And this is chapter 2
Not much to say, I almost forgot how to write because my hiatus. :)
Infinite Stratos
-The Mirror Universe-
Disclaimer:
Izuru Yumizuru
And everyone else!
Prologue 2: Relationship
"Push harder, Ichika~" 'Ichika' cheered softly in encouragement on her partner's effort, as his hand worked his way in the exercise. The body heat is almost contagious and she's drenched in sweat herself, despite her only task is… not doing anything.
Panting heavily to get a spare breath so he could talk, he muttered whilst working with his arms, "Could you stay silent? My spine is not unbreakable you know, and if you don't stop talking. Ugh… I'm on my limit-"
"I can tell by how much your hand is shaking, it's very uncomfortable here."
"I did the hard work, whose bright idea is having you on top? This is twice as hard!" He whined, "Besides, this position is embarrassing,"
"Quit complaining, I'm embarrassed too but did you want to do this with other girl?"
"…no way in hell."
"We're almost there… there! C'mon, just a little more… The last stroke!"
"What in the Mordor are you two doing?"
The voice boomed rough inside the gym, like a howl of a warrior arranged alongside screaming March of an infantry platoon. Such voice is a bad premonition for those two.
But this time, neither of them react that much, too consumed by their innocuous activity to care.
"Instructor told me to act as extra burden," female Ichika grinned in response, leg crossed on top of male Ichika. "When he complained that 400 pushups are too much, she cut it down to a quarter, but he'll have a girl sit on him."
"Of course I did, normally you start slow right? It wasn't even my third day here," the aforementioned guy added, "and I think being sat on is even worse than doing four hundred."
Chifuyu put a palm on her face, "Seriously, you stupid idiot, don't you even think of having a slimmer partner?"
Stupid idiot is kind of redundant, both Ichika thought.
Of course, it wasn't Chifuyu if she doesn't have hidden motives. This is not because she's being lenient to him, but more because personal reason.
Chifuyu still haven't trusted him, not until his trial finished at least, and possibly beyond that. It will be problem if her little sister got attached to him when worst case did happen.
"He still has to carry additional 60 kg worth of kibbles." Female Ichika sighed, pointed at the guy's vest and her own. "Anyway, Kanzashi-chan refused. And the rest, well, the instructors made him uncomfortable. Besides, he hasn't good first impression with them so it'll be very awkward."
"Can't you be a little less blunt?" he complained.
"Well, I don't know, I'm very sure you don't like mixed message-"
He waved his hand lightly "Point."
The older woman twitched her eyebrows. Did they just flirt?
Okay, she's getting too paranoid, that was Ichika being herself like usual. In fact, Chifuyu, for all her lack of experiencing normal brother-sister bond, saw that light in the two Ichika's relationship so far.
That didn't make her feel at ease.
"Regardless, I see you had met her, the other Cadet."
"Right… Orimura-sensei." He nodded without doubt, he mentally thanked the Spartan policy enacted by Chifuyu at school, the result is this became a habit, and made the interaction with his 'new' big sister less uncomfortable.
This is the tenth day MALE Ichika, or as everyone christened, Ikkun, began his cadet representative evaluation and training program. He had 14 days to prove himself, and won't waste even a second.
The first day was very much hectic, between curiosity and morbid suspicion, he wasn't exactly welcomed here. Or at least, he thought.
"So here I am trapped seventy meters under heavily reinforced concrete and steel bar, eh, can't be worse than I.S.A. really."
"When in doubt, have faith!"
"Isn't that quite contradictory?"
"-In me, silly." She said quite calmly as her male counterpart followed her halfheartedly, "What could possibly go wrong indeed."
The other Ichika indeed think otherwise. They are curious, very much, and they are suspicious, but on the other hand, it's a chance of lifetime… or something along that line, kind of meeting an important political figure, she said.
The young girl is so carefree and simpleminded, certainly, the kind of girl he never actually being close with…
Not to say he didn't want to meet them again and never let them go if possible. He admitted constantly hanging out with powerful students created an unintentional wall –at least, he hoped it is- and rifts that separate him from the rest of the student.
