Infinite Stratos: God of Thunder

By: The 483

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the Infinite StratosFranchise.

Spoiler Alert: Warning: Light to mild spoilers for the Anime may be included herein.

In the City

Clack clack clack clack clack clack clack clack CLACK CLACK CLACKCLACK CLACK whoosh THUNK!

"Oof!" The air left Catherine's lungs in a single burst as she hit the padded floor on her back, pain flaring along the side of her head making her eyes water as she started at the ceiling of the Kendo Club's practice room. She released the wooden sword from her hand, and it rolled a few centimeters away, a few deep cracks that hadn't been there before near the middle of the blade. Catherine, feeling more than a bit groused, pulled of the mesh helmet, and sat up, bending at the waist, her legs still splayed, and glared at her partner, who had shifted unconsciously back to the start position, sword held aloft.

"Damn it, Houki, I get it! You're pissed. But you don't have to take it out on me!" She barked, and at the noise, Houki jumped slightly, like she had just woken up. She was obviously distracted, but had still managed to whoop Casey's ass all evening long. Catherine almost, ALMOST regretted volunteering to help her train, and was beginning to realize why no one other than Ichika was willing to practice with her. And she didn't think he was given a choice in the matter. Houki pulled her helmet off with one hand, her bound hair seeming to explode down her back as it was freed, and her sweat damp face slightly pink from exertion. She wasn't, however, even breathing heavily, and they had been at it for almost 4 hours now.

"What? What do you mean, Casey? I am not mad."

"The hell you aren't!" She spat, frowning. "Look at what you just did." She held up her helmet for Houki to see the clear furrow of a dent in the metal support frame of the mask on its right side. "You tried to cave my skull in." Houki brought a hand to her mouth in shock.

"Oh, no! I am so sorry! I zoned out!" She dropped her mask and fell to her hands a knees next to her, moving her face close to look at the side of her friend's head. It was fast, and caught Casey off guard, not expecting that type of nurture from the usually confrontationally rigid girl. She eeped, as scooted backward about three paces on her ass. And now she was breathing hard. Houki was looking at her, and Catherine thought she saw hurt in the other girls blue eyes, her hand still outstretched.

Catherine's face flamed bright red, and tried to chuckle nervously, but it came out more as a strangling noise.

"Sorry, Houki, you just surprised me, is all." She smiled, trying to disarm Houki's worry. It had been just under three months now since Catherine had arrived in the school, and it seemed as if she's always been there. She spent most of her free time with either Houki, or Tatenashi, (whom Houki could still not understand how they had become such close friends) or working down in the Pit with the girls. While not actually a club, Catherine was considered one of the official members of the maintenance and repair group. She even spend a considerable amount of time with Ichika, which Houki was not really pleased about, but could accept, as she had learned to trust her intentions, and if he was with Catherine, he was not with any of the threats.

"Don't worry about it, really. We of the Chambers clan have hard skulls just for this purpose." She grinned, and knocked on the injured side of her head, to show she was okay, gritting her teeth hard to avoid showing how much it actually hurt. Her heart was thundering in her chest, but she ignored the discomfort and rose, moving to a bench where she put her glasses on. She then return to Houki, who was still on all fours, grabbed the paralyzed hand, and yanked her to her feet. She briefly considered giving her a quick slap to the ass, like she normally would to a teammate in this kind of situation, but couldn't quite bring herself to do it.

"Wouldn't it just be so much simpler if you just laid it on the line, and told him you love him?" She asked, so casually, that it was more embarrassing then if she had made it sound scandalous. Houki turned possibly the reddest Catherine had ever seen her go.

"L-l-l-lo-lo-love!? Why would you say that! I just like him… it's nothing like THAT!" She almost shouted the last part. Catherine placed her hands on her hips, cocked one brow, and settled slightly back.

"Do you really think you can bullshit me?" She asked. Houki didn't meet her eyes. "You been distracted all day long, and you know that I know it's not because you are nervous about the match next week."

"But… but he is better than me!" She sputtered. They were, of course, referring to the match that would soon be held to determine which of them, Houki or Ichika, would be selected as Japan's Representative Contender for "La grande bataille de l'exposition" in France the following month. And, on that point, Houki was correct. Ichika was a better pilot then she was, when he was flying by the seat of his pants. If it was a knowledge or precision drill, Houki was superior. Which is why she was practicing on how to fight better against a single sword opponent. Not Catherine's specialty, but she was serviceable.

