Still Waters 3, Chapter 30, The Festival First Day Part 3

Friday, June 26th, 2009, Afternoon

Taro followed along behind Kagami and her yakuza buddies, watching as they bantered back and forth. She narrowed her eyes and cocked her head to the side as she looked at them. Saga Jin, only a few inches taller than Kagami, had a youthful face and a sarcastic, teasing streak a mile wide. He seemed to enjoy nudging everyone around him close to the point of violence and then defusing the situation with a ridiculous joke at the perfect time. A natural clown. But something in his eyes bothered her; she didn't know what it was, but she had caught him looking at her several times and she didn't like it at all. There was something else going on, there. She knew that he must have done something to get his current position as head of his own yakuza operation, but the appearance he showed the world was that of a somewhat dense guy drifting through his twenties without a care in the world. He didn't fit the yakuza head stereotype at all...!

Kagami's brother, on the other hand...

Hiroaki was a serious minded man, interacting with his men with all the brevity of a seasoned veteran, and they followed his orders swiftly and to the letter. He was tall and, while thin, tended to cast about a feeling that he took up a lot of space, which you had better not step into. And yet...to see him with Kagami, he seemed like a regular guy. Maybe a bit on the quiet side, but he seemed to be genuinely good natured and concerned about his little sister's safety when not ordering people to cut off their fingers for disappointing him, or whatever it was those yakuza types did; all she knew about the yakuza lifestyle was what she had seen on TV and what she could glean from punching various yakuza in the face until they passed out from it. Her frown deepened as she looked back and forth between the two yakuza bosses and Kagami, who treated both of them like childhood friends. What kind of screwed up life had Kagami had to think this sort of thing was normal? She sighed again.

"You know you're cheeks'll end up all puffed out when you get older if you keep doin' that, right?" Nobuo, the yakuza that had shown up with Saga Jin, said, puffing his cheeks out to show her. "Like a blowfish."

Taro just gave him a confused look as they walked.

"Don't mind Nobuo, he's an idiot," Akihiko, one of Hiroaki's men who had appeared quiet and dangerous up to that point, said to Taro in a stage whisper. Taro just looked at him, wide eyed. Was this what the whole yakuza thing was really like...?

"Hey, I heard that old man!"

"Old man? I'm only thirty eight!"

"Thirty eight? Whoa, you really are a fossil!"

Taro staggered as she felt her world crashing down around her at the 'friendly' banter between the two yakuza, until the third one, a tall, strong-looking man Kagami had called Sousuke, reached out and took her arm to steady her. She looked up at him, feeling ashamed of herself as her eyes lingered on the horrible scarring across his throat, but he grinned crookedly and shook his head to show he didn't care. Taro walked alongside him for a moment while Nobuo and Akihiko traded punches in a good natured sort of way, and sighed again. What had she let Kagami get her into?

"...you know, we weren't half bad," Kai said in wonder as she adjusted her beret and hefted the case containing Kara's Rickenbacker bass. Kara was currently fending off the new horde of fans that had popped up after their most recent performance; Kai had last seen her fleeing toward the bathrooms. Miyako had disappeared as well, for that matter.

"Hehe~" Ayumi replied, surprisingly happy for someone who had been forced to carry half of a band's equipment. She shoved the last of their guitar cables into a bag with other miscellaneous items and zipped it up, then hefted it up and slung it up on her shoulder.

"Those cables are gonna tangle if you don't roll 'em properly, you know," Kai pointed out as Ayumi took one last look over their dressing room. The other bands that had been in here earlier were out now, waiting for their turn to play a few songs; Ayumi, apparently not even having heard her, quickly took out a piece of paper, scribbled her name, the band's name, and her cell phone number on it, and left it on a chair she pulled out and placed conspicuously in the middle of the floor. Kai held the door open for her, and Ayumi lifted her guitar case and skipped out, laughing.

Once outside and well on their way back to the dorm to drop off their equipment, Kai spoke up.

"You sure seem happy," she said, arching an eyebrow and barely able to repress the huge grin she felt constantly threatening. Playing the drums up on stage had been a lot of fun, totally different from the way it felt to play without an audience; she couldn't wait to do it again.

