Chapter 17: A Japanese, a German and a French enter a classroom

Chapter 17: A Japanese, a German and a French enter a classroom

- Houki Shinonono –

"What do you think about this second male pilot, Houki?" asked Cecilia Alcott, a beautiful girl and the current IS representative Candidate of England. She was lazily sitting on her desk as she and the rest of the class were waiting for the class to resume.

They were enjoying their small break, and she decided to talk with Houki to pass the time.

Houki was a little startled by the topic but engaged in the topic brought by Cecilia. She was also curious about this second male at the Academy. "I think he seems fine. I don't know since we didn't talk much."

She then recalled Aruto's attempt at escape and the love hug from Chifuyu as the corner of her mouth stifled. "I also expected him to be more… moody? Serious? Type of person since he made so much effort to escape from this place."

Cecilia nodded along as she listened to her friend's point of view. "Yes, indeed, he was not the persona I expected. He was akin to a… clown? Or easygoing? But he was definitively shameless."

"No doubt." Houki agreed immediately, as Aruto Igarashi gave him such vibes. "Do you think he would join our class?"

"Probably? Since Orimura-sensei is our homeroom teacher and is currently in charge of Aruto-san. Also, I don't believe Orimura-sensei would dare to leave him of her vision after he tried to escape." Replied Cecilia with some thought.

"That makes a lot of sense."

[…]

[…]

"How much do you bet he will still try to escape?" asked Cecilia aloud to Houki, who looked surprised but calmed down.

…This was definitively something that Aruto would do if he had the chance, like the last time they saw him.

"…What are we betting?" asked Houki unsurely, as she didn't think Cecilia would ask for money since they were fine in this aspect.

Cecilia lightly tapped her chin in thought. "How about… the one who wins shall have their time alone with Ichika?"

!!!

[…]

"Bet."

"Oh great! Then let's bet on when he'll try to escape this time." Said Cecilia with a big smile.

"I'll start with… three days?"

"…five days." Muttered Houki after some thoughts.

Houki shook Cecilia's hand as they both confirmed the bet agreement at the same time while Ichika returned from his bathroom break.

"Oh? What are you guys doing?" asked the apparent harem protagonist since he rarely saw the interaction between them alone when he was not around them.

"Nothing"

"Nothing"

Ichika: ?

"Well, all right…" muttered Ichika as he returned to his designated desk and stretched before class started.

[Ding Dong Deng] [Ding Dong Deng] [Ding Dong Deng]

Every student returned from their break as they silently waited for the return of their teacher.

They didn't wait long. They heard footsteps coming near their classroom as the door opened. Houki saw two familiar people arriving at the door.

As expected, they were Aruto Igarashi, the male they met briefly and their homeroom teacher, Chifuyu Orimura.

The rest of the class exploded in gossip and chit-chat at the arrival of Aruto. They were, after all, teenage girls full of hormones and curious about love as a handsome guy popped into their class.

'Cool'

'Handsome'

'Kyaa'

'Dominating'

'Please punish me~'

x-x-x-x-x-x

- Aruto Igarashi -

"Huh? Who said that?" I asked dumbly, as I felt extremely uncomfortable. I was an adult inside a class full of 15-year-old teenage girls. 

Yeah, I'm not catching a case here, and I wasn't interested in some brat, no matter how attractive they are. Moreover, I was more interested in the lovely teacher beside me as I gave her a furtive glance.

"Silence," uttered Chifuyu as the class fell silent and looked at them silently.

Chifuyu pointed at Aruto. "This is Aruto Igarashi. He is 20 and will participate in our class for three years. If anyone has any questions, please raise our hands."

As soon as Chifuyu finished talking, almost every girl inside the classroom raised their hands as they hoped to know more about the second male IS pilot, as some of them blatantly ignored the warning from Chifuyu about his age.

After all, age was just a number, just like the prison is just a room. "Damn kids…" whispered Chifuyu as she held her head tired.

Chifuyu glared at me as if it were my fault, yet I could only sigh as I was also a victim in this case. I could only blame the gods for giving me such a beautiful face that attracted the masses.

