Chapter 4: First Day At The IS Academy

IS Academy – Cafeteria – 07:10 A.M

"Hey, have you heard about the incident last night?"

"I was already sleeping at that time so I don't know, what happened?"

"Are you talking about the strange noise that came from the main arena? I was having a snack at the time because I couldn't sleep, and I heard a large boom at the main arena direction, after that, I saw the lights in the arena turned on but couldn't see anything inside it."

"Yeah, I also heard the student council members were sent there to investigate it with Orimura-sensei."

"I already asked one of them earlier but it seems that Orimura-sensei has forbidden them to said anything since it is classified information."

"Eeeeh? It sounds really serious and they don't say anything? I really want to know what happened~!"

Murmurs and whispers among the students filled the cafeteria as the rumor about what happened last night was spreading like wildfire, especially among the 3rd year girls since they had better connections with the student council members. However, since their idolized super-strict teacher had prevented the student council from telling them anything, none of them could assume what had happened in the main arena last night.

Since the entrances to the main arena had been sealed off, no one knew what exactly had happened inside, though some students had gone up to the rooftop of the dorm and were able to see a large crater inside the arena. Some of them thought it was a fragment of a broken satellite. Some of them thought it might be an IS malfunction accident and many other speculations.

In the area where the 1st year students usually had their meals and talked, a black-haired student wearing a male version of the IS Academy uniform and a girl with long black hair tied in a ponytail with a green ribbon with black stripes. While the boy was enjoying a traditional Japanese meal which consisted of a bowl of rice, salmon, natto, pickles, and miso soup, the girl, on the other hand, was not in a good mood despite having the same meal as him, which made the boy feel worried about her.

They were Ichika Orimura and Houki Shinonono, both were students of the Class 1-1 and childhood friends to one another.

"Hey Houki, how long are you going to remain angry?" Ichika asked, feeling worried that he may have angered his female friend.

"I'm not angry," Houki said, but looking at her face clearly said the otherwise.

"But you're not looking happy either..."

"I'm always like this," she replied, making the boy sigh in defeat.

He gave up and got back to finish his breakfast while eating, he heard the other students talking about an incident that seemed to have happened last night while he was asleep, which caught his curiosity.

"Hey, Houki, did you -" Ichika tried to ask his angry friend Houki about the incident, only to be stopped mid-sentence.

"Don't call me by my name."

"... Shinonono-san." Ichika felt like crying, being refused by his childhood friend like that.

As the two continued their breakfast, three girls approached his table, one of them wearing a yellow Pikachu hoodie with overly long sleeves.

"Orimura, could we sit next to you?" one of the girls asked the male student, Ichika Orimura.

"Oh sure, feel free to." he casually replied much to Houki's annoyance since she didn't like it when Ichika was being nice toward the other girls.

As the girls who walked to his table to try talking to him heard his answer, they heaved a sigh of relief.

As the three took their seats and began to eat together, the girl in the hoodie noticed that Ichika's breakfast had a bigger portion compared to them.

"Wow, Orimura-kun sure eats a lot in the morning." the girl in the hoodie commented.

"He's a guy you know." the other girl answered.

"Actually I was wondering if it's alright to eat that little for breakfast?" Ichika asked back in concern about the meals that the three girls had which made them giggle nervously.

"Uhmm... about us huh."

"Aa, we are fine with it..."

"Because we eat a lot of snacks-!"

'... You'll grow fat if you eat too many snacks, besides, isn't that bad for your health?' Ichika thought to himself while smiling dumbly at the girls.

"Say Orimura, have you heard the news about what happened last night?" the girl in the hoodie asked again, changing the subject.

"Ah, you mean the large crater inside the main arena?" the other girl answered her first, "I heard about it from the 3rd year students just a minute ago."

Now that had piqued Ichika interest. Did something that he and Houki didn't know about had happened last night? Well… there was only one way to find out…

"Heh, I don't know such thing happened, though, I have been hearing the other students talking about something like that since I went to the cafeteria" Ichika replied, "What happened?"

"Well it seems like something felt from the sky and crashed into the main arena last night while we were sleeping." explained the girl with long black hair, "I don't know what it is but I heard that Orimura-sensei and the student council members were sent to investigated it."

Ichika was listening with rapt intention, while Houki, despite totally ignoring Ichika and the whole conversation until now, couldn't help but also pricked up her ears. However, before they could ask anything, a clapping sound was heard inside the cafeteria.

