Infinite Stratos - Volume 2, page 17
"Ah..."
Chifuyu's words confound Laura. As she never expected Chifuyu to encourage her, she didn't know what to do. She didn't know how to answer, as she couldn't even say a single word.
Chifuyu got up from the chair and began to leave. She had said whatever she wanted to say, and was ready to head back to being in the position of a teacher.
"Oh, and also."
Chifuyu put her hand on the door, and without turning back, added on,
"You can't become me. If you become that guy's elder sister, you will continue to worry like me."
She did smile when she said that, right? Laura felt this way.
Then, a few minutes after Chifuyu left the room, Laura began to feel weird.
"Fu, fufu...hahaha."
Ah, such a cunning pair of siblings. Both of them always wanted to run away after saying what they wanted to say.
Having said so much, she still had to consider this. What was more sly than that?
(Think on my own, act on my own. Is that so...)
Though just laughing alone would cause aches in her entire body, Laura still felt happy.
She lost thoroughly, lost completely, but she never felt better.
Right now, the life of Laura Bodewig begins now--
◇
"The tournament is called off due to an unexpected situation. But as the tournament is related to the tracking of individual data, all the matches in the first round will be continued. Please check the changes in locations, dates and times on the PD—"
*Beep*. Someone turned off the television in the cafeteria. I was watching the TV while eating sea-salt flavored ramen. Though the foreign language film had finished playing, it was rather smooth...I'm talking about the ramen.
"Mn, just like what Charles said."
"Yeah. Ah, Ichika, please pass me the chilli powder."
"Here."
"Thanks."
Though people may criticize us for 'Looking like it didn't involve us even though we were the ones involved', we were questioned by the teachers all the way until just now, and the cafeteria was about to close when we were finally released. Thus we hastily headed here, only to find a large number of girls waiting at the cafeteria, ready to question us.
Anyway, better finish dinner first. We sat at the table, ready to finish dinner, but the running trailer on the TV showed an important announcement, which was the section just now.
"Phew—I'm full! School cafeteria, hostel cafeteria, it's great to have such delicious food in this school...hm?"
I don't know the reason, but the girls who were waiting for us to finish eating suddenly looked extremely depressed. The way they looked depressed is like a Yamato-class battleship. I'm sorry, I never saw one before.
"...Our chance...to win...gone..."
"Date...wasted..."
"...WAHHH!!"
*Pa pa pa*. Several people ran out, crying...what, what's wrong now?
"What's going on?"
"No idea..."
Charles and I didn't even know what's going on. At this point, we just found another example of how 'Girls are inexplicable beings'.
After the girls left, I saw someone standing around. That was my familiar childhood friend, Houki.
Houki looked like her soul had just floated out of her mouth...anyway, better get to her.
"Oh yeah, Houki, about our promise last month—"
"Ku."
A response. Good, she's not dead yet.
"I can go out with you."
"—What?"
"I'm saying that I can go out with you...WAH!"
Houki suddenly jumped up like a loosened spring. She just grabbed my neck when I was already a lot taller than her—GUH!!
"RE-REA-REAL...LY!? REA...REAL-REALLY!?"
How many times do you need to say 'really'? It'll become a lie if you continue on. I guess now.
"...Mn, yup."
"Wh-Why? Yo-You, tell me your reason..."
Houki suddenly backed away from me, cupped her chest and gave a dry cough. Why is her face so red...well, forget about it.
"That's because it's a request from a childhood friend, so I can go along with you..."
"I-Is that so?"
"...On a shopping trip that is."
Ugh! Houki's expression's really scary...hey, hey! Is that what an oni's[2D 2] expression is like?
"...That's..."
"Hey, hey."
Was Houki's expression's really this terrifying? It's best not to irritate her. Those who have eaten nitroglycerin and chilli should be treated [delicate] and [softly].
"YOU THOUGHT IT WAS SOMETHING LIKE THAT!?"
MOVE!
