A/N: Hello and sorry for the delays, as usual life likes to throw wrenches and i take them face first. Things have somewhat calmed down these days so i am back in business...i hope.

Nine Breaker: IBIS is one party i want to give a major role, mostly off-screen so to speak. It will grow as time goes on but building a corporation front with a fully capable and ready assembly line churning out Frames every two seconds from the get go is a bit much.

Tabane will have competition, major competition but for now she rests on her laurels. The Raven's Frames will get her attention cause why the stupid fuck not would one let alone five complete and operational IS-like machines not made by her or any known party suddenly appearing wouldn't get on her radar. And she will butt heads with our resident Ahrendt, just not now. Houki though will start pulling her hair out. Thank you for liking this mess and i hope to keep you in good graces.

Guest: Griever gets no bitches cause he wants no bitches. If he is to get paired than he's better off looking for a decent woman...of which there are nearly none if i recall.

Catsoties: Yeah i agree, it's very easy to lose it since AC is kind of lost in obscurity, or was until Fires of Rubicon got revealed and sent people into a frenzy. I've had the idea for this fic for 3-4 years just rolling around in my head. I have specific scenes in mind which are easy to write but getting there is a hassle. i rewrote Awakening 5 times to get it the way it is. To try and make it a bit 'realistic', humanize Griever

Argorok: I will try my man, thanks for dropping in.

Before i continue, sorry for the folks on the former IS discord RP server for leaving and for it going down. Those that were active there helped me kick start this little project.

In particular i wanna pay respects and throw a shout out to:

Lancer : You my friend gave me my best stuff and i salute you.

Super mac: You gave it a go, decent try but you can find a better place to RP and you can write much better than that, good luck with it all.

HaloBeenFaded : A Mary sue Madman for a character but it was fun man, thanks for the time.

Trafalgar Law: When in the mood you were great to RP with, shame it wasn't often.

Tsundere Otaku Hellfire: For all the oddities you gave it your best and tried to make everything work, thanks for the time and the help. Good luck with the new server

Now then, let's press on with whatever the hell i cooked up.

IS Academy, October 18th

9:38 am

"This, is gonna be way, way harder than i expected" Were the words of the fish out of water called Ichika Orimura. Sure he touched an IS and it started glowing, which in hindsight was a bad idea to do. But throwing him in a boarding school full of girls was unfair!

His main problem being the way their seats were arranged. Because they placed him right in the middle of the front row, further drawing the attention from the rest of the class and adding more stress to an already stressful start, why couldn't they place him in the back? That way he wouldn't feel the gazes of every girl here burning a hole in the back of his head!

How could he not feel like he was way out of his depth here? Barring him everyone here was a female for crying out loud.

"Congratulations everyone for making it into this school" His savior from this awkward situation came in the form of a woman that looked like a little girl wearing adult clothing walking towards the desk and raising a hand to the holo projection behind her.

Aside from the obvious problem of her bust trying to free itself from what looked a loose dress, her glasses looked too big and out of place on her. "I'm your sub-homeroom teacher, miss Maya Yamada" The holo projector hummed to life in conjunction to her introduction, which was met with an awkward enough silence to fluster her for a moment.

He couldn't really blame her, but her woes were far less harmful than his. Watching her recover she continued "Starting today, you are all students of the IS academy" Really? He didn't notice.

Ichika tried to dispel the mood by focusing on the instructions and layout the teacher gave as it was how he would be living the next three years of his life. Most guys his age would think living with a gaggle of hormonal teenage girls a paradise, a heaven for all adolescent men. It was also far, far from the truth.

"Students are together during and after school hours. I hope you'll get along and help each other, making the next three years enjoyable!" he wanted to applaud her enthusiasm, however the uncomfortable silence, coupled with being pinned by every pair of eyes in the room made that a bit hard at the moment.

Further silence made her even more flustered...'Well at least i'm not suffering alone' he thought, only to flinch and get even more anxious. And a pleading look to Houki didn't even help as she just huffed and turned away 'That's how you greet a friend you haven't seen in 6 years? What did i do?'

His musings were cut when he heard his name being called...repeatedly "Here!" Returning to reality, he answered in a way that befitted him, causing nearly all of the 28 females in the room to giggle at his embarrassment.

Yamada was nonplussed and just consoled him "I'm sorry for being so loud, but we've already started with the A's and gotten down to the O's. Would you introduce yourself to us now? Please!?" For added effect she tilted the her head and gave him a puppy eyed look. Oh come on how was that fair?

"You don't need to be so apologetic." he told her with a sigh, some of his confidence returning "Ggah...Ichika" he says slowly getting up "Orimura, nice to meet you all!" And just as he gave his name he could've sworn all the stares intensified as he saw their eyes glint.

Another look towards his 'childhood friend' and another turn away nearly demolished all the bravado he built up 'If i don't say something else, they'll all think i'm really depressing...oh no' he racked his brain trying to come up with something, the entire class waiting with baited breath "That's all!" and just like that they all face-planted their desk. What else were they expecting? He was flying by the seat of his pants here!

He looked around at the disappointed audience, failing to notice his demise coming in "What, was it that bad?" And a sledgehammer slammed him in the head, no really cause what else would have made him do a Russian squat with his arms covering his head?

Actually...the strike was very familiar. Turning his head to see the culprit his shock couldn't be more obvious, black suit, long hair tied in a ponytail...arms crossed and a glare that spoke of hell "SIS!" and another punch came down making him clutch his head in pain and tears threatening to come out.

"You will call me miss Orimura at school, got it?" Chifuyu? What was she doing here? He knew she was always working, only coming home once a while, but she was here? What was she doing in the academy? And more importantly...why was she in his class!?

