78: Date

"Could you please inform me the reason for the change in my travel schedule?" - asked a handsome blond boy with feminine appearance and beautiful blue eyes - "And I hope your words don't come with sarcasm included, because you know I'm starting to lose my patience with your bad treatment..."

"S-Sorry, Master Charles" - replied the woman as she started to tremble because even though this boy was kind most of the time, he also had a limit to his patience - "Master Dunois has just received information that could affect the initial plan, that's why he decided to speed up the preparations."

"Has there been a change of plans?" - Charles Dunois asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"Negative, the objective is still to fraternize with Ichika Orimura to get the information from his [IS], however, there is now a secondary objective, which depending on the factors may become primary objective" - answered the woman while explaining the appearance of a new factor called [Cloud Strife].

"I see... this is interesting and worrisome in equal parts" - Charles replied with a frown - "I understand my father's concern, however, this could negatively affect my attempted interaction with Ichika Orimura."

"That's why your father has decided that you should wait a moment before starting the operation" - said the woman as she started to regain her composure.

[We are about to land in Narita Airport, Tokyo-Japan, please fasten your seat belts]

"By the way, Master Dunois has a few words for you" - said the woman in a suit while noticing the silence of the handsome young man - "He said... [I hope for good news, daughter, don't let me down...]"

"I see..." - Charles murmured as she looked gloomily towards the outside of the plane - "Tell him I'll do everything to fulfill his wishes..."

'Charles' let out a long, heavy sigh as she thought about what it would be like to have a normal life, without having to pretend to be something she wasn't.

* * * * *

"Ok, this is interesting" - Tatenashi said as she looked closely at the information that had come to her.

"Did you hear that Cecilia Alcott, Cloud Strife and Shinonono Houki went out together?" - asked the secretary as she placed a cup of tea next to her boss.

"Exactly... Wait, not that!" - Tatenashi exclaimed as she processed what she had heard - "Why didn't anyone tell me that they had asked permission to leave the academy! I'm supposed to be the president and I have to be informed of that kind of stuff!"

"Because we know you, president" - snorted the vice president as she gave her a blank look - "The moment you found out about this, you would have put all work aside and right now you would be spying on what they might be doing..."

"I wouldn't do something like that" - Tatenashi replied as she folded her arms, only to notice the disdain in her subordinates' gaze - "Ugh..."

"With all due respect, president, after being together for so long, all of us here are more than sure that you are one of those people who look for excuses to avoid doing your job" - replied the treasurer while rolling her eyes at her.

"That's cruel of you" - Tatenashi muttered regretfully.

"Back to the point... What were you talking about, Tatenashi-sama?" - asked the vice-president as she raised an eyebrow.

"I think you'd better see it for yourselves" - Tatenashi replied with a small teasing smile upon her delicate lips.

"Two new recruits?" - asked the treasurer while raising an eyebrow because this was normal, though her expression changed when she saw the information of one of the new recruits - "Another Boy!?"

"That's impossible" - muttered the vice president with a frown - "Charles Dunois from France?"

"You mean the Dunois company?" - asked secretary skeptically - "Does anyone else feel there is something fishy about this?"

"I think so too, it's too much of a coincidence that a second man capable of piloting an [IS] appeared after the first one made a name for himself" - replied the treasurer with a frown - "It's as if the Dunois company is trying to jump on this new trend..."

"Is there any other information from Dunois-kun?" - asked the vice president as she began to read the report - "A mass built [IS] by the Dunois corporation and modified to improve its performance..."

"The Dunois company hasn't done a good job of creating its own [technological miracle], that's why France is falling so far behind military-wise" - said the secretary with a frown - "Honestly, I still think this smells fishy..."

"What are we going to do, president?" - asked the vice president as she looked at her boss.

"For now we won't do anything" - replied Tatenashi while folding her arms - "If this is true, then it's good for the academy, I mean, having two boys capable of piloting [IS] and a third one capable of fighting at the same level, is a miracle that we won't see for a long time"

"However, we have to be careful, it's possible that the Dunois corporation will try something against Ichika Orimura and Cloud Strife, that's why we'd better keep an eye on them" - said the secretary simply.

