Here is Chapter 2 everybody. I've been busy with exams, which delayed this chapter a bit, but now that that's over, I can get more chapters out. Also, I decided on Neo's theme, Silent Trigger from Gundam Breaker 2. Now then Neo, the disclaimer please.

Neo: "I think it's obvious that Destiny Trailblazer doesn't own anything from Infinite Stratos unless it's me. Now where was I? (Ichika comes and pulls Neo away while running) Oh right, RUN!"

Ichika and I were running down the hall hoping the mob of girls that was chasing us, while Ichika explained some things he learned to me. Normally this would be easy, unless you're like me and Ichika, and you're not just being chased by almost every girl in this school, but also three Representatives, and the sister of Tabane Shinonono and Ichika's childhood kendo friend, Houki Shinonono.

Houki is one of Ichika's childhood friends, but I see that Houki likes him as more than a friend. In fact, all the girls like him like that, which means I'm gonna have some problems on my hands by tomorrow. When I get the chance, I am going to ask her why is her sister so crazy. Ichika told me she once took a wooden kendo stick and stab through her door with it. I feel like she could beat me up in her sleep, which I hope to avoid.

Now the three representatives. First off is Cecilia Alcott, user of the IS, Blue Tears, and England's Representative. I have to say that I my opinion, she seems to be the most arrogant of the girls, but when I look at her, I don't see an arrogant, rich girl snob. Instead I see someone who wasn't treated fairly in her life, or maybe that's just me. Ichika tells me that she's a bad cook, but I'll test that myself.

The Second one is Lingyin Huang, or Rin as Ichika calls her, is China's Rep. and pilots the IS, Shenlong. She may be the shortest, but she's far from the strongest, in fact, Ichika said he was almost killed by her, and that gives me enough reason to keep an eye on her. She's another childhood friend of Ichika, and as far as I know, he and Houki don't get along too well. Hopefully this war between them doesn't extend over to me, but I know it will. But personally, Rin reminds me of my sister.

But not as much as the next representative and the one I feel most worried about. Laura Bodewig. Germany's representative, Lieutenant of the Schwarzer Hase German Special Forces, and a bioengineered super-soldier. Her IS is called Schwarzer Regen. I can understand her pain of being born without anyone to love her back, treating her as an expendable soldier instead of a child. I was born from an egg that didn't fertilize properly, so technically, Laura and I are from the same road. But I have something to ask her later.

Lucky Charlotte isn't chasing use too. Charlotte is France's Representative and as Ichika described her, she sounds like a nice person. Anyways, Ichika and I had hid in the boy's locker room and I locked the door.

"(Huff) (Huff) I think, (Huff) we're safe. (Huff) For now. Dude, how do you deal with them chasing after you like that every day?"

"You'd be surprised by what else they would try." When he said that I already knew one thing.

'Yep, I'm gonna get beat up a lot, I should have brought some pain pills with me' "Well Ichika, we can't hide in here forever."

"Sure we can, Chifuyu may be mad, but you're new here, so you need to learn the ropes. I'm sure she'll just give us a no-so- severe punishment"

" No, I mean we can't stay here because, well just turn around." Ichika did, and we're blushing so red, you could mistake us for having strawberries as heads. "We're not in the locker room, are we?" Ichika just shook his head as we realized something really dreadful.

We were in the laundry room. Then I heard someone grabbing the doorknob. "Oh crap, let's get out of here" I then pulled Ichika's arm before he could answer, opened the window, and jumped out with Ichika. We landed in some bushes, and it hurt, but not as bad as Chifuyu's wrath if we don't get to IS practice in the next 5 minutes.

Eventually, we made it in 3 minutes, with everyone else already there. We both switched into the IS training, a short sleeved navy blue spandex, with was very tight and uncomfortable to me.

" You two were cutting it a little close weren't you? Next time, get here faster or you'll both be doing 100 sit-ups and push-ups each without rest. Understand?"

"Yes, Orimura-sensei." We both said straightening up.

"All right everybody; today's training will get new students familiar with controlling an IS. Last names A through E, you'll be training with Orimura." A group of girls were screaming and I had to cover my ears because that group was right next to me. "F through J will be training with Alcott." Well that's my cue. So I was walking over to my group while Ms. Orimura was assigning the other groups. Charlotte was with group K to N, Rin had group O through R, Houki has group S through V, and Laura had W through Z. Each group was given an Uchigane model training IS to train with, well minus those with personal units. So the members of each group would form a line and each student would have a chance to get used to being inside of an IS. Soon, I was next in line. I hope Cecilia doesn't remember me ditching her mid-intro.

