Chapter 6; The Raven's Secret
After spending all day Saturday and most of Sunday working on Ichika's IS, Simon decided that now would be as good a time as any to visit the bath house on the grounds. He had been working with Ichika and two of the tech students trying to improve Ichika's IS, although the way it had been designed did not give them a whole lot to work with. After finally looking through its schematics to try and pinpoint the reason the new equipment wasn't being accepted by the machine, Simon snorted in disgust and threw the tablet back onto the table. "Something the matter, Simon?" Ichika asked, looking up from where he had been tinkering with Byakushiki's sword. The outburst that followed was not what he, or the two girls, had expected as a response.
"What dumbass designs a IS with only one bus port for its first shift?! It's only weapon is a goddamned sword, and they didn't think to leave room for upgrades?" he yelled, pacing around the IS and flailing his arms to make his point, "What self-respecting engineer puts a sword as the primary and says, 'well, that should be good enough.' And then they make the damned thing draw power from ALL of the systems to activate its one-off ability? What the hell are they thinking?! Fuck!" After getting that out of his system, Simon had visibly calmed down, though the two girls that had been helping them looked a little concerned that the American might turn his anger on them. Instead, he picked up a wrench and started working on popping one of the panels on the left wing off. "You okay now, Simon? Or do I need to bring Rin here for you to cleanse yourself properly?" Ichika asked, amused rather than terrified at his outburst. He had learned that as an IS engineer, Simon took great pride in his trade.
"I'm fine now." He replied as he finally got the panel off, "If your IS won't except upgrade parts in the traditional sense, we're going to have to trick it." "And how would we do that?" one of the girls asked, her professional curiosity outweighing the fear from earlier. "Well, I'm hoping to boost Byakushiki's power reserves so its one-off ability can be used for longer periods of time. But we can't attach energy storage cells in the conventional sense because the suit won't recognize them." He explained as he tugged out a particular bundle of wiring, "So, we're going to have to work the cells into the existing wiring in a way that makes the machine believe they are existing parts." "I've never heard of someone actually trying to trick an IS' programing. You actually think we can do that?" the other girl asked as she walked up behind him to examine the wires. Since they were both engineers like him, he knew exactly what to say next. Without even turning around, he asked, "You think we can't?" He had just thrown down a challenge, and no engineer would ever refuse a challenge in their own area of expertise. The two girls began to pull panels off different areas of the IS and resizing the storage cells to fit accordingly. Ichika just stood back and watched, occasionally handing the three parts and tools they required. While he would have loved to help, he didn't know enough about the technology to do anything.
By the time the three had finished, Byakushiki's power reserves had been doubled, leaving Ichika with the ability to trigger his one-off three times before he started to drain his shield energy. After wiping some grease off his hands, Simon returned to his room and grabbed a pair of shorts for the bath house. He had intended to visit it sooner, but most of the time it was in use by the girls at the academy since there was only the one. After listening carefully for any voices in the changing room, and hearing none, Simon entered and changed into his shorts before putting his clothes into an empty locker. As he walked into the bath room, he saw Ichika and Charles there already, back to back and looking rather nervous. "So, you guys had the same idea, to?" he asked as he got in the water and moved to join them.
The furious blush on Charles' face stopped him short, and he took a moment to study the two to figure out why. It only took him a moment to note the outline of his body in the water through the mist, and he just sat down a little ways from them and looked at Ichika. And sure enough, the bluenette was also blushing, so he had also noticed. Or maybe he knew for a while now. He did say Charles surprised him with something Simon realized before turning back to the Frenchman. "So, care to explain why you're masquerading as a boy, Ms. Dunios?" he asked, emphasizing the Ms. At this he, or rather she, just blushed harder and looked away. "I-I don't kn-know what you're ta-talking about." She stammered, trying to act normally. "Okay, let me try a different tack. Ichika, how long have you known? And if you dodge the question, I promise to screw with more than your shower." Simon promised.
It took the bluenette all of five seconds to weigh his options and decide that coming clean was better. "Since the night that you left. I, uh, walked in…on…her." he said, the last words causing the two to blush even harder. At this rate, one of them would probably need to go to the infirmary from the blood rushing to their heads. Rather than sitting there and torturing the two, Simon got up and walked over to where the spare towels were placed and grabbed one of the bigger ones. Walking back to where the two were sitting, he handed it to Charles while keeping his eyes averted. "Here, this should help, somewhat." He said as she took the towel and he sat back down. After wrapping herself in it, the three felt a little more comfortable facing each other, although their faces were still a little pink. "So, w-what happens now?" Charles asked after the two boys continued to sit there. "Well, Ichika has already been doing a good job of not telling anyone. As for me, I don't see a reason to rat you out to anyone." Simon said, causing the other two to sigh in relief. "However." He continued, "It does raise some questions about my having to move out of that room." This just caused another blush to appear on Charles' face as she tried to look away.
