Still Waters Run Deep: Many Times I've Gazed Along the Open Road
Takahata knelt down and touched one of the spots where blood had dripped on the carpet in Akira's dorm room. "It's dry."
The other two teachers looked at each other grimly; too much time had passed for an immediate solution to the problem. The room was a mess; clothes were strewn everywhere, pictures were knocked off the wall, and the shattered remains of a trophy lay here and there on the floor, along with a broken suitcase and the occasional small splash of blood.
The implications were obvious: there had been a fight and Akira-kun had been kidnapped. Takahata had been over this with Max before the final battle with Chao-kun…he was supposed to have spirited the girl away silently when everyone's attention was on the big last-day celebration; he wasn't supposed to have ransacked her room. He still remembered Yuuna-kun's panicked look when she had finally found him earlier, just before 1 a.m. The poor girl was worried sick about her friend, and she wasn't the only one. Half of Negi-kun's class had heard the news by now, and they were all crowding around in the hallway, still in whatever costumes they had worn during the party. Only those who had not yet returned to the dorms were unaware.
This blood on the carpet, though…that was unexpected. Some of it at least had come from whoever had been hit with the swimming trophy, as evidenced by the blood that still coated the base. There were several short brown or black hairs as well, so whoever was hit had been hit in the head. Oddly enough, the hair didn't match Akira or Max. 'Not that those two would attack each other anyway' Takahata thought to himself. The two of them had been as thick as thieves for a week now, and the suitcase itself indicated that she had at least been packed in preparation for a trip, so she had likely been aware of the situation.
Then there was the issue with the shirt. It was a normal cotton shirt, but the sleeves had been stretched out of shape and then cut through. That indicated that someone had been tied up and later released…or escaped.
So an unknown third party had attacked either Akira-kun or Max, was beaten and then tied up only to escape later, possibly through outside help, though there was no evidence for it. Takahata pulled a cell phone from his pocket and dialed a number.
"Touko, tell security to be on the lookout for a suspicious person. The subject has short dark hair and a head injury and heavy bleeding, gender unknown. Most likely has a concussion. Possibly armed, most likely dangerous. Also, send two or three people here to patrol the dorm, it will help the students relax, let them know we are doing something about this." He ended the call and turned to the other two mage-teachers standing in the room. "Seal it up; no one gets in here. Let her roommate get whatever she needs from the school store, I'll reimburse the store later."
"Yes sir."
He took one last grim look at the room, then, taking a deep breath and pasting on a friendly smile, shut the door and gathered his old students together.
"I want everyone to stick together now, ok? It seems as though one of you has run into some trouble, but we have reason to believe that she escaped and is safe."
"How can you know that? What if…what if Akira is…" Yuuna broke in, the worry clear on her face; such a big change from earlier during the festival when she had jokingly called herself Yuuna Kidd after getting fourth place in the giant battle. Takahata sighed internally. If it wasn't one thing, it was another.
"It seems as though Akira-kun was attacked, but fought off her attacker. I believe she has escaped with the help of an unidentified third party." He looked from face to face, doling out confident smiles and nods as needed. "You don't need to worry, we have people out searching for them as we speak. Just keep an eye open for anyone acting in a suspicious manner. Now, you should all get some rest. I will speak with you again in the morning."
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Miles away, two people trudged along on a narrow bicycle path through a forest.
She watched his back shyly, unsure of how to act. Other than a few brief instructions, Max-sensei had been silent since they left the dorm; the complete lack of conversation between them was a bit odd. Since that time when Asakura threatened to print that story about the two of them, they had gotten along quiet well, she thought. Except for the occasional bump, like what had happened during the tournament. When they met on the street, Max-sensei would stop to chat with her, something that he only did with three other people that she was aware of. She supposed other people might think him rude or standoffish, but she felt that she at least understood him a little, and hoped Negi-sensei, Kagurazaka-san, and Sakurazaki-san understood how rare it was for Max-sensei to become comfortable enough to have random conversations with someone. She couldn't help but feel a bit jealous of it- Why am I jealous? I've only known him for a few weeks! –even if she knew it was childish.
