She couldn't remember what she had dreamed about when she woke, which meant she hadn't had those horrible dreams about Honami's death again. That of course was a relief, but for some reason Miyuki still felt guilty. It was as if she thought she personally hadn't suffered enough this week.
"Not like Onii-sama has suffered…..or mother."
Of course mother and Onii-sama were already awake. She apologized and immediately went to make breakfast. Tatsuya had immediately stopped his attempts to prepare breakfast before she woke, once she expressed her unhappiness about it. Again they praised her food, and again she felt that Honami's magic touch was missing from the meal.
After breakfast she insisted on manual cleanup once again. She liked the "alone" time it gave her, to concentrate her thoughts. When she was finished she turned around to survey her tiny world.
Tatsuya was still at the kitchen table, reassembling his new handgun shaped CAD for what had to be the hundredth time. Further away their mother was reading a data terminal at the tea table beside the patio doors.
It was as if these two didn't even live on the same planet with each other. She suddenly realized, much to her sadness, that while she had talked to both of them already today, neither had once spoke to the other in her presence.
Instead of letting out the tears of sadness she felt pushing up inside her, she decided to force a conversation instead.
"I'll make tea!"
Both of the two people she loved the most looked up at her together, and after a few seconds to register her words, both nodded to her with a smile.
"Do they even realize how alike they are?"
Miyuki made her mother and her chamomile tea, and Onii-sama got his preferred black coffee. Miyuki happily brought it to the tea table and her mother smiled at her display of gracious manners.
Tatsuya stood up from the kitchen table and approached them. He took his coffee cup and lifted it to his lips. Once he lowered it he gave Miyuki a satisfied smile and turned to return to the table.
"That's your seat Onii-sama."
Miyuki smiled as she indicated the seat beside her, the seat between herself and their mother. Tatsuya sent her an uncomfortable and slightly reluctant look, but sat himself in the chair anyway. Miya only sent Miyuki a knowing glance over the top of her tea cup rim.
Seeing these two people willing to sit next to each other, but obviously still unwilling to engage each other directly in conversation made Miyuki tense. She decided to try to get the conversation going.
"Onii-sama?"
He smiled at her as he sat the coffee mug back down.
"Yes Miyuki?"
She beamed up at him.
"Why do you keep taking apart your new specialized CAD?"
Miya and Tatsuya's eyes drifted back over to where the CAD in question rested on the table with a handkerchief under it.
Tatsuya returned his eyes to Miyuki to answer.
"While the CAD is superior to its equivalents offered by Rosen Magicraft and Maximillian Devices, I feel that it's processing speed and aiming assistance device have the potential to be improved."
"Bring it over here."
Miyuki and Tatsuya were both surprised by Miya's sudden interest in a CAD. Tatsuya moved to retrieve it, and when he returned he set the CAD on its handkerchief in front of their mother. Miyuki hadn't even noticed that before sitting for tea Tatsuya had apparently reassembled it.
Miya, without lifting it, apprised the gift from Kazuma and Sanada with an expert's eyes. After a few moments of silent observation she turned questioning eyes on Tatsuya.
"You're aware of the hardware manufacturer for this device?"
Tatsuya nodded affirmation as he replied.
"Four Leaves Technology."
Miyuki spoke up next.
"That's one of father's CAD's?"
Miya smirked lightly as she answered Miyuki's inquiry.
"Your father handles mostly the business side of FLT's R&D department. I seriously doubt he had any direct input in the design of equipment in years, outside of perhaps aesthetic concerns."
Putting their mother's somewhat irritated sounding statement about the role their father played at FLT aside, Miyuki now examined the CAD herself. Noticing something odd, she turned to Tatsuya for the answer.
"I don't see an FLT logo on it. How did Onii-sama know it was made by FLT?"
He smiled lightly at his sister's curiosity.
"When standardized components of intended prototype equipment for the military or police are made, they typically don't include logos or serial numbers, that way the military or police can apply their own serial numbers to comply with their system of identification standards. However, since some of the components are standardized equipment offered by FLT, it was pretty easy for me to identify them, having seen previous FLT items before."
Miyuki looked back at her brother in happy amazement. She had no idea he was that familiar with CAD's and their manufacture.
"So you think that despite being better than its competitors, some of the hardware in this CAD is less than satisfactory?"
At her mother's intense look of displeasure at her Onii-sama, Miyuki suddenly remembered something important. For all intents and purposes the legal owner of Four Leaves Technology was their mother. It was literally, HER COMPANY.
If this fact caused her Onii-sama the same dreadful tension as Miyuki, he hid it well.
"While the processing speed and aiming assistance device are more than adequate for most magicians, those at the higher and lower end of the ability spectrum will notice different but equally less satisfying results."
Miya tilted her head slightly as she replied.
"Elaborate."
Miyuki had wanted them to talk more, but not exactly like this. There was a significant chance for an argument to develop, and also a good chance she'd get "left behind" if they became too technical.
