Hello everyone, it's been a while since the last time.

Since October. Things just have been busy and we had some plans during that so it took me a while to get all things sorted. I haven't forgotten about the fic though.

But one thing that I am happy about is the fact that some of my readers have figured out where some of those characters came from.

Normally, this was supposed to be written on the airplane to Turkey but because dad got his heart problems, we didn't go and stayed home.

Had to do some chores around the house that were waiting plus, I saw Powerwolf performing in December. They did an amazing job on that at the concert, so much so that they convinced me to go see them in Augustat the Alcatraz festival.

I like how things worked out and that I got an E-bike to get to work.

Besides that, I'm writing a lot downstairs due to the fact that I'm celebrating Christmas at my dad's place. Just keeping it easy, with the two of us. It'll be a cozy Christmas. Glad that I have a few days off work. It'll make things easier.

And while the replacement keyboard is great for writing on my laptop, only in a soon, it proves to be too clunky to actually work.

I'll guess I'll buy a new one, near the end of 2024.

My schedule also worked great in my favor though as this was written in December of 2022 while the update was for 2023. I like it when things go in order.

Started on 06/12/2022

Ended on 26/12/2022

Published on 26/01/2023.

Openings song. Five Finger Death Punch. When the seasons change.


"Talking"

'Thinking'

[Telepathic conversation]

[Phone call]


Ichika and Madoka had pressed their backs against, each other as they saw the assailants that had come walking out to greet them.

"It is surprising that you noticed us so soon. But your instincts haven't dulled over the last few years."

The male of the two spoke and Ichika wasn't going to take any risks. Summoning his HSF-sword, Ichika kept his eyes trained on the guy in front of him.

While the face was just like his, his hair was white and his eyes had turned grey. It gave Ichika the chills.

'Ichi-nii. That woman here got a fucking BAR, pulled out of her bag.'

'BAR? Browning Automatic Rifle? Well, this guy has two axes out. You think you can handle that girl?'

Ichika asked his little sister who stood behind him.

'Keep that guy off me.' Madoka summoned her own rifle as she stretched her neck.

'We gotta keep them talking. Take a moment to get them down.'

"Well, I see you have your own weapons. It would be dreadfully boring if you were so easy to take out." The girl didn't sound anything like his sisters.

She carried none of the warmth of Chifuyu or the playfulness of Madoka. It was higher and meaner than the two.

"Onee-same. I think that we need to formally introduce ourselves to our older siblings."

The giggle that came from the guy made Ichika shudder.

"We should, onii-sama. It would be the most polite thing if they are going to play with us."

Neither Ichika nor Madoka were willing to wait for that so they took off first. Summoning Yukihira, Ichika had to choose between bullets or axes. As long he was close to, whoever this freaky guy was, he would be safe.

Madoka ran circles around the girl who had begun to let the gun sing as she fired bullets. If she was fighting a normal person, the BAR would make Swiss Cheese out of everyone. Unluckily for her enemy, Madoka had managed to learn to avoid a lot more.

Her own gun barked back against it and with semi-automatic fire, she could afford her missed bullets. She had to keep the gun nut focused on her. So long that was the case, her brother would be fine.

Of course, Ichika was the same as the handle of the axe felt a serious amount of pressure from the sword. Of course, the psycho was wielding a second axe so Ichika didn't hesitate to call forth his Yukihira.

"Well, that is surprising. I was hoping for a good fight. It makes it fun so much later."

When Ichika saw the eyes, his blood ran cold when he realized how cold they were. They were only gleaming with anticipation about what they could do with Ichika.

And the male pilot found that he wanted no part of that. But Ichika was sure that he couldn't get through.

"You know something else? Never skip leg day?"

Normally, Ichika would never use that part but he wouldn't be taking any risks. The hit came right onto the nuts of the crazy asshole in front of him. The HSF sword came right next and with a vicious slash, he got the guy away.

The kid crawled back up and glared at him.

"That was mean." From the jacket, the guy summoned a few revolvers.

Ichika wouldn't take any risks. He was still green in the terms of guns but he wouldn't take a risk on fighting back against this crazy guy. Summoning Izanami, Ichika started to blast the gun while the nut had to get away from the bullets.

Ichika kept the HSF-sword activated. It was a lot better suited for this despite it wasn't the 'partner' sword for the gun.

"Are you scared, onii-sama? Of course, I'd be if you think what I'd do to your sister." The taunt worked for Ichika as his eyes flattened and he caught up with the crazy whack job.

No one threatened his baby sister. No one.

The boy was this time completely scared as Ichika smashed into him. The cut was aimed at the arm instead of the body this time. The axe could just stop him in time from destroying his arm.

"Don't even think you can do so."

Ichika wasn't worried that Madoka picked up on that.

'Good to know you're still worried about me, Ichi-nii.'

The youngest spoke through their link as she was firing at the girl.

She was using the forest as she kept her scope up at the lunatic who was using a fully automatic rifle who had been firing into the forest.

While the bullets came piercing through, Madoka had learned to avoid them and her scope worked great in low light.

Madoka was frustrating the other one.

"Well, I was hoping a bit more from you, onee-sama. You are annoying."

Madoka didn't reply to it.

"But still, you're good at this. I was hoping it would be more." That giggle scared the shit out of Madoka. She wanted more information from them as she fired.

One of the bullets grazed the cheek.

The next one came a bit lower and Madoka knew that it hit the BAR.

"That is the problem with using older material. You're fucked when you deal with something." In terms of a normal sniper, she would have shot the foe as she kept out of sight.

But she wanted answers from whatever this crazy.

"It appears we are done on business. Onii-sama, let's go."

The girl threw down a smoke grenade and she kept far away from it.

Madoka doubted that the guy would hear it from that far away. but the sudden stop in clashes of metal and gunfire showed that Ichika was done with fighting.

'Ichi-nii.'

'Guy stopped fighting. He got away after he threw a smoke grenade.'

'Same here. Want to bet that whatever those freaks had a similar link as ours.' Madoka knew there was nothing else that could explain the fact that they could leave like this.

Ichika walked back to the path where he left Chifuyu.

"We go to talk to Chifuyu-nee or." The question was something they would agree on as they wanted to talk to their big sister.

Suddenly, the noise came through and the entire academy security came through at them.

"Well, better late than never." Madoka wasn't impressed by the security that showed up when the fight was over.

"If something had happened, it would be never." Ichika knew this wasn't the end of the night. And both agreed that this was not how they wanted their birthday to end.

Scene skip

It had taken a few hours before Ichika and Madoka were finally done with the questions. They were taken back in the school and despite insistent arguments, they couldn't talk to their sister.

Chifuyu Orimura had been present in the interviews though as neither twins were old enough for it.

It felt more like a police inquiry than a real conversation. The academy had called in a few other security members who were looking over the damage that had spread over the grounds during the scrap.

The twins had agreed they wouldn't talk about the fact they had seen a mirror. Their assailants were wearing masks during their interviews.

They did stick to the weapons and despite the fact that no one believed Madoka that her foe was carrying an LMG that wasn't used in over a decade, Ichika kept firm on the words as well. During that talk, they also maintained that their foes didn't say a word.

After that was done, they were taken away by Chifuyu and her ice glare caused the security to take her seriously.

During that talk, it was already the next day and despite the late hour, the twins weren't looking to go to sleep.

As soon the door closed behind them, Chifuyu looked them over and her arms crossed.

"Okay, why did you two lie to the security?"

"We couldn't really tell them about the fact we saw our family out there," Ichika answered humorously while he began to undress into his pajamas.

Given the fact that the two saw him grow up, those were two ladies whom he didn't mind being naked in front of.

"Family?" Chifuyu was incredulous by the word.

"Ichi-nii doesn't lie. What did you tell me when we met for the first time? Like looking into a goddamn mirror?" Madoka had also begun to undress into her sleepwear.

Grabbing a chair, Ichika turned it around while Madoka sat down on her bed.

"They looked like us. Well, face at least. Their hair was white and their eyes were grey. It does a lot but not enough." Ichika continued to talk while Madoka nodded at their big sister.

Chifuyu took the other bed to have her legs some rest.

"You two aren't lying to me, are you?"

The eyes of the twins flattened and they talked together in a dry, cold tone.

"What reason would we have to lie to our big sister?"

Chifuyu hated the involuntary shiver that worked her way from her spine onto her back while she gave the twins a dead glare.

Unlike most human beings, neither budged. They were getting better at it.

"I hate it when you do that creepy twin stuff. You know that."

"We know now why though." Ichika didn't even look at his sister.

"Those two were also twins," Madoka said the line that made them understand how it felt.

"Girl was using a BAR while the boy was using an axe. We didn't tell the security because it would open a can of worms that we wouldn't close."

Neither his big sister nor his little sister was surprised that Ichika knew what sort of weapon his foes were using.

"Chifuyu-nee." Her name wasn't a whine but more a question.

"Do I have to tell you two? If what you are saying is true, it means that Phantom Task is using the project that we escaped from as a way to continue." Madoka didn't hesitate to crawl up to her sister as she felt the only place where she was safe.

It took Ichika a lot of effort to not join his sister.

"Do you really think so, Chifuyu-nee? Does Phantom Task have the means to do that?"

The Brunhilde knew that fear could be a useful emotion but she felt her own body shaking when she began to think of the implications.

"That or they have found things that remained of the project. I hope that is more likely. If that is the case, we need to keep this between us. I hope that others don't find out. It'll be hard enough for us already."

Neither twin found it a sight that evoked any positive emotions as they found their own sister shaking and shivering with fear. Walking up to them, Ichika cradled the head of Chifuyu on his chest.