Normally, Max-sensei would meet her eyes and nod at her at least, and she would smile back, but he had refused to even look at her since the brief fight at the dorm. Regardless of all this, she continued walking behind him, drawn onward as he led her through the woods.
The two of them had hiked through the woods behind Mahora until they could barely hear the sounds of the festival, and then Max had changed out of his ridiculous 'hero unit' costume and thrown it into a stream, weighting it with rocks so it would stay submerged. From there, they had made a quick stop at a convenience store, where Akira had picked up a few essentials and Max had purchased all manner of things, such as bottles of water, non-perishable food, kite string, first aid supplies, and the like. It seemed as though he planned on an extended trip on foot, so Akira slipped on a pair of sneakers at the first opportunity, tossing her sandals in a nearby trash can.
They had walked for hours until her stomach growled, then he had stopped only long enough to dig out a pack of snack-crackers and toss them to her. After that, the two of them had continued walking in silence, stopping from time to time while Max looked at a tree or a hill or something on the ground and occasionally corrected their course; she didn't understand exactly what he was doing, but his silent back seemed so forbidding that she didn't ask. Her eyes kept getting drawn to the long wrapped bundle strapped to the side of his hiking pack…it clanked now and then, and she couldn't help but think of the sword he had carried strapped across his back earlier, when he had still been in costume. It seemed a bit too bulky for just that, though.
They kept walking until the sun rose in the eastern sky, and finally took refuge in an abandoned warehouse in a small, run down town.
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The day after the festival, several girls gathered in Makie and Ako's dorm room. Most sat on the floor or the bed, but Yuuna sat crosslegged in a chair, eyeing the students gathered before her.
"So how was it, Fuuka-chan, Fumika-chan?" she asked as she unfolded one leg and kicked off the floor to make the chair spin.
"Max-sensei is not in his room, and some of his things are gone," Fuuka replied while Fumika nodded in agreement, both with serious expressions for once.
"Ako?"
"The teachers won't say anything, it's very suspicious," she said, nodding.
"Ok then. Even more suspicious," Yuuna said, pushing off from the desk this time to make the chair spin again. "Misa-san?"
"No one has seen Max-sensei since the big battle at the end of the third day of the festival," she said while the other two cheerleaders nodded in agreement.
"Most suspicious."
Everyone nodded.
Yuuna jolted the chair to a stop and sat up with a serious look on her face. "Then, as the leader of the 'Let's Find Akira-chan!' club, I declare that our next order of business is to track down Max-sensei and save Akira-chan!" Yuuna shouted. Everyone cheered in response. At least, they did until the door flew open and Negi stepped inside.
"Seat #2, Akashi Yuuna-san, as your teacher I cannot allow you to do this!"
The small group of girls turned around to see Negi-sensei and Asuna-san standing in the doorway, while Makie waved in an embarrassed manner behind them.
"Hey, Makie! You were supposed to be our lookout!" Yuuna said accusingly as she put her hands on her hips and frowned.
"Ah, sorry! They heard everyone cheering when they walked by," the gymnast said as she hung on Negi's arm.
"I can not allow you to do something like this, Yuuna-san!" Negi declared again with a serious look.
Asuna stepped forward. "You heard how it is, let us take over from here!" she said as she crossed her arms in front of her chest in a 'tough guy' manner and grinned confidently. 'Man, I am awesome!'
"Setsuna-san and Mana-san are already out searching. We'll find something soon, and then we will bring back Akira-san safely," Negi said with fire in his eyes.
"Oooh!"
"That's a teacher for you!"
"He's all fired up now!"
The girls spoke lightheartedly as they crowded around Negi…all but Yuuna, who stood back with her arms crossed, scowling.
Asuna spotted her and walked over. "Don't worry, we'll find her," she said as she put a reassuring hand on Yuuna's shoulder and made a fist with the other. "We will bring back Akira no matter what!"
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"Or so I thought, what do you mean I can't go?" Asuna asked some time later as she faced Negi in their dorm room.
Negi looked sheepishly at the floor. "Takamichi said to let him handle it." The poor boy looked ready to cry with worry over his missing student.
"Ta—Takahata-sensei said that?"
Negi nodded as his lip began to quiver.
