Infinite Stratos, Volume 2, page 11
“I-I...”
I could hear the tremble in her voice even from a distance. Fear, it must have been. The fear of standing before absolute power. And the fear of alienating someone dear.
“Class is about to begin. Get back to your seat.”
“.........”
Chifuyu’s voice returned to normal, and Laura made a swift retreat.
—Aw, crap...
“And you, boy. Are you eavesdropping? Being a creep won’t earn you any friends.”
“Why’d’you have to assume the worst, Chifu—”
Bam!
“At school, I’m to be called Ms. Orimura.”
“Understood...”
That was the thing. I couldn’t poke my head up around Chifuyu, otherwise it would just get smacked right back down. What was this, whack-a-mole?
“Run along now, underachiever. If you don’t shape up, you’ll be out of the tournament in the first round. No slacking off.”
“I know, I know.”
“That’s good, then.” Chifuyu grinned, and it seemed like, just in that moment, she was my sister.
“Anyway, I’ll go back to class now.”
“Okay. Hurry it up— Oh, and, Orimura.”
“Yes?”
“I won’t tell you not to run in the halls. But don’t get caught doing it.”
“Understood.”
Chifuyu spun around. It seemed like she was letting me go. I ran back to class, being careful not to get caught.
◇
“Ah—”
Two voices let out a gasp. When: After school. Where: The third arena. Who: Rin and Cecilia.
“What a coincidence. I was just about to practice for the tournament.”
“Oh my, what a coincidence. I had the same idea.”
Invisible sparks flew between them. It seemed like each was gunning for the championship.
“It seems like a wonderful opportunity to show which of us is the superior—and the most practiced.”
“Looks like we agree, for once. One of us must be stronger and more elegant, and now we can find out who.”
Each called forth their main weapon, and they stood, staring each other down.
“Then—”
Their voices were drowned out by the crack of supersonic fire.
“......?!”
After evasive maneuvers, Rin and Cecilia turned toward the source of the fire. There stood a jet-black IS. Its name, Schwarzer Regen. Its pilot...
“Laura Bodewig...”
Cecilia’s expression hardened into a sneer. Her disgust was more than just that of an EU trial competitor.
“Whatever are you doing? It takes some nerve to simply open fire unannounced.”
With a clang, Rin combined her Souten Gagetsu and raised it to her shoulders, preparing to fire in impact cannon mode.
“China’s Shenlong and Britain’s Blue Tears? Hmph, you seemed stronger from the spec sheets.”
Rin and Cecilia both grimaced at the sudden provocation.
“Oh? You’d like to fight? What kind of creep comes all the way from Germany just to get whipped? Or is that what they do for fun down in the potato patches?” Rin jeered.
“Why, Rin! It’s mean to bully someone who’s so uneloquent. Let the bitch whimper.”
Laura’s glare of disdain seemed to have annoyed them quite a bit, and they vented their anger through words. It was probably just wasted effort, though.
“Oh? Are they giving personal assignments to pilots who can’t even take down a mass-produced IS now? You must both be so hard-up for talent. Natural for an empire of swarming ants, and an empire on which the sun has set.”
Snap!
I could hear something crack as both Rin and Cecilia unslung their most powerful weapons.
“Oh, I see. I get it. You wanna scrap, huh. Cecilia! Let’s play rock-paper-scissors to decide who goes first.”
“I suppose. Personally, I’ve no preference.”
“Then why not both of you at once? One-plus-one only equals two. And two mares fighting over the last stud left are certainly no match for me.”
It was an obvious provocation, but Rin and Cecilia were both well past the limits of their patience.
“What did you just say? Was it ‘come over here and beat my ass’?”
“I’m ashamed as a European Cadet that one of my peers would insult those not even here to defend themselves. I’ll have to teach you a lesson about minding your manners that you won’t forget.”
Each clutched their weapon. Laura stared down coldly at them, spreading her arms slightly, and beckoning with a wave.
