Infinite Stratos, Volume 2, page 13
“You’re no fair, Ichika.”
Even as she drew so close, he slept undisturbed. It was just like in Sleeping Beauty—and thinking this, Charles began to lose herself.
—Hehe. We’ve got the roles backwards.
After gazing at Ichika for a while longer, a look of otherworldly kindness settled over Charles’ face. Like a mother to her child, she bent forward, and lightly kissed his forehead.
“Good night, Ichika...”
With a warmth flowing through her body, Charles settled in for a long, long night.
Chapter IV: Find Out My Mind
It was the final week of June, and IS Academy had turned its full attention to the grade-separated tournament. The excitement was even higher than expected, and as the first round was about to begin, students had been finishing final preparations, setting up the grounds, and guiding guests around campus.
As they were released from duties, they rushed to the locker rooms in the arenas. And, as usual, we two boys had one of the huge locker rooms all to ourselves. How generous. It seemed like the other room had to deal with twice as many girls as it was made for. Must be tough.
“This is really impressive...”
The screens in the locker room showed the stands. They were packed with government functionaries, researchers, industry agents, and more.
“People are here to scout the third years, and see what kind of progress the second years have made. There’s not much attention paid to the first years, but they’re still likely to check out everyone who ends up high in the rankings.”
“Sounds like hard work.”
I wasn’t really interested or paying attention, but somehow, Charles figured out what was on my mind. She let out a chuckle.
“You’re only worried about the match against Bodewig, aren’t you, Ichika?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
Rin and Cecilia had been forced to drop out of the tournament after their clearance was pulled. This might have been okay for a normal student, but they were each National Cadets with their own IS. Not even being able to participate, never mind show results, was probably going to cause trouble for them.
“It must suck not even being able to see where you stand.”
Recalling that fight, I unthinkingly clenched my left hand. I must have been too obvious, as Charles covered it with her own.
“You can’t let your emotions take over. She’s probably the strongest in our class right now.”
“I know.”
Between being paired up in the tournament, and living together in the same room, Charles and I had grown close. It was mostly her understanding what I was thinking or how I felt, but lately I was starting to understand her, too. We had chemistry.
—We were thinking to do things like put out each other’s morning tea before we’d even had our own morning tea.
“That was pretty lame, Ichika.”
“Ugh... Really?”
Charles was a harsh critic of humor. And for some reason, she’d picked up the ability of my old friends to tell exactly what I was thinking. It was kind of spooky.
“All right, I’m ready.”
“Me too.”
We had each finished changing into our IS suits. I ran through my final checklist. Charles was in a men’s suit too, as usual. Apparently, it was designed to push her girl bulges into places which looked like guy bulges... Anyway, she had just finished up her own checks.
“I think the brackets are about to be announced.”
For some reason, the sudden change of format to doubles seemed to have made the usual system malfunction. They were supposed to be announced the day before, but students ended up having to draw them by hand that morning.
“I hope we end up as the first group in Block A.”
“Wait, why?”
“We won’t have to stand around worrying that way. Momentum is vital. Best to get off to a running start.”
“Heh, I guess. Personally, I see showing our hand at the beginning as a minus.”
That was definitely a Charles way to look at things. Maybe it was because we looked at things so differently that we got along so well. Or really, maybe it was because she went out of her way to adjust to me. Especially looking at the training we did together, Charles had such a nice personality, and she was kind, too; the type of person I didn’t have around me before. I may be exaggerating a little, but I felt a little compelled to think of her as some kind of goddess or angel. Seriously. Who could blame me?
“Looks like the brackets are up.”
The screens switched over to display the field. I put aside that thought, and focused on the words popping up on screen.
“WHAT?!”
Charles and I each let out a gasp as we read the text. Our first-round opponents were Laura and Houki.
◇
“.........”
In the locker room opposite Ichika’s, there was a rather clear divide between where I was and all the other girls. Beside me was Laura Bodewig... as cold as ever. Just being around her made everyone take a step back. It almost felt cooler, too, contrary to the heat from the overcrowded room we were in.
—We’re against Ichika first?! What kind of bracket is this?!
The sudden announcement bothered me a lot, but I tried my best to think about it calmly. When they first announced the doubles format, I ended up losing a lot of sleep because I wanted to ask him to team up. But when I finally went to ask... all I was told was “I’m already teamed up with Charles.”
I didn’t have any sort of alternative to that, so I never sought out a partner afterwards. Before I knew it, the deadline came, and I got assigned one randomly. Out of all the girls in our year, it ended up being Laura. Apparently, we were the only two left that hadn’t found partners.
—I absolutely have to win, and yet...
This was the worst. The absolute worst. While she may be very skilled... I couldn’t stand her. There was no way we would be able to work together. She didn’t listen to anything I had to say at all, and all I got out of her was “Just stay out of my way.”
Despite all this, I could kind of understand her, in a way. She... reminded me of myself, back when I felt like I was better than everyone. And just seeing myself in her almost made me sick to my stomach. But now wasn’t the time to think about that.
—If I don’t focus, I won’t be able to fight with my all. I won’t be able to fight... Ichika.
