Chapter 16: New Friends: part 3
"Orimura-sensei!"
The door suddenly got slammed open, revealing a furious Tobia who came storming into the teacher's room. Luckily for him, there weren't any others around except for the one he was looking for.
"What's the meaning of this!? Why I didn't hear about this at all!?"
In return to his glare, Chifuyu turned around with a sneer on her face, saying that she was fully expecting it to came out this way and was readied to explain it.
"Quiet down now, will you. I knew you would react like that, that's why I didn't tell you directly in class."
"Don't say that to me, you better have a good damn explanation for that."
"Heh, I will, but you will have to calm down first. I thought you said that we 'adult' should act probably, yes?"
Tobia did calm himself down a bit. Though, he was still not taken into the idea of him being in the same room with Laura of all people.
"You know she is a spy that come here to gather info on me and probably even Ichika's Byakushiki, right? So, how on Earth do you think it's a good idea to put me with her? And right after what she had done earlier today, too."
Taking a slow sip from her coffee cup, Chifuyu composed herself and looked at Tobia directly in his eyes.
"I know. That's why I want you to deal with it."
"Excuse me?"
"You said it yourself, correct? That we adult should guide them to walk in the correct path. Then isn't it suitable for you to show it to her?"
"Damn it, don't use that against me when it's only convenient for ya. Aren't you the teacher?"
"Sure, I am. But you see, I have already got my hands full with all the school works and my stupid brother."
Her smug infuriated Tobia to many degrees.
"You're just pushing your responsibility onto me."
"Heh, you're the one who is pretty generous enough to solve the problem with miss Alcott household after all. So how come you don't think that you can also handle this one as well?"
How came did she know that he was involved in that matter?
"Tskk. It's not like I wanted to. I just didn't realize at the time that teaching her some lesson would have brought such a political minefield into my backyard."
Now that he thought about it, Tobia felt like he had said something detrimental to himself, so he decided to shut his mouth. After all, if he acknowledged that the reason that he stood up against Cecilia was because of her attitude, then coupled with what he had just said that morning would make him a hypocrite, being all-talk if he walked away from dealing with Laura.
"Since you have no problem with it now, I hope that you will get along well with her."
With Chifuyu snide remark, Tobia could only silently curse himself for speaking unnecessary things. Truly, this time, he had shot himself in the foot.
"Ugh, fine. But you own me this time."
"Fine with me."
Disgruntled with the burden that was suddenly thrown on his shoulder, Tobia reluctantly made his way out of the room with venting anger.
Once he was completely away from the room, Chifuyu slowly made her way to the balcony, overseeing the entirety of the Academy. Taking another sip to settle the mood, she looked forward to what Tobia would do this time.
"Damn it! For her to decide everything like that."
Kicking up some dust on the side walk, Tobia made his way back to the dorm to begin packing up his belongings and moved them to his new room.
As he got back to his old room, he was greeted by Ichika and Charles looking worried about him.
"Hey, are you good man?" Ichika asked first in concern. Honestly, he was extremely confused at why did his sister decided to pair Laura and his friend together, seeing how their first introduction turned out.
"Yeah, but I wish she had consulted with me first. But overall, it should be fine." Tobia answered, fizzling with his hair in frustration. He then turned his eyes over to Charles.
"Welp, since I'm moving out now, I hope that you and Ichika can fit together. He's a bit hopeless sometimes you see, so please look after him."
"Hey!"
Charles giggled at Tobia's comment, and replied with a kind gesture.
"Sure, don't worry. I will take care of him in your place for now."
Charles replied back with a gentle smile, his good-looking face, however, almost made Tobia and Ichika had a doki doki reaction in return. Damn it, how could such a simple smile from a guy
"What!? Even Charles, too?" Ichika protested against being made fun of by his friends before shutting himself off. "Just you guys wait! I will soon show you what I got."
"Sure, sure. I'll soon see what you got." said Tobia as he finally packed up his belongings. Though, just before he reached the door, Tobia leaned back to Ichika.
"I will be seeing how to deal with Bodewig-san for the time being, but if you meet her, try not to engage." he said. "We still don't know why she is hostile towards you, but it's best if we don't react back to her in the same way. That's would only make it worse."
Ichika nodded after having carefully listened to his friend advice. He didn't want to admit it, but he himself wasn't the best at holding back if being provoked, so it was probably a good idea to not involve with Laura at all until Tobia finish dealing with her. After all, it would be a pain in the butt if it repeats the same way as the case with Cecilia.
"I will. Thanks for helping me out."
"It's okay."
Finally, Tobia had reached his new room, which is 2 floors above his old one.
As he stood in front of the door, a beat of sweat travelled down his temple. To be honest, he really wanted to say 'fuck it' and walk away, but since he had struck a deal with that certain woman, he couldn't back down now.
Tobia sighed as he brought his hand to the door, but before he could open it, Laura had already come out to greet him.
"Lieutenant."
"..."
Out of the force of habit, Tobia greeted her back with the same gesture and quickly made his way in.
Once he got inside, Tobia noticed that Laura was in the middle of her meal with the dinner tray full of MRE. It struck him that a girl at her age that was supposed to be growing was having such a poor diet.
"Is there something wrong?"
Noticing that Tobia was staring at her table, Laura asked as she slowly went back to what she was doing.
"...Don't you have anything better to eat? I think the cafeteria does offer many better options."
