Hello again!
"I'm back from doing tests!" Was what I originally going to say, but I came down with a sickness writing the first bit of this chapter. Speaking of which, this chapter probably won't be as long as the previous one (but who knows? I write the story after this first half, makes it easier for me to manage).
However, this should be more dense with IS actions and battles, especially with a lot of OCs coming into this story.
Additionally, I would like to address a few statements some reviews have been asking for:
Pairings: I have a plan already but you should figure it out yourself ok?
Relationships: Ichika won't be a pushover as much compared to the original story, taking into account the change in gender statuses in the world. Though he will fight for proper treatment for men.
Family: Does Ichika have an extended family? Or maybe some complicated circumstances?
Chifuyu vs Mondo Grosso contestants: Chifuyu back in Kurezakura?
Anyways, enough babbling on. Enjoy reading this.
- ISReaderandWriter
I do not own any content or resources in this story. They mainly belong to Izuru Yumizuru and the original context comes from Shiranui Amaterasu's Infinite Stratos: Resolve.
TEXT GUIDE:
ITALICS - Either Text Messages/Calls, Signs, Flashbacks or AI
BOLD - Machine Names or Important Text
'Single Speech Marks' - Thoughts
"Double Speech Marks" - Characters Speaking
(Brackets) - Details
[Square Brackets] - IS Talking or Displaying Information
[IS Academy, Room 1025] [Morning the Next Day]
As the sun rose through the sole window of the male pilot's room, two women could be seen popping their heads out from under the blankets of his bed. They looked like they were embracing someone on either side, but the space between them laid bare. No boy, no person, no nothing.
The boy in question was instead on the floor, doing pushups. Pushing himself past his peak, pools of sweat dragged out of his head, tempting him to fall down and resume his slumber. He went on though, even while his breath became ragged.
"12,875...12,876...12,877...12,878...12,879...12,880." Ichika puffed heavily, releasing a cold steam of air from his mouth. Struggling to reach 12,881, he dropped to the ground, creating a soft thud.
"Haaaa... That's considerably better than before. But not enough." He cursed under his breath, especially when his sister Chifuyu could do 20,000 without breaking a sweat. He was going to bring his promise to fruition and he will protect his family.
Looking down to his watch (not his IS, he removes it while exercising), Ichika takes note of the very early morning. "It's 2:45 right now, I guess I should start creating Setsu and Byaku their new bodies." He walked over to his lengthy desk, clad in multiple IS blueprints, ranging from a dual minigun mount for a shoulder pylon, dual beam swords attached to the back of the hand rather than the wrist for added maneuverability, and finally, an IS killswitch (like Code Red on the Akatsuki).
Turning on the array of holographic monitors, Ichika gets to work assembling new artificial bodies for the two IS figures. "Hey, Setsu, I never thought about this, but why are there two entities in my one IS? Shouldn't there be only one?".
[I thought Tabane-san told you about your IS... Byakushiki is the only IS with a dual-core system built into it. Furthermore, I found out that our dual-core system can accept two more IS cores and make it into a quad-core system!] Setsura exclaimed joyously, appearing on one of the monitor screens, though Ichika was confused at the new revelation.
"Wait, so what can the four-core IS system do?".
[Simple, with a quad-core system, this one IS can split into two separate ISes. However, either you can only have one of the two active at the moment or create a new machine that acts like a clone to the design. That new IS that is created is only controlled by an AI, much like the one we faced back with Rin-san's battle.] Setsura replied teasingly at the apprentice.
[However, choose your IS cores wisely okay? I don't want any hussies getting their grubby hands on my onii-san.]
[Me too sis. Me too...] Byakushiki spoke up in agreeance with the silver-haired teen.
"Oh, Byaku, what's up?" Ichika asked the female calmly, to which the woman just smiled at the boy from the hologram and said two words.
[Nothing much...]
"Well, do you two want to see the progress of your artificial bodies?" Ichika invited the two visitors.
[Yes!]
[If you would like us here...]
"Sure, there's no problem with you two being here. Besides, I still want your input on these bodies." Ichika pulled up two designs for the siblings' potential bodies.
Under a label named Byakushiki, showed a rather moderate body size, relating similar to Chifuyu's but more curved, if you can say that. Its navy blue hair with slight amounts of cyan inner highlights was tied into curled strands around the head with some of its twisted bangs covering the left eye. In Ichika's opinion, it perfectly matched Byakushiki's straightforward and emotionless nature that exuded beauty and reverence.
[Is this my design, Ichika-san?] Byakushiki asked the boy as he continued messing around with the proportions of the body.
"Indeed it is, Byaku, I thought that you would be a lot like Chifuyu-nee, since she was your pilot during the White Knight incident. However, to not mix the two of you up, I made your proportions more like Tabane-nee and your hair like a current singer's character. Ado, with her character, Chando." Ichika answered the lady's questions, earning some respectable feedback from her.
[It looks perfect right now, but could you make me taller? Maybe like 5'10"?] Her input was instantly recieved with the design's potential height rising from 5'4" to her desired height. 5'10".
Moving onto the other design, labelled Setsura, Ichika showed the petite girl a body similar to Chloe's and Laura's but with a dashing array of crimson red hair rather than the original silvery white hair.
[Oh my... nii-san, this looks beautiful! But why did you make my proportions so small?] Setsura interrogated the young designer, especially when it looked like he was mocking her child-like body.
"Setsu, you look cute like that. If you want the bosom and rear to be bigger, you can just ask you know? I didn't keep you two here for no reason." Ichika chided the annoyed child, causing her to blush at the bluntly executed statement.
[Onii- you can't just say that out loud when it isn't just the two of us!] Setsura retorted at the boy, who simply laughed at her reaction and responded back.
"Oh? So you want me to say this to you when we're alone? I never imagined this from you of all people Setsu~" The silverette blushed even harder which forced her to take over a dormant mechanical arm and slap him in the face. "Hey! That was a joke!".
[Baka! Don't ever say that again!] Setsura scolded the quietly chuckling teenager, which only made his stomach ache even more.
"Alright alright, I'll continue this for a while then I'll prepare breakfast for the two sleeping beauties on my bed." Ichika responded back to the two girls, who immideately showed displeasure.
[Oi nii-san! Focus on us only ok? We're practically the closest with you to be fair!] Setsura complained to the IS pilot, who just shrugged it off and gave her a teasing glare.
"Oh? Do tell me how we are the closest? You haven't even physically touched me yet." She instantly shut up at his observation.
[T-t-t-that's fair, I guess. However, as a token of forgiveness because of your childish disrespect! You must eat a whole banquet of desserts. Especially those choco-cream buns, okay?] Ichika nervously chuckled at the devil's grin, weakly giving a thumbs up to the red screen in front of him. Luckily, she calmed down and allowed him to finish designing the artificial bodies for the two consciences. He spent a few hours working on the pair's designs as they intently watched over it, requesting changes to make them more 'appealing' to the creator.
