The hour struck 12, and the mid-day classes ended. Students began pouring out from their classrooms, some yawning at the rapidity of the school, while others beamed with excitement. The city streets were soon filled with them and you’d think this was a convention of sorts.

It seemed like that to Amanda and she had never seen such a sight in a while. Everyone here wore similar school attire, yet, among the crowd she spotted a few oddities. Some men and women wore military equipment on, looking very out of place.

Though, all the students, save for the first years, gave these oddities no mind. Instead, these odd people blended in. They walked to and from, from place to place. Chatting, listening, and even walking around with other students as if they were close.

Amanda soon dawned onto why this was. Andromeda was an academy for explorers, and military might went hand in hand with explorers nowadays. So seeing people who were in the military mingle here didn’t seem all that strange anymore.

“Heck yeah! Lunch time. I wonder what’s on the menu today.”

“Maybe it's Katsu?”

“Nah, Curry would be better.”

“You’re joking right, Udon is the best.”

She overheard some students, with a few of those characters mixed in. They chatted as they walked, to where Amanda assumed was the cafeteria, and this scene seemed like any other school day.

Meanwhile, other students instead went out to eat, deciding a meal other than cafeteria food was better. They had the leeway to do so, since they had 2 hours before the start of the end of day classes.

Strange that they had such a long lunch break, though this invited the students to explore the expansive campus. Truly, it was massive and was more like a city.

Buildings all around towered above with businesses or services that ranged from basic shops for groceries, to even designer clothing stores. This place had everything. Everything that a person could live comfortably with, and it was all contained in the terracolony.

There were so many people, and mostly every student here got along. Of course, there were some conflicts as all schools had and were somewhat prevalent here due to an age difference between the students. Some in training explorers could begin as young as 5-year-old children, to as old as 30-year-old adults.

These embers of conflict from ageist viewpoints were easily diffused, the local police force made sure of that. But really, no one wanted to cause too much trouble. Everyone here had come to the academy to be an explorer, and expulsion was a one-way ticket out of here for forever, and a blemish on their track record.

Competition was still prevalent though and there was bullying too.

Amanda’s ears perked up to the shouts of the sounds of a fight nearby. Turning her eyes out the window in the hall, she witnessed what was going on.

Two students were squaring off, having likely gotten into a childish argument. Both of them seemed to be in their teens.

She thought that this kind of violent and rough housing behavior was par for the course, they were kids in her eyes, not adults, not yet that is.

For her, the orphanage she was from was the same. People just seemed to always conflict with one another, over the simplest of things. Be it about sharing toys or over arguments of who was stronger or smarter, or how they looked.

As the pair of students were rough housing, Amanda made a mental bet that the larger scarier looking teenager would win. Perhaps this was a bias on her part for how appearances seemed to sway her answer.

Suddenly, a tap on her shoulder turned her attention away. Standing just behind her in the hallway, a person with spiky black hair was greeting her, and Amanda knew this person.

“Hey! Amanda? Do you want to join us for lunch today? Or are you with the other first years today?”

“Hmm?”

Noticing Ikki was the one who called to her, Amanda hummed as she looked to Stella who stood next to him. She thought for a bit and eventually nodded a couple moments later.

“Sure, I think I’ve shared most of my stories with the first years, but is that okay with you, Stella?” Amanda glanced at her.

“Of course, why…wouldn’t it be, hah.” She stifled a sigh.

Amanda could tell that this was a wrong move on her part. Stella likely really wished that Ikki hadn’t asked another girl to eat lunch with him, she wanted him all to herself. Though, lately, Stella wasn’t getting any real luck on that front.

“Little Brother!” A loud voice caught everyone in the hallway off guard. The voice was cheery and rhythmic of all things, perhaps someone knew who this was, and Amanda knew just who.

“Speak of the devil and so “she” comes.” She mumbled.

Running up to Ikki, Shisuki clung to him as he flailed his arms in surprise. He was taken off balance by his Big Sister’s “loving” tackle.

“Wha? Shisuki? Again? Really? Don’t you want to make some friends here? A mature girl like you should be hanging out with people other than her brother.”

“Oh come now Little Brother.” Shisuki said, a teasing yet blissful smile on her fair lips. “I have all the friends and love I need in you. I don’t need anyone else.”

She snuggled Ikki’s arm, pressing her flat chest against it, trying to get him to hear and feel her heartbeat.

“Pft!” A small scoff escaped Stella’s lips, unable to contain her laughter at Shisuki’s “modest” assets and failed seduction. She knew Ikki liked bigger breasts and knowing this, she could confidently believe that Ikki found his sister’s actions more of an irritation.