With my eyes closed, I crossed my arms and began to focus myself.
◇
“I wasn’t expecting us to be up first. Looks like we don’t have to wait around today,” said Laura.
“Yeah, no complaints here. I feel the same,” I commented.
Five seconds left until the match began. Four, three, two, one. Fight.
“I’LL TAKE YOU DOWN!”
Somehow, Laura’s words were the same as mine. As soon as the countdown finished, I open up with Ignition Boost. An opening like this would tilt the battle in our favor.
“RAAAH!”
“Hmph.” Laura thrusted her left hand forward.
—Here it comes.
My conversation with Rin and Cecilia about their fight with Laura sprang to mind.
“AIC? What’s that?”
“The Schwarzer Regen’s third-generation capability. It stands for Active Inertial Canceller.”
“Huh.”
“Ichika, you know about the PIC, right?” asked Cecilia.
“Not really.”
“Um, Ichika... This is the basics. Each IS has a ‘Passive Inertial Canceller’ that lets it hover, accelerate, and decelerate.”
“Oh, yeah, I think I heard someone mention that.”
“Seriously...”
“All right, that’s quite enough sketch comedy, now let’s think about how to deal with it. Honestly, that was the first time I’d seen it as well, but I can’t imagine that all of the kinks have been worked out yet,” I said.
“Indeed. There’s no way it would outclass an impact cannon like that.”
“And doesn’t it operate on the same principle as the impact cannon? By energizing a field, or whatever.”
“Right. Yes. They’re both pretty similar, then. The details might be different, but it must manipulate energy like an ADWS.”
“Then can’t Reiraku Byakuya cut through it?”
“In theory, yes, but that didn’t exactly happen, did it?”
“You’re right. So what stopped it?”
“It’s simple. It just has to avoid making contact with Reiraku Byakuya, and stop your arm directly, instead.”
“My arm, directly? Can it really be aimed that well from a distance?”
“Apparently. Though, if I may offer my opinion, Ichika. Your movement is...”
“She read you in the large print edition,” jeered Rin.
“Oof.”
“Your arm always moves in a straight line, right? Like this, either straight down or sidearm? So...”
“Therefore, in combat, she simply needs to cast out the AIC’s energy waves along the same line, and allow you to catch yourself.” Cecilia said, finishing the thought.
“I see. So what do I do about it?” I asked.
“That’s your problem.”
“Ain’t that the truth...”
In the end, I never did figure out a way, so I had only one option: A surprise attack.
“Ugh!”
However, it seemed like she read my strategy, as first my arms, then my chest, then my legs were caught in the AIC’s net. No matter how hard I struggled, I couldn’t move at all. Unseen hands grabbed at me, preventing any motion.
“A preemptive strike at the beginning of the match. How predictable.”
“You’re welcome. I try to be upfront about things.”
“Then you should understand what I’m about to do.”
Yeah. I had a pretty good picture of what was about to happen, even though I’d have been happier not to.
Click. As the sound of a gigantic revolver’s cylinder locking into place echoed, Byakushiki’s hypersensors went wild.
[WARNING: ENEMY IS RAIL CANNON SAFETY DISENGAGED. ROUND LOADED. LOCK-ON DETECTED.]
—Calm down. This isn’t a one-on-one fight. Right?
“I won’t let you do that.”
Charles flew over my head, bathing Laura in a hail of high explosive shells from her .61-caliber Garm assault cannon.
“Tch!”
The cannon on her shoulder swung wide under the attack, sending the bullet aimed for me slicing through the sky. As Charles pressed the attack, Laura darted backward swiftly, trying to open a gap.
“I won’t let you get away!”
Charles swung her own gun barrel directly in front of her for a charge, while calling an assault rifle into her left hand. Streaks of light twined together in empty space, forming the gun in less than a second. This was Charles’ specialty, the ‘Rapid Switch.’ Rather than having to prepare weapons in advance, she could swap them in real time. Her dexterity and split-second decision making allowed it to really shine.
“I can’t let you forget about me.”
Houki appeared in an Uchigane, blocking our pursuit of Laura. Its physical shield, proof of its role as a defensive IS, extended, blocking Charles’ bullets as she closed in for a slash.
“And I’ll make sure you don’t forget about me!” I said.
Having broken free of Laura’s AIC, I dove toward Charles’ back with Ignition Boost. Just as we crashed together, she made a backward somersault and we swapped places. This combo was the payoff of our hard training.
Clang! I clashed blades with Houki, and sparks flew.
As we traded blows and parries, I increased my thruster output. Slowly but surely, the added momentum behind my strikes pushed Houki back.
“Ugh! Damn you!”
In her frustration at being pushed back, Houki raised her blade in a wide overhead swing. Now was our chance.
“Charles!”
“Got it!”
Ching! I parried with the Yukihira Nigata held level, braced against my left hand.
At the same moment, Charles, who had been holding onto me from behind, stretched out her hands from under my arms. Each held a .62-caliber ‘Rain of Saturday’ double-barreled shotgun, designed for suppression fire. At this range, there was no way she could miss. Houki blanched in fright, but it was too late. Charles pulled the trigger.
