Chapter 37

May 18 2016

"It's not often I have to use the truck two days in a row." Cime commented.

"Snort"

"I'll give you a cookie for later." I told Cime's pickup truck, handing Cime a little bag of cookies which promptly vanished into one of his many pockets.

The front end of the trunk bounced slightly.

"Have you ever tried to find out how much you can lift?" He asked as I picked up a half metre cube wooden crate off the back of the truck.

From the smell, this one was the iron I ordered. The label said it weighed 900kg, "I've never really tried to set a bar for it, no." I put the crate down carefully and went for the second one.

"You should try one day, just to see." He chuckled, "Just watching you lift that makes my back hurt.

"Well, I won't comment on how being ageless doesn't excuse not exercising." The second crate was the same size, but the shipping label taped to the side was much thicker. This one would be all my 'other metals' needed for mixing up the armour steel Welf and I used. "If I had a source of adamant, aside from what I brought with me..." I sighed, "That might make me a target for theft, not just political intrigue however..."

"What's the count then?"

"Seven job offers, three marriage proposals, two letters of challenge." I replied. "Oh, and a bunch of 'thank you for kicking Riser's..." I looked at my golden tail before it could swat me.

"Sign here please." He said with a chuckle, "Well, I have good news and... bad news, I suppose?"

"More fan mail?"

He opened the passenger side of the truck, and handed me an open cardboard box. Inside was a loosely piled stack of various coloured envelopes.

"I suppose they didn't want to owe the Gremory house a favour for a direct delivery..." I sighed, accepting the box and signing for that too.

"The good news being, they all owe me a small favour for knowing where to deliver them." He grinned under the brim of his hat. "Don't worry, they still don't know where you are. Just that I know.

"Thank you for your discretion." I nodded, "No more surprises?"

"No. That is all for today. Be seeing you." We shook hands and he got back into his truck.

Part of making this particular armour steel was melting it down into an alloy. While not difficult, it was very boring. And hot. I might be able to tolerate upwards of 2000C, but I was still subject to things like breathing, and sweating, and really wicked callouses.

I had set up two crucibles in the shop, raising the ambient temperature to near volcanic levels, and even being near the garage door, I was soaked with sweat. Of course, this is when I felt eyes on me again... Turning away from my concept art for my new armour, I scanned the area outside the shop, looking for movement. I hadn't been paying attention to my tails, so they'd been waving about to keep the air around them cooler, and my ears had been twitching around as well to help cool the top of my head...

Not seeing anyone in the immediate area, I sighed, looked at the wall clock, and ventured back into the shop to pour out the molten steel from the two crucibles.

Twice more after that, I felt like I was being watched. Thankfully I had finished smelting for the day, and could let my non-human bits 'cosplay' at being human. I would certainly need to brush them later, and soak them too, or all that sweating would make them itch terribly. I was curious about something however... so once I'd hammered out my last plate of steel for the afternoon, I wiped my hands off and pulled out my phone.

Fox: Curious. What if I'm seen as non-human? Been feeling watched all day.

Teacher: Do you know who?

Fox: No. Either they were far off, or very very still.

Teacher: You are already quite the rumour around school, and the old school building is only used by the ORC. You should be safe.

Fox: Let me know if someone starts mentioning pitchforks.

Teacher: Sometimes I'm not sure when you are joking about things like this.

Fox: Someone told me we Foxes were supposed to be mysterious or something, so, you might never know.

No reply followed, and I looked at the time again. I still had a little time before 'training time', so I started on a few more text messages.

Fox: When it's time to train, I'll be with the rookie in his room.

MagicHand: Sure. I came up with some ideas to help him too.

Fox: Good on you. Now put your phone away before you get in trouble.

Again, no message followed. So I continued down my list of names.

Fox: Did you get the new guy a phone?

Boss: Yes, one moment.

Rias texted me a number, and I copy and pasted it to my contact list.

Fox: Thank you. Got more fan mail. He's a vegetarian, isn't he?

Boss: That's right.