"Heh, I saw Misa-sama in the crowd! I wonder what she thought of my playing?" Ayumi said, shifting her bags and guitar case around until she could reach the cell phone in her pocket, which she pulled out and flipped open to check for missed calls.

"Really? That's a surprise," Kai said as she paused long enough for Ayumi to sigh dejectedly at the lack of calls from 'Misa-sama'. Honestly, she hadn't expected Misa or Madoka or any of the others to remember them at all; after all, the No Name Band as a group had only run into them once, at the Battle of the Bands back in May. But for Kakizaki Misa, the leader of Dekopin Rocket, to personally come and see their show...

"...that's actually really, really cool," she said after a moment.

"I know, right?" Ayumi chirped, stopping to check her cell phone again. The look of dejection that flashed across her face was enough to let Kai know that Ayumi's hero Misa-sama had failed to call or text her with the expected praise of their efforts at the show yet again.

Kai smiled crookedly and continued on, forcing Ayumi to catch up in a sort of clumpy jog, weighed down as they both were with the band's equipment. Kai was just glad someone there had been willing to let her borrow their drum set; dragging one of those across campus would have been a nightmare. She knew Ayumi was starting to become confused as to why Misa hadn't called her yet, but Kai knew the woman was probably just busy; she was famous after all. She would have told Ayumi to give it some time, but she had known the other girl too long to make that mistake; she had no wish to have Ayumi dump her share of the equipment and stomp away in a huff. At least, not before they got to the dorms, anyway.

The two continued on.

Ayaka and Ku Fei walked side by side toward the entrance to the Tatsumiya Shrine, where the tournament preliminaries were to be held the next day, as per tradition, via battle royale.

"Hey look, it's Ku Fei! I can't believe it!" someone said excitedly as they passed.

"Is she gonna enter? There's no way anyone but her could win...!" someone else said.

Ayaka looked down at the shorter girl and was amused to see the bright grin on her face. "Are you sure you don't want to enter this year?"

Ku Fei shook her head. "No, I shouldn't," she said as she put on a fake beard and produced a walking stick from nowhere. "It's time to let the younger generation have their turn, oh ho ho."

Ayaka smirked and scanned the crowd.

The area traditionally used for the annual martial arts tournament had changed little since the last time Ayaka had seen it. The spectator facilities had been improved, but the fighting area was just as she remembered it; the wide pool of shallow water was as it had been the last time she was here, though the large wooden platforms placed symmetrically throughout had obviously been rebuilt.

"Ooh, there is Kaede," Ku Fei said, nudging Ayaka with her elbow to get her attention. Ayaka had to look through the crowd for a moment to spot her.

"The twins, too," Ayaka said as she shaded her eyes from the glare of the sun off the water. It was a nice day; warm, not a cloud in the sky. The crowd was getting pretty big now...she recognized several of her old classmates and quite a few other faces as well, though she couldn't put a name to more than a quarter of them. As usual, the regulars were milling around here and there; she could see the group that Gotokuji guy that kept getting dragged into their business always hung out with, though he was conspicuously absent. Apparently they couldn't find it in themselves to move from the city...it was a feeling she understood well. Something about this place drew you to it, no matter how far you went. Her attention drifted from face to face before finally resting on an awkward looking young woman who stood alone wearing a colorful mask that covered her whole head, looking at the fighting stages. Something about the way she was standing was familiar, but Ayaka brushed it off as her gaze swept past to a huge red headed man who looked to be almost seven feet tall. He would have stood out in any other crowd but this, Ayaka thought wryly as she scanned through her potential opponents, men and women of all shapes and sizes. How many were here for the fighting, and how many were here to watch, like Ku Fei? She didn't know; but if even a handful of these people were going to enter the tournament, she might find it more fun than she had first thought...

"Isn't that girl from Negi's class?" Ku Fei asked suddenly.

Ayaka looked where Ku Fei was pointing and frowned. "That's his class representative," she said thoughtfully. "Haven't you met her yet? She's always training in the resort."

