"Is it okay if we talk into the corridor?" My childhood friend Houki asked me during the break after our first theory class in I.S. Academy. It's been many years since I last seen her, yet she still wears her memorable trademark scowl. She once claimed she was born with it, but I know that isn't true. After all, she did smile when we still were all together when we were younger.

I gave a nod as I was eager to catch up with her. Around six years ago, she and Tabane-nee had to move away when Tabane-nee introduced Infinite Stratos to the world. Even though we left the classroom to the corridor to have a more private setting, there were still a lot of people outside staring at us. I guess it couldn't be helped since it's not every day you see a male I.S. student. To this day, I still don't even know why the I.S. reacted to my touch.

As we managed to find a place without a lot of people in earshot, we stood around awkwardly in silence, waiting for the other to speak up first. I guess I should start then? "By the way, Houki…?"

"What?"

"You won the World Kendo Championships last year, right? Congratulations!" I smiled at her accomplishment. After all, Houki grew up in a kendo household. Her skills were already extraordinary back then.

Houki glanced at me briefly with her eyebrows raised, before turning her head away. Her trademark scowl became a little more pronounced with her cheeks tinted red. "How did you know that?"

Eh? Is she mad at me? But I was praising her? "I found out in the newspaper. Imagine my shock when I recognized you in the headline picture. You haven't changed at all."

Unfortunately, that seem to be the wrong words to say to Houki for some reason as I can feel her hostility rise. "...What do you mean I haven't changed at all? You make it sound like I haven't grown at all..."

"Eh? You still have the same hairstyle as you did when we were kids, you know?" I pointed at her long ponytail. "I'd recognize that anywhere."

"Ah…so you'd remember." Houki nodded; her anger seem to have abated. She's still a bit intense like a warrior after all this time, huh?

"Of course I would, we're childhood friends. Though, I never thought we would meet again here. It makes me happy, you know? I thought I wouldn't know anyone else here. After all, I haven't seen Chifuyu-nee for nearly a year. And now she tells me that she's a teacher here." I ruffled my hair in slight annoyance. "Was it so hard to tell me something? I mean, she may be a strong woman who could take of herself, but I still worry about her, you know?"

Houki gave a rare smile. See, you look better with a smile, you know, Houki? "Is that so. I'm also glad that...we got to meet again...Ichika...and Orimura-sensei."

"Yeah...it kinda reminds me of the old days where it was me, you, Chifuyu-nee, Tabane-nee, and Aniki…"

As I mentioned Aniki, Houki stiffened in surprise. I couldn't blame her. I probably shouldn't have mentioned him so suddenly. Chifuyu-nee always said I lacked tact, and I guess it's true. Both of us then gazed through the windows in the corridor at the blue sky. There were wisps of white clouds floating around lazily.

"It has been nearly ten years...right, Ichika…?" Houki murmured sadly, crossing her arms over herself.

Ten years. Has it been so long? I laid a hand on her shoulder and nodded once. As I thought, we still miss him dearly. Where did you go, Aniki? You made a promise to come back, remember? And you never break your promises...that's your way of life, right?

The bell for the next class rang. Deep in our thoughts, it took us both a moment to process it.

"Hurry up Orimura and Shinonono, class is about to start." Loud and firm heels echoed through the corridor as Chifuyu-nee warned the two of us with a solemn face; she turned to gaze out the window as well. "You can worry about that idiot another time. Focus on your studies now."

Ah, did Chifuyu-nee heard what we were talking about? Though her face may seem like she doesn't care about it, I know that she and Tabane-nee missed him the most...after all, he was their best friend.

- Eleven Years Ago -

"Yosh, I'm Uzumaki Naruto! Um, this is my first time attending a school like this, though I can't say I like to study." A few students in the class laughed at that while the teacher gave a slight disapproving cough.

"My dream is to become strong to protect the ones I care about! My favorite color is orange! I swear, would it kill someone to make a school uniform with some orange in it? Oh, and I really love ramen! It's like the food of the gods, you know? Though I hate the three minutes wait for the instant ramen...don't you guys agree with me?"

More people laughed. Well, he was certainly unique. His dream is rather strange for a middle schooler, but it is one that I respect. After all, I also wish to be strong enough to protect Ichika. His appearance appeared foreign. Blond hair and blue eyes weren't exactly what you'd see around here. Though his familiarity with speaking the language suggests that he must've been raised in a Japanese household at least. There appeared to be three marks on both sides of his cheeks. They don't appear to be tattoos, so perhaps birthmarks then?

"Hai hai hai, question!"

I raised my eyebrows in surprise as I glanced at Tabane, who was sitting to my left, raising her hand. Well, that's a first...Tabane actually giving an interest in someone. I'm not the only one who was startled by Tabane's abruptness as half the class began to murmur to themselves. Normally she'd be in her own world, indifferent to anyone around her besides me. Then again, I'm a bit curious about him myself.

At his nod, Tabane asked bluntly. "So, so, does your name means fish cake?"

The class fell silent. I resisted the urge to groan at her question. Hey...I know his name is Naruto and all, but you don't ask the guy if he's named after the ramen topping. Even if he appears to worship the food.

The transfer student stared at her for a moment and narrowed his eyes, his visage suddenly was likened to a smiling fox, in my opinion. It looked like he was contemplating over what Tabane said. He then pounded his fist into his open hand and exclaimed, "You know, I never really thought about that. I guess the spelling for it can read as fish cake. Then again, I can't say it'd be awesome to be named after food, but it's probably better than Miso or Menma or something like that. Can you imagine that?"

The entire class laughed again, and even I smirked at his enthusiastic reply.

"Well, that's it for introductions, Uzumaki-kun, please take a seat at the empty desk over there." The teacher pointed at the seat behind mine and Tabane's. Originally it wasn't empty, but the previous student requested to change seats because of they wanted to see the board better. Or so they said.

The smiling transfer student placed his bag beneath his desk, sat down, and then waved at the two of us. "Please to meet you two! What are your names?"

"Shinonono Tabane desu!"

"Orimura Chifuyu."

"You can call me Naruto then! Tabane-chan, Chifuyu-chan! I hope we could be good friends!"

Wait a moment. I blinked blankly for a few moments. Did he really just call me Chifuyu-chan…? It's bad enough with Tabane calling me Chi-chan!

