Academy Blues
By: Daishi Prime
- Chapter 11 – Unwelcome Guests -
Classes did not resume for two days after the return from Kyoto. The trip had been scheduled to last through the weekend, but their early return left them with two days free, that Hayate decided to leave open. Noriko had her suspicions as to why, but chose not to question the free time. It gave her and Laura a chance to check over Yussef's design, to which Laura predictably wanted to add a cartridge system, to which suggestion Yussef objected.
"I don't need a crutch," he said finally, snagging his PDA back from Noriko, "and I have no intention of altering my plans to suit someone else's idea of 'fun'. So long as you're both satisfied that it's functional, I'm going to see Allina about how soon she'll have the parts for us."
On the second day after their return, a package arrived for Laura, carried in by an almost-frowning Signum during lunch. The Sword Knight put one small end of the long package on the floor, holding it vertical by one hand on the top, and spent a few moments just staring at Laura as the various conversations died around the dining hall. She actually waited until Laura's fidgeting under her expressionless gaze took the girl off her chair, before explaining.
"This will be hung on your wall," she ordered eventually. "If I ever see this off your wall outside pre-arranged training, I'm taking it away. If I ever catch you using it on someone that hasn't just tried to physically harm you, I'm taking it away. And if you ever disrespect it, I'm taking it away. Understood?"
Laura blinked at her, then nodded, "H... hai, Signum-senesi, but... what is it?"
Signum held out a folded letter, removed from a pouch on the package, and Laura took it tentatively. She scanned it rapidly, and Noriko watched her eyes grow huge. Then she looked up at Signum with a brilliant smile, and practically screamed, "Can I open it now?!"
Noriko caught the note as Laura dropped it in favor of slinging the package onto an unused stretch of table. It was short, to the point, and in her father's handwriting. 'Miss Sims. It is customary for a warrior to wield a familiar weapon in defense of themselves and their ideals. This weapon is a part of my family's collection, and was on loan to the museum, however I believe I have found a more appropriate use for it. As a reminder of your struggles, and in honor of your valiant response to the recent unpleasantness, I give you charge of this blade. I ask only that you use it to ward your fellow students as well as you protect yourself.'
Looking up from the paper, she found the box open, and Laura lifting out of it the naginata she had used so briefly in the museum. A soft surprised noise rolled through the room, but Noriko just sighed, anticipating Laura's probable response. She stepped up to Laura's side opposite Signum, and reached out a tentative hand to caress the weapon's foot as Laura focused on the blade, feeling the lacquered wood oddly warm to her touch. The warmth reacted, and she stared at it in surprise for a moment, then at Laura. "It's enchanted," she whispered, staring at her friend in surprise.
Laura looked over at her, and her brilliant grin turned a little sheepish. "Ah, yeah, I kinda... charged it, when I grabbed it to use on the pervert. Thought it'd hit harder."
"A beginners attempt at bonding a weapon," Signum commented. "You'll need to do better before it actually benefits you, and much better when you construct your device." Both girls flinched slightly, looking up at her carefully, but Signum appeared oblivious to their reactions, still studying the naginata. "Do you fully understand what this means, Laura? His Highness did not give you this blade."
Laura pondered that for a minute, then nodded slowly, "Yeah, okay. It's on loan. I'm not going to take any risks with it, sensei."
One purple eyebrow rose, though Signum still did not look at Laura. "This weapon belongs to the Imperial Family, to the Emperor personally. The only people permitted to use such weapons are those in personal service to the Emperor. Are you prepared to accept that responsibility?"
Noriko could see the excitement draining from her friend's face, and made a mental note to discuss the matter with her father the next time she called. She had a fair idea of what he was doing, and was not certain she wanted him to do it with her friends. After a minute or so, Laura smiled again, though not as brightly, and threw an arm over Noriko's shoulder, pulling her in for a hug. "Hey," the American said, "He just wants me to keep an eye on Riko-chan here! That's cool, I've been doing that anyhow."
Signum's eyebrow rose further, "I doubt he'll ask for anything particularly extreme at present, given your age, but keep in mind that, if you accept this, the Emperor can call upon your service at any time, Laura. You had best be worthy of that, when the time comes."
Since she was suddenly so close, Noriko whispered in Laura's ear, "Are you going to use that to build your device?"
Laura gave her a shocked look, letting her go. "What, are you kidding? This thing's older than my country, Riko-chan! I'm not going to risk damaging it like that." Noriko flinched, having hoped to keep the conversation secret.
"That would not work, Noriko," Signum added, "as the device must be built around its components, not the other way around. Come, Laura. I have the hooks to mount this on your wall, and I would rather do that before you injure someone accidentally."
Noriko watched them go, Signum leading while Laura cradled the naginata in one arm, running the other hand along its shaft repeatedly. I'm going to have to speak with father about this, she decided. I really don't like the idea of him using my friends like this.
