Unyielding Resolve - Cecilia Alcott x OC

Chapter 14 - Intruder

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

Arena Two - James' POV

Before I got the chance to jump into the arena to help, the blast shutters had folded over the opening, effectively blocking any assistance to Ichika and Rin. Grunting in frustration, I turned to Cecilia who was still slightly shaken by the explosion. Without wasting time I got her attention by pointing at the entrance door and yelled "We need to get to the command room, I might be able to help from there!" My idea helped calm her down, and she nodded confidently in agreement at my recommendation understanding that there was no time to waste. We began to run through the dark corridors of the academy, dimly lit by the reddish orange alert lights in the ceiling. Obviously we didn't run into any other students on our way there, as I assumed most were panicked and were being evacuated.

"Do you think they'll be okay out there?" Cecilia asked me through heavy inhales and exhales as we ran faster than we normally did. I didn't need much time to think about an answer, because even though my opinion of Ichika initially wasn't that high, this match demonstrated that he finally has figured out the basics and could hold his own. "Ichika and Rin are probably buying time to get everyone out safe. We need to report to Ms. Orimura for instructions." I responded between breaths. After a few more minutes, we managed to make it to the command room where Chifuyu, Ms. Yamada, and Houki were watching a screen of the battle. We stopped in the doorway, inhaling and exhaling heavily as we caught our breath from running so fast. On the monitor, we observed a black IS with gold trimming around the arms. It was bulky, and the pilot was covered in a full seal suit which was much more primitive compared to the one on my Black Eagle. The arms and shoulders were much more robust compared to the rest of the IS, giving it a distinct mechanical engine-like aesthetic. The helmet had five glowing red eyes around the edge of the smooth faceplate with not much symmetry between the eyes.

Before we could say anything, Ms. Yamada called to the pair who we just saw dive into the black cloud of smoke in the arena. "Orimura please come in! If you can hear me please respond! Are either of you listening to me?! Fan, Orimura! What are you doing?!" Maya's voice yelled in concern over the comm, trying to get their attention. "They said they could handle the situation didn't they? So I say we let them go for it." Chifuyu confidently replied, interrupting the green-haired teacher's panic. "What?! Please say that you're not serious! How can you say something like that at a time like this?!" Maya worriedly continued after sharply turning her head to face Chifuyu. Ms. Orimura turned to Ms. Yamada and spoke softly with a slight smile "Oh calm down. Just chill and have a cup of coffee or something. You're only stressing because your body's running low on sugar." and began to scoop some powder from a pair of boxes with a tiny metal spoon next to her hot coffee.

Noticing which one she was scooping from, I slightly panicked that she was about to just dump salt into her drink. "Ah-" I raised my hand and lifted a finger in concern as I was about to try and save her coffee, but my finger and arm slightly drooped because I was too late. After stirring her drink with the spoon, as she picked up the mug preparing to drink the tainted liquid within, Maya decided to call out the same thing I had just tried to prevent. "Um before you drink that...what you actually just added was the salt..." Chifuyu stopped with the mug just in front of her mouth. "Uh..." was all she managed to get out in embarrassment. Sighing in annoyance at being so careless, she lowered her head and blushed slightly.

Houki was still fixated on the battle, and only managed to say her childhood friend's name in deep concern. "Ichika..." Since we were clearly wasting time and I heavily disagreed with Chifuyu's order to let Ichika and Rin fight by themselves, I stepped forward and Cecilia followed. Finally noticing that we had entered the room, the trio of women turned to face us. "Please ma'am, give us authorization to use our IS units! We can move out right away!" Cecilia pleaded, while I said nothing and simply gave Chifuyu a look that said that I agreed. Houki turned to Chifuyu with a more desperate version of my expression, and the latter responded with her arms crossed "I wish I could do that but..." She turned her head to the viewscreen and continued. "Well..." The monitors on the screen indicated that arena two had a full level four lockdown initiated. "The arena's deflection shield's setting is currently at level four..." Houki pointed out, followed by Cecilia adding "And on top of that all of the doors have been automatically sealed." After finishing her sentence, she gasped and placed her hand on her chin, coming to a conclusion which I had already arrived at moments ago. "Did that IS cause this?"