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.
Kanzashi was walking down the dorm hallway with a bag of muffins. Baked by herself, they were a treat to give to Ichika.
"I wonder if Orimura-kun will eat these," She said to herself.
Just as she turns around the corner where Ichika's room was, she hears and sees the door to his room open, which makes her hide.
"Please. Let me go," Ichika said as he was being dragged out by Tatenashi.
"Oh, come on," Tatenashi playfully teased before she switches topics. "So how are things going with Kanzashi-chan's IS? Did you get it working?"
Kanzashi was shocked as she turns back into the corner, wondering what it was that she just heard.
"What is going on?" She asked herself as she listens more.
"Well, I guess you could say that," Ichika replied to Tatenashi.
"My IS data came in handy, didn't it?"
That was the big drop bomb on the little sister, realizing that the data shared to her IS came directly from her older sister. The one whom she is estranged with.
"It was all Nee-san," Kanzashi said to herself.
Now she understood the reason why Ichika wanted to pair up with her in the first place. Why he shared his data with her. Why he requested the maintenance crew to help with her IS. Why her maid and childhood friend Honne Nohotoke was paired up with Raiden for the tournament.
It was because Tatenashi requested him to do so.
*PLOP*
She drops the bags of muffins that crumbled within the bag, breaking apart.
"N-No…" A despaired Kanzashi soon runs, retreating back to her dorm room and falling to the floor.
The room was dark, but Kanzashi did not bother turning on the lights for despair all but gripped her heart like a gnarled root constricting around it. In that moment of realizing her older sister was behind everything, she could only feel the pressure once more, crushing her like she was being stepped on by an elephant's foot.
And throughout the rest of the night in her room, she only cried and shed tears, spilling them on the floor. In her mind, she had been played with by her sister, not knowing that Tatenashi did all this for her little sister's sake. But Kanzashi would not be able to realize that.
OP song: Suara – Hikari (For reference, look up on YouTube Utawarerumono Futari no Hakuoro trailer)
Kimi e no omoi wasurenai you ni (The first scene begins with a pair of hands grasping a red and black ribbon divided by a white line adorned with a pair of gold and silver bells. The camera soon pans out to show the said person grasping that ribbon)
mune fukaku kizamikomu kara (The person holding the ribbon is revealed to be Houki, underwater and in her IS suit as she closes her eyes, keeping the ribbon, revealed to be Akatsubaki in its standby form, close to her heart before the bubbles cover the screen)
(Opening title is introduced as Infinite Stratos 2)
Arifureta hibi wo tobikoete yukeru (Chifuyu watches from the balcony of the IS Academy the sunrise before a gentle wind blows her hair.)
habataku yuuki wo motteru (The sun's ray hits her eyes before she adjusts her sight)
Mada minu sekai ni tobidashite yukeba (Tabane Shinonono travels via a carrot-shaped airplane, colored in orange with a green tip, as it travels across the skies and she heads towards the moon)
nanika ga kitto matteiru (The camera pans over to the moon before it shifts down to Houki in her IS Akatsubaki, facing forward as her hair is blown by the wind)
Tamerau hodo no kizu wo oottemo (A blue meteor-like object falls to the arena of the IS Academy, creating an explosion of water, before revealing Tatenashi Sarashiki in her IS, Mysterious Lady, as she twirls her spear as the lake water falls like rain)
akiramenaide subete ukeireyou (Kanzashi Sarashiki appears in a holographic world in her IS, Uchigane Nishiki, while holographic data surrounds her)
Kimi e no omoi wasurenai you ni (Camera zooms down to a battlefield just beginning between IS Golems and the gang. Laura is the first to attack as she descends and slices a Golem with her wrist blades before using her cables followed by her rail gun. Rin parries a Golem with her Souten Gagetsu before taking off its head in a spin)
mune no naka fukaku kizamitsukeru(Ichika appears to take out one Golem before he dodges an incoming attack and dismantles another. The next scene cuts to Charlotte and Cecilia prepping their sniper rifles to fire.)
mezasu mirai wo yasashiku terashite (Raiden and Madoka, without their IS, engage in a close quarters weapon combat, Raiden using the Sakabatō and Madoka using the Mugenjin. After a couple of hits, Raiden is thrown high into the air from another hit from Madoka before he backflips and deploys his IS and fires his ion blasters at Madoka. Madoka, in turn, dodges while activating her IS, Black Knight, and flies up to Raiden to engage him again with her fusion cannon on her right arm deployed)
hikari hanatsu hoshi no you ni (Madoka and Raiden clash, creating a violent explosion before the next scene switches over to Luxembourg ten years ago, where Hitokiri Kingslayer stands by the steps to the destroyed Royal Palace, his back to the camera as Luxembourg is enshrouded in flames by Phantom Task, with a massive warship looming overhead as its IS pilots are deployed like a squad of fighters)
(Miriam Walker is shown in front of the CIA headquarters building in Washington DC as the camera moves upwards. Akane Fujimoto is shown on Omega, overlooking one of the poor districts from her apartment, with a cigarette in her mouth. Squall Meusel is shown in her bath robe sitting on the edge of her bed smirking at the camera, with Autumn sleeping naked in the background. Edea Crownsworth, the Archon of Phantom Task, sits upon her throne overlooking the world within a spaceship. Chifuyu is then shown in the deep recesses of the Academy, looking at the White Knight IS kept in storage and locked down, her hand on the glass)
(Raiden is shown next as he turns around with his Sakabatō before sheathing it before he is replaced with the title of Infinite Stratos 2.)
Morning rays shine through in the first year dormitory room where Kanzashi Sarashiki was still under its bedsheets. Normally for her, she would get up bright and early, have a quick snack for breakfast, and then get to work on either her studies or building her IS.
However, Kanzashi could not sleep throughout the night. Not after what she had witnessed last night as she was on her way to deliver her home baked muffins to Ichika as thanks. She was totally unaware that not only was her older sister his roommate but also that she provided her own data for her IS. The fact her sister was involve in everything made her feel only more pressure onto herself.
Tears fell soon afterwards as she laid in bed. All she just wanted now was to be alone in her torment.
AT CLASS 1-4…
Ichika goes to find Kanzashi at her desk, only to find that there is no one at that said desk.
"Huh? She's not here," He said, stating the obvious.
He wondered just where she could be at this point and time with the tournament happening today.
Today was the day of the Tag Team Tournament match. An opening ceremony was behind held in the auditorium. Everyone was present, except for Kanzashi and two of the male IS pilots. Ichika was looking for the other Sarashiki girl, but nobody knew where Raiden was,
Tatenashi Sarashiki, Student Council President and strongest IS pilot in the Academy, takes the stage and stands behind the podium ready to give her announcement..
"Hello, everyone," She greeted. "Today, we'll be having a tag match tournament featuring Personal IS pilots! For those participating, this is a great chance to showcase the results of their daily training. For those without a Personal IS, I think you'll learn a lot from spectating these matches. So pay attention!"
Ichika, from above the audience, was scanning down below to see where Kanzashi was, but she was nowhere within the audience.
"She's not here either. Where'd she go?" He asked as he takes off.
Ichika soon runs past a room where, in the shadows, a despondent Kanzashi stood in the shadows. Her mind could not stop thinking about what happened last night, recalling Tatenashi's words.
'My IS data came in handy, did it?'
Then, within the darkness of her own mind, she sees an image of Tatenashi overshadowing her, looking down on her in pity.
'You don't have to do anything. I'll do everything for you.'
"Uh… I… It's not like I…"
'Stay incompetent.'
"No… No!"
Back to reality, Kanzashi comes back to her own self yet realizes now the gap between her and her sister. It was so vast like a huge chasm between then, with no bridge to cross over.
"I'll never be able to beat her," She said. "There's just no way."
"Kanzashi-dono?" asked a voice to her left. She turns and is surprised to see Raiden standing there before her.
"Oh… Raiden…" She greeted meekly. "Wh-What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at the auditorium?"
"I wanted to return this," Raiden said, holding up a bag of muffins. "These are yours, right?"
Kanzashi was surprised to see that the bag of muffins was the same bag she had dropped in the dormitory and left there.
"Shall we eat one together?" asked Raiden.
"I… I don't have much of an appetite," Kanzashi tried to refuse.
But Raiden saw through her as he opens the bag. "You haven't eaten anything lately, have you? At least nibble on these, that you should. They're still fresh, that they are."
Perhaps rather reluctantly, and seeing that it would be a waste to throw away her handiwork on the muffins, Kanzashi accepts one yet watches Raiden take another and bite into it.
"Mm~" He exclaimed. "These are delicious, that they are."
