Chapter 9 Recruitment Continues: Active Warzone
As Tokihiko predicted, school went on uneventfully, aside from a little snarkiness from Subaru and a few awkward at times questions from Rie. No, the real action was to be had after school, where due to the one off chance to hold their CADs on campus, many students were engaged in altercations ranging from minor arguments to no holds barred magic shootouts.
Barely fifteen minutes after school had ended the clubs started to recruit aggressively as if they had a quota to fill or that their budgets depended on the number of new recruits (which if one actually thought it out it probably did). Tokihiko unfortunately was not in time for the argument that escalated into a magic slinging brawl but he was halfway across the small field darting between students and stands alike heading to the source of psion disturbances before anyone even noticed him pass.
"This is Mitsuya from the Public Morals Committee! Magic attacks not intended for self defence are considered criminal activity desist at once!"
Now at the scene with his committee armband on, the commotion continued as his warning fell on deaf ears, more people joining the fight. Between spells pinging their opponent's Data Fortification and physical spells being countered by different forms of defensive magic, Tokihiko started the video recorder in his left pocket and issuing commands to his CAD to prepare a wide scale magic to get his point across.
Just before he could issue the activation command for his input activation sequence however, time slowed as his Future Sight activated. A defense mechanism usually employed only to track major disturbances in time directed at him, in order to carry out his duty Tokihiko had expanded the search range to any human entity within ten meters. Normally this level of sensitivity would cause him to experience these precognitive warnings more often but in the interests of doing his job he was willing to shoulder the inconvenience.
The scene started to play out in front of him in slow motion, one of the combatants to his left using movement magic to raise several tiles to use them as projectiles against his opponent on the right. His opponent would then counter with oscillation magic to create wind blades that would deflect the concrete tiles diverting them from their intended path. All was well and good so far, except that a few of the tiles would be diverted into the audience of the quickly escalating magic battle. Onlookers who were obviously not prepared to deal with a sudden threat and would become collateral damage should the fight be allowed to continue.
Tokihiko dissociated himself from the vision he had to return to the here and now. The combatants were still inputting commands into their CADs which gives him mere seconds to come up with a solution. Resources were not the issue in this dilemma with restraint being the bigger priority. It would be incredibly easy to blanket the area in combat class counter magic however such magic would be similar in nature to antinite, a heavily restricted material used by the military. Such magic would raise questions and even if the questions were deflected, would place Tokihiko under great scrutiny.
The tiles being lifted just like how it occurred in his vision, the situation became increasingly dire. Tokihiko was running out of time and options. His hand outstretched, Tokihiko looked back into his past, searching for any magic that could possibly negate both magics at once. The answer presented itself in the nick of time. Between both sides of the fight, a shimmering wall appeared.
The wall itself was composed of a single type movement based magic. The tiles that hit it lost their momentum, fell to the ground and fragmented. The air blades created by oscillation magic simply hit the barrier and dissipated. A magic unique to those of Juumonji lineage, the barrier itself continued to refresh itself as magic tested the individual layers that although broken were simply replaced by the layers beneath it.
The magic casting coming to a standstill as a result of the Phalanx being used, several onlookers and even the magicians involved in the fight started to crane their heads looking for club management group leader that they would not find.
"Now that I have your attention."
Everyone turned to the source of the cleared throat and voice, only to find a first year with a disciplinary committee armband around his right arm. Tokihiko also had a spell prepared on standby his hand emitting psion light as he faced the crowd.
"Magic attacks are forbidden on campus. Permission has been granted for the use of CADs for demonstrational purposes only not for combat. I will be taking your statements now."
Whether they were intimidated or shocked by the use of Phalanx, Tokihiko paid the reactions of the crowd no heed as he opened a direct communication line with HQ to report the situation.
"Arrest outside of the practical skills building, five... six... seven students under arrest for unlawful use of magic. No wounded."
"You think you can just take us in without any resistance?"
One of the students apparently did not like the idea of being taken in without a fight. In reaction to his outburst Tokihiko calmly levelled his hand towards the student in question, the psion light continuing to glow and hum dangerously as he met the question with a threat of his own.
