Matsu was tracking the payments from Hayate's "uncle" when she noticed something that made her absolutely annoyed.
There was a massively corrupted file in the near vicinity that was slowing down the processing speed. The thing was she had no idea which one of her many computers was so heavily infected enough to actually REGISTER on her radar while she was in her Norito.
So after a futile attempt to locate Gil Graham via the digital payments, she decided to try something that might actually prove useful.
She was going to either fix the corrupted file, or erase it completely. She hated having slow processors...it made things harder. She had learned her lesson the last time one of the porn sites she visited damn near crashed her precious computers.
Still, the moment the lead came to a dead end because she couldn't find out where Graham made the payment from (she'd never heard of Mid-Childa) she looked to see Hayate still sound asleep on the futon mattress with that odd book the girl hoped Matsu could at least find on the internet. It was so unusual and Hayate had hopes Matsu would at least be able to give her a name for the thing.
Matsu brushed a few stray hairs from her Ashikabi. Who ever would have believed such a small child would end up winging her and Uzume? Not that she minded though...Hayate was a very discreet closet pervert...though to be fair she was more interested in the outfits.
Hayate moved closer to the source of warmth.
Matsu debated on what to do, before realizing that the corrupted file wasn't moving, so there wasn't any reason not to put it off until she had a decent night's sleep. Hayate promptly used Matsu's rather generous chest as a pillow, and a few minutes later a slightly drunk Uzume came in and cuddled up to Hayate's back, keeping her warmer than any blanket. Miya saw the trio snoring lightly in Matsu's room and closed the door gently so as not to wake them. Not that it was likely, because Matsu had a habit of being out like a light for hours once she crashed, Hayate was a rather deep sleeper, and Uzume was apparently drunk again.
"You want me to give you a Norito in order to purge a bad file?" said Hayate the next morning.
Hayate spent most of her day with Matsu, though that was outside the darkened room. Because of her condition, it was difficult for her to attend school normally. So they had a different solution...Hayate took online classes so she could still get an education, but wouldn't be overly stressed and put her in the hospital again. Which meant Matsu could instruct her Ashikabi on how to be a hacker like her. Hayate was surprisingly adept at math.
"I should have noticed the corruption sooner, but somehow it slipped my notice until I went investigating that uncle of yours. And as a hacker I simply can't stand having anything that would slow my computers down. However, this file looks too entrenched in others, so having a Norito would really help in containing it."
"So what exactly are you going to do?"
Matsu's glasses gleamed.
"I'm so glad you asked! If I can't delete the file that got corrupted or fix the damage, then I'm going to use the power of my Norito to isolate it so it doesn't cause any more harm to the other files. It looked really nasty too and I have no idea where I picked it up since my firewalls should have stopped it from making contact or alerting me!"
Matsu was annoyed by this virus. Which was why she had Uzume take the old MBI card that she had kept. She was going to use it to buy the best external hard drive she could find, in case she had to isolate the virus. The more memory, the better.
Uzume returned later that afternoon with the hard drive, which had ten terabytes (it was the highest one commercially available) of memory.
Matsu hooked it up to her computer, then looked at Hayate. Hayate kissed her firmly on the lips (having become used to the idea of kissing her Sekirei since moving into the inn, as Matsu was really enthusiastic) and Matsu intoned her Norito. In Hayate's lap was the chained book.
Matsu's eyes flung open. She could see the virus clear as day, and so begun poking at it, trying to figure out which computer was corrupted...if only so she knew if she needed to isolate it.
What she found instead shocked her to her core.
The corrupted device wasn't one of her many computers...it was the book Hayate had in her hands. She had never heard of such a thing and she knew Hayate had never been able to open the book itself...so how could it be a device?
As her Norito began to fade, Matsu had to process this information.
"Do you need another Norito?" asked Hayate.
Realizing the daunting task before her, Matsu decided to tell Hayate after she isolated the odd virus.
So Matsu nodded, and got another kiss.
The red-haired Sekirei went to work, slowly moving the virus in the corrupted files into the hard drive. It took time, and two more Noritos before she could say with honesty that she had transferred the problem to the hard drive. And the second she nodded, Uzume yanked the cord out from the computer, not caring if it did any damage to the hard drive itself.
Matsu looked exhausted as the bad file had given her quite a nasty fight. She needed to refuel before she even thought of beginning what was definitely going to be the long, arduous task of repairing or replacing the damage.
