Episode 5: Strolling the Village
Lux Arcadia put down his belongings on the floor of the room he had been provided by the Habakiri clan. He look around at the traditional Japanese room and marveled at the sight. This is his first time visiting one of the Eastern countries. Just by looking at his room alone already make him feel like he's very far away from home. It's not like he never went outside the Atismata kingdom in Northern Europe but the places he visited barely felt any different from his own homeland.
Maybe it is because even if it is outside of his homeland, the surrounding countries are still part of Europe and they all share some similarities in culture with only several differences like how people could speak the same language but have their own accents.
But after seeing the room and the places he passed by before arriving here, he felt like he is very far away from home with how different the sights are. No wonder his brother told him to come here. It would make a good learning experience for him. Just by coming here alone had already taught him a lot of things.
"Is the room to your liking, sir Arcadia?"
His guide, Habakiri Yoruka, asked him. Lux nodded. The room is well cared for and spacious. There are no elevated beds but from what he knew, Japanese sleep in something called a futon that is laid on the floor when needed. He had been shown where the futon is but he had not rolled it out since he's not planning to take a nap but he is curious what it would look and feel like. He would find that out in the night anyway.
"The room is fine. And please, just call me Lux. I'm still too young to be called sir."
"Understood, Lux-sama."
Lux wondered what that '-sama' thing is about. He recall his Japanese lesson back home that he took before coming here and he remembered that Japanese use honorifics behind someone's name. He recalled that '-sama' is used to refer to someone of higher standing.
"Just Lux is fine. Or if you're not comfortable with it, please use '-san' instead, Habakiri-san."
"Very well. Then Lux-san, please call me Yoruka instead."
That was fast. From what he was taught, it's not easy to get a Japanese to allow you to refer to them using their first name. Only friends and families usually refer to each other using first names. Though it's not like he is the expert on Japanese culture.
"Thank you, Yoruka-san. By the way, when can I speak with the family head? My brother told me that I should seek permission from the family head if I want to use the facilities here."
Lux asked. He had thought that he would be brought to the family head the moment he came. It was usually like that back home. Maybe it is different here?
"I apologize, Lux-san. Your arrival coincides with the arrival of another important guest so chichiue is unable to speak with you for the day. He had ordered me to become your guide and entertain you for the day."
Lux nodded. So there is another guest around and the clan head is meeting them. He's not in a hurry since his brother said that he is free to stay here for a week or two as long as he is allowed so by the Habakiri. Though he is curious who the guests are but asking right now would be quite rude since it is not his business at all. Instead, he'll ask Yoruka to show him around. He had only seen a part of the village, or rather town since the size of the Habakiri 'village' is actually around the size of a small town.
"I will take up the offer. Can you please show me around the town, Yoruka-san?"
"Very well. Should we go right now?"
Lux nodded. He had finished unpacking his things so it's as good a time as any to head out. With his confirmation, Yoruka lead him out from his room and down to the town. Along the way, Lux marveled at the beautiful view of the traditional Japanese garden he is passing through. The Habakiri mansion is shaped like a traditional Japanese mansion which unlike western mansion is made out of wood and has only a single floor as opposed to the multistoried mansions usually seen in Atismata.
He like it even if he had only just arrived less than an hour ago. The mansion has a more natural feel to it compared to the ones back home. Both styles of course have their respective appeal but Lux is starting to lean more towards the Eastern style mansion with its more natural vibe.
The mansion itself stood on top of a small hill overlooking the whole town. From up here, he could get a good view of the town as a whole. It is not as big as Atismata Kingdom which is about equal in size to major metropolitan cities around the world but still big enough to be called a town, though why it is not called so is something he is wondering. Maybe nobody bothered to change the name since it had stick for so long.
The two then descended the stairs that would lead them to the town. Lux can't wait to see how different things are in her compared to Europe. Maybe he should propose some kind of student exchange program to the academy when he got back home. Though first he have to really see what the East has to offer.
Ichika had been to Kazanari mansion in Tokyo before along with a villa in Okinawa as well as ancestral home in Kyoto. All of them share one thing in common; they are all traditional Japanese mansions. So he was mildly surprised when the villa in Habakiri village is shaped like a western log house. Even Tsubasa look somewhat surprised. Ichika even heard her muttering something about her uncle indulging Ryoko too much sometimes.