"I'd rather you don't try anything."
The student seemed to dislike being reacted to with calm rather than fear or apprehension. Whether it was because his opponent was a mere first year or because he thought he could invoke magic faster from scratch compared to an already waiting spell it did not matter either way. The moment his hand twitched towards his sleeve to pull it back to use his own bracelet CAD, Tokihiko sighed inwardly and lowered his hand towards the student's leg before invoking movement magic on his right foot.
The effect was instantaneous. Tokihiko's movement magic easily penetrated his aggressor's Data Fortification and sent his foot backwards by a meter. While it was magic on the level of a simple prank, the effect it had was anything but that. Now off balance from a violent shift in his center of gravity, the student fell forward and barely caught himself in time with both hands forward landing in an impromptu variant of a push up position.
No harm was immediately caused by the sudden attack but the magic had its intended effect, disabling his opponent long enough to make his point as he prepared another spell.
The most visible threat neutralised, Tokihiko now scanned the crowd for any other possible dissenters that might interfere with his job. He was not looking for a fight nor a reason to antagonise anyone but if there was somebody in the crowd who had a bone to pick with him, there was no reason not to respond.
To his relief, the rest of the students stayed quiet and statement taking only took five minutes. It would have definitely taken longer if pen and paper, or digital entry was involved but after all that had transpired Tokihiko was feeling particularly lazy and simply voice recorded all the statements and uploaded them to the public morals committee subnetwork. Let them deal with the statements directly.
"Hey, Mitsuya-kun! Sup!"
Hearing Subaru's voice from behind him, Tokihiko turned and returned her greeting wave.
"Nothing much, just finished up here. How's the club hunting going?"
It seems that Subaru had something on her mind as she seemed deep in thought, her gaze directed diagonally upwards while she chewed on her lip. After his gaze lingered on her for a few seconds, Subaru's biodata started to flicker in and out as multiple windows opened and close each one measuring something different from skin conductivity caused by sweat production to pupil dilation. Quickly electing to shut down the program likely started by Corrina as her idea of a joke, Tokihiko tried to bring her back to the here and now.
"Is something on your mind?"
"Huh? O-oh, yeah. I wanted to ask you something."
"Go ahead."
"I didn't notice Juumonji-senpai with you just now. Seeing as you were the one who broke up the fight, do you have any idea where that Phalanx magic came from?"
To Subaru's unexpected question, Tokihiko had an on the spot dillemma. Should he divert and deny that the magic was his? Lie to her about the magic? Or tell her the truth? Picking the lesser of the three evils, Tokihiko gave a shrug and a cocky smile.
"If it fooled you as well I must be getting better at it than I thought."
"Better at what?"
"That wasn't the Phalanx. An elaborate copy that attempts to mimic the original but without access to the activation sequence so carefully guarded by the Juumonji family I have no way of casting the actual thing. Think of it like a free trial version."
Despite the convincing story, it seemed that Subaru was not completely convinced as she rested her hands on her hips and leaned towards Tokihiko nearly infringing upon his personal space.
"It looked awfully real to me."
"Well obviously. It wouldn't be an elaborate copy if it didn't look like the original. My version of it has a glaring weakness."
"What would that be?"
"Secret-desu."
Abusing the use of the word secret in his surname as he refused to reveal the spell's weakness to Subaru, Tokihiko wore a smug grin that only served to infuriate Subaru.
"Tell me!"
"Nuh uh, find out yourself! It's more fun that way."
Even after he had blatantly refused to tell her anything Subaru continued to follow Tokihiko around on his patrols though she did stop pestering him after a good ten minutes of a mixture of nagging and begging. Whether she had given up because of a lack of genuine interest or from expending all her effort made no difference to Tokihiko as he monitored his surroundings along with updates from HQ scrolling up at the corner of his vision. The case he had handled was not an isolated incident as scuffles had popped up all over the school however as he was not the closest committee member on hand the first to respond were other members instead of him.
