2020 is almost over, never before had I been so happy to have a year end. Here's the next chapter!
Two IS units clashed head to head as they dashed across the arena. Both looking to be training unit models with one wielding a glowing energy sword and the other, a large sized club-like weapon. The IS swung with its club, forcing its opponent to block, lest it take the full fury of the attack. After that exchange, the IS with the sword attacked horizontally but missed as its opponent ducked under it.
"Come on Ichika, don't tell me your gaming skills have gotten rusty at that boarding school." A boy about Ichika's age rapidly mashed a button on his game controller.
"Fat chance!" Ichika input a combo with his controller to dodge his enemy's ranged attack. The two guys shared a laugh, it felt just like old times. "You're in for it now Dan." He wasn't gonna just give in front of his best friend.
Ever since meeting him in middle school, Dan had been Ichika's best friend. They had a few classes together and hung out often after school, usually playing video games or killing time with sports. Dan was a laid-back kind of guy who knew his way around a kitchen since his family owned a dining restaurant. His most noticeable feature was his long red hair tied up in a dark bandana.
It had been monthes since he'd been able to see his best friend in person due to the workload at IS Academy. The two were catching up on Dan's bed trying to kick the other's butt in gaming.
"So, tell me all about it. That all-girls school you're in. It must be nice being the only guy there." Dan looked very interested.
"You know I'm not the only guy there right? There's a second guy at IS Academy. Technically a third if you count a teacher."
"Close enough. All girl school minus two." Dan waved his hand. "Your e-mails tell me your living in a paradise. Any room for me in the holy land?"
"Trust me, I say that it's nice but living there is a whole other story. The amount of work it takes to learn about the IS is insane and the girls never leave you alone. They mean well but it gets tiring being the center of all their attention. Every day some girl introduces themselves to me and they always want to be around me. Makes it tough to get some alone time. Can you believe it?"
Dan rolled his eyes. His friend was living in paradise and didn't even realize it.
"Still, going there hasn't been all bad. Thanks to IS Academy I was able to reunite with some of my old friends, and even made new ones." Houki, Jayden, Cecilia, and Rin came to Ichika's mind. Thanks to those four, he was never lonely at ISA. "I think you and Jayden would get along well."
"Is she cute?"
"Jayden's… the other guy." Ichika tried to put it politely.
Awkwardness filled the room, until it was overtaken by the sound of a door being kicked in.
"Hey bro!"
A beautiful girl stood at the door. She had scarlet hair just like her brother, albeit tied up in a ponytail. She was lazily dressed with way her shirt hanging loosely and her shorts being half-zipped up, exposing the bow of her pink panties.
"Your lunch is ready. Hurry up and-" She stopped, realizing her brother wasn't alone. "I-Ichika! Is that really you?"
"Hey, Ran long time no see." Ichika greeted. He recognized her as Ran Gotanda. Dan's sister who was a year younger than them both. For some reason she always seemed happier when he was here.
"Yeah… L-long time."
Ran swallowed a lot of saliva. Ichika was here. Right here, right now! She looked down at her state of dress. And right now, she looked…
Completely flustered, Ran immediately jumped to the side to get out of view to fix her state of attire.
"I was in the neighborhood, so I stopped by to hang out. Your brother's just how I remember him." Ichika smiled as Dan lightly punched his shoulder.
"Can't you at least knock Ran? Now he probably thinks you're shameless, just barging in like that. He's our guest after all." Dan teased.
Ran glared at her brother. Ichika recognized that look in her eyes, the same type of look one of his female friends gave him when he did something involving other girls. "Bro. Why didn't you tell me Ichika was here?"
"I guess I should've done that… my bad?" Dan said.
Ichika shut his eyes, he knew how this story would end.
A few minutes later
"Um… The food's ready. I hope you enjoy..." Ran said
Both guys thanked her for the meal, although Dan did so while rubbing the noticeable bump on his head. A present from his favorite/least favorite sister.
"The food tastes great Ran, but are you going somewhere? You changed your clothes." Ichika asked.
Ran had donned a change of clothes, now wearing a modest white dress along a pair on sandals.
"Well… This is just… really… um…"
"I get it! You're going on a date, aren't you?"
"I'M NOT DATING ANYONE!" Ran emphasized, slamming her hands on the table.
Dan felt a drop of sweat run down his face while Ichika looked none the wiser.
"A-Any-way it's not a date, okay!" She turned away from them, feeling embarrassed for her outlash like that.
Dan did his sister a solid and change the topic. "So Ichika, you said you met Rin and that first childhood friend of yours at IS Academy, right?"
"Yeah, Houki. It's great getting to see her again."
"Houki?" Ran asked. "Who's that?"
"Houki is my first childhood, we lived together at IS Academy."
"Live together?"
"They share a room." Dan recalled it from one of Ichika's e-mails.
"You're sharing a room with her! You two are roommates!" Ran clenched her fist.
"Told ya that place is paradise." Dan said.
"I said we were roommates. Houki moved-"
"So, you did live with a girl! Does that mean you even did things like…" Ran gulped. "Eating and sleeping together."
"We did those. I mean not together all the time but yeah."
Already girl were eating and sleeping with Ichika. Being a year younger, Ran was already so far behind that it'd be too late to do something if she didn't act fast. "That settles it! Next year, I'm gonna apply to IS Academy. I'm sure I'll make it in with my grades!" Ran declared. Her eyes looked to the roof as she raised her fist.
"It's good to have dreams sis, but don't you think you're aiming a little too high?" Dan asked.
Ichika knew his friend had a point. IS Academy wasn't an ordinary high school, it was an elite boarding school for training future IS pilots. Getting accepted would take more than just straight A's on middle school report cards. You would need approval form the government or a prior history with the Infinite Stratos to even be considered. Very rarely would someone without those qualifications make it to ISA.
That didn't seem to be stopping his best friend's little sister who quite literally had stars in her eyes. Technically the chances of her getting into IS Academy was greater than zero, so you never knew.
Ran coughed into her arm and clutched Ichika's hands in her own. "Ichika, I would really appreciate your guidance and encouragement when I get into IS Academy."
"S-Sure. If you make it there, I'll do it."
"It's a promise then." Ran's face turned almost as red as her hair. "You better keep your word. Got it?"
"…R-right."
"Ichika…" Dan glared daggers at his friend. He grabbed Ichika's shoulders looking him dead in the eyes. "You have to promise me you'll get a girlfriend before the next school year!"
"What?"
"Promise me!
/-/
"You know you promised me."
"I know I did… But maybe we can do this tomorrow?"
"Come on Vishnu… We've put this off for long enough."
Jayden led Vishnu down the academy halls toward their intended destination. Vishnu however seemed much less eager to be going, she would slow down at times making Jayden wait for her to catch up.
"You really don't wanna do this do you?" This was like making a child eat their vegetables. They didn't like it, but it was important for them to do so to have a better life.
"Gee What gave you that idea?" She barked before apologizing. "I'm sorry. You already know I'm not good with interacting with strangers, and now I'm going to a room where this person I don't know is going to be focusing on me non-stop." Vishnu answered.
"Yeah, but her job is to help people like you and me with our issues. If anyone can help you deal with your anxiety, it's probably her."