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The gift for Laura, as much excitement as it caused, was not, unfortunately, the most widely talked about incident the next week. That status devolved to Cidela, much to her dismay. She, Noriko and Laura were gathered in the library's main room, the other two completing class-work they had, as usual, left to the last minute, while she was reading a text on healing-magic Shamal-sensei had given her months ago. It was difficult to follow, though, so she actually had more books spread out on the table than either of her friends – references, for when she got lost.
Even given how difficult she found it to follow, the book was intensely interesting. Shamal-sensei's explanations during their irregular after-class sessions were very intuitive, very much by feel and instinct, which was precisely how Cidela had always gone about healing. Even the exercises to control her healing were based on the feel of it, on when it felt like it was triggering. This book, like the previous one Shamal-sensei had given her, was a much more scientific work – carefully arranged sections, precisely described effects and measures, repeatable experiments, the works. Between the two, Cidela had at last managed to get firm control, even if it was limited at present to 'off' and 'on', not the fine control necessary to heal only what her personal energies could afford to heal.
At the moment, she was following Shamal-sensei's advice to learn the 'how' and 'why' of it, before trying to establish that fine level of control. As the kindly blonde had put it, "what we've done so far was save you from your gift. Now, it is no danger to you, so we have time to learn it properly. After winter break, we will see about going further. For these next weeks, just work on understanding what a healer does, not how they do it."
Even without the magic, it was still interesting. Celular structures, the tightly interwoven and inter-dependent systems of the body, the influence of mental and physical on each other... Cidela had tried to explain how fascinating it was to Noriko, but the other girl just listened politely, and maintained that, "gross doesn't begin to describe it."
Cidela's studying was interrupted by Shamal-sensei's voice, "Cidela-chan? There's someone here to see you."
The worried-yet-sympathetic look on her face, and the cautious tone of her voice, set Cidela's nerves on edge. Even worse, her teacher was using Arabic, which only Yussef and the teachers spoke, waking fears she had been trying to keep down ever since she arrived. Father is come to take me back, she thought, remembering the ridicule and worse she had come in for at home, from her brothers and her neighbors. I only wish to learn, why is that so wrong? Finally, she managed to ask in a very small voice, "W... who is it, Shamal-sensei?"
"It's your uncle, Adib Al Musab."
For a moment, Cidela felt a rush of relief. It was not her father, come to drag her home again, just her uncle, who... was the single most traditional member of her family, and the one who had argued longest and loudest about her schooling. "Um... I... I'd rather not talk to him, Shamal-sensei. Please?"
A hand settled on hers, and she glanced over to see Noriko giving her a concerned look, asking in Japanese, "Cid-chan? What's wrong?"
Laura was nodding with her friend, "Yeah, why do you look like you're going to faint?"
"I... I don't...," she dropped her eyes, staring now at the hands in her lap. She could not think of how to explain to her friends. Their families wanted them here, wanted them to learn, gave them the freedom to pursue their own interests and abilities. How could she explain that her family already thought her over-educated, thought her intelligence wasted? She just could not tell them that, and not just for fear of their ridicule. She was more afraid they would judge her family than that they would judge her, and...
"Cidela?" Shamal was crouched next to her now, "Your uncle cannot take you away, but it would be best if you spoke with him. He is still your family, and if you see him now, it will be much harder for him to do anything under Japan's laws to force us to give you up. I can tell you're scared of him, but I promise you won't be alone. One of us will be with you at all times, and we won't let him take you away."
That gave her hope, though she could still feel small shivers of fear. How much could they do against her own flesh and blood, after all? But Shamal had never lied to her, so she nodded, and stood up to follow her teacher to meet her uncle. She was so worried about it, she did not notice anyone else following until Laura caught the door from her on their way out of the library, her and Noriko both still giving her concerned looks.
They were not even down the steps when she heard, again in Arabic, "Cidela! It is about time! Come here, we are leaving immediately. Why are you not packed? Never mind! You no doubt have nothing but these scandalous rags! Let's go, the car is waiting."
Cidela flinched back, ducking her head further in reflex at hearing that voice, looking up through her bangs to see her uncle striding across the quad, white thobe flowing, long beard shifting with the cadence of his speech. She could feel herself shrinking back as he approached, trying to hide from and avoid him, as she had long ago learned was the best way to deal with him.
Shamal found her voice first, stepping between Cidela and her uncle. "Mister Al Musab! Yagami-sama asked you to remain in office where we met you! Why did you not wait?" Shamal's question was somewhat useless, as in her surprise she spoke in Japanese, apparently drawing no comprehension.
