Hello again people! Here I am with second chapter. But first some talk with those who wrote a review


Swanboy: Yeah, I know, I'm always a bit in rush, so misprints happen, sorry.

Jakeflado: Well, of course my Ichika is much more insightful, but he won't let himself be charmed easily, that's for sure.

LabMember009Isaac: As I said, it's about 45% of Akashi Seijuro,15% of Aomine Daiki, and rest are my improvisations.

Guest, DarkBladerZX: Thanks guys, here's new chapter.

forsaken9: Not entire GoM, only those two I've mentioned above.

Kobe11, nihonto123: Generally it's a harem story, but final pairing will be either ChifuyuXIchika or weird triangle IchikaXTabaneXChifuyu, or something even more strange.

Luo Hao, DanteNaru: Thanks for your support people.

Now, let's proceed.


Chapter II – Between Two Battles

April 21th, 11:15 PM

Three days have passed since that battle for the 'title' of class representative. Since he won, Ichika became the class 1-1 rep and that case was settled for good. However, Cecilia couldn't just forget about it. Her defeat shook her worldview and even made her to rethink a few things about her place in this world. And she wanted to talk with Ichika, the very man who turned her world upside down. Though, there was a little problem with that.

Cecilia was unwilling to talk to him during breaks between classes, because, in that case, half of the school will come to listen. And after classes he was like disappearing. He wasn't in his room as Cecilia checked many times, neither he was on any of academy's arenas. And no one seemed to know where he is, though not only Ms. Alcott was interested in that question.

Right now, Cecilia was waiting near Ichika's room, however, even though now was over 11 PM, he still didn't show up. "Cecilia-san," Someone called for her from behind. Blonde turned around, to see three girls standing behind her. The one who called for her was a girl with sleepy eyes, dressed in fox-themed pajama with extremely long sleeves, which were obscuring her hands, her name was Honne Nohotoke or something like that.

"Oh, yes?" Cecilia asked a bit awkwardly, she wasn't expecting to see anyone here that late.

"You're looking for Ichika-sama?" Asked another girl, the one with jade-colored hair and she was wearing glasses.

"Um, yes," Cecilia replied, "Haven't you seen him?"

"No," Third girl, the one with two long ponytails, replied sadly, "We were looking for him ourselves."

"We wanted to invite him on party we're arranging to congratulate him with being elected as class representative," Honne explained, "But he told us that he's busy after class…"

"He didn't show up at dinner for last three days," Girl in glasses informed.

"What's going on here?" Door next to Ichika's room opened and Houki appeared on the doorstep. She was wearing her pink sleepwear, but it wasn't looked like she was asleep and voices in the corridor did wake her up.

"Oh, Houki-san," Cecilia turned around.

"Houki-san, maybe you can tell us where Ichika-sama might be?" Brown-haired girl wondered.

"Why should I know?" Houki asked as she turned away with that 'I don't care about him' look on her face. Though, she quickly turned back and looked at girls with slightly worried sight. "Yesterday I asked him about what he's doing after class, and he told me that he's working with his I.S. in engineering department. Last night he came back to his room when it was already past midnight…"

"Ooohhh…" Three girls sighed simultaneously.

"Wait, Houki-san, how do you know that," Girl in glasses asked.

"Ah?! I, well…" Houki seemed slightly embarrassed as her cheeks slightly flushed. "I just stood up to drink some water and heard that his door opened… yes, that's how it was!" Seriously, how Houki could tell that she was worried about him and couldn't sleep until he came back?'

"Ichika-sama's working so hard…" Honne said with admiration.

"Why he's like that?" Cecilia asked. "He's an excellent pilot, he even won over me, Cecilia Alcott! He could relax at least for a few days, yet he's working with his I.S. as if he hasn't seen victories for a while."

"It's not that," Houki shook her head. "It's not like he wants to win over someone."

Other girls looked at her questioningly. Houki explained, "Once, in our junior school, when we were in third grade, in our kendo club, Ichika had two sparring matches against boys from fifth grade. He won both matches. After that I asked him, 'Are you happy about your victories?'" He told me: 'Houki, are you happy about breathing?... Being victorious for me is as normal as for a sun to rise at the east'."

Girls were listening to Houki with their mouths open. "When they been left together, Chifuyu-san was working very hard… Looking at her, Ichika never let himself loose, either… Good night." Seemingly, Houki said all what she could, as she stepped inside her room and closed the door.

When Houki left, other girls also headed towards their rooms. Cecilia, however, wasn't satisfied, more likely, she was even more intrigued. Right now she was walking back towards her dorm room, carefully looking around (she wasn't sure that she's allowed to wander here in the middle of the night). Worst of all was that she wasn't actually sure – about what she wants to talk with Ichika. She rounded up the corner, and almost crashed into someone. She raised her head and realized that she's looking right into heterochromic eyes, which belongs to a man she was looking for.

"I-I-Ichi…" Cecilia almost screamed in surprise, but Ichika quickly closed her mouth with his palm.

"Don't scream," He shushed at blonde. "I don't want to wake up half of the dormitory, Chifuyu decided to stay in Academy for today's night, and she will be 'displeased' if such a thing happen. Do you understand?" Cecilia stared at Ichika for a few seconds, but then nodded and only after that Ichika removed his hand. "Why are you still not sleeping?" He wondered.

Despite Cecilia's fears, Ichika was talking to her pretty normally, which means that she probably can talk to him after all. "I… well…" She was still uncertain about what she's going to say, though, "I was looking for you… kind of…"

"Looking for me? What for?" He asked.

'Ah, come what may…' Cecilia finally decided. "I… well… I have reflected on my actions, and was quite ashamed for being so childish, so… I want to apologize for my behavior in class and during our match." Blonde heaved a sigh of relief, it wasn't easy for her to say that, but she did it, and felt herself a bit better.

"Apologies accepted," Ichika nodded.

'What? And that's it?' Boy's answer didn't satisfy Cecilia at all, and, seemingly, Ichika noticed that.

"Seems to me you did realize everything," Young man said. "That case was already settled on the arena, I'm not holding any grudges toward you," He added. "Back then, in class, you tried to offend my pride and I won't allow anyone to go away with that unpunished, whether it man, woman or child. However, we already settled it during our match," He explained. "Besides, thanks to that match I've acquired some valuable data…"

"Oh, yes, about that…" Cecilia suddenly remembered something. "Before our match, you told me that you only agreed for that because I have 'Starlight Mark III'… Can you please… explain what you meant?" It wasn't just a cause to talk with Ichika more, young Englishwoman actually was curious about that.

Ichika looked at her with evaluating sight. "Well," He finally said, "It's not a big secret. Until now, my weapon was suitable only for close-to-middle range combat. I was working on creation of a long-range weapon for some time, and thanks to data I've collected during our match, I'm almost done." He sounded thankful, but his eyes still were as cold as ice…

Though, Cecilia wasn't looking into his eyes right now. "Really?!" Her eyes widened, "You're able to create new weapons on your own?!"

"I wouldn't call this 'creation', it's closer to 'modification'," Ichika noted with sort of a mentoring tone. "Besides, making a new weapon is one thing, but learning how to use it is completely different story, I never shoot with sniper rifle in my life…" He added, most likely his was just thinking aloud now.

