I was reminded by my stomach that I should eat something. Hmm, I don't feel like going to the cafeteria and having the chance of running into Houki… time to try out the stove in my room! I looked in the fridge and saw enough ingredients to make Miso soup, if I have noodles somewhere.
"It's in the cabinet above the stove." G told me.
"How do you know where it is?"
"Because she looked everywhere while you were asleep Haru-dono."
"Superstes, you were supposed to keep it a secret!"
"Why did have to be a secret?"
"Because she was planning to take photos of you asleep and sell it to the girls in your class. The exploration of the room was just a test."
"Goddammit shut up!" G yelled at him. While G and Superstes continued to argue, I grabbed the noodles and started cooking. But after a few minutes of having to hear them fighting in my head, I started to get a head ache. Getting a head ache because of the voices in my head, if I ever told that to someone, I'll be sent to a mental institution. Instead I turned on my favorite music channel on the computer and ignored them. My door was kicked open and I saw an Asura standing there. ( FYI, an Asura is an vengeful demon)
"You..big…idi *sniff*. Are you cooking?" Houki asked me. She was the Asura? Why am I not surprised of that? The thing that keeps surprising me is that she calms down the moment she smells me cooking. Good thing I already prepared enough. It'll be a bit too much if…
"Houki, don't kill , oh is Haru cooking again?" Ichika asked surprised that Houki wasn't killing me. That's three and about now should be…
"Is Shinonono-san Killing Haru?" Cecilia yelled in fear two floors below us. Oh yeah, I let the window open.
"I'm fine and cooking! You want some?" I yelled at her.
"I'll be there in a few minutes!" she yelled back after a few seconds of silence.
"Both of you shut up!" Orimura sensei yelled from the top floor.
"Sorry Chi-Sensei!"
"Do you want to run five laps around the school grounds Garisaka?"
"For using a new nickname? I'll do them tonight!"
"How are you going to prove that?"
"I'll run past the cameras they set up around here!" ooooohhh, she remained silent. By the way, she was yelling herself, shouldn't she be giving the example?
*THUD*
Remaining shield energy
567/570
I looked at the ground and picked up … a pencil?
…
…
…
I'll be honest, I'm scared of her. She can deplete my shield energy with 3 with just a pencil? I do not want to fight her. maybe I'll stop teasing her and behave
…
Nah, that won't be any fun. And there's a note around the pencil.
I'll know it if you tampered with the security images.
I'll take that as an 'go ahead you idiot'.
*SMACK*
Remaining Shield Energy
565.5/570
"You're improving Houki-chan." I said with a small smile. But her timing could've been a bit better, I'm cooking here, dammit! What if I accidentally let the food fall or something? Then I won't have dinner!
"Why did you ask Cecilia to come and eat along with us?" she asked me.
"I'm gonna tell Cecilia and Ichika about my condition." Houki looked at me in surprise.
"Are you out of your mind? How do we know if we can trust her?" Houki said angrily.
"And what makes you think Ichika can be trusted?" I asked her.
"Because I know him for 7 years already. I know he can be trusted!"
"I knew my father for nine years and I couldn't predict that he would sell me to a shady organization." I deadpanned her argument. When she was quiet, I moved in for the kill.
"Time doesn't matter in knowing a person, it's only easier to know someone after a long time and even then they could be hiding things from you. He thing that matters the most with friends is trust, no how long you know him."
"So you decided to trust us, then?" Ichika asked. Crap, I forgot that he was here as well and Cecilia arrived as well during my speech. Great.
"How much did you hear?" I asked.
"Everything." Ichika answered.
"No shit Captain Obvious."
"I heard from when Houki started yelling." Cecilia said quite calmly. Everybody was quiet for a minute while I added the finishing touches and Houki set the table that was conveniently set so two persons would sit next to each other. We kinda fell into this routine while we lived at the dojo. When everything was put on the table, I started to eat.
"What are you doing? You should say grace first." Houki said annoyed.
"Why should I say grace for the food that I cooked?" I asked her.
"Because that's proper table manners."
"Fine, you win." … Not.
"Grace!" I said in .3 seconds before eating again.
