Infinite Stratos: Shades of Love

Chapter 2

AN: I really have no excuse for not updating earlier. Don't kill me! And prepare for there to be significant changes.

Disclaimer: I do not own Infinite Stratos or any other anime/manga that may or may not be referenced in this story.

Story Start!

'Haaaa so glad that's over with.' I thought as the first IS theory class was over. It wasn't because of my lack of understanding but rather, I already knew all of these things because of Tabane-chan! It also didn't help that Nee-sama totally ignored me the entire time nor did she look at me.

And this is how I find myself sitting in my desk as a large number of first years, and even some second and third years, stared at me from outside the classroom. Older sempais…please talk to me!

"Ichika."

Turning my head, I saw Houki approaching me.

"Houki-chan! I see you decided to approach me in my time of need! Can't you see all these people outside staring at me!? I wonder what they want…" I pondered as I rubbed my chin and squinted my eyes.

"O-Of course they're staring at you! This is the first time a male has been admitted to IS Academy ever! You, y-you better not be having any strange thoughts about them!" Houki explained as she pointed at me.

"You mean I can't even fantasize a little!?" A shocked look spread across my face.

"W-what are you thinking you idiot! I can't believe you!" Incoming right hook! Initiating immediate evasive maneuvers!

Leaning just out the way in my seat I dodged her punch. Crisis adverted.

"Now, now Houki-chan. You shouldn't try to hit your childhood friend after seeing him for the first time in six years!"

"That's because you were thinking perverted thoughts!"

"Who ever said I was thinking something perverted? You just assumed! Maybe… you're the pervert for thinking such things!"

A large blush spread across her face as she tried to retort.

"P-pervert…I-I'm not a pervert!" 2nd barrage incoming! Activating Absolute Barrier!

As Houki once again launched a punch at me, I immediately grabbed my thick IS textbook and held it in front of my face. The end result was obvious.

The sound of Houki's cry of pain was heard. She was rubbing her fist as she glared at me. I chuckled.

"You shouldn't try to hit me Houki-chan! Who knows what will happen to you!"

As Houki and I were having part two of our reunion, the girls in and out of the classroom were speaking in hushed whispers and not so hushed whispers.

"Who is that girl!?"

"EHHH childhood friends!?"

"I-It's okay! It's only the first day! We still have a chance!"

Ding-Dong-Dang-Dong.

Suddenly, the bell rang, signaling the end of the break and the start of second period. Hearing this, all of the girls went back to their respective classrooms while chatting even more about the male IS pilot like I was some rare breed or something.

Houki kept glaring at me as she walked back to her seat. She then pointed at me once again and exclaimed

"This isn't over Ichika!" Is this a challenge?

"Haha I look forward to it!"

"...Thus, the basic operations of IS have to be guided by the country. If no permission is granted, we have to pursue criminal responsibilities..."

Yamada-sensei continued with her lesson ever so eloquently and once again, I was bored out of my mind.

'When will this end!?' I thought as I twirled my pen in my hand.

The girl sitting next to me noticed my pen spinning in fascination and then it got faster and faster before to her shock, it went so fast that it looked like a vortex in my hand.

"O-Orimura-kun!"

"Huh?" I so sophisticatedly replied.

As the pen stopped moving, everyone looked in my direction. Yamada-sensei, nervous at this interruption, turned around and reprimanded me, or at least tried to.

"O-Orimura-kun! Please don't interrupt the class while I-I'm teaching! A-as a punishment t-take this!"

Yamada-sensei said, throwing some really fancy laser pointer at me. Oi, Oi. You shouldn't throw technology like that.

Coming at me like a spinning disc of death, the laser pointer was one foot away from me before taking a sudden turn to my right, hitting the girl who said my name.

"Kyaaa!"

'How could you miss…I'm in the front row!' I looked at her amazed.

Everyone else stared at the seemingly impossible spectacle before turning to Yamada-sensei, who at the moment, had tears welling up in her eyes. She looked like she was about to bawl right then and there.

