After the big battle, it's time for some rest and relaxation. Thank you all for reading this far, now to keep the story going. I'm sure you all had an awesome summer.
Hope you all enjoy.
"You're looking a lot better Jayden." Ichika noted. His friend's skin returned to its original color and there were fewer bandages wrapped around him. Jayden was so thankful that so many people had come to visit. He almost resorted to studying to relieve his boredom. Not today textbooks… not today.
"And I'm feeling a lot better to." Jayden grinned. "The nurse told me I should be able to leave tomorrow."
"That's good to hear." Houki was sitting the furthest away from everyone else, specifically Ichika.
"But enough about me and my injuries how was your shopping trip?" Jayden looked over at their bags, altogether they didn't seem to have bought a whole lot.
"Our shopping trip got cut a little short." Ichika mused. "I had to wear a disguise so I wouldn't get chased by fans all over town." His disguise consisted of nothing more than a hat, sunglasses, and a scarf. While it was simple and did look a little off, it did keep people from recognizing who he was. "It worked… for a while."
"Ichika's hat fell off while he was thanking the cashier and next thing you know; we're running away from a mob of fan girls." Houki summarized.
"It wasn't a complete waste of a trip; I got some common goods to decorate my room." Cecilia opened her bag to show off.
"And I just got some new hair ribbons to keep my twin tails in check." Rin added. Grinning, she opened her bag to show off her new hair accessories. "Of course, I would've found more if someone didn't blow their cover flirting." Rin swung her fist at Ichika's shoulder.
Ichika winched, rubbing his shoulder. "I was just thanking her for her service. Besides, your hair ribbons are fine. Yellow's a good color on you Rin." Ichika noted. The other girls were glaring daggers at him. "Is something the matter?"
"It's nothing." They said in union.
Jayden wasn't sure why those girls were upset. Maybe they were jealous that Lingyin had found a good deal. "Try something different next time, like a moustache! It works on TV."
Cecilia scoffed. "Of course, you'd come up with something like that.?
"Something you wanna say blondie?"
"You honestly believe wearing a mustache with your looks will make a believable disguise? Those belong on grown men, not teenage boys." She shook her head. "Somewhere in the world, a village is missing its idiot. I'll let them know I've found him."
"Oh and your just so high and mighty princess moneybags." Jayden wanted to get up and tell it to her face, but the pain stopped him." Working with you was the worst 30 minutes of my life."
"If it wasn't for me, you'd have been dead before you even got off the island."
"Yeah, you tickled that IS was great, really what we all needed." Jayden rolled his eyes."I'm pretty sure a feather duster would've been more effective than your spacelight rifle. Maybe I'll get one of those as an equalizer."
"It's a starlight rifle you half-witted nitwit."
Ichika watched as the two traded insults like school lunches in preschool. Those two could always find a way to bicker over anything. Amusing as it was to hear colorful insults, he couldn't let this go on. "You two still can't get along?" If working together to fight off a rampaging IS couldn't bring people together, Ichika wasn't sure what could. "Didn't you two work together against that invading IS unit? Can't you guys try making amends?" "Just one nice thing about each other?"
Silence remained between both parties. Eventually Cecilia was the first to open her mouth.
"Your actions back than showed you're still reckless and your skills leave much to be desired…" She said. Just as Jayden was about to open his mouth, she continued. "Although, your piloting… It wasn't half-bad. You did well back there." Cecilia forced herself to admit
Jayden blinked. Had Cecilia actually given him praise? Everyone was looking at him, waiting for his response.
"Thank you…" If she was willing to play nice, he had to as well. "The way you took command and your shooting shows you really have the skills to be a representative cadet." Jayden resisted the desire to wash his mouth out with soap.
"I worked hard to get where I am today. You can do the same if you work hard enough for it."
"Yeah, maybe."
The two locked hands in a firm handshake to commend one another on each other's performance.
"Don't get too comfy drillhead. Now that I've got my first shift, I can give you that butt kicking you totally deserve." Jayden taunted.
"Go through as many shifts as you'd like, you'll never hold a candle to me." Cecilia scoffed.
"See, I think you two are on your way to becoming good friends." Ichika smiled.
"I'm not so sure about that." Rin noted.
The two continued to gesture of shaking hands. To anyone looking it seemed like a simple handshake. If one looked closely however, they'd see their grips had tightened to the point where it was less a shake and more of a contest of strength to crush the other's hand.
At this rate someone's hand would be broken, until the door burst open.
"Hey Jayden, say goodbye to your boredom cause… are we interrupting something?" One voice said as three girls made their way inside.
Both students immediately pulled their hands apart. Cecilia made a show of cleaning her hand with a nearby napkin while Jayden tried not to make a show of waving his sore fingers under the covers. How did she have such a strong grip?
Three more visitors had arrived. Honne, Yuzu, and Sayuka had come, carrying food and games they'd brought with them. Yuzu and Sayuka were wearing casual clothes while Honne was dressed in her yellow puffy fox pajamas.
"We figured you'd be tired of doing nothing, so we brought some things to take your boredom Jayden." Yuzu said.
"You guys came to! It's great to see you three again." Jayden never realized being injured made you so popular.
Honne seemed confused. "Three? Pardon us for a moment."
Honne and Sayuka left the room and some words and squeaks could be heard from outside. The girls returned with a new member in tow.
Jayden blinked. "V-Vishnu?"
The girl tried to wave but couldn't as her arms were held down to prevent fleeing, instead settling for nodding with a little smile.
"We apologized to her over what happened on the roof, she's fun to hang with." Honne said.
"Is she a friend of yours Jayden?" Houki asked.
"This is Vishnu, she's a student here in class 1-3. She's the representative cadet of Thailand; with her own personal IS unit. We were able to beat that IS thanks to her help. Couldn't have done it without her."
Vishnu's cheeks started to go red from the compliments. Now everyone's attention was directed at the Thailand representative. With so many pairs of eyes on her, Vishnu's breathing rate increased and she began to shake.
Sayuka recognized the signs. "Guys, don't stare too much. She isn't good with-"
Before she could finish, Vishnu broke free. She looked like she was about to perform her signature technique of running away. Only instead of breaking into a panic and running out the door, she broke into a panic and ran towards the window. She wrapped herself up in the hanging curtains leaving her lower half visible.
"Lots of attention…"
Ichika blinked. "Is… is she okay?"
"She doesn't seem fine but this is normal for her, Vishnu's not so good with meeting new people. Hey Vishnu… You uh… you doing all right?" Jayden looked to the curtain that devoured his green haired friend.
"I'm fine." The curtain answered. "If I think there's less people here than there actually are and keep myself calm, I should be okay."
Jayden mentally noted to go see help her get to the school counselor asap when he was discharged from the room.
"Is she always like that?" Ichika asked,
"Vishy's not very good with other people face to face." Honne answered.
"V-Vishy?" Vishnu's head emerged from the curtain; she'd never had a nickname before. At least it sounded cute.
"Let us know if you get hungry guys, we got plenty of food and games for everyone." Honne cheered.
A thumbs up peaked its way out of the curtain.
"You said you had games. Which games?" Jayden's eyes brightened. "Do you have Infinite Stratos Battle Arena 3?"
Honne dug into the game bag, Cecilia peered over her shoulder to look in. "Videogames? I heard of these things but I've never had a chance to play one."
"I never played a video game either, but I know a lot of card games." Vishnu said. Not to brag but she was a master of solitaire.
"Games… Ah! That reminds me." Ichika dug into his bag, pulling out a game shaped box. "There's this game I won in a lottery when we went shopping. But I don't have the console so I didn't know what to do with it."
One look at that box and Yuzu almost dropped the game console she was holding. "That… That game! That's IF!"
"IS?" Jayden asked.
"No. Not "S" but "F". The F stands for fortune."
"Infinite Fortune. It's a game that came out recently but it managed to gather a cult following in a short time. Plus, it's really popular with girls." Sayuka explained.
"So what kind of game is it?" Ichika asked.
"You guys still can't tell even by looking at the cover?" Yuzu held out the game box to them. On the cover featured an oddly familiar looking girl in some sort of mecha armor surrounded by oddly familiar looking boys. The unsure look on both guy's faces answered her question. "Llet's play it then. We have the console for it."
