Chapter 7: Kazetsubaki Kanako

Disclaimer: I don't own Maburaho.Hard for me to write humour...but I need to practice. Writers can't afford to not have a bit of everything in their repertoire.

Welcome to the Castel D' Angelo, dearest guest. And no, you are not at the Castle of Angels that is located in Rome within firing distance of St. Peter's Square in the Vatican. It's just that, considering what I'm doing here, that such a name befit the place where my daughters are born. No doubt, you've heard the details from my archrival, my half-sibling Maya, haven't you, about my Steel Angel project?

You have? Excellent. I surmise that it will be a year before the project is officially complete. It has taken quite a big bite of the pie of my mom's conglomerate, but I doubt that our backers will be disappointed. Though if they think that my daughters are to be used for...entertainment...they will be sorely disappointed - but if they are willing, then I hope they have the stamina to keep up. My baka elder brother just doesn't know what he's in for. By then, it will be too late...(snicker)

Well, let us go and meet them, shall we? I apologise beforehand for the cloak-and-dagger act, but I don't want idiots from any National Government poking their noses into my affairs before I am ready to present them with my work. Just last week, Matariel and Sammael-chan had caught a North Korean infiltrator trying to hack into my computer networks. He did his work well, I must admit, but he left a large enough trail for him to be traced. We deported him back to his country, of course, to avoid an international incident, but Sammael brainwashed him to ensure that his tongue does not wag. Oh, don't worry...he will only remember he had left North Korea for the mission, and suddenly finds himself back where he started six months later, with no knowledge of what happened in between.

And magic is not going to cure this. The magi there will swear their pants off when they find that out. Ah, here is Samael herself. Beautiful, isn't she? Try not to drool, because she takes offence to that. Hmm...that's strange. She seems to like you. Do be careful, though. Sammael is a Seraphim-class Steel Angel. She's almost as strong as Mikhail. That one got quite infatuated with a mystic from the Kagura clan - now what was his name...ah yes, Nakahito Kagura. That kid has captured the hearts of practically 5 of my 20 prototype Steel Angels. And it's growing. Argh...if I lose more test subjects, I swear mother's going to kill me.

Now, have a drink. We've some time before we get there. I haven't introduced myself yet, have I? Well then, my name is Kazetsubaki Kanako. I am the genius of my family, and I hold sole rights to that title and dare anyone to try and take it from me. I'm as good as geniuses go, and can give you a fight whether it be in sorcery or science - and even a combination of the two.

Why am I doing this project, you ask?

Simply put, because I can. Have you ever seen the link between technology and biology? If you can tell, one sees in our technology the way our bodies work. Let's go to an example. Your eyes, for example, are sensors on robots. Like our eyes, they have a certain operational distance before logic circuits within the sensor output a '1' to the main circuit board. Our brain is the CPU of the body, though it infuriates me that a good majority of people never use it. And yes, point in note is that idiot, Morisaki Shirou. The mere thought of that hentai being my half-sibling is enough to make me want to have all my Steel Angels with an automatic 'kill-hentai' order built into them.

I work quite well with Aunt Shino and her family - now there are people who can understand the way I think and feel. Aunt Shino, especially. She was the one who gave me most of the ideas when I designed the Steel Angels. Pandaemonium - or Shion Imperia - is her brainchild. If anything, Pandaemonium is one of her children. If my baka of a brother breaks her heart, Aunt Shino is going to break his head. And from what I heard, he's going to have a hard time of it. I'd better not let mom hear about my little scheme, or there'll be Hell to pay.

And you won't tell her about it, boy, or I'll make sure you die next. Literally. And...wait, what is this? Intruders in my lab...?

I see. He's trying to circumvent my security, that baka. Meet, Spiritblade, the son of Yukihiko, Kiyo Yukihiko. Unlike his father, he's smarter and more resourceful. And he's in love with me. I like persistence, but his efforts grate on my nerves. Ah...I have an idea. Why not join me while I...deport him. Rosiel, Alexiel, Matariel...see to our guest. Ensure he leaves alive...but feel free to see to it that he has a few dislocations.

You're evil, Kanako. - Spiritblade

Of course I am. If I'm to protect that idiot elder brother of mine, I'd better be. After all, he's the one who will one day be signing my pay cheque, so it is in my best interests to ensure he'll be alive to do so. And I want to make sure no bit - pardon me...no two-timing girl who wants him because of our family status gets to him.

You love your brother, don't you? - Spiritblade

That I do, Spiritblade-san. That I do. I love my family, even so. And if you were in my shoes, won't you? Family is sacred to me. I cannot build it; I cannot invent it; I cannot create it with magic and I most certainly cannot buy it. To ask what it is worth is the same as asking what the city of Jerusalem was actually worth.

Saladin, the Arab Emperor, got this one thing right: Nothing. Everything.

There is no price for it.