Chapter 17: Contemplation

Upon arriving back at the inn I was once again the center of discussion as news of my battle against Casey had quickly travelled to the student body. Even outside of the academy I can't escape being the center of attention. Even my friends were bombarding me with questions and comments over dinner.

"Such disgrace, picking fights with those weaker than her," commented Houki.

"Why did she engage you in an IS battle," asked Charlotte.

"She got annoyed that I kept stepping in," I replied.

"Why did you follow her?" asked Rin.

"I saw her go into Shoku and I had a suspicion that she was up to trouble. I mean why else would someone like her walk into Shoku,"

"That was really reckless," said Houki.

"Yeah but I didn't feel good letting her abuse Akito and Akumo," I replied.

"Still, you should be careful with what fights you pick,"

"Houki's right," added Rin.

"I know," I replied.

After dinner was over I went outside a bit to catch some fresh air. The sky was clear and the air was silent except for the critters. It was a nice moment, a chill atmosphere to relax in especially after all the craze that had happened. But as I walked further out I spotted someone. A student with long silver hair and an eyepatch, it was Laura. She was staring into the night sky, with the same look of pondering that she had held for most of the trip. She seemed to be deep in thought as she didn't react as I approached her.

"Hey, how are you?" I asked.

She jumped at my voice, startled as she turned to face me. She looked at me for a bit before sheepishly looking down. I waited for a response but she again seemed to be deep in thought.

"I just wanted to thank you for alerting Cecilia. That really saved me,"

"I, don't know,"

"Huh?"

"I don't know," said Laura who was still looking down at the ground.

"You don't know what?"

"Why,"

"Why what?"

"Why I did it,"

"Why you did what?"

I was getting increasingly confused by her statements. Her eyes had not left the ground and her face looked just as lost in thought as ever.

"Why I helped you,"

I was confused by what she was trying to say and was at a loss for what to say next but before I could respond she spoke again.

"I didn't have to help you. None of my superiors ordered me to. That boy was of no significance to me. Yet, I still complied with his request even though I had no obligation to. And I don't know why,"

"Maybe because you wanted to help me?" I suggested.

"Wanted? Why? For what reason would I want such a thing if I hadn't been ordered to do so,"

I couldn't understand Laura but from what I could see, she didn't really understand herself.

"People don't always need a specific reason to want things," I said.

"They might want to do something for someone because they are important to them or they like helping others or they want to make the world a better place,"

Laura stood in silence for a moment.

"Is this what being your own person means,"

"What?"

"Instructor said I should focus on being the best version of myself, but I don't know what that means. I have always strived to be like her, to improve my capabilities until I had reached her status. That was my drive, my ambition, my goal,"

"But now, I don't know what I should do. How do I be, myself,"

I thought for a moment, trying to come up with an answer to her question. It was not a question I had ever really thought about, I mean, what makes a person a person? A thought for a minute and then it hit me.

"Our choices!"

Laura's eyes lit up and she raised her head to look me in the eyes.

"What makes a person themselves is the choices they make. People make tones of different choices, not just tasks given to them by other people but personal choices that no one but they had control over,"

"Each individual choice has its own motives and reasons behind them that all comes from the person making them,"

Laura seemed a bit confused.

"For example, when you attacked Rin and Cecilia before the interclass tournament, did anyone order you to do so?"

"No,"

"So why did you do it?"

"Because I was angry and wanted to teach them a lesson,"

While not a conventional response, I was at least getting through to her.

"Exactly, you made your own choice fueled by your own motives and emotions. You may want to find other motives than anger for your choices and you shouldn't go around attacking students but that's the main idea. You make decisions for what you want, so long as you are also respective of other people,"

"What I want?"

"Yes, what do you want Laura?"

Laura looked towards the ground again as she seemingly racked her brain for a response.

"I, I don't know,"

"Well then you're just going to have to find a purpose or a goal,"

"How do I do that?"

"Well, I suggest exploring the world more. Go to different places, try different things. It will help you figure out what you like and what you want,"

"You can also ask Charlotte for help, I'm sure she would be more than glad to help,"

"Hmm, I see,"

Finally, Laura seemed to be understanding.

"What is it that you want?" she asked.

"What I want?"

