As an apology for the previous chapter, here's a chapter that's not about romance—not that I have any reason to apologise. Enjoy it if you can!
Before dawn, an apartment in Atlas shopping district…
Sayaka awoke when she noticed the skin on her shoulder prickling from the cold. Part of the blanket must have fallen off her. She sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, blindly patting around the bed for her two teammates. Hitomi liked to cuddle in her sleep and was, unsurprisingly, still wrapped around Sayaka's waist, letting out soft whimpers with every sleepy breath. Kyousuke, on the other hand, was nowhere to be found.
Sayaka pushed down the sudden panic she felt and pried Hitomi's hands from her torso, carefully sliding a pillow for Hitomi to hug in her stead. Once free from the green-haired woman's grasp, Sayaka got out of bed and made for the door.
Kyousuke was probably just taking a leak, right? Or at least that was what she told herself as she left the room. This thought was quickly dashed when she saw the empty bathroom just a door away from their bedroom.
Dammit, Kyousuke!
Once again, she pushed down her panic until it was little more than an inconvenient amount of anxiety. If not the bathroom, then the kitchen, she told herself.
She reached the end of the hall and felt a surge of relief when she noticed the man with grey hair, curled up on the couch, watching TV at an absurdly low volume. That relief subsided when she noticed the way he clutched his injured arm against his chest.
"Hey," Sayaka said unnecessarily. Her footsteps had been hurried and the apartment was quiet. He would have heard her approach long before she came into view.
Or he should have, at least. But Kyousuke was still sitting in a fetal position, eyes glazed over in an unaware daze.
"Hey," she repeated, louder, snapping Kyousuke back to reality. He blinked uncomprehendingly before turning to Sayaka.
"Good morning," he said in careful greeting. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
Sayaka bit her lips, feeling the beginnings of a wry smile. "Would you understand if I said 'worry'?"
Kyousuke blinked again, eyes darting to the TV for only an instant before returning to Sayaka. "Maybe…?" This earned a snort and eyeroll, to which he frowned. "Oh, don't give me that. Do you seriously think it's obvious? You and Hitomi get worried over the weirdest things. How am I supposed to—"
Sayaka took a seat on the couch next to him and shut him up with a hug. "Tell me what happened," she whispered gently.
Kyousuke was silent for a moment, tense and unmoving in her arms, gradually relaxing into the hug as time passed. "I woke up with more phantom pains," he eventually said, sounding almost guilty about it.
Sayaka whimpered. Kyousuke had lost fine motor control and sense of touch in his right arm. The lack of sensory feedback would sometimes make his nervous system freak out and start sending pain signals from where the nerves in his arm used to be.
She tightened her hug. "Okay, then why did you leave the room?"
There was a pause as Kyousuke fidgeted. "I… I didn't want to wake you guys up too. I thought you guys would—"
"You're an idiot!" Sayaka hissed into his shoulder. "You shouldn't have to tough it out on your own. Hitomi would agree with me on this."
He fidgeted again, grumbling. "It's not like either of you can do anything to help when it happens. It would be completely pointless for me to—"
"Kyousuke," Sayaka cut him off once more. His aura shields flashed, pushing back against her arms even as she held him even tighter. "It doesn't matter if it's pointless," she continued, softer. "We'd try to help anyway."
Kyousuke fell silent, muttering an apology. Sayaka didn't have the heart to scold him for apologizing. Eventually, he raised his uninjured arm and returned the hug.
What hurt the most about this whole thing was that Kyousuke was right. They couldn't help with his phantom pains. Not really. His aura couldn't stop it. A mental suggestion to ignore it from Hitomi wouldn't help either. Not even a healing glyph from Sayaka had any effect. There was literally nothing they could do to alleviate the pain.
Though, she supposed that was part of the reason Sayaka was now working for R&D BioTech. She and Hitomi couldn't personally help, though there's a chance they could. If they could get those implants to actually work, the pain would stop. He'd actually be able to use his hand again. Then someday, they'd be able to hear him play violin again. Sayaka would do everything in her power to make that day come to pass.
But until then, she was going to support Kyousuke in all the ways she knew how.
"I'm gonna make breakfast now," Sayaka said as she released Kyousuke from her embrace. "You should go wake up Hitomi. Our alarms are gonna go off any minute now." She received a curt nod in reply.
They stood and went their separate ways, Kyousuke back to the bedroom, Sayaka to the kitchen. "Breakfast will be quick and easy bacon and eggs," she said to no one in particular. She snatched the apron from its stand, took out a handful of eggs from the fridge, and placed a pan on the stove. She quickly got to cooking.
Meanwhile, Atlas Hangar Bay…
Kyouko tapped her foot.
Since Atlas was situated on a floating island, the Hangar Bay was almost always in a state of bustling activity. On particularly busy days, literally hundreds of airships would fly in and out of the city every hour. Majority of that activity was in the form of either military dropships or civilian cargo ships. No civilian transports, since they had a separate airship hub on the other side of the island.
She shifted her weight.
In a rare stray from the norm, the Hangar Bay was quiet today. Sure, on an absolute decibel level, it was still pretty loud, but it was far quieter than an active transport hub had any right to be. Essential hangar personnel, routine patrol squadrons, and a handful of cargo ships that seemed to be running late were the only things making noise. Otherwise, the hangar was empty.
She grit her teeth.