Then Chifuyu-nee decided to intervene and even spoke to me!

"Continue with the lesson Yamada-sensei. And you, Orimura. Knock it off."

"Yes Orimura-sensei!" I said enthusiastically. I could care less that I was scolded. Chifuyu-nee spoke to me!

Continuing with the lesson, Yamada-sensei started diving more into IS Law and Usage but I wasn't paying attention. 'Nee-sama spoke to me!' This was my train of thought for the rest of the lesson as I went into lala land. If one looked closely, they could see sparkles surrounding me before rubbing their eyes at such an unbelievable sight and turning back to the lesson.

It was the break after second period and once again I was sitting in my desk. Contrary to what Houki said before she didn't come back to talk to me but rather glared at me the whole time. 'What a troublesome childhood friend I have.' I thought. Glare intensity rising!

Feeling the need to stretch, I abruptly stood up as a girl walked by. Surprised by my sudden movement the girl took a step back before slipping on a pencil that I forgot to pick up earlier. Crashing to the floor, her glasses fell off her face as she landed on her posterior.

"Oh! I'm sorry!"

Quickly coming to her aid I picked up her glasses to hand back to her. As I did this I couldn't help but look at her more closely. She had blue hair and dark red eyes and was wearing the typical IS uniform except she had two hairpins on both sides of her head and yellow stockings.

"Are you okay?" I asked as I gave her the glasses. I couldn't help but notice that the glasses were actually a portable display and not real glasses.

She didn't speak for a couple moments as she put on her glasses.

"…I'm fine." It was barely a whisper but due to my proximity I heard it.

"That's great! I'm really sorry for making you fall." I smiled as I offered my hand.

She had a light blush on her face as she stared at my hand before ignoring it and standing up on her own. Waaahhh my hand was ignored!

As she got up and dusted herself off she looked at me for a second before saying something I barely caught.

"…Leave me alone."

"Eh?"

She then brushed right passed me and left the classroom. Huh. How cold. Maybe she had to use the bathroom?

"Ichika! You bastard! What did you do to that girl!?" Houki yelled at me

"What do you mean what did I do!? You saw it didn't you!" I replied back.

"Hmph." Was all I got as a reply as she folded her arms across her chest and turned her head to the side.

'What did I do to deserve this?' I asked myself.

"Who was she anyway?" I asked aloud.

"That was Kan-chan!"

"Kan-chan?"

Hearing this I turned around to be greeted by another of my classmates. My first impression was that she was…slow. She was walking towards me at a snail's pace as she waved her arms in the air. She had pink shoulder length hair with two small pigtails on both sides of her head and yellow eyes that I could have sworn made her look sleepy. Something else to note was that the sleeves on her uniform were long enough to cover her hands from view.

"Fuu fuu I'm Nohotoke Honne it's nice to meet you Orimu~" Eh? Orimu?

"Ah it's nice to meet you too. I'm Orimura Ichika." I replied automatically.

"I know!"

I laughed as I should have expected that she knew my name. This is going to take some time getting used to…Reminding myself about the blue haired girl I asked

"So Kan-chan?"

"Sarashiki Kanzashi-chan!"

"Sarashiki Kanzashi huh? What a fitting name…"

"Yupp yupp!" Honne said as she once again waved her hands.

"Ah. Thanks for the information Nohotoke-san." I said before I started to rub her head as thanks. I couldn't help it. She looks so cute!

Honne purred (?) like a kitten as she felt the hand on her head. She even started nuzzling my hand!

"Hehehe call me Honne~!"

At this moment, Houki decided to barge into the conversation.

"Ichika, y-you..! Do you do that to every girl you meet!?"

"Eh? Does Houki-chan want her head patted too?"

Letting go of Honne's head as she let out a mew of disappointment, I walked over to Houki and started rubbing her head too.

"There there Houki-chan! Does it feel nice?"