But Cecilia sensed an opportunity as her eyes flashed with hope. "Then… Then... how about me teaching you how to shoot?!" She asked, barely hiding her enthusiasm.

"You want to help me?" Ichika raised an eyebrow. "Honestly, I'd never expect you to offer me your help…"

"Why not?!" Cecilia was almost glowing with excitement. "It's true that I didn't become a class representative, but you've proved your right for that title, and I'm still your classmate!" Seemingly, Cecilia herself didn't even notice that she again took that commanding pose, placing her hands on her hips, and began to radiate these princess vibes again. "It's a duty of every member of our class to help our representative in any way we can!"

'As if I'd believe you…' Ichika mentally facepalmed. No, he believed that she really wants to help him, he just knew that her reasons have nothing to do with being classmates. 'Still…' Ichika didn't need to imagine what's underneath her long dress as he already saw that girl in her I.S. suit. 'She's a true Englishwoman – blue eyes, blonde hair, and she has a splendid body… Though, most likely, nothing good will come out of this, but I have no reason to refuse anyway – even if it won't lead to anything interesting, she'll help me with the sniper rifle, at least …' He looked at blonde, "Very well, you have my gratitude," Ichika bowed slightly.

"Alright, I'm glad we have an agreement," Cecilia tried to maintain a neutral image.

"I still need to make a few tune-ups, but I'm certain I'll be ready at tomorrow's evening," Ichika informed. "As for now, I'd suggest you to return to your room. If my sister catches us here…" Time was already past midnight, it was quite fortunate that their conversation didn't wake up anyone.

"Yes, that would be best," Cecilia agreed with formal tone, and both she and Ichika headed towards their respective rooms.


"Yes!" Blonde shouted delightfully. As Ichika already vanished from sight, Cecilia no longer needed to hold her joy. Everything turned out very good. She not only managed to talk to Ichika, starting tomorrow, she's going to be his personal shooting instructor. 'Thank you mom for making me take those shooting lessons!'

Silently singing some funny romantic song, Cecilia was walking back towards her room. She rounded a corner… and crashed into a concrete pile, at least Cecilia thought so. "Ouch… ouch… ouch…" She was moaning, rubbing her forehead and trying to stand up from the floor, "What the…"

"Alcott," Deep and sharp voice said, freezing Cecilia's blood in her veins, "What are you doing here?" It was Ichika's sister, she was dressed into nightgown, and her hair were loose but she still was as frightening as ever. Unlike students, teachers usually live in their own houses in city, however, being the dorm supervisor, Chifuyu sometimes was staying for night in academy, usually several times per semester. And this night was one of those nights…

Blonde slowly raised her eyes and her and Chifuyu's sights met, and Cecilia felt like she was looking into the eyes of she-dragon. "Ah… well… I was just…"

Chifuyu ignored Cecilia's pathetic attempts to invent some excuse. "Why are you still not sleeping? Students aren't allowed to walk around dormitory in the middle of the night without necessity," Dormitory supervisor stated. Chifuyu grabbed Cecilia by her collar and placed her on feet as if she weights nothing. "Go back to your room, we'll talk about your bad habits tomorrow."

"Yes ma'am…" Cecilia mumbled plaintively. Chifuyu continued to walk towards wherever she was going, and blonde stumbled along corridor towards her room. 'What's with people's eyes in that family?!' Cecilia thought indignantly.


April 22th, 7:55 AM

On the next day, Ichika was having breakfast with Houki. As usual, about fifty other girls were observing them. As usual, Ichika couldn't care less.

"Hey, Ichika…" Houki asked shyly, "Would you mind to come to our kendo club today after classes? I'd like to train with you…"

"Um, sorry Houki but I can't," Ichika refused politely. "After class I'm going to engineering department, I still need to tune up a few things, and after that I'm resuming my I.S. training. From now on, I'm going to spent every free moment polishing my piloting skills."

"Don't you think it's a bit too extreme?" Houki wondered. She looked disappointed, but seemingly she was actually expecting a reply like that.

"Not at all," Ichika replied. "I won against Cecilia, yes, but I won only thanks to my eyes. She may be a good markswoman, but in terms of piloting I.S. as a whole she's just a rookie pilot, who got her personal I.S. only a few weeks ago, just like me. I didn't win because I was using more complex tactics and more advanced maneuvers than she, I simply used my eyes and technical advancements of my I.S. That's unacceptable, besides, even using my eyes I couldn't avoid all her attacks, which means my synergy with I.S. is far from perfect," Ichika explained.

What he said wasn't an exaggeration. I.S. battles are incomparable with football matches or kendo sparring. There are very little rules, and opponents are free to use any tools, including smokescreens. Intensive smoke can severely obscure visibility, thus severely reducing Ichika's advancements. Besides, more experienced pilot could simply outmaneuver him and lure into disadvantageous situation. Eyes never was Ichika's only weapon, and I.S. piloting shouldn't be an exception.


April 22th, 6:07 PM

Time was about 6 PM, Cecilia came to third arena. Ichika was already there, waiting for her. "Uh… Sorry, I'm a bit late…" Blonde said with apologizing tone. Today, after classes, she got all that she deserved for her yesterday's stroll after midnight…

"No, it's okay," Ichika replied. "I've just came myself." To avoid an awkward silence, he decided to take initiative, "Alright, no time to waste, let's get started."

"Okay, but, Ichika-san, my weapon… it wasn't yet repaired after our match," Cecilia informed. True, Ichika sliced her rifle in half at the end of battle.

"No biggie," Ichika replied. "I'm prefer to use my own weaponry anyway," He said, raising his left arm. White light engulfed Ichika's body as he summoned his I.S., Messiah. In his left hand, Ichika held his weapon, Ragnarök; right now it was inactive and looked like 2 meters long European sword.

Cecilia did the same, and summoned her I.S., Blue Tears, and now she was staring at the sword in Ichika's hand. "So this is your weapon, 'Ragnarök'?" She asked.

"Yes," Ichika replied. "Though, Ragnarök is its generic name, which needed to summon it. Each form of this weapon has its unique name, and I need to focus on that name to activate desired form."

Ichika raised his sword and its blade opened, revealing its true form – white, long plasma torch. "First shape – plasma blade, the 'Redeemer'."

He lowered the sword and pointed it forward, as blade quickly transformed into three-barreled shotgun. "Second shape – plasma shotgun, the 'Arbiter'."

Then boy raised his right arm, and shotgun split in half, transforming into twin pistols. One in his left hand was white and one that appeared in his right hand was carbon black. "Third shape – twin plasma pistols, 'Ebony' and 'Ivory'."

Ichika moved his arms closer to each other as pistols merged and quickly took shape of a long-barreled sniper rifle. It had triangular barrel, formed by three 'rails', which were connected with each other by eight 'bridges'; rifle's length was about 85 inches. "And the latest addition – fourth shape – plasma sniper rifle, the 'Ambassador'."

"What's with these names?!" Cecilia asked in slight shock, even for her tastes those names were too pompous. Besides, she couldn't say that she liked weapons' design – explicit 'robotic', metallic forms with aggressive angular shapes. But at least she now knows about Ichika's tastes.