- Two Periods later, Physical Education Class -

Nothing too hard in Physical Education today. It was just merely running laps around the track. The girls first, while the boys stretched and waited for their time. Both Tabane and I easily outstripped the rest of the other girls by several minutes without even breaking a sweat.

"...Those two are too incredible…"

"Did they just break another record…?"

"They're not even tired!"

"Can't be surprised...those two are beyond anyone else..."

It was the same old comments each time. Not that I really cared for their opinions in the first place, but it tends to get a little annoying. I'm still human, you know. I turned around to look at my childhood friend, stretching with a carefree smile on her face. Sometimes I wish I could be absentminded as Tabane. Then again, she's not really as absentminded as she made herself out to be…

"You two are quite fast, huh, Chifuyu-chan and Tabane-chan?" My eye twitched for a bit. I guess I'll have to get used to him calling me Chifuyu-chan because he never stopped the last two periods. Then again, no one ever bothered to continue talking to the both of us for more than necessary. It was perhaps a refreshing change, maybe? Well, at least it wasn't like those who'd just cower away from us, so that's something. I gave a slight nod in return as Naruto walked up to greet the two of us.

Tabane hummed as she bounced around happily, clearly also not winded by the run we just had. Honestly, sometimes I wonder if she would ever run out of energy. With those rabbit accessories in her hair and her obsession with anything rabbit, she's like the Energizer Bunny. Though, it's still interesting to see how fast Tabane got attached to Naruto. Normally she would ignore everyone aside from her family, Ichika, and me.

"Of course, Naru-kun! Chi-chan and I always compete against each other, ever since elementary school, you know!"

Tabane then put her finger on her lips as she thought about something. "Though Chi-chan must be some sort of superhuman because I don't think I've seen her get tired at all. And she's really, really strong! If only she let me experiment on her some more..."

I palmed my face and sighed deeply, with a hint of a shudder. No one should ever had to be on the receiving end of Tabane's experiments. "I can say the same for you too, you know."

"Tehehe." Tabane stuck her tongue out.

"You two are really good friends, huh?" Naruto laughed as he turned around to look at the remaining girls who were still finishing the laps. "Hmm, I really want to race the two of you after the boys finish their run. Are you up for it?"

I raised my eyebrow in slight intrigue and surprise. That's a first. Not many people would challenge me or Tabane to anything. "Oh? Is that a challenge?"

He gave an arrogant and carefree smirk and wave as he made his way towards the track as the boys were about to start running. "Yup! If there's strong people, I always want to test to myself against them. And from what I see, you two are very strong, you know? Just watch me!"

"Ehehehe, Naru-kun is quite confident, huh, Chi-chan? But you see it too, right?" Tabane asked me as she laid her head on my shoulder from behind and rubbed her face against my cheek.

I didn't even bother trying to push her off as I was more focused on Naruto preparing to run. Of course, I did notice it. The school and jogging uniforms may cover his body, but I can tell that it was extremely well built. His bearing was as of a warrior, one trained to their extremes. It looked like if anything were to happen, he would react immediately. Perhaps that's also why Tabane shown an interest in him. "...He's strong. Perhaps as strong as us."

Maybe I sounded arrogant there, but both Tabane and I know that there hasn't been anyone who was stronger or faster than us in our age group. And even then, we still were able to outpace our upperclassmen. It was natural after all. We were both trained when we were young; her family has a well established kendo dojo, while mine was...no, I should stop there. I don't want to think about them right now...

Brushing aside unpleasant thoughts, I looked back to the track. The teacher blew his whistle; it was the signal to begin. Like a gunshot, Naruto sprang forward, overtaking everyone else in mere moments. Though, he had a strange running technique as I observed how he bent forward with his upper body while elevating both of his arms behind him. No matter how peculiar his technique is, I could not deny that it was effective as he overtook and lapped the other boys.

Meanwhile, I can hear the other girls who were taking a break from the previous run chatting and gossiping around us.

"Wah, Uzumaki-kun is very fast!"

"Ah, you're right! He even ran past the track team members!"

"Hey, what do you think about those marks on his cheeks?"

"Do you think they're birthmarks? His face reminds me of a cat, really. It makes him look really cute."

"Hehe, sounds like someone has a crush on the transfer student."

"Give it up, he seems to be only interested in talking to Shinonono-san and Orimura-san."

"That's true, he even got Shinonono-san to actually talk to him. That's the most I've seen her talk to someone other than Orimura-san."

"That's right! They're so close already. He calls them by their first names and they call him Naru-kun!"

"And he seems to be just as fast as they are!"

Now, wait a moment, only Tabane calls him that! And he calls us by our first names just because he does want he wants, not that we're close! Though, I had to blink for a few moments while I considered the other comments. Now that I think about it, has he really been only talking to us these last few periods? I guess it's because we sit right next to each other?

"Ah!" Tabane suddenly exclaimed as she pops her chin off of my shoulder finally. "Looks like Naru-kun finished! At the same time as we did, Chi-chan!"

I turned back my attention to the track, and indeed, Naruto did finish around the same time we did. With a cheeky grin, he gave a thumbs up...I could've sworn that he radiated something bright and sparkling when he did that. That was...rather disconcerting.

"...Well, if he couldn't do at least that, then he wouldn't dare challenge us in the first place." I made my way towards him, rolling my shoulders around to bring back some feeling to the numbness.

Tabane skipped around me as she followed. "Ararara, looks like Chi-chan is actually excited about this. You're even smiling!"

Eh? I suppose with only Tabane giving me a challenge, I can't help but feel disappointed with other people until now. But now, there's another person I can possibly test myself against.

"See, Chi-chan should smile more. You almost make me think that you're Houki-chan's older sister with your scowl. Sheesh, the two of you should smile more! You'd look so much more cuter! Don't you think so too, Naru-kun?"

This is coming from the girl who doesn't talk to anyone else but me. Why are you asking for his opinion? And why do I even want to hear it…?

Naruto looked at me appraisingly and nods several times. "Yup, yup Chifuyu-chan looks better with a smile on her face. I knew some people who frowned all the time, but they definitely were happier when they had a reason to smile! So, if we give Chifuyu-chan good reasons, she'll smile more. Right, Tabane-chan? She'd look so much cuter, not that she wasn't in the first place, but you know? Everyone is better with a true smile on their face."

