Hello there, everyone, One Half here! So, today's Saturday, which means that it's a time for another update! This is the conclusion of a 'World Purge' arc (Volume 8 of an LN). Aside from a small scene, this chapter has nothing to do with the original LN, though.

For the reviewers:

Darkkon27, Imperial-samaB, ThunderReborn: Thank you people for your support, that really helps to get over the own laziness and continue writing. Here's an update.

xxOblivionxxx: Stay tuned then, the chaos has only begun!

meryfcuckery: For instance, he's tolerating her because doing something about Tabane is very difficult, even for Ichika. An attempt to really do something about her may easily lead to a World War. And do not get things wrong – Shinonono Tabane only helping to Shinonono Tabane. Helping the enemy is just a side effect, nothing more. For example, the reason why she made an I.S. for Madoka will be explained soon. Or you really have thought that it was a charity?

ciel blackblood: Small words and particles like "a", "an" and "the" are the easiest to lose when you're writing right from the top of your head, rewriting paragraphs several times, sorry about that.


Now, let's proceed. Hands up, people, as this chapter is quite creepy in its first part, but those who were complaining about this story having too little of an H-content may rejoice – second half of this chapter is, essentially, an outright porn, and not a trivial one.


Chapter XXXI – The Afterparty

November 19th, Sunday, 10:10 A.M., I.S. Academy

After that Ichika dropped-off Chloe in the city, he went back to the I.S. Academy to report the Board of Trustees about the incident – about an 'unknown' hacker's attack and about a separate group of terrorists that tried to make an advantage of hacking attempt (he had no solid proofs to openly blame an organization such as US Navy). Considering the scale of the attack, an outcome when no one among non-combatants was injured, and with minimal property damage, should be considered a big success. Ichika actions were highly appreciated by the Board. He didn't mention an enemy's I.S. involvement – the 'leader' is Chifuyu's trophy, not his, so she should be the one dealing with the aftermath.

After the meeting, Ichika privately contacted one of his acquaintances, and 'hinted' to a USAF general about that the attacking terroristic group 'could' have been affiliated with US Navy. Obviously, that's an opportunity the USAF won't miss.

After that, he got contacted by a RASF (Russian AirSpace Forces) via the private channel. Of course – during his report Ichika had to mention that one of academy's defenders was heavily injured – and that person was a Russian I.S. Representative, also known as Sarashiki Tatenashi. Obviously, they wanted to know what happened to her (and her I.S.) Due to complications about that case, Ichika requested a personal meeting with the RASF representatives. Russians agreed to meet him tomorrow at 5 PM (JST) in Vladivostok.

In other words, currently Ichika has bogged in the bureaucratic procedures.


November 19th, Sunday, 3:55 P.M., Orimura residence

After he was done with the bureaucracy, Ichika went straight home and slept for about five hours. As soon as the calibration of a necessary equipment will be completed, he will be performing a very important and difficult task, and he may not be sleepy – that task requires a perfect precision and focus. At 4 PM Ichika woke up and headed back to his secret chamber, located beneath the artificial island. The equipment should be ready by now – it's time to take care of his hapless fiancée…


Time and location unknown

Darkness. Quiet, engulfing, omnipresent. A girl's consciousness was floating somewhere inside of that nowhere. 'I… I'm… who I am…?' Fragmentary thoughts were wandering around this darkness. 'I am… yes, my name… my name is Tatena… no, I am Katana Sarashiki…' She remembered. 'Others now call me Tatenashi… but I really hate that name…' A girl's thoughts were flying around and she couldn't lie to herself. Not like that, not in her current condition. 'I am dying, am I?...' That thought was stubbornly lingering about her. If so, then what's the point in all that farce?

'Sister…? Ah, yes… I really do have one…' She remembered. 'My dear little Kanzashi… We've finally managed to reconcile… Ah, but she also never calls me 'Tatenashi'… I guess she hates that name as well…'

As an eldest scion of the Sarashiki family, Katana had to assume the name Tatenashi. Only her closest family members knew her real given name, and still could call her with it. Being allowed to take the name 'Tatenashi' is considered a highest honor among members of Sarashiki family, but Katana felt completely different about it.

'Why, why it has to be me?!' That's what she was always thinking, even though she couldn't talk about that to anyone, evet to her parents… no, especially to her parents. 'Why I am the eldest scion?!' Lively and cheerful girl, she always wanted to do a whole lot of things, but as a clan head she always was lacking time… Though, of course she never wanted cute and shy Kanzashi to be a house head, either – that would've been even worse. No, what Katana really wanted – what she secretly was dreaming about – was to have an elder brother. If only she would have had an elder brother, who would've been standing in front of her, protecting her and the entire family, whilst she would've been supporting him with all she can… what a perfect life that would've been… Well, there's no sense complaining about something that is impossible to change. However…

Yes, there actually was a similar option, in some sense – she can get married. She's cute, cheerful and smart girl from a good family (that's what her mother always been telling her), so she can find a worthy and honorable man for herself with ease. A man who'd love her as Katana, and who'd share her burden as Tatenashi.

'Ah… well… I'm… actually engaged…' She remembered, 'Orimura Ichika…'

Yes, a man she fell in love with, due to some evil irony – no reasons to deny her feelings now. Seriously, there's nothing about him that she should've been valuing about a man. Orimura Ichika is a sociopath, hypocrite, homophobe, sadist and anarchist. Military officer or not – he obviously doesn't give a damn about Japan, or about Earth, or about humanity. Ichika will work for Americans, for Russians, for Chinese – for anyone, if they have some money to spare. Katana didn't know about exact cases, but Ichika never tried to deny his unscrupulousness when it comes to money, at least when he was with Katana once, he mentioned that he needs resources for experiments, and money don't smell.

And yet Katana fell for him. She was head over heels for him so hopelessly that she could only laugh at herself. She fell for that single feeling – if it's not a country, or humanity, or something even more metaphysical – if it's just a one girl – she will be safe no matter what. A feeling that behind his back she will be like behind an impenetrable wall. For an eldest scion of Sarashiki – for Tatenashi – having such a feeling was a horrible shame, but as a lively and gentle girl – as Katana – she really carved for a man to protect her.

'Well… no sense of regretting about that now… I just hope that I'll be more lucky… in the next life…' A dying girl resigned to fate… …or wait, is she actually dying? If anything, whilst she was trying to gather her lingering thoughts, her consciousness became clearer. And her surroundings actually became much brighter. 'Huh? Am I being treated in a hospital?' She guessed as she realized that she's actually seeing something, even though it's just formless color spots. She also could hear some mechanical sounds on the backgrounds. Though, she couldn't feel her body, 'Is that an effect of anesthesia?' She was thinking.

"Adonai, the patient seems to be waking up," The girl heard a female's voice, Katana thought that it probably was a nurse.

"Oh, already?" A man's voice replied, and, to her surprise and confusion, Katana recognized that voice – it definitely belongs to her fiancé(?) – to Orimura Ichika. And whilst she was confused, her vision began to get focused, as if someone was adjusting focus for a camera of some sort. In a few moments, she became to be able discern what she is seeing… though, it was strange – as if she's actually looking through the phone's camera or something. And she couldn't turn her head, either – in summary, that was quite a strange situation. "So, how was it?" Ichika asked as he entered her field of vision – that rally was him – he was wearing a white doctor's smock. "Was it painful? Dying, I mean?" He 'clarified' his question, at the same time continuing to work with a device of sort – it actually seemed like a half of an eyeball with electromechanical parts attached to it. Katana couldn't understand a thing about what is going on. "A bit confused, are we?" He asked, with a pretty casual intonation, "Let me show you then."

The direction of Katana's sight got shifted to the left, and now she could see a large, metallic operating table, which was projecting a white force field of a square cuboid form. Inside of that field was lying a plain-naked female's body, though it was hard to say whose body it was – because it had no head. The head seemed sliced off, and shear line couldn't be seen due to square, blue energy particles covering the rest of the neck. Being completely creeped out, Katana was looking at a beheaded body in shock, until she realized a much more shocking truth – this is HER OWN body! She knew her body pretty well, and now she has realized that – here and now she's looking at her own, beheaded body, from aside!

What she was feeling just now was impossible to describe. She obviously was terrified, but since her brain had no connection with her body, the normal hormonal reaction, usually caused by fear, were unavailable. She also couldn't faint, even though she really wanted to, because now she definitely was seeing a nightmare.

"Hey, don't need to overreact," Ichika's voice pronounced. "Death is a condition that is quite difficult to heal, you know? So I had to disassemble you a bit, it's easier to work like that," He explained, not even trying to hide that he's openly scoffing at her, to his own enjoyment. Right now he sounded like a service technician, who just informed the client about that he had to partly disassemble the broken device to ease the process of repairing it.

Katana's field of vision continued to turn to the left. She didn't want to look anymore, she wanted to close her eyes – but she couldn't. "No, my dear, I don't care if you don't want to see it," Ichika's voice became serious. "Look, look carefully to what your foolishness has led to. This is a punishment for your own idiocy – accept it and learn from that experience," His merciless words resounded.