"How long are you going to eat? Be quick and efficient when eating, or else you will be late." It was the voice of Chifuyu that echoed throughout the cafeteria. "I'm the 1st year dorm's supervisor, and those who are caught being late for class will have to run around the field ten times." When everyone heard that, they frantically returned to finish up their breakfast quickly.

Chifuyu then turned to Ichika, "You should finish your meal fast, you won't want to miss the homeroom period." She told Ichika, while he raised a brow as he felt that his sister was trying to give him a hint about something; Houki also appeared to have noticed it as well.

08:10 A.M - Outside of class 1-1, Tobia Arno POV

When I finished preparing everything for class at 06:00 A.M, I went with Maya to the cafeteria to grab some foods for breakfast and finished it quickly to avoid being seen by other students; during that, Maya explained to me more about the IS Academy, my school schedule, and told me about some certain etiquettes as well as how to introduce myself to the students later. Afterward, I went with Chifuyu to the teacher's office to take care of my paperwork; she also gave me a brief reminder of my newly created identity and history in this world that she had contacted somebody to fake the documents. Overall, my name was still the same, though I had now become the Austria representative cadet, which was due to my name being Germanic; however I didn't know any German at all, so I was told to say that I had spent most of my life in the U.S.A.

With everything about my personal background covered up, I headed out first and went with Maya to my new class. As we got to the class, Maya told me to wait outside before she could call me in, which I complied with a nod, and right now, I was standing outside to wait for the call.

"Alright everyone, before we start the study session, there's something I'd like to tell you first." I could hear inside that Maya was happily announcing to the whole class.

"We have a new transfer student here!" She exclaimed, then calling me in. "Arno-kun, you can come in now."

As I heard the call, I walked inside and stood next to Maya with my shoulders rested, both of my hands clasped behind the back, my legs spread out a little and my eyes fixed at the class, still somewhat unable to forget my old military drills. I took a quick glance of the whole class, the whole class was mostly comprised of female students and with only one male sitting at the front, whom I assume to be Ichika Orimura, sticking like a sore thumb. Seeing that the students were all surprised by my entrance with their silence, I relaxed my whole body and opened my mouth to speak.

"Good morning everyone, it's my pleasure to meet you all, my name is Tobia Arno, I have come here as an IS representative cadet of Austria. Starting from today I'll be in your care, so I hope we can all get along." as I finished my introduction and bowed my head slightly to the students.

"No way... !"

"Hmmm?"

"ANOTHER MALE STUDENT! A SECOND MALE IS PILOT!"

"AND HE IS IN OUR CLASS TOO!"

"I'M SO GRATEFUL TO BE IN THIS WORLD"

"Having Orimura-kun in the class is already great, now we even have two!? Uwaaahhh, I'm so lucky to be in class 1-1!"

"His dark hair, his emerald-colored eyes! He's so charming!"

"He looks like a prince, I want him to take me away kyaaaa!"

'Uwa, even though Chifuyu and Maya already told me about how the school and IS society are, this is even beyond my presumption' I thought to myself while seeing the whole scene as if the female students viewed me as some kind of a rare species, Chifuyu clearly didn't exaggerate at all.

As I looked at the boy, Ichika, he gave me a sympathetic look, and 'you will get used to it' look, which made me shudder a bit, worrying for my sanity and rationality by being near so many predators girls.

"THAT'S ENOUGH! SETTLE DOWN AND SHUT UP!" shouted a loud and stern voice, which came from Chifuyu as she entered the class. The girls immediately shut their mouths and behaved.

"Orimura-sensei" I locked my eyes at hers that spoke up the thought of 'WTF is this?' which she didn't even bother to reply and walked to the teacher's stand.

"Tobia Arno here as he's said is a representative cadet from Austria and starting from today he'll be a part of this class." Chifuyu then looked at me and pointed towards the seat beside her brother. "Now Arno, you can take that seat beside student Orimura, you two will be helping each other from now on. Now we will begin the first period, everyone, take out your textbook and turn to page 20."

I nodded at her and just moved on to take the seat next to the left of Ichika Orimura and brought out my book, then, I heard him calling out to me.

"Psst… hey Arno-san." Ichika whispered, trying to get my attention, which I turned towards him, "I'm Ichika Orimura, nice to meet ya. I know that it's not easy on the first day, but don't worry, you will get used to it soon. I'm glad that there is another boy like me since I'm not alone anym-"

"Orimura! No talking during class!" Chifuyu's stern voice made Ichika stop talking immediately and turned to her, she then looked at me with the same stern look. "And you too Arno! Pay more attention to the lesson."