Although he never been a socially active person, so his friends is not to blame.
"You're so kind… I can't hardly being honest with girls most of the time, let alone being so open minded."
"Please, are you kidding me?"
"Well, let's see… Houki and Lingyin's anger almost killed me several times, Cecilia feels humiliated just by being near me, and Laura is actively hostile and seriously wanted to end my existence. Oh, and Charl. When she's at the worst moment trampled me around while smiling like an angel of death."
"That… that can't be true right? Well, Houki is VERY violent, and you at least got Laura there, but seriously, Charlotte?"
"You don't need to hold me on that; it could be faulty memory from the brain damage caused by Chifuyu-nee's typical punishment."
"P…P…Pfffftttt"
"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"And with you, I can somehow feel that things will go alright…"
She twiddled her finger and rolled her eyes aside in response, blushing. "You gave me too much credit, Ichika."
Her trembling hands, her awkward pout, faint flush under the eyes… and did he think about her smile again? He was reminded of Charlotte, the only girl in his small clique who actually smiling most of the time. But it's different…
Charlotte's smile put him at ease; Ichika's smile gave him certain kind of courage.
"Alright, I'm going to square my piloting skill, spill the bucket. My body is ready." He cockily slam his fist on his chest.
She got closer and inches away from his face, she grinned mischievously, "Are you sure? Chifuyu-nee's regime will make what you describe as hellish crash course sounds like daily PE activity."
"Eh, better than being left alone… sorry for sounding like a spoiled brat."
"Well, that's that," she returned to her usual self, and smiled. "Not that I like it much, but for whatever reason, welcoming party first?"
"Is that really necessary?" He's not really into crowd and loud place, heck, the guest of his birthday party never exceed two hand worth of fingers.
She air-flicked him and winked, "Say the guy who met and talked, eye to eye with Prime Minister"
"Hey, that one is different!"
He couldn't help, he enjoyed on her company a little too much.
*POP* *POP* *POP* *POP* *POP*
When he stepped out of the elevator, cracker cones exploded left and right, showering them with multicolored paper pieces, sparkles and thin ribbons. So many people gathered and welcomed him.
But those good impressions don't last long.
The first time is the rooming, suddenly a couple of young women barge in, all with different intention from each other. But everything is the same for him: it's bothering him, especially with hormone demon kicking his conscience silly.
There's a lot more incident afterward, passive aggressive girls trying to lure him into traps. Again, their intention might be different. It might be curiosity, a superficial attraction, or outright resentment.
But it all end with abnormally sensual hijinks even worse than he usually experience in Academy. If not for the intervention of his female counterpart, Ichika wasn't even sure he can get married in the future.
And they returned again to present day, his excess fatigue finally released. "I concede, this is really insane of a regime."
"You still have to do the simulation training, keep yourself tidy at all times so go for a shower or something first." Chifuyu coolly noted while looking at her watch, "… scratch that, you have two hour rest and lunch."
"Affirmative."
Pitched the armor on the floor, he made a resounding *THUD*, testament of how heavy the vest is. His hair and clothes drenched so much that it practically glued to his skin, made him uncomfortable. The fact that they did the deed in somewhat cramped place does not help; the air is moist and almost disgusting, although the smell is far less thick than he expect.
(He secretly thanked how dandy his bathroom lifestyle is.)
It probably disturbed his partner as well, so he got himself out as quickly as possible.
Said partner however, much less dismayed. In fact, she secretly enjoyed it… the scent made her reminiscing her old days as the odd one amongst the boys. Laced with dirt and sweat is nothing new to her, although she always clean herself nicely after. She missed hanging out with her male friends and doing silly stuff together.
Such days had long gone, indeed. She had stopped doing that since what? Junior high? No, even at Junior high, boys began to stop looking at her silly and actually saw her as a girl. In fact, one of her closest friend right now is also a boy she rejected...
"… You're there?"