Tatsuya never missed a beat.
"For lower end ability users the processing speed provides little sequence acceleration assistance improvement over the main competitors, a factor that will be a critical difference maker to tapping into the under saturated lower ability users market. For higher end users the rather mundane processing speed will hinder sequence deployment, an acceptable feature in a generalized CAD, but significantly less desirable in a specialized CAD. Since specialized CADs are currently a new and weaker offering from FLT, they should have focused on both improving components and lowering price to increase the desirability of their new offering. Instead, this is just a slightly better version of what you can already buy with a proven track record and slightly cheaper from more established specialized CAD manufacturers."
Miyuki braced herself for the coming rebuke, but instead Miya just cocked a curious eyebrow at her son before speaking again.
"And what is the flaw with the aiming device?"
Tatsuya again replied with a critical eye on the CAD between them.
"It's not so much a flaw as something magicians have simply learned to accept as reality."
Miya smirked again.
"Go on…"
"The aiming device includes a point five two seconds delay before correcting its targeting filter. Since magic only requires the magician's mind to identify the target to aim the magic, and this process occurs at approximately point two seven seconds, the extra point two five seconds delay actually hinders the entire point of using a specialized CAD."
Miyuki was confused by what she was hearing. She stepped in to have Tatsuya fill in the gaps in her knowledge.
"I'm not sure I understand Onii-sama, can you explain further?"
He nodded and continued.
"Specialized CAD users tend to be either Born Specialized magicians or magicians with a very limited repertoire of magic sequences, such as myself. To overcome the staggering magic variety available to a magician of Miyuki's unlimited talents, someone with a limited catalog of magic must rely on a specialized CAD to try to overcome their disadvantage."
Miyuki nodded slightly as she pondered her brother's words.
"So they need faster CADs to overcome the variety of magic a generalized CAD provides?"
Miya and Tatsuya both nodded at her correct answer.
"So the entire point of using a specialized CAD is it's faster?"
She knew it was an oversimplification, but they both nodded again with smiles at her.
"But…..doesn't the aiming assistance device in a specialized CAD also help it deploy a sequence faster?"
Miya answered her question this time.
"Only if the processing speed of the aiming device is equal to or faster than the magician's own ability to identify their target in their mind. If it lags behind the user's natural ability than it will hinder their deployment speed. However….."
She turned a discerning eye to her son next.
"…even with a lag of up to an entire second, specialized CADs are still capable of sequence deployment before most generalized CADs."
Tatsuya nodded that he understood that, but continued onward.
"Generalized CADs, when finely tuned to their magicians, and in the hand of a magician with superior talent, can deploy a sequence within point four seconds, negating the advantage of the specialized CAD aiming device entirely."
Miya smirked lightly at this reply.
"Yes, but such talented magicians are rare."
Tatsuya shook his head at this response.
"Coming from a family where every magician but our father and myself meeting the criterion I just described for superior talent magicians, I respectfully have to disagree with your assertion that such magicians are 'rare' mother."
Miyuki tensed up again, but Miya cocked a small smile at her son's words. Tatsuya continued onward again.
"The point of a specialized CAD is to make the user faster at deploying magic. Any delay in the system, be it processing speed or aiming refocus; that does not match or improve on the magician's innate talent is, by definition, a substandard device for that user."
To Miyuki's surprise, Miya continued to smile brightly at her son.
"I see…..and your good friend Sanada hasn't made any particular improves to that model."
Tatsuya looked at the CAD again with a clinical expression.
"He has only loaded some activation sequences in it, but while they are better than what is generally available, I'd have to judge they are not his latest or best efforts. He hadn't altered the hardware yet either. I suspect that this was a control model used to compare against their actual test model."
Miya smirked again.
"Well that would explain why Kazama would be so willing to give a thirteen year old magician a prototype in the first place. It would have been downright irresponsible to hand even you an advance testing model."
Tatsuya nodded his agreement with her assertion.
Now she turned gentle eyes toward Tatsuya.
"The limitations of the basic model prototype hardware were all pointed out by a young developer in FLT's Third Research Lab, his name is Ushiyama. However, no one on the software side made any complaints about it. So impress your sister even more, and tell us how you have already improved this CAD for your own use."
Miyuki turned adoring eyes to Tatsuya.
"First, I disabled the aiming device."
Miyuki blinked in confusion at this unexpected answer. Miya only smiled knowingly at her daughter's confusion as Tatsuya moved to clear up his sister's understanding.
"There is a tendency for users of a specialized CAD with an aiming assistance device to become over-reliant on that device, and thus inadvertently allow the aiming device to delay their natural sequence activation deployment ability until the device can also recognize the target. This of course only happens with magicians that are faster at target identification than their devices, and who do not realize that their natural aiming ability is being subconsciously suppressed. For those of us that do realize this, the aiming device becomes something to overcome, instead of helping. With no superior aiming device available to match my natural aiming speed, removing the aiming device is my personal best option."
