Writing this intro like 15 mins after I published the last chapter. I'm going to make this simple and quick.
This story is going to take a lot of inspiration from other fluff stories, and potentially will be referencing to some certain OCs from Infinite Stratos: Fixed Friendships and Bonds (If the story is not out by the time I finish this one, then my bad, but I'm probably going to finish two more chapters of this before I start the next story. I wanna get my story down on a strong foundation before moving onto another one).
Nothing else to write here, just look forward to the story.
- ISReaderandWriter
TEXT GUIDE:
ITALICS - Either Text Messages/Calls, Signs, Flashbacks or AI
BOLD - Machine Names or Important Text
'Single Speech Marks' - Thoughts
"Double Speech Marks" - Characters Speaking
(Brackets) - Details
[Square Brackets] - IS Talking or Displaying Information
[Japan, IS Academy] [21/10/2023]
On the day of the festival, a place where fantasy and fun come to life (A/N: Yes I'm using a FNAF reference, I'm patiently waiting for the movie to drop). Ichika is at the reception of the cafe, assigning seats and tables to a multitude of customers, mainly to see him, while dressed in a black swallowtail coat, adorned with milky grey buttons, courtesy of the textiles club.
'This suit feels really stuffy, I absolutely hate it. The things you do for women.' Ichika sighs at the ever increasing line of women, he never knew why they were so infatuated with him, even if it was as clear as day.
Brushing off the growing fatigue on his body, he continued on autopilot, assigning seats and tables to women, often carrying large boxes or helping out in the kitchen. All in all, he was doing a far better job than the other workers present. Though his boredom wouldn't be there for long, especially with one petite Chinese girl prancing towards his cafe.
"Oi! Ichika! What you doing?" Rin shouted at Ichika, causing him to turn around at her voice.
Standing in the middle of the hallway was the petite chinese girl, adorned in a beautiful ox horn hairstyle (Looks like Chun-Li's) with a velvet red Cheongsam and golden linings stitched onto it. Ichika couldn't move, no matter how much he wanted to turn around and continue with the work. Rin seductively walked up to Ichika, offering a sneaky grin to him as she opened out her right leg to encapsulate Ichika in her grace.
"Like what you see?~" She posed the question that overloaded Ichika's brains as he fell over with blood slowly pouring out of his nose. She giggled quietly, confirming that her 'assets' were fine after all. Only after confirming her suspicions on Ichika's preferences, did she realise Ichika was out cold. She desperately crouched down to the fallen boy, wiping away the blood from his nose using a handkerchief stashed away in places they normally do not go (A/N: I mean her cleavage, not there... get ur mind out of the gutter).
Upon hearing the commotion outside the cafeteria, both Houki and Cecilia choose to run out into the hallway, fearing the worst of their dear Ichika as he was the only person important enough to insinuate this type of reaction from them. Walking out from the classroom turned cafe, Houki freezes still at the pair of IS users, one on the floor in a pool of his own blood with the other tenderly wiping away the remaining blood from his nose.
"Oi Rin, what happened here?" Cecilia asked the chinese girl as she finished tending Ichika's bleeding.
"I might have given too much stimulus to Ichika... sorry!" Rin stuck out her tongue in a playful manner as she lightly slapped Ichika awake from his previous blackout.
"Uhhhh... What happened?" Ichika groggily spoke out, before noticing two sets of malice aimed towards him. Out of fear, he turned around to see a blushing and giggling Rin. Only then did he remember of the recent interaction between them.
"Wait! Before you guys hit me, please! Hear me out!" Ichika reflexively shouted in fear, he knew if either Houki or Cecilia lost their composure, he would definitely be in a vase somewhere in Chifuyu's office.
"It's fine Ichika, we both already know what happened... We're more pissed off at Rin to be honest." Houki answered for the pair, calming down Ichika but firing up Rin in the process.
"Heh, try me. You two should try what I do, it could bring you closer to him." Cecilia and Houki's face flushed a bright red at the taunt, while Rin walked over to the two and poked them in their cheeks, signifying that her plan had walked.
"So now that they're frozen... You wanna hang out with me Ichika?" Rin asked Ichika innocently, completely betraying her previous actions towards him and the two girls.
"Ummm, I need to find ou-"
"Don't worry Ichika-kun, let your onee-san deal with your job while you have some fun with your friend ok?~" Tatenashi answered Ichika's original question before he could even finish. Being given clearance by the student council president, Rin tugs on Ichika's arm, forcing him to start the improvised date ahead of them. They didn't even have to worry about her rivals, they were all busy in some way or another.
[IS Academy, Park Grounds] [10 minutes later]
After walking for a while, with Rin still clinging onto Ichika's arm, they stumble into the outdoor parts of the IS festival. They didn't really expect a pair of redheads to be here, but Ichika wasn't complaining. Rushing ahead of Rin, he rushes over to the Gotandas as he starts off with his signature salute towards Dan while waving lightly at Ran.
"Yo! Dan! Why are you here?" Ichika asked his good friend, whom was holding an enormous serving of cotton candy. Dan gave the snack to Ran and pulled out his phone, showing an invitation card to Ichika.
"Some senpai of Ran invited her here, and she wanted to know who I was, so I came with her."
"Well, you gonna bag her?" Ichika bantered with his friend, much to the displeasure of Ran.
"So you're this astute with your friend's love life, but so thick in your own..." She agonized at Ichika's way of thinking.
'Well if you were so smart, as you say I can be, then you could easily figure out my facade of denseness. My innocent friend.' Ichika scoffed at the remark, he knew about the girls and their feelings towards him. He did share some romantic feelings for all of them, but he couldn't just date all of them at once, after all, polygamy was illegal at that time.
"What? What do you mean?"
"See what I mean? Baka..." Ran puffed her cheeks in a rather adorable fashion at him, causing him to be captivated by it and stare into her eyes while blushing. This of course caused the same reaction for Ran as Dan sighed in the background with Rin facepalming.
"Does he always do this?" Dan asked the short girl, who started to get tired of Ichika's continuous charades with women.
"Yep, and I always have to get him out of it. Just wait here while I sort him out." Rin replied in a monotone voice, before walking up to the pair and giving Ichika a 'Chifuyu-Special'.
"OW! What was that for?"
"For being lecherous, pervert."
"Hey! I'm not a pervert!" Ichika retorted quite loudly, earning quizical expressions from visitors and stand-owners alike.
"I guess it's going to be akward staying here... I'll see you two later yeah?"
"Yeah no worries man, hope you have a good time on your date!" Dan chided at Ichika, jealous at how many girls the young boy got to stay with. This gave Rin a massive blush as she thought about the dream life with her and Ichika together.
"All riiiiiighttt... Let's go Rin." Ichika grabbed the dreaming girl by the hand, forcefully but gently pulling her towards the 2nd year classrooms.
"Sorry Dan! You too Ran!" Ichika shouted towards the duo before vanishing into the crowd.
"Haaaaah, that guy, always making girls fall for him but is too dense to realise it..." Ran muttured under her breath, trying not to catch the attention of her brother.
"Damn, he's always a few steps ahead of me... Don't you think, Ran?"
"Yeah..."
[IS Academy, 2nd Year Classrooms]
Rin had to leave Ichika behind in the classrooms at the request of Tatenashi, which was unknown to Ichika's knowledge. He walked through the many setups, varying in genre and scenery. Upon finding a classroom converted into an arcade room, he decides to enter, thinking he could quickly gain a few prizes here and there.
