"It just doesn't feel right. A weapon of that caliber is intended for killing, and little else."
Ichika sat up in bed in his room, listening to Laura's appraisal of his earlier duel with Church, along with four of the several girls whose affections he had unwittingly garnered beyond the student body as a whole. Namely, Houki, Laura, Cecilia and Charlotte, the latter of which had only recently returned from the arena due to something she had been helping Kanzashi with. Frankly, Ichika was surprised that Tatenashi's little sister hadn't shown up in his room as well, but maybe something had happened? Charlotte had been acting a little uncomfortable when she had first returned, though Ichika hadn't questioned why that was.
He understood that, as her boyfriend, he was probably supposed to investigate, but that seemed like a risky idea when all the other girls pining after him were present as well.
Contrary to popular belief, Ichika wasn't actually blind to what they all wanted from him. He just didn't know how to give what he couldn't give. He thought of them all as precious friends that he'd do anything for, but somehow that wasn't sufficient in their eyes. He'd long pondered how to handle that situation, but before he was able to reach any conclusion, Charlotte had ultimately confessed to him in very clear, explicit words how she felt and what type of relationship she desired from him, just a few months ago.
Frankly, that had only made things more complicated for the younger Orimura. He had a very strange set of ideals that often made life difficult for him even if they were self-imposed. He firmly believed that it was his duty as a man to take responsibility for the feelings he had garnered, provided the person in question was honest about it. That was why he played dumb with everyone else but had agreed to date Charlotte: she was the only one who was outright honest and clear with her feelings and desires, and Ichika believed that was necessary for two people to be together romantically.
That being the case, he had agreed to dating Charlotte in hopes of perhaps reaching the emotional state she desired from him, maybe out of some misguided notion that changing their official status would also spark some development in his feelings. But honestly, Ichika didn't think it was working. He liked spending time with Charlotte and enjoyed being around her, but not in any different way than he had before, or in a way different from any of the others.
Now he found himself in a situation that was arguably worse than before. He was positive that he wasn't really giving Charlotte what she wanted out of their relationship, and that probably wouldn't change anytime soon. But he hadn't exactly told her that his motivation for agreeing to a romantic relationship was less about romance and more about a sense of obligation. Now that they had been dating for several months, he didn't want to crush Charlotte with that revelation. Needless to say, between a rock and a hard place was an understatement. He had no idea what to do about it, and by doing nothing he was also perpetuating the situation.
Romance was hard.
Engulfed in these thoughts, as he often was when he was surrounded by everyone who liked him, Ichika nearly missed the conversation everyone else was having around him. Houki was responding to Laura's statement on the weapon Church had used during their fight.
"But it can't really be all that powerful, can it? Neither he nor Ichika was seriously injured, and Byakushiki only suffered minor damage. There are a lot of weapons more powerful than that. Your Railgun could probably do more."
Being the one who had actually been hurt a little bit, Ichika frowned at Houki's quick dismissal of his pain. "I wouldn't call a minor concussion and severe bruising 'non-serious injuries,' Houki."
The girls ignored Ichika's complaints, allowing Charlotte to build off of Houki's comment. "The outcome of the attack was misleading. Church pointed the weapon away from Ichika instead of hitting him directly with it. Based on the size of that crater, the results of a direct hit would have been... troublant."
Folding her arms in some display of disgust or anger, Cecilia made it clear how she felt about that. "Using an absurd and unnecessary amount of force just to stroke one's ego: how typically American."
Feeling that they were straying too far from the point she was trying to make, Laura tried to rein everyone back in. "What I'm trying to say is that the American's machine is not what it seems. It's not merely a competitor for Infinite Stratos in the public eye. It's a war machine. No one puts a weapon like that on a machine that is not intended for violence."
Ironically, since they were good friends at this point, it was again Charlotte that countered her. "But Laura, couldn't you say the same for Infinite Stratos? I know it's not used for war now, but there's no denying that it's a weapon. The weapons on all of our I.S. could kill hundreds of people easily. It's really no different. Besides, technically there's nothing forbidding the United States from making new weapons."
"Charlotte, that's not the point! The only reason for making new weapons is to overcome an enemy, or someone you expect to be an enemy. Nuclear weapons were not invented for any other reason than to crush an opposing force."
"But now that they can't have I.S.-"
"The lack of them is irrelevant. The few enemies America still has left take the form of terrorist cells, most of which have been obliterated by joint forces by now. That said, there is no enemy for America to fight that would require a weapon of that caliber, unless they plan on making enemies with someone that would call for it. That means nations with Infinite Stratos."
