Plans Gone Awry – Part VI – Final

The Yotsuba estate in Tokyo wasn't really in the city, it was just outside of it. The grounds were quite large, and likely expensive. However, this would not be a problem for one of the Ten Master Clans. The house was also large, and it was reported that this was not really a main residence. Like the other families, they had multiple properties, and this one was used only when meeting with other families or hosting events. It was built to impress.

When she and Mari were escorted into the lavish reception room in the mansion, Mayumi quickly noted three things:

The first was that the mistress of the house was seated on a velvet couch, and while the woman must be pushing fifty years old she looked barely thirty. Probably genetics. Mayumi knew of no magic that would hold someone's youth, but with this family who knew? Other chairs were set in a semi-circle around the couch. Ah, so this is not going to be a discussion so much as a lecture. That was fine with her. She didn't want to try bargaining with this dangerous person anyway. It would be beyond her experience to deal capably with such a situation. She was wise enough to understand that much.

The second thing she noticed was the person accompanying Katsuto. She almost fell over from shock when she saw that it was Chiba Erica. Impetuous, hot-headed, and tactless, Erica was the last person who should be at a sensitive meeting like this. She glanced sharply at Katsuto, who was sipping his tea. His eyes came up to meet hers and Mayumi read Trust me in his gaze. It wasn't like she had much of a choice!

Erica was openly wearing her CAD, the one shaped like a baton, tucked into her belt. Tactless! Mayumi groaned inwardly as she and Mari took their seats. This was going to be a disaster.

The last thing she noticed was that there was an extra chair, a little apart from the others. Who else was invited to this little party? From what happened next, Mayumi guessed that this would remain a mystery for a little while since Maya looked ready to start.

"Ah, Mayumi-san, daughter of the Saegusa. I welcome you to my home. It is a pleasure to meet you." The smile on her face reminded Mayumi of a wolf's grin. She hoped that that was just her imagination.

Mayumi nodded her head. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Yotsuba-sama."

She and Mari were served their tea by a waiting maid, who withdrew from the room after her duty was completed. While this was going on, Mayumi noted that Maya was stealing quick glances at Erica. It was obvious that her presence was not expected. If Katsuto's intent was to get the woman off balance, the plan seemed to have succeeded.

"Shall we begin?" She glanced at Katsuto before resting her gaze at Mayumi. "I understand that you wish to 'free Tatsuya-kun', as you put it?" The mirth at the idea was clear on the woman's face, and for some reason that angered the younger woman. "What makes you think that my nephew is in bondage and needs to be freed?"

Mayumi was ready for this question and replied calmly. "It is obvious that Shiba Tatsuya is bound to this family in some fashion even though he does not consider himself Yotsuba." She knew this was a weak argument, but freeing Tatsuya was merely a ploy devised as an excuse to find out what the Yotsuba were really up to. Mayumi's personal opinion however, was that there was more to it than just an excuse. She felt a desire to know the truth about Tatsuya.

"For the sake of argument, let's say that you are correct and that Tatsuya is bound to us in some way. What concern is that of yours?" She swept her gaze over all of them as she made this statement.

No matter how politely Maya delivered this, everyone in the room understood the real question. Why are you meddling in my affairs? To which, no one had a quick reply. Except for Erica.

"Because he is our friend, that's why." Surprisingly, she said this without any excessive emotion. It was a simple statement of fact. Mayumi caught Katsuto's eye again and nodded ever so slightly, acknowledging the wisdom of his idea of bringing Erica along.

Maya's soft laugh at this was unexpected. "I apologize for my outburst. It's just that the notion of him being your friend is impossible." She laughed again at their bewildered expressions.

Then, all traces of her amusement gone, she continued. "He is not your friend."

"With all due respect, how can you say this?" Mari chimed in, clearly shocked at such a statement.

"You say you are his friends, but you don't really know the boy at all, do you?" She sighed before taking another sip of her tea. Mayumi thought that was a bit too theatrical.

