Still Waters 3, Chapter 6, The Festival First Day Part 2: Siblings
Friday, June 26th, 2009, Midday
Language Warning on this chapter
The red haired girl waited for the train to come to a complete stop as she gazed out blankly through the window, not really paying attention to what she was seeing. She wasn't a stranger to Mahora in any sense of the word, as she had been to the city many times since Negi first arrived six years before.
Surely, surely she was worthy of his notice now…!
The train rolled to a stop and the doors opened while she was still daydreaming.
"Move it girl." The man behind her somehow made it sound like a growl, and Anya gave him a startled look. He was big, as big as that brute P.E. teacher Negi sometimes hung out with, but also young, maybe twenty at most, and had wild, fiery red hair that added to his fearsome appearance as he towered over her.
Anya apologized and turned away, following the crowd out through the open doors. She had better things to think about than some rude stranger. Like Negi. 'Wait! No! Nonono!' she thought frantically for a moment before realizing that he was indeed the one she wanted to think about. She blushed furiously and shook her head to clear it. She had to stop doing this...! She had to—what on Earth?
"Welcome to the first day of the Mahora Festival!" a girl dressed like a cat announced to the people exiting the train. Anya only had a few seconds to stare before she was carried away by the crowd, and found herself smashed up against the rude man from earlier by the press of bodies.
He looked down at her and grimaced, and already off balance, she missed a step and tripped, borne away by the crowd as she desperately tried to regain her footing. Someone elbowed her hard in the side and she bumped into someone else who pushed her away. She tripped again, lost her balance, tried to regain it; but there was nothing to hold on to, no room to move in, and she was falling in the middle of the uncaring crowd. She fell to her hands and knees and someone stepped on her leg; she shouted more in surprise than pain, and then someone's knee smashed into the side of her head and knocked her down in a daze, but the faceless crowd kept coming and she was borne under, trampled, and she couldn't breathe, could barely see, and then something grabbed her arm and yanked hard and she was being lifted up through the crowd and carried like a child.
"You need to be more careful," her savior growled as he pushed his way into the front entrance of a small jewelry shop and set her down on her feet.
Anya's knees almost collapsed and she was forced to grab the big man's arm to remain upright.
"Oh my, you two are so cute together; are you here to look at engagement rings?" the clerk, an oddly familiar, perky young woman who appeared to be in her early twenties, asked.
Anya's jaw dropped and she looked up at the big redhead, and was secretly pleased to see he was just as stunned as she was. The two of them looked at each other, then back at the clerk.
"No."
"We're not together."
"…really? You two match so well, though," the clerk muttered.
'In what way?' Anya thought briefly before shaking her head to clear it.
The clerk cocked her head to the side as she looked at the two of them. Really, they matched pretty well. Both redheads, both with a stubborn set to their chin; and with the way she was clinging to his arm, anyone could make that mistake. In fact, they looked almost like her and Max...
The man looked down at the top of Anya's head after the clerk had wandered away. "Just stay in here a while. Do you have anyone you can call?" he asked; he couldn't very well leave her here without help when such a small crowd left her helpless. "Damn morals," he muttered under his breath.
"What did you say?" Anya asked.
"Nothing," he growled as he looked at her. The two locked eyes and glared at each other. Honestly, she was sort of cute, he supposed; probably still underage, though. Well, no matter; he had other things to do with his time than watch over some stupid kid. "I said do you have any friends you can call to come and pick you up?" he repeated.
"Yeah," Anya replied, still glaring. The man broke eye contact and looked at her staff for a moment, and she stiffened. "What?"
"…I understand it can be hot this time of year," he said suddenly, looking at her intently.
Anya's eyes widened in surprise. He was a member of the Society of Fire? "…only as hot as necessary," she replied, narrowing her eyes as she thought.
"Vulcan branch. You?" he said, lowering his voice as he took her arm and led her to the far side of the jewelry shop, even further away from the clerk.
"London branch," Anya replied, lowering her voice as well. So this man was from Society Headquarters in Mundus Magicus! She hadn't ever been there before, or met any other members outside of a few of the mages back home or in London.
They looked at each other for a moment in thought.
"Were you assigned?" he asked.
"Just visiting. You?"
"Society business; I'm looking for a particular mage. The Firemaster wants to see him. What's your rank?"
"Journeyman…you?" Anya asked.
"Adept."
"Thank you for saving me earlier, Adept…?"
"Cyrr," he said, holding out a hand.
"Adept Sear," Anya said, shaking his hand.
"No, 'Cyrr', not 'Sear'," he said, the growl returning to his voice.
"My apologies, Adept Cyrr," Anya said, correcting her pronunciation. 'Huh...must be a sore spot for him.' And no wonder, a fire mage with a name like that? It was almost like some bad joke...! "My name is Anya." She looked at the man curiously; she had hundreds of questions to ask, but he outranked her by quite a bit, and she didn't really want to impose on him any more than she had already…
"Look, are you going to be okay? I need to introduce myself to the local magic association head, but I can put it off for a while if I need to," Cyrr said.
Anya took a long look out at the densely packed crowd in the street and sighed. "That might be for the best," she allowed reluctantly. Adept Cyrr was certainly big enough to wade through the crowd. If she stuck with him, she could find Negi that much more quickly...
Cyrr nodded as he looked at the people moving past outside.
"So," Taro said as she followed Kagami through the back streets of Mahora. "What's so great about this place you're trying to find?"
"It's just something I'm interested in," Kagami said after a moment's pause. There was no way she could tell Taro about just how interested she was. Cosplay wasn't exactly the sort of thing you bragged about, after all. She wasn't particularly crazy about Taro being there at all, but Eva had instructed them to stay together during the festival, and the other girl hadn't had anything else she wanted to do so early on the first day, so...
Taro shrugged. "Whatever. Let's just find it soon, I'm tired of these backroads."
Kagami fell silent as she continued on, looking at her hand-drawn map as she occasionally took a sip of the soft drink in her hand, until someone bumped into her, splashing the drink. Kagami whirled around and grabbed the guy's elbow, pulling him off balance.
"What the hell?"
"I'm the one who needs ta be askin that," Kagami said, smoothly dropping into street thug slang. "What, are you blind? Didn't you see that you bumped into me?"
The man that had bumped into her looked fairly average, though he was dressed in a well tailored suit and wore a pair of black sunglasses. "Excuse me?" he said, his voice displaying his incredulity.
"You heard me," Kagami said. "You bumped into me and made me spill my drink on my map and my shoes. These shoes are only a week old, and now look at 'em. They're ruined! How are you going to make this up to me?"
The guy just gave her a confused look as another, much more dangerous looking man strolled up.
Taro started sweating. She knew yakuza when she saw them. "Uh, hey, I don't think you should be picking a fight..." She didn't have any qualms about fighting them herself, but if Kagami got involved...she recalled the severe damage Kagami had inflicted on various sections of Eva's resort over the past month or so. "Hey..."
"Somethin' wrong, boss?" the second guy asked as he leered at first Kagami and then Taro.
The 'boss' didn't reply; instead, he stared at Kagami's face. "...do I know you? I do, don't I?" he said wonderingly.
"Wait, you..." Kagami said, trailing off as she squinted at the man.
"Boss?"
"Hey Kagami, we should probably go..." Taro said. 'I hope these guys aren't related to those yakuza guys I beat up last year,' she thought. You might get away with that sort of thing once or twice, but if you beat up a boss, even a young one like this guy, bad things tended to happen. It was nothing she couldn't handle herself, but she wasn't sure how well the city would handle what Kagami could do to them.
"You ain't goin anywhere," the second guy said roughly as he grabbed Taro's arm.
