I do not own Infinite Stratos nor do I own Rurouni Kenshin. All rights respectively go to Izuru Yumizuru, the author who created Infinite Stratos, and Nobuhiro Watsuki, the author of Rurouni Kenshin.

(Insert OP: A Cruel Angel's Thesis by Yoko Takahashi)

Zankoku na tenshi no you ni (After a drop of water hits the black screen, it brightens up to a red sky with clouds and stars as it shows the IS Academy symbol)
Shounen yo, shinwa ni nare... (Camera pans upwards as it shows the schematics of an Infinite Stratos before it shows its heart, the IS Core and then everything tuns white)

(Title of the show appears as Infinite Stratos)

Aoi kaze ga ima mune no doa wo tataitemo (Raiden is shown fully clothed and carrying the Sakabatō on his left hip)
Watashi dake wo tada mitsumete (As he watches the waters surrounding the IS Academy Island, the shadowy silhouettes of Akane Fujimoto and Miram Walker appear at the side of the screen going up and down respectively)
Hohoenderu Anata (As the silhouettes fade away, Raiden gives a small smile as if content with something of his life)

Sotto Fureru mono (A shadowy hand is shown pointing to the ground before an IS blueprint of Akatsubaki appears)
Motomeru koto ni muchuu de, (And then Houki is shown next as her image looks up at the sky)
Unmei sae mada shiranai itaike na hitomi (Houki's shadowy image sits on the ground with her arms around her knees as if crying before she looks up while Raiden is in the background and then Houki's image is replaced with that of Tabane, staring out of a window and her eyes blinking twice)

Dakedo itsuka kizuku deshou Sono senaka ni wa (Raiden is seen in his IS, looking upwards as he prepares himself for a fight, embracing his persona of Hitokiri Kingslayer. Four brief images of Hiko Seijuro XVIII, Akane Fujimoto, Miriam Walker, and Chifuyu Orimura are shown in order)Haruka mirai mezasu tame no hane ga aru koto... (Raiden cannot contain the darkness he kept within himself any longer as Hitokiri Kingslayer emerges and the background is shrouded in flames of Kyoto)

Zankoku na tenshi no tēze (Ichika duels with Raiden, clashing his blade, Yukihira Nigata, against Raiden's Sakabatō, fighting on even ground)
Madobe kara yagate tobitatsu (Raiden and Ichika break away as Rin comes in to assist the latter against the former with her Souten Gagetsu. Brief images of the various cast of IS, including students of the Academy, Liu King-Sang and members of the Righteousness Union, and members of FEISAR, are shown in quick timeframes)

Hotobashiru atsui patosu de (Laura was next as she unleashes her cables at Hitokiri Kingslayer, but he dodges in the air and attempts to cut her down but is blocked by Charlotte's shield)
Omoide wo uragiru nara (Raiden backs away as Cecilia unleashes heavy firing onto Raiden, making him move and slice down her BIT drones. Brief images of the various cast of IS, mainly the main antagonists are shown in quick timeframes, in order of Udo Hina, Squall Meusel, Autumn, Madoka Orimura, and the shadowy form of the Dark Lady)

Kono sora wo daite kagayaku (Raiden in his IS takes a Battojutsu stance and charges forward as executes a Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu attack)
Shounen yo, shinwa ni nare (As Raiden comes in and slices at the camera, everything flashes white as the title of the story, Infinite Stratos Hitokiri Kingslayer, comes up on screen)

"Is that true?!" asked Cecilia.

Class 1 was already speaking about the rumor being spread all over the school. Class hadn't begun yet which allowed Rin to visit the classroom for obvious reasons.

"I'm telling the truth!" One of the students said. "The entire school is talking about it. If you win first place in the tournament this month, you'll get to date any of the boys you want."

"Are the boys aware of this too?" asked Rin.

"I don't think so," said another girl. "They don't seem attentive of it."

But for one of the students, she was well aware of what this was about. And she was a bit pissed about it. Wanting to get some fresh air, Houki walks outside to the roof of the school, the same area where she has lunch with Raiden. In her head, she was contemplating about her actions that had unwillingly given consequences she wasn't aware of.

Grabbing onto the railings, she thought to herself,

'Why? How could I have let this happen? This is supposed to be a promise between me and Raiden!'

She then recalls her words to Raiden that night he came back from the infirmary and had her dinner.

"I-If I win the tournament, y-you have to go out with me!"

'Now that I think about it, my voice might have been somewhat loud at that time… It would be that weird if someone else overheard it. Even so, I'm the one who personally made the promise with Raiden! Yeah!'