"Alright you two, I really do have to stop for now on these designs, it's been three hours and Tabane-nee normally wakes up around this time. I'll see you two tonight?" The sibling pair nodded their heads in agreement and returned back into the bracelet, allowing Ichika to put it back on. "Guess I'll start making some gohan and natto." He strode towards the kitchen, grabbing his usual frilly apron and opened the cupboards. Reaching for the rice cooker, he readies his masterpiece of a breakfast.
Meanwhile, a 24-year old rabbit woman and an 8-year old winter child moved closer to each other in the bed, clutching each other deep while mumbling some words before ending with "papa". It put a genuine smile on Ichika's face as he thought about the possible future with his own family.
[IS Academy, Room 1025] [5:55AM]
Upon hearing the constant shuffling of glassware, Tabane groggily rubbed her eyes open, adjusting to the dim rays of light coming in from the parting between the curtains. Shuffling her body off Chloe and planting her feet firm on the floor, she tried walking over to the monitor to play a little prank on the school security system.
"Ah-ah-ah~ Little bunny, do you know what you're trying to do?" A masculine voice teasingly reprimanded the conniving woman, causing her to yelp in surprise, only to be pinned to the desk and her mouth covered by Ichika.
"Oi oi, don't shout... You'll wake up Ku, remember?" He scolded the woman a bit more intensely due to her unintentional infraction. While he didn't expect the woman to take it seriously, she instead took it a step further, causing some quite adult voices.
"Ahn~ Ii-kun, don't do that. Unless..." Tabane blushed heavily at Ichika, which caused the boy to reflexively move his hand away from the perverted woman. Her mouth free, she sultrily looked at the blushing male and licked her lips in delight, forcing the male to retreat back into the kitchen and grab the rest of the food he had prepared.
"Ehehehe~ Ii-kun fell for it!" Tabane cheered in a quiet voice, as to not wake up the sleeping 'snow white'. "Oi, Tabane-nee, that wasn't funny. What would Houki do if she saw you doing that?" Ichika chided the cosplaying female as he finished placing the fermented soybeans (natto) on the table.
"Well... I wouldn't mind her seeing us like that..." Tabane muttered under her breath, making sure the special male didn't hear her. "Ooo! Rice and soybeans? Well, don't mind if I do~" Tabane leaped to the small table tucked by the side of his room. But before she could even take a piece of the rice out of the bowl, a heavy smack reached the back of her head, sending her recoiling out of her position and to the middle of the room.
"Ow! Ii-kun hidoi! (meanie!) What was that for?!" Tabane cried in pain at the mother-like boy whilst massaging the area of contact. "Tabane-nee, do you really think that you are the only one eating this breakfast? I let you do this at your house but my house, my rules. Remember?" Ichika answered in a chiding tone, disciplining the erratic bunny.
After a few minutes of his scolding, Ichika moves over to the bed and prepped his wake-up routine. Lightly shaking the bed, Ichika sweetly says to the unconscious child. "Rise and shine, Ku. Breakfast is ready~". Tabane just smiled lightly at the wholesome sight of a father and his daughter.
"mmm... Five more minutes... papa." Chloe mumbled loudly, signalling to Ichika that he should just let her sleep for a bit. He gently removed his hand from the matress and walked back to the table. Grabbing his chopsticks and picking up a piece of the soybean, he steadily eats it, thinking about the events that have transpired and these recurring memories. "Ii-kun? What you thinking about?" Tabane noticed the puzzling look on her student's face.
"Huh? Oh, it's nothing Tabane-nee." Ichika brushed off Tabane's worrries as he continued eating, noticing the voluptuous rabbit had stopped eating her plate. "Tabane-nee? What's wrong?" He looked up at the woman, just to notice she was sleeping upright while having a piece of rice stuck out of her mouth.
"Haaa... Tabane-nee, you work too hard. Just rest okay?" Ichika gently wipes away the overflowed rice and picks up the unbelievably light scientist. Walking over to the spare bed in his room, he gently laid down the exhausted adult on it, gently caressing her magenta locks of hair before tucking her in.
"Sleep well, Tabane-nee... I'll see you later." He returned back to the table, picking up his dirtied plates and putting Chloe and Tabane's food in a stasis bubble. After cleaning up, the boy enters the bathroom to prepare for the lessons of the day. Not realising it, the front door slightly jittered repeatedly, hinting at someone's unwanted presence. "Ichika-kun~ onee-san just wants to have a chat real quick~" A teasing bluenette's voice echoed through the door, but went unheard by all participants in the room.
Instead of waiting for an answer, she used her nanomachines, sending them slithering under the door and into the other side of the room. Creating a water clone, Tatenashi immediately sensed the presence of multiple people. "Hm? What's this? Has he been sleeping with other women?" The shock came to her as her clone turned the corner and faced two beds.
"W-w-what?" Tatenashi blubbered, she knew Ichika well enough that he was too dense to be able to bed two girls. Was she wrong?
Realising the boy in question was not to be found, Tatenashi slowly moved over to the bathroom door and tried gently opening it. Locked. Turning to slightly more drastic measures, she decides to just hack into the door itself and unlock it. Opening the small panel to the circuitry on the board, she used her nanomachines as a conductor for the electrics, short circuiting the wiring and allowing the door to amass a certain click.
"Aha! Now, time to play some games~!" She joyously exclaimed, instructing her clone to gently open the sliding door. Steam hissed from the bathroom, indicating that the boy had been in the shower for quite some time... It was strange to say the least.
Ignoring the sense that something was different, the clone walked into the shower, earning some enhancements to some parts of her body from the reigning steam particles. Reaching the shower door, she noticed the distinct outline of the male, showering his body. "Ehehehe~ Looks like he hasn't noti-".
"Noticed what?" A distinct masculine voice echoed between Tatenashi's ears. Ichika stood behind the girl, wrapped in a towel from the waist down.
"It's just that Ichika-kun should have noticed me even i-" Tatenashi had a realisation. If there was only one boy allowed in the school and there is a masculine voice behind her. That could only mean...
She creaked her head around, sweat bolstering off her forehead as a view of Ichika Orimura came into play. "Ichika-kun! I-I-I didn't see you there." She gulped as her eyes wandered towards the boy's chiseled torso and quite large bulge underneath the towel. "Oh? I thought you were the 'all powerful student council president' Tatenashi?" He teased unusually, normally he would be hesitant to speak when a woman was in the bathroom with him. Tatenashi blushed at his remark, she had never been treated like this before, and maybe she liked it.
"W-w-w-well then, Ichika-kun~ I-I-I'll see you soon alright?" Her clone spoke for her as it melted away to move back under the front door and her giggling voice pattered away. "Jeez... Can I have some peace and quiet?" The knocks reverberated on the door. "Guess not."
Finishing drying himself up, he stepped out of the bathroom and calmly opened the door. "Chif- I mean, Orimura-sensei, What are you doing here?" He was confused at the sight of his elder sister, standing in her white tracksuit with a pair of phones in her hand. "Orimura, take these two phones ok? One's for just us two and the other for your important meetings with IS companies." The black-haired instructor handed the two phones over to the male.
