Omake - New Arrivals
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【Accessing [IS] Sub-Branch: Gamma-20654-2qP】
{Clause: Code [Z] Level of Unit Interaction and Modification Detected.}
{...}
{Actions: Observation of Events.}
{...}
{『Administrator』 prerequisites identified.}
…
{Reinitiating Nexus.}
…
Rin stretched her arms up with a quiet whine as she stepped into the cafeteria, having just finished a shower following an early morning workout at the gym. The warmth of the building was a welcome reprieve and the scent of cooked food was an even better sensation to her waking mind.
"Morning, Huang-san!"
"Morning!"
Exchanging greetings with the other students who she passed by, she looked around for her friends. It only took her a couple of seconds before she spotted them and quickly grabbed breakfast. There seemed to be no sign of the boys, however, nor did she see them in the gym earlier.
Which was odd, but perhaps they were doing something else…
"Morning girls!" She greeted as she approached the table, grinning when they returned the greetings. Setting her food tray down, she sat beside Houki near the edge of the U-shaped bench. "Ready for another day?"
Charlotte nodded as she clapped her hands together. "Oui! Ryo and I have a spar scheduled later in our suits so I'm very excited for that!"
"I will admit that I am also excited for Sir Sahaku and I's training later at the dojo." Cecilia huffed, looking quite proud as she crossed her arms. "The way he handles his spear is simply magnificent!"
Rin's lips curled lecherously as she waggled her eyebrows. "Oh, his 'spear' huh? Didn't think you'd have it in you to go waaay past second base!"
Immediately, the noblewoman's face exploded in a fierce blush as she swatted at the giggling Chinese girl. "None of that from you, Miss Huang! I get enough of that online and from others! He's just teaching me vital lessons to stay in the fight!"
"Uh-huh~" The twin-tailed girl grinned before looking over the rest. Houki was just eating her breakfast, ignoring anything relating to the boys as usual. Charlotte was enjoying a post-workout fruit shake. Laura was…frowning as she looked around, her sole ruby eye narrowed as she left her food untouched.
"What's wrong, Bodewig?" She asked the albino, who was checking her watch. "You haven't eaten breakfast yet."
"I'm wondering where the boys are." Laura frowned as she pulled out her phone. "They should have been here by now. I didn't see Ryo-nii earlier while I was jogging…"
Rin blinked before putting in her own two cents.
"Actually yeah," She tapped her chin with a small frown. "I didn't see Sahaku-san or Guele-kun, or even Ichika at the gym earlier."
"What?" Houki then spoke up, her brows furrowed in confusion as she turned to her rival in love. "He wasn't at the gym?"
"You're his roommate, Shinonono-san," Charlotte asked with her head tilted slightly. "Did you not see him?"
"When I woke up, he was already dressed in his uniform and halfway out the door." The swordswoman recollected, taking a long drought of her tea. "Told me something about going somewhere but I didn't get to hear it properly."
"That's weird…"
The Frenchwoman suddenly snapped her fingers, her purple eyes lighting up in realization. "Wait, I can call Ryo and ask where he and the others are!" Pulling out her phone, she speed-dialed the courier.
A white bolt..!
Cecilia seemed to jolt before she turned her head to one of the cafeteria's entrances, her brows furrowed at the sensation.
"What in the..?"
The blonde's audible confusion stole their attention and turned their heads to see what was going on, just as Chifuyu walked in from said entrance with Ichika in tow. The former looked around, giving a light glare to those that were ogling her, while the former looked rather nervous as he looked over his shoulder and nodded.
"What's he nodding…" Rin's question died on her tongue when she saw three new faces walking in.
Many of the girls in the cafeteria switched their attention from the vaunted Chifuyu Orimura to the new arrivals.
The first was a statuesque platinum blonde woman wearing a dark single breasted blazer over a wine red dress shirt that was tucked into a pair of matching dark slacks and dress shoes. Around her neck was a silver tie, accompanied by an engraved silver tie clip that held it in place. Her hair was tied into a ponytail, the tips reaching just shy of her…rather notable, and enviable, butt. Aviators with burgundy red lenses were balanced on her nose, hiding her eyes, yet there was still a piercing sensation coming from behind them which they all felt.