Miyuki's eyes went wide in astonishment and delight.
"That's….brilliant Onii-sama! To think of downgrading your own device because you are better than the extraneous features of the CAD! Only Onii-sama could be so creative!"
Miya tried hard not to show the embarrassed Tatsuya how amused she was in this moment. Tatsuya's tepid response was exactly what both women expected of him.
"Um….thank you Miyuki."
The glow of adoration from Miyuki was apparently too brilliant for Tatsuya's comfort, so he turned towards their mother, who had just recovered her composure at that very second.
"What else did you do Tatsuya?"
Relaxing a fraction, Tatsuya continued.
"The standard FLT processor operating system included with this CAD was rather pedestrian and cumbersome, which is to be expected of an OS adapted from FLT's normal generalized CAD OS, so I wrote a new operating system for the CAD. I believe the new operating system software, even in the hands of lower end ability users, will improve their reaction time by a minimum of point four eight seconds. My own reaction time with this device has been reduced by one point one six seconds, which I believe would represent the higher end of the processing speed improvement spectrum with this particular operating system and CAD combination."
Miyuki didn't know much about software or hardware. She knew only the basics needed to operate a generalized CAD such as her own. She did know enough about those things to know that Tatsuya had done something truly incredible.
If she needed further proof, their mother was also having trouble processing what she had just heard. After a few awkward moments of silence, she asked her son a question with an incredulous look on her face.
"Let me make sure I have this correct. You modified the existing operating system?"
Tatsuya, apparently oblivious to his own astounding achievement, answered in a matter-of-fact manner.
"No, there were too many flaws to overcome, it was more efficient to write a new operating system from scratch."
Miya's eyes widened even more as she pushed on with her questions.
"When did you write this new operating system?"
Tatsuya had just finished sipping on his coffee. He answered once he had placed the mug back on the table.
"After Miyuki and I returned from the base on the day the Major gave me the CAD. I had completed it before Miyuki woke from her afternoon nap."
Miya blinked at him while trying to process his words.
"You wrote an entire CAD operating system software package in under two hours?"
Tatsuya nodded at her before adding his remarks. Suddenly he seemed to realize the extreme curiosity he had generated in his two female relatives.
"Actually I completed it in forty-five minutes. I had allotted myself only one hour to work on it that day. It took me an additional thirteen minutes to load my preferred activation sequences after that."
Sensing he might have somehow insulted their mother by pointing out so many flaws in what was soon to be FLT's newest public CAD offering, he tried to add some praise for it.
"The hardware, outside of the off-the-self aiming assistance device, is quite good. The central processor has no physical flaws in its design and accepted the new operating system without difficulty. I also found the new psion converter in this device to be a superior design over the nearest competitor models."
Miya snorted lightly at his last comment.
"The new psion converter design was also developed by the Third Research Lab's Ushiyama. His group has a tendency to exceed their mandate when they catch the scent of something interesting."
Miyuki was honestly surprised not only by how amazing her Onii-sama's software and hardware knowledge were, but also by her mother's knowledge of the goings-on inside of FLT. Miyuki had always gotten the impression, despite knowing her mother's ownership status of the firm, that Miya was more interested in her own MI related research pursuits and left FLT as the domain for their father. To see her intimate knowledge of the day-to-day activities inside FLT was a mild shock.
Inside this gap of time that developed in her own thoughts, Miyuki suddenly realized awkward silence had descended once again on the trio. This was clearly caused by their mother, who was obviously lost inside her own thoughts at that moment.
Miyuki jumped slightly when Miya broke the silence suddenly.
"Send me the operating system you have developed. I want to review it myself."
Tatsuya at that very moment sat down his data terminal.
"I just sent it to your private account."
Miya nodded to this.
"Miyuki."
Having suddenly been singled out, Miyuki inadvertently straightened in her chair.
"Yes….mother?"
Miya was looking in Miyuki's direction, but more at the table in front of her than at Miyuki's eyes.
"One day FLT might be your responsibility, but even as a just a magician you need to widen your understanding of CAD's."
Miyuki couldn't disagree with that statement. She had the ominous feeling that her own lack of knowledge was preventing her from properly understanding how amazing Tatsuya's new operating system truly was. She vowed silently to correct that obvious oversight of hers. She intended to properly understand all of the wonders of her Onii-sama.
Miya's eyes briefly drifted towards her son, before moving back to Miyuki.
"Next weekend I will arrange for you to have a tour of FLT's Third Research Laboratory. I'll have young Ushiyama give you both the tour."
Miyuki's excitement level shot up. She had no real desire to learn about the inner workings of CADs beyond impressing her Onii-sama; but she also realized instantly this trip was for her Onii-sama's benefit more so than hers."
Miya's eyes again fell on her son.
"There should be enough additional time for you to show Ushiyama that new CAD of yours and all your modifications. Get his input on it, I'll want to hear his impressions."
