- 3 -

"Hell Hath No Fury Like a Woman Scorned"

I pulled on the collar of my shirt as I read through the IS textbook, trying to make sense of what the hell Chifuyu was saying. To be honest, I didn't get much past 'boom'.

I really tried my best to follow along, but despite the reading I'd done before school started for me, I still didn't understand at all. When she finally finished, she turned back to the class before sitting behind her desk. "Well, we've now been in for a three weeks, and you all know what that means. It's time to nominate the class rep."

I sighed and fingered my datapad's stylus.

"The class rep with not only attend student council meetings and represent your class, but they'll also compete for you in the class tournament in two weeks. They'll essentially be your class leader. Now, do we have any nominati-"

"I nominate Sten!"

THAT caught my attention!

"Wait, what?" I cried, standing up.

"Any other nominations? If not, he'll be selected by default," the teacher said.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, just wait a damn minute! Maybe I don't want to be class rep! What then!"

"This is an outrage!" Cecilia cried, standing up as well, "Do you really expect me, the great Cecilia Alcott, to sit back and be represented by a boy for an entire year? I'll not have my class being represented by this monkey!"

I turned, a look of disgust on my face. "Excuse me? Who the hell you calling a monkey?!"

"Add to that, he's from a country with such an underdeveloped level of culture-"

"Oy! Shut it, Blondie!"

The entire room went dead silent. Cecilia's jaw dropped as she put a hand to her chest and gasped. "How dare you, a mere commoner, insult me?!"

I punched a fist down on the desk behind mine and yelled, "Canada may not be as old as Britain, but at least we have food that people can eat without gagging!"

I let that hang in the air for a bit, relishing how shocked she was that a boy was sassing her. In today's society, it was fairly rare for a man to talk back to a woman.

Problem with me being the fact that I'd grown up with an extremely proud father to learn from. As far as dad was concerned, gender superiority could suck a big one.

"This calls for a duel!" she yelled, walking over to me with a pointed finger raised.

"You sure about that, Blondie? It may be a woman's world but a man can still kick one's ass!"

"Ha! Very well, believe that paltry fantasy if you wish!"

"How much of a handicap will there be?"

The entire class, Chifuyu included, started to laugh. "Are you asking me for a favor already?" Cecilia managed to get out between laughs.

I gave her a lopsided smirk and chuckled. "Actually, I was asking how much of a handicap I should give you."

If anything, the laughter only got louder.

"Are you kidding me?" someone in the class said.

"Men used to be stronger than women, but that was before the IS!" another laughed.

"People say that if men and women had a war, it wouldn't even last three days...," yet another whispered.

"Don't make me laugh," Cecilia said, "You've flown an IS once, and it wasn't even in actual combat!"

My smirk faded. I could take a verbal punch, but an entire class of girls laughing at the notion that I could beat up a 5' 5" blonde girl hurt quite a bit. I shrugged it off, though.

"You know," one of my classmates said, pulling at my arm, "If you ask nicely, a real lady might still give you that handicap."

I started to laugh, which silenced everyone some. "And a real man never backs down from a challenge. I'm fine, thanks."

"You're underestimating her..."

I glared at her. "And you're all underestimating me."

Silence hung in the air for a moment before Chifuyu said, "Fine, then. The fight'll be staged in a week in arena three. Alcott, Murdoch, I expect you both to come fully prepared for combat."

I turned to the former IS League Champion and crossed my arms. "Teach, I was born ready."

- IS -

It was early on Thursday morning before Sten really got used to having to wake up at 7:00 every day. Or rather, 7:00 was the time when Houki woke up and saw him pulling his uniform on. In reality, Sten woke at 6:00 every morning and ran two laps around the school before practising a bunch of kata with a five-foot-long stick he'd found, using a style that, while effective-looking, Houki had never seen before.

The Japanese girl watched from a bench several dozen meters away as Sten balanced one-handed on the end of the stick, the other end planted firmly on the smooth asphalt ground. His shirt had long since been discarded, and Houki couldn't help but be impressed.

While he acted fairly laid-back and relaxed when they would sit and discuss their studies together, he was very physically imposing.

Sten let himself drop and landed on his feet before roughly grabbing the stick and bringing the end up to strike his imaginary target's chin. He then spun around, guiding the other end of the stick into the gut before swinging his elbow out and crushing its nose. He then ducked and swept the leg, got up and slammed the stick's end against the windpipe, ending the imaginary fight. He wiped his sweaty forehead and started walking back to where he'd left his shirt and water. That was when she finally noticed a trio of long, faded scars etched into his side below his right arm. What could he have possibly done to get those?

He looked up and would have noticed her had she not whipped back around the corner, hand clamped over her mouth.

Holy crap, that was close...

'He may have a chance,' Houki thought as she slunk off, 'But he's still gonna get his buff handed to him. I-I mean his butt! I said butt!'