No one had any objections to it. Curiosity was peaked so the disc was inserted into the console.
"Okay. Game Start!" Ichika hit the button.
The game began as the camera zoomed onto an island that had a large variety of buildings on it. Pannign around the scenery, the camera stopped where a single girl was standing in front of a large building. She looked to be of Japanese descent with long dark blue hair tied together at the end. She wore an outfit quite similar to the usual female IS Academy uniform. The only difference being her outfit was mainly colored black instead of the usual white.
"My name is Ichika Orino. Starting today, I'm going to be a student at IF Academy."
Ichika blinked. This looked…. Kind of familiar.
The image on screen showed the girl to be touching some sort of IS-looking unit.
One day, I managed to start an IF, a powerful machine that only males should be able to move. For my own protection, I was forced to enroll in this school where all the students and staff are male. I wonder what's going to happen to me.
Sweat dripped down Ichika's face. This looked extremely familiar.
"This character looks quite similar to Ichika." Rin said. The character looked practically like Ichika if he was born a girl.
"Oh yeah, Ichika. This game was in development around the time Ichika made the news." Sayuka explained. "This story is set in a gender bent reality of our current circumstances."
Ichika's jaw dropped. "So that girl is supposed to be me!" That explained why it was called IF.
On the bed, Jayden clutched his sides with laughter. "Oh man Ichika! I have to admit, they really captured you perfectly."
Houki, looked over the back of the game box. "This product is a work of fiction. This bears no resemblance to actual organizations and people. Any that seem as such are pure coincidence."
Rin sipped on a can of soda. "They can call it what they want but they're obviously ripping off Ichika's name."
"Maybe it really is a pure coincidence." Vishnu guessed.
"Is this similar to what you went through Ichika-san?" Cecilia asked.
Similar? Try exactly the same. The only difference being this Ichika was a girl. And the only excuse this was okay was that it was pure coincidence? Sure there was a chance this actually was a coincidence. The same kind of chance a person has to flip a coin 50 times and get 50 heads.
Ichika looked at the gang."Maybe we should play something else, you guys don't want to be bored watching this right?"
"I'm cool with this for now."
"I don't mind it."
"Yeah, I'm all right with this."
"I'm interested in this sub-culture of Japan."
"Yeah, I wanna see where this game goes."
Final tally. Eight yes to one no. If everyone wanted to press forward, who was he to say no? Ichika felt his palms grow sweaty. With reluctance, he pressed the controller button to move to the next box of text.
/-/
Underneath IS Academy, there is a series of tunnels and rooms that expand to as far as the academy goes on the island. This place was no rumor, as even staff confirmed the tunnels existed. However access to underneath the academy was limited to only select workers and high ranking officials in the academy. This underground area had been given the unofficial title of "The Basement".
Chifuyu looked at the object in examination. A dull, grey, almost completely destroyed IS unit. The very same IS unit that nearly destroyed the academy. The badly scorched broken IS unit
Around the IS were a few staff members who had clearance to access this area. One of those being Chifuyu's trusted friend, Maya Yamada.
"Ms Orimura. I've completed the first analysis of the rouge IS." Maya reported.
"And?"
"As we predicted it turned out to be an unmanned drone. With Mr. Brighton's signal jammer, the only plausible conclusion is this was done by the IS's AI. Although this kind of system shouldn't be possible."
While AI's have been in development for years, one that was capable of high speed decision making similar to humans shouldn't have been possible for an IS AI yet.
"And what about the core itself? Can we trace it to any countries or determine the manufacturer?"
The green haired woman shook her head. "There's an issue with that. Sylvan's last attack combined with the internal explosions located inside the IS burned out the core along with the parts so we can't determine where it was made. There's no way to thoroughly analyze it."
That also meant it was too damaged to even reverse engineer the IS.
Were you able to find any linkings to the IS?" Maya asked.
"No, nothing… not yet."
"This doesn't make any sense. There are only 467 cores in the world, and one of them was equipped to an IS we can't learn about. Which country would even try this?"
Chifuyu closed her eyes and turned away from everyone else. As much as she had hoped for this to be the work of a country or government, she had to force herself to admit this was the work of a certain someone.
Someone whom she unfortunately knew all too well.
/-/
The story of Infinite Fortune carried on with Ichika at the controller. Most of the gang weren't sure what kind of game this was supposed to be, but Yuzu kept insisting they'd see soon enough.
Ichika Orino was sitting at her desk in the classroom, and looked to be having a rough time.
"My very first lesson… I absolutely didn't understand a thing about it." Orino sighed. "There's no use getting depressed, I guess. Better go find out about my room."
Next thing she knew, an attendance clipboard bopped her blue haired head. The owner of said clipboard was a tall raven-haired man wearing a business suit. He stood with an aura of authority that you probably wouldn't live to tell if you dare crossed him.
"Ichika." The man spoke.
"Chihiro-niisan!" Ichika answered.
Houki's jaw dropped. "He's gotta be based on…"
"Chifuyu." Rin finished.
Right down to his appearance, he resembled Chifuyu Orimura if she'd been a guy.
"We have to discuss your rooming issue. Due to your sudden entry, a private room hasn't been prepared for you." Chihiro explained. "If you don't like the idea of sharing a room with a guy, you may stay with me at the dorm's head room. Which would you prefer?"
A set of options appeared on the screen.
What will Ichika Orino do?
"I'm fine with sharing a room."
"I want to share a room with nii-san"
"Looks like we have to pick what to do." Cecilia said. Everyone turned to Ichika. Since he was holding the controller, it was up to him to decide.
"Well he seems worried about his sister sharing a room with a guy. And she'll feel more relaxed staying with family. So, to the head dorm room it is."
"NOOOOOO!"
Sayuka and Yuzu yelled, making Ichika almost drop the controller.
"Ichika! You won't be able to trigger flags with choices like that." Yuzu scolded.
"F-Flags?"
On the side, Houki, Cecilia, and Rin were brooding on what Ichika and Chifuyu's real relationship was and whether the barrier of blood bonds could be crossed. Why did he always give his sister special treatment?
"Ichika… just how close are you and your sister? I know you're blood-related but you seem…" Jayden wasn't sure what words to use. "A little too close.
"This is the game's story! Not real life!" Ichika defended. "Fine. I'll pick the other choice." The game made a sound as Ichika chose the option.
"You don't have to give me special treatment I'll live just like everyone else." Ichika said.
"Ichika." Chihiro seemed proud of his little sister.
"She's quite brave." Rin noted.
"Yeah, Ichika's such a nice girl." Honne stuffed her mouth with a cookie, looking more interesting in eating than watching.
Despite making the decision, Ichika still felt iffy. "Someone else play, I'm not sure my sanity can hold up much longer."
"Ooh! I'll do it!" Jayden snatched the controller out of Ichika's hand, he'd been itching to game for some time now.
On screen, Orino Ichika looked over her bedroom, it seemed similar to the ones at IS Academy with two beds and desks. Just another coincidence to add to the ever-growing pile.
"So, this will be my room starting now. It looks nice. I hope I can get along with whoever my roommate is." Ichika said.
"Pardon me." A man stepped out of the bathroom door, wearing pajama shorts and his dark purple short hair was all wet. Steamed escaped the bathroom indicating he'd just showered. Though the fact he was wearing nothing but a towel also gave that away.
"A new character appeared. But why is he dressed so immodestly?" Cecilia wondered.
"That's him!" Yuzu realized. "The childhood friend and kendo expert. Souji Shinonome." This Souji guy looked almost like…
"I-Is that supposed to be me!" Houki pointed her finger at Souji in panic.
"Probably." Ichika answered. Everyone else was snickering at the new Houki.
"Ichika! It's good to see you again. If you're here that means we must be roommates. We should probably discuss our sleeping arrangements." Souji said.
A set of options appeared on screen.
What will Ichika Orino say?
Sleep in separate beds
Sleep in the same bed.
This time Jayden was the in control of the choice.
"Relax. I've got this." Before anyone could comment, Jayden immediately selected the bottom option.