"Let's give it a try, shall we?" Ichika shouldered his new rifle, trying to remember how Cecilia was doing it during their match, though he never was good in making exact copies. When he started to take aim, optical sight extended itself, and began to project holographic image. Ichika pulled the trigger. Everything happened within 0.1 seconds. Riffle's barrel extended itself for about 8 inches, and the rifle shot bright, white charge of plasma.

With very high velocity (1025 meters per second), plasma charge reached arena's opposite wall within less than 0.2 seconds, and produced a powerful plasma blast on hit.

"Wow!" Cecilia exclaimed. "And you constructed this weapon all by yourself?! Just by observing my 'Starlight Mark III' in action!?" It wasn't a small feat, and this rifle's charges were faster and more powerful than of Cecilia's own weapon.

"Pretty much so," Ichika nodded as if it was nothing special. He looked at his rifle, "Okay, that should do it." He summoned holographic target, and looked at Cecilia, "Shall we begin?"

"Alright," Blonde nodded, "For a start, let's practice with your position. Take a firing posture," She requested. Ichika did as she said. Cecilia examined his stance. "Alright, let me think for a moment…" Since Ichika was a left-hander, she needed some time to adjust her own stance to fit him. "Okay, I got it…"


Time was about 10:30 PM, Ichika was standing in front of door into his room, he was trying to find a keycard in his pocked. "Ichika!" Suddenly, he heard quite an agitated voice from a neighboring room. Moment later, door into room 1026 opened and Houki appeared on doorstep, "I demand an explanation!"

Ichika met her burning sight with pretty cold gaze. "Houki, didn't I tell you already? Only one woman in this world is allowed to raise her voice when talking to me, and she's not you. What do you want?"

Cold greetings didn't take Houki aback, that girl's really incorrigible. "Other girls told me that you were training on third arena with Cecilia Alcott! Is that true?!"

"Since when I'm obliged to report all my social interactions to you?" He inquired with one eye closed. Though, he didn't let her to reply, as just answering her question was an easier option than a long discussion. "She just offered me her help with getting used to my new sniper rifle, and I agreed, since if anything, she's pretty good with shooting," Ichika explained with neutral tone.

"Why… why didn't you…" Houki tried to ask something, and her cheeks began to blush.

"Why didn't I ask you?" Ichika decided to help her. "Well, first obvious reason is that I was practicing shooting and you never held any kind of a gun in your entire life."

"Ugh…" Well, that was true, and Ichika's argument sounded quite cogently. But Houki wasn't ready to give up yet, "But you also need some training with sword, right? I could help you with that!"

"Yes, I need sword training and you could help me, but that leads us to our second obstacle – you don't have an I.S. Get one, and I'll accept your help with gratitude," Ichika replied.

"Hmpft!" Houki snorted, "Unlike some people, for the rest of us it's not that easy to acquire a personal I.S!"

"I know," Ichika replied calmly. "For the absolute majority of people in this world, getting a personal I.S. is simply impossible even in their dreams. However, for Shinonono Tabane's own sister it's extremely easy. All you have to do, Shinonono Houki, is to step on a throat of your stubbornness, and make a call," He noted. "Is it a good thing or not – remains to be seen," He added with the non-hearable whisper.

"Hmpft!" Houki snorted again and turned away with that 'you have no idea what you are talking about' face expression, stepped into her room and forcibly closed the door behind herself.

"Well, good luck with that again, Tabane-san…" Ichika snorted before opening the door into his own room.


April 26th, 10:22 AM

"Well then, let's start practicing some basic I.S. maneuvers. Orimura, Alcott, deploy your I.S. units," Chifuyu commanded. It was near the end of April, the time when the late-blooming Sakura petals were falling. Today was another practice lesson, entire class gathered on field.

"Yes, ma'am," Cecilia replied. In standby mode, Blue Tears was an earring in her left ear. Earning flashed, bright light quickly engulfed her body and second later she appeared with her I.S. deployed. All Cecilia's equipment, including rifle and mobile lasers, once again were fully operational.

"Hurry up, Orimura! A properly trained pilot doesn't need more than a second to deploy the I.S!" Chifuyu hurried up her brother who still didn't deploy his exoskeleton. Though he was slow not due to lack of abilities, but due to lack of motivation. Since their first practical lesson, Chifuyu was using her brother and Cecilia to demonstrate I.S. maneuvers to other students, and for Ichika it was quite bothersome. But sister from hell never listened to his complains about that he needs to practice shooting or advanced maneuvers, saying that demonstrating moves to other students are duties of those who have personal I.S.

Though, Ichika hid his lack of enthusiasm, "Yes ma'am." He clenched his left, gloved hand and light engulfed his body, and a moment later he stood with his I.S. deployed.

"Now, take a fly!" Chifuyu ordered. Cecilia responded to teacher immediately. She activated her thrusters and quickly began to ascend. Ichika followed her, trying to maintain formation.

"What are you doing, Orimura?" Ichika heard his sister's voice over com channel. It was private channel so Cecilia and other girls couldn't hear her voice. "According to the specs, your I.S. has higher power output than Blue Tears. Weren't you the one who was bragging about that thanks to your and Tabane's manipulations you now owe world's first 4th generation I.S? If so, shouldn't it be far superior to all other in terms of general specs?"

"Onee-san, you should know better than anyone else that I'd never reveal all of my secrets at the very beginning," Ichika replied. Since it was a private channel, he didn't call his sister 'sensei', "Right now I'm flying using only normal thrusters. When time's come, I'll show to everyone the true power of Messiah. Besides, I still need to optimize plasma thrusters' output, and making test flights with that crowd beneath me is dangerous."

"Understood," Chifuyu replied. Surprisingly, but she seemed satisfied with Ichika's reply.


To be honest, Ichika's personal I.S., the Messiah, has quite a complicated history. Initially, it was a conceptual prototype, called Hakushisaku [White Prototype], developed during the early stages of research about the very possibility of creating 4th generation Infinite Stratos. Thus, it was considered to be Generation 3.5. One of the main goals of developing 4th generation was creating a unit that could use a One-Off Ability without need to wait for I.S. to evolve into the Second Shift stage. However, White Prototype was discarded when a serious defect in its experimental design was discovered, therefore posing a roadblock in the research and development of the 4th generation.

However, Shinonono Tabane retrieved the scrapped flawed machine, fixed the defect, and gave it a new core. She then enhanced the prototype by installing experimental Fold-Out Armor, the fruits of her own research, onto the prototype's weapon. After all those manipulations, prototype was named Byakushiki [White Expression] and given to Ichika.

But that wasn't the end of story. As soon as Ichika got White Expression, he began to reverse-engineer it, looking for ways of further improvements, after all, further development of others' ideas was his specialty. He completely redesigned pilot's suit, turning it into carbon and white colored full body suit, redesigned its helmet, completely remaking sensors array to fit his own needs – he was thinking about I.S. potential capabilities since he was nine or even eight years old, after all, so he already had quite enough of ideas.

Unit's main reactor was upgraded with cold plasma coils, fruits of Ichika's own experiments with plasma technology. Honestly, Ichika could be called a big fan of plasma tech, as he used it everywhere, wherever it was possible.

And finally, he removed both shoulderpads, replacing it with six wings. Each wing is capable of extending Fold-Out Armor, and contains a plasma bank. That plasma could be used for additional acceleration or directed into weapon, increasing its output without need to overheat weapon's own plasma accumulation chamber, thus increasing weapon's damage without use of One-Off Ability. However, when plasma is directed into weapon it can't be used for acceleration.