Tabane grasped Naruto's hands together and raised them up and down in joy. "Right, right? Ah, Naru-kun truly understands! I tell that to Houki-chan too, but she doesn't believe me! We'll name this Operation: Make Chi-chan Smile!"

Ah great, now the two of them are working together against me. When did the two of you get along so well?!

We made it to the beginning of the track as the rest of the boys finished their laps. The teacher gave us some free time for everyone else to take a reprieve, so right now would be the best time to have our race.

"Yosh, you're ready to eat my dust, Chifuyu-chan, Tabane-chan?" Naruto taunted us as he alternated between legs as he stretches.

"Tehehe, you know, Naru-kun, it wouldn't do well to underestimate the both of us."

"Oh, I'm not underestimating the two of you. I know better than to judge anyone by their appearance, but you know? Even with my limiters on, I can beat anyone here." He jested.

I scoffed at his claim, but my curiosity was drawn to his mention of limiters. Is he holding himself back? "I suppose I should be glad it's not a boasting contest because then you'd win."

He snickered. "Psh, I'd also beat you two in a ramen-eating contest."

"I don't know about that...you haven't seen how Tabane eats. This glutton can probably swallow enough food for an entire bear and wouldn't even notice it." Seriously, even I wonder how it's physically possible for to eat the amounts that she does sometimes. She orders like three or more courses during each meal time. Then again, they're probably going to her chest or something...

Tabane gave a fake cry of hurt as she hid behind Naruto, peeking out with her head timidly. "Ah, Naru-kun! Chi-chan is being mean again! She made me sound like some sort of monster!"

I gave a look of dull surprise as I crossed my arms. "You mean to tell me that you aren't? That's news to me."

"Sob sob sob sob."

Naruto rubbed Tabane's back and stuck his tongue out at me. Sheesh, they're so similar in personality. No wonder that they get along so well. "Ah, cheer up, Tabane-chan! Chifuyu-chan only teases because she cares about you a lot, right? You know where you're best friends when you can fight with each other and still laugh in the end."

Tabane rushed forward and then embraced me hard. "Ah Chi-chan! I'm so glad!"

I pretend to struggle against her embrace but gave up. It's true, even after all I said...Tabane is probably the only one who could understand me, and I'm the only one who could understand her...

"Ah, get off of me, you're too heavy."

"That's not what you say to a maiden like me, you know! Chi-chan has no tact at all!"

The absurdness finally caught up to us as all of three of us burst out laughing, drawing the attention and surprise of everyone else in class.

One girl gasped. "Uwah, is Shinonono-san and Orimura-san laughing? I don't think I ever heard them laugh before…"

"Ah, you're not kidding. Ah, is it because of Uzumaki-kun?"

"Hearing them laugh and smile like normal girls...it's making me fall in love."

"It's true...they're like extremely pretty girls too, you know, like the ones you see from model magazines..."

"Yeah, I know, right?"

...Great, even more weird opinions now. In any case, we should probably start before class ends.

Naruto waved at our teacher, while the three of us got in the beginning positions. "Sensei, could you tell us when to begin!"

"Eh? You three still want to run?" The teacher clearly didn't expect any students eager to run after doing laps. Then again, he shouldn't be surprised since these three clearly outran their classmates without any effort at all.

"Of course! I want to challenge Chifuyu-chan and Tabane-chan, you know? They're really fast so it'll be a good race...I need to test myself."

"Then, Orimura-san and Shinonono-san, you're also willing to go through with this?" The teacher asked to be sure, and we both gave a nod. Tabane always had the same goofy grin on her face, but I can tell she's just as eager as I am. Of course, the class gathered around to see the latest spectacle.

"Eh, Uzumaki-kun is challenging the two aces to a race?"

"Wow, does he have a death wish or something?"

"Eh, isn't it alright? I mean, he was the fastest all of the guys?"

"Psh, the only person they lost to was to themselves. Uzumaki isn't any different."

The rest of the class ultimately decided that Naruto would lose to us even before the race even started. What a bunch of noisy people, don't you have anything better to do than to project your useless opinions on others?

"Tsk." Naruto scoffed, catching everyone's attention. "If there's another thing I dislike other than the three minutes waiting time for instant ramen, it's to be underestimated. Just because these two are 'geniuses' doesn't mean they cannot be beaten. If you put in enough effort, even talent can be overcomed. Even if you fail, so what? Then just get back up and keep at it. Never give up, that's my code you know?"

"And besides, you all are being rude to the two of them." Tabane and I blinked in surprise. "Just calling them geniuses and using it as an excuse for everything is just degrading their efforts. Even geniuses have to work hard to accomplish their dreams too, you know?"

His words held truth. Everything we've done, everyone just labeled as a product of being talented. It was always, "well I lost because they're a lot more talented than me. Nothing I can do about it." It was slightly frustrating to not have anyone acknowledge your efforts. They always gave up before even trying. Eventually, we were both placed on a pedestal...a far away place where we couldn't be touched... Maybe that's why I got along so well with Tabane, even though we're almost the exact opposite in personality. We both acknowledge each other...we both understand each other...we were the two girls who both stood alone at the top...

"Well said, Uzumaki-san. That's a lesson everyone should learn. If you put in the effort to accomplish something, then you'll be rewarded. Even those with talent have to work hard as well." The teacher nodded, as if he gave some sagely advice. "Well, the three of you, we only have a few minutes before the period is over, so just do one lap, okay? Ready yourselves! Three, two, one! Bzzztt!"

The three of us shot forward immediately right after the teacher blew his whistle. I don't think Tabane and I ever put this more effort in running than we ever did since...elementary. Perhaps, maybe it was because there's a person right next to us who believed that he could beat us. Perhaps, it was because it's the first one who was willing to understand us... The three of us were actually toe-to-toe with each other, neither of us were able to overtake each other until the last stretch of the lap as Naruto suddenly explosively leapt from his position.

Though Tabane and I saw his technique and followed with our own jumping techniques, we reacted a few seconds too late as he already hit the finish line with a broad smirk on his face. Everyone in the class was dumbfounded, including the teacher as they didn't expect for that to happen.

