Early in February, Daniel was sitting to breakfast with the Shiba siblings when the news broadcast ran a report on the experiment in America that had caused the parasites to come into this dimension in the first place. Although the details about the parasites was not reported, the story was reported in a way that seemed to place the blame on the military's reliance on magician soldiers. It was as though someone had planted the story in an attempt to get public opinion to turn on magicians and the use of magic in general.
As they walked to school that morning, they ran into Lina, who joined them as they discussed the news report. As expected, the vital parts of what was made public were most likely lies, and everything else was being covered up or fudged to make magicians look bad. This was very disconcerting – not only for people like Tatsuya and Miyuki, but also to Lina as well. Magic was such an important part of their lives that they would be in grave danger if the public really turned on them.
Lina speculated that the report was the work of a group called the Seven Sages, a mysterious group of people made up of seven people who worked behind the scenes manipulating certain events in the world – like something out of a stereotypical conspiracy theory! However, no one really knew who these people were. That evening, Tatsuya brought Kyoko Fujibayashi over to the house to discuss the matter. Unfortunately, the JSDF also had little to no information on the Seven Sages, though it wasn't for a lack of trying.
On the day before Valentine's Day, Daniel was enjoying some rare time alone in the Shiba house, as Tatsuya and Miyuki had stayed at school late that day, while Daniel decided to go home once school ended for the day. As he was doing his homework in peace, he received a call from a number he recognized as coming from the Saegusa residence. When he answered, it was Kasumi calling. The first thing she said was, "What the hell did you do to my sister?!" Daniel was confused by the outburst and asked what she was talking about. Izumi then took the phone and explained that Mayumi was making chocolates, but without any sugar whatsoever. In addition, she was adding coffee to the mix, making them extra bitter. Izumi also said that she had a scary aura about her while doing this.
Daniel's eyes widened in horror, knowing that concoction would make the resulting candy so bitter it would be practically inedible. As he thought about why Mayumi would be doing that, he remembered her comment from the stakeout a few weeks earlier. He then sighed and told the two sisters, "I'm pretty sure those aren't meant for me, but I think I know who they are meant for." After reassuring them that he hadn't done anything and that Mayumi would be alright, they hung up. Daniel then thought to himself, 'Sorry, Tatsuya, but I can't save you from this one. If it's between you and Mayumi, she's going to win every time.'
February 14, 2096
As Daniel was walking to school with Tatsuya and Miyuki, Honoka came running up to them and enthusiastically greeted them, even more so than usual for her. As she joined them, Daniel noticed that Honoka was carrying something in a gift bag. 'Ah,' he thought, 'She's planning on giving Tatsuya some homemade chocolates. Lucky him.' When they reached to school gate, Honoka asked for a few minutes alone with Tatsuya, which Daniel agreed to, as did Miyuki (to Daniel's surprise). 'I guess Miyuki has a soft spot for Honoka,' Daniel thought. 'She's usually so territorial with Tatsuya.'
Daniel then spoke softly to Miyuki, "That was really nice of you to do for Honoka." Miyuki giggled and replied, "Well, Honoka worked so hard on her chocolates for Tatsuya. Besides, she's in for more of a surprise than you think." Miyuki then told Daniel that Tatsuya had gotten Honoka a little something for today as a surprise. "Wait," Daniel said, "In Japan, aren't guys supposed to wait until White Day to give their gifts to the girls?" Miyuki nodded, answering "Traditionally, that's right, and Tatsuya will give Honoka something on White Day, too. But my brother really wanted to thank Honoka for going through the trouble of making chocolates for him."
At this, Daniel smiled inwardly and thought to himself, 'She may very well be the key.' He then felt a giant wave of warm energy pass through the area – energy that was purer than anything he had ever felt. It was gentle and comforting, like a soft, warm blanket on a cold day. 'What was that?' Daniel thought.
Over the course of the day, Daniel got some unexpectedly good news when he heard that Leo had finally returned to school after his stay in the hospital. He also seemed to be fully recovered, much to everyone's relief.