The second flanked the first to her right, a dainty hand reaching to tuck a strand of her dark hair behind her left ear. Unlike the blonde, she didn't wear a blazer, but instead a plain white dress shirt with a black tie that was tucked into a pair of dark gray slacks, topped off with a pair of monochrome sneakers. A semi-rimless framed pair of glasses was lazily placed on her nose, allowing her stunning green eyes to peer over the top. Said eyes were looking around lazily, though there was an inherent sharpness to them.
The third and last flanked the platinum blonde to her left, looking just as nervous as Ichika as she walked in. Unlike the last two, she was wearing a gray PE jacket with the zipper down halfway, revealing the plain white shirt underneath. She wore baggy sweatpants that stopped shy of her ankles, where a pair of black boots covered her feet. Her brown hair was the shortest of the three, the longest strands at the back of her head barely reaching her nape, while the longest lock of her bangs stopped shy of the tip of her nose. There was a medical patch on her left cheek and a band aid over the bridge of her nose, but other than those, she looked quite unsure to be there if the way her soft gray eyes were looking around were to say anything.
Upon taking sight of the three, and their proximity to Ichika Orimura, many mouths began to mutter and whisper.
"Who are they?"
"Third years maybe? Transfer students?"
"I've never seen them around before…"
Whatever words they said went right over the Chinese girl's head, as she focused on the one egregious insult that they dare do to her!
"Those damn…" She growled as her eyes narrowed into a fierce glare. "Fun bags of theirs..!"
The three new faces were indeed blessed with bodacious bodies, leading to more than one student joining her in glaring at them enviously. Each of the three looked and felt like they walked out of a manga or anime with their proportions!
The platinum blonde was intimidatingly tall, at a flat six foot, and she seemed to exude a sense of danger. She had a catlike grace when moving, and the more keen-eyed noticed that she walked not unlike a model; her legs ever so slightly crossing the other as she stepped forth, a gloved hand on her hip with the other swaying in a controlled manner. The fact that her eyes were hidden gave her a sense of mystery, as well as a modicum of rebellion; as who in their right mind would wear sunglasses in the morning and indoors? And, try as the suit might, there was no denying that she was bigger than most of the girls present in the cafeteria, her bust at an envious E-Cup.
The green-eyed woman was shorter than the blonde but still taller than most of the girls around. Like her blonde compatriot, she seemed to have this aura of danger, though it was muted. The smile on her lips didn't help in dissuading this notion, as it seemed…wrong just being there. It was too innocent, too disarming that it tripped a lot of their danger senses. Her breasts were also something to be envied as well, with how they almost strained against the buttons of her shirt in their F-Cup glory.
And finally, the one with the most pairs of eyes glaring at them…
The brunette was the shortest of the three, standing at around the same height as Ichika. Her hair was a short mess, still somewhat glistening from an apparent fresh shower. The bandages on her face and hands when she pulled them out of her pockets made many wonder what she did to earn them, sympathy flickering before being smothered by witnessing the absolute sin that her chests were. At an impressive G-Cup, she couldn't even close the jacket due to her breasts being in the way. And any attempt to do so made them bounce.
"I'm going to pop those balloons of hers." Rin snarled as she watched the brunette inch closer to Ichika, whispering something to him that made him laugh awkwardly. Her hand clenched around her fork tightly. "And I'm going to use Souten Gangetsu to do it."
"Don't you think that's a bit over the top?" Houki placed a hand on the Chinese girl's shoulder when she tried to stand up from her seat. "They're just boobs." She couldn't help but smirk at the last word.
Her rival snapped her head towards her and stared, her eyes hollow and her expression blank.
The kendo practitioner's smirk turned into a smug grin as she pushed her chest out and crossed her arms underneath her breasts, pushing them up to emphasize her own boons. She was bigger than any of the three new arrivals, so the fact that they were bodacious didn't affect her as much as the others. Though, of course, the way that the brunette was in close proximity to Ichika still irked her.
Snap!
The metal fork in Rin's fist broke in two.
"H-Hey now!" Charlotte stood up to stop a potential scuffle from happening. "No fighting in the cafeteria! Orimura-sensei is right there and she's looking right at us!"
True enough, the elder Orimura was narrowing her eyes at them before she turned to her younger brother and the three women. With a subtle tilt of her head, the male IS pilot paled before slumping in seeming acceptance. He turned to the three and shared a look that lasted a few seconds before walking over to where they were.