His patrol route now covering the shooting ranges as well, Tokihiko kept an eye out for any signs of trouble while making sure nothing happened to Subaru on his watch. Most of the students that wandered around the stands during recruitment week did so in groups. This probably came from the mentality of "safety in numbers" but also could be from the harassment cases that occurred when students wandered alone and several club recruiters started to get a bit more aggressive than usual.
After nearly losing Subaru for the fifth time in a row while accompanying her, Tokihiko's curiosity started to spike as he started to suspect that his inability to keep track of her rather than being due to lapses in his attention was actually caused by a more logical answer: The involvement of magic somehow.
Before he could question her on the matter however, a commotion started to take place in front of the shooting club's demonstration area between a red headed first year and a senior from the shooting club. The shooting club senior was attempting to recruit the red head and was rather insistent on having the red head join hence the raised voices as a small crowd gathered to watch.
The pair of students now coming into Tokihiko's line of sight, his student identification program kicked in, names and student cards of the students in question appearing in drop down windows, the student being harassed Amelia Eimi Akechi Goldie from Class 1B, her harasser Tomo Suzuka from Class 2C. Rather than let the situation spiral out of control, Tokihiko released the safety on his CAD ready to take action to prevent just that until something in the corner of his eye caught his attention.
Another student wearing a public morals committee armband was already on the scene. Although he was blocked by the student he was talking to, the partial features of his face available easily identified him as Class 1A Morisaki Shun. Currently in what must be an extremely stimulating conversation with a female student, Shun despite being meters away from a fight about to break out was completely oblivious to the action that transpired right in front of him.
With the female student's back turned, identification was impossible at that point in time. This however did not stop Tokihiko from turning on the recorder he was issued and pointing it in Shun's direction for a good few seconds before turning back to the situation at hand.
"Come on, your shooting talent would be wasted if you didn't join our club!"
"And I'm telling you, let me go!"
Amelia now starting to get frustrated with the senior who would not let go, Tokihiko via Continuum Analysis could see the warning signs of a CAD exiting standby mode with its safeties disengaged.
However it was not Amelia's CAD.
In the small crowd that had gathered, someone had whether out of the intent to help or ill intent had entered an activation sequence into their CAD, the target likely the pair in the center of attention. As Shun and Tokihiko were the only public moral committee members on site, the invoker of magic in this case would likely be a vigilante.
His attention now diverted to the invocation of magic, Tokihiko quickly analysed the magic being used by the would be vigilante.
Single System Movement type magic, target, Suzuka. Estimated displacement, 5 meters.
While a tad overkill even by student standards, Tokihiko was tempted to let the events transpire normally and arrest the magic invoker after the magic was cast. The area that was five meters behind Suzuka however was what made Tokihiko's blood stop cold.
The firing range that the students were demonstrating at was about that distance from Suzuka. To make matters worse, a boy was actively using one of the provided CAD rifles to shoot at the range in the exact location Suzuka would end up in if the movement magic Tokihiko foresaw were to activate.
Now left with a fraction of a second to react as the activation sequence expanded and started to form a magic sequence in the casters subconscious, Tokihiko pointed his finger at the student in question and invoked magic without the use of his own CAD.
Time Magic: Gram Reversal.
Similar in composition to its close relative Gram Acceleration, instead of accelerating the invocation of magic, Gram Reversal negates the invocation of magic by rewinding the record of magic, Gram, back to the time before the activation sequence was entered thus nullifying the invocation of said magic. While extremely convenient, the technique itself requires prior knowledge of the spell being invoked. Although this magic is made possible by usage of Future Sight to correctly identify the spell itself being used, due to the complicated nature of identifying a spell and then neutralising it, Tokihiko highly doubted any other student would be capable of such a feat.
The crisis averted for now, Tokihiko stepped forward to the pair while wearing a smile as he tried to defuse the situation.
"I'm sorry, but she has already voiced her lack of interest in joining the club. Could you please let her go? I'm sure you will find other members to join and there seems to be a small crowd that is more than interested."
The last portion directed to the crowd around him more than at Suzuka herself, upon hearing it the crowd rapidly dispersed. Killing two birds with one stone.