Ku Fei shook her head. "No. I've seen her, but never spoke to her. Is she joining? Asuna told me she was good."

"Hmm..."

Sachiko walked along over the noisy and crowded tournament grounds, deep in thought. This past month had been...unpleasant. In more ways than one. Initially, she had been utterly thrilled at the prospect of magic being real; unfortunately, she herself could barely do anything with it. Almost a full month's extensive training and practice with nothing to show for it but a weak light spell that fizzled out after a few seconds told her that. Even Urashima Taro of all people could do better than that...!

'It is rude to think of Taro-san that way,' she told herself reproachfully as she looked at the nearest fighting stage. There was no point in being petty. Pettiness led to worse things, and she wouldn't be able to look at herself in a mirror if she let that get the best of her again. 'I'm just not trying hard enough, that's all,' she thought to herself. It was just like when she was younger and didn't understand English. It was just a matter of trying hard; and if that didn't work, the answer was to just try harder. But in the mean time...

She looked at the fighting stage again, carefully mapping out its dimensions and the texture of the floor. She could almost see how it would go against some of the others currently wandering around...that big man with the red hair and muscles would be deceptively quick; defeating him would be a matter of getting in a killing hit before he realized he had lost the element of surprise. He would be quick, yes, but not quick enough, not to defeat Sachiko. The masked girl standing by herself would be quick too. Whether the luchadore mask she wore hinted at her fighting style or was simply there to hide her face was something Sachiko couldn't tell, but her musculature and balance indicated someone who was perfectly capable of the acrobatics traditionally associated with that particular style. Sachiko cocked her head to the side as she looked at the girl. Something about her was familiar...

"Hello, Nakamura-san."

Sachiko stiffened slightly, disappointed in herself for letting someone sneak up on her, and turned around to see two of the women who often visited Eva's resort when she was there for training. The tall blonde woman was strikingly pretty, made to seem even moreso by the short dark skinned Chinese girl standing next to her. She quickly regained her composure and bobbed her head toward them.

"Hello. I am afraid I didn't get your name the last time...?"

"Yukihiro Ayaka," Ayaka said, then gestured to the woman standing beside her. "And this is my friend Ku Fei."

"Pleased to meet you," Sachiko said humbly as she bowed to the Chinese Girl.

"So you're Negi-bouzu's class rep, hmm?" Ku Fei said, giving the girl a measuring look.

Sachiko spotted something in that look that set off warning bells in her head, and Ku Fei's cheerful grin widened.

"I want to fight you some time," Ku Fei said abruptly. Several people nearby dropped what they were doing and began edging closer as they pretended to not be eavesdropping while the two women and the girl looked at each other.

Ayaka smiled prettily and shook her head after a moment. "This isn't the time, Ku Fei. Well, it was nice to meet you, Nakamura-san," she said, repressing her own urge to challenge the girl.

"The pleasure was all mine," Sachiko said smoothly. She watched them walk away for a moment, then turned back to the fighting stage without really seeing it. She could see several ways to defeat Yukihiro-san, though it would be a tough fight each time. But this Ku Fei woman...she frowned as she took everything into account and realized that she couldn't do it. For the first time in years, she couldn't do it. She could even find a way of beating Asuna-sensei in a fight if she was quick enough, but this Ku Fei...what was she?

"So he was all beggin' for mercy with snot runnin' out his nose, so I let him have it!" the young man from the Hinata district said.

"What, mercy?" one of the others in the small group standing around the story teller said sarcastically.

"Naw, man! I let him have it!" the first man said, patting the pocket that bulged with what looked like a gun but was actually just a toy.

His buddy rolled his eyes at the story, one that the first guy told every time he got a chance. The others didn't know it, but the one who had been begging for mercy was the one telling the story, and the one who had beat him up had been a girl with shocking strength; one punch had sent him flying a block and a half and laid him up in the hospital for a few weeks, and it was only through amazingly good luck that he himself hadn't shared the same fate. Man, that Narusegawa woman was terrifying... He glanced out at the street through the mouth of the alley, watching the women walking by, when he saw something that really got his blood pumping. He grinned.

