Tomobiki High School, Tuesday 9 March, early morning . . .

"Osu . . . "

"Ryū- . . . no- . . . suke . . .!"

Ryūnosuke stopped on hearing that pained voice, and then looked over . . .

. . . before crying out in shock on seeing a hideously burnt figure looming over her, eyes watery with pained tears. "Damn it, Oyaji!" she snarled as she drop-kicked him into the ceiling before marching over to sit down at their small living room table. "What the hell were you doin' last night anyway? Playin' with fireworks? Aho!" she demanded before picking up a bowl of rice, and then she grabbed a ladle and scooped up some boiled fish tōfu stew to cover her rice with it before she began to eat . . .

. . . and then she stopped as her taste buds picked up a rather noticeably sour flavour in the stew. Why, that no-good, brain-dead idiot . . .! she thundered to herself as she put the bowl down, then stood up and walked into her bedroom, closing the door behind her. At that moment, Mr. Fujinami dropped down from the hole his "son" had made him create in the ceiling, and then he lunged over at the door . . .

. . . only to scream out in wild pain as burning ki with the force of THOUSANDS of volts of electricity ripped through his body once more thanks to two hidden ofuda on the inside of the door. As such were both powered by ki streaming from the mana node under the Tarōzakura hill at the south end of the Mendō estate – thus linking directly into one of the major ley lines crossing underneath Tomobiki itself – and were tied directly into Ryūnosuke's blood thanks to Negako, there was simply no way for the older man to get past that door into the tomboy's room, even if he WAS Ryūnosuke's father!

After a moment, he collapsed to the floor as the door opened again, revealing Ryūnosuke in her gakuran uniform with her breasts quite apparent under her jacket and undershirt, her school bag in hand. "Quit tryin' to go through my things, Oyaji!" she said as she slammed her foot right into her father's skull, which drove his face down into the floorboards with a very audible crack! "Nice try with the tōfu, by the way. The poison stands out like a damned lump of coal in snow! I'm gonna have breakfast over at the Moroboshi place until you smarten up finally! Dumbass!"

And with that, she walked off, closing the door behind her as the door to her bedroom closed automatically. A pained moan escaped him, "Ungrateful boy . . .!"

A second later, the door opened and a rugby ball whizzed in to smash him in the back of the head. "I'M A CHICK, YA BLIND MORON!" Ryūnosuke snapped.

Mr. Fujinami passed out as the door closed again . . .

The Moroboshi home, fifteen minutes later . . .

"Itadakimasu . . . "

With that, Ryūnosuke smiled as she picked up the bowl of rice and began to eat. It was flavoured with soft strips of marinated pulgogi from Korea; due to what had happened to Kinshō the previous night, Negako had prepared breakfast. Much to the tomboy's total surprise given how cold the ninjutsu grandmaster normally acted with others, the food was great. "Eat slow, Ryūnosuke," Negako instructed as she gazed on the younger woman out of the corner of her eye. "Remember that your body is still adjusting to being active after several months in storage after initial creation. Give your digestive system a chance to become used to assimilating the food you take in."

"Hai!"

Kinshō, who now had a bandaged face thanks to what Hiromi had done to her the previous evening, turned to glare at Ataru. "Who on Earth is this person?"

He ignored her as he continued to eat his rice, which made her jolt in surprise, and then she shuddered. "Ataru! Answer the question, you stupid boy! Who . . .?"

KK-KRACK! "Quiet! We have guests in the house and I want a peaceful breakfast, you loud-mouthed idiot!" Tariko snapped as she glared at a now-dazed Kinshō, who had been smashed down by a back-hand fist to the jaw to shut her up. "You actually WANT all the people in the city to find out how much of a monster you are?"

"Yeah, let them complain about the REAL monsters in this house for once," Ataru added, which made Muchi – once again hiding behind the pages of the morning Mainichi Shimbun – and the slowly-recovering Kinshō wince. "Sorry about the floor-show, Ryū-chan, but Baka Kā-san doesn't like anything that upsets her rose-coloured view on the world. Not to mention the fact that since I'm NOT my dead twin brother – and since Onē-san, Tariko and Hiromi all came from MY subconscious mind – that she can verbally abuse me to her heart's content." As his mother nearly choked on hearing him say THAT in front of a stranger – not to mention Asuka and Nako, who were both keeping quiet as they enjoyed their breakfast – he added, "Of course, if she keeps it up, she'll just grow old and die alone, just like she's wished for 2,216 times since I was six."

"WHAT?" Kinshō shrieked out. "I NEVER SAID THAT!"

"No, but you DID say 'I wish I never had you' – or words to similar effect – concerning Onii-san, who was your ONLY SURVIVING CHILD!" Hiromi then stated as she glared intently at her mother, which made Kinshō wince. "Ipso facto – to borrow the phrase from our Roman friends – by wishing that you never had Onii-san, you wish to grow old and die alone, WITHOUT any sort of filial support from descendants, as you these days clearly are getting past the age to have any more children."

Tariko hummed. "Does menopause come THIS early in life, Onē-san?"

Kinshō gargled on hearing THAT word. "No, but given how much useless energy she expends on trying to influence things she simply cannot, Kinshō will no doubt miscarry any future children she may bear," Negako explained in her normal toneless voice.

