Halkegenia Online v3 – Chapter 8 – Part 3

Evening was settling over the Faerie City nestled among the roots of the World Tree and the ore-lamps were beginning to glow in their thousands like fireflies, turning the streets into rivers of gold, and the City Tower into a pillar of splashed light.

For most people it was the end of a long day and time to go home or go out with friends. Every day more people had found steady work, and every night the restaurants and bars had gotten busier. Four months felt like a long time now, long enough that a new 'normal' had replaced the turbulence of the Transition. People got out of bed every morning knowing what to expect out of their day.

And for the children of Arrun Home, what was expected in the evening after dinner was baths.

It was weird, Takahashi Kazuna thought as she sank her shoulders down into the hot clear water, breathing a relieved sigh as she felt the tension between her shoulder blades fade, she remembered she hadn't used to think of a bath as such a luxury.

For a game that had prided itself on its 'immersion' ALO sure hadn't had many baths or toilets. Arrun Home only had one bath on each floor that had to be shared with almost one hundred people, so it took planning and a lot of time for everyone to bathe at night. Baths started from right after dinner all the way to curfew, and you were only allowed a five minute soak, ten minutes on Saturday nights when the rotation started earlier and curfew was later.

Kazuna looked around the small space, surrounded by quiet dripping, walls, ceiling, and floor all made of the same warm wood, lit by an ore-lamp in the far corner. It wasn't anything at all like the bath at home where she could just sit and soak as long as she liked.

But even this was luxurious compared to how things had been before she and her brother had been reunited with Uncle and settled into Arrun Home. Kazuna still remembered the indescribably gross feeling of waking up in the same clothes she'd been wearing for three days without washing. And that wasn't all.

Breathing in the warm and steamy air and hugging herself, Kazuna remembered other things about the time just after the Transition. Like being hungry and being afraid. Afraid that she couldn't log out, afraid that no one else had known what had happened or what that horrible pain had been about, afraid they wouldn't find Uncle, she'd even been afraid for her stupid brother until she realized he didn't care.

'Ueda you stupid jerk . . . Ueda.'

Her brother had changed in this world. He wasn't the skinny, dark haired boy he was in real life anymore. He didn't act like it either. In fact, he acted so little like himself that if she hadn't known any better, Kazuna wouldn't have believed he could be the same person.

Her brother had never gotten good grades. He'd never tried hard. He'd never been good at anything but his stupid games.

'Because he still thinks this is a game!' Kazuna thought furiously, it was the only explanation. Meanwhile, she had to deal with just how real it was all alone.

Kazuna cupped her hands, holding a tiny pool of water before her eyes. Her bright green eyes. At least it was a cute face, she thought, though she refused to even think that it might be cuter than her own real face, definitely not! She shook her head furiously and then stopped and stared and grimaced as she placed her hands carefully to her chest and probed the soft tenderness that she found their.

'They're getting bigger.'

What had started as two knotted up bumps, barely bigger than grapes, and not even showing above the skin, had grown and softened until there was no mistaking what they were or what they were going to become. She'd tried to ignore it at first, just like she pretended she hadn't noticed the other changes. And then she'd woken up one night in pain and found her pajama bottoms stained with blood, and any hope of pretending nothing was happening had vanished.

Nothing was wrong with her, Irene-sensei had insisted gently, these things were all just part of growing into a healthy young woman.

Kazuna didn't feel very healthy. In fact the more she thought about it, she felt pretty lousy. Sore legs, sore chest, and the cramps were just the start. She wasn't ready to start becoming a young woman just yet! She was the baby of the family. A family which, she realized, had been chopped to ribbons.

Now she only had Uncle and Ueda in the whole world, Uncle was putting himself in danger to protect them, and the less she thought about her brother the better. With another small sigh, Kazuna allowed herself to sink further into the water, down to her neck, down to her chin, to her nose, long blonde hair fanning across her shoulders like a halo until . . .

-splash-

-Gasp!-

The water slapped her in the face as her bathmate erupted back to the surface for a lungful of air.

"Yui-chan!" Kazuna cried, spluttering as she wiped water from her eyes.

"Eighty nine point five seconds!" The cute little Faerie girl slapped a hand against her chest triumphantly. "I'm getting better!"

Her name was Kirigaya Yui, Kazuna's friend Yui, maybe the only friend she'd really made in this world.

'Better at holding your breath?' Kazuna wondered.

That was the kind of dumb thing her brother would try to compete over, but she couldn't say that in front of Yui, just like she tried to avoid mentioning how weird she could be sometimes, or to draw too much attention to her wings, she didn't want to hurt Yui's feelings, especially after Yui had been so nice to her.

It was just . . . she was weird sometimes. Really weird. Really really weird. The things she would say and the things she would do. Like today in class . . . But if her brother was acting weird, why not other people? Kazuna reasoned. At least with Yui, it seemed like an honest weird, she didn't mean to do it, it was just how she was.

Besides, Yui-chan had been so nice to her since they'd first met, playing with her even though she didn't like to fly like the other kids, and just listening as she talked about whatever she liked, normal stuff mostly, and home. So what if Yui was a little odd? Maybe . . . maybe it was okay to be a little weird. Maybe it was even okay that Yui called her 'Ban-chan'.

"Ban-chan? Are you alright?"

"Un. I'm fine Yui-chan. But I think we're almost out of time. Ophelia-sensei will get annoyed and come kick us out if we stay in much longer." As if just mentioning their teacher's name had summoned her, their came a short knocking at the door.

"Balandene-chan. Yui-chan. It's time to get out of the bath you two."

Yui's eyes got big, her face seemingly asking how Kazuna had known. They both looked at each other, and then both giggled. "Yes Sensei!" They said together.

Helping each other to dry off, they dressed quickly in their pajamas, Kazuna in a lime green night gown that Uncle had let her pick out at the market, and Yui in a black shirt and black drawstring shorts that looked like they'd be better suited on a boy. When Kazuna had asked, Yui had insisted she was fine with her pajama's because they were like the ones her Papa wore.

Even so . . . 'She's not very fashionable.' Kazuna decided as Yui shook out her damp hair.

