Chapter 16

Five years have passed since the Berlin mission, and I was currently in front of a public building. The reason? I was going to take a high school entrance exam.

I finished elementary school, and I needed to do this so that Chifuyu-nee wouldn't be suspicious, after all she didn't know about my double life, nor Madoka, which made me sad for her. However, in Japan, there is no system for skipping class, that is, I had to finish three years to get my diploma. And no school allowed home schooling in high school. Which for me was a waste of time, because I was already above many people in higher education.

I had managed to master all the forms of the four breaths that I practiced, I had even created a new form for breathing water and breathing the thunder, perfected the Hekireki Issen up to the Shinsoku level and completed the Breath Hybrid technique, where I took the characteristics of one breath and mixed it with another.

For example, I could make all the forms of the other breaths less tiring if I mixed them with the breath of water, it helped me to withstand more of Shinsoku's stride, because without the breath of water, I could only do Shisoku twice in the day before at twenty-four o'clock without feeling my legs, if I mix the breath of water, I can take five.

I had even developed two AIs, one helped me with battle tactics, I named it Colonel, and the other helped me with the verification of body and navigation conditions, I called it Iris.

The Colonel defined several strategies and even passed instructions to my colleagues, without counting a certain help, such as, where is the weak point of a structure, Iris already helped to see if any of my companions were bad and if they had been seriously injured, and analyzed the area in real time, and passed the information to Colonel to make the strategies.

I even made a kind of glasses that looked like a visor, where I put Iris and Colonel inside so they would always be close to me. I even gave them an appearance.

I had perfected my soles, now it was basically boots, where I managed to hold up to three times my weight, which allowed me to help my friends before crashing on the ground, and allowed me to 'walk' in the air, albeit for a brief moment before I fell, and they could take my kicks without breaking.

My martial arts improved so much that now it was necessary for Monkey, Ox and Dog-san to fight me at the same time to end in a draw.

I even considered disassembling an IS once, just to see if I managed to change something, but I didn't do it because we can't just get an IS. I thought about doing it for Madoka, but I thought I could report it if she just came up with an improved IS, if I could improve it.

The ISs had entered the third generation in a while.

My relationship with Tiger and Snake has been progressing well over the years, they even told me their real names. Tiger's was Hiroshima Taiga, which made me wonder how much her mother was sure she was going to join the group, and Snake was Mizushima Hisui.

I entered the building, but I was so disappointed at having to be stuck in school for three years that my head went elsewhere, and I just wandered around, and when I realized it, I was lost. I had the glasses with Iris and Colonel in the bag, but I didn't want to expose them to the world just yet.

I just walked around until I found a door with a paper sign saying tests, I opened it and saw an IS in the middle of the court, and I realized that those tests on the sign were for the IS academy, but having one so close to me made me want to see how they really work, after all we can't take the IS pilots that we faced, since there was a lot of bureaucracy.

I approached the IS and touched it, and to my surprise it responded. He started to shine and to show some screens, where they showed characteristics of the IS itself. It was at that time that I heard the door opening, a few steps and a woman's voice behind me.

(Woman 1): "Hey, you can't go in there."

(Woman 2): "W-What?! Is it reacting to him?!"

(Woman 3): "Impossible! Men are not able to operate an IS!"

But the impossible was happening in front of me. My head was thinking about all the possibilities for this IS to have worked. The first was a huge defect, the second was someone having programmed this IS to react with anyone who touched him, and third it was possible that the IS was not seeing me as a man.

Since, technically speaking, I am a clone of Chifuyu-nee, the IS was possibly seeing me as Orimura Chifuyu, and not as Orimura Ichika.

(Woman 3): "Boy! What did you do with this IS?"

(Ichika): "I just touched it."

The three stared at me as if I were lying.

(Woman 1): "Let's do the test with him."

(Woman 3): "Are you crazy?!"

(Woman 1): "This will confirm everything, we put the IS basic programming, if it works it is because it really did not change."

(Woman 3): "But it never worked before!"

(Woman 1): "But it's working now."

(Woman 3): "Boy! After we expose this trick of yours, you will suffer the consequences!"

(Woman 2): "Don't be rude. Could you follow me, please?"

(Ichika): "Sure."

I passed the two women, one who was looking at me angrily and the other who was looking at me in surprise, while following the third woman. She guided me to a room where there were only girls.

(Woman 2): "Please wait here."