Well; that changed things. "...let go of my arm," she said, her voice low and dangerous.
"Kagami...?" the boss asked.
"Hell no, yer causin trouble for the boss, and you know what that means," the man said, leering at Taro's chest.
Taro grinned ferociously. Well, it might be a bad idea to beat up on the yakuza, but that didn't make it any less fun...
"Jin-kun!" Kagami suddenly said as she brightened up. "I thought you looked familiar!"
The second guy choked and lost his balance. "Jin-kun? What the hell..."
Taro just looked at Kagami incredulously for a moment, then jerked her arm away from the second guy. "Jin-kun?"
The average looking man grinned. "Kagami-chan! How are ya? I haven't seen you in years! Not since we helped run off that gang that tried to take over your territory!"
"Gang? Territory?" Taro asked, reeling from the mental blow, but was ignored.
"Oh! Kagami-chan! That's right!" the second guy suddenly said as realization dawned. "You've grown a lot! You've got to be, what, a D cup now? Nice!"
Taro just stared as the two yakuza greeted Kagami like an old friend. What the hell. What. The. Hell. What. The. Hell.
"Wha...I'm gonna have ta hit ya for that," Kagami said in fond annoyance as she slipped easily into yakuza slang, cocked her fist, and let him have it on the chin. The man staggered back, laughing crazily, and fell to the ground, still grinning as he rubbed his chin.
"Heh...same Kagami-chan..." he said foggily from his place on the sidewalk as he turned his gaze to Taro. "Heh."
Taro raised an eyebrow, still reeling from the sheer insanity that had so quickly blossomed in her life. "'Heh'?"
"Hey Kagami-chan, your friend's pretty hot too, you'd better start now if you want to catch up," he said, looking her up and down. He got a kick to the face from Taro for his efforts.
"Idiot..." Taro said, red faced, as she crossed her arms protectively over her chest. And then, to her horror...
"Yeah she is, dammit. She could be in next year's calender," Kagami said. "Did you know she wraps 'em to make 'em look smaller? Ain't healthy."
Taro whirled around, shocked, and was horrified to see Kagami giving her a measuring look. Surely not...! Kagami was...Kagami was gay? But she was always going on about Negi-sensei! 'Wait,' Taro thought; the correct word would be lesbian. No, that wasn't what she should be concerned about! They had been in the bath together, had practiced hand to hand combat and certain holds together back in Eva's resort...! Taro began to turn a distressing shade of red.
Kagami nodded and gave her a thumbs up. "Ten out of ten, considering her age," she said conversationally to the man on the ground, who nodded enthusiastically as Jin smirked at Taro.
"Nice legs, too," the man said.
Taro, horrified as she tried to tug her skirt as far down as it could go without actually pulling it loose, saw Kagami nodding.
"You know, you two are right. This girl's pretty good. How old are ya kid? Eighteen? Nineteen?" Jin said.
"...fifteen..." Taro said as she turned away and hunched over slightly to better hide some of her assets. How mortifying...!
"Yeah, she'll be pretty good by the time she hits twenty," Kagami said.
"Oh come on, gimme a hug, kiddo," Jin said, abruptly changing tack as he scooped Kagami up in a bearhug.
"Pfft, perverted old man," Kagami said cheerfully.
"Old man? I'm just 28!"
"Hey! What are you doing to my little sister?" someone bellowed from down the street. Taro was left dazed and humiliated as Jin whirled Kagami in front of him and pulled a couple of pistols, crossing his arms in front of him just enough to hold Kagami in place against him as a human shield. The second guy was on his feet in an instant, his earlier joking persona gone, replaced by that of a proper yakuza enforcer, holding two pistols of his own. Taro made herself turn around to see what they were pointing their guns at, and sighed tiredly as she saw the three other yakuza that had come up on them from behind. The leader had a sawn-off shotgun on a sling that had been hidden by his long coat, and the other two held pistols.
"...uh...Ka...Kagami...?" Taro asked as her mind raced in an attempt to take in the sheer insanity of it all. The second real friend she had made here was not only gay (or was it bi? Kagami really seemed to like Negi-sensei...), but was friends with yakuza complete with slang, had looked at her like an AV scout without her knowledge, and had now dragged her into the middle of a yakuza gang war. Great. Juuuust great. Helloooo, Earth to Taro-kun; come in, Taro-kun.
"Jin you idiot, let go," Kagami said as she elbowed Jin in the stomach and wriggled loose before he could recover. She stalked over to the guy with the shotgun and smacked him across the face, finally startling Taro from her daze. Feeling the need to get away from this bizarro world and return to reality, Taro trotted over, took Kagami's wrist, and started pulling her away.
"I'm sorry, but we have to go now," she said to the yakuza in a singsong voice. "Come along, Kagami-chan." Just...just ignore it all. It didn't happen. None of this is real, la la la~
Kagami jerked her hand away and went right back into the middle of the yakuza gang war. "You idiots! What do you think you're doing?" she demanded. And, to Taro's surprise, both sides started looking sheepish.
"Well...he was hugging you..." the shotgun guy said.
Kagami raised an eyebrow. "And...? I can hug whoever I want. What's it to you? And you guys, come on, Sousuke, Akihiko. Put'cher pieces away already," she said dismissively, still using the yakuza slang she seemed unaware she had slipped into. "Geez. What are you, a bunch of idiot kids trying to make a name for yourselves? That goes for you guys too, Jin-kun, Nobuo," she said, turning on the first two. She glared at everyone until they put their weapons away sheepishly.
"Good. Now, back to business." She turned to face the shotgun guy, glared, and put her hands on her hips. "What the hell are you doing here big brother?"
Taro's jaw dropped yet again as reality flooded back. Kagami's big brother was a yakuza boss? Kagami wasn't just yakuza, but what amounted to yakuza royalty? She staggered back a few steps as the impact of the last few moments hit her yet again. It appeared this was going to be a long day.
Madoka tugged her...colorful...hat lower and made sure her sunglasses were firmly in place as she strolled upthe sidewalk to the cafe Sakurako had indicated in her text messages. She leaned against a streetlight pole and stuffed her hands into her pockets, drawing a lot of stares as she tried to blend in and survey the scene through the glass at the same time. After a moment, she spotted Sakurako and Misa seated at a corner table.
"Miss? Excuse me, miss?"
Madoka looked at the speaker and started sweating. "Um...what can I do for you, officer?"
The policeman gave her oddly shaped hat a long look. "I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to move along, miss," he said pointedly.
"Er...yeah...sorry about that. I'll just...go in here..." she said as she opened the door of the cafe.
The rush of cool air inside was very refreshing, at least until Sakurako spotted her and shook her head slightly. Luckily, Misa had her back facing the door, so she didn't see Madoka.
A waitress appeared and gave Madoka's singularly fascinating hat an odd look. "...can I help you?"
Madoka quickly removed the hat and dropped it into the garbage can beside the door. 'The hat was a bad idea,' she admitted to herself as she took off her oversized sunglasses and tossed them in with the hat. "Yes, I need a table..."
Misa squirmed in agonized anticipation of the arrival of her sister.
"Thanks for coming with me, Sakurako," she said.
Sakurako nodded as she watched Madoka throw away that awesome hat on the other side of the cafe. "Yeah, don't worry about it, it's no problem. You're buying, right?" she asked cheerfully. Misa nodded reluctantly.
"Waitress!" Sakurako shouted immediately. Misa groaned.
Perhaps ten minutes had passed when the door opened again. Madoka turned to look and froze, the hand holding her drink stopped halfway to her mouth.