Kyouko had been contracted to serve as the security detail to a certain foreign VIP. They were obviously important, given the way Central Command had ordered the Hangar Bay be vacated just for their arrival. That being said…
She growled a harsh expletive under her breath.
It had been at least twenty minutes now since she emptied her last box of cookies. She had brought them for the express purpose of keeping her occupied until her client arrived. Obviously she hadn't brought enough.
She fingered the tension-release trigger that kept Rossio Phantom in spear form.
Kyouko had never been a patient woman, and the wait had used up what little patience she did have. Unfortunately, she was contractually obligated to continue waiting, else risk her reputation as a reliable huntress.
Inside, she laughed bitterly.
Oh yes, she still called herself a huntress, even though the Atlesian definition of one didn't match that of Vacuo's.
Sure, hunters were fundamentally still exterminators, regardless of whose definition was used—they were trained to kill creatures of Grimm, and not a single person on Remnant could deny that—but each kingdom still had different attitudes regarding them.
Vacuo and Mistral treated hunters like elite mercenaries, though they had a much better public perception than even the most respected swords-for-hire. Vale revered them as heroes, paragons of virtue and glory, infinite in distance and unbound by death—just like what so many people chant when they unlock someone's aura. And in Atlas? They were super soldiers—weapons to point at threats—still revered and respected by the common man, but little more than cogs in the machine that was the Atlas Military.
And unfortunately for Kyouko, since hunters followed the laws of whatever kingdom they operated in, she had little choice but to be another cog.
Thankfully, the machine was well oiled enough to minimize friction between it and her. After that fiasco of a bunker mission, they had wised-up and stopped giving her boring jobs. Instead, she got missions that were guaranteed to have an amount of combat she was happy with—search and destroy, extermination, equipment retrieval. The best one she'd gotten so far was an on-going directive to spar with every single hunter operating in Atlas. She had been at it for three months now, and her current win-loss ratio was a respectable 36:21, not counting the multiple losses she had suffered against Mami during their rematches.
Man, three months? Somehow, it felt like she had been in Atlas her entire life, and simultaneously, like she had only arrived just a week ago. Where did all the time go?
Kyouko's aura shields flashed, snapping her out of her reverie. She must have been biting her lips so hard that her fangs would have otherwise pierced straight through them. She was glad her natural defenses kicked in. It would have been really embarrassing to have two bleeding wounds on her mouth when her client arrived.
A client who was now thirty minutes late…
She sighed, lamenting the fact that she hadn't brought more snacks.
Well, at least her scroll automatically registered her as on-the-clock as soon as she arrived in the Hanger Bay. Despite doing effectively no work for the past half hour, she was still getting paid.
Mercifully, her scroll buzzed with a notification at that very moment.
[Huntress, your principal's transport and accompanying escort have made contact with Control Tower. Proceed to Docking Port 12 and await their landing.]
"Took them long enough." Kyouko rolled her eyes as she made her way to the specified part of the Hangar Bay.
She passed by a few Atlesian patrol gunships, either readying to embark on a mission or just returning from one. She noticed several of the pilots and crew shooting her intrigued glances. They likely recognized her from that particularly fun sparring match she'd fought against Winter Schnee a little under a week prior. More than a few of them looked positively smitten. She flashed them a smile and wink, committing to memory the many flushed expressions this earned. If she had time, she probably would have flirted with them a little. But alas, current obligations took priority. She did not stop until she reached Docking Port 12.
A light cruiser was in the process of docking when she arrived. Based on the distinct dorsal wing pattern that gave it the look of a sailboat, it was of Mistrilian design—which was unsurprising, since Kyouko already knew her client was from Mistral. The ship slowly eased into range of the docking clamps, allowing the robotic arms to grab hold and guide it towards the platform Kyouko was standing on. Once it was properly secured, it powered down its thrusters and opened its hatch, a bridge extending from the opening.
Two Atlesian soldiers with standard issue equipment exited the cruiser. They took their places on either side of Kyouko.
Following them was a middle-aged man with a mane of grey hair, a brown tailcoat, and a shield strapped to his arm. His shaky hands were pulled close to his chest, and his shuffling gait was filled with hesitation. Everything about him simply screamed timid and weak to Kyouko's eyes. In other words, he was exactly what she expected of Leonardo Lionheart, Headmaster of Haven academy.
Two lilac-haired hunteresses followed behind him, both sporting a skirt and armored jacket, vaguely reminiscent of Homura's combat outfit, in red and blue respectively. They brandished bladed weapons on their hips and held their heads high, exuding an air of confidence with their steady strides that their headmaster lacked.
Homura and Mami owe me a hundred lien, Kyouko thought to herself with a smile as she shook Lionheart's hand.
"Good morning, Headmaster. I'm Kyouko Sakura, part of the security detail assigned to you for the duration of your stay here. Not to be rude, but we'll have to finish introductions later."
"Hello, Miss Sakura. No need to apologize. I know my safety specifications were rather draconian. Please lead the way."
Kyouko glanced at each of the five and nodded professionally. "Let's go then." She walked; the others followed behind her. She did not speak again until they entered the elevator back up to the surface.
"I assume you've already been briefed," she said once the doors closed. "But let me refresh you real quick. Soldiers one and two over here will only be accompanying us to the parking lot, where an armored vehicle is waiting for us. After which, they'll enter identical vehicles and leave with us to secure our exit. Once we're on the road, they'll go their separate ways while we'll make two pit stops at secure locations to activate additional decoys. You will be safe in the quarters provided for you by Central Command in two hours at the latest. Understood?"
