fact I was starting to get warmer, albeit slowly.
"Oh, okay I-" Honne suddenly stopped and her sleepy looking eyes suddenly gained a serious and steely look to them for a moment as she glanced around nervously. "Um, is this the best way to the landing pads? Shouldn't we go around the other way?"
Ichika grinned. "Well there is something by the arena's I want to check out. Houki mentioned that encounter the two of you had to me, so I wanted to investigate,"
Honne looked horrified for a moment, but couldn't say anything as Ichika grabbed a sleeved and dragged her over toward the Arena's.
"I'm joking," Ichika then said, making Honne look very confused. "Houki didn't mention anything about that encounter the two of you had after I left the arena."
"But then, was it your sister?" Honne asked, seeming very confused.
"No, she didn't mention anything about it either I - Oops!" Ichika stopped himself as he suddenly pulled Honne into a dark shadowed area beside the arena they were beside. Behind what appeared to be an electrical box the size of a transport trailer. "Heh, we almost got seen!"
"By who?"
"Those Blues," Ichika said, causing Honne's expression to become brilliantly surprised. Even more so as Ichika willed his bracelet to be visible and tapped Honne on the forehead with it, causing her to transform.
Honne's Kampfer form was just as Ichika had first seen on the rooftop. Her hair changed from pale pink to a deep dark purple with pink glowing accents. Her hoodie also changed into a properly sized one while she gained knee length loose pants with no socks, and her eyes changed from yellow to purple like her hair. Her red bracelet was on her right wrist, and her Hoodie now being a proper size it made it clear her Kampfer form was very lender and lithe, though she still stared at Ichika in utter surprise, seemingly unable to speak.
Ichika smiled at then flicked his own bracelet before transforming right in front of Honne into Kinoen, who was then in a simple black tank top and skirt, with a red short sleeved jacket over top of it. "What do you say we go show those blues what happened when they pick a fight?"
"I want answers," Honne said, her voice sounding more solid and serious, just as her expression was.
"Later, I want to finally impale one of them and get myself a new boon!" Kinoen said before suddenly jumping straight up almost five stories up onto the roof of the area' side building.
And finding both Kuro and Tina on that very roof at the far side, looking right at her.
"You!" Kuro exclaimed in anger as Tina moved to raise her gun at her.
"Yes, me, in all of my glory!" Kinoen exclaimed right before Tina shot at her, making her swing her blade up and bisect the bullet with a smile. "Oh, that impatient to have some fun are we?"
"Shut up!" kuro snapped as she held her blades in front of her. "If you think we will let you just keep playing with us, you are dead wrong!"
Kinoen smirked, setting Kuro off and sending her blades at her, allowing her to knock one to the side and intentionally wrap the chain around her blade. Then, in a moment of feigned weakness, she took a step back.
Seeing this Tina opened fire on her, only for Kinoen to swing her blade up and send Kuro's chain into the way of the bullets.
"Wow, do you even now what teamwork is?" Kinoen mocked them with a giggle. "I've seen children work together better than you can."
"You, stop being damn arrogant!" Tina exclaimed as she shot a full clip at Kinoen, each shot being swatted away, before forming her second larger gun and taking a couple shots that Kinoen dodged. "It's two against one, so just hold still and die already!"
Kinoen smirked as she rolled to the side, dodging another of Kuro's blades and smacking the chain with her foot to mess up its trajectory. "Oh? What do you mean by that?"
"You are alone, and there are two of us," Kuro said with a grin "We'll tire you out, and finish you off this time now that we know how you fight!"
Kinoen swung her sword to the side in a flourish and smirked as she saw a shadow on a building move out the corner of her eye. "Who said I was alone?"
Both women looked at her for a second, a second too long, before they realized what Kinoen was meaning. They both turned around at the same time, expecting to find a new foe engaging them, but instead found nothing.
with the opening created by her words Kinoen rushed at them and kicked Kuro in the shoulder, sending her flying backwards with a spin before swinging her blade and slicing the top off of Tina's handgun, forcing her to summon her second, larger one.
"Dammit, stop tricking us! Kuro, you- look out!" Tina yelled as she tried to move away from Kinoen to little effect, then noticing that she was indeed not alone.
"of Couse I'm not . . ." Kuro snapped as she sat up to find Honne's Kampfer form standing to her side, holding the chain from her Schwert in one hand. "Oh crap."
"Sorry," was all she said before a bolt of black electricity arcs between her hands, and right into the chain and through it and into her. She let out a piercing scream before she simply dropped to the ground, her body turning into black mist that then disappeared in merely a second.
"Kuro!" Tina called out in horror before she was fore to take another step back to avoid Kinoen's blade.
"Relax, she just respawned," Kinoen said with a grin as she continue to advance on Tina, swinging her blade one handed. Something most would consider a challenge considering its length. "What, never seen it occur?"
"Of course I have!" Tina yelled in anger as she managed to reform her main pistol back into her right hand and tried to press her attack.
"Ever had it happen to you?" Kinoen then asked darkly, right before a blast of electricity slammed into the concrete ceiling beside Tina, making her flinch and step to the side. Right into Kinoen's path. "Shrike!"
Tina let out a pained gasp as she felt Kinoen's Odachi Plunge right into the center of her chest, and a second later she too burst into black mist that disappeared.
"Hah, serves you right!" Kinoen aid with a grin as she raised her hand and looked over her bracelet with a smirk. "One more boon to choose later."
"So, are you going to explain yourself?" Honne's Kampfer form asked seriously as she walked over, nearly glaring at her as she spoke.
"Eventually," Kinoen said with a smile. "We've got lots of time, and it's not like I can run away. Oh, I suppose I could fly away once I get that IS. And on that point, let's get off this roof and head over to the landing pad."
"Ah, wait!" Honne's Kampfer form exclaimed as Kinoen ran over and jumped right off of the rooftop to the ground and then quickly moved into a dark shadowy alleyway between the buildings, forcing her to follow her. As she followed her she saw Kinoen turn back into Ichika and then did so herself as well. "Um, Orimura?"
