"Speech"
"Flashback Speech"
/Speech over communication tech/
Infinite Stratos: The Iron-Blooded Devil
Chapter 5: A Not So Strange Day
Monday morning, a single day after Ichika's fight to remain at IS Academy…. If one could really call it a fight. Houki awoke around the time of Ichika's morning routine of 20 sit-ups, 20 push-ups and 20 pull-ups; the second of which he was currently on. She couldn't help but blush every time she saw him do this bare-chested and fought back all the impure thoughts that would spring up; a deed done by focusing on his scars and the "whiskers" on his back as he calls them. However, this also had the consequence of her feeling saddened at the horrors he must've endured.
"Hey, morning," he said; having noticed her awake.
"Morning," she replied.
"Sleep well?"
"Yeah… and you?"
"I slept okay," he stood up and opened to the balcony door, "Hey, I'm gonna finish up my reps so why don't you wash up first?"
"Okay," Houki pulled herself out of bed and made for the shower; a last quick glance at Ichika's torso mid-pull up made her consider a cold one.
Breakfast became a quiet affair as everyone was whispering amongst themselves when the two entered, ate and left. The same continued as they walked the hallways, everyone seemingly giving them a wide berth. Students would huddle close, whispering to each other yet never taking their eyes off the duo. This did not go unnoticed by the two childhood friends and Ichika had an inkling as to the reason behind the sudden change in his peers.
"You know… I'm a little concerned."
"About what?" Houki asked.
"I might've gone a little overboard in the fight yesterday,"
"I'd argue that Kobayashi had it coming for a long time."
"Still, I might have scared everybody with how I fight."
As soon as the classroom door opened, they were barraged with cheers like hurricane force winds, many chanting Ichika's surname.
"You were saying?" Houki asked with a small smirk.
A split second later, they were surrounded by the class; a girl in pigtails went first.
"Orimura, that was awesome!"
"Yeah! You really gave Kobayashi a thrashing; Bam! Boom! POW!" a girl in glasses added, swinging her arms around with each sound effect.
"You took down her and five 3rd years and made it look SO easy!" Sayuka gushed.
"If we had you during the inter-class tournament, we'd smoke 'em!" Yuzu added excitedly.
"All the other classes better hope they never have to face class 1's 'Iron-Blooded Devil!" Nonohon declared.
Everyone stopped at that last comment.
"Iron-Blooded Devil?" everyone asked as all eyes turned to Nonohon.
"I overheard Lady Chifuyu and Shinonono saying that was the nickname you picked up,*" she explained.
Houki flinched at having learned someone had been listening in on her and Chifuyu while Ichika was about to correct her before another girl chimed in.
"Class 1's Iron-Blooded Devil,' that sounds so cool!"
The girls began to chatter amongst themselves about the new 'ace' of their class when Ms. Yamada and Chifuyu walked, the latter ordering everyone to sit down.
As every made for the seats, one girl that sat behind Ichika took note of something different about his attire.
"Did you put that on your uniform jacket?"
He looked back at her then glanced down at to where she was looking.
"Oh yeah, I kinda don't feel right without it there."
There on his back was a red Tekkadan flower symbol.
"It's the symbol of the group I was a part of, Tekkadan."
"Tekka' as in 'Iron Fire?"
"No, 'Iron Flower.' Because no matter how much it's trampled, it never wilts. It never dies."
Those that heard him looked up in awe at the poetic meaning behind the symbol.
Class had started and just like before Ichika had no idea what Ms. Yamada was saying. What does molecular exchange have to do with thrusters? Come to think of it, why does he even need to take this class? Barbatos technically isn't even an IS. He'd have to have that tutoring session with Houki soon. Another thing that was occurring like before was feeling the stares on him, although, they were less intense than before; even the drilling stare seemed more subdued. It carried on until class ended with Ms. Yamada reminding everyone that tomorrow was practical training with class 2.
A small recess was called and Ichika had asked Houki to join him for some coffee. A quick trip to a nearby vending machine and downing a can each later, they began their walk back to the classroom; only to stop when they caught sight of a faculty member attaching something to the message board. Taking glance, Ichika's curiosity was piqued when he saw the words 'Important Tournament Update.'
"What's this?"
"It's about the tournament next month."
"Tournament?" Then Ichika recalled Chifuyu saying something about that when he first arrived, "Oh yeah, Ms. Orimura mentioned something like that, I think it was to stop me and that black IS from fighting."
He then took a closer look at the flyer and read aloud.