"Yes. I'm glad Ironwood took my request seriously. He's really gone above and beyond my expectations."
Kyouko pursed her lips and nodded.
She had surprised even herself when she managed to deliver those instructions so concisely. Homura and Mami must have rubbed off on her more than she realized. Still, it made her feel dirty for some reason.
In Kyouko's honest opinion, Atlas going to such lengths in the name of Lionheart's safety was completely unnecessary. An unlocked aura already granted him protection from everything short of artillery fire—and even then, it wouldn't have killed him. If he was any bit the huntsman that being Haven's headmaster required him to be, he wouldn't have needed the level of security he had requested.
Of course, she kept that opinion to herself.
The elevator doors opened, immediately treating them to the sight of three armored jeeps idling in the middle of the parking lot.
The soldiers rushed to two of the jeeps, with Kyouko leading the other three to the remaining one. "Get in," she said, opening the door to the back seats. They did so without complaint.
Kyouko took the front passenger's seat, pulling out a bag of lollipops from the glove compartment. She immediately unwrapped one, popping it into her mouth. After taking a moment to savor the sugary fruit flavoring, she leaned over to address the Mistralians in the back seat.
"So, I said we'd finish introductions later, which would be right now. Again, my name's Kyouko Sakura. I'm a Vacuan huntress with a barrier semblance, and I use a spear that also becomes a bladed whip." She lifted the bag of lollipops offeringly. "Want some?"
Lionheart abstained, saying his beard made eating candy difficult, but the two huntresses accompanying him accepted. Kyouko grinned as one of them immediately bit into the lollipop with a satisfying crunch—it was far from Kyouko's preferred method of eating one, but she certainly appreciated the winces it garnered from the other people in the car.
"You've already proven you know me, but in the interest of politeness, I am Leonardo Lionheart, headmaster at Haven Academy. These two are Kagami and Tsukasa Hiiragi, students in their final year at Haven."
Kyouko shook their hands, attempting to intuit their personalities with just a quick interaction.
Kagami was the girl with longer hair, tied in twin ponytails. Her handshake was firm, maintaining eye contact as they shook. Kyouko couldn't tell if she was trying to be intimidating or if she was just nervous. With the way her lips pursed around the lollipop, Kyouko leaned towards the latter.
Tsukasa was the one with shorter hair, her bangs held back with a ribbon-adorned headband—she was also the one who bit into her lollipop. Her handshake was relaxed, but not limp, and she smiled brightly as they shook. She vaguely reminded Kyouko of that one girl she had dreamt about recently—the one with pink hair. Kyouko wasn't sure what to think about that observation.
Kyouko's eyes darted back and forth between the two. "You two are seniors, right?" They nodded and she smirked. "Mind if I give you a little pop quiz?"
Lionheart fidgeted. "Nothing dangerous, I hope?"
Kyouko shook her head. "Nah. Just a little puzzle for them to solve. It'll probably be a good learning experience."
Lionheart thought for a moment before nodding to the two huntresses.
"Let's hear it," Kagami said slowly.
"Why am I the only huntress in the security detail riding with you?"
The two exchanged glances. "Part of it is because we're already here," Tsukasa began. "But this wouldn't be a test if it were that simple. There must be more to it."
"She said security detail just now," Kagami added, cupping her chin. "There are others that aren't here. In the decoy vehicles? On the rooftops? Hidden amongst the pedestrians?"
Tsukasa's eyes widened. "Wait, she also said she has a barrier semblance."
Kagami snapped her fingers, the answer finally dawning on her. "You're probably the best huntress in the security detail at direct engagements and damage prevention."
"And there's probably someone else tailing us with tracker or detector semblances to keep an eye out for any threats!" Tsukasa concluded.
Kyouko smiled sharply, her fangs giving her the look of a snarling wolf. All three Mistralians tensed, though the two huntresses also immediately reached for their weapons. Confidence, quick wits, and good reflexes? Despite Lionheart's personal shortcomings as a huntsman, Kyouko couldn't deny that his institution still trained capable warriors.
"Consider me impressed. You sure pick things up quick. That'll serve you well when you're out on the field. Don't have prizes or anything, but if the good ol' headmaster ever wanted to give you extra credit for it, I wouldn't stop him." She gave a pointed look at Lionheart.
The two glanced at him expectantly, to which he let out a hearty laugh. "Well done you two. You'll already be getting extra credit for accompanying me to this event, but a few extra points won't hurt. And well done as well, Miss Sakura. What an excellent way to tie the current situation into a lesson of some kind. You wouldn't happen to be an Atlas instructor, would you?"
Kyouko snorted, waving a dismissive hand. "Nah. Too rigid for my style. I prefer a bit more freedom. Did plenty of practical class demos for them, though. Those were fun." She shook her head. "Anyway, your students are right. Security detail's three teams of four—a total of twelve people—running eight hour shifts. Every team has someone with an area defence semblance, a tracker or detector, a healer, and someone with a pure combat semblance. You'll meet the rest of them when we get to your quarters. In the meantime, sit tight. This is gonna be a long ride. If you want more candy, I got plenty."
With that Kyouko hunkered down for the rest of the trip. The three Mistralians followed suit as a pleasant silence filled the jeep.
