Kicking myself into overdrive, here's one more chapter for the year 2019. Hope you all had a good holiday and are planning your End of the year's resolutions. Or hurrying to finish the ones you made back in 2018. Now that the prologue is compete, the school at IS Academy begins.
Here's Chapter 3 of Change My Mind.
The world had accepted the fact that women were the dominant gender on Earth with the introduction of the Infinite Stratos. When only one gender could pilot the world's most powerful weapon, it was hard to imagine otherwise. The world had come to terms with the new world order and life went on.
Then a boy by the name of Ichika Orimura was discovered to be able to activate the IS.
The world was shocked to learn that a male could pilot the IS. It was the main topic of every media source; people couldn't believe that a man had finally been able to activate the woman-only Infinite Stratos. It didn't seem like anything could top it.
Until it happened again.
A week later, it was revealed that another man could use the IS. Jayden Sylvan was revealed by Gelimer and his IS research facility, piloting their latest developed IS. Once again, the world was in an uproar, with some considering it to be a new age of the Infinite Stratos.
Naturally, every government and group demanded access to them for research and testing purposes. By the Alaska treaty, all information regarding the Infinite Stratos was to be made public and shared with the world. Demands and threats were made for the two men to be shared with the world for research. All the requests sent were quickly denied. Both Ichika and Jayden had been registered and accepted into IS Academy. Under laws set by IS Academy, students could not be affiliated under any organization, association, governments, or any official group. This was done to prevent said groups from influencing students with bribes, threats, or other transactions.
For any teenager going into IS Academy, this should be no problem. Records would be reviewed and IS Academy would accept the best students that were offered.
There was one main issue for Jayden's acceptance. Jayden was 13 which was the age a person would be in middle school. Not to mention he truly had little experience with the IS, only piloting it once when the kidnapping took place. When it was time to send in Jayden's credentials there was only one thing to do.
Lie.
According to Jayden's documents, he was 15 years of age and had studied under Gelimer for a few years. Gelimer and Marc painted Jayden a believable history to seem realistic with an additional letter of recommendation for acceptance by Gelimer himself. With the falsified documents and the fact Jayden was a guy who could pilot the IS, he was accepted into IS Academy.
One month had passed since the men were revealed, and the semester at IS Academy was about to officially begin.
The first day of IS Academy was about to begin with students getting into class.
"This is way… way harder than I expected." Ichika tried to ignore all the stares at him. Almost every female was looking at him like he was a foreign species. Sitting in the front row dead center didn't help either.
He look around at his fellow classmates, most of whom stared back at him. There were all kinds of girls here. Even one with long dark hair and a scowl on her face. "Houki?"
In the back of the class sat Jayden. For some reason, none of the girls were as interested in him as they were at Ichika. All their gazes were on the other male. He couldn't help but wonder why, he expected some attention but not this little of it.
An older adult entered the room, every gaze moved from Ichika, onto her. She had short green hair, glasses, and was wearing a revealing yellow dress instead of the standard IS uniform, signaling she was part of the staff. There was one noticeable thing about her. Well two of them. Her chest was quite large as they bounced a little while she walked.
"Seems like everyone's here, so let's begin the homeroom. Congratulations on making it into this school." She took her place behind the teacher's desk. "My name is Maya Yamada and I'll be your sub homeroom teacher this year."
Everyone was silent as Maya talked. After a short while she spoke again, this time nervously.
"Starting today you'll all be students at IS Academy. At this boarding school, you will all be spending a lot of time with each other, so please get along and help each other." As she finished her introductions, she seemed to fluster as most students weren't looking at her.
More silence ensued.
"Well then… Let's move on to introductions. We'll go in numerical order to learn about one another." Maya insisted on an icebreaker to have her class learn about one another. One by one students introduced themselves and gave a short summary of their likes and stuff.
Now Ichika was the one who seemed distressed. "We haven't seen each other for six years and that's how you act towards your childhood friend, Houki?"
"Orimura-kun?"
"Did I do something? Does she hate me?"
"Orimura-kun …"
"Wait, does she remember me? It has been a long time. That could explain it."
"Ichika Orimura!" Maya called out to him, getting Ichika's attention. "Forgive me for raising my voice. We're doing self-introductions and, umm it's now your turn. Could you introduce yourself, pretty please?" She sweetly asked.
Ichika looked towards Houki. Once again, once again she ignored him, instead looking out the window. So much for moral support.
"My name is Ichika Orimura."
Everyone in the class was staring at him, as though expecting more.
