As soon as the countdown finished, you rush towards Charlotte who immediately takes out her assault rifle and shoots multiple bullets at you forcing you to fly left and right trying to dodge the bullets.
'His speed is definitely impressive. He's going to get here fast.' Charlotte thought to examine your movements before taking out her SMG. 'This'll keep him on his toes for a bit.'
Charlotte starts shooting both guns at the same time while moving in the air forcing you to dodge and chase after her not being able to gain any distance. Realizing that continuing this pursuit was useless, you open up your palms towards her taking out the plasma cannons and starts firing blast after blast from each hand. These canons have a 5-second cooldown so alternating arms was the best way to go.
Charlotte caught unaware from the blasts, takes a direct hit from one of the blasts before moving sideways.
"This is just a long distance battle at this rate. It's basically who has the better aim will win." Rin said examining the battle from the side.
"If (Y/N)'s IS is a long ranged one, then why would he try to get close knowing it has a higher risk to get shot?" Ichika asks as Cecilie shakes her head.
"I think (Y/N)'s IS is different. I think it has capabilities of both far and short range."
"You would be correct." Everyone looks over to see Chifuyu examining the duel. "Though Le Pharaoh can be used for both, it's leaning towards the long distance range. I think (Y/N) realized this and is using it to assess how Charlotte would react."
"He said that he was the worst off and yet he'd tried to evaluate how Charlotte was going to fight and made it a priority so he could gain the advantage," Laura said examining the fight.
"Jeez. You're not giving a chance to get a proper shot, Charlotte!" You said before nearly dodging a shot from near the shoulder.
"Well, I have yet to hit you so you're doing better than me. You're quite fast." Charlotte said before shooting near your feet forcing you in the air causing you to be in the open for a quick shot in the chest making you a bit pale before jumping back and doesn't try to attack again before raising his hands making everyone confused.
"I give up. My shield is already almost empty and with your skills, it's almost inevitable that I'll lose." You say with a smile before deactivating your IS and drop to the ground. You had a feeling that someone was watching you as you look around to see a lot of the girls were watching the duel from the stands which definitely came as a surprise.
"Wait... How come he said that his shield was almost down? He only took one hit." Ichika questions with a bit of confusion.
"Le Pharaoh is an IS that prioritizes on the offense rather than defense. While dropping the defense aspect of it, it could be an unhittable force that can hit with a massive force with the same amount of speed." Chifuyu explains to the group. "So he could've only taken two hits from Charlotte before the shields gave out which would've ended the match."
You chuckled before wiping off cold sweat from your face. "Guess all that movement while dodging your bullets gave me quite the workout. So what did you think of my fighting?"
"Hmm." Charlotte deactivates her IS before walks towards to you. "You were honestly pretty good. You had me on my toes for the whole time and honestly, it would have been pretty close if you continued to fight."
"Maybe. Maybe not. You're a representative of France after all so I highly doubt that I would win. In any case. I need a shower and a nap. I'm exhausted." You said taking a seat on the floor before becoming a bit nauseous. "Oh god..."
"Hey... You shouldn't sit down after all of that." Charlotte helps you up. "You should walk to calm your body a bit."
"S-Sure. You're right. I need to slow down after all of that movement. Thanks. See you later, Charlotte. Thanks for having a duel with me." You say waving at Charlotte who waves back as the others started to train. You enter the locker room and head immediately for the shower area and wash all the dirt and sweat from his body. The warm water was definitely refreshing for you and you hear Ichika groaning in the changing room as you finish up and dry yourself before putting on clothes and walking out into the changing room to see Ichika extremely exhausted.
"What happened? It looks like you've been in a bloody war or something." You say with a confused expression.
"I-It's nothing." Ichika lets out with heavy breathing while lying down on the bench. You couldn't help yourself looking at him like that a bought him a can of coffee before letting the cold can touch his face making him shoot straight up. "Huh!?"
"Thought a small bit of energy might be what you need." You say handing the can to Ichika before drinking from a can that you bought for yourself. "It looks like the girls gave you a rough time. You were barely training for like 30 minutes. What happened?"