"No thanks Orimura-sensei, I've got my laptop for the meetings with Kuramochi and Dunois so I don't need them, thanks though for your kindness!" Ichika politely declined his sister, giving a respectful bow to the instructor.
"Is that so? I guess I'll just sell them." Chifuyu firmly thought on what to do with the phones. Carefully putting the phones away, she slightly knocked her hand against his head, giving him a sweet smirk against him. "Alright then, Ichika, just remember to come to class on time." Her expression darkened, causing the boy in question to gulp in nervousness. "Am I clear?".
"Crystal clear, Chifuyu-nee." Ichika reported in a meek fashion which caused his sister to laugh a little. He visibly chided the elder sister's teasing habit whenever she showed it, but he never hated the woman for it, which Chifuyu herself thought that she did not deserve it. 'Oh Ichika, when will you realise you're too good for your own benefit.'.
"Anyways, just hurry up and get ready, before they start rushing to your room. Especially when you have uninvited guests over." Chifuyu aimed her eyes towards the beds, where two bodies lay still asleep.
"Hahaha- yeah, I'll hurry up Chifuyu-nee..." She nodded at his response, before gesturing for him to walk with her after he finishes changing.
[IS Academy, Ichika's Perspective]
So, Chifuyu-nee just invited me to walk with her. Strange...
Anyways, while Tabane-nee and Ku sleep, I really should hurry up and change. Especially if one of them comes to my dorm. Putting on my standard IS uniform, I quickly realise a note was stashed away in one of my blazer pockets.
Meet me in the student council office after 2nd period. I have something I want you to do ;) - Tatenashi, Student Council President
Crap, I forgot about the deal I made with her. I guess it's too late to change the past, I put myself in this position anyway. After moaning in annoyance at the task given to me, I sneakily step out of the room and magnetically lock the door, keeping the bunny and eskimo inside.
"Hurry up Orimura, class starts in 10 minutes." Chifuyu-nee's demeanor returned back to her normal cold-hearted and controlled form. I sighed heavily. Just why can't you be like you are at home?
Bang*
"OW! What the hell was that for!" I massaged my head in pain as the attendance book made it's mark on my forehead. Great, another bruise I have to take care of. "Careful with what you say or think, Orimura." Her unusual mind-reading doesn't stop at any point, does it?
I guess I'll just head to Homeroom with her.
[IS Academy, Classroom 1-1]
Ichika brushed his head as the class continued. He had learnt almost everything that the school had to offer. Setsura and Byakushiki taught him combat experience, but he could not master the Emperor's Cloak just yet. Tabane had taught him everything engineering wise. He yawned as Maya continued on her lesson, having not slept since 2AM due to the fact that he was designing the two ISes bodies for them to use.
"...Orimura, care to tell me why you are spacing out in class?" Chifuyu's voice sent him out of his reverie as he jolted himself upright. Maya jumped in fright at the sudden change in volume, she herself didn't notice Ichika dozing off in class.
"SORRY! I... was just thinking about something related to my IS. Please continue with your lesson Yamada-sensei." Ichika's panicked response made a few of his classmates laugh while apologising to the frightened Maya, who simply smiled at him and continued the lesson. 'God I really need to stop doing this in class.'
The first period had no other bumps in the road, which was odd for Ichika as he mainly focused on one of his custom programs for IS part designing during Maya's speech, not caring about what she had said. He simply analysed previous designs that he had failed. His devastating energy shield that used the IS as its source of energy, the revolver thruster incident and a fairly fresh design labelled "Wide Range Active Inertia Canceller". The two designs seemed like a flop that gave the young engineer PTSD ever since their practical tests ended horribly. 'If I want to be able to use the WRAIC, I'm going to have to figure out how to launch it... oh, and the problem with having to focus on it." Ichika pondered on his prototype, debating wether he should use a launcher as the program or modify the IS initialization sequence to throw the field.
"Ichika-san~ What are you doing?" A cheery shout erupted from behind him.
"Oh, Ceci... I'm just revising some designs." Ichika swiftly tabbed out of the WRAIC's design template, seemingly to prevent anyone else from getting ahead of him back at the Alcott Foundation.
"Really? These look like a jumble of scribbles and markings for me." Cecilia quizically stared at the two failed designs. "Oh, never mind that... Those were the first of my creations, they never did work and serve as a benchmark on what works and what doesn't." The boy meekly replied. He wanted to forget those failures as soon as possible.
The rest of his group had already lowered their voices as they tried to discern what the Brit and the male pilot were talking about. Houki simply pouted at the sight of the two getting along, with Laura and Charlotte silently panicking at their chances with the male.
"She's getting too comfortable with my wife..." Laura mumbled under her voice, her eyebrows falling ever so slightly.
"Cecilia, don't you dare..." Houki spat under her breath, though was trying to calm herself down.
"..." Charlotte simply looked on at the pair, worried for her own heart.
The pair in question continued, continuing to chatter on about Ichika's past with the great genius Tabane. "Hey, Ichika-san, do y-y-y-ou want to..." Cecilia perked up a question for the young boy, who seemingly didn't get the hints from her tone.
"Do what Ceci?"
"Have lunch today?"
"..." Ichika thought on her request, last time they ate lunch together it went sour quickly, especially when Tatenashi gave Ichika an indirect kiss with her bento.
ping*
The boy took his bracelet to his eyes, noticing a certain notification from one Shinonono Tabane.
Hi Hi! Ii-kun, remember lunch today~ we've still got work to do on Se-chan and Bya-chan. Don't be late ;)
Genius Tabane
"Ah, sorry Ceci, I've got something going on at lunch at the moment already..." Cecilia's smile drooped a bit as Ichika's words finally managed to enter her love-dazed brain.
"No worries Ichika-san, I'll just ask Rin-san then." With that, the blonde British girl glamourously walked away, creating an air of royalty and pompousness in her path. Ichika didn't notice the three figures off to the side of the classroom, glaring at him with dead-panned eyes similar to how a person who has lost all emotion looks like.
"Hey, Charlotte, isn't Ichika having a bit too much fun?" Laura eyes glazed over its prey, hiding elements of rage and jealousy behind them. Much like the other two present at her desk.
"Yeah... He must be punished mustn't he?" Her roommates eyes remained frozen, aimed straight at the back of the boy in question's head. Ichika sneezed in reaction to her stare, but he didn't notice their glares.
Before the tense situation could escalate any further, the group's worst nightmare entered the room, exuding a firm and confident aura befitting of the world's greatest IS pilot. Chifuyu Orimura.
"Everyone, get to your seats now. Homeroom is starting." Chifuyu stated boldly, causing all students present to either leave the room back into their own classes or sit back down at their desks. Out the corner of Ichika's eye, he noticed a trembling Maya stumbling into the classroom, much like she had taken a heavy sort of punishment. "Yamada-sensei, anything new today?" Chifuyu smirked devilishly, to which the spectacled beauty trembled behind her red glasses. 'Just what did you do to her Chifuyu-nee?'.