Vishnu's gaze turned to the floor. He figured the best way to keep the conservation was to maintain that eye contact he rarely got with this girl, so he crouched down to return her gaze.
"It's only one stranger Vishnu. Weren't you okay with a bunch of other people you didn't know back in the infirmary? They were all strangers and you were okay... Sort of." Back in the infirmary Vishnu hung out with everyone all while wrapped up in the window curtains. With the logic of 'if she can't see them and they can't see her' she was able to stand her ground.
"Well that's because… you were there..." Vishnu blushes as she mumbled that last part.
"What was that?"
"Nothing! Oh look, we're here!" Vishnu immediately changed the topic, pointing at the classy wooden door in front of them. The only thing that stood out about it was the golden plaque on it that read Student Counselor. Jayden knocked on the door while Vishnu fidgeted with her hands.
She closed her eyes envisioning herself stuck one on one with the counselor. With someone judging her every action, movement and thought. She's be a huge disappointment… A waste of time…. A lost cause… Just like before and just like now. Her purple eyes bolted open.
"I can't do this!"
"Oh yes you can!"
The wooden door opened, with the supposed student counselor standing there. "Thank you for coming, my name is Aoi Chiba. I've been expecting…. You…"
"Just let me go! I shouldn't be here!"
"Come on Vishnu!"
The Thailand representative and American boy were locked in a tug of war with the back of Vishnu's shirt having the honor of being the rope. From the corner of their eye they could both see Ms. Chiba.
"Hi there Ms. Counselor, I've brought Vishnu for you." Jayden settled for waving an elbow while his hands were occupied. Vishnu was too panicked to fathom a response. The woman reposned by cover her eyes as she shook her head. Reports had took her Vishnu would be a difficult case, but she hadn't been doing this.
"Ms. Galaxy…" Aoi said.
"I can't do this! I'm sorry I can't!"
"Ms. Galaxy…"
"Just let me go and I'll never come back here. I promise!"
"VISHNU!"
The counselor's outburst froze Vishnu in her place. Without her momentum, Jayden won the tug of war. Now he stumbled backward, pulling Vishnu with him until her fell and brought her down with him. The result was Vishnu laying on top of the boy with his face buried in her back. The tanned girl was frozen as Ms. Chiba looked through her like she was made of glass.
"I can't nor will I force myself to help a student." Ms. Chiba stated. "I'm aware of your past record and difficulty with meeting new people. It's understandable and I won't be judging for it. That be said, I will judge you for running away from a problem you desperately need to face. If you want to overcome your social anxiety, it must be by your own will." She leaned against the door, awaiting her decision.
Vishnu laid there, seeming to be in deep thought. Than was knocked out of those thoughts by Jayden pushing her off him to he could breathe.
"I know you can do it Vishnu, compared to that killer IS this is nothing." He went on to regain his breath.
Vishnu's face heated up as she looked at Jayden, than back to the counselor. "C-Can Jayden come… with me?"
Aoi shook her head. "Sessions like these are best done one on one." While it was good to have someone to depend on when things got difficult, it wasn't a good idea to be solely dependent on them.
Vishnu looked back at Jayden who was giving her a thumbs up. She took a deep breath and picked herself up off the ground.
"What is it that you want Ms. Galaxy?"
She wanted to speak but couldn't find the words.
"Waste of my time." Aoi turned away and aimed to shut the door behind her until Vishnu shoved her foot in the way
"I want to be able to speak with people!" Vishnu informed them both of her goal. "I'm tired of being too worried to act about what everyone things of me of if I'm doing right. I've seen what it's like to be with others, and I want to do it more. I –"
"Just get in already." The counselor opened the door back up and stepped aside, allowing Vishnu entrance. As she entered to make herself comfortable on the couch. Now that she was inside, she wanted to have a quick chat with her transportation.
"Thank you for bringing Ms. Galaxy to me. I've been trying for a while to get her here to speak with her about her anxiety issues.
"You're welcome. She's a good girl and an awesome pilot. Think she'll be okay?" Jayden asked.
"She'll be all right. The hardest part was getting her to come here but that's been dealt with. She's really fond of you, you know, that right?" As Aoi turned to leave, she gave Jayden one more request. "And if its not too much trouble, could you bring her back here in case she tries to run off from future meetings?"
"Don't worry, I'll drag her by her legs if I have to."
She seemed fond of that answer. The student counselor closed the door behind her leaving Jayden all by his lonesome. Now that Vishnu was getting the help she needed, maybe she'd be a little more social and out going in the future.
With this done, all he had left on the agenda today was IS practice with Gelimer. According to him he would finally get to train with his IS in its new first shift. Now he could use and fight with a real IS. He took out his phone to check when he was supposed to be there. According to the time, he was to be there in twenty minutes ago.
Dang it.
In the middle of IS arena 4, Gelimer stood with his arms folded and foot tapping rapidly. Genius waited for no one but apparently Jayden was trying to defy that rule. He watched as Jayden finally made his way onto the arena, panting like a fat man trying to finish a marathon when he reached Gelimer.
"Took you long enough." Gelimer said. He wearing a dark green track suit, like the ones IS Academy teachers wore when teaching physical education classes.
"I got sidetracked helping a friend. So are you-"
"Finished looking over Edel Gleam's inner workings and looking over it?" Gelimer interrupted. "Yes, yes I am." He opened his hand and placed the ring in Jayden's. Jayden closely inspected the ring. The standby form of Edel Gleam was still a ring, honestly it didn't look any different from how it was before.
Slipping the ring on and raising it to the sky he gave a cry of "Edel Gleam!". The ring began to glow bright and encompass Jayden in its glow.
Edel Gleam looked like a small bulky knight with armor around the arms and legs of it. His feet appeared to be coated in some metal as well with the ends flat and block like. A kick from those would probably hurt like heck. It was simplistic in appearance, but it gave Jayden a rush of excitement just being inside it.
The only other time Jayden saw his IS like this was when he was fighting for the academy's survival, so he never got a change to look over his IS. Now that had time to take in its looks, he was impressed with the results.
"This is really my IS unit?" Jayden said in amazement. The dull green had turned into a much shinier version of green, almost resembling an emerald-like color.
"My IS unit." The man reminded him. "Why don't you take it out for a little trial flight." He took out some sort of remote from the track suit's pocket and pushed a button. A series of holographic rings surrounded the arena that looked large enough for an IS unit to fly right through. Jayden took a jumping start to take to the skies.
The speed of the IS felt a lot faster than before and Jayden down rightwards to pass through another right. To say it now handled much better was an understatement. In his pre-first shift, Jayden could reach this level of speed by flying continuously in a straight line, now he could keep up his speed even turning in wider arcs. The ascending and descending felt much smoother than before, it no longer felt like the IS was working against him.
"You're speed isn't the only thing that's increased. Check your IS's shield energy and that shield of yours." Gelimer spoke using a sort of radio to tap into Jayden's broadcast communication channel.
Looking over the specs of his IS, Jayden's eyes nearly budged out of his face when he saw how much shield energy he had to work with. That was a really big number, almost double Edel Gleam had in its default setting. He could hear Gelimer laughing over the communication line.