Tatsuya nodded his acknowledgement to their mother.
Miyuki could detect the same anticipation and excitement from her brother that he had possessed when Kazama was showing him around the base. This time Miyuki was much more positive about his excitement.
After morning tea, Miya allowed Miyuki and Tatsuya to apply their sunscreen to each other. The enjoyment Miyuki got from this cannot be described in mere words. If she had to assign words to it, then the closest thing in her mind was the word "bliss". She loved physical contact with Onii-sama now beyond anything else in the world.
She didn't even mind how tense Tatsuya was, both when having her apply sunscreen to him, and when he had to return the favor. She was luckily too young at that moment to experience the embarrassment she would eventually feel at these same actions in only a year or two more.
Morning was spent between frolicking in the sea and napping lightly under the tent. Again there was no one else on the beach to interrupt them in their own little world. Again the only eyes on them but their own came from the porch of their villa.
Soon it was lunch time and Miyuki was in such a good mood that she accepted her mother and brother's praises without any internal self-criticism of her food, but she still thought she could do even better. As she was cleaning up and fantasizing about round two of sunscreen application fun, she noticed that Tatsuya suddenly looked at his data terminal. Miyuki and Miya both turned curious eyes towards him as he read the message. When he was done he addressed Miya.
"Major Kazama has inquired if the invitation to tea you extended to General Saeki also applied to Captain Sanada and himself?"
Miya lightly sighed at these words. Miyuki tensed up instantly.
"Those people again?"
She was fighting down a pout that threatened to erupt violently across her face.
"Never let it be said that I am not a courteous hostess."
There was more resignation in their mother's voice than actual concern about her social reputation. She briefly looked at the top right corner of her data device.
"Tell them two…fourteen hundred hours is when we take our tea."
Tatsuya nodded and his fingers flew across his data terminal to reply.
Miya then turned sympathetic eyes to her obviously unhappy little girl.
"Go straighten up and make yourself presentable. Your return to the beach will be delayed slightly."
Miyuki reluctantly nodded and went to wash off her remaining sunscreen and sand with a dejected look.
Precisely at two in the afternoon the doorbell to the villa rang. Miya and Miyuki instantly began to deploy their ojou-sama false masks, but seeing Tatsuya heading to answer the door, Miyuki quickly burst forth to get in front of him.
"…Miyuki."
The rebuking tone in her mother's call to her froze Miyuki in her tracks, but the beautiful little girl in the white sundress with yellow daisies imprinted on it turned her beautiful ojou-sama mask on her own mother.
"I believe I should answer the door in this situation, since it is obviously mother and Onii-sama that the Major and Captain are here to see."
Instead of bowing, this time she executed a prefect curtsey to her mother.
Miya lightly rolled her eyes with a knowing smirk.
"Very well dear, but slowly and with the proper decorum. We aren't baboons."
At these affirmative words Miyuki smiled brightly and proceeded to turn back for the door; only to be stopped dead by additional words from her mother.
"Perhaps on the flight home, my daughter will kindly explain to her poor mother all the new etiquette rules she's come up with to operate her mother's household under?"
Without turning around, Miyuki's ojou-sama mask faltered and a look of dread swept her face. Being the only one who could see both their faces, Tatsuya could tell their mother's rebuking words were only half serious, but there was no way to transfer that knowledge, to relieve Miyuki, in a subtle manner.
Realizing her daughter was going to let their guests ring the doorbell twice, Miya intervened.
"You wanted to answer the door, please go do so."
"Um….yes mother."
Forgetting their mother's previous admonishment entirely, Miyuki suddenly rushed forward as if pricked by the stinger of a hornet. Once at the door she grabbed the knob and after a brief pause to reapply her 'mask', she opened the door.
"Welcome back Major Kazama-san, Captain Sanada-san. Please enter."
She neither checked the door monitor screen on the near wall or the traditional pee-hole before opening the door without any hesitation. She knew that Tatsuya would have stopped her if there were any threat on the other side.
"Ah! Greeting Miyuki-san."
"It's good to see you again Miyuki-san."
Miyuki bowed lightly to them in acknowledgement of their greetings.
"Please step through to the living room. Onii-sama and mother are already there."
Once in sight of Tatsuya and his mother, the two officers bowed to Miya who nodded in response."
"Welcome back gentlemen, please take a seat."
Both men immediately turned to greet Tatsuya with a bow before joining Miya on the couches.
"It's good to see you as well Tatsuya-san."
Tatsuya bowed to both as he responded.
"Thank you Major. I am pleased to see you are both well."
Miyuki stepped up to the table as the two officers sat down.
"My apologies gentlemen, but we only have four types of tea. Would you gentleman prefer green, earl grey, chamomile, or Darjeeling tea?"
Apparently being military men meant they were not used to even such a limited variety of tea. They exchanged slightly perplexed looks with one another.
"Perhaps our guests would prefer coffee Miyuki?"