She had no idea that she was being spied upon and that her words and high voice echoed loud enough for gossipers to hear and spread this all over the school. Now, if anyone wins the tournament, they would go on a date with either Raiden or Ichika.

And yet for Houki, dwelling on it mattered little in the long run.

'Anyways, I need to be the winner! If I win, then no problem! The problem is… how can I win against those with personal units?'

Houki was unable to borrow an Uchigane again for the tournament, knowing she already borrowed one the other day and that there are already those who have made reservations. Those with personal units were either training Ichika or, like Raiden, were preparing themselves for the tournament alone. Houki felt this was unfair, for she desired a personal unit of her own.

However, another thought rushed into her mind as did the flashbacks of her past.

'When my sister had announced the creation of the IS, the whole world changed. Including my life. I was forcefully separated from Ichika and the National Kendo tournament was canceled. Placed under strict surveillance thanks to the VIP Protection Program, I was interviewed countless times, each one only grew more and more miserable. '

'My family, the Shinononos, ran a Kendo dojo and a Shinto shrine. I've held a sword from a very young age, so by the time I was in 4th grade, even when I faced higher ranked students who had been practicing for five or six years, they couldn't handle my overwhelming power and experience. And yet, I still couldn't really "win": not because I lose, but because I surrendered. Because of whom my big sister Tabane was, I was pulled all over the place, forced into a life where I had to move from this town to that one.'

'Even when a letter from Ichika made it to where I was living once, I was told I couldn't reply to him because "We wouldn't want someone else finding out where we are." My connection to Ichika was severed. And before I knew it, not only were my parents also not living with me anymore, but my big sister, who'd started all of this, disappeared to hide herself from the world. Since I was her little sister, I was under constant surveillance.

Six years had I not seen Ichika. All I did was continue my Kendo training, not wanting to lose my connection to him. Maybe if I trained like hell, I could meet him again one day… And because all I could think about was winning, I strayed from the path of the sword.

And yet, during on tournament, all I felt was violence. I had dishonored myself through sheer force without restraint. All I did was beat my opponents without honor, spurred only by the goal of never losing, I attacked the sport ferociously. But when the competition was over, I'd left a trail of injured people in my wake.

It was like… I became something else. A person who adopted Satsujinken. Not my family's dojo's philosophy of Katsujinken.

Anger grips Houki until Raiden popped into her head which calmed her down.

'So why? Why do I feel so comfortable around Raiden? He calms me, grants me peace. I've seen how compassionate he is to even his opponents. He even accepted the fact I am his roommate and respects me as a woman. But there is still so much that I do not know about him.

He may seem strong and protective but even he has his own battles to fight. And yet…

Hitokiri Kingslayer. I only heard the stories. An assassin infamous for the death of some king and queen in a European country. Liu called him that at first, but I thought it was just a taunt. Now Laura Bodewig calls him that again and it seems like she knows who it is. Could Raiden really be—'

Houki shakes her head in denial.

'No. It couldn't be, right? There's no way we'd have an assassin like that in the IS Academy. It's impossible. Hitokiri Kingslayer was not even an IS pilot to begin with because it was a male. At least according to the media.'

Houki then only looked to the skies as she says to herself,

"I have to win this. If I want to help Raiden, then I must win!"

Meanwhile, Rin was on the arena field stretching her legs and preparing for practice, but a chirpy voice resounded from behind her,

"Ara? Isn't it Rin-san?"

Rin look at Cecilia in slight surprise. "You're early."

"I thought I would be the first one to arrive here," Cecilia said in her own way of being surprised.

"I was going to train to win the tournament," said Rin.

"That's exactly what I was going to do too."

The two girls glare at each other with sparks going between them. They both had the same idea in their head: train to win the tournament so that they can go out on a date with Ichika. With that in mind, they both activate their IS.

"Maybe it's not a bad idea to settle this for who is better!" said Rin.

"Fine by me," acknowledged Cecilia. "Let's settle this to see who is more strong…and who is more elegant! Although, it's quite obvious I'm better than you on all accounts."

Both combatants charge at each other but before they could even strike, a shot wheezes past between them and made them stop in their tracks. They turn to see Laura Bodewig in her IS as well, giving off her own sneer.

"I see that you two are just as I thought," Laura insulted. "Weak, arrogant, ill-tempered, and truly pitiful."

"What did you just say!?" asked Cecilia.

"To think that people like you have third-generation type IS's just like mine. You call yourselves representatives, but I see that your respective countries are just the same as ever: power hungry and feeble before the might of others."

