Infinite Stratos, Volume 7, page 6
“You’ve made yourself a powerful enemy, Ichika.”
A smile. The smile of an angel, but chilled to absolute zero.
For Laura Bodewig:
Skrrtch. Skrrrtch. Laura sat planted on the locker room bench, sharpening her knife. Pausing, she lifted it to inspect the edge. It was honed as smooth as a mirror, sharp enough to cut at the slightest brush.
“Phew...”
As she saw her own face in the blade’s reflection, Laura smiled. Rejected by mein Lehrerin. Rejected by Ichika. What am I doing? At this rate... A dark flame welled up in her heart. I’ll show you. I’ll carve true terror into you, Ichika! The thrown knife pierced a photo of Ichika she’d hung up in the back of her locker.
“I’ll win! I’ll win, and I’ll make Ichika mine and mine alone!” Laura rose, her hands clenched into fists. Her eyes shone with determination. Just you watch, Ichika! She glared at the photo in her locker. Wait— The knife had pierced directly through Ichika’s forehead in the photo.
“WAHHHH!”
A photo with only one copy. Laura, who had forgotten that she had bought the negative too, went pale as she cradled it in her hands. There... There’s only one of these in the whole world, and... She had paid 20,000 yen just for priority bidding in Mayuzumi Kaoruko’s photo auction. And she had loved this shot so much she bought it and the negative.
She had really messed up.
But it was too late to change things. She’d burned the negative to prevent it falling into enemy hands, too. So this really was the only copy in the world of a photo she loved more than anything. And now it had a big hole cut in it.
“Tape... If I tape it together, maybe it’ll still be okay...” Panicked, Laura searched through her locker, but all she found was MREs and a spare IS suit and knives and knives and knives and more knives.
“Ah...” Yanking her head back out of the locker, she shrieked. “Medic! Medic!!!”
Were there tears welling up in her eyes, or was it only our imagination? Anyway, it was clear that Ichika had attracted some level of hostility recently from the girls with personal IS.
Which brings us to the last leading lady, Shinonono Houki:
“Gotcha, Houki!”
“Wha— What are you doing, Sarashiki?!” Houki had been practicing iai at the kendo club after school when Tatenashi suddenly snuck up on her.
“Call me Tatenashi, please.”
“Okay, Tatenashi. What is it? I’m practicing.”
“Wow. Iai with a real sword? You’re serious.”
“I suppose. I do come from a family which fought its way through the Sengoku era.”
“Oh, I see. That’s good. Team up with me, then!”
“What?!”
“Please! I don’t have anyone else to team up with!”
“Ahh...”
Tatenashi clasped her hands together. Houki wavered, unable to reject such a seemingly-honest plea out of hand.
“Please?”
“Well, uh, I don’t mind, but...”
“Oh? Thanks! You’re such a nice girl.” Tatenashi’s expression instantly changed from worry to glee.
Ugh...Did she just trick me? As Houki began to wonder whether this was some sort of game, Tatenashi took her hand and began to lead her away.
“All right, let’s go! C’mon!”
“Go... Go where?”
“The exam room. I want to see your biometrics.”
“Whaa?”
“They’re important, you know! Your IS may be auto-adjusting, but if it isn’t working off the latest data, well, that’s no good!”
“...I see.” Tatenashi’s explanation sounded reasonable enough, and before Houki knew it, they were at the exam room’s door.
“Open sesame!” Tatenashi joked as she pressed the button to open it. The vacuum-powered door slid to the side with a hiss. “All right, I’ll run everything, you just have to stand in the scanning field.”
“Okay.”
Pulling up a console, Tatenashi prepared the scan. Meanwhile, Houki wiped off her sweat with the towel slung over her neck.
“All right, everything’s set up. Are you ready, Houki?”
“I’m ready.”
“All right, then, let’s get started.” With a quick clatter of typing, the ring scanner at Houki’s feet floated into the air, bathing her in green laser light.
