Chapter 13: Midnight conversations
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"You're really eating all of that?" Amuro asked in bafflement as he watched the girl he just met demolish the meal in front of her.
And she calls this a midnight snack.
Calling it a snack is understatement at all. The Cafeteria table (they broke in with Amuro's hacking skills) was full with various leftover meals from today. From big cuts of meat to reheated salad, she got it all for a full course meal.
She even got a tub of ice cream for dessert (Stolen in the cafeteria fridge).
Amir can only pray that this little night endeavor of his wouldn't be discovered by Ms. Maya or worse, Chifuyu.
He'll never hear the end of the possible scolding.
"Oi, I'm a growing girl. I need all the nutrients." The Albino haired girl pouted, munching on a piece of beef. She descended on the buffet in front of her like a tornado, hungry from her travels.
Honestly, it reminds Amuro of his co-workers back in the day in Londobell.
As for the girl, her name is Laura McTavish. A brand new transfer student from America. She just arrived very late in the academy so her hunger is understandable. Airport food is not very filling for a girl like her.
Especially when she's murdering her meal.
"Sorry." Amuro apologizes with an easy smile, apologetic in hitting a sore subject.
Laura's physique is rather… questionable for her age. Too short and too skinny. Unlike Rin who's petite but fit for IS pilot requirements, Laura doesn't look like she's fit for it.
She looks too malnourished for a future IS pilot.
But Amuro wouldn't judge her. He too was in fact unfit to pilot the RX-78-2 Gundam once, being a newbie in Mobile Suit piloting and in combat in general. It took time and a whole lot of luck till he became fully fit as the Gundam's main pilot by then.
But honestly, it's mostly Bright who had no choice back then. Looking back, it makes him feel bad for the Captain.
No wonder he slapped him hard back then.
But enough of that. As much as Amuro would like to reminisce about the past, he still has some important things to ask.
"So, what's with the robot?" Amuro asked, pointing to the object of his attention.
A Red Haro.
Once upon a time, Amuro created Haro. A simple robot with a simple job.
A companion.
Maybe he built it once to have an assistant for his other projects or as a vanity project of his. But as he grew up, he realized he made Haro in absence of his Dad.
Yet when he arrives in this new world with a new start, he leaves behind Haro as he no longer needs the robot. His parents are there with him, loving and caring for him. The little robot companion he once had no longer needs to accompany him into this new world.
So imagine his shock, bewilderment and silent horror to see a red version of his old companion.
Especially when it's red.
"Oh Haro? He's my health monitor." Laura replied without skipping a beat in her meal.
"Health monitor?" Amuro frowned.
"Yeah, I have a condition where I have to take medication from time to time. Haro manages and detects when it's necessary." Laura explained.
Amuro believes her. Just looking at her, he can tell she's not lying about said condition. It's also not far-fetched for a Haro to become a health monitor as the robot itself is very customizable by the time he had it sold for mass production.
"That's unfortunate." Amuro apologized, "Still that's an impressive piece of tech, where did you order it?"
Now for the main question.
"Doc made it for me."
"Doc?" Amuro is floored.
A Doctor made it? Not mass produced or made by some company or group or whatsoever. Was he wrong to be worried?
"Yeah! Doc's the best doctor. Got me hooked up to the best meds so I can be an Mo- I mean IS pilot as long as I want."
She slipped. She just slipped.
Amuro inwardly noted that slip up.
"Must be a good friend of yours?" Amuro asked.
"Yup, good family friend even." Laura nodded.
"But hey! Why am I the only one getting questioned?! It's my turn now." Laura suddenly exclaimed with a whine, looking at Amuro like he was a criminal.
Amuro raised his hands in surrender, looking like he got caught. He was hoping her meal would keep distracting her till he got what he wanted.
"Sorry. Ask anything you want."
"Alright then, let me ask you this-"
Amuro braced himself. With how invasive his questions were a moment ago, she'll surely fire back her own questions. Obviously, she'll be curious about a male IS pilot.
Unfortunately for her, Amuro's no Ichika.
"How hot are the girls here?"
"Huh?"
Except he wasn't expecting that one.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next morning
"My name is Laura McTavish, nice to meet you all."
"Oh my gosh! She's adorable!"
"She's like a little doll, I wanna squeeze her!"
"A little angel!"
"Ooooooooooooh!"
Cecilia hated that she can't cover her ears right now. With her shoulder still recovering, she doesn't have full motor function of the injured limb to cover her abused ear. Why are these girls so loud? It's just another girl, albeit a cute one.
As for first impressions? She reminds her of those little Russian dolls. Why? For one, Laura has Russian facial features despite introducing herself as from America which made Cecilia a little bit curious and surely there's a story behind that.
But with how Laura cut it short as simple, she won't be sharing it.
"Hmm, what does Amuro think of h- Amuro!" Cecilia gasped in shock and worry at the male pilot.
He looked like a corpse.
As for the aforementioned guy? Well he got robbed.
He didn't get a wink of sleep last night due to how chatty Laura is in one specific topic.
Girls.
Yes, he realized that this tiny white doll is a hardcore lesbian tomboy. By the time the girl was done grilling him for the info she needs (ie. Girls she would like to meet for future 'partnerships'), it was already late in the morning at 2am.
He was definitely robbed last night.
"Alright settle down everyone." Ms. Maya finally silences the gaggle of girls cooing for the new girl but today's surprise is not yet over.
"This is a late development but I'm happy to say that Amuro and Ichika won't be alone anymore." Ms. Maya clapped her hands with a smile. Amuro wasn't sure what she meant but he had a bad feeling.
Even Ichika is looking at her in confusion.
Looking at Ms. Orimura, Amuro can see that she's in a bad mood and the scowl she had on her got bigger when Ms. Maya spoke.
"Alright, you can come in now." Ms. Maya said towards the door.
From the classroom entrance, another surprise came. Almost immediately, all the girls except Cecilia, Houki and Laura squealed in excitement as a timid and feminine looking boy came inside. A textbook Bishōnen.
The girls love them at first sight.
"Uhm, My name is Charlo-Charles Dunois. Please take care of me." He bowed as he introduced himself to his future classmates.
"Oh wow, you see this Amuro! We're no longer alone." Ichika said to Amuro excitedly, mirroring the girl's excitement.
Except Amuro didn't reciprocate the gesture. Instead, he was looking at him like he was some kind of low intelligent species. Amuro then decided not to break Ichika's bubble of excitement and turned towards the older Orimura and gave a look.
'Are you serious?'
'Yeah, they did this shit.'
They both exchanged looks, one with sheer bafflement and disbelief and the other filled with zero fucks given.
Chifuyu is so done.
Meanwhile, Laura licked her lips as she looked at this 'Charles.'
Looks like her mission in this academy got more exciting.