"Huh, they've got quite a few crane games here... Wait, is that a DDR machine? I haven't seen them for a while..." Discovering the old game machine, he reflected on the old days, where he and Chifuyu used to go to the arcade occasionally and play the same machine before it got removed to be replaced with some IS game boxes which replicated how IS battles would work, but allowed both genders to use them.
Stepping onto the platform, he selects a song and prepares for the constant movement his feet would require.
"PLAYING: Show - Ado LEVEL DIFFICULTY: MASTER" (A/N: ADO SUPREMACY ON TOP)
"This should be a good warmup before I get serious." Cracking his knuckles, Ichika stays in a neutral pose before moving at a speed the naked eye couldn't see. This had the negative effect of gathering attention to the adolescent boy, who many realised as the sole male IS pilot, the hope for men and the future in equality.
"Amazing..." A young girl commented, closely clinging to her elder sister who was garbed in an IS uniform.
"It is, isn't it?" Her older sister, Kiyoka Aikawa, was overwhelmed by the sheer speed of Ichika's inhuman speed, with the machine spouting "Perfect!" at every note.
It wasn't long before the song finished, showing a stream of colours signifying a perfect combo achieved on the song. Ichika brushed off a little sweat from his forehead as a crowd of hands erupted in the classroom, frightening Ichika and causing him to jump. Sadly, his shirt pulled upwards, making almost all of the girls squeal in joy.
He immediately put his shirt down before being tugged at the collar by one bluenette. He turned around and looked down at the attractive student coucil president, garbed in a traditional western maid outfit with a light tinge of pink on her cheeks.
"Hi, Ichika-kun, you've really got to stop being a chick magnet, you'll regret it one day~" Tatenashi teased, pointing at the sea of girls behind her, all blushing heavily at the well-toned body of the Orimura.
"That wasn't my intention though... Well, anyways, what are you doing here?"
"My handsome kouhai, could you help me in an interactive game in the auditorium please? I would really like your help. I'll throw something in for you~" Tatenashi smirked at Ichika, causing the rest of the crowd to shortcircuit in their head as they thought of a scenario that wasn't really family-friendly...
"Very well then, when should I start?"
"Right now~ Your outfit is waiting for you in changing room 3, it's going to be really fun with you there."
[IS Academy, Arena 3]
Now clothed in a quite comfortable pair of shorts with a slightly oversized T-shirt, Ichika walked out into the dark arena, only to find a smirking Tatenashi and his 5 close friends in similar outfits.
"Tatenashi-san, what's going on?" Tatenashi giggles lightly at the question, pulling out her fan that read "Wipeout".
"My, my, Ichika-kun, do you not know what wipeout is?" A ball of sweat formed on Ichika's forehead as he shook his head in denial. The lights systematically turned on, revealing 6 sets of individual lanes, suspended around 15 feet into the air with a pool of water down below the parkour course.
"That's a shame, wipeout is a parkour game where contestants try and finish the whole course in the fastest time possible. Last person per round gets eliminated, which repeats over and over in different courses until one prevails! Get the idea, Ichika?" Tatenashi frowned as she explained the rules to Ichika.
"Oh, so it's like Ninja-Warriors?"
"Yeah! Like that! Oh, and before I forget, if you lose this game you have to become the vice-president of the student council, Okie dokie?" Tatenashi stuck her tongue out in a competitive fashion, building up Ichika's own athletic nature.
"Oh you're on, Tatenashi!" Ichika smirked at the bluenette, causing her to blush wildly at his masculine aura.
"You're doing it again, Ichika." Charlotte teased Ichika.
"Geez, Ichika-kun's too much sometimes." Tatenashi mumbled under her breath while trying to rest her beating heart.
'It's too fun teasing them, but I really should stop soon.'
"GOOD AFTERNOON EVERYONE, THIS IS YOUR HOST, KAORUKO MAYUZIMI AND WELCOME TO THE FIRST EVER IS WIPEOUT!" The speakers in the arena blared as Kaoruko's voice announced the start of the game.
"EVERYONE, PLEASE CONGRATULATE OUR PARTICIPATING CONTESTANTS HERE: LINGYIN HUANG, SARASHIKI KANZASHI, CHARLOTTE DUNOIS, LAURA BODEWIG, CECILIA ALCOTT, HOUKI SHINONONO, AND THE CROWD FAVOURITE, ICHIKA ORIMURA".
After Ichika's name was announced, waves of girls shrieked as his school photo was plastered on the centre screens. Obviously, all 6 female contestants showed some spite, with their oppressive aura circling around them. Someone had to step in, which one did.
Pap*pap*pap*pap*pap*pap*
"Oi oi, you six are already the closest to Ichika-kun, you don't need to worry about these schoolgirls who can only view him from afar. Other than you guys, me, Yamada-sensei and Orimura-sensei are the only people that pose a threat to you. Even you should know that, Kanzashi-chan~." Tatenashi scolded the girls, toning down their anger as they walked over to their starting positions.
"CONTESTANTS, THE RACE WILL START IN:..."
"3"
"2"
"1"
"GO!"
The horns screeched, with all 7 contestants dashing towards the first stage of the course. Laura passed the first stage with relative ease, given her military background, with Ichika and Rin following close behind. As he reached the 2nd stage, which consisted of 12 individual platforms lined up in an irregular pattern. Between each of the platforms were a row of gun barrels, presumably containing steel pillars by the sheer size of them.
"Thank god Tabane taught me basic physics, I'll definitely need it." Ichika thought out loud, taking note to thank his mentor for her eccentric lessons that drilled the knowledge into his brain. He leaped across 2 meters worth of platforms, bringing him now 4 platforms away from the end of the checkpoint.
"GOODNESS GRACIOUS, CONTESTANTT ORIMURA HAS SEEMINGLY JUMPED 2 METERS IN ONE GO! NOW IT'S JUST HIM VS BODEWIG!" Kaoruko's voice radiated from the announcement room as Ichika races through the remaining obstacles, secretly thanking Setsura and Byakushiki for their endless toture labelled training.
["Aww, Ichika~, you still remember us! Well then, I think we should congratulate you, shouldn't we Onee-chan?"]
[...Sure...]
["Is nee-chan using the connection properly? That's a first...] Setura teased her sister, whom apparently flushed a bright red with her eyes covered by her raven bangs.
'Oi, Setsu, stop teasing Byakushiki, she's learning...' Ichika could feel a fit of rage eminating from Byakushiki as he finished her sentence.
Returning his focus onto the competition, Ichika notices Laura falling behind, seemingly due to a lack of breath from the german frau. Was she afraid of heights? Everyone else was miles behind, traversing stage 4 while he was on stage 15. Charlotte and Cecilia were in last place, which they were desperately trying to get themselves out of, which only led to them both falling in a comical fashion. Ichika chuckled slightly at the two girls before continuing his sprint for the throne.
"CONTESTANT ORIMURA IS CRUSHING THIS COMPETITION. WITH ONLY 4 STAGES LEFT TO COMPLETE, HE WILL DEFINITELY BE THE WINNER OF THIS FIRST ROUND!"
"Wait, first?" Ichika quoted Kaoruko's words, not realising he had slipped his left foot off the platform and was about to fall into the sea of blue down below. Thinking on his feet, he grabbed a stray piece of nylon from the platform and held on it to allow the fabric to swing him back upwards towards the platform near it. Seeing Laura's shocked face, Ichika slyly winked at the poor girl, bringing her to a mumbling mess as she blushed intensely.
"Alright, so I just need to win a few games, nothing too bad..."