Kanzashi's eyes widened a bit, seeing the infamous hitokiri taking another bite. These muffins were meant for Ichika. And whether Raiden was giving flattery was anyone's guess. Regardless, she too takes a bite and finds it delicious, just the way she baked them.
AN HOUR LATER…
After finishing the muffin bag together, both of them felt a bit stuffed. And Kanzashi did feel a bit better physically for her health, having had something to eat.
"Feeling better?" asked Raiden.
Kanzashi nods, "Yeah…"
"If you're not comfortable telling me what's wrong, then it's okay, that it is," Raiden said. "I can come back another time."
But Kanzashi holds his sleeve, making him stop.
Taking a deep inhale and exhale, Kanzashi spills her heart out.
"I was going to bring sweets to Ichika as a thank you but then I overheard his conversation with my sister. The data he was given…I thought it was his IS, but it was my sister's!"
Raiden was silent yet he remains stoic. He did not know of this turn of events despite helping Kanzashi with her IS. So for now, he continues lending his ear to her.
"Why? Why did this happen? Did he know all of this? If he did, then why did he keep it from me?"
Raiden didn't have an answer to all those questions but nor can he say that asking so many questions will do anything. So he decides to ask his own.
"Kanzashi-dono, what can you tell me of your family?"
"My family? Well… we're a long line that stretches 39 generations, my sister being the 39th head. But, the truth is, we are a secret organization fighting against another organization called Phantom Task."
The name of Phantom Task caught Raiden's ear. "Go on."
"My older sister's name is not actually her real one. It's just a name she uses since she is the head of the family, traditionally passed down to the eldest sibling. But she has dedicated her life to battling Phantom Task.
In Raiden's mind, he now starts to understand Tatenashi's disposition as student council president. It was not just because she was the head of her family bearing the name and the most powerful IS pilot in the Academy, but rather that she carried her family's mission: the destruction of Phantom Task.
And yet, he wonders if Tatenashi knows anything of the Archon. Of her identity and history. If so, then she is a formidable opponent against the leader of Phantom Task. But perhaps not as powerful as the Archon.
"Kanzashi-dono…" Raiden then broke the silence. "Do you, by any chance, hate your sister?"
"Eh?" That question caught the young Sarashiki off-guard as she looks at Raiden.
"Do you hate your sister for what she is?" Raiden asked again. "For being so far ahead of you? For being the head of your family and the student council president? Do you hate her for all that?"
"N-No!" Kanzashi exclaimed, but then immediately realized her voice went up an octane before she bashfully lowered herself. "N-No… I don't hate her, it's just— I…"
She drifts into silence, unable to answer how she feels to her older sister. She never hated her. How could she? It's just that her aura and the pressure that came with it were too much for the youngest member to handle. Despite not being the heir to the family, she was still one of their own blood.
"You know, Kanzashi-dono, you're lucky to have a sister, that you are," Raiden said. "I'm actually a bit jealous, that I am."
"Jealous?" asked a surprised Kanzashi. "Did you also have a sister?"
"Not exactly," Raiden said. "Rather, I had someone who was like a sister to me. We trained together, we ate together, we even did things kids at that age would get away with, that we did. We were close and we envisioned a new world with the Infinite Stratos, how we could make it better than what Tabane Shinonono could."
"It sounds like you two were indeed close," Kanzashi said, only for Raiden's tone to shift to one of reluctant mourning.
"But that sister whom I had once fought beside perished years ago. The day she chose to become a member of Phantom Task."
"What?" asked a surprised Kanzashi.
"She chose to join Phantom Task when we realized we had different visions. She resolved to use violence as a means of achieving our goals while I opted for cooperation amongst others. Her ambitions thwarted, she spitefully severed ties to me and now sees me as her enemy."
Kanzashi didn't know who Raiden was speaking about specifically, but to the Kingslayer, the image of Madoka lingered in his mind. The days when they were young and fellow hitokiri. Partners. Admittedly, those were good days he spent with her and Madoka would think the same. But now, they are respected but hated enemies to one another and the glory of one of them dying by one of their hands will belong solely to them and no other.
"Kanzashi-dono, do you think there was a reason why Tatenashi did what she did for your IS?" asked Raiden.
Kanzashi shook her head, her mind still wondering why it even happened in the first place.
"Then perhaps she did what she did not out of pity but out of something that truly matters. A human concept called… family."
"Family…?" asked Kanzashi. "But she and I are already family. We're related by blood."
"But that's the point, that it is," Raiden smiles. "My mentor, Akane, who was a former US Marine, once told me that soldiers in a platoon are not cogs in a machine. They have become something greater than an army, that they are. They have become family, because they watch each other's back and help one another in each individual's time of need."
'Soldiers in a platoon are not cogs in a machine. Something greater than an army…'
Kanzashi takes those words to heart. Family. It was just one word. But it carried a lot of weight. And for every person in the world, they have someone who is family. Blood-related or not.
"Kanzashi-dono, it's not my place to tell you what to be or how to fix your feelings, that it is not. Only you can change that. But at the end of the day, no matter how big the gap between you and your sister is, in the end, you two are family. And family is what matters most is it not? An older sibling cannot live in a world where their younger one dies before them, that they cannot."
'An older sibling cannot live in a world where their younger one dies before them, that they cannot.'
Kanzashi could not stop thinking of those words that Raiden said. In her heart, it did ease her a bit and made her answer questions of why Tatenashi did what she did. But her heart still trembled with fear and the only way to be rid of that fear was to face her older sister.
One way or another, she will get her chance.
BACK AT THE AUDITORIUM…
"Well then, I hope this turns out to be a rewarding experience for everyone," Tatenashi said. "And with that, the opening ceremonies are over."
"Well, enough with the formalities," Tatenasshi said as she brings up the schedule. "This is what you've all been waiting for: the match schedule!"
Soon the tag team match schedule pops up, showing six groups.
Laura Bodewig & Charlotte Dunois vs. Huang Lingyin & Cecilia Alcott
Sarashiki Tatenashi & Shinonono Houki vs. Ichika Orimura & Kanzashi Sarashiki
Daryl Cayce & Forte Sapphire vs. Honne Nohotoke & Raiden Hataru
Now many would not know this, but Honne Nohotoke actually does have a Personal IS but has kept it a secret to herself, her older sister Utsuho, and the Sarashiki sisters. Not only that but when Honne was inducted into the Academy, her Personal IS was still being developed at the time.
It was called Kyuubi no Tamashi, or Nine-Tailed Spirits. It is a 3rd Generation IS developed for medium to long range combat. Its armaments included Piercing Bits, which are the remote foxtail-like bits connected by cords on its backpack.
Its greatest asset is Omikuji, which are Fortune Cylinder type weapons where its attack power is randomized based on the ranks of the traditional Japanese Omikuji. For example, if drawn "Excellent Luck (大吉)", the attack is amplified. If drawn "Bad Luck (凶)", the attack will miss.
And like Mysterious Lady, it is also equipped with nanomachines that can manipulate water, enabling the pilot to change the shape of the water to serve any purposeful state. Honne uses it to create waterfall streams above the opponent's head and chasing it with a golden large washbasin.
(Author's Note: The name of Honne's IS comes from the now defunct game Infinite Stratos Archetype Breaker.)
News had reached to the Sarashiki family and the Nohotoke sisters that Honne's IS was now complete and ready to be shipped out today for the tournament. And Honne certainly could not wait to try it out with Raiden.
MEANWHILE…
"Kanzashi!" Ichika cried out as he ran down the hall.
Ichika had been looking for about an hour now and there was still no sign of Kanzashi. He checked the auditorium, the classrooms, the dormitory, the maintenance, and even the arena but there was still no sign of her. It was already getting a bit frustrating, especially with today being the Tag Team Tournament. If Ichika didn't find her soon, then they may be forced to disqualify from the match.
He then stops and turns around thinking about any other options of where his partner might be.
"Did she go to the pit already?" He asked.
*BOOM*
Suddenly, the sound of an explosion rocks the school and alarms are set off, indicating a code red. This nearly makes Ichika thrown off of his feet but he stabilizes himself as the alarms around the school start blaring out.
"What's going on?" He asked.
AT THE COMMAND CENTER…
Yamada-sensei looks at the console and spots multiple alerts. "Orimura-sensei, we're being attacked!"
The consoles showed up to show unidentified IS, all unmanned. Their designation was Golem Mark III. The units were the size and shape of girls in black armor. The pitch-black was neatly arranged to emphasize the outlining of the armor. Instead of mask-form visual sensors that were on the first unit, the new models have a more complex eye-like lens and ram's horn-shaped hyper sensors. The biggest changes were in the arms of the unit: the area underneath the right elbow has a huge blade, while the left arm had the same design but with four deep cannon holes.