But of course, Ichika's main achievement was a complete rebuild (actually, that was more like replacement than rebuild) of Byakushiki's weapon, Yukihiria Nigata [Snowflake Type II], into his signature, shape-shifting weapon, Ragnarök. After all that, I.S. was renamed for the third, and hopefully, last time, as it got its current name – Sukūyomo [The Messiah]. Of course, there are still potential for further upgrades, but for that Ichika really needs more experience both as pilot and as engineer, and his unit needs more operating data. But even now, it was an astonishing I.S. unit. In matter of pure fact, Ichika got a true 4th generation unit, capable of temporary sacrificing its speed and agility, and even its own shield, to increase its attack power. Messiah is a pure assault unit, designed to obliterate the enemy at all costs.


"Orimura, Alcott, execute a power dive and then come to a complete halt, hovering 5 inches above the ground," Chifuyu commanded. Seems time for flying has come to an end. As Ichika and Cecilia descended, their classmates have gathered around them.

Ichika glanced at Houki. She definitely looked displeased, unlike Cecilia, who was in pretty joyful mood. She and Ichika was flying for about half an hour, demonstrating various maneuvers, with all other people far down on the ground. Some interruptions via comm link doesn't count. Houki definitely was envious. 'Keep it up, Houki,' Ichika thought with sly smile, 'Sooner or later you're gonna break and call for her help…'

Not that Ichika was using Cecilia to provoke Houki, though. That young blue-eyed blonde was interesting woman by herself, and Ichika was interested in her. But nothing more than interested, yet, as he was just estimating possibilities, evaluating her character, background and potential predicaments. Provoking Houki was just a convenient side effect. By the way, Houki was also quite nice and feminine, and her breasts was almost as bit as hers… though, Houki also has a big flaw – her ill temper.

Time has come for weapon demonstration. Ichika and Cecilia both had their I.S. undeployed, and now they were standing near Chifuyu, heading toward class.

"Now, Alcott, deploy your weapon. You can deploy your weapon alone, right?" Teacher asked.

"Of course, ma'am!" Blonde reported. She raised her hand to where her shoulder was, and then stretched her arm to the side. A sudden burst of light jumped to her hand, and with just that, she was holding the Starlight Mark III. she was quite fast, and her gun was already loaded. Cecilia just had to look at it to remove the safety. Within one second, she had deployed her weapon and was ready to shoot.

"That's what I'd expect from a representative contender, but you've got to change your pose," Chifuyu noted. "Who're you aiming at when you're pointing that gun of yours to the side like that? Try and point it at the front immediately when you deploy."

"But, I need to stand like this for my image…" Cecilia mumbled.

"Change it! Do you understand?" Really, making Chifuyu to raise her voice…

"...yes, ma'am." Cecilia looked like she wanted to argue, but she shut up immediately after Chifuyu glared at her. Looks like we just trained one good soldier!

"Orimura, your turn. Deploy your sniper rifle," Chifuyu ordered, "You have it ready, do you?"

"Yes ma'am," Ichika said as he took firing pose Cecilia showed to him, he stood as if he was already holding rifle. Beam of light quickly formed a sword in his left hand, and sword quickly reshaped itself into plasma sniper rifle with long, triangular barrel. Entire operation took about 1.2 seconds.

Cecilia's Starlight Mark III looked quite light and elegant. Ichika's Ambassador, on the other hand, seemed massive and heavy, but it didn't seem like he had any troubles holding it. "Well, your pose is good and aim seems steady, but you took too much time. Skilled pilot should be able to summon his weapon within half a second."

"I know ma'am, I'm still thinking about some way to summon my weapon already in desired form," Ichika reported.

"Think faster," Elder sister demanded.

By the way, Ichika was explicitly respectful towards Chifuyu not because something happened between them. He really respects his elder sister a lot, and he wanted to be a role model for others. Even during boring theory classes, when Chifuyu was speaking – he always listened, simply because in this world there's no better I.S. pilot than his elder sister. Hopefully, Maya Yamada won't be offended, because she never could get such an undivided attention.

"Now, Cecilia, deploy your close-range weapon," Chifuyu ordered.

"Wha…? Ah, yes, yes!" Surprisingly, Cecilia became a bit startled when she heard the order, she seemed to be grumbling about something and her answer came more slowly this time. The gun in her hand dissolved into light particles, and then, she 'deployed' a new close-ranged weapon. However, the glow in her hand couldn't shape itself and just floated around in the air.

"Huh?" "Isn't it ready yet?" "What's going on?" Other classmates were quite surprised, but Ichika knew what's the problem. Just like during their match – Cecilia panicked when Ichika assaulted her in melee – she was afraid of close combat.

"It, it'll be ready soon…" Cecilia almost cried, "…ahh, damn it! Interceptor!" She reluctantly shouted out her weapon's name. That helped her to regain focus, and the glow finally shaped itself into a combat knife-like weapon. The preface of the textbook mentioned that shouting your weapon's name is a "beginner's method". For a representative contender like Cecilia to deploy her weapon this way must be really humiliating.

"How long did that take? Do you want the enemy to wait for you in a real battle?" No mercy from Demon Teacher from Hell, aka Chifuyu Orimura.

"In… in a real battle, I wouldn't allow the enemy to enter my range! So, so there would be no problem!" Cecilia tried to justify herself.

"Oh, really? If I remember your match against Orimura correctly, he got close to you quite easily, thus forcing you to use your main weapon for defense and lose it," Chifuyu reminded.

"Th-That, that's because..." Cecilia was starting to sputter again. She didn't know how to respond to Chifuyu, and completely lost her ability to speak clearly.

'I guess I'll be needing Houki's help after all…' Ichika thought.


April 29th, 8:11 PM

Time was about 8 PM. "So this is it – the I.S. Academy…" That night, a petite girl with an enormous boston bag, disproportionate to her size, stood in front of the I.S. Academy Entrance. Her pretty brown hair was tied with yellow ribbons into two long ponytails on either side of her head, and she wore a matching yellow hair band. The two ponytails flowed around her in the warm April breeze. "Now, where's the reception counter?"

She's been told to find General Assistance Counter, however, no one explained to her how to find it, and I.S. Academy was rather big facility. "Ah demit! I just have to find it myself, right? So be it!" She was the type of girl to "act first, think later". At first glance, the girl could be mistaken for Japanese, but on closer inspection it was clear she wasn't. Those sharp, beautiful eyes of hers were unquestionably Chinese. She was a foreigner, though Japan was like her second homeland: a familiar, comfortable place full of fond memories.

She continued to walk through these unfamiliar surroundings, looking around for someone to help her, 'Isn't anyone around? A student or teacher or someone? Can't anyone guide me?' But campus lights were already out, the teachers had gone home, and the students were already in their dorms.

For a moment, she thought about deploying her I.S., but she quickly discarded that idea, as using I.S. here, even before she was officially transferred to the academy, might cause diplomatic consequences. 'Those damn adults… always thinking about themselves, sending me here all alone!'

She had always hated adults who "flaunt their seniority", so she was quite comfortable with her position in society now that she had an I.S. 'Men pushing people around just because they have muscles is just childish. A lady's I.S. is the real power.' She had also always hated boys who were full of themselves and treated girls like dirt.