"Let's do what we did when we were kids and share a bed. Just like old times." Ichika Orino said with no amount of shame.
",,," Souji was too shocked to even respond.
Souji's happiness decreased.
"Jayden! What were you thinking?" Yuzu snatched the controller out of his hand and gave it back to Ichika. "No girl would be that shameless!"
"Hey, I know what I'm doing."
He really didn't.
"Ichika… How can you say something like that?"Houki glared.
"I-It wasn't me! It was the game!"
Yuzu looked down on Jayden like how a mother would scold her child. "You've temporarily lost your gaming privilege. Ichika, you take over for now."
"Dang it."
On the side, Cecilia was clenching the sheets of the bed pretty tightly. Something which Rin picked up on.
"Everything okay?"
"Just a thought. If they put Ms. Shinonono in this game, do you think they did the same with… you know…"
The Chinese girl now shared a look of dread with her English friend.
"They couldn't have… right?"
A short while later
They did.
"It is I. Cecil Arwell. I'm the cadet representative of England. Compared to you all, I'm of a much higher status. Think of it as a priviledge that you get to be in the same class as I am.
"Yo Ichika! Remember me? It's me, Lianyin Huong. I haven't seen ya since middle school." He took a bite of the pork bun in his hand. "I'm in class 1-2. It'll be awesome to hang out again. I'll treat ya to my family's special cooking recipies."
Two more guys made their introduction to Ichika Orino.
The first male had short blond hair and blue eyes. His uniform was quite proper with not a stitch out of place. He seemed to carry an air of nobility and an 'I'm better than you' attitude. He appeared to be from England.
The other male had brown hair and a bright yellow ascot around his neck. If one looked closely they could see wrinkles on his uniform. What stuck out the most was the half eaten meat-bun he was carrying in all his artwork.
Needless to say, Cecilia and Rin didn't take their male counterparts lying down.
"WAIT A SECOND! How come that man comes off as being so arrogant!"
"This is just making fun of Chinese people!" Rin roared."And who the hell thought he should always carry meat buns with him?"
The other girls and Jayden were giggling at their over-exaggerated counterparts. Even Houki joined in.
"But Cecilia, weren't you like this not to long ago?" Ichika brought up.
"That was at the beginning!" Cecilia looked flustered. "And I've changed. Ever since…"
"Since?"
"I-It's nothing! Forget about it please."
It was Jayden's turn again as Ichika handed off the controller. The boy happily accepted, eager to show continue venturing in this gender-bent world.
"It's time for lunch now, I heard the food at IS Academy is really good! They have food from just about every main country." Ichika sat down at a table, only to realize there was another guy across from him. She couldn't figure out how she missed his bright yellow rabbit pajamas.
The guy shifted as though waking up from a slumber. "Hey…. Hi there. My names Han'ee Natotake." He introduced. "Is it true you're the only girl who can use an IF? That's so cool!"
That sleepy look on his face combined with his pinkish hair and yellow rabbit pajamas proved there was only one person he was copied from.
"Is that supposed to be me?" Honne asked.
"Afraid so." Cecilia said.
Honne's eyes were beaming bright. "I look so cool!"
It wasn't the reaction everyone expecting. At least Honne was a good sport about this.
Jayden had to admit, they pretty much nailed Honne's character. He played through the rest of Han'ee's introduction making some small talk about the classes they shared. He even offered her some snacks for later. Eventually they went their separate ways.
"It's good to see the guys here are nice. Now to dispose of my leftovers." As Ichika Orino walked over to the garbage can, she bumped into someone from the side.
"Ah. I'm sorry." She apologized.
The boy immediately tensed up. He had short green hair in a bob-cut style with purple eyes. His IS uniform appeared to have a brown scarf woven into it. Upon making eye contact with Ichika he ran behind the garbage can.
"H-H-He-ello-o." The guy halfway peaked out from behind the trashcan. "I-I'm so s-sorry for messing u-up. I-It's okay i-if y-you hate m-me." He looked away from her, retreating to behind the metal trash collector. "M-My name i-is Vishnu Cosmos." He eventually managed to say.
"IS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE ME!?" Vishnu abandoned the safety of her curtain for a closer look at her male imposter. "Why am I like this?! This guy can barley say a word without stuttering. I don't talk like this! Why did they make him like this?" She fell to her knees in despair, prompting Rin to crouch over and place her arm around her shoulder.
"You're not alone Vishnu. They butchered both of us; with meats buns and stuttering. This is a crime against humanity. "
"Y-yeah." She picked herself up. "Yeah! I mean… My anxiety isn't that bad… right?"
"Ehhh…" Rin looked away. While she didn't know her well, based on what she'd seen so far…
The room became silent. No one had the heart to tell her. Even Jayden coughed meaningfully. Once Vishnu realized all the attention was back on her, she leaped back into the curtains. At least this time without screaming in a panic.
"Never mind…" She sounded full of disappointment. It wasn't laziness on her part, she did try to get use to people. But when things got rough her body would move on its own. She figured nothing short of tying her down would keep her from bolting.
"Let's just move on…" Ichika said to get everyone's mind off Vishnu.
"There should be one more guy as Ichika's love interest." Yuzu said. According to the box art, there were six guys on the cover. Which meant there was one guy left to go.
Back at IF Academy,
"Excuse me, did you drop this?"A boy was holding a handkerchief in his hand.
Ichika checked her pocket. "It must have fallen out. Thank you for bringing it to me."
As he returned it to her, their hands touched. Making both parties blush a little.
This boy was a bit shorter than the other guys she'd met so far, making him the same height as her. He had long brown hair with brown eyes that looked full of confidence. Heck with those facial features you could mistake him for a girl and people could understand the confusion. He seemed to be American, though for some reason he had a ring on his finger.
"My name is Jordan Sylvin, it's nice to meet you."
"I'm Ichika Orino, I hope we can get along." The two shook hands to officiate their meeting.
"That's me!" Jayden's jaw would've dropped to the floor if it were long enough. He couldn't fathom why he was one of the people the game developers ripped off to be turned into… whatever this was.
"Not so great is it to see yourself mocked huh?" Cecilia gloated.
Jayden sighed. "Okay okay, lesson learned. I'm sorry for laughing." Despite the copyright crime on screen, he still had a small smile on his face. If this was all the game had on him, he'd gotten off easy. "Though this Jordan guy isn't so bad. I can live with this"
"But…they made you a guy Jayden." Ichika pointed out
"So? I am a guy?"
"but in this game, everyone's gender has been swapped."
Only now did Jayden pick up what Ichika was putting down. Sweat rolled down his face as he realized the facts.
"So that means."
"No no no."
"When they made this game."
"NO NO NO NO NO!"
"They thought Jayden were a girl."
He said it…
The boy buried his head into his pillow. Weren't video games supposed to be fun? Honne patted his back to give him her condolences.
"You want me to take over?" Ichika asked, with concern in his voice..
Jayden pulled his head up. "No… This is nothing… I can keep going." Although he had a smile, he seemed to be in minor pain.
It was official, this game deserved to be buried under shovel ware in a discount bargain bin. Not to mention the OVER ABBUNDANCE of people they ripped off just to make this game a reality. Was there even an original thought in this game besides "Hey, let's steal and copy as much as we can!".
"W-well it looks like all the main characters have been introduced. I guess this is where the main part of the game begins." Yuzu seemed a little excited at what she thought was coming up next.
"Main part? Just what exactly is this game even about. All we've done is talk to people." Jayden asked.
"You have to make Ichika-chan fall in love with one of the guys at IF Academy." Yuzu said.
"WHAAAAAAT!?"
The entire room was taken off guard.
"Don't tell me you all didn't realize it till now?"
In order to win the game, they had to make Ichika fall in love with one of the characters based on them.
"All characters with resemblance to real life are pure coincidence my foot!" Rin tossed the game box across the room, into the trash.
"Oh, It's an event!' Honne pointed out.
On screen, Ichika was sitting at her desk with Cecil standing across from her acting smug with her arms folded.
"Consider yourself very fortunate that I would oversee your IF special training." The rich boy boasted.