Their armaments turns out to be Anti-IS, designed to negate an IS unit's energy shield which allows them to inflict major damage to the pilot with ease.
Chifuyu narrows her eyes, realizing what they are, "Those are…"
"They're similar to the unmanned IS that have appeared before," Yamada-sensei revealed. "However, they appear to be more advanced!"
"How many?" asked Chifuyu, wanting to know their numbers.
"Five units. They've appeared at the pit of each arena. The students with personal IS who were on standby are getting attacked."
Chifuyu grits her teeth as she mutters, "Damn it. This is too soon."
"What?" Yamada-sensei didn't catch that.
But Chifuyu brushes it aside and commands, "Teachers, prioritize evacuating the students! Combat instructors, prepare to charge in!"
"Roger!"
Chifuyu takes the time to realize that though these Golems may have come from Tabane, she believes they came from another source. This makes her grip her hands on arms tighter, her eyes narrowing as she grips her teeth.
'You got us, Edea. But don't underestimate us!'
BACK AT THE ARENA…
One of the Golems comes flying in and fires its blasters at Rin. She dodges and fires her Shock Cannons over at the Golem.
*BAM*
While it was a direct hit, the Golem shielded itself with its wings.
"What on earth is that?!" asked Rin.
"Rin-san, step back!" Cecilia cried as she took position and fires her Starlight Mk. III rifle.
*PEW*
She also deploys her BITS for extra firepower. But even with that, the Golem easily avoids all the shots before it brings up its left hand and fires its anti-IS cannon.
*BOOM*
Both pilots were consumed in the explosion.
*CLANG*
Down below, Laura blocks with her right hand against one of the Golems. Already she was struggling against its power. Once their blade locks disperses, they back off before the Golem turns its left shoulder to fire its cannon.
"Laura, duck!" cried Charlotte.
Just as it fires, Charlotte bring sup her shield to block Laura from the attack but like her best friend before her, she was struggling.
"Ch-Charlotte!" cried Laura.
Over at Raiden's location, he was evading incoming fire from one of the Golems firing at him from above. He sprints across the battlefield using the Ignition Boost before taking off into the air and deploys his ion blasters.
*PEW PEW PEW*
But even with three direct hits onto the Golem, it hardly budged.
"These things have tough armor, that they do," Raiden gritted his teeth. "Gonna have to try another way."
Switching his ion blasters for his armblades, Raiden moves in and clashes blades with the Golem.
*DING*
The Golem blocks it with its own right hand, but Raiden keeps pressing forward, clashing with it and going back and forth.
'This is a well-coordinated attack, taking place during this tournament. But who would be smart enough to pull something like this?'
As Kanzashi emerges at the hangar, she was hearing what sounded like blaster fire. Alarms were still ringing throughout the Academy, but she didn't get a clear view of what was going on. That is until one of the Golems lands with a thud in front of her, startling the younger Sarashiki.
She holds a hand to her mouth in shock, wondering what it was. But the Golem rises up and looks at her, catching her eyes behind its visor.
'Huh? What is that?'
The Golem slowly but surely approaches her, towering over her figure. She couldn't even speak as she lost her own voice.
'No… Help… S-Someone…'
The Golem's right hand approaches her, intent to grab her and inflict painful harm onto her small petite form. In desperation, Kanzashi could only call out to the one person who could save her. The one she treated and viewed as a hero in the making.
"Orimura-kun!" She cried out.
*SLISH SLASH*
*BOOM*
And right on cue, cuts through the wall with Yukihira in an X formation before charging in with Byakushiki deployed. He holds the Golem's hand back with his Particle Cannon, gritting his teeth as he looks back to see Kanzashi.
"Kanzashi, are you okay?" He asked.
Kanzashi couldn't believe her eyes. "Orimura-kun!"
The Golem's upper cannons prepare to fire. "Activate your IS and get out of here before you get hurt!"
"Oh, okay!" She answered as she activates her IS, Uchigane Nishiki.
*PEW*
*BOOM*
But just as the cannons fired, Kanzashi's IS activated, and her shields protected her from the blast. Although it drained her energy for a bit she was relatively unharmed. But she still sees Ichika struggling against the Golem.
"Orimura-kun!" She called out.
Ichika struggles against his opponent. "Damn… This thing's strong!"
With Ichika stuck in a stalemate, Kanzashi could no longer just sit by and retreat, not with her partner in danger.
"I want…" She said as she closes her eyes brings her hands together like she was praying. "I want… I want to… to fight." She then opens her eyes filled with conviction. "I want to fight alongside you!"
Summoning her naginata named Yumeutsutsu, which was an ultra-vibration naginata for CQC, she charges in for a thrusting motion to assist Ichika.
"Haaah!"
*DING*
This breaks the stalemate between Ichika and the Golem.
"Let's push it away and keep our distance!" Ichika suggested.
With one loud explosion, they push the Golem back out into the open and engage with it in the air.
As Houki trades blows with another of the Golems with her swords, she was already having a difficult time fending off against it. Even she could see Raiden, despite his power, was also struggling. And with both lovers out of each other's reach, they are in no position to go to each other for help.
Tatenashi soon comes in from below with her lance, Heavy Rain. "Got you!"
*DING*
Scoring a direct hit on the chest was enough to incapacitate the Golem, but not enough to take it out.
"This armor's so tough!" Tatenashi gritted her teeth. "Houki-chan, activate the Fold-Out Armor on your back! Push me!"
"O-Okay!" Houki said as she activates her Fold-Out Armor and rushes over to push Tatenashi at the back. "Tatenashi-san!"
"Now" Tatenashi commanded, which made Houki put full power into her thrusters to push Tatenashi and the Golem over towards the barrier of the arena.
*BAM*
The Golem hits the barrier of the stands, being pushed further in by the efforts of the two pilots. Tatenashi though wanted to destroy it, seeing how grave of a situation they were in and how life-threatening this Golem was.
But their power was just not enough as the Golem grabs the tip of the lance and begins to push it back slowly.
"Tatenashi-san!" Houki informed.
"Keep pushing so we can crush its armor!" Tatenashi said.
"But…"
"Just do it!" Tatenashi focuses up front to use all of her strength and more to push her lance. "Take this!"
Firing her 4-barrel gatling gun at the Golem was enough to stun it, but it was still not enough.
"I still have a lot more up my sleeve!" She cried.
Raising her hand up, she uses the nanomachines of her IS to bring about the water of her IS and concentrates it all within her spear, but Houki realized what she was about to do.
"Your armor…" She cried out.
*SLING*
But it was too late as Tatenashi receives a slashed wound at her abdomen, getting a rather nasty hit. As she used her nanomachines for her lance, it left her critically exposed to the Golem's blades, her defenses no longer supporting her.
"Houki-chan…" A bleeding Tatenashi dodges another thrust to the head but got scraped on the neck. "Shift your focus entirely defense! Or you'll be injured too!"
"B-But…" Houki was hesitant, knowing that Tatenashi will be the one caught in the explosion and right at the heart of it.
Tatenashi however muttered to herself with a smile, "I'm… immortal."
With her nanomachines forming an offensive shape of a lance, she was ready to pull a rather reckless stunt. "Take the maximum firepower of Mysterious Lady!"
"N-No!" Houki pleaded.
"Lance of Mysteltainn, activate!" Tatenashi cried as she brings the water lance down onto the Golem.
*BOOM*
And a fiery explosion engulfs the Golem, Houki, and Tatenashi at its heart. With her IS focused solely to defense, Houki should remain relatively unharmed. But for Tatenashi… it's a question of whether her immortality really was true or just a hoax.
Ichika heard the sound of the nearby explosion caused by Tatenashi. "What was that?!"
He brings up on screen to check what it was but only received static and the word 'Error' written in red. "Could it be Houki and…"
"Watch out!" Kanzashi said as she get sup front of Ichika and deflects blaster fire from the Golem. "I'll deal with these guys!"
Ichika was stunned. "Kanzashi?!"
"Orimura-kun, check the situation at the other gate!" Kanzashi ordered.
"Got it."
With Ichika taking off to go to the other gate, Kanzashi was left facing the Golem.
"This is as far as you go!" She declared.
BACK AT COMMAND…
"Detected an unknown energy emitting from the arm of enemy IS," Yamada-sensei said. "Our girls and boys are having a difficulty deploying their Shield Barrier. It's neutralizing Absolute Defense!"
Chifuyu grits her teeth, realizing what they are. "They're anti-IS units, huh?"
