Infinite Stratos - Volume 2, page 9
I can finally understand why Charles is a representative candidate and why his machine's a customized one.
"You students over there! What are you doing! State your year, class and register number!"
An audio broadcast can be heard. Most likely, the teacher who's in charge came rushing over.
"...Humph. I'll retreat for today."
Maybe her enthusiasm was curbed because someone interrupted her, Laura casually got rid of her battle mode and left the arena through the gates, although it's very likely that the extremely angry teacher that is standing over there, seeing Laura's personality, will pretend not to notice her.
"Are you okay, Ichika?"
"Oh, yeah, I'm okay. Thanks."
The sharp expression that Charles showed when he faced off against Laura several seconds back disappeared, and right now, he's looking concerned as he observes me.
"That's it for today's training. It's already past 4, and the arena's closing soon anyway."
"Ah, that's good. Oh ya, thanks for your gun. I got quite the lesson here."
"That's good."
He smiled again. Though that lack of defensive mindset often caused me to feel anxious, the problem is always what happens next.
"Huh...we'll go back after you change."
That's right. It happened all the time. After the IS practicals, Charles never changed clothes with me...it's not that he's unwilling, but he never changed clothes with me after practicals. The only time he changed clothes with me was on the day when he first transferred in. After that, he either changed into the IS suit or headed out faster and changed faster than me.
And what's even more weird is that Charles, who would guide me through so earnestly during practicals, would become really stiff once we returned back to our room—
"Hu—that's refreshing...ah, you can use the shower."
"I-Ichika, why aren't you wearing clothes?"
"I am. I'm just wearing shorts."
"Uu, you have to wear something on top. And, and also, dry your hair."
"Ahh, no need to be so troublesome."
"You, you have to. Ichika has to be properly dressed up!"
"We're both guys, so there's no problems! Speaking of which, Charles, you always dress up nicely before going out. Well, you don't have to worry too much about me."
"I-Ichika! You should think about others more! Ahh that's enough! I'm leaving you alone!"
--We used to have such conversations. I don't really know why, but Charles would start to nag at me when we're alone. It's more like 'he started to tell me off after being unable to stand it'.
Hm, is Charles the naggy mother type? I don't really understand how parents really are, so I tried to imagine it from what I heard from Gotanda. Such words should be said by a mother, right?
Let's not talk about that...since we're already roommates, and are guys, we should use this chance to build our relationship with each other. Alright, time to convince him.
"We should occasionally change clothes together."
"No, no."
"Don't be so heartless."
"Instead of being heartless, why do you want to change clothes with me, Ichika?"
"Well, then why doesn't Charles want to change clothes with me?"
Though it's really classless to answer a question using a question, I have to be more forceful in order to deal with Charles. That was what I learnt during the past few days, so there shouldn't be any problems.
"Why...that's, that's because, I-I'll feel awkward..."
This chap's really weird. Though Charles himself looks rather slender, he does look like he trained his body. If that's the case, what's there to be embarrassed about?"
"There won't be any problems once you get used to it. Come on, let's go change together."
"No, that, that..."
Maybe he's still thinking of an excuse as he looks around—alright, time to give him a nudge.
"Hey, Charles--"
WAH!
"Okay, okay, hurry up and go change. You won't have any friends if you don't know how to hold back."
I got choked on the neck from behind. Wah, this is killing me! Let go, Rin! RIN!
"Ah, ahem...if you want to find someone to change with, well, I'm not too willing, but it can't be helped. I, I can change with you—"
"We're changing as well, Cecilia. Hurry up and get over here."
"Houki, Houki-san! Don't grab my neck—I, I got it! I'll go over! Okay okay okay! I'll obediently change in the girls' changing room!"
Just when Cecilia was about to argue, Houki forcefully grabbed her by the back of the neck and pulled her back...what? Is such a skill required to be a childhood friend?
(Speaking of which, the girls' have been calling each other by their own names since who knows when.)
Though they looked like they didn't meet eye to eye, I guess that can be explained by them being with each other for a while. It seems that they can call each other by their names now.
I got it, it's that, right? Fighting at the riverbank until the sun set—and then starting to talk? 'You're good', 'you too' kind of thing, right? Hold on. If that's the case, doesn't that mean that they have to fight against each other? No way, I'm against violence.
"Rin."
"What?"
"I'm against violence."
"THIS IS CALLED VIOLENCE!"
How rude. Knocking me on the head like that, I just said that I'm against violence!
"Who asked you to raise an objection before I even hit you, idiot."
No matter what, I don't want to be hit continuously. The arena's about to close. Better go change now.
"I'm going off then."
"Ah, okay."
After saying that to Charles, I headed towards the gate. As I've gotten used to accelerating and stopping suddenly, my IS control is more or less refined now.
"But speaking of which, this sure is luxurious."
In the empty changing room, there are already about 50 lockers, and the room's naturally as wide as it indicates. I transformed [Byakushiki] back into the standby mode as I sat down on the bench and took off the IS suit.
"Sigh—I really want a bath..."