"I can't see your face but I'm pretty sure it's ridiculous. I know because I probably made a similar one when I first saw it. With that high amount of shield energy, you function well as a defensive unit that can absorb a lot of damage. This makes you… what's the gamer lingo I'm looking for?" He tapped his chin trying to recall. "A tank! Or… was it a sponge? Eh, you're one or the other. Now look into your shield. You remember what you did with it against that IS unit right?"
Jayden flashbacked to the moment he struck that unit with his glowing shield. It felt like the strongest the boy had ever been. He deployed his shield, a round buckler similar to what A star spangled banner of an American hero used in combat.
"When this thing blocks attacks, it absorbs the force or something and it can unleash in a powerful smash attack?" Jayden tried his best to summarize.
"Yeah lets go with that." Gelimer lack the time or crayons to explain how exactly the shield functioned when absorbing and unleashing kinetic energy. "You should be able to do a little something else with that fancy shield of yours."
Jayden fiddled around with his shield trying everything he could think of till he squeezed a spot on the handle of the shield. A squarish light blue energy field deployed a short distance in front of the shield that was taller and wider than Jayden's IS unit. Something like this would definitely come in handy against explosions or attacks that were spread out.
He landed back down on the arena ground right next to Gelimer. With the increased mobility and upgraded arsenal, Jayden felt like an actual pilot with a real IS machine. Oh, the wonders the miracles of a first shift could bring. Come to think of it, he may not have had this first shift if it wasn't for that rampaging IS unit in the first place. Come to think of it… " Hey, Gelimer I just had a thought. Do you think that rampaging IS machine is connected to those people who tried to kidnap me?"
The man considered the possible connection for a moment.
That made sense to Jayden.
"Anyway. Now that you've got a first shift Jayden, I'm expecting good things from you in the upcoming tournament." Gelimer changed the subject.
IS Academy usually had a different tournament set each in order to prep students for sports-based combat. While the experience gathered by fighting was nice, the real purpose of these tournaments were for countries' recruiters to scout future IS sports stars or military combatants. If you wanted to start your IS pilot career early, doing well in these tournaments was a must.
"Do I still need to compete though? I mean, I was going into this upcoming tournament to try to get my first shift but…" Jayden stretched out Edel Gleam's arms. "Mission already accomplished."
"Yes, good for us both. Now it's time to use that upgraded machine to show your strength.
"But I'm already strong."
The white-haired man buried his face in his hands, doing his best to remain calm. "Jayden, I'm going to put this as lightly as possible. Your level of strength and skill is what the kids these days call 'total weak sauce'. Jayden looked like he was about to argue until Gelimer held out a hand in front of him. "How many one on one battles have you actually won since coming to Japan?"
Jayden recalled all his previous solo battles.
Ichika (X)
Lingyin (X)
That classmate who asked him to spar that one time (X)
The raging IS that tried to destroy the academy (O)
Except he had help from all his friends so that one didn't count.
Ever since coming here, Jayden's own performances hadn't stood out. That was to be expected with his lack of IS experience and lack of general experience being years younger than everyone else.
"You're using my IS unit that I designed. It's specs and capabilities are on par with the machines of your peers. Your performances reflect on my work. When you do well, I do well and the same is true for the opposite."
"Then all I have to do is kick some butt at the tournament." Jayden's eyes turned towards his shield. That protective item was his best and only way to deal any real damage. His chances of victory would depend heavily on how he used this thing.
"I'm not expecting you to win, but at least do decent. You have a real IS unit now, so don't give me any excuses if you screw up. Based on your performance I'll decide if I should replace you as Edel Gleam's pilot. I've met a few girls who've got some talent. "
"Y-You're already replacing me?" Self-doubt and anger filled his mind as his jaw hung low. After everything he'd been through and done, this man was going to toss him away like a used battery.
"Thinking' of replacing you." Gelimer corrected. "Don't take it the wrong way Jayden. I want to be the best IS researcher, and I need the best pilots to help me do that. If you can't keep up, than I have no use for you. I know it sounds cruel but that's reality. Your friends had to strive to be the very best in their field to earn their personal IS units. Now you have to do the same."
All the representative cadets had to work their hardest be named as a representative cadet for their country. Jayden's eyes looked fired up. If they could do it so could he. The boy felt that if he wanted to find out why other guys couldn't use the Infinite Stratos, he would need a personal IS unit to help him.
"Prove to me that you're strong enough to fight back when someone or something is attacking and to be able to help me reach my dreams. Am I clear?"
As cold as it sounded, ultimatums like these were the best way Gelimer knew to inspire the young boy. Already enemies were attacking him and would probably continue to do so in the future. This boy needed some kicks in the ass to get himself ready. As a man he would either make sure Jayden was prepared for whatever dangers lie ahead or remove him from battle entirely if he couldn't step up to the plate.
"Yes sir!" Jayden revved his arms in mini circles, feeling ready to go. If his boss wanted an awesome pilot, than he'd give him one.
"Let's run through your mobility once more. Another set of rings coming up right now. We're gonna keep going until you get through them all in under a minute."
"Got it!"
/-/
"My favorites are the ones from the Hazuki company." One student said.
"But doesn't Hazuki only focus on the design?" Another student asked.
"It's still a good design."
"Well if you ask me, Murray's are better in terms of function. Especially their smooth model ones."
"Yeah they're good, but they're so expensive."
Classmates gathered around in class 1-1 to chit-chat before the period started. The girls were discussing the types of standard IS uniforms used when piloting and their pros and cons. Especially how they looked and felt to wear.
"I just had a thought, Hey Jayden." Sayuka asked. "Where was your IS uniform made? I never saw that kind of design before till I got to this school."
Compared to a standard female IS piloting Uniform, the male versions were different. The male IS pilot uniform consisted of a short top with long pants extending down to the ankles. This left a large gap between the clothing, leaving the midriff completely exposed. In contrast, the female piloting suit resembled a school swimsuit in appearance with leggings made of the same material. Whoever designed it like that was probably the same people who thought it was a good idea to make the female piloting uniforms as skintight as a school swimsuit.
"My unform was custom made." Jayden answered. "One of the laboratory's in America made it for me. I think it was based off the Ingrid's company's Straight Arm model or something. But how the heck do those thin uniforms enhance your skills when piloting an IS?" Jayden was sure the only thing those pilot uniforms did was make IS Academy girls look way hotter than usual, which was still an amazing positive.
"I think it has something to do with analyzing movements." Sayuka shrugged.
From the teacher's desk Ms. Yamada coughed louder than average, as though to get their attention. "Actually, the outfit is used to detect the weak electric signals given off by the skin and pass the signals of the user's movements which is needed to operate the IS suit itself. In simple terms, wearing the suit will increase a pilot's mobility greatly compared to regular clothing."
The students seemed surprised that she was able to answer that. They hadn't realized till now that their teacher was knowledgeable about this kind of stuff and not just a text to speech device for books.
"What's with that look?
"Sorry Yama-chan, I just never realized how smart you were until now." Said one of the students.
"Yamapii, I think a lot better of you now." Another girl said.
Maya tilted her head. While she didn't oppose nicknames, it was more professional to be addressed by her real name.