"In order for us to conduct the most practical simulated matches, all of those participating in next month's IS tournament will be required to form two-member teams. However, for those who are unable to establish teams on their own, their partners will be chosen by a random drawing. The registration deadline is the end of the week. Please inform your homeroom teachers for registration."
He then turned to his childhood friend.
"Are you participating, Houki?"
"I was thinking about it but I wasn't sure. Why?"
"Well, I was thinking, why don't we team up?"
She then looked at him in surprise with a small blush as several thoughts ran through her mind. Ichika had no doubt become the top desired partner for this event, having made a name for himself in less than two days. He also had become the opponent to beat for the very same reason. Houki knew she wasn't one of the best at the academy but the two had known each other since early childhood and had trained together for years. Plus there was the fact that he asked her.
"Um, okay," she said with a little enthusiasm.
"Then let's go tell Ms. Yamada."
The two then rushed off to the teacher's office. The process didn't take long, filling out a few forms and inputting it into the system.
"Alright, you're all set," Ms. Yamada said with a bright smile.
After that, the two returned to class to find that they had just found out about the new team format for the tournament. Ichika had instantly become swarmed by those asking him to be their partner only for the hopes to be dashed when he revealed that he already had one. The day carried on into the afternoon and classes ended for the day. Houki had left for Kendo club, leaving Ichika to return to the room alone.
Along the way, he came across a park area with a river running through and benches scattered about. It had been so long since he had seen anything so normal like this that he soon found himself sitting on the nearest bench. His mind drifted back to Mars and those left behind. He then dug into his pocket and pulled out the photo of everyone; he couldn't help but wonder as to how they would take a world like this. Dante would enjoy all the tech to play with. Shino, Zack and Eugene would tell him he's in a paradise. Mika would probably kick his ass for taking Barbatos, even if he could only use one leg.
"You okay, kid?" a familiar voice asked.
Ichika turned to find Chifuyu walking up to him.
"Been thinking about the rest of guys in Tekkadan, I can't help but wonder if they made it out okay," Ichika said as he handed her the photo.
Chifuyu looked at the picture intently, easily noting the Barbatos in the back and its sheer size in comparison to the humans in front. Her focus then shifted to the group of boys at the forefront, this was her first time seeing the Tekkadan boys and it surprised her at how young they all looked.
"So this is them?"
"Hnn," Ichika nodded, "We had that taken after the Mobile Armor incident. You see the kid next to me?"
Chifuyu zeroed in on where her little brother was in the photo and saw him with a rather small kid's arm around his shoulder; while it seemed like just a friendly gesture, it looked kinda like Ichika was holding him up.
"That's Mikazuki."
"The kid you shared piloting your machine? He looks barely as old as you."
"He was actually older than I was. And the guy in the suit next to him is Orga, he was the boss of Tekkadan. He and Mika have known each other for ever, they were as close as brothers," He said the last part with small smile.
"Who are the girls here?" she asked while pointing at the pair of blondes and a petite girl squatting in front of Mikazuki.
"The older woman is Ms. Merribit, she was the HQ manager on Mars and was in a relationship with Yukinojo; the older man next to her. The girl in front of Mika there is Atra, she was our cook and Mika's girlfriend."
"He had a girlfriend?"
"Considering he got her pregnant, what else would you call her?"
Chifuyu's eyes widen, now it just got a little awkward.
"Uh, what about the other blonde?"
"That's Kudelia, she wasn't part of Tekkadan but she was responsible for its creation."
"How so?" she asked as she sat down.
"You remember how I told you it was once called CGS before Orga led a mutiny against all the jackasses that were running it?"
She nodded as he turned to stare out at the lake.
"What started it all was a job we accepted and were soon attacked by Gjallarhorn."
"And that job was this Kudelia?"
"Yup, we were to take her to Earth. Gjallarhorn didn't make it easy for us. We fought a lot of battles. Lost a lot of friends… Neriya…Dios… Danji… Biscuit… but we kept going. We crushed anyone who got in our way, they showed us no mercy and we responded in kind. We got her there and she had been close friend and business partner ever since."
It wrenched at her heart at how he spoke of the battles he's fought, the friends he lost, the enemies he's killed but most of all; how nonchalant his tone was as if he was talking about the weather.
"Thinking back on it, I think I understand how they must've felt."
"About what?"
"Tekkadan was all boys before Atra and Ms. Merribit came along. Being surrounded by the opposite sex who hadn't seen someone like you before or at least in a long time, feeling like eyes were on you 24/7 must've been pretty unsettling."
