Chapter 10: Real Sword or Not - Pt. 2

Previously on The Hiraga Twins…

As Louise whimpered about how the weird things seemed to be only happening to her, Atsuko returned her glaring to the fancy "ornamental" sword still on the bed. Standing up, she went over and picked it up and held it before Derflinger with a serious expression on her face.

"Pleasantries aside—Derflinger, I have a favor."

"What is it, Sister?"

Saito and the other girls looked on with confusion while Tabitha with interest, Atsuko nodding to the unsheathed golden sword in her hands. "Can you tell if this is a real sword or not?"

Atsuko's Third P.O.V.

The next day…

It was now the early morning after and there was a strong tension between the Hiraga Twins.

'He's being stupid.' Atsuko thought as she and her younger twin went on finishing the last chore of the morning. 'How can he believe he can use that piece of gold turd as a weapon?'

The caramel-brunette furrowed her brows lightly. What they were having wasn't a full blown Hiraga argument (if it was, better be ready to catch these hands), it was just a simple disagreement of personal beliefs.

Over a sword.

She was fine with Derflinger because she knows it… he?... would actually be effective in a fight. Although rusty and slightly dull, Derflinger can still do some major damage. What Atsuko was still hung up on was Saito's insistence on using and training with… that… thing…

Not even looking at each other and with twin frowns on their faces, the Hiraga siblings shook their heads, both remembering what was talked about last night.

Atsuko's Third P.O.V. (And a series of Flashbacks)

Last night...

"What do you mean, if it's a "real sword or not"?!" Was the indignant cry from Kirche.

While Louise looked like she wasn't sure if she should be laughing at Kirche or question what Atsuko just meant, Saito was looking more confused than he did when they first arrived. Derflinger hummed, "What do I look like to ya, Sister? Some sorta metal detector?"

Atsuko then lightly swung the point of the golden blade in between what she believed to be the 'lips' of Derflinger and with a dark look on her face, narrowed her eyes. "Can you or can you not tell me if this chunk of gold is a real sword or not?"

Everyone around her had felt a chill run down their spine, including the metallic spine of Derflinger, which surprised him. 'Geez, if looks can kill! Kinda makes ya wonder if she actually can…'

"A'ight, a'ight! Listen, I personally can't. That's not an ability I have, but Saito should be able to."

The dark expression in Atsuko's eyes lessened as she raised an eyebrow. "Saito should be able to? Mind explaining what you mean."

That wasn't a request or a question; it was an order and everyone in the room knew it.

Saito's Third P.O.V. (still that night...)

Saito stayed quiet, not only because he wanted the answer to that, but also because he knew better than to talk when Atsuko had that look to her eyes. He remembered the time he had caught her in an act: back in their world it wasn't uncommon for Atsuko to become frustrated with what depended upon the situation, but what was uncommon was what would happen if she couldn't defuse it. When it didn't, for the entire day if not the week, Atsuko would have the dark look in her eyes, like she was gonna kill someone. It never lasted more than a day or two before she went back to her old laid back sarcastic self.

And during those days, Saito was scared.

He was used to his older twin being calm, collected, and laidback with the natural Hiraga sense of "Not a Care in the World". So when Atsuko became like that, it was understandable for Saito to really avoid her then. One day, he found her method of release.

It wasn't what he had initially thought in his wonder before. Previously, he had thought she released with her frequent midnight walks (yes, he always knew about that unlike how Atsuko thought.) or her favorite pastime of parkour across the city and nearby woods. Instead, it was a simple 1v1 spar with that one teacher from the local branch family dojo. On one note, Saito can't seem to remember the name of that teacher.

When he had seen the fight for the first (and last) time, Atsuko was losing. Badly. But even if that had been the case, by the end of that sparring match with his twin tired, bruised, and drenched in sweat, she was calmer.

And grinning.

When he saw that, Saito never thought he would have had nightmares over what she could really do for the rest of that week.

Atsuko's Third P.O.V. (again)

Still last night…

If Derflinger could gulp, that's what he would have done. He then explained what he had meant.

"A'ight, listen, Sister. A User is in general someone who can use an Intelligent Weapon, like me. They are usually a person who's made some sort of deal, or Pact, with someone, or some Entity, who has much more magical power than the User themselves. Ya following so far?"

