If there was one thing Hamuko had never expected to happen, it was to have a homeroom teacher reading from the battered copy of the Kokiji that was lovingly kept in a desk drawer. It was interesting, at the least, and listening to Ono-sensei tell the story of the White Hare of Inaba to the few students who showed up early helped distract her, at least on some level, from the unsettled feeling that radiated off of Eurydice.
Glancing to her left, the auburn giggled. The foreign exchange student Bebe, whose full name was impossible to pronounce, was sitting there with starry eyes, a silk fan decorated with gold butterflies held in one of hands as they supported his head. It was cute, in a way that reminded Hamuko of a puppy; she'd had to restrain herself from patting his head more than once already. Thankfully, the urge was somewhat dampened that day due to her thoughts being elsewhere.
Mainly on what she had overheard from her senpai.
She now recognized Akihiko as the silver-haired boy from the train the day before, which made Hamuko bite her pencil as the first class started. If what Mitsuru had mentioned to her two nights ago was any indication, he was like the two girls and Yukari-san, potentially Minato as well. 'Why gather all of us up in one dorm?' She thought, suspicious as part of her consciousness shifted to pay attention to class. 'And … maybe the Horseman is one of us too?'
Hamuko had decided that, until further information came to her about the nature of the skeleton horse – and if it was indeed being summoned by the mysterious 'him' Mitsuru-senpai and Akihiko-san spoke of – she would refer to it and it's mysterious summoner as the Horseman. 'but what could make something like Eurydice roam on it's own like that?' She wondered, momentarily pausing her thoughts to answer a question from Ono-sensei.
Biting back an amused smile at his complaints about mammoths as she sat down again, Hamuko watched as Kaname raised her hand. She found the light-haired girl sweet, if a bit naive at times. Judging from the wry smile on her face, she apparently had something planned. Thankfully, Hamuko didn't have long to wait to find out what, as the teacher spotted her raised hand and called her to stand.
Standing up, the short girl gave the teacher a sweet smile. "Is it true that mammoths were still alive while the Pyramids of Giza were being built?" The tone of her question was sweet, but Hamuko couldn't bite back the laugh at the mischievous look in her eyes. Ono-sensei's responding moaning and rambling about someone named Kimiko only made her laugh harder.
Kaname sat down after a moment, giggling. "Akemi-chan told me that trick. Apparently his younger sister's as interested in Egypt as he is in Samurai." She whispered to Hamuko, who just giggled more in response.
"I bet their household was interesting growing up." Shaking her head, the auburn smiled happily. That had been a good distraction from the nerves and deep plotting, something that Hamuko didn't fully want to become a habit. Naoto was the one who wanted to go into the police force when she was an adult, if not taking the title of Raidou from their grandfather. 'She'd be good at it too.' Hamuko thought with a smile as she went back to taking notes, doing her best to focus more on that than on the lingering feeling of nerves that radiated from Eurydice.
After school had ended, Hamuko managed to catch her brother before he could get swept away; she wanted to take him to Chagall Cafe for coffee, and Minato willingly let his his twin drag him towards the mall. "well, you seem to have settled in a lot better than Grandfather thought." Minato commented as they sat down, picking up one of the menus handed to them. "... Really?" He deadpanned after reading one of the featured items. Seeing the confused look Hamuko gave him, her menu flipped to the back for various flavors of chocolate mochas, the blue-haired teen looked back at it and begin to read. "Pheromone tea; guaranteed to give you a boost to your charm with every cup."
Like Minato had expected, Hamuko snorted and hit her forehead with the menu. "Really?" she whispered, voice full of laughter. "That's so friggen corny … Is that seriously what's written on there?"
"No, but that's the general vibe I'm getting from the flowery sales pitch." Minato replied, shaking his head and looking at the rest of the menu. "Calling it Pheromone Tea doesn't help. I really hope things here are edible … I'm almost scared to see what's in that." Hamuko gave a nod, still giggling.
"It explains why all the girls swoon over this place." She commented, red eyes dancing. "But yeah, you should avoid it Minato-nii; you have enough issues with girls stalking you as is~" Hamuko laughed, only to let out a playful yelp when Minato bopped her with his folded up menu. "Meanie~!"