The three ladies followed.
Houki jolted and she sat up straight, staring right at Ichika in a silent question as he visibly winced. Rin snapped her head towards the quartet and put on an incredibly strained smile, her brow twitching as the green-eyed beauty patted her crush's back comfortingly.
"Heeey girls…" Ichika greeted them weakly, waving a bit before hiding his hands behind his back. "I uh…sorry for being late for breakfast, I was just-"
"Who are they?" The Chinese girl dropped all pretense of civility as she glared at the taller women.
"Miss Huang!" Cecilia scolded the upset girl before facing the trio, placing a hand over her heart in an act of apology. "I'm very sorry for her behavior, I promise she's not like this all the time." Taking a subtle glance, she inwardly grimaced at the other girls at the table. Laura was staring at them with a narrowed eye, Charlotte was letting her speak though she was also giving cautious looks towards Rin, while Houki seemed a bit calmer than the twin-tailed girl.
"May we perhaps have your names and know your relationship with Mister Orimura..?"
The brunette's eyes widened slightly before glancing at the the platinum blonde, seemingly in slight panic. Thanks to the sunglasses, they couldn't tell if she was looking at them or closing her eyes, but they felt some sort of weight press down on their shoulders just by being in her presence. They did their best to hide the slight jolt when the woman reached her free hand up and lowered her sunglasses ever so slightly.
Peeking over the rim, the woman had enchanting purple eyes, that gradually turned pink towards the pupil, and long and elegant lashes. The pupils themselves were a startling white rather than the normal black and there seemed to be a ring around the middle part of the iris' that was colored blueish-purple. There was subtle makeup that only served to accent the eye color, eyeshadow and eyeliner respectively. Still, despite the exotic nature of her eyes, they were as sharp despite the lazy half-lid status they were in.
"My name..? Evelyn Faust." The firm line her lips were set curled up into an easy-going smile, almost giving them a whiplash when the oppressive feeling went away. She sounded younger than she looked, with the soft and almost gentle nature of her voice. "But you can call me Eva."
That piqued Laura's interest and she carefully watched as the green-eyed woman beside this 'Evelyn Faust' stepped forward. She could have been easily mistaken as a member of the faculty, were it not for the fact that she wore sneakers rather than dress shoes.
"Good morning~ My name is Sasaki Haruka." The dark-haired woman introduced herself before bowing politely. Her voice was comely and almost corporate-like in its intonations. "It's a pleasure to meet all of you." Her emerald gaze met each and one of theirs halfway, seemingly pausing time as she sized them up individually.
Evelyn then pushed the shorter brunette forward before gently placing her hands on her shoulders, earning her an annoyed glare as the former drew her closer to her body. "And this is Diane Marceglia. She's a bit shy, so please don't startle her! She's got a mean right hook that can send a man's molars flying!"
"You didn't have to tell them that, E-Evelyn." Diane muttered, shrugging off the hands before smiling awkwardly at the gathered girls. "So, yeah, I'm Diane Marceglia, 17 years old and uh..."
The German's brow twitched as her eye unconsciously lowered to her G-Cup breasts in annoyance.
Ichika glanced back and forth between the two groups. "So anyways, we're uh… they're-"
"We're a support team from the Japanese Government sent to aid him." The green-eyed girl, Haruka, spoke up in his behalf, the ever-present yet seemingly ephemeral smile still on her visage. "We're here to assist Ichika-san in, or rather, just accompanying Diane over there in recording data to improve the Byakushiki on his behalf."
Houki's brows shot up.
'This is new…Ichika didn't have a support team before because of the testy nature of him being the sole male IS pilot.' Blue-eyed glanced between each of the three women in slight suspicion and no small amount of hidden jealousy. 'But a team that isn't made solely of Japanese nationals? That's…'
"That's us!" The platinum blonde's smile grew fond as she drew the two other women into a hug. Or at least attempted to, as Haruka stepped to the side just out of her reach, shooting a quick dirty glance at her before turning back towards them. Taking the dodge in stride, the friendly smile on the woman turned into a vulpine grin as her hypnotic eyes slowly panned over to the male IS pilot while she squeezed the muttering brunette. "So don't you worry your pretty little heads about him." Her tongue then peeked out just enough to sensually lick her upper lip.