"You've got it wrong, we're just talking. There's nothing going on here."
Resisting the urge to snort at Suzuka's badly conceived lie, Tokihiko pushed his glasses further up his nose before pressing the matter.
"If you are just talking would you mind unhanding her? Holding someone against their will can be considered a nuisance so why don't we just call it a day and move on hmm? Nobody's in trouble here. Yet."
Her brows furrowed at the thinly veiled threat made by Tokihiko, Suzuka dropped the hand holding onto Amelia with a small huff as she turned and walked back to her clubmates. Amelia herself giving a short bow before making her way to the path that led to the administration buildings.
The situation resolved with not too much fuss, Tokihiko heaved a small sigh of relief only to find that Subaru had given him the slip once again and this time for real.
[I really need to find out how she does it.]
"Oi."
Pulled out of his thoughts by a voice directed at him, Tokihiko turned to see none other than Shun giving him a death glare, his business apparently concluded before Tokihiko's.
"Can I help you?"
Tokihiko's voice positively dripping with sarcasm as he cast a contemptuous gaze at his fellow public moral committee member, the recorder still on and now pointing at Shun.
"What are you doing here?"
"My job. Yours too I might add seeing as you're too busy to actually do it."
The jibe did not sit well with Shun as his hand twitched to the CAD holstered on his hip before he resisted the urge and decided to retort instead.
"No magic was being cast. I was keeping an eye on the situation even before you butted in!"
"I'm not here to discuss what you were or were not doing. I saw a disturbance and I handled it. Watanabe-inchou gave us specific instructions that if possible we were to intervene before an incident started to reduce the chances of fights breaking out. Or were you not paying attention to her at the time?"
Before Shun could respond, Tokihiko craned his neck to his left sensing a psion disturbance nearby.
"Duty calls. You're welcome to pursue club activities but make sure it does not interfere with your public morals committee work."
Tokihiko broke into a quick sprint towards the source of the disturbance. It seemed to be taking place in between the practical applications building and the student cafeteria. The walkways between said buildings had thick foliage and no set path in between them probably with the intentions of creating a feeling of being one with nature while on campus. As there were no stands in the area for clubs it was highly likely however that students were engaged in illicit activity.
Sure enough, right as he arrived on the scene, Tokihiko managed to watch as a Course 2 student was sent flying backwards from a Course 1 student's spell landing rather unceremoniously on his behind.
"There's no point in continuing to try you Weed! We're Blooms and you're Weeds for a reason! We're better than you and you know it!"
The "Bloom" boasting about his superiority seemed to be Honozawa Reki from Class 3C while the student sent flying back's ID card identified him as Kitama Makoto from Class 2F. There seemed to be another 4 Course 1 students backing Reki and upon closer examination, Makoto had several friends all of which were sprawled out behind him likely also beaten by Reki.
"Would you please cease and desist from your current actions? CADs are currently allowed only for demonstration purposes, fighting is completely illegal."
Now in between Reki and Makoto, Tokihiko made sure his public morals committee armband was on full display to Reki as he switched his recorder on once again.
"Hey they're sending freshmen out on patrol alone now? The public morals committee must be spread really thin!"
Reki's friends bursting out in raucous laughter at a statement one of them made, Tokihiko twitched his fingers, lifting the safeties on his CAD.
"Hey Reki, I think the freshman intends to fight you without a CAD!"
As his friends burst out in laughter once again, Reki gave a smug smirk at Tokihiko before cocking his head towards the trees that he had appeared from.
"Go on, get out of here. If you leave now I'll ignore the fact that you came here to get curb stomped. I have nothing against another Bloom."
"As much as I respect that senpai, I can't overlook your actions. Please switch off your CAD and I can put in a good word for a reduced sentence."
His smug look turning into one of anger, Reki reached for his CAD likely to cast magic once again as Tokihiko inadvertently angered him.
Now faced with the imminent threat of magic being casted on him, Tokihiko mentally went through the possible options that he could use to deal with the current situation.
