Midori

The first meeting was over and done with but I didn't know whether to be happy about it or simply relieved that it was over. When I had been seventeen this had been way more fun, it had been an adventure. Now I had seen to many adventures for one single lifetime. Quickly I walked away from the student council room. I didn't expect any of the girls to come after me, I had made sure to leave to abrupt for any chatter to come up but I needed distance. It was starting the exact same way like nine years ago. The carnival had taught me what fear really meant, not despair, that only came later when my professor actually died. In the carnival I constantly only feared for his life but I was still confident that we were the good guys and thus it would work out.
Ten years ago I was elated to discover I had magical powers, now I was jaded, knowing the cost of these powers. It was a price I was not willing to pay anymore. When the adrenalin of the Orphan kill had faded a week ago, I had been sick, right there in front of Fumi. I couldn't go through it all another time, I didn't even have a most important person anymore.

So why me?
I had asked myself this countless times, especially since I had started digging up phone numbers of the other girls and contacting them. Why us? What was it about me and them that we had to fight again? I had no answer.

"Go back to class." Youko said without turning around when I slid the door open. My feet had carried me straight to the infirmary automatically. Whenever I needed a break, I still went there, whether for a cup of coffee or just a few minutes of Youko's company.
"Give me a break," I whined, "I don't even have class anymore right now."

She looked up from her work when she recognized my voice. "You look like you need coffee," she said after having one look at me. I nodded. That was exactly the reason I came for, well that and holding off on going to my next meeting for a little while.
"Get some cups then." Youko said. I obliged, gathering two mugs from her special cupboard and filling them with coffee. Black and one sugar for Youko and milk an three sugars for me. I handed Youko her cup and took a long sip of mine. Youko was watching me, stirring the spoon, waiting. "How did your meeting with the girls go?" she asked when I did not start talking.

"Good. I think. I don't know." It was the truth. I had acted as if I had a plan of sorts, as if it was only a matter of time until we would know what we had to do to be left in peace once and for all. However the truth was neither Fumi nor I had found anything similar in the old records to clue us in. Part of me wanted to hope she would tell me something different when I would meet with her later but it was unlikely. I was hoping Youko could tell me what to do. This time around I had told her what was happening. It had seemed reasonable after I had told her the whole HiME history after the carnival had ended. That, and I had needed a friend at my side. Who better than someone level-headed and calm like Youko. But without further information even she was hard pressed for sound advice, much as I wished for it.

"They all showed up, which is a good sign. Told them to be alert, keep an eye up and take up patrol duty after dark. They agreed to it, or well, rather I left before they had time to object." I tried to laugh but it came out hollow.

"It's a start. At least with the other girls around, I have less fear of students getting injured."

"Yeah, it's good, they're around now. Still, the question remains, why now? And why only seven of the twelve."
I stared imploringly at Youko as if she could provide the answers, but she only shrugged her shoulders. "From all you told me about the last time you had your powers I can't see much similarities, there's no big comet in the sky. Yet."

"It can't come back! We destroyed it!" Even the mention of the HiME-star made me frantic. We were all older than the last time around but even more so now, I felt responsible for the others. I was the leader and by now I knew what this encompassed.
Youko's face immediately became remorseful. "I'm sorry Midori, it was a poor attempt at a joke."
She gently pressed my hand. "I am sure you will figure it out soon enough."
"But what if I don't? What if they die, Youko and I can't do anything to save them?" I gripped her hand tighter.

What was the use of become a teacher instead of living the life of an adventurer when adventures just followed you around? Having seen all my fellow HiME in the classroom just emphasized what could be at stake. They were all their own people, they had lives outside of Fuuka, jobs, partners, family.
"If I can be of any help, you tell me, won't you." I nodded, giving her a weak smile as I pulled myself together. Letting my fears take over was not an option. And it was the best support she could give me at the moment. If Youko could remain calm without having magical powers to defend herself with, I ought to be able to keep going, too.

"Maybe a miracle happened and Fumi-san did uncover a lead while I was briefing the team."