Comforting her as she so often did for them when the twins grew up.

She kept strong for her siblings but now, it felt like Chifuyu was breaking down. So Ichika kept his grip on her tighter while Madoka got from underneath her arm and joined her older brother as they kept her close.

They didn't say a single word to their big sister but just kept her close as Chifuyu Orimura did something that she hadn't done in a very, very long time.

Soft sobs came out of Orimura Chifuyu's mouth as she felt fear. Not for herself but for her siblings. The thought of losing them was a thing that she couldn't live with.

Ichika and Madoka kept her closer as she gripped them.

"We're here."

"Not anywhere else."

Chifuyu continued to cry as she felt the strong arms around her head. It did help her but she couldn't keep the tears in as she sobbed. The twins joined each other so that they would help their sister.

So they kept their grips on their big sister as they sat down while their arms shifted for the neck.

When Chifuyu finally calmed down, at least, forty minutes later, she had cried longer than she ever did while the twins were quiet as a tomb.

"I'm sorry, you two."

"Don't be." They said immediately. Chifuyu Orimura never apologized and for this, she didn't have to.

The Brunhilde chuckled and with that, the twins knew that she was back.

"We'll deal with them when they come back." Ichika was ready for another fight with those creeps.

"And you did a good job of preparing us." Chifuyu was reminded of the next event that was upcoming.

"Good thing you said that, Madoka. You do not know it from me but there is another tournament coming up." The twins let her go and they looked at her, expectantly.

"It's a tag team. And I am going to ask you two one big favor." They waited patiently but yet, but they could guess what it would be.

"I want you two to pick another partner for the fight. Given your expertise, if you two would fight together, there wouldn't be a fair challenge to it."

'Called it.' They said in their link.

"And there is more. I don't want you to pick Houki for this either. Given her machine, it would be too easy for you two as well, given your fight styles." On the uncomfortable look of Ichika, Chifuyu patted him on the head.

"Don't worry, big boy. Your big sister will talk to your scary girlfriend so that she doesn't kill you."

Swatting her hand away, Ichika glared at his sister.

"You ask this, so you can do it for me." Chifuyu conceded that point as she smiled back at him.

"I did indeed. And for you, young lady, there is another person you can't ask." Madoka had been glowering at Ichika as she found the interaction amusing.

"Dan can't pilot an IS. Whom did you have in mind?" Madoka pouted as she didn't know whom Chifuyu would forbid to ask.

"Adjzof. Given the fact you work well with him and your superiority in long-range weapons, I do not want you two to fight together. For Ichika, he is open though."

For Ichika, that did offer a solution for the one he'd choose. But unfortunately, Madoka deflated when she heard the news. Mattheus would make a great partner.

"Okay, you win." With that done, Madoka began to think of a devious plan.

Ichika caught on to it, rapidly and began to wonder about it and agree with it.

"Now, with that big favor asked. I think we need some compensation, don't we, Ichi-nii?"

"You're right, Madoka. And well, I don't think that our big sister would disagree with us."

Chifuyu's wry smile was worrying but they didn't care as they pounced on their big sister.

Pulling her down, Chifuyu got pinned by warm bodies while Madoka began to get her suit out.

"You can't sleep in that, Chifuyu-nee. Let's get that out."

"You two." The warning was in the voice of Chifuyu but they didn't care.

"Shut up," Madoka said to her sister while Ichika got up to grab a T-shirt from his closet. It was comfortable enough to sleep in.

"You don't want to say it but you want this as much as we do. So please," Ichika turned around to let his sister pull the shirt over her head and take out her bra. There were limits to it and Madoka looked down on her own.

She was getting there as well.

"You are right. Given the nightmare we are in," with that done, Ichika kept his hold on his sister.

"Thanks, big sis. Good night."

"Night, Ichi-nii, Chifuyu-nee." Madoka fell a bit lower while Chifuyu also closed her eyes.

"Good night, Ichika, Madoka."

Scene skip

A vicious punch was dealt out by Aiden as he worked over the boy of the two.

"How many times do I have to tell you, Hansel? I am the one who is giving out the shots." Despite the force that he used, it looked like it barely tickled Hansel.

Meanwhile, Squall slapped the girl in the face.

"Aiden, those two are too much of a nuisance. Autumn and your psycho are one thing. But they are teachable. No one bothered to learn them any manners. All they know how to do is cause trouble and spread disaster."

The man was glad that he had Squall to keep him sane. Because at this point, he was about to lose it.

"Maybe but unfortunately, we can't exactly kill those brats. So the only way they understand that they fucked up is this."

The two giggled which just infuriated the two leaders. Hansel couldn't even keep his hands up as he was smashed against the wall.

Squall pulled at the hair as she brought the girl face to face with her.

"Pull this one more time, Gretel and I'll murder you. Orders or no orders." With that done, the twins were kicked out of the room by Aiden and Squall.

The statuesque blonde turned to the hacker who filled up his pipe.

Just like another idiot, he had his habit. Cursing while he filled the tabaco. It would be less noticeable than not lighting the pipe if he ran out of tabaco.

"Broken pieces of shit." The man muttered as Squall looked at him.

"Why do we keep them around?"

The man glared at the leader of him.

"It's because they're about the only thing that we have close to the Orimura project. But hell, even compared to Madoka or Ichika, they don't come close. They lack about everything. Not the natural fight, the strength. But alas, the brass found that trash buried so deep that it infects all of us."

Aiden took in a deep breath of the mess that he had.

"We have to keep them but I'd say that you give the bosses a ring. Tell them that by next time, we are going to kill them."

With that said, Aiden turned to his computer.

Squall had worked long enough with the man that he wouldn't be responsive for the rest of the night.

So she got up and walked out of the room. She had no clue where the brats went and if the beauty could be honest, she didn't care.

The message could wait. They wouldn't go after school just yet. She had hours of time to get everything done.

Scene skip

Days had gone by and things had returned back to normal. As long as the formal asking wasn't done, the twins would keep quiet about the tournament. It would only be at that time they could ask about their partners in it.

Ichika would be asking Mattheus as that would be out for his sister. Chifuyu did ask that she would wait a bit, just to be on the safe side.

There would be a request coming through, pretty soon and she wanted her sister to be open to it.

Madoka didn't dare to ask what her big sister had in mind. So they kept quiet and just enjoyed the peaceful days of school life.

Although, those wouldn't last long.

During a time, when Ichika, Madoka, and Houki were in the class, gathered as Mattheus sat back. He was rocking his chair while Joel and he were listening to Hulkoff.

Madoka had no idea how many times Mattheus had listened to the song to be able to sing along to those lyrics.

Ensamvargen strövar som den siste av sitt slag
Ty stolthet, jakt och frihet har förbjudits enligt lag

But she couldn't care much else about it as he had good news about her boyfriend. Joel was getting higher opinions about him and she liked the fact that Dan had been learning more.

She was about to sit down before Mayuzumi walked into the class.

"Good day, Orimura-kun, Orimura-san, Shinonono-san." The bespectacled girl just waved at them as her brother greeted her.

"What's up, Mayuzumi?" Madoka was a bit more hesitant as she knew how the girl liked to work around the news at the school.

Reminding herself that Mattheus wasn't the only one who was helped by Joel, the youngest twin had a lot of thanks to give to Joel.

"Well, I want to ask a favor from you two or three."

Houki was sitting in Ichika's lap as she answered for the three.

"A favor from us?"

"Correct," Mayuzumi answered and she showed the magazine she hid behind her back.

"You see, I have an older sister who works for a publishing company. She'd like to have an exclusive interview with Personal IS pilots like you!"

Madoka immediately shot that down.

"Interviews! No thank you. I don't want that! Ichi-nii, you can have it." Houki took the magazine over from Mayuzumi and Ichika looked over her shoulder.

His breath tickled her ear.

"Uh, well. I am not sure but this magazine isn't about the IS at all." Ichika looked over the whole thing. It appeared to be something for popular people.

He wasn't exactly sure about it and he was judging the reactions of his girlfriend.

"Huh? Haven't you two ever done something like this before? Personal IS pilots are treated like celebrities. They got a lot of modeling work and they're like idols in a way."

Houki looked down at Houki. He knew what sort of nice figure she had but Ichika wanted to keep that to himself.

"Well, I don't know. How about you, Houki?"

The shrine maiden began to ponder.

"I can show you my modeling photos." No one knew where Rin came from but she came running into the class.

"You? A model? Really?"

Rin glared at her as she heard those lines.

"You don't believe me?! Here!" Shoving her smartphone into Madoka's face, she looked her over. It was of course great but Madoka knew that she wouldn't be doing this.

The clothes did remind her that she had to go shopping one of these days.

"Oh, there is one from an event last summer." Rin was too focused on the photos that she didn't hear the bell.

Mayuzumi did though and she looked at them.

"Just let me know after school. You'd be doing us a great favor." Rin began to ramble until a fist cut her off.

"Class is in session! Go back to yours!" The glare extended to Houki who had already gotten the message.

"Yes, ma'am."

Chifuyu was ready for the lesson on evasive measures.

The day just rolled by and afterward, Ichika and Houki had gone to the kendo dojo. Unlike before, they had begun to spar, lightly.

Although, Houki now really experienced how well-trained Ichika really was given his expertise with a sword. When she laid defeated, Ichika offered her a hand.

When she got pulled back, Ichika couldn't resist sneaking in a kiss.

"Doing that is bad in the sacred ground of a dojo." Houki condemned it but she couldn't resist the bit of teasing.

"We are going through this. But that does leave out something else."

Ichika let Houki go and when he looked at her, she found that he wanted an answer.

