The hidden Head - Chapter 7 - Blame

The next morning/TV broadcast/Kimiko POV

"Breaking news! The New Soviet Union's strategic class magician Igor Andreevich Bezobrazov has been found dead. At first the NSU denied such reports, but evidence of his death leaked quickly.

"Multiple other corpses were found in the surroundings. They were identified as his bodyguards as well as at that time unknown strangers.

"Just a hour after Bezobrazov's death, the brazilian intelligence agency claimed responsibility for the attack. In their press release, they claimed Bezobrazov's involvement in the recent strike against brazilian cities and military bases. According to the press release, the brazilian rebels cooperated with Bezobrazov in order to get the upper hand in this conflict. As proof, they released documents identifying the unknown corpses new Bezobrazov as leaders of the rebel army. The NSU denies these claims."

Unknown to the public and Kimiko, the brazilian intelligence agency was already annihilated a few days ago. The Yotsuba simply assumed it's role and made the announcement. Of course, no government would actually believe these claims. Bezobrazov was simply not powerful enough to pull something like this attack off. Still, it was enough for the general public and no state dared to correct this believe. The NSU did want to clarify the situation, but they had to get rid of the unknown strategic class magician first or they would risk a similar attack.

At the same time/Shiba Residence/Tatsuya POV

"Our family surely does work fast. They had to capture the rebel leaders and put them on a hypersonic transport within two hours for this to work. I am impressed." Tatsuya commented with a smirk.

"Yes, I expected nothing less of the Shibata branch, although we only managed this with the support of Toudou. Without his information about the rebel leaders this would have taken significantly longer." Miyuki then looked towards Minami. "Minami-chan, would you be so nice and bring me another tea?"

"I'm on it, Miyuki-sama!" this reply was not from Minami. Instead, Asahi jumped into action and tried to make the tea, much to Minami's dismay.

Tatsuya ignored Asahi's actions and continued speaking with Miyuki. "I received a summon from Lieutenant Colonel Kazama. He and general Saeki wish to speak with me. I'll head there after school. I'll be counting on your guardians to protect you, but know that I'll always watch over you."

"Of course, Onii-sama!" Miyuki exclaimed with glee. She was happy of Tatsuya's reaffirmation of him protecting her. Her guardians also responded with an enthusiastic "Yes!", although, technically they did not have much of a choice.

A few hours later/Stars Headquarter/Lina POV

Angelina Kudou Shields heard a knocking on the door.

She was currently on stand by, just like the last few days. In fact, she was on stand by ever since Yotsuba Maya's sudden death. Her higher ups feared the enraged Yotsuba. Even before this, most officers feared their name. But this was on a whole different level. Scrap that, this new fear was on a whole different realm.

Just yesterday, Lina was instructed by a secret service agent about being a bodyguard. The implications were quite clear: In case of a similar situation, they intended for the SCMs to become the president's bodyguards.

Honestly, what an idiotic Idea. My abilities are simply not fit for bodyguard work. The only reason their wanting to use SCMs is probably that some higher up heard the term 'strategic class' and believed us to be equivalent to the attacker. Even if there was a situation where Brionac would be of use, it's output is nowhere near THAT level.

Lina stood up and walked to the door of her barracks. Who could it be?

She opened the door. On the other side was Colonel Balance accompanied by several guards. They wore CADs, so they were likely magicians.

"Colonel? Is there a new mission?" She was surprised it was Colonel Balance who had knocked on the door. Usually she would be called to the Colonel's room. This was the first time Balance visited her room instead.

"No, but there were unexpected Developments. I'll make this short: Due to the recent assassination of the strategic class magician Bezobrazov, the level of protection for all strategic class magicians has been increased. You are simply to valuable to risk."

What? Well, I guess at least someone has common sense.

"Thus, " Balance continued, "these guards will now be assigned for your protection. For the time being, you will also be excluded from upcoming missions. I hope you can understand our reasons. This is all."

Before Lina could protest, Balance had already turned to leave.

It seems like I'll have to stay in here a while longer...

At the same time/Digital conference room

Ten people were participating in another conference. They were nine heads from the Ten Master Clans as well as Kudou Retsu. This meeting was, of course, also regarding the Yotsuba.

