Infinite Stratos, Volume 3, page 4
◇
“I understand that he was helping you choose a swimsuit, but you mustn’t go into the changing room together. It’s bad for your development.”
“Sorry, ma’am...” Charlotte bower her head.
Man, this really sucked. Charl has been getting in so much trouble lately, and it was always my fault. Forgive me, Charl.
“What are Ms. Yamada and you doing here, Chifu—uh, Ms. Orimura?” Changing the subject to distract them. Good job, me.
“We came to get swimsuits, too. Oh, and we’re not at school, so you can call me by name.”
I... kinda wasn’t quite sure about that. Putting aside Ms. Yamada, Chifuyu may have been acting casual, but she was still in her suit. If I called her ‘big sis Chifuyu’ in front of other people, she’d probably get mad again. Oh, and—
“Isn’t it about time you show yourselves?”
I thought I heard the sound of a nervous hiccup. No, it must have been my imagination.
“Why, we were just about to.”
“Yeah. We were just waiting for the right timing.” Two figures stepped out from behind a pillar. It was Rin and Cecilia.
“I’ve been wondering for a while what you’re doing sneaking around like that.”
“Sometimes girls don’t want boys to know what they’re shopping for.”
“Indeed! Ichika, your lack of delicacy never fails to leave me speechless.”
Whew, I don’t know why, but they definitely seem mad. Maybe I shouldn’t have asked that.
“Let’s just finish this up and get back to campus,” Chifuyu half-sighed. It looked like she was holding a swimsuit. She and Ms. Yamada had probably both narrowed it down already.
“Ah, hold on. I forgot, there was something else I wanted. I, er, don’t really remember where it was, so Huang and Alcott, could you come with me? Dunois, too.”
Huh? What was up with Ms. Yamada? The look in her eyes as she pulled the other three students away was as if she’d just had a Eureka moment. This left just me and Chifuyu there, and a few dozen seconds of awkward silence passed.
“Ugh, sometimes she tries too hard.”
“Eh?”
“Sigh... Complaining won’t solve it, I guess, Ichika.”
“What is it, Ms. Orimura?” I was so unused to her calling me by my given name that I wasn’t quite sure how to react. Looking at my strained expression, Chifuyu gave me a wry grin.
“We’re not at school. Just call me Chifuyu. We’re brother and sister, right?”
“Got it.”
I guess blood was thicker than water. What was Ms. Yamada so worried about, anyway?
“Anyway, Ichika. Which swimsuit do you think looks better?”
As she spoke, she held up the hanger in her hands, and I saw two swimsuits on it. One was a sporty but sexy black outfit with mesh panels. The other was a pure white, without a single nod to form over function. Of course, both were bikinis, which would show a lot of skin. Hmm... Yeah, the black one. That was when it struck me. If she went with the black one, she’d probably attract a bunch of weirdos. No, not probably— a 100% chance. The white one was plenty sexy too, but at least it’d be less likely to attract catcalls.
“The white one...” I thought I’d managed to make it seem like I was telling the truth, but Chifuyu just gave me another wry grin.
“The black one, you said?”
“No, the white—”
“Don’t lie to me. I saw your eyes jump straight to the black one. You’ve always stared at things you’re interested in. It makes it really easy to tell what you’re thinking.”
Ugh... She saw right through me.
“You worry way too much about me. Do I really seem like the kind of girl who would let a beach bum pick her up?”
“Well, no, not really, but... You know, Chifuyu, are you ever going to get a boyfriend? I’ve never heard you talk about one.”
“Probably, when I don’t have my hands full with a little brother anymore.”
I didn’t really have a good answer to that. I’d had a part-time job in middle school, but almost all of—really, 99% of my money came from Chifuyu. One time, I tried insisting that I should shop for myself, but she’d told me “Why don’t you spend that money on a girl you like, instead?” I didn’t even have one of those.
“And what about you?”
“Me? What do you mean?”
“You know what I mean. When are you finding a girlfriend? You’re positively swimming in girls at school. Are there just so many that you can’t pick one?”