Ophelia-sensei was waiting outside with the next two bathers, a sly little Cait boy named Randal and his roommate, a Gnome named Hama who was approximately half as wide as he was tall, which was a head taller than Kazuna, and built a little bit like a miniature sumo wrestler.

"Did you two have a good bath?" Ophelia-sensei asked, looking frazzled and half ready for bed herself between seeing to all of the children.

Both girls nodded. "It was a nice soak." Kazuna said.

"But you better hurry or you'll waste all your time out here." Yui added to the two boys.

Hama, who always wore a very serious frown, nodded as he nudged his roommate toward the door. Randal spared Kazuna a glance and a fanged grin to which she simply turned up her nose. If possible, Randal was an even bigger jerk than her brother, after embarrassing her by revealing that she hadn't been wearing shorts one day, the Cait had wasted no time in trying to flip her skirt every chance he got.

Ophelia-sensei had talked to him about it and he'd gotten a big reprimand from Takai-sensei, but that just meant he'd gotten sneakier in his attempts to tease her. Kazuna hadn't been very happy when Irene-sensei had put them on the same floor and told them to at least try and get along.

"Randal-san." Kazuna said stiffly.

"Baa-chan." He smiled. That smile. It was just . . . ugh!

"Let's go Yui!" Kazuna grabbed her friend by the wrist and tugged her along. And like that, they were on their way down the hall.

"I just can't stand that guy." Kazuna grumbled as she steamed past a pair of the other dormers who were minding the younger children and checking in on their rooms.

"Maybe he likes you?" Yui suggested helpfully.

Kazuna rolled her eyes. Yeah, fat chance of that. "I don't think so."

Yui furrowed her brow. "Are you sure, I can't determine any other reason for Randal-san to harass you. He just doesn't know how to express himself!"

Sometimes Yui sounded so clever it was easy to forget she was still a little girl too and needed Kazuna to share her advice with her. "Listen up Yui-chan, Randal's a boy, boys don't ever make any sense. He's a jerk and probably a pervert too." In fact. "And keep that in mind around my brother. He hasn't done any weird stuff lately but who knows when he might try to peep at your panties."

Yui tilted her head and smiled uncertainly. "Uhm Ban-chan, I don't think your brother is a pervert, and besides, he's already seen my panties."

Kazuna felt her world grinding to a violent halt as she strangled a shriek. Ueda had already seen Yui's panties? He'd peeped! He was a peeper! Her brother really was a pervert!

"What!" She managed to choke as she spun around on Yui and grabbed her friend by the shoulders. "When did this happen? What did he do?!" If Ueda really was being a perverted boy she was going to tell Irene-sensei!

Yui froze in one of her blinking fits as Kazuna held her by her shoulders, a sure sign that she was thinking hard before answering, tilting her head. "It was when I was helping Aunt Sugu to take our clothes to the laundry. We ran into Bardiche-san and he offered to help as apology to Aunt Sugu for breaking the rules when we met."

"And?" Kazuna urged her friend to explain. Yui should be able to tell her what had happened next.

"And what, Ban-chan?" Yui-asked innocently "Bardiche-san helped us carry our laundry and . . ."

"And?!"

"Then he saw my underwear in the laundry." Yui supplied simply before lowering her voice to a whisper. "They have to be washed too you know."

Kazuna was still for perhaps five seconds, perfectly still, not even a twitch. "Y-you mean Nii-chan saw all of your laundry?"

A feeling of profound relief that her friend had gotten to keep her innocence was overcome only by mortifying embarrassment as Kazuna let go of her shoulders and turned back around to hide a blush. "W-well then . . . I suppose that doesn't count. But let that be a lesson you should be more careful." There was no telling what some pervert might do with a trusting girl's laundry!

Another nod from Yui and an innocently asked question. "Say, Ban-chan, why do you think your brother's a pervert."

"B-Because . . ." Kazuna started and then stopped and then started again. "Because I have reasons okay!" Weren't nerdy game Otaku all big perverts?

Although her brother definitely didn't look like an Otaku anymore, not at all, his blonde Sylph avatar wasn't any taller than his real self, but he'd still gotten bigger in other ways, filling out his lanky frame so he didn't look like the sort of boy who would fall over in a strong breeze. And he was frustratingly good at being a Sylph, he could fly really well, and use magic, and Takai-sensei always praised him in practice.

And he hadn't acted like a pervert either, had he? She was sure she'd seen him do something. Kazuna shook her head, well, she knew he was so she would be on her guard. "Just trust me Yui-chan," Kazuna tugged at her friend's wrist to start her walking again, "Boys are bad business."

The room Kazuna shared with her brother was on the far side of the floor from the bath, past an entire wing of dorm rooms and located above the entryway on the first floor.

Happy voices wafted from every open door as they passed, the children playing in their rooms, reading to one another, or just talking quietly about their day. There weren't any alternate means of entertainment, no televisions or video games, which meant they had to find other ways to occupy themselves. Kazuna spied a few of the younger children huddled around a board game they'd borrowed from the main room, in another room she spotted some of the older children playing cards.

One open door looked in on a room shared by a pair of Puca girls presently in the middle of trying to coax a bitty little pixie girl into a set of doll sized night clothes.

The girls were Claves and Falsetto, and if they hadn't been sisters in real life they might as well be now. The Pixie was named Pansy and was Falsetto's navigation Pixie, one of three of the tiny Faerie girls who lived with their masters at Arrun Home.

Small and childish, with big, curious eyes and an appetite to explore, the Pixies had been absolutely smothered with attention as tiny mascots. Irene-sensei had told everyone to be nice to them and to be extra careful that they didn't get hurt. The Navigation Pixies were being entrusted to their masters by the Pixies that lived in the wild and they all had to do their part of keep that trust.

'Maybe I should have gotten one when I had the chance.' It would have been a big responsibility now that the Pixies were real people too, but maybe then she wouldn't feel so lonely all the time.

Mom and Dad had bought her an AMUsphere once Uncle had convinced them it was safe, they definitely would have payed the extra fee if she'd wanted to have a Nav Pixie too.

