- さえぐさ - しば-

December 16, 2095, First National Magic University Affiliated High School, Tokyo

Mayumi let out a breath as she looked out the windows of the First High Student Council Room. Winter had completely descended on Tokyo, the chilly weather encouraging most people to stay indoors for the greater portion of the day. The changing season had recolored the campus scenery once again. Nature had graced them with the first snow of the season, dusting everything in layers of the white powder. The deciduous cherry and maple trees in the courtyard had finished shedding their foliage for the year, their limber branches reaching up to the sky to receive the gentle precipitation. The late afternoon winter sun cast its dying rays against the Technical Skills building, causing the white marble to glisten, clean against the flakes drifting lazily in the winter wind. Thinking about the weather caused her to shiver involuntarily, despite it being quite nice and toasty inside the room itself. Mari glanced at her from across the table at the sudden movement.

"Are you going to finish that review assignment or not? It's due tomorrow you know."

"Mari, Just because you have not been paying attention to the workload in light of the upcoming winter break does not mean the rest of us have," Suzune commented dryly from next to her, not even bothering to look up from her terminal.

It was late in the afternoon, and most of the student body had returned home for the day. Most club activities had stopped for the trimester, so the few students still on campus mostly consisted of student leaders in the Student Council, Disciplinary Committee, or the Club Management Group. Despite no longer being on the Council, Mayumi, Suzune, and by extension of their friendship, Mari had been welcomed back to borrow the room space to continue their preparation for the university entrance exams.

At the dedicated workstations in the room, a flustered Azusa seemed to have twenty different applications open to keep track of all the reports that needed either be created, reviewed, or filed before the end of the year while she consulted with an equally flustered Honoka. She amusedly recalled those days when she was in those shoes. Kei frowned in concentration as he reviewed the spreadsheet in front of him, sometimes flipping through another paper report on the table, scrutinizing the expense report.

She caught Miyuki's eye from where she was consolidating the completed data and filing them away in the system. The younger Shiba favored her with a wide smile. Ever since the resolution of the Yokohama Incident, the invisible distance that the two siblings had created between them had disappeared, and Miyuki once again treated her with amiable familiarity.

The last occupant was Kanon; Mayumi wondered if she was here because she wanted to be near her fiance, or if she was simply territorial due to the overwhelming female population in the room. Kanon was also looking at a terminal, but a quick glance told her she was browsing some online stores. Last minute Christmas preparation? The sight of the Chief of the Disciplinary Committee being present made her think of the Vice-Chief of the committee, who was noticeably absent. Either Kanon had foisted her committee work off on him like Mari had done to her, or he was simply optimizing one thing or another. Knowing him it was probably the latter.

"Hello? Mayumi? Are you still there?"

She was shaken out of her thoughts when she caught sight of a hand being waved in front of her face. She hadn't realized that she had gone back to staring out the window, but decided to faux glare at her friend nonetheless.

"Mari! Rin-chan and I can't keep feeding you answers for work that you don't want to do yourself! You're going to be a college student in a couple months!"

The other woman folded her arms and huffed.

"Fine, fine. I just wanted to check if you had the references for page 41. I need it to answer question 16b on the assignment. It seems like Suzune didn't feel like your outline was complete enough."

The statement caught Mayumi's attention. She quickly checked the page count on the shared document that they were populating together to serve as a resource for potential topics that could come up on the examinations next month. She had only recalled creating a total of 34 pages with Mari, although truthfully the other woman wasn't much help. Suzune couldn't contribute at the time because she had been focusing on the Thesis Competition for the entirety of September and most of October. The stoic third-year had only started looking at the document towards the end of November, after most of the term's final exams were completed. Sure enough, the total number of pages had increased, although the document was not 41 pages long.

When had she…

She looked up from the terminal screen to stare blankly at her other best friend. Suzune looked up when she felt Mayumi looking at her.

"Did you need something?"

"Why is the document 53 pages long?" Mayumi demanded.

"It was incomplete," her stoic friend said simply, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Suzune matched her stare, one of the few people who could do so.

Mayumi sighed.

"You do know this was just supposed to cover the high level topics. Any details are listed in the references in each section."

Suzune continued to type while talking.

"I realize that. However, some of the fundamental topics are lacking in description."

"Hey!" Mari exclaimed from the side. Apparently she had put off the assigned work for the time being and was scrolling through the document Mayumi and Suzune were editing. "Why does this section say 'Two Great Puzzles of Weight Systematic Magic'!"

"Because it's two puzzles now," Suzune deadpanned. "I believe we were all there when Shiba-san demonstrated the feasibility of flying-type magic this summer."

"But the curriculum hasn't been updated yet! We're still being tested over this year's materials! Why make us study something that hasn't been changed yet!?" Mari took a closer look at the screen. "This section on the mechanics of flying-type magic is blank!"

Suzune stopped what she was doing to look back at Mari.

"Well, we're going to figure out how it works. I have provided the activation sequence in the appendix, so if you're done complaining, please start reading it and figuring out how it works."

"But why me?! You two are the smart ones, why can't Mayumi-"

"WATANABE-SENPAI!" the pitchy voice of Azusa interrupted her from the corner of the room. "IF YOU ARE JUST GOING TO COMPLAIN, PLEASE LEAVE. THE STUDENT COUNCIL STILL HAS TO FINISH THESE REPORTS BEFORE THE END OF THE SEMESTER!"

The outburst silenced everyone in the room. The diminutive Student Council President glared towards the long table, while Honoka looked nervously between the upperclassmen in the room. Mari, Suzune, Miyuki, Kanon, and Kei all looked equally surprised. Mayumi had never heard the squirrelly second-year raise her voice other than her excited outbursts about new developments in CAD technology. Honestly, she was impressed that Azusa could even do that, and to Mari of all people.