As he finished the 20 ft wall run up to the top, the buzzer was smashed into pieces as Ichika unknowingly exerted his true power locked away by Phantom Task. He didn't know the severity of this discovery, and no one was less than shocked when the replay of Ichika's finish played on the board.
"ICHIKA ORIMURA! WINNER OF ROUND ONE HAS PASSED WITH KANZASHI, RIN, HOUKI AND LAURA. CECILIA ALCOTT AND CHARLOTTE DUNOIS HAVE BEEN ELIMINATED DUE TO FAILING THE COURSE." Ichika breathed a sigh of relief thanks to his quick reflexes at one point.
"WILL ALL REMAINING CONTESTSANTS GO TO THEIR RESPECTIVE CHANGING ROOMS TO RELAX BEFORE THE NEXT ROUND" Kaoruko's voice came like mercy to the remaining four, especially after expending all their energy on the second half of the course.
"Well then, I guess I'll see you four around?"
"Of course, Ichika, lets have some fun. Alright?"
With Houki's confirmation, Ichika walks back into changing room 3, allowing the mechanized door to hiss shut.
[IS Academy, Changing Room 3]
Plopping himself down, Ichika placed a nearby towel on his head, cooling down his overheating body after the glorious victory he had gained. He had almost fumbled the whole tournament, not to mention the bet with Tatenashi. No student council work for him that's for sure...
"Haaaah, I really need to stop getting so cocky... Especially if Chifuyu-nee tries to beat it out of my head." Ichika grumbled that last sentence, in fear instead of anger. He picked up his sports bottle and gulped down its remaining contents before giving a pleased gasp. He continued to think about his certain victory, but had some questions about it. So, he decided to ask one very hyper rabbit.
Hey, Tabane-nee, it's Ichika. How've you been? I've missed the month we spent at your place, it was fun there, especially with Ku. On another point, do you mind checking my blood samples? I've been experiencing weird things ever since I got back. If you don't want to do it, think of it in a different way... I give you a free test subject while you test my blood samples.
Ichika didn't even have to wait a minute before a text came back. She sure replies quick.
Hi Hi! Ii-kun~, I'll gladly test your blood. I'd do anything for my favourite person! Ku-chan and mama missed you, you know. You'll have to pay us back soon~
- Your favourite and bubbly genius Tabane Shinonono ;)
'Weird. Tabane-nee never did end off her texts... and what's with this text? She never does this.' Ichika had a thought on Tabane's bizzare behaviour, but didn't dwell on it.
Tap*Tap*Tap*
Ichika swivelled his head around in a near automatic fashion, managing to surprise even himself. He could clearly see the figure of a 5'6" girl standing in front, with shortly cut raven black hair similar to Tatenashi, he knew exactly who this person was.
"Pilot of the Silent Zephyrs... I know you don't like the name Chifuyu-nee, so tell me your real name." Ichika taunted the girl, who walked up close to the 6'1" male (A/N: I made Ichika taller in this story, it would become key later).
"Don't you ever call me that name, it's Madoka Orimura." She replied fiercely, expecting something else completely when Ichika pulled her into a tight hug. Tears could be seen welling up from the male's eyes as he spoke in a sniffling manner.
"So it was you, you've grown so much imouto... Mama and papa would be proud." Ichika's voice suddenly became emotionless, bearing a similar tone to that of Madoka herself, creeping out the unknown twin of Ichika. She twitched at the last phrase, pushing Ichika back to arms length before interrogating him.
"How do you know them? Do you have your memories back? Do you remember that promise?"
"Wait, what? Who are you?" Ichika blankly stated, causing Madoka's brain to stop working. Is he getting his memories back? Embarassed by the sudden change in Ichika's attitude, Madoka elbows the bewildered Ichika, sending him flying a few feet onto a bench before leaving as quiet as she entered.
"You better remember that promise, Ichi-nii..." Madoka flushed slightly, opening a pendant on her necklace which held a piece of paper in heavily scribbled handwriting.
I'll get stronger, to protect you and Chifuyu-nee from them.
[IS Academy, Auditorium]
Ichika drowsily stumbled into the announcement, nursing his aching head from the impact of one of those metal bars from the final stage.
"EVERYONE, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR WATCHING THE IS ACADEMY'S FIRST EVER WIPEOUT TOURNAMENT! WE HAD A CLOSE THREE PERSON GAME AFTER RIN LOSING IN THE 2ND ROUND AND KANZASHI IN THE 3RD! WELL DONE! YOUR ONEE-SAN IS PROUD" Tatenashi teased the spectacled bluenette, which said girl shouted back at her sister.
"Stop it, onee-chan!"
"NO CAN DO KANZASHI-CHAN~, ANYWAYS. IN 3RD PLACE WITH A SHORT DIFFERENCE IN TIME OF 0.2 SECONDS. GIVE IT UP FOR HOUKI SHINONONO!" A wave of applause erupted in the air as Houki was ushured up by Ichika to the podium. Luckily, only Laura saw the intimate event between the two.
"AND NOW... WITH A VERY CLOSE BATTLE BETWEEN THE TWO GIANTS, WITH A 0.001 SECOND DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO, THE WINNER GOES TOOOOOO..."
"It has to be me, it has t-"
"LAURA BODEWIG, SORRY ICHIKA-KUN~ YOU WERE SOOOOOO CLOSE" Tatenashi taunted the furious boy, exhibiting a small set of words on the fan. So Close!
"Too bad, my bride. You really were competitive, I think you were the perfect bride any husband could ask for!" Laura stated without hesitaton, only blushing a few minutes later at her clear declaration of love for the boy.
"Unfair!" Dan shouted from the crowd, obviously irritated at the unintentional playboy nature of one Ichika Orimura.
"NOW THAT THIS GAME HAS FINISHED, THE STUDENT COUNCIL PRESIDENT HAS ALSO ORGANISED A SPECIAL GAME FOR ALL FEMALE CONTESTANTS TO JOIN! Ichika? Could you meet me in one of the gym halls in an hour please?" Tatenashi urged Ichika, and with leaning over towards him with adorable puppy eyes, Ichika reluctantly agreed.
"Yes! Seems like onee-chan still has it!"
Unbeknownst to the president, a visibly upset cyan-haired girl ran away with tears on her face.
"Sorry, Tatenashi-san, I've gotta go now!" Ichika rushed out of his frozen stature and ran after the crying Kanzashi.
"Alrighty! Bye bye~ Ichika-kun." Tatenashi gleefully waved him goodbye as he disappeared into the lengthy hallways.
[IS Academy, Room 1025]
Outside Ichika's dorm room, he surprisingly found the sobbing child curled up by the door looking down at the ground. Slowly approaching her, she mutters in a low and cold spirit.
"...Go...away..."
"No can do, Kanzashi-chan"
"...Why?..*sniffle*..why?"
"Hm?"
"Why are so close with nee-san?! I thought you would be the only thing that I owned personally! Onee-san has always had what I had, and yet I'm always compared to her! It's not fair! I've done all I can do! I'll never be better than her..." Kanzashi breaks down into a pool of sniffles as Ichika attempts to understand the words of his kouhai.
[My, my, Ichika~ That is not very thoughtful of you... Leaving girls hanging like that.]
'It wasn't my intention Setsura. Though there is nothing else I can do right now.'
[I'll allow it this one time, go and calm Kanzashi-chan down. Hug her and assure her everything is alright, tell her you met Tatenashi after her, so technically she's known you for longer. Comfort her basically, dummy~] Setsura stuck her tongue out in a classic childish fashion.