"Are you six or sixteen?" The blue-haired teen shot back, sticking out his tongue as the waitress walked over. Thankfully, the woman was professional enough not to ask, and the two placed orders for their coffee. Minato leaned back in his seat while they waited, stretching as he did so. "So … what do you think of our dormmates?" He asked, brushing some of his bangs out of his face. "I've been able to talk with Yukari-san more since she's in my class. Very friendly, but seems unusually nervous about something …"
"From what I've heard and seen around school, she's pretty high on the popularity ladder." Hamuko replied with a shrug, putting her elbows on the table. Folding her hands and letting her chin rest on them, the auburn gave a shrug. "I bet there's a high chance rumors about her are quick to spread. She was a lot more relaxed when I was hanging out with her and the others after school yesterday."
"Good point." Minato admitted, wincing; that was something he would have to adjust to now that they weren't being homeschooled. "And Mitsuru-senpai … she seems rather distant for some reason. It's not that she thinks she's better than us – why would she be in a dorm if she thought that way? - but …"
"Her people skills are probably pretty bad." Hamuko admitted, looking around the cafe. "I imagine she's the stereotypical 'sheltered rich girl', at least in that aspect. Granted, haven't met her family yet, but I doubt she knew a lot of kids her age growing up."
"Would not surprise me at this rate." Minato let out a sigh, shaking his head. "Want to try and work on her, Hamuko? You're always the over-eager one when it comes to befriending people."
"And you just let them come to you, eh?" Hamuko responded with a giggle. Minato went to reply when their coffee arrived, making him focus on the delicious smell coming from the drinks. His twin happily thanked the woman as she took her mocha, inhaling a deep whiff of the aroma coming off of it. "Ooo, this smells so good~" She cooed, taking a sip, somehow not scalding her tongue on the hot liquid. Before Minato could ask how she managed that, the auburn let out a happy noise. "Yummy yummy~! I'm tasting cherries in here too!"
Minato just chuckled at his sister's childlike glee, swirling his drink while he waited for it to cool enough for him to try it. "Well, I take it you're sold on this place." He chuckled, blue-grey eyes dancing in amusement. Hamuko nodded with a contented hum, taking another drink of her tea. "... I will never understand how you can do that without burning your tongue.
Hamuko winked at him. "I'm Magical."
Her brother couldn't help but roll his eyes with a groan.
Minato ended up having to take half of his coffee back to the dorm with them in a travel cup, but it was still as good as Hamuko's over-abundant happy squeals indicated. Talking to one another as they entered the dorm, both twins stopped when they saw that there was a newcomer there, talking with Yukari in the lounge.
It was a man in his mid-thirties, from what they could tell, dressed in a light brown suit. Brown hair fell in loose waves to his shoulders, and he was pushing a pair of gold-rimmed spectacles up further on his nose as he turned, having heard the door shut. "Ah, so there you two are." He called out in greeting, voice friendly. Yukari looked up as he spoke, hazel eyes wide; she opened her mouth, most likely to ask what had taken the twins so long, but stopped as she saw the cup in Minato's hands.
"Haha, Chagall?" She asked as Minato and Hamuko walked over, sitting down on the sofa with her. "That explains why you two were out so long …"
"Now now, Takeba-san, it's not a problem." The new man cut her off gently, voice carrying an undercurrent of laughter. "It's alright if they're exploring the town; they just moved here after all." When he saw that the brunet girl had relaxed, he turned to the twins. "Now, I suppose introductions are in order," he began, offering a smile that made the hairs on the back of Hamuko's neck stand up. "I'm Ikutsuki Shuji, chairman of the board for Gekkoukan High School."
Minato arched an eyebrow, taking a sip of his coffee before speaking. "And what brings the chairman of the board out to a lonely dorm like this? I doubt it's solely to greet us; if you did that with every new student, you'd be run ragged." He noticed Yukari flinching out of the corner of his eye, but if it was due to his direct statement or not, he couldn't tell.
To his credit, Ikutsuki took it in stride with a chuckle. "Well, I am here to greet you, but only because I'm afraid there was a paperwork technicality at the office." He replied, pushing his glasses up his nose once again. "While I can understand the two of you wanting to be in a co-ed dorm, this one is rather far back; I don't know what could have caused that mistake to happen."