The woman was beautiful. Long, shiny black hair, a great figure, and a style that was simple and yet...perfect. The woman gave the room a quick once over and headed straight toward Misa and Sakurako's table. Madoka watched as Sakurako spotted the woman and choked on her drink in a rare moment of real surprise, causing Misa to look up from the table top at her friend and turn around warily to see what had startled her.
And, with the view of the two of them side by side, Madoka could see the family resemblance and couldn't help but ask herself: 'Is this what Misa will look like when she gets older?'
"Hello Misa," the woman said.
"...hello, Hatsune-nee..." Misa managed.
"Mind if I sit down?"
"...go ahead..." Misa said pitifully.
Hatsune sat down and eyed Sakurako. "So, you must be Shiina-san. Misa has told me a lot about you."
Sakurako's eyes shined. "She hasn't told me anything about you, though! Wow, I didn't know she had such a beautiful sister!"
Hatsune smiled gently and Sakurako's eyes glittered.
"Hatsuneeeeeee~" Misa whined. "Stop seducing my friends!"
"Nonsense," the older woman replied as the waitress came to take her order.
Madoka watched, fascinated, as Misa regressed back to a preteen in the presence of her older sister. She had rarely seen Misa so put out by anything, so this was a nice surprise. Sakurako's instant infatuation was an amusing side effect too, totally unexpected as it was. She took a sip of her drink and glanced over at them again. Sakurako was gesturing energetically, probably telling some embarrassing story, while Misa buried her face in her hands and looked as though she wanted to die.
Madoka snorted in amusement and took another bite of the cake she had ordered as she watched.
"And after that, Madoka just looked at Misa and said 'Idiot'," Sakurako said, making a serious expression and lowering her voice to imitate Madoka. Hatsune grinned crookedly and looked over at Misa while Sakurako laughed.
Misa propped her elbows on the table and buried her face in her hands. 'Why? WHY did I agree to let Sakurako come with me...?'
"So, where is this 'Madoka'?" Hatsune asked. Misa froze. "I've heard so much about him, I'm curious to meet him."
Misa shot Sakurako a pleading look, and Sakurako whipped out her cell phone and looked at it for a moment.
"Oh...something just came up," Sakurako said. "I'll be back later, okay?" she said, and smiled brightly at Hatsune. "It was nice to meet you, Hatsu-nee-sama!" she said as she trotted over to the door and left the cafe.
Misa just blinked. What? WHAT? Since when was Sakurako on a first name basis with her big sis? No, that wasn't it. 'Traitor!' How could Sakurako abandon her in her time of need?
A very familiar ring tone started playing nearby a moment later and Misa nearly choked on her drink. No way. No freaking way! She turned around in her chair and spotted Madoka seated at a nearby table, trying to look inconspicuous as she whispered into her cell phone. Misa's jaw dropped and Madoka spotted her an instant later and froze, then grabbed her things and all but ran outside.
"Oh? Who was that? Another one of your friends?" Hatsune asked.
Misa's mouth opened and closed for a moment like a fish out of water. "Uh...no! Never saw her before in my life!"
"Oh?" Hatsune asked, pleasantly enough.
"Yes?" Misa squirmed.
"Ta-Takahashi-sama?"
Student Number 12, Takahashi Shizuko, paused in her walk along one of the quieter pathways on the middle school campus and turned to look down at the speaker, a furiously blushing girl a year or two younger. The much shorter girl held a sketchbook clutched in front of her chest nervously as she fidgeted.
"Call me Shizuko."
The girl's eyes sparkled. "Shizuko-sama?"
"Just Shizuko."
"Shi-Shi-Shizuko?"
"Yes?"
"Would you...would you..."
Shizuko looked from the girl to the other girls trying (and failing, miserably) to hide behind a nearby bush, and back to the first girl again. She recognized her of course, though she didn't know her name. The girl was part of a small group that followed her around sometimes outside of school. She looked down at the girl's sketchbook and back up at her face. "Is something wrong?"
"No! Nothing's wrong! It's just...ah...would you...write some calligraphy for me?" the girl asked, jerkily holding out her sketchbook as she clamped her eyes shut and her blush intensified.
Shizuko looked from the girl's scared/hopeful expression to the sketchbook and back again, and nodded. This was followed by delighted squeals from the area behind the bush where the other girls thought they were hiding.
"I don't have any brushes or ink with me, though," Shizuko said.
"Use mine!" the girl all but shouted.
"...okay."
Five minutes later, Shizuko was seated across from the girl at a table in a small gazebo, inkpot and brush ready at hand. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, let it out, took another and, when she half-opened her eyes again, seemed a different person, infinitely calm and mature. The younger girl sitting across from her barely managed to hold back a squeal of delight.
"...I am ready," Shizuko announced as she took up the brush.
"C-c-could you write...could you write...'Love~'!" the girl said in an awkward, jerky rush, her cheeks blazing red at her temerity.
Shizuko was silent as she removed a piece of paper from the sketchbook and laid it flat before her. The other girls, 'hidden' behind various bushes, small trees, and, in one case, a lamppost, leaned forward to watch. Shizuko raised the brush and they all took in a breath and...it was done.
"So...so fast!" one of them said.
The girl seated across from Shizuko took the paper and looked at it, then looked up at Shizuko. "I...I don't understand...I wanted you to write-"
Shizuko's half-lidded eyes focused on her, and the girl's face went red again. "That is not what is in my heart," she said, her voice deep and quiet. The girl's blush went nuclear as Shizuko reached across the table and laid her hand gently on the side of her face. The other girls squealed as Shizuko smiled slightly. "Think about it," she said, gesturing vaguely at the sheet of paper, then turned to go.
When she was far enough away, one of the girl's friends came forward and picked up the paper and looked at it while the others gathered around.
"She...she touched my face...ah~!" the first girl said, lost to the world.
"What did she write? Hurry, show me!"
The girl holding the paper wrinkled her brow and cocked her head to the side as she looked at it. "...'Flight'?" Was that what was in Shizuko-sama's heart? She frowned as she tried to figure out the deeper meaning behind the word.
Shizuko heard them discussing it as she walked away and smiled gently. They were too tied up in hidden meanings and secrets...it meant what it meant, no more and no less. She shook her head to clear it and walked along, grinning slightly as she watched a vulture riding the thermals high above.
Maple Birdsong helped her sister up out of the bathtub in their small house; or rather, she pulled her up to a standing position which the other girl maintained without comment or reaction.
"Come on, Trin. We're going for a walk today," Maple said in a voice that seemed upbeat to her, but would have sounded tired to anyone else. Trinity didn't respond as her sister set about drying her off.
Maple hummed a tune as she went about her task and finally draped the towel over the other girl's head to soak up any remaining moisture in her hair, and left the bathroom to put on her best clothes.
"We're going to see the festival today," Maple called out from the other room. Trinity didn't respond.
When she returned a moment later in a slightly worn T-shirt and a pair of fading jeans, the towel she had left on Trinity's head was folded neatly on the edge of the sink, while Trinity had moved to stand in front of the mirror, though her unfocused gaze into the far distance showed she wasn't looking at her reflection. Maple just looked at her sister for a moment.
"Hey Trin, did you fold that up? That's great!" she said with tired enthusiasm as she dressed the other girl. "We're going to the festival today. There'll be candy and rides and...and a lot of good things to eat..." she said, trailing off with a frown as she looked at the pair of pants she had gotten for her sister. It seemed Trinity was losing weight again...that wasn't good. She was already too skinny, and the doctors had been very strict about what her weight should be.
"...and we'll probably see Negi, too. You'd like that, wouldn't you? You perverted older woman," she said jokingly as she tightened her sister's belt.
Trinity didn't respond.