“Show me what you’ve got, then.”
“You got it!”
◇
“Are you practicing after school again today, Ichika?” Charles asked.
“Of course. Hm, which one is open today?” I replied.
“The third arena,” came a third voice.
“WHA—”
As Charles and I walked down the hall, an unexpected voice caused us both to yelp in shock. Houki, who had joined us without our noticing, furrowed her brow, perhaps perturbed at our simultaneous response.
“You don’t need to be shocked like that... it’s rude.” said Houki.
“Oh, right. Sorry.”
“I’m sorry. You just surprised me.”
“I... I wasn’t accusing you of anything, just...”
Charles’s proper bow was enough to defuse even Houki’s irritation. As if embarrassed by the apology, Houki cleared her throat and changed the topic.
“Anyway, though. Let’s head to the third arena. I’d heard not many people are using it today. If the airspace is open, we should be able to get in a mock battle.”
That would be really helpful. An IS’ capabilities were pretty much linked to how long it has been in full operation, so even a little bit of something approximating real combat was something to be grateful for.
We headed toward the arenas, but as we drew closer we became aware of the chaos unfolding inside. There were a lot of students running in the halls, and it seemed like the third arena was at the center of it.
“Huh?”
“Did something happen? Let’s go see what’s going on.”
Charles pointed toward the bleacher gates. I nodded in agreement. We usually entered through the pits, but that was the fastest way to see what was up.
“Someone’s fighting a mock battle. Though it seems more like a real—”
Boom!
“......?!”
The sudden explosion drew our attention, and we saw shadows flitting through a wall of smoke.
“Rin! Cecilia!”
A special energy field protected the bleachers from the explosion in the ring, but at the same time it meant they couldn’t hear voices from outside. Each was grimacing, staring into the center of the explosion. Within it, we could see the jet-black IS Schwarzer Regen, and its pilot, Laura.
Upon closer inspection, I saw that Rin and Cecilia’s IS were heavily damaged. Never mind just battle damage, pieces of armor had been blown completely off. Laura, likewise, wasn’t untouched, but she seemed to have taken only light damage compared to the other two.
“What are you doing?! Hey!”
Our voices couldn’t be heard, and Rin and Cecilia, after making quick eye contact, turned again toward Laura. Even though it was a two-on-one fight and they should have had the advantage, they were on the back foot.
The impact cannon’s invisible bullets shrieked on a path toward Laura—yet, they never arrived.
“Ugh! I can’t believe we’re this mismatched!”
She must have deployed some sort of barrier. After completely neutralizing the impact cannon with a thrust of her right hand, Laura turned to the attack. Blades mounted on each of her shoulders launched, shooting toward Rin. Connected by wire, they traced a complex arc, weaving around point-defense fire before wrapping around Rin’s right leg. It was a weapon combining the capabilities of a dagger and a whip.
“Do you think I’ll just let you keep doing as you please?”
Cecilia provided cover fire for Rin. At the same time, her bits deployed, flying toward Laura.
“Hmph. I can’t speak for a Blue Tears operated to its potential, but to call this third-generation is laughable.”
Cecilia’s precise fire was combined with a bit attack from outside Laura’s vision. Still, Laura effortlessly dodged it all while extending her arms again. This time, it was left and right at once, crossed over and grasping at something unseen—and as her grip closed, the bits stopped dead.
“You’ve stopped!” cried Cecilia.
“You, too.” said Laura.
Cecilia’s aimed shot struck and was canceled out by Laura’s cannon fire. As Cecilia prepared to fire another burst, Laura swung Rin, whom she had previously caught, trying to smash Cecilia out of the air. Rin swung like a pendulum in a blunt but effective attack.
“AH!”
As they crashed together and attempted to regain control, Laura charged in. Her speed was like that of a bullet, chewing up the distance between them in barely a second.
“Ignition Boost!”