"You girls really shouldn't call your teacher by nicknames. Ms. Yamada or Yamada-sensei is more appropriate."
"Eh? But it should be fine."
"The nice names are way cuter."
"Mayyan is quite serious today."
"As I said, you should refer to me by my professional title. Do you understand?" Maya fretted as her face went red. "You do understand right?
"Ms. Yamada why do the IS uniforms look like school swimsuits?" Jayden asked. She seemed quite pleased to be referred to by her professional name. The teacher opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. She tried to think of any reasonable explanation of why those suits happened to look like swim uniforms for female students. Maya just lifted and lowered her shoulders, not even teachers knew everything.
Before the conservation could continue the doors to the classroom opened, Chifuyu Orimura stepped inside. Three people followed along behind her. The first was Prof. Brighton, seemed like he would be helping class 1-1 in lessons today. The remaining two looked like high school students that no one recognized. "Good morning class. Everyone take your seats. We're starting homeroom immediately." Chifuyu ordered. Every student rushed to get their butts in their seats.
Houki pulled out her chair, a piece of paper fell off it and fluttered to the ground. Taking her seat, she picked up the paper and her eyes just happened to read what was on it.
My dearest Houki
For so long I have waited to tell you how I feel, but I could never find nor gather up the words to express my feelings for you. Instead, I have turned to writing to convey my message.
Houki pressed the latter flat against her desk, covering it with her arms. Her gaze shifted left and right repeatedly to make sure no one was watching. She resumed reading.
When I see you first thing in the morning and see your face and smile my heart can't help but skip a beat.
The way your beautiful ponytail hair waves through the air is majestic as the sun shines on it. Your skin is so beautiful, and your body excites me to no end, and I wish to have you as my own.
No longer will I sit back and admire you from afar in secret, I want to tell you how I really feel.
Meet me in the male locker room at arena four after classes end for the day.
Your Longtime admirer.
Her heart rate spiked. A love letter. A real love letter was within in her hands. Just holding the piece of paper was making her heartrate increase dramatically. There was only one person who would send her something like this.
Houki looked over at Ichika, who in turn smiled back and Houki and waved.
Sure, Ichika never acted romantic and tended to miss every single interest clue but that was all in public. Then again, he'd never done anything when it was just them in their room.
Wait a minute. Did her leaving make Ichika realize how much she meant to him?
A rare smile emerged on Houki's face. Her gambit had worked! He'd finally realized how much he meant to her! Sure the love letter was a little over dramatic but it was the thought that counted.
She slid the note into her skirt pocket for safe keeping.
"Everyone listen up, we have an important announcement to make." Chifuyu motioned over Maya to let her explain.
Maya was behind the head podium while Chifuyu and Gelimer were off to the side.
"Guess what everyone? We have two new transfer students who will be joining our class. Not only are they cadet representatives, they each have their own personal IS units. I hope all of you will get along just fine." Maya entered a command on the main computer, bringing up a short bio on each of the transfers to every student's screen. Maya called over both transfers while the class read over the bio.
The bio held nothing more than generic information about them such as their names, nationality, and any information they wanted to have put on there. The bios also mentioned each one was a representative cadet for their home country.
The first student had long blond hair with purple eyes while wearing a school blazar and long pants. There was a small smile on the blond's face thought it looked a little nervous. Though this student's appearance… no, it couldn't be.
The second was a girl who appeared short for her age. Her uniform forgoes the traditional IS Academy skirt in favor of long baggy pants that covered her legs. She had long silver hair that flowed past her neck. What was most noticeable though was the eye patch covering her left eye.
It was odd to have transfer students at this point in the year, not to mention how odd it was that both were representative cadets with their own units.
"Everyone, please give our new friends a warm welcome." Maya happily announced. "You two can now introduce yourselves."
The blond one went first. "Greetings, I am Charles Dunois and I am from France." Charles introduced. "I heard about the male students who were in the same situation as me, so I transferred here. There are a lot of things I don't understand about this country so I hope that everyone will help me out."
Every student was silent. Eventually, one girl gathered the courage to ask the very important question on everyone's mind.
"Are you really a boy!?"
"That is correct." Charles answered. "I look forwa-"
The class erupted into cheers.
"IT'S THE THIRD MALE STUDENT!"
"AND HE'S IN OUR CLASS!"
"HE'S SO CUTE!'
"LIKE A FRENCH GENTLEMEN!"
Girls yelled and swooned at the fortune of being in the same class with now three male pilots. Hearts were in their eyes as their cheers and comments roared throughout the room.
"SILENCE DAMMIT, THAT'S ENOUGH!" Chifuyu ordered.
Like magic, all the volume in the room disappeared.
"We have one more introduction to do. Introduce yourself, Laura."
"Roger, Instructor." The silver haired girl saluted.
"Geez, don't call me that. I don't do that job anymore and you're just a regular student like the others here. Just refer to me as Ms. Orimura."
"Acknowledged." She turned to face the class. "I am Laura Bodewig."
…
…
…
Everyone stared at her, expecting more.
"Is… That all you want to say?" Gelimer asked.
"Yes."
With introductions now finished, both students went to take their seats. Laura however stopped moving just as she was across from Ichika. Through her one eye, she glared menacingly at him.
"You."
SLAP
Ichika's sight was quickly diverted to the side as a sharp pain spread across his face. He put his hand over the spot where it hurt the most.
"I do not approve that you are her younger brother! I will never acknowledge that!" Laura stated.
"What the heck was that for!" Ichika cupped his hand on his cheek to soothe it. His attacker said nothing, making her way towards her seat in the back of the class.
The students looked on as she left without saying anything. Jayden seemed especially disturbed that she done that to his friend. Before he could call her out however, someone beat him to the punch.
"Hey Transfer student!" Houki stood up, slamming her hands on her desk. "Shouldn't you apologize to someone after you slap them?"
The second transfer student didn't even bother to stop. Houki ran in to cut off her path to her seat.
"Step aside."
"Not until you apologize." Houki demanded.
Both girls glared, looking at the other straight in the eyes. The entire class was watching now.
"Step aside." Laura repeated.
Houki did no such thing.
Fed up with the nuisance, Laura swung her arm forward aiming for her face. Houki reacted quickly grabbing Laura's wrist to intercept the attack. Using Laura's momentum, she pulled her arm forward, surprising everyone as she flipped Laura behind her. The German tucked in her legs and spun herself to land in a crouching position.
"Akido… Interesting." Laura raised her arms up to her face.
"It's one of the ways of Shinonono!" Houki mimicked Laura's stance. "Now come at me!"
Both girls threw an arm to strike only to find them both grabbed by someone who wasn't each other. Ms. Orimura firmly gripped both arms in place, all while keeping her eyes shut. But you didn't need to see her eyes as the demonic aura she gave off told both girls they made a huge mistake.
"You two… really want to fight that badly?"
Ichika shut his eyes, he knew what came next when you dared to fight when Chifuyu-nee was teaching.
With little effort, Chifuyu flipped both girls over, creating two thuds as each girl landed on their back. None of them appeared to be injured, although Houki was rubbing her tailbone.