"So, where would you like to go next, Hatsune-nee?" Misa asked pleasantly as they stood on the sidewalk outside the cafe. "How about-"
"I understand there will be a fighting tournament?" Hatsune asked.
Misa's face went pale. 'Oh no...' "Y-you won't be interested in this one, it'll be full of punks and little kids."
Hatsune shook her head and patted the top of Misa's head, like she had done since Misa was three. "That doesn't matter, it will be refreshing I think. No one wants to fight me back home."
'That's because you beat them all up,' Misa thought irritably. When Hatsune threw herself into learning a new skill, she really threw herself into it, and the results were never pretty when she inevitably outstripped her colleagues and teachers and started experimenting. She still vividly remembered the first time Hatsune had 'experimented' on her, when she was six and Hatsune was fourteen. She had woken up crying the next morning as every joint in her body felt as if they had all come undone.
"Um...tell ya what," Misa said. "I promised a friend that I'd watch her band play at the big stage...why don't we go? They should be on in the next thirty minutes or so," she said, flipping her cell phone open to keep her hands occupied. "You still like music, right?"
"Oh?" Hatsune asked. "Is she any good?"
Misa thought for a moment. "...pretty good. They'll be a lot better in a few years I think."
Hatsune nodded. "Lead the way. And afterward, I can sign up for tomorrows' tournament."
Misa heaved a weary sigh; she knew there was nothing she could do when Hatsune's mind was set. "Fine."
"And you can introduce me to this 'Madoka' I have heard so much about," Hatsune added as they walked.
Misa stumbled. "A-ah, ha ha ha! You don't want to meet Madoka, s—he's boring, you won't like him. L-let's just go watch the band, okay? Come on or we'll miss 'em!" she said, running ahead while Hatsune raised an eyebrow.
"Boring, is it?" Hatsune muttered to herself, then grinned. Now what was Misa hiding...? "I want to meet him even more."
"See, Trin? The band stage is this way, we'll go and watch for a while okay?" Maple said as she led her sister along by the hand. The doctors had all but told her it was hopeless to expect any sort of reaction out of her sister, but she steadfastly refused to accept that. PTSD-induced catatonia was nothing to be sneezed at, but little things, in the past few days especially-Trinity reacting to music, occasionally moving on her own, and especially the way she had folded that towel earlier—gave her at least a little hope. They had been through so much up to now, from what had happened to their family to their mad dash across the country to California, where they had stowed away on a ship bound for Japan to the continuous mental torture from the demons and whatever they had done to Trin to make her like she was now...she didn't have anything left but hope. Negi-sensei had done his best to help, but even that Nodoka girl couldn't figure out what was going on in Trin's mind; she was just blocked off. She just wished there was some way to-
Maple's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone sucking on a straw in an empty cup. She paused and turned around to look at her sister, who, while still gazing blankly ahead at nothing, was now holding up the fountain drink Maple had given her earlier, and was sucking it dry. She stopped sucking the straw after a moment and slowly lowered the cup.
She just looked at her sister for a moment and couldn't help but smile. "Come on, Trin. Let's go see the bands."
"And that was the band After School Tea Time, everybody give them a hand!" the announcer said as the previous band left the stage to massive applause.
"So, what'd you think of that one?" Misa asked. She and her sister had, for the sake of convenience and the ability to hear each other talk, taken up position near the back of the crowd, far from where the speakers were set up. They could see the bands up on stage just fine due to the slight rise in the ground, but they were luckily too far back to have to deal with the more...energetic sort of fan.
Hatsune shrugged. "That last one was good, but they need a few years to mature. That black haired girl is a much better singer than the other one, too. What was the name of the band you wanted to show me?"
Misa grinned crookedly. "The No Name Band; I think they're coming on next."
"...oh," Hatsune said after a moment. "Imaginative name." she said for lack of anything more polite.
"Yeah..." Misa said, turning her attention back to the stage as a familiar group of girls came out. "There they are. You know, Ayumi is actually pretty good-" She was interrupted as the announcer began speaking.
"And our next band is...heh...the No Name Band," the announcer said to general laughter. Misa and Hatsune could clearly see Ayumi, redfaced, waving her arms in irritation as she yelled at the announcer and the crowd laughed even harder. The announcer had a brief conversation with her, and then passed her the microphone.
"It's the only name we could think of!" Ayumi shouted into the microphone, resulting in a painful electronic screech and more laughter from the audience.
"...she doesn't sing, does she?" Hatsune asked, wincing at the girl's harsh voice.
"No."
"Ah."
They watched as a girl with yellow hair, a nice hat, and no instrument said something to her and somehow managed to calm her down.
"We-ll," the announcer said as he took his microphone back. "Here we go, the No Name Band!" The crowd started cheering as the band members got into position.
Ayumi played a few power chords and shouted into the microphone in front of her. "Hello Mahora!" The crowd responded with mixed laughter and cheers, and Misa could tell the girl was a little put out by the reaction. The crowd went straight into cheers after that however as they began playing a fast-paced rock song.
Misa's mouth dropped open. "That's one of my songs! I can't believe they stole my song!"
Hatsune smirked slightly. "Actually, that sounds quite a bit like a song I wrote for my friend's band in high school with a few chords changed," she said, eyeing Misa speculatively. "I can't believe you stole my song."
Misa grinned awkwardly. "Eheheh...sorry? It's not like it was on purpose! And besides, the bass line's totally different," she replied, recalling the song her older sister had written so long ago.
Hatsune didn't seem to care much, however, as she had turned her attention back to the stage. "They're really very good, especially the singer. Much better than my friend's band used to be," she said as the song wound down to a close.
"Yeah, they're pretty good. They just need more experience," Misa said. All of the first day bands did, really; the more experienced bands would be playing on the last two days. The two of them stood there watching the band for a moment before Misa spotted someone else she recognized standing nearby, watching the stage. "Maple?"
Maple Birdsong turned and looked around for a moment with guarded eyes before she spotted Misa. She glanced back at the stage and then started moving through the crowd toward her.
Misa's eyes widened as she saw who was with the other girl. "Hey Maple, is it okay for her to be here?" she asked, pointing at Trinity, whose head was pointed toward the stage even though her sister was pulling her along in the other direction toward Misa.
"It's okay," Maple said sheepishly. Misa could barely hear her over the noise of the crowd.
"Are you sure about that? Didn't the doctors say to keep her at home?"
Maple seemed to shrink in on herself and Misa could tell she had touched a sore spot. She frowned. Everyone in Negi's group knew Maple and Trinity, if only in the way you recognized a particular dog because it might bite. She knew it wasn't out of any sort of meanness on the others' part, but mostly because the poor girl took pains to keep to herself. Misa knew her better than most simply because she felt bad for her and her sister, and had made a point of checking up on her occasionally until Maple had finally given up her protests and allowed Misa's intrusions into her life. "Is everything okay?" she asked.
Maple grinned a pitiful, tired little grin and moved her hair out of her eyes as she glanced at Trinity. "About as well as can be expected," she said as her hair fell back to its original position again.
Misa nodded and turned to her sister. "Hatsune, this is Maple Birdsong and her sister Trinity. Maple, Trinity, this is my older sister, Hatsune." She could tell Maple was thankful for including Trinity in the introductions, since she was simply ignored so often. Hatsune greeted Maple pleasantly enough, but Maple was wary at best, and stiffened when Hatsune turned her attention to Trinity.
"Hello Trinity, it is a pleasure to meet you," Hatsune said, taking the catatonic girl's hand. Misa gave Maple a warning look and the other girl settled down again, though she could tell Maple was on edge.
"S-so," Misa said as Maple took Trinity's hand protectively, scrambling for a topic to take the others' attention away from her sister. "What do you think about the band?"