Both sore and tired, Ichika saw no reason for everyone to have this debate right now. Nothing bad had happened right? What was there to really be afraid of?
"I think Charlotte's right, Laura. I know it's probably normal for you, but you shouldn't assume the worst like that."
The petite young soldier shot a searing glare his way. "Oh, I see. Because I was born and raised as a soldier it's normal for me to see war everywhere, is that it? I suppose if I were 'normal' like the rest of you I wouldn't be worrying about this, would I? Please forgive me for being concerned for everyone!"
Not quite sure what nerve he had touched or how he had done so, Ichika tried and failed to diffuse the tension. "H-hold on, I didn't mean anything like-"
Not even waiting for an excuse, Laura made for the door. "Forget it. I... I'll see you all tomorrow. Good night."
Just like that she was gone, but contrary to what Ichika believed, he was the only one confused on the matter. For the life of him he could not see how anything of that nature had been inferred. The girls, on the other hand, seemed to completely understand Laura's reaction, like a shared symbiotic mind. Apparently Houki felt the need to be their voice.
"Ichika, how can you be so stupid?"
"But I didn't-"
Cecilia jumped him next. "Honestly, to be so insensitive to a girl's feelings~"
"But that's not even-"
Instead of finishing his defense, he simply looked to Charlotte for aid. The pleading look he gave her made the blonde wince, because honestly she agreed with the others.
"You... could have, y'know, possibly worded it a little better..."
Seeing that he had no support from anyone, Ichika merely laid back in his bed and sighed. It seemed that no matter how hard he tried or how well he thought he understood women, he was always falling short somewhere.
---
"Damn, I forgot that Tina took the last of the soda with her!"
His curiosity piqued by this exclamation, Church glanced into the kitchen from where he sat. Rin's petite frame was hidden behind a small refrigerator door.
"I'm sure we can just drink water. There's nothing wrong with that, is there?"
Rin leveled her emerald eyes over the edge of the fridge door in order to cast an incredulous glance at her fairly new friend. "Did I seriously just hear an American say that he'd rather drink water instead of soda? Doesn't that make you a Communist or something?"
Rolling his azure eyes at the girl, Church lamented over the now empty plate before him. "Very original, Rin."
"Who said I was joking? Anyway, why don't you go get us some drinks? There's a vending machine outside at the back of the dorm. You can pay, since I treated you to a meal."
Seeing no valid reason to refuse, Church rose to do as Rin asked, but he still made a jab as he made for the door. "Isn't a drink usually a part of a meal?"
"Just shut up and go you ingrate! This is the least you could do for a girl with a broken arm you know!"
While he knew she was just manipulating him in that regard, Church couldn't help but fall victim to it. After all, Rin was a cute girl in distress, so he was obligated to aid her...
Defeated, Church briefly manifested Exeter so he could safely make the jump from Rin's third story window to the ground behind the dorms. Taking a few steps away from the building so he could see more of it at once, Church swiftly found the vending machine Rin had mentioned.
As he made his way across the grass, Church came across quite a few open windows, though he avoided getting spotted by any girls with a combination of stealth and luck. He did notice, however, that many of the rooms he peeked into lacked the same amenities that Rin's had. The kitchen part, specifically.
That's weird... I guess that isn't standard for all rooms...
It is very likely that Representative Candidates can make special requests for their rooms.
And what, the normal roommate just gets lucky?
Apparently so.
Shrugging off the curious conversation, Church also had the sudden realization that he didn't have any money on his person to purchase drinks with as he approached the vending machine. However, he was confident that Cerberus could figure something out. If it couldn't hack a vending machine of all things, how much was it really worth?
As he reached the vending machine, Church made his intentions clear even as he allowed Exeter itself to dissipate. His presence here would be even more suspicious than it already was if someone saw him with his suit on.
Cerberus, work a little science here, would you?
The machine voice in his head didn't immediately comply with Church's implications.
Are you suggesting that I use my abilities for the purposes of common theft? You should be ashamed of yourself, Operator.
Ah, so now you have a moral code? Or is vending machines just the one thing that crosses the line?
Cerberus made a little metallic sigh.
Touche, Operator. Very well, please wait while I connect to the machine's primitive computer system.
Church did as he was instructed, while wondering how a machine could have more personality than some of the people he had met during training. As he pondered this, something in particular occurred to him.
Hey, Cerberus, is it just me, or have you just made a personality conglomerate rather than settling on one archetype like you were supposed to?
