First, I would like to say that this is not a serious project. This is more of a "lol I have no idea how this came to be but I decided to roll with it and ended up writing a few chapters because the idea made me laugh so much". No matter how serious the protag is, uh, yeah. No, this project… I dunno how much thought I really put into it, but it did pass my usual standards I have for writing, it's just that I didn't like, you know, make drafts and plans for this project is what I meant. It's, um, well you'll see if you give it a read.

Lemme just say that this probably isn't like other Infinite Stratos fics that I've posted before. Usually my stories have an OC who kicks ass, takes names, and is a real badass. Not this one. This is… just a normal guy, to be honest. A normal guy who works a job in the Infinite Stratos world… at IS Academy, anyways, but he's nothing special. Like, legit.

Which is why this project amused me so much. There's so many fanfics about wild adventures that characters have, so I thought it'd be cool just to write a work-com, something that I usually never write or would consider writing and try my hand at it.

So, here goes.

Chapter 1: Hiring

"I'm surprised you took the post."

I lean back in the suspiciously comfortable red velvet recliner chair, facing the director of IS Academy. "Well sir, a colleague of mine recommended me for position, you offered the job—coming all the way to America and actually hosting an interview with me at that—and it's a lot better than my current job, and well I have decided to rise to the challenge."

The older man chuckles. "Ah, I see, I see. I must ask though, what of the rumors you've heard? I am not so naïve as to believe you haven't heard of the… rather unpleasant rumors about working at IS Academy."

"Oh believe me, I've heard about the rumors about being posted there. I understand your asking, but you do me a minor offense by not anticipating my knowledge of a position. And of course, the rumors are fairly standard throughout the community. Ah, what was it… the previous therapist and psychologist there, uh, what was his name… Kyle Weiss? Ah yes, I actually visited him a week ago in rehab. He seems like he's doing better." I say with a dismissive hand wave. "Worry not, I don't intend to be anything but fully prepared for the position."

"Are you sure about this? Overconfidence is a major weakness."

"I am not overconfident. I am well aware that I may end up like many others, but trust me when I say I shall do my best to see a class through. It is not confidence, but a personal endeavor. No posted therapist and psychologist, male or female, has made it through a full three years. Considering I'll be coming in just when the next class is beginning, I intend to see them graduate."

"Hm. We'll see, I suppose. I haven't met anyone with such enthusiasm for the post."

"Heh. However, I will be working in conjunction with the school psychiatrist, correct? I have taken a few courses in psychopharmacology, but I'm not a medical doctor yet. I was planning on expanding so I may have knowledge in more fields, but…"

"Ah, yes of course. You'll be introduced to her when you arrive."

"Thank you. I didn't mean to offend, I just wished to know that we both knew what job I was taking. I can prescribe a few medications, but not to the extent my more medically trained friends can."

"Hm, if you are taking the job…will three weeks be enough to get all your belongings and affairs in order? I'll have a ticket sent to you for your flight then."

"That should be more than enough."

"Then," he says, standing up and putting out a hand. "On behalf of IS Academy, I look forward to you joining our staff, Shino Galen."

"As do I, Kutsuwagi Juuzou." I say, taking his hand and shaking it. "As do I."

"Still can't believe you took the post."

"You say that every time we talk now, but I still think it's a nice change of pace. An actual challenge too, for my work. Not to mention that many of the more prominent members of my field believed in my ability. Or so they said at the last conference I attended."

"Yeah, or they're waiting to off you so they can take your old job."

"Heh."

"What's the record for that place anyways? I never actually asked." My old friend, Ralph, asks as I make sure all the tags are on my suitcases.

"Uh, four months. Last guy to have it… went to become a monk, if I remember correctly." I say off-handedly while looking at my watch. "Like I said, I intend to shatter that record."

"I can think of a few other things that'll be shattered too, if you know what I mean."

"Buzz off."

"No, no. I suppose it is a change of pace, after all. Twenty five, one of the top in your field, going to be surrounded by plenty of young woman as compared to the middle aged ones at your office…"

"Most of which are under the age of eighteen, mind you. I intend to stay on the good side of the law." I grumble while throwing a few DVDs in the microwave and frying them before shattering them and tossing the remains into another garbage bag.

"Isn't the age of consent different over there? Besides, I never mentioned that. I was talking about your balls for when you inevitably piss someone off."

"Already invested in a cup in case some crazy shit goes down. Besides, I've known that since college. God knows that Alicia was a hell of a sadist when drunk and horny. Which was pretty often, considering how much she complained about writing papers."

"Heh. She's gonna be a little disappointed, you know?"

"I told you, we already split up a long time ago. It was college, and all that." I say, throwing a few choice magazines into the shredder. "We both split up professionally when we entered our professional fields and didn't really have enough of a spark to try to keep our relationship going."