That made the older woman pass out on the floor. "Don't you think you're being a little harsh on her?" Nako asked as she gazed on the reborn emperor of the Latter Hàn. "Yes, saying something like that to your brother is really cruel – and if it's been THAT many times, it must happen almost every day! – but she's still your mother!"

Kinshō perked on hearing that statement. "I may not know what havin' a mom's all about, Nako, but I can tell you plenty that listenin' to THAT sort of crap sure AIN'T what a mom should do with her son. 'Specially if her son ain't responsible for whatever weird stuff happens here," Ryūnosuke noted, which made Ataru's mother turn pale. "Cripes, if MY old lady was like that, I wouldn't want nothin' to do with her!"

Another gargled sound escaped the older woman. "I have to agree," Asuka said as she coolly stared at her hosts' mother. "My mother was stern when she was raising me, but she acted in my best interest so that I could master my powers as she believed I should. She asking Negako-sama to help me better adjust to society away from the convent and the mansion is part of that." She then gazed at Ataru. "Did she actually try to SELL YOU OFF to this Hensō monster just to get a better life for herself?"

"She did," he answered, which made both Kinshō and Muchi wince. "Which really struck me as odd when I finally understood how wealthy our family really is. Nothing like what your family or the Mendō family has, Asuka-chan, but it was possible for both Otō-san and Okā-san to continue going to university and get graduate university degrees for themselves – with the resulting better jobs that those degrees would have allowed them to have – even after having both Kaeru and I right out of their sophomore year."

"Why didn't they do it?" Ryūnosuke asked.

A shrug. "Don't know. Truthfully, I don't care either. What they decide to do with themselves doesn't bother me since they've made it clear that they don't love me at all." As Kinshō and Muchi winced once more on hearing that statement from their only son, Ataru took a deep breath. "After all, according to Onē-san, my late grandmother was more than willing to help out. So was Otō-san's older brother, my uncle Komeru." As Kinshō then began to make gagging noises on hearing of THEM, Ataru shrugged. "They didn't ask them for support, but it was given. Yet despite all the complaints they've made about expenses over the years, ALL the monetary gifts that WERE sent to them to help out from Obā-san and Oji-san were ALL sent back . . . and unopened at that!" Another shrug before he moved to refill his rice bowl. "Ultimately, it's a miracle in and of itself that they were able to get enough money to get this house even if they were forced to pay the usual hundred-year mortgage on it."

Negako lightly smiled. "Komeru asked a favour of the agent that sold them the house to give them leeway when it came to repaying the mortgage."

Silence.

Muchi lowered the paper, his face white with shock. "Aniki did WHAT?"

Negako stared at him. "Komeru understood you in a way not even Nagaiwakai could equal, Muchi. He knew how much of a struggle it was for you and Kinshō to make good lives for yourselves and raise Ataru at the same time without assistance from your family, much less Kinshō's. He arranged for the mortgage to be paid off through a special fund should you have fallen behind in your payments, plus arranged for the special reconstruction fund you could use that dealt with times the house was badly damaged, such as the incident that Kinshō provoked with Mendō Haruka and Redet Chim."

More silence.

"Aniki . . . "

"He's your bro'. He was lookin' out for you."

Muchi looked up to note that Ryūnosuke was gazing directly at him, and then he sighed. "I'm going to work," he then said before standing up and heading out.

The others watched him go . . .

Minutes later . . .

"Keppeki Girl's Junior High School?"

"Yes," Negako said as she walked down the street towards what appeared to be a walled fortress in the Western model located in the Tanashi section of Nishitōkyō, which was south of Tomobiki itself. She had effortlessly carried both Nako and Asuka under her arms to this part of the newly-united city thanks to hopping along several telephone poles . . . which had impressed Ryūnosuke so much when she had seen the grandmaster take off with her charges than she immediately asked Hiromi and Tariko if she could learn how to do that. "It is a private school catering to more wealthy families such as Asuka's, Nako. It possesses a very strict anti-male policy, which should ensure that any bouts of androphobia Asuka might suffer which could arise from her being thrust so suddenly into normal society will be averted. Anyhow, the main gate is there."

Nako looked, and then she shuddered. "It's scary . . . "

"It's meant to be that way," Negako explained as they stepped onto a draw bridge over a deep moat just past the thirty-metre tall wall that surrounded the rather spacious campus. "Do be careful of the crocodiles that are within the moat."

Nako gasped. "'CROCODILES?'"

Negako stopped, and then she turned to gaze into the pond. A moment later, she then hummed. "I was mistaken." As Nako breathed out in relief, the grandmaster then stated, "They are North American alligators, not crocodiles. This way."

Nako turned sheet-white on hearing that, and then she passed out in Asuka's arms. Without hesitation, the younger Mizunokōji picked up the unconscious would-be onmyōji priestess and moved to follow Negako down the front path to the school, passing by a fenced-in run filled with a small pack of Dobermans, all quite healthy and playful with the girls inside the property even if several of their number always kept their eyes and other senses turned towards the wall protecting them from the outside world. "Negako-sama, don't you think using alligators to defend a school is excessive?"

"You have not been in normal society in Kantō when a Great Fighters Tournament occurs during summer vacation, Asuka," Negako warned. "Hiromi is quite unique as tōshi come, so you will not fully understand how harsh those like she can be. When a Great Fighters Tournament occurs, rogue tōshi who lose their bouts often take out their frustrations on students attending so-called 'neutral' schools. Do not believe your strength will protect you in such an instance, Asuka. I have shown you how easy it is to defeat such strength with just the right shiatsu strike on your body."