Daniel had also received several small boxes of store-bought friend chocolates from his various first-year girl friends (not to be confused with his girlfriend). He later saw Eimi and Satomi run off to find Tatsuya, as all of the members of the Nine Schools Competition girls team had friend chocolates for him as well.
As Daniel was wondering what he was going to do with all of the chocolate he received, he got a text from Mayumi, asking for him to meet up with her in the student council annex room. As he arrived, he saw Tatsuya walking out trying to hide his expression over tasting the ridiculously bitter chocolate he had just received from Mayumi. He could sense which box was the culprit just by the aura. When he entered the room, he saw Mayumi sitting down on one of the couches as she was motioning him over.
When he sat down, he said to her, "Boy, Tatsuya must have really pissed you off. I could sense the bitterness of those chocolates you gave him without even seeing them." Mayumi chuckled and replied, "Well, he brought it on himself." Seeing a worried look on Daniel's face, Mayumi then smiled at him and said, "Don't worry. I've made something truly special for you." She then pulled out a fairly large blue box and had him open it. Inside were homemade dark chocolates. Not sensing the bitterness of the other ones, Daniel decided to taste one. When he did, he found it was absolutely delicious – they had just the right amount of sugar and at the right darkness level for a rich and intense, but also sweet, treat.
Mayumi beamed that Daniel seemed to like them. Taking advantage of her reaction, as well as the fact that they were alone in the room, Daniel decided to surprise Mayumi with a sweet kiss – literally – as his mouth still had a small coating of the chocolate, which he made sure she tasted. When he broke the kiss, Mayumi was still a bit flustered from Daniel's bold gesture. "Wow," she said, "I guess you really liked them." Daniel smiled back and replied softly, "They're absolutely delicious, but not as good as what I tasted just now." Mayumi blushed at the comment before both of them broke out into a fit of giggles.
As Daniel left the school for the day, Mayumi's chocolates safely in his possession, he met up with Tatsuya, Miyuki, and Lina, who were waiting up for him. On the way back to the Shiba house, Lina asked Daniel if he could come with her for a little while. "There's something important we need to talk about." Sensing that she had something serious and non-romantic to discuss, and because he was certain that Miyuki was planning some sort of Valentine's Day-related display for Tatsuya back at the house that he really didn't want to see, he agreed to go with her, telling Miyuki and Tatsuya that he would be back at the house later before they separated.
When they arrived at the apartment building where Lina was staying, Daniel asked her, "So do you want to give them to Tatsuya yourself, or do you want me to give those chocolates to him for you?" She turned to him suddenly, surprised at what he was asking. "You knew?" she asked. Daniel nodded and replied, "I could sense your emotions the whole way from school." Lina then turned to unlock the apartment door and said, "Geez, you're practically a human lie detector, aren't you?" Daniel shrugged and stated, "I suppose so – although I still can't get a read on Tatsuya's emotions most of the time."
As they entered the apartment, an older woman in a USNA military uniform was there waiting for them. "Welcome home, Major Sirius," she said to Lina. She then turned to Daniel and said, "And to you, Captain Horowitz, welcome." At this Daniel instinctively began to use the Force to sense all around the unit – was this a trick to kidnap him!? The woman seemed to sense Daniel's suspicions and told him, "Relax, Captain. We have no intention of taking you anywhere – at least not at this point." Still suspicious of her intentions, Daniel did relax a little bit as he sat down next to Lina at the dining table, with the woman sitting across from them.
The woman then introduced herself as Colonel Virginia Balance, who was there as a member of the USNA's Joint Chiefs of Staff. After she introduced herself, Daniel said to her, "Just to be clear, Colonel, I'm no longer a member of the military, so there's no need to address me by my former rank." Colonel Balance nodded, seeming to acknowledge his request. After a few pleasantries, Colonel Balance began to get to the heart of this meeting.