"Yes! Um... lets see... Aha! There's an important announcement today. Today, we have a group of Mondo-Grosso participants from the first and second tournaments here to assist in teaching students here." Chifuyu seethed silently in the front of the classroom, which only Ichika noticed. 'Guess there's someone here that she doesn't want to meet' He concluded in his mind, noticing her clenched fist and darkening expression.
"Yoohoo~ Long time no see! Chifuyu-san!"
Right on cue, a teasing voice came from the doorway, forcing all of the students to rear their heads around to the origin. There, they found a rather short brunette Italian woman, wearing a large kimono that barely covered her breasts as they were on the verge of slipping off. Ichika had to snap his head back quickly as he noticed her clothing, who knows what the four present in the classroom would do. They were already sending chills down his spine.
"Alicia... I guess it has been a while." Chifuyu gritted under her teeth, with a red tick mark appearing on her forehead.
"Um, Chifuyu-nee... who's thi-"
"Alicia Jiosestaf, the representative cadet for the 2nd Mondo Grosso. We were supposed to fight in the finals until your situation happened." Ichika's face became dull, he didn't want to remember that event. Not now, and not ever.
"I could have fought you Chifuyu-san... If it wasn't for that pitiful brother over th-" Chifuyu rose from her seat, lunging at the Italian female. But someone got to her first.
"Don't you ever say that again. I don't care who you are or your backstory, but I will never be reminded of that time. Got it? " A blade of blue plasma stuck itself into the doorway next to Alicia's head, missing it just by a few inches as she removed her head off the wall in a fearful motion. Ichika's face darkened even more, showing two pits of darkness encompassed in his sclera, showing an angered orb of blood with snow white slits as the iris. To everyone else, even Chifuyu, Ichika had become a disciple of death himself, hiding away any lack of compassion or kindness he usually showed.
'Ichika... What is going on with you?' Chifuyu contemplated deeply. Their real mother and father treated them like simple animals, ripe for testing. Even Madoka and her were treated better than Ichika.
The reject.
The failure.
The backup.
However, what Ichika was showing now, it wasn't anything that the Orimura family had ever seen. Taking herself out of her stupor, Chifuyu finally collects enough courage to end the altercation between the two.
"A-a-alright then, that's enough Ichika." Chifuyu stumbled on her words slightly, earning an immediate turn of Ichika's head in curiosity as his eyes reverted back to their original colours. She sighed slightly, being able to control the situation again. "Don't do that ever again. Is that clear?" The culprit's hand raised in a salute, signalling that he had understood her command.
"Anyways, Alicia, I hope you've learned your lesson. Don't make fun of my brother ever again. Understand?" Alicia nodded meekly, having been put back in her place by the male Orimura. As she stood in melancholy by the door, more faces arrived, some more familiar than others.
"Marie? Is that you?" Cecilia perked up, noticing the familiar blonde that appeared behind Alicia.
"Hey Cecili. How've you been?" The well-natured woman waved elegantly at the British student, noting the frequent glances of confusion between her and Cecilia from the male pilot. "And I would assume you to be Ichika Orimura, the one Cecili over here talks about so much."
"Hey! I do not talk about him so much!" Cecilia interjected, blushing a bright red as an embarrassing secret of hers was leaked.
"Sorry, sorry cousin, but it's true. Isn't it? It's probably why you're blushing so much. He can see it you know~" Cecilia hid her face quickly, earning a laugh from her elder cousin. "You're way too easy to read sometimes you know?".
"Hold on a minute... Ceci, she's your cousin?" Ichika questioned the blushing girl as she regained her natural air of her business-like nature.
"That is correct, Ichika-san... Meet my cousin on my mother's side. Marie Ashworth." Cecilia introduced her cousin, who simply gave a simple wave and a seductive smirk at the boy.
"I guess beauty runs in the family..." Ichika mindlessly quoted, causing the two British women to blush wildly, with Cecilia waddling away to her seat and Marie turning around to allow her brunette strands of hair to cover her face.
"Ichika... That wasn't a good thing to say, now was it?" Houki's monotone voice intervened, causing the poor boy to stiffen up in fear as two more wells of jealousy erupted. Instead of doing the usual thing, cowering in fear as a railgun, katana and an SMG aimed towards his eyes, he calmly opened his seat and sat down. Something that shocked everyone, except Chifuyu.
Bringing the trio out of their stupor, Charlotte and Houki looked quizically in the boy's direction as he sat in a comfortable position. The two simply couldn't fathom the recent change in the male pilot, who originally was subservient to every one of their outbursts. However, during the Servicing competition and other events, things had been different.
"Orimura-sensei, please continue with the lesson... I mean, we do have these wonderful people here to teach us don't we?" Ichika ushered his sister and his teacher to continue, not taking any note of the events that had just transpired. The rest of the class, including the group of women outside looked on in confusion as they had known the boy as weak and childish from many reports by the newspaper club.
"Ahem... Well then, Yamada-sensei, if you wouldn't mind. Care to tell us the rest of what you had to say?" Chifuyu asked her bespectacled ally, who simply stiffened up and continued on her briefing.
"As you can see by the two new faces, we will be having one-on-one tutoring by each of these people. So get ready!" Maya cheered up the class as clouds of gossip started to form, with many topics being about the male pilot sat at the front.
"Hey hey, wasn't Ichika-kun cool just then?"
"Yup, yup. Better keep my eye on him for now..."
"Oi, you lot. Hurry up! Those who are late by even a second will run 10... no 20 laps around the pitch in an unpiloted IS. Orimura, your sensei wants to speak to you for some reason in Bay 4, so just go there and meet us outside in Arena 3 once you're finished." The demon instructor issued out her orders, which were responded to hastily by waves of girls starting to undress themselves. Luckily, the Orimura was outside, heading straight towards his loading bay.
[IS Academy, Bay 4]
As he reached the RD department, Ichika noticed a few new toys scattered in his play-area, with a table set out with multiple mechanical arms set out around it. The boy shrugged it off as he turned over to the large computer array. "Tabane-nee's probably out on a bathroom break... Guess I'll just continue what I left off. Setsu?".
[Hai hai! What do you want nii-san?] Setsura happily twirled about on the computer screen as her partner called her.
"Do you need anything else on the design of your body? Or we set to go on yours and I'll tweak some things on Byaku's?" Setsura shook her head in denial as she happily gazed on at the beautiful stature that was her artificial body.
While Ichika conversed with Setsura, constantly nagging her if she wanted anything else, mechanical arms slowly moved towards him in a slithering motion, to which each of its arms opened and closed like a hungry aligator.
They latched onto his leg and pulled back, causing the boy to lose his stability and fall forward, hitting his forehead on the desk. Setsura hurriedly tried to disable the robotic appendages as they dragged him to the operating table.
[Nii-san! You alright?!]
"Yeah yeah, I'm okay Setsu, just some minor bump. Hey Tabane-nee, that hurts you know?" Ichika stated bluntly to the woman who stood by the door, holding a familiar set of controls that the boy had seen before.