"You again! So now you're training under me, aren't you. I'll make sure to make this simple for a boy like yourself." Or maybe not, but hey, I was acting like a major jerk before.

"I'm smarter than you think, so don't think that I'm just like some idiot jock that only cares about football, or some lazy guy who want someone to do all their work."

" Hmmmmf, fine then, get in the IS." I then gladly climbed into the Uchigane, after a bit of struggling on my part, I mean seriously, Tabane needs to install a built in leader for these kinds of situations. Once I was in, it felt… awkward, just like when I was in my mother's IS back in Haptemas.

" So, how far should I go?"

" What, not going to ask how to move first? That seems like a fool's question." She said as she laughed. I was trying not to yell at her, to try to hurt her, I will deal with that later.

" I'm not an idiot, of course I know how to move." I then started to walk forward. Imagine wearing 50 lbs. of weight on your legs, arms, and shoulders, cause that's how walking in an IS for the first time feels like. I only got about 2 yrds before I was tired. I climbed out of the Uchigane for the next person. I then proceeded to fall to the ground flat on my chest.

" Hey, are you okay?" one of the girls asked.

" I'm okay, I'm just very tired."

"Would you like me to carry you to your room?" said one of the other girls.

" No, I'll carry him" said another girl.

" Get lost, I asked first." said another.

Eventually, when the whole group was finished, all the girls minus Cecilia was arguing about who was going to carry me to my room. Not needing any help getting up, and because I'm a little scared of the looks in their eyes, I got up and walked, well not walked, slouched to my room without any of them noticing. I was about to open my door when I felt a hand on my shoulder. " So, what are you doing."

I yelped as I turned around to be greeted by Chifuyu. " Ms. Orimura,don't do that please. Anyways, I was headed to my dorm to rest after today's practice."

" I wanted to talk to you about something."

" Sure, but let's talk in my room, Miyako should still be a practice and my legs are about to collapse." I was not kidding, my legs feel like they could just give out at any moment. Luckily, I made it to my bed before I fell on it. " So, what did you want to talk about?"

" First off, since your the only other male in the school, you'll be moved to Ichika's room, effective by Monday." Ahh really? I like this room, oh well, I'll have to break the bad news to Miyako. " Secondly, we need to test your skills as pilot, so I've arranged a simple match against one of the students."

'What?! Is this lady's brain still working or not? I haven't had any IS training before, and the practice today didn't count. Can this get any worse?'

" Your opponent will be Cecilia Alcott, England representative." '... Dammit, me and my big mouth. Now I'm really screwed. She then said" So I asked Tabane to speed up the calibrations for your personal IS." ' Correction, I am now slightly-less screwed than before.'

" My personal IS? How would she know what I prefer?"

" It's only an experimental IS unit she wants to test with data simulation, but I told her a real battle would give her even more data. Its a third generation IS that has heavy assault capabilities, but it requires a very skilled pilot."

Oh okay, now I'm really confused. " Well then, why are you giving it to me?"

" Are you saying I shouldn't?"

" No, no, I'll take it. when's the match?"

"Its next Wednesday, 12:20 pm, Arena 5, don't be late." She then left the room.

I decided to rest for a little bit and went to sleep.

In my dream I found my self in the same arena as before. 'Oh no, not this again.' I turn around, and sure enough, Yumi was still there just like last time, except her IS was visible. The IS had three large tails, similarly designed like the tail of a lizard. Floating next to the IS was a pair of mechanical heads, desiged like a hydra.' How did I miss those the first time?' The rifle was double-barreled and seemed possible to separate into two single barreled ones. The buster sword wasn't as large as I first thought , but still looked like it could split are into sections. The hands, or claws in this case have small moles in their hands. The left was slim with spiked feet and stored what looked like cannons on each leg. The armor Yumi was equipped to wasn't much from the normal, except the red targeting lenses covering her right eye, which was covered with a white and blue eye patch. The entire IS was metallic silver with dark purple parts like the tips of the claws and feet, and metallic black parts on the chest and the arms.

" Hey Neo, how are you doing?" Still that voice and tone, as if she were still alive and everything was fine.

" Yumi, I guess even death doesn't stop you from finding me"

" I am your sister after all, but death has nothing to do with it."

" What? What do you mean?"