Matsu ate more than she normally did, pretty much wiping out most of the food left in the fridge. It was a good thing Hayate knew how to cook and that Miya was out. Uzume would have to make another trip to the store before Miya returned, or she was likely to get angry.
While Uzume was gone, Matsu and Hayate went back to the room and started again, with Hayate recharging Matsu before the Norito had a chance to fade completely.
By the time dinner rolled around and Miya had come back (and extracting why there were so many groceries on the kitchen floor and almost none in the fridge from a terrified Uzume) most of the worst damage had been fixed. However there was a small problem.
"So the computer's registration files were removed by accident?" said Hayate, cocking her head in confusion.
"The device had a name and registration, but it was completely absorbed by the corrupt file and I removed it by accident. Which means we need to give it a new name and registration. Unfortunately that requires Administrator rights, which I have no idea how to get since the thing doesn't have any way for me to hack it, even directly."
Matsu looked exhausted, as multiple Noritos and the task of repairing the damage had wiped her out.
So once she wiped out her dinner, Matsu went straight to bed and slept until well into the afternoon the next day.
The results of her labor wouldn't be fully realized until Hayate's next appointment two weeks later.
Dr. Morimoto examined Hayate's X-rays. Then he had someone else come in to confirm his findings, before going to see the girl who was already visiting with Chiho.
Hayate took one look at his face and immediately asked "I'm not going to have to stay overnight again am I?"
"You are, but not for the same reason as usual. The tests showed there was some unusual activity in the lower regions."
"Unusual activity?" repeated Hayate.
"Activity normally seen in people able to walk," clarified the doctor. "I can't explain it, but it appears that whatever took away your mobility is starting to recede. If that's the case in a few short months we might be able to put you into physical therapy that could restore the use of your legs."
Hayate stared.
"My legs are...starting to heal?" she said slowly, in shock.
"Like I said, we'd have to do a few more tests to confirm it."
Hayate didn't know how to react. She had dealt with being confined to a wheelchair most of her life. So the possibility she would one day be able to walk was something she hadn't considered.
"That's great Hayate-chan!" said Chiho.
"In any case we've alerted your cousin that you'll be staying here tonight. If you like we could set you up in this room so you'll have someone to talk to," said the doctor kindly.
Uzume brought in a few sketch books and some pencils so Hayate could show Chiho her drawings or come up with new ones.
Hayate went in for multiple new tests, each all saying the exact same thing.
Whatever had caused the progressing paralysis seemed to be receding at an increased rate. The doctors were baffled by this, but were otherwise happy for her.
If the paralysis didn't return, then Hayate could feasibly begin physical therapy in a few short months and regain a normal life.
Uzume and Matsu felt this was a sign for celebration, and Miya was inclined to agree. The fact Hayate might be able to be a normal girl again soon was good news. That the doctors estimated she could begin walking around Christmas, even better.
Though Miya could have done without having Seo visit, the bum. She only put up with him because he was a friend of her late husband, but that didn't mean she liked him.
The fact Hayate unashamedly told Seo he 'smelled funny' was something that brought great amusement to the others. Particularly Miya.
Seo had, on that day, forgotten to take a shower and had smelled of B.O., but no one had dared to call him on it. Or the fact he stunk of spilled sake. Needless to say he had borrowed the bath that night if only so Hayate would quite making such theatrical gestures of 'warding off the smell'.
Either way it brought Miya great amusement to remind him of the incident.
Hayate maneuvered her crutches carefully. She had a visit with Aria and Lotte to look forward to, mostly to assure their 'father' that she wasn't being taken advantage of.
She debated on whether or not to bring her crutches, but decided to simply grab the collapsible ones instead. She knew how to put them together, and they could be hidden fairly well against her sides just in case.
Since she knew that the two and their father had something planned for the 'Book of Darkness', it was only reasonable that she kept the fact she knew something about it low-key until she had an idea of what they were actually up to.
Originally Uzume would drop her off at the rather public cafe and keep a low profile nearby. However Miya needed her to do something.
So Homura was drafted instead, seeing as how Matsu had apparently angered MBI at some point.
Homura wheeled her to the cafe, which was close by. He then took a spot roughly close to the door, but armed with one of his many books and a cup of hot coffee that he could ask to have refilled. Because it was an outdoor cafe, it meant he was allowed to smoke...however he wisely stayed away from the wind to keep it from blowing towards Hayate. She hated the smell.