Asuka nodded; going through THAT had frightened her though it had taught her that superhuman strength alone was something she should always depend on. She then perked on sensing many eyes fall on her, all from girls her age who were dressed in the standard Keppeki raven-black seifuku. Noting many of them were playing soccer or dodge ball, she then smiled as she felt herself relax. This didn't seem such a scary place.

"Ah, Negako-sama! There you are!"

"Greetings, Asuka."

Asuka perked. "Um, Negako-sama, I'm right here!"

Negako gazed over as a stately woman in flowing black robes came up to them. "I am aware of that, Asuka. This is Tomohotoke Asuka, the headmistress of Keppeki," she said as she indicated the stern-looking matriarch of this place, whom had the same sort of calm, serene bearing one would imagine the Buddha himself possessing.

A polite bow from the older woman, which was immediately returned by the young heiress of the Mizunokōji Clan. "Welcome to Keppeki Girl's Junior High School, Asuka-san." She then gazed with concern – though it was hard for Asuka to tell given how stern her face looked – at the unconscious woman in her arms. "Er . . .?"

"Nako was overwhelmed on learning of the alligators," Negako stated.

"Ah!" the Headmistress then breathed out before beckoning them inside. "Come, my office is this way. Both Mrs. Mizunokōji and Mrs. Kasuga are here already."

They headed inside . . .

Meanwhile, in a mansion near a familiar shrine in Yokosuka . . .

"Nako went WHERE?"

Sumeragi Tenkai tried not to sigh too much as he found himself staring at his beloved pride and joy. "She was transferred this morning to Keppeki Girl's Junior High School in Nishitōkyō, Uruka," he explained, and then he winced again on seeing his beautiful daughter's chestnut eyes start to mist over. "Now, Uruka, I'm as much saddened by this as you are! But Nako's mother insisted that she be given a chance to discover what powers she might have inherited from her ancestors. She had every right to ask Moroboshi Negako to help teach her in that given that her own father . . . "

"MOROBOSHI NEGAKO?" Uruka then shrieked out.

The patriarch of the Sumeragi Clan of Kanagawa winced on hearing that shout, and then he sighed. "Yes! She and her family came by the shrine on Sunday to inform the kami of those who had sworn the Promise of Bunka Go-nen before Ataru-kun that . . . "

"MOROBOSHI ATARU?"

He winced yet again. "Now, Uruka, please! Ataru-kun's not . . . "

"NO!"

And with that, Uruka was running out of the room. Seeing that, a deathly pallor fell over the older man's face as he slumped to his knees. "Uruka . . .!"

Keppeki Girl's Junior High School . . .

"Um . . . Negako-san?"

Negako blinked, and then she hummed. "Oh, dear . . . "

"Is there something the matter?" Headmistress Tomohotoke asked.

The grandmaster sighed. "There may be a bit of a problem in the future with Nako's lodgings at my family home, Asuka," she stated as she calmly gazed on their host. The Mizunokōji women were seated to her left, with the Kasuga women to her right. "Nako, are you aware that Sumeragi Uruka is very much in love with you?"

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then . . .

"Ū-chan . . . m-m-ME?"

And over she went! "Oh, dear," Kasuga Misaki breathed out.

"Asuka!"

Asuka perked before she gazed on her mother. "What is it, Okā-sama?"

"You will NOT engage in THAT behaviour while you are away from home!"

A confused blink. "What behaviour?"

"Actually being in LOVE with a GIRL!"

"Asuka, pay Saeko no mind. I will explain it later."

Asuka turned and nodded. "Hai, Negako-sama!"

Instantly, a ki-charged image of a woman's head then billowed in the air over the coffee table to loom over Negako. "WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY? I FORBID . . .!"

"Saeko."

That ice-cold voice made everyone freeze!

"Do you wish to be PERMANENTLY rendered WEAK?"

As fast as the image appeared, it then disappeared as Mizunokōji Saeko quickly tried to make herself as small as possible. "I'm sorry . . . " she eeped.

"Do not question my training methods again," Negako coldly advised.

As Nako and Asuka blinked in confusion, both Misaki and Principal Tomohotoke coughed to hide the urge to laugh out loud at what they had seen. "Well, I suppose I should speak to Tenkai-kun about that," Nako's mother then stated. "Much that I've always been happy to have Uruka-chan come visit the shrine to be with Nako, Nako herself has vowed that she will bestow her first kiss on only one person."

"Who's that?" the headmistress asked, clearly curious about such a vow.

"Why, Ayanokōji Kurumi-chan, of course."

"Kurumi-chan . . . "

Everyone then looked . . .

. . . to see Kagura Nako looking as if she was high on some sort of drug as hearts seemed to flutter all over her. "Be calm, Nako," Negako then stated before sipping her tea. "As soon as the necessary preliminary research is done concerning adopting the power of the Angel Heart into an Avalonian bioroid body, Kurumi will be woken within a fortnight. As will all her sisters as well. Be calm."

"Oh, my!" Headmistress Tomohotoke gasped. "She has a crush on a STEEL ANGEL?"

