IS〈インフィニット・ストラトス〉- IS (Infinite Stratos) Volume 2 Chapter 1: Boy meets Boy On the first Sunday. I went outside IS Academy--or more accurately, I went to Gotanda's residence. "So?" "So? So...what?" Ugh, talking to me while we're playing a fighting game! Cheh, UWAH!! A super move on me! Damn you, don't get cocky! "Please, of course I'm talking about the all-girls school. There should be many good things over there, right?" I've told you so many times, no! How many times must I say it before you get it? Let me explain. Gotanda Dan here, is a friend of mine from middle school. The day we first met, we kicked off quite well. Also, during those 3 years, Rin and us were in the same class, so during middle school, the 3 of us often hung out together... "Stop lying. I can tell that you're lying from those messages! What, don't you have a ticket to that kind of Heaven?" Who would, you idiot? The school I'm studying at right now is a special independent High School that's managed by the country--'IS Academy'. IS--the actual name is 'Infinite Stratos' is a multi-purpose unit that was designed for space exploration, but right now, it's used on earth, and even used by many countries as military weapons. The person who invented the IS was the older sister of that childhood friend of mine who seems to be hiding something. It's really hard to explain it, so I won't. The thing is that IS can 'only be used by women'. On a side note, I'm just a normal boy. But for some reason, I--Orimura Ichika, am half-forced to study in IS Academy as the 'only male in the world who can pilot IS', so right now, I'm living a dormitory life with all the students, teachers and staff, who are female. 1 IS〈インフィニット・ストラトス〉- IS (Infinite Stratos) Volume 2 "Speaking of which, about that, it's great that Rin transferred in, otherwise there wouldn't be much people to talk with..." "What? You're talking about Rin? Rin..." Hm? What? Why is this guy sneering at me? Such a weird guy. "Alright, I win!" "WAH! USELESS STUFF! WHO WOULD USE SUPER MODE TO KILL AT THE END~~..." On a side note, we're playing 'IS/VS'. It's a game that broke a million sales within one month. Oh yeah, the game uses the second Mondo Grosso data. ...Well, for some reason, Chifuyu-nee's data wasn't included in it. "Italy's Tanbesta's really powerful! Or rather, really violent." "You should change characters once in a while. Like England's Milton or something?" "Nope. That one's ridiculously hard to use, her moves are weak, and even the combos are weird." Oh yeah, as the company that produced this game was from Japan, anyone can expect the other countries to voice their discontent, saying 'Our countries aren't that weak!'. Thus, the harrassed video game company actually increased the specs of each IS in its respective country, and sold them separately in 21 countries. They managed to sell it well just like that. Speaking of which, to actually manage to make 21 versions of the same game just by tweaking the specs, they sure can earn lots here. But in the World Cybergames Tournament, every country wanted to use their own country's version and started arguing over it until the tournament was terminated. "Then, let's get back on topic. As for Rin--" Just as Dan, for whatever reason, brought Rin up again, someone interruped him. "Onii[2A 1], hurry up and come eat already. Lunch is ready--" Kicking the door down and walking in is Dan's little sister--Gotanda Ran. She's a year younger than him, and is now in her senior year of middle school. She's said to be an honour student in a prestigious private girls' school. Hm, she's really different from her older brother. "Ah, hi, long time no see. Sorry for disturbing you here." 2 IS〈インフィニット・ストラトス〉- IS (Infinite Stratos) Volume 2 "I-Ichika...san!?" As expected, girls dress up like this when they're at home, huh? Ran's shoulder-length hair is tied back with only a hair clip holding it from behind, and she's wearing shorts and a sleeveless vest. It's really a get-up that focuses on functionality. But maybe I've gotten too used to it, since at IS Academy, I sorta see everyone dressed up so skimpily. And maybe because the weather's been getting too hot lately, the girls have been wearing clothes with a low neckline, and besides, in such an environment where there's no guys other than me looking, it seems like no one wears any bras indoor, either due to liberty or to openness. To be honest, the awkwardness of having 'girls finding me blocking my eyes while being unable to decide on where to look at' can't be described. "I-It's not that, well, you were here...? I heard that you went to a boarding school..." "Oh, that's right. I had something to do today, so I went out. I wanted to check up on my house today, so I thought that I should drop by here." "I, I see..." However, Ran's always been like this. Why is it that she would stutter and sound so respectful all of a sudden? That's weird. "Ran, you could at least knock, right? You'll be considered a shameless woman--" *Kling!* Ran instantly shot a glare. Oh! Dan curled up already like some Super Ma**o. The difference in battle prowess between those two is obvious. "...Why didn't you tell me that he would be here..." "Oh, wait, I didn't tell you? Sorry, my bad. Ah hahahaha..." "..." *Klong!* Ran again shot a glare at Dan like a knife being thrown at a corpse, and then frantically left the room. "If, well, if it's alright, please join us for lunch, Ichika-san! You aren't leaving yet, right?" "Oh, sorry for the inconvenience. Thanks." 3 IS〈インフィニット・ストラトス〉- IS (Infinite Stratos) Volume 2 "It, it's alright..." *BAM!* After Ran slammed the door shut, silence fills then the air. Speaking of which, what about a skit of the 'Hot-blooded Siblings Dan and Ran?' Can't they air it on the Sunday morning timeslot? Most likely not. "But I have to say, I've known Ran for 3 years, and yet it seems like she can't open up to me." "Ha?" Allow me to go off-topic for a while. Don't you feel that guys who call younger girls with a 'chan' are impressive? I can't do it, even if it's my friend's little sister. I have reservations about it, which is why I prefer to call them by their names. Now that I recall it, the person involved did say 'It-It's okay' and agreed to it. "That's not it. Don't you find that she's rather courteous to me? She just left the room so quickly." "..." Well, Dan sighs, and then exhales. "...What?" "Nothing. Sometimes, I really wonder if you're like this on purpose." "?" "Well, it's good if you don't notice it. I don't wanna have a younger brother of my age." "Why are you talking about a younger brother out of nowhere? That's ridiculous." "Oh well, it's nothing. Anyway, wanna go out after lunch?" "Oh, that's great. So you're treating me to lunch? Thank you~[2A 2]" "What are you getting so worked up for, we're eating the leftover set meals." I see. So we're eating that super sweet pumpkin stew set meal. But even so, I won't throw it away; things like rice are earned with so much hard work, so I have to be thankful to the uncles who worked on the fields. "Let's go downstairs then." 4 IS〈インフィニット・ストラトス〉- IS (Infinite Stratos) Volume 2 We left Dan's room and headed downstairs, through the back door and then took a turn to the front door of the dining area. Even though it's troublesome, Dan did say before that 'thanks to this set-up, our private lives won't be affected by the business'. Normally to people, the definition of a family is just to make the people who're staying in the house feel comfortable. Doesn't anyone feel that a house that's set up so nicely in TV is hard to live in? No wait, the most important thing is that the residents find it comfortable. I'll leave out the rest. "Eiyah!" "Hn?" "..." Dan let out that voice of disgust, and I peered over from behind him to look. Our lunch's already prepared and laid out on the table, and someone's already sitting there. "What? You have some complain? If you want to, onii can go eat alone outside." "Did you hear that, Ichika? Those super gentle words make me wanna cry!" Sitting over there is Ran. And I suppose it isn't really brotherly of me to play along with Dan who's acting like he's wiping his tears off. "It should be alright for us to have lunch. Besides, there are other customers around. Let's hurry up and sit." "That's right, baka nii[2A 3], hurry up and sit down." "Okay okay..." And thus, me, Dan and Ran sat down in order at the table...hm? That's weird.