She then raised the rifle to my chest. Oh yeah, this is gonna hurt. " Sorry, no spoiling the surprise." She pulled the trigger, shooting a bullet trough me, and snapping me awake. ' What did she mean by " death had nothing to do with it?" Is she saying she's- No. We were told that she didn't live. Maybe I'm just losing my mind.'

Miyako finally came back. " Oh, hey Neo, you look tired. Is something wrong?"

" No, I just still tired from practice today." I lied. Miyako's a good person, but I don't need to spread my problems. " Listen Miyako, I got some bad news."

" Really? What news ?"

Man, do I hate to do this to a nice girl like her, but, Chifuyu's orders. " Well first, I'm being transferred to Ichika's room, so I have to switch by Monday."

" Oh, well that too bad. Anything else?"

" Yeah, I'm getting my own IS and I have to fight Cecilia, but I don't have any experience, so i'll just end up embrassing myself without anyone to teach me."

" I can teach you, I have my own IS." Wait a minute, did I just hear what I thought I just heard? Thank you God a hundred times.

" Really, you would do that for me? "

" Sure, what are friends for?" She's going out of her way to help me, a guy she only met a few days ago. I had faint blush but I managed to hide it.

" Thanks Miyako, I really appreciate your help."

" No problem, I've always wanted to be an IS pilot."

"Hmm? and why's that?"

At first she was silent, but then, " Sure' I'll tell, but you have to promise to keep this between us"

I made the zip over my lips saying ' I won't tell a soul'. " Okay, my family had a long line of military history, but all of them were done by men, so I wanted to change that. I asked my father to train me, and he got permission from the Japanese government for me to be trained as Japan's Rep. So what about you Neo, what made you so interested in the IS?"

" Huh? Me? Well, That's a different story."

" Even your mother sneaking you into the IS hanger?"

" What the-How in the- What? How did you know?"

" Well, I may have spied on Ms. Orimura. Don't tell her that I know."

" (Huff) Well I won't tell her, I promise. But now that you know, go ahead, laugh." I was just waiting for her to laugh as my stupidity. I waited. and waited. and waited. " Aren't you supposed to be laughing at how stupid I am."

" Yes, while it was unusual, I don't think it was stupid, bold yes, but not stupid."

" Well, let's discuss the rest of this at lunch tomorrow, okay?"

" Sure." She then hopped in her bed and shut off the lights. I was under the sheet, but I couldn't sleep.

' My heart is racing, is this what love feels like? No, Neo, don't get excited. She's Japan's Representative. She's probably got bigger concerns that having a boyfriend. Beside, don't want to spark a riot with the girls. and I finally went to sleep.

(Sunday, 5:50 am, Room 782)

I had woken up early so I wouldn't wake Miyako up. I had already moved my stuff into Ichika's room I went out for an early run, but when I was leaving my so-to-be-former dorm, I noticed a package with my name on it. There was also a note :

Hi, Neo. How is my little miracle doing? I finished your little present, so I hope you like it.

- Tabane-chan

P.S.: Its name is Dark Hound

I don't think Tabane understands the concept of 'Package noting'. So, I open the box and I find a Black visor with a green lenses piece. " So this is my IS in its standby mode?" Thank you Tabane. I put the visor in my hair so I just have to pull it down to wear it. When we got to class, we read an entire chapter from the IS manual. As usual, my mind was full of confusion, and it looks like Ichika is the same. After class, I went to the lunch room and order some ramen noodles. Some of the girls asked me to sit with them, until Miyako, who was just finishing her sushi waved over to me and I sat next to her. I could feel the stares of jealousy, hatred, and even murderous intent coming from the back of my head. " I'm glad your here to help Miyako."

" Hey, even if we're not roommates anymore, we're still friends. By the way, what's up with the new visor?"

" Oh this? I'll explain, but first, let's eat somewhere else, cause I think I now have a hole in the back of my head."

She just nodded confused, until she looked behind me and noticed the death glares, and followed me. I caught a glance of Laura before I left, because I still have some business to attend, but I'll let it slide for now. Once we were on the roof, I pointed to my visor. " This visor is my new IS, Dark Hound."

" Really, you got it today? Good, then we can start training after lunch. So before I forget, why were you so interested in the IS program?"

' Man, I was hoping she would forget. I guess its high time I finally tell someone.' " Alright, but this stays between the two of us, okay?" I had finished the last of ramen now.

I'm guessing she could tell I was serious because she looked at me with a surprised look on her face, but she then nodded.

" Okay then. Here's the truth."