I sat down while getting the looks from all the girls in the room, it was obvious they were wondering why a boy was there. After a while the same woman who guided me came back.

(Woman 2): "Please follow me."

The girls and I followed the woman to the place where the IS was, which by the way was the gym, there the woman who looked at me angrily was in an IS identical to the one I accidentally activated, the same being facing the she. And there was a certain audience, and they kept looking at me while the girls and I were lined up. I took my visor out of my purse with tremendous remorse and put it around my neck, there was a risk of exposing it, but I didn't want to screw myself for not knowing how much to use the IS.

(Woman 1): "Very well. We will start the selection for the IS Academy in Japan."

The audience applauded on the spot, when the applause died the woman spoke again.

(Woman 1): "As we had an unexpected event, we are going to do a test more than expected. Please." - she said while looking at me.

I put my bag on the floor and went to her, she took me to the IS side and explained to me how to get into it, the moment I got up the audience started murmuring, even the girls who were going to audition started murmuring .

(Woman 3): "Come on boy! We have all day for your game!"

I put on my viewfinder and activated it, at the same time, Iris and Colonel appeared in my field of vision.

(Colonel & Iris): "Good morning, Ichika-sama."

Normally I would answer but I couldn't risk it now, I did what the woman who was going to act as a judge instructed and I entered the IS, the moment I did that, he activated it, the same screens as before appeared and I started to move it.

That created a tremendous racket, everyone started talking and the woman in front of me looked shocked. As the place was very noisy, I decided to enjoy it.

(Ichika): "Colonel, I want you to analyze all the characteristics of the IS and compare them with my skills, and tell me if I should hold on to the movements."

(Colonel): "Immediately, Ichika-sama."

(Ichika): "Iris, I want you to assess my condition with the IS and inform me of any abnormalities you find and make a report at the end."

(Iris): "But of course Ichika-sama."

When the uproar ended, the judge decided to speak again.

(Woman 1): "Apparently it was not a trick." - She said while looking at the woman who had accused me.

She said nothing and just looked away. At that time the Colonel spoke again.

(Colonel): "Ichika-sama, this model is mass produced in Japan, it is a third generation called Uchigane, the basic equipment is a katana, it seems that you just have to think of it in your hand and it will appear, however your potential is too great for this IS to keep up with, I recommend fighting as if you are using less than 20% of your strength with the help of breathing techniques. "

Less than 20%?! I knew I was above the IS, but I didn't imagine that I would surpass a third generation in more than five times.

(Ichika): 'The IS will only serve to hinder me.'

At that time the judge went to see how I was doing.

(Woman 1): "Is there a problem? Are you all right?"

(Ichika): "Yes, it is."

(Woman 1): "Very well, we will start the test fight."

Me and the woman who looked at me angrier than before, although I thought that was stupid, we invoked katanas and stayed in position, holding on was going to suck, but I had nothing to do.

When I invoked the katana my opponent's eyes widened.

(Woman 1): "START!"

I went to her, something that gave me the feeling that I was wearing skates, before she managed to react, I was wearing only 15% and I didn't feel any brakes, I attacked her with a side stroke from right to left, since the to my left there was no one.

She defended, but was thrown against the wall and crashed against. The whole place was silent.

(Woman 1): "Could you please go to where IS was and get out of it?"

I went to the place, which was marked on the floor and deactivated it, this IS IS, the moment I left Iris gave me the report.

(Iris): "Ichika-sama, there was no abnormality in your body, nor in your blood system, nor in your nervous system. Your body was in the same condition all the time."

So the IS did not affect my body in a negative way, which was a relief. I turned off the display and left it hanging around my neck.

(Woman 3): "I don't accept that."

The woman got up in a fury, still with the IS activated.

(Woman 1): "Enough! We have already shown that we were wrong. Just accept it."

(Woman 3): "It must be a girl who dressed up as a boy."

(Ichika): "And why would I do that? Wouldn't it be simpler for me to just appear as a woman if that were the case? But if you doubt it so much."

I removed my shirt and had a naked torso, whose muscles were well defined due to all the years of training with [Zodiac Beasts].

(Ichika): "Do you still think I'm a woman?"

She didn't answer me, just stared at me, but her shoulders withered as she lowered her head, she had admitted defeat.

(Woman 1): "Take the boy to the registration area. Could you tell us your name?" - she said the first part looking at the woman who guided us here and then looked back at me.

(Ichika): "Ichika. Orimura Ichika."