Fox: Explains why he's so adorable. I'll bring him an appropriate lunch then.

Boss: Oh? Didn't know you liked younger boys.

Fox: My urge to mother him is an eye blink from 'mother bear'. You have no idea... I didn't even know I had buttons like that to push.

Boss: That... Actually makes me quite happy to hear.

Fox: See you in the gym after class.

I started turning the shop off, collecting my notes, and locking things in my safe. After that, I opened up my phone again, pondered for a moment, then added something to the contact information.

Fox: Hello?

There was a fairly long pause, so I tried again.

Fox: Is this on?

Shyguy: Sorry... I wasn't expecting my phone to ring... ever...

Fox: No worries. I have more work for you. And are there any vegetables you don't like?

Shyguy: Tomatoes, radish... anything red?

Fox: Okay. There in about a half hour.

One industrial strength shower, and a large salad and plate of fruit (with nothing red) made to order later, I was tapping on Gaspard's door, box of fan letters held within my tails. After a muffled 'come in', I opened the door just enough to slip in, and closed them behind me. He was sitting in his box, at the low table, while poking at his laptop. I had to admit, even knowing he was a boy, I couldn't really tell.

Urge to headpat...

"Afternoon." I said, "Hope you're hungry. I didn't know if you liked salad dressing or not, so..."

"I... It's okay. I um... Might have some in the fridge?" He mumbled out his reply, pointing to his kitchen.

I set the food down on his table, mindful of the laptop and its wires, then went to look. "Hm, nope. It's okay, no strong flavours in the salad anyhow." I turned back, "So, what would you like to trade today?"

Annnnnd he was back in the box again.

"sorry... not used to being asked directly."

I set my box of letters down and sat next to the box, "That's okay." I hmm'ed in thought for a moment, "Gimme your hand for a moment?"

A pause, then the box wobbled a little and the flaps opened up just enough for his hand to peek out. "Um... k?"

"When ever I'm feeling down, or need a little nudge to get me going, I think of my wife." I put my left hand in his, and lightly gripped his fingers, "She has a very encouraging smile. But you have to blink to see it."

Issei's idea was actually pretty good. He and Gaspard (who was still sitting in the box) were in one of the clear corners of the new workout room. Issei had wheeled in a bin of volley balls, and was tossing them towards his adorable kouhai. About half way there, Gaspard would try and stop them in mid air with his time stop ability.

It was... disconcerting that he could do this. I mean, sure, 'fantastical things' had become normal for me, but this... stopping time for a single object among many was... I was actually very very relieved that he was such a good boy...

"Ara? A smile?" Akeno snapped me back to reality. "I had no idea, fu fu."

"I want to give him all the headpats." I mumbled to her, turning my attention back to what I was supposed to be doing.

Only to have it snap back to Issei and Gaspard when I heard "Ah damn it you used time stop on my leg?"

"I'm sorry!" Annnnnnd back into the box.

"Sorry kiddo, I was just surprised." Issei replied, getting back to his feet and collecting a some of the volley balls.

Akeno pinched one of my ears lightly to get my attention again, "Go help him. I'm pretty sure I can ask Koneko-chan for advice on the hand weights."

"Thank you." I replied, walking over to Issei and helping him collect, "Hey Gaspard?"

"Yes Miss Fox?" He asked, the flaps of the box opening just enough to let him peek out.

"What's your favourite colour?"

"Um... Not red."

"How about green?" Issei asked.

"Green makes me feel hungry." Gaspard replied.

I looked around the workout room, and noticed there was nothing green about it, "Where did you get these?" I asked Issei.

"I asked Sona-san. They're the spares they were going to throw out."

I picked up one of the volleyballs, and indeed, they were showing a bit of age, some of the outer skin was loose, and others seemed to not be holding air in as well. "I'll go find some green paint."

"Thanks sensei." Issei replied, "Ready to try again, Gaspard-chan?"

Fox: Skipping afternoon practice?

SmilingKnight: Yes.

Fox: After I make a delivery, lets spar.