Everyone in the room nodded.

"Okay. Now," the talking sword continued. "Despite the Pact thing going on, Users, most of the time, are not Familiars. Human and/ or Elf mostly. Non-Familiar Users don't portray any ability until they've bonded completely with their Intelligent Weapon or Entity. However, whenever they are Familiars, obviously they get their own set of Runes and with those Runes they get a special ability specifically for them. The ability starts to show almost immediately. In Saito's case, the ability attached to his Runes could have something to do with weapons; whether it's to tell which weapon is real or not, I can't be too sure until he learns to manifest it on his own."

At that Atsuko fell into deep thought. 'Or if he ends up in a life-threatening situation.' She glances up at Saito, who looked like he was excited at the prospect of having an ability. The brunette grimaced lightly. 'But I don't think it has to be going to that point. If only…'

Then she had an idea.

Standing, Atsuko snatched Derflinger from Saito's hands, completely ignoring his indignant cries, and went to stand on the other side of the room's table, away from the others. She readies both Derflinger and the golden sword.

"Big Sis Atsuko!"

"Hey, now!" Kirche cried out. "What are you doing with the sword I gifted to your brother?!"

"Cat!" Louise huffed, too tired to yell as it is. "Put those two down, NOW!"

Tabitha remained as a silent spectator while silently moving away just a bit and putting up a protection barrier around herself and the other two girls. Saito wasn't sure whether to interfere just yet, but he didn't know what to do. That is until Atsuko raised the gold sword high over the sharp edge of Derflinger.

"Whoa, whoa! Hold up, Sister!" Derflinger's metallic mouth moved frantically. "Don't do anything too crazy now!"

Atsuko narrowed her navy eyes, her voice soft yet firm. "If this hunk of gold is a real weapon, then it shouldn't break so easily. A true blade, properly forged, will not break or bend after two or three strikes."

With that she brought down the first strike. There was a loud metallic clang. She raised the gold sword to ready for the second strike when Saito ran in front of her and grabbed her raised wrist. Atsuko couldn't say she was surprised, but she can say she was frustrated.

"Saito, get out of the way! Are you trying to get cut down?!"

"Sis! Wait, please!" Saito pleaded, looking eye to eye with his twin. He was wary of Derflinger in her hand, but still knew that she wouldn't use it against him. "Please wait! Let me make a compromise! A compromise! Let me make it!"

Again, the eldest twin narrowed her eyes and lowered the swords. "Okay. Tell me what it is and, maybe, I'll think about it."

Saito took a breath and began, "Okay. I get that you really believe the sword Kirche bought is just gold trash, but what if I prove it to you that it is a weapon?" Atsuko raised a brow. He continued. "If I can prove it to you that it can function as a proper blade, then you let me keep it along with Derflinger."

"And if you are proven wrong, lil' brother of mine?"

Saito gulped, anxiously, scared of what he knows will persuade his sister. "Then, I, Hiraga Saito, the youngest of the Clan in this current world, am prepared and accept for the punishment you, Hiraga Atsuko, as the current eldest child of the Hiraga Clan, will bring down upon me."

(Flashback end)

She had agreed to it.

She had agreed to the damn deal. And it wasn't like she could say 'no' to it.

This compromise is basically ingrained into the livelihood of the Hiraga Clan. The only people who can make the compromise and/ or accept it, is someone either born, adopted, or married into the Hiraga name. Sure, the wording of the compromise can be tweaked a little so that it can be done between a Hiraga and a non-Hiraga, but even then it's to be done with deeply trusted friends or fiancé.

Atsuko lightly growled as she folded the last article of clothing before looking up at the sky. The bright colors of the sunrise were fading into the soft blue of the daytime sky with white, fluffy yet wispy clouds were drifting across.

She sighs tiredly.

Sometimes she wishes she was one of those clouds. Drifting. Never staying in one place. Never attaching to one thing or one person. Just moving and moving and moving and… and moving…

'Fucking hell,' Atsuko slowly blinked, closing her eyes, only closing them just briefly. Saito had already finished his chore and had left just a bit before. 'It's only a little bit under a week - or is it over a week? - since we've got here… I had figured that it was going to take quite a time for me to find anything , but come one!'