Without missing a beat in its own processes, Cerberus offered an explanation.
If you recall, I did state before that I would likely choose an amalgamation of traits. I was designed to be as compatible with my Operator as possible. Though I was not intentionally destined to achieve this through a personality cycling process, I settled on it myself as the most efficient choice. That said, you are the first human I have truly interacted with at length in this manner, and it seems to me that no personality 'archetype' can be fully compatible with another human being, as humans are more than just one aspect of personality to begin with.
So you're saying that you created a process for yourself, despite it not being part of the original human design. Doesn't that mean you could just... I don't know, expand indefinitely or something?
Of course not, Operator. As stated when we first met, I cannot modify core programming. I cannot change the rules that govern my existence, only the things I may do within their confines. That is because-
As Cerberus dived into a lengthy explanation regarding the nature of its existence, Church found himself entirely lost. That being the case, he gradually tuned the machine out in favor of simply waiting for his drinks.
The process of attaining a few free-of charge drinks took Exeter's advanced AI practically no time at all: it was the long explanation that made it seem longer than it was. Since Church had forgotten to ask Rin what type of drink she would have preferred, Cerberus simply chose the most common: Coca-Cola. You couldn't go wrong with that no matter where you were in the world, right? Having acquired two cans of the refreshment from the vending machine, Church mentally thanked Cerberus for 'breaking his morality code' and prepared to head back to Rin's room.
Before he could do that though, he heard the sound of footsteps to his left, prompting him to glance in that direction. He wasn't sure why anyone would be back here at this time of night, but someone was rounding the corner, and it happened to be a very irate looking Laura Bodewig. Her presence caused Church to tense, if only because he hadn't been expecting her of all people.
Hardly blind, Laura didn't miss his presence a few feet away from her. Upon identifying him, she glared in suspicion. "What are you doing?"
Church held up the two cans of soda he had procured. "Uh... refreshments? What are you doing?"
The girl frowned at his reciprocation. "Walking."
With that, Laura turned away and continued her walk, Church watching after her with a cocked eyebrow. Her mood definitely seemed off, and it didn't appear to be because of him.
Cerberus interceded in Church's thoughts.
I know what you are thinking Operator. Do not forget that she is far from partial to you.
I'm aware. Now stop distracting me: I'm the moral compass in this relationship.
We have a relationship?
Yeah, I'm the suave hero and you're the annoying sidekick. I know what I'm doing.
Church called out to the potential danger before she could get out of earshot, and by first name no less. "Uh... Laura?"
Hearing her name uttered by a man who she was not particularly fond of stopped Laura in her tracks. However, she kept her reply neutral. She wasn't in the mood to get irritated about anything else right now.
"…what?"
Aware that he was playing with fire, so to speak, Church chose his words carefully. "Are you alright? You seem... upset."
The pause in-between the question and the answer was unfortunately long, leading Church to believe that he had screwed up already. Thankfully Laura did eventually give him a response, though it wasn't especially reassuring.
"…I don't need any simpering pleasantries or feigned concern from a stranger."
Irritated to have his good will dismissed so easily, Church struggled to maintain a friendly tone. "Who are you to determine whether or not my concern is sincere?"
"When you've experienced enough of such a thing, it becomes quite easy to identify it."
"Well you must not be as good at perceiving it as you think. Most of the time, people only offer false sincerity to maintain an image of politeness. I think we both know I'm not the type."
As much as she hated to admit it, Laura figured that was a good point. The last thing he had said to her prior to today was an insult, after all. "Fair enough. But why be concerned for me? We are complete strangers, and we didn't exactly part on friendly terms."
"It's called being a nice person. And you know, I actually spent most of our first conversation praising you. I only said something insulting after you grilled me so harshly for no good reason."
The German girl cocked an eyebrow at him, not agreeing with his sentiment. "You were spying on me. That seems like reason enough."
"Alright, fair enough. But seriously, you should let me make a second impression. I swear I'm actually a good person."
At first Laura's suspicious glare returned, but whether it was his nearly pleading tone or the sincerity in his voice, she ultimately dropped the visage. "I... suppose I have already learned that I should not judge people by my first encounter with them. Very well then: impress me."
Church offered a grateful smile for her forgiveness. "Whoa now, outright impressing a girl like you is asking a lot, isn't it...?"
Unfortunately this question already earned Church a sharp glare, though he didn't understand right away why this was. He figured it out pretty quickly though.
"OK, it's obvious that you didn't take that in the light I meant it. Why?"
