Chapter 2 is here! Wow, looks like this story is making a hit now with over 10 favorites and 10 follows. Now to answer the replies that I picked:
Aburg76: Yes, he will be the one to shut her up and yes, they will get along. But, in this story, Setsuna is still trying to control his Innovator powers so he has a legitimate excuse to be dense. However as for Ichika, you know what it means.
Reishin Amara: Thank you for having high hopes for this story!
KisaragiKei: Don't worry, there will be MOAR!
laigunner03: It is S1 of Infinite Stratos and sorry if he is a bit OOC.
Disclaimer: All characters & series belong to their respective owners.
So onto the story.
Chapter 2: 00 Launches, Devil Awakens Pt. 1
IS Academy, Class 1-1
"My name is Setsuna F. Seiei, and as for today I will be your classmate. Let's hope we can get along" he finished with a bow. When he looked up, he noticed the silence of the girls. Not knowing what happened, he scanned the room. The only reactions that he saw different were at the blond girl who looks at him in annoyance, the long, black haired girl who only closed her eyes, and Ichika, who, for some reason, covered his ears. He didn't expect what happens next but Ichika knew all along, as this also happened to him. And then the unexpected happened, for Setsuna anyways.
"KYAAAAAAAAAAHHHH! IT'S ANOTHER BOY!" shouted the girls as he finished his introduction.
"LOOK! HE"S SO HANDSOME!"
"AND SO POLITE AS WELL!"
"I will talk to him later and invite him to lunch!"
These reactions managed to break his stoic face as he was startled with their sudden uproar. He then remembered what Maya told him earlier in the note.
'So this is what she means of them getting weird. But this is just-' before he finished his thought,
"SILENCE DAMNIT!" A loud slam in the teacher's desk was heard and the populace of the room became quiet. Then they all saw their homeroom teacher, Chifuyu Orimura, glaring at them.
"He," Chifuyu said reffering to Setsuna, "is a Test Pilot of the new IS created by Celestial Being Development Corporation. And as for today, he will be in this class." She said as she looked at him. "Setsuna, go take your seat beside Orimura."
"Yes ma'am" he replied as he silently went at the seat beside Ichika and settling down. Ichika, for one, was more than happy that there is another male student & he is sitting next to him.
"Okay, now that everything is settled, we will continue where we left off" Maya said as the monitor displayed a woman in an oversized astronaut suit with two engineers beside her. While Ichika and the girls were carefully listening, Setsuna on the other hand was in thought while listening.
"So this "IS" was once designed for space travel. Now, it is used as a weapon," he thought with disgust, as he think it was the same as Aeolia's knowledge when he gave it to the world.
"Alright, please open your textbook to page 18" Maya said as they all grabbed the specified book and turned it to the specified page. Meanwhile, Ichika tried to strike a conversation with the new student so he whispered. "Psst… Hey Setsuna, it may be difficult at first, but try to pay attention to class so that you wouldn't be caught by-"
"Orimura!" Chifuyu shouted as she threw the attendance book at Ichika's face. As he massaged his face, Chifuyu glared at him and said. "No whispering in class! Act a little bit like Seiei for once!" The girls giggled as they saw Ichika lowered his head apologetically and was amazed that their teacher actually praised the new student. Said student however, maintained his stoic face as he looked at Ichika and stole a glance at the annoyed blonde. He didn't know what was wrong with her so he focused his thought in class.
'Let's see what you can do,' Cecilia thought, an evil grin appearing in her beautiful face.
Recess Period
After the 2nd class ended, all first years quickly went to Class 1-1 to see the new boy in the school. Like the class, they all squealed in delight at how handsome he is and made some normal and not so normal plans with him.
"Hey, what's your favorite food?"
"Do you like anime or video games?"
"Have you lived in the Middle East? How does it look like?"
These, and more questions left Setsuna no room of peace as he sighed. But one particular question sparked a chain reaction among the girls.
"Do you have a girlfriend?"
This made all girls, outside and inside, screeched at the question. As he furrowed his brows and try to answer their questions in his style, Ichika forced himself out of the crowd and went to Setsuna's side.
"Hey Setsuna, wanna join me and my friends eat?" he asked. Setsuna thought about that. If he could find a temporary breather in this outrage, then this will do. He nodded in response and Ichika suddenly grabbed his hand.