"Hey, Katsuo."

"Huh? Somethin' wrong?" his buddy said, still basking in the acclaim his story had given him.

"C'mere a minute, check that out!" the second guy said, gesturing out at the street. Katsuo walked out to the mouth of the alley and looked out at the street, immediately spotting what his buddy had been talking about.

"Ho-lee shit!" he said gleefully, turning to smirk back at the locals he had been regaling with stories of his amazing prowess with both guns and women. "Check that out! Niiiice!"

Everyone crowded around the end of the alley to see, but their only response was a collective sigh of disappointment.

"Huh? What's wrong?" Katsuo's friend said. He took another look. Sure, her shirt wasn't tight enough, her stomach wasn't showing at all, and she wasn't wearing short shorts, but what he was seeing was real first rate stuff...! What was wrong with these guys?

"That's just Taro-kun," one of the local thugs said. The others nodded in commiseration as each recalled their own run-ins with the girl in question.

"Taro-kun...th-th-that is a GUY?" Katsuo said.

The locals looked at each other and burst into laughter.

"No way! Taro-kun's definitely a girl, she's just got a guy's name. She'll just kick your ass from here to next Tuesday if you try anything, is all."

Katsuo and his friend looked at each other.

"No way."

"C'mon, quit hoggin' it, I want some'a'dat~" Katsuo said as he went for another look.

"Your funeral," one of the locals called out after him, shrugging and shaking his head as if to say he had tried.

Taro was walking along idly, trailing quite far behind Kagami and her yakuza friends by this point, when a guy stepped out of an alley in front of her and leaned against the side of the building in an exaggerated, thuggish slouch.

Taro stepped around him and continued on.

The man walked swiftly past her and slouched against the next building as well, smirking at her as he tugged down his sunglasses just enough to show his eyes over them as he looked her up and down.

Taro clenched her teeth and walked past.

The man did it again, this time making a suggestive motion with his pelvis.

Again Taro walked past, clenching her fists and glaring holes into anything that crossed her path. Was he trying to...to flirt with her? Whatever it was, that was not the way to do it...!

The fourth time, the man stuck out his arm at around the level of her chest, forcing her to either stop walking or get groped.

Taro stopped walking, turned her head stiffly to look the annoying idiot in the eye, and spat one word: "What?"

The idiot looked a little confused by her harsh tone, but rallied himself and soldiered on. "Hey baby, I'm new in town and-"

"Why don't you ask that guy," Taro said, pointing at a random passerby as she started to move away.

The idiot moved to stand in front of her again, putting his hands on his hips and standing up as straight as he could, probably in an attempt to intimidate her; Taro had seen better displays by children in the park. She started to step around him again when he grabbed her by the shoulders and slammed her against the wall. A woman nearby let out a startled gasp and ran away while several passersby muttered something under their breath and took cover.

"Now you listen here, girly girl, you gotta show me respect when I'm talkin' to ya, ya know? Now-"

"And who would you be?" Taro asked softly, interrupting him.

Something in the girl's voice bothered Katsuo, but he set that aside and continued his attempt at seduction. "I'm Taniguchi Katsuo, samurai of love, and I run Hinata city! Now c'mon, why don't you show me around, buy me lunch, an' I might even let you take me back ta your place. Whaddaya say?"

The girl was glaring at him, but more than that, something was wrong. The air had taken on a silent, expectant feeling, and he took a moment to look around. The crowd had thinned, but those that remained were standing well back, just watching. He looked around for his buddy, but he was standing far, far back, waving his hands frantically and shaking his head. What was that all about?

"Huh..." Oh well, probably nothing important.

Katsuo turned his attention back to the girl and smirked his best smirk. "Now how about it? Wanna let me teach you how to lo-"

The girl sighed.

The next thing Katsuo knew, he was flying through the air with with the side of his face exploding in pain. Where had he felt this sensation before...?

"Pervert!" a beautiful woman yelled as she reared back to throw a punch, the dorky guy with the glasses who was standing well back sighing resignedly, sharing a look of commiseration with Katsuo, who was about to take his first trip via Naru Air.