Zone Interference was the first option that came to mind however it was shut down as quickly as it came. Whilst a potent measure in nullifying opponent's magic, although Tokihiko was confident his interference strength within the zone was strong enough to prevent Reki or any of his goons from casting magic, it also had the added cost of losing his Future Sight. Maintaining Future Sight on top of Zone Interference either ran the risk of the zone lacking the interference strength to negate his opponent's magic, or not being able to keep track of all the potential future possibilities. Either way it was ill advised to maintain one on top of the other.
It would work well if his opponents sticked to pure magic attacks, but the chances of his opponents switching to physical attacks and using the numbers advantange against him were too high. Well versed in martial arts he may be but even a one on five with no Future Sight would be a tall order, too tall even for him.
The next option would be to lock them all in Stasis and subdue them one by one but he also had students behind him that would witness his use of time magic thus making the option non viable as well.
The last option would be the use of a mixture of Future Sight and counter magic to deal with the threat, this being the least problematic course of action, Tokihiko readied himself just as Reki finished entering the activation sequence into his CAD.
With a flourish of his left arm and a snap of his fingers, Tokihiko casted Gram Stasis on the spell that Reki had cast, freezing it with a temporal lock preventing the spell from making a change to the Eidos.
Unlike its counterpart Gram Reversal, Gram Stasis does not require prior knowledge of the exact details of the spell being cast and only requires knowledge of which CAD casted the magic. This makes it more ideal in cases of dealing with multiple threats that are difficult to individually track via Future Sight however it does come with the obvious drawback that the spell is merely frozen and not negated completely.
"Eh?"
Momentarily confused by his magic not being cast, Reki started to tap his CAD trying to identify the cause of the problem. This gave Tokihiko time to identify the magic being cast with Continuum Analysis.
Convergence Type magic used to pressurise air before releasing the air in a spherical shockwave. While simple in nature its efficiency could be improved somewhat by directing the flow of air in a single direction to increase its potency as an anti-personnel spell, but in a situation where showing off is valued over incapacitating the opponent, the spell works fine as it is.
Now convinced that his CAD had not malfunctioned, Reki tapped the same sequence into his CAD yet again to cast the magic once more only to have it frozen once again with a flourish of Tokihiko's hand and a snap of his fingers.
"What the hell are you trying to pull?!"
After having his magic frozen time and time again by Tokihiko, Reki finally started to lose his cool and yelled his question towards Tokihiko.
"Well, potentially, you to the disciplinary committee but I can't do that with you flinging spells here and there."
Towards Tokihiko's calm answer, Reki once again tapped the same sequence into his CAD, only to have his spell frozen once again however this time Tokihiko was not even looking at him.
His attention had been diverted to the student behind him now trying to get back on his feet. Whether to help Tokihiko or not, Tokihiko pointed towards the ground, his back now turned to Reki.
"Stay down. It's easier this way."
"Stop underestimating me you asshole!"
Even with his back turned to Reki, Tokihiko still flourished his arm as he turned back to face him the magic Reki casted frozen for the tenth time.
"I'd say it's about time to wrap this up here. Will you come quietly? Or do I have to use force?"
"Force? You haven't even done anything to try and take me in! What force are you talking..."
Before Reki could finish his sentence, Tokihiko calmly snapped his fingers once again, a shockwave blast occurring not more than five meters away from Reki's side. Not close enough to cause immediate harm, but enough to cause Reki and his friends to jump out of fright.
"H-how... How did you...?"
One of Reki's friends asking the question on everyone's mind, Tokihiko's look shifted from one of indifference to a frown that clearly broadcasted his displeasure.
"I have nine more. Would you like to have them all back at once? Or will you come without a fuss?"
Fifteen minutes later after taking the names down and heading to the club management group room, Tokihiko stood once again in front of Katsuto, Mari and Mayumi to deliver his debrief of the day.
"Three incidents and eleven arrests, you've certainly been a busy bee."
As Mari offered an offhand comment while looking at the arrest report Tokihiko had submitted, Mayumi wore a slight smile from Mari's comment.
"Is there anything you would like to add to the first incident?"