"Great! Now let's get going before Houki gets angry at me again," he said as they left the room. This left the women silent for a while and when they disappeared from their sight, loud screams can be heard from them as they remembered some scenes of the Yaoi books they often read.
At the Cafeteria
"Where in the world is that moron right now? To leave a woman like this, that IDIOT!" Houki shouted, earning the curious glances of the students eating inside. She was currently waiting for a certain blockhead who said that he has something to pick up. When she looked at the door, she saw Ichika and gave a sigh of relief. But what alarmed her is that the new student is following him,
And they're holding hands.
When Ichika arrived, he noticed that Houki looks scared for some reason so he called out for her.
"Houki? What's wrong?" he asked, which came a stuttering reply from her.
"D-do you h-have 'that' relationship with S-Seiei-san? A-and that fast?" when he heard that, his eyes widened.
"A-Ah NO! I don't have 'that' relationship with him! I just helped him to get away from the girls in class." He replied worrying that she thought of him as gay. When she looked at Setsuna however, she saw him shaking his head before pulling his hand away from Ichika earning his confusion and shaking his head again before saying in his common monotone voice "No, I'm not gay."
"A-are you s-sure?" she asked then a reply seconds after she said that. "Yes."
"A-ah. O-okay" she said as she sighed on relief. She thought that Setsuna is a man of few words but those words were enough to get to the point. She then apologizes to Setsuna.
"I-I'm sorry for doubting you, Seiei-san" She then introduced herself. "I am Houki Shinonono and this blockhead that brought you here is my childhood friend, Ichika Orimura." She said with a slight blush when she said "childhood friend" but it was noticed by Setsuna who introduced himself again to them.
"I am Setsuna F. Seiei, but Setsuna is fine" he said in monotone. He was then patted in the shoulder by Ichika. "Well then Setsuna, let's get our food before Chifuyu-nee scold us again. By the way, can we do this later?" He asked, but he was half rejected by him.
"Sorry, but I have to get my IS this afternoon, but I may catch up with you later"
"Oh, okay. But by the way, what is your IS?" he asked him.
"That is classified until it is shown in the field" he replied, following the instructions Chifuyu told him about keeping the secret of his gundam. They were then told by Houki, "Hey! It is you next." This quickly cut their chatter as they got their food and find a place to sit. As they were eating, several stares were at them from the different seats, looking at Setsuna in particular, as they confirmed the rumors of a new male pilot by themselves.
Lunch Break
"Okay, everyone. That's it for now, see you later~!" Maya said, ending the lesson for now so that the students can eat their lunch. As she and Chifuyu were leaving, they remembered something and they looked at Setsuna.
"Mr. Seiei, please follow us. We will now give you your IS." Chifuyu said earning curious looks from the girls, wondering what would his IS be, except for two, who was told by the pilot beforehand. He then stood up, packed his things and followed Maya to the maintenance room.
IS Academy- IS Maintenance Room
It was an enormous, dark room when Setsuna and Maya arrived at the hangar. After she pressed some buttons, the entire room shined. Setsuna was amazed about the hangar, but his face clearly show that he doesn't. Looking around the facilities w/c consisted of a linear catapult similar to the one inside Ptolemaios 2 leading to the arena and an elevator leading to the observation room on the 2nd floor. Then Setsuna suddenly heard Maya's voice calling him and he went to her.
"Setsuna, your IS is right here." She said. When he looked at it, his stoic face changed to a surprised one, given the fact that what happened to his gundam.
Instead of its full glory, the 00 now has shrunk into a human-sized MS. While still maintaining its past form and the 0-Raiser still connected, the chest, skirt & the head of the gundam were gone.
"This…this..is my gundam?" he asked, now clearly seeing his surprised face.
"Is something the matter, Mr. Seiei?" she asked, then he went to 00.
He then checked every nook and cranny to see if it was tampered w/c luckily, none were seen except a cable plugged at the back. Maya then said.
"Um, before you can use your IS Mr. Seiei, we need to register it first." This question surprised Setsuna as he turned to the teacher, brows furrowed and asked with a suspicious tone, unaware that he activated his Innovator powers.
"What do you mean by registering my gundam?"
Maya was startled when he gave her again his golden-eyed glare. She then answered.
"When we were examining it, we tried to register it ourselves due to your IS having two cores at once, but as what we told you before, we can't get past its security"
"You are avoiding my question. What do you mean by registering my gundam?" he said as his glare got deeper and making Maya more scared.
