Infinite Stratos, Volume 6, page 3
“Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a cluster bomb in your eye.”
Her... unique interpretation of the words was always a bit terrifying. Charl would definitely be the scariest of them all if you made her mad.
“It’s sealed, then.”
“Yeah.”
Charl giggled and said, “I’m looking forward to next weekend.”
It was still only Monday, so that was a good long way away.
“I! Chi! Ka! You awake? I know you’re awake in there! This weekend, can we—”
My door flew open with a bang, revealing Rin. As she saw how close Charl and I were sitting, her lips twisted.
“...What are you two doing?”
“She wanted to pinky—”
“ICHIKA!”
Charl, flustered, covered my mouth. But it wasn’t enough to conceal my words from Rin, and her eyes gleamed.
“A pinky swear, huh? So what did you promise her? Huh? Cough it up!”
“We were going to go shopping this weekend...”
“Hmph! Ichika, you idiot!”
Ugh, she was mad. Charl spun away with an ‘I don’t even know you anymore!’ Why? Shopping’s more fun in a bigger group.
“Oh really now? I guess I’ll join in, too. See you this weekend, Charlotte!”
“Oh, I guess...”
Rin was grinning like a cat who’d stolen the dinner fish, while Charl was pouting. I... I didn’t think Charl hated Rin, did she?
“All three of us, then.”
Rin smirked and replied, “I guess. What time should we meet up?”
“Ten, at the statue in front of the station?” Charl suggested it without changing her expression. If she kept pouting like that, I was going to have to poke her cheek.
“Charl.”
“What?”
Poke.
Poke, poke.
“.........”
“.........”
“Ahh...” Rin shrugged in exasperation.
“Ichika, you idiot!” Charl stalked out of my room, slamming the door behind her.
“Ichika, man. You really—”
“Please don’t say it.”
“You really are an idiot.”
Well, excuse me.
◆
Oh, oh wow... Charlotte hid her face with her hands as she rushed back to her room. Her cheeks were already glowing pink and beginning to heat up. Ichika just... He just reached out and touched me... Ahh... If I’d just had a little longer to get ready for it, I never would have run out of the room like that...
Really, she was still frustrated that he’d joked about her being angry rather than showing a little empathy. But she was a 15-year-old in love. The pounding in her chest from her crush touching her cheeks was far more intense than any frustration.
Ahhh... After glancing around to make sure no one was watching, she slowly, hesitantly ran a finger over where Ichika had touched. Now that the spark in her heart was lit, Charlotte couldn’t stop her face from flushing a deep red.
If Ling hadn’t have shown up then, we could have gone on a date... I wish he had turned her down. Ah well, what’s done is done.
She knew that Ichika wasn’t the type to play favorites, but still... Still, she wished it would happen. Just once, I wish he would treat me special... Adorable selfishness like that is the privilege of a girl in love.
“Phew...” Charlotte had arrived at her door, and let out a deep sigh as she pushed it open.
“Ciao!”
“Charlotte. Help me get her out of here.”
Charlotte had to hold back a ‘whoa.’ Laura and Tatenashi were at each other’s throats—or at least Laura was at Tatenashi’s. If she had been a cat, her hair would have been standing on end and her tail would have shot straight up like an antenna. Her eye was squinted even 60% more than usual.
“You know, they say that each time you let a sigh go it takes a little bit of happiness away with it.”
“Er, uh, sure, I guess. I’ll be careful about that.”
“Charlotte! Tell me how to get rid of her!”
“Uh... Laura... I can’t really...” Good-natured Charlotte was caught between a rock and a hard place. She could practically hear her happiness sprinting away.
“C’mon, Laurie! Can’t we be friends?”
“D-Don’t call me Laurie! And I have no reason to be your friend!”
“Oh really? Well then I’m just going to have to—”
“What?! Wait, no, not that!” Laura’s expression twisted into wide-eyed terror.