"Let me enlighten you. Shiba Tatsuya was born with almost no magical talent. He struggled to do the simplest things. Before his birth it was hoped that he would become a successor, but it was agreed that with his meager talents that was not possible. Considering his lineage, we were quite surprised by this. My sister and I felt we had no choice but to put the poor child with one of our branch families where he could perhaps be useful."

"You mean you would shuffle him off somewhere away from his family and avoid any embarrassment," Erica offered with some heat. The older woman stared hard at her, but Erica, bless her heart, did not flinch.

Maya had that uncomfortable look on her face again before answering. "That is a crude way to put it, Chiba-san, but, yes, you could look at it that way, I suppose.

"However, my sister and I came up with an alternate idea. If Tatsuya wasn't born a strong magician, we could make him into one."

"How?" Mayumi desperately wanted to know, but at the same time dreaded finding how.

"My late sister's talent was Mental Interference. She was quite adept at it."

Everyone's mouth was left hanging open at this point. They all understood what Maya was insinuating. They had invaded Tatsuya's mind and manipulated it. Even in this advanced age, no one really knew how a person's mind actually worked to any great degree. In school, they had all read the story of Frankenstein by the English writer Mary Shelley. While this wasn't exactly the same thing, it sounded eerily similar.

Through clenched teeth, Erica asked, "How old was Tatsuya when you did this?"

"He was five years old. It took months to complete the work."

How could they do that to a child? Mayumi's heart clenched at the thought. That was monstrous!

"It's against the laws of this nation to experiment on people." Katsuto finally found his voice.

"Is that so? And the Jyumanji family has never broken the law? Are you sure? I could get you a printout of your family's most recent transgressions if you'd care to wait a few moments." Katsuto gritted his teeth, but remained silent.

"We carved out an area in his mind for magic, hoping that we could make up for his deficiencies. Alas, we failed to make him into a fitting magician. His manipulation of psions was increased, but he was still unable to competently do what is commonly considered 'magic'. It was quite frustrating."

She took another sip of tea before continuing. "However, with his newly enhanced talents, it was decided that Tatsuya may be suited to serve as a Guardian for his sister. We were pleasantly surprised to find that he had an aptitude for combat, as I am sure you are all aware.

"Of course, there were side effects. Creating that space in his mind required the, ah, removal of other things. We had to remove his stronger emotions. He is no longer capable of love or hate or greed or jealousy. The only remaining emotion he has is the bond to his sister. That is the only true emotion he has. We retained that in order for him to fulfil the function to which he was needed.

"In a way, we have actually improved him."

She actually seemed proud of what she had done!

"So you see, he could not possibly be your friend. He doesn't have the capability for it. Everything he does is for the sake of Miyuki, including pretending to be your friend."

The room was silent for a moment while each of them tried in their own way to digest this shocking news. In that moment, however, the door burst open, and a clearly distraught Miyuki walked swiftly into the room.

"That is not true! Onii-sama is not heartless and he is their friend!"

Maya was not disturbed by Miyuki's intrusion or her outburst. She seemed to have expected it. "He is not your onii-sama! He's a soulless weapon your mother and I created to be your guardian. He is barely human anymore."

"I would marry him, if you approve."

The others in the room sucked in a breath and gaped at her, while Miyuki was looking daggers at her, but Mayumi would not remove her gaze from the woman on the couch. To be honest, no one in the room was more astonished by her declaration than Mayumi herself. Logically, it made sense, just for the ties between the families that would result from such a union. Deep inside her somewhere, this decision felt right too for some reason. It was proof that she still saw Tatsuya as a person. As someone who could love and be loved. However, somewhere between her heart and her gut was a voice inside yelling Have you lost your mind? For some reason, that inner voice sounded very much like Mari.

Miyuki opened her mouth to object, but before she could Maya turned to address her. "Upon his marriage, I will re-instate Tatsuya into the family." The reaction in the rest of the room was muted. That news didn't mean very much to them. But it made Miyuki gasp in shock. Her dream had been exactly that. Bring Tatsuya back into the family. No longer treated like a second-class servant. No longer looked at with scorn, but with the respect that she believed with every fiber of her being that he deserved.