Mayumi did suppose that the three of them had used up their allotted goodwill for the day. She knew Azusa was quite stressed, and that they shouldn't bother them more than necessary. As the former Student Council President, she took it upon herself to gently extricate the three of them from the situation, although that wasn't her only reason for wanting to do so. After saving her work and powering off the terminal, she clasped her hands in front of her.

"Mari, Rin-chan, we can continue this over the winter break, we shouldn't overstay, and besides, it's getting quite late."

Mari looked like she was going to protest, probably because she still hadn't finished her assigned schoolwork, but Mayumi simply cocked an eyebrow at her friend. Mari sighed and nodded, cleaning up as well. She would probably be getting a message later tonight from her pestering her for help. The three seniors collected their belongings, and gave their farewells to the juniors who had gone back to their work.

"To the station then?" Mari asked.

"That's where I'm heading," Suzune replied.

Mayumi shook her head. She had submitted all of her assignments and didn't feel like going home quite yet.

"I forgot something in the classroom, you two can go on ahead, don't wait up."

"Wasn't it you that said it was getting quite late?" Mari asked. "I'm sure whatever you left will still be there tomorrow." Suzune was absently checking for information on the weather on her mobile terminal.

"I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself, you know," Mayumi responded, turning and heading in the opposite direction from the school entrance.

Mari frowned as she walked past her.

"That's not the direction of the 3-A...hey, wait a second you sly woman! You're going to the Dis-"

Thankfully, Suzune had also figured out where she was heading, but unlike her other friend, had the good grace to let her do as she pleased. The stoic woman grabbed her arm and started dragging her off.

"Mari, let's go. I don't want to miss a car, and neither of us can just call one if we do miss it."

Suzune gave her a knowing look as she passed her. Mari wouldn't be deterred.

"You better tell us what happened tomorrow Mayumi!" she called from behind her.

...

Tatsuya picked up the device in his hand and turned it over, finding the serial number etched into the metal. He walked over to the next row of cabinets and pulled open a drawer to deposit the CAD in its new home. He deftly catalogued the information into the tablet he was carrying with him and turned to examine the long table in the room, which was finally clear of items. Tatsuya allowed himself a sigh of relief. He was the last member left in the Disciplinary Committee headquarters with the rest of the students having left for the day. With the upcoming holiday and the more relaxed atmosphere within the school, Kanon had made the decision to only deploy half of the regular members on patrol, letting the other four members leave early to attend to any other personal business they had.

This late in the day however, the students that had been assigned to patrol duty had long since came, made their reports, and left. And so, with Miyuki still helping out with the Student Council for the end of semester crunch, he decided it would be much more productive for him to optimize some things for the committee. He had finished reorganizing the report database on their dedicated server and just now completed inventorying and rearranging the storage locations of all of the devices and books that had been haphazardly stowed in the various shelves and closets when he had been first recruited.

Tatsuya made his way back to the Chief's desk and deposited the tablet back in its docking bay. Given how he had initially protested the appointment, it was amusing that he had eventually been assigned to the position of Vice-Chief. When Kanon had made the announcement, there had been some murmuring, but no significant objections to the nomination. The argument surrounding his status as a Course 2 student had long since grown stale; the vocal opinions from earlier in the year had been shattered, and he had not given anyone any additional reasons to use as ammunition.

He turned to look out the window overlooking the school's courtyard. He could recall a time, not that long ago, when he himself was standing out there looking up at the imposing walls of First High, and now here, in fate's twist of irony, he was in very much the opposite position. Looking back on the changes that had occurred since he and Miyuki had enrolled, it was startling to see how much he had taken to what he had originally thought would be a counterfeit life. All he had known for as long as he could remember was that he existed solely for Miyuki, and for the sake of the Yotsuba, nothing more and nothing less.

And yet, here he was.

It wasn't to the extent that he could say with certainty that he was enjoying these experiences...Perhaps comfortable was the right word. Yes. He was comfortable.

Tatsuya's lips turned into a small frown as he watched the flakes drift lazily past the glass. But no matter what he did, or who his classmates thought he was, inevitably his other life would pull him back. He recalled their last visit to the Main House the previous month. As expected, the Head of the Clan was less than pleased with his involvement with the Yokohama incident and even more so with his use of Material Burst to wipe Zhenhai Naval Port from the face of the earth. Unlike Okinawa, or even his use of his magic to sink the Yokohama landing vessel, this event had captured global attention.

International tensions were slowly ratcheting upwards, and a total of four strategic class magicians had been mobilized. The Head had tried to order him to drop out of school to lie low at the Main House, a directive that he had refused. That itself had been a stiff conversation, but in the end she had acceded, on the condition that he do his best not to stand out any more than he had already, as well as not contacting the battalion, two conditions that he was perfectly content to adhere to. He, however, was cognizant of Maya's ability to plan and scheme, so the fact that she had acquiesced so soon was something to be wary of. Her claws were firmly sunk into both his and his sister's lives, and in more ways than they probably realized.

Tatsuya exhaled and settled himself into one of the workstations next to the Chief's desk, still facing towards the windows where the winter landscape was in view. There was no point in wondering about plots he could not see. He couldn't act on information that he did not have. And so he and his sister would continue to pretend that this double life would go on, even though it could collapse at any moment. No one else could understand.

Well. Maybe one other person.

He glanced back at the room, now much neater and tidier after his meticulous re-organizing job; nothing else to be done here. He pulled out his personal terminal to busy himself with other thoughts. He was about to pull up some research papers when he caught sight of a notification, a message from 'Taurus'. He opened the message, noting the encrypted attachment. He quickly scanned through the message; he would need to schedule a visit to FLT soon, after he had an opportunity to thoroughly review the Third Division's analysis results.

Tatsuya was in the middle of decrypting the package when he heard the door to the room open. He didn't have to turn around to know who it was.

"I figured that you would be the last one here."

"Well, to be fair, I think you had the biggest role in me ending up in this position in the first place."