"So then why come see us, Ikutsuki-san?" Hamuko tilted her head, forcing her voice to remain calm. "Is it just to get our opinions on if we want to stay here or move on to a different dorm?"
"That would be correct." Ikutsuki nodded, giving her a smile that made all three teens grimace internally. "And I'm impressed! Most people have a hard time pronouncing my name correctly the first time they hear it." Shifting as he spoke, the brunet man chuckled. "So, go ahead, ask any questions you might have."
Minato stalled his answer, brain working; the answer Ikutsuki had given for his visit seemed solid enough, but if that were true, why wait for the second night? The blue-haired teen almost wished Naoto was present; something about the way his youngest sister stared at a person while she questioned them seemed to yield good results.
Deciding to just go with it, at least for now, the teen focused on Ikutsuki, curious to see if his stare could do something similar to Naoto's. "Is there anyone here besides us, Takeba-san and Kirijo-senpai?" He asked; he'd heard something on his floor a few days previously, the mysterious noise distracting him from his studying.
"Yes, actually; a senior named Sanada Akihiko." Ikutsuki nodded, looking around as he spoke. "... Come to think of it, where is he? I know Mitsuru-san's hard at work upstairs ..."
"Probably out jogging." Yukari said with a shrug, speaking up for the first time since the twins had sat down. "There wasn't a boxing club meet, so he's most likely only going to show up later on the evening." Ikutsuki let out a chuckle, shaking his head.
"Of course. That's Akihiko-san for you." He stated with an amused sigh, smiling at the twins. "Do you have any other questions?"
"If this is still a dorm for Gekkoukan High School, why is it so far away from the others?"
Minato and Yukari both turned at that, looking at Hamuko. The auburn's ruby eyes were narrowed as she made eye contact with Ikutsuki, making the other two scootch away to give her more space. Seemingly not noticing them, Hamuko frowned as she continued speaking. "Unless this is a refurbished building, but even then, I doubt it. The only thing this could pass for is a small hotel, and it's too far away from the coastline to get much business."
Blinking, Minato did a double take over the rim of his coffee cup as he finished it; was it his imagination, or did Ikutsuki's smile falter for a moment?
The brunet man's expression was back to being warm and friendly, letting out a string of chuckles. "Dear me, no! This isn't a re purposed building, and certainly not a hotel; the kitchen's nowhere near suited for that. Trust me, I heard it quite vocally from someone else that it's … rather small, for a dorm kitchen." The look on Ikutsuki's face almost made Minato chuckle, getting up to discard his empty cup. "But to answer your question, Hamuko-san, it's due to the fact that it's a co-ed dorm; it was actually just started a couple years ago as an experiment to see how well a co-ed dorm would work. The board just decided to isolate it from the others to keep anything too problematic to happen."
Hamuko's glare lessened at that, but the frown didn't. "And if the experiment goes well?"
"Then rest assured there will be other co-ed dorms in this area." Ikutsuki replied. "There were originally plans to have them closer to the train station, yes, but there wasn't enough real estate for us to purchase for them."
Although she continued with her hard stare, Hamuko nodded in acceptance before standing up. "I'm sorry for being so rude, but I have to do my homework." She said, Minato worried; again, Hamuko was slipping into a tone of voice far more suited for Naoto. True, he hadn't heard it since the night they had arrived in Iwatodai, but it was still unnerving to see his bubbly sister so serious.
Ikutsuki just smiled at her. "Ah yes, thats good of you! The early bird catches the bookworm!"
Minato swore he could hear his brain cry out in agony at the horrendous nature of the pun.
Yukari let out a groan, shaking her head in annoyance; Ikutuski had almost made it completely through the conversation without making a pun.
Hamuko's only response was the corner of one eye twitching, biting her tongue behind an awkward half smile to keep from saying anything.
Ikutsuki just chuckled at them. "Hehe, sorry, sometimes they just slip out." He apologized, voice full of glee as he spoke. Hamuko just shook her head, using the action as a way to calm herself down before giving the man a parting bow. It took all of the control she possessed to walk up the stairs like normal, but when she had reached the third floor, the auburn bolted to her room.
Sighing in relief when she had the wood closed behind her, Hamuko rubbed her forehead; Eurydice was even more irate than she had been earlier in the day, and it was giving Hamuko a headache. 'Whatever exactly you are, Eurydice, I wish there was a way to talk beyond vague feelings.' Hamuko sighed, shaking her head; although she could question the presence, it never responded vocally.