"Don't you have any shame?" Houki almost yelled.
"Not with trivial matters like these, no."
She wanted to shout again, but Cecilia and Ichika started laughing. Houki looked at me, but I just shrugged.
"What's so funny?" Houki asked.
"For a moment you two were like brother and sister." Ichika said smiling.
"Then I'm probably the hot and mysterious brother." I said while dramatically flipping my hair. Ichika and Cecilia started laughing again and I joined in after a few seconds. Houki kept looking serious. Really, I'm afraid that he face will remain stuck like that. Not a pleasant thought.
"Then what would Houki be then?" Cecilia asked. We both looked at Houki for a few seconds.
"Definitely Tsundere." Wow, that was really in sync. This time Ichika didn't dare to laugh. I can understand why, but just be a man Ichika and laugh in her face like I do… oh yeah I'm the one with the shields online 24/7 here, it's much safer for me. Sorry, I forgot that fact for a moment.
"Weren't you going to tell them something, Haru?" Houki said with restrained fury. She can actually control herself? I'm proud of you Houki-chan, you've learned how to have self-restraint.
"Are you going to tell us what you've been hiding from everybody since the beginning of the year?" Ichika asked.
"Make a guess first what it is, we got all night."
"It probably has something to do with that light you have in your chest when you deploy your IS." Ichika said quite seriously. Hmm, he's good.
"You're quite perceptive with these kind of matters… but sadly not with another very important thing." I said quite calmly.
"Like what?" he asked me.
"Something that'll come back quite frequently to bite you in the ass." I didn't realize at that time just how much it would.
" Ahem, weren't you going to reveal the story behind your… Condition?" Cecilia asked. I sighed. This is one trip down Memory Lane that I don't want to make, but they deserve to know it.
"It all started 5 and a half years ago…"
At that time, I was just a normal boy, ignorant of the troubles of my dad. We were poor, but I was happy to have my old man around. For my ninth birthday we went to the zoo. I was having the time of my life, and my father spoilt me a bit, which was unusual for him since we were careful with the little money we had. I thought that he wanted to make an exception for that day.
How fucking wrong I was.
A few days later, someone knocked on our door. I opened and saw a big man in a black suit.
"Who are you?" I asked him.
"I'm here to talk something over with your father. Is he home?" I didn't like the look of that man. He was easily six feet tall, was bald and had a scar across his chin. That evil grin that was on his face didn't help much either. I just nodded, I was scared of the man. He walked in and barked something at a person.
"Garisaka watch over the brat." That man barked. Said guy nodded and took me to the room next to us.
"What's going on?" I asked him.
"You might have to stay with us for a while. I'm Garisaka Genki, what's your name?" He asked me. After hesitating for a few seconds I gave him my old name that I have abandoned.
"Ichinose Haruka."
"Your actually part of the Ichinose family?" Houki asked surprised.
"Well technically no. they disowned my mother after she ran away with my old man, whom was part of the Kurasabe family, so they probably don't recognize my existence." I explained. Houki looked at me in shock. I can understand why.
"Uhm, what's so special about that?" Cecilia asked. Oh yeah, she's from Britain and only the martial arts cult knows of those two families.
"The Kurasabe family is an old line of assassins who were the very best from the start of start of the Sengoku period ( around 1470) until the end of the Eido period (1860) when they just disappeared from the pages of history. Their talent of deception and stealth abilities lie deep in their genes. They used to say that we were actually shadow demons in human disguise." I explained.
"The Ichinose family is an equally old family of samurais who trained in kendo and Sōjutsu (the art of fighting with a spear. Thank you Wikipedia.). They were one of the most respected families and believed in fighting with honor. The Ichinose and the Masurao have always been rivaling families." Houki explained the second part.
Ichika and Cecilia looked at us. "So basically, I'm the combination of two marginally different familes, but that's an story for another time. Now where was I? Oh yeah…"
Genki kept me entertained as my father and that man were talking in the room next to us.
"Genki-san, why do I have to come with you for a while?" I asked him with innocent eyes. I saw grief washing his face for a moment before he showed me a friendly smile.
"We are going to try letting you control an IS." He said.
"But aren't only girls able to do it?"
