Chapter 4

This whole situation was a pain in the back. And while Saruhiko Fushimi understood very well why his captain gave him the mission he did, he thought there were limits to cruelty. Surely he could have made his betrayal credible without having to endure day after day with that damned... optimist. There were limits to what he could endure without snapping and he felt he has reached them now. He swore that one more, bright smile or one more "it's a lovely day today" or anything of the kind and he was going to strangle Mai Ueno without caring about the consequences.

He swore that, but he knew, he wouldn't. The damned student would probably claw at his face and leave nasty scratches. Yes, that was good enough a reason to not strangle the young woman he could already see approaching the Mihashira Tower, right on time. He could drive her through with his sword, but cleaning the blood afterwards would be a pain.

'Good morning Mr Fushimi, how are you today?' Mai Ueno asked as she stopped next to him, smiling as though it was a good thing to be awake so early in the morning. He didn't bother replying, only turned around and led her into the building wordlessly. She followed, apparently taking the hint, because she didn't speak as they got into the lift and Fushimi authorised the trip to the Slate chamber.

His PDA beeped with incoming message, but he couldn't quite take it out in the lift. Every wall was a mirror and the student could get a glimpse of his screen. If it was an official message it was ok, she would probably not be able to read it anyway. But if it was a notification from Jungle- Well, she could see the logo while he was logging in and it would be problematic if anybody found out that he was playing the game, even more so if they realized he has passed the first level after aiding the attack on the cat woman.

He was curious to know and so to distract himself while the lift climbed the floors, he looked at the student he was escorting. She paid him no mind, busy reading something on her PDA, a small frown on her face. She has long since dropped the suit she wore for the first few meetings in favour of more comfortable clothes. She usually wore toned down colours, mixing pastel and dark shades. Sometimes, like today, she wore a bright, intense yellow scarf that seemed to completely not fit with her style.

Well, it did look good with the dark-blue, knitted dress she had on- Wait, wait, why the hell he was even thinking about this?

Ah yes, to not think about the message on his PDA.

Fushimi looked back at the student, but right then she also looked up, eyes wide and somehow worried. Instinctively, he recoiled slightly.

'I'm really sorry, Mr Fushimi, I forgot that I wanted to start in the library today,' she said, sounding genuinely remorseful. Fushimi took a deep breath. 'I mean, the reading room of Lord Kokujoji,' she clarified needlessly. Well, if she has come to the Tower so early by mistake then Fushimi would really kill her.

'Now that we have sent the lift to the Slate chamber, we have to arrive there first and go down afterwards,' he informed her tonelessly. It was a precaution measure to not allow anybody unauthorized to go up to the chamber from getting into the lift mid-way.

'Ah, sorry, sorry. But if we're passing through the chamber anyway, I can pick up my notes, like that the trip was not in vain,' she suggested with that bright smile on her face. Fushimi sighed.

'It's not like I mind going up and down in the lift,' he muttered, making her laugh.

'I suppose it doesn't change much from sitting on a chair in the library and waiting till I'm done,' she acknowledged somewhat remorsefully. 'I'm sure that if you talk with captain Munakata he will agree to rotate your shifts with somebody else, so that you can do more interesting things than babysitting me here,' she added. Fushimi frowned.

'A rotating duty makes it easier for you to trick us and sneak in alone,' he said, making her laugh. He looked away.

'Really, I understand that the Dresden Slate is a precious artefact that needs to be kept a secret and I have no problem with being escorted everywhere in the building, but what exactly are you afraid I will do?' she asked. She didn't give him any time to answer, not that he planned to. 'Did you see the size of this thing? It's not like I could carry it out or something.'

Fushimi really didn't like the topic of the conversation and liked even less that it occurred on that particular day, right after he has "proved" to the Green clan that he was ready to betray Sceptre 4. What if that cheerful student was an agent of Jungle? What if the Green King has decided to use Fushimi and her to get the Slate, rather than risk a full frontal attack?

His PDA beeped again. Mai Ueno glanced in the direction of his pocket.

'Are you sure this is not important?' she asked.

What should he do? The message might be from Jungle. If it was and if the Green King demanded his cooperation now, what was he supposed to do? Sacrificing one, annoying Stray in order to get some credibility was one thing. He felt no remorse for doing this, especially since it has forced that annoying slacker, the Silver King, to show his face again. But even if the Strain has been kidnapped, he wouldn't feel bad about it. For one he didn't care about her at all.

Now, however, the stakes could be completely different in scale. They were on the way to the Dresden Slate and while they wouldn't be able to take it out, as Ueno has kindly pointed out, they could tinker with the security systems. Or disable the cameras. He couldn't help Jungle to steal the Slate. It was out of question.

Mai Ueno raised an eyebrow in question, probably at his lack of reply. Fushimi ignored her, trying to calculate the risks in his head. Option one was that the message was from Jungle and he helped: it could lead to them stealing the Slate easily. Option two was that the message was from Jungle and he didn't help: it wouldn't be difficult for the Green King to go through the same reasoning as Fushimi just did and understand that Fushimi wasn't really on his side. Option three was that the message wasn't from Jungle and Mai Ueno was completely innocent.

What was the chance that it was option three?

The lift pinged, stopping at the floor where the Slate chamber was, snapping Fushimi out of his thoughts.

