Chapter Six – Magical Family
Tsubasa looked up in startlement as Sakura entered, dragging a rather bewildered looking Yumi in behind her. He grinned weakly and went to rescue her from yet another member of his family.
She caught his eye and her smile set him at ease. She wasn't appalled at Sakura's strangeness, thank heavens.
"Hi," he murmured and took in the sight of her. She was wearing a simple lavender dress, with a white sweater draped over her shoulders and white shoes. He reached up and tugged gently on one of the wispy ringlets that fell around her face and she grinned at him.
"Chi-chan did my hair," she told him with a flush on her cheeks.
"It looks good." They were just standing there, grinning at each other, he realized and Sakura was watching them with a sort of detached amusement.
"Um, I see you have already met Sakura-san." He gestured to his future sister-in-law and they bowed to each other, Yumi's bow very flowing and Sakura's bow more perfunctory, but extremely graceful.
"Yes, she kindly escorted me in," Yumi answered and Tsubasa tried not to laugh, remembering the way Sakura had literally dragged the younger woman through the front door.
"The rest of the family is in the living room," he warned her and she tensed up again. Very gently he took her hand in his and smiled at her reassuringly. "It will be fine, trust me," he assured her and she gave him a look that nearly stopped his heart.
"I do trust you," she answered, with a grave seriousness to her voice, and together they stepped through to the living room, Sakura-san drifting along behind them.
It was going well, he thought. Hikaru and Urara had been gracious and polite, Makito already liked her, Houka and Kai had been a little dubious at first, but seemed to be warming to her, and his parents had been quite wonderful.
It occurred to him that his mother, at least, was deeply relieved that he had finally brought home any girl at all. In the two years since he had lost Rei, there had been no one that he had really been interested in. The gracious way his mother was treating Yumi was a part of her nature, of course, but there was additional warmth there as well. He wondered if his mother had been worried for him.
Yumi's quiet demeanor and politeness was a plus to his father, who was rather old-fashioned in his way. Any potential conversation was being drowned out by Houka and Kai at the moment, though, who were wrangling over who got the last piece of tonkatsu, but she seemed to be ease beside him.
He was acutely conscious of her sitting so near to him. The table was crowded with family at the moment and they were all shoved up together. Her elbow bumped his occasionally and it sent little jolts of electricity through him.
Kai made a joke, Yumi giggled, and Tsubasa found himself enchanted with her laugh. It was very hard to keep up the conversation when he was constantly being distracted.
Urara was leaning back a little, rubbing her belly and wincing.
"Are you all right?" Yumi asked and his sister groaned and made an irritated gesture with her hands.
"One more month to go and I already feel ready to be done with this," she admitted and their mother nodded with sympathy.
"I recall that feeling quite well," she told her with a rueful smile.
"How did you do this five times?" Urara asked with another wince.
"I just remembered how much I loved each one of you once you were born," she told them and they all smiled at her.
"Your mother is so nice," Yumi whispered to him and there was a yearning in her voice that made him wonder once more about her mother. It didn't sound as though she was a very warm or caring person. He smiled at her and she returned it, though her shyness was back, being around so many people.
"It's easier with trees," Sakura commented. "You just drop a few seeds or acorns and are done with it." Her tone was only mildly interested, as she was concentrating on her salad. Tsubasa wasn't yet ready to explain her to Yumi-chan just yet so he held his breath waiting for the next oddity that she might spout.
"Maybe we should switch to something like that," Kai teased and everyone laughed. Tsubasa let out his breath, relieved that nothing too weird had happened.
"Everyone-sama!" a shrieking voice called out and Tsubasa froze inside. Mandora boy, his green leaves waving frantically, came flying into the room. Beside him, Yumi's head snapped around to watch the potted plant zoom towards them all and then hover over the table. "There is an emergency – gozarimaste!"
Everyone jumped up and headed off to the Magic room. Tsubasa grabbed Yumi by the hand and she allowed herself to be towed along after the others. She didn't even pause as he ran with her through what seemed to be a solid wall on their staircase, though she did look rather pale once they were through to the other side.
"I'm so sorry! I forget that not everyone is used to this stuff," he apologized, but she just smiled weakly at him and shook her head.
"I told you that I trust you, Tsubasa-chan, it's okay. I was just a little startled." Her breathless reply reassured him, but he was immediately caught up in the newest emergency.
Yumi looked around her in bemusement. It was one thing to know that your boyfriend was a wizard, it was something else entirely to be dragged through a wall into an obviously magical room. The potted plant was still whizzing about and was speaking to them as though it were addressing the highest ranking of families and it were a mere retainer.
The Ozu family was clustered around a mirror talking loudly and on top of each other. Yet, strangely they managed to reach some sort of consensus and were suddenly jumping on broomsticks and a magic carpet and zipping out of the room.