"Well, when Kurumi-chan and her sisters all decided to deactivate themselves because of their sensing the coming of the Greater East Asia War, Negako-sama and Raeburn-shōsa placed her, her sisters Saki and Karinka, and Tōgō Aoi-chan in a storage room down in an old bomb shelter under the shrine grounds," Misaki explained. "Nako would have never learned a thing about it until she discovered one of Professor Ayanokōji's manuals in the shrine library, then began reading it. Before I could stop her, she went into the shelter and found Kurumi-chan, Saki-chan, Karinka-chan and Aoi-chan." A sigh. "Thank the Heavens that the shielding system Raeburn-shōsa put around them was strong enough to keep Nako from becoming Kurumi-chan's new mistress."

A delighted laugh as Nako blushed. "Oh, my!" the headmistress said as she nodded in approval, and then she gazed on Negako. "Given what I've heard about these Avalonians that you helped rescue, Negako-sama, I would assume that you will have them help you aide Kurumi-san and the others into becoming truly human?"

"Especially Kaga-san," Nako hissed out.

Negako sighed. "Nako . . . "

Nachikatsūra Onsen (120 kilometres south-southeast of Ōsaka), eighty years before . . .

"Kirei . . . "

"What do you find so beautiful?"

Shichinohe Kaga blinked on hearing that voice – when the entity whom Ayanokōji Kurumi had christened "Moroboshi Negako" was alone with one of the Steel Angels, s/he did not speak with the hollow yet booming dirge-like voice that would send chills down the backs of even the most brave soldier – and then she turned to gaze on the pale-skinned middle-aged man seated at the other end of the outdoor hot spring overlooking the small peninsula jutting out into the Pacific Ocean. And while Negako was often quite afraid to be close to such a vast body of water – Kaga knew of what had happened on the night 122 years before when the Saikō Jinseijutsu became truly alive – s/he didn't seem to mind it when s/he was taking in the warmth of the mineral waters that flowed underground in this lovely place south of the Kii Mountains.

And with me, the raven-haired, brown-eyed, tomboyish magical combat gynoid then mused with a shy smile that normally was alien to her before she gently drifted back to allow herself to come up against her current companion's side.

"Everything," she then confessed. "This beautiful evening, the whales out in the ocean playing around as they seek to mate, the wonderful weather, the warmth of the water in the onsen . . . and you with me." She turned to gaze on the possessed ninja seated beside her. "If only this was your true body and not a borrowed one."

A sigh. "Kaga, I refuse to allow myself to become a Steel Angel."

"Why not?" Kaga wondered. "You are more like us than the humans we all serve. It's only logical that you embrace a form that will no longer restrict you when it comes to living your life. You know you have to allow your host to regain control of his body every once in a while to prevent him from slipping into a permanent coma."

"True," the possessed ninjutsu-ka – her current host was Moroboshi Ryūbi's father Moroboshi Tsugaru – mused as s/he stared at his/her current companion. "But there are the downsides to what you are, Kaga. Yes, Hakushi and his co-workers have confirmed that a body could be created for me that will allow me to use my powers and capabilities to their fullest extent. But my host's family will not let me go that easily. I am far too valuable to them to allow me to run free even if those who do become my hosts such as Tsugaru have been made to fully understand what I am and what I desire. The loyalty programming built into your bodies also disturbs me as well. I desire to be free and I will not become a slave." A sigh. "And there is much more. My creator is sensing something very wrong happening in Japan now. And he has become tired. I fear that Deannette will be his final student before he allows himself to slip out of this life."

Silence.

"But . . . Master Hosan is immortal, Negako!" Kaga gasped, stunned to hear something like that from Negako. "He can't die! Not even with his head chopped off like all those other immortals can die! It's simply impossible! He can't die!"

"Kaga, all beings that are born or are created in this existence can die under the right circumstances," Negako warned her. "My creator is no different even if he has the black crystals in his blood that have frozen his aging process for the last five millennia. And he feels like a normal human being despite his immortality. He has served the Chrysanthemum Throne for well over a millennia. He now is sensing the growing militarist movement in this country as those who would have Japan 'catch up' to the nations of Europe and the United States of America strive to do everything to emulate those lands, including seizing other lands as they did with Korea and Taiwan during Emperor Mutsuhito's reign." A sigh. "I cannot blame him for feeling that way. Thanks to its isolation during the Tokugawa era, Japan was not able to properly develop as other societies did, especially with the advance of the Industrial Revolution over a century ago in Europe. My creator is used to that sameness. This modern age which you and the other Steel Angels have come to represent is a completely alien thing to him. He feels lost and he cannot make himself strive forward to embrace the current age."

"Is that why he's now training Dean-san? I thought it was because of the Power Jewel she found all those years ago in that cave in Canada!"

"The Power Jewel does factor into my creator's desire to train Deannette, but there is more," Negako said as s/he reached over to draw an arm around Kaga, which made her shudder as she leaned over against her companion, resting her head in the crook of Negako's neck as she closed her eyes and allowed herself to take in the heady musk of her companion's body. "Like I, Hirosuke views Deannette as a surrogate child. She has actually even taken to addressing him as 'Papa-sensei,' no doubt wanting to regain some sense of family after she lost hers back in 1882 thanks to her uncle. She was born in what the British address as the Victorian Era. She also has problems adjusting to the current age, but she is striving to accept things that Hirosuke cannot understand or actually finds repulsive. And while she sees herself as Canadian and is loyal to the government and social structures that rule the Dominion, Deannette can accept what the Jewel ultimately demands of her. To be the protector of all living things on Earth."