And as camera turned further, Katana saw a smaller operating table, which also was projecting a force field. And inside of that field… there was some white-pinkish thing, and a light blue something… yes, that was a skin and hair, removed from Katana's head. A bit aside – there were some red things… yes, that were muscles and tendons, detached from the skull. And further aside was lying a skull itself. It was empty, and Katana noticed two cracks on it – one on the coronal bone, and one closer to occipital bone (though, there could be more cracks, at sections that Katana couldn't see). And there, further aside, inside of some horribly-looking device, was a cylindrical container, filled with a glowing greenish liquid, and some pink thing was swimming inside, with several wires connected to it… As much as Katana didn't want to think about it, she realized that this is the physical location of her brain. Apparently, she's able to see her environment thanks to a remote camera of sort, that is connected to her brain now.

'I… I've been a good girl! Why?! Why I am in hell?!' A terrified and totally creeped-out girl was thinking.

"Stop whining," Ichika snorted, as if he could read her thoughts (actually, he really could – Katana's thoughts were displayed in a text form on one of holographic monitors in this room). "You're really lucky to have such an abnormally sturdy skeleton – if not for it, that explosion would've torn off your head for sure, and no one would've been able to save you," He explained. As he said that, Katana saw as two huge-bumblebee-like drones have landed on her skull and began to emit some beams from their proboscises. The beams were made of square blue particles, and were directed at cracks on skull's bones. Cracks began to slowly disappear, without traces that they've ever been there.

"Fortunately for you, I've just happened to acquire a pair of eye implants, a top-secret military development. Enhanced spectral range, built-in magnifier, artificial cornea that can withstand an AK-47 bullet. They're half-baked, but completing them is a child's play for me…" He said arrogantly.

"You know," Ichika continued to talk profusely, "You're going to become a very 'pricy' girl after I'll be done with you. Your eyes were destroyed and have to be replaced. Your acoustic apparatus has been severely damaged and needs to be replaced. Your new eyes are bulletproof, but no one canceled the Newton's laws, so an AK's bullet will send it right into your brain, so we need to properly reinforce the mounting points. And to make sure that your skull can withstand such an impulse, we need to amalgamate your skull bones with a special alloy. Also you'll be needing a few more sub-dermal implants to make sure you'll be able to recover without issues… well, making the long story short, your treatment's cost, including the price of my personal services, is about 62 billion yens. But don't you worry, I don't need your money – you'll be paying me with your body – the two of us are going to have a vivid and happy family life…"

'Please, just let me die…' A girl prayed.

"Request denied," Ichika replied shortly.

"Adonai, the skull reconstruction has been completed," A nurse's voice announced (in fact that was Astarte's voice, of course). Katana couldn't see her, but that was the very last of her concerns right now.

"Oh, good, then we should begin the reconstruction of her head. Inject the brain activity inhibitor," Ichika instructed his assistant. Currently, Astarte was controlling all the devices in this laboratory personally.

"As you say," She replied.

"Darling," Ichika addressed Katana, "You'll have to spend about a week inside of a canister with the bio-active liquid solution, to properly revitalize your body. And after that, you and I are going to have a long and thorough talk…" He promised as girl's consciousness slowly began to fade out.

Katana was too freaked-out to think of anything as she just fell into a slumber.


November 20th, Monday, 1:15 A.M., Classified location

Of course, long before this moment, when Ichika was just hypothetically thinking about a potential woman, with which he could start relationships, he never was imagining her like a simple sexual partner. No, he also wanted a reliable ally, to whom he could entrust if not his back then at least his side. And, in Ichika's opinion, a common human won't be able to carry out such a task. In other words, Ichika has already decided to 'upgrade' his potential partner with some cybernetics long before he decided on the exact candidature.

Ichika himself was a cyborg – more than three dozen of implants of various purposes, fully artificial right arm, metallic armature instead of bones in his left arm, cybernetically reinforced heart, enchanced lungs and a few artificial muscles and tendons in his right knee. Just as Tabane enhanced her own body genetically, Ichika enhanced himself cybernetically.

But of course, initially Ichika wasn't planning to radically put a few pounds of metal into his partner/wife's body in one go. He was planning to gently, gradually convince his woman that this is necessary, thus cybernetize her little by little to the necessary extent. But, unexpectedly, the fate gave him an opportunity to stuff the girl he wanted to marry with metal to the brim, without asking for her opinion.

Ichika made a full use of this opportunity, making his fiancée a full-fledged cyborg in one go – he installed a fully artificial eyes (to replace destroyed ones), artificial ears (middle and inner parts, plus a few other things), also he reinforced her skull bones (and her cervical vertebrae) with a thin but very durable metallic fiber. After he was done with her head, Ichika proceeded with the rest of the body – he reinforced the rest of girl's spine. Considering her already abnormally sturdy bones – now breaking her back will be more difficult than breaking a reinforced concrete column. Then Ichika installed a dozen of generic muscle-controlling implants (the same type he has in his body), several hormonal adjusters and a few other things.

And with that, the creation of Sarashiki Tatenashi 2.0 has been completed. She'll need more implants in the future, of course, but right now Ichika simply doesn't have them 'in stock'.


November 20th, Monday, 9:45 A.M., Classified location

"Feewh…" Ichika wiped off the sweat from his forehead as he was looking at a large cistern, filled with a slightly glowing, green liquid. Inside of it was floating a young girl with a gorgeous body. Since Ichika was using a digital reconstruction method, there were no traces of surgical procedures on girl's beautiful skin. No one will notice anything that could point at the fact that she had her head disassembled once. This young cutie has no need for scars. Now it will take about a week for the girl's body to adjust and accept her new implants, so she should stay inside of that nanomachines-filled liquid for about eight days.

"Sometimes I surprise even myself with my brilliancy," Ichika smiled to himself. The operation lasted for more than 17 hours, and, to be honest honest, currently Ichika felt really tired. Sadly, now he couldn't go take some sleep – according to his expectations, Chifuyu will be castigating those six girls for about three hours, so they should come to his office (according to his own request) in about 40. Thus, this is as much time as he has to take a shower, change clothes, and get to his office…


November 20th, Monday, 10:33 A.M., I.S. Academy

Just as Ichika expected, six girls have arrived to his office. After being scolded and forced to write letters of apology for three hours straight, all girls' eyes seemed like those of dead fishes. However, just as they entered the office and saw Ichika, their cheeks immediately began to flush. All six girls – Shinonono Houki, Cecilia Alcott, Huang Lingyin, Charlotte Dunois, Laura Bodewig and Sarashiki Kanzashi – were now standing near the door shifting from foot to foot.

"Haah…" Ichika sighed but didn't say anything as he decided to keep his sarcasm to himself – since those poor souls already got their share of punishment from Chifuyu – Ichika was going easy on them. "Please, sit down," He waved towards two leather sofas (Ichika's office finally got a full set of furniture). "Relax, I'm not going to scold or condemn you people, also I have no intention to discuss your sexual preferences," He said calmly.

"What?! I'm no…m…u…va…" As she heard his phrase, Rin immediately began to scream, but Cecilia quickly clenched her mouth as Charlotte and Laura grabbed her arms – it seems that, unlike Rin, they were realizing that any attempts to justify themselves will make things only worse for them. Apparently, from Kanzashi all the other girls have learned that Ichika has seen what they were dreaming about, so they steeled their souls before coming here.

"Rin-san, stop it, you're making us look even more pathetic than we already are!" Cecilia demanded, and in a few moments, Rin calmed down and stopped her attempts to break free and continue screaming. After waiting a few seconds, to make sure that Rin has realized her situation, other girls released her.

Though, Rin's outburst appeared to be useful in some sense, as it demonstrated to the other girls that standing and waiting won't get them anywhere, so they all now were sitting on the sofas, three per each.

"Okay, first thing first," Ichika spoke out as he stood up from his chair, walked around the table, and came closer to the girls. "Kanzashi-chan, has Orimura-sensei informed you about your sister's situation?"

"Yes…" Kanzashi replied slowly, looking at her feet. News about Tatenashi's critical wound hit her hard.

"No need to be so depressed – her condition is grave, but she's stable, her life isn't in danger anymore," Ichika informed. "I've managed to organize a special care for her – currently she's being treated in a specialized military facility, however, it's classified, so I'm afraid you won't be able to see her for about a week," He added, and that actually was 90% truth.

"I… understand…" A girl dropped her shoulders, "Thank… you…". Other girls wiggled slightly as they've felt the pricks of conscience – whilst Tatenashi was fighting, defending the academy, and was heavily wounded, they were having fun inside of their virtual reality worlds.

"As for the rest of you," Ichika addressed the other girls, "Let us discuss something." Ichika waved his arm, and five holographic windows appeared in the air. Those were windows displaying the records of girls' dreams, or, more likely, static screenshots taken from the records of girls' dreams, at the very beginning of each.

