I wasn't sure when I'd start writing this bit. I have first wanted to wait until I was done with two of my bigger fics but En Route is now one major pain to deal with.
So when I got the fight of Rin over, I can focus on something more. Especially with summer rolling by.
Not that much to say although my life got a little bit more interesting in the last week. And when I looked this up, it was the out of the Silent Planet. My bad on that regard.
Out of the silent planet, out of the silent planet we are
Out of the silent planet, out of the silent planet we are
Out of the silent planet, out of the silent planet we are
Out of the silent planet, out of the silent planet we are
Minato hadn't been too sure when this was going to end but he was wondering what would cause Ichika to snap.
It hadn't been easy on the male pilot yet. And now, it was even worse.
He hadn't heard from Ichika in a few days but now, it looked like a new mail and a new problem for him to solve.
Kusano had been seated in his lap. Her eyes had been drooping over the screen yet she fought to keep awake until it was official bedtime.
So she could read along the lines of what Ichika had to say.
Hey Minato.
Things aren't exactly great. If they could be great, to begin with.
I now have a third problem on my hands. Namely Lingying Huang or Rin like I call to her. She was in middle school and helped me out when Houki was gone.
You haven't met her but she is a lot like Houki. Or like Yukari, although with a lot more energy and a bit unhinged if you catch my drift.
The saving grace is that she is not in my class. I already got enough to deal with Houki. And for some reason, Cecilia is also after me.
I don't have a single good idea of why she is now interested in me.
Minato couldn't help but think about Tsukiumi who wanted to kill him before she calmed down and allowed him to be her Ashikabi.
But Cecilia Alcott was no Sekirei (if she was, the ideas of female supremacy wouldn't be so high in her head) so it was weird that she was interested in Ichika.
Rin and I had lunch and it was interrupted by those two and we had a bit of wording. I hope you are not angry with me if I called your name in that.
Dismissing any threat to him with the help of his girls, Minato didn't blame Ichika. The younger man was in a position that was rough on anyone.
And he pondered about what anyone could do. He was safe here, MBI would employ later on, and Miya would protect him as long he was here. So there was nothing wrong with the information.
I'm going to have to call your help Rin's IS. And I'm afraid that I'm going to need more help as I think I'll have more problem with those girls around me.
We are going to have an Interclass IS tournament in which I gotta fight against Rin which isn't really great as I don't have anything on her IS.
Also, I'm just wondering. What sort of idiot throws away her entire life and goes out on a limp to get over to a school? That's what she did.
I have no idea how she did it and I don't want to know. Just some help on her. Last night, after Houki and Cecilia were done with training me or mauling me, you can make the choice, Rin had decided to barge in my room and said that she wanted to switch rooms with me.
That didn't go very well and we're a few days before we are this fight and I can use your help. And a bit of information on how to deal with her.
Rin has been in this school for just a week and nearly killed me several times, nearly destroyed my classroom and my bedroom and for some reason, she seems angry with me.
If you need some information, it's not too different from with Houki. Helped her with bullies at school and hung out with her.
I also ate at her place when Chifuyu was out to become a pilot.
So any help man, I can really use about anything man. I'm at my end here.
Noticing he didn't use the nee what Ichika normally did, Minato guessed that Ichika had been pushed to an edge that even Chifuyu didn't get respect.
Or maybe she got respect but not affection which could hurt a lot more for someone. Especially for someone who was your family.
His youngest Sekirei looked over the whole talk with Ichika. And she frowned.
"Mou, what is wrong with that mean lady? Shouldn't she treat that Ichika boy likes a good person? Kuu is wondering if she even likes him" She pouted on the remark and Minato sighed. Like a lot of Sekirei, she was appealed by the way guys got treated in this day and age and she wasn't happy how things were.
Reading about this made her even angrier. This was just horrible.
"You're right, Kuu-chan but what do you think about this?" Most might wonder why one would ask the opinion of an eight-year-old but Kusano was no longer a normal eight years old.
She was already smart and perceptive from a young age and with the fight they had in the last months, she had been one grown-up young woman. So asking her for some ideas wasn't a bad thing at all.
She was a Sekirei, a race that could be seen as superior to human beings.
"I am not sure but from what I read, she acts a lot like big sis Tsukiumi before she calmed down. I think this Rin person is jealous. And she is acting that out on Ichika. Without thinking over consequences. A bit like a child."
Not wanting to give any comment on that remark, more because Kusano was ready to fall asleep if the big yawn was anything to go by.
"So what do you think I should tell him." The Youngest in the flock just smiled at her brother.