"Oh you're back! Is the meeting over already?" Miss Yamada was more than happy to greet his sister, who again was working here of all places. And by her tone they seemed to be friends...how in the world did she get through sis's demonic temper? Also did miss Yamada's voice crack there for a moment?

"Yes Maya, sorry for making you greet my class for me." Her class? Ichika thought, his sister would be his teacher!? as if being in the center of an academy strictly for girls wasn't bad enough. "What about..." Miss Yamada's question was left trailing as his si- Miss Orimura he fixed in his head just humphed with a smile and crossed her arms "Any moment now miss Yamada."

Any moment now what? Could someone help him here? "All right class, i'm your homeroom teacher, miss Chifuyu Orimura. It's my job to turn all of you to stand on your own in one year. Anything you have difficulty with, you come to me and i'll help you out. You do as i say and you'll go forward fast." Chifuyu introduced herself with a vigor that did not look right and he still couldn't get out of his stupor.

But regardless of all his doubts...that's actually his sister, not some clone.

A moment of silence ensued followed by a cacophony of praises, declarations of love and teenage fan girls going nuts all over the room.

"Lady Chifuyu! IT'S LADY CHIFUYU!"

"You're the reason i came to this school"

"I'd die for you"

"Please teach us your wisdom and grace"

And it didn't stop there, he didn't know his sister was that famous. And it didn't seem that she liked all the attention either judging by the fact that her palm had landed smack on her face and miss Yamada was just siting there, eyes closed with a smile on her.

"I swear the board's doing this on purpose, why is it i get stuck with all the nutjobs every year? Is a normal class too much to ask?" She asked no one in particular. Ichika thought she was a bit harsh, after all it wasn't easy to get that popular. What if what she said hurt the girls?

"Lady Chifuyu, scold us more!"

"Teach us a lesson, cast us out"

"Punish us so we don't misbehave"

"Show us the error of our ways lady Chifuyu"

He couldn't have been more wrong about his statement if he tried. "My older sister is my homeroom teacher? For real?" He had calmed down a bit during the girls attempts to turn themselves into doormats for his sister, now that the attention was on someone else for now.

To his growing dismay however, said sister heard him and turned to face him fist-in-palm "I'm sorry, were my instructions on how to address your instructors unclear?" It wasn't a question despite being formed as one, and strict tone promised a world of pain. Ichika however either wasn't aware or was too used to it.

"Well uh Chifuyu, i was just.." His head was slammed on the desk so quick he didn't even see it coming, nor did he see the collective wincing around the room. 'Why me?' he was asking himself, on the verge of desperation. Just as things began to cool down they heated right back up "It's miss ORIMURA right!?" His sister 'asked' again. He couldn't say no, funny as that'd be so with a grunt he affirmed.

That however opened a whole new can of worms, as whispers began circling "What? You mean Orimura is lady Chifuyu's younger brother?" The question was worthy of an eyebrow raise. The fact that they looked similar and the name wasn't a dead enough giveaway?

"Maybe that's why he's the only male in the world who can control an IS?" Now that was a good question. Only females were capable of piloting these things, why was he the exception? Chifuyu let go of him and went right back to her desk.

"That's enough! All of you shut it right now" She shouted with enough authority to instantly make everyone clam up. He saw her opening her mouth to continue, when two knocks were heard on the door.

He didn't know what was scarier. The smirk that had somehow found itself onto his sister's face, or the anticipation. "A bit later than expected" Miss Yamada muttered, her head tilted sideways. She looked quite cute that way.

"Attention class, i forgot to tell you but we have a late addition for this year. It's only been a few days since he was fully cleared to leave the infirmary so i would advise you to be on your behavior. Understood!?"

A resounding yes ma'am echoed in class but Ichika's mind didn't register it. Because it was stuck on something else. Late addition and he. IT WAS ANOTHER MALE STUDENT!

His prayers were answered! He will not be alone on this Hell on Earth... figuratively speaking.

Miss Yamada's went to the door and slid it open with an earnest smile. The face that greeted her was less warm but she received a nod of acknowledgement. The guy took a long breath before exhaling and taking really slow? Hesitant? steps into the room.

The silence that followed was deafening. So much so that you could hear a pin drop.

First thing that was painfully apparent was his height 'He's like a full head taller at least' were Ichika's thoughts. Next was the fact that he looked to be a bit older than the students, which he didn't know was possible or even legal.

Somewhat high cheek bones and disheveled grey hair 'It doesn't even look dyed' along with those intense orange colored eyes that just seemed to pierce through everything were the next few things everyone noticed. His face was set in a frown, not annoyed or angry...just thoughtful.

There were thin bandages wrapped around his forehead and diagonally to his face going from over his right brow, below his left eye and circling around. and his right hand was also bandaged.

Other than that he wore the same uniform as Ichika with some alterations: A white motorcycle glove? 'Weird choice' with the letters ILM written on it was worn on his left hand. Said appendage seemed to have some discomfort as he slightly flexed his wrist and clenched his hand.

The blazer looked to be a tighter fit than the usual loose everyone else got, and it was lengthier as well, reaching to just below his rear.

The trousers were tucked in a pair of black military boots. All in all the guy looked like he had been through quite a bit, not to mention he was stiff and straight as an arrow.

"Who is this guy?" were the words coming out of his mouth and a sentiment shared by every girl in class.

"Good morning, glad to see you're better." Miss Yamada greeted the new guy. And holy smokes he still couldn't believe it. Another male IS pilot exists! He wouldn't be the only victim!

"Feeling's mutual. Good morning to you too, instructor Yamada" His voice was softer than anyone would expect from a someone looking like him, and despite the formality in his tone he betrayed a small smile, extending a hand to her.