Miyuki beamed brightly back at their guests after her mother's suggestion.
"Onii-sama will be having coffee as well."
They both smiled at Tatsuya and then back at Miyuki. The Major answered for both of them.
"I think whatever Shiba-san would like would be perfect for us young lady."
Miyuki already knew her mother liked Darjeeling tea in the early afternoon.
"Darjeeling it is, I shall return shortly."
Miyuki curtseyed again and moved toward the kitchen.
"I will assist you Miyuki."
Tatsuya moved to come to her side, but Miyuki's words stopped him immediately.
"Nonsense Onii-sama! I'm sure the Major and Captain can't wait to talk with you."
Tatsuya seemed momentarily flustered, and then surprised as their mother indicated with a hand wave for him to join them on the couches.
He awkwardly took a seat beside their mother, but then suddenly spoke to his retreating sister.
"I too would like tea Miyuki, if you do not mind?"
Miyuki turned and very solemnly bowed to her brother.
"Onii-sama's wish is his Miyuki's command."
When she rose the two military officers looked very amused, Tatsuya was clearly embarrassed, and Miya was cocking an irritated eyebrow at her daughter's effusiveness. Miyuki entered the kitchen area feeling truly happy with herself.
She returned only a few minutes later and passed out the cups and saucers. She wasn't paying too much attention yet, but the officers were giving their mother an update on the situation on the island. Miyuki poured for the Major and Captain first, then for their mother and Tatsuya before pouring her own tea last and sitting on Tatsuya's other side.
"Luckily we had captured or eliminated all enemy combatants well before morning. We have even captured seven enemy magicians. Your sister has graciously offered to assist in the interrogations."
Miya responded before taking her first sip of tea.
"You should recommend to the General to accept her offer. Certain members of my family are extremely talented at information extraction."
Everyone followed Miya's example and took their first sips of tea with her.
Miyuki, suspecting that the rumors these officers had obviously heard of the Yotsuba before now should be enough to make their mother's words send a cold shiver down their spines. Miyuki certainly was fighting her own urge to tremble at the suggestion. If either man was bothered though, they hid it very well.
"I'll certainly pass your recommendation along to her Shiba-san. By the way young lady, very good tea."
Miyuki was surprised at the sudden attention directed towards her.
"Indeed it's excellent, did you boil the tea in a kettle?"
Miyuki was slightly surprised that Sanada could tell such a detail.
"Yes, I did indeed Captain."
"Seems you also ground them from fresh leaves and strained it yourself as well. Very meticulous of you young lady."
"Um….but it is the best way to make tea Sir."
"Um…no doubt. It's very good young lady."
Both praised her as they took another sip with enjoyment. Miyuki had clearly underestimated these two's knowledge of tea. Their praise would have made her tea making instructor, Honami, very happy to have heard.
Both Tatsuya and Miya directed approving smiles to her as well.
"Thank you for saying so gentlemen."
Miyuki nodded her thanks as well.
"My daughter can be quite diligent in her attention to detail, when properly motivated to."
Miya added on additional praise. Miyuki wished she'd direct some of that praise towards her well deserving Onii-sama as well. She had enjoyed their mother's astonishment over Tatsuya's software skills this morning more than the praise she was receiving now.
The conversation quickly switched back to recent events.
"We found several malicious software packages deployed in civilian systems, like the closed circuit monitoring system and magic detection sensors around the island. However, we are now certain we have eliminated all of those threats."
Miya smirked gently at Sanada's assertion.
"How can you be so certain Captain?"
Sanada smiled back confidently, but differed to his superior for the answer.
"We have been monitoring all transmissions from this island for years, it is a major SDF forward installation after all. Plus, since before we arrived here we have redoubled our efforts. We intercepted over three thousand enemy transmissions via multiple transmission methods including magic. I can't go into further detail, but I can assure you that no images of you or your family left this island successfully. Every enemy who knew about you and your children has been…contained."
Miyuki knew what the word "contained" implied. She had to fight down another developing cold shiver. Apparently the SDF could be just as ruthless as the Yotsuba when they felt they needed to. Tatsuya's warm and reassuring smile to her at that moment helped fend off the cold shiver, but their mother's reply threatened to boost it again.
"And again we must now rely on hope."
Kazama blinked at her words before asking for clarification.
"I'm sorry Shiba-san?"
Miya smiled lightly back to him.
"Hope Major, we are now relying on hope. The hope that your dragnet has netted all possible information on us from leaking out. Let's be frank, there is no way you can possibly suppress all knowledge of us being here."
The officers looked only slightly put off by this obvious fact. There simply was no way to suppress all forms of transmission of information. If it was out there to find, someone who knew what to look for would eventually find it.
Kazama gave Sanada a small nod, which apparently indicated that he could elaborate further.
"Your sister graciously agreed to look into the matter further."
Miya didn't seem surprised in the least by this news. That meant the Kuroba-oji-sama's people were already deep into their investigation.