But Ueda and Uncle hadn't needed one, and she'd been so determined to beat her brother at one of his games fair and square, right up until she'd learned ALO wasn't one of those sorts of games.

It was all Ueda's fault, she reminded herself, he was the one who'd left the stupid game box out where she could see it. It was his fault she'd ended up here. Even though she knew better, Kazuna couldn't help thinking it had actually been a trick.

They were nearly back to Kazuna's room when they were spotted by two of the older dormers arriving from the opposite direction, a Cait with a feathered dragon clinging to her shoulder and an Imp girl that Kazuna recognized even before the feline smiled and waved to Yui.

Silica, a Cait Sith girl with the biggest cat ears, and a face that scrunched up like a playful munchkin when she smiled. And Yuuki, a slight, pale skinned Imp girl with beautiful dark violet hair that fell almost to her waist and vivid pink eyes that were shades lighter than Silica's deep red.

They were older dormers at the Home and part time members of the Courier Services.

It had been pretty much impossible not to hear about the Couriers while living at Arrun Home. Some of the children never stopped talking about them helped along by the stories told by the Couriers themselves, and to be honest, it certainly sounded like a glamorous job.

Couriers, Faeries who had been chartered to deliver important packages and dispatches, each issued with a badge proclaiming their right to travel freely across the entire country.

Mostly they kept to the safety of the Tower Ways and roads, Couriers still traveled armed and often wore protective armor in case some nefarious person attempted to stop them. But mostly they were protected by their speed and agility, picked from among the most capable fliers, a good courier could deliver a package anyplace in Tristain in less than a day. Kazuna could hardly imagine how tough that had to be. It probably explained why the had been such a mess when they'd gotten back.

They'd gotten themselves cleaned up before dinner though, Silica and Yuuki's hair had long since dried out, and were now dressed in their bedclothes, Silica in a creamy floral nightgown and Yuuki in a dark violet camisole and dark shorts that seemed to suit her well.

It was as they grew nearer that Kazuna noticed the sack held one handed by Silica and felt her ear perk at the high sweet -clinking- of glass.

"There you are Yui-chan," Silica waved, "We were looking all over for you. Irene-sensei says you were taking a bath."

"Un." Yui smiled brightly, clasping her hands behind her back. "Ban-chan and I just finished. I hope you and Yuuki-san are doing well tonight."

"We're doing real good Yui-chan." The Imp girl pumped her fist at her side. "We caught that stupid cat and got paid for it too!"

Kazuna shared a mystified look with Yui. 'Cat?'

When Yui opened her mouth to reply Silica simply shook her head tiredly. "It's a long story."

"Kyaa!" The blue feathered familiar trilled tiredly.

"Pina doesn't want to talk about it." Silica elaborated before her ears and tail picked up. "There is some good news though. Like Yuuki-chan said, we got payed, so we went out to the markets before they closed and got these." The Cait offered a small glass bottle first to Yui and then to Kazuna.

"For me?" Kazuna accepted the bottle of Dew Milk, eagerly anticipating the taste of creamy sweetness. Out of all the weird foods she'd had to eat, she actually sort of liked this one, maybe because she could pretend it was a nice milk drink.

"Un." Silica smiled. "We bought enough for Yui-chan and the friends she's staying with."

Kazuna felt her delight take a small hit as she was reminded about her brother, more importantly, they'd bought extra because of Yui-chan?

"Uhm, this is your room right?" Silica pointed to a door left cracked open, the warm light her brother's reading lamp spilling out.

"That's right." Kazuna said and then, shifting on her feet, decided to ask. "You know Yui-chan? Uhm, I'm sorry, I just didn't realize . . ."

"Kyaa!"

"We sure do." Silica agreed with her pet dragon. "I'm good friends with Yui-chan's Papa, ever since he helped me out a while ago." The Cait girl gave a courteous little bow. "Keeping an eye on Yui-chan is the least I can do. And it's nice to properly meet you Balandene-san."

Silica knew Yui's dad, so she must have been one of the important family friends Yui had mentioned. Kazuna bowed back politely, and for just a moment felt very out of place, like this was a very grown up and important introduction. She even blushed, just a little bit.

"The pleasure is all ours." Yuuki added as she mimicked her partner's bow. "I don't know Yui-chan's mom or dad, but Silica-chan and I are good friends, so I'm always happy to be friends with any friends of hers."

"O-of course." Kazuna said quickly, suddenly becoming very serious and mature. Silica and her partner usually didn't stay long at Arrun Home when they weren't in classes and taking care of something for Irene-sensei. They lived there, but they kept so busy that Kazuna hadn't had much of a chance to talk to them before. Now that she knew they were friends with Yui's family, she had to make a good impression. "Here, you can come inside if you want?" She offered.

"That would be great, thank you Ban-chan." Silica accepted warmly.

Yui brightened. "You can tell us about what happened on your job today. It must have been very eventful!"

"Eventful is one way to put it!" Silica laughed as she followed Kazuna through her bedroom door.

The room Kazuna shared with her brother was pretty big, she guessed, at least as big as her room back home, but it felt smaller now that she had to share it with another person. Especially a boy. She couldn't even get changed without kicking Ueda out first. So inconvenient!

The furniture was a little old fashioned too, two wooden desks set side by side against one wall, along with a wooden dresser with a mirror. A small bookcase sat underneath the window and there was a floor lamp in the corner. And then there were their beds along the opposite wall, bunk beds, Kazuna scowled as she spied her brother flopped out on his belly on the top bunk. He was dressed in his own pajamas already, blonde hair still damp but insistently beginning to return to its windswept 'default' appearance.

Ueda, he liked to be called 'Bardiche', but Kazuna was always going to think of him as Ueda, looked up from the book he'd been reading, his left hand freezing over a piece of paper where he'd been scribbling notes. Was he still studying? That seemed to be all he ever did now.

"Hey Sis, how was your bath?"

Kazuna huffed. "What's it to you? And get down and introduce yourself!" Even if he was her stupid brother he had to show manners!"

