Infinite Stratos - Volume 1, page 9
*Drip* *drip* *drip* *drip* *drip*...
The hot water continued to spurt out from the shower head. The water landed on her skin and flowed down the curves of her body. Her well-proportioned body that was rare among Caucasians and her beautiful streamlines, to Cecilia, were something to be really proud of. Those long legs were shiny, silky and beautiful, and they could not only compete with those of an idols, but would most likely even beat them in beauty.
Though her breasts were a little smaller, compared to other white girls of the same age, it made her body profile stand out even more. Thus, she had some rather complicated feelings because of them. However, that was just for white girls. If they were compared to a Japanese girls', they were more than enough, enough to even be called big.
Cecilia continued to let the water rush down her breasts as she pondered deep in thought.
(Today's match—)
Even now, she didn't understand why Ichika's shield energy dropped to 0. However, if he had struck her with that last hit, it was unknown what would have happened.
To Cecilia, who had always believed that she would win, and would constantly strive for it, this bewilderment made her unable to calm down.
(I definitely won...)
But she wasn't satisifed by it at all; on the contrary, it made her feel uneasy.
(—Orimura, Ichikia—)
She still remembered the guy with those strong-willed eyes.
That not-giving-up look often reminded Cecilia of her own father.
(Daddy would always go according to mommy's whims...)
Having married into a wealthy family, her dad must have felt extremely inferior to her mother. And having such a father during her growth, Cecilia inadvertently thought 'I don't want to marry such a useless man'.
And after the IS was rolled out, her dad's attitude got increasingly sulkier. Her mom must have felt that such a man was a disappointment, so she didn't want to talk to him.
"..."
Her mom was already an impressive woman. Before the society became a women-strong-men-weak society, she had already managed numerous companies, and was an accomplished person. Though she was extremely strict, Cecilia had always respected her a lot.
Yes, 'had'. Her parents are no longer alive. They died in an accident 3 years ago.
Why were her parents, who had been working separately, together on that particular day? Up till now, she still doesn't know the reason.
Though there were once rumors of some conspiracies, the scenario of that accident removed that possibility. It was a cross-border railway accident with more than a hundred causalities.
Just like that, her parents became people who won't ever come back.
After that, time flew.
Cecilia had a vast inheritance, and in order to protect the money from those who wanted to laud it, she studied hard to learn everything, and during an IS suitability test that was part of her learning curriculum, she got an A+ grade. Hoping that she would maintain her nationality, the government came up with all sorts of generous conditions; and in order to protect her parents' inheritance, she immediately agreed. Cecilia was chosen to be the first test pilot of the 3rd generation armament 'Blue Tears'. In order to obtain operation informations and battle experience, she came to Japan, and then—
She met Orimura Ichika; she met the ideal man who had such firm looking eyes.
"Orimura, Ichika..."
She tried to shout his name out. Unbelievably, she could even feel her chest heat up.
Her heart was pounding without any restraint. Cecilia gently stroked her lips. Those pretty, wet lips stirred an unbelievable excitement like they desired to be touched.
"..."
Warm and sweet, saddening yet delighting.
—What's with this feeling?
Before she knew it, her chest was already overwhelmed with this feeling.
—I want to know.
She wants to know its true identity, she wants to know what's behind this feeling.
—I want to know. I want to know, about Ichika.
"..."
Only the sound of water flowing echoed throughout the bathroom.
◇
The next morning during, the SHR, something unbelievable happened.
"Then, the class representative of 1-1 will be Orimura Ichika-kun. Ah, it sure is nice to have a '1'[1B 5] for everything!"
Yamada-sensei said delighted, and the girls showed a strong reaction to this. I was the only one in the dark...just me alone.
"Sensei, I have a question."
I raised my hand. Basically, I have to raise my hand if I want to ask a question.
"Please say, Orimura-kun."
"I definitely lost the match yesterday, so why did I still become the class representative?"
"That's because—"
"That's because I gave up on it!"
Cecilia forcefully stood up and quickly put her hands on her hips. She's giving that ojou-sama vibe again. No, actually, I'm not really thinking about that now—more importantly—why did she resign? And she seems rather emotional...no wait, she's always like that...however, how should I say it? She doesn't seem as angry as yesterday. She seems to be feeling rather happy however—why?
"Hm, Even though you lost, that was to be expected, since your opponent was this Cecilia Alcott, so it couldn't be helped that you lost!"
Uu...I can't argue back, since I really lost.
"Besides, I have reflected on my actions for being unable to control myself. So..."
So?
"I decided to hand over the class representative position to 'Ichika-san'. For IS piloting, having practical fights is the best way to improve. So, If you become the class representative, you will have lots of battles."
Ooh, thanks for giving me this burden—hm? That's weird. Did she call me by my name?
"Ooh, Cecilia's really professional!"
"That's right. Since he's the sole male in the world and in the same class, we have to support him—"
"We can gain valuable experiences and sell the information to other classes. Orimura-kun's presence here can kill two birds with one stone!"
Didn't I tell you not to do business already? Don't sell your classmate out like that.