'Oh yeah, that Narusegawa woman," Katsuo thought. Then he hit the streetlight to a chorus of cringing "Ooh"s and a very loud clang.

Taro sighed and rubbed her forehead, ignoring the semi-conscious idiot wrapped around the light pole across the street.

"What was that?" Kagami asked as she trotted up, cocking an eyebrow as she looked at her. "I noticed you disappeared, and then there's a guy flying through the air..."

"Just another idiot," Taro said as she stalked away from the scene through Kagami's yakuza buddies. "I've gotta go to the club exhibition," she grumbled.

Saga Jin and Hiroaki glanced at each other, each cocking an eyebrow, then at Kagami, who heaved a much-put-upon sigh and followed Taro. "Come on, we should stick together," she said, not even bothering to look back at them.

Jin and Hiroaki fell into place behind Kagami, and the others followed a respectful distance behind them.

"You know," Jin said after a moment. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say she was the one wearing the pants in this little-"

"Shut up."

"-family. I mean what with that little display, it's almost like-"

"Damn you," Hiroaki said.

"-she's the one in charge, huh?" Jin said, grinning hugely as he elbowed Hiroaki.

"Shut up, dammit."

"But man, that Taro chick's pretty good. I mean, I thought she was good looking before, yeah, but after I saw that...!" Jin gushed.

"Damn dirty masochist."

"Heh."

"What do you mean I can't participate?" Taro demanded of the club adviser, utterly shocked by the sudden decision.

The shorter woman just looked at her over her glasses, clearly unimpressed. She had been dealing with people like Taro for a long, long time. "Honestly? Because you'll scare away the newbies. Come on, Taro-kun. You should know this. You still don't know how to reign in your strength properly; remember the incident with the 'friendly' inter-school spar session with my old club at the boys' middle school a few weeks back?"

Taro had the good grace to look abashed as she turned her head away. She remembered that incident clearly: that one boy who fought like a pro wrestler had gotten her frustrated because of his ability to slip out of harm's way at the last moment, look more hurt than he actually was before jumping up and attacking you behind your back, and his constant showboating. So she broke the rules and sent him flying halfway across the gym. His club had rushed her, and hers had followed suit to defend her; it had been a lot of fun, actually. And judging by the club adviser's lopsided grin, she had enjoyed having to split up the fight, too. She shuddered as she recalled just why the short, friendly looking woman standing in front of her was deemed fit to run the wildest club on campus. Taro had sent many people flying through the air over the years, but that had been the first time she had ever been on the receiving end of such a trip. She shuddered again and sighed. "Yes, Sawyer-sensei."

"Well..." the woman said, still smirking lightly at her in a friendly sort of way, "tell you what; if you think you can keep yourself under control, you can stand around and watch."

Taro thought about it for a moment and had just glanced back at the sizable group of yakuza standing around and scaring off everyone but the locals when a soft, pleasant voice intruded that, though it sounded quite friendly, somehow sent chills up and down her spine.

"Kagami-chan, there you are!" Taro turned to see what sort of monster had just arrived and spotted one of her classmates instead, a quiet girl whose name was, if she recalled correctly, Yoshida Ume. They had never spoken or even really interacted at all before now, so she stepped aside to let Kagami handle the situation.

Kagami, for her part, froze up upon hearing her fellow Cooking Club member's voice. "Er...hello! Fancy meeting you here!" she said in a false show of pleasant surprise as she turned around to face the girl.

"Now Kagami-chan, you know it's not a good thing to do to just ignore your club duties and leave us short handed, right?" Ume said, that odd, extremely disturbing faux-pleasantness dripping from every word.

"Er...but that is...um..."

Kagami turned back to the others pleading for help with her expression. The yakuza looked at each other, and Saga Jin shrugged and stepped forward. He strutted up to the young girl, made a big show of looking her over and dismissing her as uninteresting, and spoke. "What, did you lose your mommy? Get outta here kid, the adults are talking." He took Kagami's wrist and turned away, dismissing the girl and giving Kagami an out in the same move. "C'mon Kagami, we've got places to...be..." He trailed off as a cold chill raced down his back, and judging from the way Kagami's hand suddenly tightened around his, she felt the same thing.