A peeved huff came from the space beside him. He paused his typing momentarily to cast a glance in Mayumi's direction, who he could now see was scowling at him. A wry smile tugged at his lips. She was like a breath of fresh air, somehow planting herself firmly into their lives. At first she had been something of an enigma to him. What about him had captured her attention? So he had simply continued along this path, and somehow down the road he had found her walking beside him, with him. Someone who saw him for who he was.

Mayumi pulled out the chair at the workstation next to Tatsuya, the sound of the chair scraping against the wooden floor interrupting the renewed silence, and took a seat.

He wasn't wrong, technically. She herself had initially nominated him to the Disciplinary Committee, but his statement still annoyed her, despite its veracity.

Tatsuya had turned back to his screen, and resumed his typing. She took a moment to study his expression. His eyes swept back and forth over the rows of characters on the screen, focused, while his brows knitted together ever so slightly. The sight of his countenance whenever he was working or analyzing something was a sight that she had seen many times before, but lately she had noticed that his expression was less mechanical. Maybe it was the way that his smiles were more relaxed, or that it no longer faded from his face like it used to.

Mayumi turned away from him and opened up her own terminal, pulling up the file she, Mari, and Suzune were working on, and absently navigated through the document finding and adding missing review content that hadn't yet been populated, humming softly. A part of her marvelled at how the gulf between the two of them had been so quickly, how natural it felt for them to simply be in each other's company. Despite their renewal of their cordial relationship, between her studies and Tatsuya's new responsibilities as the Vice-Chief of the Disciplinary Committee, it wasn't often that they got to see each other for the past month. Her thoughts wandered back to that evening that he had chosen to meet her.

You're important to me.

Her cheeks heated as she recalled his words. Certainly, that day had been filled with revelations and confessions from both of them, but since that fateful, terrifying, and altogether exceeding eventful day, neither had really spoken in greater detail about what exactly was developing between the two of them. At least for herself, she could admit the feelings that she had been slowly blossoming over the months since their reunion at the Entrance Ceremony. And between her interactions with him as well as Miyuki's words, she was reasonably certain that Tatsuya also had some measure of feelings towards her as well.

It was probably best that she didn't bring it up. Her new awareness of what Tatsuya had suffered through and how it had affected him had shed new light on many of his behaviors she had once considered peculiar. She knew that even if he had become more conscious of his own emotions, it would take time before he could completely understand them. There was no need to rush; his welfare outweighed her own selfish wishes, and she would give him as much time as he needed. In light of recent circumstances, it was enough that she was alive, and that they could once again spend time together whenever the opportunity arose.

Mayumi felt a presence leaning over from the side. Glancing over, she was mildly surprised to see Tatsuya studying her screen. She looked back at her own terminal. Being so absorbed in her own thoughts she hadn't realized that her scrolling had stopped in the appendix where Suzune had added references for the activation sequence for flying-type magic.

"There are a couple lines missing from that portion," he observed stoically, indicating the location of the error with a slender digit.

She opened her mouth to comment on his remark, picking out only several lines of mistake out of rows and rows of characters, but closed it only after a moment. Tatsuya's uncanny ability to simply look at Magic and Activation Sequences and decode everything at a glance was almost as incredulous as finding out that he was the person who actually created it.

It had been an afternoon after classes had been finished for the day. Tatsuya had finished his committee duties early, allowing them to spend a rare hour together. It had been a day very much like this one; she had reserved a reading booth to do some personal studying.

Mayumi didn't turn as the door to the room she was occupying cracked open and Tatsuya quietly slipped inside.

"You know it's quite rude to barge your way into what is clearly an occupied booth."

"If the ojou-sama wishes to be left alone, I have plenty of personal research to keep me occupied."

At his statement, she turned and glared backwards. Tatsuya's lips were turned slightly upwards, and there was mirth in his eyes from being able to tease a reaction out of her.

"Kitten."

Mayumi sniffed and turned back to her study materials in faux annoyance but still scooted over to make room for him. Despite the few times they had shared the booth, Tatsuya still slipped beside her with practiced ease. She was mindful of the way her upper arm touched his, a pleasant warmth emanating from the point of contact. She let herself to relax into his side. She enjoyed their quiet comfort just as much as, if not more than, their repartees.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw him pull out his terminal and open up some files. Interestedly she turned to get a better look at the schematic on the screen. It was somewhat familiar, but she couldn't recall just where she had…

"Are these the blueprints of the demo device from the Thesis Competition?"

Tatsuya raised an eyebrow, his muted way of expressing surprise, which she had learned over the past few months.

"I'm impressed that you could determine that just from the process flow diagram."

She scrutinized his terminal more closely. "Honestly, I'm surprised myself. I wasn't quite paying attention when you and Rin-chan were presenting the day of." Mayumi turned to look at him.

"Well," Tatsuya glanced at her, "I suppose I could quickly go over a condensed version of the presentation."

The stoic first year toggled from the process flow diagram to an image of the actual demonstration device itself, the physical version of which had unfortunately been lost the day of the competition. Tatsuya began with the basic concepts behind Suzune's thesis, then shifted over to the practical application of the theory and the various sequences that had been implemented to work the device. Every so often she would interject with a question or a comment, and Tatsuya would answer, delving into more detail on the items that she expressed interest in. His ability to engage her on an intellectual front was something that no one other than Suzune and possibly Azusa could do. Despite her recognition in her practical skills, over the years she had found the theoretical advancements in magic fascinating.

"So what's the overall efficiency of the system?"

Tatsuya crossed his arms.

"If we disregard the technicians required to operate the demonstration device, it hovers around sixty-five percent, which is better than the use of carbon fuels but still a long way from the old nuclear reactors from the last century."

She frowned back down at the schematic.

"Then why are you still studying this?"

The barest hint of a smile appeared on Tatsuya's face.

