It was the day after the incident in the bath and Hayate and Nagi had left for school, members of the SP watching over them every step of the way. Maria would have gone with them but she'd decided to stay and keep the mansion clean, beginning with her and Nagi's room. While cleaning the desk, she came across a note that she hadn't seen before. She scanned it, reading the bullet points: 'Destroy this letter, Go to Hakuou Academy, Recruit the student council president, Return to current state.' This was followed by what seemed to be a step-by-step guide to hypnotic induction. What did it mean by 'recruit'? Who left this here? Who was it addressed to? She turned it over and saw the name 'Maria.'
Her eyes immediately glazed over and she turned the latter over again. Rereading them, the words changed from an odd list to her new instructions. After reading her commands, she obeyed the first and burned the letter. She then obeyed the second by changing into her old Hakuou Academy uniform which still fit despite it being from a good few years ago. The uniform consisted of a pink sailor fuku with a white collar and yellow scarf, a black undershirt, pink skirt that went from the chest down to the knees, thigh-high white socks and brown shoes. She also put on a pair of small rectangular glasses to help make her look ordinary so she could blend in to the crowd herself. Although this disguise hadn't helped her blend in the last time she'd gone to Hakuou, the thought never entered her mind in her hypnotized state. With her disguise complete, Maria set forth to obey her third command.
Just like the last time she'd gone to Hakuou Academy, Maria's good looks had drawn a lot of attention from the actual students of the school. As she made her way toward the clock tower, she heard someone call her name. She turned to where the voice had come from and saw that it was her master standing behind some bushes at the base of a tree. She approached him and asked, "What is your wish, Master?"
"You are drawing too much attention. I want you to hurry up and fulfil your task."
"Yes, Master." As she turned to leave, he grabbed her sleeve to hold her back.
"And one last thing, as much as I enjoy seeing you in this state, your glazed over eyes, monotone voice and sleepy walk will draw too much attention and the student council president is rather intelligent. When I snap my fingers, you will awaken from your trance but you will still follow the instructions you have been given. You will believe it was your own idea to hypnotize her and you will return to your current state when you hear the phrase 'Good work, Maria-san.' Is that understood?"
"Yes, Master." He hid from sight and snapped his fingers. She awoke from her trance and wondered why she was here by this tree. It didn't matter; she had to see Hinagiku-san right away. She continued her journey to the clock tower.
Hinagiku Katsura sat at her desk in the student council room at the top of the clock tower, silently cursing the idiot who thought it was a good idea to put the student council room so high up. She was just finishing up her work when she heard the elevator arrive. She looked up to see Nagi's maid, Maria leaving the elevator. "Oh, Maria-san, good afternoon," she smiled. She was happy to see someone outside the student council for the first time all day.
"Good afternoon, Hinagiku-san," Maria bowed in response.
"Um, why are you wearing that uniform?" she asked now that she'd noticed.
"Oh, this?" she asked, looking it over as if she herself hadn't realised she was wearing it. "When I decided to stop by, I felt like trying it on."
"Oh, okay. So, to what do I owe the pleasure?"
"I just thought I'd stop by for a chat while I wait for classes to finish."
"So you're here to see Nagi-chan and Hayate-kun?"
"Yes, but I felt like talking to you while I wait." Hinagiku didn't get a chance to speak to Maria very often and decided to take her up on her offer. As their conversation went on, Maria walked out toward the balcony. She turned to see Hinagiku stood by the couch, legs shaking a little. "Oh, you're afraid of heights. Sorry, I forgot." Little did she know, she had subconsciously planned this to drive the conversation towards this subject.
"Th-that's okay," Hinagiku responded, a slight quiver in her voice making her seem both afraid and annoyed.
"What methods have you tried to cure your acrophobia?"
"I've tried everything," she replied dejectedly. "Nothing works."
"Well, have you ever considered hypnosis?"
Hinagiku stared at Maria for a few seconds with a quizzical look on her face before responding, "Hypnosis?"
"Yes. I know hypnosis has a bad reputation because of evil hypnotists in old movies but it really can be used to help people overcome all sorts of obstacles in their lives; be it overcoming fears, stopping smoking or breaking dangerous habits."
Hinagiku seemed to consider it for a few seconds before asking, "Have you ever been hypnotized, Maria-san?"
Maria hesitated for a second as she didn't want Hinagiku to know how she had been hypnotized earlier or she'd follow the misconception. On the other hand, she didn't want to lie to her either. "Y-yes, I have, so I know firsthand how it can be used...and how to do it." She subconsciously recalled the instructions on how to perform this induction and followed them to the letter.
