Notice:Welcome everyone to the second chapter of Infinite Stratos: Burning Star!Please reference the first chapter for any questions about talking between characters and mental talking.Please leave a review, and if you enjoy my story so far, follow and favorite.Also, there will be some special thanks at the end of this chapter, so stay tuned!Hope you enjoy.
Early in the morning at the IS academy Connor woke up. He had always been an early riser and even more so now with Flare in his head 'yelling' at him to wake up. He slowly sat up in his bed with a groan and yawned. He then went to get out of his bed and grabbed an extra uniform and his IS suit before going to the bathroom to shower. After he showered and dressed Connor felt a bit better after what happened the day before. He then made sure he had his IS in its concealed form on his wrist before he walked out of the room to go to the classroom. As he walked the halls, he faintly saw the morning sun rising on the horizon. Connor had forgotten to fix his hair this morning so his hair was quite messy, with it all ruffled up. Noticing this, he attempted to fix it with his hands, failing to do so he pulled a comb out of his pocket and fixed it a little bit.
"That's a bit better I suppose.Flare, during class today I want you to check the systems of my IS and run a full diagnostic on it. See what you can find out." With that, he walked into his classroom and took a seat at his desk before closing his eyes and figured he'd take a quick nap before everyone else got there and his first day as the most hated person on campus began.
Ichika woke up slowly and lazily and noticed that Connor was already gone. He sighed, as he recounted yesterday's events after Connor had left the arena. Everyone had gone to the infirmary to make sure Cecilia wasn't hurt or anything and as the nurse checked on her the girls had begun thinking of what to do. It was obvious that they couldn't just retaliate for what he did.
"How about we just beat him in the mock tournament in a few days? It'd be the perfect chance for revenge." Rin said as she was pacing the room.
Everyone thought that would be a good idea, but it'd be difficult. After all, he wasn't even in primary form and he had managed to take out Cecilia's Blue Tears, a third generation. As they discussed what pairs would be best against his IS. They decided to go with Ichika and Houki, being that all of them were close range types and Ichika had a one-shot kill. If Houki could distract Connor long enough, Ichika could move in for the finish.
After about an hour of being looked over by the nurse Cecilia was cleared of any injuries the group left and went to the cafeteria to get some dinner. After eating and leaving, Ichika and Houki said that they'd be going for a short walk before turning in for the night. The rest of the girls silently complained and went back to their rooms. As they couple walked around campus as it was nearing nighttime they decided that it would be best to get back to their rooms before anyone got any funny ideas. As they neared the dorm building, the sound of smooth jazz filled the air. After Ichika dropped Houki off at her room and bid her a goodnight he went to his room and found his roommate nowhere to be seen. Ichika had hoped to make a friend out of the newcomer, but that had ended miserably. Maybe things would be different in the morning, while Cecilia might hold a grudge for some time, Ichika hoped to make amends with his roommate and went to bed with the sounds of the jazz fading into the night.
Ichika then looked at the time and hurried to get ready for class or else he was going to be late. And he did not want to deal with his sister being angry at him this early in the morning. He then finished getting dressed and rushed to his morning class. As he got towards his classroom, he noticed a bit of commotion was coming from inside the room. As he got into the room, he noticed a group of girls surrounding Connor's desk and that he was getting bombarded with questions and some insults. Ichika sighed, someone other than them had seen the match yesterday and had spread the word of how Cecilia was nearly injured by the new kid. Ichika stepped up towards Connor's desk and was about to say something, but someone beat him to it.
"That's enough." Ichika turned around to see who had said that and was surprised to see that it was Cecilia who said that. The group of girls turned around to see her as well and they were all shocked and moved towards her, asking her if she was alright and would she do to get him back.
"Nothing, it was just a simple spar that got a bit too heated. Now all of you go and sit down, class will start soon." She said and all the girls grumbled as they went back to their seats. She then walked up to Connor and laid a note on his desk as everyone else began to walk in and she went to her seat.