"Ah? Okay, wait a second, Ichika." She removed her vest as well, it's lighter than his vest, but still considerably heavy for its size.
Did he know that already? Even if he didn't, he probably will understand.
Ichika (male) still worried now that he remembered, there's no separate bathroom in the training facility. Shower stall is a go.
"I'll pick the one closest to the door." It was apparent that female Ichika know his issues, yesterday someone stumbled on him naked. This cause no less than total havoc.
"Right..."
Unknowingly, it's not only her who stole a glance or two. Being a perfectly healthy and heterosexual male, he can't help but trace the outline of her figure.
Curvy is the least proper word to describe her. Female Ichika is slender, but somewhat tall and very athletic. Unlike Chifuyu or his friends in ISA, who had little to no sign of being Spartan warriors, female Ichika has the look of being a very strong girl.
The beauty of her smooth skin, silky hair and slim frame provide great contrast to her solidly toned muscle -something that most Japanese girls would find undesirable, being obsessed with cuteness and all.
As for him? It has its own charm.
(And his conscience now beating the devil inside for being a rude pervert.)
Silence followed, only the sound of water flows and soap bubbles moping sweat away from their skin. It was awkward, even if they tried to dismiss the thought. No matter if they look natural being together, there's this little fact called gender difference.
They didn't remember stuff being this hard three years ago.
As such, it's an unspoken rule that no conversation happen in the shower, at all. Of course, anyone with fully functional common sense will THINK more viable solution such as taking a shower on separate occasion, with one guarding outside. Both Ichika are dumb like that.
"Uh, anyway, did you experience this problem in I.S.A. too?"
"Toilet issues."
"Ouch!"
"WHOA! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! THIS IS A CRIME!" He cried.
"Buddy, we're just trying to properly please our new comrade~"
He screamed, "And that involved sharing a shower HOW."
Female Ichika bolted out of her own stall full speed, slide on the floor like a klutz she is, and made an impressive recovery spin and slammed the stall door hard to stop herself. Between embarrassment, confusion, panic and a pint of anger, she found herself panting heavily, eyes wide as she saw estrogen gallery covered in bubbles and bathsuit is molesting her male counterpart freely.
Wouldn't it because of reinforced hinges, the stall door probably will be knocked away.
As far as she can remember, the scene involved her male counterpart getting blindfolded and squished by more than four females in their birthday suit, all of which she personally knew.
"Oh, hi, interested in joining us?"
Female Ichika slipped again on her first step (before they can say anything), and the combined synchronicity and momentum somehow caused him to slip out from their grasp, throwing them off balance and out of the shower room. The number of bizarre accidents is squared, enough to turn what essentially streaks of bad luck into good luck, at least, in comparison.
It was amazing, in hindsight.
He can't even count how many times he had been detested for his perfectly innocent (alright, MOSTLY innocent) accidental molestation of his female friends. It's like whenever female Ichika is around, this occurrence turned.
"My eyes!" she wailed.
"Whua-what happened? I can't tell!" trying his hardest to remove the wet blind, he grasped nearby object.
Then he realized, said nearby object is body part of a girl his age… he quickly retracted when his finger touched a shuddering, wet and soft surface. Most likely her lower arm.
"…sorry." He muttered, calming himself down by leaning on the wall, "Should've think about it first."
"It's okay, just… don't move"
She reached for the walls and found his shoulder (at least, she think it's his shoulder) and straightened her position, "Hey, get the knob on so I can see again"
He used his long reach to turn on the shower, sudden rush of water cleaned her face out of irritating bubbles.
"Alright, that's… good, stop the water"
Her heart thumped when the first thing she saw is… nicely shaped back, yeah, nice back (DON'T LOOK DOWN ICHIKA!) that is not quite broad but solidly chiseled like a marble statue, the glistening look provided by moisture and foam only helped to highlight the charm. Must be warm to and comfortable to lean on it…
She snapped out of her weird, borderline gross thought. "Hey, I'll remove it so turn left"
"Disorientating…"
"Just bear with it, here let me wash your hair too!" She said innocently. Being completely (and deliberately) oblivious as usual, they proceed to separate their way like nothing happened and continue with their grooming activity.
