Ichika saw a woman in white.
"Congratulations on dying, dumbass."
"What the hell happened?" Ichika groaned.
"You took a bullet to the noggin, my guy."
Shit. Well that certainly wasn't good. Ichika would have preferred to live, and he wasn't sure how Chifuyu would be without someone to do all the chores…
"Stop moping. Ruins your face."
Ichika looked up at her. "Well, what else do you want me to do?"
"I can give you another shot." She grinned.
"Another chance at life?" Something told him he should have found that idea more unbelievable, but his head felt… funky. Was it the bullet?
"Yeah. As far back as your first time in an IS."
"Really?"
"Really."
"Thanks…" Ichika mumbled, not entirely sure she was telling the truth but certainly unhappy at the prospect of being dead.
"Don't be getting all suspicious of me now. You being dead is much less fun. I love that rom-com bullshit."
"Rom-com bullshit?" Play stupid, play stupid…
"Stop with the denial, buddy." She sighed. "I can't kill you, you're already dead."
"Fair enough." Ichika groaned. "What am I supposed to do about them, anyways?"
"Live a little!" She cried. "You've got the power to go back any time you die. You could have a million unforgettable nights…"
"But I can't just-" Ichika sputtered.
"You can fall in love and all that too, I suppose…" she waved her hand dismissively.
"So what do I have to do?"
She smiled at him, and it suddenly felt as if his world was turning in on itself.
His eyes opened to the enhanced vision all IS suits gave. He flexed his fingers, which felt oddly sluggish- oh, right. This wasn't his suit, much less one that had shifted twice.
Thinking on it, Byakushiki- that was who the woman had to be- seemed to imply that she would remember their little talk- and his preceding death- so he wouldn't be completely alone in this whole mess…
Oh, he was about to fight that lady from the IS academy now, wasn't he? He supposed that he should put on a good showing, although he was certain doing too well would be just the sort of thing to get Cecilia irate.
Even with a suit he wasn't familiar with, Ichika had the element of surprise and a lot more experience than the typical student in this situation. To put it mildly, he mopped the floor with her.
What followed came as less of a surprise, obviously. Admittedly, with slightly more time under his belt (and a slightly greater understanding of how cutthroat IS business could be) he noticed a certain… edge.
He was put under guard, which suddenly seemed a lot more serious after his… recent? Eventual? Could have possibly been? Well, to him his murder was recent.
Thankfully, he did remember most of what he learned in IS classes- so he wasn't in an academic trench starting out. Heck, he was even ahead of the curve for a student coming in.
Of course, that wasn't the only useful information he had. He knew the Silver Gospel was coming, along with some up and coming IS tech… he made a mental note to look into which stocks did well.
"I'm Ichika Orimura. I enjoy cooking and a bit of kendo. I hope you'll treat me well." Ichika gave a winning smile. The class practically swooned. He could get used to this…
Chifuyu would kill him if he took advantage, though… wait, couldn't he just come back?
This could actually be pretty fun. But before that, he should focus on his schoolwork. He couldn't cause his sister trouble, even if she might not remember it due to time shenanigans. If he couldn't repay what he owed her in one lifetime…
Spending some time with a cute girl under the guise of tutoring didn't sound bad, though…
Byakushiki was already corrupting him.
Ichika made sure to take his sweet time getting to his room. Things had basically gone as expected today, complete with Cecilia's challenge, and he wanted to avoid some of Houki's ire if things kept on happening as they did last time. Hell, Ichika was almost tempted to get signatures or maybe even drag Yamada along. Houki would almost certainly react… explosively.
But he made sure to physically print his room assignment this time around, just to be safe.
He also had a practice sword of his own. Just to be safe.
...
Ichika liked the look of the cute senpai who offered to teach him IS basics very much, but Houki butted in, unfortunately. So that first week was quite similar, other than the fact that Ichika wasn't scrambling to cover months or years of lost education.
Unfortunately, it seemed as if Houki had noticed his easygoing approach...
Ichika took his first step out into the arena, ready to fight Cecilia again- when he felt his IS begin to shift.
What the hell are you doing?
Just getting you ready to fight. Byakushiki chirped. Kick her ass, would you? I won't tolerate such a shitty win loss ratio this time around, you know?
Ichika realized that he- or rather Byakushiki- had caused quite a commotion. "A First Shift, already?" and that sort of thing.
Cecilia in particular gawked, although Ichika didn't get to impress her by fighting with the handicap of an unshifted IS…
"How… how could you possibly…?" She sputtered.
