Jaden's Nightmare

by MegaCheese445

Okay, he touched something he wasn't supposed to touch, and now he's going through more drama than a Harem Anime! Neat, right? Suffered an incident when he was only 9-years old, and lost his parents at an even younger age, Jaden Smith is a very self-standard guy from the trauma. And to top it all off, he's... different from all the other people.

12. Chapter 10: Revelations

Disclaimer: I don't own Infinite Stratos.

---

How long has it been since he last saw him? 7-8 years ago? He couldn't believe it. The person that was standing directly in front of him was the person he never thought he would see, his father. His piercing amber-brown eyes that matched his, were staring into his soul as if he was a ghost.

That white coat gloated over his standard shirt, pen sticking out from the pocket near his left side of his chest, black pants, and glasses on like he was a very important person; not to mention the overwhelming aura that was surrounding him, almost like Orimura-Sensei in a way, but it had this approachable field to it.

To everyone else, this guy was a complete and total stranger. The only people who knew about him were Jaden and Carlos, but that's about it. Why did Orimura-Sensei let him join them on their vacation? Well, they were only going to be here for around 2-3 days at max, so they wouldn't really call it a "vacation."

It seemed like an eternity for how long these two have been locked eyes for now; around roughly 2 to 3 minutes at most. Suddenly, Jaden balled his fist, cocked his arm back, and let lose a thunderous punch, to which his father stood completely still, almost as he was expecting this kind of greet from Jaden.

Closing his eyes, Ethan shook his head in sadness. To think that all these years would go by, just for him to finally meet him soon after so long, only to be greeted with a punch that was incoming from the former. The thought around it drove him downhill, but he could understand the feeling. And he was going to accept it gratefully.

Without even budging, Jaden had made contact with his father's delicate skin. Shocks and gasps could be heard from practically everyone who was watching, narrowing down from the teachers themselves and Jaden's friends. They all stood perfectly still as Jaden was releasing the built-up tension that was occurring within his mindset.

What could be the problem around it? The fact that someone made a grand appearance, only to be met with a greeting by his own son with a huge amount of malice between it? Or that the fact of the matter of how unbothered Jaden's dad looked; in fact, he looked calm and understanding of the situation at hand. All of this information was confusing, even to Jaden.

It didn't even take a few seconds for Jaden to pull back his fist and walk away, spouting nonsense as he distanced himself further and further from the entire group that was watching him. Girls looked at him with an upset taste in their mouths, as if someone took a sour apple or lemon and sprayed it on their tongues. The boys, however, were generally confused.

Ichika had only barely discovered the dark side of Jaden nearly a month or two ago, but this was something completely different. Tyler and Carlos; or precisely the older of the two, only knew about the past between his father and brother. But for the first part, it was going to be a long day.

---

Time passed, and it was now 7:30 pm. Ichika, Keith, and an unfortunate Tyler, who was currently being swarmed with questions, and explanations to Jaden's behavior earlier that day. Truth be told, even he didn't know the response or correct answer to Jaden's behavior. And to add salt to the wound, neither of them knew where Jaden's location was anyway.

But anyway, they were all having dinner in a large banquet hall that's composed of 3 halls linked together, much to Keith, and Tyler's dismay. Ichika had gotten lucky on managing to room with his sister, the Tasmanian devil herself; who to his knowledge, wanted to understand his new mood swings. She said it was viable and required looking at a family aspect, which confused him greatly.

Tyler took a bite from the food, and his eyes glistened with amazement and from eating a flavorful meal. "Yeah, this is absolutely amazing!" Tyler exclaimed in delight. "The sashimi provided for lunch here is fantastic! I can see why Jaden told me about Japanese food here, it's absolutely amazing," He said.

"That's right," Ichika said, taking a bite from his food; a combination of steamed rice and fish. "When you think about it, the IS academy is really too powerful. And when I say that, I mean in the aspect of food and technology-wise," He said, earning him glances from the nearby girls who heard him.

Tyler didn't know that much about the IS academy. But what he did know is that you have a general education of studying about the IS for 3 years, the general population of the school is all girls, and the fact that the super strict teacher, Chifuyu Orimrua, works here. And from the technology and looks on the school, security is the utmost important thing there. You attack the academy, you attack the world.

Keith, sitting right beside Ichika, and dressed in a traditional Japanese yukata; coated in indigo and white in color, almost as if royalty had been bestowed on him. It seemed like every single 1st year was wearing the same thing. Well, that was relatively the only thing that could have worn. The straight-blonde male took a bite of his fish and let out a pleased groan.

The feeling is very unique and rich, and there's no fishiness to it. It's really delicious, yet so hard to describe the feelings of the taste; no stench or bitterness in the fish's liver, and yet the taste is so thick. "Ahh, this is delicious!" He groaned, before taking a glance at the green stub of a plant.

"What is this?" Inspecting the grounded stub further; the look and feel of it made him think otherwise of what it is particularly. Many thoughts clouded his mind on what it was, but he concluded. If it was on his plate then it must be food. Not thinking twice, he picked up the plant with a fork and placed the substance into his mouth with a satisfied smile.

He wished he would have never had that in his mouth. Tears immediately welled up in his eyes as he dropped his fork; the sound caused a momentary pause for the people that were next to him; Ichika, Tyler, and a few other girls who stopped their chatter to look at the boy in pain. Immediately he took a huge gulp from his glass of water and a sigh of relief.

"Are you… alright?" Asked a worried Ichika, who in turn knew that piece of plant that Keith had swallowed moments beforehand.

"Yeah," Responded Keith, the tone in his voice sounded like he just escaped a near-death experience. "Just… got caught off guard… that's all. I didn't know that green piece of a plant had so much firepower in it," The feeling of the fiery taste of the plant was still in the back of his throat.

"Oh! What you ate was wasabi," Motioning towards his plate was a good chunk of the plant that Kieth had just swallowed whole. "It's the manufactured kind, well the ingredients are the wasabi root and horseradish. After coloring and mixing them all, it tastes like the real thing."

Tyler looked kind of tortured on the outside. Why is that? He just ate the whole clove of wasabi in one go when Ichika was explaining the origins and fundamentals of the plant. But strangely enough, it didn't taste that bad at all. Sure the extreme hotness to it was painful, but it didn't bother him as much as it did with Keith. And the way that Ichika explained it kinda seems like it was a drug that was manufactured for years on years.

Quickly drinking a gulp of water; the blazing fire on his tongue vanished, but it didn't loosen up the lighted match in his throat.

It seemed like dinner was going well, not counting the side-glances that Ichika was getting from Houki; the voluptuous female who tried to get his attention the whole time, which was obviously failing. Her feelings on the whole 'not talking to your crush' thing was really getting to her. The last 3 weeks for her felt like a nightmare.

For the first 2 weeks, she didn't even get a chance to see Ichika, let alone visit him when he was suspended from school during those days. It wasn't like he didn't want to talk to her, more like Chifuyu forbade them; as in the girls in general in her class, to leave school grounds. Lessons were more strict and warm-ups and practical training were the definitions of hell.

Then when it was time for the boys to come back, Ichika and Jaden both had different personalities; not to mention the new transfer student that had only been in school for no more than a week, Keith. They act high and mighty on a practice match with each other and achieve their 2nd shifts; something that shouldn't be possible within only 2-3 months of experience.

Then it hit her.

All the events that happen these past few months, Jaden's unexplainable mythical powers; something that every student calls it after the event with Laura, Ichika's complete shift in personality, her match between the two boys. She could only narrow it down to one thing.

Powerless.

There was nothing that she could have done during those strange events, only watch from the sidelines. It was like an endless cycle that played within her subconscious every single time something dastardly happens. She felt weak, powerless, inferior. All these bottling emotions clouded her mind at once.

But a week ago, that all changed.

---

It really was a mysterious place to be. There was machinery stuffed all over the place, and the cables were extended and tattered all over the place. Moving metal out the way, shaped like cables was a mechanical mouse, and sometimes rubbers and screws could be heard dropping like rubber fruits.

The sound of a keyboard could be heard typing away as if someone had already missed their deadline and was working at high speeds to get it done. This was the only place in the world that had a squirrel that identified extraneous parts, data analyzing, and creating new beginnings.