Miss Maya squirmed for a moment 'why though' before extending her own hand and shaking the aforementioned limb.

When they told him that he was to go to school, he did not expect a normal school with normal classes. Meng Yao had cleared him from the session and gave him directions for the classroom. Problem was? Everyone in there was at least 3-4 years younger than him.

The academy had a three year system. And going straight to the final would be idiotic as his knowledge was severely lacking. The only saving grace would be having someone closer to his age.

"Classroom 1-1, take a straight hallway after you get off the elevator and the turn left at the second one. It will be at the end of the corridor, door on the right. Any trouble, just look for the signs above the doors, you won't miss it." Were the instructions given by the head nurse and he followed them to the letter, hands in pockets and taking measured steps.

The hallways were empty save for a few stray students running for classes, all of whom stopped to have a double take when they saw him. He would have found it funny had their reason not been unfounded.

Principal Nomina had given him the run down not too long ago.

Flashback. One month ago

IS Academy, September 18th, Principal's office.

hour: 16:53

The office he found himself in was quite spacious. A large beige luxury leather couch on the right wall, a large ornate wooden desk in the back with an office chair behind it, a high end computer, two neatly stacked document piles on the edge of the desk, multiple shelves on the wall behind it.

The walls were white. Dark purple marble floor with a very nice carpet covering the whole of it. Wall hangings and decorations that he didn't care to give a second look.

Instructor Orimura had elected to stand by the door, doctor Leung had sat on the left one of three sofas in front of the desk while Yamada and Yamamoto had taken seats on the couch.

"Good to see you can stand on your own two feet again Raven" The woman sitting in the office greeted him as she got up from her chair. His first thought was to ask how did she know that title.

The rational part of his mind kicked in a second later to remind him that not only they had seen the tags that now hung from his neck, they had also spent the better part two and a half days reading through everything that IBIS had given them.

Finding a way to permanently shut down that thing began to quickly become a priority of his.

"You know full well i do not have the mood for banter, who are you?" The other members of the staff just watched in silence, having found seats around the office or in Orimura's case, leaning on the wall.

"How rude of me hmm? I am Nomina Kutsuwagi, principal of IS academy. I'd say welcome but we have too much to discuss."

The now principal introduced herself. Now he would he lying if he said she wasn't beautiful but it seemed that was the norm here.

Principal Nomina was of similar descent to the rest. Dark red long hair that reached halfway down her back, held with a clip for style. A more diamond shaped face, almond shaped eyes, short nose, thin pink lips. All in all she looked quite a bit younger than a woman in her early 40's should look.

She was about as tall as Chifuyu and a bit shorter than Yamamoto, standing at about 172cm, though the short heels she wore may had something to do with that.

She wore a long sleeved black button up shirt under a sleeveless purple vest, a purple knee length skirt with black lace stockings and black, low heeled dress shoes.

He himself had been given some clothes to wear, on account that his drive suit had been heavily damaged and the circuitry suit was torn apart. Better than medical scrubs any day.

Nothing much really: A light blue cotton t-shirt, a pair of white boxers under brown sweatpants, white socks and a pair of the academy uniform dress shoes.

"Please take a seat, i imagine it might be difficult to stay upright after not moving for months" Her suggestion was earnest and well intended. "Much rather stand, thank you though" he had to decline, having just regained feeling in his legs he was quite keen on getting rid of the numbness.

"Very well. Then let's begin. My co workers and i have read parts of your file. I mist admit i was not expecting what i saw." Orimura snorted behind him. Ignoring the gesture the principal continued "Your civilian background has a few inconsistencies and is partially sealed, your medical file is extensive and as doctor Leung called it 'horrifying' but also partially locked. Is it something all people undergo in 'Layered'?"

Miss Yamamoto had informed him of how they had to suspend their disbelief when seeing Layered. Had the info not been back by fully recorded audio and video material they would have have disposed of this as 'fictional tomfoolery '.

"Standard military personnel had light modifications received. High-end MT and AC pilots received the full package. Mine have a few additions made to account for gene therapy and the complications that came from the cloning process." He told them, giving a minute for them to process the information.

"Cloning process?" Predictably that came from doctor Leung. "You have seen my medical file, i doubt this part escaped you." He turned his head to face her, putting his hands in his pockets. Most of the artificial skin in his prosthesis had been burned off and according to the specialists they sent the sample to, it would take about two months to generate enough tissue to cover it. So they scraped whatever remained off, leaving it in full view of everyone.

A metallic grey in color, It wasn't that different than their modern models, but the shell was made with titanium and reinforced with carboplatinum, covering CNT muscle fibers and a fully functional grip lock and skeletal frame.

"As the principal said, many parts of your file are encrypted and require direct authorization from you to be accessed." No wonder everything seemed so... perfect for lack of a better word, the nurse thought. Sure Chifuyu was as perfect as the human genome allowed but what they did with the boy? Could he even be called human?

"I see. Aside from requiring permission what do you need to know?" Remembering the email the AI sent them, it intended for him to what? Get out of being a Raven? Get reintegrated in society?

"How much of a danger is this IBIS? Should we be worried of it creating another mass incident. The IS has already given us plenty of headaches." Apparently so, given the constantly revised treaty running around making sure that the deadliest weapon around stays the hell away from the world.

"I doubt that. It's last transmission said 'Raven, my function is complete. The rest is up to you' " He answers as honestly as he could. Xayvion had zero clues as to what it's goals were. Only thing he cared about was blowing it to kingdom come. Going around each device in the office, bending down to use the keyboards for the codes required 'Civilian identification number '.