He glanced back to see what was giving him this intense feeling of doom, and paused when he caught Ume's gaze.

The first thought that went through his head was something along the lines of 'There's someone I can follow!', but the second was more like 'This is someone I do not want to mess with...!' She didn't look like much, true; she was just another middle school girl at first glance. But now...

"You must come with me now, Kagami-chan," Ume said, something in her voice cutting right through Jin's composure.

'Come on, I'm a man, aren't I? A real yakuza badass! I can't let some little girl shake me like this...!' he thought to himself as he gathered his willpower, straightened his back, put on his best 'Don't you know I could have you squashed like a bug?' expression, and opened his mouth to speak.

"Don't you know who I am? Don't you know I could-" His voice cut off.

She was looking at him. With her eyes. It was as if her gaze held the power of a thousand disapproving mothers, compressed to a razor's edge and honed molecule thin. He looked back at that fearsome image, gathered what little pride and personal sense of manhood was left to him...and let go of Kagami's hand.

The disapproval left her expression and Ume turned her attention back to Kagami, smiling gently as if she hadn't just beaten a hardened yakuza gunslinger in a battle of wills. "Come along now, Kagami-chan, we have work to do~"

"Y-yeah..." Kagami said, trailing off as Ume tugged her away.

Jin walked stiffly back to the others, no one wanting to meet each others' eyes.

"Ah..."

"Yeah..."

"H-heh heh," Nobuo managed. "Th-that was weapons-grade stuff, man," he said, his voice wavery as he felt an inexplicable sense of shame.

Akihiko nodded, his face extremely pale, his eyes wide and unseeing.

"Thanks for throwing me to the wolves, guys," Jin managed after a long, long moment.

Kagami's big brother Hiroaki, looking quite pale himself, finally spoke. "I'm sorry, man. We didn't know."

Jin shook his head to clear it. "Are you saying you would've gone instead if you did?"

Hiroaki, the man who had taken control of a major yakuza family at the age of fifteen and saved it from the brink of annihilation, shuddered. "No. Not only no, but hell no. Didn't you see that?" he said, pointing at the retreating backs of Ume and Kagami. Ume chose that moment to glance back, and the group of hardened criminals shuddered as her disapproval lanced through them like a hot knife through butter.

"Thanks man, it really means a lot," Jin said dryly when the schoolgirl had turned away again.

"Any time."

Asuna and Chizuru walked along side by side on their assigned security patrol, drawing stares from both men and women.

"So..." Asuna said after a moment.

"Yes?" Chizuru said pleasantly.

Asuna sent a quick glare at a guy who was staring at Chizuru to make him look away; it was a kindness, really. If she scared him off before he tried anything, the guy wouldn't have to deal with an angry Kotarou, much less an angry Chizuru. "How're the missions for the association going? You're in and out of Mahora so often you're back and off again before I know you're even gone."

Chizuru walked along a moment in silence. "...to be honest, I think something is going on."

"That's awfully vague. What do you mean?" Asuna asked.

Chizuru was silent for a long, long moment; so long, in fact, that Asuna glanced over at her to make sure she was all right. "I probably shouldn't tell you this, but it looks like someone has tried to infiltrate the governments of several countries. Japan is safe of course," she added quickly. "But the governments of some other countries that don't have our resources may have been compromised. It's..." she trailed off, a troubled look marring her pretty face.

"Frustrating?" Asuna asked, a little surprised to see her friend and old classmate so troubled. They had known each other and worked together for years, and while they weren't as close as she and Konoka or Ayaka were, she still considered Chizuru a good friend. But rarely had the other woman ever made such an expression.

"Yes. We have made offers to the magic associations in some of those places, but..." Chizuru heaved a sigh and shook her head.

Asuna nodded. She too had dealt with foreign magic associations many times; they were always reluctant to accept outside help and were often excessively stubborn as well. But then again, she had to admit that she would feel pretty offended herself if some outside group tried to meddle in Shinmeiryu affairs. They walked along in silence for a long way before Chizuru spoke up again.