Later, Atlas Central Command…
Homura stood waiting in front of the elevator doors, reading a small paperback novel from an author Madoka once liked. Her eyes twitched when a distant voice called out her name, her gaze still trained on the page, but her attention shifting towards the direction of the voice. Seconds later, a staccato of energetic steps approached from behind, coming to a stop next to her.
With a sigh, Homura closed her book and turned with a wave. "Good morning, Sayaka," she greeted, storing the paperback into the shield on her belt. "How has your morning been so far? You look a little tired."
Sayaka chuckled, scratching her cheek. "It's been weird, but nothing I couldn't handle, you know?"
Homura lolled her head to the side. "I don't, but I'll take your word for it. In any case, your timing was perfect." She gestured toward the elevator door, which slid open. "Shall we?"
"Heh. Let's go."
As they stepped onto the lift, Homura mused on what had, over the course of the past week, become something of a routine for the two of them. Every morning, they'd spend the five minutes it took to ride down to basements 19 and 20 in idle conversation, usually about topics of little consequence.
It was mostly for Sayaka's sake, since the fencer always seemed deeply unnerved by the R&D labs—being trapped in a box, descending at high speed certainly didn't help any. The sound of another person's voice did wonders to ease her tensions.
Unfortunately, Homura couldn't say she felt the same. While she could admit she still derived some amount of enjoyment from their small talk, it was obvious to both of them that one was getting more out of it than the other.
Not that that stopped either of them from having these talks everyday for the past week. It was certainly better than standing in silence, twiddling their thumbs.
Homura felt a flash of amusement on the edges of her consciousness, making her lips almost twitch into a smile. She quietly rubbed the back of her hand.
"—anyway, Homura, what exactly do you do in the AuraMod division?" Sayaka asked, pulling Homura's attention back to the conversation.
"Why do you ask?" Homura replied, briefly wondering how much of the conversation she had inadvertently tuned out.
A shrug. "Call it simple curiosity. The guys at BioTech seem to hate you guys for some reason, but they never tell me why. Whenever I ask, they just say they're under security clearance restrictions—and the most frustrating part is that all of them say that." Sayaka crossed her arms and huffed.
A snort. "There's not a single person in R&D who isn't under security clearance restrictions."
"I mean, fair enough, but…" Sayaka cupped her chin, nodding thoughtfully. "So… what? Are they telling the truth or is this just some elaborate joke?"
Homura lolled her head to the side once more. "Well… Using it as an excuse to keep the new guy out of the loop does seem to be something our divisions have in common," she said, feeling a smirk tug at her lips as her eyes wandered the elevator.
"Wait, you went through it too?"
"Something like that, yes."
"Oh…"
In the moment of silence that followed, the elevator decelerated, coming to a stop at basement 19. The doors opened with a distinct ding.
"This is your stop," Homura said, gesturing to the dark halls.
"Five minutes isn't nearly enough time to talk," Sayaka grumbled wryly, stepping outside but keeping one foot in the door. "When's your lunch break? Mine's at one o'clock."
Homura lolled her head to the other side, internally debating on whether to answer. "Mine is also at one," she eventually said. "Meet me at Central Plaza. You're buying."
Sayaka rolled her eyes. "Fine. It's a date. But do try to remember I'm already taken."
A snort. "You're the one who called it a date."
Sayaka laughed. "Yeah. If you wanted a bite of pie, you probably wouldn't be stealing someone else's." With a wink, she pulled back her foot. The last thing Homura saw before the door closed between them was Sayaka's smug grin. A moment of silence followed after.
Homura felt another flash of amusement as she rubbed the back of her hand. "What are you even doing?" she muttered, shaking her head.
The doors opened once more and she stepped into the basement 20 lobby. With a sigh, she shelved her thoughts on what had just transpired. She could think about it later. For now, she had work to do.
She walked up to the camera on the reception desk, anticipating Kyubey to pre-empt her even touching the intercom. When no voice blared from the speakers, she dialed the AuraMod division's number.
"Huntress Homura Akemi, awaiting orders."
After a few seconds, one of the scientists picked up the other line.
[Ah, Miss Akemi, good morning. We have much to do today. Proceed to the same chamber as yesterday. We'll see you there.]
No Kyubey today, Homura noted. Strange. He would normally be in whenever she was on duty. What prompted that change?
She shook her head and made her way down the hall. She'd get her answers in the chamber, though she couldn't quite shake the feeling that something was wrong.
Late Morning, Atlas Academy…
Mami walked down the stairs into the lobby, eyebrows rising to her hairline when she noticed a huntress in wild red garb, contrasting starkly with the crowd of white and gray uniforms.
Interesting, she thought to herself.
Kyouko was currently speaking with one of Mami's co-workers from the general education department. Accompanying them were two unfamiliar huntresses with lilac hair, in red and blue respectively. Mami approached them, eventually coming within earshot.
"—good. They're in your care, then," Kyouko said to Mami's co-worker. She turned to the two unfamiliar huntresses. "Well, I'll see you guys later. You know who to call if there's trouble."
Mami stepped out of the crowd just as the other three disappeared into it. "I thought you were on security detail," she said with a slight smirk.
Kyouko gave her a fanged grin. "I am. Just took a quick detour to escort those two here."
A raised brow. "So you're still on duty?"
"Yep. My shift won't end for another three hours." Kyouko turned toward the exit and gave a lazy salute. "Gotta head back now. See ya."
Mami watched her go, letting a silence linger in the air as Kyouko walked out the door.
