Infinite Stratos - Volume 1, page 7
If it were the past, he wouldn't have lost to me.
"..."
Ichika has gotten stronger compared to six years ago.
And he's a lot cooler than anyone else.
(Ne-Never mind. That, erm, how can I explain it. The looks...ermm, not bad.)
Of course, he's a lot more like an adult as compared to 6 years ago. That cool looking expression alone gives the feeling that he has become a man.
(But he gave up like that. Doesn't he find it embarrassing to lose after fighting so seriously? Really.)
Thinking about it, she continued to rage, and her anger couldn't be stopped.
(What's going on with him. He was always training so seriously in the past, and now he became so wasted. So unlike a man at all!)
Normally speaking, a person who hasn't practiced kendo for three days will effectively lose a week's worth of training. That should be the case for Ichika.
It's not that he lost his skills, but his senses. Also, regaining the senses will take the longest time. The senses are gained through accumulation of experience. It's hard to gain it, but easy to lose it.
(Even so—)
Removing the scarf in her hair, her silky hair scattered and extended all the way to her waist.
(He knew all about me...)
6 years ago...it's been 6 years since they were 9 years old. Even though her face and even other parts of her body have entirely matured, it seems that the former childhood friend knew it was her before even hearing her name.
"Hoho."
This made her extraordinarily happy.
Houki recognized Ichika based on the name alone. Early on, his photo was shown on the reports. If it hadn't, she probably wouldn't even know that her childhood friend became so manly. —To be honest, she even felt that he has 'quite the build'. The moment she heard the name, the bowls in her hands dropped onto the floor.
Ichika said that he read about her winning the national championships. But those reports normally don't have any photos. However, Ichika said, 'I immediately knew'. He did say that to her.
(Does this mean that it was worth not changing my hairstyle?)
It's as if she had placed all her hope on one single minor coincidence, as if she had been hoping for a wish to be granted; more or less, it was a childish thought on her part. Besides, Houki's a youthful 15-year-old girl, so it's not unnatural for her to be cautious about romance.
"...Huh!?"
Suddenly, she saw her face in the mirror and recovered. "Ho..." She sighed, feeling rather embarrassed about that naive expression on her face as she backed off.
"..."
Though there wasn't any huge significance, she stared at herself through the mirror.
There is really no significance about this—if there's a need to mention it, it's that she's trying to hide her own embarrassment— it looked like this was the only way for Houki to regain her composure as she let out a scowl again.
(An, anyway, starting tomorrow, it'll be special training every day after school. It'll be troublesome if I don't get him back to normal standard.)
How troublesome would it be? What can be considered 'normal standard'? Though she hadn't sorted these out, Houki still folded her arms and nodded in agreement with herself.
(Besides--)
That'll mean that she has a reason to be with Ichika tomorrow.
"No! I´m not thinking of it like that!"
Right, that should be the way. There's nothing illogical about it, and there's nothing to worry about. There's nothing strange at all!
"Therefore, it's justifiable!"
In this ordinary spacious changing room, Houki, who was alone, clenched her fist as she shouted.
◇
Week 2, Monday. The day of the match against Cecilia.
"—As I was saying, Houki."
"What now, Ichika?"
Having lived together for a week, our relationship has been restored back to such that we're calling each other by our names. Maybe the gulf of 6 years was even smaller than expected. This is good.
"Maybe I'm thinking too much."
"Really. Maybe you are."
Yes, there's still a problem that's not settled yet.
"What about my IS training?"
"..."
"Don't, you, pretend, to, be, looking, somewhere, else."
In those six days, Houki drilled me extensively on kendo. However, the problem is that that's the only thing she did.
"It, it can't be helped anyway. You don't have an IS."
"Yeah, you're right—no wait! You could have taught me all the textbook stuff and basic operations!"
"..."
"Don't, you, pretend, to, be, looking, somewhere, else."
Anyway, that's the case right now. There seems to be quite the dispute over my Personal IS, and thus, it hasn't arrived yet. That's right, as of today, it has yet to arrive.
"..."
"..."
Houki and I remained silent.
"O-Orimura-kun, Orimura-kun, Orimura-kun!"
There's no need to call my name three times. The vice homeroom teacher that I'm so familiar with, Yamada-sensei came running to the A-block seating area of the 3rd arena.
She looked like she was going to tumble at anytime as her feet movement made everyone worry for her like usual. However, she seems to be a lot hastier than usual.
"Please calm down, Yamada-sensei. Here, take a deep breath."
"Okay, breathe in~ breathe out, breathe in~ breathe out."
"Okay, stop there."
"Mm."
Sure feels like I'm doing a demonstration here. After I said that, Yamada-sensei really held her breath. After a while, her face started to turn red due to the lack of oxygen. Can't this person even tell that it's a joke?
"..."
"...Huah! Is, is it not alright?"
Hm, seems like she just doesn't know when to stop.
"You have to respect your seniors, idiot."
*PANG!* As usual, there was a cracking sound of impact. I would be happy enough if the pain was about the level of a carbonated drink, but unfortunately, the force is of a heavyweight. As expected of a former representative of Japan.