"Hold on! She has already promised that I would teach her." Souji butted in.
"Not so fast, if it's melee help you need. I'm your guy." Lianyin finished with a bite of his porkbun.
"I wanna train you Orimu! It'll be fun." Han'ee raised a long sleeved arm.
"U-Um… I-I can-n teach y-you… I-If you w-w-want…" Vishnu popped out from behind a corner.
"Let me train ya, we can figure this out this IF stuff together." Jordan said.
One by one, all the guys had arrived arguing why they should be the one to teach Ichika. Eventually they all looked to Ichika, awaiting her answer.
Who will Ichika pick to teach her?
Souji Shinonome
Cecil Arwell
Lianyin Huong
Ha'nee Natotake
Vishnu Cosmos
Jordan Sylvin
The Teacher
"It feels bad to waste everyone's kindness. Isn't there a way to pick everyone?" Ichika asked. Sadly there was no pick all option.
All of Ichika's friends seemed to be arguing about who should or shouldn't be chosen. Some wanted to be picked while others wanted their character to be left out of it. This continued on for a short while.
Ichika sighed this was taking too long. "That's it. If these guys can't share her than no one gets her."
In an act of defiance he pushed his finger to the button. A noise was made confirming his selection, the teacher.
"WHAT!"
With a level up sound, Ichika's knowledge level was raised. A small scene played with Satou-sensei, who bered an odd resemblance to Maya Yamada, began teaching Ichika.
"Even Ms. Yamada made it into the game. Good for her." Jayden was oblivious to the death stares he was getting from around the room.
"If only getting smarter was as easy as pushing a button." Ichika said.
"Well it is a game." Honne bit into a stick of chocolate pocki.
"Jayden…"
Now the boy realized the murderous intent on him. Three of them to be exact.
"Go to the next event right now!" Houki demanded. The other girls joined in on her demand, prompting Jayden to mash the A button to speed to the next event. It was going to be a long game.
/-/
"The answer is no."
"What do you mean no?"
That was the fifth time Gelimer asked and the fifth time Chifuyu answered with a no.
"No. A negative response. To deny." Chifuyu defined.
"You know what I mean." He swore she was doing this on purpose. "Why can't I examine the rouge IS unit in the underground area?"
Chifuyu rose an eyebrow."What makes so sure we even have the IS unit down there?"
"Cause I know it didn't get up and walk off the island."
Considering so many people had been seen using elevators to go to the basement, it was a safe assumption why certain people were going down there. Plus if you had to stash a big object like an IS and keep it away from others, underground was a good place to do so.
"I will neither confirm not deny that."
"Then, let me help look into that IS unit. I know I can assist you guys. Did you skip over the "Head of IS research facility" while reading my resume?"
"Your assistance isn't required." Chifuyu replied.
"Not required? I-"
Chifuyu held out her hand to cease him. She got up form her seat, having finished her mal.
"Mr. Brighton. When you accepted the position to work here at IS Academy, it was as an assistant teacher to the first year classes. Nothing more. Nothing less. What we're doing is none of your concern.
"Considering that thing almost killed me and my star test pilot, I'd say it does concern me."
Chifuyu banged her fist on the table. Her patience had reached its limits.
"We do our jobs and you do yours. This does not concern you. End of discussion."
"But-"
"End. Of. Discussion." She emphasized each word.
Chifuyu walked away, presumable to return to her duties in the basement. Looking defeated, Gelimer took his meal to one of the back empty tables in the cafeteria. He'd been so eager to see what made that IS tick. Unfortunately, whatever was needed to be allowed access down there, he didn't have. Asking and begging like he'd just done was unbecoming of him, but right now it was his only option. And even that had failed him.
"Is this seat taken?" Before he could dig into a bite of his meal, a woman approached him. She wore a green turtle neck shirt with a white lab coat similar to what Gelimer himself wore. Her hair was brown and cut off around her shoulders. Quite attractive for a women who seemed to be in her mid forties
"Huh? Oh. Sure go-"
She sat herself down.
"Ahead…"
"Mr. Brighton, it's good to see you again. How has your weekend been?" She leaned in to talk, allowing the man to see his own reflection in her glasses.
"I've been okay. Mostly busy. How have you been Ms…" He racked his brain trying to recall who she was. He swore he'd met her multiple times but right now his memory was failing to place a name to her face. Plus she was wearing a lab coat. The greatest article of clothing one could wear. How could he forget someone with such killer fashion sense?
"Sedgwick. Olivia Sedgwick." She reintroduced.
"Right. Thank you." He mentally repeated her name so as not to forget it later.
"I overheard bits of yours and Ms. Orimura's conservation. Sorry for the eavesdropping."
"Eh, it's fine." Gelimer said. "Say. Does Ms. Orimura have something against me? She seems… angrier than usual"
Olivia shook her head. "It's not you. Ms. Orimura has some trust issues."
"Trust issues? She's the brunhilde. What does she have to be paranoid about?" Gelimer wondered.
"No idea." Olivia shrugged. "Whatever it is, it makes her difficult to put too much faith in others. That woman tends to keep her circle of friends pretty small. Although the only person I've seen her hand with is that cow of a teaching assistant."
Ah, she must mean Ms. Yamada.
"She's her only real friend. Kind of hilarious when you think about it." Olivia smirked. "but yeah, you don't get to the big stuff here unless Chifuyu gives you the ok.:
"So you're saying I have to get her to warm up to me if I wanna get anywhere here?" The white haired man asked.
"Yeah, but Ms. Orimura doesn't take too kindly to new people. She'll work with you to teach but she ain't going to trust you with anything beyond that."Olivia leaned back in her chair, recounting failed attempts to get close. "You're nothing more a co-worker you see at work to her."
The argument he and Chifuyu had while that IS invaded didn't help him either. After that argument, Gelimer noted Chifuyu seemed to act colder towards him.
"Plus you're too new here." Olivia added. "Combined with the fact you have ties to an American research facility, that's enough suspicion to believe you could potentially steal secret data from IS units or do something pretty bad."
Gelimer's shoulders slumped. "How long do you think it would take to build a reputation? Besides the one where I'm the only male employee."
Olivia waved her hand in a so-so manner. "Three to five years probably. Give or take how you perform."
Gelimer's face met the hard material of the table, making Olivia chuckle.
"Here are the facts. It's pretty much a given that the unmanned IS is down being examined in the basement. And neither of us have permission to go there."
Neither of them? His head rose up. "Wait, I get why they won't allow me down there. But don't you have seniority? You've been here for year's right?"
"I've been here a few years, yes." Olivia's chin rested on of her hands." Sadly, I'm victim of a nasty smear campaign."
"Smear campaign?"
"Long story short, a lot of IS researchers didn't like me or my methods, and spread some hurtful rumors. They weren't true. But they got repeated so many times that people began to believe there was a chance they were true. Or that at least some of them were. Thanks to those stupid lies, the higher ups would rather be safe than sorry and made sure I didn't get into the secret operations. Here I'm nothing more than a teacher."
"I'm sorry to hear your name got dragged through the mud."
Olivia rolled her eyes. That was an understament. To her, it was like mud was thrown, dumped and splattered all over her name, than forced to take a mud bath just for good measure.
"What's done is done. However, I have an idea to get us down to the basement to for a look at the rogue IS unit."
"Let me want me to vouch for you? Get them to change their minds?" The man assumed.
"Not exactly… I was thinking something… different."
The way she said it didn't inspire confidence in him.
She leaned over to Gelimer and whispered some words into his ear.
Gelimer immediately bolted up, knocking over chair in the process. Realizing the scene he just made, Gelimer apologized to everyone and grabbed his chair to sit back down.
"Are you trying to get fired? Cause I'm pretty sure talking about this is a good way to do so." He whispered. What she suggested was practically a crime if done in IS Academy.
"Hey, it's only a suggestion." Olivia said. "Besides, as smart as Ms. Orimura is, she's no IS researcher. She'll miss a lot of the finer details. The IS staff will do their best, but lets be honest, they aren't as good as me or you. Especially me."
"Still, what you're talking about is practically a crime. Actually scratch that, it is a crime!"