"Therefore—"
After coughing a few times to clear her throat, Cecilia placed her hand on her chin. This is different from what she normally does; is there a special significance to this? I feel that there's something, but just don't know what it is.
"Also, if this outstanding, graceful, elegant and perfect person that I am, were to teach you how to pilot an IS, you would definitely imp—"
*BAM!* With the sound of the table being slammed, Houki stood up.
"Sorry, but Ichika already has an instructor. He already asked me directly!"
Wha, what's going on? Houki actually emphasized the 'me' as she glared at Cecilia with intense killing intent.
(Didn't I tell you that those eyes can scare anyone!?)
—But for some reason, Cecilia, who was afraid of her just last week, now behaved completely different. She took Houki's glare head on and stared back, looking rather satisfied.
"Oh my, IS grade C Shinonono-san? Is there anything you want to talk to this grade A me about?"
"This..., this has nothing to do with level! I was requested. I-Ichika begged me earnestly for this!"
I didn't.
"Huh, Houki's grade C...?"
"That, that's why I said that it has nothing to do with level, right!?"
I got scolded. Well, on a side note, it seems like I got the grade B. Even so, Chifuyu-nee did say before that this is the initial ranking that's obtained from the training suit, so it's not really significant—
"Sit down, you pair of idiots."
Chifuyu-nee quickly walked over and smacked down on Cecilia and Houki's heads as she swiftly went to them.
As expected of the Japanese representative in the first Mondo Grosso, the dreadfulness is on a completely different scale. Both of them could only sit down dejectedly. Dreadful and dejected[1B 6], it's really interesting to combine these two things together.
*BAM!*
"WHAT ARE YOU BEING ALL CARRIED AWAY ABOUT!? BUCK UP!"
I got hit by the attendance book. Chifuyu-nee, do you know that the cover of the attendance book is really hard? However, only I know that.
"Your level's like that of trash. The way I see it, each one of you are flocks of a feather. Don't show your superiority before you break through your shells."
Regarding Chifuyu-nee's words, it seemed like even Cecilia couldn't argue back. Though it seemed like she had something to say about it, she swallowed her words in the end.
"I should have mentioned before that even representative candidates have to learn everything, starting from the beginning. Though I would say that it's a youth's privilege to bicker over something trivial, unfortunately for you people, I'm in charge, so you better respect yourselves more."
Hm—so Chifuyu-nee's such a reliable person in her profession? That's really unexpected. She doesn't seem to be the kind of person who always complains that the food tastes bland.
Speaking of which, since I'm living in the dorm now, how will Chifuyu-nee turn the house around? No one will be in the house, right? Seems like I'll have to go back on weekends. Speaking of which, has Chifuyu-nee been doing her laundry properly? She has always asked me to help her wash her laundry when I'm washing mine. However, it would be great if she threw those underwear-like clothes into the laundry net. If she were to wash them together and damage the fabric, she would be the one angry. You should do that yourself, you 24-year-old member of society.
*PAM!*
"...You're thinking of something rude, right?"
"No...Not at all."
"Is that so?"
*PAM!* *PAM!*
"I'm very sorry!"
"Good that you know."
A kind citizen actually succumbed to violence? This defies all logic!
"The class representative will be Orimura Ichika. No one has any objections, right?"
"Nope", everyone (except for me) replied. Unity is a good thing.
However, it would be great if it was also good for me. That's what I think.
Chapter 3: The Transfer Student is the Second Childhood Friend
"Well then, let's start practicing some basic IS maneuvers. Orimura, Alcott, try flying with your ISs."
It was near the end of April, the time when the late-blooming Sakura petals were falling. Today, I'm seriously learning from the instructor from hell called Chifuyu-nee.
"Hurry up! A properly trained pilot doesn't need more than a second to deploy the IS."
After being prompted, I started to concentrate.
Once the IS is optimized, it will remain with the pilot in the form of a decoration. Cecilia's is an earring on her left ear, and mine is an arm guard...no wait, they're mostly decorations, but mine's a defense tool, right? Why is it?
"You better concentrate!"
Damn it, I'll get beaten up next time.
I stretched my right arm out, and used my left hand to grab it. After many tries, I found out that this pose allows me to concentrate best—or rather, it allows me to imagine deploying my IS best.
(Come out! [Byakushiki]!)
I muttered in my heart. At that moment, I felt a thin layer extend from my right wrist over my entire body. The time it took to deploy was about 0.7 seconds. The balls of light scattered out from my body before seemingly combining together to form the IS.
My body instantly became lighter, and all sorts of sensors started being linked to my consciousness, which raised my line of sight. In the blink of an eye, my body was equipped with the IS [Byakushiki] and was floating about 10cm above the ground.
Cecilia was also equipped with her own IS [Blue Tears] as she floated. The BITs that were destroyed by me during our battle were already completely repaired.
"Okay, fly."
After Chifuyu-nee said that, Cecilia immediately got into action. She quickly rose up and stopped high above the ground.
Though I managed to do it as well, my speed of ascent was much slower than Cecilia's.
"What are you doing? In terms of specs, [Byakushiki] has a higher power output!"