"So are we going or not? I don't think that Madoka is going and well, I am not too big on going either."

"Neither do I." Mayuzumi walked into the room and she saw the two, not even close to each other.

"Thanks for waiting. So if you agree to the interview," Ichika was about to cut her off until Mayuzumi pulled two waivers out of her pocket.

"I have waivers for a free dinner at a three-star restaurant! For a couple of course."

Ichika was very happy that he let Houki handle it as the shrine maiden took them out of her hand.

"I'll take you up on that!"

"All right, we have a deal! The interview will be on Sunday. Thanks!" Before Ichika could open his mouth, the scoop hunter had run out of the room while he was left with Houki.

"Why did you change your mind?" Ichika wasn't miffed with it as he found it a nice idea.

"We barely have any alone time. Plus, we are going to have this dinner. We can have our first date like this."

When Houki told him to look at that, Ichika's face lit up like a fireplace.

"When you say it like that?" Ichika had begun to think of the fun things they could do during that date.

"What? You don't want to go?"

Ichika actually laughed at the incredulity that Houki asked of him. To prevent his girlfriend from murdering him, he wrapped her in his arms and pressed a long, loving kiss on her lips.

When they let go, Houki's own blush had caught up to hers.

"Are you out of your mind? Of course, I'd love to spend the evening with you. You were right. We barely have any alone time so I'd love to go with you."

With that agreed, their minds went right at the idea of hanging out and having fun on that date they got planned.

They would have to dress up a bit for it but neither of them would mind that.

Scene skip

In a bed, one lonely girl laid down, watching an anime. Right on time, the hero saved the girl that was captured.

Kanzashi Sarashiki began to think and wonder.

'Where will find the hero who will watch over me and save me?'

The school hadn't been kind to her. Her IS had been delayed and despite all things, she hadn't managed to patch up the machine.

It wouldn't be long before they had the tag-team fight.

Scene skip

Sunday came around fast enough for the couple. The interview would take place in a high-class restaurant.

Houki and Ichika had gathered. For good measure, Ichika had informed his sisters about it and to let them know what was going on.

Chifuyu had agreed to it as she was certainly happy her brother went out. She had a lot of trust in Ichika and knew that Houki would be responsible.

Madoka also thanked Houki and Ichika profusely to save her from that horrible thing in an interview.

Ichika was wearing a blueish shirt and Houki was wearing a red apron and underneath a white shirt. Due to the short time, really dressing up wouldn't be done easily.

So both had talked about taking it easy for this and seeing how it would turn out.

Ichika was also told by his sister that things would normally work out fine.

The interviewer joined the couple and both Ichika and Houki could recognize a thousand features that showed she was Kaoruko's older sister.

The eyes, facial bones, and hair were pretty similar. Although the lady here had more generous assets and her hair was a darker shade of purple. Plus, she had a small mole underneath the left lip.

"Hello, I'm Nagisako Mayuzumi, an associate editor for Infinite Stripes. Thank you for your time!"

"Nice to meet you. I don't think I'd need an introduction but it's the polite thing to do. I'm Ichika Orimura."

Houki followed him up. "I'm Houki Shinonono."

Putting down a recorder, the woman appeared to be the most relaxed at the point.

"Okay, let's go ahead and begin the interview."

Nagisako began to talk.

"Here's my first question: Orimura-kun, what's it like for you, to attend an all-girls school?"

Ichika scratched his cheek while he began to think about it.

"Well, it's not completely all-girls. I got Adjzof around. The guy is pretty friendly and okay although he is closer to others." Ichika wasn't stupid enough to mention the fact that Madoka referred to him as nii-chan.

"I am happy though that I got my family around. Orimura-sensei and my younger sister are a big help. I knew it wouldn't be easy though as a guy but I like to think that I manage to make due. Asides from the initial weirdness, the one thing that I do find annoying is the fact that there are barely any restrooms I can use."

That did take Nagisako for a laugh as she began to think the remarks.

"I wasn't expecting that. My sister was still right about some things." Her attention shifted to Houki.

"Now, Shinonono-san, I'd like to ask you about your older sister." Houki was already regretting her decision to go out and talk about this.

"How did you feel receiving a Personal IS from her? Do you intend on becoming a representative cadet for a nation?"

Houki closed her hands around the bells around her wrist. When she felt Ichika's calming hand on her, she knew that she wasn't alone in this.

"I'm grateful to her for giving me Akatsubaki. However, I have no interest in becoming a representative cadet at this point in time despite the many offers I have received." Ichika felt a pang of guilt in his stomach.

Madoka and he would be flooded by offers was it not for their big sister telling most officials to take a hike. He would have to talk with Chifuyu about that.

"Okay, no worries! Now, which one of you is stronger?"

"Ichika," Houki answered without hesitation.

"Is that true?"

"There are personal reasons as to why but she is right." Nagisako was a bit surprised by his reaction to Ichika.

"Personal? So you're saying you're a hero?" Ichika shook his head and like Houki, he began to regret saying this.

"Not really. There has been someone who has always been keeping me safe. And I'd like to be strong enough to keep others safe."

Nagisako found that a good enough answer.

"Oh, I like that! All right, Orimura-kun, let's hear your battlefield mindset!"

Ichika began to think about it but he knew that he had to keep some things secret.

"I try to protect my friends and allies in a fight by trusting them. My unit is a highly aggressive unit. I try to make the most out of that."

The energy of Nagisako spread around with them.

"That is great! Now, it's time for the photo shoot." Ichika now understood what his sister meant by not worrying about it

This place was jampacked with clothes which he would feel that costed way too much.

Taking a dress from the racket, Houki was blushing as she saw the simple blue sundress. It had a low cut and with all she had, Houki wasn't exactly happy with what she was supposed to wear.

"I have to wear this?" It had taken a while to accept all things and she found that she had to talk to Chifuyu again about her womanly features.

Houki began to undress as she knew this would turn Ichika's head.

The male pilot had changed into a grey tuxedo that did make him uncomfortable but being alone made him nervous.

"Thanks for waiting."

With that said, Houki was guided by a set worker, and Ichika had to keep his mouth closed.

That sundress did a lot for Ichika.

There were many reasons why he had fallen Houki and the effect of her in that getup made his heart skip a beat.

She looked so beautiful in that dress and that blush was doing even worse things to his poor heart.

"Sorry for making you wait, Ichika."

"Not a problem." Ichika's head wanted to talk to him.

"Those clothes suit you well." Houki complimented him as she found the sight of Ichika to be as sexy to him as she was to him.

"Er, how should I put it? You look pretty good." Her eyes sparkled when she looked at him. Fuck, he couldn't believe how cute she looked like this.

"Thanks. You look really good in those as well."

Nagisako clapped her hands to make the teens focus on the things going on.

"All right, we're starting the photo shoot!" The lights went on and from that point onwards, they were guided around as they were forced to sit shoulder to shoulder.

"That's good! We're going for a mature look here! Orimura-kun, for the next photo. Wrap your arms around her waist!"

That did take the couple by surprise. Of course, they had been close ever since they started dating. But now, it was in public. That wouldn't be easy to hide.

"Pardon?"

The boy asked the woman in front of the camera.

"Wrap your arms around her waist!" The guy veered up from that note and looked over at his girlfriend.

"Well…" The look on her face made him question the whole thing and in a normal case, he'd be more than happy.

In this case, it was embarrassing.

Houki got up as well and she felt his strong arms around her waist. Her own arms encircled his body and they couldn't stop blushing.

Nagisako was very happy with the results.

"Perfect." Now, Shinonono-san, put your arms around Orimura-kun's neck."

With a snap of the finger, she got Houki to move around.

Shows of affection were something the couple had long grown used to but this wasn't something they were often used to.

After some time, they were finally released from the whole thing.

"I got enough photos." They followed the other up as they let go of their partner. This had already pushed them.

"You can keep the clothes. Thank you so much for today! Good work!" With that, Nagisako left the blushing teenagers.

"Should we head to the restaurant now? We have some time now."

"Why not?" And arm in arm, they left the building as they talked about it. Alone, it was easier to find the other in this while they were dressed up.

Scene skip

Madoka had enjoyed the day off without Ichika. She loved her brother but sometimes, it was nice to have your own time.

Ichika was out with Houki and well, the entire day, she had hung around the tech bay. It was recluse of Joel, Dan and Mattheus. The oldest guy had gotten fridges full of soft drinks and they cracked them open while they chatted.

There was always work to do in it.

If Madoka was honest, she preferred this kind of setting. An easy way to work on gear and a relaxed environment. Mattheus and Joel didn't mind if Madoka and Dan shamelessly flirted. The Hunted often talked about his own past and he went along with the whole thing.

For her getup, Madoka had taken up a couple of long shorts that could get dirty while she had gotten a long-sleeved shirt with a hoodie in.

The other girls, Cecilia, Charlotte, Laura, and Rin had come around and found out where Madoka was hanging out.

The youngest twin didn't know why but it appeared that her outfit had caused the other girls to be finding that a very attractive look.

Madoka wondered if it was the combination of boyish clothes and a nice figure that was set out.

When the night came around, she retired to her room. Dinner had been at the mess hall where Joel had taken up the cooking.

Dan and Madoka were treated to venison stew (where Joel found it, she would never know) while Mattheus added croquettes to it. It was another take than fries and the four talked while they joked.

Madoka really enjoyed the evening off like this. Sitting on her boyfriend's lap, chatting while eating. It was bliss.

She preferred the tiny and comfortable things to do instead of the great acts that were usually in the Infinite Stratos world.