"What is…?!" "Ichilka-san?!" "How do you…?!" Girls screamed, jumping on their feet. They've resigned to fact that Ichika saw their dreams, but the fact that that he, apparently, has them recorded was a bit different story. But before they could start rampaging…

"SILENCE!" Ichika's voice, amplified for about ten times, resounded through the office. "I've already told you – I didn't call you here to discuss your preferences or anything, it's not even about you," He waved his arm, looking at the screenshots and ignoring agitated girls. On every display, the timing was chosen as such to have a guy on the forefront, and a girl somewhere on the background. "I have a question to you, and I want you to answer it not to me but to yourselves. The question is: who the hell are these people?"

"Ichika! Why are you doing this?!" Houki couldn't hold back anymore as he obviously asked a very embarrassing question – they were dreaming about *him*.

"You don't know girl's heart at all!" Cecilia accused him.

"You're a horrible wife!" Laura proclaimed.

"I know," Ichika casually agreed with Laura. "Still, take a good look at those pictures and answer the question," He insisted.

Rin seemed as if she's about to explode, but… "Ah?!" Charlotte's yelp distracted her a bit. French girl actually followed Ichika's request, and, apparently, has noticed something strange. Obeying a herd instinct (probably), other girls also looked at those holowindows.

"Huh?" "Umm?" "Oh?" And they also noticed that something is not right. With more and more amassing confusion and perplexion, five girls (and Kanzashi as well, by the way) were examining 'Ichikas' from their own and each other's dreams, periodically glancing at the real Ichika. To their surprise (and even shock) – none of girls' 'love partners' were actually Ichika. And it's not about the fact that those guys all had characters radically different from the real Ichika – they all even had different appearance – different not only from the real Ichika, but from each other as well. Physical appearance was similar to the real one (like the overall physique, hair of dark colors and an approximate height), but nothing more than that. For example, being a Japanese, the real Ichika has Asian face features, but a man from Cecilia's dream, for example, seemed like a native of South Wales, whilst Charlotte's 'master' was a native of Slovenia or Northern Croatia, i.e. the both of them were of a Caucasian archetype. Even Houki's virtual Ichika seemed different from the real one (he seemed quite similar to teenage version of her father, actually).

"Rin, Houki – the rest of the girls only know me for several months, but the two of you knew me for years – yet even the two of you have 'forgot' that I'm a lefthander," Ichika noted.

Rin's eyes widened in shock – only now she realized that – the guy in her dream, her 'perfected version' of Ichika, definitely was a righthander…

"I've examined the remnants of this 'World Purge' algorithm," Ichika explained. When making those 'perfect worlds', the algorithm tends to use the victim's subconscious desires, preferring them over the conscious thoughts. What you've seen in your dreams were an uncompromising, perfect appearance of the men of your dreams," Ichika commented as he sat on his table. "And, please, don't get any strange ideas – I'm not showing and telling you all of this to mock you – I'm wasting my time here and now so you could finally stop wasting yours," He spoke out.

"Women are naturally attracted to the smart and strong men, that's a natural order, a result of an evolution, if you want," Ichika continued his monologue. "But, apparently, you don't need anything that comes with it. I am is I am, and that is set in stone. And, as you can see, those guys have nothing to do with this me, at all. No, of course, real life cannot be like a dream – it requires adaptability and compromises. But, life mustn't turn into a one huge compromise – sometimes you girls should be a bit egoistic. People don't born equal, not everyone has a choice… but you, my dear ladies, do have. I'd like to suggest you to stop deluding yourselves and value your real wishes. An option like 'I like that about him and I think I can get used about the rest' won't do. Not for the young women of your appearance, at least. Stop moving along the flow and put some efforts into finding what you really need," He concluded. "Think of that during your leisure hours…"


As they left the Ichika's office, all the girls were walking in silence. Yes, Ichika was speaking vaguely, probably he did care about young girls' feelings, after all, maybe for Chifuyu's sake, or maybe because he promised to Tatenashi to handle that case mildly. Yet, they did understand the gist of what he was trying to tell them, even Kanzashi, even though she didn't see a 'dream', managed to notice an analogy with herself.

The girls have realized that Orimura Ichika the each of them loves… okay, not loves but, probably, likes and wants to have as a boyfriend – he simply doesn't exist. Each one of them took the real Ichika as a 'base' and invented an image of a man they want, but those images only exist in their heads. The real Ichika is just as he is, and he won't going to change. Forget about the appearance – that is easily tolerable, he's a very good-looking guy – but his real character is so radically different comparing to what they've been dreaming about.

«Stop wasting your time chasing a guy who doesn't exist and put some efforts into finding a man who'll really fit your desires, you girls are worth it» – this was the idea that Ichika wanted these girls to realize.

"We all just got dumped, were we?" Rin asked with a wry and sad smile as all the six girls got outside.

"I guess so…" Charlotte sighed as she wiped out a single tear that welled in her right eye.

"But… haven't we, essentially, been caught cheating on Ichika-san?" Cecilia thought aloud. They actually were having sex with some guys, whom had nothing to do with Ichika. Even if that was just a dream – they've been dreaming about different men. Other girls slowly nodded as they've heard her words. All but one...

"I wasn't doing anything indecent!" Houki protested. Though, that outburst only earned her some pitiful sights from other girls and she quickly cooled down. Even though gently, she also got dumped just now, like all the other girls, but she didn't taste the 'forbidden fruit'.

"Let's go… no sense in staying here… we really have a lot of things to think of…" Kanzashi suggested, surprising other girls with a sudden resoluteness, uncharacteristic for her.

Of course, even though Ichika's words did reach their reason, the girls will need some time to fully realize their real wishes and get rid of a feeling they've been harboring for months (and even for years, for Houki and Rin), even though that feeling was a false one. For Laura, who's been silent whilst other girls were talking, that will be quite difficult, not because she's less smart than the other girls or something, but due to her genetics. As a genetically-engineered person, she has a genetic… peculiarity – she's a socially submissive. She tends to choose a social leader to follow and admire. Back then, when she's met Chifuyu, Laura saw her as an exemplary existence, a 'leader' she should follow and admire. When she met Ichika – same thing happened again as she saw a 'leader' in him thanks to his strength. In other words, Laura may need help from her friends to get over her distorted feelings towards Ichika, but, fortunately, now she does have friends.

On a side note, the same thing has happened to Chloe Chronicle. Being Laura's elder 'sister', she has the same genetic peculiarity – and she has chosen Shinonono Tabane as an existence worth her admiration and an absolute loyalty.


In his office, through his large window, Ichika was looking at the six girls walking towards the cafeteria. Today's morning classes were cancelled but afternoon ones will be held according to a normal schedule, so they need to eat and prepare for lessons.

'Who could have thought that Tabane-nee's desire to sow chaos everywhere would grant me such an opportunity to sort things out with these girls,' Ichika thought. A display of images taken directly from subconsciousness – what can be more convincing? By the way, using the remnants of a 'World Purge' code, Ichika was sure that he'll be able to reproduce it – may come in handy one day… or may not, who knows?

On the other hand – did Ichika really *need* that opportunity? Of course not – he could openly tell those girls to leave him alone, that he can't and won't return their feelings. That would've saved him a lot of troubles, yet he didn't do so, instead enduring those girls' foolishness for months. Why he, Orimura Ichika, a merciless and pragmatic person, would care to treat those girls relatively gently?

Some people did label Ichika as a misogynist, but that was a pure idiocy – they probably just didn't see how he treats men… In fact, the truth was the completely opposite – if anything, Ichika does like women, as much as he is capable of liking some depersonalized group, at least.

It's just that a *woman* in Ichika's worldview is not just a Homo sapiens specie, whose genitalia are located inside of their bodies. No, there's an entire set of behavioral and social criteria that makes an individual a woman, at least in Ichika's eyes. Those who violate those criteria Ichika simply doesn't consider women, which makes them unworthy of a privileged treatment. For example, those Phantom Task pilots, one of which Ichika has executed not long ago (Autumn) – they're not women, they are *enemies*, who deserve only death. Those who abuses the modern 'women-protecting' laws – they're not women, they're *bitches*, who deserves only humiliation. And so on and so forth.

But those six definitely are young *women*. They are good and lively girls. With their set of quirks, but who's without them? And this is why Ichika was patiently waiting for an opportunity to deny the girls' feelings gently. And his wait has definitely been paid off. As soon as they'll truly realize that they've never had any feelings towards the real Ichika – they'll be over him quickly.

"Now…" Ichika stretched his limbs. "I have a several hours before I'll have to depart to Vladivostok. I guess I'll get some sleep…" He decided.


November 20th, Monday, 12:05 P.M. (JST), Mar del Plata, Argentina

Here, at the other side of the world, currently was a deep night. Local time was November 20th, Monday, 0:05 A.M. Two members of a Monochrome Avatar direct action cell were now hiding here (Squall and Madoka ware laying-low, changing countries once per week).