Yes, this was Shinonono Tabane's secret base.

Reddish-purple eyes and long dark purple-pink hair that extended to her hips with some loose bangs, which covered her face in some fashion. Like her younger sister; which was Houki, she held a slim, voluptuous figure and large breasts. But today was a different day for her.

Typing away on her computer, she pulled up information about a series of events that happened during the timeline of 10 years. There, she analyzed data that she had heard of before, but decided not to do anything about it in the slightest. Several incidents popped up.

The Alaska Treaty, a treaty that came into effect after the IS was revealed, effectively banned the usage of her inventions in the military. The only fault of that treaty is that the military is allowed to use them, but only against incoming or aggressive people who are using the IS in harmful ways.

It put a smile on her face that all these traumatic events in people's lives were caused by her, and she didn't care in the slightest. To her, the only people who mattered at all in her life consisted of three people; Ichika Orimura, Chifuyu Orimura, and finally Houki Shinonono. But recently, she had been having thoughts against her best friend's little brother.

Like the time where she was contacted by her best friend and was asked if she had tampered with his unit, to which she obviously denied, yet. While it wasn't extremely alarming, at least to her, it did raise her suspicions; considering that Ichika was a very well-mannered, respectful, and caring guy.

He didn't look like that type to get suspended, at all even. That's why when she heard she was generally shocked to some degree. She didn't even get a chance to ask further about the situation because her friend hung up immediately, something that she was quite used to after so many years.

"Hmm?" She mused, looking at a specific article that took place 6 years ago; Rampaging IS Massacre. According to the article, a rogue IS went rampage in a city in the United States, causing over 2000 deaths, 15 injured, and the rest undiscovered to this day. But that wasn't her main focus.

Her main focus was on this boy, who people claimed to have survived a direct blow from the rampaging IS, and defeated it single-handedly with only using his bare hands; which several people didn't believe at all. Tabane looked closer at the picture of the boy who 'supposedly' defeated the unit, and she blanked out for a second.

It couldn't be his child, right? His face was almost identical to someone who she had met years ago, someone who was a thorn in her side when it came to her inventions. A few minutes went by without her saying anything, but she got her answer from being patient for probably the first time in her life. It was his child.

Just as she was about to further continue her research, a very familiar theme song started to ring from her phone, snapping her out of her serious state. This is a famous theme hoodlum entering the new century would use, but the composer; most probably didn't expect someone in the far east to listen to this song. To be honest, it would be interesting to see the face of whoever composed the music to be happy or sad about the mother of the IS to listen.

"Oh! Houki-chan is calling me?!" Her serious demeanor seemingly vanished from thin air after seeing who was calling her. She jumped for her phone in a diving-like manner; her phone was quite a distance away from her. Answering immediately, she held her phone to her right ear.

"Hello, Hi! This is Tabane Shinonono, everyone's favorite genius, and superstar," She said.

There was a noticeable pause before the sound of someone grunting to themselves and slowly moving the phone away from their ears. For the first time in her life, the caller's response was to immediately hang up the phone and never call back again, but Tabane reassured the caller, or specifically Houki, to stay on the line.

"Oh my oh my oh my! Long time no see little sis! I've always; and I mean always been waiting for you to call me one of these days," Her tone remained to be joyful, however, she looked back at the article once or twice to keep herself refreshed on what to do later.

"Hey… sis," Houki's shallow response caused a minor spark to go off within her big sister. As much as Houki and matured over the years; regarding her practice with Kendo and other things, she maybe had never once sounded this done before.

The super-geniuses mechanical ears perked up. "Yes yes, I already know why you called me today. You want one, right? Your very own personal IS unit, am I correct? And if I am correct about something else, to get closer to Ikkun; since he already left you in the dust, right?"

Another silent pause happened. How did she know so much about what happened? Did she search it up or something? Maybe, considering that the only people who have contact with her are herself and Chifuyu. She must have told her herself.

"I did prepare one for you! It's the strongest and far surpasses all the other specs in the entire world, and it's even a match for the Byakushiki. And the name of this marvelous machine, that was created by the super genius; I am no name other than…"

---

"Akatsubaki…" Houki muttered under her breath, to the point where her food almost got lodged in her throat. Drinking a gulp of water it all came tumbling out of her throat, and into her digestive system; aka her stomach.

Dinner was going incredibly well until the sound of footsteps began to grow louder and harder. It sounds like someone was having a terrible day, or most particularly; Jaden. None knew where he had gone off to, but what they did know is that he was staring directly at all of them while they stared back. The dining hall was silent.

It must have been minutes for how long he was staring at them; more specifically Ichika, Tyler, and Keith, who was about to put some more of the delicious Japanese cuisine in his mouth. The look on Jaden's face was someone who was stressed out after a long day of work but held this fury to it. Ichika also noticed the flickering in his eyes, from amber-brown to deep-blood red.

Without any other word, Jaden summoned his IS's sword; Sakikasane. Everyone freaked out immediately and quickly began to get up and scatter to the far end of the hall, all except Ichika, Tyler, and Keith. The three boys were generally confused and apprehensive at the moment. Ichika knew the look on Jaden's face; he was ready to deal some major damage to someone, anyone at that.

But his focus was on one person.

"Ichika Orimura," He pointed the tip of his energy blade towards Ichika, all while keeping a calm and emotionless face. "Today is the day of your judgment. The day where you would no longer hide from the sins that you've committed upon this world. All the while, it's the day that you will pass upon this world and into the otherworld," He spoke.

All the while Ichika looked petrified. Not one day this has ever happened to him, and today is the day that Jaden supposedly snapped, and is trying to literally kill him. What could he do in a situation like this, call for help; all while trying to not look like a wussy in front of everyone. Wait, why would he think of something like that now? It didn't matter. All that matters right now is appealing to Jaden's dark side.

Finally, after shaking off the fear that washed over him, Ichika stood up; his white yukata swayed to the movements of his figure, almost in a goldy hue. He looked around the room real quick to understand the situation further. From his understanding and vision, all the girls were scared, well most of them. Lara, Cecilia, and Charlotte; who had been sitting at a table nearby, and Rin all looked apprehensive.

Taking a side glance at Houki, to which the brunette noticed. Ichika could see the general confusion and fear in her eyes, which unnerved him greatly. Jaden was terrorizing the entire 1st-years, and he was going too far with doing so.

Calling upon his unit, Byakushiki, he activated the particle deployment that took only a second to summon; thanking Chifuyu, Houki, and even Jaden, who was about to fight against, to finally get this technique locked down. His unit responded to his will and unfolded the armor plates, revealing none other than the fold-out armor; ready for attack.

"I don't know what has gotten into you Jaden," The black-haired boy said; even though the hall was completely silent, everyone still felt uneasy about the situation at hand. "But do know this. I'll do everything within my power to stop you, and bring you back into the light," He said.

The spectators watching couldn't help but feel a little calm after hearing Ichika say that. But on the other hand, everyone besides Keith has seen what Jaden could do when he's angry, and it isn't a pleasant thing. Ichika, however, knew this but continued to press on. He knew how Jaden could fight after training for 3 months, nearly 4 months together.

Both rushed towards each other and locked swords, engaging in an all-out clash; neither one of them coming out on top. Ichika and Jaden gritted their teeth. "Well done Ichika! If I wouldn't have known better you would have to dodge my first attack, but yet here you are, locking in a fierce duel to the death," Jaden commented.

Ichika however was dead silent. For him to be able to keep up with Jaden's dark side was incredible! But even he doesn't know why, nor the reason for that. All he knew is that he's competing with Jaden on somewhat even terms, but even that isn't enough! The sudden urge to dodge caught Ichika off-guard, and lost the clash; forcing him to slightly back up.

But Jaden was on the onslaught. Slash after slash, swipe after swipe. It seemed like the fight was learning more on Jaden's side, even with all the openings that Ichika was given; he refused to take them, mostly because the open spots were fatal. All Ichika could do at that point was dodge and block, but it was starting to get on his nerves for some reason.

Blocking another strike from Jaden with some difficulty, he managed to flip backward completely dazing everyone on his latent maneuverability; all the while keeping a cool head and somewhat of a calm face. From all that damage he received, only his yukata was starting to get severely damaged.