Their comrades already passed out due to overwhelming expectation.
They got their lunch afterward and few dozen minutes to digest it, all the while talking about their schedule and whatnot.
To be honest, they still a bit privy about sharing personal information, out of irrational but otherwise very understandable fear and embarrassment. It seems like a silent agreement or something, perhaps because they realize that they have more similarities than there are differences. Dressed in loose shorts and plain T-shirt, they went for the dojo as Chifuyu ordered, said woman wore a gray tracksuit with a pair of sneaker.
"I don't like where this is going."
"I don't either."
"We'll conduct hand to hand combat exercise now, I am sure neither of you knew each others' abilities yet."
Well, bullseye.
"So I want two of you to fight each other, there are two rules: control your emotion and avoid causing permanent injury, otherwise go all out."
"But Orimura-sensei." he gritted his teeth; it's not so much that he don't want to fight.
He is afraid.
He is afraid of her, but more than that he afraid the demon well hidden inside his psyche.
"If you're the same Ichika I think a male version of Ichika is; I am very aware you have problematic childhood issues…"
"Chifuyu-nee, we already decide to leave it behind…" female Ichika murmured, no, pleaded. He understood, indeed, if their stories are similar…
Chifuyu's expression softened and nod, "Nowhere I said we should forget it; and your problem become his as well, now that Government decided to make him your partner if temporarily."
"Alright…" she nodded in response.
Soon after they taped their joints, they began to assemble protective gear composed of gloves, inner codpiece, shin guard, and headgear. Everything else is a fair game, Chifuyu spare no mercy, and they're decided not to go half-assed in their effort.
"Begin."
In the blink of an eye, female Ichika dashed with the intention of offensive attack, a downward kick to be precise. He wondered why she choose to attack with something easily backfire like that.
The he found it's nothing but a feint, because the kick changed direction and she executed a knee strike toward the direction of his waist, mid air. He barely managed to deflect it, and almost managed to deliver a punch as a counter. She dodged it swiftly and efficiently.
"Don't joke around, Ichika!" he said, "I still know the basic, don't botch it just because I've abandoned proper training for three years."
"You're the same, Ichika… just because I'm a girl doesn't mean you NEED to give me handicap, I can see it from your eyes that you're still having a doubt." she countered sharply.
"…thanks for the reminder"
The second time they exchanged contact, it was brutal, each of their attacks could seriously injure layman caught in the fray. And yet, they deliver, dodge and deflect blows left and right without much problem. To most people's eyes, all they can see is a complete mirrored fight, their moves, speed and power is almost identical.
But not for Chifuyu, or any skilled fighter for that matter.
Chifuyu can easily see their differences, both are user of Shinonono school of Offensive Fist, both have roughly similar combat style; focusing on taking down their enemies in one decisive strike, but not exactly.
He has edge in raw power and better fist-fighting technique. On the other hand, her sister has better footwork, power efficiency and speed.
Interesting, Chifuyu thought, they can fight each other as equal, but as complement…
Ten minutes later, Chifuyu clapped three times, signaling the end of the fight. The fact that they are HAIR away from squashing each others' face in a decisive cross counter is even more impressive.
"You have five minutes to cool down and analyze each other's flaws and merits."
Female Ichika quickly approached him, "Hey… you're okay, sorry for that cheek."
"What about your temples." He tapped the aforementioned part friendly.
"It's nothing." They noted almost synchronously, which made them laugh heartily.
Chifuyu feels ticked off for obvious reason, I need a freaking drink.
"Alright, that's five minutes, are you guys ready?"
"Anytime."
Chifuyu stepped in to the center of the gymnasium, "Then go."
Suddenly both Ichika become pale, as if they lose every drop of their resolve.
…
Finger twitched, he crawled slowly and surely, pain creep through every inch of their body, no, every single muscle strand and nerve nodes of his body.