"How is the damage control going?" This question was asked by the head of the Yatsushiro family, Yatsushiro Raizou.

"It's barely holding. We have suffered severe setbacks due to the recent reveal. Prior to this, we attempted to conceal the involvement of magic in the attack on Brazil. However, the recent assassination of Bezobrazov undid our efforts. Instead, the humanists correctly believe this was withheld from them by our influence. They do however believe that Bezobrazov was indeed the culprit of the attack."

After hearing Saegusa Kouichi's report, the other participants nodded.

"The Yotsuba need to be punished for being so uncooperative. Where is their so-called 'envoy'?" Ichijou roared.

The envoy he was talking about was a man called Shirakawa (A/n: the 6th butler, not the head maid), who had introduced himself as the representative of the Yotsuba a few days ago. Mister Shirakawa claimed that the new family head of the Yotsuba was preoccupied for the time being and he would participate in the meetings instead.

The other family heads thanked Shirakawa for attending the meeting, then made it abundantly clear that they required the presence of their actual head and that his/her absence was unacceptable.

"We did not invite him. And what good would it be if he were here? The Yotsuba clearly sent one of their subordinates. If we only scold him, their actual head would not face any consequences or feel any guilt for their actions."

"Anyway," Atsuko interrupted and looked at Retsu, "did you succeed in contacting the actual members of the Yotsuba family, Sensei?"

"Unfortunately not. I visited them a few days ago, but their residence was empty. It is likely that they went on a 'vacation' in Brazil." While Retsu may have avoided directly describing their actions, everyone here understood what he meant with their 'vacation in Brazil'.

"Quite a shame, honestly. Though this is not problematic. Now that the Yotsuba have provided us with a point of contact other than the magic association, we no longer need to contact them. I am sure they will appreciate it if the master clans do no approach their family members directly." Kouichi's comment had ulterior motives. He was sure that Kudou tried to contact the Shiba family. Using his daughters, he had already invited them for a dinner this evening. If he managed to mislead the other heads into abandoning the investigation into the siblings, he would be the first to talk to them.

"How should we punish the Yotsuba?" Ichijou asked.

"I doubt there is much we can do. Kick them out of the Ten Master Clans? This would only make the situation worse. Penalize them economically? We don't even know any of their businesses excluding performing black OPs for the government. Denounce them publicly? The public will connect the dots and us magicians will be blamed for the recent massacre." Futatsugi Mai's explanation sat not well with the other heads.

"Can't we force them to reveal themselves in the public?"

"Of course not. They would simply resign from the TMC and hide even further in the darkness instead. Still, we must weaken the Yotsuba. They have grown too strong."

"But how?"

No one responded to this question, even though a few individuals had an idea.

After school/Tsuchiura Base/Tatsuya POV

"WHAT WERE YOU EVEN THINKING!?" Major General Saeki screamed at Tatsuya, who had just entered her office. Other than Saeki and Tatsuya, Lieutenant Colonel Kazama was also present and just as displeased as Saeki was.

This reaction was to be expected, Tatsuya thought to himself. Still, we prepared for this situation...

"YOU ARE AN OFFICER IN THE MILITARY! YOU FOLLOW ORDERS! AND I AM DAMN SURE THAT YOU WERE NOT ORDERED TO KILL MILLIONS OF INNOCENT PEOPLE!" Saeki was furious.

"The use of Material Burst was permitted by the ministry of defense. You should have been notified about this."

"CUT THAT CRAP, SPECIAL LIEUTENANT! We both know that your family pressured them into this!" Saeki did not accept Tatsuya's excuse. "Do you even realize the damage you have done? Your family's idea of a cleanup was killing a SCM! You should realize the geopolitical impact of this action alone!"

Of course, Tatsuya knew this. Each nation kept tight tabs on every known SCM. Still, Saeki's informations seemed incomplete. Tatsuya knew that she would find it out sooner or later, so she may as well tell her.

"Actually, three strategic class magicians were killed. In addition to Bezobrazov, there were also two in Brazil."