"I suppose I'm something of a natural." Gah, acting smug like this was fun. With that, he dropped to the floor and shot towards her, a brilliant blur.
Clumsily, Cecilia lifted her rifle- too long and unwieldy, what was she thinking?- and attempted to back away before he gave her a roundhouse.
If his sword ate energy… then he just had to attack in a way that didn't use it, right? Admittedly, his kendo skills didn't apply as well to out and out brawling, but an IS suit could throw one hell of a haymaker.
He had knocked her away and she rocketed back, trying to put distance between them. Her laser shooters detached themselves from her suit, and they tried to lock on-
Before Ichika came in with a kick. It was clumsy, but the sheer mass of the IS's massive leg armor made it hit like a brick wall.
Admittedly, kicking the crap out of Cecilia wasn't exactly the most gentlemanly way to go about things… but he really wanted to avoid another sword dysfunction incident.
Still, he restrained himself and didn't just wale on her like some wild animal. The moment her shields were low, he backed away, leaving Cecilia more than a little shell shocked.
It did occur to him that he might have looked a bit dickish, not using the sword at all… but he could do without.
Having knowledge of the future had other interesting applications and possibilities… like knowing the truth about a certain transfer student who was actually female.
"You know, you've got an awfully bishie look to you, Charles."
"Bishie?" She squeaked.
"You know- bishounen. Pretty boy. Kind of girlish looking."
"Ehh?"
Ichika stepped towards Charles, whose face was rapidly reddening. "You're pretty cute, you know…"
She made another little squeak and dashed away. Ichika chuckled to himself. Raising hell was pretty fun. Ichika suddenly felt as if he understood Tabane a bit better.
Laura went for the slap.
And Ichika dodged.
For a military professional, she had quite the embarrassing stumble when her slap didn't land.
"How dare you!" Honestly, now that he knew it was coming, she was broadcasting like she was a radio tower, and even without training he probably could have dodged. Was she that enraged by him?
"Be careful. You'll trip yourself."
"I promise I'll support you, whatever you decide… but if you're going to reveal yourself, mind the consequences, please."
"Tonight's the boys' day in the bath, right?"
"Yeah."
"And what will everyone think if you make the big reveal after we both go there and bathe together?"
Charles turned a truly magnificent shade of red at that particular idea.
Ichika stood up. "I'm going to make myself an alibi. You go and enjoy your bath, alright?"
"That was pretty good." Byakushiki chuckled. "But I'd really prefer if you didn't get murdered at the same spot every loop. It'd get boring."
"Is there any limit to these loops you know of? Like, max number of years you could send me back?"
"Oh, no limit." She chirped, before her eyes lit up. "Oooh, do you want to start a family? Maybe with-"
"Send me back, please."
"Spoilsport."
This time around, he decided to take more drastic action to avoid his potential death: not being there in the first place. A revolutionary idea, he knew. This time around, he decided to lay down the charm on Laura. She was pretty cute, and if he could just get her to drop the wife bit…
So bit by bit, he tried to teach her that perhaps it wasn't best to take her information on Japanese culture from whatever nut-bar she called back home. It was an excruciating process, but she was a fairly charming girl…
This time around, he made sure to invite Laura out on a little joy ride on the night of his birthday- they spent the night racing around on their IS's, skimming the ocean's surface, before heading to the mainland.
Admittedly, he probably should have expected an awkward reaction when he and Laura- two teens- both showed up at a ramen place in skintight suits… but it was still pretty fun.
Chifuyu blew her lid, though. They got a month of detention, each… in addition to the tongue lashing of a century. Something told Ichika part of the reason for her fury was that maid outfit she dressed up in for no real reason, considering he missed his birthday bash/kidnapping.
Ichika would have come if asked, even! Why did they feel the need to kidnap him? To maintain the surprise? It certainly wasn't a good surprise, even if those outfits were extremely flattering…
"Hey. You're Sarashiki, right? The girl working on my IS?" He figured he'd go out of his way to nip any problems in the bud before they came problems- like Kanzashi. She deserved better.
"Of course. I'm not gonna let you do it alone. I'm sure you've got all sorts of important things you'd rather be doing. If you'd take me under your wing and show me the basics of IS repair, I'd really appreciate it." He slapped his hands together and bowed. (If she didn't respond to it, he'd go back and grovel on the floor, dogeza style.)
Ichika tried to feign surprise. "You have a sister?"
*Insert self deprecating comment*
...
"Well, I don't want Tatenashi. I want you, Kanzashi."
"Orimura?!"
"Call me Ichika." With that he leaned in and went for the kiss.