Laying down on her bed, she was waiting until Ichika would show up. Madoka knew that he would show up soon enough or maybe send a message.

Madoka did know that when the door opened without saying something, it wasn't Ichika. He would usually talk or say something "I'm back."

It wouldn't be Chifuyu either as their big sister would either knock or make know she was there.

So the youngest Orimura veered up from the bed and watched how Tatenashi Sarashiki walked into the room as she owned it.

"Oh, this is indeed nice. It's the same as the other rooms. It is a shame that I'm not your roommate."

Madoka was not looking forward to Tatenashi as she felt the good mood with Mattheus and Dan slip from underneath her.

"What are you doing here?"

Her eyes had flattened and her idea was murderous.

"Oh, is this the first thing to ask me?"

Tatenashi didn't see the punch coming through but it had missed her nose on purpose. The arm was right next to her skull.

"You got thirty seconds to answer my question. After that, I'm going to murder you." Madoka was serious and that wasn't to be misunderstood.

"I need you to take care of my little sister."

"What the fuck?"

The line came out so fast that Madoka didn't notice it. She was definitely picking up the foul language from the Hunter as Tatenashi looked affronted by it.

"Rude. But let me explain." Taking out her phone, she showed a picture of a girl that carried the same blue hair and red eyes. They were behind glasses while her hair had some weird ornament.

"Let me explain. There is going to be a tag team tournament. The students will be informed tomorrow but I wanted to be here fast. I just wanted to ask you to be her partner." Tatenashi scratched her cheek as she was a bit worried.

"She has the skills. She is also a representative cadet for Japan but she is just a bit gloomy. There is just the issue. Her own IS has been delayed and she has been working on it. I would like it though if you, Madoka-chan, or Ichika-kun would be her partner."

Madoka was getting just a bit more ticked off by that nickname although she was relieved that Tatenashi got her a partner.

But she shouldn't let that know the blue cat. After all, Madoka and Ichika should get some payback.

"So let me get this straight. You are going to me, the girl who wiped your ass, to ask her one big favor to help you out? Because you want something out of this. Why should I?"

Tatenashi looked miffed when she heard the way how Madoka talked to her.

"Please, I need some help with her and I think that you are the most suited to it. You'd really help me out."

Madoka had to record this somehow and tell her big brother and sister.

"And what do I buy with that? Nothing much? Here is my price. You are going to leave me and Ichi-nii alone for a while and I promise I'll talk to your sister. And for the record, I knew that there is a tournament. I am also going to see my older sister tomorrow." A beep of her phone turned her attention away.

Looking down at the message, Madoka was somewhat glad that she had a valid reason to see Chifuyu.

"I am going to see her now. Anything else you'd like of me."

"Don't mention me if you see her. It's a bit touchy, with her." Madoka could figure out how that would play in so she could follow that order.

"Will do. And now get out of my room."

Tatenashi followed the order and with a grateful look, she left Madoka. Looking down at her pajamas, Madoka changed into something a bit more appropriate. The sweater that she was gifted did the trick.

Locking the door, she knew that her big sister would still be up.

Rain had begun hitting the windows and Madoka knew just how it would be.

'I hope you get here on time tomorrow, Ichi-nii.'

Madoka could walk the road in her sleep and when she knocked three times on the door.

It was still early so Chifuyu didn't look tired, drunk, or just worked up with paper.

"Evening, little sister."

"Good evening, big sis. Quick question. Did you check your phone?"

Chifuyu's dry smirk told Madoka enough as she mirrored the facial expression.

"I turn that thing off when I'm doing work. Why do you ask?" Lifting her phone up, Madoka showed her phone with the text on.

Hey, Madoka. Houki and I had our date. So damn sorry but the rain caught us off guard. We are going to stay somewhere dry overnight. Could you inform our big sister? Thanks and I love you. Ichika.'

Chifuyu looked mildly amused by that text as her siblings knew her so well. That was something she loved about them.

"Thank you, Madoka. I'll keep it in mind." Her little sister wouldn't just show up for that reason.

"Is something else the matter?"

The little sister looked around a bit in the hallway.

"You got a few minutes, Chifuyu-nee?"

The whack was more a love tap than a punishment as Madoka took it in stride.

"That's Orimura-sensei. And yes, I can spare you a few minutes."

The teacher allowed Madoka inside and again, she was reminded how much her sister looked like her as she was also angry.

"So what's wrong, Madoka?" Oh, back to sibling talk, it made things easier.

"Chifuyu-nee, I got asked a partner. You might ask who already knew?"

The Brunhilde glowered at that revelation but her successor lifted her hand.

"No, she didn't ask me to become hers but Tatenashi wanted me to help out her little sister. Kanzashi Sarashiki. Can I ask you a few questions, Chifuyu-nee?"

The teacher calmed down a good bit when she got told that.

"Kanzashi. I think that it won't be easy to break through to her but it can be done. She isn't as annoying." Chifuyu pondered about it a bit.

"No, scratch that. She is annoying but not like Tatenashi. She is a tough nut to crack. Her Infinite Stratos is far from done so you might help her out a bit, little sis. But if she would become your partner, it'd make things a whole lot easier for you. And don't worry, I'll keep the crazies off you."

The hug made her smile as she felt Madoka smashing into her. While Madoka began to fit her shoes (and cup size), her length wasn't there yet. But it made her happy.

"Thanks, Chifuyu-nee." When Madoka let her go, Chifuyu pressed her lips on the forehead.

"You're welcome. I'll see you tomorrow, Chifuyu-nee. Good night." Chifuyu shooed her off and Madoka ran off, giggling like a little girl.

"Night, Madoka."

With that, Madoka ran out of the room and Chifuyu was hoping that Ichika and Houki were dry. It had been raining like crazy and she trusted her brother and Houki.

Scene skip

The date was normally supposed to go well for the two teenagers. The restaurant might have been high class but it was a gentle setting.

It was three stars but casual with grills going and people chatting and talking. Despite their dress-up, the teens didn't stand out.

Ichika handed the coupons to a clerk who was glad to take them in.

"You can choose any table to your choosing. We don't have many reservations tonight." The teens chose a table, near the view. It was beautiful to see the city like this.

"I think we should thank Mayuzumi for this," Houki said as Ichika helped in her seat.

"Given the trouble, we went through, I'd say that we keep it low. I don't know about you, Houki but I found that mortifying."

When she got reminded of what both had gone through, the shrine maiden agreed. Normally, they'd be a bit laxer. Houki looked awesome in that outfit but Ichika fell in love with a fighter.

"You are right, Ichika. I'd like to show just you." The Knight smiled as the maiden pressed closer to him.

"Glad to know. I'm the same." Their foreheads pressed together, and they felt perfectly at ease like this.

The waiter gave them a few seconds to figure out what they were going to eat.

Never interrupt a couple who were having a moment. When Ichika let go of Houki, he brought them the menu.

It was a mix of different kitchens. Ichika was all for trying the venison mix of different sorts of meat while Houki went for a stew of fish.

They joked, unwound from their time in front of the camera, and in the meantime, they could also enjoy their dinner.

There was also a bit of silence involved when they ate. The academy was always busy with noise and while the restaurant wasn't quiet either, it was the privacy that both students were so desperately after.

The dinner was delicious and with all things going on, it was for the best.

And with the coupons, they wouldn't have to worry about the cost of the restaurant. The prices were a bit out of budget for Ichika.

Eventually, after a simple dame blanche, the two were ready to return back to school.

Unfortunately, it was the end of the night, the rain had taken a turn for the worse. Thick raindrops began to splatter against the windows and the wind blew around on the trees.

"Great," Houki muttered as she was dressed worse for the weather than Ichika. The boy wasn't that great either.

Even if they changed back into their normal clothes, that they had carried with them in a bag, it still wouldn't help in this weather.

Ichika began to think about the options they had. Walking home in this weather would mean they would be drenched.

It would be really cold. And who was to say they would be allowed back in the school? This late at night.

"You young ones are in a problem?" They turned to see a young waiter, leaning against the wall. It was clearly his break.

Ichika grabbed the straw as he was glad to have any help.

"We are, sir. We don't have a ride home and we would have to walk a long distance in this weather."

Shaking his head, the guy found that he could put Ichika up for two favors.

"This ain't weather to put your girl through." The man had a soft smile on his face as he began to think about a solution.

"You two can pay for a room here." Grabbing out his phone, he began to look over the app.

"Forecast said that it's going to rain the entire night. Believe me, in the clothes you got on, you can better stay here."

The two looked at each other. It'd be the first time they would be out, without any supervision. The idea sounded incredibly appealing and Ichika felt his throat go dry.

"We're staying here. Right, Houki?" Ichika decided about this. Houki blushed when she heard that. But it was for the best.

"All right, Ichika." Their savior smiled and just motioned to follow him.

"If you two could follow me. We do have to register it."

When Ichika spelled out his full name, the man kept his professional attitude up. Unlike many others, he wasn't envious of the male Pilot's position. He got plenty of tail already.

He didn't think too much of Houki's name.

"Here you go. Room is on the fourth floor." When he handed Ichika the key, the boy felt a wrapper in his hand.

The plastic made it clear that it was a condom. Ichika didn't freak out but made the mental note to throw it away. He would not be using one in this situation.

When they opened the door, both immediately blushed up a storm when they saw the layout of the room.

It had a couch, a flatscreen tv, and a door that led into a giant bathroom.

But that wasn't the reason why they had redness in their eyes.

No, it was because a giant bed was placed in the middle of the room.

"Is this a?"

Ichika placed two fingers on his girlfriend's mouth.

Just like her, he was flushed about this whole matter.