“Hmm. That’s interesting.”
“Is something the matter?”
“You have really big breasts. They might even be a little bit bigger than mine.”
“W-Where are you pointing that thing?!”
“Ahahah. Sorry, sorry.”
“Be serious for once! Jeez...” For once, Tatenashi listened, and around two teasingless minutes later, the exam was complete.
“All right, I’ll send the data over to Akatsubaki. It should handle most of the process itself, but you’ll still have to tweak it a little... Oh, and I’ll give you a few pointers on piloting in the run-up to the tournament, if you don’t mind.”
“Oh, sure. Not like I have any reason to turn it down.”
“Fufu~ You’re so cute when you’re cooperative, Houki.”
“Stop teasing me! Anyway, if you’ll excuse me.”
“Oh, of course.”
Houki felt conflicted as she left the exam room. Why... Why didn’t I really mind her saying things like that? Normally—with anyone else—she would have reacted. But from Tatenashi, it was acceptable. A bit confused, but not displeased, Houki made her way to the showers in high spirits.
◇
“Hm...”
Tatenashi was left alone in the exam room. Bringing up a second display, the expression on her face turned deadly serious as she compared two sets of data.
I wonder how this happened... On the left display were Houki’s biometrics at her time of admission into IS Academy. Her physical statistics were, even then, at a uniformly high level, but a key indicator—her IS compatibility—was only a C.
Tatenashi turned her eyes to the display on the right. It showed the biometrics which were just measured. And there, her IS compatibility reading was an S.
Compatibility’s always been mostly an inborn thing. Sure, some people have been able to bring it up a little bit with a lot of practice, but... But going from C to S in this short a time frame was unheard of. Not just by Tatenashi personally. There wasn’t a single case study of such a thing happening, at least not one that had made its way out to the public. And S-rank compatibility is, like, Brynhildr or Valkyrja-tier... In compatibility terms, Houki was easily top five in the world. That was impossible. It was impossible... But there it was, right in front of her.
It must be because of... It must have something to do with the once-in-a-generation genius inventor Shinonono Tabane. Hitting on that idea, Tatenashi was convinced that it was the key.
She cast one more silent, intense stare at the display, her eyes shining with a gleam appropriate for the head of the Sarashiki family.
◇
“Let’s go get lunch at the dining hall, Kanzashi.”
My sources had tipped me off that the school store was out of buns today, so as soon as the bell rang after fourth period I made a mad dash for classroom 1-D, and earnestly took Kanzashi’s hand in mine.
“It’ll be my treat.”
“You don’t have to...”
Kanzashi shrank back in visible unease, like a nervous little rabbit. But I couldn’t push this off any longer. The deadline for entries was today at five. All right... I kinda... No, I insistently pulled her along with me.
“Eeeeeek?!”
Sweeping Kanzashi off her feet, I lifted her up into my arms. Almost like a princess carry.
“You’re light, Kanzashi.”
“Stop bothering me... Put me down...”
“Anyway, hang on tight!”
“......?!?!?!”
Ignoring her objections, I raced off toward the dining hall, paying no attention to the shrieks of dismay rising up from the other girls. Making it down to the first floor and through the lobby, I opened the door to the large dining hall which was the third wing of the school building.
“Made it!”
The slam of the opening door and my shout drew stares from within.
“Let me go...!”
Smack! Smack! Smack! She batted me over the head over and over, and eventually started kicking, getting her legs up high enough to catch me straight in the jaw.
“Hey, c’mon! Cool it!”
“Hmph... Hmph!”
“I can see your panties.”
“......?!” Realizing what she was doing, Kanzashi slowed down, then stopped. Through her clenched lips she whispered, “I won’t...
Letting her down, I kept her hand in mine so she couldn’t get away while I approached the counter.
“Today’s special is the fried chicken meal. That sound good?”
“.........”
“How about the jumbo curry cutlet?”
“I don’t like meat...”