"Yes, but if this works, boys can do it as well."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
At that moment my father came back with our 'guest'. His evil grin became even more wicked when he saw me.
"Congratulations boy, your father just sold you." He exclaimed.
"Sold… me?"
"Yes you little runt. From now on, you are our property and you have to do what we say. So get moving!" the man yelled the last part.
"It's a joke, right dad?" when he didn't answer I feared the worst.
"D-Dad? Please say that it isn't true." I begged him. He just looked at me.
"This is taking to goddamn long." The bald man said agitated. He took my collar and dragged me to their van.
"Dad! Dad !" I kept on yelling for my father until something hit the back of my head and I became unconscious. When I woke up I was strapped on a table in dark room.
"Well then, let's begin with Subject 47." A distorted voice came through a speaker. That was the start of five hellish years of torture.
We were quiet for a minute. I looked outside the window while letting them process the information. I was thinking about when I was a small child and played with my mother. I got out of my little memory when I felt something soft against my back and two arms wrapping around me.
"It must have been so hard for you." Cecilia said with a voice filled with sorrow. I gently took her hand.
"Well, Genki helped me getting through those five years and acted like the father I never had. Sure the conditions could've been better to grow up in, but at least I had someone who cared for me and still does." I said with a smile.
"How can you shrug such events off like that?" Ichika asked me.
"I probably went insane along the way. And dying once helps you looking at things in a brighter way."
"Dying?"
"And now we come to the most important part of the story. Normally I would've stayed dead, but I got a second chance." I got myself out of Cecilia's arms and took of my shirt. They saw my body filled with scars. I developed some muscles the last six months with my nightly routines. But the worst thing was the IS core in my body, glowing with a faint light.
"This is the thing that keeps me alive. So Cecilia, are you still convinced that I'm human?" I asked her. She looked at the core, and then her look started trailing downwards. She was checking out my muscles and then her look went a bit more down to… that area.
"I'm not going to take off my pants, you know." I said. She got out of her little daze and started blushing in a cute way.
"W-w-well, j-judging b-by yo-your b -b-ody, I-I-I-I'm p-pr-pretty s-sure th-that you're hu-human." She barely stuttered out. I had a really hard time holding back my laughter and her blushing face didn't really help either. Ah, screw it I'm just gonna laugh. She tried to look angry at me, but with the blush and shame that was plastered on her face, it turned out rather cute.
"Stop laughing!" she yelled while she started hitting my chest with her fists. I kept laughing until I saw something yellow flying towards Cecilia. I pulled her close to me with one tiny problem. Thanks to the sudden movement we both lost our balance and fell on the bed. I looked to the side, only to see Ichika and Houki going away quickly through the door. But not before Houki gave me a small wink. I looked back at Cecilia. Somehow she ended up right on top of me, our faces only inches from each other… I'm having a déjà vu here. Cecilia looked at my face in a trance.
"You really like being on top huh?" I asked her… that just sounded plain wrong. She realized it as well judging by her shy look.
"Can I … sleep here tonight?" she asked me softly.
…
…
…
"Say wut?" I asked her.
"Well, since you barely had any affection from the people around you in your life, I thought that maybe I could give them…" Her voice became smaller and smaller at the end of her sentence.
"I only sleep for three hours and I still have to run those five laps for Chi-sensei." I told her.
"Ah really…" she made a slightly sad face.
"I hope you don't wake up easily, because I don't want you to be sleep deprived and then you won't look as pretty as you usually do." I said with my eyes closed. She looked at me in glee.
"But how about you get your stuff first?" I told her. She nodded and left. I swear that I saw her skipping down the hallway.
"Haru-chan, you smooth bastard. What's gotten into you?" G teased me.
"I'm just more honest with myself. Though I gotta make sure I don't rush it and make her feel uncomfortable."
"… yeah right." G scoffed.
"Now that you're here, how the hell can you block attacks, but still let me touch things and Cecilia?"
"Because of an IFF system that I developed. Basically once I registered something as friendly, you can interact with it without being hindered by the shields. But if the friendly makes an aggressive move with the intent to seriously injure or kill, the shields will automatically defend you." She boasted.