I decided I hated my desk. It was shiny and my place in the class gave me a fine glare from the sun all freaking day.

Chifuyu walked in and dropped a black briefcase on her desk before turning back to the class. "Murdoch," she said, "Unfortunately, it's going to be a while before your IS is ready for you."

"What?"

"On the plus side, due to certain... issues, your, umm... benefactor will provide you with a Personal IS."

That set off some chatter throughout the class. I knew what a Personal Unit was, obviously, but...

"Is it really that big of a deal?" was my question.

I would've continued had Cecilia not dashed in front of my desk and given me a haughty smirk. "I'm actually not surprised at all that this is beyond your knowledge. But, as an elite it is my responsibility to educate the common pilots such as yourself!"

With a groan, I rolled my eyes and slammed my forehead against my desk. Surprisingly, the white metal wasn't very hard. In fact, I left a rather nice forehead-shaped impression in the surface.

"As there only 4670 IS units worldwide, those who are given a Personal Unit are considered the elites among elites!"

"Only 4670?!"

Another classmate I didn't know leaned over to offer her two cents. "The reason there are only so many IS is because the one who manufactures the Cores, the IS' key component, Tabane Shinonono, has refused to make more than a certain amount. As such, all other nations are forced to rely on Japan in terms of the IS industry. And before you ask, no, no one other than Doctor Shinonono can create a Core."

"Well, that's stupid," I said, "It makes perfect sense, but still."

"Either way," Cecilia continued, "It simply wouldn't be fair if you were to attempt the fight in a training unit while I used my own Personal IS!"

"Wait, you have one of these Personal Doohickeys too?"

"That's right! I, Cecilia Alcott, Representative Contender for the glorious nation of Great Britain, am currently in possession of my own-"

"You just love the sound of your own voice, don't you?"

She gasped. "I can't believe you said that!"

"Yeah, well, I'm not one to hold back when it comes to speaking my mind."

Chifuyu coughed, so I turned back to the front of the class. Cecilia, still standing beside my desk, turned too.

"To conclude our little history lesson, Personal IS were originally only intended for those sponsored by governments or corporations, however, your case is exceptional. Therefore, you will be provided with a personal IS for data collection. You can thank Rabbit Ears later."

Lovely. I was gonna be the only one in the world with an IS who wasn't tied down by a governing body. My favourite.

Actually, wait... Why am I being sarcastic about that? That's a good thing.

The girl sitting beside and behind me on the right spoke up. If I remembered correctly, her last name was Takatsuki. "Miss Orimura, do you know if the Miss Shinonono in our class is related to Doctor Shinonono, by any chance?"

"Actually," Chifuyu said, "Your classmate is her little sister."

Oh, here we go...

A commotion then ensued. Girls started shooting all sorts of denials and questions at poor Houki. Tabane had told me that she and Houki had a pretty screwed up relationship, and that they'd both done hurtful things to each other. Tabane, when she unveiled the Infinite Stratos on the day of Houki's middle school kendo tournament, and Houki... Well, Tabane never told me what she did.

"She has nothing to do with me," Houki said loudly, shushing everyone, "I'm not my sister, and there isn't anything I can tell you about her."

I looked over at the Japanese girl and felt nothing but sympathy. I knew how it felt to be hurt by family members.

I latently noticed Chifuyu telling Miss Yamada to start the lesson, and I opened my textbook back to page 67.

The petite, green-haired woman stepped up to the lectern and activated the lesson program.

"The IS deploys a special energy barrier that serves as protection for its pilot. The Unit's system actually has something similar to a consciousness, so through shared dialogue and time spent together, the two of you will actually get to know each other!" she said, pointing to a hologram. I watched as multi-coloured lines spread between a picture of a person and an IS, "Depending on the amount of time a pilot spends controlling an IS, it begins to understand the user's characteristics. When you and your IS reach a certain level of synchronization, it will undergo what's called First Shift. When this occurs, the IS will exhibit abilities and weaponry more suited to your style. Another form of Shift exists as well. This is called Second Shift, however, no IS has ever achieved it, no matter how much time the pilot spends with it."

I started reading a paragraph about First Shift, but it may as well have been written in Chinese. Actually, bad example. I could speak Chinese.

Swahili, then.

"Since the two of you will grow together, instead of thinking of the IS as a tool, try to think of it as your big mechanical partner!" Yamada finished, "Are there any questions?"

The girl beside me to my right spoke up with an incredibly stupid question. "Yes, Miss Yamada? By partner, did you mean boyfriend or girlfriend?"

I slammed my head into my desk again.

Miss Yamada jumped and her cheeks reddened. "Oh, I'm not sure!" she stammered, "That is, I'm not experienced that way, so I don't know! Oh, but I wonder..."

She closed her eyes, cupped her cheeks and swayed side to side, a dreamy expression on her face.