SmilingKnight: Being asked to hound me then?

Fox: You don't have to be all smiles outside of the workout room. Better start warming up.

After finding and bringing back some green food dye and a bucket of water, I went back to the workout room, quickly helped Issei colour and dry some volley balls, and gave the adorable vampire a pat on the head for being adorable.

After that however, "Rias."

"Hm?" She slowed down, then stopped, getting off the treadmill. She was sweating, but hardly breathing hard even though she had done nothing but run since we started for the day.

"Kiba might be a little late to the meeting tonight." I told her.

"Oh dear..." She was about to say more, but I held up a hand.

"No, he'll tell me what's on his mind, or not. I'm just giving you warning he might be late." She frowned but nodded, "Oh, and stretch out your legs, drink some water, and stretch some more. Or you're going to have some wicked leg cramps later." As I turned, one of my tails swished past her, getting a pat on the way.

"Thank you Sensei."

"Meeting a girl, on the rooftop, at sunset?" I commented as I finished climbing the wall of the school building to get onto the rooftop. I hoped I was careful enough to avoid too many witnesses, considering almost everyone but the ORC and Student Council should have gone home by now.

"Was this the first place you looked?" Kiba asked, sitting on top of a steel air duct pipe, looking towards the sunset.

"Second. Looked into the club room first, since I'd left my cookies there."

I walked over to him, wondering why other schools around the world didn't employ their students to help clean the schools. Aside from the fenced off edges and the small rooftop gardens, there wasn't a speck of dirt anywhere. Even the venting for the school was clean.

Stopping beside him, I also looked towards the sunlight, "Quite the change in attitude." I commented.

"Oh? You think so? This might be how I really am." He replied.

"Selfish? No, I don't think so."

"Oh?"

"If you were, why would you train until your hands bled, before the wargame? Or help Issei when you are obviously far superior in skill?"

He looked at me, and instead of a smile, his face and eyes were almost dead, "Because, Sensei, like you, Rias losing her freedom would effect my own goals as well."

"So now that Rias is trying to win some school game, you're no longer interested?" I looked back at him, trying to read his expression. I could tell there was something else, but I couldn't even guess what.

"That's right." He turned away, "I don't have any real interest in helping with a children's game."

"Even at the cost of your friend's feelings?"

"Friends? What's that?"

"Really?" I blinked at him, "I find it hard to believe you think that."

"Says the woman who is going to leave the instant she can get away with it?"

I frowned, "Part timers put in full effort." I replied sharply, "Just because I'm only here until I can return, doesn't mean I won't help as best I can." I growled, "You think I need to be there to help you guys lift weights? To solve political disputes? Is that how you see what I'm doing?"

"And now that you've solved that political dispute, as you put it, why are you still here? With your power, I'm wondering why you even bothered."

"It's true. I could have just half-assed," I ignored my tail swatting me, "the effort I put into making you tools to win. Or figured you might work out training exercises on your own. And even if you lost, I could have ripped Riser in half and simply found employment somewhere else in Hell." I pointed at him, tapping him in the chest, "But that's the thing, Rias invited me to her team, and no matter how 'beneath me' these things might be, or how 'irrelevant' they are to my ultimate goal... I accepted her invite, so I put in my best effort."

His eyes started to clear a little, and he looked first to my finger, still poking him in the centre of his chest, then into my eyes, "Did Rias put you up to this? She already knows why I'm following her, why not ask her, instead of bothering me to play 'kid' with the rest of them?"

"I don't really care why you aren't 'playing' with the rest of them. I just care that you aren't." I growled, "You're all a team. And being someone who also has otherworldly abilities, I know that it won't always be 'rating games' and 'practise'. One day, you're going to need them. Or they are going to need you. And lives will be on the line."

He laughed, "Says the one who's away from her children? You should look at your own affairs before my own I think."

I spread my hand out over his chest, "Kiba. One day, you're going to need their help, and they will give it to you. That's what friends do." I lifted him up, my hand sticking to him, "Are you telling me you won't do the same for them? Is your head buried so far up your ass you'd leave them to die because 'it wasn't your 'end goal'?