"He should do what big brother does. Trying to love everyone." Making a mental note that he should tell the girl about human relationships, who just had lapsed herself in his arms. But before he could tell her more, she fell asleep on his body.
So it was clear that the tired girl was now getting carried away by her older brother. He put her next to Miya's room, knowing that she wouldn't stay there.
He had some ideas that he should give that kid.
Hey, Ichika.
You really can't catch a break, now can you? No joke. With that Rin, it looks like she can be really jealous. Maybe, that is one thing. That girl got some issues.
The question is how you can attract so many girls. I would wonder how you would be as an Ashikabi. Just wondering about it.
With my name out there, that might have gone bad but don't worry about it. Perhaps if they know you have me as your buddy, that might be biting for them. I don't see how they can hurt me but for you. Good luck man.
I'll be sure to look up your opponents Infinite Stratos. But with Matsu, I am going to have a hard time paying her back. That girl has a really perverted mind and it shows in the lovemaking. I already had to pay her back with how much I had to look up that other girl, Cecilia.
Kusano guessed that Rin is jealous of you being friends with Houki and Cecilia. Even if that term is not correct, there is no other way I can describe it.
She says she acts like Tsukiumi before she calmed down. I think she is right on that.
You shook her world views and that caused her to look up for new things in your case. It might be a major pain to think about it, but you have caused her to rethink stuff.
Now, with Tsukiumi, she had heard some ridiculous stuff on all she had to do when she would have an Ashikabi.
Looking back at it, she has now done those things she was told (not all of them if I can be honest) but things calmed down later. In any case, good night pall.
After pressing send, Minato noticed how tired he was.
Which was not abnormal given how much time he had spent looking after Kusano. With his studies, looking for a new place to live, his girls that wanted his attention, Ichika that needed his help, Minato certainly got some new issues that he had to scare off. With how things were, he wanted to go to his bed and collapse in it.
It was empty now but it would only take an hour before the Sekirei would sleepwalk in his room. And he was happy that he got some hugs and warm bodies around him.
He didn't want sex now as his body had grown tired and they weren't too far behind.
The next morning.
When he woke up, he was greeted by the face of Kazehana who didn't waste any time of kissing the life out of him. Her wings were just the first that would come out.
A flurry of wings came out of the flock got their kisses. They were greeted by the face of Takehito who just smiled at them.
"Good morning, you all. I hope that you didn't have sex here." Sniffing the air, it was too clean and good for that to have happened here.
"And you didn't. Now, hurry up as we are going to have breakfast soon."
"Eh, Asama-san, where is the landlady?" The doctor just grinned at them and the group gulped.
"The rule that no married couple can have sex here. In my case, that doesn't apply." The group mentally made a note never to ask that again.
With breakfast going over fast, the group just sat down as Takehito proved to be an excellent cook.
When they finally saw Miya, her clothes were disheveled, her hair was unruly, she had a weird step but her face was the biggest smile anyone had ever seen in the place.
Everyone except for Takehito.
And the ones who joined later. Seo had been eating out here again as he blew his jobs again. The only reason that the leech could eat here was that Takehito had felt sorry for Hikari and Hibiki who had landed the most unlucky Ashikabi.
They weren't alone. They had taken their sons with them.
Two kids both from Hibiki and Hikari and they had taken over their mother's ability to shook Seo who had grown used to them but he remained a fried corpse walking.
Minato hadn't been too sure on the names they had given those boys.
Raizou, Raiden, Raimei, RAigou. There wasn't much variety in it although, with their powers, it wasn't surprising.
Being six months old, they caused lots of more problems.
When Takehito and Seo began to chat, it was clear for everyone to move out. Minato trailed to Matsu's room as he had to ask for help.
"I'm wondering if our kids will be like that," Minato muttered as he looked at Matsu and her shapely body in that tight cheongsam. He couldn't help but feel his pants grow tight as he looked at her body. Her behind was even better than she would guess.
"I don't think so, Mina-tan. Unlike that guy, you got some decency and are a better guy overall. When we have those kids, I can't wait till I teach them all about my research." Minato wondered what would happen if that kid would be embarrassed by her mother.
"But before we go over there, I think you need my help on something. What do you need me to do, Mina-tan?"
The Ashikabi got a serious face and looked her in the eyes.
"I need you to look information up for a new Pilot. Lingyin Huang or Rin like Ichika calls her. From what I get, she comes from China and I want you to look up what she uses and how he can counter that."
Matsu sighed. "This is going to be easy. All those countries like to flaunt those girls so getting information is simple."
And it was. At least, for Matsu's standards. Minato was sure that most humans wouldn't be able to hack into sites that were government protected.
