Chapter 2: More Questions Than Answers
"What do you want, Tokiha?" Nao asked bluntly as Mai and Mikoto approached her in her and Aoi's room in the evening after classes, while Aoi and Chie were having lunch together at an on-campus dining location. Mai grimaced at Nao's hostile greeting; the only way the situation could have gotten worse was if Nao's arch-nemesis Natsuki were present as well.
"Nao-chan, we'd like to ask you a question; have you seen Sister lately?"
"No," Nao said tersely, hoping that Mai would get to the point.
"Could you please describe what you were doing earlier today?" Mai said.
Nao then gave a list of her daily activities, none of which involved robbing people in town. She said she was sitting against a tree for much of the day, including, as Mai noticed, the time of the attack. The location was some distance from the attack, and Mai noted that if Yukariko had been there, she would have had to run to reach the location where she was found, a difficult feat in her condition.
"Just what is this about?" Nao said impatiently.
"Nao-chan, Sister is claiming that you attacked her. It's currently her word against yours, but..."
"But what?" Nao said, harshly cutting off Mai. "You trust the oh-so-pious and respectable nun over the girl with questionable nighttime activities?"
"I'm not saying you did, but there is someone out there with the power to control minds," Mai said, firmly. "It's possible you were controlled and don't remember it, since the victims are unable to remember what they did."
"No, I didn't see, much less attack Sister today. If I was controlled, how the hell would I know?"
Mai's expression sank as she realized Yukino's prediction had come true. Nao, if she was telling the truth, knew nothing that would be of any use to Mai. However, even Natsuki would, as things were at the moment, have to concede there was not enough evidence to conclude that Nao was, beyond a doubt, the culprit.
"So, are you done here?" Nao said as Mai, lost in thought, gave no response for half a minute.
"Yes, I'm sorry to bother you, Nao-chan," Mai said. "As it stands now, there's no proof you were the attacker."
Nao's glaring at Mai continued unabated.
"Nao, we're just trying to help," Mikoto said with a hint of desperation. "Mai just wants to figure out more about this person Midori says is controlling people's minds and robbing them."
"I already told you I'm not interested in helping you people any longer," Nao said. "If some people are having their bank accounts robbed, it's not my problem."
"Still, this mind controller seems like a threat," Mai said. "Stay on-campus and try not to go alone; I have a feeling this woman won't stop at robbing people, and I don't want you to be her victim."
Nao's expression turned confused for a moment at Mai's concern. Wasn't Mai here to interrogate her and find evidence indicating her guilt? And why would she be concerned for someone who had expressed nothing but loathing for her?
"…Fine," was all Nao could bring herself to say in response.
"I'll see you later, Nao-chan. Say hi to Aoi-chan for me, and tell her I'll be busy for a little while."
Mikoto and Mai then walked out of Nao and Aoi's room, shutting the door behind them as they left. As they walked back into their own room, Mikoto noticed Mai's look of disappointment and frustration.
"Mai?" Mikoto said. "Do you think Nao's telling the truth?"
"It's hard to say," Mai said. "But what we do know is that regardless of whether Sister's attack is relevant, this mind controller is a much larger issue, particularly considering that I suspect that this person hasn't done anything worse only due to a lack of motivation. Let's hope Yukino-chan found something useful."
"Kikukawa-san? Are you not feeling well?" Yoko the nurse said as Yukino entered her office.
"I have a headache;" Yukino said. "It's difficult to concentrate in class, and I'd like to lie down. Sugiura-sensei gave me a note."
Yoko opened the envelope, finding a letter written as a typical teacher note. "Dear Sagisawa-sensei, Kikukawa-san is not feeling well. Please excuse her…" Yoko glanced at it skeptically; Midori using such formal language was as shocking as seeing her in a business suit. But then Yoko found a folded note on a small index card secreted in the folds of the letter.