"Sowwy Ii-kun! I didn't think my invention would grab you like that. Do you have a boo-boo? Maybe Tabane-chan can fix that." Tabane suggested the boy in a mother-like tone, to left Ichika surprised and two other beings disgusted.
[Ew! Mama, stop that!]
[I agree with Setsura, please stop that Tabane-sama]
"Oh? I see that both of you sisters have been doing well. Have you been taking good care of Ii-kun?" The two IS individuals nodded in sync, doing their best to contain their blush.
"Anyhow, Tabane-nee, why do you have me strapped onto this chair?" The male pilot inquired the busty scientist, to which she jumped in joy as she explained her plan.
"Simple! I'm going to figure out how to make a biological IS out of your DNA code! You have one of the highest IS compatibility rates in the world, so it makes sense I make an IS off of your blood." Tabane explained the wild idea in vivid fashion, allowing a certain glassed bluenette to creep up behind the babbling physicist with an old-fashioned wrench.
Bonk*
"Gah!"
Thud*
"Nice work Kan-chan. Though I didn't expect you to be here..." The younger Sarashiki simply hid her face behind the wrench as he spoke, her shy blush blooming like a rose flower.
"Ichika-senpai... I heard some commotion while working on the IS you build me. But is she gonna be alright?" Kanzashi worriedly asked for the doctor's sake, to which Ichika replied in a smirk.
"Don't worry, she has to take Chifuyu-nee's punches to the head on a daily, she should be alright."
'Though I wonder if she is actually out.' As Ichika thought, he noticed a lightly folded piece of paper sticking out of her cleavage, he reached into that area genty and pulled it out. Kanzashi panicked a bit, but kept her calm as the Orimura opened the note, revealing a detailed booklet showing how to make the biological IS mentioned by the fanatic bunny.
"Guess I can start with taking these and grabbing the delivered parts she brought in." As he stood up and left the room with his kouhai, a light giggle came from the body lying on the floor, proving to him that she wasn't knocked out for sure.
Coming back from the delivery sector, Ichika immediately turns on the fabrication pit that Tabane had lovingly put into an IS storage box and watched the array of mechanical limbs whir and spin in rapid succession, bringing out small versions of IS cores and several artificially synthesised bones. Kanzashi instead looked on to the further sections of the machine as they grew flesh and muscles to prepare implementation.
"Hey, Ichika-senpai, why are both of the bodies so... pronounced." Kanzashi asked her senpai, who simply patted the girls head gently, causing her to look down and blush heavily.
"It was their request Kan-chan. But don't worry if you think you're not beautiful, I wholeheartedly think you are." Ichika had a certain way with expressing his gratitude, despite knowing the girls and their feelings towards him. As expected, Kanzashi continued to blush heavily while nervously quivering at her legs.
"Ichika-senpai... thank you." Kanzashi meekly thanked the IS engineer, who smiled it off and continued on with his work. "Kan-chan, remember, both of us need to be in Arena 3 right now.".
"Ah... That's right isn't it? I guess I'll get going." The bluenette sulked as she packed up the wrench and left the room.
"Alright then, where were we?" Ichika wheeled back to the machine, that had now already made the fleshy structures as Setsura and Byakushiki copied their data into the cores, allowing them to share the memories and feelings that their bodies would have while staying in the IS with Ichika.
Once the wires and arms finished, Ichika lightly tapped the sisters on the shoulder, allowing them to groan as they woke up.
"Ah~ That feels so niiiiiiice... Hello nii-san, why are you looking at me like thaaa-" Setsura greeted the male Orimura, but stopped as she noticed the blushing look at the boy. Curious herself while also piquing the interest of her sister, they both look down, taking a full note of their naked bodies, their breasts bouncing lightly at any movement with their nether regions being in full display.
""Ichika! Don't look!""
"Alright, alright! Just to let you know, both of your clothes are in my locker by the door. I'll be going now so both of you just don't let yourselves be seen!" Ichika ran off to Arena 3 as he was commanded to, but also because he was running very late. And I mean very late.
Let's just hope that Chifuyu won't punish him again.
[IS Academy]
As he ran through the halls, purposefully slipping at every corner, Ichika doesn't take into account the sight of a petite woman, dressed in a fashionable business attire with full-length slacks to benefit. Sadly, he had little time to react and bumps into the woman, who dropped her delectable set of paperwork onto a pile on the ground.
"Ah! Sorry! I'm in so much of a rush because of Orimura-sensei... Here, let me help you." Ichika impulsively bowed towards the woman, who brushed off her silky black hair, showing a rather cute face with her green jewels swirling around as she scanned the male.
"No worries, I was just lost for a bit. Are you the famed male IS pilot, Ichika Orimura?" She inquisitively asked the boy, to which he chuckled lightly.
"Yeah, that's me... May I ask who you are? I've never seen you here before." He responded back with his own question, to witch the woman pulled out quite a lavish wallet, with a holographic image of her ID printed on the side.
"My name's Grace Harrow. I'm Alicia Jiosestaf's publicity manager, you rarely see me around so make sure to remember me for future endeavours."
"Ah that's not going to be a problem, I always remember beautiful women, especially those who are dear to me." Ichika inadvertedly tried flirting with the woman, seeing that his hormones were raging inside of him. However, what he did not expect was that she would have the reaction that she had.
"Guess I can rely on you for that." She blushed lightly. 'Dammit, how can this boy be so smooth? I'm loyal to Squall anyway... I can't just move on to him. But it'll be a shame if I let him go like this.'
"Hey... you wanna go somewhere and have some fun?" The woman sweetly asked the boy in a curt manner, twiddling away at her hair strands and inching her face closer to his.
"Um... I don't know, I'm going to be late and Orimura-sensei is the devil when it comes to me being late." Ichika tried to protest, but all he got was a seductive finger on his lips as he was dragged away into a storage room.
"It's going to be fiiine, I mean, when's the next time that you could see a beautiful girl like me?" She sultrily bit on his neck, giving a hickey as she unbuttoned his shirt slowly.
Ichika knew that she wasn't going to stop anytime soon, but he also knew that he had to do something about it. Working up his remaining courage, he slammed her to the wall, managing to dent it slightly.
"I'm very sorry for this, but I can't simply just let you do this, especially when my sister is waiting for me." Ichika stated blankly, with his eyes yet again forming those similar snow white eyes he had shown the previous morning.
"A-a-a-a-." The woman nervously shuddered, her knees wobbling like an unstable bridge. Taking this opportunity, Ichika pulled his arms back in as he let her fall to the ground.
"I'm incredibly sorry, but I really do have to get to Arena 3 or I die by Orimura-sensei!" Ichika ran out of the storage room as he dashed towards the Arena.
However, as the door closed behind him, Grace stood up from her frail position as she moved her documents to the side. Pulling out her wallet, she opened up a holo-feed, showing what looked like a picture of Ichika during the fight at the ISED convention, all clad in his Byakushiki-Setsura.
"I've finally got you now bitch... Now all I need is just how to eliminate you in the best way possible."
