Pretender

The Inter-Class Tournament was about to be held, Haru and Cecilia often trained together after the class to prepare for this tournament.

However, during that training session, Ichika and Houki also joined using a Mass-Produced Training Type, Uchigane.

It was also the first IS which was being used by Haru and Ichika in the past when they were doing their exam before entering this academy.

Cecilia was a bit surprised when both of them could get permission to use Uchigane easily.

However Haru wasn't that surprised, considering that Ichika was the first male IS pilot, and Houki was the little sister of Shinonono Tabane. He didn't think that it was very hard for both of them to get their own IS.

Haru didn't think too much about Ichika and Houki since his mind was thinking about bringing Chifuyu out later after the Inter-Class Tournament since he was curious about Shinonono Tabane. He had read data that Chifuyu and Tabane were friends in the past, and he wanted to know about Tabane's personality.

If possible Haru thought to invite Tabane, but he wouldn't force himself to invite Tabane and thought that he could also invite Chifuyu too since her ability was stronger than a normal human.

Rin who was the class representative also often went to meet with them, but she didn't join their training since they were enemies (in her mind) and they were from different classes. She thought about joining them after the Inter-Class Tournament had ended later.

The four of them trained using their IS almost every day after school, and when it was a Sunday.

Haru and Houki decided to go out together in the early morning so that they wouldn't attract the attention of people since they were about to start their "date" practice.

---

Ichika was about to call Haru for breakfast, but he didn't receive an answer after knocking on the door of his room.

"Has he gone to the cafeteria?"

Ichika decided to call Houki, but her roommate said that she had gone out.

"Weird, where is she going?"

Ichika decided to go to the cafeteria first and met Cecilia along the way.

"Alcott-san, did you see Haru and Houki?"

"What?!"

Cecilia was startled and asked, "Is Haru not in his room?"

"No, I've checked his room earlier and it seems that he has gone to the cafeteria first," Ichika answered.

"Then how about Shinonono-san?" Cecilia asked.

"Her roommate has said that she has gone out, do you know anything?" Ichika asked.

"....."

Hearing Ichika's question, Cecilia knew that she needed to keep the "date" training a secret from him.

"Nothing. I'll also look around first!"

Cecilia ran and left him since she didn't expect Haru and Houki to leave her behind. She was annoyed by Houki asking Haru for "date" practice since she hadn't even had a chance date with Haru.

'Damn!!!'

Cecilia ran very fast hoping that she could follow both of them.

"What's wrong?"

Ichika who had been left behind felt confused, but he shook his head so as not to think too much. "Well, thinking too much is useless. I'll have breakfast first." He thought about eating something more since he was a bit hungry from yesterday's training.

---

Haru and Houki sat next to each other on the monorail for their "date" training.

Houki was a bit nervous when she thought about this date. She was wondering why she had asked him for this dumb training before. She hadn't had a good sleep last night since she was quite nervous and she also felt quite bad for Cecilia since she knew about Cecilia's feelings for Haru.

"Is it alright for me to take your first date?" Haru asked.

"It's not a real date! It's training!" Houki answered with a blush.

"Well, it is training." Haru nodded and thought that this girl was quite naive somehow which made him want to bully her. "So do you have a plan for this date?"

"H - Huh? Why should I make a plan?" Houki didn't understand Haru's question since she felt that it should be a guy who prepared the date.

"If I'm Ichika and you've asked me for a date, do you think that he'll prepare a plan for a date?" Haru asked.

"..."

Houki was silent and thought that Haru's words were reasonable. Even though it was hard to admit, she didn't think that Ichika would prepare a date plan for their date.

"Well, considering his personality, he might bring you to tour around the town seeing a lot of things such as going to the park, movie, cafe, arcade, or something reminiscing the thing which you've done in the past as if you've come back to your past."

"Well...." Houki nodded and wondered whether Haru could read Ichika's mind, but in Haru's mind, Ichika was a pretty simple guy and it was very easy to guess what was inside Ichika's mind.

"Anyway, you're with me, not with Ichika. You don't need to be afraid of making mistakes. And don't be so reserved, we can do anything you want in this "date" training."

"Such as?" Houki asked.

"Hmm, how about we change our clothes first? We're wearing our uniform after all, don't you want to be seen in your most beautiful form which makes him gawk and unable to say anything?" Haru asked.

"..."

Houki blushed but nodded. "Kasugano...."

"Haru."

"Hmm?"

"Call me Haru. I've thought of you as my friend and can I call you Houki?" Haru asked.

Houki smiled and nodded. "Yes, Haru." She was happy that she had another friend at that moment.