The Sylph boy looked up long enough to see the older girls and then shrugged. "We've met." And then added a small 'Thank You' when Silica offered him a bottle of Dew Milk. The drink brought a pause to his studying as he sat up and popped open the cap.

Kazuna offered Yui a spot next to her on her own bed with the big fluffy pillows and wonderfully soft comforter Uncle had bought for her, the little Faerie girl flopping down and pulling her legs up onto the bed beside her. Silica declined a spot on the bed and instead seated herself at Ueda's desk, taking her pet dragon into her arms as Yuuki sat down backwards in her chair, elbows on the seat back.

Once everyone had gotten themselves comfortable, at Yui's urging, Silica and Yuuki had told about their adventure. "Well . . ." The Cait girl had begun reluctantly. "It started when we went to see Alicia-sama this morning." Silica explained. "She said she had a job for us. I guess it was more like a favor though."

Pina cried out mournfully, prompting the Cait girl to rub her familiar's belly until she purred with content. "You see, it turns out that sometimes we Couriers can be asked to deliver something that nobody can quite find . . . "

And so Kazuna had curled up with Yui. She'd listened, and she'd laughed until she cried as the story unfolded. The Cat and the brambles they'd had to go through while chasing it. Silica and Yuuki had traded off telling the story, correcting each other between sips of their drinks until everything had been told.

"So I guess it turns out that cats don't always like Caits." Yuuki smiled mischievously. "It sure would have made things easier if we'd known that first!"

"Tell me about it." Silica, who had started to smile and laugh at herself as she retold the story shook her head. "I wish we'd brought some extra help."

"It sounds like you needed a tracker." Kazuna looked up as her brother offered his unasked for advice. It was the first thing he'd said during the entire story and Kazuna had had her doubts that he'd even been listening. "A Cait Hunter with a good tracking skill would have helped, and some good bind spells too." Ueda's expression grew thoughtful, a sure sign he was delving into all of that built up knowledge about ALO. "Maybe a decoy spell? But I don't know if those will work on animals like cats. They don't work on mobs with a strong sense of smell . . ."

"Well, I've gotten pretty good with [Choking Creeper] in practice." Silica replied. "And Yuuki-chan is an expert with shadow snare. That's how we caught him in the end, but it was tough getting close enough, it's not like our wings were much help." Silica shook her head. "That reminds me, Yui-chan, how are your magic lessons coming along. Your Aunt Leafa is teaching you, right?"

Yui nodded as she inspected her left hand. "Un. Aunt Sugu's been helping me with wind magic." A small, frustrated frown appeared on the Faerie girl's features. "It's harder than I thought it would be. Memorizing the spells is easy, but its not like the first time I used them at all."

"Well, it's not a game anymore Yui-chan." Kazuna reminded her friend gently. And that went for their magic too.

As far as Takai-sensei and the other teachers could tell, using magic was like exercising a muscle and it took constant practice to get stronger. Kazuna could vouch for that. Even though it felt weird every time she used it, she'd worked hard to master her Faerie magic, practicing spells during defense lessons until she felt weak and had to sit down. She didn't have much to show for her work yet, but she was still proud of the progress she'd made and Takai-sensei had even offered to give her extra lessons!

"I think you're right." Yui decided, letting her hand fall back to her side. "I'm just going to have to keep practicing. I bet Mama and Papa would let me join the defense classes."

"That would be great Yui-chan. Takai-sensei is really strict, but he really knows what he's doing! We have to defense lessons tomorrow, so maybe you can get permission from your Aunt."

"Well anyways, I think Bardiche-san has a point." Silica decided. "We really needed someone good at hunting to come with us."

"You mean Kino-san, right?" Yuuki swirled the nearly empty contents of her bottle thoughtfully. "He comes pretty in handy with that tracking skill of his. And I bet he would have gone right into those brambles."

Silica's ears pivoted. "You think?"

"Un. He seems like he's that sort of person is all." The Imp girl leaned back and starred up at the ceiling. "Someone who's lots tougher than he looks."

Silica looked doubtful."Well, maybe. But I'd never dream of asking him for something like that." The Cait Girl's cheeks warmed as she added. "I'm afraid he'd go and do it."

Kazuna felt Yui sit up beside her, head tilting to the side, another of Yui's 'weird moments' while watching other people. Though this time Kazuna wasn't quite sure she understood what they were listening to either.

"Afraid he'd . . ." Yuuki's eyes got big and then she started to giggle. "Silica-chan, are you saying he's . . . ?"

"It's not like that!" Silica waved her hands furiously, her faced growing redder by the moment. Her panic subsided with the Imp girls laughter as a chance opened to explain herself.

"What's the matter Silica-san?" Yui asked, all innocent curiosity. "I thought Kino-san really likes you, and Mama thinks he's a nice boy too."

"He is. I love being friends with him." Silica was quick to agree, offering Pina the last of her Dew Milk in its cap like a saucer. The Feathered Dragon went about licking up the contents greedily, crying with delight between slurps. "I was a little worried at first, but it turns out Kino-san is just the kind of person who goes all out, even if it's just for a friend." Tail turning to and fro, Silica lowered her head and added. "I'm not really looking for anyone as more than a friend just now is all."

That seemed like it would have been the end of it before Yui-chan tilted her head and asked conversationally. "So you mean you aren't thinking of taking Kino-san as your lover?"

Silica ears and tail shot straight up and Yuuki covered her mouth, the Imp girl struggling to hold back a fit of giggles as her eyes nearly popped. But that was nothing like the mortified shock that Kazuna felt to hear her friend say a thing like that.

"Yui-chan!"

Silica and Yuuki had stayed and visited with them all the way to curfew, listening as Yui and Balandene took turns telling them both about their school day. But eventually Takai-sensei had walked by and poked his head inside to tell them it was time for lights out.

The older girls had said their goodbyes, Silica promising to meet them for breakfast in the morning, the lights in the hallway had been dimmed, and Yui had found herself laying in bed, staring up at an [Unfamiliar] ceiling as she prepared to go to sleep.