Saeki looked at him with a complex expression. For one, she was still furious, probably even more than before. But she was also surprised about this. Officially, Brazil only had one SCM. She probably realized that this meant that Brazil had another one, an unregistered SCM. And that the Yotsuba knew about him, likely even before their attack.

"Tatsuya, while I agree with the Major General, I also understand that your family is unlikely to have given you a choice." Kazama interjected before Saeki could continue. While this would normally be seen as Kazama being disrespectful towards his superior officer, both of them knew that this discussion was going nowhere.

"Which brings us to the next point: the change in your familial circumstances. We must discuss something with your new family head. For one, we must make it clear that their actions can not be tolerated. Secondly, we must talk about our contract regarding your involvement in the battalion." Saeki had finally continued the conversation.

"My apologies, but the Yotsuba family has decided to hide our new head for the time being. You will be pleased, however, that my family decided to continue upholding our contract."

"CONTINUE UPHOLDING OUR CONTRACT!? Special Lieutenant, I definitely would not describe your actions as 'upholding our contract'." Saeki was still furious.

"The contract between the JSDF and the Yotsuba family gave my guardian duties towards my sister precedence. Since an attack on our Head implies an attack on our whole family and thus also Miyuki, my actions are covered by said guardian duties." Tatsuya rebutted.

Saeki seemed like she would once again scream at Tatsuya, but suppressed her anger.

"Anyway, we still have to speak with your new family head. You should understand that we can not simply let this go."

"If you insist, I can request an envoy from my family, but not more. You must understand that we still haven't found the mole responsible for leaking the details of the conference."

"Are you suspecting us, Tatsuya?" Kazama was appalled.

"No, of course not. But it is the truth that the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion would have the resources for this. And unless we are 100% sure, we can't risk another leak." Tatsuya looked at both of them. "If this is all, I will take my leave."

"Yes, that should be all for now. But do not believe we will let these matters rest."

Hearing this, Tatsuya left the room.

After Tatsuya left/Tsuchiura Base

"What do you think about out conversation with the Special Lieutenant?" Saeki asked Kazama.

"As expected, he was less than cooperative. And hiding their new head? God, the Yotsuba seem to grow less responsible by the day. Well at least they have covered Tatsuya's casting of 'Material Burst'." Kazama's last point referred to multiple proofs showing Tatsuya in a normal civil life when SCM was used. An alibi of some sort. While both of them knew that this alibi was somewhat faked - the psion sensors in the surroundings were replaced - it seemed to work so far. Fujibayashi could confirm that foreign intelligence divisions had acquired these videos while trying to find evidence about the unknown strategic class magic user. Saeki herself confirmed that she would mistake the faked evidence as proof of Tatsuya's innocence, so they were rather sure this alibi was working.

"Yes, that they have. But this growing lack of responsibility by the Yotsuba is problematic. While I hope that this is just one of their impulsive phases, just like when they annihilated Dahan, these phases themselves constitute a problem. While the Yotsuba were always catastrophic when angered, they were devastating this time. They simply can not be allowed to have a strategic class magician unless they grow out of their impulsiveness."

Actually, the actions of the Yotsuba were not that impulsive. They were planned thoroughly. The Yotsuba simply did not hesitate to execute these fresh plans because they did not have any moral problems with their plans. For them, it was the simple question of the results being worth the cost.

"Are you saying we should separate Tat- err the Special Lieutenant from the Yotsuba family? I doubt he would cooperate. You know of his circumstances. While he may not care for the Yotsuba family, his sister means everything to him. He won't go against her."

"I agree, but we have to try. He may not leave his sister voluntary, but his family may send him away if we put enough pressure on them. But for this, we would need the help of the Ten Master Clans." Saeki sighed. "And they will only cooperate in exchange for him. Still, this may actually make it easier for us."

"So you want the Special Lieutenant to marry into another clan? I doubt the clans would settle for anything less. So which clan do you have in mind? The Saegusa?"

"No, not the Saegusa. They are already too strong and their head is too involved in political games. We would only swap one evil for another one. Neither the Kudou, which have too deep connections to the military. If they got the special lieutenant, their influence would skyrocket." Actually the Kudou left the master clans a few days ago, but they were still more of a top clan than the Shippou.