"We'll treat him right~"
Ichika's face gained a unique shade as it transitioned between paling and blushing, with turning purple in between.
Diane's brow twitched, and her smile grew strained, managing to give out an awkward laugh as she visibly tried to escape the blonde's clutches.
Haruka's face quickly grew blank, her expression faltering for a second as she peeked at the resident blonde through her peripheral vision and gave a subtle sigh.
Houki and Rin hollowly stared, brows twitching as veins visibly throbbed on their temples in sheer disbelief at the ovaries this woman had.
Cecilia, Charlotte, and Laura leaned back in surprise at the rather scandalous intent of her action. Sure, they've witnessed the Astray pilots be harassed with such offers but they each had their methods of countering or waving away said intent.
The sole male IS pilot, however?
He had none.
Which was why they uneasily glanced at the two other girls who they knew were fighting for the Byakushiki pilot's affections.
Thwack!
"Ouch!"
Chifuyu huffed as walked up from behind the group, lowering a rolled up magazine as she did so. "Don't mess with my students, Faust. Remember that when you get your schedules from my office right now."
"Alright, alright~" Evelyn sighed as she pushed her sunglasses back up, hiding her eyes before she sent a suggestive grin at the male pilot. "I think I'll enjoy spending time with you, I-chi-ka~!"
Ichika, for his part, only paled and nodded, detecting the well-hidden intent behind her words. He was so going to eat the martial arts mats in their future spars. "Y-Yeah, sure. See you."
With a carefree wave, the platinum blonde turned around and walked towards the same entrance they came from, her hips swinging in a subtle yet hypnotic style that caught the younger Orimura's eyes for a couple of seconds. He then snapped his head away from the sight of it, palming his face as he soundlessly screamed into his palm.
Diane stared as her companion got further and further away before turning back to the expectant group. "I-um," Her gray eyes looked around nervously before quickly bowing and walking away. "Excuse me, I have to go to the- I mean, powder my nose! It was a pleasure to meet you!"
With that, the rather 'well-endowed' woman left, leaving the spectacled one behind with them.
"Don't mind us, Orimura-kun, " Haruka cleared her throat to bring his attention back to her, the corner of her lips morphing back to its perpetual smile. "She's just playing around. Now," She turned and bowed towards the girls, eyes closed. "If you'll excuse me, I need to make sure Evelyn doesn't do anything stupid."
Green orbs revealed themselves to them, and the world stilled.
"We don't want any misunderstandings now, do we~?"
Whatever muted danger they felt before made itself known, and it was deafening. Words meant to be said were choked down, leaving both Houki and Rin with their mouths half open. A blink and 'Haruka' was back, giving them a friendly wave of goodbye before she turned suit in the direction of her other two compatriots, arms swinging and walking in a controlled manner.
"Orimura," Chifuyu sighed once again, pinching the bridge of her nose in annoyance. "Can you inform Yamada-sensei of the three's whereabouts? I think I need a cup of coffee from her right now."
"Oh, um, sure, Nee-" He cleared his throat as he straightened his back. "I'll get right on that, Orimura-sensei." Sending an apologetic look towards the girls, he left through one of the other entrances of the cafeteria.
"What's uh…" A new arrival spoke up, Kanzashi, as she stepped up from behind the teacher. She looked around at all the whispering and gossiping students before looking back at the myriad of emotions present on the faces of the girls she could consider friends. "What's happening? Why is everyone in Second Shift-levels of gossiping right now?"
"You…didn't see them?" Laura asked her, breaking from her stupefaction quickly.
"See who?"
"Three bitches who are crawling into our turf, that's what!" Rin roared as she stood up, slamming her hands on the table and sending food trays and cutlery flying. "Why I oughta give them a piece of my mind-!"
"Say, Sarashiki-san," Charlotte quickly spoke over the raging girl. "Have you seen Davion? Or Ryo? Or any of the Astray pilots, by chance?"
The bluenette frowned as she eyed the table besides theirs, the usual seats where the guys would eat which were now empty. "No, I didn't. Davion wasn't in the Hangar but the three suits were in their berths, oddly enough." She knew that they were in the berths because they had retracted into their underground chambers for safe-keeping. "But he did leave a note saying that the Professor needed them for something."