Maple glanced at the stage. "They're good I guess," she said. Everyone stood around awkwardly while the No Name Band began playing another song.
A man in shabby clothes sitting comfortably on a stone bench near the outskirts of the city of Okayama, eating a candy bar with chocolate-smeared hands, paused mid-bite and cocked his head to the side.
"Heh."
He gulped down the last few bites and stood up, wiping his hands on his stained shirt as he picked up his backpack, a ragged thing that had seen far more miles than such a cheaply-made thing should. He made a cocky grin. They had finally fucked up.
"Heh," he grunted laughter again. Whatever that girl had done to hide herself, she had finally fucked up, and now he knew where she was, exactly where she was.
"Won't be long now," he said aloud, grinning crookedly as he set off. No, it wouldn't be long at all, now. It had been almost seven years since he had let them escape, almost a year since he had worked out their presence on this island chain, but now...now that she had let it slip, he could finally catch her and return home.
"Negi-kun~"
Negi stiffened as Sakurako spoke behind him.
"Hey, Negi-kun~"
He started to sweat. Why, oh why had he been assigned to patrol alone for two hours?
"Uh...hello, Sakurako-san," he said pleasantly as he turned to face the girl, his eyebrow twitching as he tried to fake a smile. He knew what it meant when Sakurako used that tone.
"Heya, Negi-kun," Sakurako said, grinning wide.
"Ah ha, ha..." Negi said, turning his head to the side.
"Hmm~?" Sakurako said as she bent forward in front of him, playfully tugging at the neckline of her shirt. Her smile widened as she watched Negi's face go red as he looked away again.
"What did you need, Sakurako-san?" Negi asked, looking at a little bird sitting in a nearby bush.
"Aww, mean Negi-kun won't even look at me~"
Negi sighed and rubbed his forehead, and looked her in the eye. "What did you need, Sakurako-san?" he repeated. "And please stop teasing me, I'm on patrol right now, like you should be."
"Eh, but that's boring. And besides," Sakurako added, her gaze sharpening.
Negi gulped. "And besides...?"
Sakurako grinned like a snake. "And besides, you owe me."
Negi started sweating in earnest. There were many things he owed her for. If Sakurako was good at one thing, it was extracting unnamed favors from everyone around her. Trying to get out of it almost always resulted in owing her even more, and she always came to claim them just when you began to think she had forgotten and you might be in the clear...
"Look Sakurako-san, I can't-"
"Hmm...let's see, should I tell Asuna about-"
"That's not fair!"
"Or maybe I should tell Misa about-"
"Sakurako-san!"
"Oh! Or maybe I should tell Nodoka about that thing with the french-"
"Okay, okay! I give up! Just tell me what you want! Just don't tell any of them..."
"Oh? Okay~!" Sakurako said, feigning pleasant surprise. "What will you give me if I don't?"
Negi sighed in defeat. "Just...just tell me what you wanted me to do..."
"Hehe~" Sakurako laughed as she moved in and whispered something in Negi's ear.
...
...
...
"YOU WANT ME TO WHAT?" Negi shouted, startling the little bird he had been looking at earlier into flight.
"So, when are you going to introduce me to Madoka?" Hatsune asked as she and Misa left the tournament sign up area.
Misa drooped. And it had seemed like Hatsune-nee had forgotten about meeting Madoka until now... Before she could think up a suitable lie, her cell phone rang. She pulled it out and looked at the number.
"Ah, just a minute," Misa said as she walked away from her sister. "Sakurako? Why did you leave? How could you do that to me? Do you know what I've been through up to now?" she whispered frantically into the phone. She glanced over at Hatsune and waved awkwardly before whipping back around to face the other direction.
"Don't worry, I've got the perfect solution to your problem!" Sakurako replied.
"...what do you want from me this time?" Misa asked warily.
"Hmm...how about you treat me to dinner at one of those fancy french restaurants downtown?"
Misa sighed and mentally calculated her savings. "Fine. Now what's your solution?"
"Go to the World Tree plaza, you'll see. See ya there~!" Sakurako said, then hung up.
"Wait!" Misa shouted into her phone, but it was too late. She scowled down at the phone for a moment and shoved it into her pocket. "Freaking Sakurako, never explaining anything..." she grumbled as she stalked back over to her sister.
"Oh? Is something wrong?" Hatsune asked, eying her in a disquieting manner.
Misa heaved a sigh and shrugged. "I don't know, Sakurako's being weird. Anyway, Madoka's over at the World Tree plaza. You wanted to meet him, right?" she asked, pasting on a pleasant expression that she hoped and prayed Hatsune bought.
"Lead the way," Hatsune replied dryly.
Anya's cell phone rang suddenly, almost startling her enough to drop her ice cream cone. Cyrr gave her a bored look from the other end of the bench they shared and cocked an eyebrow.
"...something wrong?" he asked dryly. Anya scowled at him and answered her phone.
"Hello? Who is this? How did you get my number?" She hadn't told anyone she would be in town, and she hadn't run into anyone she knew yet, either...
"Something interesting is happening at the World Tree plaza~"
Anya's frown deepened. "What do you mean? What's happening there? Who is this?" The other speaker's voice was strangely familiar, but she couldn't quite place it.
"You remember the World Tree, right? Remember the stories about its love magic?" the voice said.
"L...love magic?" Anya said as her mind started racing, going over a particularly humiliating incident several years ago with Negi in front of the World Tree, back before she had known about its two decade cycle. "W-what about l-love magic?"
"I happen to have in my hand a few photos with you and a certain young teacher from Wales~"
"Ah! W-what are you going to do with them?" Anya said, not even noticing as her ice cream dropped to the pavement. Cyrr gave her an annoyed look.
"Nothing, if you come to the World Tree plaza right away. Come to the tree itself; see ya there~!" The mysterious stranger hung up.
"W-wait! I..." Anya said into the phone. She looked down at the phone for a long moment, then up and around at the crowd milling around in the streets. Even in this area, the crowd was unspeakably thick. 'It must be even worse in the World Tree plaza...' she thought to herself. She looked around again, finally settling on Cyrr, who sat on the other end of the bench.
"What?" he asked warily.
"We have to get to the World Tree plaza, right away!" she said, jumping to her feet and grabbing his hand. "Hurry!"
Cyrr sighed and resigned himself to leading the girl around. She was this bad around crowds, but claimed she was from London? Ha! He took her tiny hand in his own much larger one and led the way.
Max's cell phone rang, and he sighed irritably. He paused on the sidewalk to answer it, and Akira and Jennifer, one on each side of him, continued on a couple of steps before turning around to face him curiously.
"Hello?" he said gruffly into his phone.
"Heya Scary Max-sensei."
Max heaved another sigh. Stupid nickname. "Yes? Is that you, Sakurako?" He heard the girl on the other end pause for a moment and laugh.
"Yeah, you got me. Remember that Anya girl? Negi's friend from Wales?"
"Yeah. Why, is something wrong?" Max asked. Jennifer and Akira looked at each other, but maintained their silence.
"Sort of. Some big scary guy's dragging her through the crowd at the World Tree plaza...you're near there, right?"
"...how do you know that?" he asked.
"Fufufu, I have my ways. Anyway," she added, "you should probably get over here. I'll meet you at the tree," she said before hanging up abruptly.
Max flicked the ten-years-out-of-date cell phone shut and faced Jennifer and Akira.
"What's wrong?" Jennifer asked warily.
"Remember Negi's friend Anya?"
"The one from Wales?" Akira asked, looking at him curiously.
"Yeah. Turns out Sakurako thinks she's getting kidnapped."
"...and she would let herself be kidnapped?" Jennifer asked dryly as she trotted back to Max.