"Sorry, that must have been a bit of a shocker," Ichika said as he scratched the back of his head, but kept walking at a normal pace forward. "Ask away."
"Um, okay, um" Honne hummed to herself as she walked a half step behind Ichika to his left as she thought about what to ask first, before then deciding that simple was best. "So, you're a Kampfer too. Kinoen even?"
"Yep."
"Uh, how long have you been a Kampfer?"
"About a year and a half."
"That's, longer than Kinoen has been online," she mumbled to herself. "Um, so, was your form, just like that? Kinoen I mean?"
"No, I used a Boon to customize my Kampfer form as," Ichika stopped for a second and sighed. "Originally my Kampfer form looked almost exactly like my sister but a bit younger. It was, awkward."
"Oh, I guess that could be. . . . Uh, do you really have that many Boons?"
"Yep. Twelve of them, thirteen now I suppose though," Ichika said as he held up his wrist, then realized his bracelet was visible, and willed it to disappear.
"But, how did you get so many?" Honne asked in curiosity. "I only have two."
"Well, getting Boons means wining fights, and Kyoto has a lot of Kampfer in it," Ichika replied simply before smirking. "Having allies helps too."
"So, you've killed people then," Honne asked bluntly.
"Some, yes. Though technically they simply cease to exist," Ichika said with a shrug. "The others I beat had the boon to not be removed from existence, as every Kampfer should I think."
"Do, do you like it?" Honne asked, sounding very worried now.
"Being a Kampfer has its perks, actually it has a lot of them considering the danger but-" Ichika stopped walking and turned to look at Honne. "I'm guessing you are more meaning about the killing part?"
"Ye-yes. I- have a couple boons so I have, um, done that, but-"
"No, I don't like the killing part, it is just an unfortunate fact of being a Kampfer," Ichika said, interrupting Honne's worried words. "Luckily, the bonuses I feel outweigh the bad parts of being a Kampfer."
"Really? I haven't found anything really positive, it just gets in the way of everything," Honne said with a heavy sigh. "I almost didn't get into the Academy because of it."
Ichika let out a hum and pointed to the distant landing pad before heading toward it. "What boons do you have?"
"Um, insurance, and the Zauber customization boons. It's how I have lightning magic, and my Plushie said that insurance was a smart choice for my first boon."
"Oh? Your Familiar seems at least half decent then," Ichika said with a chuckle. "I know that most don't do much more than tell people the basics and then inform them of things as they need to."
"Is yours like that?"
"No, mine is very useful and helpful. He gave me and my friends a lot of useful information," Ichika said before grinning. "For example, did you know that in your Kampfer form you are immune to all forms of disease and sickness, and that transforming purges your body of them completely?"
"I didn't, no."
"Transforming, into or out, also removes foreign substances from your body too. Alcohol, sperm, drugs, anything that shouldn't be there."
"Wha- why would anyone need to know that?!"
"Let's just say me and the other two in the Trio are a bit, open about things now due to, things we've had happen and have done. We've never taken lump sum payment boons, but we wanted money to help set up our YouTube channel. We've done some things. Though outside of our group was only a onetime thing."
Honne seemed to freeze her face slowly began to turn crimson from embarrassment, causing Ichika to start laughing raucously.
"And before you ask, no I am not mostly joking. I can tell you the whole story later at some point, or the others can."
"The, others?" Honne asked curiously.
"Yeah. You're an ally so, unless you don't want to, you can be introduced to them at some point. Though it will have to wait,"
"What?" Honne said in confusion before realizing that they were about to reach the landing pad and that they could see a large plane approaching the island in the distance. "Oh."
"Yeah. . . so, my sister is waiting there, and wants to talk to me about something before it arrives so you might need to stand around for a bit, sorry."
"No, its fine. I mean, I get to be your mechanic and you saved me and . . . . Why are you trusting me, Orimura?"
Ichika stopped just shy of the ramp that went up to the massive landing pad and turned to Honne. "Because I believe you are trustworthy. If I didn't, I would not have saved you that first time and brought you to the infirmary."
"'Th-that's it?"
"Yes. That is it," Ichika answered as he then ascended the ramp, Honne following after him a moment later.
As they reached the top of the landing pad they could see the plane in the distance approaching at a slow, almost leisurely pace. And if to contrast it, Chifuyu was standing to the side, stoic, unapproachable, and domineering in her presence with a mask of true neutrality covering her face.
"Ichika, come here," she called without even turning to look toward them.
Chika let out a sigh and walked over to her, Honne making the smart choice and staying back. "You wanted to speak to me, Orimura Sensei?"
"Yes," She said before pausing for a second. "You have had some practice with the Training Is, have you not?"
"I have, yes," Ichika answered, noticing that his sister was not turning to face him, seeming to be more interested in staring at the approaching plane.
"Good. Have you decided upon who shall maintain your-"
"Nohotoke," Ichika said, interrupting Chifuyu as he spoke. "It's why I asked her to come along."
Chifuyu turned to look at Ichika, and then glanced up at Honne before returning her gaze to him. "Are you sure she I who you want? Would you not prefer a proper engineer from the Academy itself?"
"Why are you asking it like that?"
"She may be your classmate, but many students in the Academy come from Families with ulterior motives, and her Family has connections which could be, problematic for you in the future," Chifuyu explained without actually telling him anything. "I have spoken with one of the Academies trusted engineers, and they are willing to maintain your IS."
"No, I've made my choice, and I will trust that if she has a secret she'll tell me if it is important!" Ichika said venomously, his gaze not moving away from his sister's eyes."
" . . . . very well, if that is your choice," she said as she turned d her gaze away from him and toward the plane that was now nearing the pad very quickly, its wings shifting for a vertical landing. "I would like to apologize."
"For what?" Ichika asked as he looked at his sister incredulously, curious as to where this would go.
"For forcing this situation with Cecilia when you do not want to. I realize now it was improper of me, but I needed to get you a Personal IS."