Cidela desperately wanted to grab onto Shamal's dress and hide behind her, just use the older woman as a shield against her uncle and disappear until he was gone. But she could not do that, could not be that weak, despite the heart-pounding fear inherent in confronting her uncle. Laura and Noriko were with her, she knew some of her classmates were outside as well, though she had not been able to look up enough to know who, and while she knew none of them would understand the conversation, they would understand the tone and results. It was embarrassing, that everyone would judge her family by her uncle's attitudes, but it was bracing as well. They were all so much braver than she was, she had to at least pretend to be their equal, worthy of learning alongside them. So she shifted sideways, trying to put up a brave front and ignore the quaking of her knees.
Her uncle had long been the source of most of her fears. He never allowed an opportunity to pass to criticize her father for educating her, never failed to tell her she had no use for more education, never failed to belittle her brothers for not being more intelligent than she. That had made her brothers, already inclined to harass her, all the more vicious. The fact that he was a steadily rising figure in Egypt's government both gave him more stature to support his views, and made him all the more vociferous about protecting himself and his family from any shame she might bring them.
She could, when she honestly thought about, admit that he was not deliberately vicious. He treated his own wife and daughters very well, respectfully and possibly even with something approaching the western ideas of 'love' she had heard some of the other girls talking about. But Cidela knew her aunt and cousins were treated that well because they were what her uncle believed women should be, and that she was not and never would live up to those standards.
Her uncle lived down to her expectations, responding to Shamal's comment in Arabic, "Out of my way, woman. I'm taking my niece out of here before you corrupt her further."
"You will do no such thing, Mister Al Musab! We have power of Guardianship courtesy of her father while she is here, and only he can revoke it. Bring him here, and we will surrender her to him once he has taken appropriate legal steps. But you cannot just walk in here and demand custody! This is kidnapping, plain and simple!"
He ignored her, reaching out to push her aside as his stride finally carried him close enough to reach for her. Shamal brushed his hand aside and interposed herself again, before another voice cut in, speaking Arabic with an accent Cidela was unfamiliar with, "Shut your peasant mouth, Egyptian," the tone turning the final word into an insult.
That got her uncle's attention. No one had spoken to him in such a scathingly superior tone in all her life. He glared over at Yussef, who was standing at the top of the library steps. "Watch your tone, boy! Your parents may be lax with you, but that is no excuse to disrespect your elders!" He turned back to Cidela, "Come, girl, now."
Shamal, still mostly between Cidela and her uncle, put an arm over her shoulder, "Please, Yussef, let me handle this."
He shook his head, then explained in Japanese as he walked down the steps, "This fool won't listen to you, Shamal-sensei. He has formed his opinion, made his decision, and won't allow a 'mere woman' to change either." He stopped, closer to her uncle than Cidela was, to one side, and asked in Arabic, "Are you Cidela's father? Her brother?"
"I do not need to explain myself to a child."
Yussef glared back at him, radiating an arrogant anger to match the older man's, "I asked you a question, peasant, and I expect an answer."
"I'm her uncle, here to correct..."
"Then you are the elder brother?"
"He's younger," Cidela whispered, managing finally to find her voice, even though it drew a sharper glare from her uncle.
Yussef moved a little further between them. "Then you are the shameful one here. You attempt to usurp your brother's prerogatives, you threaten a woman not of your descent, and you embarrass your nation and people!" His voice rose through it, drowning out Adib's attempts to interrupt him, until he was shouting, "You will remove yourself from this campus, and beg your brother's forgiveness, if you have any honor at all! She is here to learn, as the Prophet Himself encouraged his own daughters and wives to do! Would you go against the Prophet's teachings? I don't care what your ignorant forefathers thought, they…"
Cidela could only stare at him, more than a little surprised. This was, as far as she could remember, the first time someone had actually stood up to her uncle. Even stranger, it was Yussef, whom she had thought considered her beneath him, as she was by birth. She was so busy trying to re-evaluate him that she almost forgot her uncle's presence.
Yussef's tirade wound down, and her uncle finally managed to get a word in. He was obviously livid at this sort of treatment from a mere boy, and growled out, "Who are you to lecture me on the Prophet's teachings, you ignorant traitorous boy? I have spent years more than you studying the Holy Qu'ran!"
Yussef's eyes narrowed in anger, but then his face softened, and he smiled. Turning towards Cidela instead of her uncle, he bowed slightly and said, "Cidela, on behalf of my father, Sheik al Khan, ruler of Qatar, I would like to inform you that your request for educational assistance from Qatar has been granted. You will be welcome to continue your studies there at any time, under my family's roof, or here in Japan under our patronage, per your father's manifest will." He waved dismissively at her uncle, "this one will not trouble you there or here any longer, and you will find that our schools and universities are rapidly coming on par with those in Europe and America." He turned back to her uncle, and his smile disappeared as he finally answered, "I am Yussef bin Hammad al Khan, third son of the Sheik of Qatar. Who are you, peasant, to question me?"