"That's progress isn't it? Studying the past to create a better future. Ichihara-senpai's proposal is in now way a bad proposal, but I believe there is a better alternative than the intermittent proton-to-proton chain reaction used for this device. With Loop Cast, using a multi-phase process with Gravity Control, it is possible to achieve a heavy hydrogen reaction…"

Mayumi watched Tatsuya amusedly as he switched back to the original process flow diagram and began pointing to certain blocks and explaining how they could achieve a greater power output with alternate processes, although a greater portion of the physics and the theory went over her head. Tatsuya was what many would consider a taciturn individual, so seeing him so free with his words on a topic he was interested in was something she enjoyed.

"...so if a method for storing sequences can be found, in theory it should work."

Tatsuya, finished with his impromptu lecture, turned back to Mayumi. She had crossed her arms on the desk in front of them and laid her head on her side to look up at him while he was talking, dark locks spilling across her back. He furrowed his eyebrows, apparently not realizing that she had shifted her posture partway through his explanation.

She laughed brightly.

"At this rate, between you and Taurus Silver, the 'Three Great Puzzles of Weight Systematic Magic' won't be called 'great puzzles' anymore."

Tatsuya stilled for a moment as Mayumi's laughter dissipated and she took a moment to fully process through the comment she had just made.

...Silver Tridents and Loop Cast...impossible Sequence and CAD optimization skills...practical implementation of Flying-type magic...and a proposal of a solution for a second of the 'Three Great Puzzles'...

Mayumi shot out of her seat, slamming a hand on the table in the reading booth.

"NO WAY!"

"Rin-chan added it to our study document, but it seems either the source of the code was wrong or she made a mistake," Mayumi answered him, handing him her terminal. Without needing to ask, Tatsuya wordlessly received the device and quickly typed in the corrections before handing it back to her. She graced him with a grateful smile.

"She assigned Mari to analyze the mechanics of the Sequence, which she didn't seem to be too thrilled about."

Tatsuya frowned back down at the code, thoughtful.

"I didn't know that the high school curriculum would be including Flying-type magic as a topic under Gravity-control so soon."

"You're right, it hasn't been added yet, and probably not for another year yet," Mayumi continued, languidly scrolling through the rest of the document to check for what else Suzune had added. "Rin-chan has always wanted to be ahead of the curve. She's right, it may not be now, but there's no way this won't be added to the course study. Analysis was never Mari's strong suit though, so she might call you over the break to get some help. Although…" she cast a coy glance in his direction, "I do wonder what both Rin-chan and Mari would say if they knew that Taurus Silver himself was an arms length away."

He favored her with a wry smile, causing the butterflies in her chest to flutter. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to lean into his side, sighing quietly in contentment for a precious few seconds.

A sudden wave of melancholy overcame her, and she opened her eyes once again.

"I'm going to miss this," she said distractedly.

She felt her human backrest move slightly.

"I guess today is the last time we will see each other for a while. It's the last day of required classes, but I presume that as the eldest daughter of the Saegusa you will have a busy schedule over the winter holidays," Tatsuya commented thoughtfully.

"Mm," was her noncommittal response.

Truthfully, she hadn't been thinking about the upcoming winter break, but rather the fact that her last semester was quickly approaching, and soon after that, graduation. Her mood had been sombered by the thought that the carefree days she could spend at First High, and with Tatsuya and Miyuki, would soon be over. Tatsuya didn't seem to be aware that she was contemplating the not-so-distant future rather than next week's occurrences, although he was correct in that aspect as well. Father would expect her to be available, as she knew that the entire family would be gathering; her elder half-brothers were not exempt, and so she definitely wouldn't be either.

She briefly savored the idea of spending Christmas Eve with Tatsuya, before quashing that thought. Firstly, the relationship between herself and Tatsuya at the current moment was...unclear, to say the least, more than friends, but less than lovers. Secondly, if she were to be absent on that day, not only would that tip off her younger twin sisters, but every single member of her family as well. So, no, that would be a bad idea.

They sat in silence for several minutes, Tatsuya reading on his terminal while she mentally lamented their predicament.

"Well, it will only be two weeks, at the maximum," Tatsuya broke the silence. "We'll see each other again soon."

His words surprised her. It took a few moments for her to realize he was attempting to assuage her. She sat up straight and turned to look him in the eye.

"You promise?" she asked in a tiny voice.

Tatsuya nodded and gave her a small, soft smile.

"I promise."

Their discussion was interrupted by the buzzing of a terminal. Tatsuya glanced over at the device sitting on the table, reading the notification.

"It appears the Student Council managed to finish their reports, according to Miyuki. Are you ready to go?"

Mayumi really wanted to say no, but neither did she want to prevent Tatsuya from attending to his duties as a Guardian. Reluctantly she nodded, and the two of them packed up their materials and left their idyllic bubble inside the Disciplinary Committee room.

-しば -

December 19, 2095

Miyuki sat alone in the living room, finalizing preparations for the various events that would be occurring over the holiday break. Herself and her brother would be spending most of the holiday by themselves with the exception of a Christmas Eve Party, which was also serving as a sending off party for Shizuku, and a New Year's Shrine visit. She had received a notification from their father that he would be spending Christmas with Sayuri and New Years with her family.

That was fine with her. He was another person that refused to acknowledge Tatsuya, and despite what Tatsuya had said about their step-mother, she didn't want anything to do with Sayuri either.

Miyuki hummed happily as she worked on finishing packaging and wrapping the gifts she and her brother had prepared for their closer friends in their classes, an assortment of local sweets and treats, and a winter scarf for Honoka, Shizuku, Erika, and Mizuki as well. Well, it may have been more accurate to say Miyuki picked everything out while Tatsuya simply foot the bill. She didn't quite trust her beloved older brother to this particular task, which added to her surprise when she did find him in the workshop.

After making sure the wrapping was neat and tidy on Leo's gift box, she stood up and took a moment to survey her work, four larger boxes and two smaller ones, covered with vividly colored gift paper and secured with satin ribbon tied smartly in the middle. Her eyes drifted a few centimeters to the right, where another box sat unfinished. She had wanted to leave that one for last, and was still contemplating what else she wanted to put inside. Feeling a slight ache in her back from working non-stop for the past few hours, Miyuki decided to take a break; Tatsuya probably wouldn't mind a cup of coffee either.