Olivia's face turned serious. "Look. I want to be the greatest IS researcher I'm willing to do whatever it takes to do so." Olivia explained.
"Why me though? You could do this with anyone"
"I could see it in your eyes when you helped me teach class 1-3, you spoke with the same passion that I did. Not to mention you're new here. You're new, fresh, exciting, and a guy. To all these female workers here, you're a breath of fresh air." Olivia ratted off like a sales pitch.
He was passionate about the Infinite Stratos yes, having practically dedicated his life to it over the past several years. Did he regret a single day of it? Maybe a few, but he would never say what he hated doing what he did.
"I'm still not sure about this. It sounds too risky."
Olivia slammed her fist down on the table, making their meals jump an inch.
"I thought you were the type to do whatever it took to be the greatest. Are you content with just waiting for others to say you can do things? Or are you gonna flip the fricken bull by its horns and do it your way?"
Gelimer was silent.
"Well?"
The road to the best was so close to him, and Olivia represented the best way to reach it.
Gelimer swallowed, firmed his resolve, and leaned closer to her. "Hypothetically speaking, how would we even do this?"
/-/
"We've been playing this for quite a while."
Infinite Fortune had much to do despite a simple premise of trying to hook up a boy with Ichika. There were a lot of events to go through during the game. From simple holidays to training with the Infinite Fortune and studying. On some days, special events occurred such as giving chocolates on valentine's day or choosing someone to pair with on the school trip to Kyoto.
Every guy was there chance to shine as they hung out with Ichika Orino. Sometimes a person would ask specifically for their video game counterpart to be picked for the event.
Every day Ichika Orino got at least one chance to hang out with a guy, for studying, eating, hanging out, or any other reason. There were plenty of changes for a player to pick someone for Ichika Orino to hangout with.
"This game… isn't what I was expecting I admit." Houki said. When thinking of video games, Houki imagined beating up hordes of bad guys or racing in vehicles for first place. This felt more akin to reading a book.
"That's how dating games go." Honne simply said.
"At least that last boss was decent." Jayden admitted. The big tournament the game had built up, the match was interrupted by some unknown unit attacking the stadium forcing all the main characters to band together in order to defeat it. He shivered as the game reminded him of the memory.
As Jayden finished, Ichika had concluded another day in the game. The calendar moved ahead to the last day on the month. Ichika Orino looked to be walking away from IF Academy, dragging along a suitcase behind her. She seemed a little older; as though everything she went through made her more mature.
"We're at the end." Yuzu, the resident dating sim expert brought up. "This is it. If the necessary conditions have been fulfilled, Ichika should confess to the character she got along the most with."
This was it, the big payoff to everything they'd done.
Ichika gulped, advancing forward with the controller.
Houki folded her arms under her bust.
Cecilia dug her nails into her clothes anxiously..
Rin was impatiently tapping her fingers on a table.
Half of Vishnu's face peaked out from the curtain.
Honne casually munched on a cookie.
Jayden looked to be intensely praying to any god that would grant his request, and a few extra just to be safe, of NOT having himself be on screen.
"This is it!" Yuzu squealed.
Everyone's eyes were glued to the screen.
"After graduating, I ended up working at a research institute related to the Infinite Fortune." Ichika made her way into what looked like an IF research facility. "I didn't become a cadet representative unfortunately. However, not once will I ever forget all those wonderful days I spent with everyone…"
Ichika Orino walked into the IS research institute to begin her first day on the job as the credits began to roll. A nostalgic melody played over the credits as previous pictures from the game's cut scenes came to retell the story.
The credits ended with a picture of Ichika Orino performing research on an IF Machine.
Fin.
…
…
…
..
"EHHHHHHHHHH!?"
The room erupted in chorus of confusion and disappointment.
"Wh-what's going on?" Rin turned to Yuzu. "Didn't you say Ichika was supposed to end up with someone? What gives?"
"I guess… This is the no confession ending." Yuzu told her.
"No confession? Is that a thing in these games?" Ichika asked.
"It's possible." Yuzu reluctantly pointed out "Jayden and Ichika kept picking everyone because you all kept squabbling. So, no one was able to become the focus of the game. Because the attention was split, everyone was stuck in the friendship level. So everyone was stuck in the friend zone, the game played the 'No confession' ending."
"I get it," Ichika put his hands together. "If you don't stick to one and pursue it all the way, it'll all be for nothing. So you have to notice one person and build a relationship." Ahe nodded his head, starting to understand how these games worked.
Three glares of death were cast Ichika's way. Anyone near Ichika slowly inched away to avoid being caught in the crossfire.
"AS IF YOU HAVE ANY RIGHT TO SAY THAT!" Three certain girls shouted. Houki, Cecilia, and Rin immediately proceeded to gang up on Ichika, sending him to the floor. They lightly beat on him while openly announcing their displeasure.
At this rate, Ichika might be the one having to stay in the infirmary.
"Well it wasn't a completely horrible game." While Jayden did somewhat enjoy the game, the fact these game developers got his gender incorrect could not be forgiven. "Now I almost feel bad Ichika didn't end up with one of you girls."
"Don't act all innocent Jayden." Rin said amidst the scuffle. "Your stupid choices helped get the bad ending!"
"Yeah! You're as much to blame as Ichika!" Houki pulled on the Japanese's boys cheeks, too angry to hear his apologies.
"What? Hey! My choices were great. I chose whoever was best for the scenario. Back me up guys." He looked over to Vishnu and Honne. The only two he was 100% sure was on his side.
"Actually, I was hoping you would pick me a little less."
"I wanted you to pick me more."
Pouting, Jayden crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. Way was everyone was a critic?
/-/
A short while later
Sayuka looked out the window, the sun had almost finished setting. Thewhole had been spent playing Infinite Fortune. "It's getting late, we should probably get going." Honne began to gather up the left over food and unplayed games.
Yuzu removed the game disk from the console. "Don't forget your game Orino… I mean Orimura."
Ichika involuntary shuddered. "Why don't you keep that game Yuzu. I'm sure you'd have more fun with it than I will." If he went the rest of his life without ever seeing that thing again, Ichika would be okay with that.
"You're the best Ichika!" She the boy a quick hug and cuddled her new gift. Yuzu, Honne, and Sayuka huddled around their new gift. The trio left, talking about trying to decide which route to go for first.
Once they left, one by one the rest of the girls said their goodbyes and made their departure. Only Jayden, Ichika, and Houki now remained. The latter two were just about to leave.
"Wait!" Jayden stopped Ichika just before he could exit."Hey Ichika, can you stay for a minute. I want to speak with you, it won't take long."
Houki went on ahead with Ichika promising to catch up once he was finished. "What's up Jayden?"
"First, I wanted to say thanks for coming to visit. It was boring staying here all alone. You all brightened my day."
"I'm glad we were able to brighten your day. We could all use a good time after that IS incident."
"That's the second thing; it's about that IS." Now seemed like a good a time as any to discuss it. "The IS unit that attacked us was heavily focused on you and me, probably because were guys." The focus of its attacks always boiled down to Jayden or Ichika, depending on who was in its vision.
Ichika nodded in agreement.
"So that got me thinking, why is that you and me are the only guys who can pilot IS units?" It was one of lives newest and biggest mysteries.
"You know, I've never really thought about it." Ichika pondered, placing a hand on his chin. While he was aware of the issue with men and IS, he never gave it much thought as to why there was a problem in the first place. It'd always been a fact of life to him. Birds flew, fish swim, and guys can't use the Infinite Stratos. As for why he could use it, Ichika could never come up with a reasonable answer.
"So, I started thinking what you and I have than others guys and… I got nothing." Jayden admitted. "Unless… do you think we're related?" Jayden and Ichika being brothers… it was a half-decent pot twist.
"I highly doubt that." Ichika deadpanned.
"Worth a shot. I don't suppose you have any theories then?"
Ichika sadly shrugged. Jayden sighed; he expected as much but still felt the courtesy to ask.
"Maybe one of the teachers could know something. Have you tried asking Mr. Brighton? You and him know each other well."