"Input 3042 dash XA7256. My Civilian ID number. If you're right, you'll have full access." He gave the key to the principal who put it in along with the others. "Aside from you five, who else has usage permission?" That was the critical question.

"This AI is monitoring the file activity with full strictness. Only ones allowed access are us, the officials who partook in the Alaskan treaty and all high ranking government officials. Intelligence agencies will most likely have permission as well however..." Nomina informed him. Then she further pointed out "It will remain strictly confidential. Any unauthorized activity will be penalized. That is to prevent any problems and complications. You are granted full political immunity and will be treated like any regular civilian."

That was good to know he thought. "No telling the chaos that could be caused. Technology aside from the IS might not be as advanced and morality topics are certainly far, far more strenuous now. Public sees a country playing Frankenstein with its soldiers and it will riot." Yamamoto gave her own two cents as she read a document on her data-pad. She was slowly scrolling down. The reference was lost on him but he understood the context.

Standing up was getting tiresome so he took the principal's earlier offer and sat down on one of the armchairs, earning a smile from the older woman. "We have elected to have you enrolled in the academy while we figure out what to do with you."

Pardon him but what? He took his hands out of his pockets and crossed them over his chest, raising an eyebrow. That was not something he was planning to do. He had gone through one training academy and a black operations training regiment before even getting to AC piloting. Once of all that was enough. "If you've read as much as you claim then you already know i'm finished with those types of service."

The principal for her part was not even fazed by his admission, on the contrary she seemed pleased? Satisfied? "All the better for both then. It means you will not slack off or be lacking in any departments regarding the IS...for the most part but you can discern the differences and help others along."

Fat chance that'd happen, he'd sooner admit- falsely of course- that Carom was a better pilot than him. "There is also another reason." Kudos to the principal and Yamamoto, they constantly had his attention peaked. "Am i to assume that in 'The Great Destruction' and the years that followed, history among other things were largely lost correct?" He nodded, they barely knew anything about how things were before. 50 years to recover what predated them was too short a timetable. "Then this is can serve as an opportunity. The first person to see and learn how things were before." Yamamoto tried to entice him. Successfully so in all honesty.

Seeing as he fully relied on them for the time being, why not get something out of it. "And how much do i have to go through?" He asked the principal, who's smile resembled someone who was ready to pounce "Civilization as we know it began six thousand years ago, with full industrialization starting about two and a half centuries ago" a cough escaped him as he swallowed, 6000 YEARS?! He regained his composure as quickly as he could.

"And in total?" he dared ask as miss Yamada finally took her face off her tablet and answered his question "Human history goes back a few...million years" They had lost that much? "Social, economic, technological, scientific and other fields that had progressed in two hundred thousand years. You have a lot of catching up to do kid" That was Orimura.

'Kid' was a bit out of play he supposed, Controller knew why he was suddenly 9 years younger than he should be.

"Any requirements for the academy i should be aware off?" That question they saw coming as the principal handed him a tablet with a form to fill out. Some information was already out it.

"Basic information about you, quite a bit of that we were able to fill in ourselves. Things like your name however were buried in proverbial ink up until now. Also as an IS pilot you are legally responsible i.e you are your own legal guardian."

As good as that sounded that wasn't the whole story, the staff members proved him right "However since you are part of the academy, any and all actions will reflect on us and we do have our limit regarding tolerance" There it was.

He looked at the form with a frown. He knew they had full access to everything about him, but for a second, a part of his mind still screamed at him to decline and just go rogue.

That second passed and he began typing on the touch screen, pausing only to recall certain details. Tax-codes, social sec number and so on were useless, as was all the Credits he had saved up, so he left them blank until further notice.

5 minutes later he finished it and gave the pad back to the principal, who looked a bit giddy for a moment. "Xayvion Ahrendt? A name for the mystery boy at last! hm hm" she chuckled at the end "Was it really required?"

"Yes actually, aside from being a civilian now so it's mandatory to register, none of us were in the mood to call you anything else." Yamada told him. Was she being funny now?

"There are plenty of suitable alterna-" He was interrupted when Orimura finally deigned to move, coming to stand next to him and landing a hand on his shoulder. He almost flinched at the touch as it caught him by surprise.

"No offense, numbnuts...actually offense meant but Griever is just depressing, Raven is dumb and no one here will call you that mouthful of a number." She explained in a way that made sense.

Closing his eyes and sighing, he forced his annoyance down "Fair enough. What else?" There had to be more right?

"As we told you when you first woke up" Mèng Yao began this time, earning another snort from Chifuyu "The infinite stratos units can only be piloted by females, this academy was made to instruct and train said females. Do i have to spell it out?"

No she did not, he had forgotten that little tidbit. "There have to be exceptions correct? Male pilots out there?" Cause if this was not the case and it was strictly women, then feminism would hit an all time high. Not to mention any other insinuations that can come from such circumstances.

"There's you. And my idiot of a brother." Orimura took her hand off and walked to the side a bit before turning back "Stupid brat touched an IS and now everything changed" He propped up his right hand on the armchair and leaned his head on it. If he's the first male pilot in all the time these weapons have existed then it's only a matter of time before it spirals out of control.

"And i am supposed to keep an eye on him? If so then reconsider." He was not going to babysit. "In this place? I doubt even you will last long" Was that a challenge he heard from the 'esteemed' instructor?

Getting up from his resting spot and walking to stand face to face he narrowed a glare "You think I can't take on rookies in overpriced toys?"

Apparently his assumption was wrong when both Orimura and the principal broke out laughing. Yamamoto behind him was more contained but she also had a sly expression. Yamada was the odd one out who seemed to miss whatever meaning he had. The doctor was busy reading about his conception most likely.