"S-sorry ma'am!" Both of us said in unison while lowering our heads in shame, which caused the girls to snicker a bit. I felt quite embarrassed since I hadn't been scolded like this for a while, even though I hadn't done anything yet and being a 22-year-old guy no less.

Suddenly I felt like someone was glaring at me from behind my back, but I didn't know who. Probably something I should be careful about, however, I should focus my attention on the lesson for now.

Noon break – 12:00 A.M

The school bell had rung, signaled to us that it was time for a lunch break. After four periods, I was forced to reconsider my earlier assumption, at first I thought that going back to school would be boring, but after going through the lessons about the ISes, I was wrong. They were really interesting and a change of sight for how different they were compared to mobile suits but still similar enough for me to comprehend, I was hooked with everything about the ISes, how was it created and powered? How were they able to summon their armor and weapons out of nowhere? How were the pilots not affected by the G-force when pulling absurd maneuvers? What was the composition of their shield? There were so many mysteries that got my blood pumping, I wanted to know about their secrets.

However, when thinking about it clearly, the words that Chifuyu had told me in the infirmary now struck me even harder, these ISes were really dangerous as the power that they hold were unimaginable, it was quite similar to when mobile suits were introduced in my world. Talking about mobile suit, my Ghost Gundam was somehow turned back into the Crossbone, which I guessed had something to do with the "IS forms" that allowed the ISes to change their form. Wait, since my Gundam was now considered an IS, would it also carry the same properties? I would have to check it out after school. Anyway, currently, I had quite a problem that needed to be dealt with...

"Arno-kun, can you tell us more about yourself?"

"Well, I don't think I have anything special to tell about really."

"How is Austria like? It's similar to Alcott-san homeland?"

"Sorry, I spent most of my younger days in the US so I'm don't know much about my homeland until recently."

"What's your favorite color?"

"White I guess"

"What's your favorite food?"

"I like steak the most."

"Do you like video games and anime?"

"Yes, I love anime actually."

"What type of girl do you like?"

I was having a headache by being bombarded with so many questions at the same time and having to answer them, it was irritating but I didn't want to look like a meanie either. If I was any normal guy, I would be happy with all of the attention I was getting, but I had already had someone that I loved; though it was more like my fear that I may give in to my temptation, so no thanks.

"I'm sorry, but I would like to go to the cafeteria to have lunch now, I would appreciate it if we can have the talks later." I quickly dodged the bullet and got out of my seat to get out of the class, but Ichika Orimura came up to me.

"Hey Arno-kun, since you're also heading to the cafeteria, wanna have lunch with me and my friend? We can talk about each other too."

I nodded after some considerations and he joyfully patted my shoulder. "Great! Let's go then! My friend must have been waiting for us already." without any second thoughts, Ichika immediately grabbed my left shoulder and we got out of the classroom.

At the cafeteria

Still panting from running away from the girls, me and Ichika had reached the cafeteria. Then I heard a voice called out to Ichika.

"Ichika! Remember that you were the one who asked me first but…" suddenly a ponytailed girl walked up to him to speak but stopped mid-sentence as she noticed me standing beside.

"Huh?" Ahh, I'm sorry for being late, the girls were quite a hassle to deal with" he apologized to the girl who was still recomposing herself in front of me.

"Ah, anyway I have brought Arno-san here to have lunch with us." Ichika said and then turned to me, "Let us reintroduce ourselves properly. I'm Ichika Orimura, but you can call me Ichika. And she is Houki Shinonono, my childhood friend."

Houki, who was still a bit embarrassed, introduced herself with a slight nod and a smile, "I'm Houki Shinonono, but you can just call me Houki."

"Tobia Arno." I replied with the same etiquette, "Just Tobia is fine."

"Well Tobia, I think we better get our lunch first," Ichika said as he pulled me to the line to get their meals. "Chifuyu-nee won't be happy if we are late for class."

I agreed with Ichika's words and moved to take my meal at the counter. The guy's friendly attitude really reminded me of old geezer Umon, and I was still sad that he had passed away a year ago, he was like a grandfather to me. When we had taken our meals, we proceeded to the table where Houki was impatiently waiting for us. Ichika took his seat beside Houki, while sat opposite to him.

While they had the same meals for their lunch; I had a bowl of ramen, which I had wanted to try for a long time, for lunch. As we were having our lunch, I heard some gossip and whispers among the girls who sat not too far from us.