"I have no problem with it. In the end, they are only just fuel that is used to run your body. I don't see there is a need for anything fancier than these to help you do your task."
True. Tobia couldn't really refute that as it is in the end, it just boiled down to a personal preference.
However, it wasn't helping that he was trying to struck a conversation but couldn't find any particular topic to begin with.
Well... if a normal startup wouldn't work, why bother the trouble?
"Then if you don't mind, 2nd lieutenant, I would be straight with you." Tobia sat down and put his point across, his demeanor unfazed. "I want to talk. About our classmate, Ichika Orimura, himself."
He didn't want to beat around the bushes since there was no other way to circulate the conversation anyway.
Hearing this, Laura's expression could be seen visually shifted, clearly showing that she was not interested in disclosing anything about the topic.
"1st Lieutenant, I'm not sure about what you'r-"
"Well, it's not like that whole scene you made at the first day at class didn't happen. I also got my fair share of almost making a worse one out of it."
He paused a little, feeling that it was best not to push for too much if not needed, something that he had learnt from the case with Cecilia.
"But, frankly speaking, it would be troublesome to not know why you acted like that. Afterall, he is my friend and "target" you see."
It was deliberated that he delivered it that way, hinting to Laura that even if she had anything against Ichika that she didn't want to speak about, it would be best for her not to go anywhere beyond verbal wordings.
Yet, it was not what he was expecting
"I cannot accept it-" She spoke, but barely audible. Yet a second later, it almost as if something inside her had burst before dying down again. "-I cannot accept him as her brother. I shall never accept it! A disgrace!"
For a moment, Tobia was rendered speechless, unknown of what to process from the words he had just listened.
"However, it's of no legal requirement for me to answer your question." She stated. "But I will make sure that such a misbehavior of conduct won't happen again in the future, sir."
What was wrong with her? The fact of the matter was, he couldn't just let it go by his eyes that easily now.
"...Suit yourself."
Why did he even need to involve himself deep in the matter that was not his at that time, Tobia asked himself.
"Haro, help me look into her background."
In the early days that were long before the introduction of IS, a team of German scientists were put together for a project of creating artificial super-soldier, which aimed to create a perfect combatant. Test-tube creations with all the desirable traits and excelled genetics; they were regarded as humanoid weapon, intended to be raised, educated and trained into a perfect super-soldier on the battlefield.
They excelled at every military training received, capable in operating any levels and fields needed, and throughout maintained the status of 'the perfect weapon on the battlefield' until the introduction of IS.
With the 'Shirokishi' incident thrown into the equation, the project faced a heavy obstacle, since their original goals were made for conventional warfare and the factor of IS was never accounted for. Quickly becoming obsolete, they decided to make a last-ditch attempt to the program by installing an artificial miniature Hyper-sensor package into the test subjects. This allowed these already perfect soldiers to turn into a living computer for the IS to use as its processor to carry out its task, defeating their enemy at all cost. The product of all these researches and experiments was Laura Bodewig.
However, the experiment was not without its failure as the new eye that was installed displayed a malfunction in which it couldn't be turned off when needed. As a result, Laura's performance not only as an IS pilot, but as a soldier began to deteriorate due to the constant severity of being put under stress of handling the massive intake of information from the hyper sensor.
Being raised with the sole purpose of being an excellent soldier, Laura was devastated when she couldn't keep up with other IS pilots, who began to treat Laura as a defect and not as a comrade. Day after day, she was being bullied, looked down upon, mocked. The anger and frustration inside her had built up so much that it was like a volcano ready to explode any moment.
But one day, one day, when everything all changed.
This was when Laura first met Chifuyu, who had agreed to become a temporary IS instructor in the German military. Her new instructor for some reason, had chosen to help Laura out of her cradle; instead of abandoning Laura like the rest of her team. With Chifuyu's help, Laura was able to recover and retake the top rank of her unit.
To Laura, her instructor, was like the light that shine at the end of the tunnel.
What did Chifuyu see inside her that other did not? Laura always wondered. But to her, one thing was clear, Chifuyu's indomitable strength was her ultimate goal.
Yet, how come, how could the moment she mentioned of her brother, Ichika Orimura, she became like another person. This fact made Laura flabbergasted.
Her perfect Chifuyu must not have such a soft spot, for it was a weakness that could be used against her.
It only worsened when Laura found out that Chifuyu had forfeited her fight in the 2nd Mondo Grosso tournament to go and save Ichika.
"Unforgivable. Absolutely unforgivable. Ichika Orimura, you should just disappear for her sake. For I, Laura Bodewig, shall be the one who will bring honor to her name."
"Is-is it true?"
"You are not mistaken right?"
Another Tuesday morning as usual, as Tobia walked down the hallway with Ichika and Charles towards the classroom, we could hear the gossips among the girls down the corridor.
"What's up with the commotion?"
"Beats me?"
As the door slid opened, they could see the girls grouping together and chatting about something.
"It's true. It's currently the hottest topic among the school ya know. If you win this month's division tournament, you can go out with either Ori-Orimura-kun!?"
"Hmm, what's with me?"
Once the girls noticed them, they all dispersed and pretended that nothing had happened.
"What are you guys talking about?"
"Ugh, no, no, nothing in particular."
"It's just some girl stuff, why would Ichika be interested in them."
Both Rin and Cecilia tried to change the topic. It seemed to be something that they didn't want the three to know.