Though the suit can really absorb sweat, it doesn't change the fact that I sweat, so to be honest, I really want to relax my body and soul. According to rumors, as there are 2 guys in school now, it seems like Yamada-sensei is rescheduling the onsen usage time. Thank you very much.
"Alright, I'm done changing."
It's easy for guys to change clothes, it will be over after I just think about something.
"Excuse me, are Orimura-kun and Dunois-kun inside?"
"What's wrong? Huh, only Orimura's inside."
I heard the call of someone from otuside. The owner of the voice should be Yamada-sensei. Speaking of the devil.
"Can I come in—? Are you changing—?"
Why is it that voices will drag when they're calling someone from afar? It really can't be explained...but that goes for me as well.
"Ah, no problems. I'm done changing, so please enter."
The door swooshed open, and Yamada-sensei walked in. The opening chorus of compressed air was as cool-sounding as ever.
"Isn't Dunois-kun with you? I heard that he was training together with Orimura-kun."
"Ah, he's still in the arena. Maybe he went back to the control zone. What's up? If it's really important, I can call him over."
"Ah, it's not really anything major, so please pass the message to him. From the end of this month onwards, both of you can use the onsen. As there will be problems allocating times to allow you to use it, we decided to allow you to use the onsen twice every week."
"IS THAT TRUE!?"
What do you mean it's not something important? This is something important! I can finally take a bath now! I'm so touched that I couldn't help but grab Yamada-sensei's hands and say,
"I'M SO HAPPY, THAT'S WONDERFUL! THANK YOU YAMADA-SENSEI!"
"It-It's alright. It's my job anyway..."
Maybe that's true, but right now, I'm so thankful and overwhelmed with emotions that I really want to express my thanks.
"No no no. It's all because of Yamada-sensei's great work. Thank you very much!"
"Is, is that so? Saying it like that, I'm getting really embarrassed, hahaha..."
At that moment, I just realised that there's only both of us in the changing room, and I'm holding onto a female teacher's hands so passionately—what should I say? I feel an ominous presence that indicates that something bad is about to happen.
"...Ichika? What are you doing?"
ACK!
...What, so it's Charles? Phew.
"Ah, no. It's nothing."
I suddenly let go of my hands. Maybe it's really embarrassing that Charles had to say this to me. Yamada-sensei immediately turned her back at me after I let go of her hands.
"Ichika, I should have told you to go back first."
"Oh yeah, you did. Sorry."
Phew, why do I feel that Charles sounded really vexed? But he's giving the same look. Maybe I'm thinking too much.
"Charles, I got good news for ya. We can use the onsen starting from the end of this month!"
"Oh."
Having removed his IS, Charles glanced at me, who's all pumped up, as he starts to rubs his head with a towel.
Uu—hm, seems like he's not feeling too good. But it's such rare good news, and his response is so dull. It's really somewhat anti...
"Ah, that's right. I still need Orimura-kun for something. I got some documents for you to fill, so can you please come to the office? As it's related to the official registration of [Byakushiki], there's a lot of pages."
"Got it—then Charles, This will take quite some time, so you can use the bathroom first."
"Mn, got it."
"Then let's go, Yamada-sensei."
◇
Closing the doors up, Charles, who's alone in the dormitory room, sighed. Maybe he endured it up till now, as the sigh he unconsciously let out was much deeper than what he expected, shocking even himself.
(What am I frustrated about...)
Recalling the attitude he showed in the changing room, it was really shameful on his part. It's likely that Ichika should be even more shocked, causing his mood to worsen.
(...Let's take a shower to lighten the mood.)
Charles pulled out a change of clothes from his own cupboard and walked towards the bathroom.
◇
"Hoo—done, done."
There were a lot of documents alright, but they're just things that need to be signed, so it's not as time-consuming as I thought it would be.
So now I'm the official pilot of the [Byakushiki]...hm, but that's just what the documents mean, so there shouldn't be any drastic changes, right?
"I'm back—hm, that's strange? Charles isn't here."
Thinking about this, I hear the sound of water in the bathroom.
(Oh, he's bathing—speaking of which, he did tell me that we ran out of bathing foam.)
Remembering what Charles said, I pulled out the pre-prepared bathing foam from my cupboard. Since I had thought that I would be the one bathing first, I thought I should fill it up while bathing.
(Hmm—Charles probably doesn't know what to do. Let's just take it to him.)
The bathing room is separated from the sink and the changing area, so I should just head to the changing area and call him, I guess.
After thinking about that, I head towards the sink.
*Klak*
--*Klak*?
Huh. I just opened the room, and it's too strange to hear such a sound...ah, did Charles open the bathroom door? He should be looking for bathing foam.
"Ah, nice timing, this is the refill—"
"I-I-I...chika...?"
"Wha...?"
A 'girl' I didn't recognise walked out of the bathroom.
--How can I tell? It's simple, she has breasts.
Her drenched hair is blond and curly with such softness and elasticity, and she has nice long legs on her slender body. Her slender waist also indicates larger breasts than what they should be.