"I-it means we need to put it in the records of the academy for your registration and to allow you in tournaments" she hastenly replied. 'Oh No! He might still feel suspicious about us and might kill me now!' she thought, unaware that he clearly heard it.
He was then in thought. If its power is seen by the world governments here, it might escalate the wars that are still happening here. He then think of ideas that may reduce its power, then looked at the 00, the 0-Raiser to be specific, as he got an idea.
"Fine, but I need to do something first," he said as he walked back at his gundam. Maya was confused of his sudden approval but she became curious when he went to his IS until he said,
"Disengage GN System Repause. Priority to Setsuna F. Seiei" he said as he looked at the chest of the IS and a sensor, possibly biometrics, swiped at Setsuna's eyes. Then the IS started to life, emitting strange particles in the cones containing the IS cores that amazed Maya. Then he continued.
"Disengage 0-Raiser" after he said that, the armor on the cones and the back of the gundam started shining. Maya wondered what happened, then all of a sudden the 0-Raiser disappeared and the cable fall off, revealing the cones itself and a thinner back. After that the IS started powering down and Maya asked.
"What happened, Mr. Seiei?"
"I tried to tone down my gundam to avoid your world governments from trying to get this. Now its system should be unstable now." He replied, making her alarmed.
"What?! But that would endanger you and the IS!" she shouted, worried that he removed the stabilizer of the IS, but he replied
"Although it is unstable, it can still function, given that it is not overworked without its stabilizer" she was relieved to what he said and remembered what she should be doing now.
"Can I now register it in its state?" she asked to which he nodded and moved away.
"Thank you, Mr. Seiei, can you please wait outside?" she asked. Although he was alarmed by it, he can feel that she can be trusted, so he only nodded and left. After that, Maya then lifted the IS into the registration area. But, when she were connecting the cables, something jumped at the back of the IS and smashed itself in her youthful face. When she fell, the unknown then proceeded to bounce on her chest while flashing its eyes and flapping its "ears", but was blocked by her bountiful breasts as she sceamed.
"INTRUDER ALERT. INTRUDER ALERT. ACTIVATING DEFENSE PROTOCOL. ACTIVATING DEFENSE PROTOCOL.
"IYYYYYYAAAAAANNNNN! PLEASE STOP IT! IT HURTS" she screamed, while sounding like she was being raped, as Setsuna quickly ran to her. But when he saw the intruder, his alarmed face returned to his stoic one as he simply stated.
"HARO, codename: Setsuna F. Seiei. Abort defense protocol. Repeat, abort defense protocol."
When the unknown or "HARO" heard it with its voice recognition, it said,
"Codename: Setsuna F. Seiei. Defense protocol aborted. Defense protocol aborted."
Then, with a big bounce, it left Maya's chest,"OW!", as it rolled to Setsuna. As she regained her ground and massaged her breasts, she asked him.
"What is that?" pointing at the red metal ball which Setsuna picked up.
"It's my robotic companion HARO, he helps in stabilizing my gundam. HARO, say sorry." he said to the ball. Maya thought he was kidding that he scolded it like a child, but it then looked at her and-
"Sorry. Sorry." apologized to her while its eyes flashed and ears flapped. While she looked at it, quite smitten at that, Setsuna remembered something and said.
"I forgot, the database is also protected with viruses. HARO, temporary deactivate security system and temporarily allow clearance from level 1 to level 3." Then the ball fell silent and after a few minutes, it said.
"Done. Done."
After that, he then looked at Maya. "I'm sorry, but I have to supervise this registration so that you only get what information I can give." He said and she agreed. After that she continued to connect the remaining cables with him watching. While connecting, she noticed a duffel bag behind the IS. She thought that his belongings were there so she will give it to him after they inspect it so she kept silent about it for now. After the scan is complete and the registration finished, she scanned the report and found nothing wrong. She then went to Setsuna.
"Mr. Seiei, the scan is complete. There's nothing wrong with your IS."
"Thanks." He replied.
"Oh, don't worry, it's a teacher's job to help the students after all," she said but, "I think the roles should have been switched" she whispered to herself. This made him raise an eyebrow but he was interrupted when he was given a thick book by her while explaining.
"This manual will teach you the regulations of the IS and how to switch it to standby mode and how to call and deploy it."