"Eh? If you say so..."
"Oh, it's almost time for class, I should return to my class now."
"Yes, we should get to our seats."
Both of them dashed away with a forced smile and everyone else used that change to escape Ichika and Charles' gleam.
'It can't be that they have come up with another stupid idea again, right?' Tobia could sense something troubling coming up.
Haro, who appeared to know what was going on, flew next to him.
"There are rumors going around that if you win the upcoming tournament, the girl can choose to go out with whether Master, Charles or Ichika."
So, they did come up with something stupid again. he squinted his eyes at the news.
"It seems to come from the misunderstanding of someone who overheard the conversation between Ichika and Houki."
'But why does Charles and I get bundled into that mess, too?'
Looking over to Houki, Tobia could see the trapped expression writing all over her face very clearly. She was trying to act calm, but her inside must have been boiling.
"By the way, Bodewig-san doesn't come with you today?"
"No, why you ask?"
"Well, I thought that you may have gotten closer to her over the past few days. Did anything happen?"
Tobia hummed for a moment before letting out a long sigh and began telling Ichika about what he had found out.
"I see, so she was quite tight-lipped about the reasons. But she did promise that it won't happen again, at least that's a good thing."
"Yeah. However, I have taken a look into her background, so we should be able to figure something out sooner or later. But for now, endure her a bit."
'Wait, is that legal?' was Ichika's first thought before nodded in agreement with Tobia. To them, their current situation was still not to the point of toxic yet, so it may still be manageable to have a healthy academic environment if they just ignore her hostility.
Just as they were mentioning, Laura walked into the class right as the school bell rang, signaling to them that it was time for class.
The moment her eyes met with Ichika's; they instantly became cold icy ores that could froze a person spine. It was as if she was seeing a piece of trash that would invoke her inner being to tear it apart.
"Again... What did I even do?" Sadly, the black-hair boy could only torment himself in frustration of what wrongdoings that he could have possibly done to make her treat him that way, much to the sympathy of his two male friends.
"Damn it, can't hold it in anymore."
Rushing through the school compound where there were only 3 toilets for the boys to use, Ichika dashed out of the class at full speed the moment the bell rang. He had invited both Charles and Tobia, but his blonde friend said that he was fine while the latter just decided to stay back and sleep.
Anyway, he had no time to dilly-dally. The next lesson was about to start.
"WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO BECOME A TEACHER HERE!?"
"What a headache..."
Hm? Ichika seemed to had heard a voice down the corner, and I try to notice. Those are voices I'm familiar with. One of them is Laura, the other should be Chifuyu-nee's.
"Don't let me repeat this again. This is not something a kid like you could dive your nose into."
"Just what can you possibly gain by wasting in this small far-east country!?"
I guess there's nothing else that can cause the ice-like transfer student Laura Bodewig to be so agitated. From what they're saying, Laura seems to be expressing her discontent about Chifuyu-nee's current job and her idol worship like emotions of Chifuyu-nee.
"Please instructor. Please come back to Germany to guide us. You can't even show off half your abilities here."
"Oh?"
"The students over here aren't even worth teaching. They aren't prepared enough. They have too little sense of danger; they think that IS is a trendy thing. Those low-class people aren't-"
"-End of the line there, little lady. You're way over your head, brat."
"I...!"
Chifuyu's voice had a terrifying presence, and even Laura seems to be afraid of the huge intent hidden in the tone as she stopped immediately, unable to continue.
"To think that you believe you're rather good after we haven't met in a while, is it? Just 15 years old, and you think that you're superior to others. I'm impressed."
"I, I'm..."
Even Ichika could see the trembling in Laura's voice. She probably felt terrified, he supposed? Feeling fear from the overwhelming force in front of her, and feeling irritated that it can't be helped.
"Break time is about to end. Get back to the class."
"..."
With Chifuyu-nee's voice reverting back to normal, Laura silently leaves quickly...ah, man!
"Have fun eavesdropping do you, boy? I can't allow that abnormal fetish."
"WHO, WHO HAS SUCH A WEIRD FETISH! CHIFUYU-NEE, YOU-!"
*PAM!*
"At school, call me Orimura-sensei. How many time must I remind you."
"Ye-Yes..."
Just like that, I couldn't even lift my head in front of Chifuyu-nee, as I got knocked on the head before I could even do so. We're not playing whack-a-mole here...
"Alright, hurry up and move along, you low-grade student. If this keeps up, you'll be eliminated on the 1st round of the individual tournament. Don't forget to work hard."
"I get it..."
"Is that so? That's good."
Chifuyu-nee smiles. It seems like she just said that as an older sister.
"I'm going back to class then."
"Mn, then move fast. Oh yes, Orimura."
"What is it?"
"Don't run on the corridors...I won't say that. If you want to run, make sure no one finds out."
"Got it."
Ichika turned his back at Chifuyu as she let him off the hook this time and quickly made away. The exchange that he had heard just now, it appeared quite important to figure out how to deal with Laura, so he better go and tell Tobia.
As he cautiously sprinted back to the classroom without anyone noticing, Ichika felt like he had forgotten something.
Ah, the toilet...
"I see. That certainly does give some insight to this whole situation."
After having quickly returned from his quick break at the restroom, Ichika carefully retold what he had overheard of the conversation between Laura and Chifuyu to both Tobia and Charles.