"Please, don't say it. I'm barely keeping it together." The Knight was about to turn around.

"I think we're going to ask for another." Slender fingers wrapped around his wrist.

"No, it's fine. It's okay. I mean. We couldn't share a bed in your home. Nor in the ISA. So I'd like to have this."

Houki had said it loud enough for what she wanted from her boyfriend. And given the late hour, it was for the best.

"Okay. If you say so." Flipping out his phone, he began to text

"I'm going to let my sisters know. We should let them know what is going on." Houki hoped that Chifuyu could be reasonable about this.

"All right." Opening the door, that lead into the bathroom, she saw a huge tub inside. It was also a jacuzzi.

"Ichika, do you mind if I take a bath? I want to wash it off a bit. I'll be changing into the clothes that I came with."

The boy just nodded as his mind began to think about the implications of that.

"Works for me. I'll change into my own clothes as well."

A lightbulb went off in his head and Ichika stopped her right before she took the bath.

"Oh, Houki. Just a question. Do you think your shirt is good enough to sleep in? Wouldn't that get tight?"

Thinking back on it, Ichika had a valid point.

"What do you suggest I do? Sleep naked?"

The snap came a bit harder than she would have guessed but Ichika's hurt expression made her regret that.

"No! Not that." Taking out his own T-shirt from the bag, he handed it to Houki.

"Wouldn't this be more comfortable to sleep in? I'm a bit wider than you so this might help you." The Shrine Maiden was about to lose it.

Sleep in the same shirt that had Ichika's scent? That was a great proposal.

"Thanks. But what do you sleep in?"

"I'll go naked from the chest. I don't mind." With that done, Houki closed the door while Ichika sat back with his fingers tied together as he tried to process what was going on.

'Okay, keep it easy, Ichika. Keep it cool. You're just here with your incredibly attractive, cute, and sexy, no, don't think like that, but it is the truth. And she is all that and she thinks I'm all that. But still, you're here only because you have no other choice. And well, this is a love hotel. But you don't have to do anything to her. But there is only one bed and she wants to share and you want her and she wants you. And you want to have fun but this is going too fast.'

Ichika wanted to think about something that would give him advice.

Taking a few deep breaths, Ichika began to think about what he wanted.

'I don't want to have sex. Not yet. Not like this. But I think we can use our hands here.' With that done, Ichika changed as well.

Laying down on the bed, he stared at the roof of the room. Despite all things, he was tired from today. It had been one hell of a crazy day.

In the bath, Houki was taking it easy. The hot water around her made her relax as she began to think about it.

'It's okay, Houki. You're here with Ichika. He's respectful. He won't do anything. But.' A traitorous part of her mind began to play.

'You want Ichika to do something to you. As you said, you barely have any alone time. And if you don't like something, you'll let him know.'

When she was done, she got out of the hot water. Drying herself off, she felt her body. The mirror was huge and she could look into it. She didn't know if she had any references but some would tell her, that she looked like a model.

Looking down at her breasts, it was clear those had grown again.

They were getting too big to her liking. Although she had gotten confirmation from Ichika that her tits weren't the reason why he fell for her.

When she had dried off, she took the shirt that Ichika had offered her. It smelled like him. Her scent had a calming nature to her.

It reminded Houki of simpler, more loving times.

'And yet, you have him all to yourself. He's yours.'

With that done, she got out of the shower. Ichika was laying on the bed. Just in his boxers and the bugling muscles of the Knight showed through.

"Are you asleep, Ichika?' The boy sat up and looked at her. His throat was dry when he saw her.

Ichika had been told that a girl dressed in a shirt and underwear was really sexy. And for this, he would agree with that wisdom. Although a button-up shirt would be even sexier.

"No, just laying down. I hope you don't mind that we are sleeping in the same bed."

Houki kept her blush down to a manageable level.

"No, I don't mind it. Actually, there is something that I'd like to do now."

Ichika couldn't open his mouth to ask what it might be as Houki tackled him on the bed and forced him down.

It was the mere surprise that had blown him away as Houki knew that he was stronger than her. Also, the fact that Houki had plunged her tongue down his mouth. He loved the feeling of her warm, soft, and freshly washed body on his.

Houki's hands played with his thick hair as she continued to kiss him.

Ichika had no idea where he should put his hands. To be safe, they were placed on the hips as he felt the body tense up beneath them. Still, he didn't move them as they kissed.

But it was not just that. It became heated, even despite the light clothes they were wearing.

Ichika wasn't used to just lie down on the bottom. So using a technique he learned from Chifuyu, he flipped his beautiful girl over and Houki's big brown eyes widened as she felt Ichika's strong body leaning over her.

"Not that I mind the fact that you and I are having this, but there are a few things that I'd like to know."

The kiss was short as Ichika got a few hair-strings out of Houki's eyes.

"What spurred this?"

Houki was again the one to kiss him but kept it short.

"We don't have any time at school and are on constant supervision. So I want to make the most out of it."

Ichika didn't find anything wrong with that logic.

"All right but you have to tell me. What lines do you want to cross?"

Houki pondered about that for a second. While she would love the idea to have Ichika claim her, there were also limits to that. And well, she had this hunk above her own frame.

"Hands above the waist. Anything else is allowed?"

What Houki didn't expect was the audible gulp that came out of Ichika's throat.

"Do you mean that you're okay with, well?" The boy's blush was nearly bright enough to be seen as a street lamp.

"Your… br… brea…breasts?" He stuttered out as he looked at the globes. Even hidden by the shirt, Houki's most striking assets were jumping out.

It caught Houki as well by surprise as Ichika asked that much.

She made that rule so she followed up.

"I'll let you know when you go too far."

A shiver came out of Ichika as his hands went to the hem of the shirt and he slowly pulled them up. As Houki wasn't wearing any underwear, her breasts came out and Ichika felt his breath hitch.

Of course, he know how sexy Houki was and how much he loved her and how he couldn't help but watch those sexy rounds go up and down.

His eyes shot up to her eyes. She put on a brave face but her eyes showed that she trusted him. His hands went up to her assets as he gave them a tentative squeeze.

They were so big that he couldn't cover them with his hands. He could hardly think about anything else and the soft flesh beneath his palms.

Somewhere, he was now very happy that the ISA only had three males around as he knew that there would be a lot of guys who would want nothing more than to play with one of the greatest sets of tits known to man.

Ichika kept it soft as Houki moaned as she felt her own body, heating up.

When a warm forehead pressed against her, they kissed again as Ichika pressed his tongue against her teeth. She wasn't sure why but she allowed his tongue inside.

They could feel their hormones raging as their tongues touched each other.

His hands continued to play with her breasts as his thumbs found the only hard thing on the softness. It was clear how Houki reacted to it.

There was a dampness setting in downstairs as Ichika continued to play around.

When a thin line of saliva was the only thing that connected them, Houki felt that it was her turn to play around.

"Do you trust me, Ichika?" The boy nodded as Houki used her own power to make Ichika move.

The Knight ended up seated again and the Shrine Maiden ended up in his lap. Both did their best to ignore that the other had either a dampness or a hardness down below.

Her tongue began to eat away at the neck and sucked on the collarbone. Leaving small red marks on his skin. Ichika's brain somewhere shot up there would be hell to pay but he couldn't care much else about it as his own hands went right to the soft breasts.

Ichika couldn't help but giggle when Houki's hands went to his rock-hard muscles.

His own good nature gave Houki a rare laugh.

"I have to really thank Chifuyu-nee. She made a god out of your body."

Their foreheads pressed against each other as they enjoyed each other.

"I love you, Houki."

"I love you too, Ichika."

The Knight took a deep breath. There was an amount of resolve in his body and if he didn't use it now, he would regret it later.

"Houki, do you mind if we just leave it at this? I don't know how reasonable I am going to be."

The Maiden's soft smile gave Ichika enough understanding that she was glad.

"I get it. But do you mind if we sleep like this?"

Pulling out the shirt, Houki was nothing but her underwear.

Ichika prayed to every god that he knew and could think of.

'Give me strength.'

Throughout the entire night, they slept in each other's arms while the heat of their bodies kept the other warm.

Of course, the occasional grope and tease happened and neither party seemed to mind.

Ichika had his clock set to six in the morning. It would be a very short night but for some reason, both were very well rested for some weird reason.

There was some unconfirmed betting going on from the staff if they checked if they had fucked or not.

Scene skip

Ichika couldn't know if he was more grateful for having his big sister being the biggest woman on the campus of the ISA as the monorail came to pick them up as soon as Ichika had called ahead.

The marks of him were all too visible on his neck and he was so happy that his big sister was to get them and not in the class.

"Good morning, Chifuyu-nee," Ichika said as soon as the duo left the station.

"Good morning, Orimura-sensei." Houki stood by her boyfriend who was looking very chipper.

"Good morning, Shinonono, Orimura." The eyes of Chifuyu narrowed when she saw marks that weren't there on him the day before.

Not even protesting, Ichika felt how Chifuyu's hands went over his shirt and pulled down the collar to see the hickies on them.

Calling out every bit of professionalism that she had and the trust in her brother and his girlfriend, Chifuyu was acting like a father who found out that his only daughter was deflowered.

"Ichika, may I ask what you did last night?"

The Orimura male knew why she was asking and didn't find a problem with answering.

"Don't worry, big sis. We didn't go that far. Hands above the waist." Ichika knew that only the truth would be believed and he hoped that his sister would take those words as truth.

Her eyes shifted to Houki who didn't flinch under those eyes.

"Don't worry, we kept it reasonable. And we're sorry that we didn't come home, yesterday." Chifuyu relaxed when she saw the honesty in the eyes of them both.