Ichika opened his mouth, ready to say something else. The class leaned in to await his words.
"T-that's all."
Everyone fell over in comedic fashion on the floor and their desks.
"Was it that bad?"
Ichika got an answer in the form of a fist to his head. He grabbed the pained area with his hands as he looked up at his attacker.
"Chifuyu-nee!?"
Another direct hit landed on Ichika's head.
"You will refer to me as Ms. Orimura while at school."
"Oh Ms. Orimura, has the meeting ended already?" Maya asked.
"That's right Ms. Yamada. Sorry to make you welcome my class for me." She then wrote her name on the board.
Ichika could only stare realizing that his older sister was his teacher.
"All right class, I'm your homeroom teacher Ms. Chifuyu Orimura. It's my job to make sure you rookies can pilot the IS once the year is over. I'll be the one who's training you youngsters and I don't care if you like me or not. Do you understand."
It's my job to train you all well enough so you can stand on your own in a year's time."
The champion of the first Mondo Grosso and world renown pilot was the teacher for class 1-1 of IS Academy. It was like having a celebrity be your teacher. About every girl in the class (and Jayden), squealed in excitement learning Chifuyu Orimura would be their homeroom teacher.
"LADY CHIFUYU! IT'S THE REAL LADY CHIFUYU!"
"WE'RE BEING TAUGHT BY THE ACTUAL CHIFUYU ORIMURA!"
"I'M SO HAPPY TO KNOW SHE'LL BE TEACHING ME THIS YEAR!"
"SHE INSPIRED ME TO COME TO THIS SCHOOL!"
"I WOULD DIE FOR YOU MS. ORIMURA!"
"PLEASE GIVE ME YOUR AUTOGRAPH!" Even Jayden had joined the fangirls in their crazy yells of admiration for Chifuyu.
"TRAIN US SO WE DON'T MISBEHAVE!"
"YOU CAN DO ANYTHING TO ME MS. CHIFUYU!"
Chifuyu sighed loudly as she pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation. "Why do I get all the nutjobs? I swear they put them in my class on purpose." Chifuyu was able to quickly quiet the class down, with a simple threat of running laps around the school.
With that out of the way, introductions continued until they got to the S section. Maya looked over her class roster sheet.
"Next up is Jayden Sylvan." Jayden stood up, looking eager to do his introduction.
"Hello everyone, my name is Jayden and I'm happy to be here. I'm from America. In my free time, my hobbies include playing games watch movies and researching space. My biggest dream is to go to space one day using the IS. Oh, and girls, I'm single." He finished his introduction with a wink and sat back down. The female students simply stared at him, unsure of what to do or say.
"Umm… thank you for that and welcome to the school Ms. Sylvan. All right next is-"
Jayden's head loudly fell onto his desk.
"Is there a problem Ms. Sylvan?" Maya asked.
Jayden loudly groaned. She said it again.
"Despite his feminine looks, Mr. Sylvan's gender is male." Chifuyu said. Jayden was thankful but not thrilled about the way she said.
Just to be sure, Maya looked over the class roster sheet. "Yes. Ms. – err… Mr. Sylvan is in fact a boy." Maya confirmed.
The class erupted once again in an uproar of questions and exclamations.
"So, he wasn't a beautiful girl, but a beautiful boy?"
"But he's too cute to be a boy."
"I guess there are all kinds of men in the world."
"Does that make him a trap?"
They had not one but two boys in their class! Once again, Chifuyu silenced the class before this could go on any further.
Jayden's head remained on his desk. He was too demoralized now to raise it. Ichika sent him a look of sympathy from the front.
"I'm sorry for the misunderstanding Mr. Sylvan." Maya apologized.
"Don't mind… I'm used to being called a girl."
"Okay… Let's continue with introductions." Maya got the class back on track as students introduced themselves one after another. Once finished, Chifuyu took over.
"Now that were finished introductions, we'll go over the syllabus. Your syllabus for the next six monthes begins with memorizing all data concerning the IS. After that, we'll begin practical training to learn about basic maneuvers inside the IS. Have you all got that? Even if you don't answer with yes ma'am!"
The class responded as such.
This was the lesson plan of a high school. Not even one hour in and already Jayden felt overwhelmed. Meanwhile Ichika was trying to comprehend that his big sister was a teacher at IS Academy.
Lessons began as Maya went over the origins of the Infinite Stratos. How it was developed in Japan and its original purpose for space travel. Now-a-days it was used for sport and mock-combat. The last thing she went over was the purpose of the IS Academy to train IS pilots.