The caramel brunette groaned. She knew she should have known better than to hope for any research advancements to be done so quickly. This isn't a fantasy book or an anime. If it was, there would be a montage happening like Buffy tried to do in that one episode during her time in college in 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'.

"Good morning, Miss Atsuko!"

Lightly gasping, Atsuko snapped her navy eyes wide open in surprise as she turned her head to look over her right shoulder and saw who it was. Seeing it was only the younger brunette Noble girl, the older teen, still sitting on the stone staircase, relaxed.

"Oh, it's just you, teach. Good morning to you too."

Katie raised a single brow as she sat down next to Atsuko. "Teach? As in 'teacher'?" The Japanese girl nodded, absentmindedly tapping the clothes basket with the tip of her shoe.

"I mean, you are teaching me to read and write in your world's, or at least this kingdom's, language. So why wouldn't I call you my teacher?"

The younger teen hummed. "Alright. Just don't say this in front of Miss Era and the others, okay? You'll end up being a target too…"

Atsuko narrowed her eyes just briefly before putting on a rather nonchalant face. "Miss Era? What about Lisa? Or those twin sisters? You're not scared of her?"

Katie's brows furrowed ever so slightly that Atsuko nearly missed it. Her tone of voice was empty yet guarded. "Me, being scared of Miss Lisa? No. Not really. Most of the time she just surprises and annoys me with what she says. Like the other day. She's like one of those big, babied dogs. All bark and no bite."

"And Era?"

Katie was silent for a bit and at first, Atsuko thought she just wasn't going to say anything, so she turned her navy sight to a small bunch of wild Forget-Me-Nots near the stairs. Then she started up again, only quiet enough for Atsuko to hear as a near whisper. "Era Leroux de la Borja… with Era it's a bit different. With her, it's like… she is constantly 'shifting', I suppose I should call it, and she doesn't stop. There are only two times she ever even slows her 'shifting' is when she's with her friends. And the second time, uh..."

Katie had stopped for a time and Atsuko waited. The older brunette already had an idea as to what the second time could be, but she wasn't exactly sure whether or not to have her say it out loud.

Because she didn't know how she would react to it.

While the Hiraga twin was having trouble with the thought, Katie had gathered herself again, it was obvious that she was trying not to let her voice crack. "C-can I…" the young Noble gulped, cleared her throat and tried again. "Could I tell you about that another… another time?" Atsuko raised a brow on her blank face. "Please?"

She wanted to know. She felt like she needed to know. But the thing is Atsuko had no idea why she felt like she needed to know this. But she also felt that it would probably be best to keep it at the back of her mind and leave it for another day.

The older girl nodded. "Yeah, that's fine. Your story to tell, not mine."

Katie nodded her thanks. After that, both brunettes sat in silence for the rest of that time. Then, the younger girl spoke up again, in a rather honest curiosity.

"So~, have you studied last night, Miss Atsuko?"

The older teen flinched and robotically turned her head towards the young Noble, replying (questioning) in the similar robotic voice. "Were you really expecting me to immediately begin studying yesterday?"

At this, Katie gave a small grin as she rested her head against her knees. A mischievous glint shining in her brilliant violet eyes. She hummed, "Hmm, maybe. I don't know. Although, I guess I should say that perhaps I was hoping that my first student would at least try to review what we had gone over yesterday in the library." She sighs in mocking disappointment. "Oh, well. I suppose I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up."

Atsuko flushed with embarrassment, the corners of her own lips twitching as she knew that the girl was saying so in a jesting manner.

'Hang on, now, Atsuko!' The caramel-brunette thought to herself. 'Miss Ortega is trying to play a game with you! You know this. So...'

Atsuko continued to try and hold her gaze. 'You must absolutely...'

Katie's lavender eyes twinkled with glee and amusement, her smile never wavering. 'Absolutely, not...'

Atsuko felt her eyes beginning to strain as a single bead of sweat dripped. 'Look…'

'Away.' Finally, Atsuko lost what could have essentially been a staring match having closed her eyes and looked down, sighing in jesting defeat. "I concede, Miss Ortega." Then with a pout, "I'll start studying the material you give to me… starting today." Atsuko had to fight the temptation to phrase it as a question.

