Halkegenia Online – Arrun Parallel Stories - Melancholy Heart - Part 2
Her name was Takeda Mutsumi, and to a fourteen year old Shouichi Saitou, she had been the most beautiful girl in the world. Dark eyes and long, jet black hair. Pale, full moon face, and thin, peach colored lips. When she smiled, everyone noticed.
She was always smiling. A radiance that had been nearly blinding.
He wouldn't say that it had been love at first sight. He'd never put much stock in those sort of fairy tale ideas. More like awe, and shy fascination that someone like her would give someone like him the time of day.
But by the time they'd both graduated from high school, that first infatuation had blossomed into something far stronger, and the discovery that the feelings had been requited. Sixty two years later, Saitou still hadn't figured out how someone as wonderful as Mutsumi had ever managed to fall in love with someone as ordinary as him. But she had. And for that, he had been blessed.
If only . . . If only he hadn't squandered it.
They'd married young, perhaps before they had really been ready, and life had not always been easy for them because of it. Moving to the city so that he could attend university, both of them working jobs to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads. The long commutes had eaten into their time for one another, until they were lucky to be home at the same time except late at night.
Things had only grown more hectic once he'd passed his medical exams and become a practicing physician. By then, Mutsumi had been pregnant with their first child, their eldest son Takeo, and Saitou had been hard at work providing for them while Mutsumi cared for their child and home.
She'd been so proud of him when he'd been promoted to department head, and then made it to the board at such a young age. Mutsumi had her hands full with their daughter Kio as well as their youngest son Abe and the time they had to themselves had shrunken to almost nothing.
He knew Mutsumi had never been unhappy with her life. Their children were her joy, and what little time they had for one another had been made all the more precious by its scarcity. Even so, he'd always felt like there had been more he could have done to ease the burden on her.
Mutsumi had simply teased him and told him time and time again that there was no shame in working hard to take care of his family. They were a team, she'd told him, they were meant to cover for each other. And there would be time later, for all of the things they'd always talked about when they were younger, she'd always say.
There would be time once he graduated. She'd promised as they lay in bed one hot summer night.
Then later, it would be after he was established as a doctor, told to him as she served dinner in their new apartment.
After he made department head, she'd urged while patting her swollen belly, both of them thankful to know that she and their unborn child were in good hands under the care of one of Saitou's best friends and colleagues.
After he got settled in on the board. After he showed the new members of the staff the ropes.
As her dark hair had begun to gray and her face had grown marked with crow's feet and laugh lines. Mutsumi had been just as beautiful to him then as she had been when they were young, but Saitou had started to worry that, despite his wife's assurances, there wouldn't be enough time.
And then, there wasn't.
In the end, it had been her heart that had given out.
The murmur had been spotted after the birth of their youngest son, and Saitou had done everything right. He'd had Mutsumi put under observation, the cardiologists had studied the results, made their conclusions, and prescribed the appropriate medication. Saitou had urged his wife to rest a little, Takeo and Kio were in their teens and Abe was in school at last. She deserved to take it easy now. She'd just smiled and told him not to worry so much on her account.
She never listened, he thought.
The day Mutsumi had passed away, Saitou had made it home early to an empty house, intent on surprising her. The absence of his wife and children had alerted him at once that something was wrong, and it had not been long before he'd received a call from his own hospital.
When he'd heard, he'd rushed back as fast as he could. But by then he was caught in the commuter rush that he'd previously evaded. By the time he'd made it to the emergency room, she'd been gone.
The attending physician had just finished by the time he arrived, tears in his eyes. He was young, and talented, and not yet accustomed to losing a patient despite his best efforts. Saitou had listened to the younger man's explanation, delivered in a shaken voice. The complications that had arisen that had made it impossible to save his wife.
He'd walked out the front door that morning, kissing Mutsumi on the cheek fondly, not for a moment thinking that she wouldn't still be there when he got back. And if he hadn't left early, maybe, at least, he could have had a chance to say goodbye. Maybe he could have done something if he'd been there, he knew that wasn't true, but his heart insisted that his mind was wrong.
Maybe if he'd just made a little more time . . .
Then, Saitou had put a hand on the surgeon's shoulder and told him that he'd done everything he could, and thanked him for his work.
He hadn't wanted to see the body, not yet, he'd told himself that he was going to find his children first, that he wasn't running away. He'd almost managed to make that lie into the truth before he was confronted by his sons and daughter, and had to explain to them that their mother wouldn't be coming home.
At the end of that year, on their anniversary, Saitouu had quietly stepped down from the hospital board, burying his grief in the work of healing, and when that grew too numbing, punishing himself as he steadfastly comforted the dying and their next of kin. He'd worked until he forgot himself, where he'd come from, and where he was going. Worked until he was so tired that the dreams wouldn't come. He couldn't stand to see her while he slept only to wake up and know that she was really gone.
If his coworkers hadn't been so worried for their former department chief, he might have continued on that path until he worked himself into the grave. Instead, he'd been taken aside one day by his superior, a man who had once been his subordinate, and been kindly urged to rethink what he was doing.
Saitou had told him honestly that he didn't know what else to do with himself.
He had the seniority, they pleaded with him, and a passion for medicine. Why not teach?
Teach?
Yes, teach. Get away from the life he was living. Get away from the habits that continued to reopen old wounds. If he went to teaching, he could stop reminding himself about what had happened, distance himself from the pain. And most of all, it would give him a little more time to spend with his children.
Children, he realized, that he hardly knew, despite loving them with all his heart. It had been a year before he'd really been able to face them, and be there for them as he should have been from the moment their mother had passed. Guilt over his failure had been the last straw, he'd turned his attention back to his family.
And so, he'd taken his colleagues' advice. They'd stayed in their family home, but his daily commute had started taking him to the University, this time as a professor at a teaching hospital. The work was much the same, but the change of faces, and of tempo, had at last started to break down old habits. And in the time that he'd gained, he was at last able to meet his children, seemingly for the first time, and discover just how much he'd been missing out on all of these years.
Making up for the lost time had certainly dulled the pain, buried it at last beneath all of the joy that still existed, and never ceased to come into his life. Such as seeing Takeo's graduation from medical school, and holding his granddaughter for the first time, a little wriggling baby girl, squawking indignantly at being handed to an old geezer like him.