And here it was. With a catch. She had to accept that Tatsuya would wed that woman. That he would leave to be with her. That he would lay-

With that ugly thought, she pulled herself together. Did she not love her brother? Did she not want what was best for him? Who was she to stand in the way of him taking his rightful place in the family and in society? Could she be that selfish and ever look him in the eye again?

Her tears flowed freely, but other than that her face betrayed no emotion. Her gaze still locked with her aunt's, she bent her head in acceptance. Her pain was deep and growing, but she could not deny her brother his place out of a selfish desire to keep him with her.

"That won't be necessary." Kudou Retsu strode into the room, followed by Major Kazuma, with a very flustered Hayama trailing both of them.

Mayumi watched as Maya's lips thinned and her eyes narrowed. She understood what the woman's plan was now. It was to separate Tatsuya from his friends. She just didn't understand why she would want such a thing. Did she hate her nephew that much, or was something else going on? What she clearly saw was that Kudou and the Major's entrance was completely unexpected. And completely unwelcome in Maya's eyes.

"Welcome, gentlemen. We are currently in a meeting, but I would be glad to hear your news at a later time."

The two men in question were having none of that. It was Kudou who spoke first.

"Maya-san, we apologize for the discourteous interruption, but we have some news I think pertinent to your discussion. Major, if you please?"

The Major stepped forward and came to parade rest, his feet shoulder-width apart and his hands clasped in front of him. In uniform, as always.

"Please be advised," his eyes met each of the others in the room, "this is classified information and the JSDF requests that this information not leave this room."

They had all heard this speech before in Yokohama when they found out that Tatsuya was a Special Lieutenant with the JSDF. That had been a shocking revelation. What news could possibly equal that?

Kazama's gaze held Maya's. "Tatsuya has been officially designated as a Strategic Class Magician for this nation."

"However," the Major spared a kindly glance at the still clearly upset Miyuki, "it has been decided that Tatsuya will not be uprooted from his current lifestyle and will remain with Miyuki to continue his task as her Guardian." Kudou's lips thinned on hearing that last part. He still felt that leaving Tatsuya as a Guardian was a waste of the boy's talent, but the important thing right now was to negate Maya's plans, so he swallowed his misgivings.

Miyuki wanted to hug the Major, but her breeding kept her from doing so. She wanted to thank him, and she wanted to thank her brother. She knew that it wasn't a coincidence that these men were here. Miyuki had heard about this meeting and she had informed onii-sama. She knew this was all his doing. He had out-maneuvered their Aunt, which was something rarely done, and she had never been more proud of her brother.

Well, that was that and Maya knew it. The battle was lost. While his new designation would not be made public, the JSDF had, in effect, 'claimed' Tatsuya as one of their own, and he would no longer be under the jurisdiction of the Yotsuba family.

"That concludes our business, I believe. Hayama, please escort our guests out at their convenience." With that, she left the room, presumably to verify this information with her other sources, even though having come from Kudou and Kazama it was undoubtedly correct.

When the door closed behind her, Kudou looked at each of the magicians in the room. "Despite what you've heard, Tatsuya-kun can indeed care about his friends and I'm sure that the Major can attest to that." With that, he left the room.

The Major smiled at them and agreed. "Tatsuya-san has indeed been quite concerned about each of you and has expressed that concern to me on a number of occasions." Then he, too, left the room.

The young people in the room could think of nothing to say to each other at the moment, though each was sure they would be discussing this in depth someday. They, too, filed out of the room, followed by a relieved Hayama.

In the car on the way home, Mari commented, "Well, now you don't have to marry him, at least. I mean, I like the guy, but I can't imagine you marrying him. I don't know what in the world made you say what you did, but I'll bet you're relieved now."

"Yes, I must be relieved," Mayumi said absently, her face turned away so that her friend couldn't see her tears.