Sorry, RL's getting really hectic so it'll slow my updates down. Everything's been set up on the HiME's side already, so after this we'll be getting a quick glimpse of what's happening on the other side. Just a few notes:
The first quotation below is from Sun Tzu's "The Art of War". The second is based on Mao's "On Guerrilla Warfare". And in most armies, General is a higher rank than Brigadier General. Demosthenes was a prominent statesman and orator of ancient Athens. He played a leading part in his city's uprising against Macedonia.And for those who aren't familiar, in Mai Otome, Mahya Blythe and Sara Gallagher are two of the columns; Fia Grosse, Rosalie Claudel, Carla Bellini, Laula Bianchi, and Anh Lu are Otomes; and Miya Clochette is a Coral.
Twisted HiME – Ninja
by Mara S. S.
A stupid enemy is a gift from the gods.
But when an enemy did something like this, he was either extremely stupid or extremely clever.
Okuzaki Akira scowled up at the ceiling of her room. The TV on a table beyond the foot of her bed had just finished replaying the Obsidian Lord's announcement. After the announcement was first read a few days ago, the news stations kept replaying it over and over again until Akira nearly memorized the damned thing.
Fumi, Akane and Yukino were lucky they'd left for Fuuka soon after the announcement was released, they didn't have to suffer this mindless repetition. The TV was now blaring on and on about some sports even or another. Akira reached for the remote on the bedside table silenced the TV.
Akira lay back on the bed and returned to scowling at the ceiling. The room she was in was located in the west wing of Fuuka Suites, a hotel run by two of their agents. Its ideal location, halfway between Neo-Tokyo and Fuuka, was what made Midori choose it for their temporary base in Japan.
There were currently three combat squads of twelve men (and women) each in Fuuka Suites, one commanded by Akira herself, one by Midori, and the third by another soldier, Miya Clochette.
In a normal army, it would have been unusual for a General like Midori and a Brigadier General like Akira to personally command such a small squad. But the rebellion had to use guerilla strategy because they were greatly outnumbered by the armies under the Obsidian Lord's control.
That suited Akira just fine, she wasn't the type who'd be happy sitting at a desk and pushing a paper around all day. Midori may have been their leader and Yukino their strategist but it was Akira who was usually on the ground, personally leading their soldiers. This operation especially, she wanted to attend to herself.
Their plan should have been simple. Kidnap the Twisted HiME, kill the Obsidian Lord, and get their most important persons back. Oh, and while they were at it, they'd destroy the HiME star and save the world as well. But no… The Obsidian Lord had to go make an announcement that wreaked havoc on their carefully laid out plan.
The royal proclamation had only confirmed what Yukino learned, the news that had set all their plans in motion. The Obsidian Lord and the Crystal Princess would be traveling by train – by train! – to Fuuka, stopping for a brief appearance at cities along the way. They even gave the date and the time of their departure, like they were begging to be attacked.
"It's a trap..." she mumbled, "Definitely a trap." The ninja turned onto her side and toyed with the dagger she kept up her sleeve. Up the other sleeve was the mini Miyu she always carried on her person.
It was a trap, of that she was sure, but Midori had decided to go ahead with their operation anyway. Akira protested. She'd been overruled.
Akira understood Midori's reasoning. With the Anniversary so near, everyone was already in place, both in Japan and abroad, and it would be too costly to abort now.
The fourth squad of the rebellion currently in Japan, the one commanded by Mahya Blythe, had already infiltrated Fuuka. Fumi, Akane and Yukino were probably with them by now, under various disguises. It would be difficult to extract them from Fuuka without blowing their covers.
Akira still felt they should abort the mission anyway. If the Obsidian Lord's and the Twisted HiME's visit to Fuuka was a matter known to the public, she'd argued, then security would be much tighter than if it was a secret visit. They'd be on guard for an attack, on guard for any attempts the rebellion could make.
Attacking in a situation like that was something the rebellion had always avoided. Their plans were always, always based on stealth and deception. They'd always attacked where the Obsidian Lord was not, always where soldier concentration was low, always where they were not expected.
"Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.
Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him. If he is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him. If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him.
Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant. If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate them. Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected."
That principle was something Akira was comfortable with because she'd been trained in ninjitsu since childhood. The Okuzaki clan was one of the few remaining families that still practiced the art of ninjitsu. Few of the ninja families had survived until the modern era, not even the once great families of the Iga and the Koga.
The Okuzaki clan was small and they'd sworn a vow of secrecy. Never to let anyone know they still inherited the knowledge of the past, still passed it on to the younger generations. They feared others would seek that knowledge for their own selfish reasons.
