Everyone in the class was excited when they discussed what they would do after they had won the tournament. They knew that they could go on a date with Haru if they had won the tournament and discussed where they would go with him after they had won.
Cecilia, who had learned about this matter, was angry since her talk with Haru that night had turned into a class event. It was only a promise between both of them but suddenly everyone also joined this event.
"Moo! Who has talked about this matter!"
"Calm down, Cecilia"
"Cecilia, you can't hog him alone!"
"B - But...."
Cecilia wanted to say that Haru was her own, but she knew that they weren't in a relationship. She couldn't stop Haru if he wanted to go on a date with someone. But when she thought about her opponent....
"...."
Cecilia wasn't looking down on everyone, but only some people had a personal IS. She had an IS and she didn't think that someone in this class beside Haru could defeat her in the battle.
'Well, keep dreaming...'
Cecilia didn't care much about it but she was more cornered about both Houki and Laura. She could tell that Laura was very strong, and Houki's relationship with Haru was very close. She knew that both of them were very strong competition, but she wouldn't lose.
Houki who eavesdropped their conversation could only sigh at Haru. She knew that that guy was very popular, but didn't expect to be this extent, no, she might have realized it, but it didn't really matter to her since she...
The door was opened, Haru, Charlotte, and Ichika entered the classroom.
Everyone stopped their talk and greeted them with a smile as if nothing had happened.
---
In the afternoon, Cecilia was about to practice in the arena. She thought that she would be the first one, but she didn't expect that there was another person beside her.
"Oh, Rin-san, you're here too?"
"Cecilia." Rin nodded.
Neither of them was a competitor, even though they weren't that close, but they weren't enemies either.
Cecilia thought for a while and asked, "Rin-san, have you got your teammate for the tournament?"
"No. What's wrong?" Rin asked.
"Do you want to make a team with me?" Cecilia asked.
"What? Why?" Rin was surprised by Cecilia's sudden invitation, but she didn't really mind since she knew very well about Cecilia's ability. She also wanted to have revenge on Haru during the tournament and it was better to have a strong teammate.
"It is like this...."
Cecilia told Rin about the matter in the classroom.
Listening to Cecilia's explanation, Rin nodded and understood why this girl wanted to win the tournament. She also thought that she could also invite Ichika to date after she had won the tournament. She knew that Cecilia wasn't her competitor and she could be her teammate with relief.
"Let's do it. Let's be a team."
"Good."
Both of them were about to reach an agreement, but suddenly Laura came and interrupted them.
The three of them talked to each other and suddenly it turned into an argument.
"Oh, you sure are brave. I'll defeat you thoroughly before the tournament."
"Hohoho, what a mouth. Let me teach you, be humble in this place."
Rin and Cecilia showed a hostile expression toward Laura.
"Hmph! All talk! You'll soon be defeated by me."
Laura, who had been equipped with her IS aimed her railgun toward them ready to start the fight.
---
Houki was often alone and rooftop was her exclusive place where she often spent her break to think about a lot of things. Thinking about her relationship with Ichika, and how it bothered her to see Haru who was close with the girls in the class.... she sighed.
Suddenly Houki felt something cold on her cheek which startled her.
"Cold!"
Houki hurriedly turned and put her stance ready to fight, but she twitched her lips when she saw that it was Haru.
"What the heck are you doing?!"
Houki was mad at Haru for being teased.
"I've brought you a juice," Haru said while showing a can of juice in his hand.
"..........."
"Here you go."
Houki received the juice and looked at Haru in a glare. She didn't say anything and looked at Haru who was leaning on the railing.
"Are you here often?" Haru asked. He knew that Houki's character was quite a loner and it was quite hard for her to gather together with a crowd.
Houki felt quite relaxed when she was beside him. "Yeah." She opened the can of juice and drank it.
*Gulp!* *Gulp!* *Gulp!*
Houki was a bit surprised by the taste of the juice and asked, "What juice is this?"
"It's pineapple apple juice."
"...."
Houki looked weirdly at the can of juice before continuing to drink.
"You're not going back?" Haru asked.
Houki shook her head and said, "No. I'm used to being alone. You don't need to worry."
"Oh, why is that?" Haru asked.
"....."
Houki was silent and stared at Haru for a while.
"Do you want to listen?"
"We have some time before IS training, why not? I also want to learn more about you," Haru said.
"Why is that?" Houki looked at Haru and asked, "Why do you want to know me?"
"Because... we're friends, right?" Haru said weirdly.
Houki smiled and said, "It's not a very fun story, but do you want to listen?"
"Yeah, I'm also curious why you like Ichika that much," Haru said.