"Okay, and that is why we are practicing." She replied coolly. "But we both know that's not what is bugging you. I want to hear you say it." Houki was going to be stubborn, but, considering she had just hit Casey in the head a lot harder then she meant to, she sighed.

"It's because Ichika went out with Cecilia." She replied gloomily.

"He took her out on a date, yes." Catherine continued. Houki flinched at the word "date."

This was something Catherine new much about. About 2 weeks prior, Ichika had come to her, and told her his plan. He had thought a lot about what she had scolded him about, seeing as Dan and Ran had both said similar things to him, and decided that it would be better if he did come clean to the girls, and eventually tell the one he liked the truth, even though he doubted she felt the same. At this, Catherine applied a judicious helping of keeping her mouth shut. She felt it was her job to apply the spur, not hook the kids up. So, basically, he would begin to take the girls out, one at a time, and explain himself to them, because he felt he owed them a full explanation, no matter how bad it made him look. They were his friends, even if he didn't like them romantically.

He had picked Cecilia first, as she was the first to show her feeling toward him. He had asked her to join him on the Saturday of the week, planning an evening date that night, at Catherine's advice, so they would have a day to prepare, and not too long to get their hopes up as to what he was going to say to them. And then have a full day to get their thoughts together before having to face a class. So, needless to say, all of the harem knew he was out, and had seen the stunning figure in the deep blue dress that Cecelia had cut, showing of her regal side in full form. Having seen her first hand, Catherine could understand Houki's irk, her not knowing that Cecilia was not going to be finishing the night with a shiny new boyfriend.

"I suppose it wouldn't help to tell you not to worry about it." Catherine asked. She saw it was a clear negative. "Worrying too much gives you wrinkles, you know." Houki frowned.

"So does another smack with this." She replied crossly, hefting her weapon. Catherine put her hands on her hips, and made a mocking expression.

"Woman, please. You know I already have wrinkles covered." She said spicily, and rolled her shoulder so the protective robe slid down her left shoulder. The effect was to display her IS suit, but her point got across and Houki felt a pang of shame. Catherine smiled, and bumped into Houki's shoulder with her own. "Don't you start pitying me." She said, and added a fist into her ribs. "You disappoint me. I almost thought you had grown a sense of humor, for a second there." Houki managed a smile, and took a playful swipe at Catherine, who nimbly dodged.

It was a normal, playful exchange, but it left Catherine feeling a small touch of cold in her middle, that she couldn't comprehend, so she shook it off. She slid a foot under her own sword, flipped it up, and caught it.

"Alright, Houki, time to get serious. As nice as this kendo stuff is, you know it's not going to help you." She made a motion, and got Houki's attention, then repeated it, this time throwing her the sword. "You've admitted that you know Ichika is a more skilled pilot then you are. So, you need to practice countering him. But, all you have is me." She moved to the rack where the training swords were held, and grabbed another one.

"Yeah. I really appreciate you helping me, too." She said, earnestly enough it made Casey uncomfortable. Stop acting cute. She growled in her mind. It doesn't suit you. She lied to herself.

"We'll, you know, even if you win, he's more than likely going to be named the RC, yeah?" Houki looked surprised.

"What? But the winner should go on to represent the Country." Catherine nodded.

"And if this was just for fighting prowess that would be true. But IS competition has, in its way, taken the place of war, for the most part. And a good portion of war is posturing. Way I see it, you are rare. The Sister of the inventor and still best creator of the IS system, and the only person in a Mark 4 IS. But, give it another year, and more countries will upgrade to Mark 4. So, your value in show is lacking in novelty as compared to say… oh, I don't know… Um… THE ONLY MALE PILOT THERE IS?" She raise her voice and leaned forward to put the right force behind the words. "So, which would you want to display to all the other nations, who are doing there damnedest to out impress all the others, too? Rarity, or your unique asset?"

Houki thought about it for a moment, and felt glum.

"You're right." Casey reached out, and gave her a quick pat on the shoulder, then drew back a step.

"Don't fret, though, Houki. You can still give them one hell of a show. I spent the last couple days watching all the footage I could find of lover boy in combat, and, thanks to Tots, the raw IS data. It won't be exact, because while I took some fencing and swordplay in basic… I am not really a swords woman. But I can mimic some of his style, because, like me, he's a "rush in and hit it till it stops moving" kinda guy." She said with a wide smile.

"Tots?" Houki asked.