"First off," she said, "We owe you a debt of gratitude for saving the life of one of our operatives." At this Daniel asked, "Oh, yeah! I've been meaning to ask how she's doing, by the way." At this, Lina answered, "Mia's doing much better, thanks to you. It's still going to be some time before she's able to fully recover from her ordeal, but the initial prognosis is quite good." Daniel nodded and said, "That's good to hear."
Colonel Balance then stated, "Let me get to the point – we invited you here because we were hoping that you would be willing to rejoin the USNA military." At this, Daniel's eyes widened as he exclaimed, "You can't possibly be serious about that!?" Colonel Balance immediately responded, "The president is dead serious about it. Admittedly, our initial plan involved extracting you in secret out of Japan and having you re-enter the military from there. However, your relationship with Mayumi Saegusa has made that plan unworkable, as it would cause too many problems – problems that the USNA either doesn't need or can't handle right now."
At this, Daniel growled and exclaimed, "I knew it! I knew he was two-faced! Now I'm really glad I moved the money I got to a local bank!" Colonel Balance nodded and stated, "Yes, that move made it quite difficult to put pressure on you from abroad, as was your decision to enroll at school here." She then took a sip of coffee from her mug and said to Daniel, "I understand that in your previous tenure, you were quite mistreated by most of your superiors. Let me assure you that those mistakes will not be made again if you rejoin us." Daniel still gave her a skeptical look, not trusting her as she had already admitted that they had wanted to kidnap him.
Colonel Balance then put down her coffee and stated, "Here's what we're proposing. If you come back to us willingly, not only will you become the newest member of STARS, but you'll also be promoted to Major and be installed as the group's co-commander with Major Sirius here. You would be designated as Major Danny Polaris for your STARS codename." Daniel's eyes widened in shock as he turned to Lina for confirmation of this offer. Lina nodded and said, "This was my idea. It's the least we could do after you saved Mia's life. It's a really good deal – we'd be partners. Plus, there's so much that you have to offer. We would even make it so that you could still see Miss Saegusa on a regular basis."
Daniel then looked back at Colonel Balance, who said, "You may be more than 75 years from when you started, but your country still needs you more than ever." Daniel thought about this, and for a split second, he was tempted by the offer, as he recognized the value of what it was. However, he held himself firm before addressing the military officer in front of him, "Tell me one thing Colonel, how much freedom would I truly have?" Colonel Balance then began on how he would be subject to military regulations like every other STARS member. "That includes following all orders to the letter, no matter what?" As the colonel looked confused, Daniel continued, "In other words, if I were to act on my own based on my own observations and knowledge that wasn't part of the stated plan or mission, would that be accepted by the higher ups?" At this, both the colonel and Lina hesitated, as they were not sure how to answer. However, to Daniel, the silence spoke volumes. "That's what I thought," he said.
Daniel then tried to get his point across. "When my Jedi abilities were discovered, my own government took my life from me," he said. "Everything I have done since I came to this time period – enrolling in school, making friends, trying to live something resembling a normal life – that's me taking my life back! And I have no intention of giving it up again so easily. So, I'm sorry, Colonel, but I just can't accept your offer."
He then got up to leave, but before he got to the door, he turned around and stated, "By the way, I know that you're also after Tatsuya Shiba for some reason. If you really want to thank me, drop whatever operation you have going against him and leave him alone. If you don't, then we're going to have serious problems." Colonel Balance replied, "We can't do that. If Tatsuya Shiba is the strategic class magician responsible for Scorched Halloween, he's too dangerous to leave alone here in Japan. He must be either secured or eliminated as a threat!"
At this point, Daniel got quite angry with the colonel and shouted back, "He's not a threat to the United States! He's a human being with rights, and deserves to be treated as such! Even if what you suggest about him is true, he is not, I repeat, NOT your enemy!" Colonel Balance continued to look at him with a straight face and asked, "Are you willing to bet your life on that?" Daniel immediately answered without hesitation, "Yes! Absolutely!" As he made his way out, he got one last shout in. "The USNA and Japan are supposed to be allies! Start acting like it!" With that, he took his stuff and stormed out of the apartment and back to the Shiba residence for the night, now worried about what they would do to his friend.