A sure deterrent for all those who wanted to cross the Sekirei.
And lo and behold, the Wisdom Sekirei found out about the Infinite Stratos.
Shenlong, made by the Chinese Government. It had been made for close quarters. It had two big weapons.
Souten Gagetsu. From what Minato saw, it was a pair of Chinese scimitar and she could make a double blade form with it. Minato wondered briefly if all weapons were based on old pride.
The other weapon was Ryuhou. A 'supposed' state of the art Impact/Shock Canon. In layman terms, it was a huge canon on the shoulders and it was hard to avoid it. Point-blank range and this thing could do a lot of damage. Ichika would have a hard time avoiding that.
And unlike with Cecilia, it would be difficult for Ichika to destroy that.
Minato was wondering how Ichika would be able to fight against that. And it didn't take long before Minato figured it out.
After leaving Matsu wanting for more and yet satisfied, he went over to the computer.
He was writing his email to Ichika and making out a plan on how Ichika could make out a plan.
In the Infinite Stratos Academy.
Ichika had been training in his own to avoid getting caught up with the machine. Minato's smart plan on how to use his Infinite Stratos proved to be far more effective than either asking Chifuyu or going after training with Houki or Cecilia.
When he got an email from Minato, he had begun his ideas on how he could take on Rin the best way.
It didn't take long before the Inter-Class Tournament began.
Rin looked at the Infinite Stratos ready to do a great fight. She would be able to win.
"Oh, you look confident." Ichika shrugged as he was ready to fight and rip all who said anything different a new one. He was ready to take on Rin without too many problems.
"Well, I got some help." He said to Rin who just smirked.
OST. Fields of Verdun.
"The constants can proceed." Yamada's voice went over the arena.
Ichika nodded to Rin who began to fire her canon. The bullets and aiming were invisible so Ichika tried just to make evasive yet unpredictable movements.
That worked just fine as Rin had no idea how he would do this.
"I can't see your canon but I have to avoid you aiming at me. That makes things just easier for me." Ichika smirked as he was sure now Rin would aim her canons at him.
In the control room.
"How is he doing that?" Chifuyu wondered.
"Shelong's impact canon is a third generations weapon. It concentrates on the atmosphere in a solid projectile. But what is Orimura doing?" Maya looked over the specs that she got here in front of her. Ichika had zero problems doing this from what they could see.
"A third-generation weapon like my blue Tears. Yet, it looks like he has no problem with that."
"Will Ichika be okay? I mean, he just avoiding the attacks. But why?" Houki wondered.
"You need to ask, Shinonono?"
In their mind, it was already figured out as Ichika didn't bother wasting time as the moves looked like they were unpredictable.
But there was a pattern in them, yet only one he could see.
In the Izumono Inn.
Minato and the others looked over it.
"So this was your plan, Sahashi-san? You certainly made a simple one."
"Those are often the best, Miya-san," Minato answered truthfully and this, this would be for the best for all of them as Minato had made the strategy.
Get close to Rin and finish her off. They just looked at what Ichika had been doing.
"Mou. I don't get it." A small voice came from his lap as Kusano was looking at it.
And she didn't like it.
"Why is that Ichika fighting that Rin girl? If she loves him, why can't she tell him that?"
Minato wondered about it.
"I don't think it's that easy, Kuu-chan. Also, because in this, they have to fight." Kusano still pouted as she found what Ichika and Rin did was stupid.
"But they don't fight like you and the big sisters' fight." The eight-year-old proclaimed and the group turned away from the screen.
"Eh, Kusano-tan. We don't fight. At least, not with Minato."
"That's not true. When you're not here, you are fighting, right? Because you always come home with a nice look on your face. Like you had a good fight."
It caused eight individuals to turn bright red and Miya giggling at them. The sooner they had this talk with Kusano, the better.
Scratch that, they needed to have multiple talks. Especially on the one how Kusano found out that Rin was in love with Ichika.
"Like the landlady this morning. Did she fight with you, Takehito-san?"
That caused Miya and Takehito to choke on their spit as Kusano asked a very simple question yet with a very difficult answer.
Miya could see in the eyes of both Matsu and Kazehana they would never live this down. And with her old views, she guessed this was karma. But at the school, it was clear things went really bad.
In the arena.
When Ichika got close enough, he was sure to use his special weapon. Reiraku Byakuya was out and the energy came out from what he saw. He got closer to her but before he could do that, the barrier was shredded and a lot of smoke came from his left. Ichika turned the energy off and looked over to what invaded the place.
An alarm rang off. But besides that, it was as silent as a grave. Rin and Ichika both turned to the smoke.