After gaining some distance from each other, Jaden and Ichika took upon stances; like two gods ready to duke it out for all eternity. The noise and commotion caused Chifuyu to check up on the 1st-years, and what she saw interested her. Today, on July the 6th, she could finally get to see more of what her brother has been improving upon since he was gone. And it didn't stop there either.

Carlos, Maya, and even Jaden's father, Ethan all came out to see what all the commotion was about, and what they saw also shocked them; except for Ethan.

The middle-aged man looked at the fight between his son, and the greatest IS pilot's little brother to have ever lived! He watched the battle that was happening and he was generally amazed by his son's skills. Ever since Jaden was little he wanted to be a strong person, for his mother and father to be appreciated and proud of; even though at a young age Jaden was strong-willed.

It pained him to think that 8 years ago he was enjoying the fundamentals and love he was receiving from his family, and now it all seemed like it happened yesterday. He hated what happened when his home had 'mysteriously' caught fire at night. It took years to finally figure out who was the cause of it, and when he did find out he was not only going to make them pay but enjoy the sweet revenge that he was going to enjoy.

Ichika and Jaden continued to trade blows with one another. It seemed like forever on how fiercely these guys were dancing with each other; which meant the sounds of metal clashing with one another and the swift movement of feet. It was amazing to see how far these two have progressed since April, which was roughly 3 months ago.

This time, the two boys managed to create some distance with each other after locking swords again, but it was a larger gap than expected. Now Ichika and Jaden were on two different sides of the hall; Ichika on the East, where the girls he is familiar with are, and Jaden on the west, where most of the teachers and staff that worked at the hotel watched.

Both boys were silent, with the spectators waiting for someone to make the first move. Ichika's clothes were beyond repair at the point in time; his yukata's upper half was destroyed, showing his well-defined chest and some scars from past matches against Jaden. While the former was only wearing pants at this point, conserving that he took the time to change before battling Ichika.

"Well I'll be damned," Wiping the blood from his mouth, Jaden took on a malicious smile that overtook his caring and soft personality; almost as if a demon took over him. "Here I was thinking that I would only need about a fraction of my power to put you down. But, you have proved to be able to keep up with me, so in return, I think I'll just end this now!"

Fear again took over the spectators that were watching. On the other hand, Chifuyu wanted to see some progress and understand why Ichika was progressing faster than she had anticipated. She had never thought or dreamed of seeing her brother being dismantled and thoroughly humiliated in a way that speculated in his death. Not to mention Jaden seemed serious.

Maya and Carlos were also shocked and confused about the matter at hand. How could Jaden have seemingly turned to the dark side in under a day? The older brother looked towards his father for confirmation; but to surprise, he was smiling. Yes, smiling.

How could he be happy in a situation like this? Jaden was supposedly seconds away from killing someone, and all he could do was… smile? As much as the instructors and students would love to do something about what's about to happen, Jaden's abilities were still in a bunch in their minds. For all they know, it only comes out when he's angry, truly pissed.

Keith had figured enough was enough, he couldn't care less about Jaden's strange abilities that everyone was talking about; it was going to take him a split second to summon his unit until Tyler stopped from attacking. He was about to say something when Tyler let out a strange smirk.

The personal user didn't get what he was smiling at, but what he saw surprised him. Back to the fight at hand, Jaden's eyes started to flicker back to their normal amber-brown; and Ichika noted this. He remembered having a conversation about Jaden's abilities with him before the girls turned up in the hospital with them.

"There's something else I forgot to mention," Jaden interrupted the cold silence that followed after he told his backstory to Ichika.

"Unlike what you see in action movies and shows," He said. "I-I can't really control them that well. I know it may sound dumb considering how long I've been having them, but it's not easy. At best I can hold it for a few minutes before I lose control, but I've been working on it lately, but secretly so I won't get scolded by your sister or on constant watch."

That's it! Ichika could only thank himself for remembering that piece of information 2 months ago. Jaden has been figuring out a way to control his latent abilities, but considering the suspension period, those watches from the girls and Chifuyu's eye on them, and the new transfer student; he'll probably most likely still hold it for a few minutes, not to mention they've been fighting for what seems like 20 minutes.

All he gotta do is the time it perfectly, otherwise he's a goner.

Acting quickly on his feet, Ichika closed the gap between him and Jaden in a blink of an eye; so fast in fact that Jaden had momentarily been thrown off. Only using his Yukihira, a blade specifically designed for CQC, he landed a somewhat solid blow to Jaden's cheek; blood oozed from the freshly open cut.

Statistically, Jaden barely flinched externally, but on the inside was a different story. His body fought back to reduce the amount of pain he was feeling, even going as far as to unconsciously heal. A major effect on Ichika's play. The young boy suddenly stopped all movement and stood completely still, as if he was caught red-handed by his parents.

Jaden cringed with agonizing pain. It traveled to his face all the way to the lower half of his body before he could feel strange, yet a tingling sensation took control over him. Both of them dematerializing their unit's weapons before falling to the ground in pain; Ichika from extreme exhaustion and minor damage, while Jaden was slowly gaining control over himself.

The former's eyes began to completely shift to their normal amber-brown. The pain was so unbearable at this point that Ichika coughed out blood after regaining his breath. He never thought that fighting against Jaden's dark side would be so tiring. He wonders something else about it.

Could he be a match for the IS in general? He just fought an entire battle without being protected or anything, and Ichika was looking worse for the wear in his condition; ripped yukata, extreme exhaustion, and minor to almost severe damage. Both boys' vision soon became a tunnel of darkness as they slowly began to lose consciousness.

The last thing they could remember was seeing each other in the state that they were in before darkness completely overtook them. The captive audience finally began to show their true reactions after the battle was finally over. Carlos and Tyler rushed over to Jaden's side, while Chifuyu and Maya went over to inspect Ichika.

The good news was that they were both breathing. The bad news was that Jaden's heartbeats were starting to become slow over the period that he wasn't on life support. Carlos could clearly remember what had happened 6 years ago; the day that he almost lost his brother and these abilities emerged for the first time.

The girls and the sidelined Keith just stood in total disbelief. Keith had just witnessed one of the most major and confusing battles between classmates that he has ever seen, and the girls are shocked that Ichika was able to be on par with Jaden when he was like that. It begs the real question in the room.

Are these boys human at all?

---

It was one of the rooms in the resort, and the clock on the wall pointed at just before 12pm; a grown man and a young boy, who was currently lying down in a make-shift bed with medical supplies and tubes hooked up into his skin. The grown man that was sitting in a chair beside him was smoking a cigarette.

After taking another puff of the nicotine substance, he pressed the tip of the cigarette; where the smoke and fire were, against his clothes to not mess up and disrespect the staff and janitor for cleaning it up. He took on a sigh before looking at his unconscious son.

A smile, genuine, for the first time in 8 years. The last time he saw Jaden up close and personal was when he was only 7-years old; and a strong-minded, brave, and confident little boy he was, and it all seemed like a dream. All those years were taken away from him by a special person, someone who he wouldn't have ever dreamed of doing something like that.

The sound of shuffling and someone mumbling stirred him back to his thoughts. He looked down at his son to find that he was somewhat having a nightmare; something that Jaden has had to deal with daily from his childhood. Seeing no other choice in this matter, he leaned down and placed his hand upon his child's forehead.

It seemed to have calmed him instantly, as he felt his son slowly starting to wake up from his slumber. Jaden's eyes shot open; full of panic and worry about his friend, Ichika. He felt terrible and nauseous at some point, but it didn't describe what he was feeling when he looked to his right to see the person who he didn't want to see right now, his father.

Immediately looking the other way with a sour face, he crossed his arm. "What are you doing here? I thought I made it clear that I didn't want to see you again," Jaden tried to confirm the meaning behind his words about not wanting to see his father. "I'd much rather see Carlos than having to waste my time with you."

"I wanted to talk with you for a long while Jaden," Ethan's voice sounded calm and focused; he didn't even mind the harsh attitude of his own son, or the lack of eye contact that was made between them. "I know for a fact that you hate me right now, but I need to make something clear with you."