"Sakurako, huh..." Akira said thoughtfully as she crossed her arms. "So what do you think she wants this time?" The last time Sakurako had wanted to see Max, she had secured several promised favors from all three of them; Akira had no wish to owe the girl even more, but...she glanced at Jennifer, who was chatting animatedly with Max about Anya. ...she didn't really want to leave the two of them alone... 'Gah, what am I thinking? Stupid, stupid Akira, calm down! It's all out in public and everything! She, I mean they, won't do anything...weird...' her thoughts trailed off and grew heated as she imagined several 'weird' things.
"Are you feeling okay, Akira? You look kind of flushed... Do you need to go back home and rest?" Jennifer asked, looking genuinely worried. "You're awful red..."
Akira shook her head, ashamed of her thoughts. "No, I'm fine. Don't you have to get back to work soon?"
Jennifer's energy evaporated in an instant. "Yeah...my lunch break's almost over. I'll see you guys later. Don't let him do anything stupid, Akira-chan~" Jennifer said as she trotted off into the crowd.
"She doesn't seem to like that jewelry shop job much," Max said as he watched her go.
"Let's just hope this job lasts longer than the one at the clothes shop," Akira said, shaking her head ruefully. Apparently, security cameras had caught Jennifer behaving very...oddly...with some foreign girl in one of the changing rooms. Jennifer had claimed she was only helping the girl try on a dress, but apparently between the groping and the request to have her babies, her boss had seen things differently and she had been fired. It was far from the first time she had been fired in the city, and it was no doubt not the last time. Akira shook her head again and sighed.
"Well, let's go save whoever's trying to kidnap Anya," Max said as he rolled his eyes and sighed.
The World Tree plaza was extremely crowded with tourists, lost people who had headed for the easiest-to-locate landmark, and couples trying out the age-old story of the World Tree's love magic when Misa and Hatsune arrived.
Misa frowned as she shaded her eyes and tried to look over the heads of the crowd to catch a glimpse of Sakurako. "Where is she..."
"Hm?" Hatsune asked as she expertly scanned the crowd. Her eyes caught a familiar face and paused for an instant before moving on. "Who are you looking for?"
"Sakurako..." Misa said as she hopped a few times in an attempt to see above the crowd.
Hatsune scanned the crowd again with ease, being several inches taller than her younger sister, and finally spotted the other girl at the foot of the tree. "This way," she said, taking Misa's arm.
Misa allowed Hatsune to lead her through the crowd toward the tree, where they ran into Sakurako and Negi.
"Hey," Misa said carefully, raising her hand in greeting as she looked between Negi and Sakurako.
"Heya," Sakurako said, beaming at Misa and Hatsune.
"So..." Hatsune said. Sakurako elbowed Negi, who jumped. He took a deep breath, visibly steeled himself, and walked mechanically over to Misa and took her hand.
"He-hello, Misa. Fancy meeting you here," he said awkwardly.
"Eh...eh...hello, M-Madoka?" Misa replied. Negi bobbed his head a fraction of an inch, and Misa let out a sigh of relief.
"Yeah, see Hatsune? This is Madoka. Madoka, meet my big sister Hatsune."
Negi turned to the older woman and smiled charmingly. "Hello, Hatsune-san. It is a pleasure to meet you," he said pleasantly, taking her hand.
Hatsune smiled in amusement. "A pleasure to meet you too. I have heard so much about you, but you aren't at all what I imagined."
"Oh?" Negi asked, taken aback.
"Wh-what did you imagine, Hatsune-nee?" Misa asked, a little frantically.
"Well for one thing, I would have thought you would be much bigger. You are much thinner that I imagined, and I doubt you could be more than 5'10". And also...why are you standing so far from Misa?"
Misa and Negi looked at each other frantically for an instant before Misa crammed into his side, slipping her arm around his lower back and holding him in place while he awkwardly draped an arm around her shoulder a moment later. Misa smiled frantically at her sister while Negi turned his thoughts toward anything to distract him from the way Misa's body felt against his side.
"See? We're plenty close!" Misa said.
"Oh?"
"Yeah! Aren't we, Negi?" Misa asked.
"Yes, we are very...close..." Negi said, his voice faltering as he realized what Misa had just said.
Misa, herself, realized it an instant after Negi. 'Oh no...'
"'Negi?' Onion?" Hatsune asked, raising an eyebrow as she looked at the two of them standing awkwardly together. Both were now thoroughly red faced, clearly embarrassed to be so close to each other.
"It's a nickname!" Misa blurted out after several tense seconds.
"Yes! It's only a nickname!" Negi added an instant later.
Hatsune crossed her arms and shifted her weight to one side as she looked at them skeptically. 'This could be fun...' "A nickname?"
"Yeah!" Misa said, nodding.
"And how, praytell, did he get a nickname like that?" Hatsune asked.
Negi opened and shut his mouth a few times as his mind raced, trying to come up with a suitable story, but Misa beat him to it.
"It was at band camp!"
"It happened at band camp?" Hatsune asked, suddenly looking at Negi in a whole new way.
"...band camp?" Negi asked in confusion. What was he missing here? He looked from Misa to Hatsune and paused as she caught his gaze and held it for a few seconds.
"...he doesn't seem the type," Hatsune finally said.
"You hussy! Get your hands off Negi!" a girly voice squealed as a small red blur shot in front of Hatsune and tackled Negi around the middle, knocking him away from Misa, who staggered back.
"What the-"
"Negi! How could you? You know better than to trust that blue haired harpy!" Anya said as she scolded Negi, who looked frantically back and forth between Anya, Hatsune, and Misa.
"My hair's not blue!" Misa shouted. "And I'm not a harpy!" she added a second later as an afterthought.
"Oh? And who is this?" Hatsune asked, her voice terrifyingly pleasant. Misa whirled around to face her again.
"She's...she's...she's his long lost sister!" Misa said, scrambling for a suitable lie.
"Hey Anya, wait!" a big red haired man said gruffly, trotting up after Anya. He spotted Hatsune and stumbled in shocked surprise at her enchanting beauty.
Misa was again knocked off her game and just stared at the strange man for a moment, her jaw dropped as she her eyes ran over his body. He was huge! Almost as tall as Max-sensei but way bigger, like some kind of weightlifter...! Oh, wow...!
"Ahem," Hatsune said to regain Misa's attention. "You said she was his sister?" she asked pointedly.
Anya finally got off of Negi and let him regain his feet. "I'm not his sister!"
"She's like a sister to him!" Misa said, waving her arms. "Isn't that right, Negi?" she asked frantically as she looked at him, her eyes pleading for help.
Negi looked from Misa down to Anya and back to Misa again, before turning to Hatsune and looking her in the eye. "Yes, she is like a sister to me," he said, following it up with a perfect smile.
Hatsune was unimpressed, but Anya staggered from the shock of Negi's blunt assessment of their relationship and wobbled off. Cyrr finally snapped out of it and moved to stop her from getting trampled by the crowd.
"...like a...like a sister..." Anya muttered.
"Like a sister," Hatsune said, deadpan.
"Yeah! Like a sister, right Ne...I mean Madoka? Ha ha ha!" Misa said, grabbing Negi again and squishing against him even tighter than the last time. Her breast squished against the side of his chest and he almost jumped out of his skin.
"Y-y-yeah! Ha ha ha!"
"Ha ha ha!"
"Ha ha ha!"
"..."
"Wait!" Anya shouted, then barreled into the two of them again. She slung Negi around behind her and glared at Misa. "I don't know what's going on you, you succubus! But keep your claws out of Negi!" she said, clutching him protectively around his waist.