"You are soooo cute!" I heard someone say, amongst other things about how cute she was, which, I had to admit, she was.

I stood up sharply and threw my arms up. "That's it! I give up! I surrender! I do as the French do! Someone just end it, please!"

"Murdoch, act your age!" Chifuyu snapped from the desk.

"Gak!" I shouted, clasping my hands over my heart, "Now, I die!"

*Whack!*

Seriously, there had to be some sort of rule- nay, law against hitting students over the head with steel attendance clipboards.

Three hours of gibberish on something called an Equalizer later, it was time for lunch. Most of my classmates were still in the room, talking about what they wanted to eat but weren't going to go for lunch. I, personally, was going to have (list has been deleted due to length).

I looked over at Houki, who was staring off into space again. She looked sort of unhappy. I know, when doesn't she? But still, she looked like she could use some company. I walked over to her and took a knee beside her desk. "Hey, you okay?"

She turned to me and frowned. "What do you want?" she asked harshly.

I bit my lower lip before responding, "You look unhappy. I'm just making sure you're okay."

She looked away. "I'm fine."

"No you're not."

She turned and glared again. "And what do you know?"

"I know someone who's hurting when I see one," I said, clasping her wrist, "Now come on. Let's go get lunch. I hear they've got some pretty mean barbecue."

Houki tried to yank her wrist away but I held fast. "Let go, dammit!" she yelled.

"Houki, just wai-"

"GAH!"

She punched me square in the chest and sent me to the ground. Everyone gasped, but I looked over to see Cecilia chuckling, a hand over her mouth as she smiled.

I looked back up at Houki, who looked about ready to tear my throat out. "So this is what I get for asking you to lunch to apologize?"

"You should've let go."

"I'm a persistent prick. Now come on."

This time I didn't bother waiting for objections. I just grabbed her wrist and started walking. Behind me, Houki stared at my hand and thought hard. Maybe she was finally coming around?

...

Nah.

The mess was about as full as it was at breakfast. Pretty much the only difference was the pillars around the room were displaying a different menu. Houki and I were in line, waiting for our food. Or rather, she had her food and we were waiting for mine. What can I say, hehe...

"You didn't have to get so upset. I'm just trying to look after you," I said, trying to remain civil with her. She certainly didn't make it easy. My dad probably would've killed her by now.

"Yeah?" she said in the defiant tone of a child, "And who asked you to do that?"

"No one has to ask me to do that, Houki. You're my roommate, and I care about you."

She glared up at me. "What? What's that mean?"

"Look, I owe a lot to your sister, and beyond that, you're the only friend I have here, and my roommate. All I'm asking is that you let me in a little, okay?"

Her gaze softened a bit and she looked down. "Well... I guess..."

The lunch lady tapped me on the shoulder and handed me a trio of trays that were all stuffed to the point that if so much as a grape was added, it'd probably all fall. I thanked the excessively round woman for putting up with my absurd diet.

"Dear god, since when did lunch turn into midday jenga?" I sighed, balancing one of the trays on my head and taking the others on either hand. "Hey, Houki, you see any tables on the way in?"

"Yeah," she said, "There's one over here."

I followed her over to a round table in an alcove in the east wall. The seat was comfy, and the table actually fit my whole meal. Without further ado, I dug in. With proper table etiquette, of course.

Etiquette meaning that I didn't eat anything bigger than my face in one bite.

Houki quietly ate her daily special, which looked to be more fish.

"Hey, Houki?"

"What?" she asked, looking up from her meal?

"Would you be willing to tutor me on the IS? Because I'm pretty sure I'm gonna have some trouble beating Blondie the way things are going."

She put down her chop sticks and fixed me with a sort of 'you're a moron' look. I was really feeling the love.

"You let her provoke you, Murdoch."

"Would you please just call me Sten?"

"Oh, well, um... Fine. Sten."

So, she left me without an answer. Lovely. Now, my manly pride would be torn to shreds by a little blonde British girl who was half my size.

I managed to kill my first tray before Houki even finished her fish.

"Excuse me?" someone said. I turned to see a girl, obviously older than me, judging from the red ribbon around her collar that signified her as a third year, standing beside my table, "Aren't you the one everyone's talking about? You're going to compete against a Representative Contender, but you've never really flown before. If you want, I could teach you lots of things about the IS."

I was seriously starting to doubt the wisdom of the screwball who decided to put me in this school.

I was about to respond when:

"No thanks," Houki said, "Actually, I'm the one who's going to be teaching him."

My head whipped around so fast I think I might've sprained my neck. "What?"

"But aren't you a freshman too? I'm a senior, after all," she tugged her ribbon, almost like she was bragging; "I think I'd do a much better job showing him the ropes."

That's a tough argument to beat. Now, the rebuttal!

"Yes," Houki said, "But I am Tabane Shinonono's sister."