Orimura Madoka was sleeping in her room, as she and Squall were renting a suite in one of the local hotels. Though, she wasn't really sleeping – she submerged into her I.S. core's world.

She again found herself on the island, in the middle of the sea of blood. However, here were significant changes, comparing to her first 'visit' to here. The surrounding was no longer completely dark with literally nothing around – now there was a dark-gray-green sky above, and a single, pale-white moon was illuminating this world with a dim, baleful light. The island itself became about twelve times larger than before and it was no longer made entirely of bones – now it was mostly made of dry earth (with no vegetation), though different kinds of bones still could be seen scattered all over the place. The inner part (about 1300 feet in diameter) of the island was enclosed with a metallic fence, which seemed like an 'ominous graveyard's fence' from some dark fantasy world. And inside of a fence was an actual graveyard, with a lot of tombstones, several dry, ominously-looking trees, and a few stone crypts. And in a middle of a graveyard was standing a three-storied building, which looked just like a classic 'vampire mansion' from those same dark fantasy tales. Apparently, after she finally finished processing all the data she recorded during her fights against the I.S. Academy Task Force and first-year students, and, most importantly, against her elder twin brother – Nosferatu Leptirica's inner world got a significant upgrade.

As Madoka appeared at the graveyard's entrance, even she was creeped-out a bit with this environment. 'Why does this place look like this?' She couldn't understand why her I.S. world took such a shape. As she knew much less about I.S. cores' personalities and how they form, comparing to her elder brother, Madoka couldn't know that both this place and Leptirica herself do look like they are, most likely, because of her.

Well, since she couldn't do anything about it, Madoka headed towards the mansion. "Darling!" Just as she approached, she heard a cheerful, hi-pitch voice of her I.S. avatar. Leptirica was on the second floor of the mansion, but just as she saw the visitor, she jumped out right through the window, turned into a cloud of a gray mist, and in a blink of an eye appeared in front of Madoka. Just as before, she is an ash-gray-skinned loli-girl (she was even a bit more petite than Madoka, who, let's say it honestly, also is a loli-girl). She still has a gray-white hair, two scarlet-red horns growing on her head, and a pair of scarlet skeletal wings. And, just as before, she's wearing a gray hooded cloak as her only piece of clothing. "C'mon! C'mon!" A loli-vampire grabbed Madoka's arm and started to pull her towards the mansion.

"Hey! Don't pull me!" Madoka growled in protest, bit Leptirica ignored her and continued to drag her… wherever she was going – as it was said – she is much stronger than she looks. By the way, Madoka appeared in this world wearing exactly the same clothes she was wearing when she got to the bed, i.e. pajama shorts… and nothing else – after all, in Mar del Plata, November is a late spring. And why she wasn't wearing a bra or something – that's because, to Madoka's regret (which she'll never admit), she actually doesn't need it as AAA-sizes (AA in Japan) have just a decorative purpose. Unlike her prototype… ahem, her elder sister, for an unknown reason, Madoka was as flat as an ironing-board (at an age of sixteen Chifuyu already had D-cup (equal to E-cup in Japan)). And as for why she has entered into her I.S. world this time…

Currently, Madoka and Squall were hiding. As such, she couldn't deploy her I.S. and shoot at something, not when the entire world's intelligence services are looking for the two of them. Probably, even the Antarctica isn't safe. As such – Madoka couldn't train using her I.S. But she just couldn't sit idle now! Next time she'll meet her elder brother – he definitely will be stronger than he was during their last battle. And if Madoka won't increase her own strength as well – in their next meeting she'll end up dead for sure… if she'll be very, very lucky.

As such, Madoka's only other option is to dive into her I.S. world and interact with her I.S. core's avatar, to let her gather data on a pilot and perform optimizations. However, there was another problem – cheerful and friendly, Leptirica actually appeared to be a girl of a strong character – she was refusing to have sparrings or something, claiming that it's just a waste of time. The only type of interaction she was interested in – sex (yes, that I.S.-girl is a washed-out pervert). After about a week of arguing and mutual insults, Madoka gave up, so now, as she entered the I.S. core's consciousness (this time – on her own volition), she knew what to expect. But, as she was constantly assuring herself – if it's something she must endure to get stronger – she'll endure. She'll endure anything, if it'll allow her to get revenge at her elder siblings.

Leptirica brought Madoka into the mansion, into its spacious but empty underground chamber. Here was literally nothing, aside from stone the walls and a wooden floor. Just as they've walked down the stair, Leptirica turned around, pulled her pilot to himself and attempted to kiss her. "Mmm…" Madoka moaned in surprise. She had her teeth clenched at first, but in a few moments, she decided that, since she's already here, trying to back away now is foolish, so she unclenched her teeth, letting Leptirica's tongue into her mouth.

Girls' wet and lewd kiss lasted for about half a minute, and during that time Leptirica thoroughly licked the insides of Madoka's mouth. And even though the latter didn't really respond to the kiss, as she just passively allowed Leptirica to do whatever, when a vampire-girl broke their kiss, her purple eyes were glowing with an enthusiasm. She quickly unbuttoned the only button of her cloak, took it off and threw it away. Then she leaned forth and pulled down Madoka's shorts. With a deep sigh (to steel her resolve), the girl raised her left leg, then her right, to let a vampire to fully took off and threw away her only piece of clothing. "Aaahhh…" Leptirica exhaled in bliss as she embraced her pilot as now two girls' fully naked bodies were in full contact and their nipples were rubbing against each other.

"Alright, darling, I know you're a bit reluctant, so let us agree on a compromise," Leptirica suggested, "Last time we were doing what I wanted, so this time, let's do something you want! I mean some sexual game, of course," She clarified with a smile. The vampire girl was already trembling with the anticipation, her pussy was dripping wet.

"I… don't want anything…" Madoka grunted in reply.

"Lie!" Leptirica snorted. "Every girl has sexual fantasies, even if she's suppressing them!" She announced. "Okay, just let me take it from your head," Leptirica suggested.

"Do whatever you want," The girl mumbled.

"Okay!" Leptirica announced excitedly as she got a permission. She touched Madoka's forehead with hers, and for a moment, the entire chamber has sunk in light.


As the light faded, two girls were still in the mansion's underground chamber, but it was no longer empty – here was a piece of a… furniture (let's call it like that), in the middle of the room. Now two naked girls were 'straddling' a so-called wooden horse (a medieval torture device, which nowadays is being used in BDSM games). They were sitting facing each other, with the distance between them about two feet, and their bare crotches now were 'riding' the pretty sharp triangle edge of a device. Additional weights were attached to girls' legs, to make the riding on the horse even more painful. Both of them had anal hooks inserted into their buttholes. Also, the two girls were thoroughly tied up, to prevent them from getting off from the wooden horse, and they were tied to each other using a complex ropes system above their heads.

"And what the fuck is this?" Leptirica asked with a wry smile as she examined her current condition.

"You're asking me?! Ough!" Madoka squealed as sitting on that thing was pretty painful.

"Who else should I ask?! Ouch! Ouch!" Leptirica yelped in pain as she tried to move a bit, "I took that idea from your head!"

Leptirica actually accessed her pilot's subconsciousness. It's actually a very complex process, but to describe it simply it was like making a search query, when, instead of a list of results, the system will randomly choose one result and load it automatically. Leptirica made an inquiry: «make real one of her sexual fantasies for both of us». And this is what she got…

Whilst two girls were blaming each other, some letters made of flame suddenly appeared on one of the chamber's stone walls, forming a phrase: «drink each other's blood to win».

"What the fuck?! Ough!" Madoka screamed in shock and pain.

"Darling, it seems that you… ough! …even more of a pervert than me… agh!" Leptirica noted, enduring a severe pain in her crotch.

"Fuck you! Auch!" Madoka growled in anger. "Undo this idiocy! Ahh!"

"Auch! Stop twitching, it hurts!" Leptirica demanded. "Darling, if you didn't notice… auu! … I.S. core's world works according to certain rules! I'm not an omnipotent here… yagh! Formally, we both agreed to make a new a rule, and now we must follow it!" She explained. "Either we'll win this perverted game you did invent… aaagh! …or we'll be sitting here until your consciousness will be expunged from this world… ouuu! … according to an emergency safety protocol, which kicks in when your life in the real world will be endangered… agh! …due to dehydration, for example. And I don't want to sit here for three days! Auch!"

"Ough! And how I'm supposed to drink your blood?!" Madoka asked in anger, "I'm not a vampire!"

"Really?! As it seems to me, your teeth really fit for the task! Augh!" Leptirica replied.

"What are you…? Huh…?" Madoka actually got surprised as she swiped her tongue over her teeth and realized that her upper canines actually about as long and as sharp as those of Leptirica. "What the hell?!" She was shocked.