However, he knew one boy who was different. He was very proud, but she never saw him bullying anyone, or starting a strife. He possessed something that looked like 'true' nobility – he was very protective over his own pride, but he'd never hurt others' pride without reason. That one boy was the primary reason for her return to Japan. 'I wonder how he's doing right now?'

At the moment, she heard something, and looked to see what it was. Two students were coming out of an I.S. training facility. She recognized it because I.S. facilities in every country look similar. 'Great, finally someone I can ask for help!' The girl strolled toward the arena entrance to talk to those two.

"…No, main reason is that you're misunderstanding the very idea of close combat," Said someone.

That voice stopped the girl in her tracks. It was a guy's voice – one that sounded very familiar. Soft and not loud, but with steel confidence within every sound. 'Surely it is his voice!'

Due to possibility of an unexpected reunion, girl's heart started racing. 'Will he recognize me? He should! It's only been a year.' She became preoccupied with the possibility that he wouldn't recognize her. 'No, it's all right. It's all right! If he doesn't recognize me, that just means I've gotten prettier! Yeah!' She pushed herself to think ultra-optimistically, and started walking toward the pair again.

"I understand, Ichika-san, but I've never used a melee weapon in my entire life!" Quite high-pitch, female's voice replied. "It's not easy to learn such a complex technique from the scratch in such a short time," Girl's voice complained.

"Cecilia, being capable for both close and ranged combat is a crucial skill. Achieving good results in this world never been easy, and unlike most of people here, you know about it first handedly, am I right?" Young man's voice noted. Their voices were becoming quieter as pair was heading towards some big building on the other side of a big pond.

'Cecilia?! It's not a Japanese name! Who's that girl?! Why do they seem so familiar with each other?! They're even calling each other by their first names!' Girl's racing heartbeat vanished as if it had never been, and was replaced by a cold fury, as if an avalanche had flooded her veins with frustration.

After that, she found the General Assistance Counter almost immediately, since it turned out to be behind the arena and was still well-lit. "Your papers look good, and the enrollment procedures are complete. Welcome to I.S. Academy, Lingyin Huang-san," Receptionist said friendly.

But Lingyin wasn't happy at all. "Which class is Ichika Orimura in?" She asked gloomily.

"Oh, the famous kid? He's in class 1-1. Huang-san is in class 1-2, so you're in the class next-door. Oh yeah, he's also class 1-1's representative. But then, what else would you expect from Orimura-sensei's younger brother!" Lady explained with smile.

"See you soon then, Ichika…" Lingyin smiled darkly.


"Ichika-san, congratulations on becoming the class representative!" Cecilia exclaimed.

"Congratulations!" the class shouted. Honestly, some people were surprised to see Cecilia here as she was competing for that title and lost. However, most of people rightly saw it as a strength of her spirit.

*POP!* *POP!* *POP!* Noisemakers popped from all directions, and the colored ribbons landed on Ichika from all sides. Honestly, he'd prefer to spend this time in engineering or on arena, but today all documents were signed and he officially became the representative of class 1-1, so he could no longer avoid that party. The whole class had gathered in the first year's canteen, everyone had some kind of drink or snack, and the atmosphere was rather animated.

"The class representative tournament will be so much more exciting now!"

"That's right, that's right!"

"We're really lucky to be in the same class as him."

"That's right, that's right!"

Well, Ichika proved his strength, and all his class was quite confident in him. By the way, here also were girls from class 2… Naturally, there are definitely more than 30 people here. In fact, when class 1-1 gets together, there are always more people than an actual quantity of pupils in class.

"Ichika Orimura. Mr. Popularity…" Houki glared at her childhood friend and took a sip of her drink. She was in a bad mood again…

"Excuse me! Look over here! I'm from the Newspaper Club. I'm here to get a scoop on the hot new freshman: a special interview with Ichika Orimura-kun himself!" Shout came from girl with blue eyes, glasses and dark pink hair arranged in a short ponytail.

"Oooh…" "What?" "Oh!" Everyone seemed thrilled.

"I'm Kaoruko Mayuzumi, nice to meet you. I'm the vice president of the Newspaper Club. My card," She handed a business card to Ichika. "Then, then, Orimura-kun! Please tell us your thoughts on becoming the class representative." She tried to stuck a voice recorder right into Ichika's face, but he intercepted her arm and now was holding it at some distance. Still, reporter's eyes were shining like a little kid's waiting for cotton candy.

Honestly, Ichika was among those who thought that 'silence is golden' in most cases. However, as a former student council president, and captain of a football team (which won a national tournament), he got used to interviews.

"Well," Ichika stood up, "I think that being a class rep is a good opportunity for everyone, not only me, to increase their I.S. piloting level. However, Kauroko-sempai, the luckiest one in this situation is you and your newspaper," He politely smiled to journalist.

"What do you mean?" Mayuzumi seemed surprised.

"I mean that with me being a class representative you already know the victor of all interclass tournaments for the next three years, so you can write about all matches beforehand," Ichika smiled again. Burst of laugher shook the entire canteen.

"Excellent!" Journalist exclaimed, she seemed excited about Ichika's joke, readers definitely would like him. He just continued to smile politely, though it wasn't a joke and soon all these girls will learn about it. Actually, he said approximately the same phrase when he became the football team's vice-captain in his first grade of middle school…

After everyone calmed down, reporter turned to Cecilia. "What about having Ms. Alcott say a few words?"

"I don't really like giving interviews, but I suppose I must." Though she was grumbling, she doesn't look bothered... and she's already standing over there, ready to go. "Ahem. First, I, Cecilia Alcott, the I.S. representative candidate, will make a statement. It was…"

"Ahh, if this is going to take a while, just forget it," Reporter rudely interrupted her. "How about I just take a photo?"

"You…you… What will you print if you don't hear my eloquent statement?" Cecilia asked a bit resentfully.

"It's no problem; I'll just make up some content," Mayuzumi replied carelessly. "For instance, let's assume that you like Orimura-kun."

"Wha, wha, what...?" Cecilia's face went from normal to blushing bright red in about 0.001 seconds. "What's this nonsense you're spouting?!"

"Seriously! Your secret love for Orimura-kun? That would be a great scoop!" Journalist suddenly became very enthusiastic. Ichika just remained silent, he never cared about such pitiful things. Besides, he got a feeling that Cecilia actually liked that 'secret love' idea. "Okay okay, now, both of you, please stand together! I'm going to take your photo!..." However, at this point Ichika completely lost interest in everything what was going on, though the "Ichika Orimura Class Representative Celebration" lasted until past 10 PM. It's good that Chifuyu decided to go home today…


April 30th, 8:31 AM

"Good morning, Ichika-sama. Have you heard the rumor about the new transfer student?" That was greetings Ichika got when he just arrived to the class. Of course he didn't hear anything, as '354 girls around' becoming '355 girls around' meant nothing for him.

"A transfer student?" He asked without much interest. Yesterday, after party, he was reading news about new I.S. developments, until it was past midnight, so now he was a bit sleepy.

"That's right. I heard she's the representative contender from China!" One of his classmates replied.

"Oh my, perhaps she decided to transfer so she could study my technique!" Cecilia Alcott, Class 1-1's student and representative from England, was striking her usual pose, hand on her hip and weight on one leg.