"He is leaving," Hayate said. "I told you to wait for us to bring her to you, Mister Al Musab. You did not. You have threatened my students, disturbed the tranquility of my school, and disobeyed my orders. Zafira, Vita. Escort this gentleman off the grounds."
Adib tried to argue, for exactly as long as it took Zafira to lean over top of him and growl. The Guardian Beast did not say a word, merely stared down at the shorter man and rumbled deep in his chest. After a second or two of that treatment, Adib twitched back, then sneered at Cidela, "you'll never come home after this, tart. I cast you out, of house and family. The better for us, not to have to bear your father's shame any longer."
Cidela felt that, but probably not the way he expected. It hurt, but she had realized when her father left her here that she probably would not be able to return to Egypt. It had seemed worth it at the time, to learn to control the abilities that were harder and harder to hide every day, and to continue to learn anything else she could. The pain now was dull, a confirmation of what she had already known. What surprised her was how... freeing... it was. She no longer had to worry about what her father or uncle would think, what her mother would say, or her brothers do. She was free of them, and if she could not go back to her old home, she was already making a new one. Mostly, she just felt embarrassed, that she was related to her uncle and that he had paraded his own prejudices so blatantly, that he had so disrespected her teachers and friends.
Shamal crouched down and pulled her into a hug while she watched her uncle stomping off towards the access road. "I'm so sorry, Cidela-chan," she whispered, "we had hoped to avoid this, but he showed up today without warning. Because he is a blood relation, we could not justify keeping him from seeing you at all, but..."
"I… I don't have to leave?"
"No," Shamal reassured her, "you don't have to leave, you can stay here as long as you need to."
"I… can stay," she repeated, the idea just not seeming real, despite watching her uncle's anger-stiffened back as he strode away. It took her another minute to regain her mental footing. "It… it's all right, Shamal-sensei," she said finally, returning the hug a little hesitantly. She was still unused to the easy way Shamal engaged in displays of physical affection, but was learning to return them. "I did not think I could go home again, anyhow. I'm sorry he was so rude."
"Cidela?" Yussef got her attention, "Are you going to be all right?" She nodded, trying to think of how to ask him why he had involved himself, but he continued, "Then if you'll excuse me, I need to send off an e-mail to my parents. I meant what I said, about you being welcome in Qatar any time, but I should make sure my parents agree." He grinned slightly, then turned and headed back into the library.
Hayate watched him go, then crouched next to Cidela as well, the steely resolve that sent Adib on his way fading into a sympathetic look. "I am sorry about this as well, Cidela. But, as I told you when classes began, you will be welcome to stay here as long as you wish. Your gift is too rare and precious not to be trained. I do not know if we can replace your family, but we will support and protect you. You are one of ours, after all."
"Thank you, Yagamai-sensei," Cidela muttered, and a moment later found herself surrounded by her classmates.
It took her a while to realize that, far from being insulted or worried about her uncle's attitudes, most of them were far more concerned with 'cheering her up'. It took even longer to convince them she did not need it.
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Hayate sat her office, waiting for the Bureau's inspector to arrive from the overlook. He was walking down, escorted by Signum and Zafira, and part of her attention was studying him through the campus' security systems, both his physical appearance and his magical abilities. He was fairly imposing, physically, Zafira's size, though not quite as heavily muscled, but his magic was strictly average in strength, barely strong enough with the device in his pocket to trouble Zafira.
The rest of her attention was spread elsewhere. She and Signum almost had the new array of protections for the campus prepared, but they were going to wait for the inspector to leave, on the off chance he decided they were a sign of them attempting to hide something dangerous. The rest was, as usual, worrying over her students.
Adib's visit at the start of the week had been both more and less traumatic than she had expected. Cidela took it with remarkable calm, though Shamal thought the reality of being disowned would probably hit the shy apprentice-healer in a few more days. Yussef's reaction had also been a mild surprise, though Zafira's explanation probably fit the best.
"He's a protector. He saw a classmate under attack, and acted to protect her, regardless of what the danger was. That is the same reason he does not like Laura. No mystery in that boy."
Hayate had enjoyed the conversation with Yussef's mother that resulted from his offer to Cidela, not the least because it gave the most vulnerable of her students a little extra protection. Even if Adib attempted to take Cidela back by legal means and the Japanese courts agreed with him, she could always be smuggled to Qatar, where Yussef's family would protect her. Not the best answer, but better than sending her to her uncle's care. Even more, the woman was quite intelligent, and remarkably adamant on the need for and benefit of education.
The reaction of the other students to Adib's antics were more varied than Yussef's, but still not the sort of confused fear and emotional pain Hayate would have expected. Most of them were worried about Cidela, and now copying Noriko's attitude towards her, going out of their way to keep her company where they had previously waited for her to make the first moves, but they were all equally angry on her behalf. None of them would mention it in front of Cidela, but all of the children had expressed, in their own ways, a surprising degree of righteous anger towards her family.