"Why did I need a personal IS?" Ichika asked carefully.
"To help protect you."
"from?"
"I can't tell you that," Chifuyu said simply. "It is classified."
"Oh, it's classified is it?" Ichika asked in obvious annoyance. "Just like everything else apparently, how convenient!"
"I apologize, but-"
"No, fuck your apologies!" Ichika yelled as he pointed as his sister. "I am done with this bullshit. All you do is leave me with nothing and hide things from me while acting like you are somehow doing this for my own good, when all it does is isolate me. So fuck your apologies and fuck you! I am not listening to single damn thing you say until you actually tell me the real reasons for everything, my kidnapping, leaving me alone while you wandered off to Germany, why you've left me alone for years with no contact, why I need to be here, why I needed an IS personally, all of it! Until you answer all of that to me honestly, you are not my sister, you are not my family, you are nothing but a teacher in this school! Sensei!"
Chifuyu was visibly shocked at Ichika's outburst and simply stood there for a second n shock as he turned and began walking away and over to where Honne was waiting. "W-wait, Ichika you-"
"Do not call me by my name, Sensei, you don't have the right!" Ichika responded loudly without turning to face her.
By then the plane was almost overtop of them, its engines making a horrendous roar. Ichika could tell that Chifuyu was trying to yell something to him, but he couldn't hear her over the plane as it began landing.
"Um, was it a good idea to yell at Orimura Sensei like that?" Honne asked loudly as Ichika came up and stopped beside her. Her loose clothing was flapping all over from the wind pressure the landing plane was making, but she seemed to be unfazed by it, just as Ichika did.
"It's fine, what is she going to do, give me detention?" Ichika responded smugly and loudly, so that Honne could hear him. "Heck, that'd make it easier to refuse being Class rep."
Honne simply nodded in understanding, knowing the conversation was basically at an end and watched as the plane touched down with its rear unloading doors facing them. A minute later the door began opening down and forming into a ramp, allowing Akira himself to stride down the ramp and up to Chifuyu while a technician of some sort began moving a mechanical trolley that was holding a very large oval tube of metal and frosted glass.
"That's your IS," Honne said now that the plane's engines were shutting down and not deafening them. "IS transport containers also double as their deactivate state holding pod.
"Do all of those have frosted glass on them?"
"Normally they don't have glass," Honne said with a shake of her head. "Normally they are just metal tubes that when they open up allow technicians and mechanics to look them over and even take them apart simpler. Since there is a glass cover, that pod probably has some abilities removed, so it'll probably be hard to give it modifications."
"I see," Ichika said with a hum as the reason came to mind. "Ah, the Byakushiki doesn't have any open hardpoints, that's probably why.
"That would mean the pod wouldn't need all the same parts I guess, but it will make things a bit more difficult for me," Honne answered just before Akira, seeming to be done speaking with Chifuyu, turned and jogged over to Ichika and Honne.
"Mister Orimura, Good morning to you,"
"And to you Akira," Ichika said with a smile. "You can just call me Ichika you know."
"Perhaps, but it would not be proper considering my position," Akira said with a good natured chuckle before turning to Honne. "Would I be correct in assuming this young lady is to be your mechanic?"
"You would,"
"Ah, then forgive me miss," Akira said as he offered a hand out to Honne. "Akira Kukouko of Kuromochi Machinery Development."
"Ah, um, Honne Nohotoke," Honne said nervously as she took the man's hand with her sleeve and gave it a shake.
"Excellent, it is a pleasure to meet you, and while it shall likely only be rarely, I look forward to what data you send to us in the near future."
"Ah, y-yes, I'll do my best!" Honne declare as they let go of the other hand.
"I am sure you will," Akira said with a nod as he took a step back to speak to both of them respectfully. "Now then, onto the real business. Orimura Sensei has told me that the school has a location for the Byakushiki in their main storage facility so we shall head over there before we hand over the final paperwork as well as the Byakushiki's Bracelet to you. It will also allow us to witness its first real activation if you are planning on doing some initial calibrations."
"I would like to actually, since I'll be in a duel with it tomorrow," Ichika said with a nod.
"Ah, so we might have some data son then," Akira said with a nod as he noticed Chifuyu waving to him as she led the Technician with IS pod moving down the ram of the landing pad. He gestured for them to follow, and then directed his attention to Honne. "Miss Nohotoke, have you been informed of the legalities in regards to Mister Orimura's IS?"
"Um, not in full," Honne answered in a bit of worry.
"Ah, that if fine, I can give you a quick rundown of it as we head to the storage facility if that is alright? There will also be some legal papers and things you will need to look over and sign when we get there as well."
"I understand," Honne said with a strong nod. "What do I need to know?"
Akira grinned before he began explaining everything to Honne as they walked. Most of it was the same things that Ichika had been told about, rules, regulations, the data agreements they made and the like. He also went into detail about how she could go about formatting and compiling the data from the pods terminal and other such technical things.
They continued talking till they arrived at the academies IS storage facility, a very large, and mostly underground building with triple locked blast doors. The inside of it reminded Ichika of a beehive. The walls were covered in hexagonal alcoves with each one holding an IS in its secure pod. His was moved to a small spot where there were no pods, but a number of mechanical shelves and the like, likely a maintenance area.
"Ichika, there is a change room down the hall. Go and change," Chifuyu said without looking in his direction, seemingly still a bit out of sorts due to his words to her.
Without a word he headed to the hall and down it and, just as Chifuyu said, there were a pair of Change rooms that in actuality appeared to be converted bathrooms. With a sigh he quickly changed into his IS piloting outfit and came back to the main room to find an interesting situation. As both the technician that came with Akira and Honne appeared to be glaring at each other.
"Uh, what is going on?" Ichika asked as he walked up beside Akira.
"It appears my technician does not believe that Miss Nohotoke is appropriate to look over and calibrate your machine, and is unwilling to even let her try to prove herself," He explained with a heavy sigh and a shake of his head. His gaze then stopped when looking at Ichika for a second. "That is quiet the piloting suit. Did you choose it, or was it simply given to you?"
