Infinite Stratos: The White Unicorn of Hope

CHAPTER 2

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A few days after he woke up from the incident at Shinonono Tabane’s lab, everything was quiet.

Until a black van pulled up in front of his house, and a group of men in suits and sunglasses knocked on the door like they were in a spy movie.

His parents nearly had a heart attack.

One of the agents quietly explained the situation to them in the living room while Bakura sat in the hallway, sweating bullets and signing confidential paperwork. He couldn't hear every word, but from the look on his parents' faces when they came back out...

He didn’t know whether to thank the man or punch him.

Because after that conversation, his parents started looking at him weird.

Since only women could pilot an IS... Ahem, they assumed, wrongly mind you, that he must've been gay.

Because of that, the house that day led to shouting, a few spit takes, reassurance, proof, and an absurd amount of glue to fix the damage to his reputation at home.

His parents had to sign the same confidential documents and NDAs that prevented them from saying a word about their son's compatibility with an IS.

Then came the daily tests. Every day after school, the same men in black would be waiting by the gate.

They'd escort him to a nearby hospital, and once inside, they’d head straight for the elevator, enter a secret code into the floor keypad, and suddenly the elevator would descend into some kind of secret base of operations.

Machines. Needles. Wires. Cold metal tables. It wasn't that bad; there were no severed limbs involved, but it was tiring getting poked, prodded, scanned, and studied like a lab rat.

Now, as for the tests, it was filled with machines, needles, wires, and a very cold back due to cold metal tables. It didn't hurt—no severed limbs or extreme experimentation—but still, getting poked, prodded, scanned, and studied like a lab rat was tiring.

Then, the questioning came. Government officials. Military researchers. They all took turns drawing blood, checking his reaction times, recalibrating sensors, doing endurance limit testing, and running endless psychological evaluations.

On the plus side, he was receiving compensation.

And not just a little; they were giving a lot. Every session ended with another deposit based on the time he spent being tested, from tens of thousands to hundreds of Yen dropped into his account.

This went on for two straight weeks until nothing. The men in black stopped coming to his home anymore. Even the tests were gone.

All that was left now was packing for IS Academy.

Since living in the dorms was mandatory, he gathered all his important belongings and stuffed them into a single suitcase. He didn’t own much, just the basics.

The only thing of real value was his computer, loaded with IS-related materials he’d collected and skimmed through over the years for his dream of being an IS-engineer for the government.

Hah, funny how things turned out.

It still didn’t feel real. He was going to IS Academy to learn how to pilot an IS, and in the future, become an IS pilot for the nation itself.

But at night, he couldn't stop thinking about that IS.

Model number IS-0, codename Unicorn. Maybe it was because he had synchronized with it, but every time he closed his eyes... he could feel it. Even from far away, it was like the IS was still calling out to him.

And to be honest, deep down, he was counting the days until he could step inside it again. It was like a drug. The feeling of syncing with the Unicorn—it scared him how much he missed it.

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A cold sweat rolled down his face, even though the classroom was air-conditioned to be cold. His eyes briefly looked to the side before snapping back to his desk as the gazes at him intensified.

"Everyone is present, I see. Well, then. Time to start the short homeroom period..."

The vice-homeroom teacher, Yamada Maya, smiled in front of the classroom's blackboard. If you didn't catch the namepin on her chest, you'd think that she's a first-year student due to her size.

A little comical, since she was wearing clothes that clearly didn't fit her little frame, it was as if looking at a child putting on an adult's clothes to work.

"Okay, everyone. Let’s get along during the next year."

She said, trying to excite the class, but the awkward silence in the classroom lingered with no response uttered from the students of the class.

"O-Okay. Please introduce yourselves. Um... The same sequence as the class roster, please."

She said with a flustered tone, trying to get everyone's attention, but the rest of his classmates were either staring at him or the other guy in the class.

The days flew by too quickly, and now it was the day of the opening ceremony for new first-year students.

"U-Uchiyama Bakura. If... I'm sorry, if you'd please introduce yourself. Not that you have to! Um-But... Please do?"

It's like she's afraid of him, for some reason. He'd only met her once, and it gave this sort of impression? What did he even do?

Silently, he stood up from his seat and looked around him.

28 female students all stared at him with interest. He swallowed the saliva that built up in his throat.

"Uh, hello. I'm Uchiyama Bakura. I hope to get along well."

Giving a polite bow, the gazes continued as if trying to fish out something more from his introduction. Sweating profusely from the pressure, he racked his brain to try and think about more things to introduce about himself.

"And... I dream of becoming an IS-engineer one day. That'll be all."