After an hour of lessons, a bell rang signaling an intermission for all classes.
Girls from other classes had come to get a look at the two men in IS Academy. They peeked through the windows and door of class 1-1 to get a good look.
"So, this is what zoo animals feel like." Jayden tried his best to keep his cool under the gaze of so many women. Still he was happy on the inside to be the center of attention for all these girls. He nervously waved to some of the girls who squealed back in excitement.
Jayden approached Ichika's desk to get his mind off the many girls. The two men in the academy looked at each other neither one knowing what to say. Each was waiting for the other to break the ice. Shortly, one did.
"Hello there-"
"Do you have a moment?" Jayden was cut off by a girl, she moved in between Jayden and Ichika's desk.
"Houki?" Ichika's childhood friend had come over.
"We need to talk. Can you come with me?"
"Of course. Sorry Jayden, let's talk later." The two left with Ichika following Houki to the roof of the academy. Jayden watched the two leave, feeling rejected.
"Okay… first attempt didn't work. That was fine. There are plenty of other potential friends to talk with." Jayden scanned the room for someone alone to talk with.
"Excuse me, may I have a word with you?" Another girl came up to him, she had light blue eyes and long light blond hair that formed drill-like curls at the end. She looked beautiful enough to be a princess.
"Yeah, sure."
She gritted her teeth as though trying to be patient then settled down. "So, you're one of the newly discovered male pilots?" She asked.
"Yup, Jayden Sylvan. The name's stylish, sweet, and rolls off the tongue. You like?"
She in fact, did not like. "What's with that casual remark? Do you not know who you're speaking to?"
"An IS Academy student?" Jayden guessed.
"I'm not just an average IS Academy student. My name is Cecilia Alcott."
"Nice to meet you Cecilia." Jayden reached out to shake Cecilia's hand.
Cecilia moved back a bit from the hand. "Do you not know who I am?"
"Cecilia Alcott?"
"Don't you think you should behave in a more appropriate manner? Or is that impossible for a man?"
Jayden raised an eyebrow. "And how should I do that?"
"For starters, you should be on your knees praying to the gods that I would talk to someone like you."
"Excuse you?" He looked at her like she was insane, which he thought she might be considering her attitude.
"Honestly, I gave you the benefit of the doubt and expected you would know proper etiquette since you can pilot an IS. It appears that's too complicated for a peasant like yourself."
"And what makes you qualified to tell me what to do Drillhead?"
"D-drillhead!" Cecilia gasped, grabbing the drill like ends of her hair. "
"I'm an elite representative of the country of Britain! I've been fighting for the honor of my country for quite some time. Does that help you realize who you're talking to?"
"So, you have a nice title. Am I supposed to be impressed?" Jayden folded his arms.
Cecilia wondered if there was no end to this boy's ignorance. "Let me put this in terms even you can understand. You're convenience store beef jerky and I'm a five-star restaurant well-done steak."
"Well they're both pretty tasty." Jayden commented. He seemed to have missed the point Cecilia tried to make.
"Are all men as idiotic and dense as you?"
"I don't know. Are all women as arrogant and snobbish as you?"
Cecilia clenched her fist.
"Since I must be a role model for people like you to look up to, I'll give you one chance to redeem yourself. Get on your hands and knees to apologize, and I'll find it in my heart to forgive you."
"First, the only reason I look up to you is because your taller. Second, I'm not apologizing for anything. So why don't you get off your high horse lady."
"We're done here. Because I'm nice I'll give you some advice. Learn your place in the world, or you're going to be miserable." That was the last thing Cecilia said before Cecilia took her seat. Jayden did the same. His mood had gone sour just by talking with that arrogant Alcott. He took his seat, settling on napping for the rest of his break.
"So…. What's up?" Ichika asked when they got to the roof.
Neither one knew what to say.
Ichika decided to end the silence. "It's been a while. But even after six years I still recognize you right away, Houki."
"Huh!?"
"You still have the same hairstyle from when we were kids. After all, there's no way I could forget my childhood friend. You've really grown Houki." Ichika took a good look at his childhood friend now grown up. His eyes wandered over her chest and thighs before rediverting his gaze to her face.
"Yeah…" Houki fiddled with some strands of her hair. She turned to hide her blushing face.
"Not to mention you're still using the same ribbon."
"R-right. I also recognized you the moment I saw you." Houki crossed her arms under her chest. She was showing an emotion that looked between a smile and a scowl.
"Oh, that's right! I heard about winning the national kendo competition last year." Ichika said.