"Yoko," the note began, "Consider this repayment for my covering for you on the last 'medical alcohol incident.' Let Yukino-chan out of class for the time being, leave her alone as much as you can and burn this note after reading, and we're square. Midori."
Yoko sighed.
"I have no idea what's going on, Kikukawa-san, but this stays between us."
"Thank you, sensei," Yukino said, bowing before taking a seat on the bed. "Oh, and did Sister Yukariko stop by here earlier?"
"She did, but I took a look at her and her arm looked fine. She seemed a little confused about it though; she'd initially thought Yuuki-san attacked her, but by the time I spoke with her, she wasn't as sure any more."
"I see, thank you." Yukino said, realizing that the the theory that Nao was responsible had almost certainly been proven false. The only question remaining was whether the mind controller was involved.
Yukino then got into bed, and shut the curtains. Yoko was unaware of the real reason behind Yukino's nurse visit, and there was the possibility of an additional person coming in.
"Diana." She said softly, calling out the magical mirrors of her Child. She turned them to all the automated teller machines in the city. Within half an hour, she was able to find a person leaving the machine and handing her money to a girl with dark hair.
This transaction immediately struck Yukino as suspicious. It also was suspicious to an officer at the scene, who came over, and began questioning the girl. Suddenly, the girl panicked, and a small blue orb on the base of the woman's neck flew over and landed on the police officer's. The officer then drew his gun, a blank look on his face, as the woman's expression changed, showing her disorientation at the release of control. The officer fired his pistol twice, and as the woman fell to the ground, dead, an expression of incredulity frozen on her face. The officer then, with the same placidity as before, put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger. As the girl's grim resolve faded from her face, a twisted grin began spreading across it.
Yukino reeled in horror, unable to comprehend what had transpired in front of her, but managed to take a photo of what had happened with her cell phone. Suddenly, Yukino heard a familiar boisterously loud voice outside the nurse's office.
"What do you mean she's not seeing anyone?" Haruka shouted. "Even if she's reinflating, I brought notes from class today!"
Originally, Mai had intended to bring the notes, combined with a secret message on the progress of the investigation, to Yukino, but Haruka had intercepted her, insisted on taking Yukino the notes, and told Mai that rather than waste time running errands, she should be studying and improving her grades.
"Suzushiro-san, please keep your voice down, Kikukawa-san's trying to rest!" Yoko said. "And you mean she's recuperating."
Yukino was then faced with a split-second decision. She now knew the suspect's modus operandi, but it was still too early to order a pursuit without a plan, especially now that it became clear that the girl was willing to murder anyone who got in her way. Yukino quickly dismissed Diana to avoid the immediate risk of her closest friend and the nurse finding out her true powers.
"Sensei, it's all right," Yukino said, opening the curtains while Haruka and Yoko were still talking. "I'm feeling somewhat better, Haruka-chan."
"Good to hear," Haruka said. "Here's some notes from class today."
Yukino browsed over the notes on a tablet of paper,, and everything seemed to be as normal. However, written upside down on the back of a page was a secret message, "Nao-chan is denying everything," followed by another, "Sorry; I tried to deliver them myself, but Suzushiro-san insisted on seeing you. She seemed a bit worried about you, not that she'd openly admit it."
"Thank you, Haruka-chan," Yukino said. "And if you see Mai-chan, let her know I'm thankful for her help, too."
Yukino had mixed feelings in response to Haruka's arrival. Haruka's kindness, while not always obvious given her brash and outspoken demeanor, warmed her heart as it always did. However, she also felt a great measure of guilt for lying to Haruka time and again about her Hime status, as well as for her immediate reaction being concern that her cover would be blown rather than appreciation.
As Yukino approached the situation repeatedly from different perspectives, she always found herself going back to the same two questions.
"Do I really need to keep this secret from Haruka-chan? And is it really a problem so beyond normal people's comprehension that she cannot help at all?"