"So basically, she has some sort of superiority complex. But why did she target explicitly Ichika first?" Charles asked.
"Probably because of how much she looks up to Chifuyu as her instructor. She hate the fact of having to acknowledge that Ichika, who she views as weak, is Chifuyu's brother, unless he proves himself stronger than her."
"That's petty. Why do I have to prove her any?"
Now that the reason behind Laura action had been figured out, what they needed to do next was finding out how to deal with it.
From the gist, it could be said that it was easy, just defeating her would solve the problem. However, what both Ichika and Tobia wanted was to end the matter peacefully. After all, it wouldn't be good of an image for them to just go around and solve everything by fighting. Not to mention, they doubt that if doing so would fix it or not, since it may ended up making it worse if they don't deal with her ego cautiously.
"Anyway, I think it's that we should speak with your sister, Orimura-sensei, first. Since it is related to her, having her, also being the teacher, stand in the middle ground to talk it out may be the best."
What Charles had just said was very sensible, both Ichika and Tobia could agree to that.
"Okay, then I will go talk to her about it after classes."
"Eh? Is it okay? I think I should be the one to go though, she is my big sis after all."
"It's fine. You still have the practice course to do this afternoon, the tournament is coming close, so you should utilize any time possible for training. And I also have some other matter that I need to discuss with her too, so double the convenience."
"Okay, if you say so."
"Ah."
Both of them let out dumbfounded voices-the time's after school, the place is at the 3rd arena, and the people involved are Rin and Cecilia.
"What a coincidence, I'm about to do some special training for the divisional tournament in order to win."
"What a coincidence. I'm thinking the same thing."
Invisible sparks flew between them. It seemed like both of them wanted to win, and also to spend time seeing Ichika around but neither of them would admit to it.
"Now's a good opportunity to decide here, once and for all, who's better."
"Ara, it's rare for us to have a common agreement. Now we can use this chance to see who's stronger, and at the same time, who's more elegant."
Both of them summoned their main wapons and aimed them at each other.
"Then-"
At that moment, a supersonic cannon blast came from above, blocking out their voices with a huge shock.
"!"
After doing emergency evasions, Rin and Cecilia looked up at where the beam was shot from, only to see a pitch-black machine standing over there.
The machine name was Schwarzer Regen, a stark contrast to the shining silver armor of the Silver Phantom, and the registered pilot was-
"Laura Bodewig..."
Cecilia looks unhappy as she braced herself, one reason being that another European Union competitor was here.
"...What are you doing? Firing a shot out of nowhere, that's really amazingly rude."
Rin raised the attached Souten Gagetsu up onto her shoulder and moved her Impact Cannons into standby mode.
"China's Shenlong and England's Blue Tears ...humph, sounds strong on papers, but I felt that they are nothing more than scrap."
Hearing the sudden taunt, Rin and Cecilia scowled.
"What's the matter? You really like to fight, don't you? Coming all the way here from Germany just to get beaten. You must love being bullied. Is this really something trendy in the potato fields?"
"Ara, ara, Rin-san, that Missy doesn't seem to have much vocabulary, so don't bully her too much or it'll really seem pathetic. Even a dog can whimper."
Laura's sharp glare of arrogance seemed to offend those two. Even so, they still tried to vent their anger with words.
But unfortunately, that was futile.
"Sigh...so they let two people who're so weak that they would lose to an amateur IS pilots? It seems like they really lack talent despite the numbers-your weak countries that can only be redeemed by your history."
*BOOM!*
With the sound of something being cut off, Rin and Cecilia removed the final safety on their equipment.
"Yeah, yeah, I got it, I got it! She wants to be trashed-Cecilia, let's decide who should go first with janken!"
"Mn, well, I don't really care whether I go first or last-"
"Ha! Then how about both of you go at me? 0 + 0 equals 0 anyway. How can I lose to women who seem to be fighting over a useless stallion?"
Those words were obviously cocky words to go by, but having went past their patience, both of them didn't care anymore.
"-What did you just say? My ears just heard 'Please, punch me as much as you like'."
"Insulting people who aren't here, I'm really ashamed of you as a fellow European Union candidate. Let me beat you up until that frivolous mouth of yours is shut for good."
Both of them tightly gripped onto their weapons, and Laura coldly stared at them before opening her arms out slightly and flipping her fingers.
"Come at me already."
"AS YOU WISH!"
"Ichika, have you packed up your things yet?"
"Yeah. Okay, let's head for our usual, the-"
"The 3rd arena."
""WAH!""
Charles and Ichika walked down the corridor side by side, only to hear an unexpected voice, causing us to jump up in shock.
Maybe she was unhappy with our united response, but the 3rd person who was standing beside the two boys from who knows when, was Houki, who frowned at Ichika's reaction.
"...Is there a need to be shocked. That's rude."
"Ah, oh, I'm sorry."
"Sorry, I got shocked. It was too sudden."
"Ah, no, I'm not blaming you..."
Seeing Charles bow down properly, even Houki's momentum got cut by half. And then, seemingly feeling like she had created an awkward atmosphere, Houki deliberately coughed a few times to change the topic.
"Anyway, let's head to the 3rd arena. I heard that there will be very few people using it today, so if there's time, we should be able to carry out some mock battles."
That's really's great. Since the IS ability is proportionate to the actual operation time, it's great even if it's just a little time. I'm really grateful to have some training like a mock battle.