The two girls grit their teeth in anger. Rin then turns to Cecilia and asks, "Want to take her on?"

"Let's show her what it means to be both a lady and a representative," acknowledged Cecilia.

"Come then," said a smirking Laura. "I won't lose to you fools who fight over a nobody."

The two girls then charge forth toward the one-eyed German. This was going to get ugly.

"Thanks for helping me out, Charl," Ichika thanked as he walks with his fellow male to the arena. "I haven't had that much time actually piloting an IS, so I wanna make sure I'm getting as much experience in training as I can."

"No, I feel the same way, so thank you, too," Charles thanks.

Soon the sound of metal clinging and explosions and gunfire caught the two off-guard, realizing that there must be a mock battle going on.

"It's coming from the arena!" Ichika realized.

"That's pretty intense for a training battle…" Charles noted.

"I got a bad feeling about this… Let's hurry!"

*BOOM*

Just as both of us turn to look at a sudden explosion, two shadows flew out of the smoke like they were cutting through it.

"RIN! CECILIA!"

Under the isolation of the protective shields, the explosions on the stage itself didn't spread to us, but at the same time, Ichika couldn't hear them.

Both of them looked hurt as they gazed directly at the center of the explosion, and standing over there was Laura, who was piloting the pitched-black IS Schwarzer Regen. Looking closely, Rin and Cecilia's IS' were severely damaged. There were damage marks all over the frame, and a part of the IS armor was completely broken. In contrast, Laura's IS wasn't completely unscathed, but the damage was relatively light compared to them.

"WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING-HEY, HEY!" Ichika's voice couldn't reach them from here, and it couldn't be helped. After looking at Rin and Cecilia, he turned to look at Laura.

Though it was a 2 vs 1, the ones in trouble were Rin and Cecilia, who, logically, should have been in an advantageous situation.

Rin's IS Shenlong opened its shoulders. Docked on them were the pressurized-air impact cannons, the maximum output weapons of the Shenlong. If it were a training machine, one shot would definitely wreck it, but Laura wasn't avoiding at all.

"That's useless against the absolute barrier of the Schwarzer Regen."

The invisible shots of the impact cannons were aimed at Laura, but no matter how Ichika looked at it, the attacks never landed on her. Maybe she deployed some protective shield or something like that, but Laura only reached her right hand out, and the impact cannons were completely nullified while they impact.

She shot out blades from her shoulders at Rin's IS. As they were both linked to the main body by electronic cables, she was able to let them fly out in complicated paths to avoid the direct shots and thus grabbed Rin's right foot-they seemed to be weapons that were a mix between blades and cables.

"Do you think I'll let you do as you please so many times!?"

Covering Rin, Cecilia attacked and launched her BITs at Laura.

"Ho... I don't know if Blue Tears is said to have the highest mobility in theory, but treating that design as a 3rd generation frame? That's a joke."

Cecilia uses accurate sniping and the bits to launch attacks from all over the place, and Laura continues to dodge and extend her arm out like just before. This time, she seemed to grab something in front of her while she was folding her arms, and the moment she did that, the BITs stopped.

"Your movements are sealed!"

"Yours too."

Though Cecilia managed to snipe her target accurately, Laura shot her large cannon to completely negate it. Laura threw Rin, who she caught just now, at Cecilia, who intended to continue firing. It was a theory of using cables to swing down in a clockwork manner, simple, yet effective.

"Ah!"

Facing the two of them while they lost their balance in mid-air, Laura launched her attack. Her speed could be compared to a bullet as she closed in within a second. But if this is a close combat battle, it was beneficial for Rin as well. At this moment, she could also use her scimitar to counter. Just as Ichika was thinking that, he was shocked to see Rin undoing the knot.

However, Ichika immediately understood the reason why she did that. Laura deployed the plasma blades from her sleeve and hacked at Rin with them.

"You...!"

While Laura was moving forward, Rin backs away and increases the distance, dodging a few blows in the process, skillfully using the shape of the arena to move and forcing herself not to get into any dead ends. However, Laura's cable blades attack again, the two on her shoulders and the ones on both sides of her waist, 6 of them altogether. They all attacked in 3 dimensions as she continued to use her plasma blades to attack viciously. Even if it was Rin, who was so used to fighting, it was too difficult for her to deal with all the attacks adequately.

"Heh!"

Rin again deployed the Impact Cannons and gathered the power there.