"I'm sorry if I caused you any trouble, Simon. It wasn't my intention." She said, looking a little guilty. "I was sent here to serve as a spy for my father's company. He wanted to learn whatever he could about the male IS pilots and believed that I could get closer to you if I pretended to be a boy." "Because staying as a girl totally wouldn't have allowed you to get close to one of us. Sure." Simon said, trying very hard to not explode about her poor excuse of a father. What man forces their own daughter to do something like this? he wondered, trying to imagine what reason would drive such a decision, and finding nothing beyond money. "Well, so long as you're at the academy, you should be safe from your father." Ichika said. The two blondes just looked at him in confusion before Simon finally clued in on what he meant. "You mean the 'no interference' policy?" he asked. Ichika just nodded and turned to Charles to explain. "As long as you attend this school, not outside force can exercise authority over you, private or political. That gives you three years to figure out a solution to this problem. I will definitely help you, and I'm sure Simon will to." The blonde just nodded at this, but was startled as the Frenchwoman suddenly started to cry.
"Th-thank you, both of you." She said as she brought her hands up to clear her eyes. While his sibling instincts were telling him to comfort her, Simon remained acutely aware of where they were, and what they were wearing. Best not to send the wrong message now he thought as they sat there, talking. After about an hour, the three decided it was time to return to their rooms. The tournament would be starting tomorrow, and Ichika and Simon would need their rest for it. That would be fairly easy for Ichika sense he and Charles had worked out an agreement a long time ago. For Simon, it was a different matter. "So, how was your dip in the bath house, Feli?" Tatenashi asked as he walked into the room.
"It was…interesting. Although, I couldn't exactly call it relaxing." He said, remembering his promise. "So, did the French girl come clean yet?" She asked, leaving him no room to dodge the question. And the fact that she was sitting in the middle of his bed, in nothing but her button up shirt and underwear gave him no other option than to play along with this game. "I don't know what you mean. The three of us sat there and had a nice conversation, between men." He responded, trying to deflect her suspicions away. And of course, it wouldn't be that easy. "Oh, I understand. She asked you to keep it a secret, didn't she? Did she offer to bribe you for your silence, hmm? Maybe a special favor?" she teased, the familiar glint coming to her eyes. Goddamnit, woman, it's like you're freaking psychic. "Okay, if I tell you, then you need to swear to me that it doesn't leave this room." Simon said, laying his bag down at the foot of his bed and looking her straight in the eye. He had learned that letting his gaze wander was one of the ways she got motivation for all the flirting she did. Once she nodded, he sat on the edge of his bed and explained what had happened. She appeared to be rather interested in the part where Ichika knew about this long before he did.
"Alright, before you try and spread any rumors, I can assure you that they weren't doing anything." Simon said, trying to squash what he knew would be a massive source of entertainment for the girl. "~If you say so~" she sang as she leapt over to her own bed and drew the covers over her. "And no sneaking into my bed to ravish me in my sleep, Feli." Simon just snorted in amusement and laid down himself. Tomorrow was going to be a rather interesting day.
The first day of the tournament finally rolled around, and Ichika and Simon were both sitting in the locker room, going over their plans one last time. "Okay, just remember that all you need to do is keep that crazy woman distracted while I deal with Houki." Simon said for what felt like the thousandth time. They had been having this debate so often that he knew exactly what each of them were going to say before they even said it. Ichika probably did, to, but he kept on like he felt that in needed to be said again. "Are you sure you don't want me to take Houki? You're not exactly a swordsman yourself, Simon." "No, if you two fight it will just be a drawn out battle that will force you to use your one-off too early." Simon responded, shaking his head. "We need to knock her out quickly so we can both focus on Laura. She is definitely the major threat of the two." "And how do you figure that?"
"I called the head researcher from the lab I worked at Saturday night, asking her about that barrier she used to stop me cold." Simon continued, "She only got back to me this morning. It's called an 'Active Inertia Canceller' and it's designed to do just what we saw, stop any inbound solids dead." Ichika took a moment to fully process that before he sighed and put his face in his hands. "Then how are we supposed to fight something that can stop all physical attacks?" Standing up and putting a hand on Ichika's shoulder, Simon said, "She can only deploy two of those damned things at a time. My fang bits already negate that advantage, but to be sure I want to have the both of us able to focus on her." Ichika just nodded, but he clearly still felt conflicted over the strategy they had to use. "Come on, man, it's the ones that fight smart that win. Leave all that 'honor' shit here and let's go." Simon said as he walked out to their launch bay. "Just don't let Houki hear you say that, she'll tear your ear off." Ichika replied as he followed.