I was caught off guard by her question and struggled to come up with a response.

" Well… I want to be stronger and to protect those I care about," I finally said.

"But you might want to find a more specific and personal goal than that,"

"I see," she answered with a look of deep consideration.

"Well thank you for your advice," she said with a bow.

"And my apologies for attempting to eradicate you earlier,"

"All water under the bridge," I said with a nervous laugh.

While I knew that she wasn't exactly a fan of me and I wasn't quite aware of her specific plan for me. After getting up from her bow she headed back for the dorms. After that I stood outside for about 10 minutes. I was enjoying the calm of the night and letting go of the stress of that day. However, while relaxing my mind kept straying back to the same question, what did I actually want?

The next day, we all had to get up early for the bus back to the academy. After thanking the women at the inn we all boarded the same buses we came with. On the bus, Cecilia and Rin sat together with Cecilia being more talkative this time. Laura and Charlotte were sitting together although Laura still wasn't talking very much and I sat with Houki as agreed. And so it was time to say goodbye to Omasu. Despite the events that had occurred in Shoku, I had enjoyed the trip and was definitely going to miss Omasu.

"Phew, what a crazy trip," I said to Houki.

"Mostly for you and Cecilia," she replied with a hint of disappointment.

"All the action seems to surround you, and personal IS holders,"

"Yeah," I replied with a sigh.

"It gets exhausting,"

"I suppose so," she replied.

And with that the bus set off and we waved Omasu goodbye. After a long journey we had reached the academy late into the evening. I was very exhausted from the bus journey so I quickly headed to my room, unpacked all my bags and collapsed onto my bed. I was back at the academy and would soon have to deal with all the attention (especially after the incident in Shoku), the intense homework and rigorous training sessions. Yet my exhaustion soon turned to questioning as I thought "for what". I decided that that was a question left to be answered another day and so I got ready for bed and quickly drifted into sleep.

The next week was all the usual. Classes, homework, gossip and training. Although there were some differences in some of my friends. For one, Laura and Charlotte began talking regularly and while Laura did seem shy at first it did seem she was opening up more and more. Houki also seemed more motivated than ever during our training so much that even though I had a personal unit I was struggling against her. Cecilia was also happier and a lot more social. She was talking a lot more and carried herself more proudly. Other than that, nothing of note happened until Friday. I was in the canteen, eating some ramen for dinner. Sitting next to me on either side were Houki and Charlotte, both enjoying their salmon and pizza respectively. We were interrupted by Rin who loudly sat down with her bowl of ramen.

"Hey, so I was thinking tomorrow, we do a free-for-all battle between us," said Rin.

"As in, everyone against everyone?" I asked.

"Yes, something like that. Cecilia has already agreed to it,"

"Sounds good," I said.

"Yeah, I think I'll join too," said Charlotte.

"What about you Houki?" I asked.

"Hmm, I don't know, It'll be difficult considering you all have personal units" she said.

"Yeah I understand," I said.

"Yeah, oh well. I guess it will just be me, Cecilia, Ichika and Charlotte together tomorrow," said Rin with a sly grin.

"You know what I think I'll join," said Houki.

"It would be good practice,"

"Great, then we'll meet Saturday at 2pm," said Rin, still smirking at Houki.

Saturday came around and after grabbing lunch I headed to the battle arena for our free-for-all match. In the arena I was greeted by Rin, Cecilia and Houki.

"Good to see that you're here," said Cecilia.

"Yeah, we're still waiting on Charlotte?" I asked.

"Yeah they should be here any minute now," said Rin.

As if on que Charlotte walked into the battle arena in her battle uniform. However, accompanying her was Laura, also dressed in her battle uniform.

"Hey, I decided to invite Laura to our free-for-all, I hope you don't mind,"

I looked at Rin and Cecilia for their reactions. Rin gave Laura a look of suspicion while Cecilia glared at her.

"I'm sorry for my actions earlier, I didn't mean to embarrass you," Laura said with a bow.

If she was hoping to make Rin and Cecilia be more at ease it had the opposite effect. Both Rin and especially Cecilia looked offended and angrily at Laura.

"Hey what's that supposed to mean!"

"I suggest you don't get too cocky!"