Connor opened the note and it said that she was sorry. Connor sighed and put the note in his pocket whenever Charlotte entered the room. When she looked at him she nodded slightly and he returned the nod. Soon Chifuyu walked into the room and the class started. As the class went on, Connor was having mental talks with Flare.
"What the hell? Out of everyone I expected her to hate me the most." Connor said in is his mind.
"Maybe she figured you guys stepped off on the wrong foot or something?" Flare responded with.
Connor softly nodded his head. Maybe that was it, but the rest of the school was definitely going to have it out for him either way. Class continued as usual until the bell for lunch rang and everyone left the room. Connor went up to the roof on the school building and was eating from a bag of chips he'd bought from a vending machine.
"So Flare, what have you found out about LoneWolf?" He asked his AI companion as he ate a chip.
"Well, it seems that when you enter first shift you'll have an increase in speed and attack.Along with access to a few more weapons.Then here's the real kicker, your second shift is only temporary.Seems like your IS can only activate its second shift for about twenty minutes before it reverts to first shift.It's something to do with the coding of the core.Seems like it wasn't finished all the way, it could pose a severe problem in the future for combat.But you can only activate second shift when the IS has at least above half shielding, and the data for the one-off ability is currently blocked." The AI said and Connor sighed.
So, the US had given an incomplete IS core which rendered his second form temporary, figures. He finished his chips and then leaned against the railing, feeling the sun on his skin and took a deep breath. He then heard the door to the roof open and two pairs of shoes walking towards him. He turned around to see who was walking towards him and saw Ichika and Houki, who slowed down when he saw them. Connor sighed and got off the railing and was going to leave before Ichika held out a hand in a friendly gesture.
"Seems like we got off on the wrong foot yesterday Connor, so how about we try again?" Ichika said and Connor sighed.
"Why the hell not, things can't get any worse can they." He said as he shook Ichika's hand and Ichika gave him a smile.
"Am I in the way of something romantic here by any chance?" Connor asked which caused the two to blush and stammer and Connor grinned. After they had gotten done rambling Ichika took out his phone.
"Actually, this is why we're here. And since we couldn't find in the cafeteria, we figured you'd be up here." He said holding out his phone and Connor looked at it. On the screen was a video playing and the faint sounds of jazz. Connor looked closer at the phone and realized that it was him on the video, he then looked up at Ichika.
"Where did you get this?" He asked, slightly nervous. Wondering who else had seen this video. Ichika just shrugged.
"I noticed it when we went to lunch, it was sent last night by a user named Flare." Ichika said as he then put his phone up. Connor was mentally cursing Flare out and movement from Houki snapped him back to reality. She had put a hand on his shoulder and grinned at him.
"You sound really nice. Where did you learn to play at?" She asked intriguingly.
"Well, nowhere. I kind of just learned how to after practicing a lot." Connor replied rubbing the back of his head with a smile.
The bell then rang for students to return to class and Connor followed after the couple, a slight grin on his face. As they got to the class, Connor nodded to Charlotte as he passed her desk on his way to his own. Everything was a lot quieter than it was this morning, usually everyone is busy gossiping or talking at this time. Then Miss Yamada and Chifuyu entered the classroom and Chifuyu looked over the students.
"Okay class, for today's evening class we are going to witness a mock battle between two pilots with personal IS." She then looked at Connor.
"Shit" He thought to himself when she looked at him.
"Rain, it'll be you and Orimura for the mock battle. Go get suited up." The two boys excused themselves from class and went to the changing room to get into their pilot suits.
"Hope you know I won't go easy on you Ichika." Connor said with a smirk as he donned his black pilot suit with red and yellow lines on the sides and around the neck.
"Wouldn't expect you to Connor." Ichika said returning Connor's smirk. The two guy's then fist bumped and gave a bit of a laugh.
"Call me crazy, but, shouldn't Cecilia be furious with me?" Connor asked as they started heading for the field. Ichika just shrugged because he didn't have an answer.