"I hate to put it this way, but is there any good news?" Midori said on a telephone conversation with Yukino, having heard Yukino's report on Hitomi's abilities, including her killing the woman she was robbing and the police officer.
"From what I can observe, only one person can be controlled at once," Yukino said. "Otherwise, she would not have taken the risk of releasing the woman from control."
"Speaking of risks, she must have been pushed against the wall if she thought she had to resort to killing them," Midori said. "None of the victims that I heard about committed suicide."
"That sounds correct," Yukino said. "Perhaps if she gets caught again, she'll panic enough to make a larger mistake."
"Any more luck finding her?"
"No, unfortunately," Yukino said. "After attracting a police officer's attention, she seems to have decided to lie low, and is a bit more cautious; none of the ATMs seem to have been used by her manipulated victims. It's likely she's decided to call it a day"
"Get everyone together tomorrow; I'll formulate a plan to find her and take her down. If we take her on unprepared, we may well get ourselves killed."
"It looks as though someone else interfered," Ishigami said after Yukariko told him of what happened in the art room.
"I-I'm sorry, Wataru-san; they weren't going to believe me and…"
"Don't be, Yukariko," Ishigami said. "This girl is a wild card, beneficial to no one's plans but her own; dealing with her takes precedence."
Ishigami stared at one of his unfinished paintings contemplatively. Yukariko was still loyal to him and was trusted by the other Himes, so the plan was not a complete loss. However, he became concerned about who this girl was. She was not listed as a known Hime, and he had not seen her take out her Child, so he was uncertain of the source of her powers. Perhaps she could divide the Himes, but it was more likely she would become an enemy whom they would rally against; if her crimes became worse, the selfless Himes would see it as their moral duty to stop her, while even the selfish ones would not risk their own safety by leaving her alive.
"Um…" Yukariko began.
"Don't worry, this stays between us," Ishigami said. "After all, things would be quite bad for you if it got out."
Yukariko, as naïve as she was, recognized the implications behind what Ishigami had said. She had made her decision, and would be beholden to him if she wished to keep it a secret.
Yukariko then took her leave, returned to the chapel and knelt down to pray. But instead of guidance, all she found while doing so was a greater sense of despair.
"What have I done?" she thought.
Elsewhere, Hitomi stood and watched, with a smirk on her face, near the site of a fatal traffic accident she had caused, as she had forced a man to leap off an overpass, into the path of an oncoming truck. Blood pooled around the fresh corpse as the truck driver slumped over the steering wheel in disbelief at what had happened.
"Shouldn't you be more careful? That was a close call last time" a mysterious male voice, using telepathy, said into her mind.
"Who the hell are you and why would you care?" Hitomi mentally responded.
"I have a certain interest in seeing to it that you continue to remain active and undetected. I have a plan that would be beneficial to both of us that will succeed if you kill-"
"Just shut up, asshole! No one tells me what to do!" At Hitomi's response, the voice faded from her mind and never returned.
Hitomi was in a bad mood at the intrusion in her mind, but her mood improved when she looked back on how much fun she had. She had killed quite a few people this evening since the police officer's intervention, and found immense satisfaction in it that far exceeded what she had gotten out of the robberies. Now that she had a few chances to test out her powers' murderous potential, she would take her game to the next level.
Author's Note:
Thank you for the reviews so far.
One thing you should take note of is that while the SUEs' morals are skewed at best (if given the choice between saving the one they love and a bus full of innocent people, they would choose the one they love every time), and utterly psychotic at worst (Hitomi's behavior in this chapter will pale in comparison to what she does in the next, although she is possibly the most evil of all the SUEs), they are, however, based on heroic Mary Sues, and their actions are not supposed to be any worse than the characters they are based on, although they will seem worse. A character casually murdering another over a minor issue would come off as unforgivable in most stories, but is treated as acceptable by some Mary Sues' authors. In those cases, if you take away the author's bias, you can see drastic changes in which side is more sympathetic, and that is an effect I am trying to replicate here.