It was unmistakable. My own special trick, a melee technique. But Rin knew her way around close combat, too. I’d expected her to spin her Souten Gagetsu around for a quick counter, and was shocked when she instead split it. But soon, I realized why. High-temperature plasma blades extended from sleeve-like shrouds on each of Laura’s arms, slicing toward Rin from both sides.
“Damn you!”
As Laura pressed forward, Rin attempted to open space, dodging blow after blow. Using the terrain of the arena in her favor, Rin avoided being caught, only to face Laura’s wire blades again. Yet this time, she used not only her shoulder blades but pairs attached to either side of her waist, harrying Rin with a three-dimensional attack at the same time as she thrust forth with her plasma blades. Even if Rin was used to close combat, it was too much for her to dodge.
“Ugh!”
Energy again focused as the impact cannons extended.
“How foolish, using a slow area-denial weapon in this situation.”
As if to prove herself right, Laura shot at the impact cannons just before they fired, and they exploded in a shower of shrapnel.
“Got you!”
“......!”
With Rin’s shoulder armor blown away and her IS falling apart, Laura closed in for a finishing thrust of her plasma blades.
“I won’t let that happen!”
With Laura only a hair’s breadth away from Rin, she used her own Starlight Mk.III as a shield to deflect the blow. At the same time, Rin fired her own waist-mounted missile bits at Laura.
KA-BOOM!
The missiles launched in a close-ranged attack, which she surely knew would engulf them both. The explosion caught Rin and Cecilia, throwing them to the ground.
“What was that supposed to be?”
“Save the complaints for later. Anyway, that should have been enough to—”
Cecilia cut off partway through her sentence.
“.........”
The smoke cleared, revealing Laura. She floated unperturbedly, as if even the brunt of the explosion had left her unscathed.
“Is that all? Then, it’s my turn.”
As she spoke, she swooped downward toward the pair, kicking Rin out of the way as she opened fire on Cecilia from close range. Her wire blades caught each of them in midair, dragging them each toward her. From there, the brutalization began.
“AHHHH!”
Laura’s punches rained down upon their arms, their legs, their bodies. Their shield energy drained swiftly, through the red zone of an IS’ limits, and into the dead zone of risk to the pilot themselves. Eventually their IS would automatically retract, leaving their very lives in danger.
Still, Laura’s assault continued. She continued to punch, to kick, to tear Rin and Cecilia’s IS armor apart. As I watched her normally expressionless face twist into vicious glee, something inside me burst past its limit.
“ARGH!”
I deployed my Byakushiki, taking the Yukihira Nigata in my hand and focused all my energy into it as I activated Reiraku Byakuya. Energy flared far beyond the length of its physical blade as I bashed it against the arena’s barrier. Reiraku Byakuya pierced it, as it negated almost any kind energy, and I slipped through the hole it left. At the same time as I entered firing range, I activated Ignition Boost. Using it at the same time as Reiraku Byakuya was at full power may as well have been a banzai charge. Byakushiki was energy-thirsty at the best of times, and with the added consumption, its shields quickly drained. But I had no time to think about that.
“Let go of them!”
I brought my blade down toward Laura, who was still holding Rin and Cecilia.
“Hmph. As emotional as you are simple. The very picture of a fool.”
A moment before Reiraku Byakuya’s energy struck, my body froze solid. Laura’s uncovered eye suddenly turned upward and fixated on me.
“What the— Ugh, my body...”
My body refused to cooperate, as if unseen hands were grasping it. My arms remained raised, and soon, Reiraku Byakuya’s energy blade began to fade.
“You’re no match for me. Compared to the Schwarzer Regen, you’re nothing more than cannon fodder. Now, disappear.”
Her shoulder cannon swiveled, and I stared down its barrel.
—Dammit!
“Ichika! Get back!”
Charles shouted over a private channel as she unleashed a rain of bullets from akimbo assault rifles.
“Tch. Another nobody.”
The unseen force holding me back disappeared, and I regained control of my body. I quickly picked Rin and Cecilia up to carry them away from Laura.