"All right, now get changed. We're having class in an hour."

Scene skip

Ichika had to be ushered into the room and after a quick greeting from his little sister, he was seated down. Only now they could be looking for their partner for this tag-team match.

The hopeful looks they sent to their sister were greeted by a nod.

"In order to give Personal IS pilots an opportunity to improve their skills, we will be holding tag matches open to all grades." Maya introduced the idea while Chifuyu continued the explanation.

"There have been many cases of IS robbery around the world recently. Not to mention the disaster that happened here during the festival." Ichika was glad that his sister was around at that point.

Mattheus looked over at Chelsea. The maid was standing right next to her master and she sent a flirtatious wink to him.

He just nodded to her. He knew that Natasha trusted him.

"Thus, it is necessary that Personal IS pilots refine their abilities." Of course, that was enough to get all girls buzzing in their minds.

"Shinonono, can I talk to you for a bit? The rest are dismissed." Houki had no clue what her homeroom teacher wanted to talk about.

And before she could ask more, Chifuyu walked out of the class. The shrine maiden got the message and ran after her.

She could only see how Ichika got asked by Charlotte and Rin to have some lunch while Cecilia and Laura ran after Madoka.

Houki wanted to stay behind but there were things she also wanted to do and that was to know what Chifuyu wanted from her.

So when Chifuyu made sure they were alone, she turned to Houki and the face had been serious.

"So what is wrong, Orimura-sensei?" Unlike the twins, Houki wasn't as good as them yet to figure out if this was Chifuyu or Orimura-sensei that she was talking to.

"Houki, I have made a request to my siblings about this tournament. I am afraid that you can't ask either of them to be your partner."

The mouth of the brown-haired beauty wanted to make out with the floor instead of with Ichika.

"What?! Why?!"

"Your Infinite Stratos is a battery for both of them plus, combined, those two would give me a serious headache. Think of what they could do to others if they were to fight together. So those are the restrictions. I do apologize, Houki. But this is the situation. Deal with it."

Before Chifuyu turned away, she watched how Houki was devastated by the news. There was so much that she recognized of herself in this young lady.

Chifuyu was never too comfortable with showing her physical affection but in this, she tried to make an exception.

Wrapping her arms around Houki, she could feel how frustrated and angry the girl was. Unlike what she would have guessed, Houki didn't protest it. She didn't have this with Tabane although Chifuyu had a fleeting suspicion that it was due to the scientist abusing this knowledge.

"I'm sorry, Houki. Really. But I cannot allow you to fight either with them as you'd prove too strong. There'll be another time. Promised." The tears of frustration ran down her face as Chifuyu comforted Houki.

She wished that her siblings had better ways how to handle it.

Scene skip

Ichika found himself to be in a serious dilemma. On the one hand, he was glad that his big sister took care of Houki for him. On the other hand, Charlotte and Rin were trying to feed him. And while he admitted they were excellent cooks in their own meals.

He loved the fact they were feeding him. Maybe, they had started to warm up a bit.

"Eh, Ichika. I'm just wondering. What sort of partner would you prefer to have in IS battles?" Charlotte asked the million-dollar question.

"Is that what this is about? I can tell you can rest easy. I'm not going to pick Madoka. Although, I will have to think about whom I am going to pick. I'll need some time."

That was a white lie. Ichika had already figured out that he would be asking Mattheus. It would save him a fuck-ton of issues and Mattheus was similar to his sister.

Scene skip

Laura and Cecilia were grilling Madoka who leaned back on her chair. She was glad that she had her own lunch brought along as the girls were asking her.

"Madoka-san, who do you want as a partner? I think we would make a great sniper duo."

"Are you out of your mind, Brit? Of course, my wife would pick me."

The two European beauties were glaring at each other as they wanted to have Madoka locked down as their partner.

When Mattheus walked over to them, he put a friendly hand on her shoulder.

"Just wondering. You wanna become my partner? We do work well together, Zus." The Hunter wasn't worried about the reaction, just casually asking.

"Sorry, nii-chan. I can't become your partner. That reminds me, I gotta see someone. They have to become my partner." With that done, Madoka ran out of the room.

Mattheus wondered who she would pick. Not that it bothered him too much. He did know something else that he had to do. Standing in front of the door, the glare extended to the two inside.

The message was clear. You only walk out the door over my dead body.

Scene skip

Madoka had found the class 1-4, where of course, gossip was flying. She ignored the chatter and walked up to Kanzashi Sarashiki. The girl was working on some bits of her IS while sipping on the juice.

There were enough similarities between her and Tatenashi but not as many as Madoka would have guessed.

'I wonder what happened between them. And well, I got my older sister to back me up.'

Madoka walked up to the girl and bowed to her. Given what her older sister had informed her about, Madoka was going to put an established fact.

"Hey, you must be Kanzashi Sarashiki, right? Got news for you. You're going to be my partner for this tag-team fight."

Kanzashi veered up from her seat as she glared at Madoka. The youngest Orimura didn't seem surprised or even worried about that.

"What?!"

"I asked a teacher and she agreed to it. So I want to see you tonight."

Madoka gave the design a sideways glance. "From what I see, you got some serious issues with your machine. We can get you sorted."

So Madoka crossed her arms and gave the choices to Kanzashi. She wasn't going to bullshit this poor girl so this was the easiest way to work things through.

"Who did you talk to? I am going to get my name off the form." The smile of the Orimura made her gulp.

"Orimura-sensei. You can try to talk to her and get you removed from me."

Kanzashi's face was white as a sheet when she heard that name.

"But I have a feeling it won't happen. If not, I expect you on tech bay five after class."

Kanzashi sneered at Madoka. Did this girl really think she could make her move like a dog?

"What makes you think that I am going to show up?"

The eyes of Madoka flattened when she heard that threat.

"I don't see you there tonight, I'll talk to Orimura-sensei. I hope you got a good explanation ready."

Kanzashi didn't know how Madoka could do this but she found that visiting that bay would be a real help.

"I'll be there."

"Great. See you tonight, partner."

With that done, Madoka walked out of the class. Rumors were going to start and she hoped her own sister could get things going.

What she didn't expect was to see Tatenashi standing, leaning against the wall.

"I didn't think you'd go that far." Madoka turned over to her and shrugged.

"I have been in her shoes. I think that I might be just the right partner for her. And leave this to me."

Scene skip

The tech bay was the place where Mattheus loved to hang out after school. Due to the 25% things that they had to go over and the fact that teaching Dan about the Infinite Stratos was priority number one, he got a lot of leeway from Chifuyu.

The music blared out of the stereo although this one was a bit different.

Smash Into Pieces did a wonder on Mad World, as it played through the speakers. Dan lay underneath a project that he and Joel were working on. A better transmitter could improve their weapons.

Before long, the door banged open and a loud "Dan!" was shouted. Madoka ran into the room while her older brother trailed behind. Ichika was a bit uncomfortable by seeing his friend kissing his sister.

Her boyfriend turned around and despite having a welders helmet on and wearing a dirty shorts, Dan turned around. The boy took off the helmet and when Madoka had her arms around his body, they had a short but passionate kiss.

"Hey there." Madoka was happy to see her boyfriend, under the grime and dirt and clearly learning.

He looked so sexy when he was like this.

"Ichika, you're an uncommon sight around these parts. What are you doing here?" Mattheus took out a couple of sodas and passed them around.

When Ichika took him and gulped a bit down, he looked at Mattheus.

"Matt, do you have a partner for this tournament?"

The Hunter shook his head as he began to think about it.

"Your sister said no, I can't have Natasha. So I can use you as a partner. You're a close fighter so we fit on that well. We will need to have some stuff to get our machines in order." Madoka found her blood turning to ice when she heard Mattheus talk.

"Ah, crud."

The four males turned to the girl in the room.

"Something wrong, Madoka?" Joel asked as she looked jumpy at that.

"I didn't think of something. And we are going to have a visitor." The door was still open and Kanzashi Sarashiki stood at the doorway.

"Am I supposed to be impressed by this? Because I find this wanting." Madoka rolled her eyes and grabbed the girl inside the tech room. Kanzashi knew better than to protest the roughhousing.

"Everyone, this is my partner, Kanzashi Sarashiki-san. I want her to be my partner. Unfortunately, her Infinite Stratos doesn't seem to work too well. From what I read, you got some issues on it." Kanzashi felt that she couldn't escape the room and Mattheus closed the door.

Joel might be a rude brat but he was also good at talking about technology. It was like he got a new piece of toy to play with.

"You got some issues? Let me have a look at those. I'll help you out."

Kanzashi had heard the rumors of Joel and from what she saw, he could be a serious help.

"Eh, Joel. Not to give you too much on your plate but nii-chan made a great point. The machine of him and Ichi-nii will need to be looked at and get some issues resolved."

The punk just shrugged and cleaned the table as he opened up his computer.

"Let me first take a look at Sarashiki's IS. After that, we can figure out what we are going to do."

The bluenette tensed up from that.

"Don't call me that."

Joel looked back at her with an annoyed look.

"You want to give us a way to call you? Cause Mattheus has tried with great effort and few results to get manners in my skull."

The Hunter found that he was right as Dan found the sight amusing.

"Kanzashi. Call me by that name." Madoka had already felt that she was feeling effects on her.

'You want to bet that you have picked out a really bad one for this? Something tells me that she shares something with us.'

'Something that we had, Ichi-nii. Talking to Chifuyu-nee really pays off. Something she should do'

Joel began to look over the Infinite Stratos of Kanzashi and he began to find this unit to be a very interesting type.