"Ichika… I… failed…"
Against the world champion, their strength is anything but sufficient. The proud warrior stood valiantly against unending assault without even flinching.
"Don't lose hope… yet..." she forced a smile despite tears flowing from every corner of her eyes, "Ichika."
"Ichika…"
"Ichika, get up."
"You too, Ichika."
As they tried to reach each other's hands dramatically, Chifuyu stomped the floor hard enough that even nanotube-reinforced wooden floor reverberate in response. Caused them to startle and pass out.
Chifuyu chugged the last of her beer can and sighing, she's somewhat relieved that her sister is really happy. Last year she's forced into the same training regime, and seriously depressed. The training is mostly a botch.
And Chifuyu dropped on her knees, finally giving up from the exhaustion and pain. Her breath is unsteady, her heart is erratic. It took a minute for her to regain even footing, and even then, she slumped on the wall, barely conscious.
She doesn't want to show this side of her in front of them, not yet.
Paired with each other, they're one scary combination…
Well, if she can't separate them without causing damage…
It's the last day of Ichika (male) training, and he adapt rather well to his overloaded scheduling. He passed every test with reasonable margin, consider that he's pretty much an amateur. The final test is to be done the day after tomorrow.
"Shopping?"
"Yes, go out and play… I mean, you need fresh air sometimes." Chifuyu coughed, trying to cover her honest concern.
Ikkun can't help but to express GREAT disbelief at what he just heard.
"But what about Ichika's test?" his female counterpart said.
Silence followed.
"Ikkun's test, I mean."
"I trust you enough to keep a tab on him, if you failed…" Chifuyu's face turned stone cold the moment she stopped talking.
Female Ichika shuddered in response.
"Also, referring to each other with same name is exceptionally confusing," Chifuyu noted softly.
Ichika (both of them) aren't really on it for nicknames after all.
"Well other people already had their way to differentiate us." he leered aside, using the old, childish name given the Tabane, this result with Icchan (female) and Ikkun (male) respectively.
"Well, do as you wish. Your I.S. restoration has yet to be finished, so we use spare frame as substitute." She said to the male Ichika as she handed him his gauntlet. "The Prototype frame of ByakuShiki."
"Prototype Frame?"
"The original design before Tabane altered it, it's a true generation 3 machine… so it still has a lot of flaws, but its actual combat potential is nothing to be scoffed off. Like the new design, it's a close combat unit boasting high speed and power output, but it has different perks. Master it tomorrow so you can complete the final test properly."
Meaning no Yukihira Nigata or Reiryaku Byakuya.
"I understand."
What type of I.S. is this? He tried to dismiss the thought… or rather, desperate enough to fully trust Chifuyu for his safety despite her sink and swim attitude in the past…
And the fact this Chifuyu is a lot less Spartan than he expected, he can't help but feel guilty that he liked this Chifuyu more than the one he knew before, the real sister he always held in high esteem.
"So what do you think?"
"Wanna hit the arcade?"
"Bet on it."
When they look exceptionally happy with that simple decision, Chifuyu kicked them out of the lift and threw a folded map as the door closing.
"Holy crap what the hell is her problem?" Icchan muttered as she rubbed her sore butt.
"Hmm, list of the possible entertaining places, restaurant, movies… I don't come to those places much so I kind of forgot..." he muttered
"Same here."
She doesn't list arcade on it though. Both of them mentally noted with a bit of disappointment.
Something kept nagging Chifuyu for the past week, and she grew impatient… their relationship is, to put it simply, ambiguous. A brother she never had, a male friend with great awareness, comrade with full understanding of situation, a love interest with a lot of shared similarities… he's way too perfect.
And that's where the flaw can be found, two people that too similar with each other either cannot get along most of the time, or heaven forbid, reached critical mass and blew up, breaking the relationship with little to no salvage. And thus, Chifuyu HAD to know whether the difference they have complement each other or made things worse. It's true, human change with time, but even general knowledge is enough to ease Chifuyu's concern.