"Wha…don't cry! You can't cry now! You're the teacher!" Asuna shouted as Konoka and Setsuna came into the room.
"I'm sorry, Asuna-san, Negi-sensei. The teachers found out and I was told to stop searching," Setsuna said as she gave a small apologetic bow.
"I guess it can't be helped then," Asuna said, letting go of Negi's face. "Did you find anything?"
"The costume Max-sensei was wearing at the festival was at the bottom of a stream in the forest, and I found a pair of sandals that I have seen Okochi-san wear from time to time. It seems as though they are heading west."
"West? Why west? It doesn't make any sense!" Asuna said as she tried to figure out where they might go in the west.
"In any case, they have had almost a day's worth of travel time. They could be anywhere by now," Setsuna said. She sounded tired. "They could have continued westward, I suppose," she added when she saw Negi's crestfallen face.
"Kyoto is to the west," Konoka supplied.
"That's right! The Kansai Magic Association would probably know! Under the current truce agreements, Max-san would have to introduce himself to the leader there, even if he were just passing through," Negi said, clutching at this ray of hope.
"Right! So, off to Kyoto! Then we'll find Max-sensei and find out why he took Akira away!" That was something that had been bothering Asuna from the time she found out Akira and Max had both disappeared. She hadn't thought Max-sensei was the sort to go around kidnapping young girls for sketchy reasons, and a quick chat with Setsuna about the subject revealed similar beliefs on the half demon's side. Both agreed: Whatever the reason Max-sensei had taken Akira away, it wasn't anything lecherous; he just wasn't the type. So then…why?
Asuna came back to the present to find everyone looking at her. "Eh? What?"
"There is something you are forgetting, Asuna-san," Setsuna said.
"Eh? What? What? Tell me!"
"We still have finals coming up," Negi said. "We can go afterward, though," the boy teacher added, looking troubled. "I had wanted to go back to Wales this summer, but…" he said, trailing off as he poked his index fingers together and looked down at the floor.
"Ugh, finals…don't remind me," Asuna groaned as she flopped down on Konoka's bed with arms and legs sprawled out everywhere, completely oblivious to the fact that her current position showed the contents of her skirt to any who cared to look.
"A-Asuna-san!" Negi spluttered, arms waving wildly while Setsuna tried to calm him.
"It's not that bad, I'll send a letter to my father. He will prepare some rooms for our arrival! Ah~ going home again, how fun," Konoka said.
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"So, where are you headed?" the truck driver asked as he glanced at the two strangers again.
"Going to a friend's house outside Kyoto," Max answered as he stared blankly through the windshield. Akira had fallen asleep some time ago, and was now leaning on him. Max hadn't wanted to hitch a ride, but Akira was exhausted after two days of walking so they had had no choice. The girl hadn't complained at all however, and he was grateful for that; it seemed he had judged Akira correctly. When she got older and gained more experience, she would be the kind of person he could trust to watch his back through anything.
Earlier in the day after he had finally realized just how tired Akira was, Max had waited for someone that didn't look like a local to pass by, and ended up flagging down the box truck they now rode in. The driver seemed normal enough, but Max didn't like the way the man's eyes kept straying to Akira's legs. She was wearing shorts, and they were riding up as she slumped in the seat while she slept.
"How about you?" Max asked.
The driver seemed startled for a moment before he replied. "O-Okayama." He stayed quiet after that and Max was relieved at not being forced to carry on a meaningless conversation with a stranger. He eventually dozed off.
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"This is as far as I can take you," the driver's gruff and worried voice woke him up. Max sat up and looked around. It was daytime, or at least morning, and they were stopped at a small town in a mountainous region. He felt Akira stirring beside him and glanced over at her.
"Wake up, Mai. You're showing your sleepy face to the world," he said, the corner of his mouth twitching as it threatened a smile. Mai was the fake name they had decided to use for her while traveling in order to throw off pursuit. It wasn't particularly imaginative, but it was at least worth a shot. They had decided that he would be Jonathan. After all, it almost made him grin to hear the way she mispronounced it.
"Hmm…?" Akira mumbled as she sat up and looked around. "Where are we?"
