Infinite Stratos - Volume 8, page 3
As expected, such an opinion on the topic of this importance to Cecilia could not be ignored or forgiven. Rin now faced the full fury of Cecilia.
But, as expected of British royalty, once they made a decision, it would be very hard to change it.
Ignoring Rin who was making a racket, Laura washed off the shampoo and put on her eye patch.
"Now that you mention it, I have received the troop's orders. I might have to return to Germany sometime soon."
"Oh, is that so? Then be sure to bring back some souvenirs for them."
"Un, yes. My platoon mates asked me to buy many things."
"What is it that they want?"
Rarely seen, Houki was interested in Laura's topic. For her home country to leave such a strong impression on others was something to be happy about.
"Mocha and Yatsuhashi [2], Imagawayaki[3] and Kompeito[4]. Then there's Taiyaki and Dorayaki, Yokan[5], An-pan, Steamed Bun, Rice cake, Rice cracker, Warabimochi[6], Dango, Maltose candy..."
Watching Laura recount the requests with her fingers, Charlotte and Houki became stiff.
"Why, why do I get the feeling that the requests are all strange...?"
"Even though they are of the Special Forces, it seems they are all still girls at heart..."
"Aah, I almost forgot the thing Clarissa asked for!"
"What, what is it?"
"Shachihoko[7]."
"What...?"
Houki and Charlotte were stunned.
However, Laura repeated seriously.
"Shachihoko. What, you don't know? It is something that is like the protecting spirit of ancient japan. If one has this thing, he will have something akin to a impregnable defense. It also seems to play an important part on the strong defense of olden time Japanese castles."
(Could this mean it was just a talisman to ward off disasters...?)
(Laura's vice commander seems to be totally wrong when it comes to this topic...)
"Then, where is it sold?"
"No no, that thing is not for sale."
"Is that so? Then it is fine if I snatch it right?"
"How did it end up like this!?"
"I once saw such an example in a manga."
"Laura, you can't copy that manga!"
Even though Charlotte didn't know what manga it was, it was more important to correct the misunderstanding first.
Thus, in the remaining time in the showers, Houki and Charlotte used all their effort to convince Laura.
Laura, on the other hand, just nodded her head as she muttered "So it is like this."
"Cecilia! People have already apologized, but why are you still like this!"
"Just when, where, and who apologized to me!?"
Looking at Rin and Cecilia, who were still fighting even while changing, Houki, Charlotte, Laura and Kanzashi put on their undergarments.
Because of the variety of colors shown at this point, it gives off a bright and refreshing feel only present in 10 odd year old girls.
To put it simply, it would be——'beyond what words could describe'.
◇
"This is..."
Let's not talk about the IS Academy, but this research center is very far from the town center. I have to take a tram for an hour and then a bus ride for another hour, which led me to this deep forest in the middle of nowhere.
"It should be right here......?"
I carefully compared the map and the research center's signboard.
"Kuromochi Research Center ....... Hmm. Spot on."
That's right————- today I am here at Byakushiki's research center.
Today is a working day and I should be in school but for some reason, I got special permission to go out.
(Byakushiki's overall maintenance? What exactly has to be done?)
I was thinking of going near to the entrance but the entrance was blocked by some white wall.
There's no door handle, doorbell or even a surveillance camera.
"How am I going to get in......"
——gropegropegrope!
"Wha!?"
I nearly fell down due to the fact that my butt was just groped by someone.
I manage to recover my balance and at my rear, there's a girl wearing swimming goggles (or black sunglasses models).
"What, what, what.......!?"
"Fufufufu. Underage boys' small butts are awesome."
She grins and her grinning smile is almost like the crescent moon.
When she grins, she revealed her unusually long canine teeth as if they're Dracula's.
"What are you trying to do!?"
"What am I trying to do? Can't you see what I'm doing?"
She's wearing a school swimsuit with a deep blue IS shirt. On her bosom, there is [Kagaribi] nametag.
What makes me even more surprised is that she is all wet from top to bottom.
Not just plain wet, her right hand is holding a harpoon and her left hand is holding five or six freshwater fish.
The water just kept on dripping on the floor and her damp hair curled and warped up like wakame.
(....... No matter how you look at her, she is a weirdo or should you say a pervert.....)
I want to maintain some distance from her.
But this pervert....... she quickly closes the distance between us.
"Fu——mu."
"Um, um..."
"Fumu, fumu, fu——mu."
"............"
While I am slowly immersed in an extremely weird atmosphere, the door behind me suddenly opens.
"Director! What are you are doing out here!"
This man in his 30's comes running by and when he sees me, he gives out an [ah] exclamation.
"You, you are Orimura-kun!? Orimura Ichika-kun!"
"Yes, yes."
"Really! Please forgive us. Last time, we said that the director will be the one to receive you, but this person here is just another ordinary pervert."
Woah—— to even speak like that so bluntly!
"Shut up, gramps."
While she said that, she waved her spear and then throwing it aside...... What the!? This, this person is really dangerous!