Feeling her hidden side wound throb made Chifuyu secretly bring her left hand over to hold it, remembering something of a similar experience. Her eyes narrow of seeing that these anti-IS units were indeed one of many culminations created by her hated foe.
'Edea. To go this far against us… Then again, you'd do anything to cause me pain, just like five years ago.'
BACK ON THE BATTLEFIELD…
Kanzashi was busy evading fire from the anti-IS Golem that was firing with his left hand.
"Orimura-kun…" She muttered before she brought up a viewscreen of the burning rubble. But when she saw parts of Mysterious Lady that was badly damaged, she realized who that pilot was to her shock.
And lying in that rubble on her back was her older sister, Tatenashi Sarashiki. Wounded, bleeding, and unconscious.
"No way…" A stunned Kanzashi saw on screen, her eyes watering up. "NOOOO!"
The Golem fires away its anti-IS cannons but Kanzashi dodges it despite still wracked with grief and shock.
"How… How dare you?!" She screamed, putting her thrusters at full power.
And she engages in one on one combat with the Golem. Her melee skills though were lackluster at best since she is not really much of a fighter. And the Golem could easily deflect and block her attacks despite the rushing of adrenaline in her body.
*DING*
But her naginata is flung out of her hands. However, it didn't matter as she decides to get up close and make this personal.
With her Particle Cannons called Shunrai deployed, she takes aim at the Golem at point blank range.
*BAM BAM BAM*
With each blast she makes, it pushes the Golem further away, damaging its armor bit by bit. But that armor was indeed tough and had to take multiple blasts at point blank range just enough to damage it.
*CRASH*
Kanzashi and the Golem soon crash to the ground, but she still had more where that came from.
"I won't forgive you!" She cried as she unleashes one final blast from her Shunrai.
*BOOM*
Both arms of the Golem separated from the unit as Kanzashi had exposed the heart of its mainframe, its IS core now out in the open and vulnerable.
"The core! If I can destroy that…"
*CLICK*
Unfortunately, because she used up all of her ammo, her Shunrai Particle Cannons were now empty.
A Golem from behind soon walks over and, with the unconscious Ichika in its hand, throws him over to Uchigane Nishiki's pilot.
*BAM*
And Kanzashi is sent to the ground with a thud. As she recovers from her daze, she sees Ichika unconscious.
"I-Ichika?!" She cried. "Ichika!"
But with him unconscious and Kanzashi out of energy, she could only look in horror as the Golem approaches her. With the other girls either incapacitated or busy, and Raiden also forced to fend off two Golems at once, Kanzashi was all alone.
'S-Stop…'
But the Golem kept approaching her, taking slow steps with the intent to cut her down. Each step it took was heavy, like an executioner ready to bring down the axe.
'I can't do it. As I thought, I can't handle it.'
One of the arms of the Golem Kanzashi blasted earlier springs to life and magnetically merges with the Golem in front of her. Then another one comes and attaches over to the back, making the Golem four-armed.
'I'm… useless. Ichika, I'm sorry… for not being able to save you… for being so useless…'
The Glem grabs the unconscious Ichika and throws him violently away, to the tearful Kanzashi as she was forced to watch her friend and crush get tossed aside.
'I'm sorry for being born at all.'
The Golem soon turns its attention over to the helpless Sarashiki, its blade deployed to strike her down. And Kanzashi could only shut her eyes, awaiting the impact of the blade.
'There's no such thing… as a hero… in this world.'
*SLIISH*
As the blade comes down on Kanzashi, she heard the sound of flesh being carved up like a pig at a butcher's shop.
But when she opens her eyes, she saw that it was not her that was hit. It was her own sister, who hugged her to shield her from the strike.
But in doing so, sacrificed her own life as the blade had cut into her back.
"Onee-chan…" She muttered in shock, watching her sister fall to the ground bleeding profusely after taking a fatal hit.
IN THE MENTAL WORLD…
"O-Onee-chan!" Kanzashi cried out.
In her own world, as if time stopped, Kanzashi found herself within space, the stars alight yet they didn't produce enough light to light her way. She wore only her IS suit without Uchigane Nishiki showing.
"Onee-chan…" Kanzashi called out to the void. "Onee-chan!"
And in front of her stood Tatenashi, her older sister, glowing in a red aura, yet looking like nothing had happened to her compared to just a minute ago. She too wore only her IS suit.
But Tatenashi turns around to face her little sister and bore only a happy expression.
"It's been years since the last time I was called that," Tatenashi noted.
"Why… did you…" Kanzashi hesitantly asked. "I can't do anything to…"
"You can," Tatenashi encouraged.
But Kanzashi shook her head. "I can't! In this world, heroes don't exist!"
"Yeah, they don't," Another voice spoke up, one she recognized to her shock.
But she also heard another voice speaking afterwards. "Hero is just a word, that it is."
Kanzashi recognized who they were. It was Ichika and Raiden respectively. She looked to her left to see Ichika standing there in a blue aura with only his IS suit. Behind him about ten yards away was Raiden, his back turned on Ichika and also in his IS suit, with his sword at his side and in its sheathe.
"You'll never find your perfect, flawless hero," Ichika said.
"No matter how hard you look," Raiden added.
Kanzashi could only watch the two boys speak. "Ichika… Raiden…"
Ichika closes his eyes as he smiles. "Those heroes won't ever shed tears, but they won't laugh either." He then opens his eyes. "I am a human. I laugh and cry. I lose, sometimes."
"And the pain of failure and loss can weigh heavily, that it can," Raiden spoke, keeping his back onto Ichika and hiding his expression.
Ichika then turns towards Kanzashi. "But I don't give up. I'm a human who doesn't run away and keeps fighting."
Kanzashi however spoke, "You're pushing yourself. Aren't you afraid of dying?"
Ichika responds, "Of course I am."
"Death is just another path, one that we all must take," Raiden said.
"But I feel like I wouldn't be able to be who I am if I ran away."
"The only reason we fall to defeat is so we can learn to pick ourselves up."
But Kanzashi, still feeling such a weight in her heart and mind, could only cry out in sorrow for her perceived weakness. The fact that she could never match her sister or catch up with her pained her to no end.
"I'm… I'm…" Kanzashi spoke with tears flowing out of her eyes and into the depths of space. "Such a coward."
Her sister then walks over to her and still bears that gentle smile. "That's alright. It's okay to be weak and dirty. It's okay to be cowardly or pathetic. Because you're human."
Kanzashi then looks at her sister still wracked by her emotions. "Onee-chan…"
"So, Kanzashi-chan…" Tatenashi extends her arms out. "Accept your weaknesses and shortcomings. Once you accept them, you'll be able to stand up. Because…"
"…I'm human?" asked Kanzashi.
"That's right. Plus…" Tatenashi closes her eyes while still smiling. "You're a little sister I can be proud of."
'At the end of the day, no matter how big the gap between you and your sister is, in the end, you two are family. And family is what matters most.'
Kanzashi soon remembered what Raiden told her earlier. And he was right. She and Tatenashi are still family despite the gap. Despite the difference in power. And family is something that never breaks no matter how big.
Feeling cleansed of her fears, Kanzashi takes her sister's hand into hers with acceptance, finally freed from her own inner demons.
"Okay."
*SHIING*
A bright light shines forth like a new star was born.
BACK IN REALITY…
Tatenashi laid in Kanzashi's arms, barely alive and heavily bleeding. With Mysterious Lady out of commission, the Academy's most powerful IS pilot was down for the count. But Tatenashi had nothing to worry about. She may be out but she is not the last Sarashiki to be defeated.
"I'll fight, Onee-chan," Kanzashi told her wounded sister.
Tatenashi, with her left hand, holds up what looked like an Aqua Crystal. "Here's a charm. Save it for when you really need it."
"Aqua Crystal?" Kanzashi saw.
"Good-luck, first year," Tatenashi cheered.
Thanks to putting her full power on her defenses from Tatenashi's Lance of Mysteltainn, Houki remained active in combat. She barrel rolls and dodges the heavy fire from the Golem on the ground as she contacts Ichika over the comm.
"Ichika, are you all right?" Houki asked. "Ichika!"
Her voice was enough for Ichika to hear and wake up slowly, albeit in pain. "Houki?"
"Ichika, what happened to your Reiraku Byakuya?" asked Houki.
Ichika checks to see and he is out of energy. "I can't do it. I don't have the energy."
"Then I can use my Kenran Butō!"
*BOOM*
An explosion knocks Houki off course to her surprise, but she emerges unscathed. "If only I had some time…"
*SHIING*
But then the naginata, Yumeutstsu, hits the ground near the Golem before it is called back.