Aria and Lotte arrived a few minutes early, and they settled in to chat. It was mostly small talk, but Hayate seized on the first awkward pause to come up with a quick fib about the book that had chains on it. The one Matsu had more or less fixed with a few missing programs.
She mentioned nothing about the virus, the corrupted files or the fact it was now without a registration. Instead she claimed to have heard weird voices in the middle of the night that weren't attributed to one of the tenants having late-night wanderings.
That got their attention, and while they were subtle, they couldn't hide everything. Especially since Matsu was recording the entire thing from the house courtesy of Homura's cell phone, which was casually aimed at Hayate. He knew she was watching, because Hayate had allowed Matsu to use her Norito for a simple meeting.
She had timed how long it took for a Norito to expire, either through a battle or using the bare minimum of the energy doing simple tasks.
Uzume's best time was an hour and a half, and that was just using her skills to hold fabric up. Matsu had a two hour limit, and it dropped to a half hour if she was doing something intensive like when she moved the corrupt file and then repaired the damage left behind.
One thing Hayate noted was that their food intake increased the more they used their powers or how often they used them. Case in point, Matsu eating the entire inn out of house and home only to crash for nearly a full day after...and she didn't have any powers that could be considering combat worthy! She was intelligence gathering and electronic infiltration!
So Hayate discreetly pumped the twin cats for information...and what little they did let slip unintentionally told Matsu they didn't have entirely benign intentions for that book once it woke up.
It was almost like there was a timer on the book itself. A timer they were determined to beat for some unknown reason.
Which meant Matsu would have to try extra hard to find out what the book was and why they were so intent on it.
Homura kept a close eye on Hayate once they were far enough, and she pulled out the collapsible crutches. It was only a block to the inn, but that was more than enough to get in a little practice in walking and still fit into the limits the doctors set forth when they realized her paralysis was actually receding faster than they anticipated.
It was the night before Hayate's birthday, and a full week since they had learned the cat twins had plans for the book.
Homura, being the devious creature he was, had been able to slip a camera on the twins that Matsu was already connected to.
Which was how she had gotten quite a bit of information, like the fact the reason why they had been unable to contact this Gil Graham was because he was on another world entirely!
Matsu was so fascinated by the information that she had Hayate keep her power going long into the night, at least until the camera was destroyed, much to her disappointment.
Still, she had gotten more information than she would have expected until the cat had realized there was a wireless camera on her and broke it. And since she was automatically recording it so she could view it later, that meant she had plenty of new things to play with. The sheer possibilities made Matsu giggle madly.
Hayate was once again sleeping with Uzume, with Matsu having crashed in their room acting as the 'cover' for their Ashikabi.
The second that Hayate was old enough to have 'fun' with, Matsu and Uzume were moving back into the house and away from the overprotective Miya. For now it was a safe haven and a place to stash anyone injured.
So naturally they were all less than pleased when the book suddenly shot up a good two and a half feet in the air and the chains broke off without any warning, waking all three of them up. The book itself sprang open, and as if touched by an unseen wind the pages flipped by themselves before a voice loudly said "Anfang" in what Matsu would later tiredly recognize as German. And old German at that.
Hayate blearily looked at the four people in the now rather cramped room who had appeared inside what looked like a magic circle.
Suddenly realizing the situation, Hayate stared in disbelief.
"The (…) has awakened," said the tall rose-haired woman.
"We are the knights who collect magic power for the (…) and our Master," said the blond.
"It is our mission to complete our Master's will," said the lone male of the group.
"We are the Wolkenritter, please give us your orders," said the youngest one, a girl with deep pink hair that was almost red in color.
Hayate stared, not entirely awaken enough to understand what was going on. Finally she realized that the book floating was the same one Matsu had fixed...more or less... and that said people came out of the book.
She turned to a bleary eyed Matsu and yawning Uzume.
"It looks like the book woke up finally," she said.
Uzume looked at the quartet, who had odd looks on their face, then at her Ashikabi. Then she looked back at them.
"Is there any way we could put this off until morning? Otherwise Miya's going to get mad at everyone and I don't want to deal with that evil mask of hers without a full night's sleep," said the brunette.
"Agreed," yawned Matsu.
Seeing the four still standing at attention, almost as startled at the situation as they were, Hayate finally said "If you need an order, then wait until morning. No way am I explaining to Miya why four people showed up out of nowhere half-awake."
The four newcomers reluctantly settled in to the rather cramped space...until Matsu decided that she could let the chibi one take her spot and went back to her room. Now there was just enough room for everyone to sleep until morning.