And the crowd goes wiiiiild!

The senior squeaked in annoyance.

Finish her!

"But thanks for the offer," Houki finished, taking another bite of fish.

"Fine!" the senior snapped, "I guess some things just can't be helped!"

She stormed off in a huff, her feet actually stomping every step. I hooked an arm over the back of the sofa and watched as she went back to her table. "Shame," I said, "She was hot, too."

"Shut it, you," Houki said, "Your training's going to be harsh."

I laughed a bit and smiled at her. "Not that's what I wanted to hear! You're the best, Houki!"

And, as per typical, she blushed and whacked me.

- IS -

*Whack!*

*Whoosh!*

*Bang!*

*Flop!*

"Ow, dammit!" I cried landing flat on my ass as the shinai I'd been using hit the ground a few feet away.

"Argh! How can you be so weak?! You're not out of shape, so why can't you fight?!" Houki shouted, taking off her mask.

"I can't move in this damned armor thing, and I don't freaking know kendo! Do I need to draw you a diagram, or can you figure this out on your own?!"

"This problem definitely comes before the IS! Effective immediately, you'll be in training with me for three hours after school every day!"

"But I asked you to teach me about the freaking IS!"

"And I said this problem comes BEFORE the IS!"

Oy... This just kept getting better and better...

I was changing out of that damn hakama in the locker room. Houki was a row of lockers over, probably blushing furiously at the fact that a boy was that close to her while she was naked.

No matter how shameless she thought I was, I wasn't that low.

She kept shrieking for some reason. Well, not shrieking. More like an awkward outburst, like when you realize something.

"-alone with Sten every day! Gaaah! What am I thinking?!"

"What was that?" I called back to her. I heard my name, so I assumed she was calling me.

"AAH! Stop looking, pervert!"

"Houki, I'm on the other side of a freaking wall. I couldn't look if I wanted to," 'which I sorta do,' I added silently.

"Oh. Right..."

I was starting to think that being around me was rotting her brain. If so, she probably wouldn't survive the year.

The door opened on the other side of the room and someone walked in. Now at that point I was fully clothed and just waiting for Houki to leave so I could get out. She insisted that we had to change at our lockers, which meant that I had to wait for her to finish.

"Shinonono, where's Murdoch?" I heard from Houki's side. That was Chifuyu's voice.

"Other side," she said.

The teacher stepped out from behind the wall and walked toward me. She had a small briefcase case in her hand.

"Murdoch, this just arrived from you-know-who. She says that your IS is making progress, but she needs to make some final adjustments."

I took the case from her and weighed it in my hands. On the front was some writing. "Do not open until Chi-Chan says," I read, "Well, that really is original. My birthday isn't till early in August, though, so I assume this is IS related?"

"It's from her. Could it be anything else?"

"Point taken."

I heard the door open and close, so I knew Houki was done. I grabbed my backpack and was about to go when Chifuyu grabbed my arm and stopped me.

"I assume that by now you've figured out that Houki isn't exactly fond of Tabane," she said.

"It was pretty apparent from her reaction earlier today, yeah," I replied, pulling my arm free and leaning against the locker.

"I just need to tell you not to pry. She'll tell you if she wants to. Till then, just leave her be about it."

"This isn't anything I don't know, Chifuyu. I've told her that I'm here if she needs me."

"Good," she smiled thinly, "Now go get some rest. You've got a long week ahead of you, kid."

"No freaking kidding."

I didn't sleep a wink that night.

- IS -

"Houki?"

"Yeah?"

"I asked you to teach me about the IS, right?"

"Right."

"So why the hell was I learning kendo techniques all week?!"

Houki and I were both standing in the fourth pit in Arena 3 near a loading elevator. From what I'd been told, Cecilia was already in the air, waiting for me.

"Well, your IS hasn't arrived yet, so there's nothing I can do about that."

"Even without one, you still could have taught me stuff about the basics!"

"There's nothing I can do about it, so stop whining!"

I was seriously considering hitting her when the intercom buzzed. "Murdoch! Murdoch!" Yamada sounded a bit panicky.

"Yeah, Miss Yamada?" I asked, tilting my head up.

With excitement in her voice, the small woman replied, "Your Personal Unit is here!"

Chifuyu's voice then interjected, "Sten, get suited up and ready to fight."

I turned to Houki, who handed me the case that Chifuyu'd given me the week before. I hit the seal and it opened with a hiss. Inside was...

Oh, crap. Seriously?

"You're kidding me, right?" I asked critically, "You want me to fight in a freaking latex wetsuit?!"

"It's Not Latex," Chifuyu said pointedly.

"Still!"

"Would you rather fight naked?"

"HELL NO!"

"THEN SHUT UP AND FOLLOW ORDERS!"

Orders, my ass.