“Swimming in them...” I used to think that was literal, when I was a little kid. Too bad it wasn’t. If it was, I would’ve already had swim trunks and I could’ve avoided this whole mess.
“Hey, what about Laura? It wouldn’t always be easy, but once she fell for you, I don’t think she’ll ever change her mind. And she’s not that bad of a looker, either,” she continued.
“Well, um...”
“Plus, you’ve already kissed, right?”
Ugh. Did she have to remind me? How was I even supposed to respond to that? Maybe it was because of my frustration that her wry smile from before turned upward into a heartfelt grin.
“You could do worse, you know?”
“It’s not that, I just don’t really know if...”
“I see. What about her looks? Is she your type?”
“Well, hmm. I guess she’s kind of cute.”
“What was that?”
“Laura’s cu— What are you making me say?!”
“You’re the one who said it.” Well, she was right. It’s not like she didn’t lead me into it, but it was my fault for taking the bait. “Anyway, you should deal with your own problems before worrying about me. I’m not old enough that I need my little brother matchmaking for me.”
“Okay, okay, I get it. I won’t worry about weird things. Is that okay?”
“Yeah. That’s fine.” With a final grin, Chifuyu left to pay for her purchases. I stood still for a little while, too flustered to decide whether to follow her or wait for Ms. Yamada to come back.
◆
Rewinding time a few minutes. Ling, Cecilia, and Laura had started off in hot pursuit, but they slowly began to realize that, no matter how seriously Charlotte was taking the excursion, Ichika wasn’t.
“He’s just being himself again... The granite blockhead, Orimura Ichika.”
Laura decided to call off the pursuit, worried that they were more likely to be caught than to find anything. Separating from Ling and Cecilia, she made her way to the rainbow array of swimsuits. There, behind a wall of beachwear, she could stay without any worry of being seen.
Hmm. Now that I think of it, I should pick one up for myself. Recalling her school-issued swimsuit, though, Laura changed her mind. By the way, IS Academy swimsuits were the old school indigo-blue ones, long past endangered and now approaching extinct in the wild. They even had the name patches. Whatever. If I can swim in it, it’ll be fine. It’s perfectly functional. No need for a second one. Laura coldly eyed the line of swimsuits, yet in the next moment, her pale flesh flushed a deep red.
“Laura’s cute.” Suddenly, she heard Ichika’s voice speak those words. She’d realized he was talking with Chifuyu, but not habitually being an eavesdropper, she’d tuned out their conversation until they caught her off guard.
“.........” The sudden words painted her face crimson as the pounding of her heart slammed into top gear. She couldn’t stop the pounding sound from her chest.
“You should appreciate me more,” she’d said over and over to Ichika, but he never had, so of course she’d never heard him call her cute. To hear it suddenly out of the blue was such a shock that even the German ice queen, Laura, would naturally be sent aflutter.
C-Cute? I... I’m cute? Her gaze darted back and forth in a panic before she clutched a hand to her chest and closed her eyes. Even using a focusing technique she almost never had to resort to, it took Laura try after try to open up the proper IS private channel.
◆
At the same time, at a military base in Germany. The IS-equipped special forces flight Schwarze Hase—Black Rabbit—was conducting drills. Of the ten IS in the entire country, three were assigned to this unit. That alone stood as proof of its elite status, both in name and operationally. Just like the eyepatched black rabbit in its insignia, every member, including its leader Laura, had an eye implanted with IS-assist nanomachines. The eyepatch may once have been intended as a limiter for Laura, but now, it was a measure to protect their enhanced vision and a sign of loyalty to their commander.
“What’s the hold-up? You’re thirty-seven seconds late! Hurry it up!” The source of this roar was the executive officer, one Klarissa Harfouch. Aged 22, and the oldest of its members, she often acted as a strict but supportive older sister figure to the teens around her. Suddenly, her personal IS Schwarzer Zweig—a.k.a. Black Branch—received a private channel transmission which may as well have been a coded SOS.