"How naive! Using pressurized-air weapons that need time in this situation?" As Laura said this, her cannon destroyed the Impact Cannons before shooting.

As the armor on her back got shot off, Rin's body lost balance and Laura used this chance to stab the plasma blade at her chest.

"I WON'T LET YOU!" cried the Blue Tears pilot.

At the last moment, Cecilia rushes in between Rin and Laura and uses her rifle as a shield. After avoiding the sure-kill attack, she shoots the missile from her waist at Laura.

*BOOMM!*

That was almost the equivalent of a suicidal close-ranged rocket as the explosion caught Rin and Cecilia, causing them to tumble on the floor.

"That was reckless of you..."

"Save the complaints for later. But really, that should have done some damage-" Cecilia stopped as she spoke.

As the smoke scattered, standing over there was Laura. Even though it was an explosion at close range, she was still floating in mid-air without a scratch.

"Is it over? Well then-it's my turn."

The moment she said that, she used the Ignition Boost to glide down to the ground, first kicking Rin and then shooting Cecilia with a cannon.

Then, Laura uses the cabled blades to grab their bodies and drag them to her. After that, one-sided violence ensued.

"AHHHH!"

Laura's fists clamped down hard on their arms, legs and bodies, causing their defenses to drop lower than what the machine maintenance warning zone permitted. If the damage kept up, the ISs would be forcefully removed! It will be critical danger to their lives!

But Laura didn't stop as she continues to beat and kick Rin and Cecilia, ripping their IS armor apart. Seeing Laura's usual emotionless face actually smile for a moment due to delight; something seems to explode in Ichika.

With an expression of fury and vengeance, he activates his IS and charges straight at Laura with Yukihira. Unfortunately for him and predictably, Laura casually activates her AIC to halt Ichika in his tracks, keeping his blade away from her.

Laura was unimpressed. "Hmph. An emotional and straight-forward attack. And so slow it's like someone was drawing an image of you in front of me."

Ichika struggles against her AIC. "Shit, my body's… LET GO!"

"You're no match for my Schwarzer Regen either. Disappear!"

Laura prepares to fire her panzer cannon at Ichika but fortunately, he wasn't the only pilot alone/

"Ichika! Move away from her!" cried Charles, firing away her assault rifles.

Laura curses as she is forced back. "Tch, small fry…

Once Laura is backed off, Charles turns her head back to ask Ichika about the two downed pilots. "Ichika, how are they?!"

"They're okay, somehow," Ichika said. "They're both talking."

"Uh… Ichika…" Rin loks with hazy eyes.

Cecilia seemed relieved. "I've gone and let you see me… in such a pathetic state…"

"Just leave the rest to us," Ichika said as he sets them aside.

"Interesting," Laura said as she prepares an arm blade on her right arm. "I'll show you the difference between IS generations."

This was bad for Ichika. He couldn't let Charlotte fight Laura alone. If only there was another IS pilot who could come in and assist them in defeating her. But that is when he hears a familiar voice.

"Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū – Ryū Tsui Sen!"

An IS comes down from the sky at full speeds with a familiar katana in hand. Laura looks up just in time, smirking to herself, as she prepares her cannon to fire.

*SHIINK*

Unfortunately before she got her target lined up, her cannon was cut in half.

*BOOM*

And the round that was loaded inside the barrel explodes, sending Laura back before she uses her footing to regain ground, skidding across the dirt before stopping.

Out from the dust of the explosion popped up Raiden, with Sakabatō in hand and his IS, Lion Heart, deployed.

Laura however seemed delighted at the sight of Raiden showing up. "So you came at the sight of students being pommeled to death, thinking to save them? What a laugh, Hitokiri Kingslayer."

Raiden however was not in a mood for laughs. "I cannot abide by your behavior, Laura-dono. Not when you threaten the lives of the students here."

"It is YOU who threatens them with your presence," Laura said vehemently. "How long until you decide to kill them, huh? How long until they live in a delusion before you cut their throats open? Now flip that silly sword of yours and fight me."

"This sword was given to me by an old friend when I started on a new path," Raiden said as she shows it. "It has defeated even a male IS pilot before, that it has. It is all I need to defeat you."

"Come then. I'll make you scream in pain!"

Laura prepares her other saber on her arm, ready to fight one on one with Hitokiri Kingslayer. She waits for him to make the next move, not one to blindly charge in and rush to a fool's errand's death.