I huffed and proceeded to strip off my shirt and pants while Houki turned, her face as red as a stop sign. Extricating myself from my underwear, I slipped into the tight, rubbery outfit.

"YAH!" I cried, jumping a bit.

Houki immediately whipped around and ran to my side. "Sten? What's wrong?!"

I bit my lips in pain and hissed, "Nuts got caught."

If Houki could get any redder I decided I was going to give her an award.

A few minutes later I was standing in front of the freight elevator in the IS combat suit. It was really uncomfortable, and white in colour, with blue trim.

*Thunk!*

A great sound echoed out as the elevator doors opened and revealed one of the things I was going to remember for the rest of my life. It looked like Medieval armor, kneeling as if to pay respects to a great king. The hull was a dark, gunmetal grey and accented by the odd blue component here and there.

"This is Sten's Personal IS Unit," Miss Yamada cried, "The Paxis!"

Paxis, eh? I had no idea what that word meant.

All I could do was stare. It was spectacularly built...

It boggled my mind to think that in a few minutes I would be piloting that thing. The only words I could really use to describe it were 'strikingly beautiful'.

I stepped forward and laid a hand on the left wingpod. Closing my eyes, I waited for a few seconds for the instant connection that I'd felt when my mind had merged with the Uchigane a month ago. It didn't come, but I could feel something...

"Is something wrong, Sten?" Houki asked, laying a hand on my shoulder.

"...no... It's like I can feel myself through its skin... Like we're the same person."

"Show that you entrust your life to it," Chifuyu said.

I slid my feet into the opened boot sections, which bolted and fastened themselves. A skirt of armor plates that reached my mid-thigh encircled my waist as the chest plate assembled on my suit. The gauntlets reached all the way to my elbows and covered every inch of skin. The edges of the armor were jagged and sharp, the sort of thing that would remind a person of a predator. The thick armor plates were surprisingly light, too.

Data flooded my mind as the Paxis started to initialize. The world as I perceived it seemed to expand. Colours became more vivid, and everything seemed to move a bit slower as my reflexes became heightened.

I felt like a totally different person.

"The amount of time we have to use the arena is limited," Chifuyu said, "So you'll have to learn to make it yours during the match itself."

"Make it mine?" I asked.

"Remember the lesson about the shared dialogue between you and the IS?" Houki said dryly.

"Oh, that."

A screen appeared in front of me and another IS appeared on it. "Miss Alcott's IS is called Blue Tears. It's a long-range-assault type IS," Yamada explained.

"Blue Tears, eh?" I turned to Houki. "Doesn't sound so tough."

"Equipped on every IS is a feature called Absolute Defence. It's designed to protect the pilot no matter the attack. However, such a deployment would severely deplete your shield energy! Do you get it?"

"Simply enough concept."

"So, Murdoch," Chifuyu said, "Are you feeling up to this?"

"Well, I look like a pimped out, latex-wearing Iron Man, but other than that, yeah! This'll be a piece of cake!"

The instructor chuckled good-naturedly. "We'll see."

I lifted my right hand and observed it. The fingers were slightly pointed, like short talons.

"Hey, Houki?"

She seemed to snap out of a stupor at the sound of her name. "Oh, um- Hmm?"

"Here we go."

"Yeah... Sten, WIN THIS!"

"As if I could lose, Houki!"

With that I took my first step forward. The suit actually made me feel like I weighed less than I did without two hundred pounds of steel covering my body. I planted both feet firmly on the launch plate and braced myself.

With a creak, the plate accelerated along its track, and hurled me out of the pit and into the bright arena.

I immediately banked left and hovered about a hundred feet off the ground, and maybe fifty from Cecilia. Her IS was, as the name would suggest, blue in colour, with some black stripes lining the leg armor. Unlike the pod-shaped thrusters - if they could be called thrusters at all - that the Paxis featured, the Blue Tears was outfitted with a pair of upside down, V-shaped wings, despite the thrust rings I could see glowing on her feet. Her gauntlets reached from the tips of her fingers to about halfway up her biceps.

Cecilia was smiling haughtily, as she always seemed to.

"Just so you know, this is your last chance!" the British girl's voice said through the IS' communication channel.

"For what?" I replied, wiggling my right-hand fingers. I was itching to see what this IS could do.

"It's obvious to everyone here that I'm going to defeat you overwhelmingly. So why not apologize to me right now, and I just might be able to forgive you!"

"Hah! You call that a chance?! No one would take that offer!"

"Oh really? Well then, too bad for you."

A bright red window flashed to life with a warning.

ENEMY IS ENTERING A FIRING POSTURE!

I frantically looked back up at my opponent to see her raise a massive sniper rifle. "Time to say goodbye!"

A blue blast of energy exploded out of the barrel and hurtled toward me. Not knowing quite what to do, I raised my arms and took the blow head-on. Pain flared through my body as the shot knocked me clean out of the sky.