“Roger. This is Lt. Klarissa Harfouch.”
“I-It’s me...” Even though identifying by name and rank was technically mandatory, the waver in the voice on the other end kept Klarissa from responding with anything sharper than a questioning look.
“Commander Laura Bodewig. Is there some problem?”
“Yeah... A very, very big problem...”
Impressed with the gravity of the situation by Laura’s condition, Klarissa quickly hand-signaled the rest of the flight to stop and gather.
“Shall we deploy?”
“No, I don’t need the entire flight. This isn’t a military problem.”
“Then...?”
“Klarissa. I, ah. I... I’m apparently ‘cute.’”
“Yes... And?” Klarissa’s flat, martial tone suddenly rose half an octave. Her staccato operational delivery in the face of unknown danger drifted off into dumbfoundedness.
“Ichika... Ichika said so...”
That was enough for Klarissa to regain her bearings.
“Orimura’s little brother, right? The one you said you had a thing for?”
“Well... What do I do, Klarissa? What should I do in this kind of situation?”
“Well. I need more information. Did he say it to you directly?”
“No, he doesn’t seem to realize I’m here.”
“That’s the best thing that could happen.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Praise for someone who isn’t there has to be true.”
“I see!” Laura’s voice, which had been shaking like a leaf, steadied and smoothed out like a flower opening. At the same time as this conversation was occurring, Klarissa was holding up notes to the gathered squadmates.
[COMMANDER’S CRUSH NOTICED HER] The crowd of a dozen or so girls let out an “Oooooh!” in unison.
By the way, at first Laura hadn’t gotten along well with the others at all, but after the VT incident the prior month, she’d told Klarissa there was ‘a guy she liked’ and that cleared it all up. To give a small piece of that conversation...
“What?! The Commander’s interested in a guy?!”
“I was convinced she was head-over-heels for Orimura!”
“True, true. I thought so myself. But then she came to me—Laura, of all people—And asked, ‘how do I get a guy’s attention?’”
“Woooooow!”
“So I didn’t pull any punches, I gave her the truth! In Japan, when you’re into someone, you tell them you’ll make them your bride!”
“Wow, XO! You know all about Japan!”
“Of course I do. I didn’t read all that shoujo manga for nothing.”
“Wow!”
“You’re awesome! You know everything!”
“But Laura being cute is even better.”
“Yeah! Agreed! Oh, why couldn’t we get along with her this well when she was here?”
“Hey, they cook red rice in Japan at times like this, right?”
“I believe so. I think it’s to show that there are things thicker than blood.”
“Wow, Japan is amazing!”
“I wish I lived there.”
“All right. That concludes training for today. Report to the mess hall for some red rice!”
“Yes, ma’am!”
....Was around how it went. As was typical of teenage (and a few 20-something) girls, it didn’t take much to put them at odds, but it also didn’t take much to patch things up between them.
“Anyway, er, right now I’m in the swimwear department, and...”
“Swimwear, huh? You have that beach trip coming up, don’t you. What’d you pick out?”
“Ah? I was just going to wear my school—”
“What kind of fool are you?!”
“......?!”
“Okay, sure, IS Academy uses a traditional school swimsuit. There’s nothing wrong with that, at least, I don’t think so. A fair number of guys have a fetish for it, at least. But it’s—”
“I-It’s what?” Laura swallowed nervously.
“It’s not sexy at all!”
“Wha—”
“You may not have the curves to draw attention, but if you try to fall back on cliches like that you’ll never catch his eye, either!”
“What do I do, then?”
“Heh. Leave it to me. I have a plan.” Klarissa’s voice rang with enthusiasm, as her eyes gleamed.
Chapter II: Ocean at Eleven
“Look! It’s the ocean!”
As the bus pulled out of the tunnel, the girls riding erupted in excitement. Their first day at the shore was blessed with perfect weather. The sun’s rays gently caressed the water, as a relaxing sea breeze stirred the air.
“Whoa. I can’t wait to get in the water.”