Her blond hair and purple eyes clearly show that she's not Japanese. Maybe it's because of that the breasts are probably at least size C no matter the measurements. It's really unbelievably eye-catching. The crystal clear skin carried beads of water on them, and they looked as beautiful as diamonds.
Anyway, the girl was completely naked, and though I wanted to look away, my eyes continued to stare involuntarily.
"Huh, well~, that..."
I seem to realise where I had met this naked girl before, but as my mind's in a mess, I really can't arrange my thoughts well. Let me think, blond hair...blond--?
"KYAHH!!"
*BAM!*
Suddenly recovering, the girl hurriedly covers her breasts and escapes back into the bathroom.
"..."
"...Wh-at..."
The person on the other side of the door doesn't say anything. It's likely that she's like me, not knowing what to do.
"I-I'll, I'll leave the bathing foam here..."
"O-Okay..."
After this conversation that ended with a questionable outcome, I placed the bottle in front of the bathroom door and left the changing area.
Huh, what's the situation now? Logically, Charles should be inside the showers now--mu, so it was Charles just now?
Speaking of which, she does look like Charles. If he was to let the hair he ties up down, it's likely he would look like that. But that's not the main problem.
(But it's weird. Why does Charles have breasts? That's right, breasts--)
I can't shake off the image that's imprinted into my eyes.
(Her breasts...are pretty)
I'M AN IDIOT! THAT'S NOT THE MAIN POINT! No, I can't deny it completely.
(Damn it, it's better not to think too much. Burn till thy heart is cooled off, and everything shall be dreams amongst dreams.)
*Klak*...
"!?"
The changing area door opened softly, but to me, that's a lot louder than anything else, causing my body to freeze.
"I-I'm done..."
"I-I see."
The voice that came from behind did belong to Charles. I tried my best to ignore my rapidly beating heart as I slowly turned around.
A girl was standing over there.
◇
"..."
"..."
I guess it's about an hour since we got like this? The girl in front of me--or rather, Charles herself--is facing me as both of us sit on the bed, but our eyes waver as we let time pass silently.
"Ah--that..."
As there hasn't been any progress, I opened my mouth to speak, and the female version of Charles trembled...there's no need to be so shocked, right...
"Would you like some tea?"
"Huh, okay, I'll have some..."
Both of us probably agreed that it was better to have something to drink while talking. At this point, this was the first time I realized that we had the same idea. Anyway, I boiled the water using the electric kettle and poured it into the teapot.
"..."
"..."
Both of us sank into silence before the tea was prepared. But this couldn't be helped. I just hoped that the tea leaves would dissolve faster.
"It's done. Here."
"Oh, thank you--KYAH!!"
As my hand passes the teacup to her, I touched her fingers, causing her to recoil in shock. In this situation, I nearly dropped the teacup onto the floor. And just when I re-grabbed the cup, the tea landed on my hand due to the reaction.
"HOT HOT! WATER, WATER!"
I rushed towards the basin and turned the faucet to the maximum. The gush of water cooled my hand down. At least I managed to settle it without creating such a serious situation.
"So-Sorry! Are you okay?"
"Sor-Sort of. I cooled it off with cold water immediately. There shouldn't be any scalding."
"Le-Let me see...ahh, it's all red now. I'm sorry."
Panicking, Charles ran over to my side and pulled my hand, looking at the place where I got scalded with tea-water painfully.
"I'll get ice over here immediately!"
"Hol-Hold on, wait a minute. There'll be problems if you go out like this. I'll go get it on my own."
Like usual, Charles' wearing a clean cut and suave sports jacket, but maybe due to the fact that her identity is exposed, she's not wearing anything to restrain the breasts, and the clothing she's wearing will clearly show her figure, so one can immediately tell that she has breasts.
"However--"
"More importantly than the ice...that, how am I going to go about with this...your breasts, they're pressing against my body..."
"!!!"
After I mentioned this, Charles finally noticed her positioning. She jumped away from me like she was flying, looking like she wants to cover her breasts as she hugged her own body.
"..."
Though it's faint, Charles' definitely giving me a look of protest that all girls would have.
"And I was worried about you...Ichika no ecchi[2C 1] ..."
"Why's that?"
What's she talking about!? She's treating me like a bad guy, totally illogical! I'm being slandered, I tell ya, slandered!
Maybe it was just my imagination, but Charles wasn't just giving a look of protest, there was also a look of embarrassment and yet happiness mixed together.
...Huh, maybe I'm just thinking too much, but no guy should be feeling happy after being touched by a guy, right?
"Ho...I guess that's enough cooling. Then, here's another cup."
"Thank, thank you."
Charles received the teacup properly this time and took a gulp of tea. And after I took a sip to clear my throat, I raised the question I had been holding back.
"Why did you choose to crossdress as a guy?"
"That's because...that...tha...someone in my family, he told me to do..."
"Hm? Your family? That's the Dunois'—"
"Yes. My dad's the chairman of that company, and he ordered me to do it."
...? For some reason, I feel that something's wrong. Ever since he began, it looks obvious that Charles has some bad memories about it.
