The next day, everyone gathered on Haru's desk to talk about the Inter-Class tournament which was about to be held soon.
"The Inter-Class Tournament is coming up, right?"
"By the way, did you hear that the class representative for Class Two was changed?"
"Ah. It seems that she was replaced by some transfer student."
"Transfer student? At this time?" Ichika was surprised.
"Yes, a girl from China."
"Hmph! Could it be that she was very wary of my existence and decided to transfer in?" Cecilia had a haughty expression on her face.
Haru looked at Houki who kept glancing at them from her seat which made him really want to bring her here, but he knew that her personality was very hard to approach or being forced to be pulled into the group.
"Well, Cecilia, since this transfer student could replace the current class representative of Class Two, then there is a possibility that that girl is also an IS Representative from China and that means she might have her own personal IS," Haru said.
"What?!"
"Is that true?"
"How did you know?"
The girls became curious when they heard him.
"Personal IS..." Ichika was a bit jealous when he heard it, but he knew that only limited people in this world could have it.
"I'm not sure, but there's that possibility, right?" Haru thought that it was possible for the representative of Class Two to own her own IS. He knew that only both Class One and Class Four had their own IS. He didn't know about the Class Four, but he remembered that it was a class where the IS Representative from Japan was located.
However, he had heard that it was because of him that the IS of the IS Representative from Japan was being stopped and it might take a year or so for her IS to be made since each country could only have limited IS being made in their country, but he didn't care much since he didn't know this representative of Japan was.
"Hmph! Even if she is an IS Representative from China. She won't be my opponent!"
Cecilia folded her arms showing her haughtiness and pride as the IS Representative from England.
"Hee... you sure have confidence, are you sure that you can beat me?"
Everyone turned toward the direction of the entrance door and saw a petite cute girl with light brown hair tied in twintails with a yellow ribbon on both sides.
Haru knew that in the story, it was quite normal to have a transfer student development, and he could see that this transfer student was related to Ichika, especially when he saw Ichika's reaction.
"Rin? You're Rin, right?"
Ichika was surprised to see this girl.
"Yes, I'm the representative candidate for China, Fan Rinin." Rin pointed her finger and said, "Today, I came to declare war!"
Everyone was surprised.
"Is that the transfer student from Class Two? The representative candidate for China?"
Ichika smiled walking toward her and said, "Rin... what are you acting cool for? That doesn't suit you!"
"Wha? What the heck are you saying!" Rin seemed to be very mad.
"They seem quite close, right?" Cecilia looked at Haru.
"From my observation, they might be a childhood friend or something, so her relationship might be the same as Houki....."
Haru looked at Houki and felt a bit sorry for her.
"Yeah... I feel sorry for Houki...."
Cecilia also sighed at Houki remembering how dense Ichika was. She was hugging Haru's hand at this moment when everyone was focussed on the interaction of Ichika and Rin.
"Ahh! Cecilia! What are you hugging Haru at this moment!"
The girls in the class seemed to wake up and tried to separate the two of them since Cecilia tried to steal the march from them.
"What the heck are you doing!"
Cecilia was a bit mad being separated, but at the same time, she was quite proud since she had taken a picture together with Haru last night. She was different from everyone in this class after all.
Rin also noticed the commotion and asked, "Who is that?"
"Oh, that's Haru. He's my friend and also an IS pilot." Ichika explained.
"Hmm...." Rin nodded and wanted to ask something, but suddenly her head was being hit.
*Baam!*
"It hurts! What are you doing?!"
"....."
Rin gawked when she saw the person who had hit her head.
"Go back to your class."
"C - Chifuyu-san..."
"It's an Orimura-sensei. Go back to your class, you're a bother."
"S - Sorry."
Chifuyu entered the class and made everyone quiet. In the class, she was just like a queen who controlled everything within the class.
"I'll come again later! Don't run away, Ichika! Hmph!"
Rin turned and went back to her own class.
Ichika was standing still and was surprised by Rin's identity as a representative candidate.
---
After the class, Haru, Cecilia, Houki, and some girls were eating lunch together. He looked at Houki who squinted her eyes and seemed very curious about the interaction between Ichika and Rin who was the transfer student.
After the class, Ichika and Rin went to eat lunch together in the cafeteria to talk to each other and left Houki behind.
"If you're curious, why don't you go sit next to them?" Haru asked.
"W - What are you talking about?!" Houki blushed and shook her head frantically.
"Shinonono-san, if you want to fight for Ichika against that transfer student then you need to be more aggressive!" Cecilia added and thought that it was a bit interesting to see Houki's reaction.
Everyone knew that Houki was the little sister of Shinonono Tabane, but no one mentioned it since she seemed to hate when she was being related to her big sister.
"No! I don't have an interest in him!" Houki denied it with a blush.
"Cecilia, calm down." Haru put his hand on Cecilia's shoulders telling her to sit down.
"Well...." Cecilia nodded and knew Houki's personality was very hard to approach, easy to get angered, and very easy to be shy. Frankly, in her mind Houki was troublesome, but she was alright with her since she knew that Houki wasn't her rival in this school.
The only thing which made her sigh was that the guy who she was interested in was very popular and there were a lot of girls who had taken a fancy to him which made her somewhat restless since he hadn't touched her or brought her to his room.
"But Houki, you can see that both of them are very close, right?" Haru said.
"........"
Houki was silent while looking at the interaction between Ichika and Rin.
"Now that you mention it, you don't know her?" Haru asked.