"Chifuyu-nee..."
*PANG!*
"Call me Orimura-sensei. Remember this, or die."
Wah! You heard that? I don't think that's what an educator should say. It's because you have such a personality that you don't have a boyfriend even though you're a beauty.
"Hmph. If I didn't have to take care of this stupid brother, forget about dating, I could have already gotten married by this time."
Oh, mind reading. Any trick is useless against Chifuyu-nee.
"Th-that, there! It's here! Orimura-kun's personal IS!"
—Huh?
"Orimura, hurry up and get ready. You can only use the arena for a limited time, so make this match yours."
—What?
"It's just this level of an obstacle. If you're a man, then get past it easily, Ichika."
—Excuse me?
"Huh? Huh? Wha..."
"""HURRY UP!!"""
Yamada-sensei, Chifuyu-nee and Houki's voices overlapped each other.
The females around me were all on the same page.
Emptiness. The cargo doors of the base opened, letting out a blunt sound. The slanted, patterned fireproof doors let out a heavy opening sound. On the other side of the door, it gradually appeared in front of me.
—The 'white' is over there.
White. Snowy white. No decorations, no colours at all. The IS that was basking in pure white armor was waiting for its pilot.
"This is..."
"That's right! This is Orimura-kun's personal IS, [Byakushiki]!"[1B 1]
Snowy white and inorganic, this thing seems like it is waiting for me. That's right, like the last time; it's always been waiting. For this moment, just for this moment.
"Get moving and start mounting. We don't have much time, so format and fit all the settings during the battle from your own memory. You'll lose if you can't do it, got it?"
Being prompted, I touched the IS.
"Strange..."
I didn't get the electric shock-like feeling of touching the IS like I did during the exam, merely common knowledge and understanding. What it is, why it exists— I understood it all.
"Lean on your back. Yes, just like that. You'll feel like you're sitting down. Next, the system will optimize itself."
Like what Chifuyu-nee said, I left my body to the IS with the opened armor—Byakushiki. It feels like someone's riding on me as the armor fits to my body and closes up.
The sound of air being let out can be heard as the union of the armor feels like it's a part of my body. It feels like it fused with me, as if it became compatible with me. It was created for me in the first place, so Byakushiki and I are 'linked'.
It feels like my vision widened and got clearer, like a higher resolution. After that, the feeling spread throughout my entire body. Values spread throughout all the sensors on my body, and I could understand each and every one of them as if I've been staring at them everyday.
"Ah."
—Sensing an IS in standby mode, the pilot's name is Cecilia Alcott, the IS codename is 'Blue Tears', it's a long-ranged type suit, and has a unique armor—
"The high spec IS sensors are functioning well, right? Ichika, are you feeling okay?"
Chifuyu-nee looked as usual, but I could sense it from her voice—ah, is she worried about me?
"No, Chifuyu-nee. I'm alright."
"I see."
She sounds like she's assured. If not for the hi-specs of the IS sensors, I wouldn't even be able to sense those hidden feelings.
(But since she already called my name, I should have sensed it, right?)
I secretly focused my consciousness on Houki. My eyes didn't need to look over directly, since through the IS, I could 'see everything' 360 degrees around me.
"..."
All I could see was that she was trying to say something, but she obviously didn't know what she wanted to say. If it were the usual me, I wouldn't be able to sense this change either.
"Houki."
"Wh-What?"
"I'm going."
"Ah...mm, win and come back!"
I nodded my head in response and headed towards the gateway of the control room. After bending down slightly, the Byakushiki lightly floated in the air and flew forward.
*Clak* *clak* *clak* *clak* *clak*,
Behind the clear consciousness of mine, the Byakushiki was processing tons of data and formatted the primary settings in accord to my body. Even during this current second, the surface of the Byakushiki's continuing to change and shape itself. As the software and hardware were both updating, the values shown have reached an extent to such that I've never seen them before.
Even so, now's not the time to notice this background. There's still 2.05718422 seconds before the doors open—and the 'enemy' awaits there.
"Oh my, so you didn't run away."
Cecilia snorted as she placed her hand on her hip, giving off that princess vibe again.
However, I'm not mindful about that. The sensors won't bother about such things.
The bright blue machine 'Blue Tears' has the unique characteristic of four rear fin armors on the back, making it look as royal as a knight.
The pilot, Cecilia, was wielding the large 2m long gun—a search indicated that it was identical to a six or seven caliber unique laser gun 'Starlight MkIII'. As the IS was originally developed for space activity, in principle, it'll float in the sky. Thus, it was not strange for her to wield a weapon that was taller than she is.
The arena was 200m in diameter, and the estimated time for a fired shot to reach the target was about 0.4 seconds. The bell indicating the start of the match has already rung, so it was not strange for an attack to come anytime now.
"I'll give you one last chance."
Cecilia moved the hand that was on her hip and pointed her index finger at me, and the muzzle of her rifle casually pointed downwards.
"Chance?"
"It's obvious that I'll be winning no matter what. Thus, if you don't want to end up being seen in a battered and pathetic state, I may as well forgive you if you apologize now."
