English x Toy

"I'll take heads this time," Shalnark said.

"Tails then," Ichika replied, holding a 100-yen coin in his hand.

"No hard feelings if either one of us loses, alright?" Shalnark turned around agonizingly to face the rest of his classmates. They consented easily. They better have. He was on the verge of using Nen to make sure that they did. The pain after Autopilot ensured that he wouldn't be able to turn without experiencing a very intense degree of pain at his waist. He turned back to face the coin.

Ichika flipped it into the air. All eyes were on it.

It fell on his desk and rolled around for a few seconds, before finally stopping flat on heads.

"Guess I'm the class representative then," Ichika sighed. Shalnark sighed out of relief, and again when his first sigh was drowned out by the cheers of almost every girl in the class. The two had voted each other for class representative, betting on the coin that the other must take the position.

"Excuse me, may I say something?" Cecilia asked. Both boys turned around to meet their competitor. She was smiling, as though she was amused that the class representative was decided by sheer virtue of coin flip. "I apologize for being so petty earlier and I thank you for showing me how strong both of you were. In piloting an IS, actual combat experience matters more than anything. When you become a class representative, you will encounter many battles."

The other girls were now espousing something along the lines of "generating publicity" and "extending the boys to the other classrooms." How exactly the other girls made this out to be publicity Shalnark did not know. He did know, however, that a certain nation named "France" wasn't willing to give him up so easily and continued to make claims that he was part of the "Dunois family". Said family had a member named "Charles Dunois", which sounded similar in Japanese, but did not make the French claim any more believable.

"And also," Cecilia continued, casting a sideways glance at Ichika, "For one such as me, who is superior and elegant, as well as beautiful and perfect…" (Shalnark thought this disputable.) "…if you wish to be taught about the IS, I shall gladly-"

The sound of hands slamming on a desk was heard throughout the classroom.

"Sorry, but Ichika already has a tutor, since he asked me directly to do so." Shinonono Houki answered, standing up.

"Well well, if it isn't the C-ranked Shinonono-san!" Cecilia said heatedly. "What might be your business with an A-rank such as myself?"

"R…rank has nothing to do with it! He entrusted himself to me! Go tutor the other boy if you have no one else!"

"Sit down you idiots!" Orimura-sensei intervened. "You're like chicks who haven't pecked out of their shells yet, so stop trying to size each other up!" She then turned to Shalnark and everyone felt the temperature in the classroom fall by five degrees. "And you. See me after class." The girls wondered what Shalnark did to upset her greatly.

They also wondered why Cecilia preferred to talk to Ichika instead of Shalnark. While Cecilia had experienced intense trauma from the death of her parents, Nen was an entirely new experience. Shalnark's intimidation by Nen, however temporary, had a lasting effect on Cecilia, who now wanted to have as little to do with him as possible. Cecilia thus concentrated most of her attention on Ichika, allowing Shalnark the privacy that Ichika lacked.

That privacy proved to be short lived.

Later, the class held a party commemorating Ichika's election as a class representative. Shalnark, being one of the nominees, had to go there. In no way would he be forced in when he was still in pain from Autopilot.

His mind was still occupied by what Orimura-sensei simply grilled into him.

"You thought you would hack the IS and sacrifice your own life energy to win that fight? I'd be entertained to know how you managed it, and simply relieved if it was just a hack, but did you really think I wouldn't notice the sheer fatigue and pain you're enduring? How many years do you think you lost? Ten? TWENTY?"

"Yes, sensei." It was all he could say to her right now. She didn't understand what Autopilot really did or what had actually happened, but that wasn't the point.

She raised her fist into the air and brought it crashing onto his skull. Tears leaked from Shalnark's eyes from the sheer pain of taking that hit.

"You fool! There are plenty of things in this world that are more important than victory! I'll overlook what you did this time, but think about what you could have done with those extra twenty years!"

His head was still spinning from the hit. If he hadn't concentrated his Nen to his head to defend against that attack, he would have to deal with a concussion for the next few days.

"Chifuyu-nee hit you hard?" Ichika asked, turning to meet him.

"Sort of," Shalnark said, tenderly rubbing his head.

"Sorry about that."

"Don't be. It's not your fault."

Ichika paused for a moment to calm down Cecilia and Houki, and every other girl that strived to get the attention of either of them.

"She thinks I sacrificed my life energy to win that match." Shalnark sighed. He was evidently not in the condition to answer a group of fangirls, let alone "go to this room" or "go to that room" after the party.