Houki shook her head and said, "No, I've moved during 4th grade before and I've never seen that girl."
"Then, she's also a childhood friend and might transfer to Ichika's school after you've transferred."
"C - Childhood friend?!" Houki felt a crisis and held her heads with both of her hands.
Haru looked at this girl and felt her reaction felt a bit funny. "Now, what you need to do is to decrease the gap between the two of you. You've been separated for several years and there might be some awkwardness between the two of you. Even if you want to return to the same relationship as you've had before in the past, it is pretty hard when you're considering that you've been separated for a few years."
"T - Then what should I do?"
Houki didn't know what to do, but she had a feeling that Haru knew about the answer.
Everyone was looking at Haru at that moment. They didn't expect him to be very skillful at the matter of the heart.
"Hmm... it might be difficult for you, but do you want to do it?" Haru asked.
"Yes! Please tell me!" Houki nodded and believed in Haru's words. She knew that Haru was very dependable and even if she didn't want to admit it this guy was better than Ichika in some areas.
"Date."
"Date?!"
No one knew that suddenly that almost all of the girls in Class One had gathered on Haru's table in the cafeteria.
Cecilia didn't care about that since her mind was thinking about the "date" which had just been mentioned by Houki.
"D - D - Date?!" Houki blushed and felt a bit panicked.
"It's an activity where two people meet socially with the aim of each assessing the other's suitability as a prospective partner in an intimate relationship," Haru explained since he was afraid that this girl didn't know the meaning of date.
"I know about that! I'm asking why I need to go on a date with him?!" Houki asked with a blush on her face.
Haru looked at the flustered face of Houki and had to admit that Ichika was really lucky that she had fallen for him, especially.... he shook his head and entered "zen" to erase the dirty minds on his head.
"You don't want to have a date with him?" Haru asked.
"W - Well, I don't mind if he asks me...." Houki was shy, but she didn't mind it. She twirled the end of her hair and seemed very cute at that moment.
"But do you think that it is possible for him to ask you for a date considering his personality?" Haru asked.
"..........."
Houki was dejected when she thought about Ichika's personality and knew that guy wouldn't invite her on a date no matter what. She couldn't imagine a day where he personally invited her for a date.
Cecilia looked at Houki and somehow felt a bit sympathetic towards Houki.
"Haru, isn't there something that you can do for her?" Cecilia asked.
"I've given her advice and she only needs to ask him for a date." Haru couldn't give any solution besides telling Houki to be brave with her feelings.
"B - But I've never been on a date before and I've never asked someone for a date!"
Houki looked at Haru hoping that he had a solution for her.
Haru thought for a while and said, "Then, you can only do one thing."
"What?" Houki was excited when she found a solution for her.
"Training.
"Training?"
"Yes, the same as kendo. You need to train every day to become better. It is the same as a date. You need to train first, before the real thing, at least, you won't do something shameful during a date."
"Training, huh?"
Houki nodded and thought that it was reasonable, but she found out one problem.
"But who can I train with?"
Houki looked at Haru since she knew that she needed two people for the "date" training.
"........"
Haru felt a bit strange when Houki was looking at him and asked, "Well, do you want to do it with me?"
"Is that alright?" Houki asked and her expression turned into cheerful at this moment.
"Why not? Let's do it before the Inter-Class Tournament." Haru nodded.
"......"
Cecilia was dumbfounded by their side and complained. "Why do both of you have to go on a date?!"
"It's not a date, but it is training!" Houki reminded Cecilia. Her expression was serious when she mentioned about training since she thought that it was the only way for her to get close to Ichika.
"B - B - B - But..." Cecilia looked at Haru at this moment with a teary expression.
Looking at Cecilia, Haru could only pat her head and whispered, "Let's go to my room later. I'll cook you something." He told her in low voice since he was afraid someone might hear their conversation, but that seemed he didn't need to worry since everyone was in shock when they heard that Haru and Houki were about to have a date.
"Eh? Is that alright?" Cecilia wanted to go to Haru's room, but it was hard to ask him since she was afraid of him thinking that she was a naughty girl or something. She also missed the food which they made together, but she suddenly realized something. She observed her surroundings, and sighed in relief that they hadn't heard their conversation since he whispered in low voice to her earlier.
But at the same time, she thought that it was a good chance for her to ask him for a date too.
---
Ichika and Rin sat next to each other talking about what they were doing to each other.
"So you're not the Class Representative of Class One?" Rin asked. She wanted to ask him for a duel or training since she wanted to make her relationship with him better.
"Yeah. I don't have a personal IS. Even if I want to train using an IS, I can't do that," Ichika said.
"Hmm..." Rin thought for a while and said, "Then, why don't you borrow an IS from the academy? They might lend you one."
"Eh? Is that possible?" Ichika was surprised.
"Of course, idiot." Rin sighed at Ichika and looked in Haru's direction. "So the Class Representative of your class, is that guy?"
"Yes, Kasugano Haruka. His IS is very strong and you need to be careful if you fight him during the Inter-Class Tournament."
Ichika remembered the duel between Haru and Cecilia which had turned into one side battle. He knew that Haru was very strong, and might even reach the level of his big sister even if he didn't want to admit it.
"I won't lose to him!" Rin was confident in her ability and said, "But they're sure noisy, what are they talking about?"
"Well, how about I bring you there? I'll introduce you to everyone!" Ichika smiled and pulled Rin to introduce her to everyone.
Rin didn't mind and thought that it was good to know her opponent first.