Luckily, no one else but Amanda saw this so Stella was in the clear from Shisuki.

If Stella didn’t say a thing now, maybe a fight wouldn’t break out, but Amanda wouldn’t hold her breath on that happening.

Pushing her nose up, Stella craned her neck up a bit to glare up at Shisuki, their slight difference in height was apparent. Nevertheless, Stella tried to talk down to her from a point of superiority.

“Shisuki, if you keep clinging to my master like this, then you’ll one day break his arm over that hard chest of yours. Perhaps you should learn about personal space?”

“Shut it, pig.” Said Shisuki curtly, with clear intent to strike with deep disdain. “At least I don’t have to worry about suffocating him in fat, nor will I poison him with your indecency.”

“What did you say you freaky brocon?”

“Oh? Do you have fat in your ears as well, what a shame.” Shisuki gave a sarcastic sneer of pity and glared at Stella.

Sparks flew between these two girls, and all the while, Ikki was caught in the middle. A red aura leaked from Stella while a blue aura leaked from Shisuki.

His legs began to quiver between them, he could all too clearly sense the battle spirits rising in both of them.

“Uh? Stella, don’t do anything rash, alright? And Shisuki, please! Calm down. Your core energy is leaking out.”

Fumbling in his head before he figured out what he could to diffuse the situation, Ikki firmly put his hand to Shisuki’s head of greenish white hair. He stroked her gently and she began to purr.

“Just calm down big sis, There there, let’s all get along, okay?”

“Hey! Don’t encourage her!”

Stella shot Ikki a glare as she shouted at him. In kind, Ikki shot more of a gaze back at her. This simple exchange of looks helped to get Stella to back down. She didn’t want to make too much of a scene, she hoped.

“Hah.” Sighed Stella. “Fine, you are my master, so I’ll accept your decision, but..!”

Stella slid over, pulled, and wrapped herself around Ikki’s other arm. This took the arm on Shisuki’s head away, and she furrowed her brow as if she had woken up on the wrong side of the bed.

“That’s mine. Don’t steal this from me.” She raised her voice, angered and ready to wrench Ikki’s arm from the depths of Stella’s mounds of soft fat.

For Shisuki, it had been years since she had any contact with her little brother, so she wanted to make up for the lost time.

“Let go, you homewrecker!” Pulling the arm she held, Shisuki tried to break Stella’s grasp on him. With enough strength, she thought she could free Ikki from Stella’s nonsensical sense of duty as his slave and her intrusive clinginess.

“No way!” Replied Stella strongly. “And Ikki doesn’t belong to anyone.” She huffed and held tighter, burying Ikki’s arm into her plump breasts.

“He’s my brother! Step! Away!”

“No! He’s my master! And a servant must be at their master’s side!”

Again, another battle of words ensued between the two girls. Ikki tried to calm them both down but holding himself together was all he could do right now. It was hard enough to do, as both girls tried to pull him away from the other, he strained, his arms like pulled noodles..

If they pulled any more seriously, he’d be in trouble, and maybe they’d both get a half of him, literally.

All the while this was happening, Amanda watched on with a hidden smile. Another familiar tap on her shoulder then drew her attention away from her thoughts.

“Ummm. Excuse me..Miss Amanda?”

“Oh! Richard.” She turned to that calm and polite voice behind her. She gave a subtle nod in greeting. “Yeah what’s up?”

“It’s just, well, Is it always going to be like this between them?” Richard asked, exasperated by what he was seeing.

The ongoing spectacle of a catfight was not rare to Richard by now. He had been hanging out with Shisuki the past few days since they were roommates. Also, they had become fast friends over the stories Itsuki shared with the two of them.

This meant that he was nearby when he and Shisuki would meet Ikki and Stella.

Both Stella and Shisuki always brought some attention to themselves every day, mostly over Ikki, so much so that it got considered normal real fast.

Currently, they were outside of the building they just had class in. Other first year students were around and could see the ongoing catfight.

Stella’s and Shisuki’s arguments were interesting at first, but after a week of the same routine, it had quickly become so commonplace. So now, some students just glanced over and then moved on.

Though, a few did give Ikki a dirty or jealous look from time to time.

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“Hmm, it seems like this is going to be the norm for a while. Those two girls are set on what they want, so I’ve given up on trying to intervene.”

Amanda gave Richard’s question a shrug. There was no stopping them, or changing what was already happening. While this took up their lunch time, Amanda was content on watching, wanting it to continue and make further developments. It was so amusing to watch since this situation was straight out of a romance comedy.