"We also are monitoring every person leaving the island for signs of magic alteration. While you are correct, we cannot eliminate all possible sources of information leakage; we are confident that the images of you and your children have been eliminated before they left this island, and that anyone who saw you and knew you were Yotsuba, are now….contained."
"There's that word again."
What is pleasant and what is necessary were clearly two very different things in the "adult" world.
Kazama spoke up next.
"We are certain that they didn't know anything about you till you were caught in the closed circuit spyware at the Naha Airport. We are also certain that the submarine that attacked you, and the infiltrators Sakurai-san and Tatsuya-san dealt with, were unable to transmit your images off this island."
Miya smirked at that.
"You are certain of that Major?"
She lifted her teacup up delicately as she waited for a response. Kazama mirrored her actions, and once he put his cup back down he shared a devious smile with their mother.
"Between our two organizations, yes, absolutely certain."
Miya nodded lightly to the Major then. Miyuki knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the submarine that attacked them had never returned to the surface afterwards, and never would.
"So many more…..dead."
But they were the enemy, so Miyuki immediately chalked their deaths up to the risk they took in trying to hurt her family. In other words it was what they had earned.
Next the Major seemed to tense a bit before continuing.
"Obviously we can't hide the fact that a new strategic-class magician has taken to the world stage, but since your own family has so expertly made sure that no evidence of the Shiba family visiting Okinawa existed before you even made this trip, it made our own information cleanup efforts that much easier."
Miya lightly nodded back to him.
"My sister will be pleased to hear your compliment of our humble efforts."
It was Kazama and Sanada's turn to smirk a bit. They both knew that "humble efforts" was a severe euphemism where the Yotsuba were involved.
Kazama took another sip before continuing.
"It would still be best if Shiba-san would reconsider our offer to transport her family home."
Miya cocked her left eyebrow at him, still smirking.
"Are you saying Naha Airport isn't secure, even now?"
"Nothing of the sort Shiba-san."
"Then the worst thing we can do is to draw further attention to ourselves. We'll leave on our commercial flight tomorrow morning as planned."
The officers looked less than pleased, but Miya mollified their discomfort with her next words.
"We do appreciate the offer though."
They all exchanged nods afterwards.
They would allow the patrol unit that guarded the area around their villa to transport them to a nearby empty transit station. From there they will call an AI taxi from a car company already vetted by the Family, which will transport them to Naha Airport for the flight home. With the monitoring devices now under the SDF's secure control in and around the island and especially at the airport, their departure should go off with no risk of further exposure.
Nothing about Tatsuya's future involvement with Kazama and the SDF was discussed, per their mother's expressed wishes from before. The two officers left after exchanging farewells and expressing to Tatsuya that they were looking forward to seeing him again in a few weeks' time.
Miyuki then got to reapply sunscreen to her awkward looking brother and then have the favor returned; before they enjoyed their last day in the sunshine of Okinawa, and their last night under the stars over the East China Sea.
Their mother's condition seemed to be improving, so Miyuki tried to bury in the back of her mind the fact that she had learned that their mother had shortened her own lifespan for Tatsuya's sake.
She crawled under the sheets that night and slipped off into slumber, hoping her dreams would match the previous night's and not the more intense ones from the nights before. She was ready to return home, and to pull a final curtain over what had been the most difficult and longest week of her young life.
As storms raged and waves lashed across the horizon, Tatsuya knelt at the top of a hill.
Before him lay the exhausted figure of Sakurai Honami.
Calmly Tatsuya knelt above where Kazama had sat her down seconds before. The tsunami waves lashing the dunes and lower part of the hill didn't register in his mind. All his calm but attentive concentration was focused on the woman who had protected him just minutes before.
"Don't worry Honami, I'll use Regrowth on you. Hold on."
Honami nodded with a smile towards him, but a few tears escaped her eyes. Knowing she had normal emotions, Tatsuya realized how terrifying this situation must be for her. The tears were certainly because of the stress, they couldn't signify anything else, right?
But the look in her eyes wasn't that of fear. Tatsuya thought she might be going into shock. The warmth she looked up at him with for some reason was causing him to subconsciously accelerate his actions.
He used flash cast and deployed the activation sequence for Regrowth. His mind absorbed and converted it into a magic sequence. The sequence deployed and Tatsuya replaced Honami's body with a perfect copy from this morning, just as he had successfully done only a couple of hours before.
But something was wrong.
There had been nothing "wrong" with the body he had just replaced. It was almost identical to the "new" one.
"….that's not right."
He murmured lightly with consternation inside him slowly building.
He activated the sequence again, again he replaced her body with a perfect copy, and again, nothing changed.
A sharp pain suddenly welled up from inside him and his breathing inadvertently began to accelerate.
"Is there something wrong with me?"
He checked himself quickly for flaws in Elemental Sight.