As Charlotte wondered what was going on, Tatenashi approached Laura with palms stretched and fingers grasping. Oh, right, Laura’s ticklish. Tickling. Being able to force others to smile was the secret to Tatenashi’s success... No, it was her favorite hobby.
“No! No, stop! You idiot! I-I’m really gonna fight back!”
“Fufufu. And how long will you be able to keep that up?”
“Stay back! I’m serious! I’ll cut you!” Laura has already unsheathed her tactical knife, but her right eye quivered with a mixture of unsettledness and fright.
“You’ll need more than a knife to keep me away!”
“Dammit... If I just had a gun, you’d be...”
“Making pupusas on the battlefield is a good way to get yourself killed.”
She was punning on ‘excuses’ for some reason. Probably. At least, that’s all Charlotte could even imagine to guess.
Well, this should be over soon. I should make some cocoa. Charlotte had recently learned that a nice hot mug of cocoa was the easiest way to calm Laura down. Make it nice and thick, and no matter how hard she complained Laura would furtively sip it down like a squirrel at a birdfeeder.
“It’s showtime!”
“Ah, wait... WAAAAAAAAH!”
It goes without saying that soon, the room was filled with Laura’s strained laughter.
◆
“Ugh, I can’t believe you! Why didn’t you help me?! How could you abandon a comrade like that? You must have gone mad! We do things differently in my squad. It doesn’t matter how bleak the situation looks. We never abandon our allies. That strategy is what lets us operate as a cohesive unit. That’s what makes us one. In the first place—” Laura sipped the cocoa Charlotte had made while complaining to her.
“Are you even listening to me?!” After a large gulp, she sounded off. But Charlotte was used to this sort of behavior, and simply nodded along while combing Laura’s hair.
“Laura, what do you think of the new shampoo?”
“Hmm? Well, I don’t dislike the smell.”
“I see. That’s good. I’d never bought you a lavender one before, so I was worried about what to do if you didn’t like it.”
“Well... I mean, I don’t love it either. I just don’t dislike it.” Laura was always especially talkative after a tickling from Tatenashi. And lately, when Charlotte combed her hair, she half-closed her eyes like a satisfied cat. It seemed like it felt so good she was almost falling asleep during it. “Ahh...”
Sure enough, Laura let out a small yawn, almost hypnotized by the rhythmic motion. The cat-eared pajamas she was wearing seemed to have become part of her bedtime ritual.
“Shall we go to sleep, Laura?”
“Mm... I suppose...” Laura responded languidly, with a nod, then took another small sip of cocoa. Her behavior made her seem even more a kitten, to the point where Charlotte was almost inclined to hug her.
“Remember to brush your teeth.”
“I know...”
Laura, already half in her dreams, finished her cocoa in a single chug, then left for the bathroom. Three minutes later, she returned and tumbled straight into bed, squirming her way under her blanket.
“I’m turning off the lights. Good night, Laura.”
“Mhm.”
In no time at all, her breath turned steady. Charlotte, hearing her roommate sleep, let out a sigh of relief. I guess going as three will be fun... Her thoughts turned back to the weekend shopping trip. Turning her eyes to the bracelet on her left wrist, which glimmered in the darkness, Charlotte began her own bedtime ritual.
Good night, Ichika... She kissed it lightly, before burying her own face in her blanket as if to hide her blush.
Chapter II: Maidens, Sound Your Victory March
“Mm-hmm-hmm~♪”
Ling’s roommate, Tina, muttered ‘This again?’ to herself as she watched Ling be in entirely too good of a mood for what time it was. In her hands was a cup of high-quality—and high-calorie—ice cream. Charlotte will be there, but whatever. That doesn’t matter. I’m going shopping with Ichika. And that’s a date, right? A date! In her own mind, she was the center of the universe. Another privilege of a girl in love.
“All right, that one!” Ling had finally picked out which outfit to wear, and after pointing to it quickly began to dress. Tina, meanwhile, had gotten bored of watching her and turned her attention back to the morning talk show on a floating projection display.