"What! How did you find out about that?" Houki's cheeks blushed as she seemed surprised.
"I saw it in the newspaper one day." He simply stated. "Congratulations on becoming Japan's kendo champion."
"You still read the newspaper?"
"Well yeah, it's my favorite way to keep up with the news." Ichika spoke with a huge grin on his face. The same kind of grin Ichika always had showed to her when she was a kid.
"I see…" Houki spoke.
The first bell rang, signaling all students to return to their classes for the following half of lessons.
"Well, guess we got to head back now." Ichika began making his way to the classroom.
"Yeah, I guess we should." Houki replied quietly while keeping her face hidden from him. If I saw him smiling like that, I don't know what expression I'd end up showing him.
Maya was teaching again with Chifuyu standing off to the side observing the class. The lesson was on certification for the Infinite Stratos.
"Currently, you need a certification from the state to be able to use the IS. It's a criminal offense to use the IS outside of what has been written in the certification. Okay does anyone have any questions?" Maya paused from her lesson to make sure her students were keeping up.
Everyone seemed to be following along, except for one student.
"Do you have a question Orimura?" Maya noticed that the male student in her front row was looking panicked. She leaned in further, unknowingly giving the boy a front row view of her cleavage. Maya really needed bigger clothes. "If so, don't be shy. I am your teacher after all."
Ichika flipped through the giant book on his desk. He wasn't understanding any of this. It was a lot of information being taught on day one, especially for a newcomer, to understand.
"Well…. The thing is… I don't understand any of this!" Ichika admitted his problem out loud. All the talk of complex maneuvers and IS mechanisms weren't making any sense to him.
"Not any of it?"
"Orimura." Chifuyu moved over to Ichika's desk. "Did you read the reference material you were assigned?"
"Are you talking about that big book?" He recalled seeing something like that when he learned he would be admitted to the Academy. As for where it was…
Chifuyu nodded. "That's right, it even said 'required reading.'"
"I kind of… accidently threw it away."
Chifuyu smacked Ichika upside the head with her attendance book. "You should know better than leave important things lying about."
"Can't you cut him a break?" Jayden called out. "I mean, we all make mistakes. And besides, manual was very long, some people may not have had time to read all of it."
Chifuyu caught on to the part about the length of the reference manual. "So, then I take it you have read the entire manual Mr. Sylvan?" Ms. Orimura put her focus on Jayden as the boy tried to look away from her gaze.
"Well…. I mean I started to." He wanted to finish reading the manual but between IS practice with Natasha, Gelimer's lessons, getting ready for IS Academy, and intense Japanese lessons, Jayden had no time to read it. Anytime he could read, he was too tired to even think about more learning. "But I'm sure we're not the only ones who haven't finished reading the manual."
"Is that so?" Chifuyu decided to test this theory. "Show of hands, who here has read the required reading material?"
Every female student raised their hand.
"Orimura, I'll get you a new manual. I expect you both to have read through the manual by the end of the week. Cover to cover"
"That big book!" Ichika panicked.
"In just a week?" Jayden looked horrified. It was a tall order on short notice "Ms. Orimura, that's-?!"
Chifuyu's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Completely fair and absolutely reasonable ma'am." Jayden quickly changed his tone and surrendered. The two men resigned themselves to their fate.
"Well then, lets continue with class. Everyone turn to page 11." Maya continued where she left as the students followed along.
From the back of the class, Cecilia watched the entire scene. She was disgusted by the men's behavior in class. Not that she had expected anything else.
000000000000000000000000000000000000
In the lunchroom, Ichika and Houki sat together eating the school food.
"Is that all your eating Houki?" Houki's plate didn't have much on it. It would count more as a snack than a meal.
"I'm not very hungry." She took a bite of her fish, not even looking Ichika in the eye.
"Mind if I join you?" Jayden approached them with a lunch of his own. He asked nervously occasionally glancing around.
"Go ahead. Your name was Jayden, right?" Ichika asked.
He nodded in return. Taking a seat next to Ichika, putting the Japanese boy in the middle
"Finally. I swear this school is going to kill me." Jayden laid his head down on the table next to his meal. He realized there was someone else besides Ichika and himself at the table. "And who is this lovely lady?" He looked over Ichika's at friend, checking her out. A scowl from Houki sent his glance elsewhere.
"My name is Houki Shinonono." She simply said, filling her mouth with another bite of food.
"She's a friend of mine." Ichika answered.
"Ah, Nice to meet you Houki."
She gave a simple nod. "Likewise."