"Standby mode?" he asked. "Standby mode is the form of the IS when it is not used and commonly take the shape of an accessory" she replied. "Try to change your IS into its standby mode. Simply touch it and focus your mind to change it" he nodded and did what he had been told. After touching the IS and focusing his mind the whole IS started shining. When the light faded, the IS now takes the form of an amulet with a golden symbol of Celestial Being and a blue globe as its background.
"This is?" he asked. "That would be your IS in its standby mode," she said as she looked at it. "Although I also saw other IS in amulet form, I never imagine that it would look like the symbol of its manufacturer. Don't you agree, Mr. Seiei?" she said, still amazed at the IS. She then said.
"Now, try to deploy your IS. Hold your amulet and just follow the instructions again and try to deploy it, just like before" He nodded again and focused his mind. Then, lights started shining around him, save the skirt, chest and head and when it vanished, he was surprised that he was now wearing his gundam again, but it didn't hurt like the first time when it shrank.
"This is currently the default mode of the IS," she said as she gave him another book, much thinner and began explaining. "This book will help you to calibrate the settings and weapons of the IS," and then she clapped her hands. "Well, that much covers it. You can try testing your IS on your free time and please come to the teacher's office later to get your room key," she finished.
"Thanks ma'am." was all he can reply and both of them left the hangar, with Setsuna carrying two books in one hand, a HARO on the other and an amulet on his neck as they separate ways.
Lunch Break
After leaving his things in the classroom, he checked the clock and saw that there are still 25 minutes before the next subject and headed for the cafeteria. When he entered, all gazes were at him, making him uncomfortable. As he scanned the surroundings, he saw some 3rd year and 2nd year students blushing furiously as they looked away. He didn't know that they were the student council members that carried him in the infirmary and stuff happened. He then noticed two students and saw Ichika and Houki waving their hands at him. When he got his food, he went to their position and Ichika smiled that he had lunch with them. Houki then noticed the strange amulet Setsuna is wearing so she asked.
"Setsuna, what's that?" pointing her finger at his amulet which caught the men's attention.
"This is my IS in standby mode," he quickly replied.
"Wow! You already got your IS?! Mine will be delivered next Monday." He said, then they looked at Houki who for some reason looked sad. "Houki, what's wrong?" Setsuna asked, startling Houki in the process.
"O-oh nothing, Setsuna," she replied but this does not remove the concern of Ichika because he thinks that she doesn't belong to them who has personal IS. Then it was Setsuna's turn to frown and they asked him in unison:
"Setsuna, what's wrong? They asked. He immediately replied. "It feels like something will go wrong today."
IS Academy Class 1-1
There was still a few minutes before the bell rang and the trio had their own ways to kill time. Houki was staring at the window, Ichika twirling his mechanical pencil and Setsuna is reading the new books he got today. While the other students curiously looked at the red ball near Setsuna's desk, Cecilia Alcott, the British Representative, made her move.
'Alright, I will show this man his place right now.' She cleared her throat, stood up and went to Setsuna's chair. The remaining students were curious as to what she would do. But Houki and Ichika could only stare wide-eyed and swallow their saliva because this was the exact feeling that Setsuna felt while they were eating. They could only pity their new friend for he would be pretty much insulted by this arrogant woman.
"Excuse me." She said to get his attention but her target didn't move an inch as he continued to read his book. "Hello? Can you hear me?" she asked again, with hints of annoyance but yield the same results. She then slammed her hands at his desk.
"CAN YOU HEAR ME?!" she shouted, then he slammed the book shut and looked at her with a glare. She was startled by it but she continued.
"Hmph! Looks like you are not deaf. Care to-"she was then interrupted by Setsuna who said "What do you want?" When she heard it, she became shocked and covered her mouth with her hand. "What?! How rude of you! I thought that you would be more gentlemanly than the Japanese boy, you act like the same, no, worse than him!" she shouted, but,
"What do you want woman?" he repeated his question. She was then irritated that he didn't even know her name and just called her "woman" and stated.
"You even don't know my name?! I am Cecilia Alcott, the British Representative of this academy. I'm sure you heard that name before," she said, with her ojou-sama mode activated. But the only reply she heard from him was a grunt and a page turned. She then opened her eyes and saw him reading the same book and completely ignoring her.
"Why YOU?!-"before she can grab him, she paused and they heard the bell rang. She was really irritated now and looked at him. "This isn't over yet!"& with a huff, she left to her seat. The students who saw the scene were shocked that he managed to piss her off without saying much. Then, Maya and Chifuyu entered the room and they returned to their respective seats. Then, Chifuyu said.