Houki face turned red in an instant. Whether it was from embarrassment, anger, or a combination of both was left to the reader's imagination. Or some fourth option that dense people never realize. It seemed she reached her limit as she batted my hand off her head and said

"I-Idiot! Don't treat me like a dog!"

I just laughed once she said this and as I was about to continue—

DING—DONG—DANG—DONG.

—the bell had rung. Students in the hallway started pouring back inside and going to their assigned seats including one Sarashiki Kanzashi. Moments later Yamada-sensei and Chifuyu-nee walked in and began the lesson.

"For the remaining time, we'll mainly be describing all sorts of equipment that can be used in actual combat, and their characteristics."

Chifuyu-nee replaced Yamada-sensei, who taught the first and second period lessons, as she stood at the front. Seemed like this was important, as even Yamada-sensei took out a notebook.

"Ah, but before that, we have to decide on the class representative who'll take part in the inter-class tournament."

'A representative? I suddenly have a bad feeling about his.' I thought as I looked around at my fellow classmates.

"The class representative is as its name indicates. The class representative will not only compete in the tournament, but will also attend student council meetings and committee meetings as well. Well, you can consider it like a class leader. On a side note, the inter-class battles are meant to gauge each enrolled class' ability. Though there isn't much difference right now, competition will encourage further improvement."

Chifuyu-nee mentioned as she looked at the class. Mutterings broke out between the rest of the students before one brave soul spoke up—

"Sensei, I recommend Orimura-kun!"

—and didn't even recommend herself! Why me?

"Yeah! Orimura-kun should do it!" Another classmate spoke up.

"He is the only guy you know. We have to give him some time in the spot light!" And another.

Multiple cries of agreement rang out and no one even gave a hint of voting for someone else. I'm glad the whole class is on the same page and everything but why did it have to be about me!?

I slapped my hands together in sign of prayer before wishing for someone else to be voted it in but the chances were practically zero percent.

"So no opposition? Then from unanimous vote, Orimura Ichika will be the Class Representative for 1-1 this year. You hear that, Orimura? Don't screw up now."

Chifuyu-nee spoke to me once again.

The sparkles would have returned if it weren't for the fact that I was now responsible for representing my class. Is this where I should start despairing over how unlucky I am!?

Somehow though, it felt terribly anti-climactic that I was voted in without someone speaking up against it. I mean I half expected to be challenged by a young British Ojou-sama who insulted my country, where I then fought back and then she would challenge me to a duel that would take place next week. And then when we battled I would be on the verge of losing before making a huge comeback while spouting how I would protect my family only to lose anyway because I depleted my shield points before I could finish her off.

In class 1-4, said young British Ojou-sama was just made the Class Representative before she inexplicably sneezed out of nowhere.

"Hohohohoho! Some commoner must have been speaking of the England's IS Representative Candidate, the one and only pilot to beat an instructor, Cecilia Alcott! Hoho—Achoo!"

Woah. What just happened?

"Now, moving onto the lesson…"

The bell rang once again and this time it signaled for the afternoon break which meant it was lunch time!

"Thank god! I'm so starving right now!"

After my exclamation I decided to walk over to Houki and invite her as well.

'Hey, hey Houki-chan! Want to get some lunch with me?"

Having that ever so present glare on her face she replied

"Hmph. Why should I?"

"Oh…I see how it is! Houki-chan doesn't want to spend time with me! I guess I'll just go ask someone else!" I fake cried.

"Eh!?"

"Honne-chan! Do you and your friends want to eat lunch with me? This cold hearted childhood friend of mine won't give me the time of day!"

Honne-chan, who was in the midst of talking with her other friends suddenly cheered.

"Yay~! Orimu wants to eat with us! Fu fu fu we bett~er get going before all the tables are taken!"

Smiling at her acceptance I then spotted Sarashiki-san sitting at her desk alone. Walking up to her I asked

"Sarashiki-san! Do you want to eat lunch with us?"