"No no, we hehehe" The principal's professional demeanor had been pushed to the side in favor of giggling like a child, and Orimura herself was shaking her head with a smile "Thanks for that kid, haven't had a decent laugh in a while"

Excuse her?! "I seem to be missing something, care to enlighten me?" Jokes at his expense he didn't mind, he used to have them as well with...with them. His face went from mildly annoyed to frowning in sadness at the memories.

Taking the visual cue miss Nomina was quick to follow up "I'm sorry, we didn't mean to insult you" She saw her colleague opening her mouth and silenced her with a look. Orimura sufficiently chided, raised her hands in a shrug of surrender.

"None of us here doubt your combat abilities. But you will be one of only two male students in a boarding school that houses nearly five hundred teenage and adolescent girls. It is not exactly a very...'easy' or 'healthy' position so to speak." Turning his head back to face her, the Raven contemplated her words.

She was speaking on a social level, interactions and...other things. As he processed it his prosthetic went on a soft collision course for his face. The male to female population analogy, not to mention how hormones act up at this age set warning alarms in his head.

"Should i be worried, take precautions of any sort?" Seeing him this worried...as much as they could as his face went back to neutral 'It's like he has a default setting or something'

Miss Kutsuwagi stood up and walked around her desk, standing in front of him she looked him directly in the eyes "I'm not gonna say to isolate yourself, on the contrary making friends would be great for you." Friends? Right, after all he has such a stellar record with that. "But do try to maintain a level of decency, sexual harassment is not tolerable, assault even less so"

Layered laws punished said crimes with castration, and all settlements thereafter were heavily monitored for such cases amongst others. "That won't be a problem" Satisfied nods all around.

"Other than that, the form has the same basic rules and guidelines that any school has. Skim through them and as long as you behave yourself you'll be fine." He didn't know if they trusted him enough or not at all.

"If that will be all ma'am then we should be heading back. The new hardware has arrived and mister Ahrendt's prosthetic needs to be re-calibrated" Mèng Yáo gave her final input. For the most part she had been silent, simply reading through his med files to see what's what.

He gave a mental nod of respect at her work ethic

"Also until classes start next month, i would like to schedule check ups for each week. Sixteen in total." Why would that be, she wasn't a cybernetics expert, and the staff they brought could only do rudimentary scans aside from working on his arm. The principal had the same idea as she voiced her questions.

"What exactly are you looking for. There were no complications so far and nothing he has consumed resulted in a negative reaction" Hospital jello and freeze dried food was difficult to cause problems unless your gastrointestinal system was shot.

Doctor Leúng took it in stride, looks like she approves of her superiors wanting to know the why's and the what's. "I need to scan for foreign elements and pathogens. As well as physical rehabilitation. 3 and a half months of medical coma doesn't exactly do much for his body, regardless of augmentation."

Wasn't that the truth, he still remembers falling like a corpse from that bed when he first woke up, he supposed he could reminisce and laugh one day. "Good, cause if all that crap in his records are solid then i don't want him slacking off" Really instructor, such little faith. "He can also help the others as well" No miss Yamada, not unless specifically required to.

"It's settled then." Miss Nomina went back to her desk as the computer pinged: His student application along with his academy file were in full display on the monitor, the word 'Approved' right below them.

"Xayvion Ahrendt, on behalf of my associates, i officially welcome you to IS academy. We hope you'll do us proud" She said with a more official tone, holding her hand out to him...her left hand.

Wrapping his cold metallic fingers around her slender ones as gently and softly as he could he noticed her lack of reaction to the touch. Gripping her a bit more firmly he shook her hand .

"Thank you principal Nomina. I'll perform and represent to my best." He didn't mind matching her little speech, nothing wrong with doing so.

"One last thing before you go, 'Raven'" He raised an eyebrow as he let go of her, why would she call him by that? "Since we're all grown ups here, despite the differences why not be a bit more casual? When you are with us in private like this, use names instead of titles and honorifics but only in private. Think of it as an olive branch."

His surprise must have been visible, and not just his. Instructor Yamada was red faced from blushing? Vice principal Yamamoto just raised an eyebrow, Dr Leúng seemed ok and Instructor Orimura looked like someone slapped her.

"You can't be serious, he's a student." He agreed with her. For all intents and purposes they were his superiors. And being informal with your superiors usually wasn't a good thing.

"A student in paper. Probably has more combat experience than all of us combined, and age wise he's not that far from either you or Maya"

He coughed in a manner that required their attention "Technically I'm older then both of them and likely older than the vice principal" He indicated to Miss Kaori by raising a hand towards her. "How i was de-aged I don't know"

A metaphorical light bulb lit up over the doctor's head "The photograph, that was you, not a sibling?" There was a 'sibling' there yes "That is me and Eclair is my sister yes."

"Eclair" Yamada asked shyly, was she like that in general? In any case he didn't see the harm in drawing a metaphorical curtain "Safira Ahrendt, my sister and the Raven known as Eclair."

"Is she also..." Yamamoto tried to ask only to find herself unable to complete her query, he quickly answered to save her the discomfort "No, she was born naturally. I don't think i need to describe the process"

He saw immediate reactions to that, Yamada went beat red, the principal just laughed lightheartedly, Doctor Leúng just shook her head and the other two facepalmed.

"We get the point 'numbers'" And he already got a nickname... wonderful. "In any case, yes i am the clone of the family"

To avoid any further awkwardness the doctor stood up and excused them both, saying that he needed to get his rest.

Flashback end

Present day

"A bit late don't you think? All that talk and you already screw up." He took the jab from Chifuyu for what it was: Harmless.