But Raiden just stood there with his sword sheathed away and assuming a Battojutsu stance. And the reason for that is because he was contemplating the current situation. He had just witnessed Laura beat Rin and Cecilia to near-death, overcoming them and preying on their weakness and pride. Ordinarily, such a crime would be answered with retribution, in the form of death. Laura would not leave this arena alive, and Raiden wanted to make her suffer for all the trouble and damage she has caused since day one.

All of this just because she hated him for the crime he committed indirectly onto her.

But was that worth it? Was it worth flipping his to kill her for nearly taking the lives of two others? He vowed never to kill again, to follow the path of Katsujinken, the sword that gives life. Will he go back to the old ways and follow Satsujinken, the sword that kills, and flip his Sakabatō to strike down at Laura?

Raiden had no emotion pointed towards Laura; no hatred or pity; but the fact that she nearly killed two IS pilots is unforgivable.

"Oi. Why is Hitokiri Kingslayer hesitating to slay someone?" asked Laura. But all she gets is no answer. "All right, if you'd rather prefer insulting me with your silence, then perhaps this will break your hesitation. Let me give you a reminder of your one weakness."

Laura soon conjures up another Panzer Cannon, but this time on her left shoulder. With her main one destroyed; she pulls out another one that she uses only for emergencies. No one though saw it coming.

"She has another one?" asked a shocked Charles.

"I'll first carve up the other two IS pilots I just defeated!" Laura said as she brings the other Panzer Cannon on her left shoulder. And it was aimed right at Cecilia and Rin who were now unconscious.

Gasping in realization that Laura was about to play a dirty move that could next result in Cecilia and Rin's demise, Raiden charges in with his sword ready to draw, going at Laura at full speed to prevent her from causing more collateral damage with her other Panzer Cannon.

But then…

"HA! You fell for it, you fool!" Laura declared as she turns back to Raiden and unleashes her six cable daggers directly at him. "I'll pay you back for everything now!"

All six cables come after Raiden, going in zig zag patterns so as to catch and stab at the lion. While three of them miss him, two go in a straight line and one comes up from behind.

"Got you! You'll be skewered from behind!"

The cables get near to Raiden and was about to pierce his back, but all of a sudden, Raiden enacts what should have been an impossible move: a forward horizontal spin in a drilling motion like a torpedo, dodging all three of the frontal and backward cables.

Laura was stunned. "What? Where did these superhuman reflexes come from? How can I not keep up with him!?"

Raiden closes in on Laura fast, ready to take out his Sakabatō and strike at Laura. He had a clear line of sight on his target, ready to take her out for good.

Laura thought of bringing up her AIC, but quickly realized that at the speed her hated opponent was traveling, it would be too late to stop and hold him in place. That is when she then felt something in that moment, like time stopped.

Fear. The fear of death.

With both of her wrist sabers armed, she brings them in a block formation, hoping to withstand against the Sakabatō's power. The sword may not kill her, but it will leave her IS severely damaged and her with a rather nasty bruise.

Raiden soon pulls the Sakabatō out of its sheathe, ready to strike.

"Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū – Ryū Kan Sen Tsumuji!"

*DING*

A loud noise was heard but when Laura opens up her one eye, she is surprised to see that the Sakabatō did not reach her. It was blocked. But not by her. Standing in front of her, wielding a large katana of an Uchigane upside down by her left side despite its height and weight, was a familiar figure.

"I-Instructor?!" A gasped Laura saw, seeing her old teacher defend her from the Kingslayer.

Even Raiden, who felt that his weapon had made contact with an Uchigane katana, looked up and learned that Chifuyu Orimura had blocked his attack. Through the contact of swords, he could sense her struggle against his power, just barely holding the attack at bay. She even gritted her teeth and grunted against the assault.

"Chi-Chifuyu-nee?" Ichika was shocked to see his sister stopping Raiden's attack.

*SNAP*

*BAM*

But in that instant, Chifuyu's katana could not hold back the immense force of Raiden's attack, making the blade snap in half. And in the process, the Sakabatō reached to the side of Chifuyu in a rather hard hit.

"Gghh!" Chifuyu suddenly winced and gritted her teeth. Apparently she felt that hit connect to her body. If it were an ordinary Katana, Chifuyu would be cut in half literally.

But the next moment shocks everyone in the audience, including Ichika and Laura and even Raiden. For one thing Chifuyu was fine, but then the next thing, she began to cough up blood. And lots of it as she holds a hand to her mouth.

"Chifuyu-nee!" A horrified Ichika saw as he quickly deactivates his IS and runs to her.