"Is that how you feel?"
"Well, I am the only guy in this academy. They at least had another to talk to, I'm on my own here. And I spent the last 5 years going from battlefield to battlefield and this school is as alien to me as when I first got on Mars. Makes you wonder if I even should be here."
"You're somewhat right," Chifuyu stated as she stood up, catching his full attention.
"Tekkadan may not be here with you and you may be the only male at this school but you're not alone, you have me; and you have Houki, too," she said with a soft smile, "We may not be Tekkadan but we're here for you, the both of us, if you ever need someone to talk to."
"I think you'd fit right in Tekkadan."
"Thanks for that but I don't think we'll ever know if it's true."
"I do," he said with smile of his own, "Orga used to say that 'any family to one of us is family to all of us.' By that logic, you're already in Tekkadan."
Izumi Kobayashi sat across from some suit from the government; various files lay across the table between them.
"What do you want? I'm busy," Izumi grumbled haughtily.
"I'm here in regards to your last match against Ichika Orimura," she began as she adjusted her glasses.
The girl growled at the mention of that name.
"What of it?"
"The top brass have been reviewing it, your previous matches and IS data; bottom line is that they are not pleased."
The younger girl gave a look that silently said 'I should care, why?'
"All your matches thus far have ended with your victory either by default due to your opponents being no shows, you and others ganging up on them which puts them at a severe disadvantage or 'sudden technical difficulties' with their IS units. As it stands, you've barely had a real fight up until recently."
"I still won them, didn't I?" Kobayashi was not seeing what her point was.
"There's more. Not only has Amaterasu not shown any advancements but your actions both on and off the field have been viewed as rather unsavory; reflecting poorly on our country. Blatant disregard for rules, unsportsmanlike conduct; the list goes on. That is why you are being put on notice: if this continues, you will be dropped as a contender."
Kobayashi shot up in rage.
"You can't do that!"
"Yes, we can. The Japanese government retains the rights to choose and dismiss any representative contender if they feel that contender is not up to par or has shown behavior that would reflect badly on the country; and the ISRC has no authority to veto such a decision."
"When my mother hears of this-"
"-she will do nothing. You may be the chairwoman's daughter but that does not exempt you from the possibility of revoking your contender status. She may have nominated you as a contender but that's all that you are, a contender; not the full representative. And unless we see some improvement to your performance and attitude, you won't even be that for long either."
"But I'm the best!"
"No, you're not," the official declared forcefully, "Sarashiki scored far higher than you did in our tests; you only got top ranking because of your mother. There's even talk of making Ichika Orimura the top Representative Contender."
"WHAT?!"
"Why not? He's a Japanese citizen, his own sister was the first Representative of Japan and he's clearly the superior fighter after he MOPPED THE FLOOR WITH YOU!" she said rather smugly.
Izumi trembled with rage at this 'lowly bureaucrat.'
"You have been given 90 days to show improvement. Otherwise, you're finished."
She packed up her reports and walked out the door with a hardly sincere "Have a nice day."
Izumi was glued to her spot, her fists clenched tightly as the ultimatum replayed in her mind and her hatred boiled at the one she saw responsible: Ichika Orimura.
At the same time, Nonohon, Yuzu and Sayuka were walking down the dorm room halls after a relaxing bath.
"Can't believe Orimura already has a partner for the tournament," Nonohon sighed dejectedly.
"I wish I heard about it sooner so I could ask him to join up with me," Yuzu added.
Sayuka was about to respond when the sound of a toilet flushing and the subject of their discussion stepping out caught their attention. They all subconsciously ducked behind a corner but peeked around.
"The most advanced school in the world and they couldn't figure out how to get a toilet into the rooms?" Ichika grumbled.
The trio weren't paying attention to what he was saying, there were more focused on everything from the neck down. He was clad in a loose yet form-fitting tank-top and a pair of sweat pants, the girls were too far away to see the scars but they could make out his rather impressive physique. He came to a stop in front of one door and knocked.
"Who is it?" a girl's voice came.
"It's me, you good?" he asked.
"Yeah, come on in," the girl answered, prompting Orimura to open the door before stepping inside.
The trio were wide eyed and quickly rushed over to the door the lone male student entered.
"Isn't this Shinonono's room?" Yuzu asked.
"Yeah," Sayuka answered, "Does that mean…?" she trailed off; imagining a nude Shinonono and Orimura in bed.
"Are they…?" Yuzu added, picturing the two in the shower.