“All right, here I go!”
“Of course. Have fun.”
A second after the door slammed shut behind Ling, she sighed at who awaited her in the hall.
“Good morning, Cadet Huang Lingyin.”
“Good morning...”
The woman was in her late twenties. Her narrow eyes sat behind a pair of thick-rimmed glasses, and she wore a form-fitting suit. She could easily be mistaken for Chifuyu by description alone, but one thing set them apart: her perpetually irritated expression.
“Why, whatever could it be, Director Yang?”
Ling could feel a foreboding tremor run up her spine. I thought she was back in China! What’s she doing in Japan?!
Making that foreboding a reality, Director of Cadets Yang Lei-Lei pushed her glasses up with her right hand and replied, “The ‘Feng’ high-mobility package for Cannonball Fast is ready. We’d like to begin setup, install, and initial trials as soon as possible. Get ready.”
“What? No way! Uh, I mean, I had already made plans for today, so...”
Yang’s gaze narrowed and muttered, “Don’t make me repeat myself.”
“U-Understood...”
Ling’s shoulders slumped as she quickly punched a text into her phone. [Sorry, something came up.] That was all she wrote—all she could bring herself to write—to Ichika.
“...Is the impact cannon still available with it installed?”
“The output power has been reduced, and its pattern changed to a short-range spray, but it is still usable. The auxiliary thrusters are the new kind, so you’ll need to get used to their feel.”
“Understood.”
For everything else she was, Ling was definitely also a national cadet, and when she had to switch modes she could in a snap. As they set off for the IS setup room, Ling checked over the package’s data, occasionally questioning Yang about details.
Hmm... This honestly isn’t half bad. Ling had a keen eye for details about IS. Her eyes gleamed like those of a cat. But... I really got screwed here, didn’t I.
Ichika was still going shopping. Meaning, he’d be alone with Charlotte. Ugh! We’re definitely going to make up for this, Ichika! Ling gripped her IS computer so tightly that it only took two seconds for it to display a high-pressure warning.
◆
Does my hair look right? I should probably check it again. Charlotte, who had made it to where she was meeting the others 45 minutes early, anxiously checked her hair for the twelfth time. In her hand was a Wajima lacquerware folding compact, which she had ordered online on a whim a few days prior. Its design was susuki grass on a hill in front of a full moon, perfect for the season.
“Mmn...” As she teased her bangs from side to side, she groaned quietly to herself.
I just can’t decide... Neither way was noticeably better or worse, but for Charlotte, today was a special day. She wanted to be at 100% for the boy she liked. It was only natural. I really did get here too early, though.
Putting away her compact, she checked the watch on her right wrist. Still 40 minutes left. Phew... I’m taking this way too seriously. I need to relax. She practiced her smile. Unluckily for her, she looked up with an expecting grin only to make eye contact with a pair of shifty-looking playboys.
“Hey there, sweet cheeks!”
“What you doin’ today? Huh? Wanna go have some fun?”
With most countries moving toward women’s superiority, the position of men had taken quite the tumble. But that just meant that those with the right looks—the kind of man who would have been a host or an idol in the past—were even more drawn to the idea of latching on to someone. Meaning that this sort of catcalling pretty girls in the vain, in more ways than one, hopes that it would pay off still happened.
“Sorry, I have plans.”
“Really? C’mon, it’ll be fun.”
“My car’s right over there. We can go anywhere in the world! Come on, I’ll tell you all about French cars while we drive.”
French—was enough to set Charlotte off.
“French cars? You drive something with mileage that bad in Japan? Seriously?”
The duo, shot down with a venom-laced smile, wilted. If they pushed it any further, Charlotte’s mastery of the Rapid Switch meant she could fill them both with lead in under a second.
Ugh, they’re ruining my morning... She imagined at least five ways she could do it. The grin this brought to her face just convinced them they had a chance, though, and one of the men moved to clasp his hand on her shoulder.
“Ow! Ow! Oww!”
