Infinite Stratos - Volume 2, page 12
"Ha! Then how about both of you go at me? 1 + 1 equals 2 anyway. How can I lose to women who seem to be fighting over a useless stallion?"
These words were obviously taunts, but having went past their patience, both of them didn't care anymore.
"--What did you just say? My ears just heard 'Please, punch me as much as you like'."
"Insulting people who aren't here, I'm really ashamed of you as a fellow European Union candidate. Let me beat you up until that frivolous mouth of yours is shut for good."
Both of them tightly gripped onto their weapons, and Laura coldly stared at them before opening her arms out slightly and flipping her fingers[2C 5].
"Come at me already."
""AS YOU WISH!!!""
◇
"Ichika, are you going for special training today?"
"Well, yeah, I remember the only arena that can be used is--"
"The 3rd arena."
""WAH!""
Charles and I walked down the corridor side by side, only to hear an unexpected voice, causing us to jump up in shock.
Maybe she was unhappy with our united response, but the 3rd person who was standing beside us from who knows when, Houki frowns.
"...Is there a need to be shocked. That's rude."
"Ah, oh, I'm sorry."
"Sorry, I got shocked. It was too sudden."
"Ah, no, I'm not blaming you..."
Seeing Charles bow down properly, even Houki's momentum got cut by half. And then, seemingly feeling like she lost face, Houki deliberately coughed a few times to change the topic.
"Anyway, let's head to the 3rd arena. I heard that there will be very few people using it today, so if there's time, I should be able to carry out some mock battles."
That's really's great. Since the IS ability is proportionate to the actual operation time, it's great even if it's just a little time. I'm really grateful to have some training like a mock battle.
As we headed towards the arena, we found a lot of tension over there, and there were a lot of students running around in the corridor. It seems like the commotion happened at the 3rd arena.
"What's wrong?"
"What's going on? Should we check it out?"
Charles said as she pointed at the gate to the spectator stands. It's better to go there than to go through the ordinary gate, so I nodded my head in agreement.
"It seems like there're people having a mock battle, but the situation seems to be--"
*DONG--VROOM!*
Just as both of us turn to look at the sudden explosion, two shadows flew out of the smoke like they were cutting through it.
"RIN! CECILIA!"
Under the isolation of the protective shields, the explosions on the stage itself didn't spread to us, but at the same time, I couldn't hear them.
Both of them looked hurt as they gazed directly at the center of the explosion, and standing over there was Laura, who was piloting the pitched-black IS [Schwarzer Regen].
Looking closely, Rin and Cecilia's ISs were severely damaged. There were damage marks all over the frame, and a part of the IS armor was completely broken. In contrast, Laura's IS wasn't completely unscathed, but the damage was relatively light compared to them.
"WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING--HEY, HEY!"
My voice couldn't reach them from here, and it couldn't be helped. After looking at Rin and Cecilia, I turned to look at Laura. Though it was a 2 vs 1, the ones in trouble were Rin and Cecilia, who, logically, should have been in an advantageous situation.
"EAT THIS!"
*KLANG!* Rin's IS [Shenlong] opened its shoulders. Docked on them were the pressurized-air impact cannons [Ryuhow], the maximum output weapons of the [Shenlong]. If it were a training machine, one shot would definitely wreck it, but Laura wasn't avoiding at all.
"That's useless against the absolute barrier of the [Schwarzer Regen]."
The invisible shots of the impact cannons were aimed at Laura, but no matter how I looked at it, the attacks never landed on her.
"Che! To think that you can hold me off like that..."
Maybe she deployed some protective shield or something like that, but Laura only reached her right hand out, and the impact cannons were completely nullified while they impact.
She shot out blades from her shoulders at Rin's IS. As they were both linked to the main body by electronic cables, she was able to let them fly out in complicated paths to avoid the direct shots and thus grabbed Rin's right foot--they seemed to be weapons that were a mix between blades and cables.
"Do you think I'll let you do as you please so many times!?"
