Infinite Stratos - Volume 1, page 6
(However, she herself doesn't seem to mind though...)
Remembering that haughty look on her face, well, if I have to describe it, an example would be a 'cunning sheep'. On a side note, Chifuyu-nee's an 'honest wolf'. Hm, I'll call that rotating image. Rather suitable, isn't it?
"WHAAAAAT—! This, this is great! We have two famous people's relatives here!"
"That that, how's Professor Shinonono as a person!? She's a genius, right!?"
"So Shinonono-san's a genius too!? Teach me how to operate an IS the next time."
We were supposed to be having lessons now, but the girls were now gathered around Houki. Ah, if I look from here, it may make quite the nice scene. According to common sense, nobody will help you out.
(Strange? Speaking of which, did Houki pilot an IS before...?)
I tried to search through my memory. Hm, definitely never seen it before. Besides, Tabane-nee and Houki—
"I HAVE NO RELATION WITH THAT PERSON!"
Her sudden loud voice cut my thoughts like bamboo.
Looking over, the girls surrounding Houki were revealing similar expressions, not knowing what's going on.
"...Sorry for using such a loud voice. However, I'm not that person, there's nothing I can tell you."
After saying that, Houki turned her head to stare outside the window. It seemed like the girls' enthusiasm got doused, everyone was looking troubled and unhappy as they returned to their seats.
(Does Houki really hate Tabane-nee...?)
I again tried to search through my memory, and for some reason, I couldn't find any images of them being together. Speaking of which, Houki would always refuse to talk about Tabane-nee, once anyone mentions her, Houki would end the topic.
"Then, let's start the lesson. Yamada-sensei, the command."
"Ye-Yes."
Yamada-sensei seemed to be mindful of Houki as well, and from this viewpoint, she definitely looked like a professional teacher. The lesson finally started.
(I'll ask Houki later...)
Harboring these thoughts, I opened the textbook.
◇
"Now I can be at ease. No need to worry about having to use the simulator."
Ah, is that so, Cecilia-san?
During break time, Cecilia came over to my place and said this as she placed a hand on her hip. It really doesn't matter, but you really like this posture, huh? It really doesn't matter.
"Oh my? The victor's obvious already? It's really unfair though."
"? Why do you say that?"
"Oh my, you still don't know? Alright, let me tell you, an ordinary civilian. I, as the English representative of England, Cecilia Alcott...in other words, have my own personal machine."
"Wha—"
"...Are you taking me for a fool?"
"No, although I feel that you're amazing, I don't know how amazing you are."
"Normally speaking, wouldn't you be treating me as an idiot if you're saying that?"
*BAM!* She slammed both hands hard onto the table. Hey, look what you have done, the notebook dropped onto the floor, idiot.
"...Ahem, wasn't it just mentioned during the lesson? There are only 467 IS in the entire world. In other words, those able to have their own personal IS are the elites among elites chosen from the 6 billion people in the entire world."
"Is, is that so..."
"That's right."
"So the current global population is already over 6 billion..."
"That's not the main point!"
*PAM!* Hey, idiot, now the textbook dropped on the floor, you idiot.
"I say! Are you really treating me like an idiot!?"
"No, no such thing."
"Then why are you rebutting me...?"
Huh, why so?
"Why, Houki?"
*DING!* With the sound, the glance flew over. Alright, the time taken was 0.8 seconds. Houki responded to me silently 'I DON'T WANT TO CARE ABOUT YOU!'.
"Speaking of which, you're Professor Shinonono's little sister, right?"
Facing Cecilia who pointed the tip of the spear at her, Houki responded with a sharp look.
"I'm just her little sister."
Hey, Houki, are you trying to scare people? It's terrifying. Look, even Cecilia's giving a "uu..." sound. What kind of delinquent are you?
"Ne-Never mind. As for whoever's suitable to be class representative, just don't forget about me, Cecilia Alcott."
Swinging her hair down with her right hand, she turned around and left. Hm—, show off a little POSE—. Even a model can do that.
"Houki."
"..."
"Shinonono-san, let's go and eat."
It's important to patch up. Because of that incident just now, there's a rift formed between Houki and the rest; as a classmate, I can't just leave it like this.
"Who's coming along?"
Got to pretend.
"Me me me!"
"I want to go—hold on a minute—"
"I made a bento, but I'll go as well!"
Oh, I got so many willing to join in for lunch. Sure is important to have a good relationship with our classmates, isn't that right, Houki?
"...I'm, not going."
"Don't say that. Come on, stand up, stand up, let's go."
"Hey, hey, I said that I'm not going—stop putting your hand behind my back like that."
Hahaha, I knew that Houki would refuse, so I made all sorts of preparations. Forcing this person along is the correct thing to do.
"What, you don't want to move? Do you want me to carry you?"
"Wha...!"
*Dong*, Houki blushed. For my namesake, she will come along even if she doesn't want to.
"Let, let go of me!"
"After we reach the cafeteria."