"So let's buy some clothes later to change." Haru thought that he also wanted to see her wearing something different from uniform since it was too wasteful, especially when this girl was so beautiful and that part of her....

"...."

Haru had to admit that Houki might even match Seri and Claire.

"Alright."

Houki nodded with a smile since it seemed this "date" training would be more exciting than she had thought.

---

After they had arrived in the town, they went to the clothing store to change their clothes.

Haru went to buy Houki's clothes first, letting her choose what kind of clothes that she loved to wear. He was waiting together with the staff of the clothing store in front of the changing room when she changed her clothes.

"I - I'm done."

"Yes. Let me see it, Houki."

Houki came out from the changing room changed into a one-piece dress with a cardigan covering her shoulder while wearing a stocking that wrapped her legs perfectly.

"My... you're very beautiful!" The staff of the store praised Houki.

Haru nodded and said, "You're beautiful, Houki." He sucked a deep breath at Houki's thigh.

Houki blushed when she heard his praise. "T - Then, I'll buy this."

"Can she wear it right away? I'll pay for it directly." Haru looked at the staff.

"Yes, please follow me." The staff guided him.

Another female staff member walked toward her and said, "Miss, you have a very thoughtful boyfriend. I'm jealous of you."

"H - He isn't my boyfriend!" Houki blushed and denied it.

The staff smiled and only laughed. "Yes, yes, not yet, right? I understand. I understand."

"You don't understand!" Houki was flustered when this staff member teased her.

"Houki, let's go." Haru walked to Houki.

"Umm..." Houki didn't dare to look at him since the staff had teased her. She remembered something and said, "How about you? Don't you need to change your clothes?"

"Do I need to?"

"Of course! I've changed and you need to change too!" Houki couldn't accept that she was the only one who wore casual clothes.

"Well, let's go to that store."

Houki nodded and went inside together.

After changing his others, Haru and Houki started their training together. They didn't have that much of a plan and went to a random place that interested them such as pet stores.

Haru looked at the puppy who played with Houki with jealousy since this puppy could rest on Houki's large breasts. He glared at it and made it shudder in fear.

"What's wrong?" Houki was confused.

"It seems that the puppy is sleepy, so let's change to another place," Haru said.

Houki nodded and believed in him and continued with their date.

They continued their date and went to play ping-pong.

Of course, there was only one purpose when he brought her here and that was to play ping-pong. He knew that Houki might love to do the normal date which was something such as watching a movie, going to a luxurious restaurant, or something, but he was only her training partner after all. He thought that it was better for her to have fun rather than thinking too much, and played ping-pong was also good since he could enjoy this scenery.

Houki was having fun playing ping-pong and moving her body around.

*Boing!* *Boing!*

Haru almost lost the battle since Houki's large breasts distracted him in this match.

Her breasts were moving around in many directions since she was playing with an intention to win.

Haru knew that if this continued she might show her nipple by accident which somehow made him conflicted whether he should continue or not.

*Boing!* *Boing!*

*Gulp!*

Haru knew that there were only two of them in this ping-pong room and he wouldn't be a man if he couldn't call himself a man if he didn't do that. He started to get serious and he had only one goal on his mind.

Houki noticed that Haru had become stronger, but she wouldn't lose and kept fighting. She smashed the ping-pong ball toward Haru and this last attack made her win.

"Yeah!!!"

Houki jumped in excitement, but she noticed that Haru's expression was a bit wrong.

Haru closed his eyes after a few seconds and pointed at her chest.

Houki looked down at the direction of his finger before screaming.

"Kyaaa!!!"

Haru took a deep breath while feeling grateful to Houki. He might have lost the match, but he won the battle.

---

"I'm sorry, alright." Haru apologized.

"Hmph!" Houki felt very embarrassed when one of her breasts was shown at him earlier.

"But with this we can learn that you shouldn't wear that dress if you play ping pong..." Haru said thoughtfully.

Houki, who listened to Haru, felt that she wanted to punch him.

"Or you can wear it so you can show it to Ichika, so you can tempt him at that time," Haru said with a smile.

Houki blushed and started to hit him.

"Sorry! Sorry! I won't tease you anymore."

"Hmph!"

Houki looked away while folding her arms. Though, she became embrassed when she thought that Haru's plan was feasible.

Haru thought for a while and said, "How about we play something again?"

"No!" Houki rejected Haru's invitation without hesitation.

"This time, it'll be a different game and it won't cause the same accident."

Houki glanced at Haru and asked suspiciously, "Really?"

"Yeah, and there is also food and drink in that place, we can eat in that place too."

"What are we playing next?"