"GUH!"
She launched a straight punch that was empowered with the twisting of the waist, causing my eyes to seemingly be covered by a black cloth--Sei kobushi no buratsuku sumi su[2D 3]...never mind.
"Humph!"
*BAM!* Ugh, her toes landed straight in my chest.
I-Idiot, I just saw your panties already...--let me tell you, it's white.
"U-Ug-Ugh..."
I immediately collapsed onto the floor, and couldn't see Houki stomp away angrily...it seems like I got critically damaged. Right now, I didn't want to move, and I couldn't move anyway.
"Ichika, sometimes I feel that you're doing it on purpose."
"Wh-What? What do you mean?"
"What do you think?"
Charles suddenly looked away. What the heck, what's...
It was 15 minutes later before I finally recovered.
Stroking my still-aching abdomen, I faced Charles as we sat.
"Oh yeah, I got some things to ask you."
"Okay, what is it? You can ask anything."
Having finished her Tsukimi udon, Charles smiled as she answered. Though we seemed to have met a lot of terrible stuff ever since the tournament ended, for some reason, she seemed to be in a good mood.
"Can we actually talk through IS? Huh, not by private channels. It's like talking to each other in a space both people have."
"Hm? Well...I seem to have heard of it before. Though it's thought to be the interference in the IS network, but in fact, it should be some sort of a consciousness interference when the pilots are of the same wavelength, or something like that."
"Ohh, that may be the case. But, the wave...wavelength. I really don't understand."
"IS itself has a lot of phenomenons and functions that can't be understood, and also, the inventor, Professor Shinonono Tabane didn't even reveal the complete details and disappeared. Though she once said that IS is designed to improve itself, it seems like she herself couldn't grasp it, so she couldn't even roughly describe it."
"Well, that sounds like what Tabane-san would do..."
That person basically wouldn't bother with things she wasn't interested in...she could have checked it out herself. Seems like she deliberately chose not to do so.
As I continued to think this, I suddenly noticed Charles staring at me—maybe it was just me or that I was distracted, but she seemed to be rather vexed.
"...Ichika, when you talked about 2 people talking in a space, are you referring to Bodewig?"
"Mn, well, yeah..."
"Hm—I see."
Charles nonchalantly answered as she kept her cutlery. Thanks to the recent training...or the telepathy between partners, I immediately knew that she wasn't happy.
She's trying her best not to show it, so it's almost impossible to detect it, but as she got into that situation, she would emphasize the ending in all her sentences, and she would walk faster.
But why is she unhappy? That's a mystery.
"Ah, Orimura-kun, Dunois-kun. You're here. It was tough on you two."
"You too, Yamada-sensei. It must be tiring to continue recording, right?"
"No, no. I'm already used to such dry work. Don't worry about me. Besides, I'm a teacher after all."
Hehe, Yamada-sensei lifted her chest up, and that voluptuous chest of her shook due to the weight, making me wonder where I should put my eyes on, and I can only look away.
"..."
"Ichika no ecchi."
Though that was just a little side comment, I could hear it clearly.
"Wh-What? Hold on, Charles! That's a misunderstanding!"
"Humph, God knows."
Ah, whatever. Why is her mood so poor? She didn't like to eat tsukiri udon? I did tell her that the traditional way of eating it was to eat the egg last...
"What's wrong?"
"No, nothing, nothing at all."
"I see...well, let's not mention about this. There's good news!"
Yamada-sensei clenched both fists and gave a victory pose, and her breasts bounced again. Well, though it was an eyecandy, it wasn't good for the eyes.
"It's really good news! Starting today, the boys' bath is opened!"
"Ohh! Is that so? I thought we had to wait till next month."
"That's because they had to check the boiler of the baths today, so the students weren't allowed to use it. But now that the inspection's done, there's no need to prevent the 2 guys from using it!"
Great, this is really great! Awesome! To be honest, because of the large number of problems that occurred with the tournament, I really wanted to take a bath to remove all my fatigue.