"What about the Juumonji?" Kazama began iterating over the remaining clans.

"Their only daughter is still in elementary school. She is too young."

"Mutsuzuka?"

"Also no children in his age group. Their current head is only 29."

Kazama was surprised. Saeki seemed to be aware of the family members of the various clans. While it was well known that she kept tabs on the clans, she also appeared to have investigated them a bit more. Kazama continued: "Mitsuya?"

"A possible candidate. Their youngest daughter will actually enroll at first high next school year. She is however rather close to another boy in her age."

"It would be news for me that the clans care about the love of their children. Still, they are more likely to object in this case, though still unlikely. What about the Ichijou?"

"Their only daughter in the acceptable age range has romantic feelings to their adopted son. They may not accept."

"Futatsugi?"

"Also no children in his age group. Same with the Yatsushiro."

"That would only leave the Itsuwa family. But their daughter is both too old and too sick."

"They actually have another daughter, who is currently enrolled at seventh high. And they will likely cooperate. The recent conferences between the clans First Lieutenant Fujibayashi tapped into should be proof enough."

With this, their conversation ended.

In the evening/Saegusa Mansion/Miyuki POV

When the siblings and Minami arrived at the entrance of the luxurious Saegusa Mansion, Mayumi was already there to greet them. After a rather short introduction, Mayumi lead them to the reception room, where Saegusa Kouichi welcomed them. The servants of the Saegusa had already prepared the dining room, so they were able to start their meal immediately. Izumi and Kazumi were already seated when they entered the room.

"Thank you for accepting our Invitation." Kouichi started, "After I heard about you being victims of one of the recent terrorist strikes, I felt a deep guilt for being unable to stop them. As members of japan's magic community, you probably already know this, but it is the responsibility and duty of the Ten Master Clans to protect both magicians and non-magicians. But the chaos from a few days ago had taken us by surprise and paralyzed us. Since you two were amongst the victims we failed to protect, I asked my dear daughters to invite you three so I could personally check your wellbeing."

Needless to say, no one in this room believed him even for a split second. The Siblings and Minami were always weary of the Saegusa, especially their head Kouichi. His daughters learned quickly how manipulative their father was and always expected him to have ulterior motives.

"We also wish to thank you for inviting us. It is a great honor to dine with one of the master clans, the famous Saegusa nonetheless." Miyuki feigned a smile as she went along with his formalism. "The Saegusa do not have to feel responsible for the attack we suffered. Nobody had expected such a barbaric strike involving biological weapons. Though due to fortunate circumstances, we did not suffer any serious injuries or long-lasting health problems."

"Yes, I have to say that you recovered remarkable well. Although some of the victims were already healthy a few days ago, most of them are still unable to attend school."

"We were quite lucky. It seems like a healthy diet and up-to-date vaccines can do wonders." He suspects us, thought Miyuki.

"Is that so?" Of course, Kouichi did not believe them. It was undeniable that they recovered suspiciously fast. The Yotsuba had anticipated this and ensured some students would recover quickly and return to school even faster than them, but they were still within the first five percent.

Kouichi decided not to press further for now. He was already extremely sure that his current guests were connected to the Yotsuba and backing them into a corner would only serve to put them even more onto their guard.

Instead, he would let his daughters lead the conversation for now. Maybe the siblings and their cousin, Kouichi did not believe the girl to be an actual cousin of the siblings, would accidentally let some interesting information slip.

He didn't need to wait long before Mayumi started talking.

"So, Tatsuya-kun, how is school going?"

"Rather well, Mayumi-senpai, even though my ability-related grades still have room for improvement." Tatsuya answered rather shortly. He was indeed on guard against the head of their rival family, but could allow it to be noticed, especially in his interactions with his senpai and his kouhais.

"And how about you, Miyuki-san?"

"Also good. I am still lacking in theory compared to Onii-sama, but my practical grades are still acceptable." The last part was a deliberate understatement. Her practical skills were not 'acceptable', but 'excellent' or 'superb'. Miyuki, however, would not say something so smug and instead tried being humble. This was not only due to her training in etiquette, but also due to the general Yotsuba mindset of show, not tell. Actually, it was more like neither show nor tell, but if you do have to do one of them, then show.