"I have to say, it's a relief to know I'm not the only guy here." Ichika said. "Feels like I have someone I can talk to about guy stuff."
"Yeah. It's great having a bunch of girls to talk with, but there are somethings you can only discuss when its man to man." Jayden perked up and started eating. "So... I've been meaning to ask; how did you find out you could pilot an IS? I'm just curious."
"I found out I could use an IS in a high school entrance exam. I took a wrong turn, saw an IS and just happened to touch it. Next thing I knew, it started glowing and some women saw me do it. Then Chifuyu-nee registered me here."
"Really? I found an IS in a research facility. My father works there and brought me along one day. Then I accidently found an IS and activated it. Things happened and my father and his friend registered me here." Both men laughed at the similarity of their arrivals.
"It must have odd finding out you could do it."
"At first, but then it was just exciting." Jayden's eyes were sparkling as he remembered it. "Also, scary. I thought I was going to get arrested or something. But enough about me, let's talk about you. Your sister is really the one and only Chifuyu Orimura? AKA, the Brunhilde. She's the winner of the first Mondo Grosso and runner up in the second one."
"Yeah, she's always been incredible. Chifuyu-nee has done so much for me that I want to be strong enough, so she doesn't have to worry anymore."
They continued talking about Chifuyu, guy stuff, and their current scenario living in an all-girl school. There was no room for Houki to join on their topics or the conservation. Her mind was annoyed until she couldn't take it anymore. "Have fun with your new friend Ichika. I'll see you later." She took her tray and began walking away.
Ichika watched as Houki left the cafeteria, her long hair bouncing side to side as she walked away.
"Did I interrupt something before I got here?" Jayden rubbed his head sheepishly.
"No, your fine. Houki can be stubborn at times but she is a nice person."
"So, are you and her close friends?"
"You could say that. We've been childhood friends, ever since the first grade we went to the same kendo dojo. Then in fourth grade she had to move. Six years later, here we are."
"Wow, that's some history you guys have. It's a little intimidating not knowing anyone here. But they all seem nice." Jayden pictured Cecilia in his head. "Most of them at least. So Ichika, I've got a question." Jayden leaned in close to Ichika. "Which of the girls here do you think look the hottest?"
"Eh? Is that really something you should be focused on?" He looked around to check if any girls heard Jayden say that. Luckily it seemed no one else heard it.
"Of course. There's like a couple hundred girls here and we're the only two guys here. By that logic, there's got to be at least one girl here who's into me." His eyes sparkled with hope.
"I don't think that's a good idea." Ichika seemed a bit nervous to talk about the subject. "Maybe you should focus on your studies for now and worry about your love life later."
"Nah, my eyes are looking for love." He gave a wave to some girls who gave a wave back. "And like the old saying goes. He who laughs first, laughs best."
"I think the saying you're looking for is he who laughs last, laughs best." Ichika pointed out. "And that doesn't really apply to what you're thinking. Jayden."
Jayden waved it off. "It's close enough. Point is, someone's bound to be into me."
"Well good luck with that." Ichika gave him his best wishes as the other boy looked around the room scoping out the girls.
After hours of class, it was the end of the day. Students were gathering their belongings to head out. Ichika felt like his head was going to burst if he learned one more thing today. He began to make his way to the door when he was stopped by someone standing in front of it.
"You there. Stop." Cecilia commanded to Ichika. "I would like to have a chat with you."
"A chat? All right. What's up?"
"How dare you speak to me in such a casual manner?!" Cecilia questioned, "I am Cecilia Alcott, a high-class noble from the Great Britain! Furthermore, what makes you, a commoner Japanese boy, believe you can address me as though I'm some feeble peasant?! I am not only noble, but a Representative Contender for England! I-"
"Hold on, I have a question."
Cecilia folded her arms. "Well as an elite, it is my responsibility to answer the questions of peasants such as yourself. Very well, ask away."
"You said you were a Representative Contender, right? What exactly is that?"
Cecilia cringed in shock. How could someone lack so much knowledge and still be accepted into IS Academy. "I can't believe this! Between you and the American, I can only hope that all men aren't as tactless and brainless as you are."
"Are you going to tell me what it is or not?" His patience was wearing thin from dealing with a girl like this.
Cecilia's eyes twinkled. It was her time to shine. "A representative cadet is one who is chosen by their country to represent them as IS pilots. These elite are the best of the best, and you happen to be in presence of one such as myself."
"I guess that makes sense." There had to something to distinguish the best pilots from the average ones.