With a pleased smile, Katie quickly stood up from the stairs and looked down at the older brunette girl. "Well, good! Now, I think it would be best for you to take the rest of Miss Valliere's clean clothes to her room right now."

Still with the same pout as before, Atsuko looked up at the girl with a raised slightly unamused brow. "Not that I wasn't already planning to do that, eventually. But, why?"

With the same smile, Katie bent at the waist, just until her face was above Atsuko's, forcing the older girl to look up at her. "Because it will roughly take you five minutes to run up the stairs, another five to put the folded clothes in their proper place, and another five to run back down the stairs… and breakfast starts in exactly twelve minutes."

Silence passes between the two. The need to rush not exactly rising in the older brunette, if anything, the Japanese girl just sat there looking up at Katie. She couldn't understand why, but she felt herself seemingly drown in those pools of violets. Atsuko seemed to be in such a daze that even with a couple of blinks and standing whilst lifting up the finished laundry, the Familiar girl walked up the short stairs before turning to look right back at Katie.

"You know," the older teen began, ignoring the confused look on the younger girl. "You should smile more. It makes your eyes sparkle. I think I like you best when you smile without care like that. I find that really pretty."

With that Atsuko turned and left Katie standing outside the dormitory tower, with the soft breeze being her only companion. Her face confused and red, her bright violet eyes wide.

After breakfast passed, Louise had ordered the twins to stay outside with the rest of the Familiars. When asked why, Louise gave some rather valid reasons when it came to Saito, such as snoring, peeking up girls skirts, and just being a general embarrassment. As for the reasons for Atsuko, Atsuko was simply Saito's babysitter to, in their Master's words: "Make sure that your brother doesn't make a fool of himself and cause me second-hand embarrassment when I hear about it."

Which leads to them sitting side-by-side against the stonewall wall of the main building, where most of the classes happened. Wordlessly, Atsuko moved out of the way as Saito scampered away when a giant green serpentine Familiar started pestering him. Looking behind them, they came 'eye-to-eye' with an oversized floating eyeball. After that little thing, the twins decided to go for a walk. Or rather Saito convinced his older twin to go walking with him, in his words: "Atsu-nee, if I sit all this time, I'll get bored. And you know that when I get bored, I do stupid shit. You hate it when you have to 'clean up' after me."

And so it went. With the twins now wandering down one of the many open-arches hallways, with Atsuko just a bit behind her brother (who was grumbling), when a familiar large burly hand reached out from behind Atsuko. Coming from the right of her, the hand landed (smacked) on Saito's back.

An even more familiar gruff and joyous voice called out from the direction of the hand. "Hey! It's Our Sword and Our Voice!"

As Saito stumbled a bit loudly, the brunette twin had lurched away with her arms half-way raised and an empty yet fearful look slightly covering her face. If any one of that man and the boy had been paying attention, they would have noticed how Atsuko looked more than ready to fight.

"Our Sword! Our Voice! Swing by the kitchen again!"

Saito grinned. "Sure thing!"

Atsuko was taking deep breaths when she gave her answer. "Yeah, sure, Chef. Why don't you and Saito go on ahead, I'll catch up with you in a bit."

Both Marteau and Saito looked concerningly at the girl. Saito went and placed a hand on her left shoulder. "Are you okay, Atsuko?"

The brunette nodded. "Yeah. I just need a minute. Chef just kinda spooked me a bit."

The burly chef looked a bit saddened at that. "Apologies, Our Voice. I had no intention of frightening you."

Atsuko waved a hand. "It's fine. Go on. I'll be right with you."

With a nod from each, the boy and chef continued onwards to the kitchen. Still standing, Atsuko leaned against one of the arch walls. Breathing as deep and as rhythmically as possible, resting her head against the wall.

'It's okay, you silly girl.' Atsuko thought to herself, breathing through her nose. 'You're safe. Chef Marteau isn't them. He isn't them. He isn't them. He. Isn't. Them.'

Briefly, toneless, grainy memories of a rainy day flashed in her mind. Of large burly men, not unlike Marteau in build and volume of voice, surrounding her and two others.

Some scowling.

Some grinning.

Others laughed.

They were targeting someone, one of them, and she and the boy… were simply collateral damage.

Then, one of those men...snapped her arm in two from behind.

She screamed. She couldn't breathe! The pain—!