"Er...ah...Anya..." Negi began, clearly clueless as to how to explain the situation without exposing their hopelessly tangled web of lies to Misa's sister.
Hatsune finally heaved a weary sigh and slouched slightly. She turned to Negi. "So I take it, Mister Springfield, that you owe my sister some sort of favor?" she asked in near-perfect English while Sakurako snickered in the background and continued snapping pictures, as she had been doing since the beginning.
Negi and Misa were dumbstruck as they looked at each other.
"How...how did you know?" Misa demanded.
"What's going on?" Anya asked warily as she looked back and forth between the other three.
"Wait, Negi Springfield? As in the Negi Springfield?" Cyrr asked suddenly in the silence that followed.
Negi cringed and turned around to look at the man. "Er...yes?"
Cyrr's eyes widened as he looked down at him. "You are Negi Springfield? Wow, you're famous!" he said, suddenly losing the atmosphere of grim danger he had apparently been cultivating since getting off the train, replacing it with blatant fanboyism. "Everybody knows who you are! Will you sign an autograph for me? Hey, uh...how about a few? I know the guys back home would love to have one!"
Negi just blinked as his mind tried to register the fact that this hulking stranger was not only a fanboy, but his fanboy. "...excuse me?"
"Come on Hatsuneeee, tell meeee!" Misa whined a moment later when the insanity had died down somewhat. "How did you know?"
"It is actually fairly obvious, if you think about it," Hatsune replied. She let Misa squirm for several seconds. "For one thing, does he even look like someone who would be named 'Madoka'?" she asked, gesturing to Negi, who was now having a lively discussion with the big stranger.
Misa just looked at her sister blankly, then turned her gaze toward the obviously European Negi, then back to Hatsune again. "Oh..."
"And for another," Hatsune said, shaking her finger at Misa. "I did some research on this town and the school before I left home. Mr. Springfield here is quite well known and liked within the community." She paused for a moment as she looked at the red headed stranger talking animatedly to the teacher. "...I wasn't aware of just how well liked he is, but..."
Misa slumped a little. She should have known Hatsune wouldn't overlook something like that...!
"But lastly and most obvious of all," Hatsune said, giving Misa a pointed look, as if she must be some sort of idiot. "You must have sent hundreds of camera phone pictures of the both of you to mother over the years."
Misa reeled from the shock of this revelation. How could she be so stupid? How could she—wait. Someone had arranged this, someone who would have known most of this and should have pointed out the obvious mistakes in the plan.
"Sakurako...!" Misa growled as she turned to glare at the other girl.
"Hey, there's Madoka now!" Sakurako said, pointing into the crowd. Misa turned and, to her horror, saw Madoka herself trying to hide in the crowd. Sakurako had betrayed her...! That, that...that evil cat!
"What's going on here?" Max said as he finally reached the group and his eyes strayed to the stranger that had come with Anya.
"M-Madoka!" Misa said frantically, clinging to Max's arm.
Akira froze as the color drained out of her. "...Max...but...but Misa...and..."
Max was taken totally off guard and contemplated shaking Misa off until she looked up at him pleadingly, and he relented. He sighed. "What's going on?"
"His name is Max Linell, aka Scary Max-sensei," Hatsune said, looking pointedly at Misa.
"How...?" Misa asked in horror.
"I researched the faculty, remember?" Hatsune replied, giving her a look that suggested Misa might have more than a few screws loose.
"Er...hello?" Max said to the woman who resembled Misa as his attention strayed back to the big stranger, who was now looking at him. They glared at each other when their eyes met.
"Misa, you will explain why you are hiding Madoka from me," Hatsune said in a voice of deadly calm as she abruptly changed tack.
Misa let go of Max and was about to bolt when Hatsune darted forward and caught her arm.
"Hatsune, let go! You're hurting me!"
"Don't be pathetic, you are tougher than that. This has gone on too long. Now tell me why you're lying to me!" Hatsune demanded as she gave Misa a shake. "There's no point trying to escape from me. You remember how things were when we were younger," she said, pouring on the intimidation. To her surprise and not a little joy, Misa appeared totally unfazed by the threat, one that would have had her shaking in her rather fashionable boots as recently as a few years ago. 'So, there must be something about this Madoka that she doesn't want me to know that scares her more than what I could do to her,' Hatsune thought. 'Interesting.'
"Lets take a walk and cool our heads," Hatsune suggested after a tense moment. Misa pouted but stopped trying to escape, so Hatsune let go of her arm.
Misa glanced back at the others; Negi was trying to run damage control on Anya, who was giving him an earful in return while Max and that big stranger were glaring at each other and making strained faces while they talked quietly. Akira had staggered over to the tree and collapsed in shock, and Sakurako and Madoka were nowhere in sight. She frowned at something about Max and the stranger...something about the big stranger reminded her of Max as he had been when they had first met...she shook her head. 'I can't let my mind wander when Hatsune's around,' she reminded herself. 'Come on Misa, it's time to lie like you've never lied before...!'
"Hatsune!" Misa said after they had been walking for a moment.
"Yes, little sister?" Hatsune replied, putting special emphasis on the word 'little'.
Misa blinked. "Er...how have you been?" she asked pleasantly.
Hatsune just looked at her for a moment. "Fine." They walked in silence for a long moment. "Mother misses you."
"Yeah..." Misa replied, rubbing the back of her head. 'This is just so freaking awkward...!' "So did you fly? Or did you take the train down here?"
Hatsune grinned crookedly. "I drove."
Misa stumbled, but quickly regained her composure. "You didn't..."
Hatsune shook her head. "The Camaro."
Misa heaved a sigh of relief.
"You always liked the Corvette, after all. It wouldn't feel right just taking it like that," Hatsune said, calmly stepping around a wandering dinosaur robot without comment.
"Yeah..." Misa replied.
They descended into another awkward silence as Hatsune turned from the sidewalk onto a gravel pathway apparently at random. Several minutes passed quietly as they walked on, moving further from the crowds until they could no longer see them through the trees on either side of the deserted path. Hatsune pulled up to a stop at a small stone bench and sat down, patting the space beside her to indicate that Misa should sit as well. After a moment, Misa complied.
"So," Hatsune said.
"So..." Misa said cautiously. What was Hatsune trying to do?
"Why do you not want me to find out more about this Madoka person?"
Misa jerked at the name and shot a quick look at her sister, who was looking at something she held in her hand. It looked like a keyring. "It's not-"
"Don't lie to me," Hatsune said softly. Something in her voice stopped Misa from voicing her most recent variation on the theme.
"I...I just don't think you would approve," Misa finally said.
Hatsune gave her an odd look, but turned her attention back to the silly little charm on the keyring in her hands before Misa could meet her eyes. "Why would you think that?" she asked.
"When have I ever done anything you approved of?" Misa replied, the seriousness in her tone driving the point home. Hatsune winced.
"It's not like that," the older woman muttered as she looked away. She heard Misa's disagreeing snort and frowned. Ugh, why was this kind of thing so hard to say? "Mother worries about you," she said again after a moment.
"Oh?" More awkward silence.
Hatsune took a deep breath. "I...I...I guess I worry about you too," she said, and let out a sigh. 'There, I said it, are you happy now?' she thought reproachfully. Her stupid little sister...always dragging embarrassing things like that out into the open...!
Misa was shocked into silence for a moment at her sister's revelation. Never before had Hatsune ever said anything like that...! She tried to respond, tried to think of some witty comment to diffuse the embarrassed tension, but her mind refused to work properly. All she could manage was to squeak out a weak "You do?"
Hatsune scowled, but nodded. "Yeah, the big ogre has a heart," she said as her scowl deepened.
"I didn't mean that!"