"Hey… isn't that the new transfer male student from class 1-1?"

"I heard he's the 2nd man who could pilot an IS besides Orimura-kun and is the representative candidate of Austria."

"Really? He must be quite strong if he could become a representative of his country."

"Ah Tobia, I have been wondering, how did you become an IS pilot? Ichika gave me a peculiar question after we had finished our lunch.

In my world, anyone who went through a mobile suit training academy could just become a pilot easily, but applying this logic to this world would not work since it was universally accepted that only female could pilot IS, with Ichika being an exception and now I was added to the equation; I was not really sure how to answer this so I decided to blame it on Chifuyu, hoping that she would back me up.

"Well, I couldn't tell you the exact detail about that, but you can say that Orimuru-sensei was involved in it when I went back to Austria. After a while, I decided to reveal myself with her help with the condition that she wouldn't reveal my identity to the world." I answered reluctantly, keeping the timeline vague to not arouse suspicion.

"Wait really? So Chifuyu-nee has known you when she went to Germany to become an instructor a few years ago? If I remember correctly, Austria is next to Germany right? Wow, so you have been an IS pilot even before me?" Ichika and Houki were surprised by my (made-up) backstory, probably believing that I was the true first IS male pilot, only chose to hide myself until now. Well, I would now rely on Chifuyu to cover up the detail for me should they ask her later.

"Yeah, I guess, but I hoped that you guys will keep this as a secret. I don't like being in the center of attention, you would know why right, Ichika?" I reconfirmed it to them and asking for it to be kept as a secret. "Ah, we should head back to class now, noon break is about to end." both of them nodded and we all went back to class for the afternoon lessons.

Back in class 1-1, fifth period

"For the remaining time, we will be describing equipment that can be used in actual combat and their characteristics." Chifuyu was currently teaching about IS combat as she stood at the front, while Maya was sitting on the side taking note.

"But before that, we will have to decide on the class representative who will take part in the inter-class tournament." even though that was all out of nowhere, Chifuyu decided it was the best time to talk about, but I still listen nonetheless.

"The class representative, as its name suggested, will directly compete in the inter-class tournament and attend the student council and committee meetings. So you can say it's like the class leader. About the inter-class tournament, they are meant to test each class IS combat ability, though there's not much a different now, it can still encourage further improvement." She continued

The class started to become abuzz, while I was sitting in my place, hoping that they would pick someone else but the lazy me, since having responsibilities on your shoulders would be bothersome.

"I would like to nominate Orimura-kun for the position." A girl said, raising her hand.

"I feel that's a good idea too" followed by another girl.

Ichika wasn't expecting to be nominated and uttered in shock, "Huhh?"

"Sensei, I recommend Orimura-kun too." and other girls too.

"Wait...Me?"

'Tskkk, unlucky bastard.' I couldn't help but felt pity for the guy, well as long as it was not me, I would be fine with it.

"How about Arno-kun? I think he's also a good choice." and then came the comment that I didn't want to hear the most.

"Oh yeah, Arno-kun does have potential, he's representative cadet after all." the rest of the class soon began to murmur.

"Thank you for anyone who has recommended me, but I don't think I would be able to handle it." I tried to politely turn them down with a nervous smile, hoping that they would understand.

"So… is there anyone else? You can either nominate yourself or another person." Chifuyu asked, crossing her arms while waiting for the answer only to get the whole class being silent for a moment. "Okay then, since we have two nominations, I'll start with Orimura first. Who will vote for him?"

And immediately, more than half the class voted for him, which I was a relief to know. 'Thank god, I'm saved from the troubles.'

"H-hold on a sec! Don't I get a say in this?!" Ichika frantically stood up and asked Chifuyu in protest about the outcome since he didn't want it.

"No matter whether you nominated yourself or someone else nominated you, the one who is nominated doesn't have the right to refuse. The one nominated should be prepare already." but Chifuyu just shot him down with her piercing glare, quickly silenced him.

Even though that seemed really unfair for Ichika, right now, I opted to remain silent. 'Goodluck soldier, your sacrifice won't be in vain.' I felt like crying and offered him best wishes with a salute ( in my mind at least ).

"Since more than half of the class is voting for Orimura, it's decided that he'll be our class representative then." Chifuyu made a final announce and Ichika was selected in the end, but then...

*PAM* a blonde girl sitting behind me slammed her hands against the table as she stood up, trying to look intimidating.

"Hold on a minute! I can't accept this outcome!"