Covering Rin, Cecilia attacked and launched her BITs at Laura.
"Ho...I don't know if [Blue Tears] is said to have the highest mobility in theory, but treating that design as a 3rd generation frame? That's a joke."
Cecilia used accurate sniping and the BITs to launch attacks from all over the place, and Laura continued to dodge and extend her arm out like just before. This time, she seemed to grab something in front of her while she was folding her arms, and the moment she did that, the BITs stopped.
"Your movements are sealed!"
"Yours too."
Though Cecilia managed to snipe her target accurately, Laura shot her large cannon to completely negate it. Laura threw Rin, who she caught just now, at Cecilia, who intended to continue firing. It was a theory of using cables to swing down in a clockwork manner, simple, yet effective.
"Ah!"
Facing the two of them while they lost their balance in mid-air, Laura launched her attack. Her speed could be compared to a bullet as she closed in within a second.
"[Ignition Boost]--!"
I definitely didn't see it wrong. That's my move, a special technique for close-range.
But if this is a close combat battle, it was beneficial for Rin as well. At this moment, she could also use her [Souten Gagetsu] to counter. Just as I was thinking that, I was shocked to see Rin undoing the knot.
However, I immediately understood the reason why she did that. Laura deployed the plasma blades from her sleeve and hacked at Rin with them.
"You...!"
While Laura was moving forward, Rin backed away and increased the distance, dodging a few blows in the process, skillfully using the shape of the arena to move and forcing herself not to get into any dead ends. However, Laura's cable blades attacked again, the two on her shoulders and the ones on both sides of her waist, 6 of them altogether. They all attacked in 3 dimensions as she continued to use her plasma blades to attack viciously. Even if it was Rin, who was so used to fighting, it was too difficult for her to deal with all the attacks adequately.
"Heh!"
Rin again deployed the impact cannons and gathered the power there.
"How naive! Using pressurized-air weapons that need time in this situation?"
As Laura said this, her cannons destroyed the impact cannons before shooting.
"Got you!"
"!"
As the armor on her back got shot off, Rin's body lost balance and Laura used this chance to stab the plasma blade at her chest.
"I WON'T LET YOU!"
At the last moment, Cecilia rushed in between Rin and Laura and used the [Starlight Mk II] as a shield. After avoiding the sure-kill attack, she shot the missile type BITs on her waist at Laura.
*BOOMM!!!!*
That was almost the equivalent of a suicidal close-ranged rocket as the explosion caught Rin and Cecilia, causing them to tumble on the floor.
"That was reckless of you..."
"Save the complaints for later. But really, that should have done some damage--"
Cecilia stopped as she spoke.
As the smoke scattered, standing over there was Laura. Even though it was an explosion at close range, she was still floating in mid-air without a scratch.
"Is it over? Well then--it's my turn."
The moment she said that, she used the [Ignition Boost] to glide down to the ground, first kicking Rin and then shooting Cecilia with a cannon.
Then, Laura used the cabled blades to grab their bodies and drag them to her. After that, one-sided violence ensued.
"AHHHH!!"
Laura's fists clamped down hard on their arms, legs and bodies, causing their defenses to drop lower than what the machine maintanence warning zone permited. If the damage kept up, the ISs would be forcefully removed! It will be critical danger to their lives!
But Laura didn't stop as she continued to beat and kick Rin and Cecilia, ripping their ISs armor apart.
Seeing Laura's usual emotionless face actually smile for a moment due to delight, something seems to explode in me.
"OOOOOOHHHHH!!"
I deployed [Byakushiki] and formed the [Yukihira Niigata], gathering all the power together to activate the [Reiraku Byakuya]. An energy sword that was several times bigger than the main body was released as I used it to hack the protective layer surrounding the arena.
[Reiraku Byakuya], which can destroy anything that uses energy, hacked through the protective shield, and I slipped through the gap to charge in.