"Let go of me Sensei." He said, blades forming in his hands.

Ignoring the live steel, I continued, "If that's the case Kiba, you're no better than the stray devil you hunted down. That would make you a Monster."

"Put. Me. Down!"

"When you wake up next, I want you to look back at all Rias has done for you, and tell her, to her face, you think nothing of her except as a tool." I shook him once, then brought him right up to my face, "If you can do that, I'll let this, and your comment, go."

"Sensei!" All of Rias's peerage said as I walked into the ORC meeting room.

I was holding Kiba up by what was left of the back of his shirt. Both of us were bruised, and I had more than a few minor cuts. Not too bad, considering I had met him with only my track pants and Number One Dad shirt.

Without grace or kindness, I tossed Kiba's limp body onto the floor as close to the couches as I could without him bumping into anything. "When he wakes up Rias, he'll have something to say to you." And without letting anyone comment, I turned and left.

Boss: Did you really have to go so far?

Fox: Is he awake yet?

Boss: No.

Fox: Leave me be until he is, and you've talked. I'm having a shower.

I heard nothing more from Rias, or anyone else and spent the rest of the night in my room working with my alchemy kits and puzzling out the old book Sona had left me on 'beginner's magicks'. It was mostly written in really old English, so I could at least... sorta kinda... read it, but since, apparently, the diagrams and sigils were all based on some really weird math I didn't really need to read anything right now.

Somewhere close to bed time, my phone finally buzzed.

MagicHand: Sensei?

Fox: Not who I was expecting.

MagicHand: Eh... I was told not to mention that.

Fox: And?

MagicHand: Are you okay?

Fox: Usual argument where two people poke the other's soft spots.

MagicHand: Yeah...

Fox: You at home?

MagicHand: Well yeah, I don't live on campus.

Fox: What's your mother's shirt size? Small or Medium?

MagicHand: I'll ask.

MagicHand: Small when going out, medium for around the house.

Fox: Well, I know now your dad's grey hair isn't from stress.

MagicHand: Eww, really Sensei?

Fox: Treasure your parents. You're good fortune is supreme. Get some sleep. Only a few days before the sport festival.

MagicHand: Yes Sensei.

I closed my phone, then the book, let my eyes relax, then turned on my computer to read the translated fan mail.

May 19 2016

As usual, my morning went like clockwork, and by the time the first school bell rang, I was in the shop. Cime must have already stopped by, as there was a small parcel waiting for me at the foot of the closed garage door.

Picking it up and tucking it under my arm, I stood and brought the door up with my other hand, ready to start the day. Kiba's words had stung, a lot more than I let on at the time. And I couldn't help but feel he was a little right in saying so. So I spent until lunch, not on my armour, but making another Tarot. Even as I picked up the hammer and chisel, I could feel the memory of him sift to the top of my mind, ready to be poured out into the blank metal.

It was Bell, of course.

He was, by far, the biggest influence on me since my jump to Orario. Sure, Mia Grande had taken me in. Ryuu, Chloe, Arnya, Lunoire, Syr... They'd taken me in. But I'd already known what they taught, but my old life had jaded me to thinking that knowledge was obsolete.

No. Bell was the biggest influence on my new life. He showed me what it meant to not just try hard, but get back up and try harder when he failed.

Optimism. He was a nearly endless fountain of it. Willing to see the potential for goodness in everyone, until the last second, in which he would enact justice, if he had to. He forgave Lilly for her past life of crime. He forgave Soma, for letting Lilly fall so far. He forgave the ones who captured Hestia, forcing me to fight for his and Her freedom. Knowing people would kill for less, he forgave them simply because they showed a glimmer of potential to improve. Even me, who had nearly beaten someone to death, or murdered a fellow adventurer.

Past his skill as an adventurer, was his mentality to find a way. Save one, or ten? No, he'd find a way to save eleven. A monster who can talk? Who cares if the world above would hate her. He found a way to show her the sunlight, and keep not only her, but the rest of us safe.