Resuming her humming, she walked into the kitchen and pulled out a ceramic coffee dripper and a kettle from a cabinet and fresh grounds and filter paper from the pantry. Both of them had become something of a coffee brewing experts over the past few years of living by themselves, but Miyuki had eventually taken over the role of the household barista given that Tatsuya was more likely to simply make a mug using instant coffee mix rather than go through the lengthy pour-over process for a higher quality beverage.

Carrying down two steaming mugs of fresh brew, she made her way into her brother's workshop and was met with an unexpected sight, causing her to crease her eyebrows. She sat the two mugs down and took a closer look to confirm what her brother was reading, before turning and staring at his face. He really was serious; his eyes were scanning over the screen while his lips made the faintest hint of a frown.

"Onii-sama are you...shopping?!..."

Miyuki turned to stare incredulously at the screen once more.

"...for dresses?!"

Glancing down, he retrieved his mug, taking a sip of the steaming liquid. He made a low sound of approval at the coffee she had made.

"That's good."

He set the mug back down on the table and turned back to the screen. Her brother's seemingly intentional avoidance of both answering her question and looking in her direction piqued her curiosity, not to mention what he was currently shopping for, which was completely out of character. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously and pivoted her body around to the side of the work table to get a better look at his expression. While Tatsuya's visage typically appeared to be expressionless to those around him, she had a greater amount of experience in reading the nuances in his features. His lips were pressed slightly more tightly together, as if he were forcing them into a thin line, but his jaws weren't clenched like they would have been if he was truly upset.

It wasn't often that she had the opportunity to see her older brother embarrassed like this.

She perched on the edge of the desk and crossed her arms.

"Ok, what's this actually about? If you were going to buy something for me, you would have just taken me out to the mall to try things on myself. And you're not close enough to any of the female classmates that you would be doing something like this without consulting with me either. Which means," Miyuki uncrossed her arms and clasped her hands together, "this has something to do with Mayumi-nee."

Tatsuya's only response was to angle his face ever-so-slightly away from her even more. She giggled at him. The deduction wasn't difficult; there was really only one person who could have put him in this situation.

"I know I'm right," she continued, resolute, "and I'm not leaving until you tell me."

The expression in his eyes quickly flashed between annoyance and discomfort, before finally settling on resignation; she had always been good and finding the chinks in his armor and the doting younger sister card did have a high success rate. She didn't feel as guilty playing it this time because clearly her beloved older brother needed some help in this regard.

Tatsuya stopped working the terminal, letting his hands still. She waited expectantly for him to explain the curious circumstances. He seemed to be staring off into space, as if trying to find the correct phrasing. She sat patiently while her older brother attempted to piece together his thoughts. They did after all, have quite a bit of time now that their scholastic duties were over for the current semester.

The minutes stretched between them; she could still see the gears turning in his eyes. She felt her legs falling asleep, and she glanced at the clock on the wall, surprising at how much time had passed. Just as she thought that Tatsuya would give up and forgo an explanation for her he spoke.

"For some reason she seemed to be sad," he started. "Although I'm not sure why. We were talking about some magic theory and Gravity-control type magic for a bit while looking over the review document she was sharing with Watanabe-senpai and Ichihara-senpai. There was a lull in the discussion for a bit before she said something along the lines of 'missing this'."

Tatsuya frowned.

"Somehow I knew she wasn't just talking about not being able to see us over the winter break, but I didn't quite know how to respond. Whatever I said didn't seem to help."

Miyuki raised her eyebrows in surprise. Unlike his intellectual capacity, she had never considered her brother to have any competence in the area of emotional intelligence as a result of his condition. Tatsuya was used to being ignored and disregarded, and so that was his tendency as well, never bothering to read into other people's expressions and moods, other than possibly herself. But here he was expressing concern over only a few words that he had exchanged with Mayumi. She smiled inwardly.

"I felt like I needed to do something," Tatsuya continued, glancing back at her, and shrugged. "And so I figured I would try doing some shopping, since that seems to be the most reliable solution whenever you get upset at least. However, I seem to have hit a wall."

"Onii-sama!" she exclaimed in mock outrage. "Is that what you think of me? Just some spoiled, materialistic teen?"

Her brother's lips upturned slightly at the sight. Miyuki huffed.

"I only ask you to take me shopping because that way we can spend some quality time together. After all, we are the only family each other has…" she trailed off, somber. She shook her head. Now wasn't the time to air her own woes, Tatsuya still had his own situation. A sudden thought occurred to her.

"Actually, that just might be the solution. You should visit her over the break." Miyuki uncrossed her arms and tapped her chin. "I suppose Christmas Eve would be too obvious…"

"Wait. There's no way she would have time for me to visit her," Tatsuya interrupted, holding out a palm. "The Saegusa are sure to be busy the entire time."

Miyuki's lips turned up in a sly grin.

"Well then I suppose you'll have to get creative, no?"

Her brother's eyebrows scrunched together, the expression he got whenever he was working on a difficult problem. Well, she supposed this could be called a new kind of problem for him as well.

She laughed brightly at his confusion.

"I'll let you figure that one out for yourself. In the meantime, it would be a little impolite to bring at least one gift for her."

"Well," he answered, turning back and reaching over his desk to pick up a small box. "I was planning on giving her this, even before I started doing the online shopping."

This time it was Miyuki's turn to furrow her brows. The cube was small enough to fit in his hand, about the size of a jewelry box. Except there was no way Tatsuya would have bought jewelry. So in that case, there was only one thing that the box could have contained…

"You didn't. A CAD? Seriously? What girl wants a CAD from the boy she's interested in?"

She snatched the box out of his hand and opened it to confirm her suspicion, but had to take a second look at the device. She turned back to her brother.