Hamuko was certain the only reason she called the presence Eurydice was because that had been the name in her six-year-old mind that night on the bridge. It had been the night she and Minato had lost her parents, and while she didn't remember exactly what had happened, Hamuko could recall the sentient black blobs that had attacked her and Naoto. Minato was too far away from the accident, their mother had perished in the crash, and their father was nowhere in sight.
She had been scooping up her three-year-old sister into her arms when one nearly attacked her, a sword held in one had. Hamuko recalled screaming, blue fire, but then … nothing.
Nothing beyond the golden marionette setting the blob ablaze in scarlet flames.
When she had regained consciousness in the hospital a few days later, Hamuko had felt something in the back of her mind, sedate. When her six-year-old self had let the name of Eurydice run through her mind, the presence responded; it did nothing to attack her, only stirring when time froze for an hour at midnight. Even then, it seemed to only be in the presence of the sentient darkness, having remained calm when Hamuko's grandfather had taught her how to use a naginata. The only visible sign that something had changed in the small girl was her eyes shifting from their normal blue color to the ruby red she possessed to the present day.
Shaking her head, Hamuko let out a sigh; while still agitated, Eurydice wasn't making a racket. The auburn could at least try to focus on her homework now. It would be good to get it done before bedtime.
Downstairs, Minato focused back on the group and offered Ikutsuki a small smile. "Sorry about Hamuko; she's … odd. I'm her twin and I don't fully understand her thought process at times." Ikutsuki just chuckled and waved his hand in a dismissive fasion.
"I wasn't offended, don't worry; I've been told before that I tend to go on and on." He replied, brown eyes hiding amusement. "You have homework too, I assume. Unless you have any more questions, I should let you get to it." Minato paused, weighing his options; yes, they had said the only resident of the dorm he had yet to meet was Akihiko, but that blue-eyes boy from that first night …
However, something stopped him from asking. What exactly, though, he did not know, but his grandfather had always insisted that gut instincts were to be listened to first in situations with no clear answer available. Minato's instincts were telling him to keep quiet about the strange boy and his red ledger, so Minato did just that. Offering Ikutuski and Yukari a quiet smile, he shook his head and stood up. "No … I hope it doesn't take too long to sort out that issue with paperwork you were talking about." He said instead, giving the two a polite bow before heading up the stairs.
Once upstairs, Minato sat down on his bed and let out a sigh of relief. 'Thank god that situation didn't get nearly as awkward as it could have been …' he thought to himself. 'That pun was physically painful, though.' Pushing the thought of painful 'humor' from his brain, Minato settled down and got to work on the small amount of homework that he had left to do. '…. Did we cover that in Ekoda's class?' He wondered, cursing the fact that the Classical Literature teacher's lectures were a chore to remain conscious through.
It was close to eleven-thirty by the time his homework was done, making Minato yawn as he rubbed an eye. "Dark already …? Time seems to go faster here than it does in Inaba." He murmured as he stood up from the desk, debating taking a shower or waiting until morning. '… Maybe the hot water will help me stay awake tomorrow morning …' Yawning again, Minato opted to turn off the light and crawl under his blankets, shedding his clothes once he had done so. The heavy duvet was warm and comforting, and the blue-haired boy had passed out before he realized his eyes were shut.
Which made the sudden sound of opera singing in his ears a massive surprise.
Lifting his head, the first thing Minato registered was that he was thankfully dressed again, wearing his school uniform as he tried to get his bearings in the strange, almost completely blue room. He was seated in a chair with a lyre-shaped back, in a room with walls made from stylized, hollow metal. A glance towards the nearest wall showed him that, wherever he was, it appeared to be moving upwards in some fashion.
'… Note to self, don't accept a treat from Junpei's bento tomorrow. I don't trust them anymore'.
"Welcome to the Velvet Room."
Jumping what felt like a foot out of his skin at the voice, Minato whirled around, focusing on what – or rather, on whom – had materialized directly in front of him. The first thing he noticed was the man in front of him, seated in a plush blue chair. He was short and hunched over, exposing the bald top of his head to the teen. Wide, bloodshot eyes focused on the teen, broken up by a nose that seemed too large to be physically possible, almost hiding the Cheshire Cat grin that spread across his cheeks.