However...whether it was the inter-class match last month or any of my matches, there always seemed to be something unexpected, something impossible that happened. Right now, my fatigue level's almost at 100%, and I really can't be pleased about it.
"Thank you Yamada-sensei!"
Being extremely touched, I grabbed Yamada-sensei's hands tightly, wrapping my own hands around hers, and my eyes that were staring at Yamada-sensei's eyes should be glittering like gold...ahh, it's great to have a bath! It can be considered a tradition in Japanese history...no, it may even be the soul of it!
"We-Well...sensei will be troubled if you close in like this! That..."
"Yes?"
"No, nothing, nothing at all! It should be alright, right?"
For some reason, Yamada-sensei was unable to calm down as she looked about. You have to look at others in the eyes when they're talking to you! You said so yourself!
And she was blushing. Does she have a cold? A summer cold affects the body badly. I hope that she can take care of her own body more.
"Ah--...ahem."
Charles coughed dryly a few times to interrupt our conversation, and I suddenly felt that the warmth in her eyes is lower than before. Why is that so? She's not happy about a bath? I am!
"An-Anyway, both of you, please hurry to the bath. You just need to soak your body up to your shoulders to remove all your fatigue, right?"
"Yes! Then let's hurry and go—ah!"
Immediately after I quickly answered, I remembered something.
Yamada-sensei did say 'Both of you, please hurry to the bath'—she did refer to Charles and me like that.
Not, good.
Up until now, Charles had always been attending school as a guy.
It wouldn't be natural to go in separately, and they forced us to use it together. Anyone would roll their eyes about this wasteful manner.
"Huh, what...that..."
"What's wrong? Okay okay. Both of you, hurry and get your change of clothes. I have the key to the bath, so I'll be waiting for both of you in front of the changing room. So then."
After saying that, Yamada-sensei immediately scooted off...ahh, what do we do now...
"...Charles?"
"Well, that's trouble...some. What do we do? An-Anyway, lets go back to the room to get our change of clothes."
"Well, let's just hope that someone up there can find a way for us..."
As we were with a common mindset, she understood it. Anyway, Charles and I headed back to the room first.
While getting our clothes, we still couldn't find a way. We didn't even have time to talk about normal stuff, and could only prepare to bathe.
And then—
"Ah, you're here! Please enter! You're the first ones in!"
"Th-Thanks..."
Sounding really excited, Yamada-sensei sent us in, saying 'Take your time~' as she closed the door to the changing room.
Then, the time of silence came, and Charles and I turned our backs on each other in the changing room.
"..."
"..."
No, this won't do. I want to take a bath, but no matter what, I can't do it together with Charles. Well...I did see her naked before, but that was another thing altogether. As expected, a girl at this age can't show her naked body to guys like that.
And I have to try my best to avoid seeing it.
Though many would say 'It's not like you'll lose a lump of flesh', that's a misunderstanding, a very serious mistake. It's basically idiotic.
They will decrease; the dignity, elegance, value of a girl will drop.
Logically, guys should be protecting girls, so how can I look down on them? That's the 'Lack of Shame' that Houki said.
"E—n...Charles?"
"Ye-Yes?"
Why does she sound so polite now? Sigh, never mind.
I still have to talk to her while facing her. It's really hard to talk to her while our backs are facing each other. But if I have to look at her face, a lot of unexpected things will come out of my mouth. This is really unbelievable.
"You're tired today, right, Charles? Go in then. I'll spend the time outside, and once you're almost done, I'll go back to the room."
"Huh? What about you, Ichika?"
"We can't possibly bathe together, right? Hm, well. Since it's like this, go in and bath then, Charles. I'll go back to the room to bathe."
Guys have to wait silently. Besides, since I have to accommodate my partner Charles, this is nothing. I don't have to be responsible for strangers, but Charles did care for me a lot.