As the two entered the field they instructed activate their IS. They each did so and moved a fair distance from each other, Flare giving him details on Ichika's IS, the Byakushiki Setsura in its second shift.
"The Byakushiki Setsura is able pull off a double ignition boost, along with his left arm having an energy claw, particle cannon, and a shield.It is very fast and its one-off ability will make him a challenging opponent.You ready for this Connor?"Flare asked him and Connor simple nodded, deploying LoneWolf.
"Okay Flare, when the fight starts try and activate first shift.I'm going to need the boost from it." Connor said and both pilots materialized their weapons. Then the buzzer sounded indicating that the mock battle was now starting.
Both of them rushed at each other and clashed swords, them smiling at each other. They then backed off and began to circle one another, Connor had his shield ready just in case Ichika charged and went for a shot at him. As the two circled each other, it was clear who had the crowds favor. Ichika would almost always be the favorite of the crowd, except there was one girl who was watching Connor. He looked over saw that it was Charlotte, and she was smiling at him. Ichika noticed that Connor was distracted and used this chance to get in close and fire a charged particle cannon shot at nearly point blank range. Connor had barely enough time to put his shield up, but it still hit him like a train sending him flying into the wall. Connor coughed as the smoke around him cleared a bit and shook his head. He then looked at his shield energy and sighed, that one attack dropped his twenty-five percent of his energy. Something then appeared on his screen and he smiled.
"Do it, Flare." He thought to her as he began flying at Ichika from out of the smoke.
"Initiating first shift." Flare said.
As Connor closed in on Ichika, he was smiling and Ichika couldn't help but smile too. It was then that the color of Connor's IS changed and it looked like it had shattered, revealing its first shift. Ichika, stunned by this, didn't move out of the way of Connor's attack and found himself getting flung away. Everyone gasped at the sight of his IS, It was now a matte black with bat-like wings that curved downward and had spikes on the bottom of them, the feet and hands were clawed and the hands had small spikes on the knuckles. And up the side of the arms with curved spikes and longer ones one the knees. The claws and spikes on his hands, arms, and feet were all a bloody shade of red that faded as it went back. Connor then cracked his neck and looked at Ichika who was smiling at him.
"Alright, time to get serious. Wouldn't you say my friend?" Connor asked as he dematerialized his shield and moved his sword to his left hand while a strange canister took the place of the spikes that vanished on his right arm, it had several tubes sticking out of it. As the back of the canister began to expand it looked as though air was being sucked into the canister. Ichika smiled at Connor and nodded and two rushed at each other again, their swords clashing. Ichika then raised his left hand and the particle cannon began to charge up. Connor smiled and raised his right arm.
"Let's see what this does." Connor said as he flicked one of his fingers and the canister released the air that it had sucked in in one shot, blasting Ichika away as Connor dematerialized it and his spikes came back.
"Not bad Connor." Ichika said and Connor smiled. Connor then rushed at Ichika, but Ichika was waiting for that. He then used his double ignition boost and was in front of Connor before he could react and slashed at him using his barrier-void ability and sent Connor flying down to the ground. As Connor skidded to a stop on the ground it was announced that Ichika was the winner by a remaining one hundred shield energy as Connor was at zero energy. Connor then got up and his IS went back into standby mode and started walking towards Ichika who had done the same. The crowd of their classmates were cheering and the two boys shook hands.
"That was one hell of a fight Connor! You almost had me with that change to first shift." Ichika said with a smile.
"Yeah, but you still pulled out on top. Looks like I've got some more to learn." Connor said modestly with a laugh.
After the fight class was dismissed for the day and Connor had decided to go and get some food from the cafeteria. When he got there he simply got a turkey sandwich and an iced tea and sat down at an empty booth. He looked up at one of the many TV screens in the room that was showing his and Ichika's mock battle from class that a student had recorded.
No one bothered him thankfully as he ate his sandwich and drank his tea. When he was done eating he sat there and slowly rank his iced tea. He then yawned and someone tapped his shoulder. He looked over to see who it was and saw Charlotte with Laura behind her.