"A few days from now, we will need to elect a class representative. They would be our representative in our school tournaments and attend student council meetings and they will be the class leader. So anyone would nominate someone?" one girl raised her hand.
"Ma'am, I nominate Mr. Orimura as the representative." Ichika was surprised by this as leaked a "HUH?!" then another girl countered her.
"No! I nominate Mr. Seiei as the representative." Setsuna's eyes widen as he heard it, looking at the girl who said it. Then there was the tension between the girls as to whom of the males would represent them. Irritated, Chifuyu said,
"Now we have two names. Majority wins. So who vote for Orimura?" then Ichika interjected.
"Wait! Can't we both have any say in this?!" Chifuyu then gave him a glare that summed up his suspicion that he can't. All he could only do is to sit down and wait for his fate.
"So who vote for Orimura?" she looked back and soon most of the girls raised their hands. Mentally counting them, Chifuyu then made a decision. "Looks like Orimura wins by majority. So our representative would be-"but before she can finish, Cecilia stood up, slamming her desk.
"I don't approve of this!" she said, with a clear displeasure on her face. "I don't think that he should get this position. I Cecilia Alcott, are more than able to do such job than these weak boys over there" she then pointed at the boys. This made Ichika a little offended at what she said, but before he can say anything, Setsuna suddenly stood up, with a clear face that he is angry. Ichika could only worry where this is going.
'Oh, boy. I think she pissed him off big time.'
"You say that you should be the class representative, but the majority have decided that Ichika would do that. And do not think that we are weak, all because you are a representative and only females can wield IS." He said in a monotone voice, but it has an impact to all of them as they only looked at him, feeling like this doesn't bother him at all. But,
"So you are defending him, eh? Well, for your information, my homeland of England is-"she was cut off by Setsuna who only said,
"I don't care about who you are and what your country can do. The class already elected Ichika and you can do nothing about it. And you pretty much made the whole classroom against you with your attitude." This managed to snap her and shouted.
"What do you mean by that?!" Setsuna gave her a monotonic answer. "See for yourself."
She then looked at the classroom, and what he said was true. All of the girls were pissed at her, especially Houki, as they agreed at what Setsuna said. Chifuyu however, wore an amused face as she crossed her arms. Never thought that he can teach her a lesson about humility. Cecilia, angry and embarrassed about her humiliation, pointed a finger at him. "You! This calls for a duel!"
Setsuna frowned at her declaration. When they were shown how the IS can fight, he knew that they are just down-scaled versions of mobile suits that have various armaments and can make them disappear. As much as he hated trivial problems like this, he won't back down. Before he can answer, he saw in the eyes of Cecilia her embarrassment and her body tried to cover it up.
"Fine, I accept your duel" he replied, making everyone except Chifuyu shocked.
"Hmph! So even you can stand up and accept my challenge. Let's see how a test pilot of an IS hold against a representative!" she proudly shouted, with no trace of her embarrassment. Then she said, "If I win, you will be my servant, no, my slave!" she grinned, but,
"And if I win, you must apologize to everyone, starting from the teachers, then at Ichika and lastly, every girl in this class, one by one." He said in his ever so common stoic face and monotone voice. Cecilia was irritated to his demands if he win, but ignored it, believing that she wouldn't lose and said, "I accept the conditions. Don't disappoint me, Mr. Seiei" she finished as she went back to her seat.
"Well, that settles then. Next Monday would be the day of the battle at arena 6. I hope that both of you are ready for it." Chifuyu said, thus ending the argument. The thoughts that remained all around the students is how the two would fight next Monday. Houki herself cannot believe that he managed to defend them all from the insults of the British representative. She then smiled at how the new student became her and Ichika's friend despite meeting for a day. Ichika was also happy of his new friend's bravery, but he wondered how strong Setsuna really is, as he also have an IS that is unknown to them. If he know that it would be a Close-Quarter-Combat IS, maybe he could teach him instead of Houki. But he quickly removed the idea because it is Houki that he was talking about.
'I wonder what would his IS can really do?' both Cecilia and the teachers thought as they did not know how Setsuna's IS fought.
'Let's hope I didn't dig my grave here' Setsuna thought, while giving a mental sigh and Maya resumed the lesson.
AN: I'm sorry if this did not manage to satisfy your amusement. Several problems quickly occurred when I am writing this. But enough with that! Next time will be the match. How will the twin core shake this world? R&R amigos!