"About an hour from Kyoto," the truck driver said. "Please, just…get out."
Max reached for his things and noticed that his pack had been tampered with. He also noted that the cab of the truck had become very hot, and even as he watched, a bead of sweat made its way down the truck driver's face…apparently the man had been going through his belongings, and Max had somehow sensed it and flared in response while he was asleep; it wasn't so far fetched, he was a light sleeper and had seen similar things many times before. He quietly opened the door and let Akira out, then climbed back in to get their things. He dug opened his pack and found his wallet at the top. A quick check revealed nothing missing, but his mage ID was plainly visible. He quickly flipped the wallet shut and put it back into his back pocket. As he closed the pack again, he slipped the truck driver a $50 and gave the man a level look. "You never saw us, okay? You just took a wrong turn in the night and ended up somewhere else."
The driver nodded and loosened his shirt collar a bit; it was getting hot in the truck cab. "Yes. But what about this?" he said, indicating the US $50, which he grasped between two fingers as if it might bite him.
"You found it when you stopped for gas somewhere," Max offered.
"Okay." The man seemed relieved to have them out when Max finally closed the passenger side door, and quickly drove off without another word. Max was relieved as well, but it was still a huge risk to hitch a ride like that, not to mention that the man had to have seen his mage ID card...he shrugged it off. There was nothing to do now but hope for the best and get moving; he took in their surroundings with a quick glance. They were at a gas station on the outskirts of a small town of probably a thousand people; he could see a budding housing development half a mile down the road, but there was a lot of empty space here, and empty houses as well. Apparently the town had gone through some tough times.
"Can you ride a bike?" he asked Akira, who nodded. "Good." Soon, the two of them were mounted on bicycles Max bought from an old couple and headed off down a narrow mountain road.
After a few miles, Akira finally broke her silence. "I thought we were going to Kyoto…?"
"Not really," Max replied without looking back, he was well aware of her eyes on his back. "We're going to a little place I know in the mountains outside of Kyoto. It's a rough trip, but you can handle it."
Akira remained silent as she digested that information. Max had confidence in her abilities, did he? Well, she wouldn't prove his trust misplaced.
They rode for half the day, keeping to deserted backroads and weaving their way up narrow switchback mountain roads for quite some time before Max turned off on what seemed to be a vague deer trail that led deeper into the woods. This area was remarkably deserted for being so close to Kyoto, it was probably private property or a nature preserve, or else considered too rough to build on. Soon the trees began to thin as they climbed up a fairly steep rocky slope where they were forced to dismount roughly two thirds of the way up when the grade became too steep.
"We're almost there," Max said as he stopped to let Akira catch her breath. After a moment, they continued on, pushing the bicycles.
Soon the slope grew less severe and they remounted their bicycles. It was rough going, but nothing the two of them couldn't handle.
They followed the winding mountain trail until they finally reached a wide flat area ringed by trees. Max led Akira to the far side, where the rock rose almost vertically.
"We have to leave the bicycles here," he said as he dismounted and walked his bike into a small hidden cave in the rock, ducking his head as he entered.
Akira paused at the entrance, a bit hesitant to step into that blackness until Max came back out and passed a flashlight to the girl.
"There's a small room to the right when you enter, you can put your bicycle in there. Come on."
Akira took a good look around with the flashlight as Max led her through the twisting tunnel, cursing under his breath once when he hit his forehead on a stalactite. The cave was of the usual sort, created by the action of wind and water in some bygone age; it was small and narrow, but never so small that they had to crawl or so narrow that they couldn't pass. The occasional room or tunnel branched off here and there to one side or the other, but Max ignored them, so she did as well. Water dripped from the ceiling here and there, and Akira shivered and barely held back a squeak when one cold drop slid down her spine. When they emerged on the other side, the sunlight came so suddenly that it dazzled her eyes for a moment and forced her to clap her hands over her eyes to protect them. When she finally lowered her hand, she gasped at the sight before her.