He'd convinced himself that he was happy. He was. And that it didn't still hurt to think about Mutsumi. Time healed all wounds, as they said.
If that were the case, then now, it felt like years had been obliterated before his eyes. He was thankful that Kiriyu was there to help, he didn't know if he could have endured staying in the examination room otherwise.
As it was, once the exam was finished, he'd given Kiriyu his notes and left her to finish filling out the patient forms alone, he'd needed a breath of fresh air.
Her name was Kirigaya Yui. She was, he estimated, nine or ten years old, if biology meant one iota to their Faerie bodies. And just about the most beautiful little girl he'd ever seen. The resemblance to a young Mutsumi was uncanny.
Personality too, bright and cheerful, and decidedly unafraid of being made to sit up on the examination bench to be poked and prodded by perfect strangers. She'd observed curiously, asking an endless stream of questions of the Sylph and Undine healers while they went about their work. Such an observant child, so eager to learn.
If he didn't know better, he could have easily mistaken her for his deceased wife when she'd been only a girl. Even knowing better, if this had still been a full dive game, he thought, if he had still been dying slowly in bed, he might have gathered up the courage to confess his love to a girl like Kirigaya Yui. If only so the world knew it properly before he passed.
But that would have been grossly inappropriate in this new world where he could not simply bow out after such a confession. Professionalism had thankfully won out.
"A good thing too. I would have embarrassed myself saying some fool thing like that." Saitou muttered under his breath as he leaned against a windowsill, looking down from the second floor onto the open plaza. He wondered if fate was toying with him. He'd cheated death after a fashion, so he couldn't expect to get off Scott-free.
"She would have loved it here." Saitou realized as he looked out over the tile rooftops and crowns of countless trees. Loved the sights, the smells, the adventure, flying . . .
He heard the door behind him opening. "Yurudo for your thoughts." Kiriyu asked as she tapped him lightly on his shoulder. "If you don't mind me asking, Shouichi-sensei. I'm guessing there's a reason for that melancholic expression, it isn't like you."
"What?" Saitou blinked, he'd merely been reminiscing was all. "Oh . . . no . . . Nothing like that. I was just reminded of . . . of something."
Kiriyu was observant, and polite enough to understand that it wasn't something he wanted to talk about just now. Handing him the file containing Yui's patient record for final review. "That's everything we discussed with Asuna-san and Yui-chan. Sorry that there's a few parts I couldn't fill out."
"Pre Existing Conditions." Saitou noted the first block of blank lines in the form. Not that anyone really believed that the medical history of their human bodies was at all relevant now. But for the sake of completeness the hospitals had been collecting as much information as they could. Who knew what might end up being valuable for future study.
The parental health section was also empty. As were almost all of the rest of the pre-existing information sections. Not at all surprising given Yui-chan's unique circumstances.
Listening as Kirigaya Asuna and then Kirigaya Yui herself had explained her nature in the calm, confident voice of complete honesty. Saitou wasn't really sure what to make of it.
After retiring, he'd kept abreast of current events, and especially developments in the medical fields. Surgical robots that were improving the quality and safety of medical operations, and highly sophisticated Expert Systems that could diagnose patients more reliably than a human physician. So he hadn't been completely at a loss when terms like Self Learning Algorithm and Machine Iteration had been brought up.
At first it was difficult for him to believe that such a vibrant personality was the product of a computer program, but he'd found himself excepting it as the truth. The Faerie Lords believed it. And the weight of evidence in this world was on the side of Yui and her mother. If the Pixies could gain sapience and sentience, then the same went for any other AI.
Given that it made Yui astonishingly unique, even among the Fae, Saitou could understand why her mother and father had wanted to keep their daughter's nature known only among those they could trust. Especially with the ugly rumors of trafficking that had been cropping up recently. ALfheim goods and denizens stolen or poached for the lucrative black markets.
This had been a reason he'd been requested by name . Working closely on the 'autopsy' of the undead, and then examining Louise Valliere, his Security Clearance made him the natural choice as Yui's primary physician. Kiriyu as well, her status as a member of the TRIST Biological Research Sub-Committee likewise qualified her.
"So, I'm guessing this one counts as extra confidential." Kiriyu said dryly. "Right, Shouichi-sensei?"
"Right." Saitou agreed as he closed the report.
As best as they could tell, Kirigaya Yui was a perfectly healthy little girl, or at least, her examination had been well within the range of what had been observed in other healthy Faeries, despite her mother's urging for them to take note of anything at all out of the ordinary.
Saitou's feelings on the matter were mixed. He was relieved of course, as her doctor, that she was healthy. But he was worried that the relief he felt wasn't just that of a Doctor to his patient. Seeing Mutsumi in her made it too easy to slip.
'But she isn't Mutsumi.' He had to remind himself of that. He was surprised by how much he wished she had been.
"I just don't get why we weren't fully briefed beforehand." Kiriyu grumbled. "It's not like either of us was going to go and blab. Did someone screw up?"
That was the question of the hour, Saitou supposed, but giving it a little thought, he knew the answer. The name of the person who had recommended him and Kiriyu had been his own Lord. "We probably have Sakuya-sama to thank for that."
"What?" Kiriyu leaned over the windowsill beside him. "Hey, Saitou, if you know something, spill it to us who are still the uninitiated!"
"Sorry, sorry, you're right. I was just thinking." Saitou smiled as he caught sight of black and chestnut heads of hair making their way across the plaza below, each wearing a wide straw hat. "Sakuya-sama is a smart one. I think she's even smarter than she knows. I bet she wanted to see how we'd react to the news."
"About Yui-chan?"
Saitou nodded. "Asuna-san was very forward with the information when it came up. I'm sure we could have learned beforehand if we'd thought to ask." And Saitou was doubly sure that any medically relevant information about Kirigaya Yui would now be made fully available to him at request. As her medical caregiver, he could not oversee any treatment in the future unless he knew everything.
"Then you're saying . . . that Sakuya-sama deliberately didn't tell us, to gauge how we'd react to meeting Yui-chan for the first time." The Undine rubbed at the back of her head. "This is weirder than the pregnancy thing."
"Not at all." Saitou pushed off of the windowsill, straightening his white lab coat. "I think Sakuya-sama did not want us to make up our minds about Yui-chan until we had the chance to meet her for ourselves."