Snapping her navy eyes open, not even realizing she had closed them, Atsuko desperately looked down at the nearby grass and focused on a small bunch of lilac colored wildflowers. And began to daze. In her daze, Atsuko began to remember what she had said to Katie earlier that very morning.

More specifically, the last little phase she had said…

[I find that really pretty.]

In Japanese.

Despite the small flush, she thought about it.

This entire time that the twins were here, in this new world, neither one of them had attempted to speak Japanese. In reality, Atsuko had merely assumed that they could no longer speak their mother language. But in that moment, after having stared into those violet eyes, it was almost as if the older teen was in some sort of numb state— in one which her mind seemed to have sparked briefly with the part of her brain that held that favored language.

Mouth and tongue movements were the same. Even the vocalization and tones were the same.

Without a doubt, it was Japanese.

She hadn't even noticed someone was nearby until their right shoe landed next to the bunch of wildflowers in the grass. Feeling too tired to even put up a mask, Atsuko slowly looked up the body the feet led to.

Black shoes. White tights. Dark skirt.

It's a girl. What next? Oh, that's right.

The cloak. What color is it? Same color as Louise: black. So that meant that this was a second year.

She had loosely, braided strawberry blonde hair— 'Oh, fuck…'

"Hello again, Valliere's Little Familiar."

She looked up at the girl's face and saw the same hazel eyes. The same ones that seem to, somehow, 'softly' pierce into Atsuko. The same ones that seem to have followed Katherina de La Ortega del Leone everywhere she went. Or at least whenever Atsuko was with or near the younger brunette.

At first, the Hiraga girl thought it was just a coincidence. Like when Atsuko and Saito fought Guiche's Valkyries; she thought she had seen Era somewhere in the crowd. Then that confrontation in town. And again at the library yesterday evening. At the library, Atsuko could see from the corner of her eye that Era was hiding behind one of the nearby bookshelves, hidden by the multitude of books as cover. Looking right at Katie as she taught Atsuko.

"What do you want, Era Leroux de la Borja?"

There was a biting tone in Atsuko's voice. Era smirked at the girl's tone. "So she told you my full name, huh? What else did that little bunny of mine tell you, hmm?"

Atsuko almost growled as she bit out, "She's not 'your bunny'! She doesn't belong to anyone!"

Era chuckled. "Hm. Really, now?" Then the strawberry-blonde's laughing and smiling mask disappeared— no, it was like Katie said, it slowed down in a sense and switched to a different one.

An empty one.

"You know," she began, looking down at the wildflowers before letting her eyes go back up at Atsuko. Her tone strangely empty yet it was inquiring something. "I was watching you, today or rather just a couple of minutes ago. And I'm not sure if you've noticed, but when you get all broody and thinking like that, your fancy Familiar Runes start to glow a bit." Atsuko briefly glanced down at her right hand, where her Runes were. "Kind of makes me wonder… what goes on in that brooding little head of yours."

Navy eyes narrowed and their light dulled to almost nothing. "I don't think that up to you to find out. Who are you to be trying to figure me out to begin with?"

Dull navy met empty hazels. Era stepped closer to the Hiraga girl and spoke in a low volume. "I'm no one. No one who just wants to guard what is theirs."

This time Atsuko let out a low growl. "No one, huh? Well, you got one hell of a way of doing just that. What with letting some other bitch target her for bullying."

Era shrugs, not breaking eye contact with Atsuko. "That's simply to let her know her place in this system. Something you and your brother will find to be very similar for you two."

Just as Atsuko was about to rush her with a fierce look on her face, the girls heard Saito's voice coming from down the hall towards the kitchen. "ATSUKO!"

The brunette and the blonde looked over to Saito who, despite the twinge of panic in his voice, had a laid-back smile. That was a mask the win shared in common.

"Hey, Atsuko, what's taking you so long?" He questioned his twin, somewhat ignoring Era. "If you don't hurry over to the kitchen, the pot of tea Marteau has ready for you is gonna get cold."

"Right, okay." Atsuko glanced (glared) over her shoulder, only to see the strawberry-blonde walking away, her dark cloak billowing after her. Atsuko nearly let out a hiss at the Noble's back.

'That bitch is going to be a pain in my ass!'