They stood on a mountainside overlooking a pristine natural valley enclosed on all sides. A waterfall, perhaps thirty or forty feet high, poured from the mountainside on the eastern slope and formed a clear stream which collected in a low spot in the west end of the valley, forming a small lake. The lake, in turn, flowed out through a hole in the rock, fueling other such spots in lower valleys as it made its way to the sea. While the sides of the canyon sloped gently upward on the north and west, it was quite steep on the east and south. The valley floor was covered in trees with the exception of the occasional small clearing and one large open space near the lake. It was quite beautiful and picturesque, though it was certainly a pain to get to, as Akira well knew by this point.
"Where is this?"
"It's a safe place, none of the magic associations can touch us here," Max said, a small, natural smile fluttering into being briefly on his face and then disappearing.
Akira looked at him oddly for a moment, but remained silent.
"Well, let's go. The cabin should be near that small clearing in the north."
They climbed down the steep mountain path, then hiked into the trees. Though the place had looked untouched by humans from the mountainside above, Akira could see the telltale signs of human habitation here and there among the trees. The occasional tree with a shimenawa wrapped around its trunk (or that was what she thought they were called, anyway), occasional stumps that looked to have been cut by something sharper than an ax, and once a well that was boarded over.
Max had said that the cabin was to the north, but after a moment Akira realized he was heading east, toward the waterfall. Once there, he took off his pack and unwrapped the oblong bundle that Akira had been eyeing from the moment they left Mahora. Inside were several swords of varying design. Max removed an ancient sheathed katana, and lightly tossed her a shorter one, probably a wakizashi or something similar, she thought. He then went up a narrow trail that led up behind the waterfall. After a moment's hesitation, Akira followed.
There was a small cave behind the waterfall. It contained a well aged shrine with an ancient, empty sword rack standing before it. Max knelt and placed the old katana on the rack, and prayed silently for a moment before the shrine. When he was done, he motioned for Akira to do the same. She looked at him questioningly.
"It's for safekeeping," he said, answering her question before she had even spoken it.
As she approached, she couldn't help but feel another presence…not Max, but something else that seemed to be watching her. Akira knelt and placed her wakizashi on the rack below the katana, felt another pulse of something. She turned to Max, but he nodded and indicated that she should continue, so she clapped her hands together and began to pray. She didn't know what to pray for, exactly, so she just repeated an old prayer from her childhood. As she continued, she couldn't help but feel as though something or someone other than Max had its attention focused on her. When the voice came, it was all she could do to not jump to her feet.
'You amuse me, child. Very well, you have my protection.'
Akira looked around wildly, but Max didn't seem as though he had heard it. A drop of water fell from the roof and splashed on her face, and she heard the voice again.
'A token of my protection. Be careful, water child.'
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Nilren Riggs was no fool. As a top class hacker and sometimes spy, he couldn't be. So when his first investigation indicated that the target was simply on vacation with a relative, he knew instantly that something was wrong. For one thing, there was little interaction between the target and her family. They exchanged letters once a month, and that was it other than a token visit from time to time. The disappearance of Max Linell and the failure of Marlin to report in firmly cemented in his mind the notion that things had gone wrong in Japan. After the political shakeup that had occurred at HQ just after Max left on his mission, things were still chaotic, but the mission was of the utmost importance. When Marshall had ordered him to investigate, he did so without a second thought, regardless of what he thought of the man. Sure, everyone had liked Wilder, the elderly, almost fatherly man that had run their section before Marshall, but he was no longer here. Wilder had been forcibly retired, allowing Marshall to step in. Marshall was a fat bag of wind as far as Nil was concerned, and Nilren, 'Nil' to his friends, couldn't stand the man.
It didn't matter.
Nilren was intelligent. Nilren was clever. But most of all, Nilren enjoyed his life and did whatever he could to preserve it.
It appeared Max Linell had gone rogue. Regardless of his status as an old friend, Nil had to go after him, and he did. He traced phone calls, hacked into private records, tricked the police into declaring Max a suspect in several crimes; he pulled every trick he could think of to find the man. However, as the days went by, all his efforts resulted in nothing. It was as if Max had dropped off the face of the planet. None of the magic associations in Japan had seen him, none of his old friends had heard from him, not even Jennifer, and that was really something.