"Are you implying that we can't keep our objectivity?" Kiriyu grimaced. "That seems a little insulting to me."
"I'm implying that we need to be self-conscious." Saitou corrected. "Kiriyu-san, if you had many injured and sick patients, and only limited supplies and staff, what would you do?"
"Socratic method?" The platinum haired Undine stuffed her hands in her pockets. "Okay, I'll bite. Standard triage procedure, construct a list prioritizing the patients who are critically injured but likely to survive if they receive treatment and make everyone else secondary. Work my way down the list based on immediate need and reassess as the situation demands." Kiriyu frowned. "It's not pleasant, you probably know that better than me Shouichi-sensei, but that's part of our work."
"And what about if two of your patients were equally in need. Which would you pick?" Saitou's eyes followed Yui and Asuna to the edge of the plaza, where they became lost in the foot traffic.
"There's always variations." Kiriyu complained. "Two patients are never exactly the same. But if it happened, I'd just have to act on my judgment."
"What if one of those patients was a Faerie and one was a human?"
"You have to ask?" Kiriyu sounded offended. "I'd treat them both exactly the same. In my eyes we are all human, regardless of what species we are."
Saitou nodded, Kiriyu was a compassionate woman, he had no doubt in his mind that she would do her very best if she was one day confronted by such a difficult decision. Which was why, to prepare her, he had to confront her with difficult questions. To do less would not be teaching her.
"And what if, between these two patients, one of them was 'human' and the other was, for instance, a Coinen Sidhe . . ."
"I . . ." Kiriyu leaned back, her eyes sparking with thought. "You're joking right? One of those savage hunters?"
"So they're savages?" Saitouu wondered out loud. He'd never had the opportunity to journey into the regions of Cait Syth territory where the Sidhe mobs were most numerous, so he couldn't really say.
"You know I don't mean it that way." Kiriyu pressed her lips together angrily. "I read the news. Someone's been harassing the mob patrols that get too deep into the forests, people have been hurt. And you're not going to tell me those scalps that got found by the army were put up like that by the local orcs. Pixies might be peaceful enough, but there were always passive mobs, the Sidhe were created as enemies and are just as aggressive now as they were in ALfheim."
"If you'd read the news today, you'd also know that one of the hunter guilds finally managed to make peaceful contact." Saitou said softly.
"What?" Kiriyu blinked suspiciously. "You're kidding right?"
"It was thanks to one our paramedics in point of fact." Saitou couldn't help but feel a little pride. Such a vulgar, angry young woman when he'd first met her. She'd mellowed some as she'd made a place for herself. And now, thanks to Boo-san, one of Lady Sakuya's ambitions might be a little closer to reality. "They found a Coinen huntswoman who had been badly hurt. As I understand, the lesser Sidhe don't possess a great mastery of magic. They were in awe that a Faerie healer would treat one of their own and were willing to speak with them because of it. This means that we might have a chance to communicate with them and make peace."
And gain the help of as many as two to three thousand additional 'Faeries'. Faeries who had been created with a knowledge and culture that suited them better to this harsh world. If nothing else, they might be able to get them to stop harassing the locals. If healers could help in that process, then it was their duty to do so. And that would mean treating the lesser Sidhe with humanity and kindness.
"They obviously don't just want to fight us. They understand debts and decency." Saitou reasoned. "And even if they did not, being a doctor means that you help everyone Kiriyu. You heal even your worst enemy. When you have the power to save a life, it is your obligation to use it."
The Undine looked ashamed. "Yes, Shouichi-sensei."
"If the Coinen Sidhe become recognized as Faeries of ALfheim, then we will need to lead by example and treat them as we would anyone else. Their world and memories tell them that they have no reason to trust us, so we need to convince them otherwise. Accepting beings like Yui and the Pixies is the first step to making a habit of it."
"Habit huh?" Kiriyu's lips twitched.
"Meaning?" Saitou, stumbled back as the Undine took a step forward, grinning. "Does that mean we get to talk about your habits too?"
"You're not going to tell me I'm a workaholic now, are you?" Saitou asked tiredly. "I've already heard it from Et-chan." And just now, had been reminded of why she was right.
"Well, your little sister has you pegged." The Undine nodded seriously.
"She's not . . ." Saitou began, and then stopped. Naturally, people knew he was much older than he looked. But when they thought of a physician playing games, their image was a young professional, certainly not a middle aged, or even elderly man. Helped along by the way Nanami treated him in public, and it was likely as true in this world as anything else.
Kiriyu shook her head. "But that wasn't what I was talking about. Your bedside manner wasn't so good in there. What gives?"
"I . . . don't know what you're talking about." Saitou looked away.
"You were pretty off putting." Kiriyu pushed. "Even if Yui-chan was an AI like Asuna-san said, she's a real little girl now. She was trying to get you to like her, but you didn't bite."
"Like her?"
"All that chattering." Kiriyu frowned. "Didn't you notice? She got really quiet after a while. She probably thinks you hate her now"
"Oh."
No, of course not! He wanted to say. He'd thought he'd been hiding it better. But it seemed he wasn't the master of his own heart that he thought he was. "I was just distracted is all."
"Still, not like you." The younger physician said suspiciously, giving him an appraising eye. Saitou stood his ground, he really was getting too old for this. At last, Kiriyu broke into a smile. "Kay."
"Kay?"
"Everyone has an off day. And you're too reliable a person for me to worry much, Shouichi-sensei."
"I see." Saitou felt his relief returning. "Well then, I hope this isn't too much to ask, but could you file this for me?" He handed the patient record back to the Undine. "I think . . . I think I'm going to leave early today."
"Sure. Going to go surprise Et-chan?"
"I think so." Saitou replied. Mostly, he just needed to get away from the hospital. But his thoughts went with him, even as he shrugged off his lab coat and grabbed his jacket from his office.
He was greeted along the way, by the vendors on the main street, and a few of the hunters taking advantage of the day of void to get their equipment checked out. He'd helped more than a few of them, men and women who had been hurt in battle, or carried back to town suffering from status ailments, poisons, or burns delivered by the more dangerous mobs.