"Let, let go of me right now! Hei—"
With the elbow at center, Houki twisted my arm in order to get away. At the same time when I thought 'it hurts!', my vision got flipped and I was thrown onto the floor.
"..."
Ow, it hurts. The delayed sense of pain quickly spread throughout my back. On a side note, the surrounding girls are staring in shock.
"You've improved your technique."
"Hm, humph. You became weaker, right? This is an additional application to kendo."
Most likely, among all the girls in Japan, you're the only one who'll learn 'additional applications' in Ancient Martial arts.
"Umm, that..."
"We're still..."
"Well, never mind..."
Ah—it's rare for us to gather together, and yet the girls ran away as if it's a wild-life escape. Look what you have done, you idiot, I gathered them for Houki's sake.
"..."
After saying goodbye to the ground, I pat myself clean of the dust. Houki not only said "It's not my fault", she even folded her arms in front of her chest and looked away.
"Houki."
"I, I told you not to call me by my name—"
"Let's go eat."
I'm hungry. I forcefully grabbed Houki's hand.
"Hey, hey. Act a bit more gently, will you—"
"Just shut up and follow me."
"Uuu..."
I coldly said those words, and just then Houki obediently followed. Really, I should have done this right from the beginning, right?
◇
Alright, we've reached the cafeteria. It's kinda crowded, but it looks like we can find seats for two.
"Houki, everything's okay, right? You'll eat something, won't you?"
"Don't treat me like a pet kitten or dog, I do have my own tastes."
"Hm—ah, I'll get two 'Meal of the day' sets. It's the salted mackerel meal set today."
"Are you listening to me at all?"
"I am. Why did you think I was so gentle and got those people to join us, idiot. You ruined it in the end. What'll happen if you can't make any friends? Your High school life will be very gloomy and boring."
"I, I don't remember...particularly asking you for this!"
"I don't remember you doing that either. Ah, aunty, two 'Meal of the day' sets. Can I leave the meal coupons here?"
I placed the meal coupons on the collection booth. I could only use my right hand right from the beginning, which was extremely inconvenient.
My left hand? Grabbing Houki and not letting her go. Most likely, this person's escape rate can rival that of a Cactuar (TL Note: Final Fantasy reference, a Cactuar's an enemy/summon)
"You know what? I wouldn't do that if any ordinary person were to ask me. It's because it's Houki that I'm doing this."
"Wha, what do you mean..."
"It's nothing. I just said hello to the aunties and told them that we're childhood friends, don't read too much into it."
"..."
Houki's gaze turned towards the ceiling, feeling silently depressed. This person, ever since I moved in with her, she got a lot more eccentric. No, seems like it has been like this since a long time ago. If I'm not careful, she'll break away from the group. That's Houki for ya.
"Th-That...thanks—"
"Here, two sets 'Meal of the day', sorry for making you wait."
"Thanks, aunty. Oh, it sure looks delicious."
"It not just the looks, it's really delicious."
Saying this, the burly canteen aunty smiled heartily. Hm, such a nice person.
"Houki, are there any empty seats?"
"..."
"Houki?"
Since she didn't reply, I turned around to look. Her facial expression was a lot uglier now.
"...There're some empty seats over there."
She shook my hand off, grabbed her own set meal and hurriedly moved off. Huh, why? Why is she angry all of a sudden?
Anyway, as I caught up to Houki, I found two empty seats in front of me.
"It's not really nice of me to say this, but,"
"...What."
Since you answered with miso soup still inside your mouth, I'll explain as I slice this grilled fish up.
"Can you teach me anything related to IS? If this keeps up, I'll lose in the battle next week without even doing anything."
"Who asked you to accept such a challenge, idiot."
Doesn't it mean despair when she says it like this?...Even though that is the case.
"Anyway, please help me in regards to this."
Holding the chopsticks and clapping them together, I begged Houki. It's a common saying that once a man has a first time, he won't feel ashamed later on. 'A man is useless if he doesn't want to win', this is the reason why I'm doing this.
"..."
Silence. I got ignored. She's not just remaining silent, she's still eating that spinach salad as well. Such a cruel person.
"As I was saying, Houki—"
"Hey, aren't you that person mentioned in the rumors?"
A girl beside me suddenly asked me. Should be a third-year. The color of the tie varies according to the year. Blue for first-years, yellow for second-years, red for third-years. The ends are gradually curled up, and this curly-hairstyle's really memorable. She looks rather approachable, like a squirrel. Oh, completely different from this childhood friend of mine who narrowed her eyes.
As expected of a third-year, the looks and even the feeling she gives is just like an adult. You see, Houki? This social language is a must for society.
"Ah, most likely."
At the same time I gave my reply, the senpai naturally sat down beside me. She folded her arms and placed them on the table, her face closing in on me.
"I heard that you're going to fight against that representative, is it true?"
"Hm, that seems to be the case."
What now? Has the rumor spread that fast? So it's true that girls are addicted to gossips and special rumors.
"But you're still an amateur, right? How long have you piloted an IS?"
"How long...I guess about 20 minutes."