"…are we really sure there is nothing going on between Ryoko-san and the commander?"
Ichika whispered to Kanade.
"They never confirmed nor denied any of the rumors but… considering how the old man is compared to the other Kazanari family members, he wouldn't have done this if there is nothing between them."
Kanade replied. Ichika nodded in agreement. It is a popular gossip back in their base. It is no secret that commander Kazanari is close with Sakurai Ryoko and are frequently seen together. Some had wondered if they are in a relationship but they never confirmed nor denied those rumors.
The teens then followed Maya inside. The log house itself is not very big when compared to other Kazanari-owned estates but it is still rather sizable. There are five bedrooms in total, all located on the second floor. Two of them are occupied by Ryoko and Genjuuro while the other three are guest rooms. Kanade and Tsubasa gets one room while Ichika gets another.
Ichika entered his designated room. It is rather simple-looking with two beds and basic furnishing. The room also has one of the latest model PC as well as a smaller model HD TV. It is also well cared for since everything is so clean and tidy. Probably taken care of by some caretaker. The Kazanari usually employ one or two of those in their other estates.
Ichika put down his things beside one of the bed, the one furthest from the door and in front of the PC. He didn't bring many things so he decided to unpack later during the night. Ichika then left his room to look around. He passed by the girls' room and saw that they are unpacking. That will take a while knowing Tsubasa and Kanade, meaning Tsubasa will make a mess and Kanade have to deal with said mess.
It surprised him when he first got to know his two fellow relic users. Seeing that Tsubasa is the more serious one while Kanade is more outgoing, he thought that Kanade would be the one with messy lifestyle. It turns out that Tsubasa is the messy one while Kanade is the tidy and organized one. In fact, the first time he came to Tsubasa's room, it is three times messier than Gotanda Dan's room. Hell, it's even messier than Chifuyu's room whenever she came home drunk!
He went downstairs where he saw Maya working in the kitchen. She look familiar with everything there so Ichika could take a guess who is the main caretaker of this place. Ichika look around. The place is not overly big like the other Kazanari estates but it does have a more welcoming air compared to the other estates, especially when compared to the Kazanari main house. Deciding to wait for his friends, Ichika sat on one of the arm chair near the window. Just as he sat down, someone placed a glass of iced tea on the small table beside his chair. It was Maya.
"Orimura-san, have you finished unpacking?"
Maya asked. Ichika shook his head.
"No. I'll unpack tonight. I don't bring much with me anyway. Nee-san and Tsubasa-san though, they'll take a while to unpack."
The male relic user replied as he took the iced tea Maya gave him. The IS pilot took the other empty seat next to the table with her own iced tea in hand.
"By the way, Orimura-san, I have heard a bit about you but, are you actually related to Orimura Chifuyu?"
Maya suddenly asked. Ichika paused with his glass still a few inches from his mouth. He haven't heard that question in a while. Some people managed to put two and two together and figured out that he is Chifuyu's brother so he got asked that question frequently when he first joined Section 2. Apparently, Chifuyu really do have dedicated fans among the military. It was the first time he truly realized the scope of his sister's popularity.
"Orimura Chifuyu is my big sister. Between you and me though, Yamada-san, Chifuyu-nee is actually quite a slob in her daily life so sometimes I still find it hard to believe that she has dedicated fans around the world."
Ichika said to her in a whisper, acting as if he's telling the IS pilot a juicy gossip, which is probably what it is. It's kind of a personal hobby of his. Whenever he met one of Chifuyu's fan, who is not a hardcore one at least, he would tell them some embarrassing things about her that would ruin her public image. Seeing their reaction when they heard about their idol's home life is interesting. Though Ichika made sure never to do that with her more hardcore fan. He did once and… it did not end well. Maya seems nice enough though.
"Ehh?! Really?!"
