The hidden Head - Chapter 3 - Preparations
February 6th/Yotsuba main residence/Miyuki POV
The sun stood already high in the sky when Miyuki opened her eyes.
Seeing the ceiling of the main house above her, her consciousness immediately returned from sleep.
Looking around, her memories of the last day came back to her.
Maya was dead. And Miyuki became the new head. It still felt surreal.
Miyuki turned her gaze on the alarm clock. A bitter realization hit her. She still had to call the school and inform them about her absence.
"Don't worry. The school is closed for today due to the terrorist strike." As if he was reading her thoughts, Tatsuya answered her. He was currently sitting on a chair in the corner of the room reading a book.
Miyuki let out a short sigh of relief. The magic high schools would normally not close even if a terrorist attack happened. But Maya's death must have caused a major shock in the magic community. Maybe the magic association believed it was the best for the schools to be closed today. Or it was the work of the other heads. Closing the schools due to the death of one of them would undoubtedly fortify the perceived importance of the clan heads.
Still, this should not be something Miyuki should have to take care of. It would be quite ironic if the first thing the new head of the powerful and feared Yotsuba had to do would be finding an excuse to skip school.
She thought back to the last evening.
After they had delegated the tasks for the war preparation, they discussed various other topics like Maya's funeral. They had decided to make a grant funeral within the Yotsuba village, but decided against inviting outsiders.
They knew that a public funeral would not fit Maya's character. She could not care less about the other heads. The only exception were Saegusa Kouichi and Musuzuka Atsuko. If Maya were in charge of her own funeral, she would have tried to find a way to troll the Saegusa one last time. It would probably be something along the lines of only serving dishes that Kouichi was known to hate. Maya would only invite Atsuko due to their friendliness with each other, but it would be just as convenient for her if Atsuko did not come. Thus, this would be a Yotsuba internal funeral.
The funeral itself was arranged for the next day. The servants still needed time to prepare everything.
Miyuki started to change into the clothes she would normally wear inside the Yotsuba mansion. It was a black kimono with a golden four leaf clover and various other ornaments.
Tatsuya had already left the room before Miyuki started to undress. While she would not mind if Tatsuya saw her naked, she would still be a bit embarrassed. From Tatsuya's perspective, it was simple etiquette not to watch a women change.
When Miyuki left her room, she saw Hayama waiting for her. He gave her a respectful bow before he talked to her.
"Toushu-sama, please allow me to serve you breakfast. Tatsuya-sama is already waiting."
"Yes, please do so. One more thing: Please do not call me Toushu-sama. While I wont ask you to call me Miyuki, 'My Lady' or something along these lines would be preferred." Miyuki knew that it would go against a servants pride to call their Lord or Lady by their first name. Still, Miyuki could not stand being called 'Toushu-sama'. Unlike Maya, she did not gain entertainment from being revered. After all, her Onii-sama deserved such high esteem more than herself.
Miyuki knew that she was the top magician amongst the japanese in her generation. And she was amongst the top of all magicians. But this was only if you restrict the term "magic" to its current definition. If you included Tatsuya's magic, he was still above her. Maybe not in terms of magic power, but his healing power was on a level where Miyuki saw it as a miracle.
After a while, Miyuki reached a small room. She recognized it as the room where Maya used to eat her breakfast. She sat opposite of Tatsuya. After a short conversation between siblings, Hayama arrived along with a few other servants.
When Miyuki looked at his face she could see him fighting with his tears. There was no doubt that he was remembering the countless times he served Maya her breakfast. Just a few days ago, he still served Maya as if this would continue for the rest of his live. He never expected for Maya to die before him.
Miyuki wanted to help him, to support him in his grief. This old man was one of the few people who did not look down on Tatsuya. This alone had earned him respect from her.
But Miyuki knew that it would be the best for him if he could continue to pretend to be fine.
She knew that Hayama wanted to carry on Maya's legacy. He would not allow for Maya's plan to fail. He would see this trough till his last breath. Hayama would continue to be the first butler of the Yotsuba, the clan Maya once resided over.
Hayama turned the TV on and switched to a news channel. Maya always watched the news when she woke up and he heard the siblings did the same.
As expected, the news were centered around the terror attack yesterday and Maya's death. It seemed to be a pretty objective report, but Miyuki could discern the fine traces of propaganda spread by the other clans.
It seemed like the other heads successfully attempted to improve their public image. They emphasized Maya's death and made it appear like she was a grant hero who sacrificed herself for the sake of some children.
Miyuki started to laugh a bit. This was a risky move. Most magicians probably already expected the Yotsuba to go on a killing spree. The general public, however, did not know the details regarding the nightmare of 2062. They understood that they had to fear the Yotsuba, but they did not know the exact reason for this. The TMC essential bet on the public to be unable to connect the upcoming disaster with the clans. Presenting Maya as a hero would otherwise only backfire.
Still, the Yotsuba did not plan to announce their planned massacre to the public. They would find the perpetrator and get rid of them and their connections. The whole world would see the terror they were going to cause, but they would destroy any evidence linking to the Yotsuba.