Long story short, Alicia, Ralph, and I were all friends since high school and then all went to college together. I majored in Psychology, Alicia took Physics, and Ralph in Computer Science. Alicia and I went out in our junior and senior year, but when we each began to take on graduate level courses and work, realized it was going to be rough to stay together and as we started seeing each other less and less, called it off professionally before our friendship would be ruined.

"You two still talk, right?"

"When we've both got some time, a phone call that goes for about an hour or so. Catch up on what's been going on. Oh, I did meet her in person at the convention out all the way in Pittsburgh about two months ago, when our two meetings happened to be in the same area. Still pretty stunning in a suit. Also, she tell you about the time she shut down that group of girls who were ringing all up about IS-female-supremacy?"

"Oh yeah, she sounded way too sadistic about it if you ask me."

"Heh, I'll bet. Anyways, my cab's going to be here in about an hour and I'm going to have a final chat with my landlord."

"Alright. Don't be a stranger, man."

"Eh, I've got international coverage. Might be a bitch to pay for, but my new pay grade's to the point it doesn't dent much."

"Heh. Call soon, man."

With that, I hang up and tuck the smartphone into my pocket.

"You know, you didn't need to get rid of those." My landlord Madeline Bowes, a middle-aged (roughly fifty one, last I checked) woman, says as I put the remains of my… ahem, collection away. "It would've been funny to leave around the house. Especially since my daughter is in her senior year and is getting kind of curious."

"That is legitimately unsettling. Besides, I'd rather not have you be able to implicate me as the owner of such a collection." I reply. "By the way, you can keep the rent I paid for the next few months. Get yourself something nice with it."

After having me here for so long, the two of us are more like close friends. In addition, I've seen her daughter through some of her high school years, as I arrived just before her freshman year, where we became fast friends after I began tutoring her. She's not home right now, being at school, but I can assure you that she's quite the respectable young lady. Her mother was a rather conservative person and is still working, having none of that IS business. "Bad for business and sales", she says.

"Maybe I'll replace it. Write your name in all of them."

"Well, it's your money now, isn't it? Although I'd like to request that you don't do anything that jeopardizes your daughter's rather idolized image of me."

"Hehehe, well the age of—"

"I also happen to have my lawyer on speed dial."

"Tuttut, you're no fun. You won't survive at that Academy without a sense of humor."

"I wasn't hired to have fun, I was hired for a job. Although I suppose that seeing your daughter grow up and being her sounding board at times has given me plenty of experience. And… Thank you, Madeline. You've put up with me for several years now."

She waves a hand. "Oh no, no. Despite that, you've been a rather good tenant. I haven't had any problems with you at all and you've been quite the friend. Your austere lifestyle probably helped with that. I did overhear that you intend to make it through the three years, but do know that there's always a roof here for you."

"Uh..." I say, some legitimate embarrassment making itself evident with some heat on my cheeks. "That's um, means a lot to me. You probably don't know how much, but um… thank you."

"Awww, so you are a little weak to something. The ladies at IS Academy will surely have their fun."

I immediately snap my back straight. "Oh, like they'll have time to play once I get my work going. Three years of students and probably a thousand different circumstances let alone the problem students, if anyone interrupts my workflow, there'll be a few problems."

"Hehehe." Madeline's light blue eyes glow a playful blue, complimenting her rather alluring light brown hair. "Well, perhaps we can share a cup of coffee now? Wouldn't hurt while waiting. I can also beat your ass in chess one final time."

I sigh before giving a laugh. "Right, right. Go ahead."

It's about an hour when I hear the cab pull up outside. Seems it's a little early, but I was losing this chess game anyways. Not that the past six went any better.

"Looks like it's time for me to go."

"Off you go, then. I'll walk you out."

I pass through the light green painted walls, noting all the various pictures. Heh, it's really when her daughter, Ushio, went into high school that I really became a part of their little community here, as evidenced when I really start showing up in the pictures. Christmas, New Years… all the various holidays where I show up. I'm going to miss this place.

Madeline helps me with my luggage, bringing it out to the yellow cab.

"W-waaaaaait!"

The two of us pause as a voice yells out. Ah…

Ushio, with her long black hair flowing through the wind and headphones-plus-cord shaking with every step, runs up to us and then nearly tackles me in a hug.

"Oi, oi, Ushio… if you don't let go, I won't be able to leave, you know?"

She looks up at me with widened green eyes. "I ran all the way home from the bus stop… I… Waaaaaaah! What am I going to do without you here?!"

I pull myself away and then get down on one knee and look into her eyes, seeing my black hair and red eyes reflected in her own. "You're going to grow up into a beautiful, independent, strong woman that's going to take the economics field by storm. You're going to learn on how it is to live life and find the ups and downs. You're going to learn what pain, misery, and sadness are but at the same time, you'll learn what joy, love, and hope are. You're going to leave the safety that your mother and I, a mere tenant, gave you in your life and take off on your own."