A tired sigh. Well, Mami thought glumly. Looks like she'd be having another lonely lunch break.
She headed for the cafeteria and bought herself her usual meal of "any Mistrillian dish with rice." Today, it was curry.
As she took her tray to an empty table, she mused on the fact that both Homura and Kyouko seemed to favor Mistrillian food as well.
"I wonder what they'd eat for lunch today?" she muttered as she dug into her meal.
A few minutes later, a familiar voice addressed her. "Major Tomoe."
Mami looked up to find two of her students, Maria Bloodhunter and Lawrence Evergreen, taking a seat at her table. "Cadet Bloodhunter. Cadet Evergreen." She gave them each a nod in greeting.
"Not having lunch with your girlfriend today, Major?" Maria asked with a cheeky smile, earning an elbow from Lawrence. She elbowed him in return, her reinforced prosthetic arm making his aura shield flash.
Mami rolled her eyes. "Despite her seemingly endless free time, Kyouko does have a job, you know."
"Coulda' fooled me," Maria said before her own aura shields flashed. Based on the glare she shot Lawrence, whose face remained carefully neutral, Mami deduced that Lawrence stepped on Maria's foot with his own augmented prosthetic.
"Knock it off, you two. If you're going to fight, save it for the training arena," Mami said, returning her attention to her food.
There was minor grumbling from Maria but both students complied, the conversation shifting to different topics as they ate. By the time Mami finished eating, the two had meandered through at least five different subjects, with their current one being the two huntresses Mami had seen in the lobby earlier.
"—think they were in last year's Vytal Festival?" Lawrence said.
"Oh yeah," Maria muttered, snapping her fingers "I remember them being the ones who knocked Miki and Kamijou out during the doubles round."
Mami's interest rose as she recalled the twins from Haven Academy who had handily defeated Sayaka and Kyousuke with overwhelming teamwork. They were third years at the time, weren't they? That meant they'd be graduating this year.
But why would seniors from Haven be here in Atlas? And be escorted by Kyouko of all people, too? Wouldn't that mean—?
"Son of a bitch, I owe her a hundred lien," Mami muttered with a scowl.
Her two students looked at her in confusion. "Major—?"
"Nothing to concern yourselves over," Mami cut them off, standing and putting her used tray on top of the nearby stack of other used trays. "See you in Remedial Combat later. I'll be sure to pair you up for the sparring matches."
They both blinked. "Wait, what?"
Mami shot them a polite smile and wave before leaving the cafeteria.
As she walked down the academy halls, she began typing reminders on her scroll, one telling her to pair her two students up, another telling her to pay Kyouko one hundred lien when they next met.
Headmaster Lionheart is in Atlas, Mami thought with a frown. And if that was the case, that meant the other headmasters would be coming as well. When was the last time all four of them were in the same place?
"No wonder they got hunters like Kyouko on security," Mami muttered as she stepped into the faculty office. "This might end up being one of the highest profile events since the last Vytal festival." She sat at her desk and flipped through her folders, looking through her notes for her next class. "I wonder how a charity organization of all things managed to fund something like this…"
She shelved the topic, switching her focus to the upcoming lesson she'd be teaching. Where were they at now? Non-lethal takedowns against non-aura users? And it would be with the second year class filled with highly lethal combat semblances?
Oh, I am not looking forward to this.
Early afternoon, Atlas Central Plaza…
"Good afternoon, Homura Akemi."
Homura felt an unpleasant chill run up her spine. She closed her book and glanced at the white-haired boy suddenly sitting next to her on the bench. Her eyes narrowed.
"I was wondering where they were hiding you. They said your body was malfunctioning."
Kyubey smiled at her brightly. "Earlier today, at 0200 hours, the brain of this body shut down without warning for approximately sixty two seconds. They detected no aura or any other lifesigns."
Homura raised a brow, eyeing the boy curiously. Attempts to sense his aura showed her nothing wrong with him—or at least nothing abnormally wrong, considering his naturally inhuman-feeling aura. She did, however, note that the pool of energy within his body was a little bit smaller now. A consequence of prolonged use of his semblance? Or perhaps…?
"You sense it, do you not?" Kyubey asked, tilting his head. "The difference in the flow of power?"
Her face hardened in comprehension as she remembered what happened to Nagisa Momoe, whose terminal illness was, in a roundabout way, leeching off her aura.
"You're dying, aren't you?"
"That is correct," he answered nonchalantly.
"But you're not—" Her voice caught in her throat, cutting her off, though Kyubey seemed to know exactly what she was about to say.
"Not human?" he suggested, tilting his head to the other side. "I am aware. And now, I am also aware that I am not immortal. Surely you realize how significant this finding is."
She frowned but nodded.
His artificial, inorganic body was outright immune to disease and most injury. His affliction couldn't be a terminal illness like with Nagisa. It couldn't be the result of someone's semblance, either, since aura naturally rejected foreign interference, especially if it was harmful. It had to be something else. Something blocking his soul from producing more aura. Or something leeching off his reserves. Or Something making his aura—
"Leak," he said, as if reading her mind. He was still smiling.
Homura stared blankly. "Your aura is… leaking?"
"None of us are completely sure, but it seems so. My connection to this world is unstable right now. I am slowly slipping away. Soon, there might not be anything left of me."
"Couldn't you just switch to a different body?"
He shook his head. "Unfortunately, attempts to do so have proven fruitless. It will not stick."