As they headed towards the arena, they found a lot of tension over there, and there were a lot of students running around in the corridor. It seems like the commotion happened at the 3rd arena.
"What's wrong?"
"What's going on? Should we check it out?"
Charles said as he pointed at the gate to the spectator stands and Ichika nodded.
"It seems like there're people having a mock battle, but the situation seems to be-"
*DONG-VROOM!*
Just as the three of them turned to look at the sudden explosion, two shadows flew out of the smoke like they were cutting through it.
"RIN! CECILIA!"
Under the isolation of the protective shields, the explosions on the stage itself didn't spread to them, but at the same time, they couldn't grasp what was happening.
Both of them looked hurt as they gazed directly at the center of the explosion, and standing over there was Laura, who was piloting the pitched-black IS Schwarzer Regen.
Looking closely, Rin and Cecilia's ISs were severely damaged. There were damage marks all over the frame, and a part of the IS armor was completely broken. In contrast, Laura's IS wasn't completely unscathed, but the damage was relatively light compared to them.
"WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING-HEY!" Ichika shouted.
His voice couldn't reach them, and it couldn't be helped. After looking at Rin and Cecilia, he turned to look at Laura. Though it was a 2 vs 1, the ones in trouble were Rin and Cecilia, who, logically, should have been in an advantageous situation.
"EAT THIS!"
*KLANG!* Rin's IS Shenlong opened its shoulders. Docked on them were the pressurized-air impact cannons Ryuhow, the maximum output weapons of the Shenlong. If it were a training machine, one shot would definitely wreck it, but Laura wasn't avoiding at all.
"That's useless against the absolute barrier of the Schwarzer Regen."
The invisible shots of the impact cannons were aimed at Laura, but no matter how he looked at it, the attacks never landed on her.
"Che! To think that you can hold me off like that..."
Maybe she deployed some protective shield or something like that, but Laura only reached her right hand out, and the impact cannons were completely nullified upon their impact.
She shot out multiple blades from her shoulders at Rin's IS. As they were both linked to the main body by electronic cables, she was able to let them fly out in complicated paths to avoid the direct shots and thus grabbed Rin's right ankle.
"Do you think I'll let you do as you please so many times!?"
Covering Rin, Cecilia attacked and launched her BITs at Laura.
"Ho, I don't know if Blue Tears is said to have the highest mobility in theory, but treating that design as a 3rd generation frame? What a joke."
Cecilia used her accurate sniping and the BITs to launch attacks from all directions, but Laura just continued to easily dodge and extend her arm out like just before. This time, she seemed to grab something in front of her while she was folding her arms, and the moment she did that, the BITs stopped.
"Your movements are sealed!"
"Yours too."
Though Cecilia managed to snipe her target accurately, Laura shot her large cannon to completely negate it. Laura threw Rin, who she caught just now, at Cecilia, who was too focused on firing that she ended up being hit.
"Ah!"
Facing the two of them while they lost their balance in mid-air, Laura launched her next attack. Her speed could be compared to a bullet as she closed in within a second and deployed the plasma blades from her sleeve and hacked at Rin with them.
Rin backed away and increased the distance, dodging a few blows in the process.
"You...!"
While Laura was moving forward, Rin backed away and increased the distance, dodging a few blows in the process, skillfully using the shape of the arena to move and forcing herself not to get into any dead ends. However, Laura's cable blades attacked again, the two on her shoulders and the ones on both sides of her waist, 6 of them altogether. They all attacked in 3 dimensions as she continued to use her plasma blades to attack viciously. Even for Rin, who was so used to fighting, it was too difficult for her to deal with all the attacks adequately.
"Heh!"
Rin again deployed the impact cannons and gathered the power there.
"How naive! Using pressurized-air weapons that need time in this situation?"
As Laura said this, her cannons destroyed the impact cannons before shooting.
"Got you!"
"!"
As the armor on her back got shot off, Rin's body lost balance and Laura used this chance to stab the plasma blade at her chest.
"I WON'T LET YOU!"
At the last moment, Cecilia rushed in between Rin and Laura and used the Starlight Mk II as a shield. After avoiding the fatal attack, she deployed the missile type BITs on her waist at Laura.
*BOOMM!*
That was almost the equivalent of a suicidal close-ranged rocket as the explosion caught Rin and Cecilia, causing them to tumble on the floor.
"That was reckless of you..."
"Save the complaints for later. But really, that should have done some damage-"
Cecilia stopped as she spoke.
As the smoke scattered, standing over there was Laura. Even though it was an explosion at close range, she was still floating in mid-air without a scratch.
"Is it over? Well then-it's my turn."
The moment she said that, she used the [Ignition Boost] to glide down to the ground, first kicking Rin and then shooting Cecilia with a cannon.
Then, Laura used the cabled blades to grab their bodies and drag them to her. After that, one-sided violence ensued.
"AHHHH!"
Laura's fists clamped down hard on their arms, legs and bodies, causing their defenses to drop lower than what the machine maintanence warning zone permited. If the damage kept up, the ISs would be forcefully removed! It will be critical danger to their lives!
But Laura didn't stop as she continued to beat and kick Rin and Cecilia, ripping their ISs armor apart.
Seeing Laura's usual emotionless face actually smile for a moment due to delight; something seems to explode inside Ichika.
"OOOOOOHHHHH!"