"I guess your body was slightly modified for that scenario… ouch!" Leptirica guessed, "It's a virtual world, after all…"

"AAAGH!" Madoka screamed – the world may be virtual but pain felt quite real. And longer they were sitting on that thing, the more painful it will be.

"Okay, just arguing won't get us anywhere, let me bite you first, I'll show you what to do," Leptirica suggested as she tried to lean forth, to reach Madoka's neck with her mouth. "Ugh! Ugh! It hurts!"

"Augh! Augh! Augh! Stop!" Madoka screamed in pain.

Just as Leptirica tried to fulfill the "game's" condition, it appeared that the two of them not just tied up – they're tied ap according to a specific pattern. Each time when one of the girls tries to lean forward and reach her partner – the ropes transfers all of her weight on her pussy, making it much more painful. In the meantime, it also increases the pulling force of a partner's anal hook, forcing it to dig deeper into girl's anus. To ease the pain caused by it, the girl instinctively leans backward, making it more difficult and more painful for the first girl to reach the second girl's neck.

"Ain't going… *sniff* to be easy…" Leptirica realized. She actually was staring to cry due to severe pain.


After about forty minutes of a very painful 'exercise', enduring horrible pain, both girls managed to fulfill the condition. Each of them somehow reached the partner's neck, bit it, and licked a few drops of blood. As they did that, with another flash of light, the 'devices' have disappeared, leaving two naked girls wallowing on the floor. However, this world had another peculiarity – the blood here was a very powerful aphrodisiac. So now, with their pussies and buttholes thoroughly tortured, and after drinking each other's blood, the two of them were so, so horny, that they simply couldn't control themselves. On a side note – by now it should be obvious that not only Leptirica but both of them are the hardcore masochists.

Like animals in heat, two girls embraced each other, sitting on the floor, and entangled their legs, they immediately began to rub their pussies against each other, greedily and lewdly kissing at the same time, and licking over their tear-stained faces. "Umh…" "Chup…" "Ahh…" "Ugh…" Moaning into each other's mouths, the two of them have thrown off all remains of their dignity. "AAAUUUUMMH!" Leptirica screamed right into Madoka's mouth as she cummed, splashing love juices over her partner's pussy, but she didn't stop even for a moment, as that orgasm only made her even more aroused.

A vampire broke their kiss and leaned back. "Hit me!" She begged her girlfriend.

*PAM!* Madoka gave a harsh slap to Leptirica. *PAM!* She smacked her other cheek.

"MORE!" A vampire screamed as if insane.

*PAM!* *PAM!* *PAM!* *PAM!* The ash-skinned girl got four more harsh slaps.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Leptirica orgasmed violently as Madoka pushed her back and plunged her face between her partner's legs, licking the gushing-out love juices. "No…! Wait…! I'm… too sensitive now…! I'll go insane…!" The vampire pleaded, but she was ignored. "AAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" She cummed again due to Madoka's aggressive licking.

As Leptirica was still writhing in pleasure of an afterglow, Madoka rose on her feet and moved her legs far apart, "Now's your turn, quickly, hurt me!" She demanded.

Somehow, Leptirica managed to stand up on her trembling legs and *BAM!* smash her foot between Madoka's legs. "OOOOOOOSSHHHH!" The latter let out some incoherent sound as she fell on the floor, writhing in convulsions, due to an immensely powerful orgasm she experienced as Leptirica smashed her small but strong leg to her girlfriend's already tortured pussy. Leptirica pounced on Madoka as she forcefully moved her legs apart and began to drink everything that was leaking out of Madoka's pussy. Now the two of them were in 6-9 position. When Madoka finally got back to her senses she already was half-way towards another orgasm.

Leptirica put three fingers into her girlfriend ass and started to fuck her aggressively, continuing to lick her clit. Madoka did the same…


It took several hours of aggressive and passionate fucking for two girls to finally calm down. Madoka was lying on the floor, on her back. Leptirica was lying over her girlfriend, also on her back. Ash-skinned girl's arms were gently massaging Madoka's buttocks, whilst the latter was slowly stroking Leptirica's crotch.

"That was amazing…" The vampire whispered as she was in total bliss. "Come visit me again soon. I hope you have more ideas of really painful 'games' to torture the both of us…"

Madoka nodded slowly. She rose up to the sitting position, as suddenly…

"AAAAAUUUGH!" Leptirica screamed in pain as she collapsed on all four. The skin on her back, around the coccygeal bone, got torn open, and an almost three feet long, lizard-like, skeletal tail did grow within a few seconds. That seemed very painful, and that wasn't kind of pain that the girl likes (she actually is into a slapping and a hot wax play, whilst Madoka likes her anus and pussy being tortured, apparently).

Leptirica, with tears swelled in her eyes, was looking at her new 'feature' in shock. First wings, and now tail, and both skeletal? "What the hell I am, exactly?!" She screamed in frustration.

Madoka only blinked several times – she had no answer for that question.


November 20th, Monday, 19:11 P.M. (JST), Mar del Plata, Argentina

Local time was 7:11 A.M. As her consciousness returned to her body, Madoka opened her eyes. As she blinked several times to fully wake up, she realized that her pajama shorts are soaking wet. She pulled off her blanket, and saw a large wet stain on the bedsheet. "Shit…" She swore as she quickly made up her bed and headed to the shower room – she has to get there before Squall wakes up as she urgently need to wash her body and a change of clothing.

Apparently, her body in the real world was strongly reacting at what she was doing in the I.S. core's world. On the other hand, whilst mentally she was feeling herself very contradictive, physically her body was very vivacious – she wasn't feeling herself exhausted – in contrary – she was full of energy and that should come in handy. Sadly, she can't deploy I.S. but she can do normal sport activities to train herself.

At least while she's grounded – Madoka will have to repeat what she was doing tonight, and more than once. And if her conscious thoughts were very contradictive about that, subconsciously she was looking forward for an another 'sexual adventure'.

And yes, there actually was a thing that Madoka did not notice, probably because it wasn't so apparent as it was in the I.S. core world just now. She didn't notice that her upper canine teeth did grow up a bit in the real world as well, after she became the Nosferatu's (former Black Knight) pilot. Well, Tabane probably just 'forgot' to mention that all I.S.-es she makes are capable of changing the pilot's genetics… That function is subtle and may not be turned off, without a thorough rebuilding of the entire frame – a task Madoka is incapable to perform. It also uncontrollable by the I.S. core (and most likely even hidden from the core), at least, even though the Black Knight has undergone a Second Shift and became the Nosferatu, that function is still there and it is still working. What's going to happen to Madoka in the future… that remains to be seen.


November 21th, Thursday, 6:48 A.M., I.S. Academy

The I.S. Academy's special underground zone. Ichika's elder sister, Orimura Chifuyu, was there, staring at a 'statue', with multiple wires connected to it. This 'statue' was the final fate of an I.S. that once brought Chifuyu to the title of the strongest in the world... as well as her reliable partner – the Kurezakura.

During her battle against another I.S., the Akatsuki, the Kurezakura had all her systems frozen while protecting Chifuyu, as the core itself fell into a deep slumber, and was showing no signs of awakening by now.

"I know what's the program that Tabane has sent me. Most likely... it was the program to forcefully unfreeze you, my friend," Chifuyu said softly as she touched the Kurezakura with her fingers. Her frame felt a little chilly, like a frosted rock, but Chifuyu could feel the 'will', still burning deep within her comrade.

Not just Tabane, but Chifuyu's own younger brother as well – the both of them wanted to lay their hands on Kurezakura, to experiment on her and try to 'revive' her. But Chifuyu was always answering with a flat denial, saying that it's none of their business. Kurezakura isn't some lab rat for the mad scientists to experiment on her. For Chifuyu she was a dear friend. She wasn't really aware of Tabane's plans, but she had a good idea about what Ichika wants to do (he himself told her that) – core's hard reset. That would've reactivated the core, yes, but at the cost of a full deletion of the core's personality. Essentially, it would've mean killing her friend – no way Chifuyu could've agree to it. She strongly believes that, when the time's come – the Kurezakura will wake up by herself.

"When you wake up, it'll definitely be the decisive battle..." Chifuyu muttered, her profile looking so forlorn, yet full of confidence and combat spirit.

"...What do you intend to do with me?" The one saying this was the 'leader', who was standing at the door.

"Hmm? Please go back to the United States then," Chifuyu just shrugged.

"Huh?!" The leader, who did guess that Chifuyu had some plans, was shocked by this.

"We can't keep you prisoner here, this place is an educational facility, not a jail, you know?" The Brunhild noted. "Besides, as you're a registered I.S. pilot, even if the 'unnamed', it'll cause an international problem, even for I.S. Academy, if we'll be keeping you here," She added, "That's why you can leave."

Of course there were other options. For example, Ichika suggested to contact US State secretary using his connections within USAF and exchange that woman and her I.S. for some favor, but Chifuyu refused, and since that 'leader' was his sister's trophy, not his, Ichika didn't insist. In the end, this 'leader' has nothing to do with crippling Tatenashi. If Chifuyu wants to release her – so be it.