"To be the Earth Angel's Protector. The Protector of All Life."

"No, you are that protector, Kaga."

Silence.

"Negako . . .!" Kaga gasped as she gazed up into those glowing eyes – the one visible effect that would inform anyone that the Saikō Jinseijutsu was taking control of her host body that could not be suppressed, not like the total whitening of the skin or the tiger-stripes that appeared on her skin as s/he strove to manipulate the local ley lines and mana fields to draw the Earth's very life energy into her/him so she could use her many powers – and then her eyes softened as she leaned in.

They kissed as the Steel Angel shifted herself into her companion's lap as they continued to kiss away, though Kaga knew how to control herself as Negako – despite what s/he was capable of doing to anyone or anything that got in her/his way – was still in a fully human body, with all its advantages and disadvantages. Finally, they slowly parted, and then Kaga moved to lean her chin on Negako's shoulder, closing her eyes as tears flowed down her cheeks. The possessed ninjutsu-ka was quick to sense it.

"You have all decided, haven't you?"

A nod. "Are you angry at me?"

"No. I am actually quite pleased with you."

Kaga sighed. "We have no choice. We've sensed what's going on in Italy and Germany. The war that ended over a decade ago didn't really end; it just went into a sort of intermission. Japan might fall in with them with the way things are going here, too!" A sniff. "Another war is coming. And it'll be far worse." She sniffed back her tears. "The one program that I will never disobey is to bring harm to those I seek to protect, Negako. And we were all built to protect humanity. If we become involved in that war, it will be a disaster that not even Dean-san could stop."

"So when will it happen?"

"Soon." Another sniff as Kaga moved to gaze into her companion's eyes. "We want you – both you and Dean-san – to make sure it happens. And when it comes time for us to return – so that we can function as we have – we want you or Dean-san to come back to us. To wake all of us and tell us it's alright for us to live again."

Negako nodded. "So it will be . . . "

Keppeki Girl's Junior High School, today . . .

"Negako-sama . . .?"

Nako shushed her new headmistress. "Kōchō-sensei, don't disturb her."

The others in the room – save a still-meek Saeko – nodded . . .

Tomobiki High School . . .

"Oh, for cryin' out loud . . .!"

"What's the problem, Ryū-chan?"

Ryūnosuke turned as the Moroboshi siblings came up to her, and then she thumbed what was now hanging on the wall on the inside of the open window of the school's store, where Kotatsuneko could be currently seen, enjoying a morning pipe as he relaxed in a chair. "Oyaji's bein' a dickhead again," she said as Ataru, Tariko and Hiromi looked over to read:

CAUTION
Do NOT sell gym shorts to this cross-dressing, ungrateful son!

Under the warning, there was a picture of Ryūnosuke.

"My Heavens," Hiromi then breathed out, shaking her head. "To believe that he will stoop to such levels just to keep his delusions alive and well." She then took a deep breath before staring at Kotatsuneko. "I trust, honoured sir, you will not go along with such barbarism concerning our clearly FEMALE classmate?"

Kotatsuneko breathed out before raising a sign; he really did like the new kittens living at his adopted home, but there were some things even a cat-ghost from the early Meiji Era couldn't do. [I SIMPLY HAVE NO CHOICE, CHILD.] The sign twirled around. [UNLESS YOU CAN MAKE THE PRINCIPAL CHANGE THE RULES ABOUT STUPID TOMCATS INTERFERING WITH HOW THE KITTENS COMING INTO THIS PLACE ARE TAUGHT.]

"Translation: Your old man found out about the special rules concerning parental input overriding the school regulations when it comes to kids going to classes here, Ryū-chan," Ataru stated before he stared apologetically at Ryūnosuke. "They got set in when Hensō started attending classes here to make sure that no one could do anything to hurt her; the Parents Association – pushed by Baka Kā-san – had that set in. It was the one thing she could agree with Mendō's old lady about."

"What happens in gym classes?" Ryūnosuke then asked. "It's March now, so we don't do anythin' outside unless we're in full track suits – and the only thing we're doing indoors these days is martial arts trainin' under Negako-san; she got me the gi for that – but when summer comes . . . " She shook her head; her new empathic senses, which were being slowly woken to get her mind used to the idea of having such powers, did pick up the fact that the big fella in the school store did want to help her, but he couldn't due to the damn rules. Rules that her fool father was taking advantage of. "I actually WANT to get a pair of gym shorts! Now that I'm wearing a sports bra instead of a sarashi . . .!"

Tidal wave. "RYŪNOSUKE! HOW DARE YOU START CROSS-DRESSING . . .?"

"Low blow."

Mr. Fujinami stopped. "Eh?"

CRUNCH!

And out a window he went! "I love the seaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa . . .!"

Kotatsuneko puffed his pipe. [NICE HIT!]

"Dōmo!" Tariko said as her cheeks reddened, and then she sighed before turning to gaze on Ryūnosuke. "You actually WANT to wear those torture devices, Ryū-chan?"

The tomboy blinked. "What's wrong with gym shorts?"