Houki looked at Haru and wasn't sure why she was very comfortable with him. She started to tell him how her life was after her sister had developed IS core until she met him in this academy.
---
Rin and Cecilia fought against Laura, but both of them couldn't fight back. Besides their lack of teamwork, Laura's power was also very strong.
Schwarzer Regen.
Schwarzer Regen is a German 3rd-Generation IS, piloted by Laura Bodewig. Designed around the Active Inertia Canceller, which is capable of projecting inertia negating field, the Schwarzer Regen is based around melee combat (where the AIC would be most effective) but is also equipped with several Equalizers which enable ranged combat, making it a fairly stable all-round type.
Active Inertia Canceller, or abbreviated as A.I.C., is a system designed to negate the inertia of a moving mass. In simple terms, it stops the movement of any object the user wishes. It is the special weapon of the Schwarzer Regen IS. Its weakness is that its range of effect depends on the total area its user can concentrate on; in other words, it is weak against multiple foes.
But no one knew about this matter, and obviously both Cecilia and Rin didn't know about this matter since their attack couldn't penetrate Laura's defense.
Their fight caused a lot of attention, and everyone also went to the arena to watch the battle between the three of them.
Charlotte came with Ichika and was very annoyed with Haru who had left her behind. She didn't know where he was, but suddenly she saw Houki who also came to the arena. "Shinonono-san, do you know where Haru is?"
Hearing Charlotte's question, Houki answered, "He should be in the dock, right now."
"Dock?"
Charlotte was wondering why Haru was at the dock.
*BOOOOOM!!!!*
But the explosion at the arena attracted Charlotte's attention.
Cecilia and Rin were on the losing end of this battle. After being thrown to the ground by Laura, Rin shot out her Impact Cannon but was stopped by Laura's A.I.C.
But at that very moment, Cecilia fired a missile right in front of Laura, causing a large explosion in the arena.
Rin and Cecilia moved back waiting for the smoke from the explosion to disappear.
"You're certainly reckless enough to fire a missile from that distance," Rin said.
"But with this, we should be able to defeat her," Cecilia said.
Rin nodded and agreed with Cecilia's words.
But when the smoke disappeared, Laura was unscathed.
"What?!"
Rin and Cecilia were surprised.
"Hmph! Your attack is useless to me."
Laura snorted in disdain and started her counter. She sent out two wires and caught both Rin and Cecilia. She pulled them toward her and was ready to torture them slowly.
"What is this?!"
"Break!"
Rin and Cecilia were about to do something to the wires, but they were being beaten up by Laura without being able to fight back. Their energy was also very low since their battle earlier had caused their energy to be almost depleted.
*Baam!* *Baam!* *Baam!*
Being beaten up, Rin and Cecilia could do nothing, part of their Infinite Stratos was destroyed and they were being tortured by Laura.
"Arrggg!!"
"Ugh...!!!'
Rin and Cecilia showed a painful expression.
Ichika got emotional and kept punching the barrier which separated the audience seat and the arena screaming, telling Laura to stop.
But Laura ignored Ichika and kept beating both girls without mercy.
*Bang!*
Suddenly Laura's back was shot and made her stagger. She turned and saw Haru came toward her while shooting her with a Gatling gun.
*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*
Laura's reaction was too late and some of the bullets hit her.
*Bang!*
Some parts of her IS were broken, Laura let go of both Cecilia and Rin and dodged Haru's attack.
Cecilia and Rin who were weak unequipped their Infinite Stratos automatically since the damage of their IS was quite big.
Haru caught both of them while looking at Laura and said, "Well, everyone is a classmate, right? You don't need to beat them this much."
"Hmph! It is just, they're too weak!" Laura snorted and said, "But you seem a bit different. Let's have a duel now."
"I don't have time to have a duel with you, but if you want to have a fight then let's do it in the tournament," Haru said.
"Is that so?"
Laura aimed her railgun toward Haru and said, "Then, I'll force you."
But suddenly a strange noise came which destroyed Laura's concentration.
"What is this?!"
Laura felt that she almost lost control of her IS, but when the noise disappeared. She saw that Haru had disappeared with both Cecilia and Rin from his spot.
"That IS...."
Laura knew that strange noise was created by Haru. She frowned and clenched her hand thinking that he had played a trick on her which made her angry.
"Then, I'll see you at the tournament."
Laura knew that she couldn't chase him when he was inside the dock and her only choice for revenge was during a tournament.
"I won't forgive this humiliation..."
Laura went back to the dock and thought of several ways to torture Haru slowly.
If Haru knew what this little girl was thinking then he would only laugh ready to spank her butt telling her to be a good girl.