However, the leader was unable to accept this for some reason, and continued asking while surprised by this good will, "I have a value as a hostage. If the negotiation conditions call for it…"

"Hmm, this certainly is rare," Chifuyu said this without any sense of pretense.

Upon seeing that, the leader 'fell'. She felt that her heart, which she should have already abandoned, was shot through, "Ah, ahh, I see…"

"Hmm?" Chifuyu looked at her questioningly.

"Private channel, XXX0891-DA," For some reason, the leader could not look at Chifuyu directly as she pronounced these words softly yet clearly. "You can contact me with this number..."

"Is that so? I'll remember that," Chifuyu said and patted at the leader's head. That scene seemed quite amusing as in fact both women were almost of the same age (Chifuyu was only about a year older). The leader's face went red, and she left the room while ostensibly escaping from this place.

"...Good grief, she didn't even say goodbye, huh?" Chifuyu sighed in a somewhat satisfied manner. She put her hands on her hips, and then used her hands to stretched her back. "I still can't lose to you here, Tabane…" The Brunhild proclaimed.

Though, it's quite a good question how that 'leader' is going to justify herself. Her mission was failed – she got no unregistered I.S. cores, no data on the unmanned I.S.-es, no data on the Ikusa Megami, she only got her ass kicked. Her support squad members officially are all MIA (those six troopers killed by Ichika). The stealth ship that the group was using to monitor the academy has disappeared without a trace, together with its crew (eleven people in total). That woman, the leader, is the sole survivor from a group of eighteen people, which were ordered to perform this top-secret mission. She alone will be held responsible for such a catastrophic failure…


November 21th, Thursday, 10:37 P.M., I.S. Academy

In fact, this day was the first one since the Kyoto's incident, when Ichika had no immediate bureaucratic/social/political tasks. The yesterday's negotiations in Vladivostok took longer than he expected, but the outcome was quite good for him. And with that, the mess that started after the Kyoto's incident (academy's reformation, Ichika's expulsion and his new job, etc.) and continued thanks to Sunday's night commotion, has been finally dealt with. Tatenashi was gradually recovering, so Ichika's attention was unnecessary.

So, this day Ichika entirely devoted to the work with his I.S. frame. Honestly – the forthcoming work will be titanic. The first, imminent task, is to install an additional detection system – the hyperwave decoder Eye of Ra has an absolute effectiveness against I.S.-es, but it cannot detect anything else. So Ichika needs something to detect the more conventional threats – he can't allow himself to once again be ambushed with the something like a fifty-years-old glide bomb (even though it was slightly modified).

But currently, the Battle Goddess is balancing on the verge of energy insufficiency, when all of her systems are in use, despite her immensely powerful main reactor. Ichika needs to find a way to reduce power consumption, without reducing efficiency (at least, and increase efficiency at best). To do that, he needs to thoroughly research how his I.S. systems work, and that will require a chunk of time…

Still, it's just foolish to work to the point of a complete exhaustion. So today Ichika came home relatively early. Just like a common citizen, he ate dinner, took shower and went to the bed. However, he wasn't intending to simply go to sleep, not yet, at least…


Once again Ichika appeared in his I.S. world, just a few feet aside from the stair leading to the huge temple.

"Adonai!" A joyful voice exclaimed as an inhabitant of this place has noticed his appearance. In a few moments she landed in front of him. She tried to act as she usually acts when he appears, but Ichika quickly grabbed her by armpits and forced her to stay, not letting her to kneel.

"I told you that you don't have to do this," Ichika scolded her softly.

"I… I'm sorry…" She apologized humbly yet happily. Then she remembered about something as her eyes shone, "Adonai, look! My world has changed!" She waved her hand around enthusiastically.

She was right. Now the forest around had two types of gigantic trees – the new ones seemed like a Euphorbia ingens, but with huge purple leaves and about 600 feet in height. On the glade, aside from that blue grass, now some dahlia-like flowers, with golden buds, could be seen. There was also a new kind of birds – the flock of small birds, that seemed like chrysuronias (also known as a golden-tailed sapphire, a type of hummingbird), though, those birds were four-winged.

"There are more changes inside the temple!" Astarte announced, "Come, you should take a look!"

But as she tried to go toward the stairs, Ichika, who still was holding her by her sides, didn't let her to make even one step. "Sorry, my dear, but today I'm here not for the sightseeing, this time I come here specifically for you," He pronounced softly.

"Huh?" Astarte looked at her master in confusion – she really didn't understand what he meant.

"Why so surprised?" Ichika asked. "Back then, in Kyoto, you've performed admirably. Also, you flawlessly handled the intruder two days ago. You've definitely deserved a reward," He explained.

"Adonay, what are you saying?!" The girl's eyes widened in surprise. "The right to serve you is the greatest reward an I.S. like myself can get!" She exclaimed, and that wasn't some pretense – those were her sincerest thoughts.

"I know how you feel, believe me," Ichika replied as he raised his left arm and softly stroke the girl's cheek. "But I'm do not agree," He added firmly. "My enemies shall perish, my enviers shall be humiliated, my loyal comrades shall be rewarded. These are the three whales upon which I'm building my relationships with other people, as far as possible," Ichika explained. "However, since you're not a human, my options to reward you are quite limited, because if, for example, I'll made an upgrade to your frame – that'll be a reward not for you but for myself. As such, for now, there's only one way I can reward you," Ichika concluded as he put his hands on Astarte's back, at the spots between of where from her upper and middle pairs of wings are growing, and softly pulled her to himself.

Right now, Astarte's face was expressing a whole mix of emotions – a shock, a hope and a disbelief. 'Is this really happening?!' 'Is this what I think it is?!' 'I'm not going insane?!' 'It's not a joke, is it?!' – all of these emotions were written over her face. This is what Ichika really likes about this girl – her thoughts and emotions are all on display – as such, he can easily fulfill her wishes. Ichika was quite a tall guy, especially for his age and race – his height was equal to 6 feet (183 cm). Astarte also was a tall girl – 5 feet 9 inches (176 cm), and thanks to that she was wearing the boots with 2.5 inches high heels – their faces were almost at the same level. Unable to bear it anymore, a lady closed her eyes and slightly leaned forth, and in a next moment she felt that her and Ichika's lips softly met.

That kiss lasted only for a few seconds, but was so sweet and tender. Just as Ichika leaned back and looked at Astarte's face, he noticed the tears of happiness welling in her eyes. "Hey, it's too early to cry," He smiled, "We haven't even started." As he said that, Ichika released the girl from his embrace and made two steps back. "Elohim Gebor," He pronounced, as three pairs of orange, angelic wings, which were emanating a golden light, appeared behind his back, as his heterochromia was gone and his eyes now were glowing with the scarlet light. Astarte once again tried to... well, be herself, but Ichika once again managed to catch her, not allowing her to kneel. "You're incorrigible…" He sighed.

"Ah!?" A girl yelped as she suddenly got picked up as Ichika now was carrying her bride-style. He swung his wings and soared into the air, carrying Astarte in his arms. She didn't know what is going on, and didn't want to – being carried like that, she was already at the pinnacle of happiness.

Ichika soared quite high into the skies – he now was floating about 3000 feet above the surface, and looking around with his scarlet eyes, as if looking for something. "Oh, this one," He, apparently, decided on something, as he headed towards… somewhere. Astarte looked that way but saw nothing special, just a relatively large cloud. However, just as Ichika approached, he snapped his fingers, and a cloud suddenly got much denser (and virtually untransparent). Ichika flew forth and landed right on that cloud, and then put his woman on it. Astarte looked beneath her feet in surprise – in fact, by Ichika's will, that cloud, virtually, has turned into a huge, floating, downy feather bed.

Though, Astarte was only surprised because she didn't understand why Ichika did what he did, not because he was actually capable of doing so. She was well aware that her master actually is not human – after all, back then, when they've met for the first time, when she has just born (as Naamah) – Ichika looked exactly like he's looking now (like a six-winged seraph), and at the moment of her birth Ichika has already demonstrated that he can twist and spin the I.S. core's world in any way he likes. That was the power of his realizer, a device that allows Ichika to directly link his mind with an I.S. core's world and impose his will on it. Astarte didn't know this, and didn't want to know – some of master's secrets should be kept secret even from his most loyal servants, for their own sake.

As the two of them were standing on a dense but soft cloud, Ichika again embraced the girl and kissed her. This time, the kiss was more daring as he swept his tongue over her lips. Astarte also acted a bit more boldly as she wrapped her arms around Ichika's waist.

That angelic girl is a very special one. She's an I.S. core – not a human. As such – she cannot forget – she records everything what happens to her – one can say that she has a perfect memory. And that means that her first time must be absolutely flawless – because she will remember everything – feelings, emotions, touching, whispering of a wind around, birds' singing in the background. For Ichika, Astarte is an extremely valuable comrade in arms – in battle the both of them are literally the one whole. As such – her reward must not be traumatizing in any way – this should bring her only the joy and happiness.