It was quiet now, and maybe a little [Lonely] in the dark. Not that Yui was really alone, Balandene was in the bed right next to her guest futon, and Bardiche was laying in the top bunk, and beyond this one room, there were lots more people all around her, other children, and the teachers walking the halls on patrol.

Yui couldn't help but feel [Safe] and [Protected] here, her teachers were all good people, they were all really nice, even Boulanger-sensei was more [Strict] than he was mean, and she had all of her friends here too.

But it just wasn't the same without Mama and Papa, or even Aunt Sugu to curl up with when her [Worries] wouldn't go away. Even though she knew that they weren't really very far away at all, if she wanted to badly enough, she could go see them whenever she liked.

But that just made things even harder as [Conflicts] arose between her desires and what she knew was right. Her parents had gone away so that they could protect her and Aunt Suguha, because they loved them, and in order to do that, they needed her to be strong and to look after herself.

[Query] Yui wondered what her parents were doing at that moment. Turning over in bed, she hugged her pillow to her chest and buried her face in the warmth. She would have to wait for their next visit to find out.

In the mean time, Yui had a whole day of experiences to review and archive, a very important day. Closing her eyes as she let her primary through process touch lightly upon the thousands of suspended operations that had accumulated over the course of the day.

[Conclusion] It had been a productive first day, Yui thought, she'd successfully introduced herself to her classmates and navigated most of the [Social Situations] she had been confronted with. People didn't even think she was too weird . . .

[Query] Being 'weird' was okay too, wasn't it?

[Observation] In Social Interaction humans were most comfortable within a range of behavioral 'norms' defined by the people around them. Failure to conform to these norms could cause [Anxiety], [Ostracism], and [Rejection] from the social group.

Yui wondered if it would be better to act more normal, but she didn't know if she wanted to be less [Herself] just so that people would like her. [Frustrating!]

[Counter Example] Papa was very 'atypical' but he still made friends and acquaintances.

[Conclusion] She would just have to try her hardest and show her new classmates that there was lots to like about her. After all, Balandene liked being her friend, and so did Rika, and lots of the other children . . . Not Bardiche though . . .

Yui peeked up into the darkness. The Sylph boy was really polite, he'd been nice enough to help her and Aunt Suguha, but other than that, he kept his distance whenever she was around. She'd thought maybe he'd come around eventually, but when it hadn't happened, he'd started to seem a little [Scary].

'Balandene says he's just a jerk.' Yui thought. That didn't seem right though, Bardiche wasn't that careless of a person, and he was friendly with other people, at least a little. Actually, Yui wasn't entirely sure just why her friend was always so angry with her brother. He did seem a little [Neglectful] but he always helped his sister when she asked. Yui was grateful that she had Aunt Suguha and Silica to help her when she had trouble. [Query] Wasn't that the same thing?

"Yui-chan." The young Maeve blinked as she heard her name, barely more than a whisper.

"Hey Yui-chan, are you still awake?" The darkness asked.

[Localizing] [Match]

"Ban-chan?"

The answer came in the rustling of fabric and then a heavier noise as a pillow fell onto the floor. The Sylph Balandene rolled over onto her side, peering out sleepily from atop her bed. A few long strands of blonde hair had fallen across her cheek, turning a bright platinum in a sliver of captured moonslight.

"Can't sleep." Balandene whispered. "Can I lay with you?"

[Can I lay with you?] [Archive Playback] [Papa, can I lay next to you until you log out?]

"Un." Yui propped herself up and nodded.

More rustling noises and then Yui felt her futon shifting as Balandene crawled onto the floor, pulling her comforter with her. The Maeve scooted over as her friend made herself comfortable, propping her head up on her pillow so that they lay face to face. "Thanks a lot." She mumbled drowsily.

Yui's [Enhanced Sensing] function concentrated on the girl next to her, a flood of data that was [Extraneous] or even erroneous in complex social interactions where cues could overlap and change so quickly as to be useless, but just laying here, was like an open book.

Like the fact that she was suffering from prolonged general anxiety that only seemed to be alleviated when she was active, playing, visiting with friends, studying, or otherwise kept engaged. Or the fact that she was in the beginning stages of her menstrual cycle. And that she hadn't in fact been sleeping very well, not for a long time.

And then there were the behavioral abnormalities that she had observed. Balandene's [irrational] anger at her brother. Her [Emotional Arousal] when she addressed Takai-sensei. Her reluctance to use her wings or to conform to practical dress. The extreme care that she took with her clothing and hair, but the way she refused to look at herself otherwise.

When all taken together, Yui knew more about Balandene than the other girl could ever know about herself. And the only thing Yui cared about, was how she could use that information to help.

But for all of her diagnostic ability and inborn knowledge, Yui had discovered that the most important thing she could do was simply to ask.

"Are you okay, Ban-chan?" Yui whispered and then waited. She didn't have to say anything else, if she just waited, and let her friend know it was okay, she'd answer, and that was okay, Yui knew her limits, she could only help with the problems Balandene was ready to face.

The Sylph didn't reply at first, but Yui sensed her sub vocalizing a small whine as she squeezed her eyes shut. "I'm fine . . . Actually no . . . That's a lie." Scooting a little closer. "I was just thinking about home again. Meeting Silica-san reminded me is all."

Yui's eyes went wide. "Ah, Ban-chan I'm sorry!" She hadn't thought about how Balandene would interpret something like that.

"No, don't be! I'm really happy for you Yui-chan, you have your mom and dad with you, and your aunt, and so many family friends, I'm not jealous though, well maybe a little. I just miss my family is all. And my friends . . . my real ones."

[Real Ones?][Check-Query] "So, does that mean we're not really friends?" Yui felt very anxious, she'd thought . . .

But Balandene shook her head quickly. "That's not what I meant. You're my friend Yui-chan, you're my good friend because . . ." She blushed.

[Request-Query] "Because?"

"Well because," Balandene smiled. "You're really honest." Yui's expression fell blank as she attempted to put the Sylphs comment in context. But Balandene didn't wait for her to come to her own conclusion.