"That's right. It's a miracle that you have the good fortune to share a homeroom with a representative cadet such as myself. Feel free to grovel at my feet if you wish. So. Was I able to pierce through that thick skull of yours Ichika Orimura?"
"I got it, I got it." Ichika replied. "So, I guess I'm lucky to meet you?" He tried to summarize what he was just told but Cecilia wasn't too happy.
"Are you trying to belittle me?"
"I'm not."
"Honestly, how did you even get into this school? You're a male who can control an IS, and yet all I've seen is a huge disappointment."
Considering that Ichika hadn't even been inside an IS yet, he thought that Cecilia wasn't exactly wrong. "Yeah, well expecting anything of the current me is probably a bad idea."
"Regardless, since I'm so forgiving. I can find it in my heart to be considerate towards people such as yourself. So, if you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer as long as you get down on your knees."
Ichika's patience was running thin thanks to this girl.
"What do you mean by people like me?"
"You're a commoner and I'm an elite" Cecilia repeated. "Like I said, it's natural for the elites to aid the peasants when they desperately need it. After all I did defeat an instructor during the entrance exam, making me the strongest student here."
"I defeated an instructor to." Ichika pointed out. Cecilia's cocky smile faded.
"What! You defeated an IS pilot? How did you accomplish that feat!? I demand you tell me!"
"I really wouldn't call it much of a feat." He began recalling the fight against the entrance exam instructor. "The instructor charged at me and I dodged. She kept going towards the wall and then kaboom."
"Kaboom?" Her voice was calmer as her rage appeared to settle. Cecilia mentally calmed herself as she regained her composure. "I see, it was nothing more than a fluke that you won. It's the only logical explanation."
"Call it what you want." Ichika squeezed past her to get into the hall.
"Hey! Where do you think you're going? I haven't dismissed you."
"To find my room. It was…" He tried to think of a word to describe their talk. He wanted to say nice but he didn't want to lie. He decided on the word 'unique' in the end." With a back wave, Ichika headed off to the school first year dorms leaving Cecilia flabbergasted. She brought herself to talk with a disgraceful man like him and this was the thanks she got?
"That insensitive ungrateful man. Did he understand nothing that I told him?' Cecilia gritted her teeth hard. "Both male pilots behave like this? Just as I thought, all men are nothing but ignorant, worthless and incompetent masses." Not that she expected anything else.
Ichika made his way to the freshman dorms. As IS Academy was a boarding school, dorms were separated based on school year from freshmen to sophomores to seniors. He counted off the rooms looking for his own.
Room 2025
Ichika stood outside the room he was assigned to according to his keycard. He went in to begin unpacking his belongings.
The room looked to be well stocked complete with fine wooded desks set up with a computer, a high-quality floor, and two beds set up with pearl white blankets. The room was very high in quality.
"Is someone out there?"
It dawned on Ichika that the multiple beds, desks, and computers meant that he would a roommate, and worse the voice he heard sounded female. He tried to look for a place to hide but the room had no areas to conceal him. If he ever played hide and seek, he'd defiantly hide somewhere else.
"Sorry for meeting you like this; I was using the shower before you came. I look forward to having your company for the year." The girl emerged from the bathroom in a pink towel wrapped around her wet body. "I just got out of the shower so excuse my appearance. My name is Houki Shinonono. It's nice to meet-"
This was bad. Both Ichika and Houki were staring at one another.
"I-I-Ichika!"
"H-hello" Ichika sheepishly answered.
"What are you doing in my room?" She hugged her towel around herself to hide her skin. "Stop looking!"
Ichika immediately turned around. "Well… this happens to be my room too." The boy gulped as he realized what this meant. "Wait. That means you and I are sharing the same room!"
"You! You made this happen didn't you!?" Houki dashed to her bag containing a wooden kendo sword and armed herself. She held out her weapon preparing to strike.
"WAIT WAIT WAIT!"
Houki screamed in anger.
Ichika screamed in panic.
Every girl wanted to introduce themselves to the guys at IS Academy and to be polite he had to introduce him back to every one of them. He didn't mind it much… the first 10 times. After introductions 11 and beyond, the names and faces started to blend together. All Jayden wanted right now was to get some sleep.
While counting off the doors, a huge crowd of girls had gathered and seemed to be watching something. Jayden pushed his way through the crowd to get a look.
Ichika was on the floor scared for his life while Houki stood inside the room. It looked like that had a fight. And did that door have holes in it?