She mumbled something but I couldn't quite hear it.

"Eh? Can you say that again?"

"…Don't call me that."

"Then how about Kanzashi-chan?"

Her stare intensified at me but I didn't relent.

"Nope! I'm going to call you Kanzashi-chan even if you don't want me to! Now let's go to lunch!"

Honne decided this would be the time to help.

"Yeah! I was about to invite Kan-chan anyway. Nice one Orimu~"

Kanzashi seemed to give up at this double assault before muttering

"Fine…"

Grabbing Kanzashi's hand I pulled her up and started walking towards the cafeteria.

She blushed before trying to tug her hand away in vain.

"S-stop holding my hand."

"Haha not a chance! You'd probably run away."

"I-is…this how you c-conquer girls?"

"What are you talking about? It's only the second chapter! It's way too early!"

"What..?"

As we talked Houki was having an internal struggle.

Delusion Start.

Both her tsun and dere sides clashed in a battle of epic proportions. On one side we had a chibi Houki decked out in red, ancient samurai armor with the kanji for tsun on the helmet followed by an army of soldiers with tsun also written where there faces would be. The tsun Houki was pointing a katana at another chibi Houki that was wearing a blue Miko outfit with dere written on a white headband and had an army of similarly dressed figures with dere written on their faces. She was waving a blue flag with Ichika's face on it.

"Gah! I can't stand that guy anymore! Ever since he's returned he's been perverted and taking things at his own pace! Why should we go to lunch with him!?"

Tsun Houki raged.

Dere Houki, being the maiden in love that she was, replied.

"This is the perfect chance to find out what he's been doing all these years! Fu~ You have to admit he's gotten soooo~ handsome in the six years we haven't seen each other…"

"Uuuuu"

Was all Tsun Houki could reply with as she realized Dere Houki was right..

"Didn't he hug us when he first saw us? He still remembered us! Let's go! Even though there are other girls, as childhood friends, it obvious that we'll come first!"

"I-I won't accept this! I s-should have just stuck with the default answer of violence! Tsun Warriors attack!"

"You won't win! Dere Priestesses go!"

In the end, the Dere Priestesses achieved a landslide victory against the Tsun Warriors.

Delusion End.

"W-wait! I'm coming too!"

Houki looked all flustered as she scrambled out of her seat to catch up to us. She latched onto my other arm before matching my pace.

"Muuu…No fair! Hold Honne's hand too!"

Honne whined.

"Orimura-kun sure is popular."

"It's only the first day too!"

The other girls added.

Seeing that everyone is good to go I said

"Alright! Let's go to lunch! Onward!"

Reaching the cafeteria with our small group of five I couldn't help but be awed by the amount of funding IS Academy received. I mean looking at this state of the art cafeteria and the number of chefs in the kitchen amazed me. Not to mention that the food also smelled delicious.

On a side note, there were a large pack of girls behind us and when we entered a large number of eyes stared intently at our group. More like staring at me I bet.

Quickly ordering our food, our group of six quickly reached a circular booth near the windows that was empty. It should be taken into account that as soon as we sat down all the other tables around us started being filled at an alarming rate.

The seating arrangement was from left to right, Unnamed Girl 1 and 2, Houki, me, Honne, and finally Kanzashi.

"Itadakimasu!"

I shouted as I immediately dug into an order of rice and beef at extreme speed.

"O-Orimura-kun."

Pausing at the sound of my name, I lowered my chopsticks and looked at Unnamed Girl number 1.

"Yes?"

"D-did you really have to order this much?"

"Yeah! I heard of guys who eat a lot but…this …is much more than I expected."

Unnamed Girl number 2 added.

"Hehe Orimu~ is a growing boy!"

Honne said as she ate from here meager plate of bread and some rice.

Oh. I guess it would be surprising if seen for the first time. It's not every day you see one person order 11 entrées, 14 sides, and 6 plates of desert in one sitting. I now have a large stack of plates sitting to my right and it continued to grow.

