Would it be considered bashing the harem if Ichika was practically tortured in a fight by the opponent. Gentarou saves Ichika, but at the cost of getting a hole stabbed into him via laser blade also overloading his rider system to be able to strike a decisive blow.
Cue the harem tending to Ichika but Gentarou basically loses consciousness on his knees without anyone but Chifuyu and the people at the base reading his vitals caring at all.
Yeah, when Hata-sensei is the producer, you will cry for your wallet.
Of course, Charles screw with her using a loophole in the contract, and then mass produce the tapes to be sold outside I.S.A. Tatenashi is no match for him when it comes to countergambit and business.
Hata-version is more or less "Limited Special Edition/ Director's cut"
Note - whose ASCIII is that?
Absolute defense doesn't seem to prevent pain though, which is exactly Ling claim in canon, she is going to torture Ichika unless he apologize.
Basically Ichika was taking the lead in the fight. Equal at first, but the difference shows since it becomes a battle of attrition. We all know how Byakushiki is with those. The bad guy toys with Ichika at his weakest. Fourze, who was knocked out earlier on, sees Ichika about to be shish kabobbed. He jumps in the way and takes the hit. He then risks overloading his system by activating multiple weapons on his arsenal due to the supersaturated cosmic energy in the IS-verse. All that so he could stop the bad guy from hurting his friends any more.
Absolute defense actually breaks down here. Which is even bigger cause for concern over Ichika. Meanwhile the rider system doesn't undo itself for reasons unknown :ninja:
As far as I remember I always use marks when doing a sarcasm
But yes, as I said, if their characterization is unchanged form canon, they will go to Ichika first, THEN realize that someone else is impaled. True, they don't know him personally, but still at least they can have some empathy, and thanked him for saving Ichika.
“And so, the United Nations Welfare Agency has found various evidence that the German Army has conducted illegal human experimentation and violated the child protection act"
It was eerily silent in the court room. On the big screen details about the scandal were shown. One of the bold phrases was “Super Soldier Project”
“It was necessary for the survival of our country”
She frowned, “The United Nations never actually forbade human experimentation, so long as it’s not beyond what considered humane. For the benefit of humankind”
“Mrs. Yuuki, please keep your tone down” UN Secretary of Defense shook his head.
United Nations Defense Force was the epitome of a military front that recently formed at the dawn of Cold War. With the existence of Aliens recognized fully, Earth needed to unite under a single banner, or at least, show to people out there that yes, they were weak, but not meaningless.
“It's true that this case is heinous” he continued “On the other hand, we gained a lot of information which, in the near future, will benefit us for real”
The dispute regarding Germany’s under the table dealings continued solemnly. Yuuki Ringo (32), a famous activist as well as Director General of United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization – UNESCO, was one of the strongest oppressors.
In the end, it was decided that several key individuals would be prosecuted according to international law.
One could hear the cries of injustice and hypocrisy when WHO and UNESCO both agreed that the project results would be used for a breakthrough in the development of medical and health sciences, regardless of its heavily controversial origins.
Ringo paid no attention, she knew about the hard truth.
In the end, nothing about the United Nations was black or white; sometimes a necessary evil is just that: Required. Ringo couldn’t deny that, but she had to do her role as the lighter shade of gray. It was all about power balance between order and chaos, rather than good and evil.
The red headed woman missed her home badly, but there are plenty of things she should take care of first.
Indeed, it was really ironic. In spite of being one of the most well-known faces of Child welfare before she regained her position now, she spent more time with her job rather than with her children, back in Japan.
She looked at the photo frame in her room thoroughly.
A red haired boy and girl who happened to be twins, a younger girl they carried, and a tall, muscular man who carried three of them without any problem. Her family, her precious family which she neglected.
Therefore, she had a wish.
She wished that all her effort and her children's sacrifices so far wouldn't be a wasted, working together with people from WHO, she would make sure to support the victim to the fullest.
That's when she met her, Laura Bodewig.
Her gaze was flat; her magenta eyes looked at the older woman carefully.
The little girl was an empty shell, everything about her during her eleven years of life was either laboratory and military. To her, nothing else mattered. She'd been abused and neglected, treated and trained as a soldier for as long she could remember.
Her left eye bore an eyepatch. When Ringo tried to open it, Laura shunned her fiercely.
Ringo never gave up, and with a gentle, and a motherly touch, she managed to accomplish it.
Laura had beautiful, golden orbs for a left eye. Ringo smiled and hugged her, which she responded with utter confusion.