Jayden wasn't expecting Gelimer to know. Sure, the man was a genius in the field of IS. But if he knew why men couldn't use the Infinite Stratos he'd be screaming it from the rooftops and trying to have his face on the cover of every magazine. IS related or not.
"I doubt it. How am I supposed to figure out why other guys can't use an IS?"
"Don't blame yourself Jayden. A lot of people have been trying to answer that. It's not your responsibility to find out why." Ichika squeezed his shoulder. "You'd have to be a genius like Tabane Shinonono to try to figure that out."
"Yeah…"
A genius like Tabane Shinonono…
The gears in Jayden's head began to turn in perfect sync.
" That's a great idea Ichika!"
"Eh?"
"If anyone could know why men can't pilot the IS, it'd be the creator of the IS herself. Tabane Shinonono. All I have to do is ask her why other guys can't use the IS."
It sounded simple, but Ichika felt the need to point out one very tiny itsy bitsy flaw.
"Do you even know how to find Tabane Shinonono? She's been missing for years." That woman was practically number one on the most wanted list in every country. If the world couldn't find her, he highly doubted one boy could.
Jayden just smiled. "I don't need to do that; I know someone who can do it for me.A certain friend of yours that is." Jayden knew the best person to find Tabane was the girl who was related to her. "Houki Shinonono is related to Tabane, so she probably knows where she is. Or even better, how to contact her!"
Ichika made an uncertain noise as he looked away.
"Am I wrong?"
"It's not that. If anyone knows where Tabane is, it would probably be Houki. I just don't think she'll want to help you." Ichika said uncertainly. "Houki and Tabane don't really have the best sibling relationship."
"They hate each other?" Jayden asked.
"I wouldn't go as far to say hate."He waved his hand in an iffy matter. "Tabane is really fond of Houki, but Houki seems like she doesn't want anything to do with Tabane. Whenever I bring up her sister, she'd always get quiet. Then she'd change the subject." Ichika knew Houki wasn't fond of her sister, but over the years it seemed to have gotten worse. When they were kids, Ichika saw that the Shinonono sisters got along okay when he came to visit. Then ever since they reunited at IS Academy, Houki never wanted to talk about Tabane.
This put a wrench in Jayden's plans. He wasn't the brightest kid in the school, but at least he was smart enough to know he was too dumb to figure out why guys and IS units don't mix. He doubted any of the adults he knew could answer why males can't use an IS, heck they'd be rich if they knew. If Jayden wanted to learn the secret, Tabane was his best chance.
"I'm still gonna ask Houki. Worse she can do is say no."
Ichika sighed. "Just be careful. Her sister's a very touchy subject for her."
"I will. Bye Ichika, thanks again for visiting." Jayden said as Ichika turned to leave.
"See ya in class tomorrow."
Jayden sat upright, to get to Tabane; he'd have to go through Houki. So the question was, how did he ask Houki for help?
/-/
Ichika returned to his room to drop off his bags before getting dinner. As he went inside, Houki was standing there with her arms crossed.
"How long does it take to talk with someone? Seriously I'm about to starve waiting for you."
"Waiting for me? Did you not eat yet?"
"Didn't I just say that I've been waiting for you?"
She had a point. Food did taste better when eaten with others.
"Well than lets get to the cafeteria. They'll close soon if we don't hurry." Ichika said.
Houki stopped him before he could turn to leave. "H-Hold on!" She shuffled about trying to figure out how to organize what she wanted to say. "Umm… How should I say this… I…"
While Houki was busy, Ichika felt something tickle his nose. It smelled quite familiar, like when he ate at Rin's family restaurant.
"Is that food I smell?" Ichika looked past Houki to see a steaming bowl of fried rice on the table. That smell of sesame oil was starting to make his mouth water.
"W-Well… You see… I… I cooked it." Houki admitted. She motioned for Ichika to take a seat at the table.
"You made this? But it isn't Japanese." Ichika pointed out.
"Don't act so surprised! I can make many different types of food." Houki complained. "Well? What are you waiting for? Hurry up and eat it before it gets cold."
"Guess I'll dig in." He wouldn't turn down food from a friend. Ichika took a large spoonful of the fried rice.
She stared intensely as he took his first bite, awaiting any sign of emotion. Ichika chewed to taste the flavor.
…
…
…
…
…
He couldn't find it.
"It's... bland."
"What!?" Houki ripped the utensil from Ichika to take a bite of her dish. Just as Ichika said, there wasn't any taste to the fried rice. Usually this occurred when no spices or additional ingredients are added. It was like heating cooked up rice covered in sesame oil. Her smile faltered, now realizing her mistake. "You don't have to eat it if you don't want to."
Ichika stopped her before she could take the bowl away.
"I didn't say that I didn't want it did I?" Ichika took another spoonful of the meal.
"You don't have to force yourself to eat it. I know it isn't that good." Houki admitted.
"But you made this for me, right? That's why I have to eat this." Ichika said in-between spoonfuls.
Even though he couldn't taste any flavor, he could taste the feelings Houki put into this dish.
"Thank you for the meal." Ichika clapped his hands together to show his gratitude.
"D-don't get the wrong idea Ichika, I don't normally make this kind of mistakes in cooking. It was a one-time accident." Houki turned away, not wanting to show Ichika that her cheeks were turning red. "But… I wouldn't mind cooking for you again… if you asked me to."
"You don't have to do that." Ichika declined.
Houki blinked. "What?"
"I don't want to bother you Houki. Besides wouldn't it be better to just eat the in cafeteria? It'll save time." Ichika said.
The red in Houki's face turned from blushing into anger. "Are you saying you don't want to eat what I cook?"
"That's not what I meant." Ichika scratched his head. "Is something the matter Houki? You've been acting weird lately." First, she had been avoiding him during the shopping trip, and then keeping her distance when visiting Jayden, and now she was cooking unfamiliar meals. He raised a hand to try to place it on Houki's forehead only for her to smack it away.
"I'm not sick you idiot. It's just… To cook… for you every day." She wanted to try to make the same promise Rin had made but she couldn't make herself speak the words. Her emotions got the best of her and left Houki unable to speak.
Ichika had no idea what she was even talking about.
Before he could imply further, there was a knock at the door. "Excuse me. Orimura. Shinonono." It sounded like their homeroom teaching assistant, Maya Yamada. The buxom teacher let herself in.
"Is there something you need sensei?" Ichika asked.
"I'm here regarding Shinonono's room transfer. I'm here to let her know that the paperwork is filed and the arrangements have been made. You can leave right away Ms. Shinonono."
"Room transfer? You're moving out Houki?" Ichika was shocked. The girl in question didn't answer him.
"I'll also be helping you pack your things so you can move out immediately." Maya added.
"Wait what?" Houki said, seemingly caught off guard. She requested the room change but she wasn't counting on moving out this soon. "Do I really have to leave right away?" She asked Maya.
"Well, yes. I know it must be difficult and awkward for a boy and girl to share a room. Your new roommate is aware of your arrival and the paperwork is all finished."
"Ichika what do you think?" Houki waited for his answer, caring what he thought the most.
"I'll be sad to see you go, but you don't have to worry about me." Ichika smiled. "I'm pretty sure I can take care of myself even without your help".
Houki felt betrayed. Her fingers curling up into fists. Well fine, if he didn't want her here than she'd get out of his way.
"Sensei! I wanna change rooms now!" She declared.
"Y-Yeah. If you say so."
"Wants help packing your things?" Ichika offered.
"No." Houki declined.
From there, Houki and Maya began packing up the formers possessions things in silence. As she packed her things, Houki kept glancing at Ichika who was now minding his own business. No matter how much or how heavy, Houki refused to let Ichika touch any of her belongings.
Houki stood at the door carrying a small tower of boxes for one last trip. She stood there, trying one last time for him to tell her not to go. "I'm leaving now."
"Have fun with your new roommate Houki." Ichika waved goodbye.
It wasn't what she wanted to hear. "Goodbye Ichika." Houki glared one last time before heading on her way. "Enjoy the room."
"Wait!"
Houki paused.
"Goodbye Houki, thanks for putting up with me."
She slammed the door behind her.