Laura, especially, had been quite vocal about doing something violent to Adib, and she and Natalia had already been caught trying to create a warded letter that would do 'something unpleasant' to Adib when he opened it. They had, fortunately, not gotten as far as determining what that 'something' was, nor were they even close to sending it, but they had created a credibly stable trigger spell to set it off. Hayate personally doubted that being confined to their rooms after classes for two weeks would slow them down, though Signum's threat to stop Laura's private lessons might.
Hayate was, taken all together, unsure whether to be proud that her children were pulling together so well to protect and comfort one of their own, or worried that they were so protective of her they might do something to 'get some back for her'. It was a better thing to be worried about than most of her concerns, but it was still a potential problem, especially given how quickly they were picking up on their magic lessons.
"Mistress?" Shamal's soft interruption focused Hayate's attention, "Captain Gelcide is here."
Hayate nodded, sitting up straight in her chair and turning it to face forward, turning off the monitor with a quick gesture. She took another moment to school her face into a calm mask and make sure her voice was steady, then said, "Show him in please, Shamal."
Gelcide strode into the office like he owned it, looking about in a steady scan that took in the entire chamber before settling on Hayate. He checked slightly, when he realized she had not risen to greet him, then stopped completely a step later when he realized there were no chairs in front of her desk, leaving him no option but to stand before her as a penitent. He gave her an inscrutable look, then moved to stand in front of her desk, at a comfortable distance, and settled into a relaxed posture. The whole time, he ignored Signum and Zafira taking up station on either side of the door.
"Yagami Hayate, I presume? I am Captain Yedrin Gelcide, Time Space Administration Bureau."
Hayate continued to merely look at him for a moment, then nodded, "Captain Gelcide. Welcome to Earth, and to my academy. What business brings you here?"
"A local government has filed a complaint with the Bureau, alleging that you are conducting dangerous experiments in illegal dimensional manipulation magic. The Bureau sent me to determine the veracity of that complaint, and formulate options for rectifying any violations of Bureau Law I uncover."
Hayate nodded, hoping he would interpret her lack of surprise as imperturbability. "That does match what I was told of your mission, however there are several matters of procedure that must be resolved. Your initial communiqué made several requests regarding interviews and record checks. This is the schedule we have created to accommodate you as best we can." She slid a PDA across her desk, turning it to face him.
His eyes widened in surprise, and he made no move to pick up the device. "Please understand, Yagami-san, I mean you no disrespect, but the procedures for these matters are already well established. I have reviewed your file, those of your Knights, and what little is unclassified regarding your peculiar form of magic. For my own self, I doubt the charges have any validity. But the complaint was made, and you are probably more familiar with Bureau laws and regulations than I am. It has to investigated, and the procedures for such investigations are well established."
"They are well established in Midchildan territory," she replied calmly, "and in other areas signatory to the Bureau Charter. Earth is not signatory, no nation on Earth is, so those procedures have tenuous strength here, at best. This world is outside Bureau jurisdiction."
He frowned at her, apparently not comprehending the strength of her resistance, "The Bureau's laws hold here just as they do everywhere. There is no tradition of mage-craft to establish control of any incidents in this system, hence the Bureau's initial involvement in your own case. In the absence of such competent authority, Bureau law takes precedence. The precedents are clear."
"There was no tradition in mage-craft, no 'competent authority', on Earth," She reminded him, giving him a smile none of her students would recognize, "We are now that tradition, that authority. Per the terms of our release from Bureau parole, the entirety of the Sol System is recognized as our territory, our domain. Not the Bureau's. The Bureau's laws have force here only so long as I agree to them. You need to understand that, Captain. You are not here because Bureau law requires this investigation, you are here because I am permitting this investigation as an act of good will, not out of any recognition of Bureau authority."
His eyes narrowed slightly, "Yagami-san, you do not appear to comprehend..."
"I comprehend," she interrupted, "that you are here to investigate. You will be permitted to do so, as a gesture of good will, but you will not be permitted to disrupt my campus or disturb my students." She tapped the PDA again, "thus, this is the best arrangement we could make to accommodate you. We have prepared quarters for you in the class building, Captain. You will be permitted to observe the classes remotely, and to interview any students or staff, but always in company with one of us, never…"
"That will compromise my investigations, Yagami-san," he interrupted in turn. "You know that such investigations must have free rein to be thorough, and that private recorded interviews are necessary to insure witnesses are not intimidated or threatened by either party."
She smiled at that comment, contemplating her students' probable reactions to his presence, once they figured out why he was here. "Captain, you will find that my students are far from easily intimidated, and rather partisan on my behalf. They will not take kindly to your presence, and having one of my Knights present will help convince them to answer your questions politely. Also, I will not permit a mage I am not familiar with to spend time alone with children whom I have sworn to protect. You may be the most honorable and careful mage in existence, but you may also be a single-minded inquisitor unconcerned with the well-being of those you question. I will not take that risk with my... students."