"I'm sure Laura didn't mean it that way," Charlotte tried reassuring.

"She just means that's she is sorry for attacking you guys earlier,"

"Yes, I'm sorry," said Laura.

Rin and Cecilia still glared at her.

"Fine, so long as you don't strangle us after," said Rin.

"Yes, I do believe we have a score to settle," said Cecilia.

"What about you two?" Charlotte asked, turning to me and Houki.

"It's ok for me," I said.

"Yeah, same for me I guess," said Houki.

"Great, well then let's start," said Charlotte.

At once, there were 6 flashes of light. Were then each in our respective IS units, me in my Byakushki, Cecilia in her Blue Tears, Rin in her Shenlong, Charlotte in her Raphael Revive II, Laura in her Schwartz Regen and Houki in her Uchigane. We then all launched high into the air and assumed battle positions. The battle started with Rin firing a blast from her shockwave cannon towards Laura. Laura immediately swerved out of the way as Cecilia activated her six drones and materialised her rifle. I materialised Yukihara, Houki materialised her blade and a gun and Charlotte materialised her assault rifle and shotgun. Cecilia fired a barrage of lasers towards Laura who slithered around them and materialised her railgun.

Me and Houki, who were closest to each other, charged towards each other but were interrupted by a barrage of bullets from Charlotte's rifle. We jolted out of the bullets' path and together charged towards her. Meanwhile, Bodewig was firing away her Railgun, splitting her focus between Cecilia and Rin.
Soon, me and Houki had reached Charlotte. Houki fired at Charlotte with her pistol. She swapped out her rifle for a machine gun and returned fire. I tried getting closer but was forced back by a swift barrage of bullets from Charlotte's machine gun. While Charlotte was distracted with me Houki charged in and attempted to strike her with her blade. Charlotte quickly noticed Houki and swerved out of her strike and released a blast of her shotgun at her. Houki yelped in pain as she was blasted back. Seeing the two distracted I got a daring idea. I activated Reiraku Byakuya and my Ignition Boost and launched towards Charlotte and Houki. Charlotte was first to notice as she positioned herself so Houki was between us. Houki however noticed too late as my unit had reached her and she was swiftly struck by a Reiraku Byakuya boosted swing.

The blade cut through her unit and it immediately entered Absolute Defense mode. Houki yelled in frustration and her unit began lowering down. I wasn't done yet as I charged towards Charlotte, still fueled by the Ignition Boost. A flash of light appeared between us and soon her orange shield was deployed. Having expected this, I swerved around it but Charlotte had expected that as she blasted my unit with her shotgun. I was sent falling towards the ground but I quickly caught myself and deactivated Reiraku Byakuya. This was pretty unfortunate as I was hoping to get both Houki and Charlotte and now I was down my Ignition Boost and a bunch of shield energy. I went to charge in towards Charlotte but a blue laser crashed into my unit. I yelped in surprise, turning towards its source. It was Cecilia whose drones were gone, I presumed destroyed by Laura. I went to charge towards Cecilia but I was pelted from behind by Charlotte who had swapped out her machine gun for her rifle.

I was in a difficult spot as both Cecilia and Charlotte were shooting at me, forcing me to focus solely on evading. Fortunately, I was given a break as Cecilia was blasted by a beam of projectiles from Laura's railgun. From my position I could see the startled look on her face and so I launched towards her.
I was soon within a dozen metres from her and she was still distracted by Laura. I activated Reiraku Byakuya but before I could reach her a powerful force struck my left side sending me flying in the opposite direction. I yelled in surprise as I slowed my momentum down to prevent myself from falling. I looked over to see Rin who had her shockwave canon pointed towards me and was looking at me with a cocky grin. Before I could try anything another powerful force struck me in my side sending me falling over. It was Charlotte who had swapped her shotgun for her sniper rifle and who was staring at me with her signature cold smile.
I caught myself but before I could even breathe I was struck by a beam of projectiles from Laura's railgun. I was once again sent flying as I yelped in pain. I once again caught myself, this time I was fortunately further away from everyone.