Well, at least I got a response out of her. Maybe this was going to work.
“How about the shellfish rice bowl, then?”
“U... Udo...”
“Mm?”
She flitted her eyes over me for a moment as she whispered, “I want udon...”
“Got it! With egg?”
She shook her head from side to side and mumbled, “Maybe... Maybe the tempura...”
“Tempura, huh? Good choice. They make it great here.”
“Mm... It’s tasty...”
“All right! Then let’s pay, pick up the food, and find a table!”
“Um... There... There’s one open... In back...”
“Oh, you’re right... Sharp eyes, huh.”
“I... I’m just normal...”
As I found this unexpected talent of hers, our meals were placed on the counter, and I continued to try and extend our rather surprising conversation, “So, if your vision’s so good, why do you wear glasses?”
“These are a display for my phone...”
“Huh.”
“Projection displays... Are expensive...”
“Oh? Anyway, let’s go sit down.”
Kanzashi silently swallowed nervously, then nodded and followed behind me.
I don’t know if I emphasized it enough before, but the dining hall is pretty damn big. So the back was a long way away. There were a fair number of empty seats on the way, but the weather was nice today, so the ones with a view of the shore were packed.
Huh, great weather we’ve been having lately. Kanzashi and I sat down across from each other at the open table.
“Let’s eat.”
“Let... Let’s eat...”
I had gotten the fried chicken special. The tartar sauce here was amazing, it made it even better. A smile rose to my face.
Meanwhile, Kanzashi pushed the tempura on top of her bowl of udon down into the broth with her chopsticks. She was watching something—the bubbles which occasionally floated up to the surface—with a pure, almost childlike glee.
“Oh, you like soaking your tempura? Better be careful. If Laura catches you doing that, it’s boss battle time.”
“No... I just dunk it...”
Well, I’d never heard of that one before. Sorry. Anyway, we mostly focused on our lunches.
“You know, this chicken’s great. Fresh out of the fryer. Wanna try some?”
“Eh...?” Surprised, she looked up. As she did, I picked up a piece of chicken and brought it to her mouth.
She stared blankly for a moment, then looked at my face for a fleeting moment before turning away. I wasn’t quite sure, but it almost looked like she was blushing.
“Is... Is that how...”
“Mm?”
“Is that how... How you normally pick up girls?”
“Huh?”
Wait, didn’t I just pick her up a few minutes ago? It’s not complex, you just get one arm under the knees and one supporting the upper back so they don’t slip and fall. Why did she think fried chicken had anything to do with it?
“Not really sure what you mean by that, but c’mon, try it. Or wait, sorry, I forgot you said you don’t like meat.”
“I... I’m fine with poultry...”
“Oh, that’s good. Anyway, say ‘ahh.’”
“A-Ahh...” Gingerly, she bit into the chicken. I guess the piece was a bit large for her, as she left around half of it on my chopsticks. As I watched her chew, I popped the remaining half into my own mouth.
“See? Tasty, isn’t it?”
“......?!?!?!” Caught off guard just as she swallowed, Kanzashi pounded on her chest while grasping for her glass of water.
“Hey, are you okay?”
“......!” Even before she fully caught her breath, Kanzashi was glaring at me. She was angry about something.
“Hey, Kanzashi.”
“.........”
“That tempura looks great. Can I try some?” I saw a piece she’d already taken a bite of and wondered if she’d share a bit of it.
“N-No!” A forceful rejection, as she picked up her bowl and moved it further away from me.
“Oh, sorry. Didn’t know you liked it that much.”
“I... I won’t let you have any.”
C’mon, it was just tempura. What’s up with that?
Suddenly, Kanzashi reached over to the shaker of red pepper flakes on the table and dumped it on my rice.
“Hey, wait! What are you doing?!”
She quickly turned away at a 90-degree angle, as if to say that she wasn’t eating with me anymore.
Slurp, slurp, slurp. Wordlessly, she ate her udon.