—Come on, Byakushiki! Just one more Ignition Boost!
I was almost out of energy, having set everything to full power already. But somehow my prayers were answered, and the thruster on my back roared to life.
—All right!
The world slowed to a crawl in front of me, before immediately speeding up. With Ignition Boost’s singular stomach twist, we were away from Laura in a moment.
“Are they okay, Ichika?!”
Charles asked as she continued to provide cover fire.
With the assault rifles’ fast rate of fire and Charles’ own ability to quickly swap them out as they ran short of ammunition, Laura was unable to slip in a counterattack.
“Ugh... Ichika...”
“I’m so humiliated... That you saw me like that...” Cecilia whimpered.
“Don’t talk... They’re fine, Charles. They’re both conscious.”
“That’s good.”
Charles’s relief was palpable even as she continued firing. A third change of rifles continues to pelt Laura with bullets.
“Interesting. But now I’ll show you the generation gap.”
Sometimes dodging, sometimes deflecting, sometimes using her unseen power to stop bullets, Laura crouched, preparing a counterattack. She must have been about to use Ignition Boost, but I was carrying Rin and Cecilia, and couldn’t fight. Still, I knew it was too dangerous to leave Charles to her alone.
“Here I go!”
“Ugh!”
In the moment before Laura leapt, a shadow flitted between us.
Clang!
The ringing clash of metal on metal sounded as Laura was stopped by the shadow.
“And this is why I was tired of dealing with kids.”
“Chifuyu?!”
The shadow was someone I would never have expected. She was even in her everyday suit, without an IS or even an IS suit. Yet in her hands was an IS close-combat blade, a full 170 centimeters long—nearly my own height—yet being nimbly wielded barehandedly. Casually getting between two IS just made it more obvious that she was no ordinary human.
“I don’t mind mock battles. But as a teacher, I certainly can’t stand by while you even shatter the arena’s barrier. I’m going to have to ask you to finish this at the tournament.”
“As you wish, ma’am.”
Laura nodded as she removes her IS, which evaporated into particles of light.
“Orimura. Dunois. Do I make myself clear?”
“Y-Yeah.”
I was too stunned by everything that had happened to pay attention to my manners.
“Answer your teachers with ‘yes,’ you idiot,” demanded Chifuyu.
“Yes!” I cried.
“I’m fine with that.”
Charles agreed with my corrected answer. Hearing us, Chifuyu turned and announced to everyone in the arena.
“Very well, then. Fighting outside of school hours is absolutely forbidden until the tournament. Dismissed!”
She clapped her hands forcefully. It echoed like a gunshot.
◇
“.........”
“.........”
The nurse’s office. An hour had passed since the incident at the third arena. Rin and Cecilia, wrapped in bandages, were staring off into space glumly as they rested on beds, nursing their bruises.
“You shouldn’t have helped us, you know.”
“We surely would’ve won in the end.”
And here I was expecting some thanks. Oh well, it wasn’t like I helped just for the gratitude. I just couldn’t stand to watch something like that unfold.
“Really, you two... Well, I guess it’s good that you weren’t injured too badly.”
“As if this even rises to the level of— Owww!”
“I don’t understand why they’re making us lie dow— Nngh...”
—Idiots...
“Who are you calling an idiot, idiot?”
“You’re the biggest idiot here, Ichika!”
Such cruel counterattacks. I didn’t even say it. How did they know? How was one supposed to even deal with two invalids in a temper?
“You two must be embarrassed to lose like that in front of your crush.”
“Hm?”
Charles had returned with drinks. She said something while entering the room, but I didn’t quite hear. It seemed like Rin and Cecilia definitely had though, as their faces flushed with anger.
“W-W-W-W-What are you even talking about? Ugh, this is why I can’t deal with Europeans!”
“N-Not at all! The mere suggestion makes me sick to my stomach!”
The two continue to blush as they scrambled for words. What was that all about? What did Charles say to them?