Not wasting any second, Ichika's arms wrap around the weeping girl, shocking her in the process. He held on tightly, reminding her of the reason for her love. "Kanzashi-chan, you've done nothing wrong, me being your friend and senpai was all my choice. In fact, I met Tatenashi after I met you, so you could say we were friends longer than her."
"Ichika-senpai..."
"I'll never leave you Kanzashi, and I never thought you were useless, not for one second..."
"Thank you, that means to much to me..." Kanzashi started to return the embrace, keeping Ichika close to her as his lips closed near to her. Without hesitation, Ichika closed the gap instantly, allowing Kanzashi to fully experience the beauty of love. Holding the kiss for a few seconds, Kanzashi moves her head back, still heavily blushing from Ichika's actions.
"You mean so much to me Kanzashi-chan, as well as the others." Ichika declared, giving the side effect of empowering Kanzashi's emotions towards him.
'Baka, you always know how to make women swoon for you. Senpai. Though I like that part of you' Kanzashi dreamfully stared at Ichika, allowing the remaining teardrops to fall down the side of her pale skin.
"Ichika-senpai... could I ask you a f-f-favour?"
"Sure Kanzashi-chan, what is it?"
"Co-co-could you go on a..."
"a?"
"d-d-d-d-date with me!?" These words left Ichika astounded. Out of all of his friends that had a crush on him, only Kanzashi had the courage to ask him out... Which was surprising to say the least.
"Sure, I owe you anyway right?"
"That's not what I meant... Baka" Kanzashi gloomed down, with Ichika internally cheering inside, knowing he escaped potential death once again.
"Oh, is it not? Tell me what you mean?" Ichika closed the gap again between him and Kanzashi, which this time resulted in Kanzashi becoming as red as ketchup (A/N: I'm trying to change the original comparison as red as a tomato with red as ketchup, the original gets boring imo).
"Um...ano... Ichika-san. What are you doing?"
"Answer my question, Kanzashi-chan? You mean that you lo-"
"No! I didn't mean that! I meant as friends... yeah! As friends!" Ichika mentally facepalmed but understood where she was coming from.
"Alright then, I'll enter my room please." Kanzashi briskly stood up, brushing up two sets of dust waves as she bolted away from Ichika screaming childishly.
"It's sometimes too fun teasing them, but I really do need to deal with their yandere-like tendencies." Opening the door, Ichika relished in the now empty scape of the bedroom. Allowing himself some time to nap, Ichika doesn't realise a certain amethyst bunny suspended from the ceiling. She looks on at the sleeping boy, seemingly stuck looking into his obsidian black hair and slim musculature. The perfect man. The Adonis of modern society.
"Ui,ui! Ii-kun looks so handsome while sleeping. Now, just to soundproof the walls and lock the doors. aaaaaaand done! Now for some quality time with papa!" Tabane sommersaults out of the open air vent into the room, landing directly next to Ichika's bedside. Immediately, she starts stripping down from her puffy Alice in Wonderland dress into a more feminine and luxurious lingerie with a padded J cup bra holding her massive breasts. Giggling slightly at the potential steamy situation the two could get themselves in, she slowly and steadily lies next to Ichika, embracing his right arm while moving her right leg over his own pair. She snuggled gently into Ichika's shoulder, enveloping his scent readily.
'This feels soooooo nice... I should probably ask Chi-chan what these feelings are.' Tabane pondered on her newfound feelings for the 15 year old boy.
...
After 45 minutes, IS Academy's special student opened his eyes. He tried to get up, no luck. He tried again, no luck. Thinking what was happening, he looked down, only just realising the beautiful magenta-haired woman relishing in his embrace as she calmly continued to sleep. Letting out cute snores as her face lit up in joy, probably her dreams.
"Um... Tabane-nee?"
"Huh? O-oh, hi hi Ii-kun. *yawn* I'm just recharging my papa points before Ku-chan... Don't worry about me." Tabane let out a weak smile before resuming to her comforting nap.
Looking at the time, Ichika realised his meeting with Tatenashi was a mere 15 minutes away. Slowly moving away from Tabane's motherly grip, he gently patted the sleeping beauty and swiftly left the room, remembering to reenable the energy lock that Tabane had placed on the room before she slept.
[IS Academy, Gym Hall 1]
After getting the message from Tatenashi, Ichika enters the Gym hall, not realising that there were a multitude of contestants that partook in this game by the student council, he walks over to Tatenashi.
"Hey, Tatenashi-saaa... Huh?" Somehow, the figure that looked like Tatenashi turned out to be a cardboard figure of the girl.
"WELCOME EVERYONE TO THE INTERACTIVE ORIMURA SERVICING COMPETION! HERE CONTESTANTS TRY THEIR BEST TO GET THE HIGHEST RATING FROM OUR SCHOOL FAVOURITE. ORIMURA ICHIKA!" A preprogrammed voice of Tatenashi echoed from the surround sound system, earning a lot of applause but one very dissatisfied voice.
"Haaah!?"
"OUR FIRST CONTESTANT WILL NOW START THEIR PERFORMANCE, WELCOME TO THE STAGE THE CURRENT STUDENT COUNCIL PRESIDENT OF AOETSU PRIVATE SCHOOL: RAN GOTANDA!" A holographic version of Tatenashi bobbed up and down in excitement for the currently transpiring events.
"EEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHH!??!?!" Ichika originally thought that Tatenashi meant only females from the IS Academy itself could join in. He couldn't dwell on it though, as the central floor growled down into the ground, being replaced by a familiar restaurant...
"Hold on, isn't that the Gotanda's store?"
"Sure is~ Now, Ichika-san, come sit and eat with me." Ran popped out of one of the walls wearing a very revealing set of clothing dyed in a rather sultry crimson red. It looked more like a date dress for a married couple rather than one for eating...
"Ummmm... A-alright?" Ichika shakily walked over to the lone table stationed at the middle of the room, taking time to look around the room for anyone else there. For some reason, the hall was empty save for Ran and the restaurant.
"Now then, Ichika-san, could you pass me the teryaki udon please?" Pointing towards the dish, Ichika moved his hand over to the plate and lifted it towards Ran.
"Thank you~ Open your mouth Ichika-san. Aaaaaaaah" Ran opened her mouth in a motherlike fashion, ushering Ichika to accept her proposal.
"Ran? You want to feed me?" Ran's face burned up quickly, which she tried covering with her equally red hair. Noticing the nod, Ichika chuckles slightly, already predicting the reaction from the young girl.
"Sure then. Aaaaaaah" Ichika gladly opened his mouth, to which Ran smiled affectionately as she placed the string of udon in his mouth. Ichika relished the gentle aroma of cut spring onions and chewy udon (A/N: I've forgotten what udon tastes like so don't get mad pls).
"Mmmm, your cooking is still as good as ever!"
"Hehehe~ thanks, I tried making some english dishes, would you like to try some?" Ran meekly asked Ichika, with the latter experiencing a bit of PTSD from previous counters with the western island's food. She took out a small picnic basket, which inside contained a few rows of clean-cut sandwiches, from different flavours of egg and mayo or roast chicken (A/N: I still don't know what you would find as an English sandwich, so I'm using ones you would find at MS or Waitrose... I'll stop talking now)
"S-sure..." Ichika sheepishly replied, the last time he had some English 'food', it did not end well for him...
Taking a slow but steady grip on a lightly toasted roast chicken sandwich, he immediately sensed a major difference in Ran's sandwiches to Cecilia's, the texture wasn't rocky or too soft, it showed some crispiness with some fluffiness on the bread. Taking his chances, Ichika gulps at the sandwich before taking a large bite out of the snack. Instead of repulse, it tasted extraordinary.