She had to catch herself at the end, her voice rising slightly. She had almost said 'my kids', which she knew would not have gone over well. If he had read her file, he knew the Bureau had long harbored vague concerns over how strongly she felt about her family. If she started hinting that she was expanding her adoptive family, the psychologists could very well decide she was becoming or risking instability again, which would cause no end of trouble.
For a few seconds, the two of them regarded each other in silence. It was not so much a contest of wills, as an extended evaluation, both of them trying to determine if the other was in a stronger position, if they could push the other further. For herself, Hayate was quite certain she held the upper hand. For all his authority in the Bureau, he was limited by its laws and would, if she refused to allow him access, be forced to return and report that refusal, rather than attempt to summon a Bureau ship to enforce his investigation. He would not be able to force her to submit to an investigation, and he probably knew that, however unwilling he would be to admit it. Sending him back to Headquarters in such a manner would cause her problems, admittedly, but she would rather that than risk having him do something to further disturb the students, or to compromise their defenses. She would have to go to some lengths to placate the Bureau afterwards, which would be far more difficult than putting up with a local investigation, but she could do that at Headquarters, where her children would not be disturbed and no one would notice the questionable portions of her school's new defenses.
Finally, Captain Gelcide nodded, reluctantly. "I am forced to agree, it appears. But I will also be required to report your... less than cooperative manner. It does not help your case."
"I have no case to make," she answered, "you are the one who must create the evidence my enemies hope to use against me. If you will please follow Shamal, she will show you to your quarters. Classes begin at eight in the morning, you will be able to observe them remotely from your quarters."
He nodded again, bowing slightly, and followed Shamal out of her office. Once he was gone, she sighed heavily and slumped back in her seat. "That could have gone better," she confessed. "But I am uncertain how to deal with someone investigating me. I was not aware of it the last time it happened."
"He will be a problem," Signum told her, "but I do not believe he will be much of one. As you told him, we have nothing to hide." She paused, then gave Hayate a meaningful look and added, "Yet."
Hayate shook her head, "You have already tried to convince me not to do this, Signum, and I will not change my mind. Leaving these attackers to keep testing us has left us vulnerable, it allowed them to think they could attack one of my children without fear or repercussions."
"I know," Signum said, "I am merely concerned that this is a rather drastic step we are taking. If they do not retreat from this, we may come under direct attack."
Hayate nodded, "I know, but in a way, I would welcome that. Whoever this is, they cannot begin to match our strength. A direct attack will give us a clear enemy, someone to actually fight, instead of this vague threat. The campus can withstand any assault by Terran mages, so the children will be safe enough." She shook her head, "No, don't worry, I'm not actually hoping for one, it would just be nice to have a clear enemy."
"I think you need a duel or two," Signum replied, "to work off some of your stress."
"I don't have time right now, Signum," Hayate replied with a smile.
"I do not recall asking, Mistress. Prime work room, two hours from now. I'll go begin calibrating the shields."
Hayate would have argued, but the leader of her Knights was already gone. After a moment longer, she just sighed again, gave the door a whimsical smile, and replied to the empty room, "Fine, Signum, I'll see you in a couple hours."
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Noriko closed the door to her room carefully, and shot the lock home with a flick of her wrist. She did not lock the door normally, but she wanted to be certain no one intruded for the next little while. Once that was done, she sat down at the desk built into her wall, and pulled out the leather case that contained what her father termed 'emergency materials'. Mostly they were identification papers, validated copies of the originals kept by the Japanese Government that proved her status. There were also other things she might find useful, including credit cards, lists of contacts in every prefecture, and even a set of ciphers for sending messages to her family, all standard issue to every member of the family. But at the moment, all she was really interested in was the small satellite phone, guaranteed to be immune to trace or tap.
The phone number was one she was not really supposed to have, and when she first found it had decided not to use it except in dire circumstances, but now she decided revealing her knowledge of it would help make a point. So she dialed carefully, and waited for the other end to pick up. She had delayed this call for several days while she made inquiries, but she was not willing to wait any longer.
One ring and the response was immediate, "Prince Akishino, go ahead."
"Good evening, Father," she said evenly, "I was wondering if I might speak with you?"
"Noriko-chan?" It was the first time she could recall hearing real surprise from him, then he got control of himself and continued, "Noriko, this line is for national emergencies only, how did you get this number?"
"I found it lying around your office one day," she told him, knowing he would recognize it for the lie it was, "but I thought it would get your attention."
"Noriko, you are my daughter and eldest child. All you have to do to get my attention is to ask."