Homura averted her eyes, sensing the implications. She thought through her mental list of people she had performed the transfer operation on, bile threatening to rise from her stomach. "They're all doomed, aren't they?"
"We do not know yet. The procedure they underwent is different from what created me. From an optimistic perspective, what is befalling me might be wholly unique."
Homura rubbed the back of her hand, muttering, "Somehow, I doubt it…"
A long silence followed as Homura merely sat with the information, trying to digest it. As she mulled it over, she noticed Sayaka standing on the other side of the street, looking around with intent, but failing to notice Homura on the bench. Kyubey must have been using his semblance to give them privacy.
She took a deep breath and sighed. "Why are you tellingl me this?" she asked, putting away her book.
"I thought you would like to know."
"I see…"
She stood and faced him. "I have a prior engagement, Kyubey. Just one last question before we wrap up."
"Ask away."
"Are you scared of dying?"
He kept smiling. "You should know by now that I am incapable of feeling fear, Homura Akemi."
She watched his face carefully but failed to read anything deeper from the doll-like expression he wore. She shook her head and sighed again, turning her back to him. "We're done here. We can talk again later."
As she crossed the street, she heard Kyubey call to her. "Please take care of yourself, Homura Akemi. The date of Nagisa Momoe's operation draws near."
Homura hesitated for only a second before looking back. By the time she did, Kyubey was already gone.
She pursed her lips and approached Sayaka, shoving her current thoughts to the back of her mind. No need to bring such unpleasantness with her to lunch.
Meanwhile…
Sayaka tapped her foot as she looked around Central Plaza, scanning the crowd for Homura. She could sense the Valean huntress' aura signature nearby, but she couldn't, for the life of her, pinpoint where. It felt like something was jamming her—something vaguely inhuman.
Wait, it felt exactly like that inhuman aura she'd felt back in the Hospital Ward. Now that she was more familiar with Homura's signature, she could now more easily differentiate what she had first assumed were both Homura's. But if it wasn't hers, then whose aura was it?
"Sayaka Miki," a voice behind her said, causing a brief spike in adrenaline.
Sayaka's reflex was to draw Siren Song, but she reigned herself in when she realized that it was only Homura. She let out a sigh and relaxed, turning on her heel.
"You got me good, there," she said with a wry smile. "Anyone ever tell you how effective you'd be as an Atlas ghost?"
Homura smiled that odd, unreadable smile again—though Sayaka could tell it was just a little bit strained. "A few have. In any case, where shall we be having lunch?"
Sayaka gestured for her to follow and brought her to a Mistrillian tea shop tucked away between two larger restaurants. There were few customers, all of whom spared them only a glance before returning their attention to their tablets and scrolls. They took the secluded booth near the back of the room and spent a few minutes placing their orders.
"So, spill," Sayaka said once the waiter left. "What's the deal with AuraMod and BioTech?"
Homura eyed her critically, making her insides clench with a sudden feeling of vertigo. Those eyes felt like portals to the void. As she stared into them, she could almost believe that the room was getting bigger around them; that the air was getting thinner; that all the other customers were fading into the distance. But then she blinked and the feeling passed.
What the hell had that been?
"Are you aware of what our two departments are working towards?" Homura asked, pulling Sayaka's attention back to the conversation.
A shrug. "Not particularly? All I really know is that they're working on something that'll help Kyousuke use his arm again."
Homura pursed her lips. "Alright. Then what is it about Kamijou's injury that makes him need R&D BioTech's help in the first place?"
"Well… Severe damage and scarring to muscles, tendons, and nerves. It's a virtually unrecoverable injury, even with aura healing." She blinked. "Wait…"
A ghost of a smile played on Homura's lips. "The human body is remarkable at self-repair, especially with the help of aura. Unfortunately, there are some things that require more than what either are capable of, even when they're both working in tandem."
Sayaka crossed her arms and leaned into her chair's backrest. "Then, I'm guessing our two teams are taking on the problem from two different directions—mine from the body and yours from the soul. It just so happens that you guys made more headway than we have." She shook her head. "I get why they don't like you guys now, but I still think it's a little petty. You guys are just doing your jobs."
Homura looked down at her cup of tea. "If what you said about cuts to your funding is true, I'd say it's understandable that they'd get angry. It's petty, yes, but I would still afford them that anger. They're only human, after all." She took a sip, allowing a thoughtful silence to fill the air.
Sayaka watched Homura's slow and deliberate movements for what seemed like several minutes before looking down at her own cup. She had barely touched it, her reflection on the tea's serenely still surface looking back at her.
"Say, Homura. What do you actually think about your co-workers?"
The Valean archer idly tapped the table with her fingers. "Why do you ask?"
Sayaka shrugged and smiled wryly. "Well, you never talk about them. Call it simple curiosity."
A snort. "Curiosity has killed many a huntress."
"I'm sure the satisfaction would be enough to revive them—maybe with a little bit of aura healing on the side."
Homura let out a weak chuckle. "You realize I'm not particularly sociable, right? Especially not with them."
"That wouldn't stop you from having an opinion, though."
"You may be right," she replied with a slow shake of her head. "But honestly? I don't have much of one. They're just people I work with. They do their jobs. There's little else to say about most of them."
Sayaka tilted her head slightly. "Well, that's for most of them. What about the few others?"
Homura regarded the question for a moment before she took another slow deliberate sip, only speaking after she put her cup back down.