Beside the chair, watching Minato with inquisitive gold eyes, was a girl around his age. She wore a dress in various shades of blue, with golden circles going down the front. Dark blue gloves and boots accented the outfit, and a small cap rested on top of her short bobbed hair. She reminded Minato of the women behind the counter at hotels, albeit one that crawled out of the one American show Naoto loved to watch. The Twilight Zone, if Minato remembered it correctly.
Regaining his voice when he realized the two were staring at him, Minato arched an eyebrow. "Well … I guess an elevator is a room, technically." He admitted, tilting his head to one side. "But … Why bring me here? For what purpose?"
"It is nothing serious, not yet, anyways ..." The short man replied, chuckling again. "My name is Igor, and I have summoned you from within your dreams … Do forgive my overeager nature, but it has been years since we last had a guest in the Velvet Room."
Minato shifted a bit in his chair at that, uncomfortable; this 'Igor' character reminded him of Dr. Victor, and while the man was good at his job, he gave Minato an uncomfortable feeling. "... And why is that?" He asked, frowning. "I can imagine many people'd love to enter such a strange place in their dreams."
Igor didn't seem to mind the jab, instead opting to chuckle and wave his hand, causing the red ledger Minato had signed to appear. "Yes, this is true … That is why only those with a contract can enter this place, otherwise we'd never have a moment's rest." Minato did a double take at the sight of the ledger, blue-grey eyes widening.
"That's …! You mean that isn't the dorm contract?" He asked, worried; if he had gotten himself involved in a supernatural situation due to singing a contract, Naoto and his grandfather were really going to lay into him when they found out. At that, however, he paused. "Wait … the boy who gave that to me said Hamuko'd already signed a contract herself …. Why isn't she here at the same time?"
"Simple." Igor chuckled, laying the contract down on the table in front of Minato. "Yes, you two are twins … but you are not single-minded." Letting his large eyes focus onto Minato again, Igor's smile widened. "As for your sister … her contract wasn't quite the same as yours; more a verbal agreement than anything written … However, I expect both of you to abide by the rules stated in the contract."
Not seeing a way out, Minato grit his teeth and nodded; he would have to play along for now, especially if Hamuko was involved as well. It was frustratingly clever of this 'Igor' character to keep them separate, and he seemed to know this. "So why summon me?" He finally stated, trying to keep his voice professional.
"Ah yes ..." Igor let out another chuckle. "That is simple … you have a great potential within you, and you would require my assistance to unlock it." At that, Igor nodded to the young woman beside him. "This is Elizabeth; she will also aid you along the Journey that lies before you ..." Waving his hand, the ledger vanished, showing a simple card on the table instead. "But alas, our time with you runs short … We shall have to explain more next time. Until we meet again …"
Minato opened his mouth to say something, but the Velvet Room had vanished in a whirl of blue and black light before any sound could escape.
Mitsuru drummed her nails against an arm as she watched the monitor, a frown pulling her lips tight. Yukari and Ikutsuki were nearby as well, watching the screen with her. The three of them were peering into Minato's room, watching as the blue-haired teen slept away. The clock was mere minutes away from midnight, and the boy was blissfully unaware of the camera spying on him.
"... This feels wrong ..." Yukari said after a tense moment had passed, sighing heavily. Mitsuru turned to look at the brunet girl, noting the way she shifted from foot to foot as they watched the cameras. "I mean … I know we need more members in the group, but … Can't we find a less creepy way of checking to make sure?" She asked, hazel eyes darting between Mitsuru and the camera.
"Unfortunately, Takeba-san, we haven't had much luck." Mitsuru said with a sigh, looking out the window. "The only reason I was able to track down Akihiko was pure luck and stubbornness, and even then, it took far longer than I was comfortable with." Shaking her head, the redhead nodded at the screen. "And while he was fully functional that first night, it isn't saying too much. It's always best to make certain ..."
"Well, it's almost midnight." Ikutsuki nodded, turning to the two girls. "Is Akihiko-san still out?" He asked in confusion, looking around.
"Yes; he's quite adamant about keeping up a patrol on nights like these." Mituru admitted, looking towards the window. "He hasn't encountered anything yet, but it's perhaps better to be safe then get caught off guard ..." Sighing, the redhead shook her head. "I'll inform him first thing tomorrow if things are in our favor."
