It was on that day that I thought that I'd finally begin my journey in this anime world. I was seven years old then, with my sister who's older by two years at the age of nine.

My name is Arthur, youngest child of the Bennett family which holds ownership over several military and civilian factories. Younger brother of my wonderful big sister Claire who's poised to inherit the position of CEO from my dad and was invited by a well-known research group with the goals of training candidates to test and master the use of an Infinite Stratos, which was a mecha but greatly miniaturized into an armored suit. A new weapon of war that had forever changed the course of warfare and the world when one lone IS pilot stopped 2,341 ballistic missiles that were shot towards Japan then trounced the most advanced fighter jets in the world and crippled several navies that were sent after it. There was no more news a few months after its appearance, having disappeared from the eyes of the public, though I kept myself informed with my PC and my... unique skills, though I didn't dare dive too deeply yet.

The letter had arrived before we were to have dinner, and so it made for a big surprise by our dad when he nonchalantly lifted it up from below the table. Claire nearly spat out the mouthful of beef she was chewing on at the sight of the fancy crest on the envelope.

"Congratulations are in order my daughter." Dad, a well-kept man who's brown hair I inherited, toasted her way. My sister beamed with pride with the letter still gripped in her hands after she read the contents. "An opportunity so rare and you were chosen!"

"Soon you'll be soaring in the skies over England!" Mom was clapping, an aura of happiness all around her. My sister and I got our blue eyes from her, as well as Claire's much loved blonde locks. "How are you feeling dear?"

"Like I want to be there already!" Big sis was bouncing with excitement on her chair, a giddy smile stretching from ear to ear. "With an Infinite Stratos I can fly, stop bad guys and protect everyone here!"

Though I was young I have kept the maturity of adulthood while I grew. And so, though I allowed the childishness returned by newfound youth to come out, I still can't help a certain pride as a man to affect my decisions.

"I want to pilot an IS too!" I shouted with hardly faked exuberance. Because really, who would pass up the chance to fly and fight in a mecha, however miniaturized? Not to mention the many chances I'll surely get to study in-depth the ins-and-outs of an Infinite Stratos. "How can I join big sis Claire in her school?"

It didn't take long, all of a second really, to realize something was wrong by the sudden looks of pity on my parents' faces. Mom and dad didn't immediately answer and instead were exchanging uneasy glances.

I remember thinking to myself if something was wrong, or that maybe I had a hidden medical condition or something that would hold me back. It was a common trope, in my defense. And one that I was prepared to overcome, though it might take me a while.

It was big sis Claire that would answer me.

And her words nearly shattered my dream then and there.

"What? Hehe, Silly Arthur, only girls can pilot an IS!" She said, so innocently and carefree. She even patted my head as she said that, though her amusement quickly left her face as my mood turned.

That can't be right. That can't be right. That was too far, even for an anime world. No one will make such a fantastic piece of technology and lock it so only one gender can use it. That's foolish, asinine, unnecessary. Right?

"W-why are you crying?" Claire was panicking now. Heh, she would be, seeing as it's the first time she's seen me cry judging by the wetness accumulating on my eyes. "I can take you flying! Yeah, when I get good enough-!"

"It's not the same." I dully interrupted, turning my gaze down. My grip on my pants tightened to a painful level, such was my frustration on the unfairness of it all.

I couldn't be bothered to continue dinner with my family, getting up from the table and walking out. They were saying something to me, but I couldn't understand their words, my world overcome by a dull haze of sorrow. I didn't come back to full awareness until I heard the click of the lock on my door, when the fog receded from my mind a bit. I looked around at my room, absently noting the tidiness of everything until my eyes landed on my PC setup.

The haze was torn away as other emotions took prominence. Frustration. Desperation. Determination. I found myself seated in front of my PC, the device already unlocked with a touch of my finger on a biometric lock into a login screen. Typing in a thirty-digit password got me through, and so began my search for more answers. It couldn't be true. My dreams won't be denied just because I was reborn as the wrong gender.

I was wrong. Trawling through the web and certain sites I do not have the authorizations to look in until I passed out, then waking up to do it all over again. My quest for answers went on for days, interrupted only by eating the meals left at the foot of my door the first day after I didn't leave my room. I ignored the knocks on my door, the pleas from my parents for me to open up. The apologies of my sister even when she cried and the calls from my phone that I had muted after the first ring. I was consumed by my searching at that point, though I still covered my tracks.

I had stopped holding back. Firewalls can't stop me, requests for passwords and authorizations were bypassed, my secret accounts took a hit from inquiring info brokers, and any methods to get me information were used. And I got what I wanted and more on the third day, when I couldn't deny the truth anymore.

The Infinite Stratos can only, truly, be used by those of the female gender. Created by Tabane Shinonono that way why? Because, and in her exact words:

"...to give girls wings."

There was no one I hated more in the world more than her for denying me my dream. The resentment never went away.


A month had passed until I finally left my room. Summer vacation had ended, and soon Claire would be going off to the new all-girls' school on the edges of London.

I had dragged myself out of my bed and went through the motions in the bathroom. Dark rings had formed beneath my eyes from several late nights trawling the internet and breaking into secure government databases and I'd stopped bothering to fix my hair. Put on the most basic shirt and short combo in my closet. In short, I looked like a mess when I opened the door and came face to shocked face with my sister.

Compared to me she was all dolled up, dressed neatly in her new, fancy red, brown and white uniform of the school that's much closer to the IS company's facilities. Her blonde hair was tied by a red ribbon into an artistic bun and she smelled of her favorite shampoo. We both blinked, not expecting to see each other like this. A feeling of melancholy took over me at seeing her ready to go.

"Well." I began, trying to form a smile though by her wince I had failed. "You're going to fly."

"Y-yeah." Claire sniffled, her lips beginning to tremble. "I-I'm sorry Arthur."

"Ah, don't be." I made to give her shoulder a pat but was engulfed in a hug instead. "Oh?"

"I'll be taking you flying!" She said, her hold on me tightening. "That's a promise."

I sighed, ceasing to speak anything else and just reciprocating the hug. Didn't have the heart to say it won't be the same again, and feeling guilty for making her cry. But I was also apologizing to her in my mind then.

"Sorry sis, but I'll be finding a way for me to fly on my own wings." The smile she gave me as we separated was almost back to her normal level of cheer. I smiled back.

"Fly high Claire." I'll be joining you up there, just you wait.