"Its all just like in Ueda's games." Balandene explained. "Something awful has happened to us but then everyone acts like this is normal, even the adults are pretending. Everyone wears fake faces and uses fake names. Why did everyone change so much? I just can't stand it. Everything from that stupid game is completely fake, I wish none of it had ever existed . . ." [Query-Conflict Error] The young Sylph's voice fell until Yui could barely hear. "So how come it's all real?"

Yui froze as a ripple of [Conflicts] were raised, a wave of minor [Errors] that had to be resolved or overridden as Balandene stopped and smiled. "But you're different Yui-chan. Kirigaya Yui . . . That's your real name, right?"

"Right!" Yui nodded her head. It was a [Fact] she held with complete [Conviction]. She was her Papa's daughter and Papa had given her his family name as proof of that.

"I thought so." Balandene's smile softened, she just looked so [Relieved]. "And you don't pretend like brother does either. Yui-chan is Yui-chan . . . "

"R-right . . ." This time the young Maeve wasn't so sure. It was the literal truth, but it skirted on a [Lie] that Yui had promised she wasn't going to tell.

Balandene closed her eyes knowingly. "Then you can call me Kazuna . . . if you want."

[Kazuna] [Origin : Japanese] [Gender : Female] [Literal Spelling : One Vegetable] [Alternate : Partnership, Sense, Other, Passive, Assistance, Acceptance, Intimacy, Peace]

"Ban-chan." Yui whispered almost [Reverently]. Proper names had taken a special meaning in Halkegenia as people relied on their personas to cope and survive, it had been agreed by an almost unspoken [Consensus] that held even more true among the children who were taught never to give a stranger their [True Name] as a means of protection.

That her friend was entrusting her with this . . . And at the same time, it felt somehow [Undeserved] like Yui had done nothing to earn it.

"I . . ."

"It's okay." Kazuna's hand fell into Yui's and squeezed until the little Maeve girl returned the clasp. "After all, I trust you Yui-chan. We're friends." She closed her eyes, still smiling. "This is nice, like a slumber party."

[Slumber Party] [Sleep Over] [Social Gathering] [Query] "Really?" Yui asked. "I've never been to one." [Correction] Not properly anyways. She'd slept over at places . . . But she couldn't say they had been very [Pleasant].

Balandene's eyes snapped open. "Really! Wait . . . It's because you were sick for so long, isn't it . . ." She stopped as something else occurred to her. Her smiled faded a little. "Becoming a Salamander fixed Uncle's back. And it made other people healthy too. Yui-chan, that's why you can come to school now, isn't it?"

Yui didn't think too hard about the exact logic, Balandene had offered her a chance to answer truthfully, she simply nodded.

"So that's why you're so strange." Balandene gasped. "Ah, I didn't mean to say that out loud! Uhm . . . Don't worry Yui-chan, I'll teach you everything you don't know, promise!"

"And I'll keep helping you with your homework." Yui told her. "It's going to be a lot of work."

Balandene had scowled, but she hadn't stayed angry, hugging Yui tightly as she drifted off to sleep. Yui remained carefully observant of her friend's biorhythms until she was absolutely sure the Sylph was sound asleep, head nestled peacefully on Yui's pillow.

[Observation] Friends sure were [Complicated], Yui thought. [Friend] [Confidant] [Someone who is trusted or confided in.] Yui liked that. She wasn't sure how much she liked the other stuff though.

Balandene mumbled something in her sleep and Yui felt herself being squeezed tighter, and she hadn't known what else to do but to hug back and listen to the Sylph girl's breathing until . . .

"I know you're still awake." A soft, gruff voice spoke from the shadows farther above her head. Yui looked up, and saw just sharp green eyes looking out from the top bunk.

"Bardi -"

The boy raised a hand to his lips and Yui knew to keep quiet. "Is Kazuna asleep?" Even though she knew for sure, Yui checked again before nodding, it was the first time she'd ever heard him call his sister by her given name. "Good." The boy said simply, his eyes focused on Yui and a sense of unease took hold, like he knew something. Yui wondered if she should be worried.

"Uhm . . ."

"You're weird." Bardiche said flatly, stopping her before she could speak. "Really weird." Yui was proud of who she was, but the way he said it, like it was a [Crime] made her heart sink. "All the other kids like you, and the teacher's wont say anything mean about you. Actually, they won't say anything other than that your parents are Knights. Irene-sensei knows something but she won't tell." Then, green eyes closed. "But somehow, you're Kazu's friend too."

The change in his voice was so sudden that Yui was left [Mystified] as she listened. "Kazuna is always going out of her way to say how much she hates everything weird in this world. I guess she thinks I'm weird now too. But for some reason she's happier because of you . . ." And for a second, Yui wondered if Bardiche was finally warming up to her. Then, the cold returned as Bardiche eyes opened again.

"I don't know what the truth is. If you were really sick for a long time, or if you're a grown up who's just ducking out of a being an adult. But Kazuna trusts you. So if you hurt my little sister, I won't forgive you." And then the green eyes vanished, slipping back into the shadows and leaving Yui alone in the dark with her thoughts once more.

On the second floor of the Arrun Watch HQ the wall clock had just finished gently chiming the quarter hour. It was forty five minutes into the new day, and the Offices of the Watch were quiet. Here and there a table top lamp glowed dimly at the desk of a watchmen working late and snatches of muted conversation drifted up the stairs from the lower floor.

The Headquarters were on a skeleton crew that night, as they usually were. Most of the night shift were at their stations or else on patrol throughout the city, discouraging would be troublemakers and keeping an eye peeled for any disturbances. With months of practice, they were getting good at it, really good.

Four months ago, a group of self appointed volunteers striving to keep the peace had seemed like well meaning amateurs at best, badged vigilantes at worst. Nobody had thought of it as a job, much less a career. But as reality had begun to sink in, keeping order had begun to include mediating disputes and figuring out just what to do with people who had broken the [Law]. And suddenly they were doing a real job and not just managing an emergency.

Precious few of the Players turned Faeries had possessed law enforcement experience to start with, those who did had found their expertise woefully inadequate for a land of sword and sorcery, but those veterans had done everything in their power to contribute a sense of professionalism, learning a lot of hard lessons themselves in the process. It was thanks to them that the Watch had become what it was, protectors of the public order.