"I'm….OK? But if I'm OK…"
He urgently activated the sequence yet again, and again he replaced her body with a perfect copy, and again, nothing changed.
And again his breathing accelerated more, and the pain in his chest grew worse. He could feel himself begin to…..panic.
"Why is Regrowth not working?"
A weak but surprisingly happy voice called up to him.
"…It's alright, Tatsuya-kun. This is life after all."
He already knew what was wrong with her. He already knew it was something no one could fix, but his mind couldn't process this for some reason. Something was blocking his logic.
Something he hadn't felt for a very long time. Something more a distant memory than something "real".
An…emotion.
And a bad emotion at that.
Fear.
"WHY WON'T THIS WORK? I CAN'T LET YOU DIE!"
And now the long forgotten sensation of anger joined fear.
"NOOOOOOOOOOO!"
And now despair had joined in, laced with self-hatred.
He leaned over her and fired off Regrowth again and again, but nothing changed. No matter how many times he tried, he could not put the life force she had expended back into her. Her body was perfectly fine, but her…..soul….was "leaking" away.
"ARRRRRRRR!"
And now guilt descended upon him from his distant past like a sledge hammer to his chest.
She had expended her life, for someone as unworthy as him.
A weak but gentle voice called to him again.
"It's not your fault. For augmented magicians like us, it's only natural that our life would run out sometime."
"NO! IT'S ALL MY FAULT!"
Around this scene a sudden blast of psions knocked the helplessly watching Kazama and Sanada from their feet. They frantically called out to him as they regained their feet, but he could not hear them.
He was locked inside a world created by his own unexpectedly resurgent emotions and intense but uncontrolled magic power, and the only thing that mattered to him in this little world was dying, because of him, and he was helpless to stop it.
Tears streamed from his face as he clutched desperately to his sweat matted hair. All around him a torrent of psion energy pushed out of him, consuming everything on that hill top in an uncontrolled outburst of Decomposition.
Tatsuya was in an uncontrollable emotional rage.
"I CAN'T LET YOU GO!"
"There's nothing you could have done precious Tatsuya-kun."
Tears were the only thing that marred her happy expression. She weakly reached up to him and he clasped her hand between his.
"Truly, it's not your fault. From birth it was my role to be a shield, and it's simply that today that role ends."
"HONAMI! PLEASE DON'T DIE! PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME!"
As the torrent of Decomposition radiated from him he buried his head in her chest and released all the forbidden emotions he had been denied for the past seven years. Honami reached up with her other hand and lightly stroked his hair as he cried uncontrollably.
"To die for your sake. That is something that I decided, not because I was ordered, but of my own free
will."
"Look around you Tatsuya-kun. Look how amazing your power is. Look and see that I spent my life well."
Seeing his rage in manifest form swirling around them, he began to try to control it, but to no effect. His emotions controlled everything around him now.
"I, who never once had the chance to freely choose in my life, am finally free to choose how I die, and I get to die for the sake of someone truly worthy of my sacrifice. I won't let this chance pass. I can finally choose to die not as a man-made tool, but as a person, because I know that you will change…..EVERYTHING."
Tatsuya furiously shook his head as she held him to her bosom.
"I am a FLAWED and BROKEN creation! Unworthy of your sacrifice!"
And inside he slowly began to accept that there was nothing he could do to save her, the torrent of his psion rage slowly began to dissipate.
Tatsuya's face was unmistakably filled with grief.
"No precious Tatsuya-kun, you are the greatest magician in the world. In your hands rest the power to save this world from itself. You have a great destiny before you, and I am honored to have played a tiny part in your epic story."
He turned a face full of desperation and fear to her.
"You, precious one, are the most important person in all the world."
She smiled at him and wiped away the tears around his face.
"To die for your sake is the honor of my life."
Tatsuya screamed out in rage again.
"ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"
"No precious one, please, let me go. Let me die for you, please, Tatsuya, won't you let me go?"
"I CAN'T LET YOU GO! YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE THAT LOVES ME!"
To his desperate cry she offered her brightest smile yet.
"Yes, I love you more than life itself."
Then she lightly shook her head.
"But I am not the only one that loves you."
"YOU ARE! THEY HATE ME! SHE HATES ME! SHE'S IS ASHAMED OF ME!"
Honami lightly stroked his cheek as he buried himself back into her chest.
"No my precious Tatsuya-kun. She loves you more than you can ever know."
"That's…not…true…SHE HATES ME!"
Honami stroked his hair again.
"No Tatsuya-kun, she sent me here to save you. You are….her only hope."
He sobbed now, unable to control his breathing enough to speak. Beneath him he could feel the life energy ebb from Honami as her heart slowed and her breathing began to weaken.
"She will take this pain from you….because it will hurt you to remember."
She took a deep but labored breath before pushing out the rest of her statement.
"She too….is dying…you know this."
Tatsuya shivered in her arms.
"But what you don't know…..she's dying for you."