Laura tried to push her away again, this kind of intimacy and closeness was a totally alien sensation for her. Its human nature that uncertainty led to fear, and Laura was really confused right now.
However, Ringo wouldn’t budge, no matter how much Laura resisted.
[BSeptember 28, 2011, Charite Medical University Hospital, Berlin[/B]
“Mrs. Yuuki, are you sure about this?”
Ringo wanted to answer, she really did, but the answer was stuck out on her throat, being a convoluted mess of arguments.
Laura stood beside her, looked at her with increasing confusion.
“What are you doing?!”
It was the red haired boy; on his back was his twin sister. His face was deathly pale, between the pain and helplessness. He simply couldn't take it anymore.
“I’m going to do it, Kaa-san”
“…. Rito”
“… I’m going to live” He smirked “I’m not going to meet death so soon. I'll challenge death and bear the misery for the rest of my life. Riko also agreed with me on this.”
No offense, but this sounds kinda narmy
“That’s my children, alright!”
Saibai Yuuki, the man of the family, burst through the door fiercely, even though his subordinates, as well as a couple of nurses, tried top stop him, to no avail. An IV catheter was strapped to his wrists. A common mark when someone wasn't really healthy, but that didn't stop him in the slightest.
His children were dying. And yet, he gloriously stood up in the middle of hospital by his own strength, carrying his sister even. His wife had traveled through over nine thousand kilometer just so she could watch, and she was restless herself. He wasn't going to give in to something as small as exhaustion.
Subtle rustling sounds filled the silent corridor, as a six year old girl hummed a children's song, practically unidentified by the locals. From her back, four animated prosthetic arms stretched to the ground, supporting her weight.
There was a humongous amount of cranes made out of folded paper in her hands.
“My wish…” she whispered. Her wish is for them to live.
“Let’s carry out the procedure” Ringo nodded, between her husband and her children, none of them would willfully follow the doomed fate of Yuuki twins. She was going to watch till the end, the struggle of her children against a nerve disease of extraterrestrial origin.
Reed and Riko offered themselves as a testbed for the latest medical procedure implemented for the disease known as 'Silver Phantom', that already took away four thousand children across the world and permanently crippled five times that number, in spite being new occurrence.
The scientist and specialist involved were confident about the success rate, after so much trial and error, this one was their last bet towards the dreadful plague. Based on the inhuman experiment that was the super soldier project, it was really controversial, but people always have to start somewhere. Yuuki Ringo knew the sheer irony, being one of the loudest protesters, and yet, now her children’s lives depended on that god-forsaken research, and now they had to become experiment subjects themselves.
It was a sin she would bear, and she would never forgive herself for it. She would continue to do what she could to follow her ideal, even if she had to be come the most hypocritical person in the world.
The operation took three days and dozens of staff, but it was declared a success as far as they were concerned. Now they were just waiting for the results. The twins, along with several other volunteers, were each currently suspended in the recovery tube, also known as 'Iron Womb'.
Laura looked at it, the was the place where she was born, or rather, created, and she didn’t know which one was the truth. All she knew that she has informed everything about her origin.
For the first time in her life, she knew something about the ‘values of existence’. Her existence meant something, she had yet to find it, but there was always that confusion when she saw the red haired twins open their eyes for the first time after weeks of artificially-induced recovery sleep.
She really didn’t understand it. Why did humans smile? And yet, they could fight fiercely against anything threatened their very existence.
April 4, 2013, Sainan Private Junior High, Central Tokyo region.
Reed Yuuki, more commonly called Rito, moaned as he put his outdoor shoes in the locker and replaced it with the indoor sandals (wabaki).
“That storm was insane, I say!” His best friend, Kenneth Saruyama screamed “Seriously, we don’t even have enough time for hanami, there’s simply nothing left!”
“Are you stupid? This too late to do that to begin with” Rito exclaimed nonchalantly, much to Saruyama’s chagrin, “Hey I’m just trying to have a conversation!”
“Don’t start my day with something so lame.....”
Both spiky haired boys continued to banter as they entered the classroom, where they are greeted by other classmates.
It was a very ordinary day, too ordinary, they thought.
The closest thing to something interesting, for Rito, was to steal a gaze or two from certain girl named Haruna Sairenji.
She was cute and beautiful, sure, but nothing out of ordinary about it that warranted that much attention by almost everyone. Her strong point is that she was truly dependable and smart.