Raiden also deactivates his IS after quickly putting away his Sakabatō, checking Chifuyu's side as she takes a knee and coughs up more blood in her hand. He holds two fingers over Chifuyu's left side, tracing the impact of the hit, but what he felt next was shocking. There was something there on Chifuyu's body, and not just a bruise.

For Chifuyu's sake though, he keeps it a secret and fabricates her condition.

"Cracked rib, that it is," Raiden said. "If she didn't block my sword in time, it would have been broken. And not just one."

"Honestly, this is why dealing with kids is tiring," Chifuyu said before she coughs more into her hand. "If your katana was flipped, Hataru, I would have very likely ended up dead."

Taking out a spare napkin in her pocket, Chifuyu quickly wipes the blood off her mouth, leaving only a smear on her lips. She then turns her attention over to everyone else in the arena, Laura included. "I don't care if you want to have a practice match, but as a teacher I can't keep quiet when you start destroying the barriers in the arena. Just settle your score of this match in the upcoming tournament."

Laura acknowledged, deactivating her IS. "If these are the Instructor's orders…"

"Orimura, Dunois – you two good with that?"

"Y-Yeah…" Ichika said.

"You answer a teacher with the words 'Yes Ma'am," you idiot," Chifuyu said. "I hereby forbid personal hostilities until the school rankings tournament. Hataru, in my office. The rest of you, dismissed!"

Chifuyu is soon escorted off with Raiden in tow, still holding on to the bloody napkin as she coughs up some more blood quietly. But all eyes were on the two of them, mainly Chifuyu. Ichika especially, as questions were ringing in his head of how his big sister could cough up blood like that.

It left him feeling powerless.

In the school infirmary, two IS pilots were on their beds covered up in bandages. While no broken bones nor sprained ankles and wrists, their pride took the worst hit. Both of them were annoyed and sulking, refusing to look at each other in the eye. And also refused to look at Ichika out of embarrassment.

"I didn't need you to save me," Rin said.

"If we'd kept going, I would have won," Cecilia concurred with her rival.

"Jeez, you guys…" Ichika sighed. But he smiled in relief they were okay. "But I'm glad your injuries weren't serious."

"These aren't even injuries—" Rin said before she moved slightly. "OWWW!"

"And anyway, there's no point in me lying in this bed anyway—OUCH!" Cecilia cried.

Ichika could only say plainly and perhaps without any harmful intent, "You're being stupid."

"What do you mean stupid?!" Rin asked. "You idiot!"

"You're the biggest moron here, Ichika-san!" Cecilia cried.

"They're just embarrassed because the person they like saw them look bad," Charles chimed in. But Ichika was confused by that remark.

Even though Charles was technically correct in that their pride was wounded more so than their bodies, they refused to admit it.

"I-I-I- I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about!" Rin exasperated. "T-T-This is the problem with you Europeans!"

"I-I'm not really-!" Cecilia denied. "T-That kind of baseless supposition causes bad feelings between people!"

Charles soon comes in with some drinks in hand. "Here you go. Oolong tea and black tea. Have something to drink and calm down. Okay?"

Rin gave a "Hmph!" but accepted the drink.

"I'm still not happy with you, but I'll have some," Cecilia accepted begrudgingly.

"Well, the teachers said we could go back to the dorms once you calmed down," Ichika said. "So rest a little bit and then we'll—"

But that is when a whole rumble was heard, like a herd of elephants. And the footsteps were getting closer and closer before the infirmary doors suddenly open with a plethora of girls with papers in their hands.

"ORMURA-KUN! DUNOIS-KUN! HERE, LOOK!"

When Ichika takes one of them, he sees that it is a request to be paired up for the tag team tournament. And every single girl in the school was looking forward to being paired up with one of the boys.

"Pair up with me, Orimura-kun!" One girl pleaded.

"Pair up with me, Dunois-kun," Another said.

Ichika however revealed a truth to everyone who requested to be his partner.

"Sorry, I'm partnering with Charl, so that's not gonna happen!" Ichika said as he puts a hand on her left shoulder, surprising her.

That quickly defuses the crowd as they leave solemnly.

"Well, if it's like that, then…"

"I guess it's better than him partnering with another girl…"

"Two guys airing up will look pretty good too…"

Like a herd of elephants that ran over to meet them, the group quietly leaves now like a pack of mice. Every single girl was dejected of the fact the guys are paired up with one another and not with one of them.

Except for two hospitalized girls who now had a brilliant idea. Or so they would call it considering their damaged state.

"ICHIKA-SAN!" Cecilia and Rin cried.

"P-PAIR UP WITH ME! We're childhood friends, aren't we?"