"The Academy provided it," Ichika said grudgingly, before suddenly perking up as an idea entered his mind. "Say, Kuromotchi wouldn't be able or willing to make me a different outfit for piloting, would they?"
Akira smiled. "I think I can put in the request. If your physical body numbers are sent alongside some technical data they would probably be thrilled. Anything specific you want changed?"
"I don't want my belly out in the open, and if it could be black in color that would be great."
"That's all?" Akira asked in surprise as he glanced over to see that Chifuyu was now speaking to Honne and the technician, likely trying to stop them from being foolish and get to work.
"Yeah, I can't think of anything else, I just don't want my stomach hanging out mainly."
"Understood," Akira said as he took out a notepad and began writing something down in it. Once he was done he pocketed the notebook then smiled and spoke up loudly, loud enough for everyone to hear him. "Alright, let's get you into your Personal IS and get it properly Calibrated!"
His words seemed to work as both the technician and Honne both suddenly looked over, and upon seeing Ichika scowled at each other and moved over to a console beside the Byakushiki pod.
"Alright, time for the unveiling!" Honne declared as she moved over to the pod and pulled on a lever on it.
With a hiss the frosted glass split in the middle and began sliding into the sides of the pod, allowing the Byakushiki's closed full form to be visible. It was a mass of angled grey and white steel that, in its form was rather compact and looked nothing like armor.
"Looks pretty unimpressive like this," Ichika admitted as he stepped up to the pod and placed a hand on the IS's metal. In an instant he felt something he couldn't explain. It was warm, yet wary, but somehow felt familiar.
"Any IS looks unimpressive when it is in its inactive mode," Chifuyu stated with a sake of her head. "Climb up and get in manually. Once it's calibrated you'll be able to receive its closed form bracelet, but it needs you to use it for a bit and help the calibrations along."
"Understood," Ichika said as he climbed up the inactive IS, Located the holes for his legs and turned around before slipping in. the cool metal felt odd as little tiny static jolts zapped him.
"Okay, setting the boot protocol now," Honne said as she tapped on a tablet that was connected to the pod by a thick cable. "Are you ready Orimu?"
"I'm ready," he answered. A second later the Machine began to hum and the pieces of machinery that sat behind and to his ides began shifting and lifting up. The main body parts were first, slipping up and locking around his waist, chest and neck with mechanical parts almost reminiscent of claws of legs. The arms then came up and slipped up over his forearms. Finally the floating portions of the IS lifted up behind him while some pieces of metal shifted up and over his head like a makeshift visor.
"Alright, looks like the initial boot up has finished without an issue," The technician spoke up causally. "Step out of the pod, take your time if you need to. The Byakushiki has a lot more power behind it than training IS ever could."
Ichika nodded and took a step, the leg of metal moving how he wanted and landing on the metal floor with a distinct clink. It took only two more steps to be away from the pod, allowing Ichika to lift an arm and look over it, curling the machines fingers slowly. "There's a bit of resistance. Actually a lot.
"Of course the initial boot up was only just done. The IS's core still hasn't warmed up or fully booted up yet," The technician explained as Honne walked around him and stopped in front of Ichika.
"We'll set the full boot sequence now, Orimu. Say anything if something seems wrong. Ready?"
"Yes," Ichika stated again as he watched Honne then press something on the tablet she still held, though it now did not have a cable connected to it. A second later a number of holographic images and a Heads Up Display formed in front of his vision, courtesy of the visor, as he heard the machine let out a mechanical tone saying ' ACCESS'.
"Alright, full boot sequence is complete, how does it feel Orimu?" Honne asked as she took a step back.
Ichika lifted his arms and clenched his fists, watching the mechanical claws do so right as he did without any resistance. He moved his arms about, then did the same with his legs before going further and doing some stretches. "I'm not feeling any resistance at all."
"That is good," The Technician spoke up before grinning. "Now, let's do a couple tests to calibrate it!"
Ichika inwardly groaned as he realized this would take a while.
And sadly he was right. Hours went by in a strange combination of simple tests and everyday activities, followed by calibrations, followed by more activities and then calibrations. With each calibration Ichika felt the Byakushiki move easier and easier until it was barely like he was even partly encased in an armored suit. But with every calibration and improved ease of movement, his Kampfer bracelet got hotter and hotter. It got so hot that he thought he would be unable to stop himself from transforming right there, but strangely he did not transform despite the feeling he would. In fact stopping concentrating on it, didn't even make him change, and willingly stopping concentrating on that was a big risk in the first place. It was almost as if something, maybe the Byakushuiki itself, was stopping him from transforming.
By the time the technician and Honne were done doing initial calibrations, also known as when there stopped being a noticeable improvement, it was nearly five in the afternoon, nearly suppertime.
"Right, that is all we're getting done here I suppose," the technician sighed as he looked over a tablet of his own and gave an odd smile. "I have to say mister Orimura, your synchronization rate throughout all of these calibrations has been startlingly high."
"It that a good thing?" Ichika asked with a stretch as, for the first time, he drew the Byakushiki's blade, a dull looking slightly curved longsword, from a sheathe in the pod and looked it over. It was called the Yukihira, though honestly it didn't seem like much in its default state.
"It's very Good Orimu, the higher the Synchronization rate, the easier it is for a pilot to use the IS," Honne declared energetically. "There are even some cases where IS have reacted for the pilot with what they intended to do!"
"That is a rare occurrence, but it does happen," The technician said with a nod. "Honestly your synchronization rate is easily as high as most personal IS users."
"Huh, maybe it will help me tomorrow then," Ichika said as he shrugged, and then to everyone's surprise, un-deployed the IS around him. As he landed on the ground he noticed a white and blue bracelet on his wrist, right beside his Kampfer bracelet, the Byakushiki's closed form, but had no chance to say anything as the technician gawked
"What!? How did you do that? I've never hear of anyone being able to un-deploy their IS without it being explained to them first!"