"As I only reached the scene after the fight had started I was unable to determine the trigger of the fight that broke out. In that particular case I would recommend a warning to all participants."
Without looking up from the report, Mari spoke up.
"Including the student who resisted?"
"I will leave that up to your discretion."
"Eyewitness accounts report use of the Phalanx. Would you happen to know anything about that?"
Katsuto's question immediately breaching a topic that Tokihiko rather not answer, he simply shrugged as he deflected.
"I used movement magic to stop the fight. Apparently all wall shaped movement magic are called Phalanx now."
"It says here Honozawa Reki of Class 3C is under arrest for the unlawful use of magic to attack a fellow student. It also notes that he is also guilty of using magic with intention to harm a public morals committee member ten times. Can you elaborate?"
While Mayumi brought a hand to her mouth as she started to silently shake in her chair from stifled laughter, Tokihiko continued to stand at attention as he explained.
"I arrived on the scene just in time to see a Course 2 student incapacitated by Reki's unlawful use of magic. While trying to place him under arrest Reki then used magic in an attempt to harm me ten times."
"I can understand that from your report, I'm asking why did it occur ten times."
"I respected him."
"You respected him? What do you mean by that?"
"To attack a person and fail three times but still continue, that takes guts. To fail five times and still continue, that takes persistence. But to wish to continue after nine times and go for lucky number ten, that takes a large amount of stupid."
Mayumi now shaking even more violently, giving up all pretenses of coughing as she giggled in her seat, Katsuto gave her a sidelong glance before sighing and asking a question of his own.
"Can you explain why you did not take him in as soon as possible?"
"I acted in the best interests of the other nearby students to minimise collateral damage and prevent any harm from befalling them. I would not be able to do so if I focused simply on arresting Reki."
"I see. I suppose a suspension would not be avoidable in this case then. One more thing, during the incident involving Tomo Suzuka, you made a recommendation of a simple warning as well due to no magic being involved. However you added a footnote to the video recording accusing Morisaki Shun of dereliction of duty. Do you have anything to add regarding the matter?"
Tokihiko's gaze now back on Mari as she posed the question, he stiffened slightly before answering.
"It is as you saw in the report. Morisaki did nothing to mediate the matter despite being on the scene first. He was distracted at that point in time and I would have simply let the matter rest however he deigned it necessary to accost me for doing my job afterwards."
"I see. That is all, thank you for your work today."
After a quick bow to the three seniors in front of him, Tokihiko made his way home. By the time he left the school gates the sun was starting to set the air starting to cool as he took a slow pace home from the station.
The front door easily swung open with a lazy flick of his thumb across the biometric scanner as Tokihiko shambled through the doorway dumping his bag somewhere close to the shoerack.
Thankfully Corrina showed up wearing her normal clothes indicating that she had no pranks planned for today. Tokihiko was not in the mood for any jokes at this point in time and just wanted the day to end so he could rest his weary body. Of course, life does not always go according to plan.
"Tokihiko, we need to talk."
"Can it wait Corrina? I just want to have dinner and crash."
"Well, the situation is not urgent in itself but I would like to settle it as soon as possible."
Now mildly suspicious due to any lack of teasing or use of phrases carrying a suggestive nature, Tokihiko turned his attention to the home helper in full motioning for her to follow him to the living room. He took a seat on the couch and motioned for her to do the same before speaking.
"I assume this cannot wait until tomorrow?"
Following closely behind with a glass of water, Corrina placed the water down in front of Tokihiko to drink before taking a seat on the opposing couch.
"Yes. It is a question I've been meaning to ask ever since I arrived but I have been busying myself in an attempt to postpone it. However now that the amount of tasks I have remaining have started to dwindle, I am no longer able to delay it any longer."
"Ok... What is it?"
As expected the answer was frank and to the point.
"Tokihiko... What is your core directive?"
The moment he heard those words Tokihiko accidentally gulped down a little too much water and started to cough, putting the glass down and covering his mouth as he cleared his throat from the sudden shock. Even then he was still at a loss for words.
"Core... Directive?"
"Well, in non AI terms I suppose it would be your priority objective. Or your raison d'etre."