As for moral implication of possible incestuous relationship? She has little to no concern about bloodlines; it's his value to her that's more important. It's far easier to mend broken romance than it is to rebuild a collapsing family.
Between her best friend and said friend's family, Chifuyu had learned about it the hard way. Chifuyu doesn't want Ichika to experience the same feelings as Ichika's childhood friend Houki, betrayed by sister you always adore and trust is especially painful.
Ichika had to find what kind the bond they have soon, whether to let it develop or not, it's not for Chifuyu to decide.
…
The pair in question walked slowly enjoying the short freedom they got, human evolved to live on the vast land of earth after all.
Dressed in rather loose soccer shirt and black spats, Icchan made herself look even younger than she is actually. Her extremely casual, tomboyish attire is counterbalanced by her simple but well maintained hairstyle, makeup and decoration.
Their facial features, sans the tinted blue hair, aren't that distinct for Japanese, so Icchan's style actually sort of makes sense to him: they focus on her face and hair, while her attire gave distinct contrast.
Knowing him, and taking some clues from their rather similar lifestyle, she actually not doing it on purpose. She simply choose what comfortable and practical to her, and that's about it.
The first place they visit is a lavish city park, much to their usual ignorance; it's filled with couples enjoying their loving and caring relationship. Well, there are occasional family gathering, but they are more an exception than the norm
It is weekend; of course there are a lot of couples.
"This is awesome."
By that, they meant the scenery.
"It looks boring until you remember how long since you saw it the last time..." he muttered.
She blinked, and then it comes to her realization.
"Did you miss Houki and everyone?"
"Of course I am" he smiled brilliantly, before turning his attention to her. "However, moping around won't solve anything."
Sense of warmth and comfort crept into him as she held his hand gently, their fingers intertwined. "You're right, there must be a way for you to return back to where you belong."
"Alright, where should we go?"
She grinned widely, caused him to gulp in response.
Of course, it has to be air hockey, can't miss the air hockey.
Their skillful execution and reaction speed amazed the youngster around them; it's as if the puck is floating frictionless due to how it's been abused thoroughly during the high velocity showdown.
Twice they played, twice ended with a draw.
"That's awesome and you should feel awesome." he winked as they left the arcade.
To say she's satisfied is an understatement, up to date no one, repeat; no one can give her real challenge in air Hockey. Every match with her best friend Dan ends with a curbstomping, sans few cases where she's distracted or plain bored. Ditto with the rest of her friends.
"So where should we go next? Your call."
"Dunno, movies?"
Instinctively, they stepped aside letting the mob took over the road screaming. Female Ichika took some initiative to ask people that don't seem to be in a hurry.
"Excuse me, can I ask what just happened?"
"Garden Wolves improvised a live show behind the building over there." the pedestrian said.
"Garden… oh"
"What? You want to see it as well?" Ikkun asked.
"Well, don't think it'll be comfortable."
"Sacrifice has to be made, let's go." he laughed and they went to the direction of them mob as well.
"[LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I WANT TO ASK 'YO DAWG HOW ARE YOU DOING THIS WEEKEND?', AND I WANT TO HEAR AWESOME CHEER!]"
"YAAAAAAAAAHH!" sounds of excited mob resounding in the corner of Odaiba as four handsome young men fast roped themselves from a helicopter. Ikkun noted it must be 'male idol group' that's been famous these days, judging from the reaction.
But that red hair… that slim, tall build…
And that confident and sometimes lecherous smirk…
"IS THAT DAN?!" he did a double take.
"Ha, bet you didn't expect it." Icchan smiled, "I'm sorry for not telling."
So there's also difference like this.
"I bet he's happy… the one Dan I knew always wanted to be surrounded by girls like that." he commented as the aforementioned red haired boy is tossed up by his loyal fans.
"Well if rabid, half-insane female stalker is not bad enough, I don't know what else."
They left the location with upbeat song blaring in the background, even though it's 35 degrees outside, some people never lost their spirit.