"Agreed, that's why you guys will take care of Ichika Orimura, and I'll take care of Cloud-kun" - said Tatenashi while hiding her smile behind her fan - "Although I don't think you have to worry about him too much, Ichika Orimura is an emotional level idiot, and his [IS] was built by Tabane Shinonono, so the probability of them succeeding in getting anything from him is pretty low"

The girls of the student council nodded at their boss's words, though they sensed that something very chaotic was about to happen, especially from their boss's smile.

"We'd better check the girl's information..." - muttered the vice president as she shook her head, only to be surprised at all the information that was in front of her - "Oh, this is going to be a pain in the ass, a member of the German special forces... Laura Bodewig."

* * * * *

"Now that I can see the city more calmly, I have to admit that this country has many wonderful places" - Cecilia said as she walked along with her two companions through the busy streets of the city - "I'm curious to see the points of interest"

*Kyuuuuuuu~!*

"Though I feel like we'd better get something to eat first" - Cloud said with a smile as he looked at the blushing girl from England.

Houki simply shook her head, though she had to admit that this had been amusing, especially when she saw how Cloud suddenly burst out laughing after Cecilia gave him permission to tease her.

"I wasn't serious!" - Cecilia exclaimed, her face red in a mixture of embarrassment and feminine fury.

"Okay, I think you'd better stop teasing her, Cloud" - said Houki as she gave him a blank look - "Honestly, I feel like you're a Sadist."

"Hmm, it's possible" - Cloud replied as he dodged the blonde-haired girl's weak punches and cornered her against the wall, only to whisper something in her ear that made her lose the strength in her legs.

Houki frowned when she saw this, though she quickly calmed down because she could tell that Cloud was simply playing around, though that didn't take away from how effective this had been for the poor woman from England.

"You're insufferable!" - Cecilia exclaimed, her face red with embarrassment, only to stomp her foot loudly - "I've never been humiliated like this before!"

"I don't think she remembers the battle that lasted about 3 minutes" - said Houki as she joined Cloud in his plan to tease the girl from England.

"Seriously, stop teasing me!" - Cecilia exclaimed as she stomped her feet loudly, though both Cloud and Houki, could tell that the girl was smiling.

"Are you having fun?" - Cloud asked with a small smile.

"W-Who would have fun when two people are constantly teasing her!" - Cecilia exclaimed as she averted her gaze.

"A masochist" - Cloud replied simply.

"M-Ma... How dare you!" - Cecilia exclaimed with her face red with fury, although she quickly calmed down because it was obvious that the blonde boy was teasing her once again - "Seriously..."

Cecilia was silent for a few seconds as she remembered everything that had happened today, and even though the duo from Japan had been constantly teasing her, she had to admit that she was having fun because they were treating her like a normal girl.

To Cloud and Houki, she wasn't Cecilia Alcott, next head of the Alcott noble house, or the future representative of England, no, to them, she was simply Cecilia, their classmate and rival.

"Thank you..." - Cecilia murmured with a beautiful smile.

"You don't have to thank us" - answered Cloud while shrugging his shoulders - "How do you feel now that you have cleared your mind of your worries?"

"A little better" - replied Cecilia as she nodded.

"If you've stopped playing around, we'd better get going" - Houki said as she noticed how her two companions had stopped - "We still have many places to show you, Cecilia-san."

"Oh" - Cecilia nodded weakly as she shot an annoyed look at the blond boy.

"You heard our leader" - Cloud said with a sarcastic tone as he noticed how Houki shot him an annoyed look.

"Seriously, now I understand how Cecilia-san felt" - Houki said with annoyance.

"What can I say? There are times when I like to act like someone of my age" - Cloud replied as he shrugged his shoulders.

Cecilia watched the duo with a small smile on her lips before running after them.