While entering, I activated [Ignition Boost]. Logically, it would be suicidal to use this move along with [Reiraku Byakuya]'s maximum output, as it would cause much more stress on [Byakushiki] which already uses a lot of energy and drains a lot out of the shields, but I'm not in the mood to bother about that.
"LET GO OF THEM, YOU!"
I charged at Laura, who was grabbing onto Rin and Cecilia, and swung my sword down.
"Humph...emotional and reckless, just like a fool."
Just when Reiraku Byakuya's energy blade was about to hit her, my body suddenly stopped. The right eye of Laura that was not covered with an eyepatch accurately grasped my movement from my body.
"Wh-What's going on? Damn it, my body...!"
It felt like I got held down by an invisible hand as my body couldn't move and my arms are held high, unable to land. [Reiraku Byakuya]'s power started to disappear bit by bit.
"As expected, you're not worthy of being my opponent. In front of this [Schwarzer Regen] of mine, you're just another weakling like them--disappear."
The huge cannon on her shoulder turned over, and with a clank, it's aimed at me--damn it!
"MOVE ASIDE, ICHIKA!"
Charles shouted through the private communicator as she uses two assault rifles to rain down bullets.
"Che...another small fry..."
The invisible force that's grabbing onto me disappeared as my body regained its freedom. I then flew to Rin and Cecilia, who were released by Laura and carried them away.
(Please [Byakushiki]! Let me use another [Ignition Boost]!)
Due to the bad habit of running out of energy after putting it at the maximum output, I had very little energy left. But [Byakushiki] seemed to grant my wish as it focused all the power on the huge thrusters behind me--good!
*Klang*...for a moment, the world became some sort of slow-motion picture before accelerating fast at the next moment. After experiencing the unique feeling of [Ignition Boost], I immediately got away from Laura.
"How are the two of them, Ichika?"
Charles was covering me as she followed me from behind, asking me as she continued to shoot at Laura. She was using a super-high explosive assault rifle, and since she was reloading fast, the gun would be reloaded immediately after the bullets were used up, so Laura didn't have any chance to counter.
"Ugh...Ichika..."
"I let you...see me get embarrassed out there..."
"Don't talk...Charles, there's no problem. They're still conscious."
"Good."
Charles responded with a somewhat relaxed tone, but she didn't stop as she kept shooting at Laura after doing a third reload.
"Interesting, let me show you the difference in power across different IS generations!"
Laura dodged the bullets, or rather, defended against them, even using that invisible forcefield to stop the bullets. She then bent down to counter--probably to do [Ignition Boost]. I was still carrying Rin and Cecilia, so I couldn't fight in this situation, but I knew that it would be dangerous for Charles to handle this alone!
"Here I come...!"
"Kuu!"
Just as Laura was about to rush in, a figure jumped in between us.
*CLANG!*
As the sound of metal could be heard, that figure stopped Laura's Ignition Boost.
"...My my, it's because of little things like this that I grew tired of handling kids."
"Chifuyu-nee?"
To think that the figure belonged to an unexpected person, and she was still wearing a normal suit. There were ISs here, and she wasn't even wearing an IS suit. She was holding onto a IS sword easily, and that was a huge sword that was 170cm in length, all without the use of an IS. Besides, she just interrupted the battle from the side. No matter how I feel, she's definitely not an ordinary human.
"It's fine to have mock battles--but, to the extent of destroying the barriers of the arena? As a teacher, I can't stand by that. You can finish this battle at the individual division tournament."
"Since instructor says so..."
Laura nodded in obedience and got rid of her IS. Her armor scattered into particles of light and disappeared.
"Orimura, Dunois, is that fine with you two?"
"Ah, yeah..."
I just accidentally answered as per normal, probably stunned by this sudden scenario.
"Answer yes when you're replying to a teacher, you moron."
"Ye-Yes."
"I'm fine with that as well."
After I corrected my answer, Charles agreed too. Hearing her say that, Chifuyu-nee again addressed everyone in the arena.
"In that case, until the individual division tournament, all personal battles are forbidden. Dismissed!"