Just now, she was helping the teacher without any problems. However, she wasn't above reprimanding the boys who forgot to do their task sorting out the classroom yesterday. Furthermore, she'd done it subtly and professionally rather than being strict and angry
“After all, it’s a matter of choice right?” She asked nicely.
“Fine” They said in unison.
Saruyama caught it of course “Dude, you’re in love!”
“What? You gotta be kidding me.” Rito harshly responded. The red haired boy, for all he knew, never paid special attention to gender difference and whatnot.
Meanwhile, his gaze was set on the dirty schoolyard. The sudden anomalous storm was unexpected, and the devastation it caused was severe. It was fortunate that the casualties were minimum compared to what people feared, but still, they didn’t come out out of it unscathed.
Rito was specifically paying attention to the flower garden, which was flattened without trace, besides wet flower petals and leaves that were being swept by the school caretaker.
April 6, 2013, Sainan Private Junior High, Central Tokyo region.
Haruna just came out of the student council room after the meeting with other class rep and student council members.
Glancing at the window, she saw a familiar figure talking with the aged school gardener, both looking enthusiastic.
“That guy, he sure was cute eh?”
The silky purple haired girl just blinked. Cute? Sure, everyone said that about him. He was somewhat an awkward guy, but did that really matter? Rito also seemed to be offended if anyone used that word regarding him.
“Akizuki-san is supposed to retire very soon… he said he was too old for this, and apparently he's sad because the garden he always took care of was wiped out by the sudden storm. Yuuki seems to be taking initiative at restoring it, and he was very happy about it… that’s what I heard so far, how nice of him”
Indeed, how nice. For all intents and purposes, what he was doing was for self-satisfaction, but that didn't matter.
If it'll make other people happy, she'll help him. And thus, she approached.
“Excuse me”
“Ah… Sa-sairenji” as usual, his reply was a bit stuttered. She already expected it, though for some reason, she can found herself incredibly anxious. She managed to gather enough control to hide it with her strongest weapon: her smile.
“Can I join?”
The gardener and the red haired boy were left astonished.
May 8, 2013, Sainan Private Junior High, Central Tokyo region.
It was a blur of red, everyone didn't expect it. Class 1-1 was so far left behind that it was simply impossible to win. But here, he’s breaking through, by himself surpassing the others, catching up with the considerably fast female runner of class 1-2.
And he won.
While setting a new record time.
It was miraculous, to say at the least. He was overwhelmed by the strain and fatigue true, but still, everyone acknowledged his effort.
His eyes met Haruna’s who looked so happy that he wanted to dig a hole and bury himself in shame.
The sport day had yet to be ended, so Rito raced himself to the field to join with the soccer club where he belongs.
July 3, 2013, Sainan Private Junior High, Central Tokyo region.
Rito wasn’t exactly amused by his result that he was able to use I.S; he however, was surprised that Saruyama did as well. And two other students, Orimura Ichika and Gotanda Dan, both from class 1-2.
He returned to his sanctuary. The school’s newly grown flower garden.
He was surprised, but happy, that Haruna herself was there.
“Congratulations, Yuuki-kun” she smiled gently, making his heart race in the process.
“… Thanks, but I’m not even sure that I’m happy with this” He managed to hide the problem, keeping his expression straight “… Does that sound stupid?”
“No, far from it”
“Eh?”
“… They said, how lucky, how envious. But don’t they know? It isn't easy to become a noteworthy pilot”
Now that Rito remembered, Haruna’s sister was Canadian I.S. pilot, currently a second year in I.S. Academy. Haruna must've known about the hardships of being a pilot; even though there were always benefits, it wasn't always worth the effort.
“Like they said though, I’m not going to waste this.” Rito mumbled, “I’ll go to Europe”
She raised her eyebrow in response, “Europe?”
“Too many Japanese pilots, too little to offer, so we decided to develop our career somewhere else. It's convenient that I have something to solve there. Two years iss the standard Cadet Representative Training, I still have few months left to do anything as a free man, after that, I should decide.”
It wass an unsaid conclusion: They would be separated. Neither of them knew that the bond was always there, obscured by the inability to admit to each other and catch the hints.
It was a small regret. Haruna however, knew that they would meet again.
And thus, instead of good bye, she said, “See you again, Yuuki-kun.”
July 13, 2014, 1100 hours. Eurasian Joint Strike Force Training Ground, Berlin.