"Okay. Well, if you're sure. What do I need to do?"
Maria view this as victory though she wasn't sure why. "Well, first, I need you to get yourself comfortable in a chair."
"Alright," Hinagiku replied sitting down in the chair behind her desk.
"Um, wouldn't you be more comfortable on a couch?"
"I'm fine; I find it more comfortable in this chair anyway."
"Okay. Now, I want you to place your elbow on the desk and stare at your finger. We're going to use it as a focus." Hinagiku did so and Maria continued. "I want you to focus all you attention on your finger and my voice. Nothing else matters but your finger and my voice. Allow my words to wash over you and wash away all your anxieties, all your worries. Notice that nothing else exists but my voice and your finger. Beyond that is nothing but darkness. A cold, empty darkness." Hinagiku shuddered slightly at this. "But that's okay because, if you just listen to my voice and follow my suggestions, the cold cannot reach you; you will remain in this nice, warm place. Now notice that your finger is slowly but surely moving toward your nose." As she said this, it began to move. "As it approaches, you will begin to feel sleepy. So sleepy, you can barely keep your eyes open." Hinagiku's eyes began to flutter as she tried to keep them open. "When you finger touches your nose you will fall into a deep, relaxing sleep." As her finger approached, Hinagiku struggled more and more to keep her eyes open, even as they glazed over. Until, finally, it connected with her nose and her eyes fell shut, her head drooped and her body slackened like a ragdoll. "Hinagiku-san, can you hear me?"
"Yes," she replied in a monotone.
"Now that you're in his state, you will take my words into your subconscious mind and accept them as absolute truth so that I can help you. You want me to help you, don't you?" Hinagiku nodded to this. "Good girl. First of all, any time you..." Maria needed a trigger that wasn't likely to come up often (while Maria didn't read her own name very often, Hinagiku was the student council president and would likely see hers a lot). She had a sudden idea. "Any time you hear the phrase 'Sleepy Hina-chan', you will return to this relaxed, obedient state. Now, I'm going to snap my fingers and I want you to awaken when I do."
Maria snapped her fingers and Hinagiku slowly opened her eyes. She sat up and asked, "Did it work?"
"Let's find out, sleepy Hina-chan." As soon as Maria finished speaking, Hinagiku's eyes glazed over and she fell back into her trance. "Very good, Hinagiku-san. Now, I want you to-" she was interrupted by the sound of the elevator's arrival.
She looked over to see Hayate walking into the room. She was unsure whether or not to trust- "Good work, Maria-san."
Her eyes immediately glazed over and she asked in her own monotone, "How may I serve you, Master?"
"You may begin by giving control of Hinagiku over to me."
"Yes, Master," she replied and turned to Hinagiku. "Hinagiku-san, I want you to open your eyes." If she'd been awake, she would have noticed the change in Maria's tone but in her current state, she didn't and simply obeyed. "The man you see before you is your master. I want you to greet him."
Hinagiku stood and bowed saying, "How may I serve you, Master?"
Maria turned back and said, "She is ready, Master."
"Good. Have you given her a trigger yet?"
"Yes, it is 'Sleepy Hina-chan'." At these words, Hinagiku fell back into her chair in her trance.
"Alright, I want you both to keep your triggers in your subconscious but they can only be triggered by me. Is that clear?"
"Yes, Master," both replied.
"Now, I want Maria to return home and fall asleep. When you wake up, you will remember nothing of your journey here and believe you simply fell asleep."
"Yes, Master," she replied and she walk over to the elevator.
"Hinagiku, I want you to forget seeing Maria today and believe you simply fell asleep at your desk."
"Yes, Master," she replied, resting her head on the crossed arms and entering a natural state of sleep.
Hinagiku awoke about two hours later when Chiharu Harukaze shook her awake. "Huh? Where am I?"
"In the student council room. It looks like you worked yourself to sleep."
"Oh. What time is it?" She looked outside to see the sun starting to set.
"It's time for school to end," Aika Kasumi replied, entering the room. "You should go home and get some rest."
"Maybe I should," she said while picking up her bag. "Okay, I'll be going now."
Maria, meanwhile, awoke when Hayate and Nagi returned and woke her up. They were curious about why she was sleeping right next to the front door in her old Hakuou uniform. She had no answer for them. Maybe she'd dozed off and started sleepwalking. Or maybe, the intruder had struck again. It was decided that Maria would be watched constantly by the SP too to make sure this didn't happen again.