*PA!* Chifuyu-nee forcefully clapped her hands, and it sounded as loud as a bullet being shot.
◇
"..."
"..."
We're now in the infirmary, and it's been an hour since what happened at the 3rd arena. Rin and Cecilia have completed their treatment, and now that they're bandaged, they're staring away in different directions.
"It would have be alright even if you hadn't saved us."
"We could have won if it had continued."
Forget about thanking me, I even got such an answer. Oh well, it's not like I interfered just to earn their thanks. Basically, I interfered due to my own anger.
"You two..well, at least you two don't look too injured. I can relax now."
"These injuries are nothing--OWW!!"
"It's really meaningless to lie down here--EEKKK!!"
...Are these two idiots?
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING AN IDIOT! YOU MORON!"
"YOU'RE A BIG IDIOT, ICHIKA-SAN!"
And the response was so intense. I didn't even say anything and they found out? Either way, I really don't know what to do with these two injured people who're enraged.
"It must be quite embarrassing for you two to show such an awkward side to the person you like."
"Huh?"
Charles bought the drinks and came back. She seemed to say something, but I didn't listen to it carefully.
But it just seemed like I'm the only one, as Rin and Cecilia just blushed and started to rampage after hearing something.
"W-WH-WHA-WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? I DON'T UNDERSTAND AT ALL!!"
"I-I-I WASN'T TRYING TOO HARD! IT'S UNCOMFORTABLE HEARING YOU MAKE GUESSES LIKE THIS!"
Both of them continued to get flustered as their faces turned extremely red...what's wrong? Did Charles say something?
"Here, Oolong tea and red tea. Drink something to calm down, okay?"
"H-Humph!"
"I'll accept it reluctantly then!"
Rin and Cecilia snatched the drinks Charles served up and opened the bottles, gulping them down in one go. Hey hey, you'll damage your bodies if you drink such icy stuff in one shot!
"Well, sensei did say that you two can go back after calming down, so rest for a while--"
*DON* *DON* *DON* *DON* *DONG...!*
"Wh-What? What is that sound?"
The quake-like sound came from the corridor, and it seemed to be getting close, or maybe that's just my imagination.
*BAM!* The infirmary door got sent flying...and no, I'm not kidding. It got sent flying, really! This is the first time I saw the door get sent flying like that. I thought this could only happen in the movies.
"Orimura-kun!"
"Dunois-kun!"
Entering the room were--several girls who came in like an avalache, and this is something really big. As the infirmary only has 5 beds, it's packed full with people in an instant, and they surrounded us on sight, reached their hands out like some mega-sales...wah, this is just like a horror movie. Anyone would be terrified by the numerous hands.
"Wh-Wha-What's up?"
"Wha-What's going on? Everyone...pl-please calm down."
"""This!"""
Facing us while we're still confused, the girls handed over the emergency news and registration form.
"Wha-What...?"
"'In order to make the battles more realistic, the individual division tournament this month will be done in pairs. Henceforth, all those without pairs will have a partner selected for them in the lottery. The deadline is'..."
"Ah, anyway, just read this part! Here!"
Another hand reached out. Hiiee.
"Pair up with me, Orimura-kun!"
"Dunois-kun, be partners with me!"
I don't know why there's a sudden change in format of the individual division tournament, but anyway, all the people who came here right now are all first years (I can tell from the color of the ribbon). They probably came running here thinking that they can get the opportunity to pair up with the only 2 guys in school, but--
"Huh, well..."
That's right, Charles' actually a girl, so it will be bad no matter who she pairs up with. As the pairs will have to train together, her real identity may be exposed.
So I thought as I looked at Charles, who was staring back at me with a bothered look. After our eyes met, it seemed like she knew I understood her plea for help as she looked away.
Charles' cautiousness caused me to grimace as I declared in a voice loud enough for all the girls who were bickering to hear,
"I'm sorry everyone, but I'm pairing up with Charles. Please give up!"