I was getting frustrated after being hit so many times so I eagerly launched towards the others but then my unit suddenly stopped moving. I stared in confusion at my screen which showed that Absolute Defense mode had activated. My confusion was then cleared when I saw the dark purple energy from my blade dissipate. After being hit by Rin I was so dazed that I forgot to deactivate Reiraku Byakuya and so it was on, using up all my shield energy while I was being hit like a pinball. My unit then lowered towards the ground as I looked with dismay up towards the battle. After my defeat, the battle raged on with Cecilia and Rin teaming on Laura and Charlotte shooting at everyone from a far. Laura was resilient and was able to hold her own against those two and was able to deal decent damage against them. Rin was the first to fall after receiving a particularly nasty hit from Laura which left her open to an assault from Charlotte rifle.
Cecilia who was also worn down from her battle with Bodewig soon followed as Bodewig caught her with her wires and blasted her at point blank. It was then left to a 1 on 1 between Charlotte and Laura. They both fought hard but eventually, Charlotte was taken down leaving Bodewig the winner. After the battle we all met up in the preparation room to discuss the results.

"Phew, that was an intense match," remarked Charlotte.

"You can say that again," I said.

"You may have won this time, Bodewig but I'll return the favour someday," said Cecilia.

"Yeah don't let it get to your head too much," added Rin.

"I shall do my best not to," said Laura.

Rin and Cecilia glared at Bodewig who carried herself as if nothing was wrong.

"We should do this more often," said Charlotte.

"Agreed, it would be good for training," said Cecilia.

"Where's Houki," I asked.

"Looks like she already left," said Rin.

\\

/

Later that night, Houki Shinonon was in her room, staring nervously at her phone. She was about to make a decision, a decision she didn't really want to make but one that she felt she needed to make. A phone call she dreaded. It required asking a favour from someone she hated relying on, but her whole experience at the IS academy pushed her into this corner, especially today's battle. She knew she had to but was not above procrastinating on it as much as possible. But alas, Houki knew she couldn't put it off forever as she had until her roommate returned from dinner as she didn't want anyone knowing of her conversation.
with a sigh, Houki opened up her phone and searched her contact list. It did not take long to find the contact named Tabane. With a deep breath, Houki dialled the number and waited nervously as it rang. Before long, the caller picked up and Houki was greeted by a very excited and loud, high-pitched voice.

"HEY HOUKI-CHAN!"

"Quite down!" Houki yelled.

The other caller groaned.

"So mean! You call your sister for the first time in 3 years and the first thing you say is "quite down"? You're a meanie Houki-chan,"

"Anyways, I called because I wanted to ask for a favour," said Houki.

"Ooo, a favour you say?"

"Yes,"

Houki took a deep breath in before continuing.

"I don't usually like using you for such things but... Could you make me a personal IS unit,"

"Wow, so polite! I bet you're blushing on the other end,"

"Can you do it or not!" yelled Houki.

"Of course, anything for my dear Houki-chan,"

"Thank you very much," said Houki excitedly.

"When will it be ready?"

"Oh it's already ready, I'll have it delivered tomorrow,"

"Wait what?" said Houki in surprise.

"Yeah I already made it a while ago. I was just waiting for when you were going to ask,"

"Well, what's it like,"

"It's perfect for you! It's way more advanced than any other unit out there! It has incredible acceleration, a ridiculous top speed, flies as smooth as a butterfly and stings very nasty! It also is a perfect partner to the Byakushki which makes you a perfect partner to-,"

"Ok, ok, I understand," interrupted Houki.

"Gee, so rude,"

"So you said you would deliver it tomorrow?"

"Yes, although I won't be there in person. So sad. I would have loved to meet you, Chi-chan and Ichi-kun. Oh well, maybe next time,"

"Well, thank you," said Houki.

"You are very welcome! Now you can finally show off in front of Ichi-kun and make him your-,"

Houki hung up the phone.

Author Note: Hello Everyone and thank you for reading another chapter of Infinite Stratos Remastered. I hope you had a good Christmas. I know this chapter probably isn't as interesting but I wanted a transition chapter between the last arc and the next arc. Plus, there were things I really wanted like the conversation between Laura and Ichika, Ichika wondering about his goal/purpose and this chapter was a good place to add them. Anyways I hope you still enjoyed this chapter and thank you for reading so far, means a lot to me.