It would be obvious for the people in power that the Yotsuba were the culprits, but the public would only be able to guess.
This was the true terror in antagonizing the Yotsuba. It was a message. We are more powerful than any other organization. We could eliminate you without leaving any traces. It was the same as the last time the Yotsuba did this.
Back in 2062, the Yotsuba annihilated the country of Dahan, who had abducted Maya and did unfathomable things to her. In the years since then only a few opponents dared to challenge the Yotsuba. But now, they had even killed their last head. This led to a problematic question:
Will this still work? Does making them fear us work? And for how long? How long until we have to do this again?
Miyuki sank into deep thoughts.
A few hours later/Yotsuba main residence/Miyuki POV
Today was Miyuki's first day as the new head. For the past few hours Hayama introduced her and Tatsuya into their new work.
Other than Maya, Hayama was the only person who had the whole overview of the Yotsuba's business, research and other activities. The Yotsuba valued secrecy highly. Only the head and her trusted ones knew everything. If Hayama would have left the Yotsuba, no one knew what they should have done.
Tatsuya was a quick learner. He already memorized everything Hayama had told and shown them. He would be able to support Miyuki in her new role.
Currently, Hayama was showing them the access to the magic association. Using this terminal, the Yotsuba had access to TMC-related documents and appointments. They could also send to and receive messages from the association and the other families.
"And if you switch to the third tab, you can see the messages we have received via the association. The red number next to the tab shows the total number of unread messages."
Miyuki let out another sigh. The number of messages was quite large. She could easily guess the reason for this many messages.
She opened the newest message. It was a formal letter from one of the hundred families expressing their condolences.
Most of the other messages would probably be the same.
"We should probably write a response." Tatsuya reminded Miyuki. He did his best to help her, but he had not received any training regarding the required formalities and etiquette, so he could not write the response for her.
Miyuki nodded and started writing a response. She planned to send the same message to all of the messages, so she would have to write a relatively vague letter.
She hesitated when she arrived at the signature. What should she write? The Yotsuba had decided to hide her identity for the near future.
"My lady, since this letter was addressed to the Yotsuba clan, you can also sign as 'Yotsuba'."
Understanding her problem, Hayama made a suggestion. Miyuki thanked him and they continued their work.
At the evening/Digital conference room
The remaining nine heads were currently holding another meeting.
They just finished discussing their progress regarding the incident yesterday. The result was depressing. While they could manipulate the media surprisingly well, they still had no idea who the culprit was.
They needed the skills of the Yotsuba, but the Yotsuba were still absent from the meeting. Which brought them to the current topic.
"I assume you have received and read the response of the Yotsuba regarding our inquiry?" asked Saegusa Kouichi. Yesterday they had sent a joint message to the Yotsuba. Unlike their individual messages offering their condolences, they asked the Yotsuba who their next head was and what they were planning to do.
"Of course. If you could call that message a 'response'." Ichijou replied. The response the Yotsuba had sent was rather disappointing. It essential only said 'we are busy' in a more polite way. Their questions were left unanswered.
"This is not good. I understand that their new head must be quite busy right now, but this matter can not be delayed for too long. None of these matters can." This reply came from Yatsushiro Raizou.
This was true. They needed the Yotsuba for the investigations. They may be able find the culprit without them, but it would take them too long. They also needed the head of the Yotsuba to be present in order to show a united stance to the media.
And most importantly, they needed the Yotsuba to be present to prevent them from any rushed actions. The idea of a vengeful Yotsuba clan they knew nothing about was terrifying. For all they knew the Yotsuba could have nuclear weapons in their possession. It would fit into their profile.
Kouichi could not help but think about Shiba Tatsuya. His sources indicated that he was the unregistered strategic-class magician. If that guy was really a Yotsuba, this situation could be extremely dangerous.
Right now, the only thing they could do was to wait and continue their work without the Yotsuba.
At the same time/Yotsuba main residence/Miyuki POV
After an exhausting day, Miyuki and Tatsuya went to eat their supper. It was served like the breakfast and Hayama was waiting beside them, ready to serve them anytime.
"You did very well today, my lady. You too, Tatsuya-sama." Hayama called Tatsuya Tatsuya-sama. Maybe this was due to Maya claiming him her son, but Miyuki did not know.
"Thanks for the support, Hayama-san." Miyuki took a short sip from her tea. "By the way, tomorrow our classes at first hight would continue. Given the current situation, I do not think we can attend anytime soon. What is your suggestion, Hayama-san?"
"Ah yes, my lady, I was waiting for you to ask. We have already prepared a plan. Here is the mission file." Hayama handed Miyuki a tablet PC.
Miyuki read trough the file before handing it to Tatsuya.
"Is this not a bit excessive?" Miyuki asked warily.
Unexpectedly, the reply came from Tatsuya and not Hayama.