"Oh yeah!" Jaden interrupted, his voice reached a level of tone that he never thought he could have reached. "Then I have to ask you something first. Where were you, huh? Where were you when all this bullshit happened to me?! I had to live through hell in school! And don't even get me started on this school."

Ethan stood still. He did think of a situation that would happen with him being on the edge of this question, but never had an accurate response to it. Meanwhile Jaden was looking for an answer in his father's eyes, to which he found something that he never saw before. He looked conflicted about telling him the correct answer.

"I'm waiting," He impatiently asked the stiff man.

Ethan didn't think this would have happened so soon. Sure, he knew his own sons' like clockwork; he practically raised both of them until 8 years ago. But, he never thought that his son matured so much to the point where he was like his mother. He could only slightly smile at the thought of his wife that passed away years ago, but this didn't please his son at all.

"If you don't have anything to say can you leave the room-"

"It wasn't my fault, nor was it my choice Jaden!" Ethan interrupted, his tone now held something of remorse and sorrow; it was strange to see this middle-aged man, who looked like he could get all the women he wanted, break down like this. "Believe me when I say this, I wanted to be there for you during those times where you were all alone with your brother, but I just couldn't."

This time it was different than before. Like how you feel when you know you're guilty about something, but just don't wanna confess to it because you're scared of the consequences; that's all that fills Jaden's mind at this very moment. It's been years since he last saw his father, and not one time he acted like this even before he left.

"Then what was stopping you, huh?" Asked the most difficult thing coming from his youngest son's mouth. "For 8 years dad, 8 years. What was so important that you had to leave your son's all alone to defend themselves? Was it second thoughts about how you were living and needed some time alone? Or the fact that you simply needed a 'minute' to think about what happened at our home years ago?"

Jaden felt the hot stream of tears leave his eyes. He had never had to vent this hard in a very long time, even when he was alone in his room and sometimes with his brother; who was mostly working at the time to provide for both of them. He couldn't even remember the last time he had a pleasant moment with his brother ever since the incident 6 years ago.

It wasn't like Carlos was ignoring him or being distant with him, more like Jaden getting severe anxiety and shutting himself out from the world at times. Sure, Tyler was also there to comfort him, but it was different from having your parents do it for you.

Now Ethan felt the threatening tears leave his eyelids, but he needed to hold them back for a while to properly explain and not sound weak in front of his son. Letting out a deep sigh, the father of the young boy looked up at his son. "I've been wanting to tell you this for a long time now. But, things weren't so good back then; so I'm going to tell you everything. If you choose to still hate me for what I have done, I won't blame you."

"Alright then, go ahead," Jaden motioned.

Taking a couple of moments to actually breathe, Ethan looked down a bit with a sorrowful expression; something that he hasn't shown anyone in years. "You remember what happened 8 years ago? Our house that was 'mysteriously' burned down? Well, it wasn't that at all."

The sudden news shook Jaden. For years he was told by his brother, the authorities, and eventually, it reached the news to where it was deemed as a mysterious case; something that shouldn't be possible without further research and evidence to conclude that it was intentional. Now here he was, 8 years later and he is just now being told that it wasn't a mysterious force or something.

"It happened 10 years ago," Ethan could clearly remember the time where he met her; the dangerous person who nearly destroyed an entire country for her own self-pleasure. "It was dubbed; The White Knight Incident. I'm sure you hear about it during your first month here at the academy; or more likely the introduction. But, the IS was unveiled 10 years ago and was designed and created by a mad-woman by the name of Tabane Shinonono."

Of course Jaden knew that piece of information, he was grilled by the students for not knowing the information in the first place during April. How could he not forget about something so tragic? But, he wonders why his father is even bringing this up in the first place.

"The long and short of it was I was fascinated by her work, so I went as far as to get an interview with her, but I failed," The middle-aged man said, somewhat regretful in his tone of voice. "Then after the incident, the Alaska Treaty was formed and all existing IS technology must be equally distributed to all nations; including the United States."

Ethan got up and walked over towards the window.

"Since my company was a part of the treaty, we were distributed and limited with only 3 IS cores; one for combat, another one for R&D, and the final one were for testing purposes," He said. The way that his father was looking was starting to get under his skin now. Jaden never saw him ever become this serious before. "But, there were some problems with the research that we were doing, and we were behind schedule on producing our first unit. So I improvised."

Hearing the drop in the atmosphere was enough to convince Jaden that something his father did was dastardly and impossible.

"At the time of research, we didn't have enough data and other things to finish the unit, and our company was going to be shut down if we didn't come up with something," He said. "So the company shut down and the government was tasked with collecting the cores, but I snuck one out. There was no way they were going to destroy the hard work that I thought of at the moment; reverse engineering."

Jaden's eyes widened. There was no way, right? Did his dad do the unthinkable, and reverse engineering a IS core?

"It took me 2 full years to finally get the information and technology down, during that time I successfully converted an IS core; turning the gender acceptance rate to more boys than girls," Ethan said, looking out at the ocean and showing a menacing face. "I was enthusiastic and happy that my work had finally been completed, but it wasn't long before she found out about it; practically trying to take it away from me and threatening to take everything that I loved."

Jaden wasn't stupid at all. She? Even though he started to finally realize the true reason why his father was gone for so many years, he also connected the dots and started to finally figure out who she was. He can cross out Ichika's sister; she didn't look like the type to care at all about the IS when she's off-duty, nor would she think about threatening to take away everything from someone who she didn't know at the time.

The answer was just slapping him in the face this whole time.

"Tabane Shinonono," The amount of hate and anger in his voice when he said that was terrifying; it could even match Chifuyu's glare when she needs to calm the students down. "She found out about it, and that power-hungry, self-centered, arrogant, cocky little bitch. She practically demanded that I hand it over or bad things would occur, which did happen."

The young male was now speechless.

"That night 8 years ago was the day that I lost not only you two, but your mother as well," Nearly collapsing from just thinking about the horrific event that transpired in his life. "That night was when she started a fire at the basement of our house, where the propane tanks were at. That's why the fire couldn't be put out with water, but only with time and patience."

Looking back at his son, seeing the horrific expression on his son set something straight inside the middle-aged man. "That monster killed your mother and my wife because of an IS core. That's why I had it kept safe so when the time was right to be activated, it would respond to only one person."

Jaden looked at the standby form of his IS, wrapped out his wrist like a wristband. It didn't take more than a second for Jaden to finally understand. It was his unit, Soviet Ranger! The core of his IS is the very first and only reversed engineered core in the entire world; and apparently, he's been having it for years just for him. It all made sense now to him.

The reason why he could pilot and IS, moving away from his friends and family back at home, living under the same roof surrounded by girls 24/7. It was all because his father wanted to keep him safe, and he's been acting like a complete asshole to him this entire time; when he should be thanking him for keeping him safe from companies and the government themselves.

Jaden didn't know what to say, he was speechless. All the questions that he had bottled up within the deep part of his brain had been answered by the person who started it all, his father. He can't tell if he should still be angry or conflicted. But there was one thing he needed to have an answer for.

"Wait!" Jaden said out loud, to which his father looked at him with a confused expression. "I need to know something else. 6 years ago, an IS went completely insane; killing thousands of people and costing millions of damage to the street next to our destroyed house. Was that incident caused by you or by Houki's big sister?"

Ethan could only breathe in when Jaden pulled up that event, oh how could he forget that day. "Well, since it was 2 years after your mother died and Shinonono thought that she killed me; which I needed to stay hidden from her radar, the assets and technology that the IS was equipped with back then were remnants from my company," He said. "In a way, no. But since the government found out that it was scrapped from my company, I was to blame but I was supposedly 'dead'."

Ethan then looked at his son again, but in a more detailed perspective; his chest.

"Son," Lowering down towards where Jaden was still sitting, he sat back in the chair. "That's also what I wanted to talk about with you, those abilities you have. And don't worry it's nothing fatal to your health."

There was so much information that Jaden was learning today and now he gets to figure out the true reasons behind his abilities. In some way, it kinda scared him to find out if it was something extremely dangerous, or couldn't be removed so easily.

"What's inside you is something that was at the very start of R&D regarding the IS, but later dropped because it was going out of the field of the IS. Or to be more specific, a fragment of an IS core; or the technology and fundamentals on piloting an are," He said. Jaden's jaw dropped.