I'm wrapped up in another hug, my head being brought close to her stomach. "Okay. I will. But you have to talk, okay?"

"How about I send you a letter? I have your address and I can always write back. Maybe it won't be the same as talking over the phone, but it'll be cool to have a pen pal in Japan, right?"

"Um… okay. I can work with that."

"Besides, writing a letter is a skill and joy lost in today's world." I say, getting up and ruffling her hair. "I'll always be able to visit when it's holiday season, I guess. Now… I should go."

"Okay… oh, don't open that box that mom gave you until you get to your room there, okay?!"

I give a mock salute. "Yes, ma'am. Oh, and before I forget…"

Reaching into my inner blazer pocket, I pull out a small cardboard box and hand it to Ushio. It's a top of the line silver MP3 player with thirty two gigabytes of memory, the one she's really had her eyes on since her current one is dying out in its last moments of glory.

"Happy birthday, Ushio."

"Thank… you…"

"Madeline, it's been fun. If you'll excuse me…"

With that, I get into the cab and tell the driver to head to the airport. Looking over as we pull away from the house that I've known for several years, I can't help but push a few tears back. I really love those guys… I'm going to miss them.

The plane ride wasn't anything special. I ate some decent airliner food, watched a few old school action movies, went over some cultural notes about Japan since while I knew the language fairly well, I wasn't as familiar with the culture and made some notes before I left, and sat around contemplating what I'd do when I got there. Usually that started with "unpack", since my luggage that I wasn't bringing on the plane would be sent overseas by mail.

I retrieved my luggage quickly as well, considering most of my stuff that I'd need was shipped over there compared to anything I'd have to hand carry. It also isn't very long to the greeting area, where I see a woman with either a peculiar family line or dyed hair as it's a vibrant green of all colors, wearing a yellow dress that showed a little too much skin for my tastes, holding a sign with my name on it.

Readying for possible identification checks, I approach her and start talking in Japanese, having already shifted my mindset as such.

"Are you here to collect me for IS Academy?"

"Are you… Shino Galen?" she asks, her accent slightly messing up the 'len' but it's almost completely invisible to a normal listener.

I take out my wallet and show her my ID. "Yes, I am Shino Galen, though Galen will do just fine. You are…"

"Yamada Maya, a teacher at the Academy. I was sent to bring you there."

"Understood. Please, lead the way, Yamada-san."

The white limousine with the icon for IS Academy doesn't exactly call for subtlety, as the symbol of the school is proudly plastered on the doors, hood, and roof. Well, I guess a school as proud of them would be as such.

I also did meet a few colleagues while on the flight. Small world, really. Either way, word got around quickly, as it always does when someone is staffed as IS Academy's resident student psychologist and therapist. Usually about how long they'd last.

From what I heard from them, most people pegged I'd go at least two months. The more 'lunatic' ones thought I'd survive a year. Their faces when I said I intend to see a full three years were priceless, too.

Time will tell, of course, how well that will go.

"A-ah… so, how was the flight?" Yamada says after about ten minutes of silence in the limo. Seems like she's fairly jittery.

"Satisfactory. Well, a little above. The food was pretty decent this time." I say, leaning back in my seat. "So, do you have a particular subject that you teach?"

"Um, I cover IS Operations in general. The subject teachers are the ones who vary." She states, clearly trying to remain composed.

"I see. Well, I hope that we get along then, Yamada-san."

"R-right!"

Twenty minutes of silence later, she decides to maybe brief me on a few things.

Like for one, the near nonexistence of male bathrooms, save for all of two male bathrooms (staff dormitory and one in the offices near where I work thank God) as male staff is a fairly recent development and while the principal is a freaking guy, he's got his own private bathroom. Thus, I'd have to plan my days accordingly or simply watch my water consumption. Or develop a bladder of steel. Hm, actually maybe this is why previous men who held the position went crazy. Holding your bladder on edge along with stress probably isn't a good combination.

Staff also had their own rooms without roommates—a fact I was very pleased to hear—and were kept separate from students. The staff also had night watches, but that was mainly reserved for the teachers. If there was a shortage, I might be asked to take night patrols, but I'd surely be on the grounds rather than keeping curfew enforced inside the student dormitory.

Though, I will talk to the director about investing in an extra lock. And of course, I still keep my lawyer on speed dial in case anything gets dodgy.

Besides that info brief and the switch to a tram rail that spanned the distance between the mainland and the island IS Academy was built on, there wasn't much. Although I do wonder if Alicia helped at all with this tram's design. I'm sure she probably had a hand in it somewhere.