"But now you have reason to take me seriously, father, and I wanted to be certain you do. I have questions I need answered, and I want to be certain you actually answer me. I am somewhat concerned you might try to placate me instead."
He grumbled something she did not hear, then asked, "When have I ever not told you the truth?"
"When you told me why you were sending me here."
"I told you the truth," he replied immediately, "that is the best place for a gift as strong as yours to be trained."
"But that is not the whole truth, is it, father?"
"No," he agreed after a moment, "but I had thought you would not be interested in the other reasons. You never have shown much interest in politics, Noriko-chan."
"Is that why I am here? Politics?"
"In part. Is that why you are calling? What happened to make you question your presence there?"
She debated for a moment, curious about what his other reasons for sending her to Yagami-sensei were. She decided it was more important to ask her original questions, though. Her fate she could handle in due course, making sure her friends were safe was more important. "Laura received your gift the other day. I've been doing a little research since. There are not ten people in the world today who carry blades belonging to our family. Grandfather, Uncle, you, Laura and five men who have... questionable careers. I can find their names, their places of residence, but no images of them, no employment records, no family, no nothing. You and I both know what they do, what their lives are like. I do not want that for my friend, Father, and I do not like you tricking her into it."
There was a moment of silence, then she heard him sigh. "I sent the naginata to Laura for several reasons, many of them the same reasons I sent you to Yagami-sensei's school. Tricking her into covert service of the Imperial Family was not one of them." He paused, but she was familiar enough with his habit of using silence to order his thoughts not to interrupt. "Your teachers, Noriko, represent the sort of international, inter-civilization, change that comes along once every few thousand years. The last such change I can think of off the top of my head is the rise of Christianity. Whatever it's faults, that set of beliefs and ideas has altered and infused the entire world, even where its followers are few in number. Whatever their faults or ideals, Yagami Hayate and her followers are going to have a similar effect on all of Earth. They will not be able to help it, there is too much power at their disposal, too many people will want to use or benefit from it. Even worse, they presume to be teachers, to spread their knowledge, power and ideals. They will spread their power and ideas faster, further, thus having a greater effect.
"When you finish your education there, Noriko, you will be one of the most powerful hundred or so people on the planet. You will not command troops, or movements, but you will have personal energies at your disposal of greater extent. So will your classmates. That will make you all very influential, despite your small numbers and young ages.
"So, yes, I gave the naginata to Laura hoping to bind her to our family, but not as some sort of absolute servant or covert assassin. None but your teachers could hope to hold her as such, which is a good thing. I merely seek to create a tie, so that she and your fellow students will look favorably upon Japan. That is nothing more or less than my duty, as it will be yours one day."
For the first time she could remember, she was rude to her father, hanging up on him with no warning. For a few minutes after that, she could only sit and stare at the phone in her shaking hand, trying to come to grips with what her father had just told her.
On the surface, there was nothing so surprising about it. Her father, her entire family, had always placed Japan's interests first. It was more than an outlook, more than training – it was tradition, a tradition that defined who and what their family was. So it was perfectly normal that her father would think in those terms, act in that manner.
But the cold-blooded manipulation that his lecture implied – of her teachers, her friends, of her – that was too shocking to get her head around immediately. Her father had never before spoken to her in such terms, never before admitted to manipulating her for Japan's benefit. The idea that he could or would was there in all the training she had received, implied and understood, but never stated, never outright declared as it just had been.
She could see what her father was saying, what he was doing, she could even see that, in objective terms, he was right. From the demonstrations, and what she had learned here, she knew that her father was making one of his rare understatements. She was fairly certain that there was no army on the entire planet that could stand against her teachers. If that was true, and what they had been told of their own strength was also true, she and her classmates would, in time, become just as powerful, and while brute force was no longer an acceptable method of international discourse, any nation that could shelter behind the protection of mages such as her teachers would have an immeasurable advantage over those that could not. Even if they only ever revealed the computing power inherent in any intelligent device, or the school's hidden server Allina was convinced was an AI, that would revolutionize the world all on its own. So garnering their good will, making sure their memories of and feelings towards Japan were good, was simply intelligent policy.
It was just so terribly disturbing to be used in such a manner, to think of using her friends in that manner.
The more she thought about it, however, the more she realized that what her father was doing was not as… sinister… as she had first thought. He was not manipulating them, he was not trying to direct or control them. Quite the contrary, as she thought on it. He could have insisted on oversight from the government's Department of Education, could have insisted on an Imperial observer, or specifically Japanese teachers. He could have arranged for no non-Japanese students to be given permission to enter the country. There were any number of ways he could have made certain that anyone who graduated from this school was intensely loyal to Japan, or even to the Imperial Family specifically.
But he had not. He had allowed an international student body, under ridiculously light oversight. He kept his hands off, save where she was concerned. Even now, he was not so much interfering, as offering an opportunity. Laura could choose to pursue it, but she could also refuse, he had taken no oath from her, merely… made her an offer.