"Are these seats taken?" She asked, referencing to the seats across from him at his booth.
"Nope." He said and the two girls sat down across from him as he continued to drink his tea.
"That was a spectacular fight today." Charlotte said and Laura slowly nodded her head in agreement.
"It seemed as if you knew your first shift was going to happen, so you took a gamble that Ichika would be stunned by it and you would land a good blow in. And your gamble paid off. Am I wrong?" Laura asked Connor and he chuckled and shook his head.
"Spot on." He said and then taking another drink.
"But how did you know your first shift would happen?" Charlotte asked him and Connor waved his finger.
"A magician does not reveal his secrets right after the trick." He said with a slight smile. He then yawned again and checked to see what time it was. It was barely past eight, and he sighed. He was quite tired after that match and Flare had been silent for most of it, gathering data on weapons and the new code she was able to explore.
Connor then excused himself and finished his tea before throwing the bottle away as he left the room. He then went up to his room and searched in his bag for a small box and took something out of it. He then went to the roof and sat down with his back against the railing and pulled out what had been in the box, a small cigarette. He then lit it and his thoughts began to wonder back to his eighteenth birthday back in the states at the hanger, then to his sixteenth birthday that he had spent with his sister playing a new game he had bought with the money from his part time job as a cook.
As he blew out a puff of smoke and sighed he saw the door open and Charlotte walked out and looked at him.
"Those things will kill you, you know." She said as she stood on the opposite side of him.
"You sound like my sister." He said with a soft chuckle as he blew out another puff of smoke.
"You miss her, don't you Connor." She asked him and he slowly nodded.
"Yeah, I really do." He said and he sighed.
"Well, don't worry. I'm sure you'll see her again soon." She said and put a hand on his head and ruffled his hair.
"So soft!" She thought to herself.
Connor just laughed and finished his cigarette before putting it out and putting it in a small case so he could throw it away later. He then got up and stood beside Charlotte.
"I'm older than you, so don't think you can get away with doing that without it happening to you back mon amie." He said as he ruffled her hair in return with a laugh.
The two then had a good laugh before heading back to their respected rooms, wishing each other a good night. When Connor entered his room he saw Ichika at his desk.
"What are you doing Ichika?" He asked as he walked past him and grabbed some clothes to change into after he showered.
"Just going over a few things for tomorrow's class. We're having to decide on things to do for a festival near the end of the year after the tournament." Ichika said.
"What's so hard to decide about a festival? You know what, let me take a quick shower and I'll help you." Connor said as he walked towards the shower.
After his shower Connor felt refreshed and went back into the main room to see Ichika still trying to decide on what to do for the festival. Connor then sat down beside him and looked over what Ichika had written, unsurprised to find it was nothing. Connor then sighed and then looked at the other list of what was hardly ever picked. He saw one that said 'Grilling' and smiled."
"Hey Ichika, I think I got us something." He held up the grilling section to Ichika.
"Yeah, that'd be nice, but what will you be doing?" Ichika asked and Connor laughed.
"I may not seem like it, but I was quite the cook back in America. You get the booth and I'll get the ingredients. Sound good?" Connor held out his hand.
"Sounds like a damn good plan." Ichika took Connor's hand.
After the boys stayed up for another hour discussing what they would be serving and who was better at cooking what. They then said goodnight and turned the lights off, both of them falling asleep pretty fast.
Hey guys, hope you enjoyed this chapter.If you did, be sure to review, follow, or favorite.It lets me know if I'm getting better at writing this.And as promised here are the special thanks.
PearlTapioca -Thank you so much for your review on my last chapter and for helping me fix some of my mistakes.Hope this chapter is better!
manix32 – Thank you very much for favoriting and following my story.I sincerely hope that you are enjoying my story.
If anyone has questions or anything like that, just review or send me a private message.Also, feel free to share my story with your friends and people who you think might like this story.Have a nice day everyone!