"Is it possible…?" Nonohon continued with thoughts of the two and chains and leather… and had no idea why that came to mind.
The three then leaned against the door to try and listen in. They could definitely make out some kind of conversation but it was too muted to make anything out. They pressed further into the door just as everything had gone quiet on the other side. Suddenly, the door gave as they found themselves tumbling forward to see Orimura holding the door and Shinonono at the desk; both still clothed and staring at the three girls.
"Hi… we were, uh… just leaving," Nonohon weakly said before she and the two others bolted.
Ichika closed the door when he saw the girls run around the corner.
"What was that all about?" he asked, thumbing the door.
"No idea," Houki replied, utterly confused.
The lone boy returned to the desk, of which a few open books and papers were scattered about.
"Well, let's get back to it," Ichika said, Houki nodded in response and the two continued their tutoring session.
It was about another hour later that Ichika's phone rang, a little something given to him by Tabane after he fully recovered. He checked the number, finding it familiar before flipping it open.
"Hello?"
/Hi, Ichika!/
"Tabane?"
"Saw your match against the Japanese Rep Contender," she said with a laugh, "How did Barbatos feel?"
/Felt the same as when it was a mobile suit, still a beast./
"Good to hear! I'm glad that I could actually fix that beauty."
/By the way, how are they doing?/
"Just fine, they should be good to go in a couple of months and be sure to let Houki know that something special is coming her way soon."
The IS creator glanced at an area of her lab, particularly on a certain set of machines in the shadows. The limited light could make out the distinctive colors of red, beige and magenta.
/Great. Oh and Houki is here with me, did you want to talk?/
Tabane flinched and her smile fell.
"That's… okay, Ichika. I gotta get back to work, bye," she replied in a hollow tone before ending the call.
Tabane let out a heavy sigh. She then snapped herself out of her with a slap to her own face and approached another area of the lab.
"Alright, my little beauty… what other secrets will you reveal to me?" she asked to the machine in front of her: the wreck of Julieta Juris' Reginlaze.
Ichika closed the phone as he kept his eyes on a clearly uncomfortable Houki.
"I get the feeling that you two aren't speaking."
"We haven't… not since your funeral."
"Sorry"
"It's not your fault," she paused, "It's just… I spent so long hating her and the IS. For making me move away. For changing the world in such a way. For when I thought you were dead. There was just so much anger in me."
"What changed? I mean you are at IS academy, a school that teaches you how to pilot something you hate."
"It was at the National Kendo Championship last year; I didn't realize it until after the finals that all I was doing was taking my anger out on my opponents and that you wouldn't want me to spend my life being bitter. I decided to attend here because I thought I could understand why the world loved the IS so much; maybe it would help me find a way to mend things with Tabane."
"And I'm guessing the phone call earlier was too soon?"
Houki nodded silently. She then felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Then I wish you luck in that but I hope you two don't take too long. I'll help you in any way I can if you like."
"Thanks, Ichika," Houki said softly.
"Well, it's getting late, we'd best turn in," Ichika suggested.
"Yeah," she agreed.
The two put away their study materials then shut off various lights before crawling into bed, before the last light went out; the two wished each other 'Goodnight.'
*A/N: While this fic is written in English, the characters are technically still speaking Japanese. When Chifuyu said "Devil of Tekkadan," she said it as "TEKKADAN no Akuma." Nonohon misheard it as "TEKKETSU no Akuma" which means "Iron-Blooded Devil"
Sorry this took so long, had a little trouble figuring out what to do for this. I also need to address something that a few brought up in the last chapter, the toned down violence. Ichika was aware this wasn't a fight to the death like his previous battles and therefore, didn't need to go all out as he would usually. This was due to multiple factors:
He knew he was the more experienced fighter. Despite the girls of IS academy being formally trained, it's all they had: training in a controlled environment. Ichika knows that a real battle is unpredictable and can easily shift in any way; all the training in the world amounts to nothing if you don't know how to apply it in a real scenario. Plus, he was used to having the odds stacked against him, the worst of it being in a heavily damaged Gundam against an army while bleeding to death.
He knew he had the superior tech. Barbatos was a monster of a mech even before Tabane gave it IS modifications, being faster and stronger than 3rd generation IS models. Combined with the Alaya-Vijnana, giving Ichika omni-directional spatial awareness and superhuman reaction speed; Chifuyu may even have a hard time against him. Then there's the simple fact that Barbatos and its kin were originally designed and built to take down Mobile Armors, machines that tore modern mobile suits into scrap.