"I suppose there's this one guy—more of a boy, really—who I can never seem to read. His thought process is… different… from yours or mine. Very different. He's essentially sociopathic… but not malevolent." She sighed. "Although, the same could be said for most of the AuraMod division, to be honest. They have the reputation of being misanthropes for a reason. Ironic that their type are the ones researching the energy of the soul." She shook her head. "In any case, I don't know what to make of him—or really, of any of them."
Sayaka frowned, but nodded thoughtfully. To be honest, after hearing all that, she didn't know what to make of the AuraMod division either. Homura had told her nothing she hadn't already inferred from what other people had told her. At the same time, the air of pained endearment and grim resignation in Homura's voice had painted her relationship with them as one that Sayaka couldn't even begin to interpret.
"I guess it's complicated, huh…?"
Homura snorted again. "Yeah… Something like that…"
The blue fencer sighed and brought her own cup of tea to her lips, throwing her head back, letting the boiling-hot drink flow down her throat like liquid fire. As she did so, the sounds of the tea shop around them suddenly drew closer, as if a thick, muffling veil had been lifted from their table.
How odd.
Their food arrived shortly after and they had lunch in silence.
Later…
Having just finished her shift, Kyouko had changed into her casual clothes and wandered the Plaza's street, eyeing the various stores and restaurants for something to buy. She hadn't cashed in the money she got from her bet with Mami and Homura yet, but it was a good idea to start picking something out to get her money's worth.
As she browsed, she noticed two heads of lilac hair in the crowd. She grinned and approached. "Oi, Hiiragi twins!"
The two turned towards her and waved. "Sakura," the twin-tailed one said—Kagami, if Kyouko remembered her name right. "Didn't think we'd see each other again so soon."
"You and me both, pal. What do you two think of the academy?"
The twins shared a look before shrugging. "The place is great, though its students are a little stiff, even for me."
The short-haired twin—Tsukasa?—chimed in. "Kagami nearly got into a fight in the hallway."
Kyouko's grin widened. "Oho? With who?"
"Tsukasa," Kagami growled, glaring briefly at her sister before sighing. "It was just some punk girl with silver hair and a metal arm. I think her name was Blood-something"
Kyouko felt a flash of recognition. Bloodhunter? Wait, one of Mami's kids nearly got into a fight with one of the Haven escorts? Oh, how Kyouko wished she had been there to see it. With a little heckling, she would have been able to turn it into an actual fight! Even just imagining it made her want to cackle.
Though, now that she thought about it, she might still be able to cause that fight.
"Either of you interested in sparring with her officially?" Kyouko asked, fingering the hook on her belt holding the coiled links of Rossio Phantom's chain-form.
Kagami stared at her curiously, looking sincerely tempted. "Maybe some other day," she eventually answered. She glanced at her twin. "You?"
"Ditto," Tsukasa replied.
Kyouko shrugged. "Had to try," she muttered to herself. "In any case, what're you two doing here? Aren't you supposed to be Lionheart's escorts?"
Kagami lolled her head to the side, Tsukasa doing the same in the opposite direction. "After we came back from the academy, he sent us away." Kagami rolled her eyes. "'Explore the city,' he said. 'Entertain yourselves,' he said."
From tone alone, Kyouko could tell that Kagami was unhappy. She put a hand on her hip and gave the twin-tailed girl a level look. "You make it sound like there's something wrong with taking breaks," she said, making both girls flinch. "And I can tell neither of you really think that. What's got you upset?"
They shared another look and Kagami cleared her throat. "Officially, we're not here as Haven Academy students. We're here as Huntresses of Mistral on escort duty. I think it's really unprofessional of him to just send us away."
Kyouko snorted. "I think it's more unprofessional that you actually listened to him." They blinked. She smirked. "How well you perform the mission objective determines how much you get paid. If your objective was to stick to him like glue for the duration of this visit, his orders to do otherwise shouldn't have really mattered."
"Then it was a test." Kagami concluded. "One we failed. Tsukasa, we need to go back." She turned and nearly broke into a sprint, but abruptly stopped when she face-planted into the lattice barrier Kyouko summoned. She put a hand on her nose and glared at the red lancer.
"I respect that you're owning up to your failures, but just rushing back is poor form."
Kagami rolled her eyes. "Then what do you want us to do? Spend the rest of the day goofing off?" Kyouko grinned. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me. Tsukasa, please tell me I'm dreaming. Tell me that a licensed huntress didn't just suggest something Konata or Misao would suggest."
Kyouko raised a brow. "Who?"
"They're two of our friends from Haven," Tsukasa said before Kagami could answer. "My sister likes to pretend she hates them."
Kyouko's grin widened. "Oh? She's that type of girl, is she?"
Kagami's hand shot to the hilt of her sword, which Kyouko kept locked in its sheath with another, smaller lattice barrier.
"Not in the streets, girl. Save it for the training arena."
"You—!"
They all briefly lost their balance as the world seemed to distort around them. The feeling quickly passed and the door opened to the shop they were standing in front of.
"I thought I felt a familiar aura," a dry voice said—one Kyouko recognized. "Kyouko Sakura, why are you antagonizing two huntresses out in the open?"
Kyouko dismissed the barriers around Kagami and shrugged. "Just messing with her, Hom. No harm done."
Homura eyed her critically for a moment before leveling the Mistrillians critical looks as well. "I see," she said flatly. "So you chose to 'mess' with two armed individuals while civilians were present?"