"Nice, but please if you have to argue with Superstes next time, make it so that I don't hear it. You're giving me an head ache." I complained.
"Alright ,alright. Geez, I can't help it that we differ so much."
"How about trying to get along?"
"That's no fun. Gotta go Cecilia is here in 5 seconds." She said while disappearing. Before I could retort, Cecilia opened the door. She wore a dark blue negligee that stopped right above her knees. She still wore an head band. Wonder why she doesn't take it off. She entered and closed the door silently.
"Orimura-sensei is going to patrol this hallway in a few minutes, so I can't go back." She said with a small blush. I gently took her in my arms.
"there's no need to be so nervous, I won't do anything unless you ask for it." I whispered in her ear. Her blush became bright red and she gulped. I saw that she was thinking some quite vivid things. I smiled at her reaction.
"It's almost eleven thirty. How about we go sleep?" I asked her. It was already late after I finished my story and I was kinda tired. She nodded and I lied down on my bed with my eyes closed. I felt something on my chest. I opened one eye and saw that Cecilia laid her head on my chest.
"Are you comfy?" I asked her.
"It can't be helped. There's only one pillow, so I've got to improvise." She lied. She could've easily taken the pillow from her room with her. I'll let it go thou. I slid my arm around her waist.
"So that you won't fall off the bed." I said with a smirk.
"This is a queen sized bed and we're lying in the middle of it."
"You can't be too sure." She sighed and nestled herself a bit closer, filling the gap completely. We remained silent for a while. I thought that she fell asleep, but she asked one more question.
"You never told us what happened to your mother. What happened to her?"
"She disappeared when I was seven. She gave me a necklace as a memento, but they took that away from me at the facility." I told her. She remained silent.
"I'm amazed that you're still the person who you are today. Most people would've been mentally scarred from such an experience."
"I am mentally scarred. How else did I become the ass I am now?" I joked.
'But you're also gentle."
"So basically, I'm a gentle ass?"
"That's a way to describe yourself." She said with a small giggle. I closed my eyes again with a small smile.
"Goodnight Cecilia."
"Goodnight Haru-chan."
I'll let it slide that she called me that… for now.
Me: that was chapter 7. While Haru is asleep I'll answer the reviews. Please do remind that you'll receive your cookies after I replied the reviews.
Fangking2: I kinda forget that Ichika isn't completely dense, only with women. Thanks for pointing that one out.
Crazywolf1991 (why all those numbers?): I'm glad you find my story catchy, so please keep supporting this story.
Animel0ver00: you'll like what I'm planning with the military. This chapter holds a few very small hints. You can amuse yourself by trying to decode the if you're not too busy :D (that also counts for the others)
Kirbyman17: it doesn't count for two if a person reviews twice. I think it's much better because I have a reader that's interested in my story then and shows it.
BAka vocaloid FAN: I'm actually a guy, so I don't know if that influences how you see this story. The cookies will be given after I answered all the reviews.
Victor Petrenko: my corner will be used since I have midterm exams right now and I have Serious mood swings then, especially when I drink coffee. But not because of the story, so that's a good thing.
Lol: if you don't like these kind of stories, then why the hell do you read all the chapters and then start flaming? You could've done other things that you might have enjoyed more with your time.
Our Guild: How do you guys work together on a account? I know I'll never be able to do that with my friends… since I'm the only one who watches anime and writes fanfictions. I'll answer the three of you separately:
Minion: I'm glad that you enjoy it, it's much more fun writing when I know people enjoy my work.
Rose: How can I tear Haru and Cecilia apart if they aren't even together? But I'm glad you share my vision on their relationship.
Utah: I know that feeling, it's really vexing sometimes for me to have to wait on a new chapter.
Now for the cookies I promised, they're here in this basket that is… empty?
*follows a trail of crumbs*
GODDAMMIT TABANE, THOSE WERE FOR THE REVIEWERS!
Tabane: … oops?
*sigh* I'm sorry about the cookies. I hoped that you enjoyed reading this chapter. Please review and have a nice day/night whatever time it is at the moment you're reading this.
See ya next time, I got a rabbit that needs to be disciplined.