"You all should be careful about the things you do in front of me." The head teacher turned to address her class. That little stunt had eaten up the rest of their time. "This will conclude the HR period. Today we'll be conducting a joint practical training session with class 1-2. I want everyone changed and assembled at the second arena ground A.S.A.P. Orimura. Sylvan. Speak with me for a moment. Everyone else, dismissed."
The female classmates while the two other guys approached Ms. Orimura.
"Since you're both guys I want you to escort Dunois to the male locker room to get changed. And do keep a watchful eye on him. Both of you." She emphasized that last part. "That is all." She quickly glanced at Charles before exiting the room. Laura cut her way through the girls to get to Chifuyu before she left.
"Instructor, I-"
"That's Ms. Orimura." Chifuyu cut her off. She was in no mood to speak. "Prepare for the lesson. Got it?" After what Bodewig pulled she wasn't in the mood to play nice, making Laura unable to do anything but nod.
Ichika and Jayden looked at the newest male arrival to IS Academy. In terms of height, he would be in-between Ichika and Jayden. Just from first sights it looked like Charles was a decent guy as he was the one to break the ice.
"You're Orimura and Sylvan right?' Charles made his way to the only other male students in the school. "I've heard about you two. It is nice to-"
Not to be rude, but we have to do introductions later." Ichika said.
"We've got to get moving, like right now. Ms. Orimura's gonna kill us if we're late." Jayden added.
Ichika immediately took Charles's hand and proceed to lead him running down the halls while Jayden brought up the rear. For some reason, Charles's face was turning red as they all ran.
"Guys have to go to a vacant locker room to change." Ichika explained. "Make sure you memorize the route we're taking. You'll be taking it often."
Jayden continued, talking about the academy itself and all it had to offer but Charles focus was somewhere else. He felt his hand grow sweaty as it was still clutched in Ichika's. He couldn't calm himself down, his palms starting to grow sweaty. He was pretty sure this was the first time a guy had taken her hand like this.
"Need to use the toilet Charles?" Jayden asked. The guy promptly refused as he shook his head while it continued to grow in redness.
"Anyway, we gotta hurry before"
"I SEE THEM!"
Too late.
"There they are! I found the transfer student, and he's with the other guys!" A young female voice called out, pointing at their location.
In an instant, girls converged all around them, practically surrounding the male trio. Not even the threat of detention could stop them from getting an early look at the latest addition to the boy's roster.
"Over here!"
"Which one's the transferee again?"
"The blond one. Duh."
Charles was totally unsure of what was going on, while the other two saw this as nothing more than an average day at the academy. They were both surprised at how many skipped class just to see the new guy. It was almost impressive as it was scary.
"What's going on? Why're they making a ruckus?" Charles wondered.
"Cause were guys." Jayden deadpanned.
Charles seemed confused for a moment. "Oh! That's right, we're the only guys who can use an IS after all."
"Hey, two of them are holding hands!" One girl pointed out.
Both guys immediately detached their hands post-haste. The girls had surrounded the boys on all sides.
"Chifuyu-nee's gonna kill us if we're late to class." Ichika said.
Jayden looked for a way out, but each path was blocked by a large group of girls. No way around them and asking nicely would take two too long. That just left…
"We going to have to push through them." Jayden stretched his shoulders. It was probably the rudest and most dangerous option, but it paled in comparison to a punishment from Ms. Orimura.
"What? You can't be serious." Charles cried. The fact that Ichika looked like he was getting ready to charge showed they were indeed, serious. The blond French man got himself in a charging position. He was only at the academy for a few hours and it was clear he wasn't mentally prepared.
/-/
"D-Does… This always… Happen to you… guys?" Charles asked in-between breathes. Placing his hands on his knees to stabilize himself.
"Yeah…" Ichika answered. "Usually some girls come find me during breaks or after class to talk. There were more than usual today since you just arrived. Everyone wanted to get a good look at you."
"They're nice people, believe me when I say that. They're just really excited to meet you. Especially cause you're a guy." Jayden patted the blond guy on the back, making him tense up from his touch. "Don't fret too much man. After a few days your hype will die down and it'll be less hectic. Just be prepared to be chased by groups of girls in-between and after classes."
Charles gulped. These were the living conditions for the only guys in the world who could use an IS. And now, he would have live under the surveillance of all those curious eyes.
"Regardless it's great to have you here. " Ichika had that big grin on his face he always had.
"Yeah. It's nice to meet both you guys." Charles said.
Jayden's ears perked up. "What did you just say?"
"Uhhh…"
"Say it again!" Jayden looked deep into Charles's eyes.
"It's… Nice to meet both you guys?"
"You recognize I'm a guy!"
"Sh… Should I not?" Charles asked. He looked at Jayden who seemed to be crying.
He wrapped his arms around the French man. "Charles! You and I and going to get along great. I just know it!" Jayden smiled. The French man wasn't too tall and he had long hair, just like Jayden himself. Charles had officially made his good list. The blond however, felt uncomfortable being hugged like this but he was too polite to decline. The forced smile continued until he looked at the clock overhead.
"I believe we're going to be late."
"Oh crap. Look at the time! Enough talk, we gotta change fast!"
Immediately both guys began taking their clothes off right in front of Charles. He covered his eyes with his hands but left just enough cracks with his fingers to see through them.
"Everything okay Charles?" Ichika asked. "We have to hurry; our advisor is quite strict regarding time."
"Y-Yeah. I'll be changing now. But umm… would you guys mind turning away while I do so?"
"Sure? I doubt either of us would stare anyway. Just don't do the same to us okay?" Jayden joked.
The French boy looked incredibly flustered, waving his hand in front of his face while denying any possibility of doing that. Ichika and Jayden turned away as all three guys stripped to get their IS uniforms on.
"Make sure you guys hurry, we're way behind schedule." Ichika pointed out. He turned just as Charles had finished getting his pants up. Charles's uniform was a light black color with orange on the edges of his uniform. Like the other guy's uniforms, it consisted of long pants and a short shirt which left the mid-riff exposed. Around his neck was an orange pendant. Despite being the last to start he was the first to finish. It was amazing how fast he could get changed.
"Man, you change clothes fast. Do you have some trick you use to keep your thing from getting stuck?" Ichika asked while looking between Charles legs.
Charles face went red for the nth time that day.
"M-My Thing…"
"All ready to go." Jayden said, his green IS uniform clinging to his body. He looked over Charles's uniform, admitting it. "That's an awesome uniform Charles, which company made it?"
"It's a Dunois original, made specifically for me." He answered.
"Dunois. Isn't that your last name?"
"Oui. It's my family name. You see, my dad is the president of the Dunois corporation. It's the largest IS-related business in France."
"Wow! No wonder you seemed like you lived a sheltered life." Ichika said.
"What makes you say that?"
"How do I put this…" He thought of the best way to put it. "You have this aura like you grew up in a great environment."
"Great environment you say…" Charles's eyes shifted towards the floor.
The mood in the room became a lot colder. It seemed even someone like Charles had their own share of troubles.
"I guess you had it rough growing up huh?" Jayden could relate to that. With his own mother… Now wasn't the time for bad reminiscing. "How about we forget the whole background thing for now. It isn't important."
All three guys nodded in agreement. So far things were going okay for building comradery among them.