Tabane had a small pout on her face, but she still bounced over Naruto and clinged onto him happily as ever. As I walked up to them, he gave me a thumbs-up. "Good race, Chifuyu-chan!"

I couldn't help smiling as I turned away to hide it. "Good race, but you know, I don't intend to lose the next time."

"You're on! I'll take any challenge any day!"

- Present Time, Kendo Dojo -

How did it come to this? I asked Houki for help with operating an I.S. in order to prepare for the match against Alcott-san, and we're now in the kendo dojo. I suppose I.S. are capable of using swords, so perhaps she wants me to work on my bases before moving on to bigger stuff. There's still some time so I guess it's alright. Well, it would be nice to spar with Houki again. We haven't done that in nearly six years.

For some reason, there are a lot of spectators as well. Actually, it may because of Houki, now that I think about it. She did win the world Kendo tournament after all. That and the fact she was Tabane-nee's younger sister may have a hand in it. As we finished changing in the dressing room into the standard kendo gi and hakama, we began to equip the protective armor and guards. Finally, after snapping on our helmets, we picked up our respective shinai.

I tested the weight of the shinai as I rolled it in my palm; then I firmly gripped the handle with both my hands and began with a few practice swings to warm up my muscles. As Houki finished with her equipment, she joined me as well, next to my side. The both of us were synchronized in our swings as we did the drills. We were like two bodies, one single breath, one single mind. As we finished, we turned towards each other.

Houki looked over me with an appraising eye. "I see you still remember how to do the drills, Ichika."

"Of course, I do. I made a promise, and I'm not going to break it even if he isn't here anymore."

Houki nodded; she knew what promise I was referring to and readied her stance as she raised her shinai up. "Then, we'll start."

I follow suit and prepared myself as well. I'm not going to lie to myself or anyone. Houki is strong. Very strong. She's stronger than I am. She's always been, but she had a bad habit of getting easily angered. Because of that, I managed to get draws in our spars when we were still practicing in the Shinonono Dojo several years ago. Now it's a different story.

Even if I kept up my practice, I had no one to teach me or to spar with. Aniki was no longer with us. Chifuyu-nee was busy trying to support the two of us, so I couldn't ask her; not that she wouldn't, but I don't want to burden her. So, I tried the best I could throughout my middle school years and part time jobs. It probably sounds like I'm making excuses, but the truth still stands: Houki wouldn't have won the Championships if she herself did not practice just as hard.

I knew how much she wanted to win them when she made me promise her to do a request of her choosing if she ever won the Championships six years ago. Unfortunately, that was also the day that Tabane-nee revealed the I.S. to the world. I never found out what she wanted me to do either.

"Begin!" Houki shouted as she made a downward swing with her shinai, and I contested it with head on with a counter upward swing, blocking her strike. We both pressed against each other before shoving each other off and retook our stances a few steps back once again. Both Houki and I smirked in anticipation...this was going to be a good, long fight.

After twenty minutes of sparring, Houki finally knocked me down with a decisive blow to the chest, ending the match in her favor. For a few moments, we stayed where we are: Houki standing with my shinai lowered, while I was on my back. Both of us were panting, trying to catch back our breath. Then Houki extended her hand for me as I took it, pulling myself up. We both took off our helmets with sweat in our brows.

I gave her a wide grin. "Ah, congrats Houki. You've gotten better than before! That and I got worse..."

She had a slight red tint to her cheeks as she turned away, maybe she needed some water after that. "No...Ichika, your skills haven't lowered at all."

That's a relief to hear. "That's good to hear. That means all of the practice I've done wasn't a waste then. Still, I missed sparring with you like this."

Houki opened her mouth wide and then closed it with a slight cough and murmured softly as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Is that so? You missed practicing with me…? Then we should continue…"

I didn't hear what she said though. "Maybe we should continue again when I'm done preparing for the match with Alcott-san?"

Unfortunately, this seem to be the wrong thing to say to Houki as her anger peaked again. "What?!"

"Well, I only operated an I.S. for about twenty minutes, you know? I'd need to learn how to use one before the match. You said you'd help me, right?" I don't understand why she's mad though. She did say she'd teach me how to use one. Or did I somehow heard it wrong.

- One month after Naruto's transfer -

The bell for the final class rang. School was over for the day. As I stood up and packed my books into my bag, Tabane popped up in front of my face.

"Chi-chan, time to go home now!"

I sighed. As spontaneous as ever. I guess somethings will never change. Not that it's a bad thing. "I know. I can hear the bell too."

Tabane turned to Naruto behind us. "Ne, Naru-kun? You want to walk with us? It'll make Houki-chan happy if you do!"

"Sure!" He fastened the clasp on his bag and lifted it around his back. "It'll be nice to see Ichika and Houki-chan again."

The three of us walked side-by-side as we walked down the road towards Ichika's and Houki's elementary school. Both Tabane and him had a carefree smile on their faces, while I'm beginning to find myself smiling alongside with them more and more each day. It's not that I hate it, but I suppose it's merely because I'm not used to smiling. Very few things give me reason to smile, and they can all be counted on one hand. It's been only a month since Naruto transferred into our class, yet it felt like the three of us had been together for even longer.

Ever since the first day, the three of us kept on with the friendly challenges. Whether it was classwork, athletics, or even eating contests. Tabane and I would excel in academic studies, though I'm slightly behind her admittedly in some subjects, Naruto was merely average in scores. He claimed that he didn't really care much about getting high grades, but that it was good to have some form of education rather than none. Though he hinted that he didn't pay attention much to class in the past, mainly due to "bad" teachers. The way he worded it made it seem like his teachers refused to teach him, but that seems really odd to me in more ways than one.

However, he was good in practical theory as he told us he learned better if he did things rather than think about it. So basically he's a kinesthetic learner. He wasn't lying. He excelled at every sport that he played in, even the ones that he said it was the first time he ever heard of it. Though, it piqued my curiosity when he didn't know what baseball was. It's a popular sport in both Japan and America, so maybe he's from somewhere else?

But anyway, he even added his own take in games, making him nearly unpredictable to play against in some cases. Seriously, who would've thought a beginner in tennis would add such a severe spin to the ball that it bounced backwards? Even if he doesn't seem to care about academics, he's proven that he is capable of strategic thinking. His feints in soccer and basketball were incredible. Only Tabane and I were able to accurately read his body motions. And lastly, he even has more stamina than both Tabane and me. Even when we reached our limits via the most strenuous challenges, he only needed a few moments to catch his breath, and then he was up and running like it never even happened.