Even though that incident had happened, Houki had to admit that she really had fun and it had been a while since she had loosened herself.

"Let's play billiards."

"Billiard?"

---

It was Houki's first time playing billiards, and Haru was behind her teaching her how to play it.

Houki didn't notice that Haru was taking advantage of her touching her body when he was teaching her how to play billiards.

However, Houki had to admit that it was very fun to play a game with him. Her defense had been lowered to the limit when she had a date with him for an entire day.

The two of them played for a long time before it was time to go back, but he didn't bring her back immediately and brought him to the beach.

---

Walking next to each other, both of them had taken off their shoes feeling the sand on the beach while hearing the sound of waves beside them.

They didn't talk much and enjoyed the scenery around them.

Looking at the star, hearing the sound of waves, feeling the sand on their feet, having fun playing together, it might be the first time for Houki to feel like this. In her memory, she was a very tomboy girl and the only one who played with her was Ichika, but when her big sister had developed an IS core she needed to be separated from Ichika.

Her life had turned dim and she had only trained kendo for the past few years thought that it was the only connection to her only friend, though, her friend didn't even practice kendo when she had transferred away which made her very annoyed. She also couldn't make a new friend when she was always being observed by the government and most people would avoid her when they knew that she was a little sister of Shinonono Tabane.

Even if some people tried to get close to her, they had always had some intention which made her very annoyed.

Her personality also made it very hard for her to take the initiative to get to know people and it was very hard for her.

Houki felt the wind on the beach, though it was quite cold. She thought about closing up her cardigan, but she felt something draped around her shoulder. She looked up and saw Haru had given her his jacket. She didn't know why, but she blushed at this moment.

"Do you know why I've brought you to the beach?" Haru asked.

Houki shook her head.

"It's because the beach is a nice place to let out your frustration," Haru said.

"Let out your frustration?" Houki was confused.

"Yeah, look at me...." Haru coughed and shouted, "CHIFUYU, YOU OLD HAG! DON'T ALWAYS TARGET ME DURING THE CLASS!!!'

"W - W - What are you doing?!" Houki was startled when Haru suddenly cursed Chifuyu. She also looked around and sighed in relief when no one seemed to hear them.

"No one is here beside the two of us, you can shout and no one will know about it" Haru smiled mischievously.

"You...." Houki sighed but smiled looking at him.

"Don't you have something that you want to shout about too?" Haru asked.

Houki glanced at Haru and said, "I've but, don't tell anyone about it."

Haru nodded and gave her a thumbs up. "Alright."

Houki nodded and took a deep breath.

"ICHIKA, YOU BASTARD! HOW CAN YOU NOT UNDERSTAND MY FEELING!!!

NEE-SAN, YOU STUPID!! DON'T CAUSE TROUBLE FOR ME!!!

HARU, I KNOW THAT YOUR LOOKING AT BREASTS EARLIER!!!"

"...."

Haru, who nodded at Houki's scream, was dumbfounded. "Y - You..."

"Hmph! I've noticed that you've glanced at me earlier..." Houki snorted and folded her arms looking at him with a smug expression.

"....."

Haru sighed and said, "Sorry, Houki. You're really beautiful and those breasts are awesome."

"Y - Y - You...!" Houki flustered then sighed. "You pervert...." She looked at him and asked, "Have you done something to Cecilia?" She admitted that she didn't hate that honesty.

"No."

Haru shook his head and said, "We're not at that stage yet."

"Really?" Houki looked at him suspiciously.

"Yes, what I'm doing is just to make everyone's life in this academy more colorful. Your identity might make normal people very hard to understand, but our condition is the same since I'm also one of two male IS pilots in this world," Haru said.

Houki nodded and asked, "But don't you have someone you like at the academy?"

"What? You're interested in my love life now?" Haru asked.

"Why not? You've been helping me after all. I can help you if you want." Houki thought that it was a good way to repay him.

Haru patted Houki's head and said, "Houki, you're a good girl. Anyone who can marry you will be very happy in their entire life."

"W - What are you saying all of sudden!" Houki blushed.

"It's almost late. Let's go back."

Haru gave Houki his hand to see her reaction.

"What's this?" Houki asked.

"Let's hold hands."

"..."

Looking at Haru's expression, Houki was a bit embarrassed, but somehow she reached out.

"Let's go back."

Holding her hand gently, Haru uttered those words.

"Hmm..."

Houki nodded. Glancing at Haru's face, she might not forget this day in her life later knowing that there was a wonderful man named Kasugano Haruka who somehow tried to enter her heart without she noticed it, but she didn't realize that only holding his hand cheerfully talking about silly things along the way went back to the academy.