"My apologies, Doctor Leúng had kept me a bit longer, as i had spasms in the shoulder electrode. I left the infirmary the moment the issue was solved." He was obligated to inform her. A look of sympathy passed on her face so quickly he barely caught it.

"Good, now that you're here do me a favor. Turn around and introduce yourself." She phrased it as an order. He didn't need to do so.

Turning to face his 'crowd' he took note of a few faces. First and foremost (literally he supposed) was a boy that looked the spitting image of the instructor behind him, who looked as if he was about to wet himself from stress. 'Ichika Orimura, luck isn't on your side it seems' he thought as he leveled a glare. Kid nearly seized up and started shaking. A hopeless case...for now at least.

Looking around he found his second case, a girl...of many who was seated front row next to the window. Average height (for these parts of the world at least), very long brown hair tied into a loose ponytail with a pair of green and black ribbons.

A slim figure, like everyone here(From what he'd seen everyone was in some way decent shape) dark blue eyes that seemed torn between looking at him in shock and throwing angry glares at the other male of the class 'And in the entire academy' wasn't that a thought he still couldn't wrap his mind around. Either way he was sensing issues between the two. He only hoped it wouldn't involve him in the long run.

Third person of not was a girl sitting in the back, far right row next to the windows too. Red hair and pink eyes, she seemed to have more refined features. And was staring right at him with a look of deep interest.

The fourth and hopefully final person of interest in this place. A girl with blue eyes and long blonde hair, he found it hard to come up with a word for the way she styled them and a distinctive white and blue hairband. Unlike the rest of the students she had decorated her uniform with black frills at the end of her skirt and sleeves.

Just like his previous noted person she was also glaring in anger and indignation towards Orimura. What he didn't understand was why did he also receive that treatment.

Already sensing a headache coming he took a quick breath and tucked his hands behind his back. Squaring himself and straightening up he began..."Greetings. I am XA-26483. I hope we can work together during our tenure here."

Ichika was stumped, for all the build up that happened, it deflated instantly as everyone looked at him as if he grew a second head.

'XA-26483? Wha-?' His thoughts were shared by the entire class and his sister acted on all of their behalf...for entirely different reasons. "You idiot!" Manual in hand she swung for the guy's head. And he dodged it! Taking a cross step towards the left he barely got out of the book's trajectory, as if he saw it coming.

'Oh no...oh no' His sister was furious...it was an unwritten law to never, ever avoid Chifuyu's hits or the next came much harder. And boy did the next hit hard. No wide horizontal swing. Manual in hand she brought it down on the guy's head with god's wrath on her side.

This time he made no effort to move away or anything. The loud 'BANG' had some wince and close their eyes from the sound of the impact. Ichika's eyes were wide open though, after all he's been the victim of his older sister's wrath his whole life.

Aside from the sound coming from the impact and the taller boy's head being tilted to the side with the book still sitting in the impact zone there was nothing. No grunt, no change in facial expression or any movement whatsoever.

'Did the hit knock him out standing?' He knew better than everyone of how physically strong Chifuyu is, and there was no way his classmate wasn't injured.

"I suppose that was for the infirmary?" He wasn't even fazed?! Ichika frail little mind couldn't believe it. Someone was actually able to take a hit from his sister! Also what happened in the infirmary?

"Did this cretin do something lady Chifuyu?" In his experience, as non existent as it was he was certain of a few things. Now the angry looks and low tone coming from the girls could mean a lot of things, chief among them: a male had done something...untoward to their Goddess and great idol. And fan-girls could get nasty.

"No, for that i'm gonna work you till you drop and then some...we talked about it Numbers, use your name not a 'production code'" Numbers? Ichika heard her whisper the second part of the sentence when she let his head go back straight. "As for what the cretin did is none of your business, i can handle my own fights. And get your heads out of the gutter."

That last part made him realize what his classmates meant. And he covered his eyes in shame...HOW COULD THEY THINK THAT?!

Looking around, the only people unfazed were of course his sister and the new guy 'new to me at least', miss Yamada who was shaking her head in exasperation, Houki who was still glaring at him and a blonde girl in the back, whom Ichika didn't know what to make of.

"Pardon me, force of habit." He didn't even hold it against her? He heard miss Maya muttering something about 'same old' but he wasn't sure what that meant so he let that slide.

After a small stare off, 'numbers' sighed, put his hands in the pockets of his pants and started again "Good morning, let me re-introduce myself." 'Could he not look like he doesn't want to be here at least?' That no nonsense professional look that rivaled his sister was not a good sign.

But it was better as a start even if he was using that poker face of his. "My name is Xayvion Ahrendt. To quote instructor Yamada: I hope we get along for the foreseeable future." This time there was applause from the classroom, Ichika himself adding to it. Miss Yamada just smiled and his sister just clapped a hand over the gu- Xayvion's- shoulder. "See, that was much better. Orimura has an empty seat next to him, go fill in would you?"

Ichika was weirded out with his sister's 180, first she shouted and hit him, now she was miles friendlier. 'Who is this guy? And what is Chifuyu's deal?'

His male co-victim just gave her a side eye and a nod. With a light shove he came and sat down next to him. Shifting in his seat leaned a bit backwards and crossed his legs at the ankle, closing his eyes in the process. "Hey, i'm Ichika nice to meet you." The younger Orimura introduced himself.

There was no way he'd let the chance to have the one other guy in this school not be a friend, how else would they survive?

Xayvion turned his head, opening his eyes and just nodded "likewise" in a tired tone. Oh come on what did he do now?! "Is everything alright?"

"Yes, I'm simply waiting for class to start" Ichika sort of understood his new classmate was a quiet guy but not this much. So he let him be and just focused on the lecture that was about to start, propping his arm up and leaning his head on it.