"Er… well…"
Homura stepped out of the shop and began telling Kyouko off in that sharp, sarcastic, uniquely Homura-like way. As she did so, Sayaka Miki of all people exited the shop behind her.
"Homura?" Sayaka said, peeking from over Homura's shoulder. "What's going on—Wait, you!?"
"You!"
Kyouko blinked as Homura paused her diatribe, both their attentions pulled towards Sayaka and the Hiiragi twins, all of them pointing at each other in surprise. They knew each other?
"Yeah. These two kicked my ass in the Vytal Festival last year. You here for a rematch?"
Kagami gave her a sharp smile, oddly reminiscent of Homura's. "No, but it would be my pleasure." She turned to Kyouko. "You said you could arrange for an official sparring match, right?"
A shrug. "Probably? Not sure. Think you can help, Hom?"
Homura eyed the two Mistrillians critically. "I can make some arrangements if you can't," she replied, not taking her eyes off them. "Though I imagine you could just ask Major Tomoe."
Another shrug. "Fair enough. I'll ask her later. Anyway, what's up Hom? Haven't seen you in days."
"Busy with work," Homura answered flatly. "Speaking of which, my break is nearly over. I'm heading back now."
"Same here. Have to go back too," Sayaka added, raising her hand. She turned to the Hiiragis and pulled out her phone. "We can talk more later. For now, what are your numbers? Maybe we can schedule something."
As the three exchanged contact information, Kyouko's eyes wandered to Homura's retreating form in the distance. She hadn't noticed it amidst the surprise and energy of the last few minutes, but she could tell the Valean huntress was deeply upset by something—though by what, Kyouko could only guess. She broke into a jog to catch up to her.
"Hom," she said, slowing to a walk to keep pace. "You okay?"
Homura kept her face forward, though she spared Kyouko a glance or two. "I will be," she said. "Eventually."
In other words, 'I am not okay,' Kyouko immediately concluded. She frowned. "Anything I can do to help?"
A ghost of a smile, of equal pain and relief, played on Homura's lips. She rubbed the back of her hand. "You already are."
"Wait, I am?"
Kyouko blinked, suddenly realizing that Homura was nowhere to be seen. In a few short seconds, even her aura signature had moved out of range of her senses.
She blinked again. "Huh?"
Homura's semblance was just time dilation, right? How the hell could she just disappear like that? The only people she knew who could do that were teleporters and illusionists. Could she slow the flow of time enough that she could move literally faster than the eye could see?
Kyouko grimaced. If that was the case, then Homura had been holding back, even against Winter.
"Angel of Death indeed," she muttered
With the shake of her head, she made her way back to the Hiiragi twins, who were just finishing their contact exchange with Sayaka. The blue fencer bade them goodbye, shooting Kyouko a wave as she passed by.
"You certainly took long," she said to them as she approached.
Kagami winced and Tsukasa giggled. "Kagami got distracted," Tsukasa said.
"Oh?"
"Never mind that," Kagami snapped, waving her hand with a dismissive swat. "Me and Tsukasa are going back to the headmaster now. No, we are not goofing off."
Kyouko snickered as she noted how that last line was directed to both Kyouko and Tsukasa. "Sure. You go do that," she said with a smirk. "I'll see you both tomorrow."
They went their separate ways, the twins hurrying through the crowd of pedestrians. Kyouko watched them go with an amused snort before pocketing her hands and walking the opposite direction.
It was shaping up to be an interesting week, she thought to herself. With all the good and bad that being interesting entailed. She shook her head and continued down the main street of Central Plaza.
End of Chapter
Thanks to asianpotter1 for beta reading this chapter.
The first scene with Sayaka and Kyousuke was actually planned years ago—though I don't think the me of that time would have been able to write it without going full-tilt melodrama. Don't get me wrong, I love melodrama, but I do think a less in-your-face approach to that scene helped it land better. In a similar vein, I originally drafted that scene to be more about Kyousuke's angst, rather than Sayaka's reaction to it. Looking at it now, alongside the other scenes in this chapter, I think it's better that I took a different route than what I first planned.
Despite not really watching RWBY anymore, I do still keep up with the recent volumes for interesting developments. Atlas in canon being a floating island? I'd happily run with that! It doesn't contradict any of the world building I established and IT'S REALLY REALLY COOL!
That being said, doing so has introduced new headaches for me to think about—specifically, the logistics of how a city (not just the academy) keeps itself airborne indefinitely. I've written notes that explain stuff like that, even if it might never become relevant in a future chapter, just in case it does.
Kagami and Tsukasa Hiiragi are two characters from Lucky Star that I pulled into the story because I didn't want to think up new OCs for Lionheart's escort. Aside from a few minor references, you won't be missing much of their characterization if you don't watch Lucky Star, especially since the twins won't be in the story for too many chapters. They have roles to play—ones big enough that I need to give them names and a description—but once they fulfill those roles, I'm pretty much done with them.
In a similar vein, Lionheart's inclusion and whatever seeming changes to his character are also for the benefit of the story. Although, I am worried that letting Kyouko's bias against Lionheart bleed into the prose was too heavy handed. Not sure what a good balance would be in regards to how deeply the descriptions should draw from Kyouko's own opinions. Still working things out.
In any case, this end note has been long and I shan't make it longer. Hope you all enjoyed! Until the next one!