"I do not approve of this!" She shouted in anger while glaring at Ichika, "This kind of election outcome is totally unacceptable! Having a man as our class representative is absolutely disgraceful! Do you expect that me, Cecilia Alcott, a noble lady to endure this sort of humiliation for an entire year! Besides, staying in a country with such an underdeveloped culture is already an unbearable misery for someone at my level!"

I glanced back at her, didn't know what kind of hatred did she have for men but going as far as to disrespect the country that is currently hosting her was way too much. Did she even realize that she just insult almost the entirety of the school? And the glare that I felt earlier this morning was properly from this girl.

"In terms of ability, it's obvious that I should be the one who is chosen. It'll be troubling if some far-east monkey is to be chosen because he is a rare breed. I come here to polish my IS piloting skills, not joining a circus."

Ichika balled up his hands into fists and stood up to counter back Cecilia's insult with his own.

"Even if England's a powerful country, you're far too arrogant on your part! How many years has it been now that your country's won the worst cuisine award."

'Oh damn, that burned, apply cold water to the burned area.' Ichika had just made a savage comeback that I didn't expect him to be able to.

"What...!?" shocked Cecilia, it seemed like Ichika roasted her so bad that she couldn't even utter a sentence.

"Did you just dare insult my country!" furious Ceilia, her face was all red as she could lash out any moment.

"That's enough both of you two! Alcott-san, you have gone too far with your words!" I sat in my seat, commented, trying to calm down the environment. But Cecilia was still infuriating from Ichika retort and lashed out at me.

"What!? Helping your fellow pathetic male classmate, huh?" she taunted back, "My homeland of England had been known for leading the IS industry, what do you-"

"I don't give a damn about your country." I replied, "But the fact that you have just insulted the whole school, your classmates and teachers; you have insulted the country that is hosting you. Did you realize what you have said? Your unmannered and disrespectful attitude unbefitting of a noble lady that you proclaimed yourself to be." I continued pointing out her wrongdoings.

"If you still have inside yourself some self-esteem, then apologize to the class, because right now, you're no lady in anyone's eyes, much less noble."

With my last comment, her face was as red as a tomato, with both of her hands balling tight and her head lowering in shame as the whole class remained silent.

"You! I call a duel on both of you for this humiliation!"

The entire class, save for some gasped at her statement, while I just sighed at the girl, wondering how long would she keep on embarrassing herself.

"I refuse. Why do I have to accept it." I brushed off her provocation first to stop Ichika from taking the bait.

"Heh… just as I thought, you men are all nothing but cowards." She taunted, pointing her finger at me. "You don't want to accept my challenge because you're afraid of being defeated, do you? Just kneel before me and admit to everyone here that you're a weakling who only tries to act tough then maybe I'll forgive you and let this slide and-"

"Pfftttt, please stop with that childish behavior of your already. What are you? Some kind of a sore loser? You couldn't refute my point about how you behaved like a spoiled and immature brat; now you challenge us to duel to save face as your last-ditch effort? You want us to kneel? How about you kneel first and apologize to the class, that sounds more appropriate, isn't it young lady." I mocked her back with sarcasm, even though I knew that I shouldn't be doing that, but her rudeness needed to be put in place.

"You! You!"

"Me what? You threw a tantrum like an immature brat but got your ass handed back to you, and now you can't even say anything back just proved my point even further." Ichika and the class looked at me with bewildered eyes, I thought that we could have stopped at this point already.

"How about we make a deal? If one of you two can defeat me, then I will kneel down and apologize to the class, but if you lose, you will have to become my servant- no a slave." Cecilia made her last desperate attempt to save her face, which was a terrible mistake for her.

"Did you just use your apology as a tool for a bargain? You insulted your fellow classmates, teachers, and my country and now bring it out to save yourself from disgrace? I don't know what kind of hatred for men that you have but if you want a duel that badly, I would give it to you, remember your words!" Ichika interjected before I could even answer Cecilia and I just shook my head in disapproval at his rash decision.

"It looks like it's settled then." Chifuyu interrupted, making everyone focus on her, "The competition will be taken place in the 3rd arena, next Monday. I expect that you three will be fully prepared for combat." She then took a quick look at me and said nothing.

After that, we got back to the lesson and the class just remained silent. Ichika last-minute action was wrong, however, I also wanted to test out my Gundam capability in this world and this was a perfect chance for that, so I reluctantly agreed to the duel in the end. "This gonna be a pain." I groaned to myself.