Along with the Defense Force and the Faerie Knights, they'd attracted a lot of attention, and a lot of attention had attracted a lot more volunteers who thought they had what it took to keep the peace and help their fellow ALfheim denizens.

Volunteers like . . .

"Hey Kasa, you're the one who signed off on this, right? Hey Kasa, are you listening?"

Seated at her desk, her inbox piled high with weekly reports, and her hands black with smeared ink, a tall, mousy haired girl, Kasa of the Puca looked up at the call of a voice she'd heard everyday now since joining the Arrun City Watch . . . then she remembered to look a little lower as her gaze was met with empty space above and the fringe of a dark head of hair near its bottom.

"Kasa?"

Just a little lower.

"What exactly are you doing?"

Lower still.

Kasa blinked blearily as the blur before her eyes, the product of too many hours staring almost exactly at a spot sixty five centimeters past her nose, began to resolve itself into a head of black hair over an ashen and serious face built around serious eyes and an even more serious frown, a Spriggan, a particular Spriggan.

"Dojo-senpai." Kasa greeted as she recognized the Spriggan, and her senior as a member of the Arrun City Watch. "Sorry, I just need to get these done for the Captain." She apologized, taking up the file she'd left open and tapping it lightly on the surface of her desk so the pages lined up and then leaned back, stretching long arms and legs. "You needed something?"

"An explanation would be nice." Her elder sighed. "These are the burglary reports from a month ago." The Spriggan waved as handful of loose leaf papers like a fan. "Why were they double filed?"

Accepting the sheets of rough paper, they were standard forms, printed in bulk by a press that had been purchased from the Tristanians. Each contained a short crime report, a victim name, date, and location, and the details of the crime. Re-reading her own hand writing the Puca's recollection was sparked.

"These are from the burglaries that were reported last month." Kasa said, reaching up to tug at one slender ear. "Ah hmm . . ."

They had been part of a string of thefts reported by Arrun residents who had found their possessions missing, sometimes from within locked chests and secure drawers. It had made a bit of a splash in the papers as the doing of Arrun's first Cat Burglar, and there had been more than a few painful puns and accusations made in the editorials over that choice of words.

But the problem was, other than victim testimony, they really didn't have much to go on. Evidence was thin at the scene of the crimes, and witnesses non existent. And when the burglaries had stopped as quickly as they'd begun, that as they said, had been the end of that. Or almost anyways.

"I thought this was still being investigated." Kasa handed the papers back. "So I made duplicates."

Dojo's frown intensified as he returned the papers to their folder. "It's part of the Black Market investigation now, not our problem unless something else comes up. Thanks, that's one more thing I have out of my hair." The Spriggan turned, stopping halfway and nodded. "Seriously though, you should give it a rest, most of that stuff can keep till tomorrow."

Kasa grinned, working her shoulder, she had gotten a little stiff staying cooped up. "Worried about me, Senpai?"

"It's my job to worry about you, idiot." The Spriggan said simply, leaning back against the office wall. Most people didn't realize it, but Dojo-Senpai was a pretty cool guy, at least that was what the nineteen year old daughter of a police officer thought.

He didn't look like much, maybe good looking, but that hardly stood out in a crowd of Faeries who had gotten their looks from their former game avatars. He didn't have to look like much, because pretty much the first thing Kasa had seen him do was lay a grown Gnome out flat on his back. The second thing she'd seen him do was quietly straighten his clothes in the middle of a crowd of stunned onlookers and turn to the owner of the bar, and offer to pay for the chair he'd broken while subduing the drunken Faerie.

Although Kasa had never dreamed about following in her father's footsteps into law enforcement until that moment, she'd decided she had to learn how to do that.

The secret of course was that there wasn't any secret. The Spriggan had been a martial arts practitioner and had applied his ALO skills and IRL experience to become the foremost hand to hand specialist in the entire Watch. Being able to take down just about anything roughly human sized and shaped faster than resorting to [Stunners] and [Binds] had given Kasa's Senpai an impressive reputation despite his stature.

Dojo-Senpai hadn't made it easy on her just because of her admiration though. Months of hard training hadn't even brought Kasa into the same league as her teacher. A relatively low level Puca without much weapons training to build up her [Strength Modifier], all she'd had going for her physically was height, strong legs, and a good set of lungs. She'd been run ragged just like every other recruit in the Watch.

It didn't matter, Kasa had been totally pumped at the idea, the Watch needed the very best that it could get, and as long as she'd given her all, she'd received criticism but no complaints from her Senpai. When it had come time to be officially inducted into the Watch and she'd received her badge and aquamarine jacket from the Captain, the Spriggan had simply given a silent nod of approval.

Her graduation to the status of full Watchwoman had been accompanied by her assignment to the Arrun Library task group, keeping an eye out for sticky fingers trying to make off with sensitive books or reference materials, Faeries, and the odd local. Though how they expected to make use of a book written in Japanese mystified her. The Head Librarian was nice enough to work with though, albeit she could be a little odd about the books, and just . . . odd.

"Maybe you're right." The Puca got up from her desk, losing the fight with a yawn as she stretched. It would be nice to go home and crawl into her own bed, but night shift didn't end for another three hours yet and they were short handed with the Captain and Senior Officers called away. If she couldn't get a nap, maybe she could find something to boost her energy?

"I wonder if there are any snacks left in the cafeteria." A cup of hot tea sounded nice right now, and there should have been some fresh leaves left. Kasa was still trying to figure out where Bishop was getting so many rare teas, it had become quite the topic of speculation.

Kasa was on her way for the stairs when she was met halfway by a mousy looking Undine with limp blue hair and a face that looked made for spectacles. "Ah Kasa-san, you're still at it?" Ermin of the Undine's looked up from the folder he'd been reviewing. "Have you seen the Lieutenant? I need her to sign off on the temporary watch rotations."

"Those are the new patrol routes?" Dojo-senpai came up behind them.