"Cool idea. Rocket launcher as combined with a spear. Nice name, Typhoon. A mix of several countries on this one. But you'll need some serious work on this to get everything rerouted plus, all the weapons to focus on this and getting the whole thing worked out before the match. This might take some time."

Joel rambled on it while Madoka joined him to look it over.

"How long do you think you'll need?"

"If I want to keep myself comfortable and things going, I can look this over right before the match. But only this thing. I won't be in class Mattheus." The Hunter acted maturely despite his displeasure at that news.

"If you make it work, fine. But you owe us big time, Zus."

Madoka nodded to the Belgian. Her own brother had joined him.

"That does leave a problem open for us. I doubt our machines would need a massive overhaul but we still need some help to get our machines working decently. And I much rather have someone I trust to look at Lavathenian."

It was only in quick judgment that Joel had found a solution to that problem.

"Dan, you're up for that." The engineer in training gulped when he heard his teacher give him that order.

"What?"

"It ain't that much. Get their weapons in order, get their machines to work together, and get the rest going. We covered all that. Consider this a test." Joel was about to turn back as he got a delicious part of the work to do.

"Joel, I'm nowhere near as well versed in that. Do you really want me to work it over? I am not qualified to do that."

The punk turned back and walked over to his pupil. It was almost comical to see the difference in height if one looked at the two.

"You have shown great improvement over the time we worked together. If you don't have so much faith in yourself, know that I have enough faith in you. You will be able to do this. Alright?"

Dan nodded, dumbfounded at the way how Joel spoke. He had never gotten this much supportive feedback. Not even from his own father.

"Thanks, Joel."

"And if you feel, you're in a pinch, you ask the maintenance girls to give you a helping hand." The punk smirked as he was confident in Dan.

With that done, he turned to the two ladies in the house.

"Alright, let's get this started." Joel sat behind his computer and began to work on his new project. Mattheus shook his head as he knew how Joel could get obsessed with his work.

"I think we should get our own units a bit further. Good luck out there, Joel." The boy barely responded while the two ladies stayed behind and looked at how Joel worked. They had grabbed a chair and unlike before, he didn't mind if he got two who watched over him.

The tech bay that Joel got was big enough for having this. Dan had taken out his own laptop and both Mattheus and Ichika had started to lay out their units.

As the aspirant techie began to work on it, he was beyond happy that Joel was a thorough and studious teacher.

Mattheus had also talked with Ichika about their foes.

"Look, Ichika, not that I complain but if you are going to become my partner, do keep in mind that our first foes are going to be Airis and Djbril. To get her off my ass, I asked your sister to help me out."

The Knight shrugged on that as he didn't see an issue with that.

"That's fine by me. What about our strategies? I am not that great at using guns just yet. While Izanami and Izanagi are great weapons, I can't be the heavy lifter on guns."

The Hunter clasped him on the shoulder.

"I'll handle that. I'm good with rifles. And I think the strategy you employ with your sister can work for us as well.

"Eh, fellas. Don't want to interrupt. But there is something going on here. By the way, Ichika, did you ever think of a name for your sword?"

Ichika felt incredibly stupid about that fact as he never had a need for it.

"Eh, not really. I mean, I named Yukihira after my sister's sword. Just like Madoka did. Why?"

The redhead scoffed in a way that made both Ichika and Mattheus think he took a lot over from Joel.

"Well, the teacher has been working on me. I got something here you might like. But first, we should name your HF sword. I have one. Intetsu."

"Iron Shadow? Well, it makes sense to a degree." Ichika admitted but immediately wondered about something.

"Why does it need a name?" Dan just smiled as he was done on the machine.

"Activate your machine for a sec." Ichika followed the order and climbed into his machine.

"Byakushiki!"

The machine was built around him and Dan just waited until he was done. When the machine basked in the glory, Dan just stood before him.

"Okay, Ichika. Activate Yukihira and Intetsu. There is something inside there." The Knight listened and got the swords out."

Beckoning him, Ichika kneeled to Dan as the engineer turned the machine around.

"Well, I don't know how some missed this. See this opening here, Ichika?" The Knight nodded as Dan pointed at the bottom of Yukihira's hilt, there was a slot.

The two boys nodded to each other.

"I want to bet you can fit Intetsu inside. Want to give it a shot?"

Ichika was as interested in this as much as Dan was.

So he did it without thinking and as Dan had guessed, Intetsu went in and fitted perfectly. The light came from the two swords. The darkest black and the purest white mixed as Ichika's swords grew into one.

The boys closed their eyes as they watched the spectacle.

It did give him extra weight but it felt right in his hands.

The handle grew further and Ichika lifted it with two hands as it grew further.

"Wow."

Dan stood back at his laptop. His eyes bulged open.

"These numbers are off the fucking chart. You have an amazing weapon right there, Ichika." Ichika nodded as he felt the power inside the sword.

"If that sword can do as much as it looks like this, I look forward to this fight. Partner."

Ichika nodded. With this, he no longer had to worry about guns. He would leave that to Mattheus as he had a new shiny toy to play with.

Scene skip

Joel tapped his foot to the song that was playing through as he began to repair the data streams over Typhoon.

While it had been months since the last summer, he and his godmother had been chatting.

Tabane had found a pupil in Joel who she was very impressed and pleased with. While the boy knew a lot, he was always eager to learn more and he would put what he learned in place.

And Joel had found out that there were good reasons why Tabane was selected as godmother. She often told Joel stories about his first years and the past of his father and mother.

For as long as he lived, Joel had never known where he really came from and while there was plenty to occupy his young mind with, it was nagging at him.

And only now, he figured out who he was.

The machine had needed some serious work and he wondered why it was delayed so much. Kanzashi had wanted to protest but she was blown away as she watched how Joel worked over this.

"So you want to work on this yourself?"

"I prefer that. You can watch it and if I need something, you'll be the first to know. Not only that but I need to get things going between you and Madoka. The rest is for later." Kanzashi sat back with Madoka as Joel began to calculate.

"I'll need a day or two to get this all recovered. After that, we can start on the hardware."

Madoka nudged at Kanzashi who looked suddenly very agreeable with the stuff going on.

The younger Sarashiki began to think about the way how Madoka acted.

'Is she the one who saves me?'

Scene skip

The rumors that Ichika and Madoka had chosen their partners had caused serious tremble in the school.

While neither twin actually worried about the consequences of their choices, it did cause the ones who weren't chosen to take some measures.

Cecilia had taken up her own training outside in the arenas. The number of shots that rang out made the score go up.

"Madoka-san, I make you regret that you didn't choose me as your partner!" While her skill on the rifle had grown, it was something she wasn't happy with.

"You'll tremble before me and my Blue Tears, as we perform a requiem!" She wasn't the only one who was really pissed off by their choices.

Although, thus far, they weren't the ones who didn't have to pay for it.

Rin had worked over her machine and she had started to cuss out the poor techies at her end.

"I told you already! Get me a new package of data with my right shoulder unit swapped to a diffusive impact cannon! I'll give you three days to get it done." When she heard the reply, she wasn't happy.

"What? Don't tell me you can't! You just do it!"

With that call closed, Rin was more than ready for the fight.

"Just you watch, Ichika! I won't forgive you even if you beg for forgiveness in tears!" With that done, she took off.

On the rooftop of the school, Charlotte Dunois threw herself from it. While the pain of being ignored made her sad, she wasn't tired of living.

"Let's go, Revive!" With a battle roar, she took off and threw herself at the training. And it wasn't just with guns. Her blade saw work.

"I'll be a tough opponent!"

In the darkroom of the dressing room, Laura Bodewig was sharpening her blade.

A dark smirk washed over her face.

"I'll show you, true terror. Madoka!"

Not all girls took the news as badly and as long they didn't go after the twins, Ichika and Madoka were blissfully unaware of it.

Houki Shinonono had locked herself in the dojo and had started to train with a real sword. It wasn't fun but she understood Chifuyu's reasoning. Even if she went behind the back of her teacher, Ichika and Madoka would refuse her offer.

But before she could continue on her swipes, she found her breasts assaulted by two lean hands.

"Houki-chan, I caught you!" A blush ran over her face as Tatenashi Sarashiki didn't seem to understand boundaries.

"Tatenashi-senpai?!"

The second year admired Houki's practice.

"Training with a real sword, aren't you?" The shrine maiden nodded to her.

"I suppose that it can't hurt."

But the student council president had come for a good reason.

"Houki-chan, become my partner!" Houki blinked twice for hearing that news. But it would be saving her the pain of looking around for one. And well, Tatenashi was a strong person. If they were facing someone else besides the twins, they had a good shot.

When they left the dojo, they had now started to work in the data room.

"I'll need your physical data first."

"Nothing wrong with that. Go for it."

Houki remained still as the machine went over her body and it checked her out.

"No way…" Tatenashi seemed to be blown away by the results.

"Is something the matter?"

Houki watched how Tatenashi looked her over.

"Your boobs are big. Maybe even slightly bigger than mine." The last part was muttered as she looked down at her own assets as Tatenashi raised an eyebrow.

"What exactly are you analyzing? Please take this seriously!" Houki was embarrassed and despite her actions with Ichika, she wouldn't shout that out loud.

"My bad!" The student council laughed her over.

Scene skip

Kanzashi lay in her bed as she recalled the events. Madoka had wrecked things through and forced her to accept her as a partner. And now, it would work for her.

'Why did she pick me? And yet, why do I feel that things work so well for the two?'

Kanzashi couldn't explain how things worked with her and Madoka. Yet, it was a kindred soul. But she didn't know why she had it yet.