"The match is canceled! Orimura, Fang. Get the hell out of there."
Chifuyu's cool head had commanded that the gates were shielded to protect the audience. They were safe but couldn't go anywhere.
There was a heat source as whatever was in here with them, was something new. They looked at the source.
And for what Ichika guessed, this was hostile.
With a laser beam, aimed at him and Rin, he proved to be right. "Rin! You need to get the hell out of here!" He could only say that as he saw the beams taking point at her.
He didn't wait until she was okay with it and raced to her. But she didn't take it too kindly.
"Hey, idiot. What are you doing? Let me go." Okay, this was no fun. How the hell was he supposed to fly with her as she kept hitting him?
"Rin. Can you stop that? Do you have any idea how hard it is to pilot this thing with you hitting me?" With a beep behind him, he heard the thing coming after them. He turned to see their assailant.
"That's gotta be an IS." It looked as one although it was huge compared to it and it looked like it was autonomous. There was no response for most of it as it stood there.
"Orimura. Fan. You need to get out of there. The teachers and third years are ready to take care of this." Ichika looked around and he was wondering. Where the hell were they?
State of the art school, his ass.
"But we have to contain it until everyone evacuates!" Cursing in his mind, Ichika sighed.
"So basically, we are sitting ducks till the rest get out of here. Great. Rin. How about we fight this thing?"
Before he could get an answer, he let her go as the beam raced to them.
"Rin. You're up for this!" She nodded and not a moment too soon, really. Because right now, whatever it was, went after them.
They could only evade the damn thing as both of them avoided the damn death machine. When both had some distance, Rin came up with a plan.
"Ichika. I have an idea. If you charge in, I'll cover you. You can only fight close quarters, right?" Ichika nodded.
"Fine. We can do that." The beams raced at them as Rin and the machine fired blows. Ichika went after the machine in the smoke.
In the control room.
Chifuyu had a hard time defusing Cecilia and despite the act of cool and levelheaded, she was worried sick for Ichika.
What didn't help matters was the fact that the doors were blocked. That was just one more thing that they had to worry about.
Just their luck.
While the panic was creeping into it, they asked the government. But things weren't just working out for them.
"So we just have to wait and see." And with that, Cecilia had begun again to ask and they could just wait.
In the arena.
Ichika had a hard time on this and the bickering of Rin didn't make things easier on him. They just couldn't stop deciding what to do.
It didn't take long before Ichika figured something out. "Rin, I don't think we're fighting against a human."
"What are you talking about? The Infinite Stratos is a machine."
"No. That's not what I meant. I don't think that there is a human inside that thing." Ichika stated the idea that was in his mind. Something new he gotta ask Minato about.
"What are you talking about? An IS won't move unless someone pilots it." But now, the machine wasn't coming after them.
"But hey. She hasn't attacked us now. Like she only does that when we go after her." But she shook her head when she made the link.
"It's impossible. You can't pilot it without a pilot in it. That's just how it is." But they looked at it.
"Just humor me. What if? What in the hypothetical sense if we are fighting an unmanned unit?" The smoke was drifting apart and the two just looked at the machine that was out there.
"If you are saying that, how are we supposed to defeat that thing?"
"I think we can. After all, if we don't have to worry about a human being, why should be held back?" Rin looked at him in a bit of wonderment.
"All we got? Ichika, what are you getting at?"
"I got something. An ace up my sleeve. Reiraku Byakuya. I can use that as Yukihira's extra weapon. So I can use it. The weapon is too strong to really use all of it. But I think I can make it work. Problem is that my shield Points will be eaten away."
Rin just sighed and went for it. "Okay, Mr. Confident. I'll listen to you."
"You shoot at it with your canon. Don't hold back. I'll give you the signal." Rin nodded.
"You do know the shot won't connect." Ichika shook his head.
"That isn't a problem. Ready?"
Rin nodded at him and both of them made themselves ready. Before he could actually get close to it. The good news was that Rin actually kept calm about it but it wasn't going to work out that great.
When they heard a voice, he turned to Houki. What the damn hell was that idiot doing here?
"Ichika! If you're a real man, you better beat this thing!" His eyes glared at her.
"Houki, I don't need you to tell me that. And what the hell are you doing here? You're putting yourself in extreme danger. Get out of here."
When the machine aimed at Houki, there was something that didn't stop him from rushing in. When Rin loaded her canon, he just glared at her but moved to her firing line.
"Idiot. What are you doing? Get out."
Just fire. Do it or we are all going to die!" He shouted at the Chinese candidate. Rin just cursed under her breath and fired the gun.