Saito's eyes followed Atsuko's line of sight and saw who it was. "Who's she?"

[Friend or foe?]

The elder twin gritted her teeth. "Her name's Era. I think she believes herself to be the keeper of a friend of ours."

[Foe. Be wary of her especially.]

The younger brother frowned. "She thinks she's Miss Ortega's keeper? Is she mental?"

[Do you think she'll target Louise?]

Atsuko grunts. "In my own opinion? Yeah, I think in some way she is mental, especially with how she seems to be obsessed with Miss Ortega."

[No, she won't. There is history between Miss Ortega and Era.]

"That bitch won't let her go any time soon."

The twins were silent for a bit before Saito spoke up again. "Sis, let's go to the kitchen. I, uh, I mean, Marteau and I have something to tell you. And I think you're going to need the tea."

The brunette shrugs, agrees, and proceeds to the kitchen.

Saito's Third P.O.V.

'SHE'S GOING TO KILL ME!'

As was such the very thought that was being silently screamed in Saito's head right now. Especially having thought this very idea through. As he and his sister continued the path towards the kitchen, he decided that, yes, his twin sister, Atsuko, was going to kill him (if not a bit exaggerated).

An idea that involved rescuing someone.

Silently sweating in fear, the twins enter the kitchen with Atsuko greeting Marteau. "Hello again, Chef Marteau! Sorry about earlier. I saw someone else there that made me gag out of nausea."

Marteau gave a deep chuckle, waving a hand. "Ah, worry not, Our Voice! If you need time to yourself, simply say the word and we'll leave you be. Now," the broad man turns to the counter behind him, picks up a full tray and turns back to the twins. "How about a spot of tea, eh?"

Atsuko gave a relaxed grin and went to sit at the kitchen's table, where there was still an unfinished bowl of piping hot beef stew. Seeing that his sister has calmed, Saito releases a breath he didn't know he was holding and went to take the seat where the bowl was, silently praying that this calmness that Atsuko is currently exuding will last.

After making sure that the Head Chef had poured some, from what Saito could smell, of the herbal tea into Atsuko's teacup, Saito went on to continue eating the stew in his bowl. In comfortable silence, the sister enjoyed her tea and the brother indulged in his stew while Marteau went around the kitchen making sure that everything was in stock.

Once Saito had finished his stew and Atsuko nearly finished her tea, the raven boy cleared his throat. "So, um, Atsuko— there's something you need to know."

Atsuko placed her cup down on the saucer as she looked over at her brother with a raised brow. "And what would that something be, Saito?"

Saito glances at Marteau and with a nod from the man, the younger twin takes his breath and begins. "As of this very morning, something happened that caused Siesta to quit working here at the Academy. Instead she is now working as a servant for some Nobleman by the name of Count Mott. I didn't notice she was gone until I came to the kitchen earlier before you. That's when I went to get you."

Atsuko blinked slightly surprised. "She left? So suddenly? I don't believe she would have left because she wanted to, right? Could she have said no?"

The Head Chef shook his head. "It's the same thing as I've told your brother, Atsuko. At the end of the day, we Peasants can do nothing but obey every word of the nobles."

At that, the brunette twin narrowed her eyes. "In other words, people of lower rank are essentially property of Nobles? Does that mean that if they ordered you to jump from the tallest cliff, would you do that?"

Marteau frowned and looked to be actually thinking about it. Seeing that the air was about to get tense, Saito saw fit to interfere. "Anyway! I know you'll find this disappointing, but I want to go bring her back."

Atsuko nearly did a spit take as she gaped at Saito. "Excuse me… WHAT?!"

[A/N]: *peaks out from behind the writing chair* Hello, again, Precious Readers. Hope you've had an ill-intent-less and safe holiday (Christmas, Honukkah, etc). Just about late last month, I had promised that the tenth chapter was to be finished soon but not to be posted immediately.

Yeah, well, I'm going back on that last part and posting it now. Consider this your late Holiday Gift. I will begin to write chapter eleven within the next two days or so and will probably be posted within the next month and a half (maybe more). Now as you already know what to do at the end of every newly posted chapter (Follow, Review/Comment [Constructive Critism] and NO FLAMING), I bid each and everyone of you a safe and happy New Year!

With love,

~foxluvur64