Humility. As great as he is, he knows his power was something he had help to attain. His only pride was his friends. And not once had he ever needed to remind someone of it. Just as obvious as his clear red eyes, people knew, and understood, that he would never abandon his friends, the source of his strength, and reason to become stronger.

Of all of us, he wore only two faces. When there was any risk, to his friends or to himself, he would focus on it, deal with it, and be distracted by nothing else. Threats absent, he would be just another young man. Kind, caring, easy to embarrass, quick to laugh... When he was at ease, he wore his heart openly, and proudly.

Even if his ultimate goal was to be a hero, he was so grounded in the here and now... Even if his insane growth put him ahead of his peers, he never left them behind. Even if he was driving himself to catch up to an impossible task, he never focused so hard on it that he lost sight of the needs of others. And while I was, last time we sparred, better than him, he was someone I looked up to. His purity of mindset something I often compared myself to when I thought I might be doing something wrong.

Even though he was my 'little brother', it was him that I didn't want to be disappointed in me.

"Oh, she's waking up." I heard Asia say, "Good morning Sensei."

"Oh she made another one." Issei said, "Haha... you have a picture on your face."

Blinking, I scrubbed a hand over my head and scratched an ear, "myeh? Oh hello you two."

"Hey I'm here too." Maki said. Looking over she was sitting at my leather work bench, the beginnings of something laying on the table in front of her. "You had fallen asleep by the time I arrived, so I worked on something quietly."

Rubbing my cheek and feeling the lines from Bell's tarot pressed into my skin, I looked at the wall clock. "Wow... Must have needed the nap."

"It's almost time for training, are you going to come?" Issei asked.

"Not sure I should... Considering." I replied.

"Actually... He asked for you." Asia said, "After he woke up."

"Did he say sorry to Rias?"

"And more." Issei said, "But he also said he'd talk about it later, when you came by... If you came by."

"Sure." I said, yawning and stretching, my arms, legs and even tails sticking straight out for a moment, "Urg, sleeping at my desk... I'll be along soon. Going to give Maki a hand before she cuts herself with that leather knife."

"Hey! I'm not th-ow!" Maki started, before, of course, nicking her thumb with the very sharp hooked knife.

"Oh no! Let me see." Asia fretted.

"Sure thing Sensei, I'll let them know." Issei grinned.

I left Maki alone in the shop, with instructions to lock up when she was done, and to stay away from the power tools. She was actually almost ready to start trying to enchant mask. All she needed was to hammer it out the final shape, before I let her work on the outer design to see if she could enchant her 'Ma-steel'. Her fur did indeed work like mine, though I had to be more careful with temperature when I alloyed it.

I returned to my room for a few minutes, putting Bell's card with the others of my slowly growing deck of Tarot. Before I left, I made sure to offer a quick prayer to Hestia, informing her that Bell needed to be turned into a stuttering idiot, and to give him a hug. I was given a ghostly Karate Chop of Justice, and a pat on the back in reply.

"Ah she's here." Issei announced as I walked into the training room.

Everyone, from both peerages was busy in the gym. Everything from bench pressing rooks to treadmill running Kings. I was pleased to note that none of the wooden dummies were broken, and they were all in use too, with Ruruka leading some simple drills with them.

Kiba, who I made a point to look for, was focusing on his task, and bench pressing what looked to be close to a hundred kilograms, with Issei as his spotter. From the way the knight was sweating, he'd been serious. Good.

Shooing Issei away, though only after giving him a fistbump, I loomed over Kiba, bending a little at the hips so I didn't have to look at him over my bust.

"Feeling better?" I asked, hands at my side in case he needed a rescue.

With a grunt, he replied, "Yes."

"Good." I replied, "Almost there." I encouraged as he started pushing the weight back up.

With one last heave, he got his arms extended, and I gave the bar a tug to help him hook it securely. "Thank you, Sensei.

"Don't thank me yet. It's leg day, isn't it?"