"It's... nothing. I just need to get back to my dorm room." Ichika groans before putting on his student uniform. "Hey. You want me to take you there?"
"Sure. I haven't actually been told where the dorms are. I know my dorm room and all but you can take me. Most likely we're in the same room cause we're both guys."
"I'm not totally sure about that..." Ichika said grabbing his stuff. The two leave the locker room and make their way to the dorm room and since there was no point in hiding it, you decided to tell him how exactly you found out that you could use an IS.
"Woah... Seriously? You just called it just like that?" Ichika said with a sense of surprise.
"Yeah... Basically. It was a feeling of trying to recreate a memory of her. And then all of a sudden, it just appeared on me." You rubbed your head before smiling faintly. "What about you Ichika? Mind enlightening me on how you first found out that you could make a link with an IS?"
"Well, it was during my entrance exam when I found out about it. I had gotten lost trying to find where we were supposed to take the exams and then I found myself in the room with an IS." Ichika explains to you. "And I got curious about it and went up to touch it where I made the connection before people caught me. Next thing that I knew, the government had forced me in IS Academy."
"Wow. Quite the story. It sounds so unreal but here you are. Piloting an IS and having a bunch of girlfriends for your own that any guy would want." You say with a smug expression as Ichika lets out a confused expression. "What?"
"What did you mean by the last part?" Ichika genuinely lets out in confusion and you were definitely dumbfounded by what you just heard.
"Are you serious?"
"Yeah. What'd you mean by all that? Like Houki, Rin, Cecilie, and Laura?" Ichika questions as they make their way into the dorm room.
"...yeah. Totally." The two reach Ichika's room as you look at the email on your phone. "Oh, this is yours? Mine is actually more down the hall."
"Oh. Ok. See you for dinner, then?" Ichika asks as you nod before making your way down the hall slowly looking through each room number before finally making it after quite a bit of searching.
"This is my door." You say before opening the door with your key and make your way to the bed before dropping your stuff near the bed before closing your eyes and hear the faint sound of the shower which make you open your eyes. 'The shower? I thought I was going to be alone...'
You stand up just as you hear the shower turn off and the door opens revealing Charlotte drying herself with a towel as the two looks at each other. If silence could kill, this would definitely be it.
"I-I'm sorry! I thought this was my room!" You say panicking before shaking his head. "Wait. You get dressed. I'm going to be outside!"
Before Charlotte could say anything, you bolted outside the door and slam the door behind you with a loud thud as you were letting out heavy breaths before shaking your head. You saw girls passing by as they were walking to the dorms and they talked about making notes about his dorm when the door behind him opens slightly.
"C-Come in," Charlotte said in a faint voice making you shiver as you obliged and go through the door and close it behind you. You look up to see Charlotte sitting on the other bed with clothes on and was blushing heavily. "(Y/N) you pervert..."
"W-Wait. I had no idea that something like that was going to happen. I'm sorry." You say with a sigh before looking slightly away.
"Fine. I forgive you." There was silence again between the two of you as Charlotte speaks up again. "So. We're roommates then?"
"I-I guess so..." You say before coughing. "So... How are we going to do this so we don't have that incident ever happen again?"
"I guess we have set times on when we can shower?" Charlotte said though sees that your hair is wet. "Did you shower at the lockers?"
"Yeah, I did. I think it's better to shower immediately. Your body just feels better after a good workout and such." You take a deep breath.
"Yeah. I think the same. I just prefer the showers inside the dorm room." Charlotte said.
"And there's nothing wrong with that..." The both of you heard a rattle in your stomach as you let out a chuckle. "Sorry about that."
"N-No. It's fine." Charlotte said trying to hold a laugh herself. "Let's go to the cafeteria and get some dinner. You can tell me how exactly you linked with your IS."
"Sure. Sounds like a date." You say nonchalantly before turning around while Charlotte takes a step back while letting out a blush before shaking her head and runs up to your side.