"I'll buy you some time!" Kanzashi said.
*PEW PEW PEW*
Sounds from an ion blaster were also heard from Raiden as he fires on the Golem from both of his arms.
"Houki-dono, get to Ichika!" cried Raiden as he fires at the anti-IS unit. "We'll try to hold this thing off!"
Ichika was stunned. "Kanzashi! Raiden!"
"There's no time to hesitate!" Kanzashi informed.
With the Golem distracted as it engages with Raiden and Kanzashi in the air, Houki takes this time to extend her hand out to Ichika.
"Ichika, give me your hand!" She said.
Ichika lifts his right hand and grabs onto Houki's left and the two shimmer in a golden light enveloping their forms. Soon, Ichika's energy meter begins to recover at a fast rate.
This was the One-Off Ability of Akatsubaki, Kenran Butō. It enables Houki to recover the energy of Akatsubaki, and also recover energy to nearby IS's she comes in contact with. When activated, Akatsubaki releases a golden glow from his entire frame. It is presumed that Tabane specifically chose this ability so Houki could act as the primary support for Ichika's Byakushiki, which usually suffers from high energy consumption rate. This gives Houki a major advantage over other IS's, as she can continually recover her energy as many times as possible.
Back in the skies, Raiden and Kanzashi were taking heavy fire from the Golem.
"Kanzashi-dono, get ready with your missiles!" Raiden suggested as he fires back at the Golem.
"Right!" Kanzashi nods, understanding his plan. "Uchigane Nishiki manual guidance system, activate!" A hologram keyboard activates in front of her as do several other panels. "48 Mountain Storm warhead missiles! Starting manual maneuver for all orbits!"
Typing away on her keyboard, Kanzashi opens up the flaps of her IS to unleash 24 of her 48 missiles, armed and locked on target.
"Lend me your power, Uchigane Nishiki!" She cried.
And with that, all 24 missiles fire away and travel on target towards the Golem. Raiden moves out of the way to avoid being caught in the crossfire. But even with locked-on missiles, the Golem evades them easily.
*PEW*
It emerges out of the smoke and fires its shoulder cannons at a stunned Kanzashi.
"It's still standing?!" She cried.
*DING*
With the Sakabatō in hand, Raiden deflects the shots yet sees another set coming in. Luckily though, his girlfriend Houki finishes recharging Ichika and gets in front of him and activates a barrier.
"Akatsubaki, show me your power!" Houki cried.
Two pieces of her IS deploy out to Houki's arms as if responding to her commands, the shoulder unit on Akatsubaki slides open. That shape looked like a huge crossbow with an arrow on it.
The panel that suddenly popped out showed this message.
«Experience level gained to a certain value. Construction of new equipment is complete. Variable output Blaster Rifle Thousand Pierces. It's an outstanding piercing armament with the largest firing range-»
"Forget all this useless jargon!" cried Houki.
Shutting the window, Houki kept her shields open and bent down. This is a weapon that could vary its output. It's unlikely to hit without using all the PIC. Without knowing why, Houki understood it all, and summoned the scope on her right-eye.
"I got your left arm!" She cried as she took aim.
Using her Fold-Out Armor like usual, the crimson red energy bullet was shot out under huge compression. The attack came from the shoulders on both sides, and it rushed forward with shockingly scorching heat…
*BAM*
And the Golem's left arm was blown away from the main body.
Houki then called out to Ichika and Raiden. "Finish it, you two!"
Flying above Houki's head, Ichika uses Ignition Boost to enter the battle. Wielding Yukihira Nigata with both hands, he slices off the remaining arms, allowing Raiden to move in for one more attack to weaken the Golem.
"Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū – Sō Ryū Sen!"
*PING*
*POW*
With both Sakabatō and sheathe in hand, Raiden hits the Golem twice, staggering it and putting it in a daze before retreating to avoid being locked by the missiles.
"Kanzashi!" Ichika cried.
Given the signal, Kanzashi fires her remaining 24 missiles out towards the Golem, with one of them holding an Aqua Crystal. And all 24 make it to the target and explode on impact.
It even after taking such a beating, the Golem still stood.
"It didn't work?!" asked a stunned Kanzashi.
However, with an Aqua Crystal stuck to its shoulder and in its exposed IS core…
"Time for the charm," A struggling Tatenashi said as she snaps her left fingers.
*SNAP*
Though all blurry due to the severe loss of blood, that hand of hers raised up to the sky, and the movements of the fingers looked like they were holding a switch.
*BOOM*
The next moment, Golem was absorbed by the explosion within, and vanished without a trace.
Using her last ounce of strength, Tatenashi gave a thumbs up, "Yay!"
*SHINNK*
With her Souten Gagetsu, Rin pierces the IS core of the Golem, taking it offline permanently. Their opponent was finally defeated.
"Cecilia…" Rin called out to her British friend, who breathed a sigh of relief.
At another area, Charlotte uses her Shield Pierce to also dismantle the Golem. With their opponent defeated, she and Laura smile and give a high five.
"Everyone, regroup!" Raiden called on the comms, prompting all pilots to reconvene on his position.
Rin, Charlotte, Laura, and Cecilia rally over to the arena where Raiden and the others were at. When they arrive though, they could see Tatenashi in her sister's arms.
"Student council president?" asked Cecilia.
Tatenashi however retains her smile. "D-Don't worry. It's just a scratch—Agh!"
"Onee-chan, don't move!" Kanzashi pleaded. "We need to get you to the infirmary."
Suddenly, a new noise rang through the air, one coming from the skies. Everyone looks up to see what looked like another IS, but not like the Golems. Instead, this one simply flew by the IS Academy.
"Odd," Rin noted as she spots the object. "Who called in the Air Force?"
Laura gets a closer look at the object with her scanners. But as she scans in, she sees that it was an IS. And an unidentified one not of the JASDF.
"That's not the Air Force," She said in confusion.
All Laura could see of the IS was that it looked like Silent Zephyrus but heavily modified and in the color of gold, red, and white. Its name was designated as Blitz Wing.
But before Laura could say more of what it was, alarms beeped off Charlotte's scanners and ten red dots suddenly appeared. They were coming in fast from the IS and leaving a trail of smoke behind them.
Charlotte gasps, realizing they were missiles, directing at her and everyone else in the arena.
"INCOMING!" Charlotte cried.
*BOOM BOOM BOOM BAM*
Everyone was thrown off of their feet from the impact of the missiles. Rin and Cecilia were thrown into the stands, Charlotte and Laura were sent flying across the arena, and Raiden rushes to Houki to cover her from the blast but gets hammered in the process as the two crash into an arena wall. As for Ichika, he too rushes to Tatenashi and Kanzashi, shielding the sisters from harm but is also thrown out of the way by the blast.
The Blitz Wing pilot maneuvers out of the way and comes back around like a fighter jet. But this missile strike was not the only thing it wanted to deliver, especially when it has its sensors locked onto Lion Heart.
AT COMMAND…
Chifuyu and Yamada-sensei see that their pilots on screen were thrown aside from the missile blast by the unidentified IS.
"Personal Pilots, do you copy?" Chifuyu asked over the comm, only to hear static. "Orimura! Hataru! Come in!"
But there was only static. Their communications line should still be working now that they are no longer hacked. If this was no security breach again, then there is a jamming device nearby.
"Orimura-sensei! We're being jammed by that IS!" Yamada-sensei revealed. "Communications are down!"
Chifuyu grits her teeth. As long as that unidentified IS was there at the Academy, they cannot establish contact with the other pilots.
'Still not done toying with us, Edea? Damn you and your trump cards!'
BACK AT THE ARENA…
Raiden pushes a piece of rubble off of him and the unconscious Houki, laying on her back and still in her IS.
"Houki-dono?" asked Raiden as he shook her. "Houki-dono!"
Houki moans but her vision and mind were hazy, as was her hearing. All she heard was a ringing noise that rendered all other voices inaudible, even Raiden's. Raiden then looked around to see that everyone else was the same as he stood alone.
Dropping down to the arena floor, he looks to see the Blitz Wing IS charge in from above, with one hand out. Raiden could recognize who she was due to that armor she wore that looked almost Nordic like, like she was a warrior of Norse Mythology. But all too soon did he realize who that IS pilot was, after having his scans confirm.
Her name was Olrun, a Valkyrie sent by the Archon. The leader of the Golems that attacked.
In desperation, Raiden fires his ion blasters at Olrun but she came in too fast for him to get a proper shot even at close range.
*BAM*
Grabbing Raiden by the throat with her left hand, she pushes him all the way to the wall, making him crash into it and leaving a crater as the Sakabatō is flung out of his hand.