He was told by Carlos himself that it was a weird unknown source within his chest area, but he never thought that it was a fragment of an IS core. Now that he was thinking about it, shouldn't he be like a robot or something? He also realized something else. When he uses his IS, the compatibility and learning rate for him is exponentially better than anyone, except for Ichika for some reason.

That could also explain the abilities that come along when he's angry, such as all his senses are greatly improved; he could hear and see farther than he has ever before but shook it off because he thought he was tripping. The BTR; instead he heals very quickly, and his skills in armed and unarmed combat; mostly his agility and mobility. Not to forget shielding; which in his terms he is extremely durable. That could be the reason why he survived impossible things.

So much information.

Without saying a word, Jaden slowly began to stand up; the gash across his cheek had been replaced by a bandage and the amount of pain and stress he was feeling was greatly reduced. His dad wasn't lying at all, he really is different from everyone else in the world. He's a walking, talking destructive force, when he gets angry he quite literally has the power to change the world.

Looking at how his father was avoiding eye contact with him, he probably figured that Jaden still hated him for what he had done. But it was the opposite when Jaden reached down and hugged his father for the first time in 8 years. "I'm sorry dad, I didn't know that you've done all those things just to keep me and Carlos safe," He said.

"But I know the old saying; what's in the past, stays in the past and is to never be remembered or thought of again. I just can't live with the fact of knowing that my classmate's big sister literally killed mom because you tried to create a better future for us," Jaden's eyes briefly flicker before returning to normal. "So, I'm going to bring her to justice one day and avenge mom's death."

"You have no idea how long I wanted to hear that from you, thank you, son."

---

It's the second day of training camp, and today, groups were going to carry out testing of all sorts of IS equipment and data collections. As for those with personal machines, they have to try out a large amount of equipment for them, so it's going to be very tough.

"Is everyone here-hey, the latecomer over there."

The personal IS group turned around to see Jaden, taking his sweet time and thinking about what happened a few hours ago. Apparently, Carlos and Tyler had to leave considering that they only had a day to chill and hang around Jaden. But his father on the other hand. Jaden and Carlos had a serious talk with him before the morning happened and they settled their differences and past aggression towards each other.

To say they were on good terms with each other was an understatement. Carlos wasn't informed about how Jaden's abilities worked, or the aggression he had towards Houki's big sister, Tabane. But he was informed on why he had to stay hidden from the world, and surprisingly he understood. More like half of a family, they were, but Ethan had to leave; said something about someone coming to visit.

Anyways, he got there late, a very common feat for him; getting to the gathering point in under 3 minutes. Chifuyu could somehow see the stress from yesterday still in his eyes and then some. It was still strange how this young boy, whose eyes change from amber-brown to blood-red when he's angry, has so much pain in his eyes; but it seems like it's been reduced greatly since a few hours ago.

"Yeah I'm here," He casually said. It is uncommon to see that Ichika was earlier than him, something that he never would have expected. But, considering what happened yesterday he could only wonder what was going through his mind.

"Since you were the last one here, explain the IS core network."

The IS core network, something that Jaden was already familiar with by now. "Yeah... okay," Rubbing his face a bit, he barely got any sleep after thinking about the things his father told him. "The IS core network uses all sorts of signals to exchange data. It was originally designated to be used for space, but right now it's currently being used to allow pilots to communicate with each other through public and private channels."

"Surprisingly outstanding as always," Chifuyu commented. What was going on with Jaden all of a sudden? His appearance was the same as the other boys, but she can tell that his mind was jumbled with stress. "I'll let you off the hook this time, but don't think that will cover it because you were late today. Expect some punishment by the end of it."

"Sure," As he said that, he got in the line where everyone else was standing; Keith, Ichika, Cecilia, Laura, Charlotte, Rin, and… Houki for some reason. That's strange, she doesn't even have a personal unit. She should be with the other groups on testing equipment with the training units.

"Alright," The hell teacher spoke up. "Each class is to carry their stuff, to begin with, the IS parting test. Those with personal suits are to test out personal parts from several countries," She said. Chifuyu couldn't stop herself from looking at her brother and Jaden. By the looks of it, their relationship with each other is kinda strained at the moment. "Everyone get moving, pronto!"

Everyone responded with a yes. As all the first years are lined up in a straight line, there are a lot of them. On a side note, there is a beach for IS testing; the surrounds are extremely high cliffs, so if there's a need to go to the sea or any other place it would be the beach. It really looked like some underwater movie that was being filmed here.

And of course Jaden was totally spacing out on the whole ordeal. All the information he was told just couldn't resonate with him, just yet. Having to hear he literally had a fragment of an IS core deep within his chest was alarming, but the fact that his father reversed engineered a core, to begin with, was downright amazing. Shouldn't that make him top-dog when it comes to the IS, just behind Orimura-Sensei or something?

He'll worry about it later. Right now, he has to test equipment for his unit. The thing was Soviet Range wasn't a picky or arrogant core, but it was specific on the type of weapon he was using. For example, the last time he checked he had 5 available bus slots for more extra weapons, but he couldn't just add a Sniper to it; since he hates long-distance fighting anyway.

And after what his father told him, the core of an IS response; or more say was built, to fulfill the pilot's dreams and wishes. So if Jaden didn't like long-distance-type weapons, his unit would deny accepting them into an available bus slot. Easier said than done when he doesn't really know what other type of equipment he likes. He mostly sticks to CQC and sometimes mid-range, not staying in the backend for the entire fight.

Seeing Ichika talking to some of the normal students, Jaden hesitantly approached him. There was no way he was going to lose a friend over something that wasn't his fault. But as he approached him, the girls looked over in his direction and immediately felt fear raise to their heads. It seemed like what happened yesterday completely broke the trust they had for them, and they finished with their chat with Ichika quickly before leaving to help another group.

The raven-haired boy turned around to see Jaden. As he was staring at his friend, he felt an ominous tension in the air. He was unnerved by what happened yesterday, but he remembered what Jaden said about not being able to completely control it; so he doesn't hate nor dislike him. But the look on Jaden's face could tell that he was desperate to know what their relationship was moving forward.

"Oh… hey Jaden," The boy cautiously said, wondering if he was still rampaging a bit. His eyes were normal, which means he had control over himself; but it doesn't bring out the explanation or actions that happened yesterday. "Look, about what happened-"

Before Ichika could even finish his sentence, Jaden pulled him for an awkward hug. This seemed to completely dispel all the tension they had between them; since Jaden was holding Ichika tightly like his life depended on it, and the normal students and personal IS users couldn't help but check out what was happening. Even Chifuyu took a glance from the side of her eye.

"I'm sorry man," The black-haired young boy clung to his friend. "I already know what you're thinking. It was my fault. If I had more time to properly control myself, I wouldn't have done the things that I did yesterday. Also, sorry about the pain I caused you. My dad informed me about how you were doing before he left. He said you were surprisingly abnormal when you were taking your sweet time resting."

Ichika was somewhat speechless. Not only did Jaden completely see-through him; something that he's been working on for quite some time now, but he accurately guessed what was going through his mind. But what did he mean by abnormal? He could think about it later. Right now, he returned the awkward hug with an awkward smile on his face.

"Hey, it's alright," Ichika said. "If it makes you feel any better, we could race with Keith before we have to go back to the academy. I heard that he had some problems with his past life, and I think it's time for us to help him settle in properly this time."

"Sure buddy! Don't think I'll go easy on you just because of what happened yesterday."

"I wouldn't count on it."

Seeing the boys finally make out the tension that they had with each other, really sparks some scenarios within the normal IS student's minds. Just a day ago one of them was fighting intending to kill, and the other one too big his mind to justice and snap him out of it. Maybe they realize that Jaden isn't so bad after all. And from a distance, Chifuyu could feel a bit... envious of their relationship.

Sure, her relationship with her brother is very strong indeed; to the point where during the second Mondo Grosso she practically forgot her match, and literally flew to his location to save him. But in return for getting Germany to help, she had to teach for over a year over there. Then that's when she met Bodewig and saw the similarities between the two.

To conclude, Ichika seems to have a better relationship with Jaden than his own sister. Why would she even care in a situation like that, they're both guys. So much has changed with her little brother ever since Jaden attended this school months ago. He's grown in personality, maturity, overall abilities, and combat, and as a man. Why does she feel so jealous then?