"I trust the ride was well?" A voice asks as I step out into the sunset.

Well, here's a person you don't meet every day.

Orimura Chifuyu, one of the most legendary IS pilots if not the IS pilot. She's dressed as sharply as I am, except that she's wearing a skirt that I'm not wearing and our suits are differently colored as she wears a black while I wear a dark grey.

"Satisfactory." I say once again. "A little jet lagged, but a day of sleep and rest certainly will get that fixed."

She huffs, slightly amused. "There's quite a bit of time before the students arrive, so there's certainly no rush. You'll certainly have your hands full, considering that Orimura Ichika will be arriving to the Academy as well. That's need to know information, as well. You only know because you'll probably be in charge of his mental health."

"Wonderful."

"I'll show you to your room. You can be acquainted with the various facilities tomorrow. Oh, and thank you for bringing him here, Yamada-san."

"Of course."

"Follow me." Orimura says before turning around, expecting me to follow.

Orimura's heels and my dress shoes clik-clak through the empty halls as we walk through them. A very modern design, I'll give them that much.

"I do like the design here. I'm not an architect, but it doesn't mean I can't appreciate the way it's laid out. The natural lighting was also a nice choice."

Orimura chuckles. "I was told they spared no expense on this place."

"That is of course, what they all say."

We make my way over to my room, which contains the boxes of the stuff I sent here. Not much, to be honest. The room, as I was told, comes with a kitchenette in the event I wish to cook my own meals. Which for me, will be most of the time.

"Shall I arrive at seven o'clock tomorrow?"

"You needn't bother yourself with me." I say, walking forward into the room after Orimura hands me the key. "If I happen to be up at such a time and you are also awake, very well. But you don't need to go out of your way. If you really feel like coming over at seven and I don't answer after three knocks, just assume I'm still jetlagged like you wouldn't believe and leave me be."

She gives a small scoff at this. "Very well then. I assume you won't be down for dinner?"

"I have some bread tucked away in my bag somewhere. I'll probably just eat that and go to bed. Unpacking can wait for when my body clock is back on its feet."

She shrugs and then starts walking out. "Well, I wish you luck with your upcoming job. There's a list of important numbers on the dedicated landline to your room, you might want to add those to your cellphone."

"Ah, ah. Got it. Thanks, Orimura-san. Take care."

With that, she leaves the room. I lock the door before moving to the already prepared bed, shaking my head as I sit down. Oh right… there is that box.

I move over to the black suitcase and open it up. There's a red box that's a little smaller than a shoebox and taped meticulously with sparkly tape. Well, you went through so much trouble.

I look around for a pair of scissors and make an elegant cut. Inside the box is…

"Aw, that's sweet of you, kid." I mutter, seeing the homemade brownies and chocolate chunk cookies. I take a quick sniff and find the brownies have a hint of mint to them. Mmm… thanks, Ushio.

Oh, and a card, too? You shouldn't have.

"It's a secret family recipe, but you're family now too." is written in Madeline's handwriting. The recipe for the cookies…? Madeline… "You won't get to eat them all the time now, right?"

Heh, what am I, a college kid going to his freshman year? I'm a grown man with a goddammned doctorate, I shouldn't be like this. But either way, it's still making me tear up a bit.

Well, I guess I should've had one earlier.

I take out one of the mint chocolate brownies and pop it in my mouth. The crisp yet sweet flavor instantly spreads throughout my taste buds, almost bringing a tear to my eye. Ha…

"Happy birthday, Ushio. I'll make sure I've got some interesting stories to tell when I visit you." I say, falling back onto the soft bed. Little too soft for my tastes…

…but I'm hella tired right now. Time to sleep. I've got a big job ahead of me…

As you can see, far different than what I usually write. It's not some badass story of a guy who comes in and destroys his enemies. Hell, it's likely that Galen will never see combat. He's just a hired worker meant to keep track of the mental health of the students and talk to them when needed. He might get a badass moment every now and then, but it's not going to be a combat thing. You won't see him piloting an IS or taking down bad guys with a gun. His 'badass' moments are going to be talking moments, where he would give a speech or something, if I gave him one.

But yeah, he's not exactly super special. Other than his impressive academic record for someone so young, he's not abnormal at all or anything like that. Thought it'd be a nice change of pace and why writing this story appealed to me. The MC is a fairly normal guy who simply rented out a place to live, made some friends, had a relationship but broke it off, went drinking and had some small-scale adventures while in college. Not like my usual fics at all XD

I doubt I'll update this very frequently, but you know, when I do feel like putting up another chapter, it'll go up. This isn't exactly a hard fic to write, since I'm not writing combat scenes or anything, so well… yeah XD

Let me know what you guys think about this idea and if you'd like to see more. Seeya guys… uh, whenever I feel like updating this project.