A lecture could be heard from the communication line. On a side note, I've only just learned how to do an emergency ascent and descent, and that the method of piloting is to 'push in the direction I imagine'. However, I just can't grasp that feeling.
"Ichika-san, imagination is just imagination. You should find a more suitable image for yourself!"
"Even if you say that, I can't really understand it. Basically, this feeling of flying through the air is still strange to me. How can this thing even fly?"
Though the [Byakushiki] does have two pairs of wings, if I think of it like this, it can't possibly fly like a plane does. Basically, since the theory of flying is unrelated to the direction the wings spread, it can fly in any directions, which makes me wonder what is going on.
"I wouldn't mind explaining it, but there's a lot to it. This includes the anti-gravity wings and the theory of flow interference."
"I know, you don't need to explain it to me."
I immediately refused. My brain definitely can't process all of that.
"Is that so? What a pity. Hoho."
Cecilia revealed a delighted smile, and it was neither a ridiculing, nor a courteous one. It was just a normal, happy smile.
Ever since that match, she seems to always have a reason to train me, which I'm really grateful for. Also, as expected of a representative candidate, she's really outstanding.
However, how much has her mindset changed? Her initial attitude seems to be a lie or something.
"Ichika-san, if you want to, I can teach you after school. We'll be alon—"
"ICHIKA! HOW LONG ARE YOU GOING TO KEEP FLYING UP THERE!? HURRY UP AND GET DOWN!"
An angry shout could be heard from the communicator. Looking closely, far far below on the ground was Houki, who snatched the speaker from Yamada-sensei, while looking completely flustered. On a side note, my vision could be compared to that of a telescope, and it was all due to the IS high-grade sensors. I could see everything clearly from 200 m above the ground. If this sort of ability were to be used for something bad, it could really create quite a lot of trouble!
"Let me add on a bit, right now, the sensors are still limited. The IS was originally intended for space activity, and since the IS has to grasp objects at a distance of tens of thousands kilometers, it's to be expected that we can see so many small things at this distance, so clearly."
As expected of a model student, to be so knowledgeable on such stuff. On a side note, Houki's explanation was like:
"Like a 'mm' feeling."
"With a 'dong' touch."
"And also with a 'clang' mode."
Her explanation was completely useless to me. Speaking of which, did Houki really activate an IS just like that? I haven't really started practicing how to pilot an IS, so I didn't ask how far Houki had gone with that.
On another side note, Cecilia would always rebut Houki's explanations, and then both of them would start to squabble. If so, she's soft to me, yet antagonistic to Houki. Why is that?
"Orimura, Alcott, try doing a sudden dive and then come to a complete halt. The target is 10cm above the ground."
"R-Roger. In that case, I'll be going first."
After saying that, Cecilia immediately dropped towards the floor. I was somewhat impressed as I watched her become smaller.
"You're good, aren't you?"
Just like that, she seemed to have completely stopped perfectly—okay, time for me to go down.
I gathered my concentration as an image of a rocket cannon firing from my wings formed in my mind; after focusing on that, I instantly dived down to the ground.
*Whoosh—DHUMP!!*
I landed. However, to an expert, it would seem more like a crash. My body didn't hit the ground too hard due to the anti-gravity function, but my heart nearly got killed by my classmates' laughter. If possible, I hope that the IS could protect my heart as well.
"You idiot. Who asked you to open a hole in the ground?"
"...Sorry."
Anyway, I got a hold of myself, and rose from the ground. Thanks to the IS shields, the [Byakushiki] didn't get dirty.
"You're embarrassing! Ichika, have you forgotten what I taught you yesterday?"
Giving me a cold stare, Houki folded her arms in front of her chest as she waited for me there. What you 'taught me yesterday'...don't tell me you are talking about those weird noises? Houki can actually tell a joke! Hm, so having a change in perspective is a good thing.
"You're definitely thinking something rude right now, aren't you?"
Why is it that others can read my mind?
"Basically Ichika, ever since the past, you've been—"
Just when I thought that Houki was going to continue to rattle on, someone actually appeared in front of me and interrupted her.
"Ichika-san, are you alright? Are you hurt?"
"O-Oh, I'm alright..."
"Is that so? That's great."
Hohoho, Cecilia again laughed happily. Uu—a girl's emotions just change when they want to. I really want to ask, who it was that said that 'a girl's feelings are like an autumn's sky'? Isn't it even more unpredictable than the weather?
"...How could he possibly be injured when he is equipped with an IS..."
"Ah, Shinonono-san, isn't it normal to be concerned about others? Even if he's equipped with an IS, this is common sense, right?"
"You're one to talk, you wolf in sheep clothing."
"Well, it's better than donning the clothes of a demon."
*BOOM!* Both glared at each other, creating many sparks...no, even though they're not creating sparks, for some reason, I'm seeing them. Is it because of the IS sensors? If that's the case, even though it's amazing, it's not hard to think that this is something useless. Speaking of which, the relationship between these two seems to be on even worse terms, I wonder why?
"Hey you, idiots, don't block the way. If you want to quarrel, go somewhere else!"
Forcefully pushing Houki and Cecilia's heads apart, Chifuyu-nee stood in front of me.
