Infinite Stratos - Volume 3, page 8
Charl forced her words out with her nose as she tried to force a smile. However, the smile wasn't too successful because of the tears in her eyes.
"It-It's flavorful. Not bad...ni...ce."
That's forcing it too much, isn't it?
"...Uu..."
On a side note, ever since the beginning, Cecilia, who's sitting on my left has been moaning like this. She doesn't seem to be used to sitting in a seiza position, and she hasn't eaten much.
"Are you alright, Cecilia? You don't look so good."
"I...am...okay..."
Nope, seems like she's not. Speaking of which, she's really not used to sitting in a seiza position...
Cecilia, who's trembling non-stop, seem to be forcing all her strength as a show of pride as she acts like nothing's wrong while picking up her chopsticks.
"Thanks...for the...food..."
It seems like she's even having trouble drinking the miso soup.
Speaking of which, the students from IS Academy are from all over the world. Thus, there are students and teachers from all countries.
The scenery in front of me is as such; blonds in yukata, silver-haired girls, brown-skinned students, blue-eyed students...a whole assortment of races. It seems that this is the only place where one can feel that I just went around the whole world. Of course, that's impossible.
"Ni-Nice..."
She-She's smiling...
Hmm, seems like she's really forcing it...
"Cecilia, if you can't sit down, shouldn't you move over to the dinner tables over there? A lot of our classmates are there. You don't have to be embarrassed about it, you know?"
By the way, having considered the many nationalities, race and religions of the students, the school provided an eating area for the students who can't eat in a seiza position.
As the meal trays are sorted according to the type of cuisine, so those who want their own food just need to take their own and consume it.
"I'm-I'm alright...compared to the effort I spent just to get this seat, this trivial thing..."
Hm? Get a seat? What did she mean? I thought the dinner seating was just according to first-come-first-serve, isn't that the case?
"Ichika, girls consider about a lot of things."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
That seems to be the case.
(Speaking of which, where did Houki go?)
Ah, she saw me. She's just sitting at the rear behind the rows opposite me. As expected of a girl from the kendo dojo, Houki's back is straight and proper as she eats her meal.
She seem to be talking about something interesting with the student beside her as she doesn't notice the look I gave her.
Should I say that it's to be expected of Houki? Even the way she's dressed in a yukata is stunning. Is the typical 'Yamato Nadeshiko'[3B 9] referring to someone like her?
"Ah, Orimura-kun. kya~"
The girl who's beside Houki suddenly noticed me and waved her hand at me. Such an action made Houki, who looked like she was chatting away happily, glare at me unhappily.
That expression most likely means 'Why are you showing such an indecent smile to a girl? You rude guy'.
I casually just waved my hand back at them in response and again focused on eating my dinner. Maybe they can't eat on if I continue to stare at them?
(Speaking of which, where did Tabane-san go...)
She just suddenly disappeared after that daring and unruly entrance. I really don't understand her.
"U, ugh...erm..."
Right, Cecilia is still having trouble sitting in the seiza position. She has already failed to pick up the sashimi twice.
"Cecilia."
"I'm not going there."
Uu, I got refuted back.
"But you can't eat anything like this, right? Do I need to feed you like what I did to Cha--"
"I-Ichika!"
"--Sorry."
I nearly slipped it out. To Charl, it should be embarrassing that she couldn't use chopsticks and needed someone to feed her, right?
I covered my mouth and apologized to her.
"I-Ichika-san, was what you said true!?"
WA--I got noticed! No wait, got to give an excuse somewhat.
"Huh--at that time, Charl wasn't feeling..."
"FORGET ABOUT CHARLOTTE-SAN! YOU-YOU SAID...YOU-YOU'D FEED ME...!"
"Uu, well? Alright then? You'll be able to enjoy dinner now that your legs aren't numb. And the fish is a thread-sail filefish. Wouldn't it be a waste not to finish?"
"Th-That's right! Mn, mnn! It'll be rude to the chefs if we waste such a delicious thing!"
Yeah, that's right. We can't just treat the food the chefs prepared for us as nothing. Anyone who can't appreciate that should end up dead.