"You know, "Tat-enashi." She said, emphasizing the first syllable, and accompanying it by squeezing some imaginary large breasts. "It works on multiple cupsi… I mean levels."

"In the one fight I saw, you didn't move at all until the fight was over." Houki replied, in skeptical defeatism." Catherine tapped the crown of her skull with the blunted sword tip.

"I already told you, I like to play with my gimmicks. And I had to give Cecilia a chance. Back then, she hadn't had the bayonet or wrist blade installed. She had no close range defense save her drones. Whereas I specialize in pugilism and knife work. Utterly dominating her would have been embarrassing, at that time."

"And getting shot by her and hurt was better." Houki said dryly.

"Well, were friendly, now… so seems that way." She replied blandly, ignoring the sarcasm." She suddenly swung her sword horizontally, clacking it with the one in Houki's left hand, before reversing it slightly, and jabbing viciously. Houki, having been queued by the first strike, parried, and prepared to leap forward, only to find that rather than disengage, Catherin slid forward, crouching low, and delivering a soft left handed blow to the pit of Houki's stomach. She then pivoted left, ducking under Houki's right sword, rolling her back along her side, and delivering a right elbow to the back of her head. She slide the elbow over the crown of her head as the force pushed Houki's face forward, then hooked the arm at the elbow around Houki's throat, pulling her back again, (but bracing her shoulder with her left hand, so as not to actually hurt her) while sweeping out both legs where her own right.

Houki's back hit the mat with a dull thump, and both her weapons were laying a few feet away. This left them laying only a few inches apart, Catherine face down, arm still on Houki's neck, and Houki face up, shocked and ruffled. The whole evolution was over in less than 3 seconds. They both turned to look at each other, Catherine with her shit eating grin in place, their noses scant centimeters apart. With apparent ease and still stunning quickness, Catherine bounced up and back.

"See? Without those rigid contest rules, it's a lot less one sided."

"Pfft. I wasn't expecting it." She accepted the hand that reached down, and was surprised at how effortlessly she was lifted to her feet. She gathered all three of the fallen weapons, and retuned Casey's.

"And yet you counted so easily, at first. Shall we try again, or would you like to fight me as Ichika a bit, first, to warm up?" Houki answered with a loose hilt strike uppercut, at the grinning face.

Two hours later, as darkness claimed the campus, and dinner was over for most, the two red faced, panting girls bowed, and replaced their weapons on the racks. They were both thoroughly exhausted, Catherine sporting a cracked lip, and Houki a bruised forehead. Such was the price of sparing without protective gear, however, so neither girl was upset.

"Ugh… you're not too bad." Houki said, flexing her shoulder through a full rotation. The final score had been 15-13, in Catherine's favor, because she was trying to mimic Ichika's fighting style. Had she been using knives or her fists, the score would have been a lot more one sided. Houki was not unskilled, in fact, she was a wickedly powerful charger, but was not skilled in defense. But, when she was on offense, most of the time, it was all Casey could do to keep her balance under the strength of her blows. And, rarely enough, her offhand didn't seem to be any weaker than her main.

"Thanks," Casey replied with a pained grunt as she stretched, "I was impressed by you as well." Houki nodded, but looked unstable.

"I don't know about you, but I am going to shower, grabs some food, and then pass out for a while."

"Sounds good to me. I'mma head back to the room and shower there, then I'll probably eat, too." Houki waved as she moved slowly toward the gym shower room, hobbling slightly. Catherine smiled, and turned to leave too. She wanted to get to bed early, even though she knew she was likely to stay up late. They were taking out the IS's tomorrow to practice, and she wanted to be clear eyed for that. She ran in, tossed her clothes as she moved to her dresser, scooped out underwear, and rushed into the shower. She turned the faucet on, and stepped under the flow, still cold for a few seconds as the warm water pushed the cold out of the pipes. She pulled out the silver chopsticks that held her hair and shook the black mane down between her shoulder blades. 2 minutes later, she stepped out and quickly toweled off, and put her glasses back on before her underwear. Feeling refreshed, she considered say to hell with the food, and just passing out. But, she was actually really hungry, and had some things she still wanted to accomplish.

So, rather than try and squeeze herself into another IS suit, she dug out a tight black turtleneck, and some sweatpants. She gathered up her sweaty clothes, and threw them I into the hamper, and returned to the bathroom, and tucked her sticks into her waistband, before leaving the room. Halfway to the Cafeteria, she met Houki.

