[The Museum of Cryptozoology (and their rescue mission) belongs to Claidheamh Mohr, the Island of Sparassus belongs to Tarmo Flake, and the village of Okutama belongs to Endelstadt]

(chapter 8)

ICEP branch office, Tokyo

Smith had a pile of paperwork on her desk. Most of the documents were to do with "independent" organisations, many of which didn't even know about the existence of each other, that ICEP were currently in negotiation with, in order to properly safeguard the rights of humans and non-humans when the "Big Announcement" goes public.

A few years ago, the Museum of Cryptozoology had changed, from being part of the 'tinfoil hat brigade' to being a legitimate research museum, thanks to donations from various benefactors. There were even a few rumours they had rescued a family of non-humans, mere minutes before a patrol of religious extremists found their settlement.

Currently, they're archiving and preserving records from a Jotun elder in an undisclosed location.

Another incident was 12 years ago, state and federal laws in the USA had been secretly amended to include non-humans. Apparently, a non-human had been accused of murdering a Japanese exchange student, Erika Kobayashi, and someone called F. O'Reilly revised every single piece of state and federal legislation, just so the accused would have a fair trial, even if it was in a closed court.

…wait a moment... Kobayashi, O'Reilly. ...where have I seen those names before?...

"Doppel! Get the others!"

===/===

Oborozuka shopping district

Tohru was just entering the shopping district, when Mr Toda, the fishmonger, came rushing up to her. He had his portable radio in his hand.

"Tohru-chan, have you heard the news?" he asked, excitedly. "The government has officially recognised the existence of non-humans." He lowered his voice, "you don't have to pretend any more."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," whispered Tohru.

"The entire retailers association knows," he whispered back. "We've just been keeping it quiet."

"Why?"

"Dragons attract good luck. Besides that, my wife is a mermaid. Causing trouble for you could lead to trouble for her."

===/===

In transit, between Tokyo and Oborozuka

Smith's phone chimed while she was driving.

"Manako, check that for me," she said, as she ran another red light.

Manako looked at the message alert on the phone.

"Uh, Smith, do you know a 'MechaFaerie1337' at all?"

The subject title simply said 'turn on the news'

Manako switched on the car's radio

"...-peating our top story. The Japanese Government has officially recognised the existence of non-human species, such as centaurs and harpies. The Interspecies Cultural Exchange Act was signed at 8:30AM this-..."

The car screeched to a halt. Smith's left eye was twitching, and a vein on her forehead was throbbing.

Manako opened the email

Hi,

Sorry I hacked your phone, but it was important you found out the announcement was made earlier than planned.

Meet me at the apartment after school has finished for the day. I know you have my address.

-Hikari.

===/===

Oborozuka middle-school

"Miss O'Reilly," said Principal Yamada. "I appreciate you standing up for your friend, but it is blatantly obvious a Yuki-onna assaulted Mr Tokugawa."

"Sir," replied Astrid, "Sakura-chan was terrified. Are you aware of what would have happened if she used her powers while in that state?"

"I was told you beat the other two up, but Mr Tokugawa is frostbitten, and Miss Fuyu is our only Yuki-onna."

"No she's not, sir," replied Astrid, "Did you read my enrolment forms?"

Principal Yamada looked at the paperwork and sighed.

"I still have to contact your guardian, regardless, because of the other two boys."

===/===

"...I want that freak of an ice demon out of this school, now!..."

Erika could hear the ranting of an angry woman on the other side of Principal Yamada's door.

Sitting opposite her, an adult Yuki-onna was trying to comfort her young daughter, their tears freezing as both were crying.

"Mrs Fuyu, I'm Erika Kobayashi. I'm Astrid's sister-in-law," she said, extending her hand to introduce herself. The older woman backed away instinctively.

"Please, I don't want to hurt you."

"Not likely," replied Erika. "You're not the first Yuki-onna I've come into close contact with."

"They don't believe you," stated Astrid, "They don't even believe I'm a Yuki-onna."

"Astrid tried to convince the principal that she had frozen that boy's arms," Sakura said, between her sobs. "He was even ready to suspend her for it, but School Superintendent Tokugawa burst in, demanding my expulsion."

"She's been ranting for an hour," said Astrid. "One of us needs to intervene, and save Mr Yamada."

"I'll do that," said a new voice. Entering the reception area was a tall, dark-haired woman. She was wearing the 'standard government-issue' clothes, and sunglasses.

"Hello, Miss Smith,"said Astrid. "I'm not sure how she'll react to someone challenging her authority. Her son tried to take a hostage when I did it."

===/===

Half an hour later, the police were explaining to Mrs Tokugawa about how lucky her son was not to be arrested for harming a non-human, as the Cultural Exchange Act, which she had known about in advance, was signed less than 15 minutes after the morning's incident.

Smith was explaining the same thing to Astrid. She then turned to Erika and Mrs Fuyu.

"I need to talk to the both of you. I have already arranged for these two to have the rest of the day off. Officially, it's to process your Government Identification cards, so that you're protected under the new Act."

"If that's the case, Miss Smith," replied Erika. "There are at least two other students you'll need to collect. An elf and a wizard."

"Unfortunately, wizards aren't classified as non-humans. Witches are, but not wizards."

"That's stupid," commented Mrs Fuyu.

"I know it's stupid. It's government bureaucracy at its finest. As for the elf, I'll get the principal to page them. Principal Yamada, could you contact the elf's guardian?"

"That guardian would be me," said Erika.

===/===

The O'Reilly apartment

Smith was sitting on the sofa, a mug of coffee in her hand.

"Good coffee," she commented. "Even though it means lots of paperwork for me, we need to have full-disclosure of all of the extra-species in your household."

"That will be complicated," replied Erika. "Some of us don't come under the list you've given me."

Just then, the front door opened, with Doppel and Tionisha accompanying both sets of twins.

"While I appreciate being called out of classes early," said Hikari, as she walked inside. "You didn't need to announce to the whole school we weren't human."

She deactivated the holographic disguise from her armour, and popped open its front hatch.

"I didn't know you were a fairy," said Manako from over by the kitchen.

"What? Fairies can't use tech?" she replied. "Racist much?"

Manako looked suitably ashamed.

"Before this degenerates into a childish back-and-forth," said Kuroko. "Miss Smith called us here for a reason."

"Yeah, paperwork," groaned Astrid.

"I can reduce a chunk of that for you right away," said Hikari. "Although what I'm about to do could be seen as 'slightly questionable' if your superiors found out."

Smith's face brightened at the 'less paperwork' idea. "Show me."

"Follow me."

Hikari led Smith into the adjoining apartment, and walked up to the games cabinet. She closed its doors, and pushed them inwards. Smith saw an impossibly large room in front of her.

"I can use my secure server to reclassify Oborozuka as an established extra-species community, similar to Sparassus, and Okutama."

"What the fuck is this?!" exclaimed Smith.

"It's called a Type 50 TARDIS. I've been salvaging Timelord technology for a while," replied Hikari. "This was collecting dust in UNIT's London branch for ages. When I first found it, it looked like an old reel-to-reel computer cabinet. To be honest, this is like a museum piece, compared to some of our starships, but restoration projects are a good way to keep occupied."