"Is it, really that big of a deal?" Ichika asked, only to then find that Chifuyu had stepped up behind him before grabbing ahold of his arm and looking over the bracelet.
"Hmm, it is equipped properly; he did not un-deploy it incorrectly at all."
"Ah, I take it you had told him about it in the past then?" Akira suggested, making Ichika loudly scoff.
"Ha, as if. I have no sister that speaks to me about anything," he declared before pulling his arm away from Chifuyu and glancing at the pod to see the Byakushiki siting there in its default state. "So, the closed form allows me to summon it whenever, correct?"
"That is correct," the technician spoke up. "Though if it is currently under maintenance it would not be able to be summoned unless it was an emergency," He said before glancing to Honne. "Your, mechanic, will need to decide upon a schedule for such a thing, as preventative maintenance is important, even if it is just a system scan and a check for issues regularly."
"We'll figure that out later probably," Honne said with a noncommittal shrug, making the technician eye her warily.
"Well, if you can already un-deploy it, you probably shouldn't have an issue employing it," The technician finally said with a sigh. "I suppose that is all I can do here for now. I'll look forward to seeing what data us sent our way."
"Yeah, hopefully it's more than Orimu getting trounced," Honne said with a giggle.
"What? Who are you dueling?"
"Cecilia Alcott," Akira answered first. "The Representative candidate of England, I believe it was."
"Oh," the technician said. "Her."
"You don't like her?" Ichika asked his curiosity now high.
"I have heard nothing good about her, and I look forward to her being brought low," the technician said simply as he packed his supplies into a small bag. "Arrogant highborns like her need to be brought low everyone once in a while, so I'll be rooting for you."
"As will I," Akira said with a smile. "In fact, I will be present to watch the match tomorrow, so I will see you at a later date mister Orimura,"
"Yeah, see you then,"
At this moment Chifuyu took a step forward and spoke up. "Allow me to escort you gentlemen back to the landing pad, so that my students can head off for supper."
"Ah, thank you kindly Miss Orimura.," Akira replied as he and the technician were led out of the room by Chifuyu, leaving Honne and Ichika to head out on their own.
The two them were silent for a minute before Ichika let out a sigh. "I was kind of hoping all the calibrations would get the Byakushiki out of its default state. Fighting Cecilia without the first shift might be hard."
"It might, but a first shift only really happens with real combat training. Just calibrations wont' cut it," Honne said as she looked over the tablet in glee. "Think you are ready to fight her though?"
Ichika let out a long sigh as he looked at Byakushiki's bracelet, sitting right beside his Kampfer one. "I just hope nothing goes out of control during the duel."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The next morning, after a good night's sleep, and a hearty breakfast, Ichika found himself in the main bay of one of the arena's, just before he was to duel Cecilia. It turned out almost the entire school was present in the stands for some reason, and the only people not out there appeared to be his teachers in a command room to oversee the duel itself, and Honne and Houki, who were standing to the side as he looked over the Byakushiki as it sat over his form comfortably.
"Ichika, are you sure, about this?" Houki asked carefully.
"No," Ichika answered homnestly as he flexed his hands and rolled his shoulders. "Not like I have a choice at the moment though, thanks to some people, so I'll just what I can."
Houki seemed uncertain in how to respond to that and just sighed, allowing Honne to step up with a tablet wrapped in her sleeve. "It's just a minute until you will need to head out to meet Cecilia, then thirty seconds until the duel, I'm ready to grab all your data. All of it!"
Ichika smirked at Honne's words, the impression of her watching for anything out of the ordinary due to the Kampfer bracelet being understood easily. Before he could speak up however a ping came from the PA system.
"Ahem, Orimura, can you hear me?" Maya said through the speaker.
Ichika glanced over at a control room where Maya and Chifuyu were sitting and nodded. "Loud and clear,"
"Good," Maya said with a somehow audible smile before continuing "Miss Alcott has already deployed and has entered the arena. Here's a feed."
A second later a holographic video screen appeared in front of Ichika, Houki and Honne showing Cecilia in a bright Blue IS hovering in the air of the arena. Her IS had very thick looking grey legs, with a very thin frame of metallic blue around her body and arms. Four long wings poked out behind her, and in her right hand she held a very long rifle.
"Alcott's IS is the Blue Tears, a 3rd generation IS that is long range sniper type designed in Europe."
"Huh, an archer versus a swordsman then," Houki stated in an odd tone, while Honne seemed to glare at the image itself.
"That is correct," Chifuyu said over the speaker. "Miss Alcott has over one hundred hours of airtime in her IS and is known as a skilled shooter. You will likely have difficulty striking her Ichika."
"Orimura sensei, I don't believe you have any right to use my given name, thank you," Ichika said coldly before pointing at the wings of the Blue tears. "Hey Honne, those wings don't look usable for flight, do they?"
" . . . . . no, they don't really do they?" Honne asked out loud as she began humming "they almost look like darts in one direction, but it could be ascetic, IS don't need to be aerodynamic after all."
Ichika then began to chuckle, making both Houki and Honne look at him in concern. "Oh, I see then. Alright, I can work with this. Yamada Sensei, I can head into the arena then, correct?"
"Ah, oh, yes you may if there's nothing else you need to do to prepare," Maya responded in surprise.
"Good. See you all in a bit!" Ichika then stated as he turned towards the gate and powered toward it with Byakuchiki's thrusters. When he got to the end of the ramp however he did not jet out into the air but instead allowed himself to drop to the ground, but did a well-executed forward roll, handstand and then jumped and landed on his feet with his sword drawn to the side, and his eyes up at Cecilia.
She stood on the air above looking like any female or IS supremacist that Ichika had ever met, her gaze cold and daring him to speak up against her, as if it was her right to stand above him.
"Hmph, About time you came out here. This is your last chance!" she declared haughtily.
"Last chance for what?" Ichika asked.