I randomly chose one girl from the many with a sigh and forced smile. "You classmate…"

I chose a charming young girl with a cute face, sleepy yellow eyes and pinkish shoulder-length hair, most of which hung free.

"Hi~" responded the girl as she cutely waved into my way.

"My name is Honne Nohotoke, but you can call me Honne-chan, Aru-ku~."

My right eye twitched a little at the unexpected nickname. I guess she is a pretty free-spirited and enthusiastic girl.

"Nice to meet you too… Nohotoke-san."

She lightly pouted since I wasn't addressing her how she wanted but quickly recovered to her happy self. "I'm curious about something."

"What are you curious about, classmate Nohotoke-san?"

"My question is, why did you run away after you discovered you could ride an IS?" asked Honne innocently as she looked at me with a lot of curiosity.

Her question caught everyone's attention, including Chifuyu, as they patiently waited for my answer.

Damn, that girl didn't hold back her punch and went directly for the jab. I glanced at her as I was returned with a cute head tilt.

She was curious about it and didn't mean anything beyond that.

…Did I become too paranoid? Maybe… but it saved my life, so there's nothing wrong with it now.

"…Let's say I like my freedom very much."

"Freedom… I see; thank you for answering my question, Aru-kun~" replied Honne as she sat back in her seat while the rest of the girl raised their hands once more.

Oh boy…

I randomly chose another girl from the crowd and pointed at the girl with short magenta hair and magenta eyes. She was also a pretty cute girl.

"Hello, Igarashi-san! I'm Kiyoka Aikawa!"

"Nice to meet you too, Aikawa-san," I replied with a smile that triggered another wave of crazy girl affection.

…let's not do that anymore.

She gave me a Cheshire smile, and I suddenly had a bad feeling in my heart. "Are you dating someone?" asked Kiyoka as her eyes shone with curiosity.

Her question practically hooked everyone's attention, and so was Ichika, as I decisively decided to ignore it for my sanity.

Fucking kids, man…

"…I'm not in a relationship, Aikawa-san."

'Woahhhhh!'

"Silence." cut Chifuyu directly as the class immediately silent before she gave me a pleased smile.

"All right, questions are over!"

'Aw'

"Aruto, you can take a seat by the window."

Fuck me, I'm really back to school for a third time. Did I get cursed by the God of School?

If there really is one, then he better go fuck himself before I catch him.

"…Yes, Orimura-sensei." I sighed and trailed to my seat. However, the surprise wasn't done when I took my seat, the door was knocked.

"Orimura-senpai?"

"Oh, right… I forgot more kids are coming," muttered Chifuyu tiredly.

"Come in!"

"Please, excuse me," Maya said as the classroom door opened, revealing Maya Yamada and two more kids behind her. But what really attracted my attention was the kid behind the eyepatch kid.

"Another dude?" I muttered in disbelief.

"Another guy!?" shouted Ichika with a lot of raw emotion.

'Kya'

'Another male!'

"Silence," uttered Chifuyu as she slammed her hand on the podium again.

I observed the new students with curiosity, focusing first on the new girl who seemed utterly captivated by Chifuyu as if she were a goddess in human form. It's understandable, considering Chifuyu's undeniable charm and presence.

The girl was very short and had ashen white skin, long silver hair and a red right eye, while her left eye was covered with a black eye patch. She was also wearing the standard Is Academy uniform, but instead of a skirt, she was wearing pants.

Then, I turned my eyes to the elephant in the room. The third male pilot, if I wasn't wrong. He had long, straight, spiky blonde hair tied into a low ponytail. He also had purple eyes and wore the same male uniform as me and Ichika.

Still, it is bizarre that there wasn't much new about this third male pilot compared to me, so I can't help but feel suspicious about it.

Maybe he can't ride IS? But that would be weird… Oh well, there's nothing much to think about for now since I will be gone from the IS Academy in the future. I will be fine if I don't dig too far.

"These two students will be formally joining our classes. Let me present them to everyone!" said Maya cheerfully as she patted the shoulders of both students.

"This beautiful girl is Laura Bodewig, and she is also the IS Representative Candidate of Germany!"

