3rd POV
As time passed by, and the fated day drew near, all were training in one way or another. All the students were gossiping about what would come to be, but some were even making bets.
Many were asking around about a certain males I.S, many were curious about his skill and capabilities, but they all got the same answers when they asked. He didn't give any information away, for that would cause him to lose his advantage. Though it never stopped the girls from asking, no matter how many times he basically told them no.
He often went missing whenever there was free time, but it did not take much time to track him down. He was always somewhere outside, always laying down and relaxing, or at least that is what it looked like.
The one that was seemed to be at his side, Kuro, did not seem to mind his little obsession of being outdoors, and would be with him whenever possible, which definitely didn't go unnoticed by all the other students
Despite all of this, there was one encounter that was a little more special then the others. A certain student had finally decided to meet the young man, and had found him alone out near a tree and lake, almost no one knew he was there. Kuro having gone to get something for them to eat since she appeared to have forgotten once again gave her the perfect chance.
"Hey...can I talk to you...?" Houki slowly but steadily approached him. She wasn't exactly sure at first, but as the date for the duel was tomorrow, she wanted to speak to him.
"Of course, feel free to sit anywhere" his monotone voice always threw her off. He was currently laying down while part of his body was tilted up due to him partially leaning the upper part of his back and head against the tree behind him. While it didn't seem like others would like such a position, he seemed to be oddly comfortable.
"I...What happened to you?" She asked hesitantly after sitting down near him. She looked around, and found that his gaze was practically up, looking at the sun's rays shining through the leaves and branches while the blue sky was visible in several places while the tree in its entirety was gently swaying its branches back and forth with the wind.
"I am unable to give you an answer. The question you have given is too vague, I do not know what you wish to know when you ask such a question" he told her "Please repeat and change or add words that are more specific"
She was thrown off. She thought it was an easy question to understand, but then again, she didn't understand Yn.
"What happened to you? As in, what caused this drastic change in your personality. And what happened to your eye?" She devoted herself to finding out, she wanted to know, because she, as one of Ichika's friends, wanted to know what was wrong with what she still considered his brother, plus it was a good way to start the conversation, at least that's what she thinks.
"The answer to the second question is simple; it was taken" he told her "You lack the required permission to access the details of the current topic that you desire, therefore I cannot tell you more then that"
His words confused her. He said access a strange way to put it, but it wasn't like she was used to him, nor knew what he had gone through.
"For the former question it is the same answer. However, if I must be honest, I did not think that you would be able to discern any change within myself when we met a few days ago" he told her again.
"What do you mean by that?" She was dumbfounded. Wondering why he believed that she would not notice such a large change to him.
"You never really liked or approached me. You clung to Ichika whenever you could. Ignoring me, as if I had never even existed. Though I do not understand what it is that kept you so close to Ichika, perhaps it was his stupidity that made you feel superior? Or perhaps when he stood up for you against the bullies that kept calling you a tomboy?" He seemed to ask
"Huh....how do you know about that?" Houki looks and sounded as if she was slightly panicked, however his answer made her eyes widen.
"That is an example of how I believed you never knew I existed. After Ichika had hit one of the bullies that was speaking to you, they were going to go after both you and Ichika. The only reason they did not persevere in that situation was because I had stepped in to keep them away from you two, then he took you and ran knowing that I couldn't hold them back since it was a three on one. If you and Ichika had stayed it would have easily been a victory for our side seeing that it would have been a three on three and with the training the three of us had from the dojo in more than just Kendo, the chances for success against the untrained children would have been around eighty-seven point one-nine percent"
Houki was indeed shocked. She remembered when Ichika stood up for her, and when he began to talk to her. When he did, she began to let everything haze around her, and when it seemed like the boys wanted to get back at the two of them, Ichika grabbed her hand and ran. But the fraction of a second that she looked back when they were heading out the door, she could only remember a silhouette of someone standing in the three's way. But she never remembered who it was.
"T-that...that was you?" She asked with a stutter and a pause. "What happened afterwards?" She asked again. She didn't know what happened. She didn't know that he had even been there in that memory.