He didn't pay most of them much mind. But they understood and didn't take offense, there was hardly a day when he didn't travel to work with his nose in a notebook, or stumble home bleary eyed to sleep. Being lost in his own thoughts was perfectly normal.
A man started to reminisce more as he aged, and Shouichi Saitou was no exception, spending as much time in the past as the present. He supposed then that by the end of this second life his head would be jam packed with his own history.
The weather wasn't helping. A hot day like this, with the Cicada's chirping as he made his way downhill towards the edge of town. It had been a day like this when they'd first met, and a day like this when Mutsumi had passed away. And thinking of it that way, of home, and Nanami, and coming home early, his stomach had begun to twist and turn.
An ill premonition.
Saitou's pace had quickened, first to a jog, and then into a sprint, running downhill full tilt until he managed to get off the main road and into the more sparsely populated residential areas where it was safe to go airborne.
The home he shared with his granddaughter was in Arrun's western district, where the markets and manors started to thin out and were replaced by park ways and herb gardens built within the the safety of the outer curtain wall. It was a small, wooden residence, reminiscent of a traditional home. Hardly a luxurious place, but it suited them just fine, and reminded him of the little house he and Mutsumi had rented when they'd first been married.
He touched down in the garden ,hardly noticing he was out of breath as he vaulted onto the patio and threw the door open on its slider. "Et-chan? Et-chan?! Nanami!"
"You're home early, Saitou-kun. Is something wrong?" The voice at his back caused Saitou to spin around, catching sight of his granddaughter making her way across the garden with a basket full of damp clothing. "Hey Jii-chan, why are you so out of breath?"
"N-Nanami . . ." Saitou whispered, releasing his breath with a sigh. Of course, just the baseless fears of an old man.
"N-no . . . No, I'm sorry," his heartbeat began to slow again, "I just didn't know where you were is all."
"Getting the laundry." She answered. "Those Leprechauns down the way are pretty smart." She started to explain as she set the basket down. "They set up these belt driven tumblers that they can drain and fill with water. It's not quite as good as a proper washing machine, and they can't dry them just yet." She smiled. "But it really saves a lot of work. Oh, could you help me with these?"
Saitou had found himself clipping clothes to the line that Nanami had strung between the side of the house and the tree in the garden. With the sun like this, they'd be baked dry in no time.
"Still, I'm surprise to see you home so early." Nanami mused. "Things must have been really slow at the hospital today."
"I wouldn't say slow . . ." Saitou let his mind wonder. "I suppose I just received a reminder is all.
"A reminder?" Nanami shook her head. "No, never mind. But you better not think this gets you out of dinner tonight!" His granddaughter pouted cutely.
Saitou chuckled. "Right, right, of course not. Like I said, wherever you want."
"Wherever?"
"Wherever." Saitou promised again. "Wherever! Honest."
"You did say wherever." Nanami chided as Saitou did his best not to feel like he was being crushed against the corner wall of the bustling establishment. He had indeed said wherever, but he'd never expected wherever to lead them to this little Hole in the Wall restaurant.
"How did you even learn about this place?" Saitouu pondered just what his granddaughter was doing spending time at a place with a full bar, even if the atmosphere inside was more open and cheerful than he might have expected. Wood tables, floor, and walls polished to a gloss that shone in the reflected ore light. Less like a dive, and more like a bistro he'd once frequented. That at least brought back fond memories.
Nanami scowled as she sat opposite him at the small table. "Recon told me about it. It's apparently really popular with people in the Watch and defense forces."
"So this is Recon's doing?" Saitou thought aloud. "I take it back, maybe that boy isn't such a good influence on you."
Nanami stuck out her tongue. "Lighten up a little Saitou-kun. Besides, where else in Arrun could you order dragon cutlets?"
Which, to Saitou's considerable surprise, tasted absolutely nothing like chicken, he thought as he cut through his own serving with a knife and fork. The texture was in fact closer to a very tender beef, garnished with a faintly tangy sweet sauce that was akin to barbecue sauce, though Saitou wasn't at all sure where they would have found the sugar. Probably some sort of fruit base.
"Where do they even manage to get dragons for eating?" Saitou wondered.
It couldn't possibly be easy. In fact, he knew it wasn't, the cutlets had just about been the most expensive thing on the menu. But splurging like this didn't feel undeserved. Anything to make Nanami feel special. He looked over to his granddaughter who tonight had traded her kimono for a lightweight dress and sweater in light azure that complimented her hair, accessorized by a small, blue purse she'd picked up just recently. "You look lovely tonight Et-chan." He smiled.
"And you cleaned up really well too, Saitou-kun." She smirked triumphantly as she nodded to his own clothes. He'd lost that battle a while ago. For the longest time he hadn't bothered much with his clothing. That too was a prerogative of the elderly. Practicality and comfort had been his only real considerations. Even the Transition had merely caused him to add more of the same so that he could do laundry now that clothes got dirty.
Nanami dragging him to a tailor's shop had been a surprise. Being fitted with an informal dress jacket, pants, and blouse, all themed in deep greens had ended up making him feel like some sort of clothes horse. But his granddaughter wouldn't hear a word of it. In her own words he needed something to 'Brighten up his wardrobe'.
Seeing himself in the mirror before setting out, he supposed she was right after all. He'd have looked under dressed going out without at least putting something nice on.
And the mood of this place was growing on him, he decided as the hostess, a tall Gnome woman with long black hair, came by to refill his teacup. Taking the opportunity to watch the rest of the of the guests.
"So, let's hear it again for Irene-sensei!"
He didn't mean to eavesdrop, but given the rather Intimate seating, it was impossible for him to ignore the trio seated the table over.
"For surviving another year." A handsome young Salamander raised his shot glass.
"And thriving in this place." A Puca woman with golden hair curled into ringlets agreed. She was smiling, eyes closed, and with a definite flush to her cheeks that suggested inebriation more than embarrassment.
"Happy birthday Irene-chan!" The two said, clinking together their glasses before the third member of their party whose blush most definitely was from embarrassment.
An Undine, younger in appearance than both of her companions, her silver blue hair drawn back, and dressed in a beautifully patterned blue and white kimono. She clutched a cup of tea in both hands, and despite the festivity of her companions, looked in no mood to join in.