Stella eventually glanced around, noticing the small amount of attention on her and quickly broke away first from the fight. Turning her head from Shisuki and Ikki, she pouted for a time.

“Hmph! Jerk.” She mumbled, a frown on her face that detracted the allure of her beauty.

Though not for long. Stella sat next to him in the cafeteria as they all got moving, as did Shisuki as well, who sat uncomfortably close to Ikki’s left side.

Taking their lunches out, three distinct kinds of bento boxes were on display today.

Between Stella and Ikki, two large black lacquered bento boxes were filled to the brim with all kinds of food, and wafted its delicious scent into the air. The amount of food seemed enough to feed everyone here, yet Stella declared this was more of a light meal to her.

A shocking statement to Richard, though he logically deduced a correlation between Stella’s breast size to the amount she ate. A fleeting deduction on his part, that he quickly wiped away as to not be rude.

“Wow! Stella, did you make this.” Asked Amanda. She couldn’t help to sniff the air and look so intently across the table.

“Yup, with a little help from Ikki, we were able to make all our favorites this time. I’m excited to eat something we made together.” Stella blushed, reminded of how fun it was to cook alongside her master this morning.

“Well you did say that you wanted to try Japanese cuisine.” Ikki said. “How about you Richard? You’ve got quite the unique lunch box there.”

“Oh! This?” Holding his own lunch in hand, Richard showed off what looked like a tower shaped bento box. He opened each compartment that made up the tower’s shape, coming apart into individual containers. In total, five different dishes were now on display, as if it were a small feast.

“I actually didn’t make all this, Miss Shisuki did. She offered me lunch if I helped her a little this morning. I’m not much of a cook, so it's a blessing I get to eat a home cooked meal.”

“Hmph!” Shisuki gave a pointed look to Stella’s breasts and her oversized bento box. “Hah, you shouldn’t gorge yourself too much on food, “Miss Stella”. A full stomach will lead to a fat belly, but..whatever.”

She scoffed. ”In any case, here, Little Brother, say ah!”

Proffering some of her own lunch, Shisuki held it in front of Ikki, who leaned away a bit in befuddlement.

“B-big sister, I can eat on my own you know.”

“Oh?” A defeated expression climbed onto Shisuki. “You would deny your own Big sister’s loving food, the food she poured her heart and soul into making?” Her voice cracked and it played at Ikki’s heart strings.

“Little Brother, just how heartless can you be.” She sniffled softly, a bit of moisture welling in her emerald eyes for effect.

“I-I uh…hah. Fine…” Surrendering, Ikki opened his mouth a bit and said. “Ahhhh.”

“Te heh.” Giggling as she got her way, Shisuki fed her beloved brother. Like always, Stella fumed in jealous anger, but instead of shouting, she scooped up a large helping of food from her own lunch.

“Here Master! Eat this!” Stella demanded with an intent so large it weighed on Ikki.

“Ummm, Okay?” Ikki spoke as he chewed, his mouth already almost full and getting fuller by the moment. Both his sister and his roommate watched with judging looks on their faces, seeing who got the better response.

When Ikki swallowed without showing any real reaction, they then proceeded to feed him until his cheeks were almost bursting.

“If you three are finished with your horsing around, why not take a bite of mine as well then.” Offered Amanda, who looked at the three strangely. Ikki looked as if he were about to suffocate, so she threw him a lifeline, of sorts.

“Huh? Amanda? What are you-“ Stella was about to ask if she was trying to pull something, but got a wink as an answer. Trusting in her, she gave Amanda the floor.

Shisuki silently did the same and kept an eye on Amanda. Her teacher, Itsuki, told her that this young girl was special in a way, perhaps this would be a good time to figure out why. You could tell a lot from a person by watching and listening to them.

Unbundling the cloth around the neatly packed bento box of hers, Amanda revealed a colorful and cutely designed wooden box with what looked like fluffy animal prints on it. By all means. it looked childish, and when she had revealed it days before to other students she ate with, everyone who was there at the time got a good laugh out of her sudden embarrassment.

Thankfully, Ikki, Stella, Richard, and Shisuki didn’t laugh.

When they looked closer, they discovered that each drawing was actually carved into the box and layered with an epoxy that set the design into the facets of wood with a glossy sheen.

“Oh! Guess I’m having braised beef and rice today.” Said Amanda.

While she should have known what was inside, Amanda had not made her own lunch. In truth, she got this lunch box in the mail, or well, the drop off box to her room.

Every morning she’d always check the mail, and like the first day of school, Amanda found this there, wrapped up and ready for her to eat.