"Ok, I take that back," Miyuki acquiesced grudgingly. "I can't really say anything about your custom devices. And this one looks nice too; knowing Mayumi-nee, she would probably like it. But," she continued, pointing an accusing finger at him. "You are going to find another gift for her." She waved a hand at the screen. "And none of this online catalogue stuff. We're going to the mall tomorrow."

She flashed a cheeky grin at him.

"And you can buy me a Christmas present while we're there, too."

- しば - さえぐさ - しば - さえぐさ -

December 31, 2095

The black garbed figure pulled the Kawasaki to a stop, idling the motorcycle engine. The low rumble of the vehicle did little to stir the still air. He zipped his jacked down his chest slightly, and rummaged for his terminal. He checked the dimmed screen to confirm the location. Looking slightly up the road, he could see an imposing estate. Several lights were still on despite the late hour. He powered off the vehicle and kicked the stand, dismounting and removing the helmet. A soft breeze picked up tussling his dark bangs. He checked the time on his terminal once again, and inhaled deeply. 11:27. Well, it was now or never. He swapped the terminal in his left hand for a CAD, and activated his sequence.

...

Mayumi carefully shut the door to her room and turned around, leaning her petite frame against the sturdy wood. Double checking that she had locked it, she let out an exhausted, but relieved sigh, cresting her eyes and taking several moments to simply decompress from her duties. After a sufficient breather, she managed to pull away from where she had wedged herself between the doorframe and the wall and began the trek towards her bathroom to wash up and prepare to turn in for the night. She reached up and behind her head to begin extracting the myriad of hairpins tucked into the intricate weave of her chignon. With her arms twisted into an uncomfortable position while trying to remove a particularly stubborn pin, she craned her head to check the time. 11:31. Frankly, she was somewhat surprised that her father had allowed her to leave the event as early as she had.

At the end of each year, the Ten Master Clans and the 18 Assistant Houses typically held a gathering for the older members of each clan, one of the many social events that she was obligated to attend. This gathering was not to celebrate the winter holidays, per say, but rather was meant to be more of a casual networking for the younger generation to interact with the other families and build a sense of responsibility and understanding of what was expected of their station, as well as to present a front of solidarity to the Japanese magical community and nation as a whole. Her younger twin sisters were still too young to attend such occasions, so she spent most of the time shadowing her mother, the two roaming between clusters of people exchanging superficial pleasantries and guarded dialogue.

As much as Mayumi disliked the political and social maneuvering that saturated the atmosphere, she was careful to maintain the polished mask, smiling gently and nodding along, answering the occasional question as well as asking them. As they meandered around the venue, she mentally identified several of the more notable individuals, especially the heads of the Clans, and took note of the newer faces in the crowds. She observed that the only Yotsuba representatives were the enigmatic head herself, the 'Queen of Night' and an accompanying butler. Mayumi had to forcefully tear her gaze away from those familiar cabernet eyes to prevent garnering undue attention.

The two of them crossed her father's path twice that night. During the first occurrence, he was in the company of Katsuto. That exchange had been brief, given their extensive history together at school. The second, he had been in a discussion with Itsuwa Hirofumi, and his father, Itsuwa Isami, the head of the clan. Both conversations were thankfully short, although the one with Katsuto was a little more comfortable, while her impression of Itsuwa Hirofumi was less agreeable, his stare just slightly too intense. All parties knew that both meetings were far from unintentional.

It was after the second that she managed to excuse herself from the gathering, her father's eyes glinting under his shades as he gave his allowance. The future weighed heavily on her shoulders and spirit as Nakura chauffeured her home. Her ebony curls unfurled around her heart-shaped face as she pulled the last few pins from her hair. Growling, she dropped the last of the pins on the ground and shook out her locks, pushing her fingertips against the marble sink and looked at the mirror. Rosy cheeks highlighting crimson orbs underneath scrunched brows glared back at her.

Damn her father and the Ten Master Clans!

Mayumi marched back to her bed and flung herself onto the covers, burying her face in the fluffy down comforter. It took several minutes for her to consciously work her face out of its agitated state. Tatsuya always seemed to find her pouting amusing, although he had never said so out loud. She flipped herself over to stare at the ceiling, wondering what he was up to. A light tapping came from her window, startling her out of her own thoughts. Mayumi sat up and frowned in the direction of the Juliet balcony obscured by heavy velvet curtains, thinking she might have imagined the noise. Another round of tapping repeated. She definitely hadn't imagined that. Bringing her left wrist towards herself, she pressed a sequence into her CAD to activate Multi-Scope; she widened her eyes.

Rolling off of the bed, Mayumi hurried to the window, hastily pushing the curtains out of the way and opening the window.

A familiar pair of crimson-rose eyes greeted him as the window opened. He waited in silence as Mayumi went slack-jawed from the sight of him outside her window. Her expression suddenly caused him to be unsure of himself.

"Hi," he offered simply.

His words seemed to stir something within her. Mayumi's eyebrows mashed together.

"Tatsuya? What are you doing here!?" she demanded. Her eyes widened again when she realized where he was.

"Why are you flying outside my window!?"

She stuck her head out of her room to scan the surroundings.

"And how did you avoid the security!?"

Her continued line of questioning was making him reconsider his own idea of coming here.

"Well, to be honest, I was planning on taking you somewhere, but if you can't-"

"No! I'll come!"

Tatsuya frowned, despite the light feeling in his chest.

"I haven't even told you where I wanted to take you."

Mayumi flushed pink.

"It's fine. I trust you. And besides," she paused, looking away. "I've missed you over the past two weeks."

Tatsuya was momentarily at a loss for words at her admission, but recovered swiftly, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

"Ok then. In that case, you probably want to put on something a little warmer."