They went to a movie afterward, at first, they can't decide which one to watch. If only because neither of them had real favorite franchise, they settled with sci-fi movie anyway, and walk out refreshed after the two hour thrill.
"That was awesome."
"You know what, rocket punch in an I.S…. that would be awesome."
"But it'll be hilarious if it's a miss unless it has return mechanism."
Their happy chatter stopped when someone blurted out, "Huh, isn't that…Ichika-neesama"
Ichika-neesama? He thought.
"KYAA! IT'S ICHIKA-SENPAI!"
In few second, both Ichika are pitted by about a dozen girls younger than both of them, probably Junior High, he guessed they're juniors from the old school. They're so cute, innocent, and yet at the same time cunning and scary. The two high school student have no room to move let alone run away.
"Long time no see~"
"I'm so happy we can meet here~"
"Uh, I'm sorry but… have we meet before?" she smiled apologetically, but it seems that they're not surprised.
"We're members of Ichika-senpai's fanclub, even after your graduation we still have a lot of active members" one of the girls said.
"Ah I see"
"That aside, senpai… are you two… going out?"
"A date, it's a date right?"
Both of them looked at each other, the back at the girls "Well we already watch a movie just now…"
At first, it's seems that the girls lost their hope once and for all, judging by their varied expression of disappointment.
"Uwaaa, I don't know whether to feel happy or sad."
"So dense."
"Wah, he look decent too, no wonder they hit it."
He doesn't know whether to feel flattered or disturbed by such mixed reception.
"Chifuyu-nee just told me to take my time to relax." she nodded innocently, "My schedule for summer break is filled as it is."
The girls returned to their hyperactive mood.
"Ah, as expected of Chifuyu-sama, she even paired her with a pretty boy"
"She's really kind and considerate."
Yeah, sure… Both Ichika mentally giggled.
The next hour is spent on familiarizing themselves with each other while having lunch; neither of them is accustomed to remember people they only meet once, so it's kind of awkward. Ikkun decide to introduce himself as Orino Ichika, courtesy of the family of his father's side.
"You even have same name!"
"Must be confusing~"
"Well, not for us," She noted "And other people use different nickname for us anyway."
"Ah, we're almost late."
"Please excuse us."
And with that, crisis over.
"You know what? I never saw Ichika-senpai so cheerful… perhaps she really like him, but haven't realized it?"
They continue their lunch whilst having a small talk, that is, until an earthquake interrupted. Noticed that there is no better place to stay safely, the outdoor restaurant. Most people around seems to share their opinion.
Then, a loud creaking sound caught their attention.
"Is that…"
"Daikaransha?!"
The gargantuan, 100 meter wide ferris wheel struggled to keep its structure intact, but from what their I.S. calculated, it won't hold for more than few minutes, and with it's size, evacuation is borderline implausible.
"Hey wait, Ichika" he shouted when she dashed toward the location.
"It won't stay like that forever" she cried, unleashing her I.S. she flew toward the direction of the failing amusement facility.
And before it collapsed for real, she struggled to hold it, the creaking sound continues as if it got damaged even further.
"Goddamn it… holding one side will cause it to buckle… then how…"
He concentrated to unleash his new I.S.; his mind is now filled with necessary information and data for operation to go smoothly.
"ByakuShiki… no... REIJIN!"
Gunmetal armor materialized refitting themselves to become a literal extension of his body. The world slowed down as I.S. hypersensor speed up his reaction times to several times that of normal human.
And he took off.
"ICHIKA! TO THE LEFT!"
"ALRIGHT!"
She slowly strafed left while holding over a thousand tons of metal frame, when he grabbed the other one and reduce the load much, she feel relieved. It's not that because I.S. can 'only' normally carry 100 ton or so, it's just that the engineering design of a Ferris wheel meant applying too much strength will destroy the continuity of the framework.
"Remember." she whispered to herself, "Timing is important"
Their metallic feet touched the ground smoothly before adjusting the suspension power, again to prevent buckling of the wheel itself. People began to scramble out from their extremely thrill ride capsule, some of which thanked the two teenagers.