"Yes, maybe."
I handed her the empty mug, waved goodbye and made my way out. The meeting with the headmistress had been put of long enough.
The way from Youko's infirmary to the headmistress's office was long walk yet over in no time. Squaring my shoulders and taking a deep breath I rapped my hand against the heavy oaken door while I told myself once again that there was no need to be so anxious just yet. Maybe it would not be the same sort of tragedy as last time. Maybe nobody would die.

From the inside the high-pitched muffled voice of Fumi called to enter and I stepped into the office. Normally the room was spotless, everything neatly at its place. Fumi had made it a point upon becoming the headmistress to keep the office as orderly if not more so than when she was still the caretaker of Mashiro. Right now, I could see her priorities had shifted. Her desk was loaded with large, ancient books brought up from the library, piling high enough to almost hide Fumi behind them. The coffee table, too, was cluttered with a few more books and notes on things we had thought might be leads but turned out dead ends so far. I recognized my own handwriting as well as hers on the sheets, meaning they'd been lying here for at least two days. I bit my lip, but marched over to her desk anyway.
"Anything new?" I asked, not wanting the answer I would surely get. As expected Fumi shook her head an sighed. "Not yet. All our sources telling of the Carnivals always start out with twelve chosen maidens, there is not one account were there were only seven."
"Or eight," I reminded her. "We don't know about Mikoto-chan."

"So none of the other girls has been in contact with Minagi-san recently?" Fumi asked and it was my turn to shake my head.
"No. I had my hopes set on Mai-chan, but all she had to say on the subject was, how school and jobs and children, basically how life came in the way and then she changed the subject."
Fumi raised her eyebrows at that. "Do you think she might be lying?" I considered it for a moment, this thought which had not occurred to me before. It was another sign about how tense Fumi must be if she was this mistrustful. "No, Mai would never lie about Mikoto. If anything she looked embarrassed that she doesn't know where the girl is."

Fumi sighed. "I didn't mean to be so suspicious. But I would like to know if she has reawakened as well or not, after all she was one of the mightiest HiME in our Carnival." She closed the tome in front of her and focused her whole attention on me. "How are the girls that we did manage to gather here? Are they alright, are their accommodations to their liking?"

It was obvious she wanted to shift our conversation to the lighter topics for the time being and I wasn't going to object.

"They should be fine. I sent the vice student president to show them their rooms before I left, it should be fine. Hopefully they will work together as a team. For tonight I put Mai-chan on patrol duty together with Nao, it seemed like the safest option. Considering the history they all have with each other." I explained. And I probably only know half of it, I t thought. Mai had told all she knew about Shiho and her sort of sleep-controlling her child. Nao made some offhanded comments about Fujino being a 'crazy psycho-bitch' after the carnival and even though she always had tried to hide it, I still remembered Yukino not being able to meet either Natuski's or Fujino's eye in the aftermath. Mai seemed as solid and good-natured as always. It was a slight relief to be able to count on her.

Fumi nodded as if she knew my reasoning. "That sounds good. They should be more than capable of handling any Orphans should they come out tonight. Let us have lunch and then get back to research. Until we find clues in other places we have to stick to the library."

Randomly I took one book from the top of the pile on Fumi's desk and flopped down with it on an armchair by the coffee-table. If this was archaeology I would know exactly where to look first. There were so many sources and interpretations about all the things of our past that we could always find out with good certainty what must have happened because we were looking at things that had already happened, not trying to gaze into the future. On top of that, no matter where you went, all civilisations shared the same basic treats, but Orphans weren't human, they did not act according to the same sets of rules and while the HiME themselves were human, our powers were not and the rules as to how we got them were magical and fled the knowledge of the books completely.
So I knew, even while I was re-reading another iteration of the HiME war, that looking back into the past was not going to help us, I still did it because we lacked other options.

"Midori-san" Fumi stirred me from my reading. "May I ask you something? When you spotted the first Orphan and it attacked you, were you glad to find yourself being able to summon your Element or not?"

I saw her placing a hand on her sleeve, where I know the second Orphan we had encountered had slashed her. Youko had treated the wound well, but it would still leave a scar on her skin. I swallowed. There was no answer I could give, conflicted as my emotions were.