"There are also rumors of a demon."

That brought Asuna up short. "What? Where?" Demons were strictly prohibited from coming to Earth, had always been. Mundus Magicus was as far as they were allowed to go; it had been that way since pretty much forever. If a demon had broken the laws to come to Earth, it had to be dealt with immediately.

"No one seems to know," Chizuru answered. "He is always gone long before anyone realizes what he is; he is very good at hiding. Or very lucky." Asuna knew that meant a lot, coming from Chizuru. Chizuru didn't believe in luck, mostly because she was one of those poor souls who had never had much of it, good or bad. Asuna, however, knew better.

"A demon...that's pretty dangerous," Asuna said. Something would have to be done about it, but it wasn't her problem at the moment, not unless it came to Mahora.

The two continued walking.

Ayumi pulled out her cell phone again, but her hero Kakizaki Misa still hadn't called. Was something wrong? Had she offended her somehow? Ayumi quickly ran through the day again, picking at the details and trying to figure out what she must have done to make Misa-sama mad at her, but nothing came to mind. The only time she had even seen Misa-sama was at the show, when Ayumi's band took the stage...

"Ayumi, put that away! They're about to announce the Fan Favorite!" Kai whispered harshly as she jabbed Ayumi in the side with her elbow. Ayumi scowled at her, but put her cell phone in her pocket and looked around the backstage area again. It appeared that almost every band that had played during the day had gathered here again, just in case they won some sort of award. Granted, the bands that were assigned to play on the first day were all amateurs, but the coveted title of 'Fan Favorite' was something each wished to gain. The announcers had already run through the individual awards, as could be seen by the small honorable mention bass player trophy Kara kept looking at with a stunned expression, as well as the Second Place Vocalist trophy Miyako hadn't let go of since it was handed to her. Ayumi scowled at no one in particular; she had been edged out of placing as a guitarist, and had been forced to settle with an honorable mention trophy of her own. Kai, sadly, hadn't received any awards for her drumming, mostly because she was steady and stable and pretty much refused to showboat, even though she could go on drumming for hours if necessary; Kai always outlasted the rest of them in practice, a fact which often annoyed Ayumi.

"And second place for Fan Favorite goes to...After School Tea Time!" the announcer said up on stage to massive applause from the audience. Ayumi rolled her eyes as the group in question squealed and rushed up the stairs to the stage, making 'V' signs with their fingers as they ran out.

"Come on come on," Ayumi said impatiently, tapping her foot. She wanted to get back to the dorm and try to get some sleep. Fan Favorite was a nice dream, but...she didn't think it'd be likely to happen. If Misa-sama was so ashamed of knowing her that she didn't even call... 'Oh who am I kidding? I wanna know who won...!'

"And now, the one you've all been waiting for," the announcer said, drawing it out and making a big show for the audience. "The band you, the people, have chosen as your favorite on this, the first day of the festival, is..."

"Oh come on, say it already!" a nervous girl standing nearby said. Someone immediately shushed her, but Ayumi knew exactly what that girl was feeling.

"Golly, isn't this exciting?" the announcer said, drawing laughter and groans from the crowd.

"Come on, say it already!" Ayumi bellowed backstage, clearly heard by the audience, which broke into more laughter.

The announcer laughed as well and brought the microphone up to speak. "Wow, getting impatient, aren't we? Anyway," he said, finally getting down to business. "The winner of Day One's Fan Favorite is...The No Name Band! Congratulations girls, come on out!"

Ayumi's mind went blank. "...huh?" She turned to look at Kara, saw the same wide-eyed, unbelieving expression on her face, then Miyako squealed and Kai was grabbing her hand and dragging her toward the stairs, a huge grin on her face. Almost before she knew it, Ayumi was standing out on the stage , half blinded by the lights as she looked out over the audience, an enormous shifting mass made up of little dots of color.

"...huh?"

Kara bumped into her and their hands clasped together instinctively. Ayumi was dimly aware of Kai taking her other hand.

"Huh?"