Ichika deployed his Byakushiki and formed the Yukihira Niigata, gathering all the power together to activate the Reiraku Byakuya. An energy sword that was several times bigger than the main body was released as I used it to hack the protective layer surrounding the arena.
Reiraku Byakuya, which can destroy anything that uses energy, hacked through the Arena's protective shield, and he slipped through the gap to charge in.
While entering, Ichika activated Ignition Boost. Logically, it would be suicidal to use this move along with Reiraku Byakuya's maximum output, as it would cause much more stress on Byakushiki which already uses a lot of energy and drains a lot out of the shields, but he was not in the mood and mind to bother about that.
"LET GO OF THEM, YOU!"
He charged furiously at Laura, who was grabbing onto Rin and Cecilia, and swung my sword down.
"Humph...emotional and reckless, just like a fool."
Just when Reiraku Byakuya's energy blade was about to hit her, his body suddenly stopped. The right eye of Laura that was not covered with an eyepatch accurately grasped the movement from his body.
"Wh-What's going on? Damn it, my body...!"
It felt like he got held down by an invisible hand as his body couldn't move and his arms were held high, unable to land. Reiraku Byakuya's power started to disappear bit by bit.
"As expected, you're not worthy of being my opponent. In front of mine Schwarzer Regen, you're just another weakling like them-disappear."
The huge cannon on her shoulder turned over, and with a clank, it's aimed at him.
"MOVE ASIDE, ICHIKA!"
Charles shouted through the private communicator as she uses two assault rifles to rain down bullets.
"Che...another small fry..."
The invisible force that's grabbing onto Ichika disappeared as Laura shifted her attention onto Charles, thus freeing his body. He then flew to Rin and Cecilia, who were released by Laura and carried them away.
Due to the bad habit of running out of energy after putting it at the maximum output, Ichika had very little energy left to use Ignition Boost to escape. But the Byakushiki seemed to grant his wish as it focused all the power on the huge thrusters behind him.
*Klang*...for a moment, the world became some sort of slow-motion picture before accelerating fast at the next moment. After experiencing the huge acceleration, he immediately got away from Laura.
"How are the two of them, Ichika?"
Charles was covering Ichika as he followed from behind, asking him as he continued to shoot at Laura.
"Ugh...Ichika..."
"I let you...see me get embarrassed out there..."
"Don't talk...Charles, there's no problem. They're still conscious."
"Good."
Charles responded with a somewhat relaxed tone, but he didn't stop as he kept shooting at Laura after doing a third reload.
"Interesting, let me show you the difference in power across different IS generations!"
Laura dodged the bullets, or rather, defended against them, even using that invisible forcefield to stop the bullets. She then bent down to counter-probably to do [Ignition Boost]. I was still carrying Rin and Cecilia, so I couldn't fight in this situation, but I knew that it would be dangerous for Charles to handle this alone!
"Here I come...!"
"Kuu!"
Just as Laura was about to rush in, a figure jumped in between them.
*CLANG!*
As the sound of metal could be heard, a figure stopped Laura's Ignition Boost dead in its track.
"...Tsk, things like this really made me grew tired of handling kids."
"Tobia?"
That familiar figure which belonged to an unexpected person, and he was still wearing his uniform. There were ISs here, and he was only one using partial deployment of his IS's right arm. He was holding onto his Muramasa, and had just countered a blow from Laura's IS aiming at them.
A short moment ago, Tobia was still at the teacher office speaking with Chifuyu about the whole situation with Laura, but after hearing a large explosion and warning of a shield breech at the 3rd Arena, both him and Chifuyu with several other teachers had made their way to the scene.
"Kuh, first lieutenant..."
"Well, just yesterday wasn't enough, you have to cause more violence today, too, huh."
"It's fine to have mock battles-but, to the extent of destroying the barriers of the arena? As a teacher, I can't stand by that. You can finish this battle at the individual division tournament."
Walked in from the side as she signaled for Tobia to stand down, Chifuyu made herself noticed with the announcement, ending the combat on both sides.
"Instructor..."
Being glanced at by Chifuyu, Laura nodded in obedience and got rid of her IS. Her armor scattered into particles of light and disappeared.
"Orimura, Dunois, is that fine with you two?"
"Ah, yeah..."
Ichika accidentally answered as per usual, probably still stunned by this sudden scenario.
"Answer yes when you're replying to a teacher, you moron."
"Ye-Yes."
"I'm fine with that as well."
After Ichika corrected his answer, Charles also agreed. Hearing them, Chifuyu again addressed everyone in the arena.
"In that case, until the individual division tournament, all personal battles are forbidden. Dismissed!"
*PA!* Chifuyu forcefully clapped her hands as loud as a bullet being shot, having no further argument.
"..."
"..."
They're now in the infirmary, and it's been an hour since what happened at the 3rd arena. Rin and Cecilia have completed their treatment, and now that they're bandaged, they're starring away in different directions.
"It would have been alright even if you hadn't saved us."
"We could have won if it had continued."
Forget about thanking me, I even got such an answer. Oh well, it's not like I interfered just to earn their thanks. Basically, I interfered due to my own anger.
"You two..well, at least you two don't look too injured. I can relax now."
"These injuries are nothing-OWW!"
"It's really meaningless to lie down here-EEKKK!"
The looks of 'Are these two idiots?' could be seen written all over Ichika and Tobia's face while Charles only smiled reluctantly off to the side.