His raging emotions wouldn't let him believe this. He shook his head into her chest in denial.
"She expends her life force….as I have mine….for your benefit….to keep you safe."
"THAT CAN'T BE TRUE! THAT CAN'T!"
"It is precious one….she willingly dies….so you may live….free…one day."
Tatsuya pulled back from her and knelt before her. He grabbed her hand.
"She loves you…..and so does Miyuki. Please…continue to protect them both….and they will protect you too…..do this…..and my life will have been….spent….well."
Helpless in the face of life which could not be saved, crushed by emotions that he should have lost; to him Honami extended a weak, yet serene smile.
Now knowing that he could do nothing to reverse Honami's end, he could only grit his teeth and try to suppress his emotions.
"Go to them…..precious Tatsuya-kun…your mother will take away…..this terrible pain."
Sakurai murmured to Tatsuya in a sweet voice.
"We have….immortal souls…..I shall always be with Miyuki and you….my precious ones."
He could feel her last moments slipping away, tears threatened to free themselves from his eyes again.
Honami smiled at him through her labored breaths.
"My precious one…never doubt that you…were worth it…live well, and protect our…..Miyuki."
At Honami's words, Tatsuya could only nod silently.
With a look of peace, Honami closed her eyes.
Gradually, she stopped breathing.
As the last of her life slipped away, the last of Tatsuya's uncontrolled psions dissipated. The two officers approached him from behind as he looked helplessly down at his friend's now lifeless body.
Next to them, Sanada began to chant sutras.
Kazama placed a hand on Tatsuya's shoulder.
While carrying that hand, Tatsuya stood up.
There were no tears in his eyes now.
But the feelings of sorrow filled Tatsuya's heart.
Hearing Sakurai Honami's last words, he was convinced there was no need to grieve, but still he grieved without reserve.
Tatsuya at that time tried to convince grief away, and that would be the first time he would be unable to successfully do so.
This time Miyuki didn't bolt upright when her dream had ended, or scream out. This time she simply opened her eyes. It was still dark outside. A glance at her chronometer told her it was two thirty three in the morning.
The tears on her pillow told her that she had lived those moments now beside her precious Onii-sama.
It was no dream, it was her Onii-sama's own memories.
Memories he now had lost, or at least had "sanitized" for him.
And she knew she had shared his memories with someone else.
She turned at the sound of her doorknob turning, but no fear filled her heart. The silhouette in the dim light of the doorway was familiar and expected.
"I am…so sorry."
Miya's voice called out to her daughter in a whisper.
"I had no idea you could see all that too."
Miyuki sat up in her bed and stretched her arms out. Miya closed the door behind her and crawled into bed with her daughter, wrapping her arms tightly around her.
Miyuki could feel that her mother too had shed tears.
"It's killing you momma. I don't want you to die."
She turned to look at the shadowy face behind her showing wetness glistening in the low light from the window. Miya reached up to wipe away the tears from her own daughter's face.
"Believe me precious one, I don't want to die."
She took a deep breath then.
"But you must know, having seen with your own eyes; that someone with your Onii-sama's powers cannot be allowed to feel those terrible emotions."
Miyuki didn't want to agree that her mother had to sacrifice her life energy, but she couldn't refute her. She sobbed lightly and nodded in surrender.
"Do not fear little one. There is time left yet to us, and in that time I will prepare you to be your Onii-sama's shield. His constant protector."
Miyuki nodded and shivered slightly in her mother's arms. After a few quiet moments she spoke again.
"Why….why can we share…those memories?"
Miya sighed lightly before answering.
"I'm not sure. I certainly never expected to have to put you through that too."
After another long pause, she added speculation.
"I put a lot of my MI magic into you when you were in my womb. Maybe I went a little too far? Maybe I made your mind too much like mine? I don't know, maybe we're just too much alike? When we get home, we'll do a little research, OK?"
Miyuki nodded agreement. Mental Interference Magic was, like the mind itself, still mostly a mystery. Her mother's speculation, the speculation of the top expert in the world, sounded as good as anything Miyuki could have come up with to explain this "miracle".
After another long silence she asked another question.
"Will I ever be good enough…to protect Onii-sama?"
She knew her fear was leaking through her words. Miya pulled her in tightly and Miyuki could even feel the muscles of her mother's face twist into a grin behind her ear.
"Oh yes my dear, you will be far much better for him than I am. Have no fear my precious girl, you are…PERFECT…for Tatsuya."
Her mother's words had instantly soothed her trouble mind. Miyuki fell back into slumber, and her subsequent dreams about Onii-sama were much more pleasant.
In the room next door Tatsuya watched them through his special sight, and heard their whispered words with his well-honed hearing.
The final pieces of the mystery plaguing him these last few days seemed to be coming into focus. Once he was certain they both were asleep again, he decided to perform a patrol of the surrounding area.
This was more for him to clear his own thoughts than to actually watch for potential intruders.
He felt he had a lot to think over now.