"This will work well. We can retrieve our family members without risking their cover to blow. A large number of innocent bystanders will be hit, but no one will be seriously injured. Our family members will have a good alibi." Tatsuya spoke of family members, but in reality this was only for the youngest generation. Their older relatives either worked for the Yotsuba, did not work at all or could take a few days off. Skipping school was more complicated than skipping work.
Hearing her brothers opinion, Miyuki nodded enthusiastically and gave the order with a smile. She knew that this order would bring a huge amount of suffering for some innocent people, but Miya trained Miyuki to make sure she would give such an order without any sort of hesitation.
The next morning/a TV studio/Kimiko POV
"We are interrupting the current program for a special news segment. In another unexpected wave of terror, unknowns have launched a biological attack using an old disease. Their primary target appears to be magicians, especially young magicians on their way to the magic high schools. While the details remain unknown, it is believed to be related to the terror attack in Hakone a few days ago. Both attacks targeted magicians."
Kimiko took a short breath. Her teacher told her to give the viewers a short break to catch up.
"The victims immediately started to vomit heavily, with a few of them collapsing. The surprise was that the virus appears to be relatively harmless. The doctors could quickly identify it as a known disease. They ensured us that there is no risk to the lives of the children, but they will probably continue vomiting regularly for the next few weeks. We do not know why the terrorists choose to use a non-lethal virus, but we currently assume it to be a mix up on their side."
Kimiko bowed towards the camera and said "Thank you for watching. We will continue to provide you with updates, so please tune in regularly."
Unknown to Kimiko, everyone of the Yotsuba children were amongst the victims of this strike. At least officially. In reality, they were never near the attack. But it was child's play for the Yotsuba to make it look like they were just another victim. Amongst the three hundred real victims they were indistinguishable.
Later that day/Yotsuba main residence/Minami POV
Minami was not sure how to proceed.
Hayama had told her to help Miyuki prepare for the day and inform her about her schedule. This was part of Minami's new training.
Ever since Miyuki became the new head, Minami's position among the servants has drastically improved. Her previous position, being one of the two guardians of Miyuki, was also definitely not bad. Because Maya could not bear any children, the Shiba branch had become the de-facto main family. And with Miya's death, Miyuki became the de-facto head of the Shiba branch. Tatsurou was but a marionette of the Yotsuba and considered non-existent regarding family matters. This meant that the position of being Miyuki's guardian was already second only to being one of Maya's guardian or being one of the higher ranked butlers.
Still, her current position was even higher. Not only did Miyuki become the new head, Tatsuya also was no longer considered a guardian. This meant that Minami was now Miyuki's only guardian. Minami did not expect this to stay this way for an extended period of time, but she would still be the guardian who had served Miyuki the longest. This was important because most guardians also doubled as servants. The other guardians and servants would ask her, their senior, for guidance.
Minami was extremely happy. Even though she knew that this was probably caused by the indoctrination done by the Yotsuba, she did not dislike it. Indoctrination was considered normal or even trivial among the Yotsuba. Not only the servants and guardians are trained to be loyal beyond doubt to the Yotsuba, even some family members were indoctrinated. It was said that the Kuroba taught their children to be loyal to the head in such an extensive way that it could be considered "brainwashing".
But Minami was still trapped inside her current dilemma. She looked back to Miyuki.
Unexpectedly, Miyuki was still asleep. Minami knew that yesterday had been tiring for Miyuki. And today was an important day. Miyuki would require all rest the could get.
But Hayama, who was still ranked above Minami, had ordered her to wake Miyuki.
Should she do as she was told and wake Miyuki or let her continue to sleep?
Minami did not know. She had hoped to get help from Tatsuya, but he had already left for his training.
She sighted. There was not much she could do to allow Miyuki to rest. Hayama was already waiting for them. She had to wake Miyuki.
Minami was preparing to wake Miyuki before she hesitated. How would she wake her?
She had waked Miyuki before, but now Miyuki was the head of the Yotsuba.
Minami still remembered the terror she felt whenever she saw Maya. The head of the Yotsuba was an extremely frightening existence, both for the Yotsuba members and the general public. Especially for guardians. The stories of Maya were widespread amongst them. The head of the Yotsuba could order their death and no one would ever find out. Their existence would be completely erased. While Maya had never actually killed a guardian, she had always mad it quite clear that she could do it. There were quite a few stories about guardians wetting themselves after being called into Maya's office. Most of the times it was only a joke by Maya, but the guardians felt true fear.
Could Minami truly wake such an existence? What if Miyuki would be mad? Minami shivered.
In the end, both of the arrived half an hour too late for breakfast.
Authors Note:
This was a rather slow chapter. I apologize if some of the scenes felt unrealistic.
The pairing is MiyukiXHayama by the way.
Jokes aside, I actually had to discard a few scenes because they felt like they were going into this direction. For example, I wanted to make a scene where Hayama sat on a veranda starting into the sunset while mourning Maya. Miyuki would arrive at the scene to console him. It was supposed to help making Hayama more loyal towards Miyuki, but it just felt like a cliche anime scene.
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