"What is this?" Ichika asked quite rhetorically, causing fear to grow on the girl's face.
"Um, it-"
"It's fucking delicious!" Ichika wolfed down the breaded delight in quick fashion, earning a similar jubilance on Ran's side.
"Ah~ That's good..."
"It's so much better than Cecilia's!"
"...hey!..." The British blonde's voice echoed softly, to which other voices piped up immediately, shushing the angered blonde.
"CONTESTANT GOTANDA, YOUR TIME HAS FINISHED!" The speakers took over the atmosphere, cutting out the lights and forcing the saddened girl off the stage. Ichika himself was pulled away by mechanical arms as he was moved away from the stage, before ending back up there.
With the lights turning on instantaneously, Ichika recoiled slightly like a vampire in sunlight. Adjusting his vision, a familiar silver-haired girl donning an eyepatch comes into view.
"Laura? What are you wearing?" Ichika points out the rather odd choice of clothing the soldier is wearing, a rabbit onesie with rather long arms similar to one Honne Nohotoke. It made her look quite appealing to Ichika to say the least, since he had already influenced by a different rabbit woman.
"Hmph! This is the pride and fruit of my information-gathering on you! My wife!" Laura proudly puffs out her chest, which was obviously padded, but Ichika paid no mind to it. "Anyways" Laura hesitates for a second before wiping of the steadily rising glow on her face. "We will be doing some arcade games since you like them so much. Specifically this odd Japanese drumming game. T-tai-k-ko No J-jut-s-su I think it's called."
"Ah, Taiko No Jutsu? Alright then... Is there a catch?"
"Astute as ever, my bride! I-i-i mean groom." Laura twiddles her fingers childishly before continuing. "If I lose, you get two free Laura's favour cards... If you lose, then we spend a night in your room toge- tog- togther!"
"Um... Laura, I don't think you should say that so openly. I can feel some devilish stares on me..." Ichika's sweat dropped as various death glares aimed at him. Laura simply returned the glare towards its direction. Surprisingly, the demon-like visages disappeared almost instantly.
'Huh... Laura normally can't shut them up. Is Chifuyu-nee here?'
Brushing off his thesis, Ichika walks up to the German opponent, who already was in place waiting for him. Tempering his senses Ichika poised himself in anticipation for the beginning. "Ready to lose? Lau-ra-chan?" Ichika taunted the young teenager. "Oi! I'm not losing very easily and don't call me that!" Laura bickered at Ichika.
Now Playing: A Cruel Angel's Thesis (Oni Difficulty). That song warmed Ichika's heart, the nostalgia hit him like a brick wall. The old days of him and Chifuyu playing against each other and having fun. She never was out of his reach back then, and now he had the chance to reseal that gap.
With perfect rhythym, Ichika mechanically replicated the complex charts that the game provided, not being either late or early. Meanwhile, Laura was having the opposite effect, missing nearly every single note. She cursed Ichika under her breath, his tactic was underhanded, and it was definitely not needed.
User Orimura Ichika, Perfect Combo, 1,987 consecutive perfect hits. WINNER
The machine beeped profusely as showers of confetti erupted from the drum module, congratulating Ichika's drastic lead. "I guess I win, too bad Laura." Ichika poked his tongue out sarcastically, which caused Laura to pout childishly. "Unfair! You cheated at the beginning! I want a rematch!"
"Fine then, but rules change yeah? If I win, you give me four of those cards. If you win, I'll spend a whole day with you, no interruptions no nothing. But no sleeping in a room together. Deal?" Laura's eyes glittered like an infant seeing fireworks for the first time. Noting Laura's excessive bobbing, Ichika loads up another song.
Now Playing: Where The Blue Is (Oni Difficulty). "Seeing you have an IS hypersensor for an eye I guess you could do this one easily, right?" Laura steeled her expression, not taking in Ichika's teasing words. Oh how futile that would be.
...
"NO WAY! How are you doing this?!" Laura's baffled expression led Ichika to tears, rolling around the floor while clutching his stomach. "I told you so... no one could beat me in arcade games. Not even Chifuyu-nee!"
"Ooooo. Then how about against me? I-i-k-u-n~?" A cheery voice echoed in Ichika's mind. She wouldn't be here... right?
Right on cue, a sommersaulting rabbit flew between Ichika and Laura, landing closely next to him. "Ii-kun! I heard you're really good at this game. You want to play against me?" Ichika's muffled voice signalled something, but no one heard him in the deep crevasses of Tabane's cleavage. After struggling for a while, the somewhat blushing boy got himself out of that 'heated' situation.
"Paaaah~ Tabane-nee, you almost suffocated me!" A giggle came from the eccentric woman. "And about that game. Sure."
"Yay! I get to play with papa!"
"P-p-papa?" Laura was visibly confused at Tabane's sudden nickname. "Ah don't worry about that, she gives me some often weird nicknames."
Now Playing: All Night Radio (Deathbed Difficulty)
...
Shaberu no ga suki adoribu touki
Kedo on eaa mae wa sowasowa
Kafu no T baa to tenshon wo agete
Iza rajio weebu ni nori here we go
...
...
... (A/N: Another ado song! I picked this one cus I'm listening to it rn)
User Tabane Shinonono, Full Combo, 687 Perfect 3 Great 0 Good 0 Okay 0 Miss.
User Ichika Orimura, Perfect Combo, 690 Perfect 0 Great 0 Good 0 Okay 0 Miss. WINNER.
"Wow, wow! Ii-kun, I never thought you would be this good at arcade games!" Tabane hugged the frozen boy, who he himself didn't believe his score. He should have gotten at least one Great.
"...How..." Ichika was at a loss for words, with his former thought being that he was just really focused on the game, but his latter thought conflicted it. 'What the hell?'.
"Ichika! You're simply phenomenal! How are you doing this!" Laura praised the boy, hugging him tightly in an embrace. This of course caused Ichika to glow slightly, but his fatherly instincts kicked in and brushed the little girl's head like he would to his Ku-chan (pseudo-daughter?).
"HEY! THAT'S CHEATING LAURA!" Rin's tone definitely indicated her as pissed off, with Ichika knowing why. "Hey hey Rin, you know I'll gladly do it to you too you know~" That shut her up...
"GAME HAS FINISHED. CONTESTANT BODEWIG PLEASE LEAVE THE STAGE AND ORIMURA CLOSE YOUR EYES." Ichika did as the voice of Tatenashi commanded him to do. "Bye Bye Ii-kun!" Tabane shouted as her voice trailed off into the distance. Mechanical pistons hissed as the platform sank into the ground. Trying to grasp the feeling, a hand reached out to Ichika's arm and tugged quite strongly, dragging the boy along before finding himself resting on a bed.
Once again, Ichika is blinded by the sudden change in lighting. Having to readjust his eyes, Ichika notes the familiar set of furniture, and the eerily familiar machinery that he would always have in this room swirling around his bedside. "My nanomachines? Why are they here?" Trying to get up, he realises that something was underneath the sheets that robed him. Now there were two possible scenarios where this occurs:
1) A girl is under the sheet holding him
2) A girl is under the sheet doing some not-so-family-friendly stuff under there
Luckily, the second option was out of the picture, as the blanket did not shift an inch bar his own movements. Sighing a great deal of relief, he hardened his thoughts before tugging lightly on the white fabric. "Wha? Houki? What are you doing under there?".