"Did you think you could hide, traitor?" asked a bellowing and angered Olrun.
Raiden leaps up and over and kicks Olrun in the face with his right leg, breaking her hold on him as he flees to grab his Sakabatō. Olrun shakes off the daze of the kick and jumps up and over Raiden to land in front of him just in time as he grabs his sword.
*DING*
Raiden attempts to strike but Olrun knocks the Sakabatō away with her right hand. She then attacks with the edges of her wings that were aligned with serrated and sharp metal feathers. Raiden blocks the first strike but is knocked away by the second, forcing him back but he recovers quickly with a skid.
"Now you'll die screaming," Olrun said as she brings out her assault rifle that formed from her right arm, an AR15 full auto, and points it at Raiden. "Like your friends—"
*BAM*
Raiden charges into Olrun before she finishes her sentence, knocking her to the ground as he lands behind her. Then, bringing up his armblade on his right hand, he jumps and attempts to stab Olrun, only for the pilot to swiftly evade and take off.
Now it was her turn to charge into the Kingslayer as she grabs Raiden by the throat again but this time takes him up into the air. But not without slamming him to the Academy's tower and dragging him across it upwards. Raiden yelps and screams of the struggle before he uses his left arm to bash against the wall behind him.
*BAM*
Slithering right underneath Olrun, he grabs onto her leg before he quickly climbs up onto her back. Olrun could not shake him off due her situation but she soon hears Raiden's armblade brought out on his left hand.
*STAB*
*SCHUNK*
*SHIK*
*PSHH*
With four stabs into Olrun's IS, Raiden damages her systems enough to the point her thrusters become compromised. Her energy shields drop but they were not nearly enough, not even 50% below. Olrun struggles and tries to grab Raiden but with her out of control, they both ram into the top of the Academy tower.
*BAM*
Raiden uses his acrobatic skills to skillyfully land while Olrun takes the heavy fall to the ground. However, with both of them at the top of the tower, Olrun recovers and decides to push Raiden to the edge.
Conjuring up her AR15 on her right hand again, she fires away at Raiden who takes a defensive stance and covers himself.
*PEW PEW PEW PEW*
Olrun pushes Raiden back with her AR15, to the point his right foot goes over the edge. The force of those bullets not only damaged his shields, but were also anti-IS, designed to rip through his armor.
Luckily or perhaps part of her plan, Olrun grabs Raiden by the chest to hold him up before he falls.
"Surrender and I may let your Academy friends live," Olrun offered.
But Raiden refuses, "I'd rather die than do that."
"Is that right?" The Valkyrie asked as she then brings out a serrated arm blade and brings it over to her hand that grabbed Raiden, which then shifts into something like that of a cannon. "Then let's make it official."
Raiden then realized that the smell coming off of Olrun's hand that held him was something familiar. Something that soldiers know all too well, even hitokiri. A smell that could ignite with a single spark, meant by the blade. If the blade was the knife and the hand the flint, then Raiden knew what that smell was to his shock.
And the smell was gunpowder.
*SHIING*
*BOOM*
And with one strike of her blade against her armed cannon, Olrun lets off a massive bang at point blank range, right onto Raiden's chest. The shock and impact was enough to totally destroy Lion Heart, and tear up the front of Raiden's IS uniform, shredding it into bits and leaving a rather nasty burning mark on his chest.
An unconscious and severely wounded Raiden is sent plummeting from the smoke due to Olrun letting him go just as she let off the bang. The impact of the cannon up close was even worse than that of a shotgun blast. His internal organs at that range would be irreversible and compromised. As for Olrun, her hand remained relatively undamaged from the blast.
*CRASH*
Raiden plummets down the side of the tower before his body hits the rooftop of the arena, rolling along as it does. Soon he is sent flying back towards the arena where he lands with a thud on his back.
*BAM*
Olrun arrives shortly afterwards to look upon the defeated form of her opponent, the greatest hitokiri Phantom task ever created and also their greatest quisling.
"Hitokiri Kingslayer…" Olrun states as she picks Raiden up with her left hand by the throat. "As a member of the IS Academy and former hitokiri, you are a traitor to Phantom Task. And are hereby sentenced to death."
*SLING*
*SLASH*
"Gaah!" Olrun cries out as she stumbles backwards.
Without warning, Olrun feels her left arm cut off by Yukihira and is bashed away by Souten Gagetsu being thrown.
The unconscious Raiden drops down and is caught by Houki before being dragged away for safety. Her prize now out of her hands, Olrun attempts to pursue, only to be surrounded and blocked off by Ichika and Rin.
"Not so fast!" Ichika cried.
"We won't let you through!" Rin prepared herself.
But suddenly…
*SHRIEEK*
With a loud scream from her own mouth that reverberates off her IS and produces a shockwave, Olrun lets out a shrieking ringing noise that makes everyone cover their eardrums and cower. Even pilots outside the arena heard the scream and cover their ears, being affected by the noise.
But with them disorientated, Olrun spreads out her wings that were bladed at the tip. Instead of wielding a traditional sword or spear, her wings were both her offensive and defensive weapon.
She charges in at Ichika and spins with her wings, grazing him multiple times on the chest as he is flung away.
"Ichika!" cried Rin before she comes in with her Impact Cannons aimed at Olrun. "Take this!"
Rin fires away her Impact Cannons but Olrun uses her wings to shield herself from the shots, to Rin's surprise as they are bounced off.
Olrun fires her AR15 at Rin, forcing her to move out of the way. But while Olrun fires at Rin as she dodges in the air…
"Haaah!" Charlotte comes in with her Shield Pierce.
*BAM*
And lands a blow onto Olrun's right shoulder. However, Olrun hardly flinched from the impact and smirked.
"Pathetic," She said.
*BAM*
Olrun knocks Charlotte off of her with her wings, sending the Rafale Revive pilot tumbling across the ground.
"Your plan was an admirable effort," Olrun said as she brings out her cannon and points at Charlotte. "But ultimately, it was in vain."
Charlotte however said, "No it wasn't."
Wondering what she meant, Olrun looks and spots what looked like a rocket stuck to her IS, right on her right shoulder. Her eyes widened as Olrun realized Charlotte was right and figured out that by using the Shield Pierce and landing a hit, she attached one of the missiles that belonged to Blue Tears onto her IS.
*SHIING*
Before Olrun could act and remove the foreign object, she is trapped in an AIC field created by Laura who was behind her. To Olrun's eye, a beam of light shines from above her and she looks to see Blue Tears up top of the arena and taking aim with its Starlight Mark II sniper rifle.
"No…" Olrun realizes as Cecilia takes aim at the rocket. "No!"
"Now, Cecilia!" Laura cried as she lets go of the AIC and ducks for cover.
*PEW*
Cecilia fires her shot…
*BOOM*
And just as Laura releases her AIC, the shot makes contact with the rocket on Olrun, exploding in a tremendous fireball that engulfed her. Laura hits the deck to minimize damage to herself from the explosion.
When it all came to, Olrun laid unconscious but severely wounded while her IS was nothing but scrap and shredded parts.
Short and petite, the pilot has light skin and purple eyes. Her hair is black and long, wrapped in a sideways ponytail.
(Author's Note: For those wondering, it is Rukia Kichiki from Bleach but in the appearance of twenty years after the defeat of Yhwach.)
"Raiden!" Houki cried for everyone to hear, holding him in his arms. "No, no, no no! Please don't do this! Wake up!"
But Raiden was still unconscious and wouldn't wake. Houki could see that brutal chest wound he had
In response to this, she activates Kenran Butō, enveloping her and Raiden in a golden light out of desperation just to recover his shield energy of his IS. Lion Heart barely functioned but the Absolute Defense system did prevent Raiden from dying. In the process though, the IS took a brutal hit.
Tense minutes pass as Houki's One-Off Ability tries to help restore whatever energy was left in Lion Heart, no matter how miniscule it was.
*GASP*
A loud gasp was heard from Raiden, followed by vicious sets of coughing. But man did his chest hurt like hell, like a two ton great white shark laid on him.
"Raiden? Raiden!" Houki called out to him.
Raiden grunts, "Ugh… H-Houki-dono?"
"Oh, Raiden!" Houki cried, hugging him.
But that was probably a bad mistake. "Owowowowow!"
But Houki would not let go, even as Raiden pleads with her to let go. Regardless though, everyone was too tired to help, all slumping to the floor inn exhaustion as the medics arrived to evacuate them to the infirmaries.