She had yet to thank Stella for packing this every day for her, so why not bring it up now to help her look good in front of Ikki.

“Here, have a taste Ikki. You’ll love this for sure.”

“Umm, sure.” With a bite, Ikki tasted the proffered spoonful of braised beef and rice. He chewed it a bit and was flabbergasted.

“Woah, this is good. It melts in your mouth and the rice is perfectly cooked. Amanda? Did you really make this? I didn’t know you could cook a dish as complexly flavored like this.”

“Nope.” Amanda enunciated, her expression as if she was playing a trick. “You can thank Stella for that.” She said gracefully, as if teeing the compliment up.

“Really?” Ikki looked to Stella, and Amanda knew her friend would pounce at the chance to look good.

“Hmmm? No, I didn’t make that? Amanda, what’s the deal with your lunch box, I thought you made it?” By the tone of her voice, everyone could tell that Stella was confused. It even took Amanda off guard.

“What do you mean Stella, weren’t you the one who put this lunch box into my personal drop off box?”

“No? It wasn’t me.”

“Huh, so if you didn’t make it, then who did?”

“Perhaps a secret admirer.” Suggested Richard. “You are quite popular Amanda. Almost every first year knows you as a kind “dorm mother” of sorts. Any idea who might have given this to you?”

To her own recollection, Amanda couldn’t put a pin in that. There were a lot of people, especially boys, who knew how to cook or had some amount of gratitude to her. So much so that it was too much to think about.

“Huh? I really have no clue. Talk about creepy.” Amanda shivered.

“Don’t say that Amanda, maybe they’re just being nice?” Stella said.

“Maybe, but it’s strange. Every time I’ve had lunch, I’m always satisfied with the food. There’s never anything wrong with it. It’s uncanny. Just how the heck does someone secretly know what I’m in the mood for?”

“Well, when you put it like that, it does seem creepy. Do you think it’s a stalker.” Stella turned her eyes around to see if anyone was weirdly looking at her friend.

“Not likely.” Added Ikki. “I think Itsuki would be on alert about that, plus the discipline committee as well. You are Itsuki’s assistant, so if a stalker was targeting you, then he’d be the first to know.”

“Why would you say that?” Amanda asked.

“It’s because, back when I worked under Itsuki for a time, he usually kept an eye on me.”

“Yeah, perhaps you’re right.” Stella recalled how Ikki had been put on a hit list in the past. He said that Itsuki and other explorers helped to keep him safe during that period of time in his life.

Itsuki’s track record of also being diligent was apparent in his supervisory attitude to keeping to dorm rules and regulations. Amanda and Stella could only imagine what he’d do to rule breakers or criminals.

“Actually, now that you brought up the twerp.” Added Amanda, as she looked around. “Does anyone know where Itsuki is?” She herself expected him to be nearby so that he could also be amused by Ikki’s plight with the girls.

She hadn’t seen him the past few days and would only talk to him via video calls more often ever since classes started.

“No.” Ikki replied, chewing on his own food. “You don’t know his school schedule?”

“Of course not, but I thought someone like you would know his schedule better than me. I’ve only known him for a couple weeks and you’ve known him longer, so it's surprising you say that. You really don’t know where he usually is?”

“Heh.” Ikki scratched his cheek in embarrassment. “You’re right. But, now that I think about it, Itsuki only seems to come to me when he needs to tell me something important. I couldn’t really find him when I wanted to unless I called him, why don’t you try that?”

“Nah, if the guy isn’t going to eat lunch with us, then let him be. He’d probably just spoil the meal with those weird eyes and that mood he has.”

“You’re a bit harsh on him. Itsuki is a good person, well…sometimes?”

Ikki’s slight pause and questioning tone didn’t really help evoke assurance in Amanda, in fact, she was now more averse to spending time around that weird guy.

Though, Itsuki was helpful in a way, his warning about what it took to be an explorer was enlightening, as were her sparring sessions with him, as painful as they were, Amanda admitted that she was improving.

“Indeed.” Shisuki nodded, seemingly agreeing with her little brother Ikki. Teacher is quite hard on people, but he means the best. At times in my training under Teacher, I thought I would almost die sometimes. I don’t regret getting beaten to an inch of my life, though… I wouldn’t want to repeat that constantly.”

“Huh? An inch of your life!” Gaped Stella. “Did he really do that to you? A girl? Just how much of a brute is he?”

“No no, you mistake how I said it. Teacher is a good person, it's just only hard to understand his methods of socializing.”