"Yes you did," Hatsune spat. "I know what you always thought about me."
Misa shrunk back. The hurt in Hatsune's voice just then had been real. She started to deny it, started to say something about how Hatsune was overthinking things, but she couldn't do it, mostly because Hatsune was right. She hadn't ever really thought about it before, but...she hadn't ever really considered Hatsune to be anything but an ogre, a big bully. It twisted her heart to think about it, but she knew it was true. Why did she feel like crying all of a sudden? She wiped some of the building moisture from her eyes and took a deep breath and looked straight ahead at the trees on the other side of the path.
"Madoka's a girl."
"..."
Bothered by Hatsune's non-response, Misa chanced a quick look and was shocked by the tiredness in Hatsune's eyes. "H...Hatsune? Hatsune-nee?"
"So that's how it was..." Hatsune said tiredly as she leaned forward, propped her elbows on her knees, and dropped her face into her hands. "So that's it..."
"H...Hatsune-nee? Are you...are you mad at me?" Misa asked, again regressing back to childhood. The last time Hatsune had been really mad at her was when Misa had broken the window of her car playing baseball with the neighborhood boys. Hatsune had been quiet then, too, but she hadn't looked so sad...
"No, I'm not mad," Hatsune said tiredly after a moment as she remained in the same position. "Mother will be though."
Misa shrank back a little at that. "Are you going to tell her?"
"I pretty much have to, don't I?" Hatsune replied as she sat up. Misa was startled to see her sister's eyes were wet with tears, and something snapped.
"Why are you crying? Are you that disappointed in me?" Misa demanded as she shot up from the bench. "You are, aren't you? What's the matter with you? What does it matter to you who I'm with, huh?"
Hatsune wiped her eyes and took a moment to calm herself, waiting until Misa stopped ranting. When it looked like she wasn't planning on stopping any time soon, Hatsune decided to speak anyway. "I'm going somewhere far away."
"And another thing! How dare-" Something in the tone of Hatsune's voice stopped Misa's rant mid-sentence. "What do you mean?" she asked guardedly.
"I mean I'm going somewhere far away, and I won't be able to protect you anymore," Hatsune said.
"Protect me? Hatsune, you live in Hokkaido," Misa said sarcastically.
"I have to leave," Hatsune continued stubbornly. "I wish I could tell you more, but...I just can't. I can't...I can't even tell Yuji," Hatsune said, again fumbling with the keychain and the charm that Misa had noticed a moment before.
"But you guys are just friends, right?" Misa asked, hating herself for feeling so relieved that the focus had been lifted off her shoulders.
"He asked me to marry him," Hatsune said after a moment's pause.
"Ah..."
"..."
Misa just looked at her sister with her eyes wide as that bombshell finally made its way through. Yuji and her sister were getting married? Oh wow...! But wait, what did she mean she couldn't tell Yuji she was going away?
"Hatsune, what's going on?" Misa asked, suddenly serious.
"I can't tell you," Hatsune said, still fumbling with the keychain.
Misa just looked at her for a moment. "Hatsune? Where are you going?"
"I can't-"
Misa turned and grabbed the collar of Hatsune's shirt with both hands, half-lifting her from the bench. "Where are you going? What's so terrible that you can't tell me about it? And if you can't tell me, why did you even come here? Was it just to ruin my day or what?" she demanded, secretly reveling in the surprised look on her sister's face. She had never seen Hatsune so off balance before...! She knew she should feel ashamed for this, but it felt too good...!
Hatsune calmly stood up to her full height, looked down at Misa, who suddenly had second thoughts about her current course of action, calmly reached up with both hands, and pinched a particular spot on both hands between Misa's thumb and forefinger. Misa let go quickly.
"Ow ow ow ow ow!"
Hatsune's frown lessened. Misa was always Misa, after all. "I came to tell you so you would be prepared when Mother calls later. She'll want you to come home once I've gone, you know. But since we don't have any brothers, and I'm probably not coming back for a long, long time..." Hatsune said, trailing off as she looked at Misa pointedly, hoping she would get the message.
"...she'll want someone to carry on the family legacy..." Misa said dully. That would mean marriage to some guy, followed by children. It wouldn't be so bad if it was someone like Negi or even Kotarou, but both of them were already taken, and...and there was no way Mother would accept someone like- "Oh no..."
"And so you see the problem," Hatsune said tiredly. "I was planning on marrying Yuji eventually so you wouldn't have to worry about these things, but that...I guess it won't happen now. I'm sorry Misa, but there's no way I can-"
"We'll convince her!" Misa said suddenly. "Convince her Madoka's a guy! It'll-"
"It won't work. You couldn't even convince me," Hatsune said.
"Then I'll just...I'll just renounce my family name," Misa finally said. Hatsune gave her a measuring look.
"It means that much to you, does it?" she asked seriously. Misa stubbornly refused to reply, and Hatsune felt a smile creeping over her lips. So Misa was finally starting to grow a backbone! "I guess I might be able to talk to her, but I can't promise anything." She sat down and gestured for Misa to join her again on the bench. When Misa had made herself comfortable, she held out the keychain, letting the silly little charm dangle in front of Misa's face.
"What's this?" Misa asked, poking at the gold-plated unicorn charm with her finger. It was a cheap thing, but she could tell it was important to her sister.
"Yuji's last gift to me," Hatsune said, smiling.
"Madoka's got a silver one kinda like that," Misa said. "'cept it's on a necklace." She had given it to her about a month ago, in fact.
Hatsune put the keychain in her pocket and sat in silence for a moment. "So do you have a picture of this girl that's got you so flustered you're thinking of leaving the family?" she asked teasingly. She was surprised to see Misa blush.
"Yeah..." Misa said, taking out her cell phone. She scanned through the pictures stored in it for a moment before passing it to Hatsune.
She took the phone from Misa and sat looking at the picture for a moment. The dark haired girl in the image looked a little surprised to be photographed, but held her hand out anyway, making a V with her fingers. Jeans, a band shirt over another shirt, a silver necklace and bracelet... She looked like a good, honest kid. 'I feel so old,' Hatsune thought to herself. She grinned crookedly and let out a little laugh, then passed the phone back to Misa.
"So she's that important to you, is she?" Misa refused to reply, and Hatsune's smile widened. "You're so shy about the weirdest things," she said. "So I take it there's more to this girl than meets the eye?"
"Yeah..." Misa said reluctantly.
"I would imagine so. For one thing, I have never seen this girl in any of the pictures you sent home."
"...she was always the one who took the pictures," Misa said, looking away.
"I also saw her nearly everywhere I went today," Hatsune said, watching Misa's face. She was amused to see the girl's sudden crooked smile.
"Yeah, she was probably worried," Misa said, her smile widening.
"So what is she? A fighter?"
"Something like that."
"Oh," she said, something in her tone causing Misa to stand up straight.
"You can't fight her, Hatsune," Misa said suddenly.
"Oh?"
"You can't. You've never fought someone like her."
Hatsune sat there for a moment. So Misa didn't think she could win, did she? She grinned. Now she wanted to face the girl even more! "I don't think it is something you have any control over at this point," she said.
"What? Why?" Misa asked, suddenly apprehensive.
"Her family name is Kugimiya, correct?"
"How did you know that?" Misa asked warily.
"I saw that name on the signup sheet for the tournament. I think...I think this will be interesting," she said, grinning toothily in the way anyone who knew her well knew meant that she was relishing the thought of a fight.
"Hatsune...!"
"Tell you what," Hatsune said, turning to Misa. "If I win, you have to go home and explain to Mother yourself. If this Madoka wins, I'll do it." She stood up and stretched. "Aaahhh...I think this might be fun!"