"Tired. Bed." That was all she said as she walked past. Casey smiled, and kept going. She made her way into the cafeteria, and managed to secure a rice bowl and some sides just before the window closed. She sat, started to eat, and paused. 30 minutes later, she woke up, checked that her food was still decent, and continued. It was 15 minutes later, when she noticed a loud slam followed by a sharp, rhythmic clacking noise. She had been alone; the cafeteria volunteers had left while she had been asleep.

"Hey, there. Rough night?" She asked without turning to look. She was answered with the cessation of the high heel tapping, and a tight, angry sniffle.

"So? Is this just another layer of punishment?" The English drenched voice spat on the verge of tears. "Is this why you didn't fuss about our fight? You were saving it to take a poke at me when I was at my lowest?" It took a moment for Catherine to figure out what she was talking about.

"What? Oh, that. No, dear. I'd forgotten about that. No, I was just out late training with Houki, and almost missed chow call. When I saw you come in, you just looked like things didn't go well." At this point she turned, and took in the very pretty girl with the red face, bloodshot eyes, and mascara trails down her cheeks. "Want to tell me about it?"

Cecilia stood, trying to figure out an angle while her mind churned over not just all the things she had learned that night, the indignation and hurt, and pain in her hand from where she'd slapped the living hell out of Ichika. Her, rejected. HER! Cecilia Alcott! It was ridiculous!

Catherine watched as Cecilia's cheek redness spread to her entire face as sorrow, confusion and rage played across it. After about 20 seconds of no movement out of her other than the angry rise and fall of her chest, and hiss of her rapid breath, Catherine knew what she should do, but was hesitant. She made no apologies for the way she was raised, but at the same time knew it was in no sense a standard form of upbringing. The few years she had known her parents, they were distant, and at the same time, she was too young to remember much about them. So, she had, in the most part, lived only with her brother, who, again, was about as far afield from normal as one could get. But they were extremely close, and much of his lifestyle rubbed off on her. For instance, Catherine had not known, until the age of about 12, that shyness was a real thing. Clothing was rarely worn in the house, except when they worked in the shop, where the proper protective safety equipment was used. There were no boundaries insofar as speech was concerned, or any other subject where personal privacy might cause issues in other families. But as for physical contact… outside of the necessity when work was involved, touching never happened.

Around 15, when Catherine had become involved in sports in high school, where physical shows of affection and frustration were common, it took her quite a while to adjust. And, as is characteristic in some similar cases, her tolerances completely flipped, and she was a little too intense for a long time in such matters. So she guarded herself, now that she had a balance going, but was always afraid she might slip and go too far again.

She rose, and walked over to the still motionless Cecilia, and without a word, wrapped her arms around her, and brought her into a tight hug.

"It's okay." She said softly. The girl in her arms jerked once in surprise, started to try and break free… and then sagged and allowed Catherine to take her weight while she cried. "There, there," Catherin said, smoothing her hair while her legs burned. She knew she was really going to feel the workout tomorrow. Moving slowly backward, Catherine led her to the booth style seat she had previously occupied, and sat down with Cecilia. She cried solidly for about 3 minutes, then stopped, suddenly, and pulled back, sniffling, again having a grip on herself. Catherine smiled sympathetically. "Feeling a bit better now?" She asked, and was not surprised when Cecilia pouted and shook her head defiantly. "Alright, well, done crying for now, at least?" There was a pause, then a curt nod. "Okay, then, let me help you clean up a bit." Dipping a napkin in her water glass, she then grabbed Cecilia's face gently, but firmly, and dabbed at the mascara lines. In a scant minute, she had Cecilia's face cleaned of makeup.

"There, as pretty as if you'd never been crying." She smiled, and pulled out her phone, toggling the camera so that Cecilia could inspect herself.

"Wow… you are strangely good at that." She said, in a quiet voice. Casey snorted.

"Nothing surprising about it. I'd like to see anyone not be decent at cleaning up, when they had to spend most of their life taking care of a man who would have worn diapers and never bathed if I hadn't had the capability to force him."

"Eww." She replied, as the image flashed through her mind.

"Ew indeed." Catherine said, with a sage nod. "Feeling better?" She was, the slightest amount, but would not admit it. Catherine could tell this, and displayed her secret weapon. She reached down, and pulled up a bottle of cherry wine. Cecilia looked surprised, and cocked an eyebrow.

"Really? Wine? Where did you steal that from?" She asked, though she seemed excited at the prospect.