"I-I'll leave it to you then."
Cecilia said as she passed me the chopsticks. Once I received the chopsticks, I immediately picked up a piece of sashimi.
"Do you dare to eat wasabi, Cecilia?"
"Wa-Wasabi, well, well, maybe later..."
Seems like she doesn't. Wasabi's nice.
"Here."
"Ok, okay. Ah--"
The moment she was about to eat it down, trouble happened.
"AHHH!! YOU'RE TOO SNEAKY, CECILIA!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!?"
"YOU ACTUALLY LET ORIMURA-KUN FEED YOU!! YOU'RE DESPICABLE!!"
"CRAFTY! SINISTER! BLACK-HEARTED!!"
Uwah, the other girls found out. But isn't that to be expected? Everyone's lined up while eating, so obviously, any ordinary person would find out.
"That, that's not crafty! That's the privilege of sitting beside him!"
"THAT'S CALLED BEING SINISTER!!"
"ORIMURA-KUN, I WANT IT TOO!!!"
Is this an honor? A group of girls wanting me to feed them started rushing over. Hey! Hold on! You people all look like you can eat normally!
"HURRY UP HURRY UP!!"
"AHM--MMN!!"
A group of girls opened their mouths at the same time. Whaat, are you all nestlings!!?
"Why can't all of you eat your meals quietly?"
After hearing that voice, everyone froze.
"O-Orimura-sensei..."
"Seems like all of you are rather energetic, right? Very good...well, 50km should be alright, so go run a round on the beach and come back, is that alright?"
"NONONO! PLEASE DON'T SAY THAT!! WE'LL EAT OBEDIENTLY!"
After saying that, everyone immediately returned to their seats. Upon seeing this, Chifuyu-nee stared at me and said,
"Orimura, stop creating commotions. It'll be troublesome to control them."
"I-I got it."
It's...It's my fault? Really?
"That's how it is, Cecilia. Sorry, please..."
"..."
Uu, she really looks unhappy. If there's a special effect sound to describe it, it should be like 'hmm~', right?
"Well. Umm..."
"I got it, alright? I got it! Ichika-san values his sister the most."
Hm...seems like I really made her angry--oh, that's right.
"To make up for it, Cecilia, come over to my room."
After I said that softly, Cecilia blinked.
"Later to your room...? That means--"
*Pa!* She suddenly grabbed my hand and answered softly yet enthusiatically,
"Okay, I got it! I-I need to prepare, so you may need to wait a while, but I'll definitely be there!"
Prepare? Prepare what? While I was still thinking about this, Cecilia already changed her mood as she wolfed down her meal. Seems like she got used to the numbness. That's good.
"Ahh, it's nice no matter what I eat!"
She's-She's really enthusiastic! But she's right. Each meal is delicious, so I can understand her feelings.
(What's the base used for this small hotpot? Ginger, wasabi...un.)
Even though the soup base is refreshing and not oily, there's quite the flavor in it. As it's really tasty, I really like it. It seems that my preference is towards these home-styled type.
After that, I continued to analyze the individual ingredients. By the time I realized them all, my stomach was full.
◇
"Hoo~that was good."
An onsen bath after a meal is truly a luxury.
After bathing alone in this open-aired onsen where I could see everything, I went back to my room in high spirits.
(Chifuyu-nee went to bathe too?)
Seems like she's not in the room either. I thought--well, she just happened to come back.
"Huh? You're alone? You didn't bring a girl with you? How uninteresting."
"I say, you...umm, never mind. Forget about it."
This room is still the 'Orimura-sensei' room. Once someone does something suspicious, it's unknown what fate will befall them.
Incidentally, Chifuyu-nee did take a bath since her hair's all wet. Even though she's my sister, the overly glamorous black hair made my heart race.
"Hey, Chifuyu-nee."
She glares at me, sharply.
"Call me Orimura-sensei."
"What's the problem. There's only the two of us left, and we just bathed, and we haven't done it for a long time--"
◇
"-♪"
Having taken a bath after the meal, Cecilia, who had bathed again, was happily changing clothes.
She was wearing the yukata the resort provided, but the underwear under it was completely different.
