Hakurei Honor Ch. 9

Author's Notes: Sorry it took a while but here's a new chapter!

Chapter 9 : Explain: Why is it so?

It's been just a day since Homura witnessed Mami's difficult battle against a foe she barely known.

'But we- know...'

A voice in her head told her. And it was not a fib either. Now deprived of it's magical complexities, her apartment showed that... yes, she did know. From news clippings to magazines, printouts and photos. She was a fan of all of these, yet she did not know. She wasn't like that at all!

'I am who I am, yet I don't truly know myself.'

And now she needed more. More information, not just the ones she had; for they're all second hand information, guesswork and theories. That's why she asked Reimu. Unfortunately, despite the accuracy of the information and the evidence thrown in her face (including Mami's fight). She did not believe. Perhaphs it was because she was used to a singular system for so long that it was hard to change that outlook. Of course it was. After all, all she knew then was the system of the incubators, the puella and the witches. Now she's faced with more than that, her encounter with her miko senpai was just the beginning. And as said before, she had a hard time believing all of it. And with Reimu seeing that she couldn't pierce through the time traveller's thick skull, she was sent here.

Where was 'here'?

Well at Kaname, Mirai's home that is.

And where was that home?

Well it was on Makai. You know... Hell, the Netherworld, the other side of the Sanzu river.

And to heck if she didn't believe it. Unlike Gensokyo that is still part of Earth or could be said to be part of the same dimensional plane, Makai was not. In fact it was incredibly different... Not to mention in a state of recuperation. According to Mirai's father who suprised and scared her shitless was god freaking Lucifer, that Makai was still suffering due to centuries of long conflicts. Hell many parts of it (i.e. the lower lands) was inhabitable, unaccessible or shred off (i.e. old hell in Gensokyo). Most of the inhabited areas were these floating lands, who at the time is in the verge of an energy crisis. Despite that Mirai's home was fully functional. In any case, despite the strange surroundings Mirai's home looked like a normal modern home. It had two floors, spacious and homely. Her furniture was modest including her electronics. And it was barren of any display of whatsoever. Then again only two people lived in this house. Mirai of course lived there and aside from her another girl lived there. She looked like an eigth year old, having long green hair and gold eyes. She had the same stoic appearance that she (Homura) had. (This was apparently was too funny that the red head rolled on the floor laughing for a while.) This was Hoshifumi, Kururu who Mirai said was the 'admin' before. Whatever that meant.

In this house Homura sat uncomfortably in her sempai's couch just beside Kururu (who ignored them and continued eating her cake… why was there cake? Ask Mirai) as the red head eyed her for a while.

"You know..." Mirai began "Reimu is good at exposition, so I'm puzzled why she called in a while ago and requested 'Please remove Akemi's ignorance. And remove her one track mind while you're at it.'" Homura blushed at this, embarassed that her thick skull and single mindedness led to this.

"In any case you're sent here because of that and since you talked to dad I'm sure you'll listen and believe now."

"Eh?"

"Don't be coy with me Homura. Reimu knows that despite the things you heard and see, she knows that you still disbelieve." the red head scolded her while shaking her head, wondering how thick was Homura's skull to lead to this. Homura for her part, hung her head in shame. Reimu was doing her best but even so...

"It's just... just too much for me. All I know was the system of the puella... and now... I really can't just believe it just because someone said so! And the things she showed me… showed…" she countered while shivering, her mind still did not processed everything given to her despite how more experience her sempai is. The red head seemed to agree as she nodded her head.

She then snorted "You would be a fool if you did. Sticking with what you know is smart as the world is confusing as it is. In this case however we cannot have that. This is one of the most biggest crisis in the world since BADAN's mass attack during the 90's and Fairy Tale's youkai insurrection just a few years ago."

"I read about the former but not the latter."

"Good. At least your somewhat informed. As you know, witches are causing a large amount of injuries and casualties. Not to mention the speed that incubator moron replaces the puella. The government is taking great pains supressing panic, that's why any witch related event is carefully hidden and any information is suppressed. Why do you think the media does not report the large amount of missings persons and suicides?"

"Now that you mention it, I do recall there was none. Does the government know?"

"Oh yes they do! They even have several branches of the JSDF for it!"

"So the sentai teams and metal heroes?"

"A lot of them are government funded, if not sponsored by a large corporation. Not only them; majou shoujo, exorcists, mages and even youkai groups."

"That's a lot."

"Yes. After all there are lots of happenings around that not one individual or group can resolve them. And with the large amount of crap Japan goes through you shouldn't be surprised that a new protector pops up every now and then. Hell according to dad, we've been doing this crap all way back during the Genji era and even before that!"

"Reimu said the same thing."

"Of course she did. She has been in this 'protect the world business' for way longer than you and me! Hell, guarding Gensokyo could be considered that!"

"So I shouldn't be surprised if people like that rider and his two allies keep appearing?"

"Yes. Like I said, this incident with these witches is very big. And it's happening not just in Mitakahara, so it should be no surprise."

"Do you know the scale of things?"

"Dad said it's so ridiculous in scale that he's surprise the populace is not in panic yet."

"Makes sense, witches are indiscriminate after all. From my experience they pretty much caused undue chaos and tension."

"From your time travels, how bad was it?"

"I don't know much about what was beyond Mitakahara was at the time, but it was bad enough for doom sayers to apppear and announce the end of the world. And to think the unrest and panic was bad enough. It only got worse from there."

"Then we're lucky that there's a large enough people on this, and that the government took great lengths to hide what's truly happening."

"I still could not understand how is it the government covers everything up."

"With magic of course! Homura, when I say there's a lot of crap happening here in our nation I mean it. The only reason why the people is not paranoid because for every now and then the government uses mass mind wiping to ensure peace."

"Isn't that a bit radical? And if that's the case how can some reports still appear?"

"Well they're not wiping everything from the brains of the citizens, and all individuals with prior knowledge or part of the darker.. err… magical side of life is unaffected. Also when an incident is too large it's difficult to hide evidence that it happened. After all the government does not send agents just to look in every nook and cranny now…"

"Logical. I now fully understand the situation at hand."

"Good then we're getting somewhere."

"Still may I ask if you know who should I expect on this?"

"Well you got me and Reimu, the rider from the other day who is Reimu's former teacher and whoever he comes with. Who I recall was part of a group called Wolken-something or other. And you do know that he's a Kamen Rider. Then there's a sempai of mine Raidou Kuzunoha the 28th a.k.a the black cape. He's a detective that handles these kind of cases. Also there's the priest in Mitakahara who is an exorcist, and probably someone from the JSDF and several independent individuals. Like I said, we're dealing with something big. Any more questions?" the red head asked.

Homura looked contemplative, there was a lot to take in. But it made sense, the witches wasn't the only problem, there were more and the a lot of people are solving these problems. Sure everything is complicated but now, but she was glad that unlike before, everything was stable. Last time when the witches terror grew paramount the government could do nothing but twiddle their thumbs as panic grew and everything shot to hell. This time, everything was stable. The world has experienced much and was ready for anything. In fact, having the employ of individuals with power beyond normal bounds showed they were. And now, she too as she now fully believed everything. Sure it took two people to get through her thick skull but nonethless she's now fully informed. Armed with knowledge she felt she was ready… but…

"Yes I do."

And thus Mirai continued to answer.

#0#

Kai: And now a new completed chapter! YAY!

Mirai: And it took you so long.

Kai: Bite me. At any rate here's my delayed christmas present! And see you at the next chapter!

Mirai: That fast!