"I can't really blame Chifuyu-nee for that." Ichika said, leaning back. "I was being ransomed by a secret group that didn't want her to win. She could've taken first place in the Mondo Grosso, the IS tournament, but she threw the final match to save my life."

"I see." Orimura Chifuyu's tirade made sense then. The questions the vice president of the Newspaper club was trying to force onto him didn't make much sense though. He just answered them to the best of his ability.

The picture taken of Class 1-1 had a casually smiling Ichika and Cecilia, a fuming Houki, and a widely-grinning Shalnark. That grin was the result of trying to hide the pain going off from being accosted by clusters of girls right before the picture was taken. Why couldn't they just be like Machi, Pakunoda, or Shizuku and keep to themselves? He thought after the picture. Oh right, it's a girls' school.

Shalnark was still in pain the next day.

He still had the stamina to ask a few questions about the IS, as the other girls requested; said questions were often deep and difficult enough to drive them away. Some avoided him, while others dove into the books to find an answer. He used that spare time to contemplate the IS.

The first IS he encountered had God's Letters written on its core, programmed to teleport him to this world, this "Lust Island". The core itself was just a power source, albeit a very unusual one. The way it functioned was enough to frighten Shalnark when he examined it with Gyo, though there didn't seem to be anything particular about it. It gave him a bad feeling when he stared into it, as though the countless victims he slaughtered were going to take vengeance on him. If anything, it reminded him of Kurapika's scarlet eyes, glaring at him through Pakunoda's transmitted memories.

The scarlet eyes and the IS core…a connection? That was an absurd connection to make, even for Shalnark. Something closer to that would be a Specialization-type Hatsu.

"Hatsu", the release of one's Nen, wasn't limited to Nen users. From what Shalnark had been taught about Nen, Hatsu was everywhere, from the way people decided to make a living to the operations of technological weapons themselves. Artwork made with one's heart contained traces of Nen, somewhat like enhancement. And though the IS was a mass-produced machine, it materialized the weapons that were needed as a materialization user did. But why couldn't I detect any Nen on the IS…? He wondered. Is there another material that is used to imitate Nen that also enables the AI?

Shalnark's thoughts were interrupted by a girl's voice with a Chinese accent. She shouted a challenge at Ichika about something, but as what was thought impossible for Shalnark, he paid special attention to her appearance. Huang Lingyin was a short girl with a small canine peeking out from behind her upper lip. Her long brown hair was tied by ribbons into two pigtails.

His thoughts switched to how incredibly lucky she was that Feitan wasn't around to see her.

Yet, Feitan still talked about her over the phone, sounding as sadistic as an interrogator could sound. Shalnark still held onto the piece of paper that Kalluto stuck onto him, which made it possible to track the sounds around him and was the reason Feitan was able to talk about Huang Lingyin in the first place. Not that he was going to throw it away. He was the lost one in this situation and needed to notify the others. And Feitan's perversions were probably the result of reading one too many Trevor Brown books…

Someone knocked on the door and Ichika answered. The sound of that same Chinese-accented voice made Shalnark want to hide Kalluto's slip of paper under his blankets.

"Ah…Ichika, do you remember our childhood promise?"

Ichika paused for a moment to remember. Why it was taking this long Shalnark did not know, but he saw from the corner of his eye a very peeved Shinonono Houki and a few strands of blonde hair.

"Oh…that one! If you get better at cooking then you'll always…"

"Yeah that one!" Lingyin said smiling.

"…treat me to sweet and sour pork, right?"

"…what?" Lingyin was dumbfounded.

"Put me on speaker." Feitan ordered, "Now." Reluctantly, Shalnark pressed the speaker button on his phone.

"Hey woman!" Feitan shouted in Chinese. Lingyin looked up, tears in her eyes and clenching her fists.

"What is it? Can't you see we're busy here?" Her eyes turned for a second to glare at Ichika.

"No I can't see you but I don't give a fuck about that, do I?" Feitan asked, sending his Nen through the phone to intimidate her. "Little girl, shut up for a moment and listen or I'll come over myself and tear out your fingernails. I'm sure your boyfriend there wouldn't want that to happen, right?"

That sentence was filled with more than enough insults to set off the girl like a firework, but, as was the case with Cecilia, Lingyin had only experienced Nen for the first time and shut up.