I never thought I had to physically restrain Tabane when she wanted to experiment on his body. Part of me is glad that she's focusing her attention onto Naruto instead. The other part felt sorry after seeing his scared look on his face after seeing Tabane drooling over the chance to, in quotes, "examine in the name of great science".

Though, if there's something he has us completely beaten in, it's cooking. Neither Tabane and I can cook anything. Unless you count instant ramen and frozen foods. Not that we haven't tried to learn...it's just that it would probably be better for everyone's sake that we stop for the time being. He said he had to learn how to cook for himself since he lived alone for the most part of his life, even if he preferred to eat nothing but instant ramen. That brought up some more questions about his past, but I, of all people, know that everyone has their own secrets about their past that they don't want to share. Even I haven't shared much to Tabane about my family's past, but I digress...

I suppose that's how we invited him over to our houses the first time. Tabane and I were neighbors. Unsurprisingly, he offered to cook ramen for us. Tabane's a glutton so she'll accept free food from anywhere. As for me, I would've declined, but it meant that Ichika would be able to eat something better than my pathetic attempts at cooking or whatever the Shinonono family gave us. I really wish I can do better for him. He's such a good child, never complaining about the circumstances. His smile is something I cherish the most in my life.

Once we had Naruto over, we introduced him to Ichika and Houki. Both of them warmed up to him really quickly for some reason. Perhaps it's his aura that he exudes, without him realizing it. His energetic personality, his warmth somehow attracts people to follow in his lead. Perhaps it is one of the few things about him that drew both Tabane and I to him.

He let both Ichika and Houki help him prepare dinner with the small stuff like washing the vegetables and kneading the dough. Not that Tabane and I didn't try to help, but after an incident with a exploding pot, he ushered us out of the kitchen. I actually didn't expect for him to make the noodles from scratch. He told us that he frequented a ramen stand so much that the owner decided to teach him how to make ramen as appreciation for being one of their best customers.

An hour later, the three of them announced that it was finished. All I could say was that it was the most delicious ramen I ever had. I can remember him saying it again, "Of course, if there's one thing I'm good at, it's knowing what makes ramen delicious, you know?" He held his head even higher once we requested seconds.

Snapping back to the present, as we approached the elementary school, we spotted Ichika and Houki together holding hands. It would've been adorable if it were not for two things: the band-aid on Ichika's face and the slightly swollen eyes on Houki. It appeared that their homeroom teacher was behind the two of them, waiting for us. As I knelt down to examine his face, the teacher gave a short explanation to us. Apparently Ichika got into a fight with three boys when they were teasing Houki for being too boyish. While I'm slightly mad at his rashness and worried about his wounds, I'm also proud that he would defend his friend. I can say the same for Tabane as she was doting over Houki even more so. Scratches can hurt, but words can be more painful.

As we left the school, Naruto knelt down and brought himself to Ichika's and Houki's eye levels. He turned to Houki first. "Now, Houki-chan. You shouldn't let whatever those boys say get to you. You're a diligent and kind girl. You should always be yourself and never let anyone tell you what you can't do. You'll become an amazing person when you grow up, Houki-chan."

"Yes, Nii-san." Houki gave a firm nod as she gave a slight smile. Tabane gushed and smothered Houki with another hug.

"That's right...a smile fits you the best, Houki-chan." Naruto turned to Ichika with a beaming smile. "I'm proud of you, Ichika. You're learning what it means to be really strong, did you know that?"

Ichika shook his head in confusion. I was also curious to where Naruto was going with this. Naruto grasped Ichika's shoulder warmly.

"Tell me Ichika, why did you fight for Houki-chan?"

"Because Houki is my friend! She's not weird or bad! She's fine the way she is!" Ichika exclaimed. "I like it when Houki smiles too!"

I was pleased with his answer, and so was Naruto. "Then you consider her important to you, right? Is there anyone else precious to you?"

Ichika took a moment before brightening up once he thought of the right answer. "Chifuyu-nee and Tabane-nee! Oh, and you too, Aniki! Together with Houki, you're the most important people in my life!"

Tabane clapped around really loudly, while Houki began to blush in embarrassment. Even I had to smile after hearing that.

"I'm glad you think so highly of me, Ichika. You know, one of my first friends taught me what it meant to be truly strong. It's when you have something precious that you want to protect. Keep your family and friends close in your heart, Ichika and Houki-chan. They'll be your strength as you'll be theirs. You two will always protect one another, right?"

"Yes, Aniki!" "Yes, Nii-san!"

"The two of you will go far then." With those words, Naruto turned away and began walking in the direction of his home.

"Aniki!" Ichika called out to him. "Who are your precious people?"

Naruto kept on walking. "Hmm, I have a lot of them. Though right now, I consider the four of you as part of my precious people. After all, I prefer to see all of you with a smile. Including you too, Chifuyu-chan."

Hey now...you didn't have to say the last remark there. I can already picture Tabane with a "I told you so" look on her face.

- A week later, the day of the match. -

"Hey, Houki…"

"What is it, Ichika…"

It's been a week since that we sparred in that kendo match. Today is the match to decide the class representative. Not that I cared too much about being the class representative, but I can't back down from this fight. Chifuyu-nee and Aniki always taught me to stand up for my beliefs and my friends. Cecilia-san insulted my country and also indirectly insulted my friends and family. That I cannot let slide.

However...

"Maybe I'm overthinking this, but…"

"Is that so? Perhaps you are if you have to say something about it."

No...that's not something you should say to me, Houki.

"I know that we've gotten to know each other again this past week, Houki, and that's a good thing."

I've spent the last week training and living together in the same dorm room with Houki. We've gotten used to each other like we did back six years ago. As Aniki once said, bonds will never truly fade away when they're formed and cherished.

Houki's cheeks had a faint tinge of red for some reason. "Is that so? I'm glad to hear it, Ichika."

"Though, there's one slight problem…whatever happened to my I.S. training?"

Houki shuffled uncomfortably and tried to look somewhere else.

"...Hey now...don't try to look away from me."