"You can't win if that is the case. The key to an IS is the operation time. Your opponent's a representative, right? Then it's likely that she has exceeded 3 hours easily."
Hm—I'm not sure whether having more operational time is impressive, so I didn't really understand her words. However, she's right that I'll obviously lose to Cecilia.
"Hm, do you want me to teach you about the IS?"
The senpai (I still don't know her name) said this as she latched onto me.
Oh. How intimate. No matter who it is, it's a far cry from a childhood friend. This should be the so-called relief rain (And it just so happened that the garbage truck appeared when I wanted to throw the packaging away).
"Okay, please—"
Before I could say the words 'please help me out then', someone butted in.
"No need. I'll be teaching him anyway."
Houki, who was eating her meal, suddenly said such a thing. Huh? Is Houki going to teach me?
"You're only a first year, right? Pardon me, but I should be more suitable to teach him."
"...I, I'm Shinonono Tabane's little sister."
Houki said. It felt like she did not want to say it, but she said it reluctantly in the end.
"Even if you say Shinono—huh~?"
Once she had said it, the senpai was stunned. That was to be expected, since the younger sister of the creator of the IS was right in front of her.
"Thus, there's no need to bother you."
"Is, is that so. If that's the case, then it can't be helped..."
As expected of the world famous genius'—little sister. Anyone will be afraid when she uses that name. Actually, that affable senpai suddenly felt awkward and walked away. Ah, she was so affable.
"What."
"What do you mean...well, are you going to teach me?"
"That's just what I said."
Wouldn't it have been much faster if you had just said this right from the beginning?
Anyway, at least I've got someone teaching me now. It's practice after that then.
"Today, after school."
"Hm?"
"Come to the kendo arena later. I want to see if you've gotten rusty in your movements."
"No, what I want is the IS—"
"Just do as I say."
"...Got it."
Why is it that there are so many stubborn girls around me? Maybe it is fate. Good grief.
◇
"What was that?"
"Well, even if you ask me that..."
After school, we were at the kendo dojo. Even though it was packed with spectators, Houki was still throwing her temper at me.
10 minutes into the scrimmage, I lost one set, and Houki raged at me as she took off her 'men'.
"Why have you become so weak?"
"Cause I was preparing for exams, I guess."
"...what club were you in during middle school?"
"Well, I was in the going home club, and I never missed a day during my three years."
Well actually, I went to work part-time to support my family.
"—Got to retrain you."
"What?"
"Retrain! This is much worse than not knowing how to pilot an IS! From now on, I'll train you for three hours, every day, after school."
"What? That's a little too long—speaking of which, it's not IS training, you know."
"That's why I said that it's an even more serious problem!"
Wah, she's rather angry. Seems like she won't listen no matter what I say.
"How miserable. Not just IS, you can't even beat a girl in kendo when you're a guy...aren't you ashamed, Ichika?"
"Well, hm... I do feel embarrassed about it."
"EMBARRASSED!? You're mindful about your own embarrassment in this situation? Or, I see, you're happy to be surrounded by so many girls!"
*Pata*. It's here. She's angry. No matter what, there's no reason for you to tell me off like that.
"I can't be happy at all! I'm being treated like a pet here! Worst of all, I have to live together with a girl! What kind of tragedy is—"
"So, does that mean you're very unwilling to live with me!?"
*Shua!* Right at the critical moment, the bamboo sword she swung down was blocked by my own bamboo sword. Wah, hold on, you idiot. I took off my gear already! Are you trying to kill me?
"Ca-Calm down a bit, Houki. I don't want to die yet, and you aren't at the age when you can think about killing, right?"
Speaking of which, my right hand singlehandedly-blocked the full force Houki brought over, and my left hand was trembling like crazy.
"As I was saying, Houki? Please, I'll treat you next time, so let me off this time!"
"...Humph, such a spineless guy."
I finally managed to defuse this attack, as Houki glanced at me with a look of disdain before heading to the changing room.
(However...)
Houki has become stronger. In the past, I would have won easily.
My forearm that got hit was now aching. Ah, it's all swollen here...
"Orimura-kun is, well..."
"Rather weak?"
"Can he really operate an IS—"
They're the voices of despair from the spectators. Ah damn it, there's nothing more humiliating for a guy than losing to a girl.
I can't forgive myself, even more than anyone else would.
Right now, if I want to beat everyone—forget about that, I can't even protect those close to me.
I continued to sulk about it, bringing out all the feelings within me.
"...So, training's about to begin again?"
Since I'm placed in the lower rung...since I'm at the lowest, I can only work hard. I can't run away any more.
—Right, got to work hard.
Because I can't falter here.
◇
(Maybe I was a little too harsh...)
Inside the changing room of the kendo dojo, Houki was changing her clothes. Up till now, she has been thinking the same thing over and over again.
After six years, these two childhood friends finally met each other again. Being as childish as ever and seeing the places that grew up, her heart started to race.
(No, no, that's the standard. He's normally not the kind of person who would work hard, and he clearly hasn't wielded a sword for a year, or else it wouldn't be—)