Ichika looked over the entire room he had lived in for months. Now that Houki moved out, the room was entirely his. It felt a lot bigger now and emptier. Ichika laid down on his bed, with no one to talk with now it was a lot lonelier now.
Houki stomped her way through the halls, all the while carrying a tower of boxes. She'd let him know that they wouldn't be living together anymore, and all he did was smile and wave! Houki didn't expect much but she hoped he would've at least done something. He didn't even ask her to stay…
"Damn it, Ichika. Damn it!"
She wondered if he was happy now that she was no longer his roommate. Too busy thinking what Ichika thought, she walked straight into a wall spilling her boxes all around her.
"That was quite a fall, are you okay madam?"
Houki looked at the voice which came from a fellow female student dressed in school uniform, albeit her lower half was wearing long pants. Almost resembling the male version of the IS Academy uniform. Her eyes were the color amber while her hair was a mix between grey and white. For a second, Houki almost mistook her for a guy. Then she remembered she was just asked a question.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
The girl offered Houki a hand up, which she accepted. Once on her feet again Houki realized this girl was tall, about an inch shorter than Ichika.
"Would you like some help carrying those boxes Ms. Shinonono."
Houki paused. "H-How do you know my name?"
"You're the national kendo champion, your reputation precedes you."
This caught her off guard. She wasn't used to people knowing about her kendo accomplishments. Anytime someone recognized her, it was because she was related to a certain genius. It was nice for a change
"Mind if I lend a hand? I can't ignore a damsel in need." The white haired girl offered.
She seemed odd. But some help couldn't hurt. Both of them split the boxes and Houki led the way.
"I'm guessing you're changing rooms since you have all these boxes. Didn't you room with that Orimura guy? Finally moving out?" She asked.
"I am."
"Call it a hunch, but I'm sensing things between you two didn't work out. You two not get along? I've heard it can be rough spending time with someone if they aren't the right person."
"I suppose…"
Houki sensed this girl was trying to get awfully close to her.
"That's a shame. A girl like you deserves only the best."
Why was she so interested in her personal life? Houki kept quiet till they reached her new room.
"Thank you for your help…." Houki realized she'd never asked for her name.
"Rorentsuine Laurent di Fillney." She gave a bow. "But you may call me Rolan. Short. Sweet. And it rolls off the tongue."
"Right…" Houki felt her sweat drop, the girl was sort of odd, but she didn't seem like a bad person. As she reached for the last box, Rolan placed her hand on top of Houki's.
"What are you doing?"
Rolan smiled. It was time to bring in the advance techniques. She stepped up to Houki, making her move till her back was against the wall. Boxes once again scatted across the floor. Rolan's amber eyes were staring into Houki's purple eyes. With all the pieces in place, she slammed her hand against the wall, making a soft echo.
"Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are Ms. Shinonono?" Rolan gazed further into her eyes.
"What?"
"You're quite the girl Houki. Strong, beautiful, fully stacked, not to mention connected with powerful people. You're truly a diamond. No… more like a blood red diamond. A treasure among treasures."
Houki scowled. So this was her game. She was just another one of them.
"If no guy has seen you for what you are, then it's their loss." Rolan leaned in, getting closer and closer to Houki's. But I can tell you come from an impressive family. I know someday you'll reach the levels of fame your sister is at. I wonder if even you're aware of your many talents and charms?"
Houki clenched her teeth. If she had any doubts before they were gone now.
"I think I can help you get ya where you want to be." Rolan prepped her lips for contact. "You're too special to have no one by your side." She closed her eyes and puckered her lips.
Rolan's lips made contact sooner than expected. It felt like wood. A wooden kendo sword was now in Houki's hands. She lightly tapped Rolan's forehead as a warning.
"Thank you for your help Rolan, but you're getting the wrong idea. You need to leave. Now." Houki emphasized by tapping her head yet again. "I'm not interested in people getting close to me just to get to Tabane by flattering me. Got it?"
"Flattery?" Rolan put her hands up as though surrendering while she backed away."Why I'm only speaking the truth Ms. Shinonono. Your beauty possessed me to do so."
Houki reclaimed her possessions and gave Rolan one last glare before slamming the door behind her. Despite this, the smile remained right on Rolan's face.
While most would see this as a loss, to the trained eye it was anything but. The seeds had been planted and would soon blossom into red roses. As odd as her approach was, it defiantly left a lasting impression on Shinonono. Now that they were familiar with one another, it would be easier to approach her with the ice broken.
Rolan rested her hands behind her head as she returned to her quarters. Some girls played hard to get, but she'd eventually get through to them.
"By the time I'm done with you Houki Shinonono, you'll be my 100th."
/-/
Jayden leaned back against his pillow. Given the boredom of the last few hours being alone, he tried to think of how to best ask Houki to let him speak with her sister. They were friendly with each other but not at the level of best friends. If she didn't talk about it with Ichika, her childhood friend, he doubted she'd talk with him.
"Maybe I should try giving snacks, soften her up." Jayden thought. Honne always appreciated it.
Knock knock knock
"Anyone in here?" The door immediately opened, knocking Jayden out of his thoughts.
The lights turned on, and before Jayden could answer he found himself tongue tied.
It was a girl at the door. She was wearing what he assumed was her sleeping attire. A pink nightie that was just long enough to barley be considered decent. Though it didn't help that hugged her curves quite nicely. With that somewhat see through nightie and those curves working together, he couldn't mouth a word.
There was a term for girls like her. What was it called again? Blonde bombshell?
"You must be Jayden, right?" She fiddled with her long hair, which was parted to one side.
Through willpower he managed to get sound out of his mouth. "Yes! Jayden. That is me. I am him."
She giggled, making her way over to his bed. "I finally get to meet you My name is Darcyl, I'm a third-year student here at IS Academy."
"So, what brought you here?" Jayden looked over at the clock, it was well past academy curfew, late enough to risk detention if she was caught.
"I just really wanted to meet you privately." She sat herself down on the bed, right next to where Jayden was. "I'm a big fan of yours."
"F-fan!" Jayden sheepishly rubbed his head. He'd never had a fan before.
"That's right. I wanted to say thank you for everything you did. I was trapped in the arena stands back then. You did so much to save the academy, like the big hero of it all. You we're so amazing every second of it."
"You saw us fight?"
"They streamed some of it while we were trapped in the stands."
"I mean, I only did what anyone else would do." Jayden was finding it difficult not to let all the praise spill out of his head. "I'm sure anyone would've done it if they were in my shoes. Besides, I couldn't have done it without everyone's help."
"I don't think so. Not many guys would risk their lives doing what you did, so don't brush it off like it was nothing." She leaned a little closer. "And the way you took charge at the end… so inspiring."
"Well…. You know I try..."
"You did wonderful out there." She complimented."They should name a star constellation or something after you for what you did. Tell me, will I see you compete at the school tournament in a few weeks?"
"That I can guarantee. Now that I've got my IS to undergo a first shift, I can start showing everyone what I can really do." He's show her his IS ring, but Gelimer still had that. Talk about bad timing.
Darcyl gasped. "No way! You mean to tell me you did all those things with an IS in its default mode!" She leaned closer, their faces inches away. The position slightly pressed her chest up against his arm.
Jayden's face was changing color, it was the first time a girl was getting this personal with him.
"Yeah." He answered.
"You're even more incredible than I thought. Maybe you can give me some pointers one day. I'd love to learn from you." Now she was even closer. The way she leaned left a small gap in the top of her nightie, giving Jayden a little view of dangerous territory.
Like magnetic force, his eyes couldn't look away. Eventually, her eyes followed his gaze lower and lower…
She placed her hand under his chin, and lifted it up sohis brown eyes met her aqua ones. "Sorry little guy, but my eyes are up here."
Busted.
Darcyl smirked and asked, "Do they look nice?"
"W-what?"
"My breasts." Her voice sounded seductive. "What'cha think?"
She… wasn't upset… or was she? He couldn't wasn't this the part where the girl would hit the guy for staring? What was going on? Steam would've poured out of Jayden's ears if it were possible. "T-They're… nice."
"Really? What makes them nice?" Darcyl asked, fishing for compliments.