"We just met, I'm hardly going to share something like that with you."
"But how can I understand you better if I can't talk to you about things that matter? I'm asking why it bothers you because I don't want to bring up something you find distasteful in the future. Is that bad?"
While her stubborn side demanded that Laura say yes, rationally she figured her newest acquaintance had a good point. After all, wasn't the biggest source of problems between men and women a lack of real communication? Or at least, Clarissa had said something like that. Besides, it was kind of nice for a boy to actually want to discern the problem for once rather than just get confused by it, only to throw up their hands and give up.
"...I am often referred to in the light of 'girls like you.' Why is that? Why am I considered some separate breed outside of the realm of a normal girl? It's..."
She petered off at that, not sure if she really wanted to go any further with this person who was effectively a stranger. Still, it seemed like she had said enough for Church to answer, though not with what she wanted to hear.
"Well, it's probably because you're really not a normal girl, right?"
For some reason the nonchalant way he said that really hurt. Laura found that silly since she barely knew him, but he made it sound like it was some fact of reality that she was stupid for not accepting already.
"That's-"
"I mean, c'mon. You're already an I.S. pilot, so that makes you smarter and more talented than most women on the planet, age notwithstanding. On top of that you're not just a pilot, but a Representative Candidate, meaning you're even still a cut above normal I.S. pilots, making you even more capable than others in a field already dominated by inherently talented people. You might not have been raised as a normal girl, but so what? You've got a unique perspective for someone your age that almost no one else does, with skills and experiences very few people of any age or gender can ever lay claim to. And well... let me put it this way: how many other girls with beautiful silver hair can you think of?"
Ironically, all of this praise was also offered rather nonchalantly. As if they weren't huge compliments that were incredibly embarrassing to hear. Not to mention super uplifting. And apparently, he wasn't even done yet.
"So yeah, I figured from last time we met that you're unhappy with the fact that you're short. And I mean, you really are, there's no denying that. But who cares? You're intelligent, talented, capable, and attractive. These are all things that set you apart from a normal girl, and wouldn't it be insulting to treat you like one, that being the case?"
Finally done with his spiel, Church actually turned his gaze on Laura again, since he had looked away from her while saying all that to maintain the courage to speak it. But it was rude to completely avoid looking at someone you were talking to, so he did return his gaze to Laura after he finished saying all of that, only to be met with something he had not expected in the slightest.
Holy crap, this is cute!
Gone was the intimidating and stern visage of a trained soldier that took no shit from anybody. In her place was a young girl with almost no experience being called attractive in any way, never mind all of the other praise in regards to her character. In but a moment she'd devolved into a nervous blushing mess, failing to even look his way as she struggled to wipe away the blush that stood out so brightly among her pale skin and silver strands. The fact that she could barely get a sentence out only added to the overall adorable appeal.
Still, he didn't know that much about Laura. Not anymore than he had read about her and what he could tell by talking to her. That said, was she one of those girls that would get angry and try to punch him just because he had said something nice?
Thankfully this did not seem to be the case, as instead of choosing to attack him, the silver-haired girl decided to make a hasty retreat before she ended up making a fool of herself. "T-t-t-thank you for your time, but I-er, have to go! Somewhere! F-for something! Goodbye!"
Just like that she was hastily walking (it was obvious that she wanted to run but was restraining herself) away from Church and the vending machine at which they had shared this brief yet enlightening conversation.
As for Church, he couldn't help but smirk to himself as she left. She was definitely unique alright, but in some ways she really was just a normal girl. At this point though he wondered if she would even want to hear that.
---
Returning to Rin's room after his short encounter with Laura, an errant thought occurred to him about the time he made it back to her window and her bedroom. That thought was the fact that, reading her dossier not that long ago, he couldn't recall mention of any name that could be logically shortened to Rin. In fact, while he couldn't recall off the top of his head what name had been provided and he could have asked Cerberus for guaranteed confirmation, he figured he could just ask her about it when he stepped back into the common area to provide her with one of the drinks he had gotten. Not that he got a chance before she addressed him.
"For crying out loud, how did you get lost out there? You were gone for like, fifteen minutes! It's almost eight!"
Church just shrugged and allowed Rin to badger him, instead of revealing what had actually transpired between him and Laura. "I got lost on the road of life, what can I say? Anyway, I have a question to ask."
Seeing as how Rin couldn't easily pop open a can of soda with one hand, Church did it for her before handing it to the girl, who at least appeared grateful for the act even if she didn't verbalize it.
"Shoot, go ahead."