Neo began to explain the truth. " When I was a kid, my little sister Yumi had heard about the IS when it was announced, and she was really excited about it. She said that she wanted to pilot one when she grew up. I had made a promise to her that when we both grew up, I would help design her own IS and I would be there to congratulate her when she won her first tournament. But when I was 13 and she was 11, Haptemas city was attacked by an unknown IS. It was a sort of spider-type IS, but the pilot was concealed so I didn't see her face. I was so terrified that I couldn't move. That person had tried to shoot me, but my sister pushed me out of the way and took the blast. after the IS squad drove the rouge IS away, I went to see how my sister was doing. I had a look at her injuries, and I'll never forget what I saw."

" Oh my god, were they bad?" Miyako said.

" Terrible. she had a serious burn mark on the side of her stomach and her right eye was bleeding from the crash the ground. My parents kept telling me it wasn't my fault, but in truth it was. The doctor said she was close to dying, but then a German general, who was also visiting at the time, made a deal with my parents. He was going to try and save her by using his so called ' super-soldier' program to save her life. At first, we received no word from him and were worried. Then one day, we received word from him that the program failed and that she died. We were devastated. My mother was so sad that she didn't go to work for a few days. My father called the general and had awful argument with him. I was just so angry at my self. If I had just moved on my own, then she wouldn't have.."

I was crying for the first time in 3 years, and I could tell Miyako was feeling the same way. I was struggling to continue, but still went on. What Neo didn't notice was that Ichika, Laura, Chifuyu, and Houki were listening. All of them were surprised to here this kind of story from the new guy in school. Who they thought was a cocky, arrogant loner was actually a nice, generous person who had lost a very important piece of him.

Laura was surprised to hear that he was related to another super-soldier test subject. She remembers the girl who was they were prepping for the program. Laura had visited her and they were good friends. She was sad when she heard that she died. ' That was his sister?'

Neo then wiped his now swollen, red eyes and continued. " A week later, we held a funeral for her. What was unusual was that we didn't bury the coffin, so we could come and see her if needed. I decided to try and work with the IS itself in hopes of finding the IS that attacked her. And that's the end of that." I look at my watch, it was 1:30 pm.

" Neo." I heard Miyako say as she hugged me tight. " You don't have to hold in all that pain by yourself, you have friends who can help."

" But, I-" I didn't get to say as she put a finger over my lips.

" No, it wasn't your fault and I don't want to hear you say it again. You were in shock and your sister saved you. You would have done the same thing for her, right? Would she want you to blame yourself like this."

I- I thnk she's right. what would Yumi say if she saw me like this. She'd probably slap some sense into me, literally.

" You probably need so time to yourself Neo, so I'll be waiting at Arena 7 if you want to practice later." She then started to walk away, but my hand shot out and grabbed her hand. Why did my hand do that. " Hmmm? Neo?"

" Umm, I'll go with you, I'm fine thanks to you." It was true. I did feel better about it.

" Are you sure Neo?"

" Yes, I'm sure. Yumi wouldn't want me to worry this much. She'd slap me until my practically glows in the dark."

" Okay then, let's go." Miyako began to leave and I followed. Until I stopped.

" Neo, what's wrong?"

" Okay guys, I know you're watching us, so come on out." Miyako was confused until Ichika, Houki, Laura, and even Chifuyu came from around the wall.

" How did you know we were listening?" asked Ichika.

" When Miyako and I were headed to the roof, I heard some footsteps far behind me.. I thought it might be someone following but I just shrugged it off."

Laura then walked up to me and said " I actually remember meeting your sister. She was one of the only friends I had back in Germany. She talked about you and said that you were the best brother she could ever have. I was a little jealous that she had such a great family." After she said that, I just immediately knelt down and hugged her.

" You shouldn't be jealous Laura, you were kind enough to visit my sister and you were her friend, and any friend of ours is like family to me.' I then rubbed Laura's head like a big brother would to his little sister, then I stood back up. " If you guys want, You can come watch me practice." Ichika, Houki, and Laura had nodded. " What about you Chifuyu?" Oh crap, I let that slip didn't I? I then received a good smash to the head .

" That's Ms. Orimura to you."

Anyways, We all went in to the arena and Miyako and I were standing in the center. " All right Neo, if you can summon your IS then we can get started."

" Alright." I then pulled my visor down and said, " Let's go, Dark Hound!" And with a flash of light, I was now in my gray IS, but it felt different from the Valkyries or the Uchigane. It felt comfortable, as if it was built to fit me. Wait a minute, I just realized something. How did Tabane get the measurements of my body? That thought really scares me. My IS had pair of katanas on the hips and an SMG on the clip of my back skirt. A simple thruster pack on my back. If I remember right, this is only the default mode of my IS.