"Whoawhoawhaaaaaaaa-!" I screamed as I fell. I tried to focus, and I concentrated on my shoulder blades and willed the wingpods to give me some upward thrust. Just in time, they slowed me enough to land without a huge shock.

*BOOM!*

Another blast hit the ground just beside me and the Paxis sailed back into the air. I was tossed left and right as the machine I was supposed to be piloting essentially started piloting me. "Damn it," I cursed angrily, "I just can't keep up with Paxis' reactions!"

"Now you will dance! Yes! Dance, you uncivilised ingrate!" Cecilia cried with glee, her finger pulling the rifle's trigger as fast as it could.

"WHO YOU CALLING AN INGRATE?!"

I dodged left and ran right into another shot.

"Shit, my shield's weakening!" I said, noticing the display.

SHIELD ENERGY: 417/600

Before I knew it the number had dropped to 300.

"Gaaaah, where are my weapons?!"

Another window popped into view with an image of a broad-bladed katana on it. "What, that's it?!"

I dropped my altitude and skimmed the ground as another shot whizzed by my head. Frowning, I shouted, "Well, it's better than bare hands!"

I balled my right fist and hurled it to the side. In a flash of light, the katana appeared in my grasp.

"So, this is you brilliant plan? Challenging my long-range IS in hand-to-hand combat?!" she laughed.

"Yeah, well, I'm not really known for my bright ideas!"

I kicked off the ground and shot up toward her. I yelled a string of curses that widened a few eyes as I heaved the blade into a slash, but missed as she dodged downward.

Nearly fifteen minutes passed and I was just starting to get used to dodging when she finally stopped firing. I decelerated and hovered again, panting hard from all the exhausting movement. Remind me to never badmouth IS pilots ever again.

"You're the first opponent to last this long against Blue Tears, and for that I congratulate you."

"Why thank you, ma'am!" I smiled.

She shot me a coy look before shouting, "But, unfortunately for you, it ends here!"

The two blue wings that hovered behind her each split in two and flew after me.

"SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!" I screamed as they all started letting off blasts of blue energy at an absurd rate. Finally, one got a beat on me and I went into a tailspin toward the ground.

The BITs returned to Cecilia's IS and she raised her rifle again. "I'll take your left leg!"

She fired just as I managed to stabilize myself.

Time seemed to slow down as the blast shot toward me, a crackling miasma of energies that looked more like a lightning bolt than anything else. If it hit me just right, it would probably pierce my shield.

Suddenly, something clicked. I'd been home-schooled my whole life, and my dad wasn't a scientist, but I remember watching the movie TRON once. There's a scene where Flynn explains that a common point of physics is that any current of energy can be redirected.

Guess I was about to find out.

I raised my blade and hacked the bolt in two, ablating it.

Well, I'll be damned!

"Aw, bitch, shit gettin' serious now!" I shouted, starting to laugh.

The BITs launched again as I dove to the ground. I tried to essentially skate across the surface as I skilfully dodged every blast that I could and swished my sword through those I couldn't.

With a grunt, I jumped and accelerated to maximum speed, swinging the Paxis into a broad turn which brought me right up to Cecilia.

I took another swing but she dodged just as fast. What I noticed was that the BITs ceased fire when she moved, but started blasting again when she stopped...

"You're reckless, aren't you? But it's a pointless struggle!"

I banked and flipped as the BITs started doing flybys. Luckily, I managed to dodge the first few shots before spinning backward and bisecting one of the blue-painted drones.

Needless to say, more than a few people gasped.

"Now I finally get it!" I shouted, "The BITs won't move without your commands! That's the trick!"

I flipped myself upside down and cut another of her weapons down. "And there's more! You can't attack while you're in motion, because you're so dead focused on defence!"

She groaned in anger and the BITs resumed their assault. "Two more left...," I said to myself.

This was actually going better than I thought it would.

I dodged right before jetting over a blast, and held the katana in a one-handed ready stance as they circled me.

'But, I know they'll attack where my response speed is lowest...,' I thought.

Quick as lightning, the BITs maneuvered above and under me, quickly letting off a volley of bolts that would probably have stuck me full of holes if I hadn't been ready for it. I hurled Paxis to the right before bringing the blade up to clip the third BIT and down to slash the fourth apart.

"So, it's to my advantage to close the distance!" I finished my thought aloud, accelerating toward the blonde girl.

As I rapidly approached Cecilia, she victoriously said, "I see he fell for it!"

Say what, now?

My eyes widened as what I had assumed was just an armored skirt split, and a pair of small missile silos snapped up from where they'd been hidden, behind her thighs. "So sorry, but there are more than four!"

"Aw, shit."

I frantically did my best to avoid the two missiles she sent at me, and managed to for a few seconds, but the blast was inevitable.

They hit like pile drivers, but then everything flashed white, and suddenly I felt very cold.