"To surrender. It is clear that I will win handily. After all, what imbecile brings a sword to a gunfight? If you apologize for everything, perhaps I may be lenient upon you."
Ichika shook his head. "You really are an arrogant bitch, you know that?"
"You insolent boor!" Cecilia yelled in anger as she suddenly moved her rifle from the side into both hands and fired at Ichika.
Only for his IS to be many meters to the sides of where she had shot as he began flying just off the ground. "Wow, I heard you were a good sniper, but I guess good was an overstatement with aim like that!"
"You dare!" Cecilia shrieked as she turned and fired three shots down at him. The shots were aimed ahead of him and to his sides, led so that no matter which way he moved one would strike him regardless of if he powered forward or moved to the sides.
But instead Ichika suddenly blasted backwards, making all of the shots strike the ground nowhere close to him. He then continued to handedly dodge shots that were aimed down at him. Suddenly veering to the sides and back and forth, bursting forward with spins to avoid them, even jumping up onto the edge of the arena wall to avoid the blue hued beams.
"So, do you run out of ammo? Because I'm kind of getting tired by your lack of aim," Ichika called out with a smile on his face as he was flying backwards, his back to the ground as he drifted to his left and dodged another shot.
"You absolute Boor! You stupid, stupid man! What madness have you done!? What trickery have you corrupted that IS with that it moves like that! There is no way you should be able to dodge my shots!" Cecilia whined out loud in aggravation as she redoubled her firing speed, forcing Ichika to start moving about the arena even faster.
"Haha, see, you can do it if you try, you actually graze me and lowered my IS's energy a bit!" Ichika mocked as he did a barrel roll while dashing to the side, his free claw striking the dirt and allowing him to pivot in place and very suddenly redirect his direction. An act he used to suddenly then burst right up into the air, right towards Cecilia.
Cecilia suddenly smirked. "Oops, looks like you are nothing special after all!" She declared as the long lower sections of her wings suddenly broke off from the rest of the IS, moved through the air and pointed at Ichika, their tips glowing baleful blue.
Ichika grinned as well. "Maybe I am though," he said as his free arm suddenly was thrown forward and his claws opened up, sending a very large handful of sand and dirt, right at Cecilia.
Her wings, truthfully drones, fired four beams right at Ichika. They burned through the air but at the same time Ichika was suddenly bursting backwards and swung his blade, blocking three of the four beams as one of them struck his IS in the shoulder. A second later however as he was struck and pushed backwards by the beams force, was when the sand and dirt he had thrown collided all across Cecilia's form, covering her body and face and making her gasp and throw her arms up, sputtering and coughing.
"Ah, you boor, how dare you be so low as to-" Cecilia began to say, stopping only when an explosion forced her to open her eyes and see that one of her drones had been cleaved in half. And that Ichika was aiming for another. "No!" she screamed as the Drones suddenly darted away from Ichika, flying backwards until they came back and reconnected to her IS.
"Oh yes, that did indeed just happen!" Ichika said with a chuckle as he floated up, now hovering in the air parallel to Cecilia. "What, you didn't think I was just dodging as a last resort did you?"
"You, you tricked me!?"
"Hardly, I just figured your wings looked a bit suspicious and wanted to see what you were hiding," Ichika stated as he swung his sword to the side and then brought it in front of him, his second hand grabbing the handle that was a bit too small to actually use two hands with. "So, now that we are warmed up, shall we start round two?"
"You insolent deplorable disgusting male!" Cecilia screamed as she fired her rifle and then deployed her drones in the next instant.
Ichika blocked the rifles beam, discovering in that moment that its power output was too high for his blade to block without losing some of his shields, and then dashed backwards toward the ground. The drones followed, shooting smaller and lower intensity beams at him in volleys as they twitched to their various sides to keep the fire varied and spread out. These beams he could block and he did, but the volley fire was rapid and quick, some of the beams catching his IS's wings and the lower portions of his legs and feet. Banding around the edge of the arena at ground level he spared a glance up at Cecilia, finding her simply staring down and watching him with focused contempt. Looking back at the three drones he then grinned and burst toward them, tanking a couple of shots and swigging his blade at one of them. It tried to move, to shift to the side and out of his reach. His blade still made contact with it, but instead of cleaving it in half he merely grazed the lens.
A lens which then fired a very short burst of beams that dissipated after a few feet and never hit him. Damaging the lens simply turned it from a low powered rifle, into an even lower powered shotgun it seemed.
"Well, it basically means that's another drone out of the way," Ichika muttered to himself as he rolled throw the air and grabbed up a handful of sand in Byakushiki's claw. He then glanced at that claw, the same claw that underneath the layers of metal and machinery was his Kampfer bracelet that felt almost like a burning iron ring around his wrist, making it difficult to not focus on it. "I need to end this quickly."
"Do you really think such a tactic will work again!" Cecilia roared as she fired a rifle shot from above. Ichika dodged it, but then the drones came back around, the two of them firing from range, while the damaged one tried to seemingly ram him from the side.
Ichika threw the sand up in front of the two beams while swatting the damaged drone out of the air, and grinned as one of the beams did not strike him, seemingly being stopped by the sand itself.
"What, impossible!"
"Hardly!" Ichika declared as he, much to Cecilia's surprise, threw his sword at one of her drones, blowing it apart. "I just noticed your beams were not doing much to the sand of the arena. So I figured maybe it was primarily silica or something similar to dull beam and laser impacts. Looks like I was right and it can hinder beam weapons!"
"Absurd! How absurd! You are just a foolish deplorable man!" Cecilia shrieked as she fired her rifle a couple of time while her remaining drone moved back towards her.
"How rude," Ichika said with a smirk as he suddenly blasted toward her, blade at the ready. "Maybe I should end this!"
"Oh? It appears I forgot to add, dumb to my words as well," Cecilia said as suddenly, a pair of very large barreled launchers came out from around the back of the Blue Tears legs, aiming at Ichika as he was solidly on his way toward Cecilia. "Checkmate."