Finally, she called back again. "Forgive my rudeness, Father," she began.
"It is of no moment, Noriko-chan. You are very intelligent, the smartest child in your generation of the family, but you are still a child. You should not have to think in these terms, so I never attempted to explain them to you. It must be disturbing. I know it angered me, when I first realized my father was doing the same. But it is not as cold and pitiless as it sounds.
"I married your mother for some of the same reasons, at your grandfather's manipulations. But I love her no less for it. My friends are quite dear to me, despite the fact that I put them to use in improving and securing Japan. They are quite well aware of that as well. Being used does not necessarily mean being used up, or being used unwillingly, Noriko. It does not even mean having to give anything up. The people of Japan have used our family for millennia to provide themselves a sense of security, continuity and divinity. So long as we benefit each other, there is no harm in it. It would be criminal of me not to take advantage of an opportunity such as Yagami-san's school, or your fellow students. Will I bind them to Japan? No. Will I do what I can to convince them to support Japan of their own free will? Of course. Just as I will never bind you to service, but I will attempt to convince you to accept it."
"I... think I understand, father."
"Good, I hope you do. Just know, I do love you, Noriko-chan, and I do like your classmates. I will not betray that love, but I also cannot betray Japan."
"I think... I still need to think this over, father. I just... don't like the idea of using my friends."
"Then don't. Make friends, Noriko, strong friends, good friends, friends who will come when you need them to, and who you will go to when they need you."
"I'll... think on it, Father."
"Good night, Noriko-chan."
"Good night, Father." She was not as reassured as she had hoped to be by the conversation. But she had a lot to think about, and a new way of looking at her world and her friends, one that was not so welcoming as the one she had just left behind.
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CrimsonDX: Apologies for the delay in posting last chapter, but I started this as a "writer's block breaker" for a much older & longer story of mine, Rise of the Guardians, that was very near completion. The long delay in last chapter was caused by me going back and finishing off the last two chapters of that story, which is now complete, making this my primary story. I still won't post as often as most people seem to on FFN (this is a hobby, not the job that let's me pay my bills:), but there shouldn't be any more month-long delays. And I'm afraid you're only about half right on Laura's device and style. I'm kinda curious to see if anyone's going to get her right before I reveal her device...
Sheo Darren: Hayate has problems, all right, and big ones, but she's got a big stick to try and solve some of them. It won't be immediate, but she'll prove her claim to those titles again towards the end of the story. As for the scene between Yussef & Laura... the 'love stones' actually exist, but the actual legend is 'if you accept help to walk between the stones, you will need help to find love', not that the one who helps you walk the stones will necessarily be the one to find your love. That twist was just Noriko playing a game with Yussef & Laura.
Jellyfish Marine: thanks for still reading, and Chrono's last line was a reference (to a reference) in Path of Vengeance, where I hinted that he & Fate were an item. Not canon, but I hadn't read the manga by that time and A's portrayed them more as co-workers than brother & sister.
Eni Li'Nave: I hope I'm replying to your review. It sounds like your style, but there was no name on the review? Noriko's father's attitude towards Hayate and the school should be fully explained above, though it's not all scheming on his part. Laura's training is pretty intense, but for someone with her energy level, it's not so bad (yet), and keep in mind, two months is about a quarter of the entire school year. Noriko's just coming out of her shell a little, relaxing around people she was unsure of at the start of the year. She's still an authoritarian princess, as the last section of this chapter should show. As for how the kids keep in touch, it's set in a modern era, when everyone (especially in Japan!) has a cell-phone and e-mail. I haven't got any sort of notes like 'this students calls/e-mails their parents at this time', but I've got a general idea of who keeps in touch the most. I haven't really shown it (even above) but just as Laura has become Signum's apprentice, Cidela has become Shamal's, so when Shamal wanted to know what was going on, she went to her apprentice, and Cid's shy, not mute. Apologies for not being clear last chapter (I went back and edited it, slightly, to fix that), but the kids didn't 'outdo' the Knights, they just got in a lot of practice with one specific spell, like practicing one particular calligraphy letter over & over again during a day – by the end of the day, you can shape it perfectly, but the next day, not so much, and even at the end of the day, not so good as a master calligrapher. Hayate is proving to have a harder time than she expected, but that's the nature of drama, after all – there has to be conflict and struggle, but I'm trying to create that without descending into outright violence like I did with Path of Vengeance. At the end, though, she was not talking to her family – she was talking to whoever this new enemy is (and I'm keeping that a secret as long as possible!:)
FF: Glad you're enjoying the story, thank you for reviewing.
HWSoD: Thank you for reviewing. That author's note was mostly a pre-emptive move on my part – Laura's going to have a few more tid-bits like that, and I didn't want anyone thinking she was some sort of physics genius.