Of course, we did spend the last week training together and sparring...in kendo. That's the only thing we trained for! Indeed, it was fun to finally test myself against someone of Houki's caliber, but...

"Ahem…" Houki coughed into her hand. "Well, it couldn't be helped, you didn't have your I.S. yet."

"That's true…" I found myself nodding in agreement. Apparently, I was to receive a personal I.S. made by Tabane-nee herself since I officially enrolled into this academy. It hasn't arrived yet and it's already the day of the match so that's a bit worrying. Though, I turned back my attention to Houki. "Wait a moment, don't give me that excuse! You could've at least help me with the textbook or the basic operations!"

...I got no response from Houki at all. There was a brief moment of silence in the hangar at that moment of realization.

"Orimura-kun! Orimura-kun! Orimura-kun!"

We both turned around and saw Yamada-sensei rushing towards us. You know, there's no need to repeat my name three times, I can hear you just fine. Though, you also don't need to be rushing that much, it looks like you're about to trip...oh wait…with a spectacular thud, she fell down and skidded across the floor on her butt…

Houki and I had no words really. It was like a scene from an anime.

"Are you alright there, Yamada-sensei?" I lent my hand to pull herself up from the ground.

"Auuuu…that hurt...ah that's not it! Ah Orimura-kun!"

Yamada-sensei needed to relax for a bit. I rested my hand on her shoulder. "Calm down, breathe in and out."

After several moments, I told Yamada-sensei to stop. And she completely stop her breathing, causing her face to turn purple with the lack of oxygen. Eventually she gasped out for air and looked up to me with her hands on her heaving chest.

"...Did I not do it right!?"

I shared another look with Houki, and even she's confused at our teacher's antics. However, before I said anything else, a sharp smack rocked my head. How nostalgic...I haven't felt this pain in quite a while...as expected from a former representative of Japan.

I rubbed my head to ease the pain, while turning towards the source. "Ow...Chifuyu-nee…"

Another smack to my head. Ah Chifuyu-nee, if you keep doing that, I feel like I'll lose my precious brain cells!

"Respect your seniors, idiot. Call me Orimura-sensei. Remember it, or die."

Is that something you should be saying to your students? Even if you're such a beauty and prodigy, Chifuyu-nee, your personality won't get you a boyfriend. Though...Aniki was the only one who could keep up with her…

Chifuyu-nee sighed. "It appears that you're just as foolish as him, Orimura if you're thinking such stupid things. If I didn't take time to care of you, I fear about the things you'll do."

Uwah, there it is, Orimura Chifuyu's mind reading ability!

Yamada-sensei appeared to have remembered what she was here for as she began pushing me from the back. "Ah, we need to hurry to your I.S., Orimura-kun! It's over there, so please get ready for the match! The arena is only open for this amount of time for your duel between Alcott-san, so we need to hurry!"

Wait, wait, wait, so soon!? No warm-ups or anything!? I seriously haven't piloted an I.S. at all.

"It's only a small obstacle, Ichika. You should easily overcome it since you're that kind of man, after all."

...That's real helpful, Houki.

"Stop thinking about it too much, Orimura. Trust in yourself and don't give up. Now go."

Chifuyu-nee is right...there's no point in panicking now. All I can do is believe in myself and push on forward without giving up. Steeling myself, I approached the cargo doors as it opened itself with large, clanking noises. On the other side, there was nothing but white.

Snowy whiteness. No other decoration or colors...as if any other would taint the pure whiteness of the I.S.

I gaped in amazement. It was an I.S. awaiting for its pilot in its pure color. It felt like a samurai, kneeling down before its shogun and awaiting their command. "This is…"

"Yep, that's right! This is Orimura-kun's personal I.S., the Byakushiki!" Yamada-sensei exclaimed in excitement.

I stepped forward, drawn to the I.S. and laid a hand on its chassis. It was unlike the feeling that I had when I touched the I.S. at the exam. There was just simple knowledge and understanding. Everything about it, I understood it. It was like a connection between the two of us was formed...as if the I.S. had a form of sentience and it accepted me at its pilot.

Tabane-nee...you and Chifuyu-nee are on levels far above than what I can imagine...to be able to create something so miraculous as this is…

"Enough daydreaming, Orimura. Now that the Byakushiki has registered you as its pilot, get in and mount it."

Chifuyu-nee snapped me out of my thoughts as she guided me into the Byakushiki.

"Since we have little time before the match starts, you'll have to format and change the settings during the battle. That shouldn't be too much of a problem anyway, it'll simply adapt to your body and memory. Well, if you couldn't do that, then you'll lose."

I see. So it'll assimilate my training and knowledge that I've accumulated. As I got into the Byakushiki, it activated.

"That's it, lean on your back and the system optimize itself."

The Byakushiki then formed up and wrapped my body in its plating. As the armor finished its union with my body, I can feel a conscience link between it and me. No...not "it"...but...perhaps "her"? What am I talking about, an I.S. with a gender?

But I didn't have time to contemplate that as my field of vision changed with numbers and values. Ah I see...I'm now seeing through the high resolution sensors of the I.S. and these values are stats on my body and I.S. parts. It's amazing that I'm able to understand these logistics immediately. I also sense a nearby standby I.S.

Pilot Name: Cecilia Alcott

I.S. Codename: The Blue Tears

Classification: 3rd Generation, Long-Ranged Armored Suit

Armaments: Unknown

So Cecilia's I.S. is a long ranged type, huh? That is something I need to account for in this fight.

"The high spec I.S. sensors should be functional now. Is everything alright...Ichika?"

Chifuyu-nee still had her usual expression as a teacher, but I know her better than that. From the tone of her voice, it seems that she is worrying about me. That and she slipped and called me my name instead of Orimura.

I gave her a confident smile to show her that there isn't any problem. "I'm alright Chifuyu-nee. All systems seem to be functional."

"I see." She nodded, assured that I was fine. Even if you're strict as usual, you're always the kind and caring sister. For that, I'm always grateful.

I can also sense Houki through the 360 degrees sensors of the Byakushiki; she looked like as if she wanted to say something.

"What is it, Houki?"

"...Win and come back, Ichika."

"Of course, I promise to win. And I always keep my promises, after all. That's our…"

"Way of life." Houki, Chifuyu-nee, and I finished together. Even after ten years, we still remember those words. His words still live on in our hearts to this very day. But enough of that, I can't get distracted right now.