"Before I answer, may I know why you are asking?"
To his surprise, Corrina broke eye contact and looked down to the ground before slowly raising her gaze back at him. Although not programmed to do so Corrina seemed to imitate body language indicative of internal emotions.
"I have no memory of who I was or why I was sent here. In the data storage that I unpacked from only the base elements of my core programming were stored. Memory is usually kept separately for ease of transfer. By rebuilding portions of my short term processing files and functionality matrices I can recreate a brief history of my creation but the purpose is totally lost to me."
"Did you learn anything about your creation that would help answer the question?"
"My processors were fabricated extremely closely to that of a human mind. It's the only explanation for placing logic matrices so close to emotion simulators. However my origins are not enough. Wouldn't you agree? Without a reason to function there's no point in functioning. That is why I am asking you."
"So you're asking me about my reason to live not because you want to understand my intentions but so that you can follow a similar purpose?"
Now leaning forward and hanging on to every word, Corrina nodded eagerly.
A slow sigh started to escape from Tokihiko's lips. As he leaned back on the couch he sat on Tokihiko rested his head back as well as he stared at the ceiling for several minutes before looking back down at Corrina.
"If that is the case I'm sorry I cannot help you."
"Why not? Do you not trust me? Have I proven myself untrustworthy in some way?"
"It is not a matter of trust..."
"Then why?! I am not asking you of anything drastic or unreasonable! Why can't you tell me?!"
Her voice raised, Corrina slammed her fist down on the table causing the water in Tokihiko's glass to shake slightly before resting. Realising the extent of her actions, Corrina quickly sat back and started to apologise.
"I-I'm sorry I don't know what came over me... I-I..."
"It's alright to be angry, anybody would be in such a scenario. But it's the truth. I cannot provide you a reason to exist because I don't have one myself."
"That can't be. Then why do you go to school? How can you exist without a reason?!"
A guilty look slowly etching itself across Tokihiko's features, it gave his young face a gaunt appearance as Tokihiko took another sip of water.
"I was born from the union of the Mitsuya and Juumonji families. From a marriage of such fine pedigree they expected a powerful heir of amazing capabilities. Imagine their horror when they realised that their son not only failed to inherit the specialties of either family, he was born specialised."
A look of surprise quickly masked by Corrina covering her face, Tokihiko continued his grim tale.
"My parents still provided me with love and support despite all that happened, but their families were not so forgiving. Exiled from both houses my parents were forced to give up their names. Kicked out of their homes, and treated as outcasts. My only hope of gaining any form of recognition was to join the military. Gain prestige, bring some shred of honour back to my family who had lost everything. I embarked on missions few qualified for, and even less survived. I trained myself to become a weapon and nothing more. Fought for the removal of nuclear weapons and any who tried to use them. In the process I ended more than a few lives, murdered them in cold blood for the sake of my mission and my goals. But it was all for naught. In exchange for a friend's life I sacrificed my own. I watched him live as I myself was condemned to a fate worse than death. Lost in the streams of time I could only watch as my family deteriorated further in my absence. Can you comprehend how it feels to watch your parents die? If not your parents your creators. My parents died broken and dejected, shattered and depressed at the loss of their only son."
Taking a moment's respite in his long monologue, Tokihiko took the opportunity to look out the window for a while, the sun having long set as a crescent moon started to rise.
"Even after I returned that's the only thing I am seen as. A weapon. A tool to be used for the benefits of others. At this point I don't care. I have nothing binding me to this time this reality. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that I am nothing but a ghost, a wanderer a shadow of the person I once was. You want a reason to live, I want to help you I really do. But am I, a person who lacks purpose, who lacks ambition really the person to ask?"
Silence fell once again between the two occupants of the living room. Even as he mentally revisited his situation again and again this time around he felt almost relieved after sharing his plight with Corrina. Mentally he may have the age of a man well past his prime but physically he was still a teenager.
A small weight on his heart being lifted, Tokihiko drained his glass and started to stand until Corrina started to speak once again.
"Would it be possible to say goodbye? To give your parents some closure?"