“C’mon, what was that for?” Looking at my now-crimson rice, I swallowed nervously. Was this my own Golgotha? Not even kidding. “It’s not inedible... It’s not inedible...”
So... I had to eat it.
“It’s not inedible! It’s not!”
Snatching up my bowl of rice, I lifted a bite to my mouth. The sound of clapping arose from nearby tables at my foolhardy bravery, but—
“SPICYYYYYY!” I could feel my lips literally puffing up like a cartoon. My tongue felt like it was on fire—no, like it was splitting in half, and not my water nor my miso soup nor the tartar sauce could even begin to dull the pain. “Kanzashi... That wasn’t very ni—”
As I huffed and puffed, she turned her eyes over toward me, and from her pursed lips spoke, “Live by the sword, die by the sword.”
Harsh words, with a chill echo. But for a moment, just a moment, she smiled.
◇
“...Therefore, we can say that melee combat is centered around three concepts: weight, speed, and flow—”
It was fifth period. Kanzashi sat in the back of Class 1-D, listlessly following the lecture. Even though she was more letting the words flow by her than listening, she had no problems absorbing the lesson. When called upon, she could read it back word-for-word, almost like a recording. But that wasn’t what she was focused on. She was focused on what had happened at lunch. In the dining hall, with Ichika.
Her memory flashed back. To when he had fed her, then eaten the part that was left. He... He didn’t even just feed me... It was an... An indirect kiss, too... Yet even though she had watched him closely, there’d been no sign that he was thinking anything creepy. Instinctively, she felt that it had to have been, that she had to have missed a tell. But all she could remember written on his face was pure enthusiasm and happiness.
She hid her sudden blush behind her textbook. But then, after that... He, he wanted something I’d already had a bit of too... As a feeling not unlike excited humiliation filled her heart, steam nearly rose from her head.
“Arrrgh...”
She didn’t get it.
She didn’t get it...
She didn’t get it......
She didn’t get Ichika. Didn’t get what he was doing. And didn’t get what was going on in her own heart. What... What should I even do? What’s wrong with me today? Kanzashi fidgeted, sinking deeper the more she thought about it.
I... I’ve never felt like this before... I don’t know what to do... Her thoughts wandered to his smile... She gave herself a hard pinch on the thigh as she tried to hold back a sigh.
“If you don’t know what to do, why not just give it a try?”
Eh? She could hear Ichika’s voice. Without realizing it, she looked up and glanced around.
“Team up with me, Kanzashi.”
I don’t want to...
“Why?” I... I don’t know... I don’t like situations I’m not familiar with...
“But if you don’t try them, you’ll never get familiar with them, right?”
Yeah... But...
“There’s nothing to be afraid of. Just leave it to me.”
Ahh... It was like a line from the anime she watched so much of. But somehow, this reassured her.
“See? Team up with me, Kanzashi.”
“O-Okay!”
Suddenly filled with resolve, she took the hand her vision of him was holding out as she stood up. Huh...? It was then that she noticed. The orange glow of the late afternoon sun. The empty classroom. And Ichika, who remained even as her imagined world faded.
Huh? Wait, what’s going on? As she stood befuddled, Ichika leapt for joy.
“All right! So you will team up with me? Really? That’s great! Gotta run over to the faculty room and get that application in, then! Let’s gooooo!”
Still gripping her hand, Ichika ran from the room. It was only feeling his pull that Kanzashi realized it was really happening, and her ears turned bright red as she wanted to scream in embarrassment.
I... I must have daydreamed all through fifth period... And then sixth period... And then Orimura showed up, and I thought he was part of the daydream, and I...
She did it without even thinking! By the time she realized, they were already at the door to the faculty room.
“All right, let’s go in.”
“W-Wa—”
She couldn’t even finish the single word before Ichika dragged her inside. Even as she signed the forms, she was so focused on Ichika’s hand around hers that she couldn’t make sense of what was going on.
