========== Tsurugi's house, in the living room ==========
“
Waaaaaah! You can’t be serious!” Tsurugi yells as she drops her head onto the low coffee table.
“I can understand a ‘kick-start’… but this is just…
damn.” Inami adds on while reading a page of a handout, which then turns out to be the Academy’s entrance exam instructions.
The handout explicitly states that a successful enrollment is based on one lone criterion:
IS Aptitude Test.
“Jinrai-san, any ideas?” She asks, quickly raising her head to look at Jinrai who’s chilling on a sofa, watching the television.
“Hm? Aptitude you say?” He answers while still keeping his sights on the TV screen.
“Yes! I’ve never piloted an IS before, how am I supposed to take this on?”
“Simple, use the Minerva.”
“Eh? But The Minerva—”
“Is not an IS? Correct, but it’s still built from…
borrowed IS technology.” He briefly explains, shortly recalling Tabane assisting him with the refurbishment of the battle-armor almost a month ago.
“Well, even if it is… what about the retinal recognition? It’s only set to activate upon detecting my eyes.” Inami debates with a tone of uncertainty.
“Once again, simple, I’ll just input Tsurugi’s retinal data into the Iwaki Next's APL system.”
“
APL?”
“Authorized Pilots Log. So far only your data’s in it…”
“Oh? That’s news to m—”
He’s quickly interrupted by Tsurugi as suddenly beams upon hearing Jinrai’s suggestion.
“Me?
Piloting the Minerva?”
“Of course! Physique adjustment won’t be a problem since you’re only a tad bit shorter than Inami.”
She then tugs onto Inami’s shirt, pulling him towards her.
“
Ne, Ina-kun! Can I?” She desperately asks with a grin, mildly scaring him.
“Sure! Just that… don’t we have
another difference aside from our height…?”
“Oh?”
He nods then briefly looks down on his chest. Tsurugi raises an eyebrow then looks down on her chest, softly blushing upon noticing the ‘difference’.
“
Yeeaaah. I don’t have any problems with mine but for you… it might…”
“…
Pervert.”
“I’m just…!”
“You actually
considered them as well, eh?”
“Tsu-chan! That sounds—”
She silences him by placing her index finger on his lips and giggles at his blushing face.
“You look cute when you panic like that, Ina-kun…”
As his eye twitches at her remark, he could only let out a scared laughter.
“
Eeehehe… Uum… Anyways, should we get started?”
“Yeap!”
Tsurugi releases her grip on his shirt as she stands up, follow by Inami and Jinrai who then switches off the television.
“Well then! Let’s go!”