“Yeah. You’re right.” In the seat next to me was Charl. But the whole drive here, it seemed like she wasn’t really paying attention to what I was saying. Even now, she just kept staring down at her hands in her lap.
“You like that thing that much?”
“Ah, yeah. I guess.” Charl giggled.
I had bought the bracelet around her left wrist for her as thanks for going shopping with me. Now, she kept looking down at the silver encircling her wrist, with a grin that seemed like it would break out in the laugh of a happy memory at any moment. I felt a little bad. If I’d known she would be so taken with it, I may have chosen something more expensive. She told me to ‘pick what I thought would look good on her,’ but I still wasn’t sure I’d made the right choice.
“Ehehe~♪” Wow, she was really in a good mood.
“Well, you’re certainly in a fine mood today, Charlotte.” From across the aisle, Cecilia stifled a sullen scowl.
“Yeah. It’s wonderful. Sorry.” Charl giggled again. Even Cecilia’s poking couldn’t take the smile off her face. Wow, this was almost scary. I guess she was really looking forward to the ocean. Not that I wasn’t.
“It’s unfair enough that you two snuck away alone yesterday, but a gift, too?”
“Ahh... Well, uh. Maybe I’ll get you something later?” It seemed like Cecilia wanted a present, too. She didn’t have to sulk like that, though.
“Do you promise?”
“Sure. Can’t guarantee you anything too expensive, though.”
The promise was enough to secure me a “Very well, I suppose that makes up for it.” Still, if I was going to be spending money like this I’d need to find another job. I had no interest in burning through my savings.
Surprisingly, quietly seated next to Cecilia was Laura. She seemed like she wasn’t feeling well, as she kept glancing around oddly.
“Are you okay? You’ve been acting like this since we ran into each other yesterday. What’s wrong?”
“.........”
“Hey, Laura. Heeeeeey.” She didn’t respond at all, so I got up to get a closer look at her face.
“Huh?! W-Wait! Don’t get so close, you idiot!”
“Oomph!” She pushed me back by my nose, as I let out a strange sound. She must have had a cold or a fever or something, as her face was beginning to flush. Oh well. There was no need to worry too much, she knew how to take care of herself. Since Laura seemed like she’d be okay, I turned my attention to Houki, who was in the seat behind her.
“Hey, let’s go swimming once we get there. You’re a great swimmer, right?”
“I-I guess. Sure. I used to go for long swims a lot.”
Hm? Something was up with Houki, too. She seemed nervous, like she couldn’t calm down for some reason.
“We’re about to arrive. Everyone, sit back down.” Chifuyu’s orders were obeyed immediately. She certainly has a talent for command. She was right, too. Almost immediately after, our bus pulled up in front of the resort we were staying at. The first year students of IS Academy poured out of our four buses in single file.
“This is Kagetsu-sou. We’ll be staying here for the next three days. I don’t want any of you causing any trouble at all for the staff, understood?”
“Hello!” After Chifuyu finished speaking, we greeted the innkeeper. A kimono-clad woman, her polite bow spoke to many years of successful class trips here.
“Of course! We hope you enjoy your stay. You all seem so energetic this year! That’s wonderful.”
She seemed to be in her 30s, and gave off the air of a hard-working and reliable woman. Maybe it was just because of the constant smile her job called for, but if anything, she seemed a bit young to be the innkeeper.
“Oh, and is that him?” As I made eye contact with her, she asked Chifuyu.
“Sure is. Sorry to make you rearrange the baths for just one boy.”
“No, it’s no problem at all. He seems like such a fine young man. So reliable.”
“And wouldn’t it be wonderful if he actually was. Hurry up and say hello, silly.” Chifuyu gave a peremptory nod. Wait, didn’t I already? Seriously...
“I’m Orimura Ichika. Pleased to meet you.”
“Polite, too. I’m Kiyosu Keiko.” She gave another bow. It was just as proper and formal as the previous one. It made me nervous, as I wasn’t really good at dealing with grown-up women.
“Sorry to inflict my useless little brother on you.”