"Really now you two . . . We didn't need to go out like this on my account." The Undine addressed as Irene-sensei stuttered. "I shouldn't be away from the children for this long. And Takai-sensei, you shouldn't be having so much to drink. You have defense drills tomorrow. You'll set a bad example for your students."
"Lighten up a little Irene-chan. This is a celebration. There's nothing wrong with taking a little time off." The Salamander told her good naturedly. "Besides, it's the duty of men to endure hangovers after a night out. That's an important lesson too!"
The Undine sniffed indignantly.
"Don't tease her like that Takai-kun. And don't worry Irene-chan, the children have their minders for the night. Everyone was settled in before we left."
"And if you knew children at all, Ophelia-san, you'd know that they never stay settled for long. I've had a wonderful time. And I appreciate what you two are trying to do, but for the sake of my peace of mind, I really need to get back." Irene said as she got up from her seat and started squeezing out from between the table and wall. "Just let me go get the bill and . . ."
"You're not paying the bill on your own birthday!" Ophelia protested. "Come on, it's what makes this a little bit special."
"You didn't even have one drink with us!" Takai added, refilling his own glass. "You're supposed to take a sip for every year. If you can make it to your current age, it means you've gained a year of drinking experience. Which reminds me to ask, just how old are you now Irene-sensei."
It was hard to miss her flush, it stood out so well against her pale skin. "That's none of your business Takai-sensei! You really are drunk aren't you?!"
"Just a little." He smiled. How much alcohol had that taken, Saitou wondered.
"I'll go get the bill." Irene declared firmly. "Honestly you to need as much watching as the chil –"
It was a chain reaction of sorts, one that Saitou would only have seen the end of if his attention hadn't already been on the table. A Salamander picking his way between tables had bumped into the edge, driving the table closer to the wall. In the process he'd indirectly nudged the Undine who was in the midst of working her way out from her seat. Trying to regain her balance, feet had been caught between chair legs. And the rest was simply physics.
"W-waagh!" The Undine girl pulled her arms in close around herself, a defensive reflex that prevented her from grabbing for a handhold.
Saitou's reflexes had still been respectable for a man of his years even before the transition had full rejuvenated him in the flesh. It took him only a heartbeat to follow the trajectory of the girl's fall and note that she was going to end up slamming face first into the edge of their table.
Nanami was just starting to realize something was wrong when Saitou shot out of his chair, planting one hand on the table edge for balance and throwing out the other to arrest the girl's fall. When she hit, caught around the waist, Saitou was surprised by the weight, but kept his own balance as dishes were knocked from the table and the girl's purse was flung from her hands.
"Are you okay, Miss?" Saitou asked the Undine pressed against his side. 'Shivering?' He thought. Her eyes only a few centimeters from the table edge.
Shaking her head, the girl let go of the front his shirt, steadying herself. Through the rest of the dining hall, hardly anyone had looked up save the manager and his wife. Spills and broken plates were a fact of life here.
"I'm . . . I'm fine." She breathed. "Oh . . . Thank you." She turned to Saitou, giving a small bow as she gathered her hands into the sleeves of her Kimono. "That was clumsy of me."
"It was that jerk who bumped the table." The Salamander, Takai, said, eyes narrowing suspiciously as he made to get up from his seat. Only stopped by his Puca companion.
"No heroism tonight Takai-kun." She sounded suddenly like the picture of sobriety. "Irene-san, please, this is your party, I'll get the bill." Ophelia got up, displaying surprising coordination for someone who'd been drinking. She had no trouble picking her way through the crowded dining hall to reach the front desk.
"Jii . . . Saitou-kun, that was pretty quick." Nanami sounded almost impressed with her old Grandpa.
"I was kind of paying attention beforehand." Saitou admitted. "I should be the one who's sorry." Whether he'd caught her or not, he had been eavesdropping.
"I'm sorry about that, they can be a little . . . boisterous." The Undine girl said. "I don't think we've been introduced yet, I'm Irene, the head instructor at Arrun Home."
"Saitou." Saitou provided politely. "I'm a physician at the Central Hospital. It's a pleasure to meet you Irene-san."
"Oh, well . . ." Irene seemed to realize for the first time how close together they were, very carefully taking a step back. "Thank you again Saitou-san. Bowing once more, she reached down to retrieve her handbag from the floor.
"Okay Takai-kun, upsy daisy." Ophelia grunted as she prodded the Salamander to stand up. "Irene-chan, let's get going, okay?"
"Right, just a moment!" She called. "I hope we haven't caused you any trouble this evening."
No, it hadn't been any trouble at all, accidents happened, and at it turned out, the owners were very easy going about the damage, settling to simply add the fair cost of the dishes to the bill.
Thankfully, the rest of the evening had been less eventful, though Nanami had still kept them long enough to get desert. By the time they'd made it home, traveling on foot, Saitou had been feeling distinctly ready for bed, and Nanami was practically in a walking coma from all of the good food.
Too late for a proper bath. All of the public houses shut down relatively early. Saitou had resorted to a fire spell from the utility class to boil a pot of water to wash up with before bed. By the time he'd been finished, Nanami had already changed into her sleep clothes and was seated looking out the window.
When his granddaughter saw him, she giggled.
"Is something funny?" Saitou asked as he finished drying his hair with a hand towel hung around his neck.
"Not really . . . well . . . maybe a little. I was talking to Recon on my way home. He's doing well by the way, he's working for the papers now. Probably a good place for him." Nanami shook her head in disbelief. "You know, he thinks you're my older brother, right?"
Saitou sighed, of course he did, coming to sit beside Nanami. His granddaughter leaned against him like she had when she was still little. "That's going to be what people will think as long as you don't go telling them." Siblings playing games like ALO together must have been a lot less rare than grandchildren and grandparents doing the same. "I have the same problem with my staff. Though I don't think it's really much of a problem." A loving elder brother and a grandfather were much the same in many ways. What people labeled them didn't really matter much in the end.
"Yeah." Nanami agreed as she closed her eyes, smiling. "Though, I don't know, I think you'd make a pretty cute Nii-chan."
Saitou couldn't help but scowl at his granddaughter's teasing. Except he knew it wasn't just a joke. Being able to do these things with her, fly, and travel at her side, and be relied upon. It was a change in their relationship that Saitou had been giving some thought to.
