Unyielding Resolve - Cecilia Alcott x OC

Chapter 26 - Questions

Bold: Time/Location
Italic: Character Thoughts/Internal Monologue
Underline: Author's Note(s)

Academy Infirmary - No POV

It had been almost two days since the incident in the arena. After agent Riker's violent return, the instructors deemed it a good idea for the students to take a couple of days off to recover. This year was shaping up to be far more eventful than any other year Chifuyu had spent teaching as an instructor in Japan, and even the year she spent in Germany. If any more surprises occurred, it would most likely attract enough attention from various governments, and not in a good way. She had already been forced to sit through a handful of meetings, and at each meeting the question of whether or not Chifuyu could maintain security and control of the academy was brought up. Dealing with rowdy students was one thing, but between being attacked by a rogue IS and having the computer systems compromised, and nearly having one of her students die, public opinion was in a dangerous spot.

S.T.R.I.K.E. and the academy staff had made no progress in determining the origins of the unmanned IS, and James was still unconscious, though that was predicted by the doctors. S.T.R.I.K.E. was in the dark until they could acquire the data from the Black Eagle, which was still heavily damaged. Most of the students including Ichika, Rin, Charles, Cecilia, and Houki had elected to stay at the academy in their free time. Laura had also remained, but was hardly seen doing anything other than training or being alone in her dorm room. The main group of representatives and students had made it an objective yesterday to get some thoughtful cards to deliver to James.

The five students walked through the corridors after finishing their lunch, and the sun shone brightly through the windows. Today was the part of the day when they'd check in on James to see if he was awake yet, so they casually strolled toward the infirmary. Since only a small portion of the academy population was absent for recreation, they didn't pass as many students as they would have in the halls around the current time. "So Ichika, how's your IS training going?" Rin inquired to her childhood friend, who rested his left hand behind his neck while he walked. "Well, I'd like to think I'm progressing at the rate I should be. Charles' advice is super helpful, but I still can't seem to beat him in a training match..." he said with a mix of optimism and disappointment, also trying very hard to conceal the part where Charles was actually a woman.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll manage to achieve that goal if you keep working hard. I can say for sure that you are becoming more difficult to defeat each time we fight." the aforementioned spy chimed in, doing her best to keep Ichika motivated. Ichika sighed and dropped his arm from behind his neck while replying "Still, losing that many times in a row totally sucks. I'd settle for winning against someone at my skill level, but I guess my skill level is whatever sits below the bottom of the barrel..." "You haven't had as much time to practice as the rest of us. Stop beating yourself up for something like that. As long as you keep training, you'll be able to win eventually." Houki added in her usual demanding tone. Houki had arguably known Ichika for longer than any of his other friends, so she knew he had a habit of demeaning himself for things that weren't in his control.

The group turned a corner when they came to an intersection and then continued the conversation. "Well I was hoping James would be on a similar skill level as me, but..." Ichika trailed off, and the others felt the air turn sour from the comment. After a brief moment of awkwardness and Ichika trying to find a way to uplift their spirits, he continued. "James is really strong, and I'm really not sure how he got to that point so quickly..." That raised an interesting thought in Rin's mind. When she first met him, James said that he didn't want to discuss the circumstances of how he discovered he could use an IS.

"What if...what if Riker has been using an IS for way longer than anyone thinks he has?" Rin asked the others, who looked to her in confusion. "I mean, as far as we know, Ichika is the first male pilot to use an IS. Since we know nothing about Riker, is it possible that he's been training with an IS for longer than Ichika?" Rin added on for clarification. Charles was the first to respond, cupping her chin with left hand as she spoke. "Well, it would explain how he is so proficient with an IS. I have only ever seen videos of his match with Cecilia, so I cannot say for sure. Based on what I have seen, and how he managed to still operate an IS in his condition just a couple of days ago, Rin's theory does make the most sense."