Chapter 3

Hyuga smiled at her slightly openmouthed expression as she wandered around the weapons racks. She cast a longing look at the Whip and Saber sections, but obediently gravitated towards the basic Swords and Twin Sabers.

"As your teacher, any weapons directly related to our classes will be purchased by me." When she opened her mouth to protest, he held up a hand. Kotone fell dead silent, respectfully. I could get used to that, Hyuga thought wryly to himself. "You are my personal apprentice, and as such, I will see to it that you have the absolute best. GUARDIANS students don't have much in the way of pocket money, I remember that one well." Kotone blushed a bit. "If you insist on paying me back, then you can wait until you're a GUARDIAN yourself and accompany me on missions." Hyuga led her to a weapons rack near the back. "These are some of the finest blades despite their prices. They're only that cheap because they were made here, or nobody bothered to upgrade them." Hyuga allowed her to observe the blades, watching her with a mildly interested expression as she pulled out a Gigush. Tossing a disk, that was nearby just for this purpose, into the air, she brought it down to cut the disk in half. Pleased, she passed it off to him. He held back, watching her go after the one-handed and Twin-blade Sabers. She would need those, and thank the Holy Light she knew that. He hated explaining himself twice.

A set of Twin Sabers and a Pallasch later, and Kotone came back to him, gingerly taking them off of his hands, to his protests.

"If you're buying me this stuff, you need your hands free," She reminded him tartly. He sighed, but conceded the point. The shopkeeper delightedly fetched the sword sheaths and belts, instructing Kotone to lay them on the table. Kotone looked a bit pointedly at the table, trying to ignore the sweet call of the Whips and Double Sabers. Hyuga chuckled lightly at her resistance, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"The ones here aren't the best," He murmured into her ear quietly enough for her to hear. "Neudaiz has a black market with better quality Whips and Double Sabers. If you behave, I'll take you there during the holiday." Kotone lit up, and she gave him a vivid smile. Hyuga smiled at her again, squeezing the thin shoulder affectionately. He heard her hum softly under her breath, and smothered another chuckle. She really loved her weapons.

Such a cute girl. It really was a shame that he couldn't flirt with her.

Hyuga paid for all of the weapons, and he steered her over to TECHNICs section. She browsed about for a bit, scanning the titles for a new TECHNIC she didn't have. The sleeve slid off one of her shoulders, showing him all of the TECHNICs she knew, neatly inked into her left side. The purple-haired girl slid it back up hastily, before continuing to browse. She settled on a simple healing TECHNIC, scampering back with the book of instructions. Hyuga wisely refrained from mentioning the tattoos until they were heading to her dorm room, carrying the rest of the supplies he had bought her, despite her many protests. He tapped her shoulder once, right over the tattoos, and she paled slightly, and shook her head, pointing at the walls. Hyuga pressed his lips together into a mild frown. He had forgotten about the listening devices in the dorms. After setting the weapons down in the storage room, where Kotone gently directed him to place various weapons, he stretched a bit, observing the barren rooms with a frown. Most people would spend at least a little on sprucing up the place.

"Come with me. You don't yet know where my room is, so I'll show you, just in case something happens or you just want to talk." She nodded quickly, following him to his room after securely locking her own. His pace was brisk but easy to follow. She touched the hilt of her new sword, set over her left shoulder to right hip nervously, following him into his room. It was large and spacious, and he waved her into a seat, locking the door shut. "Who did those for you?" He asked finally, setting up a pot of water to boil. "Tea?" He offered.

"Yes please," Kotone murmured softly. "A friend of my parents did. My brother once joked that with all of the TECHNICs I knew, I could rival the Divine Maiden." Amusement laced her tone. "I shoved him into a garbage can." Hyuga snickered, despite himself. He fell silent again, opening the cupboard, moving aside the boxes of spices.

"How long have they been there?" He asked, pulling out various teabags. "Mint, Chamomile, Chai, Honey, or Peppermint?"

"Peppermint." She answered automatically, her hand gripping her shoulder, her thumb running against the markings. "I've been getting them there since I was three, I think. Either three or four, I remember that it hurt a lot the first time." A casual brush of her hand over the mark once more and she let go. Hyuga eyed the pot, which was almost hot enough to pull off, trying not to scowl.

"I'd say. TECHNIC marks are risky to have and make. They were restricted a few years ago," He added idly. "Only a few people have the skill to make TECHNIC marks. I could probably get a waiver, if you want to continue that practice." Hyuga added gently. "How many scoops of sugar?" He asked pouring the hot liquid into two cups, dumping a Peppermint teabag and a Mint teabag into separate mugs.

"One scoop please," Kotone murmured, frowning. "I thought that they were completely outlawed?" Hyuga stirred her cup of tea with sugar, and placed it next to her. He sat down across from her, after fetching a list.

"They were going to be, but the Communion talked them down to registering instead." He handed her the list. "Point him or her out if you will." Kotone scanned the paper.

"That one there. Why would I need a wavier?" She asked, taking the hot mug into her hands after tapping the name. In the face of the chill of January, it was welcome to simply wrap her hands around a hot mug of steaming tea.

"It's been strongly advised against GUARDIANS getting a tattoo," Hyuga explained patiently. "Especially since the crafting skill required is ridiculously high. You said you've been receiving these since you were three?" Kotone nodded. "That's unusual. It's highly unadvised to recive a TECHNIC under the age of five. Are you sure? This man doesn't seem to take requests." At her confused look, he added, "All makers have been required to hand in a sheet with all of their clients, but I've never seen a Kotone on any of them. He's been asked before, and he refused. I'll see to it that you can visit him later." Kotone nodded, glancing around.

"Do I show you here or . . . ?" Kotone looked at him nervously. Hyuga shook his head, giving her a reassuring smile.

"Close-quarters combat is covered later," He informed her amusedly. "We'll go downstairs. There's a training room there I have that's reserved for our use only." He finished up his cup of tea, watching her sip at the cooling liquid. When she finished, he put the mugs in the sink, washing them out quickly. Drying his hands on a towel, he grabbed his wallet from where he left it on the side table next to the door, rifling through its contents. "This is the key card to the training room. Try not to lose it."

Once outside, he gestured towards the stairs. "I don't much like the elevators," He confessed to her. As they traveled down the stairs, he took in her appearance. She wore a plain, slightly oversized blue t-shirt and jeans, her sneakers well-worn. Her swords were hanging on her body. He frowned. Most Neudaiz citizens prided themselves on never having a weapon on them, save for the Armed Servants. What trouble did she get into to openly display them?

"You're they only student I've seen that doesn't use the Hyperspace Storage System. Is there a reason?" Kotone gave him a sheepish smile.

"I couldn't afford one, and by the time I could, I'd gotten used to the feel of having my weapons on my body." Kotone's answer was blunt. Hyuga opened the door, holding it for her. He nodded. It did feel strange, not carrying your weapons after you had started.

"Ah. After you." Hyuga decided not to press the issue.

This was going to be up tommorrow, but in honor of my first reviewer, it's being put up today!

In answer to her statement about a particular part of chapter two, here it is!

Neudaiz is like Japan, but I'm tossing in a few changes, as it's an entirely different solar system and nearly 500 years to its name. Kotone comes from a smaller village with very old-fashioned rules, and while most of Neudaiz has moved on, where she is from has not.