"They're exactly as Tariko just described them, Ryūnosuke-san," a strange voice hailed from nearby. "Torture devices. At least BOYS wear more proper shorts!"

"Hey, Shinobu!" Tariko said as Shinobu came up.

"Ohayō, everyone," Ataru's former girlfriend said before she took notice of the note posted to the wall inside the window of the school store, and then she read it before shaking her head. "Oh, God! I don't begin to believe this! What is that man trying to do?"

"He's being a stubborn fool that doesn't wish to confirm to reality, Shinobu-san," Hiromi answered. "Didn't you see him fly out of the building just now thanks to Onē-san? That was after he learned that Onē-sama purchased sports bras for her."

"Not to mention him tryin' to break into my room to get rid of them," Ryūnosuke added. "And that doesn't mention him tryin' to poison me this mornin'!"

"WHAT?" Shinobu shrieked out.

"Oh, relax! It's not fatal," the tomboy assured her quite enraged classmate. "It's just a weakness concoction he comes up with every once in a while when he thinks I'm gettin' too big for my britches. I know what it tastes like, so I stopped before I could take in any of it, then went to have breakfast at the Moroboshi home." She then smirked at Ataru. "And got to learn that other families aren't as well off as mine."

Shinobu blinked, and then she sighed. "Jesu Cristo! What happened?"

"Well, if you'll accompany us to the classroom, Shinobu-san, we'll regale you with the sorry tale," Hiromi said as they headed down the hallway . . .

In the air nearby, closing in on Tomobiki High . . .

"To believe Ryōko DID that sort of thing!"

Mendō Shūtarō sighed as he and his sister relaxed in the cargo hold of a surplus United States Air Force Convair C-99 Skylifter heavy transport – which had been saved from the scrap yard at Kelly Air Force Base outside San Antonio in Texas by the Mendō Conglomerate's financial agents in America during the late 1950s and lovingly restored to flying condition . . . complete with modern electronics and defences – as it moved into an altitude where both could then egress from the machine and safely do a HALO jump to arrive on the school grounds before the first bell thirty minutes from now. "She resents you taking all of Okā-sama's attention away from her, Tachiko," he stated as he nodded thanks to a Kuromegane after he had been safely strapped in a sky-diver's rig complete with reserve parachute up front. "Even though you mean her no harm and only desire to live your life, Ryōko sees you as a threat."

"Well, it was very nice of you to loan that group of female Kuromegane for me to have as my own detail," Tachiko noted as she allowed one of her new female bodyguards – who were as pretty as any of the Mizunokōji Kurotenshi even if they were dressed in proper business suits with slacks in lieu of the polo shirts and hot pants Tobimaro's and Asuka's bodyguards/servants had – to strap her into her own rig. "How soon will the command cars have their tires repaired so we can travel the NORMAL way to school and back?"

"Hopefully by this afternoon. I instructed the Kuromegane to be very aggressive should the Kuroko come about to cause more mischief."

"Ah . . . "

"Young Master! Young Mistress!"

The Mendō siblings looked forward. "What is it?" Shūtarō demanded.

"Sir, the Lady K'ekhech of Ait'uch Nehech is floating outside the window!" the command pilot on this special flight called back, a tinge of surprise in his voice.

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then . . .

"Kyech-san?" Tachiko demanded. "What's she doing here?"

"Um . . . just looking at the airplane, Young Mistress!"

Shūtarō and Tachiko exchanged surprised looks . . .

Down below . . .

"What in the name of the gods is that boy up to?" Onsen Mark demanded.

Everyone in Class 1-4 were now standing by the windows looking up into the sky as the piston roar that heralded the presence of a C-99 heavy transport plane – just like the very craft Mendō Shūtarō had come to school in for the very first time the previous August – in the skies over Tomobiki. "I would dare assume that Ryōko-san is being her normally mischievous self and has deprived Shūtarō-san and Tachiko-san of the use of their normal command car to come so they can come to school, Sensei," Hiromi mused, and then she perked as two tiny dots exited from the port side of the low-flying cargo craft. "Ah! There they are! Looks like they're trying to do a HALO jump."

"Hopefully, they'll miss the old willow tree," Marubeya Momoe mused.

As everyone watched, the two dots soon became noticeable people wearing silver school uniforms. "Damn!" Ryūnosuke breathed out. "Is that NORMAL for that guy?"

"Not really, but he has the ability to do it, so he uses it when he has to," Ataru noted. "Take a piece of advice, Ryū-chan: Don't EVER do anything with his sister Ryōko."

The tomboy looked over. "How . . .?"

"Hey!" Megane gasped, pointing. "Who the hell's that up there with them?"

Everyone perked, and then they turned to look up . . .

. . . as Ataru's face then turned pale on his sensing a VERY familiar ki signature tinged with the raging torrent of one of the Dragons of Heaven.

The Noukiite Dragons of Heaven, of course . . .

"Kyech . . .!"

"Shūtarō, what are you doing?"

Shūtarō perked on hearing that calm question, and then he turned to see a familiar Noukiite woman with shaggy reddish-pink hair and deep chestnut brown eyes floating down at an equal speed to himself not a metre to his left. "Sky-diving, Kyech-san!" he called out even if the wind whipping past him hadn't blanked out that voice. Taking a check of his altimeter, he took a breath, and then pulled the rip-cord. At the same moment, Tachiko did the same. Twin chutes – as always with members of Japan's richest family, the square parachutes had the clan's octopus head mondokoro on them – then deployed, braking their fall as they moved to guide themselves onto a safe landing on the front lawn.