"Ah! Ichika- ummmm... ano... I was just taking a nap on a bed I found after the wipeout tournament..." Houki blushed somewhat elegantly as she sat up from her tucked position next to Ichika's leg.
'If what Houki was saying was true... Then who put me here?' Something wasn't adding up here... maybe he would prank her and see where this would go.
"Hey Houki, cut the crap, you were perfectly fine after the tournament, and this bed was in the gym hall, further from the arena than your room." He noticed a change in the normally studious and firm woman. She was sweating, and heavily at that.
"Um... I... had to go here because Yamada-sensei called me to... do... something..." Houki's mumbling words proved Ichika's plan effective as he didn't expect results so quickly. Taking the joke even further, Ichika grabs the undefended girl in a tight embrace, causing Houki to bloom a bright red. "It's alright Houki, I'm not mad.".
One angered voice emerged from out the darkness.
"ICHIKAAAAAAA" Rin burst out from one of the side doors, fully encapsulated in her Shenlong and her Souten Gagetsu in her hand. In an instant, her IS dashed towards the two in a pair, already sending a scimitar towards them. A loud screech could be heard, indicating the blade hit something, but it never made contact with its target.
"You want to try and hit me with those weak blades. Rin? " A cold and indifferent voice from the young boy shocked both Rin and Houki, directing themselves towards the origin, they could only find the young male sat up, glaring towards the Chinese IS. His eyes were clouded in a black shroud, with two thin slits in the middle encompassing a silvery white in them. Even more surprising, the 1.5 metre scimitar was held in place in what seemed to be an AIC field, but there was no warp in lighting, colour or magnetism.
"I've grown tired of your meaningless antics, but that does not only apply to you." His eyes darted towards the brunette in his arms. "You, Charlotte, Laura and most of the girls here don't see me as a person. Do you? And I hate to say this, but even Chifuyu-nee of all people, I get she wants to keep that tough atmosphere but can't she tone it down a little? My internal bleeding in the head isn't getting any better..." Ichika lightly moved away his bangs to reveal multiple blue spots on his head where different books had landed. Finishing his scolding, his eyes revert back to his usual hazel brown, and the scimitar dropped back to the ground with a loud thud.
"I-Ichika?"
"Hm? What happened?" Ichika's usual voice returned, which felt like a lifeline for the two women present as they breathed a sigh of relief.
"Ichika. What was that?" Rin questioned the adolescent boy, unsure of what to make of the situation. 'What did he mean by that? We do treat him like a friend, don't we?'
"I don't know what your talking about? I only remember waking up to Houki in this bed..." The named girl blushed slightly, accentuating her affectionate side. Feeling a bit uneasy, Rin excused herself from the room as she deactivated her machine and walked off back into the hallway.
"Hey, you alright?" Ichika could notice the quizical look on his childhood friend, who herself was seemingly in a daze. Snapping his fingers did the trick, startling the girl out of her dream state.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm alright. Moreover, do you really not know what happened?" Ichika responded with shaking his head.
"Well then, alright. You wanna play some Ninendo?" Houki showed Ichika a controller for the new Ninendo Click, a console that Ichika had desperately wanted since its release but could never get it, either because he didn't have money or because of a certain Orimura.
"Sure!" The two hopped out of the bed in Ichika's simulated room, moving over to the couch and loading up a game of Street Racers 4. Houki snuggled quite close to the hormonal teenager, to which he didn't seem to mind, allowing her to lean inwards. Internally thanking the Gods, Houki laid her head on Ichika's left shoulder as the two continued to play their game. Ichika felt at peace, much more than normal, which felt weird for him.
"Hey Houki, do you want to go out someday?" Houki was left startled at the question, the boy was normally the one being asked out. "O-okay Ichika, when do you want to go?". "Any day, just come to my room and ask then, ok?" Houki was elated, she could spend some private time with her friend, and maybe take it to the next level.
"CONTESTANT SHINONONO YOUR TIME IS UP! YOU KNOW THE DRILL ICHIKA-KUN, JUST CLOSE YOUR EYES AND WAIT A BIT PLEASE?" The lights shut down as Ichika was blinded by a piece of cloth and lead out of the room by one teasing friend. "Ichika-kun~ We're here!" Pulling the blindfold off, Ichika noticed the large office room adorned in elegant furniture. It looked more like a room in a mansion rather than an office room.
"Tatenashi-san, please don't tell me this is what I think this is...". "Oh but it is~" Her seductive voice did not quell his facepalm, he had lost the bet fair and square. He couldn't be bitchy about it right now.
"Anyways, before you get inducted to your new role as vice president. Could you give me a massage~?"
"A massage?"
"Yes! A M-A-S-S-A-G-E~ I heard from Orimura-sensei that you give really good massages." A massage bed suddenly appeared from one of the walls of the office, surprising Ichika. "You just have one of these in the walls?". "Of course! I would normally have Utsuho or Honne-chan do this for me but it's gotten boring. So I want you to do it!".
"Fine Fine! You owe me yeah?" Tatenashi jumped into the air in delight, which put a smile on Ichika's face. Ushering the girl to the massage table, Ichika readies his palms with some quite expensive massage oil in his hands. "You sure I'm allowed to use this?" "Oh don't worry, I get a lot of money from political things as the Representative of Russia.".
Placing a hand on the girl's shoulder, Tatenashi yelped in pain which Ichika responded by lowering the pressure massively. "Sorry Tatenashi-san... Chifuyu-nee is normally more tense than you are..." "It's alright Ichika-kun. I just wasn't used to the feeling..." Tatenashi blushed lightly at her confession, which earned a bit of tension from Ichika. "You mean... I'm the first and only person to do this?" "Don't be a baby Ichika, it's not like you didn't take my virginity for all I know..." He further tensed up, causing his hand to move underneath her and to her chest.
"Kya! W-w-what are you doing?!" Turning her head around to the culprit, she did not find him standing there. Instead, she heard a voice from the floor of where Ichika was standing, in a fraction of a second, he was already on the floor confessing his crimes.
"I'M SO SORRY TATENASHI-SAN, I SWEAR THAT WASN'T MY INTENTION! I'LL ALLOW YOU TO CUT MY HEAD OFF, FLAIL ME ALIVE OR ANYTHING YOU WISH! JUST PLEASE FORGIVE ME!" Unlike his original expectation of her response, a light giggle could be heard, which developed into a chuckle then a full blown outburst of laughter.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Ichika-kun~ I'm not mad or upset, I know that wasn't your fault, you got teased and tensed up. Oh and I'll hold on to that wish for now, it'll be handy I know that...".
"..."
"Just continue massaging me and I won't tease you anymore, okay?" Without a word coming from his mouth, Ichika diligently got up from his kneeling and continued with the massage. Tatenashi never knew a feeling better than that after a day. She wanted it everyday. So, as Ichika was about to finish up on their session, she asked a question.
"...Hey, Ichika-kun... Could you do this for me every day?".
"Sure why not, I can get more experience from doing these anyway, then I can give Chifuyu-nee better massages..." Tatenashi laughed lightly at his statement.
"Hm? Something wrong?"
"No no, it's just that you really do care for your sister, don't you?"
"Well I have to, she's been the only person raising me since I can remember." Tatenashi empathised for the young boy, she still had her mother and father, but he had never even met them and his sister was the only one taking care of him...
"Ah... I see." She got up from the table and picked up her blazer as she was leaving the room. "I've got a meeting to catch up to with the headmistress. I'll see you later! Just go back to the gym hall the game isn't finished." Ichika just nodded in acknowledgement as he decided to go back to the gym hall to finish off whatever game Tatenashi had put him up with.