"She can't possibly transfer into this class, right? There's nothing to get worked up over," Houki stated as she appeared from nowhere.

"Any information about her?" Ichika wondered.

"You're concerned about that new girl?" Houki asked sharply.

"Not at all," Ichika replied indifferently, "I'm interested in that new I.S. pilot."

"Humph…" Houki snorted, though her mood seemed to improve a bit. "Anyway, you really don't have time to think about some random girls. The class representative tournament is coming up next month."

"That's right, it'll be here before you know it, Ichika-san!" Cecilia agreed. "I'll help you with everything I can, after all, we're the only ones with a personal machine in this class, so I'm willing to spend as much of my private time as needed to provide appropriate assistance." She really emphasized the word "only", but that was just a truth. Anyone without personal I.S. would have to request a training suit, get authorization and optimize it, which would take a full day. For a quick mock battle, asking Cecilia would be the fastest way. Though she's no match for Ichika, she was also improving her skills pretty quickly, so she could provide some moderate challenge.

The class representative tournament is just what the name implies: a battle between class representatives, and a chance to give everyone some practical experience before they really start learning how to pilot an I.S. It also helps the classes unite and work together. As an added bonus, the class that gets first prize will earn half a year's worth of free dessert coupons. No wonder the girls are so excited – unlimited chocolate.

"Tournament should be interesting to watch," Ichika said. "Though, the winner is already known…"

"If Orimura-sama wins, the entire class will be happy!" One of girls exclaimed.

"If?" Ichika looked at her with his colder-than-ice eyes. "You should cross-out that word from your dictionary. I'm absolute. My victory is predetermined."

"Exactly, we all saw Ichika-sama on arena," Another girl agreed.

"Besides," Third girl intervened, "At this point, only the representatives from class 1-1 and 1-4 have personal I.S. units, so it should be no problem for Ichika-sama to win this!"

"That information is outdated!" A voice came from the door. For Ichika it sounded somehow familiar. "The representative of class 1-2 now has a personal I.S., too, so it won't be so easy for you to win anymore." A girl was leaning in the doorway to 1-1 classroom, arms and legs crossed.

Ichika recognized her, "Rin? So, all those rumors were about you… Well, that explains a lot…"

Ichika's lack of enthusiasm didn't take her aback even a bit. "That's right! I'm China's representative contender, Lingyin Huang, and I've come here today to declare war!"

"War?" Ichika wondered. "Hah, sorry, Rin, but you're going to sign an unconditional surrender act within next few seconds…"

"What?!" Chinese girl exclaimed, she had rather competitive character.

"Three… two… one…" Ichika gave a countdown. *PANG!* Rin was hit on the head viciously by the attendance book – elder sister has arrived. Ichika saw her reflection in corridor's windows, so he knew that she's coming.

"What was that for!… eeek!" Rin tried to protest but quickly trailed off as she saw who hit her.

"It's time for HRS. Head back to your own class." As usual – nothing to argue about.

"Chi-Chifuyu-san..." Rin bubbled as her eyes widened in fear. Ichika didn't know why, but Rin always was afraid of his elder sister.

"You'll call me Orimura-sensei! You're blocking the door here, so get back to class. You're bothering me," Finishing combo from Chifuyu.

"So-Sorry..." Rin trembled and retreated from the door. "I'll come back later. Don't run away, Ichika!" She screamed and dashed towards her own class.

'More than a year has passed, yet nothing changed…' Ichika facepalmed, summarizing his meeting with his second childhood acquaintance… it's not possible to call their relationships a 'friendship', they were too weird. 'Still, she's an I.S. pilot now? That was unexpected…'

"Ichika, who was that?"

"Is she someone you know?"

"You two seem rather familiar with each other."

"Ichika-san? What sort of relationship do you have with that girl?"

And many more questions of that sort. However, elder sister was on guard. *PANG!* *PANG!* *PANG!* *PANG!* "Hurry up and get to your sits, you dolts!" Attendance book was rampaging through the classroom like it was on fire.


Class started. Since it was Chifuyu who was teaching, even Ichika was listening carefully. However, not everyone was following his example.

"Shinonono, I'm waiting for an answer…" Chifuyu raised her voice.

"Yes! What?" Houki startled when she finally heard the teacher. Seemingly, Houki was wandering in her own thoughts.

"Well?" Chifuyu came closer to her, and it looked like a black panther approaching a cornered springbok.

"I... I didn't hear… the question..." Houki admitted, stuttering.

*PANG!* The sound of the attendance book smacking Houki's head confirmed that it remains as hard as ever.

"Alcott?" Chifuyu asked. But Cecilia didn't even hear her call. She also was thinking about Ichika and potential 'rivals in love'. There already was one childhood friend, Houki, and now there's another one, and with personal I.S. unit, no less. That was so unjust…

*PANG!* Her blonde curls were flattened by the attendance book, no mercy for the wicked.


This morning alone, Cecilia and Houki were warned by Maya Yamada five times and smacked by Chifuyu three times. When the lunch period started, both were forced to stay for a 'private talk' with homeroom teacher, so Ichika went to canteen alone. Well, of course he was closely followed by many other girls, but they weren't coming too close.

"Took you long enough, Ichika! I've been waiting for you," Someone was already waiting for him there, none other than the famous transfer student, Lingyin Huang. She was holding a bowl of ramen. She and Ichika sat at small table near window. Unsurprisingly, all neighboring tables quickly became occupied as well.

"We haven't seen each other for a year, right? How were you doing all this time?" Ichika asked, despite he couldn't care less about it, to be honest.

"I'm just fine! Maybe you should be the one to get sick or injured for a change!" Rin replied, somehow aggressively. Still the same old Rin.


She and Ichika met in fifth grade of junior school. She was transferred almost right after Houki was forced to leave due to government protection program; actually, Rin was even sitting on Houki's seat in junior school. She showed some interest towards Ichika almost since the moment they met, and of course, she couldn't properly express her feelings. She was attracted with that aura of power around him, but at the same time she was scared of it. They graduated together and enrolled into the same middle school. When Ichika joined the football club, Rin joined the cheerleader team (she was a member of rhythmic gymnastics club in junior school).

In other world, she always was hanging around Ichika during those four years, but… No, Ichika knew about her feelings, but since his fifth grade in junior school he was too focused on learning I.S. technology, and in middle school he was too focused on football and I.S. technology. Besides, as it was said, there were already two women in his life – Chifuyu, who was a model woman for Ichika, and Tabane, who was much more interesting than others.

However, this time Rin had an unwavering purpose. She saw Ichika in the news, and she knew that he's going to study in I.S. Academy. And she came here to conquer him.


"How long have you been in Japan, Rin? How's your family? When did you become a representative contender?" Ichika asked casually. It's been a year, after all.

"Sheesh! Let me get a word in edgewise!" Rin shook her head. "I've been dying to ask you: how could you use an I.S?! I was shocked when I saw you on the news."

"To my shame, I have to admit that I still have no answer for that question," Ichika replied indifferently. "And it seems that even she does not know… seemingly, I'm just that special," He smiled with irony (and, by the way, what he just said was a pure lie). Rin definitely had something to say about that comment, but their conversation was interrupted. It seems that Houki and Cecilia finally have been released as demonic teacher aka Chifuyu let them go, and of course they rushed after Ichika.