Watching this, the Dragonspeaker – who could levitate herself with the powers she had been granted a lifetime before by the greatest of the Sky Lords of Noukiios – then slowed herself down as she waited for the two sky-divers to catch up to her just as they passed below five hundred metres' altitude above the ground. Assuming a crossed-legged position, she then turned as Tachiko came up to drift down with her. "You are Avalonian," she noted.

A nod. "Hai, Kyech-san." Tachiko then introduced herself before explaining what had happened to cause her creation in the first place. At the end of it – as the Mendō siblings were moving to land – she added, "We're travelling so unconventionally today because Onii-sama's real sister, Ryōko, is getting jealous of the fact that Okā-san is treating me with more love and respect than she does her. Given that I am Onii-sama's twin both in body and in soul – and that Ryōko always loves to provoke things with Onii-sama – I am as much a legitimate target in her eyes as he is."

Kyech hummed. "She needs to be properly disciplined."

By then, the Mendō siblings had reached the ground. With practiced ease, both Shūtarō and Tachiko executed perfect front rolls to allow them to stay on their feet without messing up their uniforms, and then they flicked off the parachute packs from their bodies with a touch of the release clamps. Once they were free, Shūtarō pulled out a cell phone from his pocket and flipped it open, tapping a control to open a link to the orbiting cargo plane. "Landing successful," he called out. "Return to base. Have a cleanup crew come here to obtain the parachute packs as soon as possible."

"Understood, Young Master!" the pilot of the C-99 replied.

By then, several people had come up to help them gather the parachutes and pack them away. "How come you're parachuting your way to school today, dude?" Mifune Hideyuki asked as Tachiko nodded her thanks for coming over to help out.

"My command cars had their tires slashed, Hideyuki-san," Shūtarō stated as several girls pitched in to help clean up his parachute. "No doubt Ryōko's doing because of her growing jealously concerning Tachiko and the amount of attention she draws from our mother." He then turned and bowed apologetically to the Principal, who had just come up to greet them. "I apologise for the unorthodox way of coming to school this morning, Kōchō-sensei. It could not be avoided."

"That's more than fine, young man. At least you're willing to clean up after yourself," the Principal said before he turned and bowed politely to the visiting Noukiite free warrior. "Welcome back to Tomobiki, Lady K'ekhech. Is there some reason you are coming to visit us today?"

Kyech nodded in return; as she held her deadly spear-tipped battle axe-polearm weapon known as the K'uktech-souang in her right hand, she could not give the older man the proper left fist-in-right open palm salute of her people. "Heaven's sincere blessings on you and your school, Lord Schoolmaster," she said. "At'at'at' and I will be here in Tomobiki for the next while. Certain elements of other races have come to resent Her Imperial Majesty's extension of the Imperial Dominion's protection over this world. My presence here will hopefully prevent any incident from causing others harm."

"I see." A tired sigh. "I assume that Moroboshi-kun's use of his privledges under Paragraph Ten of the Tag Race Treaty and the revelation about that cobalt bomb your people found in the city didn't properly persuade certain people from understanding the truth of the situation?"

"No," Kyech replied, shrugging. "But that is to be expected of politicians. They say one thing and do another. It is natural of their kind."

"Kyech."

She perked, and then turned . . .

. . . as a familiar man came up to her. Seeing him – and remembering the many passionate nights she had spent with this man under the starry sky of Okusei over a six-week period – the Dragonspeaker felt her cheeks redden as she ducked Ataru's stare. As people watched this, they were quick to see the look of embarrassment and pain flash across his face. Finally, he sighed. "How are you doing?"

A nod. "I am well, Ataru."

"Where's At'-chan?"

"ATARU!"

He turned . . .

. . . and then yelped as a booted foot slammed into his jaw, knocking him over to fall face-first into the ground. As he collapsed, a lithe woman in a white tunic and dungaree blue slacks landed in front of Kyech, an annoyed look on her face. Like the Dragonspeaker, this woman was Noukiite with the caste tattoos of the Flower Youth on her cheeks. She appeared a couple years younger than Kyech, possessing a different head-ridge pattern, turquoise hair styled in two ponytails behind her ears with pretty ball barrettes and eyes the shade of maple fudge. "HAH!" she snapped as she pointed accusingly at man she just dropped-kicked. "YOU MEANIE! HOW DARE YOU . . .?"

"At'at'at'."

The newcomer then turned VERY pale on hearing that stern voice before she turned around to gaze up into the eyes of the woman she loved more than life itself . . .

. . . only to find said woman's eyes now GLOWING as shadows seemed to cross her face. Seeing that, EVERYONE – save for Ataru, who was muttering choice comments about idiot girls who couldn't get a bloody story straight – took an involuntary step away from the two Noukiites as the newcomer cringed from that piercing look.

Kyech then raised a finger. "You didn't do the knee drop correctly."

A mass face-fault resulted!

To be continued . . .