[IS Academy, Arena 3]
Chifuyu was already giving out instructions between the Mondo Grosso veterans and her students as Ichika ran out of the locker room wearing his IS outfit, but instead of his usual skin-tight shirt, he adorned a black turtleneck that encompassed his neck fully.
"You're late, what are you wearing? Where is your usual shirt?" Chifuyu demanded answers from the boy, seeing that she expected him to be only a few minutes late.
"My usual shirt is being upgraded by Shinonono-sensei and I have this one as a replacement." Ichika excused his lateness with a lie, he just didn't want to talk about the previous situation with Alicia's manager.
"Well then, seeing as you are 30 minutes late. Run 20 laps around the field with one of those deactivated ISes." She ordered Ichika in a usual fashion, picking up slight notes of Ichika's unusual movements centered around his neck.
'Tabane, what did you do to him?'
"Chifuyu-san! Let's fight each other, now's the perfect time to do so anyway." Alicia ran up to the elder Orimura, begging her to fight him. Chifuyu however, remained unfazed, continuing to monitor Ichika like a strict mother.
"Hello? Chifuyu-san? Are you there?" Alicia asked again. Still no response.
"I guess she's talking about that failure of a brother." She however didn't expect one of Ichika's blades to swing round her, pointed right at her forehead.
"Remember what I said." His hellish aura echoed around her, yet he was off at the far side running laps.
"C-C-C-Chifuyu? You still there?" Alicia asked again nervously, thinking that her words fell on deaf ears, she sullenly walked away.
"Yes Jiosestaf? What do you want?" Chifuyu finally answered, and in a pissed off tone at that.
"Um... Can we spar again? Like old times?" Her words caused Chifuyu's eyes to sharpen even further. However, instead of faltering like the rest, Alicia kept her forward stance, continuing to look at Chifuyu with determined eyes.
Seeing as her annoying colleague wouldn't shut up about their duel, Chifuyu rolled her eyes as she turned to the Italian woman.
"Fine... But you must go all out on me, alright?"
"Yes! I will go all out on you, because I am the better pilot by far!" Alicia finally squealed in joy as she had gotten what she wanted, he body leaping up in the air like a rabbit.
"But. I will still need to get a new IS from Tabane, Kuresakura is currently not being used right now." Chifuyu firmly stated to the Italian, before pulling out her phone and giving the mad scientist a call.
"Hi Hi! It's the genius scientist Tabane Shinonono! What do you want Chi-chan?" Tabane's cheery voice echoed from the speaker, causing Chifuyu to reel her head away from it in annoyance.
"Hey Tabane, quit it. I need a new IS, you know what happened to Kuresakura. And make it quick." Chifuyu coldly ordered the bunny around, who sulked as she pressed some buttons on her side, allowing a meteor to fall from the sky in an awkwardly slow motion. It slammed hard though, creating a large crater in its wake as all the personal IS users and Ichika were swept away by it's bulky structure.
"Chi-chan? You still there? Anyhow, I introduce to you. Haiironokishi! A fully close-combat IS built for speed and agility. However, I also added a new composite material armor that is tougher than titanium but lighter than aluminium! Now go have some fun, she'll be happy to have a new partner." Tabane detailed the IS very intricately, showing certain parts of the IS and how they would "connect" to its pilot through its fingertips and feet.
"Thank you Tabane. I'll see you soon to talk to you about a certain situation." Chifuyu thanked her close friend, making sure to remind her of their talk they had planned to have.
"All's well that ends well Chi-chan!" With that, Tabane closed the phone.
"Alright then. Orimura! You're to head over to Ashworth-san and practice your reflexes." Chifuyu ordered her brother, noticing the grimaced look on his face.
"Orimura-kun? You alright?" Maya asked worriedly, with Ichika responding by nodding in a slow and cautious manner. He started to move to Marie as Chifuyu ordered, before a familiar face entered the arena.
"Sorry for interrupting! But could I please borrow Orimura-kun over ther- Oh? Hi there Alicia, fancy seeing you with Chifuyu-san again." Grace ran into the arena, holding what seemed to be like a camera to the crowd.
"Grace? What are you doing here? I said I was alright being here by myself." Alicia asked back in a curious manner, unleashing her IS: Tempesta II (keep in mind she hasn't lost her limbs in this story).
"Oh management told me I needed to interview Orimura-kun so I'm not here for you but I can always check in on my friend right?" The black-haired Italian confidently assured her friend, continuing to motion to Ichika to come over.
"Chifuyu-san, I'll just be a quick minute okay?" Chifuyu nodded approvingly, making sure that everyone else was still doing what they were instructed to do.
"Right this way Orimura-kun. We'll just have a chat in a conference room then you can go back to your training.
"Alright then, thank you so much Harrow-san."
"Please, just call me Grace."
[IS Academy, Conference Room 1]
Opening the door, the two were graced with what could be heaven upon earth. Luxurious leather armchairs, a delicate bar arrayed with different cocktails and liquors. Grace had already seen similar settings to this, but this blew each and every one of them out of the park.
"Wow. I wonder how much the academy spent to make this..." Ichika bumbled on dumbfoundedly, with Grace mechanically walking over to the bar counter and pouring herself a drink. However, what she didn't notice was that Ichika had also joined her in taking a glass of the finest liquor.
"Um... Orimura-kun? Aren't you 15?" She asked the boy, confused as he continued pouring out the wealthy bottle of whisky laid out in rows on the wall. Not noticing her worried expression, Ichika continued to pour more and more of the expensive liquid, forcing the elder of the two to grab it from his hands.
"Hey! What are you doing?! You know you're underage right?" Grace scolded the boy, inching closer and closer to his face, who simply blushed at her as he opened his mouth.
"I was going to give this to Orimura-sensei." Ichika bluntly stated, which confused the businesswoman, but soon understood as a sign of respect from the Orimura.
"Well, just tell me that next time. Geez, I thought I was gonna have to testify against you if you were in court." She chuckled lightly, weakly punching his back in a friendly motion. "Anyways, I'll be taking a few drinks so you can wait over in the seating area before I start the interview.".
With that, Ichika slowly walked over to the seating area, putting the glass drink away in his IS space using a flask he stores there from time to time because of his sister's antics with booze. As Grace drank, she continued to think about the boy, thinking about how his mysterious form was a lot more of her preference than this calm and collected form of his.
'This boy sure is a catch, but what exactly is going on with him? He acted completely differently back in that locker room... and Squall refuses to tell me anything about the Orimuras, especially about their backstory. Eh I guess I'll finish my mission here and get it over with.' She placed her drink down onto a nearby table as she started to speak to the boy.
"Hey, Orimura-kun. Do you know what happened at the ISED convention a while ago?" Ichika looked at the black-haired woman.
"Mhm yeah... why?"
"Well, do you remember just before the Silent Zephyrs attacked? Do you remember who you were talking to?" She asked him, preparing a gas silo behind her back.
"Um... I think her name was Makagami Reiko? Why, what do you want to know?"
"Well, do you still want to work with us at Mitsurugi?" Grace replied, taking off her disguise and showing Ichika the familiar face that nearly took away his IS from him.