"Steal it? I didn't. I bought it. … um… how old do you think I am, sweetie?" Cecilia looked her up and down, and decided to go with her own age.

"17?" Catherine smiled.

"Aw, that's cute, thanks. I'm 23." Both of her blonde brows crept up.

"Then why are you in this school?"

"I'll give you the first, and see if you can guess the second. First, because this is the only place to really get into the IS industry. And second… I think you are probably here for the same reason." Cecilia locked eyes with Catherine as she wondered if she should say what she was thinking.

"Well… my government wants to make sure that the others here aren't getting too far ahead of us in IS tech, and not sharing it with us, as per the Alaska Treaty's joint technology clause."

"Righto, spying on the others. For instance, it was very interesting to find out that our friend Houki is in possession of the only Mark-4 IS there is, while the rest of you are just now getting your MK-3 upgrades, or series 2 kit." Cecilia nodded, and looked away, when she noticed the food arrayed in front of them. She was happy to change the subject.

"Umm… what is that?" She pointed to the half dozen small dumplings with dual vertical on each.

"They are the Big Dango Family. Duh." She said smugly, and popped one in her mouth. "So, you want to go drink and talk about it?" She inquired again. Cecilia eyed the bottle covetously; despite her family's well stocked liquor cabinets, she had not yet been able to chivy any, and was eager to try. Catherine didn't worry, either, as the wine she had selected was more juice then an intoxicant; the bottle was less alcoholic then a single beer, at just 2%.

"Oh, alright." Catherine smiled, and gathered up her remaining food into a plastic container.

"Cool, let me just clean up this mess, and we'll go to your room."

"My room?" Cecilia asked sharply.

"Yeah. Houki is already asleep in mine." Cecilia made a face that spelled out "oh, duh" as Catherine gathered up her trash and dishes on the tray. The kitchen was closed, as far as food prep was concerned, but the area was still open for late eaters to clean up their messes, or if they needed utensils or the like if they used their small kitchen sets in their rooms. The standing rule was just to clean up after oneself, and facilities would remain available. It had worked well, so far. She slid her tray to the edge of the table, and Cecilia swapped sides so Casey could exit. She pushed her self up, and was about to take a step, but when she put her weight on her left leg, the thing went dead and crumpled, and she kept falling forward. She had a surprised look on her face as she arced down and landed flat on her face, sliding a few inches, her glasses skittering out in front of her across the polished linoleum, and hair fanning out.

Inwardly, she screamed with rage, so hotly that the pain and embarrassment were scarcely felt. She had to clamp her jaws and focus on holding it to keep the bellow of fury from leaking out, as angry tears burned the corners of her eyes. The frustration of having her parts not working correctly was almost too much to bare, as Cecilia cried out.

"Oh, my! Casey, are you okay?" She was down on her knees, hand on Catherine's shoulder, trying to ease her up. A noise escaped through her tightly clenched teeth, a short puff of air that she had managed to shape into a gruff chuckle. A few more got out, until she managed to laugh, and chuckled tightly.

"Oh, yes." She said, raining up on one arm. Her knee hurt, and she had banged her chin when she it, but her sleeves kept her form losing any skin.

"What happened?" Catherine managed to turn a grin on, and decided to lie. She must have worn herself out more then she thought, for her leg to just die on her like that.

"I'll let you in on a secret, okay? Promise not to tell?" She tried to turn pleading eyes on her, but she doubted Cecilia would buy it. But she did, and nodded.

"Alright, so I was down in Hawaii, surfing. Just the tourist beaches, mind you, as the natives didn't want us on theirs deeper in the interior. So, I catch this one small wave, maybe 7 feet from trough to crest, and just eat it, hard. I was not very good. So, I surface, and get back on my board, and wave to Dave, who was my instructor. Then, without warning, WHAM!" She slapped a hand on the tile, and Cecilia jumped slightly. "I get hit by a truck and go under. When I come back up, I know something is wrong, because people are screaming, and the water is all red. Dave is yelling at me to come ashore, and paddling over, so I get a shoulder on my board and start in. I don't know what is wrong, I thought another board had conked me in the head. So I get to the shallows, and stand up, only I don't. I go down face first, and am dragged out of the water. Next thing I know, I am in an ICU and I've got no leg. Was a damned Bull Shark, just swam up, gave me a little love nibble, and moved on. So, my leg isn't real, and sometimes I forget." She said with a shrug. Cecilia looked aghast.