"Come, come here, bishonen. Why don't you come into my room and we can have some 'fun' time together!"
"What are you referring to with this 'fun' thing?"
I have to admit that those boobs really captivate me.
"Baba-nuki"
"It's too boring with just two people!"
"You're right. Ok, let's play some ero games then."
"............."
The male staff and I could only look at her with accusing eyes.
"Iya..... even two persons entering a narrow bathroom is out of the question. A——a—— Japanese laws are too boring!"
This strange woman used her hands to rest her head and pursed her mouth.
There's a short moment where I didn't know how to deal with this embarrassing situation, the male staff then whispered to me:
"Please forgive us. Well, let's go inside. I will serve you juice for you to drink later."
After he apologized to me, he led me into the building.
Inside the building, everything was pure white. The floor, walls and ceiling were all white. Even the lamps were white fluorescent lamps.
(I wonder if it's because this place is Byakushiki's development chamber..... This is strange.)
Bechiya, bechiya, bechiya.
I can hear the wet barefoot steps from my back, almost like a mild horror movie of some sort.
"AH——! Director! Please dry yourself up before entering!"
"Humhahahahah, don't mind it."
"In the end, there's still some mopping to do!"
"You're right. Alright, I will wait here until it dries up."
"But this will take time to dry up!"
"Uhahahahaha!"
It seems that this person is a pain in the neck.
"Um, well, um....... see you later.
"Ui, ui, see you later——"
I carelessly waved at the director before slowly walking along the corridor.
◇
N——fufu. That is really Orimura’s younger brother.”
After Ichika left, the female director is alone, smiling to herself in the corridor.
When she smiles, she shows her unusually long canine teeth, which mostly give the goose bumps feeling.
“Director! Please dry yourself up with the towel!”
“OK, ok, I am sorry.”
After putting her harpoon and fish up in exchange for a towel, she fiercely rubs her body dry.
“You better let me have some good data, Orimura Ichika-kun.”
While rubbing her face, this [director] has a profound smile, hidden under her towel.
◇
(Un…)
I waited for 30 minutes after being told to stay in this room.
Just when I was feeling really bored, I thought about doing some push-ups, and got up from the sofa. At this moment, the woman from before entered.
“Sorry for being late! Did I keep you waiting?”
“Ah, yes.”
“…”
“?”
She angrily puffed her cheeks while still wearing the swimming sunglasses from before. It seemed my answer wasn’t satisfactory.
“Seriously, when a female asks you ‘did I keep you waiting’, the correct answer should be ‘I just arrived’!”
“Ha, okay…”
“You must learn these aesthetics, or you won’t be popular with the girls.”
“Is-is that so…”
“But if it really ends up that way, I’ll happily take you in. There won’t be any problems at all.”
It’s really a problematic statement, but I better ignore it for now.
“Then, let’s begin!”
The woman draped the white coat over her IS suit. On a side note, she’s wearing furry kitty paws slippers on her feet.
Then, she slowly takes off her sunglasses, and finally reveals her eyes.
“Nice to meet you. My name’s Kagaribi Hikaruno, the second research facility director of Kuramochi Technology Research Institute, and I’m your sister’s classmate in the same year.”
Her long and narrow eyes have a smiling intent in it, resembling a cat. The crescent moon like smile showed the long canines within again.
“Onee-san…as in Chifuyu-nee!?”
“Yeah.”
Pochin! The rubber strap of the sunglasses was stretched and loosened, sticking itself onto the head and letting out a sound.
The pair of swimming sunglasses now looks like a helmet.
(No, instead of this!)
“Well, as same-year classmates, you mean the high school days, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then, you’re friends with Tabane-san…”
“No, no no no.”
Hikaruno-san immediately reacts to my words, and shakes her head.
“The term of friends refers to the equal relationship between each other. They can be considered friends to each other in their cases. Shinonono Tabane is a friend to Orimura Chifuyu, and Orimura Chifuyu to Shinonono Tabane. This is a one and only kind of thing.”
Hikaruno-san says this as she wags her finger.
“I can’t match up to those two at all. That’s why we can’t be considered friends, but classmates, just classmates.”
Anyway, it’s best not to talk about this for the time being; Hikaruno-san finishes this topic by saying this, opened the holographic display, and called out an IS maintenance suit. Six mechanic arms silently reach for me.
“Then, please activate your Byakushiki. We’ll now start to repair the damages, optimize the system, and collect data.”
“Ah, yes.”
I gather my concentration and call out Byakushiki. My body’s surrounded by light, and a pure white armor covers me.
“Speaking of which, sorry about the summer. I couldn’t come to IS Academy because of something. Oh my, this really won’t do. We got a big problem!”
“…?”
“Ah, the current trend certainly is cruel.”
I don’t really understand, but this is plausible.
Haa. Hikaruno-san lets out a long sigh, and then turns her stare to the display.
“Hmm, it certainly took a lot of damage. In that case, it’ll be faster to have you take off Byakushiki and let our technicians repair it.”
“Then, how long will it take?”