That was part of the reason the elders had been displeased with Akira, for outing them, so to speak. However, after the Obsidian Lord began his takeover of Japan, Midori had convinced them that the ninja clan's particular skills and talents were needed. Many of Akira's first and second cousins now served the rebellion as spies, infiltrators and messengers.
Both males and females were trained to be ninja, only Akira was a special case. From a young age, she was ordered by the elders to disguise her true gender.
It was a great relief to her that she didn't need to hide her gender any longer, that she didn't need to continue acting self-assured and manly. She still preferred the less restrictive men's clothing but her disguising as a male in the past wasn't an issue anymore. It had become a good-natured joke with the rest of the former HiMEs and her subordinates still addressed her with "-kun".
It was a long time before Akira understood why she'd been ordered to hide as a male. An ancestor of hers had been a HiME in the previous Festival. Her clan was anxious that the winner of this Festival would not use her powers selfishly so Akira had been sent to either win the Festival or at least make sure the winner was an acceptable one.
She'd been disguised, ever since childhood, for that one moment in time. So no one would suspect her of being a HiME, so she could pass freely through their ranks. All it took though, was one split second of inattention and that secret was no longer a secret.
That in itself was forgivable, her disguise was merely a device for her protection. What made up the bulk of the elder's displeasure with Akira was that she'd allowed Mai to win the Festival.
Never mind that she'd been badly injured, never mind that she'd been carried home soul sick after Ta… after Ta… after… after she'd been defeated. She'd failed her primary mission and that was unforgivable.
Akira had never expected Mai to help the Obsidian Lord take over the world. Mai was the source of the Obsidian Lord's great power that allowed him to bring the rest of the world to its knees. That power allowed him to literally blast armies into pieces, in the same manner Alyssa's Child had been able to, five years ago. That was how he'd managed to dominate most of the world, by simply destroying the soldiers fielded against him.
But why had Mai helped him? Akira would have understood if her purpose had been to bring back… to bring back… to bring back Takumi.
But if it were only for that purpose, why had the HiMEs been hunted down mercilessly at the end of the Festival all those years ago? Why were there now bounties on each of their heads? And why was the HiME star getting larger, almost as large as it had been during the Festival?
So many questions, and now here was another one added to the mix. Do they know we're here? Is it a challenge? Akira feared they were the ones being baited, that they were the ones being toyed with. All they could do was to tread carefully, and spring the trap.
Akira sighed, putting the dagger back in its hiding place, sitting up on the bed and picking up her pencils and sketchpad instead. There was no helping it. They were already in the last phase of the war, all their preparations led up to this one operation.
"In the first phase, the guerrillas gain the support of the population through the distribution of propaganda and attacks on the machinery of government.
In the second phase, escalating attacks are made on the government's military and vital institutions.
In the third phase, conventional fighting is used to seize cities, overthrow the government, and take control of the country"
Yukino was the one who'd worked nonstop at gaining the support of the population, a regular Demosthenes inciting the people to rebellion. Using the pen name Diana, she published an underground newspaper and maintained an internet site. Possession of her newspaper was an automatic jail sentence but it was nevertheless popular, even in Japan. It was through those means she gained most of her contacts, her agents, her spies.
Akane sowed chaos among government and military officials while Nao contributed with her own explosions. Nao also helped ferment civil unrest in the urban areas she influenced. Akira sometimes suspected Nao had more than merely influence but the ninja really didn't want to know about the gangster's activities. She and Nao had a truce of sorts but she'd never really forgiven Nao.
Garderobe's council had been approaching government and military officials they'd deemed sympathetic, with Akira's clan serving as their messengers. They'd also been attacking government institutions over the course of the past years and now they were finally in a position where they could retake control of the world.
Their only stumbling block was the Obsidian Lord's power. It was what kept silent those who would otherwise be willing to oppose him. The officials they'd approached were more than willing to revolt if the threat of the Obsidian Lord was no longer there.
He had to be eliminated. Without him the government would collapse. The rebellion did have some things going for them. The Obsidian Lord had always been limited to line of sight and there had been no visible display of power from him in the past two years.
Yukino had her suspicions though, about the earthquake the previous summer. That possibility made Akira shiver. If the Obsidian Lord could now cause natural disasters, the range of his power drastically increased. He definitely had to be eliminated, that was why Akira and the rest were here in Japan now.
Everything hinged on what would happen here in Japan but the rebellion wouldn't exactly be helpless even if they failed. The four squads they'd brought into Japan were but a fraction of their total strength. The rest were spread out all over the world, poised to take control of government offices once news came of the Obsidian Lord's demise. Or triumph, whichever came to pass.
They had battalions stationed in key locations around the world now. Akira mentally ran over the various region's commanders.