"Aw shit," Was all Ichika could say as a pair of missiles shot out towards him. He blasted backwards, weaving and bobbing to avoid them as they followed his every movement with considerable maneuverability, and eventually they caught up. He spun backwards, grabbing one with his left claw in the hopes of throwing it, only to find it, and the one to his side, suddenly exploding, engulfing him in flames and smoke that quickly filled the arena.
"Ichika!" Houki found herself explaining in worry as she stared at the screen.
"Orimu's fine," Honne said gleefully, though her tone was tinged with a small bit of worry.
"How are you so sure?" Houki asked before then seeing the tablet in Honne's hands. "Oh, it says he is fine?"
"Something like that," Honne said noncommittally as she could feel her Kampfer bracelet burning her wrist. She looked over to the control room out the corner of her eyes to see both Maya and Chifuyu looking over something frantically and then then glanced at the tablet before her, smirking. "Looks like he had a get out of jail free card!"
"What?" Houki asked in confusion.
Honne merely pointed at the screen with a sleeve. A screen that now showed that the smoke was clearing.
As it did, a form appeared through it, and everyone found themselves gawking in surprise as Ichika's IS, now drastically different could be seen. Instead of a dull grey, it was now a brilliant white and gold with fanned out wings akin to massive thrusters of jets. Its whole shape had changed, and most interesting were the facts that the armor seemed to cover his whole body and form showing nothing of his skin or body, and that his sword now appeared look like it was an overly long Katana made of glass with a glowing yellow edge.
"No way is that . . . what happened?" Houki asked in surprise, making Honne giggle.
"It looks like Orimu's Byakushiki went through its first shift and is now really and truly his!"
"But, why is it fully encasing him like that?"
"Um, maybe to be protective?" Honne suggested as she held her hand against her body tensely.
Out in the arena itself Cecilia has a similar reaction as she stared at the fully armored form that floated across from her, the ensemble reminder her somehow of stories of knights in fantasy. "W-What in, you, you were fighting me in the default state? You hadn't even passed the first shift yet?" she asked in shock.
Ichika lifted his free hand in front of him as if looking over the Byakushiki's claw and clenched it before looking up at Cecilia. He then much to her surprise, raised this free hand and drew it across his neck in a threatening motion before swinging his blade up and around, pointing the glowing tip at her.
"Why, why are you not answering me?" Cecilia demanded as she floated backwards bit, unconsciously moving away as something told her in the back of her mind that she was in danger.
Ichika still did not reply and shifted into a combat stance and then, just as Cecilia felt that she needed to attack, he burst forward at her through the air, blade held above his right shoulder like a spear ready to thrust.
"Get away from me!" Cecilia shrieked a she brought up her rifle to fire, only to find that Ichika was now moving faster than before as his strange blade went right down the barrel of her rifle, and cleaved up out the top of it without any noticeable effort. He then twisted it around and bough the pommel down on the barrel, knocking it from Cecilia's grip.
In sudden fear she brought out her missile launchers, only for one of the launchers to then be slashed by Ichika's blade, while he grabbed the other barrel with his left claw. Cecilia tried to skirt back away, but as soon as she realized that he had a grip on her IS, she moved her now free main hand down to her waist and pulled what appeared to be a combat knife out of her leg armor and swung it at him.
Only for him to suddenly use his grip on her missile tube to swing her IS around and throw it to the ground while swinging his blade. Cecilia hit the ground hard, and as she got up she gasped in horror as she saw that her shields were nearly gone. she looked up to see the Byakushiki floating down toward the ground an glanced at her broken rifle, then at the broken missile tubes, one cut and the other bent, and di the only thing that seemed appropriate, regardless of how much it infuriated her. "I, surrender."
Everything was silent for a solid minute as those in the stands tried to comprehend what had happened, then everything exploded into cheers around the stands. It was a cacophonous roar of voices that made Cecilia feel like a weight was crushing down on her. The cries of joy for her loss, for another's victory, but what made it so much worse, was that all Ichika did in response to the sheers was raise a hand for a bit before flying over to the gate and out of the arena.
Leaving her to get up and float over to her own gate in shame.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
As soon as Ichika came through the gate he found both Houki and Honne awaiting him with smiles on their faces, but also saw Yamada and Chifuyu standing to the side, both of them looking at him in concern.
Concern that multiplied as Chifuyu spoke up first. "Ichika, why did you not continue to speak to and taunt Cecilia as you were before your IS went through its first shift?"
Ichika landed the Byakushiki in front of the four women and moved his arms about for a moment before slumping. A second later the Byakushiki glowed and un-deployed, allowing him to fall to the ground looking very tired, but also very athletic as small bits of sweat glistened of his arms and belly. "Sorry, it seems Byakushiki is sealed now. I tried talking, but she couldn't hear it. I guess no one could."
"No IS needs to be a sealed unit," Chifuyu stated very seriously. "Do you know why the Byakushiki is? Perhaps it told you something?"
"Um, no, all it mentioned was the sword changing its name and ability," Ichika said as he looked over to Honne. "Did you get its data when it happened?"
"Yep, got all of it Orimu!" Honne declared as she held up the Tablet proudly. "The Yukihira Niigata has changed into the Kuria Taiyou, or Clear sun. It seems to be formed out of highly compressed plasma, giving it that sort of clear look, and should be capable of cutting through almost any metal with little difficulty!"
"That, that is unheard of!" Maya declared just as Chifuyu walked up to Honne and offered a hand.
Understanding what she was being asked Honne handed her the tablet, allowing Chifuyu a moment to look over the data. "This weapon is highly dangerous, potentially capable of piercing an IS's absolute defenses if it gets to low and takes a hit. We will need to make considerations for it in future duels." She stopped and looked at Ichika. "You will need to make very careful you do not aim for the center of body mass when fighting as well, otherwise you may accidentally kill your opponent, instead of simply powering the IS down."
"Yeah, I noticed that. I'll try to think of a way to lower the output or something," Ichika said before he looked at Honne. "Do you think there's a way to do that? An output limiter or something?"