The announcer turned to her and smiled in the manner of all professional announcers everywhere who have just spent an hour handing out awards under the heat of massive lights outdoors in the humid early summer heat. "Congratulations! Take a bow!" He turned to the audience. "And with that, the awards ceremony is over. Thanks for watching, and thanks for voting!"

The next thirty minutes passed by in a blur for Ayumi. They were hustled off the stage and into an office in the back somewhere where they talked to several adults about things Ayumi couldn't recall even five minutes later, went from there through the back exit where quite a small horde of fans had gathered. Ayumi was dimly aware of posing to take a few pictures before getting hustled on along with several other bands by a bunch of big guys in suits, and after a moment found herself getting into the back of a van, along with the rest of her band and the band that had won second place Fan Favorite. She was sure they must have talked, but by the time the No Name Band had been dropped off at the dorm and safely seen inside, any memory of what they had actually said was long gone. It wasn't until Ayumi was safely in bed that she realized something troubling.

This may have been the most important night of her life, but...Misa-sama wasn't there. She hadn't seen Misa-sama a single time, hadn't received a single call, hadn't even received a congratulatory text message. Was Misa-sama mad at her? Did...did Misa-sama...not even care...?

She frantically shook her head to clear it and tugged the blanket up to hide her face.

It couldn't be that...could it?

"Hello, Yuuna."

Yuuna was jolted out of her brown study by the voice of another long time member of Negi's group of friends.

"Heya Reiko. How ya holding up?" she asked, pasting on the fake smile she had worn around everyone else since the kidnapping of her first ever student, Possum Cade, at the hands of the vampire Jonus Hart, who had caused such a ruckus not so long ago.

"I could ask you the same thing," Reiko said seriously.

Her fake smile slipped a little and finally fell as Reiko looked at her, and Yuuna sighed. "My answer would be 'not well'," she said as she slumped back into a more comfortable position on the stone bench she had been sitting on since just after sunset. The area the two of them were in was deserted, though they could clearly hear the massive party that marked the end of the first day of the festival through the trees.

"Possum?" Reiko asked.

"Possum," Yuuna replied, nodding once. Reiko sat down beside her, lowering herself gently to the bench with a grimace; Reiko, never a truly healthy girl, had been gravely injured by a ghoul some time back, and had barely survived the experience. Even now she often had trouble catching her breath, and could often be found leaning against buildings out in the city, exhausted even by a simple walk to the corner store; it was beginning to look like she might never recover at all.

"There wasn't anything you could have done," Reiko said distantly as she looked around at the nearby trees for lack of anything better to do.

Yuuna grimaced. "I know; doesn't mean it sucks any less though. It's like he just grabbed her off the street or something-"

"It was in an alley," Reiko said.

Yuuna looked up. "...how do you know that?"

Reiko looked away, a look of exaggerated innocence pasted on her face. "Negi-sensei was there." Yuuna had just looked back down at the ground when Reiko saw fit to add "I didn't find out from him, though."

Yuuna's hands became tight fists in an instant and she bared her teeth without realizing she was even doing it as a wave of fury rolled over her, only repressed by an immense mental effort on her part before she felt she could trust herself to look at Reiko. "This had better not be one of your games, Reiko," she said, her tone dead serious for once.

Reiko smiled slightly on seeing her friend's reaction. "It's not. I've got him."

"You've got him."

Reiko nodded, her smile widening. "I've got him." Yuuna stood up, so she heaved herself up off the bench as well, using the cane Negi had given her to pull herself up.

"Where is he?" Yuuna asked.

Reiko cocked her head to the side and gave the older woman a good long look. "You have to swear you won't kill him."

Yuuna bit off the profanity she almost blurted out at that and gave Reiko another long, hard look. "Are you sure you aren't just messing with me? Because if you are, I'm going to be really pissed off."

Reiko's grin widened into a full-on toothy smile. "I'm serious. I've got him bound with seals, there's no way he can escape. And even if he does manage it, I have ways of controlling him," she said, thinking back to the bottle she had imprisoned his soul in.

"I want to see him."

Reiko nodded, smiling crookedly. "Okay."