(Ahh, just in case...the underwear I brought just in case can finally be used!)
Thinking till here, her expression became exceptionally gentle.
Seeing that mysterious yet excited look on her, a certain classmate asked incredulously,
"Did something good happen, Cecilia?"
"Nope, nothing♪"
"...That expression says otherwise, you know?"
"Oh my, really? Ufufu."
"Sigh...never mind. Ahh, it's rare to have a chance to prepare so much just to play with Orimura-kun, and yet he and Orimura-sensei are in the same room..."
We can't possibly play now...the other girls nodded in unison.
Incidentally, they had prepared games with poker cards, UNO cards, Hanafuda, the Game of Life and Twister so guys and girl could look forward to. It's amazing that even in the 21st century these games are still extremely popular.
(Ufufu, I don't need to play games at all tonight.)
Cecilia hummed as she blowed-dryed her hair. Her wavering strands were two times more glamorous than usual.
"Ah~your underwear is so sexy. It's so revealing--"
Even though her eyes were half-open, the Nohohon-san's observation and perception skills were extremely great. On hearing her say that, even Cecilia felt a shock deep inside, because...
"WHAT? SOMEBODY HELP STRIP HER~!"
"STRIP~STRIP HER OFF~!!"
"KYAH! ST-STOP IT...STOP PULLING~!"
If three people gathered together can perform a skit, then with nine people you could perform three skits. Especially since everyone couldn't go and find their target, Ichika, to play with, they ended up having a lot of free time. Seeing the girls go crazy like this Cecilia could sense how energetic they really were.
"WAH!! THAT'S SOME EROTIC UNDERWEAR..."
"ERO~ ERO~"
"What's this? Lucky underwear? We're unable to go to Orimura-kun's room, and you're wearing such a thing!?"
The girls started chatting away, and finally declare in unison,
"""CECILIA'S SO LEWD!!!"""
"I'm-I'm not~! This, this is, just preparations for the occasion...yes, for the occasion!"
Cecilia pulled on her now ruffled yukata and argued back while blushing, praying silently to herself that the fact that she would be going to Ichika's room alone won't be revealed.
"Speaking of which, you were pretty thorough in your bathing."
Uh oh.
"And after bathing, you put on make-up for some reason."
Uh oh uh oh.
"That's rather suspicious, you know?"
"That's-that's not suspicious! Girls should be aware of the occasion! I still have things to do. Got to make a move first!"
After saying some mood-killing words, Cecilia stood up. I'll win once I step out of this room! Just when she thought that...
"Un? Hmm? This isn't the perfume Cecilia normally uses. This fragrance is L'Ireal[3B 10] Number 6? Wa~ that's pretty high class~"
After the Nohohon-san said that, the girls' expression froze.
--Oh no! It was too late, the moment Cecilia thought this, the girls began to hassle her and ask.
"L'Ireal number 6? I heard that one bottle costs about 100,000 yen?"
"They only produce 100 bottles of it every year, and there's even a serial number!"
"Do you have the product with you? Show me!"
"O-Okay, it's alright to show you. Anyway, I'll go off first--"
"""NO WAY!!!"""
Ehh~ Cecilia muttered deep inside, but the girls grabbed her hand really tightly, making her to be unable to get away.
"Where did you buy this? Didn't I hear that it's hard to buy even with money?"
"Our family has relations with the L'Ireal company..."
"UWA! ISN'T CECILIA SUPER RICH!?"
"LET ME HAVE A WHIFF!"
"Ah, erm, if you like it, you can use it however you want. As for me, I'll leave first..."
"""NO WAY!!!"""
Ehhh~...the same desciption follows.
"THAT'S A WASTE!"
"IF CECILIA APPLIED IT, WE WILL JUST SMELL YOUR BODY! OKAY?"
"KAGU~KAGU!"
The girls immediately opened their arms wide and rushed over. Cecilia had a bad feeling as she continued to back away until she hit the wall.
"Fufufu, we're not letting you get away."
"Alright, just surrender quietly!"
"Very good~ very good~"
The girls slowly closed in with their eyes shining mysteriously.