His smile was strained, but it was a real smile. None of that plastic 'curving of the lips' garbage he'd had on for about 90% of the time I'd known him. "If you say it is, it must be so."

I nodded, "We can all talk later then. Lets get this done." I looked over to Issei, "You're not skipping either right?"

"Damn it..." Issei sighed, "No Sensei."

Out of the gym, tired but showered and with the general 'glow' of having accomplished something, we (the ORC, not Sona's peerage) sat around the big tea table in the meeting room. As usual, I'd put my pile of cookies (taste tested already for any more lingering effects from Riser's fire) on the table, and sat between Asia and Koneko. Kiba sat in his usual spot, sipping tea as if nothing was wrong, while Issei mumbled 'just how chill can a person be?'

Akeno, as usual, stood behind Rias's couch, staffing the tea service with her usual smile, while the King herself was the picture of elegance, freshly showered and smelling faintly of mint.

And lastly, our newest/oldest(?) member, Gaspard, was peeking out of his box nervously, occasionally sneaking a cookie from the plate nearest him.

"So." Rias started, "If you'd like to start, Kiba?"

"Yes, President." He took one last sip of his tea, set the cup down, then took a small bit of glossy paper from his breast pocket. "I will start first, with 'why'."

The paper was actually a photograph. "Dude, not cool... Mom will flip if she sees it missing."

"I asked her, actually." Kiba said, "When we visited again this morning."

Placing the photo down, it showed Issei, about maybe seven or so years old, and another young boy, posing dramatically for the camera. It looked to be a living room, with the edges of a table and couch in the frame, and they were standing in front of a fireplace.

"Here." Kiba pointed to the fireplace, or more specifically, over the mantel, at a fancy looking sword that was hung there. A big two handed thing, it was in an ornate sheath, and had an interesting crosspiece with a complicated inlay. Under that, next to a little clock, was a cross, looking to be worked into the wall itself over the fireplace. "That, is a holy sword."

The reactions around the table were a bit mixed. Gaspard vanished into his box, Asia looked surprised, Rias and Akeno frowned in perfect tandem, and Issei looked confused. "You mean, like a real one? Not those lightsabres?

"Would you like to explain?" Rias asked.

"Your story is... less coloured than mine." Kiba relented. He was also wearing the same frown, the one he had when I called him out.

With a sigh, Rias pinched the bridge of her nose, then with a deep breath started explaining, "The holy sword project. Up until a few years ago, the Church was trying to cultivate children with the ability to wield the Holy Sword Excalibur. Upon the project's termination, Yuuto was the only survivor."

"The Church? But... I've never heard of such a thing..." Asia mumbled.

"Not surprising." Rias said gently, "Holy swords are one of a Devil's greatest fears, but thankfully the people capable of using one are born once every few decades or so." She looked to Issei, "I suspect that your 'Longinus class' sacred gear, got its name from the 'True Longinus' spear, that was used to kill Christ."

"Huh." Issei looked at his hands, "Weird name, Longinus."

"Yuuto was one of the children involved in the project, raised and trained to potentially use one of the holy swords. Excalibur to be exact." Rias continued, "But..."

"But I was incompatible." Kiba said angrily. "The organization within the Church running this project called us 'defective' and shut the project down." He growled, "And we were all to be 'disposed of'."

"No..." Asia looked like she was holding down panic, "No one of the Church would do such a thing... It's against..." She started to tear up, unable to say God's name.

"Kiba was the only survivor, his own sacred gear, Sword Birth, waking up, and giving him a means to fight back." Rias said gently, "I found him, just in time, swearing revenge even as he was about to bleed to death, the orphanage burning down behind him."

"Everything I am, my belongings, my place at the school, even my name... It's all thanks to the President." Kiba said, "But seeing that picture... It reminded me of my oath to find and destroy those swords, and the priests responsible for that project. So that I can carry out the last will of those who didn't survive."

We were all quiet for a moment, the room settling to stillness for just a moment, before he continued.