"Ichika, it's about time you give us an explanation."

"That's right, Ichika-san! Don't tell me you're actually dating this transfer student?"

As they arrived to canteen, Cecilia and Houki were observing that suspicious pair for a few moments, but their patience ran out. Other girls, which were sitting at neighboring tables, were eagerly waiting for an answer as well.

"N-no… not really. We aren't dating…" Rin seemed confused a bit as her cheeks were flushing slightly.

"Behave yourselves, young ladies…" Ichika warned them with quiet voice, and their aggressiveness wavered quite a bit under his freezing gaze. "We haven't seen each other for more than a year, surely we have something to talk…", Young man gave an answer to Houki and Cecilia's question, though he intentionally left uncertainty, as he didn't deny clearly that they're dating, so every girl could jump to her own conclusion, as they all like to do so much.

Houki shook her head to regain some momentum, which she just lost. "So… Who is she?" Shinonono wondered.

"Ah, yes, you had no chance to meet her," Ichika agreed to explain. "Your family moved away after 4th grade, Rin transferred to our school just before the 5th grade started. She went back to China after 2nd grade of middle school, so it's been about a year since I last saw her until today."

Ichika turned to Lingyin, "Rin, this is Houki Shinonono. I've told you about her. She's a…" Ichika wanted to say 'younger sister of Tabane', but at the last moment he wisely skipped that part, "…childhood friend I've known since the grade school."

"Oh, I see." Rin looked Houki up and down carefully, and Houki, not willing to back down, did the same.

"It's nice to meet one of Ichika's old friends."

"Yeah, nice to meet you."

Their words were polite enough, but sparks were flying between them. Really, girls' rivalry is always funny to watch… but only from aside.

"Since you seem to have forgotten about me, miss Representative Contender from China…" Cecilia reminded about herself.

"And who are you?" Rin asked quite rudely.

"Who am I!? I'm Cecilia Alcott, the representative contender from England! Don't tell me you haven't heard of me?" Blonde said with tragic voice.

"Sorry, I'm just not interested," Rin replied straightforwardly.

"Is that a challenge… I won't lose to someone like you!" Cecilia struck her signature pose.

"Really? Don't underestimate me. I didn't get to be China's representative contender for being weak," Rin took Cecilia's challenge head-on.

"Hey, you two, are you forgetting about me?!" Houki reminded about herself.

And that's how it turned into all-girls triple threat match…


After class, Ichika arrived to third arena. He was intending to train with Cecilia there. However, not only Cecilia but Houki and Rin also were there, and all three had their I.S. deployed, and arguing about something. Yes, all three. Cecilia was using "Blue Tears", Rin was using some pink-and-purple colored I.S., no doubt it was her personal unit, and Houki was standing there in a fully deployed "Uchigane" I.S.

The Uchigane was a highly-rated 2nd generation frame produced in Japan. It's a defensive model that focuses on stability, so it's easy for beginners to use. Thus, many countries use it as a training model, just like the I.S. Academy does.

"And what is going on here?" Ichika wondered. Noticing him, girls immediately began to argue even more intensively, seemingly all that was about who's going to train with him, it was hard to say for sure as all three were talking at the same time. It continued for about one minute, until all girls suddenly heard the warning from their units: 'Caution! Energy shot incoming!' In the next moment plasma blast lit up the surroundings.

"Silence!" Ichika ordered, and for some reason his voice now sounded just like the voice of his elder sister, he was holding a plasma pistol "Ebony" in his left hand. "In school, you people may argue as much as you like, but this arena is my territory and I don't need that clownery here." All girls seemed offended, but no one dared to argue as Ichika's eyes flashed with fiery light. Besides, it was a true – Ichika was the one who acquired the permission to train on this arena after school, and, as such, he's responsible for everything that may happen here.

"That's better," Ichika smiled with his cold smile. "Now, when we all calmed down, let's talk. First of all, Rin. I'm very sorry, but I can't allow you to train with us…"

"What is that supposed to mean?!" She took aggressive pose, "Our relationships don't mean anything to you?!"

"Calm down, Rin. Nothing personal, but you're from another class, that is very possible that you're going to be my official opponent at interclass tournament, and I'm not willing to disclose my I.S. specifications until official match," Ichika explained. "I'm pretty sure you remember that my football team had the same rules."

"Humph!" Rin snorted arrogantly, "And I just honestly wanted to help you. But actually, it plays in my favor, without my help you won't raise your combat skills a bit!" As she said that, Rin flew towards one of arena's gates.

Ichika turned to Shinonono, "You surely are stubborn. Getting a permission for training suit and optimizing it… was it really much easier than using my advice?"

"This suit is just what I needed," Houki retorted with arrogant face expression.

"As you say," Ichika wasn't in mood to argue. "Let's start our practice."

"Then I'm starting," Cecilia announced, summoning her rifle.

"No, I'm going first," Houki stated, raising her sword.

"Actually, wait a sec," Ichika interrupted them, looking at two girls with evaluating sight. "I got an interesting idea. Both of you, come at me at the same time!"

"What?! Are you kidding?!" "You're underestimating us?!" Girls seemed angered.

"Come at me already!" Ichika commanded. "And if you need additional motivation – the one who manage to defeat me will become my only personal trainer officially."

"YAAAHH!" Houki rushed at Ichika with sword.

"YOU'RE SO NAÏVE!" Cecilia shouldered her rifle.

Really, they were so easy to manipulate…


"Well, I guess that's it for today," Ichika noted.

"Uhhh…" "Okay..." Two girls moaned. They were completely exhausted, barely holding on their feet, gasping for breath.

"C'mon," Ichika called for them. "We should leave the arena until eleven, I'll help you out," He came closer, intending to take girls' hands.

"No, wait…" Cecilia moaned again.

"Yeah… go ahead… let us rest for a moment," Houki agreed.

"Are you sure that the two of you are okay?" Ichika asked, "Leaving ladies like that is somehow against my moral code," He added, though he knew that they won't agree. These two have their own pride, and walking out of here, leaning on Ichika, will be too embarrassing and humiliating for them.

"Yes, just go," Houki confirmed.

"We'll be right behind you," Cecilia assured him.

"Alright…" Ichika finally agreed as he looked at girls one more time. Houki and Cecilia, with sweat glistening on their skin… 'Female's body is beautiful, after all…' Ichika thought before he left the arena.

About two or three minutes after Ichika disappeared inside hangar's gate, girls did the same, though they intentionally flew into another hangar. In control zone, they undeployed their units. As both I.S.-es vanished, so did their support, and the fatigue hit both girls with full force. Cecilia collapsed an all four, Houki could barely stand, leaning on the wall.

"Who the hell is he…" Cecilia wondered, still trying to catch her breath. "He was one against the two of us, yet I bet he's on feet now, whilst we're barely crawling on all four…"

"It was always like that, even in junior school, in our kendo dojo," Houki remembered. "All his opponents could barely sit, while he was standing ready for next battle…" She also was breathing heavily. 'Maybe he has his eyes, yes, but I doubt his eyes have something to do with his physical endurance…' Houki thought. 'Orimura Ichika… what's the secret of your power…'

'Orimura Ichika…. Can I really keep up with you…?' Cecilia was a bit desperate. 'No I have to! I won't back down!' She mentally vowed.