"I wouldn't be the main character if I didn't eat at least this much!"

I laughed as I dived right back into my food.

Houki just nodded her head in agreement with me.

At the other end of the table, Kanzashi couldn't help but stare in awe at Ichika. He reminded her of one the heroes in an anime she recently watched.

"So cool…"

Finishing up my last plate I gave a sigh of contentment.

""""""Thanks for the food!""""""

Everyone had finished up as well. We only had 10 minutes left of lunch break left so I let the girls know they could ask me some questions if they wanted.

"Orimura-kun, question!"

Midori Aoi, previously Unnamed Girl number one, asked.

"Go ahead."

"Are you perhaps related to Orimura-sensei? You do share the same last name."

I was wondering when this question would be asked. In another time and place, this would have been discovered right away but I never gave it away nor did Chifuyu-nee hint at it.

"Ah. You would be correct."

In the background, all the other tables filled with girls eavesdropping heard this confirmation.

"Eh...? Then, it means that Orimura-kun is Chifuyu-sama's younger brother...?"

"Maybe that has something to do with him being the only guy in the world that can use the IS?"

"Ah~ Great. I really wanted to switch him over."

I don't even know what that means! And it's rude to listen in on other people's conversations, you know?

"Really!? Then, then, what's Chifuyu-sama like in her own house?"

"Uh…"

This is bad. Ever since that incident, we've been spending less and less time with each other. She rarely stayed at home and when she did she locked herself in her room. I couldn't really answer that question right now…

"W-well, what do you know? Lunch is almost over so we better head to class! We better not be late!"

I laughed awkwardly as I quickly got up to leave. Asking Honne and Kanzashi to move before taking the trays stacked with dirty dishes. It was rather comical when I had to bring all the plates I ate from back to the kitchen staff.

After that I quickly dashed off back to class.

"Eh?"

Was the general response.

Houki had a strange expression on her face. She then whispered.

"Could Ichika and Chifuyu-san be…?"

Kanzashi also had a questioning look on her face.

'Is he like me …and Nee-san…?' she thought.

Honne then cried out,

"Orimu~ W-wait for me!"

But it was in vain because that girl couldn't move fast unless it was a serious situation.

I sighed as the school day finally came to an end. Everyone started packing up to go off to whatever they do after school. All I wanted to do was take a nap.

"Orimura-kun! It's good that your still here."

Turning around at the call of my name, I came face to face with Yamada-sensei.

"Is there something you needed?"

"Well, your dorm's ready."

Yamada-sensei said as she handed over a paper with the dorm number on it and a key.

Ah. That's right IS Academy is a boarding school that requires its students to live on campus. Most likely to protect these precious students from any outside interference. It wasn't strange for another country to try and lure elite pilots over.

"I thought it would take a while…?"

"Well, special circumstances require special solutions right? I've already taken care of your luggage and everything so just go ahead to the right room and you're good to go!"

"How'd you do that!?"

I asked shocked.

"Don't worry about the small details Orimura-kun."

"Well more than the small details…how long are you going to bite on my ear?"

Somewhere along the conversation Yamada-sensei somehow starting nibbling on my left ear as she talked. This…is why I like older woman!

"Ah, no, this is because... it wasn't on purpose..."

"It's okay with me Yama-pi!"

I gave her a thumbs up.

"Ya-Yama-pi!?"

"Well I'm off now! Thanks for telling me!"

I quickly used the escape button. Ichika has fled from battle!

Yamada-sensei stood there before giggling.

"Fufufufu just wait until he sees who he's rooming with!"

She then walked off only to trip.

"Uguuu."

"Yamada-sensei."

At this moment Orimura Chifuyu, two time winner of The Mondo Grosso, showed up.

"Uh Yes!"

Scrambling to a standing position, while falling one more time, Maya stood up.

"I was never told which room Ichika was placed in. Do you know? You are in charge of dorm placements."