Mayumi had screwed her eyes shut tight and tried to press her face into Tatsuya's back during the initial terrifying rush as he accelerated the two of them out of her neighborhood towards the Shinjuku-sen. While she would gladly leave her life in his hands, she had no personal experiences with motorcycles, resulting in her attempting to squeeze as close to her driver out of fear of falling off their uncomfortably swift vehicle. It was one thing to be moving 110 kilometers per hour while safely cocooned inside a metal shell, however Tatsuya was tearing them along at a brisk 130 kph while balanced precariously on two wheels. The thoughts in her head paralleled their journey, that was, flying at a breakneck pace: amused upon discovering that Tatsuya was quite the speed demon, while also mildly distressed about his brazen disregard for the speed limit as they zipped past a sign that read '90 kph'. She was also fairly certain that she was bisecting Tatsuya's waist from where she had wrapped both arms around him in a vice grip and that it was possible that he would have a large indent between his shoulder blades from where she was attempting to bury her face in his back due to her head being encased in the helmet that he had offered her earlier.

After several minutes Mayumi felt Tatsuya level off their speed. She managed to relax ever so slightly and loosen her hold on Tatsuya to peek over his shoulder to see that the metropolitan route was empty except for the two of them. As they streaked through the night, she gave in involuntary shiver. It was a little surprising to note that despite the winter temperatures and the speed at which they were moving, she wasn't as cold as she expected to be. That didn't prevent her from pulling herself closer into the comfort and warmth of Tatsuya's back however. In between the flashes of illumination of the overhead streetlights that they passed through, she caught a glimpse of the mirth in his eyes in the side mirror. His expression caused her to abashedly realize just exactly how much contact that they were in; previously the closest contact that they had had was their dance at the closing ceremony of the Nine Schools Competition.

A stray thought wandered into her head wondering if Tatsuya could feel her chest pressing into his back. She certainly could.

She felt the heat rush into her face, and even without a mirror she knew she was as bright as a cherry. If she had been a little cold earlier, she certainly wasn't anymore.

Mayumi attempted to banish the idea by distracting herself. Feeling more comfortable as the ride continued, she extracted her head from where it was resting against Tatsuya and looked up into the night sky. The darkness of the city was interrupted by intermittent pools of light from the streetlamps and the occasional luminescence emanating from residences along the highway. Craning her head towards the sky, the soft glow of moonlight bathed the rest of the townscape that the shadows had hidden, while the stars were pinpricks amidst the canvas of the heavens, the sands on the shore of eternity.

Mayumi felt Tatsuya slow down as he took the turnoff the highway, the inky expanse once again swallowed up by the fingers of nearby buildings reaching upwards. As he deftly guided them through the winding streets, the cold steel and concrete gave way to tall ginkgos, trident maples, and sycamores, all bare, having shed their foliage during the autumnal and winter months, the wind whistling through the branches the only sound in the urban silence.

The motorcycle slowed to a stop on a vacant street in front of a brick pathway lined with a low bamboo fence and sparse bushes of hosta, so small that it would be easy to miss if one were simply driving by. Tatsuya killed the engine and smoothly and noiselessly slipped out of the driver's seat before offering a hand to Mayumi, which she gratefully took. As she removed the helmet she realized that on the whole, the ride had not been an unenjoyable experience, although the identity of who she spent it with likely contributed greatly to the fact. Tatsuya placed both helmets on the seats of the vehicle, leaving Mayumi to shake her hair out of the ponytail she had tied it in for the ride. She walked towards the entrance and examined the path leading deeper into the undergrowth, spying a stone Torii at the end of the short walkway, and the foot of a wider stairway leading up the hill. She felt a presence join her at the entrance.

"So your grand plan was a New Year's shrine visit?" she asked teasingly

Tatsuya glanced down at her.

"Well, that is typically the tradition, is it not?"

It was a little difficult to see in the darkness, but she was certain that the edges of his lips were upturned in his signature equivalent of a smile. She huffed in amusement and spun on her heels and strode into the shrine grounds, not bothering to wait for him, knowing that he would follow close behind. The small path opened up into a larger courtyard that she had not been able to see through the undergrowth, with several smaller paths leading off other than the main stairs. She paused at the foot of the stairs, guarded by two Komainu, and looked to the right where there was a small shrine with its own Torii.

"This one? It's a little small for a New Year's visit."

Tatsuya shook his head.

"We'll visit this one on the way down. Let's pay our respects at the main pavilion. Anyway, we wouldn't want to be bothered by a crowd would we?"

The two of them started up the stairs.

"So what's the name of this shrine? And is there any special reason for this one?"

"Akasaka Hikawa. Supposedly those that pay their respects have protection against misfortune."

Mayumi and Tatsuya arrived at the top of the stairs, finally able to see the gate to the central pavilion, the expanse in the middle of the courtyard at the end allowing the unadulterated moonlight to filter through and illuminate the Haiden. She made to begin down the walkway, but Tatsuya seemed to be rooted to the spot.

"...Tatsuya? Is everything alright?"

Her voice stirred him out of his trance.

"I'm sorry. This place...I've only been here once before. Six years ago. It's hard to recall, but," he hesitated. "Our whole family came. Together...I think my father accompanied us too."

Mayumi took several moments to process the influx of information. Six years ago would put them at...2089. The year of his surgery. And the mention of his father. She had never heard him bring him up once ever. Painful memories all, apparently.

Wordlessly she walked back, Tatsuya still staring out at the Haiden. Gently she took his left hand.

"Well, that just means we will have to create some new memories for you, right?" she tried to smile at him. She felt him squeeze her hand, and she guided him towards the pavilion.

The duo passed several walls of Ema that lined the path before arriving at the temizuya. In silence, they released each other's hands to purify themselves. The water was ice cold in her hands, and shocked her awake as she rinsed her mouth. They crossed the threshold of the main courtyard and approached the shrine. Two five-yen coins were dropped into the saisen, and Tatsuya rang the bell suspended beneath the eaves of the Haiden, the clear tone of the bell echoing into the stillness of the night. She paused to appreciate the sound, before offering her two bows, two claps, and her silent prayer, before giving one last bow.

Tatsuya had finished his prayers and was waiting for her. Seeing that he was done, she reached out to ask for his hand once more, which he granted her. He led her out of the shrine courtyard, the two of them walking in silence.