“Well I find that implausible. Strong as Itsuki may be, his ability to get along with people could use some work, maybe a tutor would do the trick.”

Stella’s suggestion sounded like a good idea. So much so that Ikki, Stella, Richard, and Shisuki looked to Amanda, the most social of the bunch, but then who vigorously shook her head side to side.

“No way, no way, no way. There is no way I’m teaching that guy anything. It’d be like talking to a brick wall that was about to fall on me at any second. And! He’ll probably just brush me off with more paperwork to do.”

“I see.” Richard said, as if noting that as a critical piece of information. It sounded contradictory to his own opinion of Itsuki. That night days ago, Itsuki had shared stories, he was quite talkative, blunt, but sociable in Richard’s opinion.

“How about you Richard? Do you want to take a crack at teaching Itsuki about social skills?” Asked Amanda as she gave him a nudge. Richard cracked a smile and shrugged.

“I don’t think I would be of any use. Itsuki doesn’t really need to be taught how to socialize in my opinion. He’s more or less got it figured out. He’s just more…”work oriented”.”

“Don’t you mean workaholic?” Joked Stella.

A round of laughter then passed around everyone. It was becoming an inside joke between them since Amanda had always complained about Itsuki and his demanding work ethics.

“Hah! So I’m considered a workaholic by the princess.” Said a familiar voice. “I don’t know if I should be flattered, or annoyed.”

As blunt and objective as ever, everyone who was once laughing turned to the voice and startled, saw Itsuki. He stood there just a couple of paces down the aisle of the long cafeteria table, as if he was always there from the beginning.

He had a bag slung on his shoulder and an empty tray in his hands. He likely just finished eating and was just passing by.

Amanda was the most surprised. Out of all of them, she had the most sensory capable manifested abilities. Since birth, she could always sense the presence of others.

Except, after meeting Itsuki, it seemed he was able to turn off his presence to her ever since their first violent meeting. Perhaps he hid it on purpose now, so that he wouldn’t suffer another sneak attack from Amanda, but she digressed on her thoughts. More pressingly was why he didn’t seem to come to school.

“Itsuki? Where have you been? I haven’t seen you in class or the academy for the past week. Just where did you go all of a sudden? Are you flaking?”

“Nope, I just do not take classes anymore. When you become a fourth year, you don’t need to take any more in person classes. You focus more on training and internships. There are in person classes I can take, but pretty much after my third year here, I begin basic beginner explorer activities to keep me sharp.”

“You don’t say?” Ikki sounded interested to know more about the curriculum and put a hand to his chin. He looked serious, as if he was thinking about something important to him personally. It drew Itsuki’s attention.

“If I recall Ikki, you wanted to get your explorer license as soon as possible, am I right?”

“Of course, it’s how I can achieve my dream and prove I can be an explorer too. I can do a lot of good as well.”

“Hmmm.” Itsuki hummed, eyeing Ikki as if appraising his worth. “I suppose I can tell you then. Ikki, If you have time, let’s get a bite to eat after class one of these days. I can tell you a way to get your explorer license early.”

“Is that even possible? I know internships allow for the opportunity, but that’s a couple of years from now. This is way too soon.”

“I know, I have a kind of shortcut you can take but you’ll need to work hard. For now, the advice I can give you presently is to make sure you pass the Practical Training Class. Without that, you won’t be able to truly graduate from here.”

Itsuki then looked over to Amanda.

“Take a look at your holo wrist device, I sent your work for today in advance, be sure to get “it” ready.”

“Oh sure, I guess I know what I’m doing after school today.” Sighed Amanda, though she quickly recovered her pep when she saw what was in her messages. “By the way, Itsuki? Just be sure to show up next time, alright?”

“Yeah yeah, see you later then.”

Just as he brushed Amanda’s implicating words away, a ringtone then hummed and Itsuki took out his personal device.

“This is Itsuki, what is it? This again! Really! Fine! Just send me the coordinates and pay me up front. No! I’m not going to give you slack on the fees! What am I to you, an amateur?”

As if going back into work mode, Itsuki walked away as he had a business-like call to take. He was a fulltime explorer, so that meant he made a living as one.

Stella looked at him funny, it was like seeing a machine at work, he was turning to the next objective as if nothing else mattered and gave no leeway in his decisions. Decisive how she could describe it.

“That guy really is strange, he’s strong, but strange.”

A round of “no kidding” came from everyone and they all began to chuckle again. Enjoying their lunch. They looked forward to their next classes, especially the Practical Training Class. It was getting passed around in rumors.

It was a unique class, done only once a month, so it boded as a special kind of class.