Deciding to shrug it off, for now, Chifuyu focused her attention on another person; Houki Shinonono. "Ah, Shinonono, come over here," She said. Houki, who was using a Uchinage to carry something, heard Chifuyu call her and started walking towards the beautiful general.

"Yes."

"From today onwards, you'll be pilo-"

"CHHHHH IIIIIIIIII~ CHHHHHHHHH AAAAAAAAAAAA NNNN~"

From the ground and up, as a cloud of sand and dust gathered, a figure came flying over at a very high speed. Maybe she had an IS on or something? Though the problem was that only 3 people clearly recognized her, and her tone of voice. That person's name can only be…

"...Tabane."

In what seemed like milliseconds, Chifuyu held down Tabane who came flying over with one hand, grabbing onto her face too as the fingers sank mercilessly into the flesh. Chifuyu really doesn't know how to hold back in situations like this, nor how to show mercy.

"Would you shut up Tabane," The devil asked impatiently? She clearly didn't have time for this matter at hand.

"Mmmm… using the iron claw as merciless as ever, right Chi-chan~?"

It was then Chifuyu sunk her fingers further into Tabane's skin, really trying to make her feel it. But of course, Tabane shrugged it off and focused her attention elsewhere; that being Houki, who was hiding being a rock in hopes of escaping her sister's embarrassing tactics. To which she instantly found her.

"Yaa!"

"...Hello," Gave Houki the very unenthusiastic way to greet her family.

"Hehehe, long time no see. How long has it been since we last saw each other? A few years? Houki-chan's really grown up over the years, especially your breasts~!"

In a split of a second, Houki promptly delivered a wooden sheath straight towards Tabane's jaw, which sent her flying in the other direction; landing on the ground with a crooked sound followed by it. "I will hit you if you dare to say that again," She said. Based on her actions, Houki really wasn't putting up with Tabane just like Chifuyu.

"Ouuu~ you say that after you hit me, you're so cruel!" Posted Tabane. It seemed like the years to come, Tabane remained her cherry, yet usual self. The super genius then turned to the other person who she cared about, which was Ichika. "She's a real dominatrix, isn't she Ikkun~?"

"Well, more like feisty and arrogant at some times," Ichika casually answered, shocking the normal students who were listening in, the personal group, Chifuyu, Houki, and even the genius herself, Tabane. The only person who wasn't that fazed was Jaden since he taught Ichika the proper way to approach a situation like this. "Then at some moments, she's very cute and beautiful to the point where it's unbearable."

Now faced with such soothing words, Houki started blushing mad; harder than she had ever before. The look on his face was so calm, yet he said it so casually like he was speaking the truth. And yet he was speaking the truth when he smiled a bit. The girls couldn't believe what came out of his mouth.

Tabane's shocked expression turned into someone who was very much indeed interested in learning more information. "Ohhh~ Ikkun has matured a bit since the last time I saw you," She gestured a bit toward him. "Think you can show this puppy~ some new tricks~?"

Ichika profusely blushed and backed away. After learning about what he needed to learn from Jaden, he learned about this dangerous move; mature seduction, the form in which an older woman tries to seduce a guy younger than her. A very deathly attack which he isn't ready for, just yet.

Everyone else, besides Jaden and Tabane of course, was too stunned to say anything towards him. He did just upfront and admitted the advantages towards one of the girls to who he hasn't said a proper word in 3 weeks. Chifuyu managed to snap out of it and redirected the focus back on the manner at hand. She'll question her brother about this later.

"Hey! Tabane! Introduce yourself already," Chifuyu practically demanded the super-genius to at least say something to her students.

"Huh-that's so troublesome!" She pouted again, to which Chifuyu glared at her. While it did affect the woman, she did it out of her own will. "Hello, hi! I'm the genius Shinonono Tabane-san! That's all from me!" After saying that, she even made a spin-around. At this moment, everyone present seems to have finally realized this was the super-genius that developed; created the IS, and that got them to chat.

However, one boy, in particular, stared at the woman with wide eyes. His eyes started to flicker between their normal amber-brown to blood red. Opening and closing his palms in a very rapid motion, he caught the attention of Ichika, who was standing only a few feet away from him. He couldn't understand the reason why he was changing, but he was staring daggers at Houki's big sister, and he didn't want another rampage.

Ichika quickly went over to his side. "Hey man, you alright?" He whispered to the point where only he and a very unstable Jaden could hear. "I don't know what happened in the past between you and Tabane. But, please can you control yourself? Just until she leaves?"

His words seemed to have gotten to Jaden, and his eyes returned to their normal hue. As much as he wanted to attack her for what she had done to his family, he just got the trust and aid from everyone back; except the personal IS girls. And to top it off, he still can't really control his abilities all that well, so holding back is the least he could do.

Relaxing, he stared at the ground. This was the woman who killed his mother all those years ago, and he's being forced to stand down?! Then he thought of the outcomes. If he did attack, Houki and everyone else wouldn't forgive him. Not counting the government and national countries when they hear about it; he'll be thrown in prison for life.

"Now everyone, face up to the sky!" Demanded Tabane in a cheerful manner.

Suddenly, really, with the sound of something being destroyed, an unidentified metallic object dropped onto the sand. The silvery metal block looked like it's a wall for a moment as the front parts fell. Then, the contentions on what was inside. It was…

"Dun dun dun dun dun dun dun da! This is Houki's personal IS; Akatsubaki! Its specs are superior to every IS in every way and it was made personally by me, Tabane the genius!" AS if by the response, the crimson-red armor was moved out using mobile arms.

The red armor was reflecting the bright sunlight, probably because it was newly built. It's really eye-catching, and the comment made by Tabane a few seconds ago, "Specs superior to ever IS in every way," which was really alarming considering that it's made by her personally. In summary, it's the newest and strongest frame ever!

"Here, Houki Poki! It's time for optimization! I'll help out from the sidelines, so I'll end soon!" Cheerfully, as usual, she expressed her gratitude and love. "So, are you ready?!"

"...I'll leave it to you then."

Tabane seemingly pouted a bit. "That's so rare~ We're blood siblings after all Houki Poki! You should talk to me more affectionately-"

"Hurry up and start."

The amount of coldness was chilling even for some of the girls. How could Houki act this way towards her sister, the IS mother herself? Maybe it could be personal issues regarding what happened in the past? Whatever it was, Tabane brushed it off like it was nothing. "Mm~ well okay. Let's get started then, shall we?"

Tabane pulled out a remote control from her pocket and pressed a button, and the Akatsubaki activated, opening the cockpit to allow the pilot to enter. It even kneeled automatically to let the pilot enter it easily. It was very much indeed far from impressive. "'I've imputed Houki-chan's data to a certain level just based on how much I know my little sister. All there is needed to do is update the recent values!"

Opening a control panel, the super-genius slides her fingers across the dashboard like it was clockwork; summoning 6 screens in mid-air to navigate through the huge amount of data on the screens, and typing out on the emulated keyboard in mid-air. Jade had to admit one thing about her; Tabane's speed was simply inhuman. There are no other people in the world who could type that fast in a matter of seconds.

"It's a CQC that's adjusted to being an all-around type, so I guess you will get used to it soon! Did I also mention that there's automatic support equipment to boot? Your Onee-chan prepared all the best things just for the people who she loves!" Again, cheerfully exclamation her prefers and love to her little sister, who simply toned out for a bit.

Houki was too focused on the compliment that Ichika gave her moments before. She had never thought that he gained the courage and matured so much in just under 3 weeks. It was just like those weeks ago, she was constantly thinking about how much both of the boys disappointed them, then the next minute she found out she was missing the person in her life who she loved the most, Ichika Orimura.

Thank god that it didn't make the headlines or the general public, otherwise Jaden and Ichika would be in court or part-time jail severely, and almost killing a representative contender of Germany. Although, the government had to handle a bit of it. The young teenage girl was too busy blushing to herself and smiling as she had never done before.

Meanwhile, the normal students were busy chatting to themselves over this recent news. Many of them thought it was just because Houki was Tabane's little sister as to why she had an IS, and others said it was 'unscrupulous'; which was something to be somewhat angry about. Tabane, who was still working on updating Houki's data, turned around with a blank expression.