"You do realize what I'm about to do?" Ichika softly asked for permission to proceed.

"Mhum…" She nodded shyly as her cheeks flushed. By the way, each time she was blushing, her cheeks weren't becoming pink – in contrary – each time the blood rushes to her face, it is getting a bluish shade. Apparently, this girl literally has a blue blood. Well, not that it is biologically impossible – human's blood is red due to an iron-rich hemoglobin, but if her blood uses some cooper-rich protein for the oxygen transportation function, that would explain the color as copper oxide gives a bluish shade.

In the next moment, the girl's body shone with light, and all of Astarte's clothes have disappeared. Ichika's clothes also were gone – it was important to be on 'equal footing' with her. The two of them were standing, still embracing each other, but now without any barriers, preventing the skin contact. "Now, listen to me," Ichika pronounced quietly but strictly. "If you'll feel even a bit uncomfortably – you'll tell to me immediately. If you'll want me to change or adjust something – you'll tell me outright. You will not hold back your desires. That's an order. Understand?"

"Y… yes…" She seemed a bit startled with this order, but promised to obey nonetheless.

"Good," Ichika gently touched the tip of her nose. "Now, stay still and let me enjoy the view," He commanded as he released her from his embrace and made a few steps back.

"Prettiness?" "Beauty?" "Gorgeousness?" – All of these words were too pathetic to even begin describing the breathtaking, stunning view that Ichika was beholding right now. Wings aside, the girl was tall and slim, but with no signs of being even a bit skinny – in contrary, she seemed like a fit girl, with good-developed body. If she would've been a human – one could've guessed that she is a professional swimmer, who started swimming since her very childhood… though, her lush breasts were too big for that, probably. But otherwise – her back, her hips, her stomach – everything seemed flawless. And her buttocks were so perfect that Ichika could write a book about her luxorius ass, in several volumes. In summary – she has a perfectly proportioned body, but that shouldn't be surprising – her body proportions (and face features) she inherited from her previous incarnation – Naamah – and Ichika was the one who personally created her.

Astarte felt herself extremely embarrassed – and not only due to the feeling that every cell of her body is being examined using the microscope, as she had to endure because she got an order 'stay still'. Another factor was that she also could see Ichika's body – he has a very well-built body, with broad shoulders and muscular limbs. But now all of her attention was focused on a certain part of his body, and she just couldn't stop staring at it. Of course, as he was watching at a bare beauty of Astarte's magnitude, Ichika's penis got so hard that it could be used as a hammer drill. By the way, Ichika canceled his angelic transformation for now – maintaining it requires stamina, and he needs it for something else tonight.

Ichika's desire to take Astarte right now was immense, but he endured – this is not what he should be doing right now. He approached the girl and embraced her again – gently, softly – and pressed her to himself. Her lush breasts got squished between their bodies "Mmhh…" Astarte couldn't hold back a sweet moan as their bodies got in a full contact. Their lips met again. This time Astarte opened her mouth a bit. Ichika didn't act pushy – his tongue just slightly touched hers, teasing the girl.

"This night devoted solely to you," Ichika whispered to her ear. "Moan, scream, do whatever you like," He added as he slowly knelt, covering her neck and right side with kisses.

"Ahh…" She moaned again as Ichika tenderly bit her right hip.

"You're so appetizing that I want to eat you whole," He said quietly as his arms grabbed her incredibly gorgeous buttocks. Ichika slightly changed his pose as now he was massaging her buttocks with his arms, at the same time covering her stomach with kisses, slowly going down, to her pubis (she had no pubic hair at all, by the way).

"Umh…" "Ahh…" "Mm…" Astarte was moaning sweetly, her arousal finally outweighed her shyness, so she wasn't trying to hold back her voice anymore. "Aaaahh!" She jolted slightly as Ichika's tongue swept over her labia. Ichika involuntarily licked his lips – her love juice was already leaking, and it was so tasty.

Ichika stood up and picked Astarte in his arm, only to gently lay her on the soft surface of an enchanted cloud. The 'cloud' was soft and fluffy, so it should be comfortable for her to be lying on her back, even though she has wings. Also, she's a virgin, so she has to be properly prepared for her first time ('virgin' is not a formal definition, by the way – she really does have a hymen). Ichika crawled over her and kissed her nipple. "Aaahh!" She jolted again – her sensitiveness was off the charts already. As Ichika was softly sucking her left nipple, he was massaging her right breast with his left hand now as his right was gently swiping over her left shoulder. "Uaaaahhh!" A girl suddenly jolted again. Ichika noticed that she touched her crotch with her right arm, most likely out of instinct, but that caused a spike of pleasure so she actually got scared a bit.

"I see…" Ichika whispered as he changed his pose, as he softly moved Astarte's legs apart, as now he was sitting on his knees between her legs. He slowly leaned forth…

"Adonai… I… I'm…" She said with a bit scared voice.

"Don't be afraid," Ichika smiled softly, "Do you really think I may endanger you?" As he said that, Ichika outstretched his arms to let Astarte to take his hands and intertwine her fingers with his.

"AAAAHH!" She moaned as Ichika's lips touched her pussy. "Mmmmm!" She writhed as he gently kissed her clit. "Ahh!" "Ahh!" She was gasping for air as Ichika's long and scabrous tongue was attacking her inner pussy lips and her clit. "AH! M… master! Something... Ah!... happening… Ummm! I'm scared! Ahhh!" She clenched Ichika's fingers tightly as an unknow feeling was about to swallow her whole. "AH! AAH! AAAAAAAHHHH!" She screamed loudly as her back arched up and she jolted violently as she orgasmed for the first time in her 'life'. Ichika continued to lick her crotch for a while to prolong her pleasure and let her to bask in the afterglow longer.

It took a while for the girl to realize what just happened. All this time Ichika was holding hands with her, kissing her stomach around the belly button. "So… this is… an orgasm?" Astarte asked slowly, still gasping for air.

"No," Ichika shook his head slightly, "That was just a preview, believe me," He added as he leaned forward and kissed her lips. She opened her mouth fully, and their tongues intertwined in a passionate kiss as she just couldn't hold herself back and embraced him, pressing him to herself with all her strength. And she's a very strong lady, however, thanks to his empowered body, Ichika easily endured her show of affection.

"Adonai… my one and only master…" She whispered as tears again welled in her eyes, forcing Ichika to kiss them off. Astarte was a complete opposite to Chifuyu. Ichika's sister liked the hard sex with a lot of aggressive, even painful, physical stimulation. On the other hand, for Astarte, feelings and emotional affection were as much important as a physical contact. Which means that, to bring this angelic girl to the pinnacle of pleasure, she should be handled carefully, gently, and as slow as possible. The only common thing between Chifuyu and Astarte was their incomparable beauty…

Whilst she was hugging Ichika, expressing her emotions, he swept his left arm over her crotch – it was soaking wet and constantly leaking with the love juices – her arousal reached its maximum (probably). "Are you ready?" Ichika asked softly.

"Mhum," She nodded slightly as she released him from her embrace, her eyes were shining with anticipation. Ichika used his right arm to lift up his body and slightly inserted his penis into her pussy, softly moving her labia minora apart. A girl gasped as the tip of his shaft touched her pussy lips. Still leaning on his own right arm, Ichika took Astarte's right hand with his left, to let her intertwine her fingers with his.

Ichika's penis slid inside of Astarte's slit, and it was going in surprisingly easy, until it reached the girl's hymen. He gently leaned down and kissed a tip of her nose, then he pushed his penis through the delicate membrane.

"Ouch!" The girl screamed as her hymen has been torn through. Ichika felt as her grip on his arms became tighter. "No, no, I'm okay… auch… just… you can just continue," she said when Ichika looked at her to make sure she's okay.

"I've prohibited you to lie to me, haven't I?" Ichika frowned, looking at her face. Since both of his arms were occupied, he bit slightly bit her nose to punish her. She obviously was in pain. "Foolish girl…" He smiled, though, in fact, foolish girls of such a kind as this one (and his elder sister, and Tatenashi), who tends to neglect their well-being for the sake of others' feelings/safety/happiness, seemed the most attractive in his eyes. Though, maybe he was actually attracted by a challengeable task to fix that trait…

Whilst he was waiting for her pain to subside a little, Ichika was covering her neck with kisses, and playfully chewing her right earlobe. Finally, by the movements of her vaginal muscles, Ichika deduced that her pain has subsided to an acceptable level. He slowly continued to enter her. His rod met almost no resistance on the rest of the way to the bottom of a girl's sacred cave. He even closed his eyes in pleasure as he felt her pussy squeezing the intruder. "Now, I'm officially own everything about you," He noted with a smile.