Maya looked as surprised as Ichika imagine she would be. Most people do. Chifuyu like to cultivate a serious and uncompromising image outside of their house and that is how her fans see her. Everyone would be surprised to see how much of a slob she could be behind closed door. Come to think of it, so is Tsubasa. Now that he actually thought about it, Tsubasa is like Chifuyu in some ways. No wonder he can handle his blue haired senior easily. Both Chifuyu and Tsubasa like to act all serious and cultivate a cold and hard image but they are actually softies and a slob in their private life.
"It's true. It just proves that you can't judge a book by its cover. Though sometimes I hope she just drop her kuudere act in public. It would've made her more approachable. If this goes on, she won't be able to find a boyfriend for the rest of her life."
Ichika finish with a sigh. Maya look as if she had just heard one of the most unbelievable thing in her life, especially since Ichika just called his own sister a kuudere. Around that moment, the girls came down from their room, surprisingly a bit faster than usual, though Ichika chalk it up to Kanade likely doing the unpacking by herself. The two female relic users came down to see Maya gaping like a fish and could guess what had just happened.
"Ichika, you know that Chifuyu-san won't appreciate you telling people unnecessary stuff about her."
Tsubasa scold her junior whose reply is a simple mischievous grin.
"I'm just trying to make my sister a bit more approachable. God knows that she needs some real friends instead of fans."
Tsubasa sighs at her junior's mischievous streak. She didn't even bother to try convincing Kanade to talk to Ichika about despite Ichika listening to Kanade more than he does her. After all, it is pointless when Kanade herself is the source of Ichika's mischievous side.
Once they all got ready, Maya led them towards the village, or rather town considering its size. It is quite an amazing sight for the relic users. The town is styled like a Meiji era Japanese town and lots of people went about their daily life like people of that time. In fact, Ichika even felt that he's going on a historical trip through time instead of being in a magical village, if not for some people using exotic spells like juggling flames and controlling water to make shapes to entertain children. They even have shops where they are selling some rather exotic things like animals he had never seen before and some kind of moving plants.
Ichika look around at the town in wonder. He had read some fantasy stories before but books and movies really couldn't do justice for the real thing. After all, it is one thing to read it from a book or seeing it from a screen but it is another matter entirely to see and experience magic by himself. It is quite a novel feeling.
Other than the occasional sight of people using magic though, Ichika noted that the magicians are not really that different from ordinary people. They still eat, laugh, talk, doing business, and arguing with each other like any normal person. You wouldn't even be able to tell that they are magicians unless they use magic in front of your eyes.
"You know, this is not what I expected when I heard about a magical village."
Ichika said to Maya whom he is walking together with since Tsubasa is keeping an eye on Kanade so she wouldn't run off and buy random things because she finds them interesting. The red haired idol had already bought some skewers of some kind of unknown animal that resembles chicken but more fiery and she would've bought a burning salamander skin coat just because it looks cool.
"Hee? So what did you expect when you first heard about this trip, Orimura-san?"
Maya asked out of curiosity.
"I don't know. A place where everyone are wearing robes and carrying a staff and there are people stirring cauldrons every few steps?"
Maya chuckled at Ichika's imagination. To be honest, that was also what she thought when she heard about the village for the first time. Their view on magic has been heavily influenced by popular culture. Not to say that everything they saw in the media are wrong but reality is not exactly the same as what was depicted in fiction.
"I also thought about that when I was first assigned here. But once you have lived here for a while and the novelty wore off, you'll notice that the village is no different from any ordinary village around Japan."
"It's more of a town though."
Ichika quipped. After that, they continue to walk, finally passing through the market district and to the residential district where they saw several traditional Japanese houses lining the streets like in the past. Out of curiosity, Ichika peeked at one of the houses with a slightly open door. Inside, he could see a housewife preparing food using some retro utensils… while cutting the meat using wind magic and heating the pot using fire magic.
While everything seems retro around here, Ichika had been seeing people using magic for their daily activities that make their work as efficient as the machines the non-magical people uses. It is honestly surprising and incredible in a way. He learned a lot just by simply walking around town.
He then looked around to see whether there's anything else interesting or not. That was when he noticed some flashes in the sky several miles from their position. He squinted his eyes as he looked at those flashes. He felt like he had seen those kinds of flashes before. That's when he realized what he's seeing. Wanting to get a confirmation, he tapped Maya's shoulder.