As they entered the launch area, a thought occurred to Ichika. "Hey Simon, I never did see what your IS looks like in stand-by mode." Stopping besides the other catapult, he turned to face his friend. "Well, you have that nice wrist guard, very stylish by the way, and I have this." He said, motioning to the watch on his left wrist. Now that Ichika actually focused on it, he saw that it looked a lot more high-tech than any watch he'd ever seen. "Oh, is that it? I never would have guessed. I thought it was that pendant you have with you." At this, Simon's face clouded over slightly as he turned to look out into the stadium. "No, that was my sister's." That was all Ichika needed to hear to know to shut up. Anything regarding Simon's sister was something he and the others had agreed was strictly off-limits. Without another word, the two summoned there IS and launched into the stadium. As they landed in front of their opponents, Simon noted that Houki was using one of the Uchigane IS used for training. Well, at least she's familiar with its weapon Simon thought as he noted that she only had the sword.
"I hope you're both ready to suffer." Laura said as she glared at the two of them. "Especially you, American, I have not forgotten what you did." "Oh, come on, it was a freaking joke! And besides, all you've been doing up until then is glare at Ichika and talk down to the rest of us." Simon shot back, taking his sword from the clamp on his back. "You had to see something like that coming. Or are you too arrogant to assume someone would retaliate?" Laura just stared at him, the murderous intent in her eye all too clear. Houki just stood there, a little confused as to what was going on since they had never really told her what Simon did to Laura's shower. Mainly because they all knew that the proud samurai girl wouldn't have approved. "The match will now begin. You have 30 minutes." They heard over the load speakers, and as soon as that ended Laura's cannon was trained on Simon and fired.
The blast caught him full in the chest and sent him reeling backwards as Ichika charged at Laura. Houki just blocked his blade and forced him back as Laura directed her aim at Ichika and fired again, not caring that Houki was caught in the blast, too. Okay, she's not a team player. That should make this easier Simon thought as he let his wings unfold. Bringing his shield up in front of him, he triggered an Ignition Burst and slammed straight into Houki, carrying her away from the other two and shouting, "I got this one! You take care of the psycho!" Laura just continued trying to hit Ichika, but his superior speed allowed him to dodge the shots. Meanwhile, Simon had released Houki and stood between her and the other two fighters. Bringing his shield in front of him again with the sword held pointing over it, Simon said, "Now, you face me, samurai." She just growled before lunging at him, driving Simon into the defensive. It was all he could do to keep his shield up and blocking her strikes as it felt like she was coming at him from every direction.
Gotta time this perfectly he thought as he watched the pattern of her swings, looking for an opening. After spying one, he powered up his sword, the small teeth along the blade starting to spin like the teeth of a chainsaw, causing the blade edge to look like it was glowing orange. While the engine and the blade's sound were barely audible, anyone that knew what they were looking at would recognize the danger. Houki, unfortunately, wasn't one of those people as she brought her sword down in an overhead strike, trying to drive that blasted shield aside. Instead, Simon brought his own sword up to meet hers, and the wine of his sword cutting through the metal was clear enough for Houki to recognize the danger and back off. Looking at where the blades had met, she saw a sizable cut into the metal. Looking back at the boy, she reexamined his sword and detected the slight flicker in the light from its edge that showed the teeth moving. "Darn, I was hoping that would go clean through. Guess you have really sharp instincts, huh?" Simon said as he resumed his stance. That boy is a lot more dangerous than he ever let's on Houki thought as she prepared to attack again. Why didn't I realize that before now?
Their battle was interrupted as Ichika was sent flying into Simon's back, sending the two boys into the ground. "What the hell, man? I'm working here." Simon said as he pushed Ichika off him. "You try controlling your flight after being shot in the face." Ichika shot back as he stood back up. After Simon got back to his feet, he saw a flash and managed to block the shot from Laura before he was forced to dodge another slash from Houki. Damnit, this isn't working he thought as he let loose a pair of missiles from his shield, putting up a smoke screen so he and Ichika could regroup. "Lemme guess, she caught you in one of her AICs and shot you?" Simon said as he watched the cloud for movement. Ichika just nodded as he stood ready himself. Sure enough, Houki came charging through the smoke and slammed right into Ichika, immediately trading several blows with him. Before Simon could move to support him, another blast caught his shield and he turned to face Laura. "Damnit, German, stop doing that!" he shouted as she fired again.
