Phantasy Star Portable – Kotone
Chapter 14
Hyuga rolled his eyes at the collection of women stalking the Headquarters, striding up to the counter. "Mina dearest!" He greeted cheerfully. "The headmaster asked me to go to his office?" Mina looked a bit startled, and she was, rather strangely in his opinion, blushing at the sight of him. Hyuga watched her with some hilarity as she shuffled some papers around, and directed him towards the elevator. Hyuga thanked her with an extra-bright smile, watching her skin flush deeper, and he hummed as he walked away, thinking amusedly to himself how oddly women acted around him nowadays. He pushed the button with a fist, and waved at Ethan, who was leaning against the wall, flipping through a notebook.
"Hey, Hyuga!" Ethan sounded cheerful. "What's up?" He asked his best friend cheerfully. "Don't you have a student to teach?" Hyuga laughed slightly at that.
"I do, but the Headmaster wanted to see me, so I agreed to come by on this Monday to get whatever he wanted me to." Hyuga paused, and then slyly added, "I'm sure that Kotone would be thrilled to see you," Hyuga watched Ethan's cheeks flush slightly before continuing. "She said she had something she wanted to talk to you about." Ethan nodded a hasty affirmative, leaving with a dark blush staining his cheeks and highlighting the few freckles on his face. Hyuga grinned shamelessly. So childlike, yet so cute. Hyuga grimaced slightly at the next thought, hoping that he didn't have to do the sex talk with his student so soon. The doors dinged open and he stepped into the elevator, and nodded to himself as he bobbed his head to the quiet jazz that played over the speakers. The elevator stopped, and Hyuga stepped off, observing the empty room with amusement and speculation. Of course, such a mood was never meant to last.
A smack to his behind made the young teenager yelp in complete alarm. The familiar rusty laugh made the young teacher fume in irritation. Nav shuffled to the front, settling himself into the desk with a grin.
"Ah, Hyuga, early as usual!" The archaic CAST greeted, as if he hadn't just groped Hyuga's rear end. Hyuga rubbed his ass, grimacing at the slight sting. "Now, I've received various positive reports from the other people that you coerced into working for you that Kotone has done very well in her fields of study." Hyuga nodded, waiting patiently. "Now, I've got a few questions about this." Nav leaned forward, looking more serious than he'd ever expected to see on the fatherly CAST. "Why does Kotone need a TECHNIC Mark waiver?" Nav looked concerned, waving the papers in the air. "She wasn't on the list," Nav sounded worried now, "and there are no records of her even existing!" Hyuga looked mildly surprised and amused at Nav's distress.
"What do you know about Yokubō Newman?" Hyuga asked dryly. Nav blinked, derailed. "From what I know, they have no use for paperwork, because everything is so tightly wrapped in customs and formalities that even a rouge can't work their way in." Nav's eyes grew wide. "They have no morals or even respect for one another. It's like the GRM politics gone feral." Hyuga stopped, spreading his hands out. "And unlike crossing a regular country Newman, crossing a Yokubō Newman means absolute death. Any of Kotone's records, if they exist, are under the Yokubō Communion office." Hyuga smiled faintly at the older man. "If that's all." Nav sighed, looking at the young man apologetically.
"Ah." Nav nodded. "I do apologize, but I had to make sure, you see?" Hyuga nodded, tucking some stray strands of hair out of the way. Hyuga stretched luxuriously, propping one hand up on the chair he was sitting in. "Now that that little misunderstanding is cleared, I called you up for a request." He grinned sheepishly. "Our GUARDIANS, the new recruits are starting to complain about the workload. I need you and your student to shut them up for me, if you don't mind." Hyuga took the offered sheet of papers, reading through the modified apprentice's license. It was simply a student contract with the added privilege of being allowed to work for a reduced fee of 35% less (instead of the usual 75% fee, she'd receive 45% of the total profits), the majority of the money going to the teacher in question.
"I'll see to it," Hyuga agreed, getting up to leave. "And Nav?" Hyuga looked over his shoulder, grabbing the perverted CASTs attention away from his ass. "Grope my student ever and I will end you." With that warning, he left. Nav observed the handsome teen as he left, ignoring the warning. Hyuga was still just slightly too awkward in his frame, but he was shaping up nicely!
Ethan was happily talking her through the process of Statistics, a bit closer than strictly advisable, but none of the less decent, as both teenagers was fully clothed. Hyuga cleared his throat briefly, drawing their attention.
"Miss Kotone, Ethan." Hyuga handed his student the paperwork. "That is your GUARDIANS Official Apprentice license. Unlike what Ethan, Tonnio, and I went under, your license is fully active while you are still in full schooling, instead of after. I and any other partner you have will receive a majority of the profits until you reach full-fledged GUARDIAN status." He nodded at her. "Sign for me, and Ethan?" The brown-haired boy looked up from where he was watching Kotone sign with a flourish. "Can you get her set up while I drop this off?" Ethan nodded, shooting Kotone a lopsided grin that she flushed slightly at. Hyuga saw it and shook his head. Ah, young love.
Ethan watched her run through the various type selections with a frown.
"Mr. Ethan?" Kotone looked distressed. "Is there any way that I can still legally use TECH-MAGS as a Protranser?" Ethan blinked, and looked it over. Shaking his head, he amusedly observed her weapons list. There wasn't a type file in the world that she would fit in. She'd have to be in a custom class.