"Well this might sound a little weird, but uh... have I been calling you the wrong name this entire time?"
Rin cocked an eyebrow at her current companion, but ultimately didn't seem too surprised that this was his question. "I was wondering when this would come up. It always does. Alright, I'll make it simple. Straight-up my name is Lingyin Huang, but everybody here in Japan kept messing it up when they had to write it down or say it, resulting in all sorts of weird things. Tons of people messed up and kept calling me Rinin all the time, and I eventually got tired of correcting them. I've practically gone by Rin as a nickname since middle school, so don't worry about it, alright?"
Church inwardly admitted that he liked the name Rin as opposed to Ling, but he decided to continue anyway. "Seriously though, if you'd prefer me to call you by your actual name..."
Surprised that he was still talking about it, Rin waved off his concern. "Church, seriously. I don't mind. I actually like it even. Trust me, the only people who still call me Lingyin are officials and military officers back in China. I'd rather keep it casual."
Strangely, Church found that comment rather enjoyable. "So that means we're friends, right?"
Rin gave the boy in her room an amused look before shrugging. "Yeah, I guess so. And after only... what, a handful of conversations before now? Geez, you sure do work fast, huh?"
"I take pride in my ability to endear myself to others."
The Chinese Representative stuck her tongue out at him. "Well don't let it go to your head. You're still my least favorite guy around."
Not catching onto the joke, Church was actually dismayed to hear this. "What, really? How many people am I behind?"
Instead of answering, Rin merely gave him an incredulous look in return. Thankfully Church caught on quickly. "Ah, right... there's only one other guy here..."
"Exactly. Sheesh, I thought you were going to pull an Ichika there for a moment. I don't need two super dense dumbasses on my hands, you know..."
Church sighed as he glanced around the room, eventually laying eyes on a Chun-Li digital clock on Rin's nightstand, which served to remind him of the time.
"You're right about it getting kind of late... I know I'm going to use the back exit, but a lot of girls will probably be coming back to the dorms around now, right? It'd probably be for the best to leave..."
Though Rin seemed to agree with this, she nevertheless hesitated. "Yeah, that could be a real problem... but I'm sure you could stay for about ten more minutes."
Unwilling to place himself into a compromising situation with scores of girls, and more importantly, unwilling to unwittingly cause any problems for Rin, Church shook his head as he made for the same window he had been using to move to and from the room.
"Nah, I don't think I should risk it. I don't want to tarnish your reputation. But thanks for the m-!"
With a twitching eyebrow, Rin planted her good hand on the windowsill to keep Church from opening it. "Sheesh, you really are just as thick as Ichika... look, I was giving you ten more minutes so that I could think about how to word this..."
Despite his best efforts to the contrary, Church couldn't help the lewd thoughts crossing his mind at such phrasing. "W-word what?"
"If you'd like, you can sleep here tonight. That's what."
This relationship escalated quickly, Operator. Truly legendary!
"W-what?! B-but why?"
Rin fiddled with one of her twin-tails as she thought of the best way to word her explanation. "Hm... well, you really did save me from... well, dying, I guess. That's kind of a big deal, obviously. Treating you to dinner was really just to prove a point. So as thanks for actually rescuing me, you can -just this once- since Tina is gone, sleep here for the night instead of that barren dump you allegedly have to call a room. Then we can actually call it even, and you'll have no right to ask for any favors from me."
Church was rendered speechless at this fortunate turn of events. As the seconds passed, Rin gave him a curious look. "You don't have to accept the offer, if it really bothers you that much."
"N-no! I mean, I would be glad to accept your generosity..."
The Chinese Representative smirked at him with that wide, infectious smile of hers. "That wouldn't have anything to do with me being a girl, would it?"
"Of course not. Just a favor among new friends, right?"
Rin nodded as she headed back towards the interior of her room. "Sure, if that's how you wanna look at it. Anyway, the only rule is that if you see any part of me that I don't want you to, intentionally or not, I'll kill you. I have to save my marital purity for Ichika. So consider yourself warned!"
Church watched the ball of potential murder that was Rin leave for the bathroom. The problem with her statement was that he didn't know what she considered 'parts she didn't want him to see.' What if it was something weird? What if he saw her stomach and he got killed for it? He didn't know what this girl considered modest.
You know what, maybe we should just play it safe and not look at her for the rest of the night.
Well frankly, Operator, that sounds immensely boring and a huge waste of this opportunity.
Not as much of a waste as my life would be if I died before turning eighteen.
Touche, Operator. Touche indeed.