"Now let's get to the arena before we're late." Ichika said.
"Yeah… I don't we have to worry about being late anymore." Jayden pointed over at the clock in the locker room.
"Oh crap! We're officially late!" Ichika stared at the clock which was now past the period's start time. Ichika took Charles's hand and ran with Jayden keeping pace beside him. From behind Charles stared at their backs.
"Thank you both for your hospitality." He softly whispered. His heart felt heavy knowing what he would have to do.
/-/
"You're all late. Hurry up and get in the line." Chifuyu ordered. The three guys did as such to not make her any angrier. The students were lined up in rows with Chifuyu and Maya standing at the front.
"Ichika-san, why did you need so much time to change clothes?" Cecilia seemed suspicious.
"Oy, Ichika. I heard one you were slapped by one of the new transfer students. What did you do this time?" Rin asked him.
"N-nothing." Ichika defended. "She just hit me out of the blue."
She didn't believe him. This was Ichika Orimura, the king of misunderstandings among women. "Just admit it, you did something didn't you?"
"She's right. You always play with the hearts of women Ichika-san." Cecilia agreed.
Ichika felt a drop of sweat run down his face, was he on trial or something?
"You idiots love to cause trouble, don't you?" Chifuyu had a nasty look in her eyes as she made her way over the two representative cadets. She struck her fists down on their heads with decent force, leaving both girls to rub their impacted craniums.
Both cadets agreed it was all Ichika's fault.
"Today we're going to begin practical training with IS units. First, we're going to have a demonstration of a real battle. Alcott. Huang. Step forward now." If they had enough energy to mess around, they had plenty to spare for combat.
"Man… This is such a pain." Rin grimaced.
Cecilia sighed. "I know I'm an elite, but do I really have to do this?" They each reluctantly made their way up front.
"Show a little more enthusiasm." Chifuyu whispered. "Don't you want to show a certain someone your good side?" Both pilots immediately perked up.
"Looks like it's time for England's cadet representative, me, to step up and take command." Cecilia struck a pose with her hands on her hips.
"Yeah, this'll be a great opportunity to show the difference between those who have personal IS units and those who don't." Rin followed up with her own pose.
None of the other students were sure of what Ms. Orimura told them, but regardless she was one hell of a motivational speaker.
"So, who's to be my opponent? I wouldn't mind playing around with Rin." Cecilia said. Rin cracked her knuckles, welcoming the challenge.
"Don't get ahead of yourselves. You won't be fighting each other." Chifuyu pointed a finger upwarps, prompting everyone to look to see an IS unit circling around them up high.
A few minutes earlier
"To be wearing this at my age…"
Maya Yamada looked down at herself in the mirror of the IS hangar. She shifted her body left and right as though she was trying to give herself anymore cover to use to hide. Wearing a school issued IS uniform felt a lot more embarrassing when you were the one wearing it. It didn't help that it had been quite a while since she last wore one of those suits.
"I don't think my figure has changed that much but…"
Maya pulled back on the elasticity of the IS suit and released it, wincing as it snapped back into place. She had been sure the IS suit was made close to her size, but it didn't stop her from feeling self-conscious about it.
The leotard clung to her curvy figure, especially the chest area. Maya knew that her assets were quite large, a fact she often felt embarrassed about. But wearing felt like she may as well been screaming it out to everyone that her breasts were ginormous.
Maybe Jayden had a point to criticize why IS suits resembled school swimsuits.
For now, she had to shove her embarrassment aside. She was needed for the class. Hopping into the prepared IS unit, she flew out to the arena, circling around overhead. With the enhanced vision of the Infinite Stratos, she could see that everyone was staring up at her. Even the three boys who we're her student.
"The boys… they're all probably staring at me. Every inch of me…"
Normally a person could not see well when looking at someone hundreds of feet in the air, but the embarrassment was clouding her judgement. As she turned and squirmed imaging the way they gazed at her privates, her center of balance became way off course. By the time Maya pulled her head out of her thoughts, she was already falling in a dive towards the ground. With too much momentum built up, the green haired teaching assistant was unable to change trajectory.
"GET OUT OF THE WAY, GET OUT OF THE WAY."
Bad luck chose to rear its ugly head and put Maya's crash path directly where her students were.
"Ichika look out!" Jayden cried.
With a loud crash Ms. Yamada got to meet with the ground and she made quite the impact with her introduction. With the smoke clearing, students gathered around for a closer look at the just-made crater. In the center laid Maya in her IS unit facedown. The teaching assistant laid there for a short moment before shaking some dirt off herself to stand up.
And yet, that wasn't what the students were staring at.
A few feet away from the crater, Jayden and Ichika were laying on the ground completely unharmed. It seemed like Jayden was able to push his friend out of the way just in time. Now Jayden was resting on top of Ichika's chest with boys' legs tangled in each other's. It also didn't help that Jayden's arms were wrapped around Ichika like he was getting a little too cozy there. The cherry on this compromising Sundae was his head rested against Ichika's neck, making it look like the guys were doing something illicit if viewed at the right angle.
That angle being the one everyone was looking from. No seemed to be more shocked though than the teaching assistant herself.
"Ms. Yamada, are you okay?" One student asked.
"Yes. I'm okay. Now Hush."
"You sure? Your nose is bleeding." Another female student asked.
Maya wiped at her nose, her eyes still not leaving the two boy's position except to quickly glance at her finger. It was partially red. Like her student said, a bit of blood was trailing down from her nasal. And even some drool to.
"That's because I fell." She hastily answered.
"Wait… I thought a person couldn't get hurt when inside an IS unit."
"Ah! Well… It must have been a temporary glitch. Probably cause of my fall. The IS is working fine now." Maya reassured. The blood came from her recent crash. Yup! Certainly not because she saw two young men laying in a suggestive position that she hadn't taken her eyes off all this time. Totally not that.
"Are you sure Ms.-"
"YES! Now move aside, you're blocking the view."
"Ms. Yamada…" Chifuyu growled. The other teacher took one last look at the guys position to burn it into her memory before taking her spot next to the head teacher. Chifuyu shook her head and sighed. Enough time had been wasted, time to get back on track. "Alcott. Huang. Here is your opponent."
All the students were silent.
"T-Two against one?" Cecilia worryingly asked.
"Against Ms. Yamada?" Rin followed up.
"That's right."
Maya was doing her best to look as intimidating as possible. A difficult feat to accomplish when your nose was trailing bits of blood and your eyes kept glancing back to two boys every so often. Plus this was Maya Yamada they were talking about, the woman known as nothing but Ms. Orimura's right hand woman.
"Um… Ms. Orimura." Jayden nervously raised his hand. "Are you sure about this? You're having Ms. Yamada go up against two representative cadets. This won't be a battle. It'll be a…. um…" Jayden trailed off trying to find the right word.
"Carnage?"
"Slaughter?"
"Murder?"
"Wreckage?"
"Completely crushing humiliating defeat that'll scar her mind forever?" Everyone turned to the girl who said that. "Well it will be."
"You're all absolutely right." Chifuyu acknowledged much to everyone's surprise. "Ms. Yamada is more than a match for these two, but I'm sure they will do their best to put up a fight. Don't worry girls, your humiliation won't last too long."