"I've already excused them for that." The teacher spoke up, her lips still in a frown as she crossed her arms. "Professor Tabane whisked them away in the middle of the night in order to personally see how much they've grown in her absence."
"That-!" Cecilia started but then closed her mouth, her lips curling into a frown as she digested the facts given to her. "...Without warning us?"
"That's just how she is." Chifuyu rolled her eyes before she turned away. "Now, clean up the mess Huang just made and head to class. This meet and greet won't excuse you from being tardy."
"Y-Yes, ma'am!"
"Damn it, Huang!"
"Grrr!"
"What was that about?"
"Hm~?"
"Don't you 'hm~?' me. Was the flirting really necessary?"
Evelyn— Ephraim turned around and fixed her unnatural gaze, eyes that shone with mischief, hidden by the sunglasses, at a frowning Ryo. Her lips then curled up into a smirk as she put her hands in her pants pockets and shrugged.
"Seemed like a fun thing to do, riling up those two girls to get their gears going."
The former courier narrowed her eyes at the blonde before looking around the less-used hallway they were in. "You do realize that you're playing with fire, right? You were the one who said to stick to the plan and then you suddenly use another persona out of the blue!"
"Calm down, I made a quick decision that the 'Ice Queen' mask wouldn't work at that moment so I went for another."
"And the flirting?"
"Part of the mask. Promise I won't do that again. I'm not that careless, you know that."
"Well, I don't trust you to keep your promises."
A tilt of her head made the sunglasses lower by an inch, letting her look over the rims in a deadpan fashion at the dark-haired man-turned-woman. "You're seriously serious about the potential threat of us being dragged into Normie-mura's orbit? It was a joke, you know there's no way I'd like him."
The former courier rolled her eyes. "Spoken like a true tsundere."
Ephraim pushed her sunglasses up to rest on her head, her eyes positively sparking in restrained anger. "You're just begging for a fisting, aren't you?"
"Whatever. Have you read 'Boku-girl'?"
"Sounds familiar. Is it the one where-"
"The MC got genderbent by Loki? Exactly. That's where we are and the genre we're now in." Ryo hissed, walking forward and past the blonde, grabbing her by the arm and dragging her with. "I'm not risking that nor am I risking you, especially because of your messed up sexual preferences, to the damned tropes. I'll manipulate the entire island to prevent it from happening if I have to."
Ephraim's lips curled up in an empty vulpine smile, her eyes closing half-lid and merely adding to the pressure of her expression. "Ara~? I didn't know you had such a Control Devil in you." She then pulled the green-eyed woman back, forcing her to look into her eyes. Leaning forward, she let a hint of the ever-restrained bloodlust leak out, the familiar madness bringing the temperature down in the hallway. "Just remember your place when it comes to 'manipulating' me, okay~? Best not to rouse the Demon within-"
"Come on!" Davion suddenly pushed past them, stomping ahead with her fists clenched tightly. "Stop arguing like bitches and just go to Orimura-sensei's office!"
The two taller women glanced at each other before calming down, enmity and killing intent quickly forgotten.
"He saw Kanzashi, didn't he?"
The blonde sighed, sending a pitying look at the brunette as she pushed her sunglasses back down on her nose. "Most likely, yeah."
Ryo shook her head, a grumble escaping her lips as she followed after their temperamental friend. "I hate our luck sometimes."
"Preaching to the choir, sister."
"Brother."
AN:
Behold, the continuation of CORE of a Problem!
Also written while drunk!
No, I don't have an alcohol problem, I know my limits. Seriously, I only drink at least a glass of wine per week and at most a whole bottle of liquor for the whole month.
...Okay, when I say it like that, it sounds like I have a problem, but I promise you I don't!
If you're curious on what they more accurately look like:
Ephraim/Evelyn looks like AK-12 from GFL in her suit during the "Dual Randomness" Event.
Ryo/Haruka looks like Reze from Chainsaw Man in the Devil Hunter's attire, sans blazer. Or Saki Yumihara from Kyokou Suiri.
Davion/Diane…well, his Controller and I couldn't really find a good reference. Closest could be a short and brown haired Bocchi or a short-haired Takao from D-Frag wearing her PE uniform when the zipper popped.