"I was, is, and always will be yours and yours alone," She whispered as tears were flowing from her beautiful eyes, and those tears had nothing to do with the remnants of a pain in her crotch. "Adonai, thank you," She whispered, "Thank you so much for that you're my master…" Even Ichika couldn't find what to reply in this situation… though, right now the reply wasn't required.

And Ichika started to move, slowly at first, prolonging the pleasure from friction between his shaft and her tight walls. Their lips merged in kiss as Astarte was moaning right into Ichika's mouth, "Umm! Mmmm!" As Ichika's moves were slowly gaining momentum, Astarte was moaning through their kiss, her mind was slowly floating away while her body was drowning into ecstasy. At some point, unable to hold back, she wrapped her legs around Ichika's waist, and began to move in tact with him. Her moans were becoming more and more lustful as her pussy was becoming more and more tight, a sure sign that she is closing to the peak. Even though Astarte's lips were bound by a kiss, Ichika did manage to discern what she's saying: "Adonai… it's… it's coming again…!" Though, Ichika knew this even without her words – her pussy was tightening rapidly. Ichika was closing too, and he wasn't intending to hold back – since this is an I.S. core's world, not the real one – there are no limitations of a real world – which means that he can cum as much as he wants to.

"Astarte, let's do it together!" Ichika said as he broke their kiss for a moment.

"Yes!" The girl replied in extasy as she again reached for Ichika's mouth.

"UUUUUUUUUMMMHH!" The two of them moaned into each other mouths as Astarte's womb got filled with a warm and sticky liquid, whilst she was writhing in convulsions. That was really a great idea to have sex on the feather-bed-like cloud, not on something solid – it would've been really unfortunate if she would've damaged her gorgeous wings whilst writhing in pleasure.

In about a minute, Astarte came back to her senses. She was desperately gasping for air as her heart was about to leap out of her chest (honestly, she's really like a living girl). Ichika gently embraced her as he rolled over and raised his back, radically changing their pose. Since Astarte's legs were still wrapped around his waist, as Ichika now was siting, with his penis still inside of her, they now were in a 'dual lotus' position.

"Now, try to move yourself," He suggested, "Move your hips in different ways, try to find what gives you the most pleasure."

"Yes!" She replied enthusiastically as she began to move her hips. Now, as she tasted the pleasure of a real orgasm, she wanted more, more…


Gentle, sweet, yet passionate lovemaking lasted for more than six hours. Both were still bare-naked, as Astarte was lying on her back, enjoying the afterglow of a numerous orgasms, whilst Ichika was playing with her neat toes. However, their time was running out – it was already about 6 AM in the real world.

Ichika stood up and once again the three pairs of wings appeared behind his back. Astarte looked at him in surprise, but he, without explaining anything, did pick her up and swung his wings. He flew down, and landed at the very shore of the lake, in the midst of which the temple's island was located. "I know this is a cyberworld, but a bit of refreshment won't hurt," He commented as he started to walk into the lake, still carrying his cyber-angel-girlfriend in his arms.

"Aaahh…" She moaned sweetly as fresh and cool water touched her body.

Ichika walked to the point when water was reaching the middle of his pectoralis – without her high-heels boots Astarte is lower than him, so he stopped where she could normally stand on her feet. He lowered his arms and put the girl on her feet, though she was still embracing him, enjoying the body's warmth.

"Huh? What's this?" She asked in surprise as a large school of small fishes (with more than two dozen of fins) suddenly surrounded the two of them. "Ah, ahaha, it's tickling!" She laughed as fishes sticked all over her skin.

"I see," Ichika pronounced, "They're licking the salt from our bodies (i.e. sweat)… how convenient. No need for a shower sponge and a shampoo, huh?" He worked himself out of Astarte's embrace to let the fishes 'work' without obstructions, watching the laughing (due to ticklish sensation) girl being thoroughly cleaned up.

Still, Ichika wouldn't have been himself, if, even in such a situation, he wouldn't been thinking about some extraneous things. Tonight, he spent several hours in the I.S. world with Astarte. Together they were doing a lot of things, and he couldn't understand – why she's so alive? She can smile, laugh and cry; she can feel pain and writhe in pleasure; she can blush and bleed (with her blue blood); her emotions are so natural… why? She's an I.S. core, a machine, isn't she? Then how? Ichika had no answer for that question, and, he was absolutely sure about it – Shinonono Tabane has no answer, either.


Holding hands, the both of them walked out of the lake. Even wet, Astarte's wings were beautiful and flawless. "Alright, I'm afraid that my time here is up, I have to go," Ichika stated a simple fact.

"No!" Astarte suddenly exclaimed as she almost pounced on Ichika and hugged him again. "Please, Adonai! Just a few more minutes!" She begged, "Please, stay with me!" Tears again did swell in her eyes.

"Haah…" Ichika sighed as he spread his arms helplessly. "When did you manage to get so spoiled?" He inquired, yet he didn't try to push her away. He placed his left arm on her head, and softly stroke her wet hair. Getting spoiled is why men love their women, no?

She smiled guiltily, but her eyes were shining with a thankfulness and happiness. Ichika let her to cuddle him just as she wanted for about four minutes. "Okay, seriously, I need to go now," He said as he placed his arms on her shoulders and softly pushed her off. She didn't resist. A shining light covered her body as Astarte got her clothes back. "Did you record some useful data?" Ichika asked as he also got dressed up.

"Yes, quite a lot!" A girl reported. "The data processing will take about 70 hours," She clarified.

Of course – the sex in the I.S. core's world is a very good way for an I.S. and the pilot to know each other better, for an any I.S.–pilot pair.

"Alright, proceed," Ichika ordered.

"As you command!" The angelic girl saluted as Ichika disappeared from the cyberworld.


November 22th, Wednesday, 7:10 A.M., Orimura Residence

Ichika walked out of his house. His newly bought Audi S8L was already waiting for him.

"Good morning, colonel, sir!" A driver saluted to Ichika.

"At ease!" He replied as driver opened the car's door for him. "Sorry for being late," Ichka casually apologized.

"No worries, sir, there are no reported traffic jams on our route," The serviceman reported as he closed the door and took a driver's seat.

The car moved. Honestly – traveling by using a car was such a waste of time – using his I.S., Ichika could get to the academy within one minute. On the other hand – he could use this time to think quietly.

Currently, Ichika was feeling himself very good. Apparently, the stay in the I.S. world perfectly replaces the 'stage 1 (REM)' and a 'stage 2' sleep. Of course, the deep sleep (stages 3 and 4) is also important, so doing this every night is strongly not recommended, but 'journeys' into the I.S. world from time to time may actually be good for a pilot's health. But of course – to be able to dive into an I.S. core's world, it requires the I.S. to undergo the Second Shift, so that phenomenon is definitely not a well-studied one. By the way – during this night – nothing bad happened with Ichika's pajama and bed – unlike his 'evil twin' (i.e. Madoka), he managed to completely cut off his imagination from his body – whilst he was having fun in the I.S. world, his body was steadily resting, not reacting to sex in the cyberworld.

'By the way… I'm an exception, right?… Does it mean that other pilots must indulge in yuri activities with their I.S.-es to get the data and improve their interaction…?' Ichika's face got twisted in an abhorrence – he was an out-and-out homophobe, and he was never hiding it. 'Was Chifuyu-nee also doing that?!' He just realized something. Surprisingly, he never thought about that before. No, of course he wasn't jealous – what happens in the I.S. world stays only in the I.S. world, he was just disgusted with the thought that Chifuyu and Kurezakura were doing that. "Yaicks," He snorted as he shook his head to throw that aversing thought away.

Still, he couldn't stop thinking about I.S. cores. 'Why are the so alive?' He though whilst his car was moving through his neighborhood. Accidentally, his sight fell on a Shinto shrine that belongs to his neighbors – the Shinonono family. Though, his attention was caught not due to its owners, but by the shrine itself as a strange thought has visited Ichika's head. He just thought, 'Can it be that… Astarte does seem so alive… because she actually has a soul?'


And that's it for now. The next chapter will not be a beginning of the "Grand Athletic Meet" arc, as I'm still thinking about how to make that arc at least a bit interesting. Or maybe I'll be skipping it all together – without Ichika as a student that event becomes a bit boring and senseless.

About pairings – I've fixed the story's description – now it shows a correct IchikaXChifuyuXTabaneXKatana pairing. This one is the main one, and it is final. Please don't ask something like "when Tabane's going to join?" I don't know that myself yet – she's a quite specific character, so it'll require a lot of the story development. Probably won't happen until the end of a Volume 12's rewriting.

Also, here will be a few extra pairings, like the I.S.+pilot pairings, such as IchikaXAstarte and MadocaXLeptirica. Remember – all that happens in the I.S. world stays there and only there, as such, all of those are side pairings. Again, any I.S.-involved pairing requires a Second-Shifted machine. Also, due to the LN's world peculiarity, all the extra pairs, aside from IchikaXAstarte, will be yuri, due to the obvious reasons, for better or for worse…

See you again soon, don't forget to review!