"STEN!" Houki cried from the control room, looking over Yamada's shoulder.

Yamada gasped and frantically called out for the young pilot, but Chifuyu just smirked.

"That idiot," she said, "The IS saved him."

Houki and Yamada shared a 'what the hell is she saying' look, before they looked back at the monitor and immediately understood.

I breathed in slowly. The heavy smell of smoke from the explosion burned my nose and I pushed down a coughing fit.

Strength like nothing else flooded my body. Information shot back in forth in my head like lightning. Odd thing was, I could understand it. All of it.

Of course, why my perception had changed was beyond me until I saw a pair of words in my mind's eye.

First Shift.

Son of a bitch.

My eyes snapped open to see that my IS had changed. Gone were the jagged edges that had shaped the IS' features, and in their stead were graceful curves and defined edges. The armor was now a silvery white colour with blue outlines, and the wingpods had opened to reveal wings made up of white and gold spikes that splayed to look like the wings of a falcon.

My chest plate felt lighter, and I looked down to see a blue circle about the size of my fist glowing brilliantly there.

As I revelled in the new power, a voice seemed to echo in my head.

FORMAT SETTING COMPLETE

ALL ABILITIES NOW AVAILABLE FOR USE

I smiled and gazed up at Cecilia, who looked like someone had just killed her dog.

"But... that's your First Shift? How is that possible? How could anyone have fought an entire battle like that with their IS in a default setting?!"

"I don't know, but it looks like this thing's finally mine."

My eyes fell to the katana that rested in my right hand. A screen popped up and finally it identified itself.

"Wait, this is... This is the Yukihira Nigata! That's the weapon Chifuyu used!" I said excitedly. Chifuyu had gone completely undefeated with this weapon, in both Mondo Grossos. "Man, I have the best teacher ever!"

I sobered and gripped the hilt a bit tighter, but then something surprising happened. The Yukihira's blade split lengthwise and both sides collapsed in on themselves, leaving me with a Y-shaped hilt. As I started to ponder what good a hilt could possibly be, a three-and-a-half foot blade of light blue energy burst to life.

The weapon hummed a deep and intimidating pitch.

"I think we should end this now, Cecilia," I said, bringing the blade into a two-handed stance as I readied myself to attack, "It's about time I kicked your shapely rear to the curb!"

"Aagh!" the British girl cried, "You're such a pain!"

The silos let off another four missiles as I launched the Paxis into motion. "Too late for that, Blondie, I've seen them now!"

I swiftly cut down the first in an upward strike. The Paxis flipped as I cleaved another apart and flew between the last two. I was directly under Cecilia as they collided and I started a rapid ascent.

"Yeah, I can feel it! I CAN DO THIS!"

"YAAAAAAAH!" I screamed, flying straight up and hacking her rifle in half. Then, I brought my sword down on her shield.

The invisible barrier sparked between us as a meter appeared on my screen. Her shield energy dropped like a stone as the Yukihira ground at her. The gauge dropped past ten and then...

The ending horn buzzed.

THE MATCH IS CONCLUDED!

I laughed victoriously as I backed off from her and sent the Yukihira away. The blade disappeared in a swirl of light.

WINNER:

The feeling of pride I had was nearly euphoric. My first battle, and I'd-

CECILIA ALCOTT!

Lost?

"WHAT?!" I screamed.

"What?" she cried.

I heard a chorus of that question from the entire arena as I let my head flop back.

"F**********CK!"

I flew back into the pit feeling like the biggest loser ever. I challenged a girl and I lost! To a girl! In a fight! With swords! And guns!

Chifuyu was impatiently tapping her foot and, oddly enough, Houki looked concerned. Yamada just looked the usual. I let Paxis dematerialize into standby mode and just sort of stood there awkwardly.

No one said anything for a few minutes. Chifuyu was boring a nicely sized hole between my eyes with her serious glare. Houki had a really weird look on her face that was somewhere between concern, confusion and rage. Miss Yamada was glancing between them and me, contemplating whether or not she would die if she told me that I did really well.

Finally, I mustered the courage to break the silence. "Okay... Why'd I lose?"

Chifuyu sighed irritably. "Idiot. You lost because you used the barrier-null attack without considering how it would affect everything else.

"The barrier-null attack?"

"Which bypasses the enemy shield entirely by cannibalizing energy from your own shield to deliver the impact directly to their body, which activates the Absolute Defence. That's something only Yukihira can do. I have to admit, when I won the first Mondo Grosso, it was mostly as a result of that one ability."

"Oh. Well, that explains it."

"If you hadn't pissed away almost 500 units of energy before you underwent First Shift, you would've won."

"Oh, I'm sorry! I was only trying to avoid getting SHOT!"

Chifuyu huffed and rolled her eyes. I crossed my arms and tapped my right foot on the ground furiously.

It was the assistant teacher who broke the silence.