“Ha… ha… ha…”
“What’s wrong, sissy boy? I’ve seen a girl faster than you-“
As if he was tempting fate, the drill instructor was surprised by the single boy, swift as hurricane, but subtle as a night breeze. Passing through the barricade and web like it wasn’t there, each step heard was like a tap on the corner of a desk.
That boy was smiling all along; his hazel-colored eyes gave an unexplainable radiant charm.
He didn't hold the first rank for long, however, as a girl with long silver hair passed him rather easily.
“Puh, weakling”, Were the only words came from her lips as she passed him, much to his chagrin.
“Amazing”, That mock, supposedly a humiliating remark, served as the coal to the stove, and he was encouraged to push himself harder.
As of now, the margin of difference wasn’t that great. Arriving at the firing range, they quickly snatched nearby weapon container chute-dropped from a passing aircraft, while pressing themselves to dodge a barrage of paint bullets.
“My sign”, Delivering a series of signals, the silver haired girl grinned, earning a small nod as response from the boy. Both of them launched themselves, rolling on top of the damp battlegrounds to reach nearby boulder, which they intended to use as cover.
Firing high velocity plastic rounds, the submachinegun and the shotgun delivered a barrage of gunfire, smashing a pair of sentry drones in process.
A single tubular object was thrown to another group of drones, exploding in a deafening bang and eye-blinding flash.
All the while the boy and the girl successfully flanked the confused drone sentries, disabling them with another barrage.
Other participant of the survival race were almost caught off guard, as they watched the pint-sized dark-horses mowing through the blockade of paint-gun armed drones.
Kicked the door, she began to clear the way with suppression fire, and the boy stepped on the wall, bouncing like a rubber ball and securing the rest with a hail of bullets.
Switching roles in another area, the girl was flanked the drones and stabbed them with her knife as he acted as decoy.
The other area was filled with mock traps, so they had to be careful.
“Just a little more”
“Go ahead…”
Sharply gazing at him, the girl frowned.
“Too much…this… cannot handle…”
The survival course itself was designed for well trained adult, and both of them were a couple of 13 year old half-pints. Reaching the area was miraculous… That or they weren't average kids. The girl was certain that she wasn't.
As his legs gave up, the boy tripped and lay on the hard soil, panting. His red hair had been washed with mud and dirt, almost unrecognizable. The girl left him without any hesitation…
“This is the end huh?” chuckling, he let himself to relax…
Only to find that he was being carried by the girl.
“WHA?”
“A helpless guy is the type I despise the most, you hear that, shrimphead?!” She barked, hiding her own difficulties of carrying the boy slightly taller and tad heavier than her.
She remembered again that it was the weakness of a guy that putting was her idol to shame.
“-Ki’
“What?! Talk louder!”
“The name is Reed Yuuki, you twat!”
She was astounded for a while, processing the information… is it the same Yuuki? She had learned that people who shared a surname didn't necessarily means the same family, or at least, closely related. Hell, as far as she remembered, Bodewig was more like a code name.
Still, she could recognize the sense of familiarity. He had the same red hair, and the same eyes as her. Now that she remembered, this was one of the test subjects of new medical procedure four years ago. Was this the reason of why Ringo said she was indebted to Laura?
“Buh, get yourself on your ass and RUN!” she roared, throwing him with such great force that he could land on his feet and accelerate quickly “and the name is Bodewig! Laura Bodewig!”
Passed the safety line, they choose to jump into nearby pool of water, and almost drowned themselves due to rapid cooldown of their muscle and nerve system, causing slight paralysis.
“Fuah! Ha… ha… that was amazing….”
“… Pffftt, still a kid you are?”
“How exactly you can be so calm about that?” he asked in disbelief. Showing no sign of excessive fatigue, the girl didn't look like she ran a 10 km route full of traps and drones, just a little panting and sweat.
Meanwhile, the guy is a mess. His face is bright red and both his heart rate and breath is irregular.
“Who told you brats to swim here huh?"
Hesitantly, both of them looked behind and grinned awkwardly, the instructor from hell crossed her arm on top of her impressive assets, not even a bulletproof vest could hide them.
The sheer beauty and elegance of her appearance didn't diminish the utter terror she brought with that compelling smirk of her.
“GET OUT, NOW! POOL IS CLOSED”
“WAAAAAH!!!!”
And that was how Schwarzer Hase Special Force is born.
I'm torn whenever I think of the scene. Chifuyu caring more about Ichika or about Gentarou? I feel like after such an incident, tension would power through the roof and blow the top off ISA.