Ikutsuki nodded in confirmation, smiling. "As dutiful as always, Mitsuru-san." He commented, the world turning black as he spoke. All electronics and lights went out, save for the large monitor the three were watching. Minato himself remained unchanged, simply rolling over in his sleep to bury his face into the pillow.
"... He's completely stable." Mitsuru observed, gripping her sleeve. "No fluctuation, no hints of transmogrifying ..." Looking at Ikutsuki, the redhead offered him a shaky smile. "... Would it be safe to say it's possible for him to …?" Ikutsuki smiled as he turned to her, and opened his mouth to say something when he did a double take and stared at the door, hazel eyes widening in shock. Mitsuru went to ask him what was wrong when a voice that made her blood freeze reached them.
"You know, normally I'm not bad with insects. But bugging my room? Gross."
Mitsuru went ramrod stiff, every hair on her body seeming to stand on end as she slowly turned to look. Yukari seemed just as shocked, having whirled around fast and dropped her hand to her thigh in case she needed to grab the gun strapped there. Mitsuru didn't blame her; Hamuko stood in the doorway in her uniform, tossing a small camera up and down in one hand.
Her expression was nothing short of pure, burning fury.
Catching the camera in her hand when she saw that everyone was focusing on her, the auburn girl's frown grew deeper. "I figured something was up with that excuse earlier; Jiji got the paperwork sent in the same week we were accepted. The only way such a serious choke-up could have happened was if someone had tapered with the papers." Ruby eyes sharpened on Ikutsuki, who visibly recoiled. Mitsuru couldn't say she blamed him; she had been told before that her own glares were frightening, and her eyes weren't as red as Hamuko's were.
"I … I didn't feel it would be safe to wager that your grandfather would allow you to come if he knew why." The chairman stammered, clearly put out by the fact that Hamuko had seen through things so fast.
"And you think LYING is the answer?!" Hamuko shot back, voice raising just enough to make those present flinch again. The hand that held the camera clenched, the small electronic straining under the grip. "Jiji's not a stupid man, you do realize; if you had gone to him with an explanation, he would have been wiling to work with you." She continued, the hand not holding the camera in a vice grip resting on her hip. "As it is, I don't think he'd take too kindly to finding out there's ulterior motives for us getting accepted to the school."
Mitsuru felt her blood freeze; of all the people to have angry at them, the current Raidou Kuzunoha was at the top of the list to avoid. And here stood his eldest granddaughter in a state that she could only call righteous fury, clearly not impressed that they had not only tricked her and her twin into coming, but were currently spying on them.
This was a dangerous situation, and Mitsuru didn't know how to rectify things without sending them spinning into a fiery pit. Ikutsuki seemed just as unsure as to how to respond, opening and closing his mouth despite no sound coming out.
Yukari was ultimately the one who broke the silence. "Yo … you mean … if we had just told you what was going on, you would have come along anyway?" she asked, voice small. Hamuko's gaze softened the most marginal of fractions when she looked at the other junior, but it was clear she was still angry at the situation.
"Considering I've been stuck in this weird time-paradox nonsense for the past ten years? Gladly. Jiji and I have been trying to figure it out for a while now, with no leads." Ignoring the shocked looks she got from both Yukari and Ikutsuki, Hamuko tossed the camera up into the air once more. Before anyone could react, scarlet flames enveloped it in a flash, melting the plastic case and cracking the glass to render the electronic useless. Mitsuru recoiled slightly at the flames, knowing exactly what that display was meant as. It was every bit as plain as if Hamuko had shouted it; she wasn't going to be lead along or easily distracted, and this sort of thing would not fly.
And that frightened Mitsuru the most; even though Hamuko had mentioned she'd been active for ten years, the redhead hoped that her grandfather had attempted to keep her out of the supernatural nonsense. If anything, he had raised her to thrive in such a world, which both frightened and unbalanced Mitsuru.
She had been expecting a naive little princess, spoiled by her grandfather.
This wasn't a princess; this was an angry dragon.
And they needed to figure out how to appease it before everything went up in flames.