"When an IS' shield energy drops to zero, that competitor loses the IS battle. The barrier-null attack does damage your opponent, but in exchange it will cost you your shield. It's really a classic double edged sword," Miss Yamada said, pointing up at a screen that replayed the moment I'd slashed at Cecilia's shield.

"Right," Chifuyu agreed, "And it means your IS is defective."

"Oh, just my freaking luck."

"Actually, that was the wrong way to say it. An IS isn't complete to begin with, so it can't be defective per se, but since yours is so much more offense-oriented than others, it can't be handled the same way."

"What, so I could kill someone?" I asked sarcastically.

"Actually, yes."

I think I might have just had a coronary.

"Either way, you lost. Miss Yamada, explain the standby."

"Yes, Miss Orimura," the small woman replied as she took my right wrist.

I hadn't noticed before then, but there was a silvery bracer around my right arm. "Right now, Paxis is in standby mode, which usually takes the appearance of an accessory. However, it'll deploy immediately when you call it."

"Cool story."

Accessory, eh? I wouldn't call a piece of armor something akin to a necklace...

I was about to ask if I could go take a shower when Yamada handed me a phone book. Wait, that isn't a phone book- oh no.

"This is the Personal IS rules and regulations guidebook. Read it thoroughly," she said, smiling.

I cringed and turned the book over in my hands. The pages were so thin...

Chifuyu dismissed us, so Houki left while I changed back into my clothes and out of that god-awful suit.

It was sunset by the time Houki and I got back onto the main path to the first year dorms. The sky was a pale blue above our head, and when I gazed out over the ocean it looked like the blue faded into green and then to yellow, orange and red. It was all only a paltry spectacle compared to the deep orange disc of the sun as it slowly fell to the water, though. A trail of glowing orange water shot straight toward the shore.

I guess the brochure was right, after all.

Everything was tinted orange in the light, and Houki seemed to faintly glow, I could feel my heart beat a little bit faster as I turned back to the road ahead.

"Well," I said, "That went horribly. And, now she'll be the class rep."

I slung the IS suit over my right shoulder and huffed in annoyance. Houki said nothing, so I turned my head to her. "And what exactly does that look mean?"

Houki was staring at me, which wasn't at all like her. "Well... Are you, umm, upset that you lost?"

I smiled thinly and turned back to the road. "Eh, not really, I guess. Doesn't make much of a difference in the grand scheme of things."

"That surprises me a bit," Houki said, "You seem like the type to be upset over losing."

"What can I say, I'm full of surprises. Most of them unpleasant."

Houki giggled quietly, then returned to her serious self. "So, I guess tomorrow we should start some intensive IS training?"

I laughed and shouted, "Finally! The kendo beatings are done! I'm freeeeeeee!" I started spinning around with my arms thrown out to the sides, Sound of Music style.

Houki's face fell, and I stopped. "Hey, what's wrong?" I asked.

"Well, umm...," she seemed a bit apprehensive to finish, but she pressed on. "You do want me to keep teaching you, don't you?"

"Of course I do, Houki! I'd rather ask you than anyone else here."

Her throat visibly caught before she said, "Okay, I understand, Sten. I have to, then!"

"Huh?"

"Right! I hereby agree to teach you about the IS!" she held out a hand for me to shake.

I cocked an eyebrow, smiled and held out a clenched fist.

"What are you doing?" she asked, looking oddly at my hand.

"Just bump my fist with yours. It's less formal and more friendly than a handshake."

And so we bumped fists. Houki was a bit bemused at the concept of sealing a deal with anything but a handshake, but she shook it off quickly. "Fine, then. Starting tomorrow I want you to meet me every day after school at arena three, got it?"

"Yes, ma'am!" I saluted her.

She giggled a bit and walked off again. I stood still for a minute, just watching her. Houki Shinonono was possibly one of the most complex people I'd ever met. One second she's a girl who anyone could be friendly with, the next she's swinging that damned shinai.

But, there was one thing I knew for sure about Houki. As she walked away, back to the dorm building, she was beaming.

And in that moment, she was absolutely beautiful.

Elsewhere on campus, back at dorms, a certain young lady from Britain was standing under the head of her shower, revelling in the hot water that soothed her achy body.

Everything had been so clear cut before today. She was one of the best, and she had to act as such. It was no big surprise that she'd won the match. What really concerned her was that she'd won by technicality. The image of her shield readout that had been burned into her retinas refused to fade even slightly. It was like Blue Tears was still displaying it for her.

SHIELD ENERGY: 2/600

If the boy's attack had continued a split second longer, the outcome of that battle would have been different.

But still, she had won. That much, she could say for certain.

So why was she feeling this way? Her heart ached in a way it never had before, and she felt a longing desire for something. Someone.

She clasped her hands and held them below her chin as two words, a name, escaped her lips.

"Sten Murdoch..."