His mind went back to Chifuyu 'She was was a 1st generation pilot representing Japan, then she just retires and disappears for no reason. And now she's a teacher? Why did i even bother worrying about her?' He just didn't understand her sometimes...

In Xayvion's opinion, the opening lecture wasn't anything he or anyone here didn't already know, at least in his mind. a basic introduction to the academy and what it entails.

He had opened the holo display and keyboard on his desk and began reading through basic history. He found the industrial revolution a good place to start and is a topic he had been putting quite the time since last week, technology after all seemed to progress quite fast in three centuries and this was what kick started it all.

The text seemed to just flow with how fast he read as he scrolled down. It wasn't just a technological advantage, new work force better economy, larger settlements. Increased efficiency and production and an overall upgrade in quality of life.

Best he could relate seemed to be the first years of recovery after Layered was founded.

"Look it's them, the only guys in the world who can use an IS" Interesting accent, Southern US if he remembered his dialects.

He turned his head slightly and looked through the the class hall window, droves of teenage girls were either peaking through the door or had made their face one with the glass to look at the school's newest commodities.

He'd forgotten how big a part, gossip was in regular life. He went back to his research, keeping his ears open for whatever they were babbling about.

"I heard one of them fell into the Arena during summer. They say his IS nearly broke in half to save his life" Yes that was him, which reminded him that he needed to go see what the condition of his AC's were.

"And another 4 crashed with him. But where are their pilots?" The day he let someone else pilot his frames was the day Bouquet would recover her memory. Her implants were malfunctioning at the time and the replacement surgery wasn't exactly cheap.

"Yeah and the other piloted one for his entrance exam" Really? So Ichika wasn't completely clueless as to the whole thing as he seemed to be. Good, means he has a shot in here.

"I saw, it's been international news all week" Obviously, they'd be idiots to keep something this big under wraps. Or maybe not, depends on who was asked. And speaking of 'IS'...

He put a hand on his right forearm. Fatalität was hidden beneath his right sleeve from what Chifuyu had told him 'Dormant state, were Armored Cores not able to shift forms?' When he explained that it wasn't even remotely possible or normal she just laughed.

"Next thing you'll tell me they didn't have shield barriers or something" Energy shields? He told her no and she just facepalmed. That was 2 weeks ago, since then the principal and the others... they have been busy with video footage and reading report logs from Arena fights, Simulator work and all his missions.

Meaning they had their hands full as far as he was concerned. All other time was focused on making sure the institute ran smoothly.

He heard multiple giggling voices

"Maybe you should go talk to one of them"

"The guy with the white hair seems nice" Whoever said that is a liar, or should get their eyes checked.

"I don't know, what about the other one? Looks cute don't you think?" Ichika Orimura is...cute? He turned to look at him, the corner of his mouth turned upwards at the depairing mess that was the younger Orimura sibling.

He wasn't knowledgeable enough on this subject to have an opinion, so he took a shot in the dark and agreed, that his classmate was...ok looking.

"I think I'll go talk to them"

"Hey wait a minute, you trying to get ahead of us?"

He was tempted to open his mouth and reply im the negative but reading about the concept of the steam engine was far more enticing at the moment.

He now understood the fascination and dedication of researchers trying to recover everything. Knowing your history and learning from it...was satisfying in a way that he found hard to express.

The excessive amount of giggling, hushed whispering, and the talks of him being essentially one of the last two cookies in a jar grated on his nerves in a way that he wasn't aware was possible.

He could excuse it however for a few reasons:

1st they were teenagers. Hormones and fantasies were at an all time high.

2nd both Xayvion and Ichika were, to his and so far everyone's knowledge the only male IS pilots...in his case that wasn't exactly right but he wasn't going to say anything.

3rd, he was sure that once they learned that he wasn't one for romantics, relationships and whatnot they would quickly lay off. That and a taste of his...friendly personality.

He wasn't planning on making friends anyway..."No need to repeat mistakes of the past" he lowly whispered to himself. He wasn't planning on going through that pain anytime soon, or ever for that matter.

"Can we talk for a minute?" The voice broke him out of his internal stupor as he looked to Ichika's side. There was a girl standing over him, in particular the one that was glaring plasma at him all morning. Orimura just nodded dunbly and left, leaving him the sole target for every girl in the vicinity.

Putting a hand to his neck he rolled it around, hearing the light cracks as the joints popped back. A throat clearing itself was heard in front of him. At first he elected to ignore it, content to keep reading.

Seeing though as whoever it was didn't plan to go away after being ignored he looked upwards to face the girl.

Taller than most here, by his estimate a solid 180cm, a slim but somewhat built figure, she was wearing the academy uniform with a similar style to himself. Minus the glove that covers a prosthetic. And instead of a bowtie like the rest she was wearing a regular tie.

The uniform however wasn't hiding her feminity, long dark red hair and dark pink eyes, a pale complexion and a heart shaped face, decent sized bust 'Really, you think of that you idiot?'.

Same age as himself too most likely. Problem was...she looked familiar for some reason.

"I apologize for interrupting you, may i have a moment of your time?" Her voice was familiar too. He could bet his right arm on the fact that he wasn't aquainted with the girl, but he felt he knew her from somewhere, his memory however was turning up blank.

"I promise i won't hold you up for too much...Raven" She whispered the title and sent tectonic quake alarms through him. How could she? Narrowing his eyes he got up and gestured sideways with his head "lead the way"

The academy restaurant was quite lavish by his standards. 2 floors with narrow glass walkways (Thankfully they had rails and sidewalls installed). Finding a small booth he sat down opposite of the girl, a tray with a bowl of rice, some bread, a salad, 2 fried eggs and a water bottle.