The gazes seemed to shift into disappointment as Ms. Yamada quickly moved on to the next student after he sat down.

He listened briefly to the other student's introduction.

As expected, some of his new classmates were National Cadets, elite students selected from their home countries to become official IS pilots representing their nations.

In this class alone, a majority of students were Japan's National Cadets, coming from various parts of Japan... He guessed that he counted as a National Cadet too, since the ID card that he received had the specific wording at the bottom of his name.

He didn't feel that he was one, though. He'd never even piloted one properly before; how in the world was he a Cadet?

"Orimura Ichika."

"Y-Yes?!"

The startled shout shifted his attention to the elephant in the room sitting a few tables in front of him, other than himself, of course.

Another male IS pilot. In Japan, nonetheless. That's crazy, but he already knew about this a few days prior when the news broke out about a male IS pilot and plastered his name and face across the screen.

The online forums went insane. The chaos was so overwhelming that several major sites had to shut down for an hour just to add more servers to handle the traffic.

His frequently visited IS-related forums had crashed for a while before booting back up.

Honestly, he was thrilled that there was a guy that he could relate to.

Orimura Ichika, huh? Maybe he'll try and get a conversation going when the time comes...

Wait a second, that last name. Isn't that the surname of—

(BANG!)

A sudden figure emerged out of nowhere and slammed a book onto Orimura's head.

Bakura was flabbergasted. He didn't even see her move; where did she come from?!

"Whoa! It’s Guan Yu!"

Orimura blurted out, only to get another book slammed to the head.

"There’s no hero from the three kingdoms here, you idiot."

This person, she's teaching here?! When? How? No news of her resurfaced after her disappearance almost 4 years ago!

Orimura Chifuyu! The first-ever Mondo Grosso winner and finalist of the 2nd! The legendary Brunhilde of Japan!

"Oh, Ms. Orimura. Is the meeting already over?"

"Yes, Yamada. Sorry that you had to greet the class."

She's the guy's sister! That... Made sense as to why he can pilot it, maybe?

Holy moly, what kind of class was he in, it was stacked with National Cadets and a legendary figure of the IS world!

Compared to them, he's just... Bakura. Normal Uchiyama Bakura, with nothing behind him to back him up at all, had the ability to pilot an IS.

Walking to stand on the podium, she rested a hand on her hip as her gaze sharpened.

"Everyone, my name is Orimura Chifuyu. It’s my job to turn you greenhorns into useful pilots in a year. Listen to what I say, and remember it. If you can’t do something, I’ll help you until you can. My job is training you from the age of fifteen to sixteen. Hate me all you want, but listen to what I say. Got it?"

Shrill cries of happiness then started to erupt throughout the classroom like a wave. He winced at the sheer volume.

The bell then rang, signaling the end of homeroom. Looking at her watch, Orimura Chifuyu slammed her book on the podium to silence everyone.

"Okay, the short homeroom is over. You’ll have to learn all the IS fundamentals in half a month. After that, training begins. Basic movements will take you another two weeks. Got that? Sound off if you do, and even if you don’t. I want to hear you."

... She's just as people say, very strict and harsh.

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Basics of IS Theory—that's the subject for their first period before having a short 10 minute break as the teachers switched classes.

Since he was a bit of an enthusiast when it came to IS technology, Bakura found some of the material familiar. But the deeper it went, the more he realized his knowledge barely scratched the surface.

As Ms. Orimura left the class, the gazes of his classmates suddenly returned at full force. And a few seconds later, the hallway was packed with second- and third-year students, staring into the classroom's window.

But for some reason, they didn't initiate a conversation, something that he thought would happen instantly once the short break started.

That being said, he kind of understood why.

IS schools, the ones that trained IS pilots at a young age, are all girls schools. So, when, let's say, two male students were suddenly thrown into the fray, they weren't used to seeing a man and would definitely be fearful yet curious about their existence.

Besides, all IS pilots were girls... So all the countries immediately started giving girls preferential treatment. If a man appeared to suddenly challenge that treatment, well, that would make them curious, wouldn’t it?

Sigh... He was not expecting this much attention; he just wanted to try an IS out.

Across the room, Ichika Orimura suddenly stood.

Orimura suddenly stood up after a girl motioned to move to the hallway. Turning back slightly, both of their eyes met as a mental communication between men occurred in a split second.

"You're going out and leaving me here in the ditch? Help me!"

Ichika gave a pained look. Then looked at the girl. Then back at him with a solemn expression.

"Sorry, you're on your own."

"You traitor!"

The classroom door clicked shut, and with that, every gaze zeroed in on him again.

Bakura slammed his head onto his desk.