“......?!”
Houki had suddenly disappeared before our eyes. The shotgun blasts fired in vain, finding only air.
—What?! What just happened?
“Out of my way.”
Instead, Laura was closing in quickly. One of her wire blades had wrapped around Houki’s leg, and slung her to the far edge of the arena by centrifugal force. It seemed that her emergency evasion was made by the pull of the wire.
“What are you doing?!” Houki yelled.
But Laura was doing anything but helping an ally—she was simply pulling an obstruction out of her way. Houki shouted in wordless rage as she hit the ground, but Laura showed no inclination to listen, as she had already begun her attack on us. Plasma daggers extended, Laura struck repeatedly from the sides. Her unpredictable mix of slashes and thrusts soon pushed me back.
“Looks like the odds are on my side,” Laura sneered. “Only two?”
If she was that self-confident, Laura Bodewig’s true strength must be positively inhuman. As she continued her attacks on me, Laura used her wire blades to drive Charles back and away from me. Even if she couldn’t fully control all six at once, she was able to rotate between firing and retracting them to carry out an all-range attack.
“You okay, Charles?”
“I should be asking you that. I’ll have cover for you soon.”
“It’s fine. Let’s just stick to the plan.”
“Roger.”
After a short exchange on our private channel, we move to the plan we’d settled on in advance. Essentially, it was “Get Houki first.”
—I’m sure I’ll get an earful about it later.
We settled on this for a simple reason. Laura specialized in fighting multiple opponents at once. Meaning, she had no conception of how to fight alongside others, so she wouldn’t lift a finger to help Houki. Therefore, we could take Houki out and then gang up on Laura. As I said before, Laura was more than able to handle multiple opponents, but that was where the trap was set.
—Just because a duo is one plus one doesn’t mean that the answer is two.
“Sorry you didn’t get to fight Ichika,” said Charles.
“What? Are you making fun of me?!” shouted Houki.
Charles had escaped Laura’s range and was closing in on Houki. I didn’t understand why that set Houki off, but set her off it did.
Clang!
Houki’s blade parried a slash from the ‘Bread Slicer’ combat knife which Charles suddenly drew. At the same time, flame erupted from the barrel of the Rain of Saturday in her left hand.
“Ugh!”
As much as I had the mental image of Charles as being good at ranged combat, what she was really good at was being nimble. She was better than average in close quarters as well, even before her Quick Switch. With it, she could fire off a close-ranged blast at an opponent who chose to duel, or dart in for a quick slash at one who tried to gain distance. She could maintain her ideal range and rhythm whether an opponent chose to close in or back away, keeping her offensive and defensive options open.
It seemed that this technique was called ‘Mirage de Désert.’ Or as it was described: “Drawing further as one yearns, and closer as one submits; chasing its azure one’s weariness melts away, as it leads one to a topaz death.” I understood it—kind of.
“Trying to gain a numbers advantage? Pointless.”
Laura, you didn’t even count Houki to begin with. But to us, it mattered. What I needed to do was survive Laura’s attacks until Charles finished off Houki. She fluidly combined plasma dagger thrusts with swipes from her wire blades. Evading them was no simple matter. Still, I did my best to stay in close combat and avoid letting her open up a gap.
“Your only weapon is that blade. If you’re not in close, you won’t be able to touch me at all.”
That was true. But what I was really worried about was that rail cannon. Plus, there were her wire blades, and if she managed to open a gap it’d take a lot of time and energy to close back in.
No matter what, I needed to stick it out! Wielding Yukihira Nigata in my right hand, I grabbed at one of Laura’s hands, holding one of her plasma daggers—with my left. At the same time, my feet were in constant motion, kicking away her wire blades. As complicated as their motions were, if I didn’t land my kicks squarely on their sides, I’d get a toenail trimming. The second I let my focus down, it would all be over.
“ARGH!”
Clank! Bam! Bang! Clang!
A high-speed battle at zero range. I didn’t know how much longer I could keep my concentration. All I could do was hold fast and believe in Charles.
“Shall we finish this?”
Laura retracted her plasma daggers.
—Oh no!
In the same moment, I froze dead in the air. Laura thrust both arms forward, her palms open toward me.
—Shit! The AIC!
“Now—disappear.”
Six wire blades sliced towards me at once.
“Dammit!”
I screamed as they carved along my body, tearing off a full third of my IS’ armor. Nearly half of my shield energy was depleted at once, too. That wasn’t the end of her attacks either, as two wire blades twisted around my right hand, twisting as if to tear it off while slamming me to the ground.
“Ugh!”
I couldn’t brace for the shock, and my back slamming into the ground knocked the wind out of me.
—I need to get back on my feet!
The thought flashed through my mind at the same time as I watched Laura finish targeting her rail cannon.
“It’s over.”
Fshoom!
My vision played out in slow motion. Flames erupted from the barrel, before being torn through by a bullet. Not just any bullet, but one designed to pierce IS armor. It could finish a fight in one shot if it hit its mark. And right now, it was flying straight at me.