She had forgone the salad for a chicken filet with parmesan sauce and a side serving of rice.

"You have my attention, what do you know? And who are you for that matter?" He wasn't going to waste time, this was a loose end he was not keen on leaving be.

"Bold aren't we XA-26483? Good. My name is Valencia Rouge, a former Raven, same as you"

the girl introduced herself...Valencia Rouge...Rouge...no goddamn way.

"Huntress...K.I.A during a mission in the 4th layer Magna ruins." Now he remembered...she was a traitor, a fanatic of the Controller. And he thought his day wouldn't be soured.

She chuckled at his deduction "Way you put it, it sounds like it has been a while. I know all Ravens listed with GC and multiple irregulars. Mist admit i never heard of you."

She was fishing of information, she already knew he was a Raven from when he gave his serial number. "It's logical not to. You were dead for half a century. The controller went down not too long after you, traitor." He gritted his teeth as he called her that. Followers of the Controller were people he held intense dislike for.

Bow could they stand by and say 'The controller knows best' and call everyone else rebels and 'heretics' of all things when said AI was breaking down and had begun toppling everything along with it.

Huntress looked somewhat angry and indignant at the remark but held back. Instead she continues to ask questions "Traitor huh? We'll leave that for later. If what you say is true than how did Layered survive without the Controller's guidance? Everything relied upon DOVE if you don't recall."

DOVE, another name for the Governing AI, not that different from IBIS. "It acted on a final protocol before shutting down...by opening the gates to the surface" Now that he saw had an effect if the mild look of shock was any indication, of course she was quick to recover.

"Humanity returned to the surface? So he made it..." There was a small and bitter laugh, as she expected it. She opened her chopsticks and began eating the rice.

"Yes, he helped with the initial recovery and expansion efforts for the first five years."

They were both referring to Vindicator, or as his civilian ID was known 'Ferris Kline', civilian 0824-FK3203. Layered's savior and the reason they were back on the surface.

"Can you tell me what happened to him in the years after i died?" There was another reason followers of the Controller were called 'traitors'. Many had friends and relationships, and they willingly stabbed them in the back in the AI's name.

Huntress was such an occasion "He had officially retired after the five years and returned to civilian life. 15 years later he volunteered for euthanasia." From what he had heard in the rumor mill, Vindicator's final words were "I lived my life and made my peace." Saying there was nothing more for him left.

He had killed the love of his life after all. Their relationship was revealed after Huntress's death. It was why GC while not outright forbidding, advised against such actions with Ravens.

"I see, and what of the world at large?" odd, she didn't seem to dwell much on that, maybe she was planning on doing something in her own time.

As they ate (And he was thanful for quality food, hospital menu's were universally bad it seemed) he explained how expansion and recovery efforts progressed and the war with the Silent Line, taking time to answer any questions "A second Layered and AI? That means..."

That was his reaction when the info was found out too. He skipped a few events, and recounted his last mission and his transportation "Lucky bastard. Although a second life wasn't that bad. And my AC was turned into an IS, i doubt Shinonono has knowledge though"

"Lucky? IBIS is here too...if i was lucky it'd be dead like the Controller" He had barely changed his tone of face with some minor remarks and a narrkwing glare here and there. "Also I'm quite sure Tabane Shinonono is fully aware of me and the five frames that came with me." And it was a ticking time bomb of a scenario

"Yes i heard, and from what I've seen of them you are as adept at different styles as he was, a bit less extreme...no tank or quadraped and no hover legs either." Oh no he had used tank legs on one mission.

The kisaragi power plant that nearly went up in flames and his first encounter with a big white. He still had flashbacks from that.

"Not a fan of them" And that was all he had to say as he dipped the bread in the yolk and took a bite.

"Fair enough, i believe that's all for now." Empty plates in tray she went to stand up when he stopped her

"No. Not yet" Traitor or not she needed to hear this. As she sat down he waited "Public opinion says that Vindicator's retirement was due to him wanting to enjoy life. In reality his psych records were all over the place after your death."

She propped her elbows on the table, intertwining her hands and leaning her head with her eyes closed "It's well known that you two were more than allies, how close however not many knew. You were married behind close doors correct?" Xayvion was one of the few who knew of that, learned it from digging around old reports.

"At the time yes, however i believed my duty to the Controller was more important."

"And that's why tou are a traitor. Any sympathy you might have deserved was void when you turned in him" He had chosen her as a consort whenever availiable. No way it was a simple coincidence.

"In any case thank you. Let's continue ankther time, good day Raven" She took her tray and walked away, leaving him to finish his food alone. Of all things he had expected to happen in his life, talking to a former corpse was not one of them...

A/N: That's it for now. Pretty sure the pace is all over the place so that will be fixed later on.

Adding Huntress from AC3 was an idea i had not fully thought out. And no...i am not shipping her. Griever or Xayvion as he introduced himself doesn't trust her in the least for obcious reasons.

Her little backstory with the AC3 protagonist is based on a headcanon of mine. As when i replayed the game i had used her as a consort each and every time. Things can happen...

Nomina allowing Xayvion to call her and others by name instead of title (in private only and if the staff members are cool with it, and they are) is her way of trying to soften him up.

Next chapter is in writing and will likely be shorter than this.

Any reviews are welcome, thank you for taking time to read.

If you want a different flavor i suggest reading Flight nest's 'Armored Core: Shining memories', uses the AC4 and AC3LR timelines and puts a fun spin on things.

As always thank you guys and gals for your patience and i will tey to get the next one out as soon as possible. Have a good day and take care.