Laula Bianchi in North America, and Rosalie Claudel in South America. Fia Grosse in Europe, Anh Lu in Africa, Carla Bellini for Australia and Sara Gallagher in Asia, with Sergay Wong in the Pacific.
Sergay, Sergay was their insurance, their last guard against failure. If worst came to worst, he commanded a ship stationed off the coast of Japan, with missiles aimed directly for Fuuka.
Akira didn't want Fuuka to become another Hiroshima, another Nagasaki. But they just couldn't afford to let the Obsidian Lord's regime go on any longer. Akira, Midori and Yukino trusted Sergay to make the right decision if everything went wrong. His daughter had perished when the Obsidian Lord destroyed his hometown so Sergay had nothing left to lose.
Akira twirled the pencil in her hands. The sketchpad and her pencils accompanied her pretty much everywhere she went. She was a good artist even if she didn't boast about it. She didn't have much time to paint lately, but pen and paper were easily found.
It was something she enjoyed doing and she tried to set at least some time aside for her sketching. She now lost herself in her latest drawing, one that made her smile and feel sad at the same time.
Akira was almost finished with the drawing when she was interrupted by a knock on the door.
Startled, Akira instinctively rolled of the bed, a dagger ready in both hands. Her sketchpad was placed out of the way on the bedside table. She cautiously walked to the door, ears straining to catch a hint of the intruder.
"Who is it?" she called out.
A knock on the door, more tentative this time.
"Akira-kun? Excuse me, Akira-kun?" came from the other side of the door.
Akira opened the door a fraction, ready to spring back and defend herself at any moment.
"Excuse me," a well endowed blonde said, eyes widening at the sharp daggers in Akira's hands. Akira recognized her as Erstin, co-owner of the hotel. Erstin was one of Yukino's spies and a regular columnist in the underground newspaper under the codename 'Coral'.
"Yes?" Akira asked warily, opening the door an inch wider.
"Umm… I'm here to change the sheets." she said, gesturing to the push cart behind her, still half frightened by Akira's weapons.
Akira automatically ran over the possibilities. Yukino trusted the woman and she doubted the other woman was any sort of fighter so she decided to let Erstin in.
"Leave the cart outside." she said gruffly, opening the door completely as Erstin entered with an armful of sheets. She closed the door behind the blonde woman and followed as Erstin proceeded to remove the bed sheets.
Akira watched, on edge and with all her senses alert. She hadn't survived this long by letting her guard down. She let her guard down once before, and look where it got her. Then, a thought occurred to her. Why was the hotel owner taking care of a menial task such as this?
"Hey…" she said.
Erstin turned and looked at her, in the middle of tucking the new sheets under the bed.
"Why are you the one doing this?" Akira asked.
"Ah, " Erstin said, understanding now lit up her eyes, "Yamada-san, our Security Chief, said it was better to keep the rest of the staff away from this wing. The less who know, the better." Erstin shrugged and went back to her task.
Akira digested this. It made sense, it was a precaution she approved of. Akira should have exercised more caution before answering the door though, because as Erstin finished replacing the sheets, her gaze fell on the sketchpad on top of the bedside table.
Erstin smiled, it was a beautiful drawing. A couple sitting on a couch, their faces turned towards one another with a happy expression on both their faces. The man's face was somewhat feminine but it held a sense of kindness that showed his gentle and generous nature. The woman's face was somewhat androgynous but her figure left no doubts as to her gender.
The man's left arm was around the woman's shoulders, and her left hand reached up to hold his. They were laughing, laughing together, laughing as if at some shared joke that only they could understand. It was a beautiful drawing. The two of them contrasted and complemented each other, just as the woman's white dress served as the foil for the man's black suit.
When Akira saw Erstin looking at the sketchpad, her eyes widened and she blushed bright red. She strode forward and snatched the sketchpad out from under Erstin's eyes.
"H… Hey!!!" Akira stammered, stepping back and clutching the sketchpad protectively to herself.
Erstin, surprised at the painfully embarrassed reaction, bowed and apologized. "Gomen nasai, Akira-kun." she said, then picked up the used bed sheets and hurriedly left the room.
Akira, still trying to control her blushing, sat down on the bed with the sketchpad in her hands. She did not enjoy being embarrassed. She put the sketchpad down in her lap and pressed both hands to her cheeks, willing them to return to their normal color.
After she'd calmed down a bit, she picked up the sketchpad once more, and filled in the last detail. When she finished, she put the sketchpad reverently into her bag, then left the room, quietly sliding the door closed.
Maybe it was just a trick of the light, but the couple seated on the couch now seemed to snuggle closer to each other. From their intertwined left hands now glinted a pair of rings and they radiated happiness and contentment.
TBC
Disclaimer: Mai HiME belongs to Sunrise.