"But... I was given a rather firm reminder, that I do indeed owe Lady Gremory, for giving me everything, when I had nothing." He looked up, his youthful face looking tired, "And that it was only with her help that I still have a chance to settle this one day." He shook his head, "I can't let it go, and won't let it go. But these last few years have shown me that I have room to hold on to other things too."

"I'll be counting on you further, my Knight." Rias said, "Just remember we're your family now, and if you need us, we'll be there."

"Even if you've been a bit of jerk for the last couple days." Issei mumbled, "OW!"

Koneko ate another cookie while Issei held his foot.

"He does make a point. I'm sorry for my attitude, especially when you are relying on me for the inter club sports meet." He looked at me, "Part of my reminder, was that a team is a team, no matter the challenge."

I nodded to him over my teacup, feeling a smile tug at my lips.

Amid a few more 'I'm sorry's' and 'we forgive you's', they all fell back into a slightly strained, but normal ORC meeting. I only half listened to it, thinking of my own problems. Kiba was right. I could be doing something else, to further my own goals of getting back home. But there was only so much I could do, and not look ungrateful for their support.

Very much a 'what would Bell do' dilemma.

"I'll be working in my room, if anyone needs me. Phone will be on and charging too." I stopped at the door as conversation stopped, "Does anyone have a ruler?"

Just a little later, after all my alchemy sets were bubbling away and dinner was in the oven, I looked at the box trying to look innocent just inside my door. "You aren't nearly as sneaky as you think you are." I said.

"sorry... was kind of scary in there."

"I didn't even notice you stop time to slip past me either."

"... sorry..."

"It's fine. I'd like you to ask in the future, but you're welcome to visit any time." I turned away from the box and started putting together another salad.

"Why did you need a ruler?" Gaspard popped his head out of the box, though was looking at me from over one of the flaps, "I just use another bit of paper if I need to... Or the edge of my laptop..."

"Would you believe I'm trying to figure out... well, magical geometry? I need to do a little better than 'guess' how long a line is."

"Oh... human magic?" His pointed ears wiggled up and down a little, "Are you... really trying to learn that?"

"I am. As magical as I am, my combat style is very... bland. People keep complaining, even after I beat them up, that my style has no flair." I put the salad on a plate, and started making some mild vinaigrette dressing, "Do you eat garlic?"

Annnnnd back in the box, "NO!"

"No garlic then." I put garlic salt away so I wouldn't use it in the dressing.

"Sorry..." He peeked out again, "I'm... not very used to talking... or things I don't like... or being out of my room... or..."

"It's okay." I assured, "everyone has their hitches. Salad?" I offered.

"Can I eat it inside my box?"

"You could. But, I'm not bringing it over."

He pouted at me, eyes starting to tear up a little, but after a moment, he stood up, and started to lift a foot to get out of the box.

Then someone tapped on the door.

I gave myself a facepalm with my free hand, "Yes?" I was starting to wonder what that box was made of.

"Sensei?" Kiba opened the door, "Oh, I'm sorry, am I interrupting? Oh, Gaspard-kun, you're here as well."

"Just about to settle in for dinner. No rush." I replied.

"I feel I have to apologize again, for how I acted."

"No. I know how much a buried past can mess with you. But just like you, I had friends to pick me up again afterwards. Just try and keep your head next time."

"Sun from your eyes."

"And eyes on the prize." I finished the line.

"Thank you Sensei. Gaspard-kun?"

"Yes?" the box answered.

"I don't suppose you could help me later? I've run into a little trouble with my computer."

"Yes Sempai. Leave your computer on later."

"Thank you." And he left.

"Remote desktop services too?" I asked.

"It's another thing I can do... Some people would sell their soul to recover lost data."

"Working in a box, with a box, to recover a box?"

He giggled quietly, then added, "Thinking outside the box, in the box?"

I blinked at him, and something clicked in my mind, "Do you like ice cream? I think you just solved my puzzle."

NOTES!

Indeed, we'll pause it there. Getting a little heavy on dialog again, but things are swinging into the next story arc, carrying along the new things that I've stuck into the plot on the way.