"Oh my, haven't you heard? The world has always been unfair. Since the beginning, do you think there was one time where the world was fair for everyone?"

"Until the universe decided to birth you into existence, that's when it realized it fucked up greatly…" Jaden mumbled under his breath, to the point where thought that nowhere he heard him.

Anyways, the girls who were called out immediately went back to work. As for Tabane, she just left it like that; not even to hear Jaden's side remark, and continued the adjustments, or that she never stopped typing when she turned around to speak in that blank expression. Ichika could only label her as a true genius. Then as the adjustments were complete, Tabane closed the screens.

"After that, I'll just be the adjustments, and the personalization will be complete," Turning her head around, she spotted the other person who she cared about, Ichika. "Ah, Ikkun! Could I see the Byakushiki real quick? Tabane-san is really enthusiastic to see your progress that you have worked oh-so-hard on during these past months?" She exclaimed with glee.

From the way she said it, Ichika couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy about her tone of voice; like she was holding back something. "Oh! Alright," Putting his left hand on his right arm as he started to concentrate. As if responding to his thoughts, Byakushiki, a machine that was developed for close-ranged combat; the lights then gathered in mid-air to form a circle, spinning a few layers around Ichika before forming.

"Uooo~ Ikkun has already achieved the 2nd shift? This is very rare. Could it be the reason that Ikkun is a guy?" Saying that Tabane inserted a few circuits into Byakushiki's armor. And just like before, several screens appeared in mid-air. But, the information and data that she was seeing shocked her.

Multiple things were out of order like the configuration mechanism is only 75% complete; or in other words, the sync with his unit in the second shift was almost completed. "Mn~? To create such an unbelievable diagram like this. What is this? I have never seen anything like this before," Her curiosity even made Ichika confused.

His unit was creating an unbelievable diagram? As much as he was educated on the IS, he doesn't know that aspect of the IS; such as technology and inners, only the basics like the Shielding, Core, and Hyper Sensor. But, he did learn something else before he got suspended weeks ago. Apparently, the diagram was his genes or something like that.

"Hm, well I'm not too sure myself," Looking further into the data she was eyeing, she saw several things that only she could see; such as nano and important flaws in the unit. "I could understand it if we were able to break it down to nano units, but I'm going to need Ik-Kuns's permissions first."

Ichika was tempted to think about it, but there were several flaws with what was going to happen. First of all, he won't be on the battlefield protecting. Second, he might have to go with Tabane to wherever she lives; possibly Mars if she had time to go that far. Sighing to himself, he looked directly at her. "Sorry Tabane, maybe next time…"

Just then for a split second Tabane pout again for the millionth time. As much as he hated to shut Tabane down like that, he cannot risk such dangerous action with someone who was completely unpredictable. "Ah, I'll know you'd say that," Her expressions changed again. Seriously, why is she so cheerful? "Well, forget about it. I guess I won't know what needs to be known. I made the IS evolve on their own when I created them, so it was obvious such a thing would happen, heheheh."

"Also, why can't I have any other armaments?"

"Well, I set it that way."

Ichika froze for a minute. Did he hear her right? "Are you telling me that you created Byakushiki?!"

"Mhm, yup!" She proudly admitted. There was nothing safe from this woman. "Actually, I retrieved the scrapped, flawed machine and messed around with it until it could move. But thanks to that, you were able to use the One-off-Ability when you were in the 1st shift, am I correct? That's super convenient of me, right! And TL: DR, it was developed here, you know? Japan."

Tabane's head was hit without mercy. The one who attacked was obviously the instructor from hell Chifuyu Orimura herself. "Idiot, stop revealing so much classified information!"

"OWWW! Huh, Chi-chan's affections have been too tense up until now. Keep that up and you'll never settle down in life."

Another hit that was 10x harder than the last one came down upon Tabane's poor skull. "Don't you dare tell me how I should live my life," The way she said it made it seem like she was growling? "If anything, you should own up to more of your mistakes in life."

Tabane seemed to have ignored that last one entirely. Turning towards Ichika, her eyes fluttered. "So, how's it Ikkun? I wonder what you would look like as a girl…"

"WHAT?!"

"Hm? I've been reading a lot of manga recently, aren't you into that kind of stuff?"

"What? No! Imperfectly normal as it is," He said, his statement sounds a bit straining from his confident statements earlier. "I like girls and I want to keep my masculinity," As soon as he said those words, he realized the situation that he was in. Girls were looking at him blushing, Jaden, who calmed down, and Keith holding in their laughter.

Facepalming, Ichika felt disappointed in himself. He tried so hard in those lessons with Jaden on the dangers and wonders of females, and he goes and embarrassed himself like this. What kind of a man is he now after that?

"Ah-ahem."

Houki coughed twice to interrupt Ichika and Tabane's conversation. Partially because she wanted to make sure that she was done, and to prevent Ichika from further digging his grave; aka talking to a girl older than her. "Am I done here?" She coldly said.

"Oh yeah, it's done. And with over 3 minutes to spare, I could have made a cup of instant ramen in that time," She said. The boys lost count on how Tabane was so cheerful through her stay here. "Now, try taking it out for a spin. It should move exactly how you think it should."

With that sound, the cable linking to it was removed. After that, Houki closed her eyes, her unit; Akatsubaki flew off at recording-breaking speed, almost potentially breaking the sound barrier. The sudden acceleration caused shockwaves that made the sand dance around itself before resting on the ground where it originally belonged.

"How is it? Much more mobile than you ever thought, right?"

"Mn… yeah, sort of…"

"Then try swinging your swords. The right one is Amatsuki, and the left one is Karaware. I'm going to send special data on the weapons over!" After saying that, Tabane danced her fingers around the sky. And after receiving the weapon's data as her sister promised, she drew both of her unit's swords.

"Let's add on to Tabane-one-chan's explanations!" The young genius added, looking directly upwards she saw her sister testing out the sword as she wished. A bright smirk stained her lips. "Amatsuki is used to attack one person. The blade will create an energy blade when it attacks, and did I mention it could turn an enemy into a melon if you consecutively! It truly is a wonderful weapon."

Everyone normally didn't know if they were following Tabane's explanation, but Houki got ready to swing the blade. She raised her right hand to her left shoulder into a specialty for her family's dojo. That's a position that can easily turn defense into an attack, the force of the attack to counter. As the blade got swung out, the surrounding space let out several red lasers, forming a ball-shape thing. They then formed bullets of light and pierced out several holes in the clouds in the air.

"The next one's Karaware. It's the weapon used to deal with a group, and can launch a shaped attack with a slash! It can extend its range when it's swung, so it's super useful," After saying that, Tabane summoned a 16-missile pod firing machine. As the lights gathered and formed it, it shot out its missile at that instant.

Just like that, she swung the Karaware. The red lasers extended out just like Tabane said, taking out all 16 missiles. "Powerful…" Houki muttered under her breath. In all honesty, she was beyond the limit of being impressed but just didn't want to show it. Her disciplined attitude would prevent her from saying such a thing, especially towards her sister.

Everyone present looked stunned and mesmerized by the overwhelming outcome in front of them, unable to say anything. Tabane seemed satisfied as she viewed the sense in front of her until she reached someone who she didn't expect to be here; Jaden. She glanced at him with a cold expression that drew upon her face.

That article that she read a while ago. It took her a while to finally adjust and remember the incident that happened 8 years ago with some guy; he was apparently 'stealing' and IS core. But when she figured out the real truth behind it, she took matters into her own hands. It was crazy to see the resemblance between the middle-aged man and the young boy; they looked alike but different in some aspects.

She ignored the stern look that Chifuyu was giving her. Her focus was now on a different person, that being Jaden. But before she even had time to eye him up further, a sudden voice of Yamada caused Chifuyu to keep her sharp eyes and turn to her. Though Yamada was normally known for her panicking, it seemed different this time.

"What's wrong?"

"Please… take a look at this."

On seeing the visual image Yamada-Sensei showed her, Chifuyu's face darkened. "Class-A special mission and the request was to deal with it immediately…"

"That's located at the Hawaiian research-"

"Don't leak confidential information, the students will hear."