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING AN IDIOT! YOU MORON!"
"YOU'RE A BIG IDIOT, ICHIKA-SAN!"
Anyway, back on topic, Ichika asked Rin and Cecilia what he wanted to ask,
"So why did you two fight against Laura?"
"What, nothing, that's because..."
"Eh, well, how should I explain this...because we females got our pride hurt."
"Hm?"
Ichika couldn't see why both of them look like they couldn't swallow it? He supposed one side started battle after a taunt, but as representative candidates of different countries, wasn't it bad to act after a taunt?
"Ah, don't tell me it's about Ichika."
Charles commented as he passed the drinks, but Rin and Cecilia just blushed and started to rampage after hearing it.
"Ahh! You're being a loudmouth, Dunois!"
"Tha-That's right! Really! Ahhahaha!"
Charles seemed to finally thought of something, but those two girls quickly stopped her from saying it. Charles' mouth is cupped by those two as she struggles painfully.
"Hey hey, stop it. Can't you tell that Charles' really sad now? You're wounded here, and yet you were moving non-stop since just now...hey!"
Trying to calm them down, I reach my hands out to grab Rin and Cecilia on the shoulders.
"EEEKKK!"
As expected, it's painful. I just saw them shriek out and freeze.
"..."
"..."
"Ah...sorry, I didn't expect it to be that painful."
Seeing them remained silent as tears well up in their eyes, Tobia and Charles could roughly understand how painful it is. Feeling that he might had overdone it, Ichika immediately apologized.
"I-I-Ichika...you..."
"Yo-You...you better remember this..."
"It must be quite embarrassing for you two to show such an awkward side to the person you like." Charles teased the girls again.
"W-WH-WHA-WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? I DON'T UNDERSTAND AT ALL!"
"I-I-I WASN'T! IT'S UNCOMFORTABLE HEARING YOU MAKE GUESSES LIKE THIS!"
Both of them continued to get flustered as their faces turned extremely red.
"Ok, ok. Here, Oolong tea and red tea. Drink something to calm down, okay?"
"H-Humph!"
"I'll accept it reluctantly then!"
"Well, sensei did say that you two can go back after calming down, so rest for a while."
Rin and Cecilia snatched the drinks Charles served up and opened the bottles, gulping them down in one go. After that, the room started to become quiet for a while with everyone just sort of looking at each other.
"So, in the end, it seems like we'll still have to settle things straight in a battle against Laura." said Tobia as he laid his back onto his chair and in turn answered a reluctant Ichika, thinking deeply into what would happen next.
"Looks like so."
*DON* *DON* *DON* *DON* *DONG...!*
"Wh-What? What is that sound?"
The quake-like sound came from the corridor, and it seemed to be getting close, or maybe that's just my imagination.
*BAM!* The infirmary door got sent flying...and no, I'm not kidding. It got sent flying, really! This is the first time I saw the door get sent flying like that. I thought this could only happen in the movies.
"Orimura-kun!"
"Dunois-kun!"
"Arno-kun!"
Entering the room were several girls who came in like an avalanche, and this was something really big. As the infirmary only has 5 beds, it was packed full with people in an instant, and they surrounded them on sight, reached their hands out like some mega-sales.
"Wh-Wha-What's up?"
"Wha-What's going on? Everyone...pl-please calm down."
"""This!"""
Facing them while they're still confused, the girls handed over the emergency news and registration form.
"Wha-What...?"
"'In order to make the battles more realistic, the individual division tournament this month will be done in pairs. Henceforth, all those without pairs will have a partner selected for them in the lottery. The deadline is'..."
"Ah, anyway, just read this part! Here!"
Another hand reached out. Hiiee.
"Pair up with me, Orimura-kun!"
"Dunois-kun, be partners with me!"
"Arno-kun, if you don't mind, please pair with me."
They weren't sure why there's a sudden change in format of the individual division tournament, but anyway, all the people who came in right now were all first years, telling from the color of their ribbons. They probably came running here thinking that they could get the opportunity to pair up with the only three guys in the school, but-
"Huh, well..."
Ichika thought as he looked at Tobia, who was staring back at him with a bothered look. After their eyes met, it seemed like Ichika knew Tobia understood his plea for help.
Charles' cautiousness caused me to grimace as I declared in a voice loud enough for all the girls who were bickering to hear,
"I'm sorry everyone, but Ichika is pairing up with Charles. And I also have had another partner in mind."
Utter silence...the sudden decision even caused Ichika to back away somewhat as he didn't expect Tobia to come up with that choice.
"Well, can't be helped if that's the case..."
"It's better than teaming up with other girls..."
"A picture of two guys together is more beautiful...ahem."
It seemed like they accepted it, and as the girls continue to say that it can't be helped, they leave the infirmary one by one. Trying to look for the door, they can still hear a commotion on the corridor.
"Hoo..."
"Well, about that, Tobia-"
"Ichika!"
"Ichika!"
Ichika started to speak as Tobia finally heave a sigh of relief, but Rin and Cecilia jumped off the bed and overpowered her with shocking pressure.
"Wait. Pa-Pair up with me! Aren't we childhood friends?"
"No, it should be me, I'm your classmate!"
Both of them seem like they're about to strangle Ichika's neck.
But what should he do? They're not like the girls from before, and it was not like Ichika could shake them off easily.