Having said that, she narrowed her eyes at me—warning, enemy IS pilot's left eye is in firing mode. Confirmed to have removed safety lock.—
I received all the information the IS told me and sorted myself out. If I don't do so, I might be swallowed up in an instant—whether by Cecilia or by Byakushiki.
"That chance isn't yours to give, right?"
"Really? That's a pity. If so—"
—Warning. Enemy IS is entering a firing posture. Trigger has been confirmed to be squeezed, the first energy shot is loaded.
"It's farewell with this!"
*Clank!* With this unique ear-rumbling sound, the flash instantly pierced through my body.
"Oh?"
The Byakushiki's auto defense system seemed to have protected my body. Though I avoided a direct hit, bits of debris started to fall off the left shoulder that was not fully fitted. After that, the slightly slower sonic boom nearly ripped away at my left arm, as my nerves reacted like an electric shock.
As the Byakushiki immediately booted itself to drag my arm back, I managed to end up without any blood loss. Though there was an anti-vertigo function which allowed me to not lose consciousness, I did feel a really uncomfortable gravity.
—Defensive armor was pierced. Damage: 46. Shield Energy remaining: 521. Actual damage: Low.
(Damn it! I can't follow the reactions of the Byakushiki!)
Basically, in an IS battle, one will win if the opponent's shield energy fall to 0. However, if that happens, once the armor's pierced through, there'll be actual damage. This is different from the numerical defensive capabilities, the damage locations, no matter how big or small, will end up affecting the battle.
On a side note, in order not to let the pilot die, the IS seem to have an 'absolute defense' ability. It can block any attack, but will drastically reduce the defensive energy—since this is what the textbook wrote, it should be right, right? As it was a hit on the shoulder, the IS did not use the 'absolute defense', probably thinking that 'it's alright even if it's blown away'.
"Now, let's dance. Dance to the waltz that Cecilia Alcott and Blue Tears are playing!"
A shot, and another, and another, and another. The attacks continued to rain down on me, and they were all shot precisely, so I couldn't dodge them all. The shield energy continued to drop, and the Byakushiki continued to let out the alert signal.
"Weapon. What's its weapon!?"
Immediately after asking this, the current weapon checklist showed itself—the checklist?
"There's only one..."
It showed itself. There was only something called a 'close combat sword'. Sigh, this may be my imagination ...sigh.
"Well, at least it's better than nothing!"
At least it's better than fighting barehanded! I drew the close combat sword 'name unspecified' and used it.
*Clang*...
With the high frequency sound, my right shoulder let out a ball of light. The ball shaped itself, and my hand ended up holding it.
This sword, this 1.6m long 'sword' is my weapon.
"Using a close ranged weapon to challenge me in a long-ranged type suit...what a joke!"
Cecilia immediately launched her attack. Though I managed to slightly dodge it, the distance between me and the opponent was a staggering 27m. To me right now, it's basically a few kilometers worth of distance. However—
"Looks like I can only fight on!"
I can't admit defeat. The intense battle starts here.
◇
"—27 minutes. You've really hung in there. I'll give you credit for that."
"Thanks..."
My shield energy are down to 67, and the actual damage is medium. Though I'm barely using my weapon, it's just 'barely'.
"You're the first person I've seen who has managed to hang on that long against Blue Tears."
After saying that, Cecilia looked as if she was praising a dog that has managed to chase down a Frisbee as she stroked the four independent mobile weapons that floated around her.
On one of the board like things, there was a BT laser muzzle directly installed on it. That weapon seems to have a complicated name, so it's called 'Blue Tears'.
...In other words, this IS became a first unit after these unique armaments called 'Blue Tears' were equipped on it, and thus, the unit was named after it. In the past 27 minutes, Cecilia has been rattling on even though I didn't say anything. Got to thank her for her explanation.
"But let's bring this to an end!"
Cecilia chuckled as she raised her right arm. And then, two Blue Tears received the commands—it's too troublesome explaining them, but the BIT-like things come flying at me from multiple angles.
"Ku...!"
The BITs that have come to surround me from above and below started to glow on their tips and fired out lasers. Once I barely try to block them or even dodge them, Cecilia will use this opportunity to fire her rifle. Anyway, this has always been the case.
"I'm taking your left leg!"
—Damn it! That part has already lost its armor, so if it's attacked, the 'absolute defense' will definitely be activated. Therefore, the shield energy will drop to 0, and I'll lose.
If that is the case, I'll give it a go—
"AHHH!!"
*CLANG!!* A loud sound could be heard, and for an instant, sparks flew. While forcing myself to accelerate, my body slammed into Cecilia's rifle, forcing the rifle to be knocked aside, and at least I've finally managed to avoid being hit, at least once.
"What...? You're really just messing around! However, this is just futile resistance!"
Cecilia pulled her distance away from me and swept her left hand across. With that, the 4 BITs that were on standby came flying at me.
—Good, so now I understand.
Getting past the lasers that can pierce through humans, the sword strikes, and I can feel the heavy metal being sliced in half.
The blue and white sparks danced on the BIT that was sliced in half, and it exploded a second later—one down.