I slowly hovered from the ground as I took notice at the massive amount of data processing from the Byakushiki. It's still in the middle of updating the operating system and hardware as it's now inputting my body's data values. As a result, Byakushiki's form is constantly changing and reforming itself.

The match is about to begin though so I'll have to go out with the default settings until it finishes. The doors to the arena open...I flew out into the battlefield where my opponent waited on the other side.

Taking in a deep breath, I readied myself for the battle. Both Aniki and Chifuyu-nee told me that obtaining and utilizing information is the key to victory. So I observed the blue I.S. and its pilot in front of me. I can see why it's aptly named The Blue Tears based on the color scheme. There, Cecilia Alcott hovered in mid air with her blue I.S. with her arms on a huge rifle that's taller than her. Is that her main weapon for the I.S.?

Blue Pierce: Starlight , a medium-range laser rifle with scope to help snipe targets.

As I contemplated about it, the Byakushiki filled me in with relevant information. It makes sense, Blue Tears was classified as a Long-Ranged Armored Suit. That must means its systems are mainly focused on ranged capabilities. Usually most I.S. focus on one specialization...perhaps, I can make use of that? If that's her main weapon, then what weapon system does Byakushiki have?

Current Armaments:

One Close Combat Sword. Unspecified name. Weapon currently not fully optimized yet.

One unknown weapon system. Capabilities unknown as I.S. still not fully optimized yet.

This isn't good. I was hoping for something to at least deal with Cecilia's ranged capabilities, but it looks like the Byakushiki hasn't processed its weapon system completely yet. On the bright side, it's at least something I'm able to use with some proficiency...even with the I.S. hyper sensors, I haven't even touched a gun, much less highly technological laser rifles. Perhaps that's also why I only have a sword as my main weapon. Hopefully, the second weapon will aid me by the time Byakushiki finishes with its update.

As I observed my opponent, Cecilia looked at me in clear disdain. "Well, well. Looks like you chose not to run away."

I chose to ignore her taunts and focused on understanding the information Byakushiki was showing me instead. The arena itself was around two hundred meters in diameter. If the Blue Tears was using a conventional laser rifle, then it would take around half a second to hit its target. Half a second to react to her shots...with Byakushiki's hyper sensors, I should be able to dodge the majority of them as lasers only travel in a straight line.

Cecilia lowered her rifle downwards with one arm and then pointed to me. "I'll give you one chance."

"One chance?"

"It's clearly obvious that I'll be the winner of this match. Thus, I'll give you a chance to save yourself from an embarrassing defeat if you give up and apologize to me now."

As she said that, she readied her Blue Pierce. Byakushiki then warns me that Blue Tears is removing firing safeties and locking her targeting system onto me.

Give up? That's clearly out of the question. I already made a promise to win, and I'll see the promise to the end.

"No, I never gave up in the past, and I won't start doing it now."

Cecilia narrowed her eyes and frowned. "Is that so? Commendable attitude, yet it's a pity. If this is how it'll be, then…"

Warning messages appeared on my HUD, indicating that Cecilia fired her Blue Pierce.

"It'll be over with this!"

I could barely react to the first shot as it clipped the shoulder armor of Byakushiki, dislodging loose pieces of debris that weren't fully fitted during its formatting process. The travel time of the shot was faster than originally calculated. Evidently, the Blue Pierce is more powerful than the conventional Starlight Mk. III rifles. Plus I'm still not used to maneuvering rapidly with Byakushiki yet.

Damage reports stated that I've taken a hit to my shields. All I.S. have an automated defense system to protect its pilot from harm. First line is the shields where most of the energy is diverted to. If that is breached, then the armor of the suit itself can be damaged, which can be fatal for the pilot. Though any attack that can damage the shields would be dangerous for the armor in the first place. That's mainly why most I.S. don't have much physical plating unless they really specialize into it. For the official sanctioned matches and battles, the winner is the first one who can lower their opponent's shield down to zero.

That being said, it's obvious that getting hit is really bad. Aside from weakening the shields, it also could potentially lower the I.S. energy reserves if the automated defense system is forced to activate to defend against a critical hit. Less energy will result in weaker offensive and defensive capabilities.

I can see where Cecilia's confidence comes from. If she specifies in long ranged combat, she can easily bombard her opponent and whittle their shield and energy low enough before they even touch her. With a sword as my only weapon right now, I'm at a disadvantage trying to close the gap towards her.

But even so, I have no choice but to do so. I deployed the sword, and it appeared into my hand with a ball of light.

"Trying to fight a long ranged suit with just a close combat weapon? It's a joke to think you can challenge me with that!"

Cecilia readied her Blue Pierce once again and prepared to line up several more shots.

"Now, let's dance. Dance to the waltz that I, Cecilia Alcott and my Blue Tears are playing!"

She's really dramatic, isn't she? I kept my eyes tracked on the muzzle flare of the Blue Pierce and used Byakushiki's calculations to determine the trajectory of the shots in order to ready myself. I narrowly dodge the first few shots while I used my sword to deflect the rest of her shots.

Cecilia frowned as she couldn't land a direct hit on me. "Hmmph. Looks like you escaped the first barrage. But this is not all what my Blue Tears can do!"

She raised her hand and deployed four blue, mobile weapons from her I.S.

Warning: Enemy Pilot has activated Blue Interceptor Tears Drones. All Interceptor Drones are capable of fire laser bursts rounds.

I see, that's why this I.S. is called the Blue Tears. As I took the information, all four BITs began firing upon my direction. Looks like I can't just stand still right now as they also began surrounding me. How troublesome, they're all cornering in a position where if I move to block or dodge one of them, I'll get clipped by either Cecilia's Blue Pierce or by another BIT.

I have to get rid of them somehow. I had around 600 energy points at the beginning of the fight. The shots that clipped me lowered it down to around 300. If those were direct shots onto me, I would've lost already.

In an I.S. a person's senses are amplified to the point where you notice several things that you couldn't before. With these hyper senses and coupled with the processing power of the I.S., they can pick up useful information during the battle. In other words, the more the fight goes, the more you can adapt easily to the opponent's habits and I.S.