The moment before he made contact, Charlotte turned and twisted his arm like a pretzel. She definitely remembered the basics of CQC.
“Can you keep your hands off? I don’t want the reek of that cheap cologne to rub off on me.”
“Wh-Wh-What?!”
“Hey! Let him—”
The second man was confused but still about to help his buddy—until he was felled mid-sentence by a punch to the side.
“And what are you doing to my companion?”
“Ichika!” Ichika had gallantly appeared to protect her from the evildoers! ...Was probably overstating it, but certainly, Ichika’s smile was positively glimmering in Charlotte’s eyes. Amazing! He’s like a fairytale prince! Charlotte was so enraptured that she didn’t notice she was still twisting the man’s arm.
“Gyaaah!”
The satisfying crunch of something dislocating and the man’s screams echoed through the plaza in front of the station.
◆
“Getting that pushy with women is a crime, you know. C’mon, right this way. Atta-boy.”
The middle-aged sergeant’s words were oddly out of place with his tone as he led the two men to the holding room in the train station. Thus, the morning’s festivities concluded.
“.........”
“Ichika?”
“I’m so sorry I was late!” I clapped my hands together apologetically. Charl was puzzled by it.
“Well... You’re still here early, right? Thanks for saving me, too.”
“Who wouldn’t?”
She seemed really grateful to me, in her own modest, reserved way. Honestly, it was a little embarrassing to be thanked so much. Anyone would help their friend in a situation like that.
“.........”
“.........”
Sure enough, we’d run out of things to talk about. Charl had worked up a sweat with the judo or whatever she did earlier, and was fanning herself with her palm.
“Ling’s pretty late, though.”
“Oh! Right! Rin isn’t coming today. Something came up.”
“EHH?!”
Charl’s sudden exclamation drew the attention of people around us. It was a sunny Sunday, and we were by the statue in front of the station. So plenty of people were around waiting for others.
“So today it’s just the two—”
“What do I do?!”
“Huh?”
“Just... It’s so sudden, I’m not ready...”
“Ready? Huh?”
“Anyway! What do I do?!”
Well. I wasn’t really able to answer that. What was I supposed to say? ‘We’ll go find her, then’?
◆
Why? Why isn’t Ling coming? What do I do?! This is too much, too soon! Charlotte was ignoring the puzzled-looking Ichika in front of her in favor of diving full-throttle into her own inner panic. Sometimes being an expert at the Rapid Switch had its own problems. What do I do?! What do I do? It’s too soon being together... on a d-d-date like this... Interpreting things how best works for herself is yet another privilege of a girl in love. W-W-What do I do?! What do I do about this?
Calming down, she realized that it was a great opportunity. She couldn’t let the chance to get as much out of ‘returning the favor for that bracelet’ as she could. Charlotte intertwined her hands behind herself, rubbing it as if to make sure it was still there. The courage feeling it gave her was enough to let her go through with betting it all.
“Then, um...”
“Yeah.”
“L-L-Let’s spend the day walking around together!”
“Sure!”
Charlotte was so emphatic that Ichika couldn’t help but follow along. The bemused gazes of passersby were enough to send her walking off to the neighboring shopping mall while blushing.
I’m alone together with Ichika... I’m alone together with Ichika... Sh-Should I hold his hand? Wait, no! He’ll probably think I’m a weirdo if I do. But his hands are so big and wa—wait, no! No, no! Charlotte shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. She gripped her hands into fists, remembering the feel of Ichika’s hand in hers.
“I don’t need to!”
“Huh?”
“I don’t need to, Ichika! Yeah! I don’t need to at all!”
“I see. That’s good. So, where should we go?”
“Er, uh, there!” Charlotte was so flustered that she didn’t realize she was pointing directly at a lingerie shop.
“Eh? Uh, that’s, umm, a bit...”
Only as Ichika’s face flushed bright red did Charlotte realize where she was pointing. Her own face turned the same crimson, and she began to rapidly wave her hands.