"No," Ethan shook his head at her, calling over the attendant. "She needs a Type Exemption Form if you will?" The woman nodded curtly at him, fetching the paper as Ethan watched her attentively. "Has your teacher covered Leveling yet?" Ethan asked dryly, watching Kotone shake her head, taking the form with quiet thanks before filling it out.
"That was today's subject," Kotone answered finally, her cheeks a little pink. Ethan led her to a seat, and gave a dramatic sigh.
"Bear with me honey, I'm going to give a dull lecture here." Kotone coughed, pressing a delicate hand to her mouth at Ethan's mock-upset face. "Leveling is done using a device called a Photon Absorber." Ethan displayed his own main adaptor, implanted into his upper right arm, before shrugging his jacket back on. "The Absorber is placed anywhere on the upper and lower body so when a person commits a kill of any monsters or creatures, they absorb a set percentage of the ambient Photon energy." Ethan smiled at her. "They work best with SEED, so you'll have to work a bit harder to gain 'Levels'. Levels are gained when the Absorber reaches capacity." Ethan mimed a small explosion with his one of his only TECHNICs. "The type of Level varies on what energy is gained from the kill. Once a level has been reached, the Absorber increases its capacity up until it reaches the safe Photon Capacity for the person intended." Here Ethan nodded at her. "I've got a slightly different one that allows the body to increase its top capacity as the Absorber does. Hyuga has one too, so that'll probably be the model you'll get." Kotone nodded obediently. Hyuga walked in, and Ethan grinned.
"Hey!" Ethan waved him over bouncing up and down. "Great timing! I just finished up a quick explanation on Leveling. Do you know which model she's going to get?" Ethan asked happily. Hyuga held up a model. It was a small metal band, with thousands of tiny spines.
"Ours," Hyuga offered, sounding amused. He observed his adorable student as she filled out her Exemption form. Soft lavender looked up and grimaced at the sight of the black band. Hyuga handed it over, watching her as she carefully put it on, whimpering faintly at the feel of thousands of tiny needles digging into her skin and injecting the billions of Photon Absorbers into her bloodstream. She peeled off the metal strip, handing it back to Hyuga as he placed the new one on the tiny pinpricks. The Main Reactor spread out across her arm, sliding under her skin to form a thin protector as the Absorbers became attached to every cell in her body.
Kotone felt the world sway as they worked on her eyes, and she gasped when they attached to her TECHNICS as well. She stepped closer to her teacher, clutching his shirt in her hands as her back burned along the TECHNIC marks. The burn faded and her legs and arms began to tingle unpleasantly as it worked its way through her body. Hyuga rubbed her back soothingly, hugging her tightly, before passing her to Ethan, motioning for the younger boy to pick her up. Ethan complied just as her legs buckled slightly. Kotone whimpered, her legs feeling ablaze with flames and molten lead. After a few minutes, the burn faded to a cool brush of the AC. Ethan hugged her to his chest worriedly, as Hyuga watched on in amusement, looking at Kotone's body curved around Ethan's own.
"Having fun?" Hyuga asked dryly, making the man blush scarlet. Ethan mumbled something into Kotone's hair, while Kotone simply blushed at her teacher's audacity. Hyuga chuckled amusedly, and shook his head at their silliness.
"Um, well," Ethan mumbled, letting the disappointed, tiny woman down. Hyuga simply snorted, and told Kotone to turn her paper in.
"We'll meet you at the PPT gate." Hyuga told his student. "Come on," Hyuga told a surprised Ethan, already moving away. The redhead gulped nervously as they walked to the gate. "What do you intend to do with your relationship with Kotone?" Hyuga asked his best friend sternly. Ethan blinked in surprise.
"I want to introduce her to Lumia," Ethan found himself admitting, before clapping a hand to his mouth. Hyuga chuckled at his fear.
"That's a good start." Hyuga agreed dryly, his eyes alight with amusement. "You like her." It wasn't a statement. "I'm happy for you," Hyuga informed him sincerely, a hand on Ethan's shoulder. "I don't think that you being with her shall be all that bad of an idea." Hyuga said, watching Ethan's stunned face. "She could use a nice guy in her life," Hyuga mused aloud, thinking how few friends she currently had. "But be warned," Hyuga said dangerously, pulling Ethan close so they were almost nose to nose. "You hurt her, and I'll make you suffer for the rest of your natural life." Ethan squeaked and nodded, leaning away from the angry teenager. "Good!" Hyuga chirped, walking away with a bounce to his step.
Ethan simply followed behind nervously.
AN:
Main Reactor - the Main Reactor is what collects the Ambient Photons from a kill, and collects them. Once it reaches capacity, it will preform a quick burst from it, suffusing the Absorbers with the new photons and begin collecting again. The Reactor is like a thin sheet of cells directly under the skin. It can be damaged, like Tylor's in PSP2i (If you take a look at one of his arms, you can see it's blackened and dark, with claws on his right arm.) It's also the arm that is recommended that Beasts place their Nanoblasts on. It works so well with SEED because SEED collect Auras, made of A-Photons, around their outer body, providing for quick absorption.
Ta Da! What do you think? I'm sadly so much better at writing a serious Hyuga than I am a Flirty (Yes, the Flirty Hyuga deserves a capitalized title) one.
On Hyuga's meeting with Nav: In Phantasy Star Portable 1, Laia complains about Nav's tendency to grope women, and sarcastically asks why he doesn't do the same for men, citing Dallgun as an example. Nav proceeds to gross her out by mentioning that now that Dallgun was fully grown, it wasn't a bad idea. Cue the squick on Laia's end.