Opening her mouth to speak again, Mitsuru paused when the door behind Hamuko closed. "Y'know, Mitsuru, Shinji and I warned you that this would just bite us in the behind." Akihiko's voice made everyone turn to look, the male senior standing behind the angry auburn. A matching gun holster to one Mitsuru wore was at his waist, the gun on his left hip. A single, silver eyebrow arched as he looked at the others there. "Especially considering the Kuzunoha family; Shinji and I were in Inaba for long enough to hear stories about them."
Ikutsuki seemed to have recovered his voice at the sight of the silver-haired teen, letting out a relieved noise. "I … I will admit that it was partially a fault on my end; I didn't know until the twins were en route that Arisato and Shirogane were just cover names for the family ..."
Akihiko didn't comment, instead deciding to drop his arm around Hamuko's shoulders. "Well, you found out the hard way then." He commented, voice as casual as if he weren't restraining someone who could set everyone on fire. "And it looks like her brother's got the potential too, so you can turn off the cameras. Or do I need to drag Shinji in here to break the rest?"
Mitsuru groaned; Akihiko and his best friend had found the hidden cameras in their rooms the very first night, and she still hadn't found all the pieces … "No, Akihiko, that won't be necessary." She spoke up, keeping Ikutsuki from speaking up. "I'll speak to Father about having the electronics removed tomorrow."
"Alright, I'll hold you to it." Akihiko said with a nod, turning Hamuko around with a strong grip that broke the girl's anger. "Now, to avoid any more property damage, I'm gonna see what Hamuko-san here can do outside. If that's alright, Hamuko-san?" Hamuko, off-balanced and shaken from her anger, simply blinked at him.
"Wait … if you were on patrol, how'd you get here so fast?" Yukari asked, shaking her head in confusion.
"I was getting ready to head out when I heard angry yelling a floor above me." Akihiko replied with a shrug, looking over his shoulder. "Trust me, I've learned from experience to stick around if angry yelling starts up."
Mitsuru shuddered, remembering Akihiko's best friend when he was in a temper.
"Anyway, we'll head out on patrol then, Mitsuru." Akihiko said with a wave, opening the door. "You work on how you're gonna explain things to Minato-san, because I don't think he'll be any less angry than Hamuko-san here." With that, he left the room with Hamuko in tow, not giving Mitsuru – or anyone – the chance to counter him.
Yukari collapsed into a chair the moment she heard the door click. "Yeah, but hopefully his ability isn't fire." She commented with a groan. "Plus he seems to be a lot harder to anger from what I've seen in class … "
"I imagine Hamuko-san's similar." Mitsuru nodded, sighing as she tugged her hair. "We just managed to hit the one button that got under her skin faster than anything … Thank goodness Akihiko knows how to diffuse fiery tempers like that."
"Yes, thank goodness indeed." Ikutsuki let out a sigh as he turned off the monitor, frowning. "I guess I'll work on how to explain this to your father … You'll keep an eye on the two while they're on patrol, right?" He asked Mitsuru, who nodded.
"And me?" Yukari asked, shifting a fraction. "Anything you want me to do?" Mitsuru turned to the other girl and shook her head, eyes softening.
"No … you go get some rest; Hamuko-san's temper seems to have gotten to you the most." She said, biting back an internal sigh. "If something comes up where you're needed, I'll come get you, okay?" Yukari gave a nod of understanding, clearly fighting back yawns as she went downstairs. Mitsuru waited until she was gone before letting out a sigh, pulling out the large, radio-like scanner as she set it up. While a part of her was glad Akihiko had shown up like that – he was so unexpected that he had completely unbalanced the wrathful Hamuko – Mitsuru still felt like she had failed on some level.
For the first time, she had met someone who had been around this power for as long as she had. And Mitsuru had gone and gotten them angry.
She could only pray that wasn't an ill omen for the coming year.
Tori's notes: And then Hamuko decides to throw a wrench in things.
To clarify why Akihiko's sudden appearance derailed her temper so much, it was a matter of balance; she was so focused on the three who had gotten her angry, that when he showed up out of nowhere and steered her out of the situation before she could fully register him showing up, he knocked her off-balance. Boxers of Akihiko's caliber know all about balance.
Anyway, stuff's gonna get rolling even more next chapter! Including - if I can manage it - a look into Hamuko's Velvet Room ... And of course Magician. Can't forget Magician.