Dodging the shot, he thought okay, fuck this, time to go all in. Coming to a stop, he triggered the clamps holding his shield in place and released it. Taking a two handed grip on his sword, he readied himself for the inevitable pain that this particular mode brought on. "I've only ever used my one-off once before, so you should feel honored." This drew the attention of Houki and Ichika, who weren't even aware that Simon had a one-off ability. Widening his stance and bringing the sword in front of him, he said, "From the ashes I will rise victorious." Ichika and Houki, as well as Cecilia and Rin who had been watching from the stands, immediately wondered what the heck the blonde was saying. That is, until they watched his IS transforming. Its colors shifted, the blue turning into a black and the green turning into a dark red. Several vents along the legs, arms and wings that previously were invisible opened up, and a red mist began to flow from them. Finally, the crystal on his chest plate turned bright red, and at this the mist turned into something that looked like flames. In fact, the entire suit looked like it was glowing and engulfed in flames.
"This is what I call my Phoenix Shift, and it will be the end of you, German!" Simon said as he leapt forward. Laura was clearly not prepared for this sudden change, though she still tried to bring her cannon to bear. However, Simon's speed was increased dramatically, and he was suddenly in her face and bringing his sword up in a slash before she could react, sending her flying back. Without so much as a pause, Simon pursued her, appearing behind her and slashing again to send her flying upwards before appearing again above her and delivering a kick to her stomach. As she crashed into the ground, Ichika was sure that she was finished and turned his attention to Houki, who was still stunned at the sudden change in the blonde. Feeling guilty about this, he triggered his own one-off and slashed at her across the middle. Houki didn't even have time to block as her shield energy hit zero, although she looked rather pissed that Ichika would do something so dirty in a fight. "Sorry, Houki, just following Simon's instructions." he said as he turned to face the blonde as he landed. He had turned off his one-off, his IS returning to its blue and green pattern, and he looked a little ticked at having to reveal that particular ability.
Once he landed, however, he caught a shot to the back of his head, which shattered the back of his helmet and collar. Laura stood behind him, looking ready to kill him. Unfortunately, she may have just done that since Simon was kneeling on the ground clutching the back of his head. Triggering the release for the helmet and collar, Simon ripped them both off and threw them away and went back to clutching the back of his neck. Ichika could now see blood coming between his fingers, and he looked torn between furious that he'd been shot and in some serious pain. The fury seemed to win since Simon got back on his feet and he turned to face Laura. "You are going to pay for that one, bitch." He managed through gritted teeth as he grasped his sword again. Ichika took a moment to look at the back of Simon's neck and saw blood, but his hair was covering up where it was coming from. "Simon, are you sure you're going to be okay?" Simon just charged at the German, brandishing his sword. Ichika just sighed and followed him, prepared to back him up.
The boys quickly fell into the strategy they had come up with to defeat Laura; one of them moving in to draw attention while the other attacked her from another direction. They quickly managed to whittle her shields down to nothing. But, they should have known that victory wouldn't be that easy because the second she realized that she had lost, her IS began its own transformation, turning into a grey metal goo before reforming into a rather tall person with a sword, swallowing the German girl up in the process. The two boys immediately recognized a rough resemblance to Ichika's sister in its appearance, though they didn't have time to dwell on this as the look-alike swung at them with its sword, driving them back. While it made no move to advance just yet, the boys were wary of approaching it since they had no clue what they were facing. "So, any ideas?" Simon asked, feeling the adrenaline high he was riding starting to subside. Without breaking eye contact with it, Ichika asked, "Can't you use your fangs on it?" "No, the control system was fried in that attack." He responded.
Nodding, Ichika squared up with the machine. "Alright, I'll take it on." "Good…because I think I'm about done." Simon said as he started to notice his vision fading. The last thing he saw was Ichika turning and calling out to him, but he was already beyond the point of no return. Simon blacked out and collapsed to the ground, his IS destructing in response.
And so ends another chapter. I am a little hopeful that the hint I just dropped is enough for you to figure out what Simon meant about his fang bit control system, but I intend to explain what it is anyway, so don't worry if you haven't figured it out. Also, sorry for kind of brushing over Ichika's fight with Laura, but I always kind of found it anti-climactic. But, now that the introductions are out of the way, we can start to pick up the pace. Look forward to when the Gospel appears, cause that's when the shit is going to start flying towards the fan.