[Clap] [Clap] [Clap]

"Nice to meet you." Said Laura as she made a deep bow in front of the class.

"I'm sure everyone is curious about the next student, so let me introduce him. That's right, him! He is the third male IS pilot found in France! His name is Charles Dunois, and he is the IS Representative Candidate of France."

[Clap!!!] [Clap!!!] [Clap!!!]

Chifuyu started the second round of questions with reluctance as she did her best to ignore the hot gaze from said student. "Does anyone have any questions for Laura Bodewig?"

"General!!!!" shouted Laura as she rendered the class silent while Chifuyu massaged her eyes with a sigh.

"…At ease, Laura, this is not the military, and call me Orimura-sensei."

"Hai, general!" replied Laura with a straight face.

Chifuyu: […]

Why is she even trying anymore, and why does her class have so many troublemaker kids? At the same time, when Chifuyu was distracted, Laura left the front of the class and slowly and silently approached me with hate on her face.

I was fucking confused since I'm pretty sure I never met this kid in my life. We silently looked at each other for a few seconds until I saw the girl raise her hand toward me.

I instinctively held her hand that was going to slap me as I counter-attacked with a slap of my own. That woke up everyone to their surprise.

Chifuyu's mouth was wide open by the surreal scene that just happened right now, and Maya suddenly became surprised and stressed as she couldn't understand the situation. The whole class wasn't faring much better as they were also confused and shocked by the actions of both of them.

"Damn, girl! I never met you before, and yet you dare to slap me? Are you courting death!?"

"You—" exclaimed the girl as she pointed at me with a mixture of surprise and anger.

"What? Did you think I wouldn't dare to throw my hand at a girl? Don't be kidding, girl! Those hands are rated E for everyone!" I said as I stood up from my desk and glared at this shorty.

How audacious can this girl be?

"I won't accept you, Ichika Orimura, as the brother of my beloved general!" shouted the girl as the whole classroom went silent.

[…]

Chifuyu slapped her forehead and suddenly felt very tired and dizzy as Maya froze from her previous panicked state.

I looked at this courageous girl incredulously as I didn't know how to go from there. Fortunately, someone else decided to jump in and clear the misunderstanding for the class.

Cecilia raised her hand as she caught everyone's attention. "Hum… That's not Ichika but Aruto Igarashi. Ichika is right there."

Laura went silent, but the shocked expression plastered on her face was enough for everyone to understand her emotion.

"Impossible! How could someone as beautiful and fierce as my beloved general have an ordinary, plain-looking brother like him? No! I refuse to believe this nonsense!" denied Laura instantly.

Ichika: […]

Chifuyu, who had enough of this joke, slapped the podium. "Laura, the man you tried to attack is Aruto Igarashi, not my brother. Also, the other male in this room is indeed my brother, Ichika Orimura."

[….]

Laura deeply bowed at me instantly as she heard the confirmation from Chifuyu. "I'm very sorry, classmate Aruto Igarashi. I hope you can forgive me for my bold action against you."

I was again speechless and didn't know how to go from there…

She seemed remorseful enough, and I didn't get hit by her…

"I… yeah, I accept your apologies and sorry for the slap, I guess?"

"Please don't apologize! I was the one who mistook you and attacked you first! I do not deserve your apologies. I once again apologize for my action." Laura apologized with a deep bow.

"…Huh, sure. Let's go with that…" I muttered and massaged my forehead in pain.

"Thank you!" replied Laura as she left my desk toward Ichika, who was still dazed from the stray shot he had received.

I suddenly had a bad feeling in my chest. "She won't really do that again, right?"

-

-

-

-

[SLAP]

[OUCH!]

"I won't accept you as the brother of my beloved general!" shouted Laura as she slapped Ichika, and the whole class gasped.

Chifuyu slammed her head on the podium as she suddenly felt like drinking and getting wasted. She had enough drama and troublesome kids to deal with already.

"…She is a very exceptional girl," I muttered, looking at the drama with great interest. I never expected my first day at IS Academy to be so spicy.

Also, at the same time, Charles was dumbfounded as they had forgotten about him. "…They didn't forget about me, right?"

"…Right?"