"When I returned home I was scolded by Chifuyu for fighting, though Ichika was left without such treatment. I was then sent to clean myself and bandage up the cuts and bruises that I had accumulated. I learned when Ichika came home that he was being praised by his older sister for standing up to the bullies" he stated simply, speaking of it like it was of no importance or needed to be concerned "The treatment of him and myself was simply different"
How he talked about it with no emotion, with no sense of remorse or sadness, no frailty or hate, was making her feel so...lonely. She never knew anything, she didn't know the first thing about him. All she knew was that this wasn't what he was originally like.
"Kuro will arrive here in a few minutes, so I believe you should ask whatever you were initially planning to ask when you came here"
He had seen straight through her, he read her like a book.
"I..." She was hesitant to ask. But after thinking about Ichika for a brief moment, she gained the confidence she needed.
"I want you to tell me about your I.S. I want to know about it!"
"It is classified"
His words seemed to be on repeat, for he had told that to everyone that had asked about it, but Houki was stubborn, both a good and bad trait to have.
"Do you honestly think Ichika has a chance?" She asked, but obviously didn't stop to let him give his thoughts "He'll lose against you and Cecelia. I need to give him a fighting chance! You're his big brother, it is the least you can do for him, right?!"
"Then you should have actually trained him"
His words hit a spot that she wasn't expecting, for she knew exactly where he was going with it.
"I don't believe you understand the situation, and are only thinking about what you want to happen. I know nothing about his I.S, therefore it is fair that he should know nothing of mine. He already knows the name while I still am not able to register the name of his. Cecilia has more of an obligation to ask me about my I.S seeing how I know the details of her and her I.S, but even if she asked, she would get the same answer, but she knows how I am, she understands that secrecy is important in the art of combat, and at least has the pride to try her own research instead of asking her enemy," he told her "You believe that I care if Ichika has a chance, and you mistakenly assume that I am still his brother. I am no longer his family, nor did I ever feel as if I ever was. But if you truly wanted to help him, you should have actually trained him"
His voice was somehow giving off a chill she didn't feel before, but that being said it was only her, he hadn't changed his way of speaking or even put in emotion, but she still couldn't help but feel on edge by him. His personality was almost like an enigma, a complete anomaly, while also being so obvious and simple that it was difficult to accept.
"I did train him! I trained him every day for three hours!" She shouted at him, even rising to her feet as she stared at the one eyed young man in front of her, but he remained unchanged in everything, and didn't even move a muscle
"Kendo is not training for the I.S," he stated "All you were doing was fulfilling your own self interests. You yourself told the upperclassmen, who could have prepared him for tomorrow, that you were training him, and gave the excuse that you were better suited simply because you are related to Tabane-c...because of Miss Tabane," he seemed as if he was going to say something, but stopped and changed it. However his expression and voice never differentiated from their respective and usual forms, "You only have a C-rank compatibility with the I.S, which is rather low. You taught him nothing of the I.S because you didn't know how to teach him anything. You lacked experience and knowledge, the basics for teaching anyone about such a complicated machine. But your self interest in him caused you to be greedy, you didn't wish for Ichika, one of the only two males in a school of all females, to be trained by anyone other than yourself out of fear that they would, as I've been told, Steal him from you. Pulling your family ties was the only thing you could do, and I commend your tactics in using whatever means necessary, but it would have been far better for Ichika to have been trained in the I.S instead of Kendo, meaning literally any one of the upperclassmen would have been a better choice. In the end you kept those selfish thoughts with you as you taught him Kendo once more, claiming it to be beneficial to him when in fact the only two reason you were teaching it to him was because it was the only thing you could teach him, and that it brought back the memories of when we all used to practice said sport together. In the end you didn't realize most of this until it was near time for the duel, and still fail to recognize several of these facts. But you knew that you had taught him nothing, and are scrambling for results to help him, an example is coming to me to learn about my equipment and how I fight, thinking it might give him an advantage in the duel tomorrow. The one thing that I don't understand is why you felt that jealousy would have been worse then Ichika having his pride crushed by Cecilia or myself?"
After his long talk, she was left near speechless and frustrated. But somewhere inside her she knew it was true, perhaps it was a little cricket called her conscious, but it was obviously not heard because she wasn't the kind of person to take all of that and learn from it, to her it only felt insulting.