Before he could open his mouth to answer, Nanami perked up. "Oh, that's what I forgot. I meant to give it to you at dinner." She got up quickly, brushing aside his arm to hurry over to closet.
"Something for a me?" Saitou asked.
"A present." Nanami confirmed. "You're paying for all of our food and clothing, but you never do anything nice for yourself, Jii-chan. Sometime it makes me feel like I'm taking advantage of you."
"That's because you should be spending your time learning." Saitou argued. Even without schools, young people ought to spend their time studying important things so that they'd be ready for the world. He was rather proud of Nanami for taking that advice, and especially for not over specializing like some of the young people. "And enjoying life."
"Uhuh." Nanami sounded unconvinced as she pulled her purse from the closet. "Well, I've been taking odd jobs too, and saving up. It ends up being a lot when you don't have to pay for your own food, plus all the reagents I sold for the mob patrols. Then, just yesterday I saw this and I thought about how much you have to keep a schedule so . . . oh."
"What is it?" Saitou asked.
Nanami's frown turned to worry and then panic. "It's not here!" Hid granddaughter pulled her purse fully open. "Where could it have gotten too?" She fished around. "I know I put it in here and . . . and . . ." She stopped again, extracting a smaller leather coin purse. "This isn't mine." Nanami said seriously, falling back onto her rump as jingled the small pouches contents.
"Nanami?"
His granddaughter flushed. "Erm . . . This isn't my purse. I think . . ."
"Back at the cafe." Saitou finished.
"Yeah."
They were both silent for a moment as the magnitude sank in. "It must have gotten switched with that Undine girl's when you caught her."
"You were both wearing blue." Saitou agreed, it made sense that they'd have both had complimentary purses. Saitou looked to his granddaughter, her dejected expression made his heart ache. She'd wanted to something special for him. "Rest easy Na-chan, it's nobody's fault." He told her reassuringly. "I'll go fix it in the morning."
"That's right." Nanami realized. "She introduced herself, didn't she."
Exactly, Saitou agreed, if she worked at the children's home, than finding her shouldn't be too difficult. And if that failed, the Watch ran a lost and found.
Relief turned to embarrassment as Nanami flushed. "Silly of me to have lost it though. It was expensive too . . ."
"It's alright." He put an arm around her. "It's not a big mistake and we can fix it." He grinned. "I don't suppose you'd mind telling me what it is?"
Nanami crossed her arms and closed her eyes, features taking on a defiant countenance. "A-sur-pri-ise." She said, only cracking an eye when he started to chuckle.
"Well then, I best find it tomorrow!" He told her, yawning. "But for now, I think I'm ready for bed."
Sleeping was another of those things that he'd learned to appreciate as a full night's sleep had become a luxury in his old age. When he'd been young the first time, Saitou had been able to fall asleep just about anywhere. But in recent years, he was always waking up at all hours of the night and then unable to get back to sleep again. Like an old automobile with all its mechanical belts and timings slowly falling out of tune, his body's rhythms had gradually grown erratic.
And though rhythm had been restored, the habits that caused him to remain awake were still with him. Laying in the dark, his futon spread out beside his granddaughter's, despite what he'd said, Saitou had lingered for a while as he recalled the day.
"Mutsumi . . ." He muttered under his breath. The night was dark, and even with his eyes opened, they felt closed. It wasn't hard to see her in his mind. And realize he was facing the prospect of another lifetime without her. He hadn't cried since his wife had died, after losing her, it hadn't seeming like anything else was so bad, which was why he was surprised by the burning at the corners of his eyes.
'I thought eighty years would be enough to become more mature than this.' He thought as he covered his eyes with a forearm and tried not to sob. He didn't want to wake Nanami at a time like this.
He worried briefly that he had when he felt her turn over, grumbling in her sleep. "Mmm . . . nngh – jchan . . ." She mumbled inarticulately, one arm blindly reaching out towards him.
'A brother, huh?' He wondered, sitting up quietly and turning his dark adjusted eye to Nanami. Blue hair feathering all about her head. In his opinion, she was as cute in this world as she had been in the one she'd been born in.
Climbing to his feet, when he couldn't sleep, he needed to find something useful to do. Exercising, studying, or simply tidying. Nanami had left the purse out beside her mattress. 'She should have at least put it back.' He thought, someone might trip over it in the morning.
Padding barefoot around her, Saitou crouched down to carefully return the contents to their rightful place. Pouches, a bundle of envelopes tied up with twine, a few small potion vials, and of course thee change purse. Then, one other item, caught in the feeble sliver of moonlight.
'A screen cap?' Saitou thought as he picked it up and turned it over. Not from ALfheim, it was an imported picture from IRL. A woman standing outside the gate of an elementary school. A dark haired girl, proudly holding up a diploma declaring her teaching credentials, smiling.
-June, 2020, Aoi's first day, taken by Sensei- It read on the back in messily penned handwriting. Someone who had made a big impression on that young woman's life. Saitou thought before carefully returning the photograph to the purse, making sure it remained undamaged. It really hadn't been proper for him to look at it like that without permission.
'Don't worry Irene-san.' He thought tiredly as he returned the bag to the closet. 'Your belongings are in good hands.'
Saitou had gotten an early start the next morning after what felt like a dreamless sleep, the joys of not waking to old aches and pains more stimulating than caffeine had ever been as he stretched and yawned in his loose nightshirt and shorts and prepared to start his day.
The heat the night before had left him covered in sweat, which meant another quick wash with a towel and pot of heated water while the birds chirped outside the kitchen window.
Grabbing clothes from the closet, the blue purse sitting on the floor served as an urgent reminder. 'Right.' Saitou thought as he cast a look over his shoulder. Nanami was still tucked into bed, hugging her pillow close to her chest while drooling over some pleasant dream. He'd take care of this and have Nanami's bag for her by lunch he decided as he made his way out the door and onto the footpath that wound through the semi wooded outskirts of Arrun's outer district.
Saitou wasn't in a rush that morning, so he let himself enjoy the walk, the lightening sky overhead, and calls of neighbors bidding him a good morning. The foot traffic picked up as he entered the more urban districts and then hit the main street where the shops were already beginning to open.