"You guys shouldn't." Tobia intervened.
"But why?"
"Yeah, it should be no problem for us to pair up with Ichika you kno-"
"Arno-kun is right, though. You two shouldn't join this time."
"?"
It seemed like Ichika was not the only one who's shocked by this sudden voice, as Rin and Cecilia blinked, stunned by Yamada-sensei's sudden arrival.
"I just confirmed the state of both your ISs. The damage level sustained by both of your ISes have exceeded phase C. If you don't focus on recovering, there will be fatal problems later on. Take it as rest for your ISs, I won't allow you two to participate."
Tobia and Charles, too, nodded in agreement with Yamada-sensei.
For the two representative candidates with such burning will to revenge be turned down like that, could they accept it?
"Ugh, kuh...! I-I got it."
"I'm not willing...not, not at all! But I'll withdraw from the tournament..."
It must have been hard for them to admit defeat even before the battle could start.
"Sensei's happy that you can accept it. If you use the IS past the limits, you have to pay the price. It'll be bad if you lose the chance at the opportune time, and sensei doesn't wish for you two to become like that."
"Yes..."
"I got it..."
Though both of them look like they can't accept Yamada-sensei's serious lecture, at least they did recognize that they couldn't participate in the tournament.
"But Tobia-kun, why did you decide to pair me up with Ichika-kun? I don't mind though, but shouldn't it be better for you two to pair up with each other?"
Huh, huh...Ichika was also trying to say the same thing, given that they have been with each other from the beginning. Now that Tobia wanted him to go with Charles, he kinda felt betrayed.
"It's not that you idiot," Tobia, who was looking at Ichika, seemingly understood what his friend was trying to say, commented and began to explain. "Think for Charles a bit here. He's still new at the school, other than us three, it would be very awkward for him to partner with anyone else right?"
So, it meant that it would be best if the other partner for Charles was either Ichika or Tobia. Since Ichika and Charles were now roommates, it may as well be the two of them in one team.
"Ohh, that's right! As expected of Tobia!"
"Then who will you team up with?"
As Charles asked, a glint gleamed in Tobia eye.
"With Laura, of course."
"EHHH?"
They all got surprised.
"I intend to use this chance to solve our problem with her. As we discussed just now, since we will confront her anyway now that Orimura-sensei has announced, beating her own ego directly may be the fastest way to go, regardless whether or not we wanted to."
If Tobia and Ichika team up again, even if they defeat Laura, she may not accept it and could shift the blame onto her partner or that both the Byakushiki and Crossbone specs have given them more advantage. Thus, to make her recognize the victory, it must be a square and fair fight.
After Tobia's explanation and a few more planning, the whole gang concede to his approach. Since it was already late, they finally decided to call it a day and return to their room for rest, leaving the rest for tomorrow. Though before they went their way, Yamada-sensei called back the boys.
"Ah, it's not really anything major, so please pass the message to him. From the end of this month onwards, you three can use the onsen. As there will be problems allocating times to allow you to use it, we decided to allow you to use the onsen twice every week."
"IS THAT TRUE!?"
What did she mean that it was not something important? It was very much to Ichika as he could finally take a bath now instead of only using the shower. To his belief, jumping into a hot bathtub after a day of work was something that a Japanese person almost could not live without. He was so touched that he couldn't help but grab Yamada-sensei's hands to express his gratitude.
"I'M SO HAPPY, THAT'S WONDERFUL! THANK YOU, YAMADA-SENSEI!"
"It-It's alright. It's my job anyway..."
Maybe that's true, but right now, he was so thankful and overwhelmed with emotions that he really wanted to express his thanks, especially after all the shit storms that had hit him from when he first joined the IS Academy.
"No no no. It's all because of Yamada-sensei's great work. Thank you very much!"
"Is, is that so? Saying it like that, I'm getting really embarrassed, hahaha..."
At that moment, Ichika just realized that he was holding onto a female teacher's hands so passionately—what should I say? I feel an ominous presence that indicates that something bad is about to happen.
"...Ichika? What are you doing?"
"Eh? Ah, no. It's nothing."
Ichika let go of his hands, feeling embarrassed that Charles had to say that to him. Yamada-sensei immediately turned her back at him as Tobia and Charles eyeing at them.
"Ichika, I should have told you to go back first."
"Oh yeah, you did. Sorry."
Ichika felt that Charles sounded really vexed, but given the same natural expression, Ichika thought that he was thinking too much. Tobia, on the other hand, as usual, didn't give a shit.
"Ah, that's right. I still need Orimura-kun for something. I got some documents for you to fill, so can you please come to the office?"
"Got it—then Charles, it may take quite some time, so you can use the bathroom first. See you tomorrow, Tobia."
"Mn, got it."
"Then see you guys' tomorrow."
"Then let's go, Yamada-sensei."
Finally, my god, it is out. Took my ass almost a whole year to finally put this out. Oh well, at least it is finished, I can move on to the next chapter, which may kill my soul for another month or two. Also I just got myself a Metal Build Crossbone X1 Full Cloth and the Metal Build F91, gonna display these two bois on my desk when I write the next chapter, feeling empowered. Oh, the Metal Build X0 Full Cloth is coming out in May too, damn it is glorious, RIP my wallet. Also, thanks for your support in the review. Also also, to AMAZING EZ-8, I'M NOT DEAD YEAH!
Anyway, see you guys again soon, bye.