"Why are you here?!" Ichika interrogated the woman, nearly missing a strike from one of her legs. Enabling Byakushiki Setsura, Ichika dashed forward at the scarlet IS, not noticing to see the low cloud of gas spiralling around the floor.
"Well well well, I thought you would know this boy. You're a valuable asset to a lot of people, so it makes sense for our mission here is just to kill you and extract your IS off your dead body~" Autumn laughed creepily as she continued swirling around the room, releasing a mysterious gas in her wake.
"Well tough luck on you woman! You're gonna have to fight me to get it!" Ichika roared, sending 2 of his energy blades forward at Autumn, who dodged it effortlessly due to her effectiveness at close-combat.
"Oh shut up boy, you couldn't even protect your dear British friend at the festival, what makes you think you can protect them now? And my name is Autumn you shithead." Autumn lashed out a few of her lasers, forcing Ichika to move out of the way.
However, what he didn't notice was Autumn's leg lunging out to him. It pierced his left thigh, causing blood to spurt out of it rapidly along with several bones cracking at the sheer force the foreign object jammed itself at. Ichika yelped out in pain as he stumbled back, before recieving another leg to his right arm, disabling his ability to use his Yukihira.
'I was hoping to save this for later, but I guess I'll have to use it.' Ichika contemplated, before initialising his Touketsu Koutei, creating a thin shroud of energy and an array of energy spheres that dashed towards Autumn. Clashing against her armor, it creaked and cracked repeatedly, causing Autumn to use Ignition Boost to dash towards Ichika, only missing him by a few inches as he swung around to her backside, sending her flying to a wall with a punch.
"Setsu! Call Tabane-nee now! Tell her that they are here." Ichika begged his childish partner.
[Nii-san! I can't get any connection outside of this room! Jammers are in place right now!] Setsura panicked as she and Byakushiki realised that they were alone in this fight.
"Heh, I guess you haven't noticed. This room is both soundproof and damageproof, no one is ever going to know. So let's have some fun shall we?" Autumn sadistically laughed as she licked the fresh blood off her metal appendage. Ichika growled as he lunged forward at Autumn, who dashed away just in time to send him to the far wall. The boy however, swung two of his energy spheres in a chain towards the dark magenta-coloured Arachne. "Guh! I'll give you that one brat." Autumn spat out a lump of blood as she regained her footing from the nearby bar.
Despite the dent in the wall Ichika had made from his earlier charge, he instantly leaped back out of the crater. But something was off, his body wobbled as it tried to keep up with Autumn. Ichika tried to focus himself as afterimages of Autumn started to appear. "Hey Ori! What's going on right now?!" Ichika demanded answers from his custom AI.
"Orimura, I've detected some kind of unknown chemical in the air, please wait for me to analyze it." His basic assistant commented, which further downspiralled Ichika's mood.
[Onii-, you know that there's something you can use to get some kind of leverage right? Remember what me and nee-san told you?] Setsura's reminder sparked a new bit of hope for Ichika, expanding his circular sphere of energy as a new pair of plasma-induced weaponry appeared on his arms.
"Wait Setsu? I thought you didn't like ranged weapons." Ichika asked his female companion as he sent wave after wave of anti-matter rounds in the air from the laser cannon on his left shoulder.
[I still don't like them! But if it's to save you, then I'll do anything!] Setsura bickered as another railgun appeared on his right shoulder.
"Huh? Is that a bit of a confession Setsu?" Ichika teased her, causing her to just shut up completely. "Wait! I meant that as a joke! Please, I need your help!".
Noticing Ichika's lack of concentration, Autumn aimed her rifle towards the boy's head, making sure to take note of every single movement he made as he continued to weave away from her other weaponry. As Ichika got tired, his mind started to become even fuzzier as he struggled to combat the constant thumping against his head.
"Ori! I need an answer! What in his good name is this?" Ichika stumbled over a chair, leaning forward into Autumn's trajectory. Seeing her chance, she took it, generating momentum behind her shot as it pierced Ichika's left gauntlet, gouging his hand out completely as it exited the other side.
"GAAAAAH! IT FUCKING HURTS!" Ichika wailed in pain as Byakushiki's automatic pain relievers shut down any contact with his left hand, allowing a stream of light blue liquid to enter the gaping hole. He landed flat on the floor, rolling around as his hand still bled from the wound.
"Heh! That's what you deserve you impudent rat. It's what happens when you team up with that no good excuse for a scientist. How about I go for your sister next? Oh! Maybe that Shinonono's sister. I hear you have quite a fond memory of her~" Autumn taunted as she walked towards the boy, shoving two of her pincers straight through the blue gel, ripping it apart as she tried to widen the hole even further (A/N: I'm very sorry if this is too gory for you but it makes 100% sense later).
"...Hurt her..." Ichika muttered under his breath, struggling to take up his hand towards Autumn.
"Hm? Hurt who again?" Autumn's interest piqued as she leaned closer towards the young man's mouth. In less than a second, three things happened.
1) An arc of light swung through Autumn's arm
2) She was dragged towards Ichika
3) She was flung back towards the wall, breaking her spine as she collided with the hard surface
"Guh! You bastard! You'll pay for tha-" Autumn swore at the young boy, before noticing an absence of feeling in her left arm. Fearing the worst, she slowly looked down, hoping to see her left arm still attached to her.
Sadly, that wasn't the case.
Autumn screamed in terror as the adrenaline wore off, the feeling of missing a limb was excruciating, constantly gnawing away at the remaining sanity the crazed woman had left. Continuing to gasp for air, she painfully dragged her head upward, managing to maintain eye contact with the now hell-bent Orimura.
"Looking for this? " Ichika taunted the amputated woman, waving her dismembered arm right in her face. He threw it up into the air as another arc of light swung through it, disintegrating it instantaneously.
"You! What the fuck are you doing?!" Autumn asked the Orimura, still scared as she had never heard of this from anyone before. Not even the Brunhilde.
"Looks like you don't understand. Never, and I mean NEVER, threaten anyone precious to me." Ichika coldly stated, his eyes filled with the unwavering determination underneath the obsidian black crevasses hidden behind his now snow white hair. His body however, was the most disturbing. Having grown to a staggering 6'3 from his usual 5'10, Ichika looked like he came straight out of an isekai anime, with the deadly stare to boot. Autumn stumbled to the ground, before releasing a cloud of smoke as she escaped through a relay beacon, teleporting her straight to Phantom Task's safehouse in China.
"Ori... Setsu... Byaku... if you can... call someone... now..." Ichika disengaged his IS as he fell to the ground unconscious, allowing the billowing blood to explode from his body, expelling any way outward. Hurriedly, Setsura was the first to move, transferring her consciousness to her biological IS as she bolted out of the RD bay. Equipping her wings, she dashed towards where Chifuyu and Alicia were having their duel, hoping the two were still there.
She just had to hope that she would get there in time.
[IS Academy, Arena 3]
Chifuyu looked on at her watch, taking note of every second that passed by with Ichika being with Grace Harrow. Alicia continued to try and touch her, only managing to scrape the air that she had just been in.