"Oh, there should be, yeah. We'll need to think about what way is best though."
"Then we'll look over it after classes later," Ichika said as he very carefully put a tiny amount of will into his Kampfer bracelet, causing it to pulse, and making Honne's do so as well.
She didn't outwardly react but simply nodded her head rapidly. "Okay!"
"Hah, fine, I suppose I will let you look into it, but I wish to be made aware of what you do to deal with this problem," Chifuyu said as she turned to walk away, and then suddenly stopped. "Ah, Ichi- . . . Orimura, as you have won you are now the class Rep. classes start back up in a half hour, so make sure you arrive to class properly."
"Aw crap," Ichika mumbled with a groan. "Is the class going to decide you the Vice rep is?"
"Perhaps tomorrow," Chifuyu said simply. "Make sure all of you get to class on time, and make sure you have a shower before you get back to class."
Knowing it was aimed towards him Ichika let out a sigh and turned towards door to the arena's change room. "Right, I'll see you girls at class, and thanks for rooting for me."
"N-no, its, I mean, it's only fair I did so," Houki scrambled to say, while Honne simply smiled.
Xxxxxxx
The rest of the days classes went about as well as Ichika expected they would. After winning in a duel against Cecilia, everyone seemed enamored with him and happy for him, and was gushing about how he would make an awesome class rep. Girls from other classes came to gawk in almost record numbers, and his lunchtime was spent mostly trying to eat his lunch while girls tried to join him at the table and talk to him to get on his good side. Cecilia was as silent as an unmarked grave the entire day, and the news that his duties as the class rep would not start till Wednesday was a small mercy as far as such things went.
The day was a drag until classes ended, allowing Ichika and Honne to meet after school to brainstorm answers to his Blades situation. Houki joined in for a while, but it wasn't until after dinner, when Ichika returned to his room, that the plan could actually start.
"Uh, I'm back," Ichika mumbled as he entered his room, closed the door, and immediately locked it.
"Oh, Welcome back Boss, how was your day?" Skewered scorpion asked as it plodded across the extra, unused bed.
"Well, I won't the duel, am now class rep, have girls after me like I'm a wedding ring, and have a situation to look into," Ichika said as he tossed his bag onto his desk and then, much to skewered scorpions confusion, walked across the room to the window, and opened it wide open, letting in cool evening air.
"Oh, uh, what are you-"
"Waiting on someone," Ichika said preemptively just before Honne's purple haired Kampfer form suddenly jumped up from below into the widow and dropped into the room, allowing him to close the door. "Right on time."
Honne's Kampfer form nodded and transformed back with a smile. "Sorry for intruding," she said, before noticing skewered Scorpion and smiling. "And I'm sorry for interrupting you Mister Familiar."
"Oh no, I, you are an ally, right?" Skewered scorpion asked carefully. "I'm asking for both your sakes, cause if you are not a Red like my boss then,"
"She is," Ichika confirmed as he walked in and sat down on his bed. "She is also my mechanic for my IS and, we have to talk about something. Can you guess what that is?"
"Right, we do!" Honne said with a smile as she leaned against the window. "So, you transformed during the duel, right?"
"Yep, got it in one," Ichika said with a sigh. "I was Kinoen for the last half of that duel, so I couldn't speak up, and the IS gave me an odd message saying, add-on patch – Kampfer registration and alternate coverings accepted."
"Oh, I suppose that means that the moderators decided to allow you to be transformed while piloting the machine then," Skewered scorpion said calmly.
"Yeah, but the problem is the wording," Honne said as she looked at Ichika. "You think your IS will have a different shape if you don't want to hide maybe?"
"Not quiet. Did your tablet detect anything odd when it went through the first shift?"
"No, but I did see an odd tab appear on its screen," Honne said as she pulled out the tablet from somewhere and held it out while poking it. "Only it doesn't do anything."
Ichika looked at the tablet and scratched his head. "Oh, that's odd. Do you think our teachers saw that tab on their screens in that control room?"
"Maybe, but I don't really know. The tab mentioned Kampfer on it, so I think it's probably invisible to them, right?"
"It should be," Skewered scorpion provided as it crawled over to the edge of the bed and then leapt across it onto the windowsill beside Honne. "Hmmm, you might be able to unlock that tab if Master changed into Kinoen and uses the IS maybe, right?"
Both Honne and Ichika looked at each other for a second before both smiling. "Well, that kind of was my plan honestly," Ichika said with a grin. "Ready to see that Data, Honne?"
"Ready Orimu!"
"Then, here we go," Ichika said as, in a vibrant but subdued flash of light, he was suddenly replaced by the Byakushiki. Only it did not look the same as it had earlier in that day. Kinoen was the one within it, and instead of being a full body armor that encased from head to two, it seemed to now be the exact opposite, a sleek machine that covered from the knee's down on her legs, and over her forearms, while the metal that went around her body was barely wrapped around her waist and under her bust. Her IS piloting outfit was also little more than a Bikini in how much skin was showing, and instead of the Byakushiki being white and Gold, it was Solid black with Golden trim.
"Oh damn, I look hot!" Kinoen declared as she looked herself over, marveling at how different the Byakushiki looked when not seemingly make of full plates and covering armor.
"Whoa, I was not expecting that!" Honnne declared as she walked over and began looking Kinoen and the Byakushiki. "Oh, some of the parameters have shifted and, the weapon is the same, but the IS is called the KokuShibyou now! That is so odd."
"Black death huh?" Kinoen said with a gleeful grin on her face. "I certainly like the look of it, but I wonder why it's called something different now when like this? It can't be normal by any stretch."
"No, it definitely isn't normal, is it Ikkun?"
Both Kinoen, Honne, and Skewered scorpion stopped and slowly turned toward the formerly closed window.
For there, sitting on the sill beside skewered scorpion was a woman in a blue and pink accented dress, with mechanical bunny ears coming off of her head.
A Woman both Kineon and Honne recognized for very different reasons. Tabane Shinonono.