"Y-Y-you know…. They're… pretty b-big…"
Darcyl pulled away and laughed. "Guess I can't blame you since you're a guy and all. But you need to build up your tolerance little guy. You'll deal with a lot of women. Can't get that flustered when you see some skin." She peaked over at the clock. "I should be getting back to my room. Don't wanna face Ms. Orimura's wrath. I have to admit I'm not fond of most people, but I think I'll remember you."
"Well I'll definitely try to remember you." Jayden tried to say it as smooth as he could.
A devilish idea formed in her head. "Just trying? Then let me do something to keep me in your memory."
Before he could ask what, Darcyl planted her lips on Jayden's cheek. The act paralyzing him where he sat. She kept her lips there, removing them after a good 20 seconds.
"Something to remember me by." She drew back with a seductive smile. Jayden wanted to say something, but his internal systems were still in the process of rebooting. All that left his mouth was jumbled up words and noises.
Turning, she walked out the door with a sway in her hips, closing it behind her.
He touched the area were Darcyl's lips pressed; a faint touch of lipstick smudged on his fingers. Was this his reward for everything he had been through?
Now that made two hot blonds he'd scored a kiss from thanks to the IS. It was official. Even with the tough curriculum and killer IS units, IS Academy rocked!
And with the intermission over, the next arc is ready to begin. I've been planning this out for months.
Review Replies
B123 – Thank you so much for your constant reviews, I love reading about all the details you notice. It makes me happy to hear you love my omakes. There's plenty more in store, so keep reading.
Ironbird53 – This was my longest chapter to date. Hey, when someone recognizes a good opportunity to profit, they pounce on it. Always gotta be prepared. Keep up the good work with American Idiot.
Review and I'll answer your comments or questions.
Keep your sense of wonder and see you next time.
Omake
Inspired by Coeur Al'Aran
It seemed like a normal day for Gelimer. Normal as it could be in IS Academy at least. There wasn't any unknown IS unit attacking, no destruction of school property by the students, and speaking of students they even seemed well behaved today.
So far nothing had gone wrong… yet. Until he turned up to a summons at the principal's office, and came across the headmistress of IS Academy.
He hadn't heard much about her, but apparently this woman was said to be responsible for how IS Academy became what it was today. This would be his first time meeting her.
"Hello Mrs…" Gelimer wasn't sure what he was seeing.
"Yo dog, bout time you got here. I'm glad you were able to find da place. Ya feel me?" The woman sitting behind the important desk asked. Gelimer wasn't sure if this was supposed to be the principal or a punk who stumbled her way here. The woman appeared to be of Japanese descent with short black hair. The business suit she wore clashed with her sunglasses and blingy gold chain around her neck.
"Uhhh…."
"What's da matter yo? Don't know about today's lingo?" She asked again.
"Mrs. Kutsuwagi. Please speak normally." Chifuyu sighed as she massaged her temples. Beside her were Ms. Yamada and Ms. Sedgwick who looked to be in agreement with her.
"Fine…" The principal reluctantly did as she removed her sunglasses. "Mr. Brighton, it's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Nadeshiko Kutsuwagi, the principal of IS academy. As one- the only male working at IS academy, I thank you for your efforts to help teach our students."
"You're… welcome?" He still wasn't sure what to make of her. "So what did you call us here for?"
The principal handed out a series of documents to everyone. Looking down at the cover letter, it was a newspaper clipping?
"Studies show that teachers are falling behind the customs, culture, and social norms of today's youth. Leading to lack of communication, misunderstandings, and no longer being seen as role models." Chifuyu read aloud as she skimmed the article. "This is about how teachers are out of touch with students?"
"Hit the nail on the head." Nadeshiko nodded. "This is a bigger issue than you think. If the students don't respect you teachers, then they won't learn anything from you all." She got up from her desk, walking over to the window of her office. Staring out to the ocean beyond the academy. "In a regular school this would just mean bad grades and playing hooky. But here, we teach students to pilot dangerous machines. One mistake may lead to injury or fatality."
"I don't see an issue when I teach the students. They always fall in line and do as told." Chifuyu said.
"Not all of us can hit a student with an attendance book when things don't go our way Ms. Orimura." Olivia scoffed.
"Practice your aim, you'll get the hang of it."
Olivia's palm slammed into her face.
"What do you want us to do Mrs. Kutsuwagi?" Maya asked. "Are you suggesting we fire ourselves and find even younger teachers to impart knowledge? Some of us aren't that much older than out students."
Olivia coughed into her sleeve.
"N-Not that there's anything wrong with being much older!" Maya quickly added.
"Regardless, you all need to become more modern in order to resonate with your students. Therefore, you must," Nadeshiko turned to them all, raising a fist in the air. "Become hip!"
"Hip?" Chifuyu repeated.
"That right, or as the kid's these days say, Riggity right dog!"
Chifuyu resisted the urge to groan.
"Now, I did some research on social media sites and chatted with some young teens and I've created a list of suggestions to help you. All within those documents you're holding." They began flipping through the pages
"You want me to rap my lessons?" Olivia flipped through the note. "Not the weirdest thing I've done."
"The hell's a Tic-Tok?" Chifuyu asked.
"Hold it! Hold it! Hold it!" Gelimer reread the words on the page for the third time just to make sure he wasn't crazy. "To connect with the teens, you want me to eat laundry detergent?"
"It makes you relatable."Nadeshiko said.
"It makes me an idiot!"
"Mine just says to open boxes and react to what's in them. Then put it on the internet." Maya pointed out.
The only man in the room glared at his female colleagues. How come they got the easy stuff while he got a brand new diet of soap?
"Don't be hatin," Nadeshiko defended. "But it's not just yo actions ya'll need to check, skippy to the back and see the change in attire for each of you."
"What's wrong with our outfits?"
"They're out of style. Old fashioned. Check what I have in mind for ya'll." Nadeshiko answered.
Everyone turned to the back of the documents.
"These clothes seem…" Maya looked down at her bosom. "Small."
Chifuyu ripped the page into tiny pieces of paper confetti.
"I'm not fond of the suggestion you made where I have to wear a baseball cap backwards and have my pants low enough to expose my underwear. I'd be arrested just for wearing this here." Gelimer said as he skimmed over the rest of the details. "The lab coat is my signature look. How else will people know what I am?"
"First off, I was here first; the lab coat look is mine! It makes me look a scientist and you like a pharmacist." Olivia shook her fist. "And second, I refuse to wear these ripped up rags."
"What I say? Don't be hatin on dese new descisions yo!"
"Ma'am, with all due respect, I don't respect this. I'm not going through with any of these idiotic ideas." Chifuyu dropped the papers onto the floor, flattening the paper even more under her foot just for good measure. The rest of the teaching staff would've done the same if they had the same rebel spirit.
"Aww come on Chifuyu, don't be a…. uhh…." Nadeshiko paused, flipping through her notes. "Look you boomer. Don't be a Karen! You gotta get yourself open to the things the fresh kids do nowadays. Why you gotta Karen up the place?"
Chifuyu looked over the modern terminology notes for translation. "What did you just call me…?"
/-/
"S-Should we help?"Gelimer asked nervously. Watching the show with Olivia and Maya standing beside him. Nadeshiko ran past them for the fourth time as Chifuyu was hot on her tail.
"I think Chifuyu's got it under control." Olivia dismissed.
"I was talking more about helping Mrs. Kutsuwagi." Gelimer sighed as he watched the angry Chifuyu chase down her target. Students stepped to the side; eyes glued to the two women running past. Either Chifuyu was playing with her food or the principal could really book it.
"Is the principal always like this?" Gelimer asked.
Maya waved her hand in a so-so manner. "Principal Kutsuwagi is a very odd woman. Some days she has amazing ideas that benefit the academy, and on other days… you get this." It was almost like the woman played hopscotch on the line between idiot and genius.
"Do it again," Chifuyu yelled angrily running past everyone for the fifth time. You could hear her shouts throughout the halls. "Call me Karen one more time. See what happens!"
For Shizzle my Rizzle! Hope ya'll enjoyed da hippty hoppity omake!