"Houki I'm sorry. Please let me in! I'm really sorry about what happened!" Ichika got in a kneeling position and begged to Houki who had changed into wearing pajamas. "Please have mercy and let me in."
"All right, get in."
Ichika went back inside, apologizing to everyone for the disturbance. Now that the show was over, the girls began to disperse, making their way to their respective rooms.
"Wait… was that Ichika and Houki? In the same room?" Were they roommates? Whatever the case was, he was too tired to think about it. Jayden counted off the doors until he was in front of 1035. The room he'd been assigned to live at in the dorms.
All Jayden wanted right now was sleep.
Staggering with exhaustion, he made his way to the nearest bed. His mind was entirely focused on not sleeping on the floor. He could leave unpacking and issues for tomorrow. Jayden pulled himself into bed, counting off the lovely sensations he was feeling. The softness of the sheets, the snugness of the cover over his body. Not to mention the breathing in his face and the human sized pillow next to him.
…
…
…
Eventually his mind connected the dots.
Jayden screamed, waking up the girl who woke up and screamed right back in his face. He hopped back to get out of the bed, or at least tried to. Getting his feet tied in the blanket he fell onto the floor in a heap, knocking his head against the floor with a loud thump.
Jayden groaned as he winced while rubbing the back of his head.
"Are you all right? Let me see."
She knelt beside him. She parted his long brown hair, looking for an injury.
Her hair was a light pink, and she was wearing yellow pajamas with ears that resembled a fox.
"You have-Oh! You got bump on your head. Stay here." She got up and headed into the bathroom returning with a damp washcloth. She placed it on his head and helped him onto the other bed.
"Thank you. My name is Jayden Sylvan.
"Nice to meet you Jaydee. I'm Honne Nohotoke!" She smiled back at him, wagging the ears on top of her outfit like an extremely joyful fox.
How was she able to do that? Wait, what she did she call him?
"Jaydee?"
"It's a little nickname I came up with for you. You like it?" She gave a cheerful smile as her head tilted to the side.
"I don't mind…" He wasn't fond of nicknames, but he didn't want to say no to her. Especially for soothing his bump just now. "By the way, what are you doing in my room?" He was sure he had the right room number.
"This is the room I was assigned to."
"Same here." Jayden replied.
If he was assigned to the room, and she was assigned to the room. That meant…
"We're roommates!" He wished for a girl as a roommate before he got here but Jayden didn't think it would happen. Realistically he should've had a single room or roomed with Ichika. Instead he got a girl in fox pajamas. Not that he was complaining.
"Let's be good friends Jaydee."
"You seem calm about this." Jayden pointed out. "I mean you're a girl and I'm a guy. And we'll be sharing a room. You're okay with this?"
Honne considered it for a moment, then shrugged her shoulders. "I don't mind, you seem nice and easy to get along with. Just don't do anything naughty to me?" She had a cheeky tone as she stuck her tongue out.
"T-That was an accident, I swear!" Jayden flustered as he waved his arms about to deny it. It was dark and the room seemed empty and…"
Jayden continued to list reason after reason to explain himself. All the while Honne giggled and climbed back into the bed she previously in.
"All's forgiven. Let's get along and be the best of roommates! Good Night Jaydee." Honne turned out the lights and pulled the covers over herself."
"Uhm… yeah. Let's do that." He turned his blushing face away. "Good night Honne."
Jayden stared at Honne for a short while. She seemed extremely calm about this like. She had some sort of 'go-with-the-flow-attitude'. There was no use thinking about it now. He was tired and he had a bump he wanted to sleep off. Jayden rested his head against the pillow and followed Honne's example of sleeping the night away.
Thus, marked the end of the first of many days at IS Academy. It was the start of a wonder(?) school life.
Sorry if the chapter felt uneventful. I was aiming to have some things that will be set in motion for later in the story. Somethings are the same as usual, but others will go through an unexpected turn. Have a happy new year everybody and make 2020 a great year for yourself.
Special thanks to Ironbird53 and B123 for help with the chapter.
Keep your sense of wonder and see you next time!
OMAKE
Ms. Orimura sat herself down on the couch in the teachers' lounge. She let out a sigh while opening a bottle of water to quench her thirst.
Another year at IS Academy had begun, and already she wished it was over. It wasn't that she hated her job nor her students, but her students could get on her nerves. They had the skills and knowledge to make it into the Academy, but their attitudes and maturity left much to be desired.
"I swear, they give me the knuckleheads on purpose to straighten them out." While she didn't have the evidence to prove it, years of having students who fan-girl over her lead Chifuyu to that conclusion.