In modern society, it's not rare to see girls suddenly order a guy they don't know, but if I meet one, I'll definitely reject her without a second thought. No matter who the person is, I have no obligation to listen to any rude and unreasonable orders.
On the other hand, if there's a reason I can agree with that is meaningful, I'll do my best to fulfill it. Don't look at me like that. I'm good at things like domestic stuff and massaging. Chifuyu-nee can guarantee that. Though I may be bragging, I could make a good house-husband, heh heh~
"It, it's alright. I'll wait for you in the changing room. Well...I don't really like to take baths, but you do right, Ichika?"
"I do!"
Of course I do!
If I have to compare between the importance of bathing and eating, bathing would come on top. But it's a different case if it's a meal with delicately prepared food. Huh? Why is Charles blushing?
"What's wrong?"
"No, nothing! An-Anyway, go take a bath then, Ichika! Don't mind me, okay?"
"...Really?"
"Ye-Yeah."
"I'm going in then! Thanks Charles! I'll pay you back next time!"
Since she said this, it would be rude of me to I refuse her. Knowing that I can take a bath (in such a large bath to boot!) made me feel a lot better.
Thus, I moved to a place where Charles couldn't see and took it off. Though it's rather troublesome to put on the IS suit, it's easy for guys to take off their clothes. I'm not kidding. It didn't even take half the time it takes to wear them.
"I'm going in then."
"O-Okay, take your time."
I called Charles before I entered the bath, but for some reason, she sounded rather sheepish. Is she planning on pulling a prank? I hope not.
"WOW!"
It's huge! It's really huge.
There was a large bath in the room, 2 medium-sized baths that had massaging and air-bubbling functions respectively, and one hinoki bath. Furthermore, there was also a sauna, a body shower and even a waterfall-style massage water pillar. The facilities were perfect! It's great to live in Japan! Long Live Japan!
Wah, I'm feeling way too good now. I really want to use all the facilities of this bath. Anyone who doesn't feel excited about seeing this isn't a Japanese. No, isn't even human!
"Wait, hold on. Calm down. Haste won't make the cut. Let's just wash my body first."
Got to wash my body first, really.
"WAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
IT'S ALRIGHT TO SHOUT HERE! THIS IS A LARGE BATH AFTER ALL! (Note: all good kids shouldn't try this.)
I held back my exhilaration as I hurriedly washed my body and quickly washed off the soap. I had to wash once first, bath, wash another time, bath, and then get out. That's my policy. Though it's alright to not follow through the routine, I'd feel better if I do, so I would often follow my routine.
After washing my body, I soaked my entire body into the bath pool that I oh so awaited.
"Hoo~"
Ahh, this relaxing feeling that spreads through my body. The tired feeling of fatigue and stiff body, and the relaxing feeling the steam brings to remove them...as I continued to relax my body, I try to remove all the thoughts in my mind. I don't want to think about anything. I just want to enjoy the bath on my own.
"Ah~! I'M REVIVED~"
REVIVED~REVIVED~REVIVED~...
As expected of a large bath, even the echoes are nice to hear. Hm, this is just like an onsen that promotes the importance of a bath. I should stick a gold star and then pin it up.
Thus, as I continued to soak in the pool, I soon forgot about the time, and a sleeping sensation gradually struck me. Maybe it was because I was tired, as the sleep monster carried me away after I relaxed.
(Ahh...I'll really sleep at this rate.)
I'll drown at this rate. This isn't good.
*Shashasha...*
(...? Is it my imagination? I seem to hear the door to the changing room opening...)
But my mind's really fuzzy now. Maybe it's just my imagiantion.
*Patapatapata*.
I heard a pair of beautiful legs walking on the wet marble.
The reason why I knew that was because it sounded beautiful. The source of the beautiful sound would most likely indicate that it was beautiful. Heh~
"I-I'm coming in..."
"!!"
I quickly raised the face that was half-soaked in water, and on the other side of the steam, I saw a completely naked Charles.
