Unyielding Resolve - Cecilia Alcott x OC

Chapter 12 - Guilt

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

IS Academy - No POV

Classes had finally concluded for the day. Students began to return to their dorms, casually exchanging small talk with passing friends. Ichika and Houki went to train in one of the arenas, while James waited at the main entrance of the academy for Cecilia. Even though he requested she meet him at the jumpjet, he instead thought it would be a more suitable idea to invite her to a more comfortable environment to provide any additional information she was curious about. James leaned against the wall beside the door, waiting for Cecilia to walk through the doors while looking down at his phone browsing various S.T.R.I.K.E. files on current operations. One particular file caught his eye, a level eight file with classified information. His eyes narrowed in suspicion, noting the only available information was the name of the operation: Project Tempest. Due to his level seven access, he knew he was unable to access the file and didn't even bother attempting to do so. Something about the file struck him as odd, being laid out carelessly in the directory for all to see but still be classified other than the project name. "I'll need to inquire to the director about this..." the young agent made a mental note.

The girl he was waiting for made her way through the doors, but stopped when she noticed James leaning against the door still using his phone. "Hello James. Were you waiting for me?" she cheerfully asked, James raising his head from his phone upon hearing her voice. "Actually, I thought it would be a better idea to discuss anything in my room." Cecilia froze, blushing immensely at his proposition. A few moments passed with her face turning as red as a tomato, James thought he could see steam coming from her ears and asked "Cecilia? Are you okay?" His voice pulled her from the tornado of unladylike thoughts running through her head and responded awkwardly "Yes, yes I am fine James dear! It's just...what will the other students think...?" while shifting her gaze to the ground in embarrassment. James simply shrugged and replied "It's not like we're doing anything bad, we're just going to talk." The blonde IS pilot clearly became disappointed at his reassurance, but hesitantly agreed to join him in his room. "I suppose I wouldn't mind, that plane of yours is rather uncomfortable." "That's what prompted my idea. Shall we?" James clarified, gesturing to the door with his left hand. Cecilia nodded and walked through the doors first, followed shortly by James.

As it was late, not many students were up and about. The ones that were gave cheeky grins and sometimes light giggles and whispers as Cecilia walked closely beside one of the only two male pilots. Cecilia turned slightly red during each of the handful of instances on their way to James' room, while James himself paid no mind to the other pilots. Finally arriving at his room, James opened the door like a gentlemen for Cecilia, who kindly smiled at his manners. The two walked into the dorm, Cecilia observing every inch of the room belonging to the boy she had grown fond of in an attempt to better understand him. As she anticipated, his room was extremely spartan, quite the opposite of the lavish setup in her room. He had no possessions of his own other than a charger of some kind she noticed plugged into the nightstand.

"Would you like some water?" James' offer gained her attention. "No thank you, but I appreciate the kind gesture." Cecilia kindly replied, with James simply nodding in response. "I guess we should get started." he said, but right as they each sat on the two beds in the room, a pair of muffled female voices in the room next door began to disturb them. Sighing in annoyance, James rose up from his seat and told Cecilia "Let me go see what that is..." He opened the brown wooden door, turned left, and walked to the adjacent dormitory. Looking atop the door to identify who the residents were, he read the numbers 1025. "Oh." he remarked, knowing exactly who the room belonged to. Opening the door as he mentally scolded himself for pulling the pin on an unsavory grenade, he witnessed Ichika, Rin, and Houki in yet another argument. Entering the room right as Houki yelled "Stop ignoring me you trollop! Okay it's come to this!" to Rin proved to be a very dangerous mistake, as Tabane's younger sister grabbed her kendo sword prompting Ichika to yell "Not in the house!" in deep fear and concern. James stepped back slightly and quietly shut the door behind him, not wishing to get involved as the trio had yet to notice his presence.