"No, as your classmate, you should pair with me!"

"That's not happening," A third voice is heard revealing Yamada-sensei who appears to give a lecture to the two. "I've just checked the damage reports on your IS, and it's worse than C-level. You two will need to focus on repairing and resting those units for the foreseeable future, or it could lead to serious malfunctions. And since your IS need to recover, you will not be allowed to participate in the tournament."

Rin and Cecilia felt like their pride was hit hard again. But this time they could not form an argument back at their teacher. And like the whole herd of girls requesting to pair up with one of the guys, they felt dejected.

"Uh… Guh! I-I get it…" Rin admitted.

"Although it pains me to admit it…" Cecilia also stood down.

Ichika was surprised. Rin and Cecilia backed down really quickly. They must really be feeling the effects of that fight with Laura.

"I'm happy you understand," Yamada-sensei exclaimed. "Forcing an IS past its limits will force you to pay a significant price yourself down the line. Losing a real opportunity at a crucial time is a terrible thing, and I don't want that to happen to you two."

Both girls understood the significance of Yamada-sensei's warning. Their pride not truly in shambles, they had no choice but to comply to their teacher's request. For their own sake and health given of how damaged they both are.

Speaking of health and damage though, Ichika had something crucial to ask to Yamada-sensei, something only another teacher would know.

"Yamada-sensei…" Ichika called out as she turned around. "Chifuy—I mean, how is Orimura-sensei?"

"Ah, right," Yamada-sensei's mood soon got serious. "It was indeed a cracked rib, according to her. But it's not unbearable. She just needs some rest and recovery, and not push herself too much. Don't worry. She'll be okay."

"R-Right. Thank you," Ichika thanked.

Yamada-sensei takes her leave, but the others stood in silence and contemplation, their minds focused on their homeroom teacher. And of what they saw in the arena.

"Orimura-sensei…" Charles broke the silence. "Was she really… coughing up blood?"

"Yeah…" Rin said. "It looked like it. Maybe it really was a cracked rib."

"I know I get scared of her, but I do hope she recovers," Cecilia concurred.

Ichika remained silent. It was the first time he felt actually scared for his sister upon seeing blood. He truly does hope it is just a cracked rib, accidentally made from Raiden's attack.

And yet, he cannot help but shake off this bad feeling he has. Like his sister was keeping a secret from him regarding her health.

Meanwhile, in her office, Chifuyu rinses her face by the sink, wiping off the blood she was coughing up. Her wound was still sore from taking that hit. Ordinarily she could withstand such a hit, but this case was different. A secret nobody knew, not even Ichika. Thanks to Raiden saying it was a cracked rib, she was able to keep the truth hidden.

Speaking of Raiden though, someone soon comes and intrudes upon her in a neutral tone, like they were wanting answers to her blood drama.

"How sick are you?" asked Raiden. "And why didn't you tell me?"

Chifuyu could only sigh, showing something of a vulnerable side of herself. "Haah, what's to tell?"

She grabs a towel and wipes her face to clear the water and washed up blood before she turns around to face Raiden. "You know back in the early days of the IS, when it was retrofitted for combat instead of space, the last thing anyone was thinking about was shield energy. Tabane came up with the idea and experimented on it with the White Knight, but the rest of the world had not developed that far in."

Chifuyu soon throws the towel over to the dirty laundry bin. "Unbeknownst to all, and thanks to Tabane's skills of keeping me hidden, I ran over nearly a dozen missions with the White Knight. But the last time I used the White Knight was in Germany five years ago, when I had rescued Ichika from being kidnapped. But then that's when I was in the worst fight of my life."

"What happened?" asked Raiden.

Chifuyu takes a moment, apparently recalling the battle. "There was a rogue IS pilot behind Ichika's kidnapping. One of the first IS pilots besides me to wield an IS. About as strong as me in my prime. We fought for a long time, tore up the countryside, even demolished a few villages along the way. Even our IS' suffered catastrophic failure after catastrophic failure. I finally managed to kill her by driving my sword through her heart, but in the process, she tore a hole in my stomach, ripping out a portion of my intestinal regions."

To prove her point, Chifuyu opens her shirt to reveal her beautiful skin with her black bra still attached. But that is when she pulls off a thin transparent plastic medical sheet over the left side of her body, revealing a horrific scar. At its center is what looked like a closed up punctured wound, one big enough for a hand to fit in it. And with more stitches than even Rodney Fox's from a horrific shark attack, it was one of Chifuyu's best kept secrets.