"Good girl. Now listen closely to what I am about to say…" Of course, he was speaking in Chinese, and neither Ichika nor Shalnark knew what he was saying. Instead, they tried to figure it out from studying her face, which went from angry, to wide-eyed, to depressed, and finally to dejected.

Feitan finished his speech and hung up and Huang Lingyin left Ichika's room quietly, crying angry tears. Right after that, Houki approached Ichika and kicked him square between the legs, telling him to "get kicked by a horse and die". Shalnark did not bother to ponder the reason; he knew from seeing her that she had an unreasonable and unpredictable personality.

He thought about the girl's change in expression. Not that he understood what Feitan said in his native language, but he could tell from Feitan's tone and Huang Lingyin's face that he threatened her about something. There was no way Feitan could pull off a torture session on Lingyin without traveling here first, and he had no idea how to do that either. Chances are it was to activate Nen in her, as had probably happened in one or two cases where Feitan interrogated some of his significantly intelligent victims. But why activate Nen in the girl in the first place?

"Shal, what did your friend do?" Ichika accused.

Shalnark could only close his eyes and shake his head. "I have no idea. Feitan's demented. I'd rather not know what goes on inside his head." The interrogator really needed to drop those Trevor Brown books.

"Crap, I was too late to get a ticket for Ichika's match." Shalnark sighed. It was the day of Ichika's match with Huang Lingyin, which meant that he would be able to observe multiple IS's for the God's Letters that might be written on their cores.

The pain from Autopilot had worn off over the week. He ran to hangar to wish Ichika luck. There was no telling how long he would have to stay in the IS Academy. Shinonono Houki and Cecilia Alcott were also there; both focused their attention on Ichika and cheered for him, while casting momentary glares at each other. Houki merely nodded at Shalnark while Cecilia gave him a slight wave of her hand and turned away just as quickly.

Lingyin was using an IS markedly different from an Uchigane, and much more impressive; in short, a personal IS. Shalnark activated Gyo to observe it. Much to his disappointment, its core did not contain God's Letters, which meant that he would have to observe the other pilots who would be fighting for the rest of the day.

Suddenly, a loud crash sounded throughout the stadium, eliciting sounds of panic from several audience members, and gasps of shock from Houki and Cecilia.

It was another IS unit that decided to break into the stadium. Shalnark turned around and activated Gyo. His face brightened significantly.

The sudden lockdown in the arena and the shield activation elicited a sigh from the computer genius. It was a hassle, but it had to be done.

He headed to the control room, where the Third Years were working on their computers to attempt to undo the forced lockdown. A few of them glanced at him as he walked in.

All it took was one look at a girl typing out a program to agitate him.

"Hey, it doesn't work like this," he said, pushing the girl aside. The poor girl was first to witness his smile turn into a frown. "Watch. This is how it's done." He quickly typed out a code that decreased the energy shields first.

"Oh, a first year is going to crack the lockdown?" another girl asked mockingly. "You have a lot of confidence-"

"Don't question my ability with a computer." Shalnark said hastily, now working on lifting the lockdown. "It is the key to all kinds of information and needs to be treated as such. If you know how to manipulate that information, you can do anything."

She was speechless and very offended over being interrupted at the last possible minute, but remained speechless. Despite this, a lot of girls turned from their computers to watch him work. Several regarded him with even more interest than they had before.

"Done," Shalnark said, pressed the "Enter" button, and got out of his seat. The sound of doors opening signaled the end of the lockdown. He ran to avoid the stream of girls trying to grab at him.

There was no need to hide whatever talents he had anymore. Today would be his last day here.

He turned to the window to watch Ichika and Lingyin battle the IS. It appeared to be unmanned, acting only when provoked, and had been repeating the same attack pattern for a while. In other words, it needed a response before it can act, just like a machine. There is no human in the IS.

But then the fingertips of the unmanned IS opened up, revealing ten gun barrels for fingers that it used to shoot energy blasts at the other two pilots.

Franklin…! Shalnark thought immediately. Why does that IS's attack resemble Franklin's? It opened up a lot more questions than simply getting out of this world and back to his. Needless to say, the first thing he needed to do was to find a way to stick his antenna onto the IS. The shields were open and the specialized unit should be on their way to destroy the unit, which left him only a few minutes to capture it.

Cecilia Alcott was running down the steps hurriedly, hurriedly enough to crash into Shalnark.

"Ouch…"

"…be careful! It's up to elites like myself to be there when this happens!"

Regardless of how rude Cecilia was, Shalnark bore her no ill will. How could he when she is just a toy at his command?