In the room of the twins, Madoka was enjoying the hot shower. It was something that hit her just right as she was glad about how she loved the hot water.

And she would have stayed longer in the hot water but felt a pull of Ichika. So when she dried herself off, she felt the stronger pull from Ichika.

Madoka walked out, dressed in her pajamas. She would admit that her own brother out without a shirt was looking very attractive.

Her brother wasn't all for the goo-goo eyes that Madoka gave him.

"I asked Kanzashi to be my partner because Tatenashi asked me to do that. Due to the fact that we can't choose each other, I went for her. And you know as well as me what happens when you have a big sister that you can't catch up with."

Ichika was already happy with what Madoka told him. Flopping back on his bed, he stared at the ceiling.

"I am just wondering who told Chifuyu-nee to open her mouth and talk to us. I mean, we both get the comparisons but why do I feel that we are so much better with her than Houki or Kanzashi?"

The Knight talked to the little sister who couldn't agree with him more. Their relationship had been decent from the moment the twins were old enough to make things work.

Chifuyu would reveal more secrets or when time pressed on her, tell the twins.

Tatenashi and Tabane could learn a lot from her.

"So basically, you put her through it and forced her to follow your order."

Madoka smirked as she placed herself next to her brother's warm body.

"I wasn't going to waste time on bullshit, Ichi-nii. Our harem might get frustrated but who is to complain?"

Ichika barked a laugh while he thought about it.

"We're both taken. Right, little sis?"

"Have you managed to hammer that in the skulls of Charlotte, Laura, Cecilia, Rin, and maybe a few others?" Madoka shot back while Ichika began to think about the events that had transpired.

They weren't closer to that either and with the last few events, they'd be getting a few more. Trouble never seemed to stop for them.

"Got that right, little sister. Now, I think we better get some sleep."

Scene skip

Houki had wondered if things would be better but when Tatenashi came to offer to become her partner, she accepted the generous offer.

And during training, it became clear that this lady wasn't joking around. She was strong and with her on Houki's side, she would be able to go far.

"Thank you very much for this." Both were out in their outfit as they had done another training course.

At least, with this fighter, Houki was still standing.

"Don't worry about it!"

With a wink, Tatenashi got closer.

"All right, let's go shower!"

Normally, Houki wasn't so shy to blush about that but she was getting used to body contact.

"Well, I."

Tatenashi didn't take no for an answer though. She grabbed Houki and pulled her along.

"Nothing wrong with it, right?"

"Please don't pull me! I can walk on my own!"

It had been ages since she was pulled along like this. Tabane and she had been small as well. It all seemed so long ago.

She used to pull my hand like this.

Memories consumed her as she began to think back on her past with Tabane. Her past was where she was taken away from it and how she had hurt her sister with her actions.

In the hot water, Houki felt the presence of Tatenashi.

"This feels great! Don't you agree, Houki-chan?" It did wonders for Houki as she began to wonder.

"Thinking about something?" That snapped her out.

"Yeah, just a bit of my older sister." And Houki wouldn't admit it but there was a part that was glad that she had Chifuyu as well. Given how her past had been, Houki would never deny that the feeling of Chifuyu around her and the training did wonders for her. Chifuyu had taught Houki a lot and the references to nee-san as she often did, also worked.

"Houki-chan, do you keep a distance from your big sister, Tabane-sensei?"

Houki began to think about it. She would have to call her older sister a bit more. Things had been hectic and in the last few months, things had seemed to work out for the better.

"It's not easy. I am grateful for her giving me a Personal IS. But she hasn't made my life easy."

Tatenashi washed her hair as she was thinking

"Family members gotta get along! Though I'm not one to talk about."

Houki shook her head as she was thinking about it.

"I can never tell what she's thinking. My older sister." Turning the shower off, Tatenashi pressed her chest again the door.

"Are you afraid because you can't tell?" When it stayed quiet, Tatenashi admitted her own secrets.

"Of course you are. I feel the same way." Houki grabbed the towel and ignored the stares from Tatenashi on her body.

"Then you should do something about that. I have talked to my sister. It helped me and well, it can help you. Keeping quiet isn't going to do you any good."

With that done, Tatenashi was baffled by the way how Houki spoke about her issues with her older sister. It was clear though that Houki had quite a few and yet, she had always managed to push through those.

'Maybe I should talk to her. Tell her that it's fine. That we are fine.'

Scene skip

Mattheus walked through the school that had gone nearly completely quiet during the last few hours. The two male Pilots couldn't train just yet as Ichika was enjoying the new sword.

Lost in his thoughts, Mattheus didn't pay attention to where he was going until he bumped into a female form of the finest order.

The soft screech for help was also familiar. The Hunter cursed on his fine-tuned reflexes as he wrapped his arms around Chelsea Blackett.

"Mattheus-sama."

The Hunter would never admit that the way she said his name made his heart skip a beat.

"Hello, Chelsea. Haven't talked to you in a while." Mattheus then noticed that his arms were still wrapped around the delicate, small frame.

"Sorry bout that." The Hunter let her go while the maid blushed up a storm.

"Thank you. How have you been? It's indeed been a while."

Mattheus shrugged as he placed himself against the wall. He could spare a few minutes to talk to the cute maid.

"Been a bit rough. Things have been rocky at the place. And well, this tag-team tournament doesn't make things easier. I do have to ask. Are you going to participate?"

Chelsea's downward sigh told him enough.

"Unfortunately, I can't fight. I am not a student hence why I can't do it. What about you? I heard through the grapevine that you and Ichika-sama are partners."

"Is that grapevine your mistress?" The maid was a shameless flirt and Mattheus had no issue entertaining her.

"If I say yes, would you answer my question?"

"I am Ichika's partner, yes. How is Cecilia taking that news? Can't imagine she's all too happy. Knowing her."

The giggle made Mattheus look at Chelsea in a different light.

"You would be correct. She is indeed most unpleased by the recent development. She was hoping that either Madoka-sama or Ichika-sama would choose her as a partner."

Mattheus didn't suppress the yawn.

"Yeah, I gotta admit. You got more patience than I do. I wouldn't be able to handle her in the way you do."

Chelsea did something bold and went to stand right next to the Hunter.

"Well, I'd rather take her over Joel. He's certainly a bigger handful." Crossing his arms, he wanted to keep a distance.

"He's what he is. At least, I can slap him when he steps out of line. He's the one that kept me going." He turned over to Chelsea and noticed a few things on her face.

"I imagine that Cecilia is the same for you. Someone to keep you going."

The hurt in her eyes tugged on his heart. There was a good reason why they clicked.

"You'd be correct. But I think we should discuss this later. I'll need to see to my duties." Before he could stop her, she pecked Mattheus on the cheek and ran off.

It was the first time in a long time that Mattheus was this blown away.

"Get a feeling ever so complicated."

Scene skip

Joel hadn't been in class the last few days and it didn't worry anyone as he worked on the Typhoon. The machine was getting developed just fine and the punk had already started to calibrate the machine. As timing had guessed, it was just on time before they would have the tag team.

The other girls had stayed clear away from the tech bay. Either due to their own anger or because of a warning from Chifuyu Orimura.

The punk had the time of his life on the machine. He was happy though that Madoka brought it a few days beforehand. They do a test run but that would be about it.

Even Mattheus and Ichika had some training done.

"So how are you doing, genius?"

The warm arm around his neck made it clear that Madoka had shown up. Joel turned around as the youngest Orimura shamelessly sat on the desk while Joel worked on it.

"The machine should be up and running tonight. I had my work cut out for me though but this was fun. Madoka, I do have a question for ya."

Kanzashi walked to the bay where Joel and Madoka were. The last few days were spent in absolute bliss.

She hadn't appreciated how Madoka forced her hand but with how much help Joel offered her and the time she spent with the younger Orimura, the more fun Kanzashi had.

'She's such a good friend. Maybe the hero that I was looking for.'

Right before she turned on the door, she heard Joel ask the question.

"Why did you ask this one to be your partner? Not that I complain but just a bit curious. Wouldn't either of your big brothers be a better choice for this?"

Flinging herself to the wall, she waited until she heard why Madoka asked her. When she thought about it, she hadn't known why Madoka asked her to become her partner.

"I couldn't pick Mattheus or Ichi-nii. Houki was also off the table. And while I was thinking for one, Tatenashi asked me." The eyes of Kanzashi bulged out of her skull when she heard the revelation.

"What is going on? Why did she?"

When she felt the uncomfortable lump in her throat, Kanzashi ran away. She wanted to keep the tears in.

It was a pity because the next words would have shown another side of what Madoka really thought of it.

"I am surprised that you went along. Given the fact that she was a Grade A-cunt, and the shit she pulled on you two, why the fuck did you even humor her?"

Madoka agreed with the foul language.

"I wasn't up for it but well, Chifuyu-nee told me to go along. I don't know why but we seem to attract those kinds of people."

The two stayed there and cackled a bit while they wondered why Kanzashi was a no-show right before the night of the tournaments.


I was breaking my head on the idea of what I should do with this ending and then it came to me.

Big chunks were written during the Christmas weekend that I had. Hope you all had a great time there.

Don't forget.

Today we're all brothers,

Tonight we're all friends,

A moment of peace,

In a war that never ends.

Some more news though.

The concept of Kanzashi's Infinite Stratos comes from an unlikely source.

Back in 2021, I chatted with Ichigo Oga (our beta author) about an original IS for Kanzashi for his fic. While he didn't do anything with it, I asked him if I could borrow it. He agreed so there it is.

Typhoon was the name and well, back then, how different the world was. I hope you all liked this chapter.

We can have more to look forward to in April when this fic gets an update.

Saluut.