"Sorry…"

"And the pilot of the personal IS?"

"One-one's missing. The rest are present."

Chifuyu and Yamada continued to discuss something in a soft voice. Unfortunately for them, Jaden was close by, and the expression on his face was absolutely ridden; anger was seething out of him from what he was hearing. But when several students started to look over at the two, they started to use hand signals.

But then again, Jaden could only smirk in triumph when he noticed the gestures. He didn't have nearly as much experience when it came to the adults, but when it came to hand signals; it was his specialty. Before he even transferred into the academy, Jaden was relatively alone, besides Tyler and Carlos. And a way for Jaden to communicate with Tyler without talking much is side language.

He got so into it that he started reading and watching all sorts of different languages to express their feelings and general information. To say that he was a master at it was overrated; more like intermediate when it comes to certain things like distress, affection, mood, and most importantly greetings.

"I'll contact the other teachers then."

"Got it-EVERYONE PAY ATTENTION!"

After Yamada-Sensei ran away, Chifuyu clapped twice to gain everyone's attention. Those who dared to ignore her were going to face harsh punishment. "The IS Academy's teachers are going to carry out a special mission, so today's testing will be over. Every class is to keep the ISS and return to the resort. You are to remain in your own rooms. That's all."

Everyone started to move frantically, removing the equipment on their bodies, shutting down the activated units, and putting them on the vehicles. It seemed that they already knew of Chifuyu's wrath; weeks ago and before the whole event, she said she would not tolerate the behavior, etc, ever since the match with Ichika, Jaden, and Laura.

"Personal IS pilots are to gather! Orimura, Wilson, Smith, Alcott, Dunois, Bodewig, Huang, and… Shinonono!"

"Yes!" Each of them responded, except for Jaden; looking directly at the back of his mother's murderer. It pained him to stand there and do nothing about avenging his family, but if were to attack and kill her, consequences would be damned if he ever did it.

"Smith! Do you understand?"

"I fucking understand already! Let's just go," Quickly leaving the scene, Jaden went towards the resort, now dressed in his custom-made suit; which was a mix of black and white trimmings just like his unit. He still didn't know he made his unit or suit in the first place, but he has speculation on who did it.

Chifuyu slightly cringed at the fact that she got told off like that. As much as she wanted to punish him, she really can't do it. It's not like it wasn't working, but he was so different from the other students; Keith and Ichika combined. She could tell just by the way he carried himself that he had a pretty rough life, and kindness and friendship weren't gifts to him. But, she saw how Jaden was staring Tabane down. Could something have happened between the two?

Ichika already understood Jaden's attitude with his sister, Keith was downright surprised that he had the balls to even say something towards that strict teacher, and the girls were still mesmerized by how he mustered the courage to say something like that.

But Tabane, however, grew slightly suspicious.

---

Omake

"Alright, Ichika," Jaden said, sitting on the edge of the other side of the bed. "Thank you for listening to the advice I gave you, and now it's time for a very thorough lesson on How to survive a Harem 101!"

Ichika blankly stared at him, unable to process the information that was given to him. It seemed like just a few minutes ago they found Keith, caught him up on what's been happening lately, took a jog until it was midnight, and now he's having lessons on how to survive a Harem? Shouldn't that be sticky for Anime cases, like Manga, Light Novels, etc?

"What does this have to do with me though? And why not you too?" He asked.

"That's because I'm not as inexperienced as you; I can tell the difference if a girl wants to hang out with me and likes me at the same time, versus the difference between strictly being friends," He said. "Anyways, this lesson will guide you on how to stay alive, not be a complete dumbass to girl's feelings, and avoid misfortune with our main group we hang out with."

"Ouch…"

"Yeah," Jaden said, deadpanning a bit by Ichika's densest. It is amazing to hear someone who lived 15 years of their life and not one time hear about the birds and the bees. "Not to mention, these girls have access to something called, "IS," they'll rip you apart in shreds if you don't reciprocate their feelings."

"Now, first thing's first," Reaching over to where his phone was charging, he pulled the cord leading into his device. Immediately going on Google, he searched for something; showing the picture right afterward. "Do not panic, and I must put efficiency on that word. When you get into trouble with one of the girls, always keep calm and defend yourself. I'm not talking about beat 'em up, like dodge and weave."

Ichika nodded his head as if he was taking mental notes on the advice that Jaden was telling him. It would have been so much better if he said these things during the first few weeks of learning at the academy, otherwise he wouldn't feel so sore all of a sudden thinking about it.

"Second," Jaden moved on. "Maintain a firm grip on your surroundings. If you slip up and fall face-first into a girl's breasts or grope her by accident, don't even bother trying to explain yourself, you'll only make it worse. Instead, keep your distance and try to calm her down. The last thing you need is to end up in the hospital because you were too stupid enough to dodge."

Ichika's slightly dropped from the second reason. Dodge and keep your distance? If he had to explain himself to Cecilia she'll whip out her Blue Pierce; a Starlight, designed for long-range combat, and destroy him with it. But, he understood dodging could help, for a while.

"And lastly, number three," Jaden pulled up another picture, this one displaying a girl talking to a boy, who was blushing profusely. "Girls are very seductive and persuasive talkers. If you get caught choking on your own words when the time comes, you'll be completely open and vulnerable to that category specifically. Match them when the time comes, throw out your own seductive words when they do it, even the playing fields."

Ichika was about to say something until Jaden shushed him. "And you'll most likely have the girls angry at you. All you have to do is follow the second step, and you should be golden," Uncovering his friend's mouth, he looked at him. "Now, do you have any questions on the three steps to life?"

Just as the raven-haired boy was about to say something, screaming and footsteps could be heard. Both of them looked towards the door in confusion, before hearing Keith run down the hallway screaming for help; running from Cecila of all people.

"Oh for the love of god! Someone help me!"

"Stay still you vile creatine! I'll show you what happens when your dare disrespects me, Cecilia Alcott!"

Both of the boys could only stiffen their laughter as they heard Keith crying out for help. It could be said that he was still running till this day, but he ended up in the hospital bed for only a few hours from the damage he took from the beautiful girl. And all he had to say was it was a "misunderstanding" which almost cost him his life.

But, Keith lived to see another day, thankfully.

---

Let me get something straight, I didn't copy Xeno Wishes. It's just that Omake from chapter 7; Prelude to Advancing, made me laugh so hard, I had to remake it in my own words. Also, he was the one who inspired me to make an Omake for the first time. So, don't get used to it.

And another thing. A lot of people are going to be confused about the backstory I gave Jaden's father, Ethan, so here's a summary: 10 years ago, when the IS was first unveiled, Ethan was the only person in the world who didn't shrug it off as a dumb invention.

It was only until a few months later, his company received IS cores from the government because of the Alaska Treaty and agreement on splitting the cores evenly throughout all nations. But instead of following the orders on creating a unit, Ethan decides otherwise, successfully reverse engineering a IS core; the acceptance rate is far greater on boys than girls.

Tabane found out about this and demanded that he return the core to her or bad things will happen. He refused and sure she did by burning his house to the ground, not just killing his wife, but supposedly him too. She didn't care nor believe that he survived it, and left to do her own thing. Turns out he survived and is hungry for revenge. But, he needed to dispose of the core.

Instead of destroying his hard work, he created the frame for Jaden's IS and put the core specifically inside. When the time came, he placed the unit at his new school; sneaking it past everyone.

Also, the reason why and how he knew about Jaden's abilities is that he was there when someone decided to potentially crack the core when handing it wrong, and decided to test it with strange methods; such as implementing it into artillery. I know this is a lot to take in and unbelievable, but hey! If flying robots that can be piloted by girls live in this universe, then Tabane should have no problem building a fully functional lightsaber.

Another thing, sorry for being gone for so long. I had nothing to write about and lost motivation for a while, so I hope you can forgive me. I don't know when the next time I'll update this story because school is going to start tomorrow for me and it's going to be a major pain in the ass.

And, character development has started on Houki, Charlotte, Cecilia, and Laura. Wanted to do something different for the silver-haired girl; don't worry she'll find love. Again, sorry for not displaying Keith's unit. He's more of the supporting character I made for funsies.

Until then, peace!