It did hit him but he just used the power he got from it to power up. In his head, he wondered why the hell he did this stupid thing. Play the hero. He really wondered why he did this.
When he reached top speed, he just clashed in the machine and with the full power, he hit the machine over and over again. Unfortunately, he didn't pay attention as he severed the limbs. Somehow, he heard the lines, 'Johnny, I hardly knew ya.'
But that all besides, he had no idea what happened next as an explosion followed. It destroyed the machine and it took him nearly with it. But he just laid down.
"Ichika." He heard a few voices shout until he slipped into unconsciousness.
When he woke back up, he looked at Rin moving to close to him.
"What are you doing?" He shouted which caused their heads to collide.
"I'm just worried about you. Don't take that the wrong way!"
He moved back and looked at her. "So why are you here? Actually, what happened?"
"That is a very good question." He turned to a third pain. He was wondering if what Minato said was right about him. That by defeating Cecilia, he changed her world views.
"But that leaves the question? What are you doing here, Huang-san?" There was something irritating at the voice of hers.
"Right back at you. What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to check on my wounded classmate. And I have no idea why you are here. You shouldn't be here."
"Well, I can be here. I'm Ichika's childhood friend."
"Well, I am his childhood friend as well." Great, now Houki joined.
He waited five minutes until he shouted. "Can someone now please tell me what the hell went down? And Houki. I have a question for you!" He looked at her with a glare.
"What the hell where you thinking, idiot. You could have died or wounded!"
"Don't yell at me, idiot!"
"I am the idiot who got an IS!" He shouted and that shut her up.
"And you don't have one yet so for Pete's sake, woman. Don't put yourself in danger like that. And can now someone tell me how things went down." Ichika shut her up and turned to the two others.
"It looks like you defeated that machine but there's too much left from it. What little remains are up for examination." Cecilia answered and now, Ichika got somewhere.
"But the explosion."
"You caused too much damage for it. So it exploded. And that took you out." Ichika just laid his head back in the pillow.
"So in the end, it worked, huh?" The girls would have started bickering until they were chased out by the nurse.
It was an elderly lady who just shook her head on the display and Ichika wondered if it was because of the girls or because of him. In all regards, he had to spend the night in the place.
He was happy as he wasn't moving his legs anytime soon. But before he was done, he took his cellphone.
It wouldn't be a long mail so he started typing.
Hey Minato.
I'm not dead but I have been close to it. I suppose that you know all about that. I and Rin had our match although I don't have to tell you what invaded us.
It was some unmanned drone. At least, I guess that is what it was. I managed to destroy it but what wasn't destroyed is up for examination. I suppose that if you want to look into it, you can ask that Matsu-san of yours. You got my regards to her. I am afraid that I'll need her help soon.
The girls have been fighting over me and with Rin, it looks like things are not calming down.
In any case, sorry to have you worried.
I'll be sure to send more messages soon.
For Minato, it had been an uneasy night. Despite being used as hug toy and being able to fall asleep, normally, it had been uneasy for him.
He was relieved, to say the least when he heard from Ichika. Matsu had her work cut out for him.
He pitied the boy in the circus he gotten himself into but pitied himself even more.
He would have to make up for the Sekirei and that might be costing him. When he looked to his side, he asked Kusano's opinion again. Especially on Rin. And the answer was that Rin was in love with Ichika but couldn't admit it. But that was something weird as none of the big sisters had any problem with that.
I'm not going to lie. This isn't my best work out there but like with Afraid To Shoot Strangers, I gotta deal with it. I'm not the type of author who would just leave huge chunks out just because I want to write pieces out in his own head.
But I got some bad news when you like this fic cause it's going to take a while before we work on new stuff.
In my own personal life, my school year comes to an end and in the next week, I have my exam. When I am done with that, I'm going on holiday for a week to Turkey. When I'm back home, the week after I'm going to a festival. So things might get rocky from here on out.
Even with that, I first want to work on En Route to a better life. Like this, I have to deal with a huge clusterfuck of a chapter. I want to get that over and done with. Similar is Afraid to Shoot Strangers. When I'm done with volume 3, which is a major pain as well, I can work on something new.
And cause I write this parallel to Stories Told, I first want to work on that new chapters. Next matches are original stuff which I find easier to write out. I got the match of Ichika vs Mattheus and Aine vs Hayuru. That is going to be a twist.
Before we are done with those chapters, it can take a while. If you an update, this will be either Sekirei focused or just some small stuff.
So here you know what my schedule is. The high amount of major pains to write out. And with my summer job, it's only a question how much time I can spend writing.
And if you guys want some new stuff to read and write "MORE", I'd suggest you check out what else I got written out.
Saluut.