"Why are you two so reticent? Is something not to your liking?" Mayumi, who often had the role of entertaining the Saegusa's guests, noticed that something was wrong and tried her best to help the siblings.

However, before their guests could answer, Izumi interjected herself into the conversation. "Onee-sama, please grant Miyuki-senpai and Shiba-senpai some space. They had to deal with the recent terrorist strike and the virus as well as helping out with family business, so it is only natural for them to be a bit exhausted."

This caused Kouichi to listen up. Family business? So, it seems like they were indeed helping the Yotsuba thought Kouichi.

"Family business?" He asked, believing it was time to again participate in their conversation. "Is there anything the Saegusa can help with?"

This simple question caused several different, but well hidden reactions. The rest of the Saegusa family was well aware that their father would not simply offer his help. They knew that he must be thinking about a way to further their own family's interests. But it was too late for them to steer the conversation away, so they could only ask themselves what kind of business Miyuki's family was engaged in. Still, now was not the time to ask.

Miyuki, however, had other thoughts. Of course, the conversation would at some point reach this topic. Saegusa-dono would have steered towards the topic one way or another. Luckily, he does not yet seem to realize that I am the new family head. I am really glad Izumi-chan only mentioned 'helping out with family business', not that I inherited it. Let's see... I must make Izumi believe that I am not actually managing the business so she won't see a reason to mention it. At the same time I must formulate it in a way that Saegusa-dono does not believe me to be the new head and also ensure that he won't ask Izumi-chan. Well, I really messed up with mentioning the family business back then...

"Thank you for your generous offer, Saegusa-dono, but we must politely decline. Our family business is currently in the hands of a skilled Manager and we do not wish to burden you with our own family's problems. It is well known within the magic community how busy the position of the family head of once of the Master Clans must be, so it would be unfair of us to further increase your workload." This should do it.

This did seem to cause the intended effects. Kouichi took it as the confirmation that a new family head was already chosen as well as a warning to not interfere further. Izumi understood it like Miyuki had hired a professional manager. For Mayumi and Kasumi, who were not present during the conversation at first high and were totally out of the loop, this seemed like a polite refusal of the Saegusa's aid.

The rest of their meal was spent in a back and forth between Miyuki (and occasionally Tatsuya) and Kouichi. When Miyuki, Tatsuya and Minami finally left, Kouichi was left discontented. He had repeatedly tried to tell her that he would like to meet the new 'manager' but did not succeed. Miyuki left exhausted with a headache. It had costs her whole strength to obscure the real meaning behind their conversation from the rest of the Saegusa family. This was not to say that Miyuki was not tained in such tasks. It was simply that Kouichi was even more skilled than her and held an advantageous position since he could not lose in this conversation.

Author's note:

I am also leaving this chapter with a headache. Writing in a foreign language is hard, writing the character in a 'natural' way even harder, especially in conversations. I had to redo part of the conversations in this chapter a few times over. I believe this chapter took three times as long as Ch06.

By the way, it may be a bit confusing about who knows what about the siblings. In essence, only Erika actually connected the dots due to her conversation with Tatsuya in Visitor III. So, here is a overview:

Aware of Miyuki's position: The Yotsuba family, Toudou Aoba, Erika

Aware of the Sibling's connection to the Yotsuba: 101 IMEB, Saegusa Kouichi, Kudou Retsu, Kokonoe, few others I may have forgotten.

Totally unaware: Everyone else.

About the Itsuwa family: I am not really sure where I am going with this. Unlike part 1, part 2 is less planned. In fact, Ch06 and Ch07 cover what I head planned for now. But I really liked that one scene from To Stand at the Pinnacle with Fumiya and Michiko as well as the story Path to Light, so I wanted to check if I could do something similar. Of course, Miyuki will not accept this, but well, it sounds fun and I am out of ideas for this part anyway... Note that I may not actually use this.

I originally planned to write a few more chapters before uploading them, but I think I am going to upload these two already. I hope you will enjoy them.

Initially, I planned to make these chapters a surprise update for my first reviewer, but that guy/girl/... ended up asking while I was writing the chapters so he already knows. But hey, it may still be a surprise for other readers.

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