Joining back into the hall, Cecilia, Charlotte and Kanzashi greeted him, all three in a normal getup. Cecilia was wearing a fair blue sundress that closely resembled her own cobalt coloured eyes. Charlotte wore a casual yellow miniskirt along with an amethyst purple top that complimented both her hair and eyes. Kanzashi was dressed the most business-like out of the three, opting a rather seductive black pencil skirt with a simple white shirt buttoned up to under her quite sizeable bust. On top of that, she had removed her usual glasses and mechanical headband in order to set her hair up into something similar to Chifuyu's but much shorter. By Ichika's standards, she looked the most beautiful in this state, it definitely wasn't the formal wear that gave him this impression. Rather it was her radiating air of timid confidence that ushered his attention.
"Kanzashi-chan...you look...beautiful..." He unconsciously ushered those words out of his mouth, which sent the girl in question to a theoretical paradise, but also generated a look of fury from the two blonde beauty queens. Noticing the hellish glares from the two, Ichika's eyes started to darken again, forming the ghostly slit in his eyes with the rest of it showing an endless abyss of darkness.
"You two... Please keep yourselves in check, I hate to do it myself." The two girls shut themselves up immediately, being heavily intimidated by the Orimura. "Are you two alright?" Ichika regained his control as he walked over to the two shellshocked girls and patted their shoulders. "You two looked like you've seen a ghost. Do you wanna go to the infirmary?"
"I-i-it's alright, Ichika..."
"I'm fine Ichika-san. But I have one question... What was that?" Cecilia was the one of the two who pointed out the sudden shift in the boy's tone.
"I don't know what your talking about Ceci. Did something happen?" The two blondes just shook their head, trying to salvage the mood of the room.
"Ichika-senpai... why are you calling Cecilia that?" Kanzashi eagerly wanted to know the answers to Ichika's new nickname for the Brit, but before Cecilia could issue in her usual prideful antics, Ichika quelled her worrying.
"Kanzashi-chan, I figured that a lot of my friends already have nicknames, so I decided to give Cecilia one. Do you want one? Maybe Kan-chan?" The bluenette glowed like a disco light, which piqued the interest of the other three.
"Kanzashi, why is your cheeks turning into different colours?"
"Oh that... I accidentally drank some mysterious concoction on my bedside table and now whenever blood reaches to my cheeks it does something like that..."
"...Tabane-nee..."
"What was that Ichika-senpai?"
"It probably has something to do with Tabane-nee, she always does these types of stuff. Don't worry, the effects will only last for 2 hours and the effects won't kill you from my own knowledge, and that's 99% sure." Ichika smiled reassuringly at Kanzashi, who seemed to blush even further at him.
"For the love of God please stop flirting Ichika!" Charlotte whined as Cecilia just looked on in worry. Ichika on the outside looked like he had no idea, but on the inside he definitely knew and was just having some fun in this game. It was a game after all.
"Hey! What do you think you are doing?" Rin's voice came as a surprise to Ichika as he saw the petite chinese girl chase after another petite silverette, one that he never expected to be here. Still frozen in surprise, the little silver-haired girl continued running towards him, diving in to hug the sole male.
"Ku-chan? I thought you were still back home at Tabane-nee's." Ichika snapped out of his stupor and asked the young girl, to which she looked up to the boy with slight amounts of tears in her eyes.
"I just missed you papa, you've been gone for 2 months now, me and mama want you back." Chloe whimpered whilst sniffling into his shirt. Ichika, being the naturally caring person he is, picks up the little girl (Chloe is 18 in the LN and Anime but here she's around 8) and pats her on the back in circular motions, calming her down.
"Oi Ichika! What does she mean by 'papa' huh?" The quartet of Ichika's friends butted in to the heartwarming interaction between the two. It made sense that they would be upset, who wouldn't when they see their crush have a little child call them papa?
"Oh, I never told you this did I?" The four nervously sweat at the remark. "I am not her actual father, Tabane-nee saved her while I was at her lab. So naturally I took care of her and the rabbit-woman and she started to call me papa. Now I treat her like an adopted child of mine." They sighed heavily, so it wasn't his biological kid.
"You should have told us that baka! We were all so worr- I mean confused!" Kanzashi chided lightly at the Orimura male, which returned a light chuckle from him. "Kan-chan you really don't get it do you? I mean, whatever happens in my personal life should stay personal right? Especially when this little ball of snow asked me to." He scratched the child's cheek, earning a pleased purr from the girl. She had definitely learned some things from Tabane.
"Well then, forget that, what were you four supposed to do for this competition?" Ichika questioned the four, to which all of them started to nervously twiddle their fingers and sway their hips side to side.
"Um, Ichika..."
"Ichika-senpai..."
"Could you..."
"Dance with all of us?"
Charlotte's words finished off the rest of theirs, leaving the four to pleadingly look into the boy's eyes. Ichika, being the current mental brick he is, replied in quite a dull fashion.
"Sure then, but the order goes like this yeah? Kan-chan goes first because she wasn't at the convention, then it's Ceci due to her injuries as this is my way to pay her back. Rin is third and Charl is last. Everyone got that?".
As the girls nodded their heads, music had already started to play, with Ichika courteously moving towards the Sarashiki while reaching out for her hand. "Would you like to start? Milady?" His exuberant elegance and charismatic tone left her in shock as she mechanically hesitated for his hand. Firming the grip on her hand, he pulled her into him and started waltzing with her.
Stepping left and right felt natural to her, like she was made for this moment, and that made her happier than she had ever been.
"Hey, Ichika-senpai, when do you want to go on that date you mentioned?" Kanzashi anxiously asked her dance partner.
"I can go this weekend if you want to... maybe Saturday?" She thought about it for a bit before accepting his offer.
"I'm free on that day, we'll meet up at the station?"
"Yup, now I've gotta dance with the rest of them so I guess goodbye?" Kanzashi visibly gloomed at him.
'I'm so sorry Kan-chan but you know how they get...' Ichika noted to apologize to his kouhai later on.
The dances were not really that special for Ichika, but each of the four girls experienced pure bliss that day.
[IS Academy, Cafeteria] [Roughly 9PM]
Shortly after the quite random game of service, to which no apparent winner was selected by the Orimura, many of the girls had chosen to ignore Ichika for the time being. Being as a sort of punishment for the Orimura who just didn't want to anger anyone.
"*Haaah* Why can't they just see that I'm doing all of this for them?" Ichika glumly looked at his plate of Karaage and Miso soup, he did know that the girls liked him, just he didn't know why they would get so angry at him.
[Onii-san... I think it's because you just don't fully understand us women. I mean, I did have to tell you that they liked you didn't I?] Setsura chimed into his personal confliction, causing the boy to further bash his own head in annoyance.
'Just, why can't I understand them? Is it because I'm just really stupid?'
[I think it's because of your interactions with women in the past, Tabane-sama was the only person who acted how a normal woman would back then.]
[Nee-san! I never thought you would talk to him using this, so why now?] Ichika could imaging two girls squabbling with the older one blushing slightly at the mention of his name.
"Anyways, Ku-chan, open wide. aaaaah~" Ichika motioned the food to Chloe like a little child, which earned a panicked expression from the minor.
"Oi! Papa, I'm 8 remember? I don't need this..." Chloe blushed slightly at the guy.