As I tried my best to navigate through the crossfire of lasers, I tried to search for an attack pattern of the BITs. If they're all operated by her I.S. alone, then they wouldn't have such a complicated attack pattern. That means she has to concentrate on firing each of them manually. Which makes sense as she didn't fire her Blue Pierce any time that her BITs were firing at me.

So I took advantage of this by suddenly accelerating and charging right at her all when all of the BITs were firing at me. If I'm right, then she couldn't prepare to fire back with her Blue Pierce. Of course, this plan also depended on the speed of Byakushiki. It appeared to be gaining more and more speed as the time goes by. I slashed my sword at her and she had to use her Blue Pierce to block it. I pushed the thrusters of the I.S. further and knocked her rifle away so she couldn't use it to fire immediately. There's a small opening now, I have to take it!

"Grr, how dare you!" As Cecilia couldn't raise her Blue Pierce in time for a counterattack, she raised her other arm and directed the BITs to fire upon me. However, by the time she raised her arm, I was already at one of the closest BITs and sliced the drone into half.

"How did you...!?" Cecilia was shocked.

No time to lose, I have to continue the assault while she's distracted by the lost of one of her BITs. In her moment of surprise, I calculated the route of another BIT and slashed it apart. There...two of the BITs are down. This is going good. Considering that the Blue Pierce is not meant for close combat at all, and that Cecilia couldn't deal with my earlier charge, all I need to do is close the distance once the rest of the BITs are gone. Byakushiki's speed is crucial here.

- I.S. Academy Arena Control Room -

"Wow, Orimura-kun is holding up very well against Alcott-san!" Yamada-sensei was amazed at Ichika's performance. I have to admit, Ichika doesn't look like someone who just piloted an I.S. for a second time. However…

Orimura-sensei groaned in irritation. "That idiot is getting too overconfident in the middle of the battle. There's no point to be getting too happy getting over a minor obstacle right now."

Yamada-sensei paused, "Eh? How do you know?"

Orimura-sensei pointed at Ichika's left hand. "This guy's clenching his hand this entire time. It's a habit he had ever since he was young. He tends to make simple mistakes by overlooking things. Even after the training he had, he still hasn't rectified it."

I nodded silently in the background. Ichika tends to get ahead of himself when he's at an advantage. I recall Nii-san pointing it out to him the first time we got him to train us. Though I have no right to judge Ichika when I still haven't solved my own issues...

Yamada-sensei was impressed. "Wow, to understand and know him that well. The two of you must be really close siblings!"

It's one of the few times where I saw someone like Orimura-sensei stunned. She coughed slightly into her hand. "Ahem… of course, even if he's an idiot...he's still my brother."

Yamada-sensei laughed. "Ah ha...are you embarrassed? Ah, you are!"

"..."

Yamada-sensei...I really don't think you should tease Orimura-sensei. Even my Nee-san and Nii-san couldn't tease her without suffering repercussions. In a moment, Orimura-sensei had Yamada-sensei in a headlock.

"Ow, ow, ow!"

"What I hate the most is to be made fun of."

"Yes, yes, I got it! Please let me go!"

I sighed and looked back to the screen. Looks like the tide of the battle had changed. Ichika…

- I.S. Academy Arena -

Since there were only two BITs left, I can easily predict their routes. They're most likely trying to target me where I have limited response time to them. If that's the case, I can easily plan ahead and use it to take advantage of another opening when they fire.

As the remaining BITs fire, I did a barrel roll to dodge them and accelerated forward right where Cecilia was. However, I did not expect Cecilia to smile all of the sudden.

Why was she smiling when I'm about to attack her directly? Does she have something up her sleeves? Oh shoot! Before I could pull out of my charge, the skirt-shaped armor around her body opened up and launched.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I never said that there would be only four Blue Tears."

This is bad, unlike the previous four BITs, Byakushiki informed me that they are auto-tracking missiles. At this range, I'll be directly hit by both of them because I can't change my course to outrun them!

As the missiles hit me, I was enveloped by the explosion and my vision was filled with white light.

- I.S. Academy Arena Control Room -

"Ichika!" I stared in horror as I saw Ichika took on the two missiles directly. There was nothing but smoke on the cameras. Both Orimura-sensei and Yamada-sensei stopped messing around with each other and looked at the status updates on the computer screens.

Orimura-sensei sighed as the smoke began to clear up. "...Of course. He got saved by his machine. That idiot."

Indeed...amongst the darkness of the smoke was pure whiteness shining through. That's the true appearance of…

- I.S. Academy Arena -

System Update: All formatting and optimization of user setting is now complete. Please confirm the final process by pressing the button.

I was still dazzled by Cecilia's last attack to fully understand what happened just now. In any case, I pressed the button on the screen that appeared before me. Immediately, I understood what was happening as the Byakushiki transformed itself.

All the damage that I had received from the missiles were recovered as the Byakushiki reshaped itself over my body. It took a while, but it looks like the I.S. completely finished with its settings. Just in the nick of time too.

To the opposite of me, Cecilia's mouth was wide opened. "It can't be...your I.S. changed its appearance? Then...that's the First Shift?! You were fighting on initial settings this whole time!?"

Indeed, this is the true form of the Byakushiki. There were no longer any shifting nor temporary parts. All of it were refined and streamlined. From the logistics, it looked like the Byakushiki was even faster than before. However, my Shield Energy did not recover completely so I'm still at 150 points right now. However, most importantly is...

Weapons Update:

Yukihira Nigata: Closed Ranged Enhanced Sword.

RasenShuriken: Spiralling Energy Projectile Shuriken.

Both weapon systems are capable of using One-off Ability Reiraku Byakuya to perform Barrier Void Attacks.

Yukihira...the name of Chifuyu-nee's sword that she once used. I truly have the best older sister looking after me. However, RasenShuriken...I'm unfamiliar with that name. But...could this be a variation of Aniki's technique…?

Author's Note:

This has been an ongoing plot bunny that I had for several years now. I originally envisioned this to be a one-shot, but it simply grew too long. Don't expect too much of a story, I want to mainly focus on the interactions between Tabane, Chifuyu, and Naruto. I honestly wanted to cut the whole Cecilia match thing due to the closeness to canon, but I already wrote too much to abandon it. The timeline is a little bit off, give or take a few years. Feel free to ask any questions.