It could never be said that Chifuyu didn't love her brother. She was worried even if she didn't show it. This only increased after the kidnapping but she was too afraid and guilty to actually show Ichika this. She kept wondering if Ichika hated her for allowing him to be kidnapped and not coming to his rescue. And she realized it didn't help that she ignored him and only talked to him if she had to in recent years.

"O-Oh! Yes I just gave him his dorm keys and everything. He should be on his way now."

Maya said nervously. She seemed to be sweating a little.

"I see. Well I'll be heading to the dorms once I finish some paperwork in the faculty room. Make sure you keep an eye out for any lingering students."

Chifuyu said before briskly walking away.

Maya wiped her brow of sweat as Chifuyu finally left.

"If she found out what I did…I don't think I would be alive now…I better prepare for later."

Walking into the first year dormitories—once again—my first impression was of awe. It held a high class feel but also felt homely at the same time. IS Academy really doesn't hold back with these kind of things do they?

My room seemed to be designated on the first floor so I headed down the correct hallway. It just so happens that I missed the sign Dorm Supervisor's Quarters…

Reaching the correct dorm, I took the key out and unlocked the door. The sight that greeted me easily beat five star hotels. The room consisted of one large king sized bed, a futuristic desk with a built in computer, matching dresser and night stand, a comfy looking couch and a built in shower and bathroom.

"I still can't help but be amazed…and I get this room all to myself?" For some reason I heard a faint voice say no…but I ignored it.

Putting my school bag down next to my luggage that had been delivered I stretched. Deciding to take a shower to wake myself, I grabbed a spare change of clothes and headed into the shower.

Heading back to the dorms after finishing with her paperwork, Chifuyu couldn't help but sigh as she went over today's events.

As usual, idiots from all over had come to her class praising her and putting her on a pedestal. Saying such things like scold them but be gentle afterwards. How stupid.

This time it was different though. Her younger brother whom brought all sorts of her emotions to the surface was in her class because it was discovered that he can pilot an IS. A part of her was glad that Ichika would be closer to her now but it was heavily outweighed by the sense of guilt every time she saw him.

Sighing once again, Chifuyu finally reached her room on the first floor and was about to insert her key before she noticed the door was open. Alarms instantly went off in her head as she became extremely cautious. Was it a thief? She didn't think so but she couldn't rule out that possibility just because they had state of the art security. Maybe it was cleaned as usual before the year started and the janitor forgot to lock the door?

Slowly opening the door, she cautiously stepped in not noticing anything out of place at the moment before she heard the shower turn off.

Not completely understanding why a thief—or anyone for that matter—would break into a room just to take a shower, Chifuyu readied herself, grabbing a bokken hidden in her room, totally missing the luggage propped up against the wall as hard as that might seem. She wanted to get the drop on the unsuspecting intruder.

Hearing the shower door slide open, she immediately leapt into action throwing the door open, easily breaking the lock with her monstrous strength, and prepared to knock the intruder out and bring into questioning, only to freeze.

Eyes widening, Chifuyu absently dropped her bokken on the bathroom floor, before a blush of epic proportions lit up on her face and entire body.

Standing there wet from just taking a shower, was an equally shocked Ichika as he stared at his sister who had just barged in.

"…"

"…"

Chifuyu robotically turned around before walking outside the bathroom and shutting the door. Blush still present on her face, Chifuyu lowered her head so her hair would cover her eyes. If you looked closely enough you would see a small trail of blood running from her nose.

Standing there for a moment Chifuyu came to a sudden realization.

…

…

"YAMADA MAYA! YOU ARE SO DEAD!"

Chapter End

AN: Well I tried my best. Sorry if things seem confusing or OOC. Feel free to ask me questions or give me advice. I won't mind even if it's negative. And if you already haven't noticed, my story will be more light-hearted than the others so I don't think I'll have Phantom task play any role in my story. I kind of want to focus on relationships and other what ifs.

Please read and review. I would appreciate it.