"Ah Ms. Orimura, I've been looking for you." Maya stepped into the lounge, carrying a large stack of letters in her hand. "You have some mail." Maya took out the letters and looked over them. "They're from the students of the Academy. Both from our class and others."
"Ah, this again. You can throw those out Ms. Yamada." Chifuyu leaned back onto the couch to get into a more comfortable position.
"Throw them out? Don't you want to read them?" Maya looked over the letters. Most of her students went crazy for Chifuyu when she introduced themselves. They even went out of their way to write letters for her.
"Ms. Yamada, I've done this for years. At the beginning of every year, all the students that are obsessed with me send me these crazy letters either declaring their love or asking for something stupid."
"That can't be true, and I'll prove it." Maya opened one of the letters to read it out loud.
To the all-powerful Chifuyu Orimura
I feel shivers just seeing you take command of the class and make the room freeze with your presence. The power knowing I'm in the same proximity with first ever Brunhilde!
Please scold me and shine on as a symbol of strength for all women everywhere!
Maya finished the letter; regretting having read it out loud. Chifuyu had a look on her face that screamed "I'm-severely-underpaid."
"All right… that one didn't count." She opened another letter from the pile.
"Ah! This one's from Jayden, one of the males in your class." She silently read over his letter to Chifuyu this time. "He says he wants some of your autographs. He must really look up to you Ms. Orimura."
"No, he doesn't. He most likely wants to get my signature and sell it." This wasn't the first time someone asked for her autograph. She didn't give it out to students for two reasons. First, rabid fans would try to take anything she touched and either sell it or keep it. She wouldn't even risk throwing out a used tissue lest students fight over it. Second, if she gave one person her autograph, she'd have to sign autographs for everyone unless she wanted to be accused of favoritism.
Maya was starting to get depressed but didn't want to give up. She ripped open another letter and began reading the contents.
"This is…. Oh my." Maya face got more read as she continued reading the letter.
"An erotic story?" Chifuyu guessed while shaking her head disapprovingly. The look on Maya's face and how engrossed she was confirmed it was indeed one of those. Chifuyu snapped her fingers to get Maya's attention back. The green haired teacher pocketed the letter for later.
"Please hand the rest over." Maya did as instructed. Chifuyu looked over the rest of the letters, skimming them quickly. "Love confession, offer for picnic, love confession, letter of dedication, love confession and one student asking for some of my hair." Chifuyu finished flipping through the rest of them. She groaned through her teeth.
"They must really look up to you." Maya defended them. "I'm sure it's just admiration and they don't know how to admit their feelings."
"There's a difference between admiration and stalkerish behaviors." Chifuyu shut her eyes, this class looked like the worst she'd ever had. "Maybe I should have some of them transferred to another class."
"Ms. Orimura!" Maya yelled, surprising Chifuyu. "Don't say things like that about our students! They may act unprofessional, but they truly do look up to you. They looked so excited when they saw you were their teacher. I wished they looked at me like that."
"Maya…." Chifuyu didn't know what to say. This was the first time Chifuyu had ever seen Maya upset.
"Not all of us teachers can have their students look up to them like you do. So, you shouldn't just toss aside their feelings like that!" In her anger, Maya threw the stack of letters at Chifuyu. The notes and letters scattered about her general area.
"You don't have to do what they ask but don't think of them as lost causes." Her tone sounded defeated as the new green haired teacher turned her back to Chifuyu. "Have a good night Ms. Orimura." Maya walked out leaving Ms. Orimura alone. The remaining teacher started to eye the paper scattered all around her.
Chifuyu got up and began picking up the letters. On the floor was one more note that Maya threw. She bent over to pick up note, happening to read it as she picked it up.
Dear Ms. Orimura.
You don't know how happy I was to learn you would be my teacher this year. My life wasn't going great when I was younger, and I didn't know what I should do for a living. Then I watched you fight in the Mondo Grosso. You inspired me to become an IS pilot. I give my dreams a chance and worked hard to be admitted into IS Academy. I'll do my best to meet your expectations and someday compete in the Mondo Grosso. Please teach me everything you know.
Your student, Marissa Hollybell.
"These students are idiots." Chifuyu let out another sigh. She neatly folded the note and placed it in the pocket of her business suit. "But they're my idiots." She gathered all the letters and carried them under her arm. She had a long year ahead of her to turn those students into proper IS pilots, and she was going to get them there no matter what. Chifuyu's lips curved into a small smile.
Chifuyu Orimura and Maya Yamada raising the next generation of IS Pilots.