It was usually like this. People aren't prone to letting others point out flaws in their actions, they don't like it. And the way he continued to speak, without any emotion behind it, could make it either interpreted as if he didn't care, or was insulting them, when in reality it was neither of them, he was just stating facts and thoughts.
"...When Ichika wins tomorrow I'll make you regret everything you've said!" She yelled as she stormed off, but Yn was left confused.
With a tilted head he watched her walk away while muttering and growling words under her breath, and muttered out the question that he himself was left with after his explanation to her
"Why is she angry? Was it something I said?"
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The day for the duel had finally come. The stands were full of spectators, the VIP box's were not in any way empty, each seat being taken quickly to get the best view.
The rumours of the two males being either skilled or terrible had made each and every person curious. The announcement of one of them being a new representative contender for the United States made them even more anxious to see what he would be like.
The weather was perfect for the duel, and two of the three I.S' were already out waiting for the last opponent. One of them was a dull silver, still in its default setting, having but one weapon, a singular sword, piloted by the underdog of the duel.
The other was a mostly blue I.S, having an almost dress like design. With a large sniper being held in the hands of an elegant blonde haired representative contender, she waited for the last enemy, and the one she knew would be the most trouble in the fight, to come out.
The sounds of the crowds speaking and chatting about the looks of the two roared across the arena, but all started to fall into the sweet serenity of silence as the sound of light footsteps could be heard approaching the arena. It was too quiet for many to hear, but they fell silent when they saw the two pilots tense and turn their gaze towards the sound.
It was rather easy for the I.S piloted considering that the I.S increased and almost merged the sense, making them essentially have a three-hundred and sixty degree view at all time, making sneak attacks impossible.
As the eerie silence proceeded, the sound of the footsteps continued to get more audible by the smallest amount every second. Not even a minute passed by before the last contender stood at the edge of the launch platform.
Without his I.S on, he looked up at his two opponents. No one questioned what he was doing, but his gaze was more directed at Ichika, seeing his I.S
"Prediction; Mainly focuses on speed and offence" he spoke quietly to himself "Recommendation; Nephilhim?"
His eyepatch gave out a full light, and it engulfed him completely. The sight of such a spectacle caused many to lean forward in their seats, and the two enemies to fly just a bit closer.
Three rocket pods on his right side, resting on his shoulder as it was attached to a giant pack like attachment on his back, each pod dark like the rest of his suit.
A large cannon like weapon on the other side, shining dully in the light of the perfect day.
His entire right hand was encased in metal. No. That's only what the spectators thought it was. His entire right hand was covered, converted into a mini-gun that gleamed ever so slightly.
There was a helmet that reflected the light brilliantly on the visor. Leaving many to question the design of his I.S
Looking at it in its entirety, many finally understood, and could not believe their eyes, for his I.S could be considered old school, yet also a new model. Something that kept up with the modern era.
All over his body were various weapons. It was easy to spot miniature cannons on his arms, grenades and bombs that could be taken off and attached to other surfaces on his biceps, belt, thighs, and legs.
"Is that...a full body type?!" Cecilia asked
Yn's POV
I opened my eye, the sight of the screen was all too familiar, but very much welcome as it scanned my surroundings and gave me all the information I would need. There was something pleasant about being in my I.S, but it was hard to describe.
As I looked at my two opponents, I was informed I had received a message, thought the sender was obvious
"Good luck out there (N/n)-Chan! I'll be watching it! Make sure that you win! Consider it an order~! And if you do win I'll give you a reward~"
-Tabane the Genius!
The message was unneeded, for I never planned to lose in the first place.
I can't wait to see how everyone reacts to him! It'll be so fun to see their expressions when they see our work! And maybe it'll finally get Chi-Chan to open up to him? Let's go (N/n)-Chan~!
-Tabane
A/n: Okay so I'm at work So updates may be really slow, but I'm using all the free time I have to write, so please forgive me if it's a bit rushed or anything, I'm really tired. But how'd you think your I.S turned out? Because I can say this, you will be surprised if you think that's all there is to it. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Until next time. Bye!!!