"So?" she looked up at him and whispered, trying to preserve the stillness of the night, "Feeling better?"

They paused at the foot of the stairs once more, and Tatsuya looked upward, as if trying to catch a glimpse of the stars between the criss-crossing branches, then met her gaze.

"Yes. Thank you."

His gaze drifted behind her and she turned to see what he was looking at. They had stopped in front of the first small shrine they passed on the way up to Akasaka Hikawa.

"So what's the name of this one?"

She felt Tatsuya release his hold on her; she stared at her now bereft hand as the sudden removal of human warmth caused her to shudder involuntarily. She looked back up to see he had pulled a package out of his pocket, small enough to fit in the palm of his hand, pale blue and bound with a white ribbon. Gingerly, he handed it to her. She scrunched her eyebrows and looked at him questioningly. Tatsuya angled his face away and coughed to his side...as if he were embarrassed.

"...Tatsuya?"

"I wanted to get you a present, but there wasn't an opportunity beforehand to give it to you so...this is a late Merry Christmas from me."

Silence stretched between them.

"...Mayumi? Is something…" Tatsuya finally spoke up, but stopped when he saw that Mayumi was covering her mouth in surprise, her heart warming. She roused herself out of her stupor, and shook her head vigorously.

"No, nothing's wrong. It's just," she continued, "I wasn't expecting…"

A timid smile graced his features as he took the hand he had dropped earlier and placed the gift into her palm.

"Go ahead."

Eagerly, but carefully, she pulled the end of the ribbon, freeing it from its knot. She removed the cover of the box to reveal a chrome bracelet sitting on a black cushion. She smiled widely. Of course, she should have expected this considering his technical abilities. Mayumi lifted the CAD out of its resting place to admire it in the moonlight.

"It's a custom model," Tatsuya said, taking the box from her so she could hold the bracelet-type CAD in both hands. "I think I have all the settings right, but we should probably do another tuning with you just to make sure-"

Mayumi had already slipped her old CAD off of her wrist and donned Tatsuya's gift. All the buttons were just like her old model, but the device felt lighter and more streamlined. She tapped in a sequence and activated Multi-Scope; Tatsuya's sigh of exasperation was as visible as if it were day, and he was clearly not happy that she had jumped right in to exploring her new toy while ignoring his cautions. She flashed a brilliant smile at him.

"It's perfect, just as I expected."

Tatsuya shook his head again, this time smiling wryly as well.

"I'll tune it up once the new semester begins again. I also have a second gift for you-"

"What!?" she exclaimed, holding her wrist up. "But...this…"

He gave a soft laugh.

"I wanted to. Here."

Tatsuya reached into his jacket and pulled out another box, this one a little smaller and slimmer than the CAD box."

She took the offered gift and opened the box; inside lay a lustrous silver bow. At first she thought it was just another simple hair accessory until it caught a stray ray of moonlight, causing it to shimmer in the illumination. She gasped as she saw the patterns dance across its surface, some giving hints of flower fields, while another angle gave the impression of waves rolling across its surface. Another perspective gave it the appearance of magic sequences appearing and disappearing over its surface. She was surprised that it was slightly heavier than she was expecting.

"...It's beautiful."

Mayumi looked up at Tatsuya.

"Where did you find this?"

He shifted on his feet, another sign that he was embarrassed.

"...Well, actually, I made this one too."

Her eyes widened in surprise, and she held the accessory up to the light again, causing it to gleam again.

"It's silver thread. It took a bit to figure out how to get it to weave how I wanted, but I think it turned out well."

She stopped admiring the handiwork to look at him again.

"It's not just a bow, now is it?" she asked amusedly, an obvious reference to how he had and still was keeping tabs on her through his connection with the eidos of her current hair bow.

He shrugged.

"I took the liberty of applying the eidos tracking to this one as well. Getting it to work while not interfering with the Engravement Magic was a little challenging."

Mayumi laughed again. Of course he turned it into another magic project. But she wouldn't have had it any other way.

"Help me put it on?"

She turned her back to him to give him access to her hair. She closed her eyes as he gently removed her old bow and re-secured her hair with his gift. She quickly activated Multi-Scope one more time to check out how it looked.

Suddenly she spun around and hugged him, catching him by surprise. Her cheeks reddened at the forward display, but after several seconds she felt his larger arms settle tenderly around her back.

"Thank you, Tatsuya."

She squeezed his trim waist a little tighter, before releasing him. She grabbed his hand and began leading him out along the path away from the shrine.

"You know, it just occurred to me that you're the last person I'll see this year," she looked up at Tatsuya, "and the first person I'll see next year."

Tatsuya raised an eyebrow, and then nodded thoughtfully.

"I hadn't thought of that."

Just as they reached the edge of the road, the sound of distant explosions punctuated the air and bright streaks of color decorated the night sky, the noisy indication of the changing of the year startling her. The two of them slowed to a halt to look in the direction of Tokyo Bay to observe the display. Mayumi took the opportunity to comfortably lean into Tatsuya's side.

"I think...I would like to do this again next year."

She felt Tatsuya squeeze her hand a little tighter. She heard Tatsuya whisper from beside her.

"I think I would like that as well."

Mayumi and Tatsuya continued to stand and watch the fireworks display.

"The name of that shrine is Shiawase Inari," Tatsuya interrupted suddenly. "Supposedly, it was a place where couples would exchange gifts and the gods would bless their love."

Mayumi took several seconds to digest Tatsuya's words before breaking their hand-holding and stared at him incredulously.

"You're telling me you brought me to a Love Shrine?"

At her question Tatsuya laughed out loud.

Mayumi was still in a daze when Tatsuya closed the distance between them and once again grasped her hand, which she did not resist. The two of them remained in place until the firework display had concluded and they were once again left in the stillness of night, two souls standing together on the shores of eternity.

See the reviews section for author's notes.

07/05/21

03/21/21