Now the rep cadets were extremely fired up.
"Enough talking, let the battle begin!"
As Ms. Orimura lowered her hand, the three pilots hovered up into the air while the class watched in awe. Higher and higher they went until those down below could only make out the IS units by their primary colors. "Dunois, I'd like you to tell us about the IS Ms. Yamada is using."
"Yes Ma'am! Ms. Yamada is using a "Raphael Revive" designed by the by the Dunois Corp." The blond man explained.
"Dunois Corp? So, Charles's family corporation designed it themselves." Jayden thought.
"It was created at the end of the second-generation development. However, its stability and versality rival that of early third generation models. This machine also has a lot of equalizers, which allows its pilot to fit whatever armament they want." He continued. "Aside from being easy to use, its multi-role change function doesn't choose a person to operate. This allows it to become offensive, defensive, or whatever type the user wishes it to be. This is what makes it popular with third party developers." Essentially, the IS could be equipped with any armaments the pilot needed, making it a popular starting point for designing IS units.
"That's enough. Thank you for the lesson." Most of the students were amazed by how knowledgeable Charles was about that type of IS unit. Considering he was also a representative cadet; people shouldn't expect anything less from him.
Meanwhile above everyone the IS units were duking it out, and somehow Maya seemed to be winning.
Cecilia was having more trouble than she expected as none of her attacks form her riffle or Blue Tear's drones were connecting onto Ms. Yamada's Raphael Revive. It was like Maya knew where she would aim before she did. Maya avoided each laser blast with ease, all while keeping her focus on her other opponent.
On the other side was trying to get into melee range to make use of her strength as a close combat fighter. With her scimitar's she knew could win against the common weaponry her opponent would have. Maya seemed to know this as well, as her fire power was focused on keeping Rin at a distance. It was like the teaching assistant was waiting on a certain something to happen.
Maya was currently between her students. While that would seem like a bad spot to be in, it was exactly where the teaching assistant wanted to be. With a pistol in each hand, she went on the offensive. Rapid firing on both students at once to force them into scattering. Both cadets flew about to avoid incoming bullets, all while trying their own methods to counterattack.
Both pilots were so focused on themselves they didn't realize their impending collision. Even the 360-degree vision granted by the IS meant nothing if your eyesight tunneled on one direction. Blue Tears and Shenlong ran right into one another.
"How come you're heading my way?"
"That's my line, now move!"
Both girls crashed into one another, but even that wasn't enough to stop the argument of 'whose fault was it?'.
With a rapid switch of weaponry, Maya changed in her dual pistols for a modified grenade launcher. Through the scope she fired a single grenade right between the two girls catching them both in the explosion. They were launched spiraling downward until the ground of the arena broke their fall. When the dust settled, they laid in a defeated mess.
Both girls laid defeated on the arena ground as there is units recalled into their standby form. One could say there were stars were swirling around their heads.
"Well that wraps this up." Maya landed next to Chifuyu. She blushed slightly, readjusting her glasses.
Chifuyu clapped her hands to draw all eyes on her. "Do you all understand what the teachers of IS Academy are truly capable of? Show them the proper respect they deserve." Chifuyu addressed the students who counted Maya out at the start. Maya laughed slightly, flushed from the praise.
Below her, Cecilia did her best not to show anymore weakness. A loss like this was humiliating. Sure, she could say Rin was at fault, but she felt she should've been enough to make up for that idiot.
Chifuyu strongly clapped to snap both girls out of their pity trance. "Can either of you tell me why you lost?"
Each girl pointed at the other.
"Neither one of you tried to establish any connection with the other. You ended up getting in each other's way. Know your teammates position and movement, this allows you to act without getting in one another's way. When done correctly it allows you both to perform greater than you could on your own. This is what cooperation means." Chifuyu's words cut through Cecilia's and Rin's spirit like a hot knife. "Just having better equipment from your opponents doesn't guarantee victory. You both should've already knew that." Chifuyu's face softened to show a hint of a smile. "You all have great potential in you. Learn things one at a time and remember them by heart. That way you'll be able to do what you need to whenever the situation calls for it. Do you understand?"
"Understood!" Both girls answered and returned to their spot in lines.
"Okay, now we'll begin the second part of today's practical lesson."
In an instant Chifuyu had managed to perk up the two pilots to not let their loss affect them. "You're amazing as always Chifuyu-nee" Ichika was in awe at his sister. He always knew she was incredible, and yet she could still find ways to make herself seem even greater.
Always respect your elder's boys and girls, or they just might kick your ass. Good teachers are the ones who push their students to do better after all.
Despite the long absences I take to write these chapters, I'm still fully committed to the story.
Reviewer Responses
B123: Thanks again for the constant reviews, this was more of a breather chapter before the next main arc begins. It serves to set up future plots and characters.
Ironbird53: Those developers struck gold when designing this game, now if they can just get through the lawsuits… I also did some meme research for this omake.
Lilbigstoryteller: Yes, Jayden is a few years younger compared to the other students at IS Academy and while it may be weird, I stand by it to make his decisions seem more reasonable.
FreakyFreek: Jayden's working his way into the thoughts and hearts of some girls. I wanted to turn this story into my love letter for Infinite Stratos, so I took in as much influence from all IS sources.
Omake
"Everyone…" Jordan hesitated to speak; his words caught up in his throat. Under no circumstances was he to reveal this information. But Ichika, Houki, Honne, Vishnu, Lingyin… even Cecilia, were all his friends. His conscious felt awful for lying to them all, they deserved to know the truth. "There's something I have to confess."
"You really are a girl Jaydee?" Honne guessed.
Rin slammed her fists on the table. "I knew it! I win! Pay up everyone. Ya'll owe me ten bucks each."
"That's not it!" Jayden quickly denied before everyone could get their wallets out. "There's something I need to need to get off my chest. You see, I'm not the guy you think I am…"
This was it, the moment that would put all the relationships he'd made to the test.
"The truth is-"
"You're an alien?' Ichika tilted his head.
"What? No! Why would you even…. Forget it. The truth is, I'm 13 years old."
"I mean, you do look young for your age. N-Not that there's anything wrong with that!" Vishnu said.
"No, I mean I'm literally 13 years old. As in the number of years I've been on this planet has been 13." He felt he had to be extra specific just to be sure no one got the wrong idea. Jayden told them everything. From when he touched an IS at the American research facility to his attempted kidnapping attempt. After that, it was decided for his own safety to be moved to ISA where he could continue to learn to pilot an IS while gathering data for his country to use. "And that's why and how I ended up here."
All of his friends were silent. Not even Honne was looking him in the eyes.
"Jayden, are you aware how serious this is? This may lead to your expulsion from the Academy if any of us revealed this." Cecilia warned.
"I know… but I couldn't take lying to you guys anymore. You're all my best friends. If you don't want to me to be your friend anymore, I understand." Some of the group looked troubled, but before they could do anything – support had come from an unlikely ally.
"You shouldn't be ashamed of it." Rin tightly embraced the boy in a hug." You shouldn't let your age dictate all your life decisions."
"R-Rin?"
" You're a valuable friend, a good pilot and none of that has to do with your age." She patted him on the back before releasing.