" Wow, nice. Now it my turn, Amaya!" She called the name of her IS and with another flash of light, she was in her IS, Amaya. It was slender in contrast to mine with was bulky. It is a bright red with some blue streaks running throughout the armor, like the legs, the arms, and even the shoulders. I can see it's equipped with two katanas on the hips, two SMGs stored on the lower legs, while Miyako was carrying a bow with some arrows stored on the back. " So Neo, are you ready?"

" Yeah." I said as I pulled my own SMG off of my back skirt. " Let's begin"

Meanwhile, in the Ketosachi distract of Japan, two women were talking over dinner. One of them was a beautiful blonde with red eyes, and the other one had orange hair and brown eyes. The orange-haired woman looked very irritated about something.

" So Autumn, how is our newest member doing so far?" said the blonde woman.

" Damn brat, that Yumi kid is too smart-mouthed for her own good, she really makes me want to kill her, but she's surprisingly sadistic. As long as she listens to me, then I don't have any problems with her." said Autumn.

"Good, but what about her health?"

" Well, she's not dead yet, so I imagine the pills are working fine."

" Excellent, now what about Akira?"

" He's still the same as usual. So Squall, when can we expect to send that brat Yumi, or should I say Mirage, on her first mission?"

" Very soon Autumn, but first, I want you to give her this." Squall then handed Autumn a small red box.

"Tch, fine." Autumn was finished with her meal and left for Yumi's room.

In Yumi's room, she was lying on the bed, wearing her light blue night gown without her eye patch, which revealed a shiny green eye. She was staring into the ceiling bored, until she heard someone knocking on her door. She had quickly gets up from her bed to answer the door. She opens the door and said," What? I'm tired,"

" That makes two of us brat, here, Squall wanted to give this to you." She handed the box to me and then walked away as fast as she could. Yumi just shrugged her shoulders, closed the door, and opened the box. Inside was a small note from Squall, but more importantly was a very recent picture of Neo at IS Academy.

" So, M wasn't lying. Neo really can pilot an IS." Yumi had grew a huge smile on her face.' I'm glad he's still alive.' She then looked at the note and it read:

This is your brother, right? M took this photo three days ago during her scouting mission of the academy. If necessary, you will steal his IS, or convince him to work for us. Until then, be ready for your mission, Mirage.

- Squall

" So, I either leave him defenseless, or convince him to work for Phantom Task? Well I did save his life, he does owe me. But knowing my brother's mind, He won't join." Yumi then put the picture of Neo in her desk drawer, took one of my pills and went to bed.

Holy crap, she's alive, how? Well, here's the deal with that (and don't hate, I only just came up with this). The Hyper-sensor implanted in Yumi allowed her to heal her wounds, but at a very slow rate. She was barely alive, but her vital told then she was dead. Remember when Neo said they never buried her coffin? Well, she was healing in her coffin, but her body was still weak. She had managed to bust open her own coffin door and crawl out. Squall and Autumn were passing by at the same time and Squall offered to help Yumi. She gladly accepted. Squall had her medical team make some special pills that would help Yumi live longer, and Yumi would work as an operative of Phantom Task.

Her IS unit is called Hydrax, an advanced third-generation IS, which stated in the name, is designed like a hydra. The three tails, plus the two floating hydra heads all have beam cannons in the tips of the tails, and the mouths of the heads. The rifle she carries, her custom Twin Geminus, is a combination of twin rifles, so the pilot can used them separated for rapid ammo fire, or together for powerful, concentrated shots. The hips mount a pair of twin plasma cannon that make usage of Hydrax's unique BAA( Beam Angle Alteration) system to curve the beams in unpredictable patterns, which is controlled through the emmiters in the hands. It's only close-ranged weapons are its claws, and its buster sword, that separate and extend to be used as a claw for grappling opponents. ( think of the claw shield of the Gundam Kyrios from Gundam 00.)

And that is chapter 3. Holy crap, I put a lot of thought into this chapter. Couple things though. Silver-Sakura-Blossom-17, if you're reading this, I didn't have many details as to what Miyako's IS actually looked like, so I designed her IS as best I could. Just let me know I you think I did something wrong and I try to change it. I plan to do the same with Akira's IS as well.

The next chapter will take place a week after this, so Neo vs Cecilia is coming soon. Finally some action I know, the chapter so far have been drama, but I wanted a subtle start to this story, anyways guys, see ya!