"Oh, sorry Ku-chan, I thought you would like this..." Ichika saddened at the fact, he didn't know why but his instincts were telling him to be so. Chloe regretted seeing the face on her father-figure and immediately grabbed his hand to chomp down the food whole.
"Hm? Why did you do that Ku?" Ichika confused, asked the petite child who simply beamed a luminous smile at him and muffled some words.
"I like it when papa feeds me!" Food fell out of her mouth ever so slightly, which she herself didn't notice it, but was surprised when her 'papa' took out his handkerchief and wiped it off her cheek.
"Ku-chan, remember, don't talk when you're eating. Got that?"
"Hai, papa." Ichika grinned lightly at the girl, hugging her ever so slightly.
"Was Ichika-san ever like this?" Cecilia asked the group of girls hanging around a table close to Ichika's own. The rest of the group responded lightly, giving small but firm "no"s, Ichika was never this father-like in class or the academy.
"It still feels weird that he never told us about Chloe... and is it just me or does she look a lot like a younger version of Laura?" Charlotte piped up, the resemblance was near impossible, the petite stature, pale white skin, same silvery hair.
"Yeah, Laura, do you know of any other people that were born like you?" Rin asked the German soldier.
"Nein, I was the only person born artificially in German records." The silverette stated confidently.
Whilst discussing the matter of Ichika's child, a certain green-haired teacher comes up to the cafeteria. "Everyone! It's 9:00, you guys need to have some rest for tomorrow, someone important is coming in!" Maya announced to the remaining groups of students still eating in the hall.
"I guess we've gotta go now Ku-chan. Do you want to go to my room?" Ichika asked the young child, earning a wide smile and constant nodding. Getting his answer, he picked up the girl and placed him on his shoulders like a dad and their child (Keep in mind an 8-year old is quite heavy for normal people).
However, near to his dorm, a certain magenta-haired woman joined the two as they were discussing on who was coming to the school tomorrow. "Hi hi Ii-kun! Ku-chan! How was time with papa? Oh gosh, we look like one big family now right? Ehehehehe~" Her bubbliness was evident in both her wording and posture, repeatedly bouncing around and moving in circles about the familial pair.
"It was great mama, me and papa got to spend some time together." Tabane pouted at her words, grabbing Ichika's left arm and holding it tight. A bit unusual for the experienced apprentice of the mad scientist. "Unfair Ii-kun, now you have to sleep with me and Ku-chan tonight okay? Then I'll forgive you." Her sulking just made Ichika laugh lightly, trying to not break down laughing at the adorable sight of the woman.
"S-sure Tabane-nee, I can do that for one night. If you want, we can have some more fun if you want~" He expected the woman to start blushing like the other schoolgirls that he interacts with. Sadly, that wasn't the case. "Oh you wanna do that? I guess it's my lucky day~."
"I was joking! And what do you mean by 'it's my lucky day'?!?!" Ichika and Tabane teased each other through the walk to his room as Chloe just laughed at each of their responses.
[IS Academy, Room 1025]
Finally getting to his room, Ichika plops Chloe down on the floor and heads into the bathroom, using a certain gravity lock to keep the door in place, as Tabane could get in through any lock, and he was not trying to take any chances. Removing his uniform, he noticed a strange mark on his left chest, shaped like a small blade. He had never seen it before, but as he tried to touch the mark, it started to fade away back into his skin.
"Hm? Strange... I'll have to ask Tabane-nee about that later..."
"About what?~" A giggling voice echoed behind him, causing him to jump backwards in surprise and crashing his arm on the sink.
"FUCK! My arm..." Ichika winced in the pain as his funny bone sent a multitude of mixed responses, forcing his hand to move erratically.
"Ii-kun! I'm so sorry! Here, let Tabane-nee-chan help you ok?" Tabane rushed to his side, pulling out an object that seemed to look like a white pistol but with a medical sign on the side. Injecting the needle, the pain started to subside for the boy, allowing himself to pick himself up using the arm.
"What was that for?" Ichika weakly asked his mentor, to which her mechanical ears drooped down onto the ground and apologise deeply.
"I-I was planning to play a prank on you. You didn't put a lock on the door so I just waltzed in here." Tabane looked down in repentance towards Ichika, slight amounts of tears were falling down from her eyes.
"Woah, Tabane-nee. Why are you crying over this?"
"I-i-i-it's because I almost b-b-b-r-o-o-ke your arm..." Ichika couldn't just let the rabbit cry by herself like that, it wasn't in his blood or mind to do so. He hugged the breaking down scientist and calmed her down.
"Don't worry, I'm not hurt in the slightest, it was a harmless prank. You're fine." Ichika hushed the scientist as he rubbed her back in circles.
'Why is Tabane-nee acting like this? It's like she's another one of them... Wait... is she really?' Ichika thought about his teacher's sudden mood swings. Tabane never was a fan of love, but then what did this mean?
"Yay! Ii-kun's okay! Hurry up! I want to sleep." Tabane suddenly snapped out of her sulky situation and jumped out of the room.
"I guess I should hurry up, I don't want to experience Tabane-nee in a bad mood again." Ichika shivered at the memory, she was just as bad as his sister, maybe worse depending on her mood. He quickly removed the rest of his clothes and got into the shower, finishing up his well-earned relaxation. He sped through brushing his teeth and cleaning his appearance.
Opening the door, he saw what most men would never see at the age of 15. A beautiful woman dressed in a single light blue nightgown with a silver-haired child garbed in a similar white nightgown. 'She looks just like you doesn't she Setsu?'
[Hmph! Don't compare me to other girls onii-. I don't like it!]
'Note taken.' Setsura smiled lightly at Ichika's perception.
[Looks like you're finally understanding things now... isn't that right nee-san?]
[...]
[Say something! It's pointless to just appear and stay quiet!]
'Hey hey, I'm going to go sleep now ok? Just don't argue please?'
With the two figures nodding, he laid down on the bed with the two other ladies, with each of their bodies pressed up to him to remain as warm as possible.
"Hey Tabane-nee." A pair of bunny ears perked up. "Could you help me make some artificial bodies for some people?"
"Aha! I knew that's what Se-chan and Bya-chan wanted. Am I right?"
"Yep, pretty much."
"Well then, I'll get started tomorrow morning okay? We can meet tomorrow in your IS bay then~" Ichika, pleased with her willingness patted her on the head and went back to sleep.
Outside of the room, in the corridor, a slender figure stood by Ichika's door. She watched the moonlight glaze through the windows of the hall as she thought about the sole male IS pilot.
"Ichika, I'm sorry that I've never told you about our past, but some secrets should be kept secrets, right?" Chifuyu lamented on her past life, murdering targets left and right for the organisation, leading each and every attack on military bases, leaving no one alive. Her constant aggression towards her sister, Madoka. Her only source of hope from that life was the boy that now fights for her. Yet, she never did treat him like a brother, she just didn't know how to. She knew how to break someone's neck without twisting it, dissasemble a nuclear warhead, systematically cripple a corrupt government. But not how to be a family.
Finally, that's finished.
Sorry about the long wait for this chapter, but since I have tests due soon I have to focus on that :P
Anyways, I may not have written this chapter very well, and to be completely honest I just can't be asked to reread it. So just send me a PM or review this chapter on the story and I'll try to fix any plotholes. Yes I do read your reviews and I hope that I can do this story some proper justice. Romantic pairings will never be revealed early as it just ruins the fun, in my opinion.
Also the next chapter for Infinite Stratos: Fixed Friendships will be the next thing to be released from me. So read that please. I beg you.
Anyways, thanks for reading!
-ISReaderandWriter