"I have to admit Rin, I didn't expect you to be so understanding about this." Cecilia acknowledged.
Well… That's because I've been lying about my age to!"
"What!" Ichika cried out, along with everyone else.
"Are you joking Rin?" Ichika asked.
The brunette didn't say anything, instead removing an ID card from her wallet inside her skirt pocket. She placed it on the table face up for everyone to see.
"Your ID card says your… 20!" Houki gasped.
"That's right." Rin admitted. Everyone looked at the girl like she was insane. The most petite girl among the group was the oldest among them!
Jayden stared at Rin in amazement. "Man Rin, for someone who's 20 you don't look a day over 15. What's your secret?"
"Curious? I have this great moisturizer that I use every day. It's called-"
"Explanation! Now!" Cecilia slammed a fist on the table.
"Fine. I was a delinquent in middle school, a huge problem child if you'd believe me. Year after year I never to do my schoolwork and with all the classes I skipped, I got held back every year. Thought I'd be spending the rest of my life in middle school." She recalled.
"So what changed?" Ichika asked.
Rin stared at the floor whole her cheeks began to turn a light shade of crimson. "I met someone. Someone who encouraged me to do better, someone who believed in me and showed me I did have a future."
"Wow, I'd love to meet that someone someday." He said.
Rin slapped her palm against her face.
"I can't believe both of you lied about who you said you were." Cecilia had her hands on her hips. Not one but two IS Academy students lied about their age.
"Um… actually…" Vishnu slightly raised her hand, unable to return anyone's gaze.
"Ms. Galaxy! Don't tell us you're lying about your age to!"
"No, my age is the same as all… er most of you. What I want to confess is that I'm a member of Thailand's secret service."
Everyone stared at Vishnu like she'd just grown a second head.
"I was recruited at young age to protect my country and even the world. I was assigned to IS Academy as we have reason to believe a certain organization is targeting this place for the IS units."
Vishnu pulled out her wallet, showing everyone an identification card showcasing her status as a secret agent. If that wasn't enough, she removed a small trinket from her pocket that looked like an official intelligence agency badge. It was official, there was more to Thailand's rep that met the eye.
"Wait, how the heck are you a secret agent if you can barely interact with the people around you?" Jayden asked.
"You know, that whats my supervisor's ask me every week." Vishnu reminisced. "I didn't really get into this school the same way you guys did."
Honne placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, don't feel bad about that. Cause I wasn't even supposed to be in this school in the first place"
Ichika did a double take. "What do you mean you weren't supposed to be here?"
"I didn't intend to be an IS pilot. One day I was hungry, and I followed the scent of snacks and treats until I came into a room with them. I didn't realize it was a room for interviewing potential IS Academy students."
Cecilia rested her face into her arms. She'd worked her entire life to get into this school and all this girl had to do was be motivated by snacks. Life was unfair.
"Okay, this was not how I thought me confessing my secret would." Jayden looked around at everyone and laughed. "Anyone want to confess while we're at it?" Jayden laughed.
"I'm bald." Ichika said flat-out.
Jayden's laughter ceased. His friend reached for his hair and pulled it off like it was a wig. Especially because it was a wig.
"Ichika! Your hair!"
"B-B-Bald!" Rin pointed at Ichika's shiny dome.
"Yeah, I expected those." Ichika itched a scratch on his smooth head. "I have a condition that causes my immune system to attack the hair follicles on my head. In layman's terms, I can't grow hair on my head. I got this wig so I wouldn't get the stares you're all giving me now. All eyes on Ichika shifted away.
"Sorry…" Vishnu apologized.
"It's nothing to be ashamed of Ichika-san." Cecilia said.
"It'll take a while to get use to, but we'll still treat you the same Ichika." Jayden placed a hand on his friend's shoulder.
Honne blinked. "Orimu, you've officially won the title of greatest faker among us."
"No… There's something you all need know to know about me." That came from Houki of all people.
"Houki. I doubt there's anything you can do to top and…. You've just removed your arm from your body. I'll shut up now." Rin conceded.
Houki placed her detached arm on the table for all to see. Blue electric sparks cackled out from the area's where Houki's arm connected to her body. Upon a closer look, metal could be see with some sort of skin coating as a surface layer.
"I'm not a regular girl." Houki admitted. "Not anymore." She pressed her cheeks causing light blue glowing lines to run all around her face.
"You're an android!"
"Technically the correct term is cyborg." Houki corrected. "When I was a little kid one of Tabane's inventions went horribly wrong and I was critically injured. I was going to die. But Tabane wouldn't accept that, she studied human cybernetics and repaired my body."
"Repair your body? Is that possible?" Vishnu asked. "That sounds hard even for your sister." Then again this was Tabane Shinonono they were talking about. Anything involving became possible.
"So can your robo-body do any cool things?" Jayden excitedly.
"No. Well…. Sort of." Houki pressed a finger into the top of her nose and her eyes began to shine like two makeshift flashlights. Tabane called that a feature, Houki called it a nuisance. Still it managed to earn her some applause for the simple trick.
"What if I press here?" Honne inexpertly pressed a finger into Houki's stomach, making a cute yelp escape her lips. "Oh! It makes you make a cute sound."
"No fair, I wanna poke her!"
"Me to!"
Everyone crowded around Houki to inspect her human looking cyborg body. There was too much curiosity to see pressing where could make Houki do who knows what. After minutes of swatting away so many prying hands, she collapsed onto her chair to recuperate.
"All you okay with telling us this Houki?" Ichika asked. Cyborg Houki managed to look up at him to meet his gaze.
"Ichika, I know I'm different from how I use to be… but I promise, I'm still me."
"Houki, I never have and never will see you any differently from who you are. All of us are fakes and liars. If that's what we are, then we'll be it together."
"Wait wait wait!" Cecilia cried out. "I'm not lying or faking anything. I'm just a regular high school student." Never more so than now had she regretted being a part of this group. Between the mis-aged delinquents, the secret agent, the foodie, chrome-dome, and the cyborg; she felt like she'd stepped onto a situational comedy show.
"You are!" Jayden looked surprised.
"Yes!"
"Well you certainly fooled me. I could've sworn you were a secret princess from a war-torn country sent here to be kept safe."
"No. I'm just a regular girl."
"I'm impressed that you even managed to fool me. Kudos Ms. Alcott." Vishnu applauded.
"What? No! I wasn't trying to fool anyone!"
"Wow Cece," Honne comforted, dropping a sleeve covered hand on her shoulder. "I know that was really hard to admit. Not just anyone could do that."
"EH!?"
"Don't worry Cecilia." Ichika looked her straight in the eyes. "I promise that even knowing you're a regular girl. I won't treat any differently than I normally would."
"Ichika…" Cecilia's heart rate increased. At least Ichika wouldn't think any different of her. Wait! Why the hell would he even do that in the first place? Cecilia grabbed her chest to halt her ever increasing heartbeat.
"Looks like we can all keep each other's secrets safe." After airing their dirty laundry to one another, they felt closer than ever. Everyone was smiling and laughing.
Except for Cecilia who was in the process of bashing her head into the table.
Doesn't it feel good to air out your dirty laundry?