Sunset rays shine all over the Academy. The Tag Team Tournament had been canceled due to this attack and a plethora of work was in the hands of the teachers and faculty who had to explain everything once again to the Japanese Diet. As for the students, they were all just relieved that the nightmare was over, and everyone was safe. They knew they could count on Personal IS pilots, including Raiden and Ichika, to fend off the attack. In fact, the girls may find a greater admiration in them than before for being so gallant.
In the infirmary laid the wounded yet alive Tatenashi Sarashiki. Since she was one of two pilots severely injured during the battle, she had to stay in the infirmary to have a full recovery. Her injuries were treatable and not life-threatening, but she did lose a few pints of blood in the process.
She wakes up yet is wracked in pain and felt like there was an elephant sitting on her chest.
She then hears a gasp from another voice to her left. "Onee-chan!"
Tatenashi looks and sees Kanzashi sitting by her side. She must've been there the whole time she was unconscious.
"Kanzashi-chan – Ow!" Tatenashi tries to sit up but the wound on her back was still sore, making her stop halfway before falling back down.
"Don't move," Kanzashi said. "You're badly wounded."
"Okay," Tatenashi nodded but her face was red. And for good reason.
Silence was the only thing that passed between them as Tatenashi takes in the situation she was in with her little sister, someone whom she had a strained relationship with. She looks out to the orange skies of the sunset in a state of reflection, pondering on how these turn of events led to the sisters reconciling with one another.
'How many years as it been since I last talked to Kanzashi-chan like this? Should I thank Ichika-kun? Or Dear Raiden? Why did I ask them, anyway? Was I trying to push this problem onto them?'
In her mind, part of her believed that she did was right, entrusting her sister to the boys. Or rather to Ichia, mostly. At the same time, she wondered if she should have been directly involved in the affair. This was her own little sister, her flesh and blood. And she had to depend on two strangers to help her. Admittedly, it hurt her pride a bit and the events ended up with her in the infirmary.
Still, she had to admit that the boys did do a thorough job helping her. But this also left her conflicted with her relationship to them. To Ichika, he was someone she had fun teasing with and she was his roommate. To Raiden, she had grown interest in him despite the cute glares from Houki's jealousy whenever she was too close. Her heart fluttered at the boys and their help with her sister, but who deserves the most credit?
"Onee-chan?" asked Kanzashi.
This snaps her out of it as she looks to her left. "Huh? What?"
"What's the matter? Your face is red."
"Huh?!" She gasped but then quickly thought of an excuse. "I-It must be the evening sun."
"Really?" Kanzashi asked, taking the bait.
Another moment of silence passed between them. But then Tatenashi remembers that after the battle with the Golems, another IS pilot emerged and attacked Raiden, severely wounding him.
"Oh, right. Kanzashi-chan?" She called out.
"Huh?" Kanzashi looked and was surprised to see the concerned expression of her sister.
"How is Dear Raiden?" She asked. "I heard he was attacked by another IS pilot."
Kanzashi then remembered as she had witnessed the event. But with her IS out of ammo and power, she was forced to sit on the sidelines of that fight. Not only that but she had to get her sister out of the battlefield due to her injuries.
"R-Raiden is fine," Kanzashi said. "He's also recovering in another infirmary, along with the others."
Tatenashi breathes a sigh of relief. "Good. That's good."
"Um, Onee-chan…" Kanzashi then spoke next after another quick moment of silence.
"Hm?"
Kanzashi's mood then went melancholic, her head dipping down in shame. "S-Sorry about the way I've been acting." Tears started to form up. "I'm… a terrible little sister."
"No, you aren't," Tatenashi said, raising her left hand to her sister's right cheek to comfort her. "You're my precious little sister. A very strong little sister."
Kanzashi soon remembers another set of words of wisdom that Raiden spoke to her earlier.
'An older sibling cannot live in a world where their younger one dies before them, that they cannot.'
Those words ringed her head and caused her to cry out her heart.
"Onee-chan!" Kanzashi cried as she lays her head on her sister's body. "Onee-chan…"
And with that, the bond between the two Sarashiki sisters, once strained due to their difference in power and skill, was repaired and became stronger than ever. In Kanzashi's mind, Raiden was right. Despite their differences, she and Tatenashi were, and always will be, family. And family is the greatest weapon that a sister has.
MEANWHILE…
Underneath the IS Academy, Chifuyu and Yamada-sensei were looking over the remains of both the unmanned anti-IS and Olrun's IS, or whatever remained of it.
"As I thought, they're an advanced form of the unmanned IS," Yamada-sensei said. "They use unregistered cores. We managed to recover two of them. As for the other pilot, her IS is scrapped, core included."
"Notify the government that all of them were destroyed," Chifuyu ordered.
Yamada-sensei though was concerned as she turns around. "But that might put this Academy at risk!"
Chifuyu however smirks. "Come on, who do you think I am? I can protect an academy or two, no problem." Her mood then went serious. "I bet my life on it."
Chifuyu turns and takes her leave to exit the facility. But after a good distance out of Yamada-sensei's ears, she starts coughing blood again. Her left hand on a wall to stabilize herself and her right hand holding a handkerchief to her mouth to catch the blood.
*COUGH COUGH COUGH*
"Ack…" Chifuyu clears her throat as she wipes the blood off her mouth. She takes a bit of a breather to stabilize herself as her mind reflects on recent events.
Everything that has happened all points to Phantom Task. With Edea back in the game and somehow alive, war was going to break out. And the Academy will be the primary target of it all. Chifuyu did not want to put her students in danger though, not even her little brother whom she has looked after her whole life.
But the rules are now changing. The Alaska Treaty was starting to become obsolete and so long as everyone sticks to the same rules as they have for the past ten years, Edea and Phantom Task will take advantage. The recent attacks that have occurred; Udō Hina, the school festival, and now the Golem units; all point to the fact that Edea is taunting Chifuyu and trying to get her out in the open. It is likely she is doing this to spite her, to attack and demoralize her spirit as her position as a teacher is limited by what she can do.
As she resumes her walk, Chifuyu could remember Himari's words from their phone call the night before.
'Chifuyu, your little brother admires you so bravely. You should find the time to tell him properly about everything concerning the 2nd Mondo Grosso five years ago. Be honest; he deserves the truth.'
Chifuyu knew Himari was right. She had kept this secret for many years but now, with Edea back on the game board and Ichika on the frontlines, things were only going to get worse. Though Chifuyu believed Ichika would not care of what he is told since he has a strong sense of justice, he cannot fight this battle without knowing the reason why it began. Plus, he was the main reason why Chifuyu forfeited the 2nd Mondo Grosso; because he was kidnapped by Phantom Task on Edea's orders.
When Chifuyu learned Edea was the one behind it all, she hunted her down and fought her. She should've died that day, her and Edea both. But both miraculously survived, lingering right at death's doorstep. It was only through paying for people's silence did Chifuyu ask them not to say anything to Ichika and keep him in the dark. He could not know what happened to her on that day besides what he was told and what he had witnessed. And she had paid exorbitant sums to cover up her wound and to receive medicine for her injuries. Every time Ichika asked her about the pills, she lied and told him they were vitamins.
But now, there is no more time to deceive and delay. He has to know the truth, whether he likes it or not. It'll be tough for him, but she cannot keep the truth hidden any longer at this point in time.
As Chifuyu walks, she feels her side wound throbbing in pain, making her hold a hand to it.
In another infirmary within the school, Raiden laid sleeping on the bed with bandages wrapped around his chest. Like Tatenashi, he too needed to recover in another infirmary but as for why he was in a separate infirmary; that's because it was by Chifuyu's request surprisingly. And her reason for it? Chifuyu only responded with the word classified, which was a fancy way of saying minding one's own business.
Raiden soon wakes up and feels himself sleeping on a rather hard bed, which meant he was in the infirmary. The beds in the dormitory were softer than whatever he was laying on. And he could remember why he was on the infirmary bed.
'H-How did I… Oh yeah. Olrun.'
The memory of him being blasted away by Olrun rang heavily in him. One simple point blank blast of her cannon was enough to destroy Raiden's IS and leave him severely injured. In an instant, he was knocked out and would've died had the Absolute Defense system not kicked in. To take a blast of gunpowder directly to the chest would've killed any other. And despite his wound being treated, it still burned and pained him a lot.
But Raiden's mind was now focused on the opponent that was defeated.
'That… That was a Valkyrie. To think Phantom Task's rumored project was actually true. And complete.'
He then hears over to his left and could sense a sleeping Houki, her head laying down on the bed as she sat on her chair and using her arms as a pillow.
"Houki-dono?" He called out.
Hearing his name made Houki wake up rather quickly as she opens and rubs her eyes to see Raiden awake.
"Raiden?" She asked hesitantly before seeing he is awake. "You're awake…? Y-You're awake!"