"Most of the world has never heard this fight," Chifuyu said upon showing her wound. "I did everything I could to keep the injury under wraps. Finished the fight solo but for a full hour… I was left at death's door. Bleeding, dying, unconscious and comatose for days."

"And where was Ichika in all this?" asked Raiden.

"Safely secured and in the care of the German military," Chifuyu said upon applying a new medical plastic sheet over her scar, covering it up. "Officially records from the hospital say I was injured while rescuing him, hence why nobody knows save for my personal doctor whose name I won't mention. After I had recovered, I stayed under the medical radar while teaching in Germany for a year, with some of my students including Laura Bodewig."

"Hence why she looks up to you," Raiden concludes. "And no one noticed of your wound?"

"Nobody. Not even the expensive medications I now take to stabilize myself. I told them they were either placebos or vitamins. But almost every day since then, I've had to get checkup after check up to ensure I don't overdo it. They told me that if I ever stepped foot into an IS again, the toll would be too much."

"What's your time limit in an IS?" asked Raiden.

"If I don't overdo it, about thirty minutes," Chifuyu admitted as she puts her clothes back on. "But my own strength has been waning these past few years because of this. It's one of the reasons why I became a teacher."

Raiden now understood why Chifuyu couldn't pilot anymore, and why she has decided to somewhat retire to a teaching role. But whether that was by her choice or the only option at the time, he did not know.

"You and I are the only ones in this Academy who have seen the horrors of the IS. It's why I brought you here. I do hope though that war does not come. If it does, I hope you do not fall back to who you once were."

Raiden took Chifuyu's words seriously, knowing what it is that she meant. With the discovery of this secret of hers, the blind IS pilot knows that war may be inevitably. Someone just has to blow up the powder keg to do it. And he fears that there are those who would be willing to commit such an atrocious act.

He just prays this does not happen in his lifetime.

"Raiden…"

"Yes?"

"Because of what happened today with you, disciplinary action must take priority. Normally, I would have you be the same as everyone else and not partake in IS duels before the tournament. But because you attacked a teacher, unintentional or not, I've decided on a fitting punishment: You are not to participate in the Tag Team Tournament at all."

Upon hearing that, Raiden was neither happy nor sad to hear that statement. In fact, he felt it was a wise choice. He was strong as an IS pilot, and with Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū, his opponents would be of no match for him. So to make thing fair, he is pulled off the board completely.

"That would be better for me, Chifuyu-dono," Raiden acknowledged. "And in turn, I'll keep your condition a secret. No one can know the Brunhilde has been reduced to this. Not even Ichika, that he cannot. Unless you plan to tell him?"

"Eventually," Chifuyu admitted. "But not now. Not until he is mature enough to understand the hell his sister had gone through for his sake."

Raiden could not argue with that. But now, with the Tag Team Tournament right around the corner, things were going to be tense. With Rin and Cecilia injured and their IS sustaining too much damage, it would just be the three remaining pilots who have personal units.

And the first match of the tournament is:

Ichika Orimura & Charles Dunois vs. Laura Bodewig & Houki Shinonono.

When I had mentioned in the previous author's note of the previous chapter that Germany would triumph over China and the UK, and then Japan and France would come to save the day, and that a teacher would have a secret shared to no one but Raiden, this is what I had meant.

This chapter does seem a bit short in terms of words and I have no excuse for that given of how it is a rendition of the previous story. But so long as the key scenes are played out form the episode, I think that is what mostly matters. Granted I was tempted to combine both chapters but realized it would have been too long and it just would not fit right with how many episodes there are per season. But with Cecilia and Rin injured and Raiden no longer able to participate in the tournament due to unintentionally attacking a teacher, things may have gone from bad to worse.

Chifuyu's secret: a hole in her stomach much like All Might's from My Hero Academia but with some notable difference. For one thing, there is no shrinkage of her body in a puff of smoke revealing a gaunt figure. Granted while she does reveal she has a time limit when piloting an IS, there is no "true" form of her revealed as a gaunt and skinny-like figure as All Might. And no, she does not cough up blood like All Might every few minutes; only when she gets badly injured on her side or she overdoes it. As much as Chifuyu is powerful and being the strongest IS pilot int he series, I want to explore more of her ten year history with the IS and show a more darker side to it. After all, the Infinite Stratos is still considered a weapon despite sed for sporting purposes.

Next up is the infamous duel and the VTS, played in a way that will be different compared to both the canon story and to my previous story.

Like, favorite, follow, and review at your leisure. If you have any questions, please feel free to PM me.