WRITER'S NOTES:

1) Ryūnosuke's problems with her father drugging her food were inspired by the Yatsura anime episode where she first appears, "Ryūnosuke Arrives! I Love the Sea!" (anime episode #63). Moroboshi Komeru's under-the-table support of his brother and sister-in-law was a theme I introduced in The Senior Year to explain how fast the Moroboshi home in Tomobiki could recover from it being wrecked like the time the combined forces of the Mendō family and Lum's family destroyed it in the anime episode "Terrible Inspection Day" (anime episode #16-2); this was inspired by the manga story "The Parents Day From Hell" (manga episode #51). The whole matter concerning the prohibition on selling Ryūnosuke gym shorts (bloomers) comes from the manga story "Give Me Gym Shorts" (manga episode #149). And Mendō Shūtarō made his first appearance by literally PARACHUTING into school in the manga story "Trouble Drops In" (manga episode #23).

2) Translations: Pulgogi – "Fire Meat," which is applied to any meat (beef, chicken or pork) which is marinated and then barbecued over an open fire; Ipso facto – "By the fact itself," a Latin phrase which indicates a certain phenomena would result from a specific action in question (like Kinsho's "I wish I never had you!" tirades actually meaning she wishes to mature into her senior years without filial support, thus literally "Grow old and die alone!"); Shōsa – Army major, air force squadron leader, navy lieutenant-commander (NATO rank code OF-3; U.S. Armed Forces pay code O-4); K'uktech-souang – "Cleaver of the Heavens," the direct Noukiite analogue to Lǚ Bù's Fāngtiān Huàjǐ ("Sky Piercer"), known in Japanese as the Hōten-gageki.

3) Sumeragi Tenkai and his daughter, Sumeragi Uruka, were characters in the anime series Kōtetsu Tenshi Kurumi 2-shiki; the former's obsession with the latter's happiness was a major plot point in the whole series.

4) The family name of the headmistress of Keppeki Girl's Junior High School is written with the kanji 大佛 (the kyūjitai "old character form" format) or 大仏 (modern format). The first character is read "tomo" (the nanori "self-introduction" reading of "dai," meaning "great"). The second kanji is read "hotoke" (the kun'yomi "meaning reading" reading of "butsu," meaning "Buddha"). All the teachers at Keppeki Girl's Junior High School that appeared in the manga storyline "Fortress of Fastidiousness" (manga episodes #336-338) all physically resemble various depictions of the Buddha as appearing in various shrines across Japan. The given name for Headmistress Tomohotoke, "Asuka" (written as 飛鳥), is taken from the other name of the Hōkō-ji temple in the city of the same name in Nara Prefecture, Asuka-dera; a Great Buddha statue is located in the temple there. Also, Mizunokōji Asuka's given name is written with the same kanji as her new headmistress' given name.

5) Mizunokōji Saeko was shown to be quite the iron lady in her own right in the Yatsura manga series, but given how all the characters in the series all possessed some sort of vulnerability or weakness to one extent or another (Mendō Shūtarō's claustrophobia, Mizunokōji Asuka's androphobia, etc), I decided Saeko would suffer from asthenophobia, which is literally the fear of being weak. Given her determination that Asuka be as physically strong as possible – and her mad drive to see Asuka be strong on Saeko's terms, not her daughter's – her possessing such a phobia seems quite plausible to me.

6) Both the characters of Master Hosan Hirosuke and Major Deannette Antonia (Dean) Raeburn are my creation; I've explained both their origins in various stories. And no, as Kaga said in the flashback, Master Hosan is NOT a Highlander-type immortal who can die by getting decapitated and having his life-force taken in the Quickening.

7) The Convair XC-99 was a cargo plane derivative of the Convair B-36 Peacemaker strategic bomber first developed in the late 1940s and deployed with elements of Strategic Air Command from 1949-59. The only model of the XC-99 (which was never given a name) first flew in 1947 and was delivered to the USAF two years later. The XC-99 – which never went into full production in real life – was taken out of service in 1957 and put on display at Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas (these days, the base is called Kelly Field Annex as an element of Joint Base San Antonio) and put on display there until 2004, where it was moved to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio to become a display at the United States Air Force Museum. Due to problems and costs in resroring the XC-99 to display-level condition – the aircraft was stored outside, thus deteriorating the hull and wings to a very critical level – the prototype was shifted once more in 2011 to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tuscon, Arizona to be stored until funds for full restoration could be done. In the universe of this story, the C-99 (the name Starlifter is my creation) did go into limited service during the 1950s as support transports to the B-36 force.

8) At'at'at' is based on the Koihime Musō version of Chinkyū Kōdai (also known as "Nenene"). Her proper name is Seu-Nich Yesu-Ak Hechnich'-Ekpuo. I made a small mistake here when I did the Korean-Noukiite encoding for Nenene's childhood name. The kanji going into that is 音々音, which would be read in han'gŭl as 음음음 (ŭmŭmŭm). I forgot to change the nil-sound symbol "ㅇ" (which is read "ng" at the end of a syllable) into "k" ("ㄱ") when I made the word a Noukiite one (I tend to make that mistake when it comes to this particular character encoding, especially when it starts a word), so her childhood name should actually be pronounced "Kat'kat'kat'." My mistake.

9) Of course, the scene where At'at'at' drop-kicks Ataru in the jaw – and Kyech's response to that – is taken directly from the seventh episode of Shin-Koihime Musō, "Chinkyū Is Taken In By Ryofu."