As it turned out, finding Arrun Home did not prove difficult at all. Though the formerly geriatric doctor, now a Sylph youth, had never been to the Children's Home himself, like most important structures, it was located close to the main street.
It turned out to be very much a case of a place that he had often passed but never payed much mind to. And now that he was actually paying attention, he was almost surprised he hadn't noticed it before. The Home's necessity however, was well impressed on his mind.
'If I wasn't here, Nanami might have ended up in a place like this.' Not that it would have been a terrible fate judging by the buildings facade and the well kept gardens.
Certainly she would have been older than most of the children, but she also hadn't been a member of any guild or strongly affiliated with her faction. She would have had no one to turn to.
After the disastrous launch of SAO, ALfheim Online had been one of the few Full Dive games to meet with much commercial success, launching coincidentally with the AMUsphere as one of the stopgap system's flagship games.
Due to the expense of developing a full dive game, and the wealth of immersion technology that had been salvaged from the defunct ARGUS when the company's assets had been liquidated, RETCO subsidiary RETCO Progress had made a decision early in ALO's rushed development cycle to appeal to as wide a player base as possible.
And so, despite the emphasis on skill based combat and heavy focus on PVP, ALfheim Online had made an effort to appeal to a much broader audience. Not only the heavy PvPers, but players seeking PvE dungeon crawling, or simply playing for the social aspect of exploring a fantasy world. Coupled with ALOs fantastical public image and the oft mentioned safety of the updated Full Dive consoles, and it had become the go to game for younger children trying to sneak an action adventure past their cautious parents.
But what had been harmless fun, had now become a tragedy that had torn those children from their families, and trapped them in a violent and frightening world that they did not know and had no hope of understanding on their own.
Nanami had born the revelation of the Transition with astonishing strength for someone so young. This world had been rough on her at times, but she was not entirely a child anymore. And Nanami at least had him for support, a confidant and a shoulder to cry on when it got too tough. He could only begin to imagine how much more difficult it had been for those who were even younger and had no one in this world.
Thankfully for those wayward souls, they were not as alone as they'd at first thought.
Disaster had a tendency to galvanize communities, Saitou mused as he received directions from a helpful young Cait drawing attention to a newly opened bakery. Hardship brought people together in ways that they would never have thought possible. Loosely associated groups of players known as Guilds had fast found themselves becoming disciplined fighting cadres or staunch business partners, and the factions that had been the foundation of ALO's PvP dynamic had been remade into the foundations of self governance, the Lords listening to and addressing the concerns of their constituents.
One such concern had been what to do for the youngest and most helpless of the players turned Fae. The Children, not always in child bodies, who needed to be watched over and taught how to care for themselves in this world.
Arrun Home had started off as a temporary guardianship established by the Fae Lords by unifying and bolstering the efforts of the well intentioned individuals and guilds that had been watching out for vulnerable players. By providing resources to the volunteers, the hope had been to create a place for the children to stay and know that they were safe and looked after.
Every one of the Faerie settlements now possessed such a Home, but as with the Central Hospital, Arrun Home was largest by virtue of the city's population.
As the days had turned to weeks, and the weeks to months, that temporary guardianship had been extended and then made official in the eyes of the burgeoning Faerie Government.
Of course, it was still referred to as the 'Children's Home', a concession to the hope that its wards might one day be returned to their proper place. Else, Saitou thought as he made his way to the gates, smile fading slowly, else they really would be orphans.
'When did I get to be so negative?' Saitou wondered, hefting the misplaced purse. It certainly wasn't from his old life.
Hopefully he wouldn't be thought some sort of thief by bringing this back in person. Especially when it contained an image that was almost certainly of great sentimental value to that young woman. People became rightly attached to such things and didn't take kindly to them going missing.
'And here we are at last.' He came to a stop, looking up past the wrought iron gate that separated the gigantic stone guild hall and its attending outbuildings from the street. Not much of an obstacle for Faerie Wings, but things like walls and gates continued to persist for reasons of practicality, and also a certain aesthetic.
Another concession to aesthetic was situated on the shoulder of the roadway beside the opened gate. Wooden placards strung one after another in six rows, each containing a handwritten name. The names of all of the children and their minders. It was a touching effort to make this place feel more like a home.
'At least the Children appear to be in good hands.' Saitouobserved as he stepped off of the street, climbing the steps into the yard where he was met by the sounds of voices and the noises of children playing.
It was still early, but early or late, children got restless to be outdoors once the sun came up, a constant in any world that was to be expected. Small bodies, and some not so small, filled the yards and gardens of the Guild building, children at play, limbs pumping fast and furious as they chased each other in games of tag and dodge ball, and the occasional flaring of wings as they indulged in not entirely sanctioned aerial antics.
What wasn't so expected was the man at the center of the fracas, struggling to balance as he was besought upon by a pair of children apparently aged around nine or ten intent on pulling him in two directions at once. A rotund little Leprechaun who would have stood out for his stature and build even if not for metallic hair and mustache.
"Come on Ji-chan!" One of the children, a little Cait girl, ears flapping excitedly. "Come look and see what me and Paraila-chan made!"
"No way!" An Undine boy cried. "We want Ji-chan to help us play dragoon first!"
The little girl scowled at her companion. "You need at least two 'dragons' for that, dummy!"
"Now now, just a moment you two! One at a . . . one at a time!" Between the two arguing children, Lord Rute, Lord of the Leprechauns and First Lord of Goubniu struggled to get a word in edge wise, giving a mighty huff to stay balanced as a third child, a little Salamander girl with long, fiery, red hair practically jumped onto his back.
"Yeah, we're going to get Rika-chan to be the other one!" The Undine declared, pointing to a nervous looking Gnome woman beside him who stood head and shoulders above the Faerie Lord.
The young woman shifted and squirmed anxiously as the sound of her name, looking unsure whether she should smile or not at being included in their game.
Having only encountered the Leprechaun Lord during his reports to the Faerie Lords, it was not, Saitou thought, how he would have expected him to spend his free time. Rute's ostentatious red coat with all the finery of its golden buttons and braiding had been cast aside, revealing undershirt and suspenders holding up red trousers, like some less endearing Old Saint Nick in the off season.
"Takaeo, that's no fair!" The young feline accused. "Rika-chan would be a way better dragon than Ji-chan!"