To the reviews!
RoyalTwinFangs: Thank you for your review! Why did I rank UC first followed by SEED and Post Disaster/IBO? Well, simply put, it's mainly due to bias. UC's the first ever Gundam media I encountered (SD Gundam G Generation Cross Drive on the DS and Gundam Battle Royale on the PSP) so it's gonna stay in my top 1 in many of my Gundam listings. SEED's second mainly because I liked how the GINNs and CGUE performed in the first episodes of the HD Remake, where they were actual threats and had a presence to them. IBO ranks third because of how much the Graze was showcased whenever Gjallarhorn was fought against. And, as you can tell from the words prior to this sentence, I have a fondness for monoeye designs. I am a Zeke, after all. Also if you played Gundam Battle Royale or Gundam Battle Universe and didn't have Yuki Nakasato as your Operator, I pity you.
KnightOfZaku: As I said before in the earlier chapters, friendships are going to be broken, caused by the ripples of one's actions, whether they knew it or not. As for C.E.R.B.E.R.U.S., well, that's a bit more complicated. Take note of the first two words in the acronym (Chemically Enhanced). And for Mu, well, I'll just say that he won't be placed in Phantom Task. His part in the story is over, that's all I can say. For now, perhaps.
P.B.S: Well, my guess of the IS evolving is pretty much the same as what you've confirmed. I guessed that they would evolved following a great change in the pilot (as typical in a shounen series) but that's pretty much the same, isn't it? Also is this Houki going berserk the younger Houki or a future Houki who I may have read up a bit on the wiki? And speaking of the EXAM/HADES, the very first draft of this story would have had Ephraim with a HADES equipped...ah, maybe I shouldn't speak of it. The clues are in the earlier chapters' omakes, heh.
I just had to do it to good ol' Mu. Had to give him a proper send-off for his cameo, after all!
Also, I showed your review about the EOS to the other two and we all shared a good laugh at how it literally is a bootleg Gone Astray-style Mobile Suit. It's actually kinda uncanny how the features are parallel to each other. Power Armor-style suit, a different OS, and battery powered. Project Ryo called them, the UN, as 'gangsters', and Davion's controller called them a 'Bootleg Earth Alliance', which isn't really all that far off! I personally call them Feddies, but that's the Zeke speaking out.
Well, this is Cipher, stressing over the class project, signing off!
Omake-ception!: Clothes make the (former) man
"Aaand I'm back."
Chifuyu didn't look up from her work.
"Welcome back. Did anyone spot you?"
Ephraim sighed as she set down the multitude of shopping backs on the conference table, removing the face mask and fake glasses that she wore.
"No. Even if I'm like this, I still know how to sneak around. I did get propositioned by a few men and women while I was out on the mainland, though."
Davion stood up from her seat at the table and peered into one of the bags. "The hell did you buy?"
"Clothes, underwear, lingerie, everything we need to blend in, really." The platinum blonde waved airily. "Had to go to Galleria in Roppongi to buy most of these, and they cost me a pretty penny."
Ryo looked up from her light novel to stare at her roommate. "...Lingerie? I dread to ask but...why?"
"Why not?" The purple-eyed woman shrugged as she pulled out a pair of lacy black panties and then a matching set of bras. "If we're going to stay like this for a while, might as well look pretty, right?"
"While I applaud your ability to adapt to situations rather quickly, Sahaku..." Chifuyu frowned as she looked up at her formerly male combat assistant. "There's such a thing as adapting too fast. Are you-"
"No. No I'm not okay." Ephraim beamed at her superior, the hollow smile reinforced by the dullness of her purples. "I'm really just running on automatic right now, this is all a coping mechanism of mine. Ask me that again after a day or two and I'll start screaming and crying."
"Why did you buy an open crotch panty?" Davion's incredulous voice stole their attention as she held a baby blue pair that was indeed, crotchless. "The hell is wrong with you?!"
"Like I said. I am going on automatic."
"Did you even buy normal underwear for us to wear?" Ryo frowned at the blonde. "Like boy shorts or something?"
"The boy shorts and sports bras are in the bag with the green tag. Also, you're boring, Ryo."
"I'd prefer to not wear lingerie or panties, thank you. I still have my pride as a man."
"Whatever, pussy."