"Yeah." Ermin scratched behind his ear. "Thinker-sama asked me to draw them up. The Captain's moving so many people North to deal with the Cu Sidhe raids that we're getting pretty short handed on patrols. I wanted to double check with Lieutenant Kirigaya before I posted these."

That made sense, Kasa thought, the Watch had hit its stride and for the day to day stuff they practically ran themselves, outside of a disaster, the most important task was making sure the patrols got good coverage on their sweeps. The Lieutenant had a gift for that sort of stuff, estimating flight ranges and time down to the last kilometer and minute and plotting patrol patterns accordingly. Flight ops were practically her specialty and even the more experienced Officers tended to trust her judgement.

"Well then, you might have a problem." Dojo said casually.

"What?" Ermin frowned. "I was sure she was staying on shift, did I . . ."

The Spriggan stopped Ermin before he could start speculating and instead hooked a thumb over his shoulder. "Over there."

"Oh good, then . . ." When Ermin saw, he blinked. "Oh." The Puca followed his eyes and saw for herself.

"Well it's to be expected." Kasa admitted, standing between Dojo and Ermin.. "I mean, this is her forth shift in two days."

At her desk in the far corner, acting Lieutenant Kirigaya was seated hunched over with her eyes closed and using a stack of papers as a pillow. Sword resting in its scabbard beside her desk, and green jacket hung from the back of her chair. The Sylph woman was still save for a faint stirring as she breathed, her pen still clutched loosely in her hand atop a half read report.

"Oh man." Ermin mumbled.

"Oh my." Kasa raised a hand to hide a small smile. "You know, I would have thought a college girl like the Lieutenant would know how pull a few all-nighters." Well, her own Senpai at university had still been a horrible mess without her beauty sleep too.

Funny though, when she was sleeping, the Lieutenant really did look like such a kid. It was utterly different from the personality she projected most of the time.

Lieutenant Kirigaya was the most junior officer of the Arrun Watch and barely off of her provisional period, but she'd already been building up a powerful reputation even before she'd been scouted, and a somewhat glamorous one at that.

If Dojo-Senpai's talent was in his fists, the Lieutenant's was definitely in her wings. She was beautiful in the sky, like she was born to be in the wind, and from every story Kasa had heard, while she was flying, she was absolutely fearless.

Most people had met her in the days after the Transition as a flight instructor going by her screen name [Leafa], and which still served as her nickname, teaching other Faeries how to use their wings without the benefit of the system tools. Starting as one of the volunteers handling the basics, she'd eventually graduated to instructing defense force volunteers in advanced aerial maneuvers and tactics.

Some of the people she'd helped had gone on to join the Watch, and from their, she'd been brought to the attention of the senior Watch staff.

People were still talking about how she'd taken the lead in the Emergency Boss Clearance Operation against Lhamthanc [The Steel Toothed] and how she'd helped to guide the entire strike force to safety. Thanks to her efforts a boss battle that could have ended in a [TPK] had been handled with almost no casualties. With an accomplishment like that under her belt, it had been hard to look her over when recruitment had started up in the wake of the Defense Force formation.

Lieutenant, at the time Watchwoman, Kirigaya had gotten herself noticed again after joining the Watch when she'd confronted a group of scummy Noblemen trying to entrap a little girl into servitude. Both her decisiveness and restrained handling of the situation had received praise and been held up as textbook displays of initiative by the senior staff. Along with an excellent probationary record and an eagerness to learn on the job, she'd been put on the short list of people to be elevated to a junior leadership position.

That decision had paid off soon after during the hunt for Reconquista Conspirators fleeing the country. Lieutenant Kirigaya had been the one to bring down a fleeing Wind Drake carrying a conspiring army officer, first by expertly boxing in the Dragon and Rider with her squad and then using a [Booster] technique to clip one of the dragon's wings while under fire and flying at the very edge of her endurance.

To think that she'd done all of that in space of just three months, it wasn't hard to see how most of the girls, Kasa included, were starting to look up to the Sylph woman as a role model. There was just one little problem . . .

"Eh? Leafa-san's a college grad?" Ermin frowned. "I had her pegged at twenty, tops."

Both Faeries stopped and stared at their slumbering Lieutenant and then blankly into the air. Her looks could have been either very mature or very youthful for her age, but that didn't mean anything, youth was as common among Faeries as good looks.

Kasa blinked dumbly. "Uhm . . . I think so?" Who had she heard it from? Or maybe she was confusing Lieutenant Kirigaya with the rumors she'd heard about Lady Sakuya. Then she remembered and brightened up. "I heard she's the Black Swordsman's sister, you know, the Clearer?"

She'd heard all about it online when SAO had been cleared. The Police had tried to keep a lid on the leaks but stories had gotten passed around about the kid who'd managed to win the game. That sort of stuff became an urban legend and really, if what else she'd heard was true, Kasa pitied anyone who got in his way now that he was a Faerie Knight.

No wonder the Lieutenant was so talented, it ran in her family.

"Maybe you're right." The Puca reasoned, this was trickier than she'd thought. "He's supposed to be around sixteen or seventeen so his older sister would at least have to be a high school grad wouldn't she?"

"But even if that's true, who's to say she's his Older Sister?" Ermin offered. "I mean that could be the other way around, right?"

Kasa shook her head, she was at least confident on that much. "There's no way she could be much younger. She's way too confident for that. Besides, she had to give a resume to the Watch when she was recruited and I don't think Leafa-san is the sort of person who would lie on an important document." Becoming thoughtful again. "Come to think of it, Senpai, aren't you on the recruitment board? You must have seen them right? What do you think?"

"I think . . ." Both Faeries turned to their Spriggan senior. "That you two think too much." Proving that he could make faces other than frowns, her Senpai gave her a look of disappointment. "You should know those resumes are private. And besides, the Watch recruits on merit, we can't afford to do things any other way. So why don't you stop speculating about your superior." Putting his hands on his hips. "And go get a blanket and pillow from the bunk room, she's going to crick her neck like that."

Author's Note: Sorry for the slow update schedule lately, there's been some chaos in the creative writing forum where I post this story. Server is dying and we're migrating to a new one, all that jazz.