"Really?" The look Cecilia was giving her was so plaintive that it made Catherine rethink it. Damn it, she wasn't used to being in company that took what she said seriously.

"Pfft, no. Never been to Hawaii. I got burned real bad in an accident, and have some partial nerve damage on my leg. I guess with all the irregular exercise today, I stressed it, and it went dead for a while. Sorry to worry you." She saw that Cecilia still did not know what to believe, and rushed to fill it in. "This time I am serious. I'll tell you what. Since I saw you cry, which was probably embarrassing, I will show you my leg, and then we'll be even, yeah?" Cecilia didn't want to admit it, but she had been uncomfortable with this… American having seen her weakness. A chance to return to equal footing was appealing, almost as much as a chance to drown her sorrows in wine.

"Alright. I find that acceptable." She said, with her most winning smile. She may have been an arrogant blue blood, but she knew how to be charming when she cared to. Catherine smiled, pushed herself up, and balancing on her good leg, gathered her tray, and hobbled into the kitchen. Despite her fall, she had a feeling it was going to be an interesting night.

(…)

Catherine was yawning as Houki flew straight in, blades flashing, going for a heavy body shot. Intent on playing her part as Ichika, rather than block and rebuff her, as she normally would, she charged, and caught the blow with her single borrowed sword, trying to force her back with pure might. But, there was disparity in her Tesla's specs, and Ichika's, and in straight up offence, Houki's Akatsubaki was much stronger. The Tesla was built for speed and A-typical offensive combat. For close ups, she had her knives, and if really pressed, fists, and at range, she had a variety of electric attacks, along with some magnetic holds, and of course, her Gauss Rifle.

But, for this exercise, she had been equipped with a sword, and a pistol, to mimic, at least in form, Ichika's blade and Iron man style palm gun. Casey had her legs clamped shut, and her star magnets locked, and the volt lances on her back retracted, leaving the Tesla with a surprisingly low profile.

She caught the leading edge of Houki's blade, her heels digging furrows in the dirt floor of the arena as she was pushed backward. Still keeping on the pressure with the leading sword, she brought the second down, and Casey barely managed to deflect it by shifting slightly. When the slide finished, and Houki let up slightly, Casey sprang backward before leaping right back in with a horizontal slash, throwing up a shower of sparks as the blades collided. Normally, she would disengage, and wait to be attacked, but, instead, continued the push. But, Houki was better than she had been 4 days earlier. She didn't fall back, instead pushing back, working her left sword free, and driving the hilt down at Casey's head. It was a good hit, and did some damage. They came together, again and again, each attempting to drive the other under with pure strength. But it was uneven, and Casey was slowly getting bent under the superior force.

Catherine had been whittled down do about half her total shields, when Houki surprised her by pulling back. Still attempting to push back, Catherine stumbled forward into a full upward slash, rocking her up and back, exposing her middle to a flurry of powerful blows that ended the match in Houki's favor. Catherine landed flat on her back as the whistle blew. She didn't bother to move as he IS shut down, and compacted until it was gone. She looked at the sky as the shadow of Houki's IS loomed over her, panting.

"What did you think?" She asked, expectantly.

"Well, if you take in account that I am just trying to help you learn to counter a style, and cannot be as good as the real thing, I'd say you've got it down. I'm impressed. You've really become a lot more inventive with your style, too. Keep this up, and I'll give good odd's you could win." Houki looked dour.

"Well, thanks. You're not too bad yourself. I was surprised, though. I thought you'd be tougher than this." Catherine sat up, and frowned.

"Hey, not fair. Sword was never really one of my best skills, and especially not this type. I did some fencing in High School, and in the Military, but only as a hobby." This was partly true, as she had placed 4th in the National Fencing League while serving her term. But that was not in the range of things she would mention. She rarely ever seriously bragged about anything other than accomplishments made by people she respected and was acquainted with. She rose to her feet, and dusted off her back.

"I'll tell you what, Houki. You win this match, and I'll spar with you for real, my specialty against yours." Houki smiled wolfishly.

"Oh, you'll use your little magnets like you did with Cecilia, and root me until you chip away my shields?" Catherine's eyebrows rose.

"I am liking the confidence, but let's not get cocky, dear. No. I won't just play with you, like I did her. I'll give you the full experience, as serious as if it was a real RC match. No pulled punches." The inflection in Catherine's voice was so flat pointed, that Houki thought that maybe she should do a little research before that battle happened.

"Alright, then. I look forward to it."

End 6