'God, where is Ichika. An interview isn't supposed to take that long.' Chifuyu contemplated, making sure that she wasn't going to lose to Alicia.
"Come ON! Chifuyu-san, you're just dodging me! Hit me already!" The Italian woman whined as Chifuyu continued to weave around Alicia's attacks. Everyone else watched on, seeing that they had already finished their training in the 30 minutes from when they started.
From the crowd, the quintet huddled together, conversing about the one person that wasn't here. "Hey, Laura, hasn't Ichika been gone for quite a while?" Charlotte asked her roommate, which the German responded with a curt "yeah".
"I wonder what Ichika is doing with that woman... He can't possibly be doing what I think he's doing right?" Rin worriedly asked the rest of the group, with Houki and Laura's expressions slumping as they continued to think about the multitude of situations Ichika could be in.
"Ichika-san would never do that! You know what type of person he is, have more faith in him!" Cecilia brought the three out of their worried thinking, hinting to them that they should not worry.
"For once in your life... you're correct Cecilia" Rin chided lightly at the Brit, who took it to another level.
"What did you say?! I would love to let you know, us Brits are always correct!" Cecilia argued strongly with Rin, until she started noticing the stifled laughs between the others.
"Oh, ha ha very funny guys" Cecilia sat down as they continued to watch the cat and mouse game between Chifuyu and Alicia.
On the other hand, Tabane watched with Chloe, intently watching Chifuyu's moves as the fight continued. Chloe swung her feet off the wall in rythmic motions, mirroring that of a child innocently watching the dawning sunset. Tabane tenderly stroked Chloe's pure white hair, taking out loose knots in the process as she thought about Ichika and the calming life, albeit very short, the three have had together.
"Mama? Where is papa?" Chloe asked in a child-like manner, having not seen her papa in days.
"Oh don't worry Ku-chan~ I'm sure papa's just having a nice little talk with someone" Tabane patted Chloe's head lightly as she rested her head on Tabane's poofy lap. She continued to watch Chifuyu's match as she effortlessly dodged Alicia's swings and gunfire.
"Hey mama? Why don't you ever use an IS?" Chloe aske another question, this one now more personal to Tabane.
"Oh Ku-chan, that's just because of what happened to papa after I introduced the IS during the Mondo Grosso Tournament that Chi-chan fought in." Tabane now tried to hush the girl to sleep, starting to sing a lullaby like a real mother does to her child.
"...ane-sama!..." A voice shouted in the distance, which Tabane's bunny ears picked up instantly.
"Ara? Who's this?" She swung her head around slowly, as to not wake the sleeping child. However, what she didn't expect to see was a blazen Setsura, fully clad in a scorched Byakushiki, speeding towards Tabane at an alarming rate.
"Se-chan?!? What happened?!" Tabane squealed in horror, causing everyone else present at the Arena to stop in their tracks. Setsura tried calming herself down as her IS faded into a cloud of particles. Tears flowed freely as she recounted the shocking events that had transpired just a minute ago.
"...Nii-san... Autumn... Dying... Help." Setsura fainted on the spot as she couldn't take the stress any longer. Chifuyu rushed in in her IS, scooping up the little girl as Tabane dashed off to where a faint beep echoed in her mind. However, she was stopped instantaneously by the rest of the group, including Chifuyu and her little sister.
"Tabane, where are you going? We don't even know what's going on." Chifuyu asked her dear friend, still confused but still concerned about why Ichika's IS was in a full biological body and separate from the male pilot.
"Chi-chan... Ii-kun is in deep trouble right now, Se-chan told me that just now..." Tabane muttered in a melancholic voice, choking back her tears as Chifuyu and the rest tried to grasp the situation in full detail. Houki and Chifuyu were the first to grab them out of their stupor, with Houki pulling out her Akatsubaki, scanning the IS network for Byakushiki's signature.
"Orimura-sensei! I can't find Ichika! Something's definitely wrong." Those words sent chills down Chifuyu's spine. Did they attack again? Is Ichika still on the campus? Is he dead? She looked at her own screen, showing a radar screen with only one ping echoing from a distance. It was faint, but it was there.
"Alright, everyone except the personal IS users present are to remain with the Mondo Grosso participants. Yamada-sensei, notify Headmaster Kutsuwagi and lock down all the other classes. You five, including you Tabane, we're going to that signal. God hopes that's where Ichika is." Chifuyu ordered the group around, with the main five equipping their ISes as Chifuyu and Houki sped ahead, with the student closely following behind the Brunhilde. Tabane stood behind as the rest of the girls followed suit, waiting for them to disappear as she summoned upon her own movement system.
"Guess I'll get there before they do." She whispered under her breath, with a wave of particles wrapping themselves around her as Chloe understood what her mother was trying to do.
"Hey Ku-chan, please be a good girl and stay with big-boobed sensei over there okay?" Tabane sweetly told her daughter, who complied almost immediately as she disappeared into a ray of light.
[IS Academy, Conference Room 1] [Tabane's Perspective]
"Please be okay, please be okay Ii-kun" I worriedly muttered, he was my solace, the one who cherished me truly as a woman, not as a friend or as a sister who robbed them of their childhood love. I know Houki liked Ichika, and I was sorry for that. Now, I might just never be able to see him again.
Pushing the limits of the teleportation device, lights crackled as I was launched forward into a wall. However, it didn't seem to be an ordinary wall, it had dents in it marked with some weird inky substance. My head was still in a daze from the impact as I managed to push myself out of the crater, falling onto my butt before regaining my full vision.
I wished I hadn't.
Blood was strewn everywhere, on the walls, on the floor and somehow on the ceiling. Mosaics of red and white painted the glass bottles that stood in the luxury bar. Worst of all, there was only one body in the middle of it all. A male body.
"Ii-kun?" My heart ached. My Ii-kun was there, lying lifeless on the floor. Unfazed by the dramatic sequence of events that led me here. My legs gave way as my emotions began to fully take over. For the first time in years.
I was truly grieving.
Sounds of IS engines roared out in the distance as time passed by. A bit slow for them I must say, but that's not important now. Ichika needs help, and he needs it quickly. I wished I didn't have to use this, I already promised myself that I wouldn't use and IS again after Ichika's kidnapping back then. But I must.
"Fantajia No Ikari"
Alright! I've finally gotten off my ass after being sick for a week and finished this chapter! I must say, I humbly apologise for being gone for a bit, I just felt bored of writing Infinite Stratos and reading fanfics in general.
But I've had an epiphany, so I'm getting back into the groove and will probably be releasing the next chapter in the following two weeks (Time for Christmas, yay!)
However, I will have to take some time off when I post the next chapter. Surprisingly, my birthday is very close to Christmas, so I will be celebrating that but I will have a New Years chapter that should be the most fun to write imo.
Also, I do realise I messed up in the logic for Infinite Stratos: Fixed Friendships and Bonds, but the next chapter will clarify a lot of it don't worry.
Anyways, have fun reading my next chapters!
- ISReaderandWriter