"No, no, NOOOOOOOOOO~!!!"
◇
"Uu, uu...that was too much..."
Having been harrassed badly by the other girls, Cecilia looked thoroughly worn out as she walks on the corridor.
(But at last, I can finally--!!)
Go to Ichika's room!! Thinking about this, all the damage and fatigue she suffered up till now disappeared in a puff of smoke, and the ruffled yukata recovered in just a few seconds.
(I-I need to adjust my voice too. Mn, mnn.)
Her excitement caused her to walk like the breeze, moving faster like she was dancing as she moved towards her destination.
However--
"..."
"..."
She saw two girls in front of Ichika's room door.
"Rin-san? Houki-san? What are you two--"
"Shh!"
With Rin hushing her, Cecilia immediately quieted down.
Not understanding what was going on, she suddenly heard voices from behind the door.
"Chifuyu-nee, you're a bit tense because you haven't done it for a long time?"
"How is it possible, idiot--mm! A-A little forceful..."
"Yes yes, how about...there?"
"Ah! Th-There, there's...no good, UU!"
"You'll be comfortable soon. There's quite a bit of fatigue you accumulated..."
"AHHH!!"
...
"Wh-Wha-What's going on...?"
Her mouth trembling, Cecilia forced a smile as she asked. However, she only got the silent response of the other two.
"..."
"..."
Rin and Houki looked dead serious like they hadn't slept for the entire night.
"Then--"
"Hold on, Ichika."
Their conversation was interrupted. Just as the three people with their ears at the door felt that it was weird--
*PAM!!*
"""HUKK!!!"""
The door got punched without warning.
The moment the door got hit, the three teenage girls shouted out in reflex.
"What are you idiots doing?"
"Ha, haha..."
"Good evening, Orimura-sensei..."
"Bye...bye bye, Orimura-sensei!!"
The trio intended to escape like rabbits, but got caught immediately. Rin and Houki got caught by the collars, and Cecilia got stepped on the yukata. They didn't think they could win in a battle of brawns other than in IS battles.
"I can't allow eavesdropping. But since you're here, come in."
"""WHAAT!!???"""
The unexpected words caused the trio to widen their eyes in shock.
"Ahhh, yes, the other two--call Bodewig and Dunois here."
"Ye-Yes!"
The moment the back of their collars got released, Rin and Houki immediately ran off to call them.
With the hem of her yukata removed, Cecilia adjusted it and walks into the room.
"Ohh, you're really slow, Cecilia. Let's get it started."
Ichika slapped the bed, indicating to Cecilia to get on.
In contrast, Cecilia was blushing in embarrassment due to such a bold request.
"Huh, ahh, isn't Orimura-sensei still here? This..."
"What's wrong? I'm warmed up already. Let's get started."
"No, not that, but, this, is, the mood..."
"...?"
Ichika still didn't understand what Cecilia was trying to talk about as he looked puzzled. He then patted the bedsheet again to prompt her to be faster.
Feeling really bothered, Cecilia secretly glanced at Chifuyu, who remained silent and gave a 'Don't mind me, just start' look.
(How, how can I not be bothered by this...)
However, she couldn't decide. But, since Chifuyu seemed to have called for Charlotte and Laura to come over as well, things would only get worse if she dragged this on.
(UU...! WO-WOMEN MUST BE FORCEFUL!!)
After screaming this in her heart, Cecilia gave up as she laid on the bedsheet.
Her crazily-beating heart sounded like it could explode any second soon. Cecilia's heart was full of anticipation and anxiety as she closed her eyes.
"..."
But nothing happened.
Ahh...? Just when she felt that this was weird and opened her right eye slightly, Ichika said.
"Cecilia, if you don't lie down, I can't do that."
"Huh? Huh? Do-Do it...lying down?"
"Yup."
"I-I see..."
Even though Cecilia felt bothered that it was different from what she read on the books, she still convinced herself that this was a normal thing in Japan.
"I'm starting then!"
"O-Okay!"
The sudden break in voice caused her to be embarrassed and anxious. Cecilia's heart started to beat crazily until she felt that it was about to pounce out as she waited for the incoming hand. Then--