Corrina was well aware of Tokihiko's magical situation. As the other half responsible for his CAD design and programming and even correcting a few of his activation sequences, she was one of a very small handful of people who was aware of his true nature: a Timewalker.
"What good would going back do? Even if it was possible, what good would changing the past achieve? Going back or forwards in such a large leap isn't like walking through a doorway. We don't exist on a timeline, we exist as a single strand woven into an inconceivable fabric of time. Even with months of planning and plotting there's no way to guarantee I can go back and still return to the same reality that I departed from. Give it up. I'm sorry that I couldn't be of help to you."
Now on his feet and still holding the glass, Tokihiko started to take a small stretch to increase blood flow to his extremities a small sigh escaping his lips. Before he could start walking however, Corrina stood up as well and blocked his way to the door.
"I refuse to accept this."
"Huh?"
With both her arms, Corrina pushed Tokihiko backwards onto the couch he had stood up from. Although Corrina had tuned the HAR to bypass the factory limits on exertion strength, the combination of Tokihiko's unbalanced stance and surprise did not require her to bypass the limit in order to force Tokihiko back onto the couch as she sat next to him.
"Corrina! What on earth are you... mmpgh!?"
*CLANG*
"Relax, physical contact is said to sooth physical and emotional pain."
"Corrina! Your chestplate! Very hard! Leggo!"
"Oh, sorry."
Now released from her clutches, Tokihiko took a few deep breaths before staring back at the AI, his breath caught in his throat as she was closer to him than he was comfortable with. As he slid back several centimeters Corrina tilted her head.
"I understand that you and I lack a core directive but maybe in time we will find one. Does that sound agreeable?"
After offering a proposal, Corrina offered out a single hand. Based on the assumption that the hand was offered to give a handshake, Tokihiko fell for Corrina's trap as he offered his own hand, being pulled into a hug by Corrina. Instead of what is normally supposed to be malleable polycarbonate, Corrina had personally installed a subdermal titanium plate underneath the polycarbonate dermal layer common to most HAR. The result...
*Clang*
"Ow!"
Corrina's affectionate antics aside, barely a few seconds into her "hug" the house phone started to ring. However the ringtone that sounded through the room speakers was not the one normally associated with common incoming calls.
"This ringtone..."
Corrina had taken it upon herself (she had taken a lot of things upon herself), to categorise call identities and assign a specific ringtone to each group. The group that was assigned to this ringtone was none other than...
"The Ten Master Clans." Corrina said, finishing Tokihiko's sentence.
Extricating himself from Corrina's clutches, with a wave of his hand Tokihiko dimmed the room lights and set the windows to private mode. A sequential thumb to finger tap later, the television screen in the center of the room turned on, with none other than Mitsuya Gen on the other side of the line.
"I assume this line is secure if you're calling me like this."
"Of course, I wouldn't do so if otherwise."
Although amicable, the rapid exchange between the two quickly settled the pleasantries of the conversation as Gen quickly got down to business.
"Mitsuya-kun, there is a matter that if possible I would like you to handle..."
-End of Chapter 9-
Author's Note:
Reply to Guest Review by Masked Guest: Hello, thank you for reviewing the previous chapter, unfortunately since you didn't have a account I can't reply directly but nvm I'll just drop it here anyway! You asked me to clarify Tokihiko's character so I'll do it here. The first time he did it was to Juumonji who was already applying pressure using his position to get answers. The second time was to Mayumi, another ten master clan member (I'm sensing a pattern here), as well as Suzune and Mari who are members of the student council and disciplinary committee respectively, AND they promised not to tell anyone. The final spilling of beans occurs to Maya who openly talks about her own magic, and while a magician who has no secrets is not much of a magician, as a person Tokihiko is very honor bound so if someone shares secrets of their magic he feels the need to respond in kind. However to other people who he owes no debt to or are not of a higher authority, complete silence. (An example you'll see is in Chapter 6 after the whole explanation slew to Mari, he uses time magic again in front of her in Chapter 7 and is preparing a snide reply rather than an explanation because Tatsuya is around.)