“Hm? It’ll be done tomorrow or so. Isn’t it easy if we spend an all-nighter on this?”
All-nighter—I don’t think that’s easy.
“Then, let’s get in! Everyone from Kuramochi Technology!”
The sliding door moved aside and let out a hissing sound of air; men and women rushed through the door with frantic footsteps. Their ages vary, but they seemed to be all Japanese.
“Then, go fish for something. You can get a lot in the river nearby.”
She said that and handed a fishing rod over to me. Of course, there was no reel, just a hook and line draping down.
“Please use whatever bait you can find.”
“Oh, then, erm, I’m leaving.”
“Have a nice trip~”
With Hikaruno-san waving her hand to bid me farewell, I left the research room.
◇
◇
“Fishing, huh…”
It’s been a while since I last went fishing.
I often went there in my primary school. The first time was with Chifuyu-nee, then Houki, and finally Rin.
(I was busy with a lot of things in secondary school, and couldn’t go for a trip.)
I recall as I walk down the hill path, and soon, I hear the sound of water pattering in the river.
“Oh—”
The river sparkled under the sunlight, and there stood a large rock in a wide part of the river.
(It’ll be comfy sitting down there and fishing.)
I thought as I can’t help but start to look for bait, and start flipping over the rocks at the riverbank to look for bugs.
Earthworms can do too, but I prefer bugs. I always feel that the latter’s easier to get the fish to bite.
(Ah, speaking of which, I think Rin hates looking for bugs.)
“Now what do we use for bait?”
“Hm? This.”
“GYAH!!?”
“What? You’re noisy.”
“That-that’s not a bu-bug-bug!”
“Oh?”
“Un-unbelievable…Japanese are really a little weird somewhere…”
“Don’t people from China deep fry centipedes?”
“THAT’S ONLY A SMALL GROUP! WHO’LL EAT SUCH THINGS!?”
“Really?”
“Yeah!”
“Eh? But don’t the Chinese eat anything with legs other than chairs?”
“WHAT!?”
“Ah, sorry. Can tables be eaten too?”
“—”
I got hit, and by the fist too. The Chinese are really scary.
(But she often comes fishing even though she hates bugs. Hm, I miss those times.)
I recalled those things while looking for bait. Soon after, I managed to collect quite a lot.
“Alright, then let’s get started.”
I started to climb up the rock beside me, went past several more, and got onto the largest one.
I thread the hook through the bait, and throw it to the water. After this, I just need to wait patiently.
(Haa—so peaceful.)
Fishing is good.
I let myself merge into the silence of the hill alone, away from the buzz.
In this peaceful time, my soul’s comforted by the sounds of wind and water, and I enjoy the blank in my thoughts.
This is fishing to me. It’s important to catch fish, and to be honest, I did think of it this way when I was in primary school, but my attitude to fishing changed recently.
(Speaking of which, yeah…even though I can’t say it, I definitely mustn’t…)
“IS Academy certainly is noisy…”
…
It’s fine, no one heard what I said just now.
“Heh? You can’t get used to the chattering of teenage girls?”
—WHAT THE!?
“A-ah-arre!? Hikaruno-san!? Why are you here!?”
“Well, I don’t have anything to do for the time being as my specialty is IS software. Ha.”
Hikaruno-san jumped up onto the rock like a bunny, and arrived beside me.
On a side note, I would look away whenever I see those ginormous breasts bounce midway while we’re facing each other.
“Ah, give me some bait.”
“Pl-please have some. Just bugs though.”
“It’s fine, bugs are the best bait, but it’s best if you prepare some grass or fruits if you want to give them to a girl.”
Hikaruno-san said as she received the bug bait from me, and poked the hook through it.
(Is that so? If I had done so right from the beginning, I wouldn’t have received the beating from Rin. So that’s how it is.)
On a side note, Hikaruno-san’s holding a bamboo rod just like me, and the lengths are similar. We sit side by side as we let the angling lines drop.
“Speaking of which, Orimura Ichika-kun, how much do you know about IS software?”
“Eh? Well, I heard that the settings vary based on the core unlimited circuit will gather and evolve on its own, and that they also have congenital tendencies and preferences beforehand.”
“Yes yes, that’s certainly a unique answer. Let me say too that this unlimited circuit is a special privilege used when connected to the core network. If it’s used in an ordinary network, you can hack the computer easily.”
“I see.”
“Then, here comes the question. What is the core network?””
“Well…it was originally a computer world meant to connect all the ISes through an interstellar communication protocol when ISes are planned to move in space.
“Hm, that’s about it nya. Haven’t you learned quite a lot? Well, it’ll be better if you’re a little more aware of other things.”
“Why…”
“On a side note, this core network can allow for exchanges of messages or data backup, you know?”
“Eh?”
“Oh my, you don’t know? For example, your ‘Byakushiki’ inherits data of Orimura Chifuyu personal ‘Kurezakura’ one-off ability, and the unique functions of the first Infinite Stratos, the ‘White Knight’.”
“…”
Hikaruno-san glances at me, showing that bewitching smile again.