"Yamada-san, that over there, are those IS battling?"
Ichika asked when he got Maya's attention. Seeing where his finger is pointing and knowing what is in the area around there, Maya nodded.
"It is something close to that. It is where the Knights practice using their Dragrides."
"Knights?"
Kanade inquired when she heard the unusual term for people in a traditional Japanese village. Maya nodded as she began to explain about the topic.
"Knights, or rather Drag Knights are those magicians who have the privilege of piloting a Dragride. I don't know whether Sakurai-san have explained it to you guys or not but Dragrides are the magical equivalent of an Infinite Stratos. Dragrides originally came from the west and according to records, during the period when Japan was still known as Wakoku, or possibly even before that, a Knight along with a powerful alchemist came in search of more exotic materials to build more powerful Dragrides. During that period, the alchemist taught the magicians of Wakoku how to create Dragrides. The term Drag Knight was then adopted by the locales and they kept using it even now, or that's how the story goes. Sakurai-san would know more about it though."
A Dragride battle. To say that the three relic users are not interested would be a lie. Will it be like an IS battle or will it be something entirely different? The three relic users are curious to see what it's like.
"Can we watch them battle?"
Kanade excitedly asked. Maya nodded and she led them to where the sparring field is. She led them into the forest since the training area is in a clearing inside the forest, an area big enough for them to use just around the size of an IS battle arena. After all, Dragrides are around the size of an IS and to train using that kind of… machine (?) needs space, not to mention keeping it a bit further from the residential area.
As they walk through the forest in order to reach the clearing, Ichika suddenly stopped when he heard the familiar sound of metal clashing against metal. According to Maya, there are also other training area around the clearing, smaller ones used to practice other things like magic and combat. Out of curiosity, Ichika went to look at the source of the sound.
That was when he saw two people, a boy and a girl, sparring using sword. It is an incredible sight as they move like a blur, clashing at a speed no normal human could've pulled off or follow. Ichika could follow them easily due to being a relic user possessing enhanced ability. Still, it is impressive.
The boy fights using a thin western longsword. He has white hair and is dressed in a white shirt and black vest along with black trousers. His complexion obviously belongs to a westerner which makes Ichika wonder why he is here in this eastern land. His sparring partner is a black haired Japanese girl wearing a slightly loose black kimono wielding a kodachi.
The two clashes at high speed and each time their blades met, loud clanging was heard and it echoed throughout the field. It is like seeing a dance between two people who are in their own world. He would've been entranced if he had not known that feeling himself. It's like seeing those times when Tsubasa and Kanade sparred, and he would like to believe that it is also how he looked like when he sparred with either of his friends.
"Lux-san, it appears that we have a spectator."
Ichika heard the girl speak. He then realized that the two combatants have stopped fighting and are looking at him. The white haired boy is especially looking at him with curiosity.
That was the first time that Orimura Ichika met Lux Arcadia.
Okay, took a while but I finally got this done. The intro chapters are basically done with this now that Ichika and Lux had met. I hope everyone like what I'm doing with Ichika. Anyway, nothing much to talk about in this chapter other than a bit more world building as well as making 'the calm before the storm'. From this moment on, shit will get real because the protagonists of two sides have met. Next chapter will start with Lux leading up to his spar with Yoruka and meeting Ichika and then continue to either resuming the spar between Lux and Yoruka either on foot to show how magic works in this triple crossover or in Dragrides or a spar between Ichika/Tsubasa and Lux/Yoruka. It depends on how well I can move the events. After that and a peaceful day, shit goes down.
Anyway, I also hope that nobody minds my current depiction of Yoruka. At this point of time, she's not batshit crazy or homicidal because this happens before whatever it is that made her how she was in Bahamut canon. She might not even be the same as in canon due to the different events but she'll still be a fun one to work with.
TheEmeraldMage: There will be more world building where that came from. I have made this world's history from the Age of Myth to the modern day and I'll be damned if I don't use them. World building is fun but a lot of work and taxing on the head. And I'm glad you like my version of Ichika. At least he's not a black hole here.
Hakuryukou79: It's a lot of work but worth it... even if world building can be a pain sometimes.