Yumi was left standing staring at Yamazaki Yuka, Kai's girlfriend and Ki Sakura.
"Does this happen often?" Yumi asked, trying to pretend that she wasn't feeling utterly lost at the moment.
"More often than I like," Yamazaki-chan admitted. "The mirror informs them when there is a magical emergency," she explained and Yumi nodded, trying to look like she understood. Sakura-san was watching the mirror intently, her focus on the images that were being displayed there and seemingly oblivious to the other two women.
"Everyone-sama will be back soon, don't worry!" the potted plant informed her. "I am Mandora-boy," he added and Yumi bowed to him politely, his own rather formal language made her revert to her childhood and she found herself being somewhat more formal than she thought was probably warranted.
"I am pleased to meet you," she replied, feeling a little silly. The plant zipped closer and hovered in front of her. She noted that it had a face and what seemed to be arm-like fronds, it was planted in a white pot with delicate gold curlicues embossed on it and it had a sweet looking expression. She was trying hard not to stare at it, or grab it and examine it more closely.
"I am extremely pleased to meet you as well, Kimura-sama." The little plant managed a creditable bow, pot and all.
"Oh! They are there!" Yamazaki-chan waved at her and Yumi darted over to look into the mirror. The whole family had dismounted from the brooms and were now waving their hands around and shouting. There was a flash of light and then they were dressed in fighting gear.
The concrete industrial area where they had landed was filled with machinery and people running. She could see a flash of blue in the corner of the mirror and she guessed they were by the docks somewhere. The creature looked up from where it was chewing on some electrical cables and made a weird groaning noise, It looked to be made from seaweed and robes and had a tattered, rather pathetic appearance.
"Kai-kun, be careful!" Yamazaki-chan whispered and Yumi noted that Sakura-san had her hands carefully folded before her, but that her fingers were twisting a bit in anxiety.
To Yumi's eyes though, it looked a little one-sided, all those Ozu magicians against one poor, rather draggled-looking monster. She didn't understand their concern until about a minute later, when the creature started lobbing energy blasts at her boyfriend. The way that her stomach dropped into her shoes and her heart started to pound, along with her sudden feeling of terror, made the others' concern seem positively mild in comparison.
Yamazaki-chan took her hand and she found herself gripping back hard and trying not to scream out her concern. Was this what he did on his off hours? Between watching him fight in the ring and watching him fight on the mirror, she was going to lose years of off her life.
Tsubasa had a twinge of concern at abandoning Yumi and just charging off to fight, but there were innocent people in danger. Once they were in the thick of the fight though, he had no attention to spare for her. Dodging blasts of energy and thick ropey tentacles with spiked barbs on them was focusing his attention rather nicely.
Kai, as usual, was charging in head first, with little concern for his own hide. Tsubasa divided his attention between keeping his baby brother in one piece and staying out of reach of the tentacles. Chucking lightning bolts seemed to have an effect and he kept at it, watching as wisps of smoke rose from where he struck the creature.
The rest of his family fought beside him and there was nothing that made him happier than having them all around him like this. Together they could defeat any foe.
His father and Kai attacked with fire together and the creature screamed. The sound grated along Tsubasa's nerves making him twitch. There was a sudden conflagration and then the fire seemed to suck back in on itself and vanish. There was nothing left of the creature except a scorch mark on the concrete.
With a feeling of relief he watched Kai cast a repairing spell to fix most of the damage in the area and then they zipped away home. Tsubasa had a feeling that he was going to be having a long talk with Yumi-chan that evening.
Yuki-chan had jumped on Kai first thing and even Sakura-san had run to greet Makito, but Yumi had merely smiled and welcomed them all back. She looked a trifle pale, but otherwise quite composed. Knowing her shyness, he wondered if she was hiding her concern, but it was hard to tell.
"I am so sorry about dinner," his mother apologized, bowing to their guests. The murmured polite noises in response were obligatory, but He noted Yumi's eyes on him in particular.
"I suppose that I have a lot to explain to you," he began, but she shook her head in negation.
"You only need to explain what you want to," she answered, her voice pitched as low as his. He wasn't certain if she was letting him off the hook or if she simply didn't want to know. However, he caught her eyeing Smoky with great interest, so it couldn't be a lack of curiosity.
"Tsubasa, why don't we talk about all of this after we finish eating," his mother interrupted and with general approval for the idea, they trooped back into the dining room and sat to down.
His mother cast a quick spell and the food was hot and fresh once more, so they fell to and ate. He noticed though, that Yumi was very quiet for the rest of the meal. He wondered what she thought about all of it, but her face was so hard to read. He supposed that only time would tell.