"Yeah," Raiden nodded. "I am awake, that I am. And I am alive."
Tear swell up in Houki's eyes, beyond relief Raiden was okay. "I'm so glad… I'm so glad."
She hugs Raiden gently, burying her face into his hair without putting too much of her weight onto his chest. Not that she was fat or anything, but she had to make sure his chest wound recovers properly. At least he could breathe. Raiden though could feel her body quiver a bit in worry/
"Sorry about that," Raiden pets her head. "I never expected that pilot to defeat me easily, that I didn't. But, thank you, for taking care of me, Houki-dono."
His act of comfort eases Houki as she relaxes and breathes normally, feeling his soft hand pat her head and stroke her hair. While she knew Raiden to be a strong fighter, that last battle with an IS pilot, perhaps far more powerful than Udō Hina, nearly left Raiden for dead. And she and her friends also struggled against that strong pilot.
They were lucky however to use their wits to turn the tables on Olrun and defeat her.
"What about the tournament?" asked Raiden.
"It's been canceled due to the event," Houki revealed. "Just like last time last semester with that other unmanned IS."
Raiden then quipped, "Déjà vu again, huh?"
But Houki did feel a little more frustrated, mainly of her pride. "All that training I did to prepare, and this attack had basically screwed it up."
"I'm sure there will be another opportunity, that there will be," Raiden comforts her.
Soon the doors to the infirmary opened up, revealing Chifuyu walking in.
"O-Orimura-sensei!" Houki stood up and greeted.
"Orimura-sensei," Raiden also greeted while staying in bed.
"Shinonono, can I ask that you take your leave?" Chifuyu requested. "I need to speak to Raiden about something."
Houki was a bit shocked. "But—"
Raiden, perhaps catching on the fact that Chifuyu wanted to discuss something serious with him privately, assures his girlfriend, "Go on ahead, Houki-dono. You should get some rest, that you should."
Chifuyu concurred. "He's right, Shinonono. You haven't gotten any proper rest since the battle and since Raiden was put in the infirmary. Don't worry. I'll make this talk quick. In the meantime, return to your dorms."
Houki, seeing that her teacher was right, nodded reluctantly. "A-Alright… I'll be sure to cook you dinner when I come back, okay Raiden?"
Raiden smiles and nods as Houki takes her leave, exiting out the infirmary door and leaving Chifuyu alone with the Kingslayer. A part of her didn't want to leave but she had to comply. After all, she couldn't rest properly knowing her boyfriend was badly wounded and resting in the infirmary.
This however left both the Brunhilde and the Kingslayer alone to discuss recent events.
"You had me worried, Raiden," Chifuyu said as she takes a seat and sits at Raiden's left side. "How are you feeling?"
"Just woke up, that I did," Raiden answered. "Although, it does feel like there is an anvil on top of my chest."
"You took a rather brutal beating back there. You'll stay in here until you're fully recovered. No arguing."
"Yes, ma'am," Raiden acknowledged immediately, not wanting to argue with his teacher. "How are the others though?"
"They're fine," Chifuyu said. "Their injuries are not life threatening and they recovered quicker than you did."
"I see. What about that pilot though? The one that attacked us?"
"Speaking of that, the JSDF has captured that pilot and have put her under heavy guard while she is recovering from her wounds. General Yamagata will interrogate her personally and deliver the results, but I want to hear from your mouth, Raiden."
"Oro?"
"Who was she?" Chifuyu simply asked. "She was no ordinary pilot and had a fully functioning IS, with core included. She is of Phantom Task, but I want to know if you knew her personally."
Raiden however could only speak so much on his opponent that had defeated him.
"I heard rumors of a project in Phantom Task designed to create IS pilots on a supersoldier-like scale. Project Valkyria, an attempt to create an elite special forces unit of IS pilots enhanced by cybernetic modification on themselves and their IS. I don't know much, but I do know that these Valkyries, as they are called, are powerful yet insane IS pilots, that they are."
"Insane?" asked Chifuyu while raising an eyebrow.
"The Valkyries of Norse mythology are spirits that bring the worthy dead, those who die in honor on the battlefield, to ascend to Valhalla. But these Valkyries are twisted by the experimentation done to them. They live only for war and bloodshed, that they do, and are often accompanied by a horrible shrieking emitter on their IS."
Chifuyu then speculates, "An ultrasonic weapon…"
"Designed to hurt the eardrums of pilots and scramble the sensors of the IS," Raiden finishes.
"So that's why our ears hurt, and our systems disabled," Chifuyu said. "What else do you know of these Valkyries?"
"Very little asides from what I have told you. I do know that they are sometimes accompanied by Einherjar, the elite male special forces of Phantom Task."
"What do you know of them?"
"Einherjar are male soldiers stripped of all emotion, their bodies modified and experimented to be the ultimate killing machines. They don't show mercy and are very well coordinated and well-armed. If the Valkyries are a loud group, the Einherjar are opposite."
"And we will be ready," Chifuyu responded. "From this point on, I will personally and privately train you and the others to prepare for missions against Phantom Task if we ever come across them."
"You sure you can do that?" asked Raiden. "What of the regulations?"
Chifuyu shakes her head. "In this situation, they are no longer feasible. If Phantom Task is going to continue their attacks on us, we need a way to defend everyone here. And you and the other Personal IS pilots are the best of the best due to your experience. Trust me, we'll make you all stronger."
Raiden could not deny Chifuyu's reasoning. Indeed, if the Academy were to continue being attacked and the Personal IS pilots keep defending, then the enemy will come back stronger and more determined to destroy them. The pilots will have to go through such rigorous training to better defend until a more permanent defense system is put in place, provided that the politicians at the Diet do not cause a lot of problems.
"Raiden, we also have another problem," Chifuyu stated.
"And what's that?"
"The entire Academy knows of your former allegiance. They know you formerly of Phantom Task."
The piece of news of grim as Raiden bore a serious expression. The students may question him given of the fact that he is the infamous Hitokiri Kingslayer but they may keep their distance because he was of Phantom Task. Convincing them he is no longer one of them will be very difficult to do.
Especially if there are new foes on the horizon coming over to meet him. And on that note, a lone white wolf within the mountains looks at the IS Academy and howls in the night.
The hunter was now on the move.
This whole chapter is pretty much one mega battle as per the episode. It first starts off with Kanzashi depressed of which I wanted Raiden to address that like in my previous story but make it a bit more realistic. I tried to show him subtly his relationship with Madoka and how he once considered her a very close friend, almost like a sister to him, until their different methods for accomplishing the same ideal drifted them apart. Not to mention recognition and fame for their own successes. Not to say Raiden succeeded where Madoka failed but rather he gained more popularity than Madoka did, which left her envious of him.
Next came the Golems. Now I know what you're saying: the Golems were sent by Tabane according to light novel sources. And I agree with that 100% but I want Chifuyu to think Edea sent them because her mind lately has been focuses on her nemesis. Someone she thought she killed five years ago. And while there is also the possibility of Tabane, I want Chifuyu to come to realize that the rumors of her old foe alive and as the leader of Phantom task are no longer considered rumors but now facts. Edea had made her move against the Academy and now Chifuyu has to respond. That is, if she can.
The rest of the battle plays out just like in the episode: Tatenashi is wounded, Kanzashi is almost killed, she reconciles with her sister and realizes that a flawless hero does not exist. And in the end, Tatenashi did what she did for Kanzashi because she is family. And family is what is most important.
Finally, there is Olrun, the Valkyrie and leader of the attack. I did mention her a couple of chapters back in how the Archon commands Squall to send the Golems and Olrun so she needed to make her debut. As for how and why Raiden got beaten so easily by her, remember that his training is incomplete and this battle, followed by another in a couple chapters will attest tot hat fact. I based this fight off of Bumblebee against Blitzwing from the 2018 movie Bumblebee since it fits very well.
Now though, the IS Academy, thanks to Olrun, is well aware that Raiden is a former member of Phantom Task. Howe this will affect everybody, I am not sure. But there will be others to back him up like the teachers and the gang. Even Tatenashi should be able to vouch for him despite his history if past allegiances.
Next chapter, is perhaps the worst episode of season 2: the cooking disaster scheme of Cecilia when she tries to learn from the girls. I won't bother making the next chapter just like the episode, at least for half of it. Instead, I'll do the first half which was the measurement scene and then give subtle scenes of episode 10 but I won't feature Cecilia going to each of the girls and poisoning them. Instead, I'll make my own version of episode 10 where it focuses on the Orimura siblings.
Like, favorite, follow, and review at your leisure. If you have any questions, please feel free to PM me.