I'll pick up my notes real quick,' the student said and was out of the lift before it finished opening fully. Fushimi sagged in relief, but it was short lived: he had to quickly check the PDA and follow her to the chamber. Whether she was innocent or not, his orders were to never leave the student alone in the chamber.

Damn it, he'd check the PDA while she gathered that mess she called notes. It would probably take her at least ten minutes.

'Hey, wait,' he called out and followed her. She waited and they entered the chamber together. And while she went directly to her messy notes, Fushimi finally took the PDA out of his pocket and pressed the button to see the received messages.

Rustle of paper and a faint curse grabbed his attention and he looked up from the PDA, right on time to see a sheet of paper float gently and land over the Slate. It was clearly too far to reach without stepping onto the Slate, but it seemed the student didn't give it a second thought: without any hesitation, she made a move to retrieve the notes.

A foreboding feeling washed over Fushimi, leaving goose bumps on his arms. He didn't understand it, because people have walked on the Slate without problem, although there were very few people who did. Still, he called out to the student, to stop her.

Too late. Mai Ueno was already on the Slate, squatting down to pick up the sheet of paper that has escaped her.

Nothing happened.

Feeling like a fool, Fushimi watched her stand up, glance at the paper and turn around to get off the Slate. He watched, feeling almost as though the time has slowed down, as she lifted her leg to take a step and hesitated, putting it back down. As she turned back to the centre of the Slate, Fushimi was ready to call her back again, demanding she steps off immediately. He would still look like a fool, but something wasn't right. Breathing in, he opened his mouth-

And found himself on all fours on the ground, feeling as though something was trying to press him into the floor. Lifting his head minimally, just so he could see anything else than the marble floor, required more effort than a hundred one-handed pull ups. He imagined. He has never done any.

There was nothing. He could see nothing that explained the pressure that threatened to snap his spine if he didn't comply and lay down. Nothing that explained why Mai Ueno was standing on the Slate, exactly like he has seen her before the pressure appeared.

Then, as sudden as the appearing pressure, the space around him distorted, as though somebody was pulling on the dimensions. The chamber appeared smaller and smaller and suddenly, the space imploded, somewhere above the Slate.

Fushimi didn't quite see that, because his brain has told him he was being squeezed under the heavy, decorative roof of the chamber and he blacked out for a moment. When he came to, he was still in the chamber, on the floor where he has fallen. The pressure was gone and so was the spatial distortion and he could sit up with only his shaking body as an obstacle.

A quick look around told him he was still alone with the student in the chamber. Mai Ueno was still on the Slate, apparently unconscious. Messages on the PDA now completely forgotten, Fushimi called in for the medical emergency response team and staggered to the Slate on shaking legs.

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A solid kick in the stomach sent him tumbling away on the floor, hitting his head at some point, but it wasn't as hard as it could be. For one, he has still not arrived at the edge of the perimeter, since there was no blinding pain. All the same, Kuroh didn't try to get up, expecting that Yukari will soon get bored. His senior student advanced with an ugly scowl on his face, but Kuroh didn't even bother to tell him it was highly unattractive. He just lay there, on the floor, watching Yukari pull out the remote control of the collar. Anticipation twisted his insides sickeningly.

'Get up,' Yukari barked, finger over the trigger.

For the first time, Kuroh has refused to participate in the "training". Well, not so much refused as ignored Yukari and remained sitting in the same spot he was sitting after waking up. After repeating twice that they should spar and getting no reply, Yukari kicked him to the ground and Kuroh stayed down. There was no point to fight, no point to continue. Yukari seemed to think differently, Kuroh supposed, since he kicked him again. And now, he took out that remote, probably hoping to frighten Kuroh into obedience.

He watched Yukari's finger hover over the trigger, wondering if the pain could be kept long enough for him to actually die. Or would he first claw through his own neck, trying to get the collar off? He sure drew blood on a few occasions, he felt it afterwards, when his brain could process something else than the pain inflicted by the infernal contraption.

'Get up,' Yukari ground out through gritted teeth, appearing angrier by the second.

Kuroh had no intention to comply. Earlier that day, if it was a new day at all, he has only eaten because the priest threatened to feed him otherwise and that, or causing a fuss like a two-year-old, would have been far more humiliating than accepting the food from his enemy. He might have been rejected yet again, might have been deemed unimportant and expendable, but the last vestiges of his stubborn pride forced him to not endure feeding.

"Training" with Yukari or refusing to would end the same way, if the finger above the trigger was anything to go by. So Kuroh wasn't going to move. There was no point. There was no more a reason to continue. If he could gather enough courage, he would have asked them to give him Kotowari and-

He swallowed thickly. He was too much of a coward for that, wasn't he?

'I will not repeat it the fourth time, Kuroh. Get up,' Yukari ordered. Kuroh was surprised he has repeated it as many as three times anyway. Instead of answering, he turned his head away and closed his eyes. He didn't want to see Yukari's finger pressing on the button.

But the pain didn't come. Kuroh didn't understand why, but stubbornly remained with his head turned away. Faint rustling of fabric seemed to suggest that Yukari put away the remote, rather than activating the trigger. Or he took out something else. Kuroh didn't care.

Suddenly, a tingling shiver ran down his spine, strangely familiar. Kuroh opened his eyes, turning his head back to look at Yukari for reasons he couldn't quite understand. The Green clansman was looking at him, through him, eyes wide opened in shock.