Nilren stepped off the airplane and into the airport. From there, he took a taxi to a certain hotel in a town called Mahora. He got a certain room (previously used by a certain foreigner) and set up shop there, unpacking his gear with great care. Soon he was searching the private databases of the local all-girls school, and confirmed a few of his earlier findings before being abruptly shut out of the system. He tried to force his way back in, but found himself completely walled off. He followed a hunch and found his system to be thoroughly locked out of any network. Even as he tried to correct the problem, an odd looking cartoon girl dressed in a bunny-girl suit appeared on his screen and wagged her finger mockingly, as if saying 'No no no.' His screen abruptly cut off, and he realized that his laptop was now so much scrap.
He grinned. It seemed as though some very skilled hackers protected the Mahora computer systems. Very well, if they want to play hardball…
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"Ok class, the final exams are today. Does everyone have your tests and cover sheets? Pencils?" Negi looked around the classroom. "Ok, start!"
The class had adapted quite well to Akira's absence in the days since her apparent kidnapping. Yuuna-san had been uncharacteristically quiet and Ayaka had acted as though someone had personally insulted her, but other than that everything had been slowly getting back to normal. At first, Negi had had to pester Takahata for every bit of information, but the older teacher had finally given in and allowed Negi to attend the meetings the teachers had about Akira. As those meetings wore on and on with little or no news, Negi grew more concerned. He had tried to hide it, but Asuna had caught up with it right away, and soon had him confessing everything.
Of course, sitting back and waiting had never been Asuna's strong suit, or Negi's either for that matter. So they planned to disobey Takahata's direct orders and search for Akira themselves. So far, Asuna, Setsuna, and Konoka were already in on the plan, though Haruna was slowly wheedling the details out of him. He supposed Nodoka, Yue, and Haruna would soon be joining as well.
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After the last of the finals had ended, Chisame searched for Chachamaru, and finally found her feeding some stray cats in a vacant lot in town. She loathed asking for help from a robot, of all things, but it was necessary. Chachamaru had shown considerable skill during the festival, and Chisame was in way over her head.
She took a deep breath and started. "Chachamaru-san."
The robot girl looked up from the cats. "Yes?"
'She's smiling. The robot is smiling. Why is she smiling? She's a robot! This is insane! I shouldn't even be here!' She took a deep, calming breath and put on a forced smile. "N-nothing! I'm going to go now!"
"Is it about the attempted hacking yesterday?"
Chisame froze as a look of horror crept over her face. The robot had read her mind. "How did you know that?"
"By chance, I was running a maintenance check of the school's systems when the attack began. I was about to intervene when you ruined the invader's machine." She paused for a moment, as if searching for the correct phrase. "Well done."
"Er…thanks." 'I just said 'thank you' to a robot! Oh no, I'm becoming strange, no doubt about it!'
"You are welcome," the robot said. She continued looking at Chisame expectantly.
"Er…he's back. He's poking around the edges of the system, trying to draw me out," she said, looking concerned. "He fried one of the school's computers when I went after him," she continued, ashamed of her failure. "He's got some high end rig, I'm not sure what, but it was able to—" She rattled on for a moment, describing what she knew to Chachamaru. "In short, I can't match him with what I have, and he's so good I don't want to risk using my artifact." She took another deep breath. This was the hard part. "A-and…" She paused.
The robot looked at her patiently, the serene look never leaving her face. "Yes?"
'Grrr…why am I doing this? It's so humiliating!' "I-I-I need your h-help. Please," Chisame said, utterly deflated. 'Gah, I want to die!'
"Understood. I will make Hakase aware of the situation, and she will prepare suitable equipment as soon as possible." Chachamaru stood up and primly dusted off her uniform skirt, then approached Chisame. "Come with me."
"Eh? What are you—EEEEYAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Next thing Chisame knew, Chachamaru was holding her bridal style and they were flying through the air a thousand feet above the ground. 'I'm gonna die, I'm really gonna die for real this time!'
Author's Notes: Hacker duel. Unfortunately, I only know enough to embarrass myself, so no hacking info for you guys. Also, I wanted to do a big traveling montage, but…Japan's a bit too small for that, so you just get Max and Akira falling asleep in the cab of a box truck. Oh well.