Rute's mustache worked furiously as his face turned beat red. "Why you!"
"Faerie back ride! Faerie back ride!" The little Salamander girl declared excitedly. "Come on Ji-chan, I know you can do it, just like daddy!"
The blustering Lord seemed powerless to do anything but accept, grumbling good naturedly as he conjured his own sprocketed wings and climbed skyward to circle the guild building, his Salamander passenger squealing with delight. Saitoushielded his eyes from the sun as they disappeared behind a turreted tower that dominated one corner of the main building.
"I never would have thought old Rute-san would have it in him." Saitousaid out loud.
"Most people don't realize it, but actually, Rute-sama is a really good person." A young voice replied conversationally right beside him.
A rustling above Saito's head startled him, twitch reflexes he'd started to fast develop now that his body remembered what reflexes were supposed to be, almost caused him to kick off skyward in surprise. As it was, Saitouhad merely summoned his wings without actually using them, the four magic limbs flared and glowing with their full charge before he realized what he was doing. He considered it a partial victory. At least he would be able to salvage most of his dignity, he hoped. The laughter coming from the Imp girl who had materialized by his side left him doubtful.
Then again, he was hardly the only one who presently looked ridiculous. Hanging upside down with her legs hooked around a branch so that her long violet hair nearly brushed the ground, her skirt had come partly up as well, revealing the by now expected pair of shorts that most girls had taken to now that the System Auto Sensoring was no longer in effect.
"Erm . . . E-Excuse me . . ." Saitoubegan uncertainly.
"Sorry, sorry!" The dark haired girl stopped laughing, wiping a tear from one cherry red eye. "I hope I didn't startle you too much."
Without another word, in fact without any forewarning save for a light rocking back and forth, the Imp girl curled upward, a feat that would have been an impressive display of abdominal strength for a normal human, uncurled her legs, and performed an acrobatic little flip as she fell neatly to the ground at his side.
"Uhm . . No." Saitouscratched at the back of his head, night quite sure how to proceed. She certainly looked like one of the children, rising from a crouch, she had a child's exuberance about her. "Uhm, I'm looking for your Sensei, ah, Irene-san?" He asked politely. "Forgive me for asking this but . . ."
"I'm not one of the teachers." The Imp girl answered for him, dusting herself off and shaking out the leaves in her hair. She gave the definite impression that being dirty was nothing new to her. "But I do help out watching the younger kids. I like to pay my own way." She smiled so brightly, Saitouthought that she'd eclipse the sun. If they boxed that smile and sold it in a burger shop, it would sell faster than the french fries. At least, that's what he thought. "You must be new to Arrun home, there are lots of people here who are 'Out of Time'."
"Out of time?" Saitoupuzzled the phrase.
"Un." She nodded seriously. "You know, out of phase with their lifetime?"
"O-Oh . . ." Saitounodded slowly. "Yes, I have some experience with those sort of people." He grinned ruefully. "Out of Time. So that's what you call it?" Then he was very Out of Time indeed.
Saitouhad been well aware of this problem. Kiriyu had been heading up the effort to help the children who had ended up finding their minds in grown forms that were not merely sensory overlays but fully functional bodies with all of the biological feedback that would imply. Some of them were nothing but bundles of nerves over it.
It wasn't overly common, thankfully. At least, not as common as it could have been. ALfheim had possessed parental controls and at least some parents had used them to prevent their children from doing something irresponsible. The avatar generator too had done a reasonable job of guessing a player's age based on gender and calibration data. Saito's own youthful body, he'd discovered, had been a result of being quite short by modern standards and the Character Generator defaulting to its standard age range.
But that still left the children with irresponsible parents and the financial means to customize their avatar, and those who had simply had the bad luck of borrowing a sibling's account, of which there were far too many.
"Well, until someone comes up with a better name." The Imp girl agreed. "I don't know what other people are calling it when they end up in a younger body, but here we just call it 'Out of Time.' It's a big problem, but if you look close you'll see we have a solution. See the Gnome girl over their?"
The young Imp pointed to the woman who Saitouhad seen earlier. Several of the children were chattering with her excitedly while she crouched forward, smiling and nodding and answering back with the same shyness she'd been exhibiting earlier. "That bracelet on her right wrist lets you know that Rika-chan is Out of Time. The teachers and watchers who look too young wear a handkerchief or bandana so that guests can tell them apart."
"Then what about you?" Saitouasked, eyeing the girl's bare wrists.
She grinned. "I look my age so I don't need to show that I'm Out of Time, but I wear this to show that I'm a dorm assistant." The girl touched an orange handkerchief tied around her right arm. "That way the younger kids know they can come to me for help. There's lot of times when they'd rather talk to us than the teachers or minders, so it helps out a lot."
Saitounodded, he could only imagine, though it did leave one question. "How . . ." How exactly did one tell that someone was really the age they'd originally claimed to be. A child would get found out eventually imitating an adult, it wasn't necessarily true in the other direction. But before he could get further in asking the question, another interruption arrived from above.
"We found you!" A Spriggan boy, plummeting through the air, flared his wings at the last moment, landing with a solid -thud- beside the Imp and reaching out to grab hold of her skirt. "Got you!" The boy cried out with delight. "I win again!"
"No fair! No fair!" A Puca boy complained as he landed a moment later with a good deal more caution. "She wasn't really trying to hide this time! That one doesn't count, it's still a tie!"
"It does too count!" The Spriggan huffed, turning quickly to Saito. "Say, Nii-chan? It totally counts, right? It doesn't matter if she's out in the open, right?!"
"It doesn't count!"
"Does too!"
A sharp whistle broke the two boys up as efficiently as a charging boar type mob. Both came to sharp attention. "Members of the Junior Branch, attention!" The Imp girl called sharply.
Junior branch? Saitouwondered. But it seemed to be working.
"Y-yes ma'am!" Both boys stood stock straight.
Looking the two over she nodded seriously. "Sorry, but I have to help this guy find Irene-sensei so Miska was right, it doesn't count this time. Sorry Deimo-kun."
"So you can show me where to find her?" Saitoufelt mildly relieved. This should be simple enough after all.
The girl crossed her arms confidently. "Of course! You're looking at Two Star Licensed Courier Konno Yuki of the Guild Sleeping Knights. Just leave it to me!"