Ichika was in control room, reviewing the recording of his last training session.

"Hey, Ichika!" The sliding door opened, and there stood Rin. "Good workout, Ichika! Here's a towel! You're OK with a sports drink, right?"

"Oh, Rin?" Ichika wondered. "So your curiosity got better of you after all, I saw you watching our training from grandstand," He added.

"Not at all!" Rin retorted, turning aside and blushing a little. "I just was waiting for you to finish!"

"You're still angry at me for that I didn't let you train with me?" Ichika asked, taking a sip from bottle of sport drink that Rin brought.

"I'm telling you it's fine! You're affecting your own future performance, not mine," Rin declared. "You brought them both on their knees, one against two, that's just pathetic. And after that they even left you alone!" It sounded like an accusation, but Ichika noticed that cunning smirk on Rin's face.

'What a cunning girl,' He thought. 'I'm tired after workout and here she is, with towel and drink, and she's keeping me company…' Last time Ichika saw her was the winter of second year in middle school, and it's been only a year since then. But something has changed. Not that she's changed much physically, but she surely looks more womanly, even though her breasts didn't grow much.

"Ichika, did you miss me when I moved away?" She suddenly asked.

"Well, let's just say our football team was missing your support during last year," Ichika replied, slightly smiling to Rin. Answer was ambiguous, but seems Rin had it interpreted in her favor. She was sitting with delighted smile on her face.

"By the way, is that true that you're living alone?" She wondered.

"Yeah, though academy still keeps second bed in my room, no doubts they hope to find another male pilot one day…" Ichika replied. "Speaking of which, I have to go back to my room now. Thanks for keeping me company, Rin," He bowed politely.

"Oh… I-It's just nothing…" Her cheeks flushed again.

"By the way, Rin, if I were you, I'd be training myself instead of watching other people doing that," Ichika reminded, "Do not disappoint me on tournament."

"Oh I won't!" Rin suddenly jumped on her feet. "Rest assured, I'm not like those two!" She stated, pointing at Ichika, as if challenging him.

"We'll see about that…" Ichika's eyes flashed with fiery light.


May 7th, 7:57 PM

Class representative tournament schedule has been decided two weeks ago, so now everyone, probably even the local cats, knew it. Honestly, it was hard to call that a tournament. Only four I.S. units, four pilots and three battles: two semi-finals and one final. Different grades do not intersect. Three different grades will be competing at different arenas at the same time, and time for one battle is limited with 45 minutes. In other words, entire 'tournament' will be settled within three hours, so Ichika couldn't comprehend the stir about it. By the way, just as Ichika predicted – his first opponent was Rin. Second pair were a girl from class 1-4, Kanzashi Sarashiki, and a girl from class 1-3 whose name Ichika couldn't remember.

Today was the last opportunity to train before all arenas will be closed for refitting before tournament. After school, Ichika headed to the 3rd arena for training, as usual. The sun was going down, gradually turning the sky orange. Like usual, Houki and Cecilia were there to spar with Ichika. During last three weeks they improved themselves a lot, though they still were no match for him even together, now they were challengeable enough for Ichika so he also could improve, even if just a little.

"Hey, Ichika, let's start!" Houki urged him.

"Ichika-san, what are you looking at?" Cecilia wondered.

"At sunset," He replied shortly. "The setting sun is especially red today. It has the same color as my left eye… something interesting is going to happen soon, don't you think?"

Both girls were severely confused by his saying.


May 12th, 9:04 AM

Saturday's morning. Ichika was visiting his house in city, where he used to live with his elder sister until he enrolled into I.S. Academy. He arrived quite early and now he was digging in his stuff, in his room (it still was his room).

Someone knocked to the door. "Ichika, I'm coming in," Chifuyu's voice said as she entered the room. She didn't need to ask to know that it's her brother, she always knows when he's nearby.

"Good morning, onee-san," Ichika greet his elder sister. "Sorry if I woke you up…"

"No, I woke up a while ago, I'm going to academy today as well," Chifuyu replied. As a side note, it worth to mention that Chifuyu was wearing her lingerie only. She never was shy of her brother and he never minded her habits.

"You're going to help with arenas' preparation?" Ichika guessed as he took some strange tool and examined it.

"Yes, but not only that," Sister replied. Here, in their house, Chifuyu wasn't Orimura-sensei, but beloved sister, and vice-versa. "There are always a whole lot of things to do. But tell me, what are you doing here so early?"

"I'm doing some adjustments," Ichika replied, pointing at his right palm. The weird thing was that his right palm now was lying on worktable, detached from his arm. Right now Ichika was working on his right arm, which now was skinless and seemed to be made of some alloy, mixed with polysilicon structures. "I need to slightly enlarge frames of my hand so it would match the growth of my left arm and the rest of the body, my hands shouldn't look different in sizes…" He explained.

"Understood," Chifuyu replied shortly.

It happened when Ichika was captured during second Mondo Grosso. In battle, when Ichika killed his capturers, his right hand was severely wounded. Medics couldn't save it – it was too late, mortification already started, they had to amputate his hand from shoulder and below. Thus, shortly after, Ichika, with some advises from Tabane, created an artificial hand for himself, a servo-system, similar to I.S. limbs. Surprisingly, he wasn't bothered about that much, as new hand was much more powerful and agile than the old one. Besides, his experience with creating artificial hand was very useful, as he created few more things to… improve his own body.

Yes, that was a little secret of Ichika's physical superiority – his body was augmented with cybernetic implants that he created himself. Unlike his sister, Ichika never was naturally gifted with physical abilities, but he was gifted with powerful mind, and he used its advantages at full scale. He was a cyborg in the literal sense of that word. And no, his precious eyes were a natural gift, he never did anything to improve them.

"Couldn't do it in academy," Ichika explained, "If any of those girls would see me like this their heads would explode with contradictive thoughts. Some secrets should remain secrets…"

"By the way," Chifuyu seemingly ignored his last phrase, "How about…"

"Your fresh late-spring clothes are waiting for you in living room on first floor," Ichika replied, without even hearing the question.

"Thanks," Chifuyu replied and headed downstairs.

Few minutes after Chifuyu left, Ichika's phone began to ring. It was very specific ringtone – "Powerwolf - Catholic in the Morning... Satanist at Night" That ringtone was assigned for only one person in Ichika's contact list.

He grabbed the phone, "Hey, it's been a while," He said, "How's your boobs doing?"

"Hi! Hi! They're great as always!" High and very energetic female's voice replied. "And they're bouncing as I'm hearing Ikkun's voice… but can breasts really bounce? Am I the only one thinking like this? Oh my, oh my, so strange!"

"Oh, I can imagine them bouncing…" Ichika mumbled, "…anyway, what's up?"

"Ah, it's just a social call!" Tabane assured him. "How's Houki-chan doing!?"

"Scowling as always, so I guess she's just fine. I'm sure you already know that there's a tournament soon, let's see what's happen," Ichika said.

"Right! Tabane-nee will be happy to talk with the winner, V! V!" I.S. creator shouted joyfully.

"Then speak to you again soon," Ichika said, "Only I can defeat myself!"


And that's it for chapter II. See you soon people, don't forget to write a REVIEW!