Due to the landing location however (by that, the hectometer wide wheel landed on top of various building surrounding it), they have to manually rescue a lot of them, until firefighters and special task force is deployed anyway.
"We did it."
"I can hardly believe it, we did it Ichika." she excitedly hugged him.
He was silent, and simply covered her with his shirt.
"Ichika? What's wrong?"
It's impossible to summon I.S. properly with baggy or thick clothes; they have to remove most of their attire. In case of Icchan, that means her t-shirt and shoe.
Too bad she forgot, so I.S. armor had ripped her shirt, exposing her extremely athletic body for the world to see.
"We need a new shirt I think." he muttered with a red face, half laughing.
She blinked few times, before realization kicks in and she held her mouth to avoid screaming.
"It's okay, phase out the booster and use my shirt, quick." he whispered.
"That sucks." She muttered angrily, "And really embarrassing."
"You shouldn't, you saved a lot of people's lives."
"Sigh, I should've wear I.S. outfit all the time… it's just that today is especially hot. And that shirt I wear? It's exceptionally thin and cool without being transparent, my favorite too."
She was even caught in a camera with torn shirt and glimpse of sports bra.
"I can understand you're upset, though." he scoffed.
Indeed, even her male counterpart is not safe. His ripped pants and boxers barely protected his modesty (or his plain white brief).
"Ah right… I guess you can say that" she chuckled.
She is obviously lying, he can tell. But of course, he's not going to ask. That would be exceptionally rude.
The fallout of revealing (male) Ichika's identity early had been averted: in fact, the government milked his heroic action as some kind of debut. There's even some sort of immediate press conference.
Ichika 'Ikkun' Orino, 15, birthplace classified, related to Orimura sisters, otherwise no available information. The government purposefully being cryptic while introducing him, as some kind of bait for newshound. Of course, with him officially don't exist, those newshound will only find blank spots everywhere.
His introduction to I.S.A. would've been even worse than the first time.
Night had come, and he decided to return to his quarter.
But decided to quit, fast. Apparently the females in the camp have funny ideas to 'reward' him.
Knowing the situation, Icchan quickly pulled him inside her room… After he passed her like three or four times.
"Scooby-doo chase?" she asked, in fact, seriously. The layout of the base means there's always room for intersection, always.
"Yes" he nodded, embarrassed.
Offering cold water to him, she noted "They should have self restraint"
"Huh?"
She raised her eyebrow, did he just…
"When they said they want a piece of you, I don't think they're joking." she laughed.
"Ha, so they ARE cannibals! They even said I taste good."
Both of them are purposefully ignorant like that.
"…I think they really like you, Ichika."
"I already said it much." he muttered "I can't bear to have a girlfriend yet, now that my situation got even worse. And the way they tease me doesn't help like, at all."
"Not because you have someone you like?"
The subsequent silence is irritating.
"Not really..." for now at least "How about you?"
"Same." she muttered "I'm not seeing anyone, nor interested in dating."
The air became much thicker and hotter; the tension is that close of breaking the scale. Neither of them able to say anything, like, at all.
Then, the tension disappear
"Hey, do you feel envious when you saw your friends happily dating?" she asked rather lightly.
"Huh? Not really… you wonder about it too?"
"Yeah, it's really strange."
"Definitely, we have valid reason but even then…"
"Are you pondering what I'm pondering?" she looked at him intently on the eyes
He shrugged, "We saw dating as something unnecessary?"
"Indeed"
Over-thinking about romantic relationship at their age is most definitely stupid. And boy they laugh over it, so hard that they can no longer hold their tears. And her bed is a total mess now…
They already enjoyed what they can do; making friends, study, and train together. They found a person that they can closely relate with, it's only getting better and better.
When the time is right, perhaps…
Minor Update: Orino Ichika is the name used in I.S. 4-koma for female version of Ichika, but since female Ichika used it, so I gave it to male (canon) Ichika instead.
