COMING IN AT THE 11TH HOUR (LITERALLY): I almost didn't get this in by the end of Sunday but here we are! I managed to make enough progress on chapter 7 that I felt comfortable with releasing chapter 6 for your reading pleasure. Now, if you'll excuse me, I still have a lot of sleep to catch up on.
"That's it!" she exclaimed.
At her outburst, Ren looked up from the page lying on the desk in front of him. If he was honest, his eyes had glazed over after staring at it for the past few minutes and he was not sure what he was even looking at. What he was sure of was that he most likely had fallen asleep with his eyes open. Perhaps he had not recovered as much as he originally believed. He watched her as she frantically scrambled through a pile of sheets on the table before her while mumbling to herself.
"What are you looking for?" she paused as she heard his deep voice behind her ask with what sounded like a muffled yawn.
"The copy of the transparency draft notation," she replied, resuming her half-crazed shuffle through the pile. "I could have sworn I saw one around here somewhere. Where did it go?"
He quickly scanned the wall where rest of the papers were hung before looking at his own table. There was the small pile of papers immediately to his left. He thumbed through them carefully but came up empty.
"We could use a seeker draft to find it if you want," he suggested.
"That would be a waste of energy when I know I just saw it on the wall this morning when you—" she trailed off when she looked at his desk. Kyoko marched over to where he sat and picked up the sheet in front of him. After briefly glancing at it, she turned it back to face him, waving it back and forth with smirk on her face.
"You weren't even reading this, were you?"
"Guilty as charged," he admitted, watching her skip cheerily back to her own work table.
"So, what are you excited about now?" he asked, getting up from his seat.
"I think I have an idea that will help with our problem," she explained as she quickly jotted notes on the sheet she had taken from him. "Since we normally would have to keep making each layer heavier than the previous, I wondered if we could just make the previous layers lighter before each new layer was applied."
"But we already looked into that," he walked towards where she stood to peek over her shoulder. "I thought we gave up on that idea already."
"We looked at something similar but not this," she quirked a smile, still hunched over the paper and writing. "We were thinking to try whittling down the mass of the layers before applying the next one but that would made them uneven and they could not be reused if the top layer was to be removed for any reason."
"And what is your hypothesis this time, oh, great Weaver Kyoko?" he teased, bending his head lower to get a closer look at her notations.
"W-well I was thinking we could build the layers even lighter i-if we made all the layers, below the one in use, flat and sheer," she stammered; he was too close and it was affecting her more than it should.
His arm ghosted past her to trace a single finger along her notes on the paper. The other hand gently pushed aside the hair that had fallen into his face. She noticed he smelled like the old books in the Archives mixed with just a hint of vanilla. The amulet around his neck hung near eye level as he leaned forward and swung gently back and forth.
"All we should need to do is alter the weft and invert the warp of this and it should work," she pointed to the draft notation as she spoke.
"A sound theory," he smiled. "Let's try it."
"I don't know what it is about that book," she mused aloud. "But, for some odd reason, I think it helped."
"What book?" he asked, puzzled.
"The Enchanted March. Yukihito sent it to me along with the other books I requested. He said you always ask for it when working on a particularly difficult project."
"He said that?"
"Yes… was that incorrect?"
"No, I suppose," he paused, looking introspective. "I just didn't realize I requested it so often."
"If you don't mind my asking," she hesitated, wondering if she should even pose the question. "Why do you consult that book?"
"I guess you could say I use it mostly for advice."
"On spellweaving?" she asked dubiously.
"On life in general," he saw she was understandably confused and continued. "It's a good reminder to never take myself too seriously. That natural talent only goes so far and that everyone, even one of the greatest Weavers in the country, had to start somewhere." He shrugged, "I don't use the book to magically get solutions to my problems. It's more for perspective and motivation to keep trying."
Kyoko was not prepared for such a forthright answer. While it was her folly to think of Ren as anything more than an ordinary human, his lofty reputation among Spellweavers was mostly responsible for creating the illusion. However, considering he had never displayed any arrogance or pretense in her presence, she should have expected such a humble response. She felt selfishly pleased that many would never see this side of him.
"Well it seems to be a very helpful tool, regardless," She nodded and then changed the subject back to the matter at hand, "Shall we get started, then?"
"Would you like to do the honors and test it out on the mannequin?" he asked, pointing a thumb towards the wooden form positioned in the middle of the room.
She nodded, "If you do not mind, yes."
"It was your idea, after all," his smile turned into a mischievous grin. "I'm happy to sit back and marvel at your brilliance."
Kyoko rolled her eyes, "You mean sit back and take another nap, right?"
"Touché."
She pulled a blank grid sheet from underneath her pile of copies and began drawing her draft. Her hair hung in curtains around her face as she stared intently at the page before her and scribbled quickly. Ren noticed how there was a glint in her eye; a spark of determination, that he could not help but admire. Kyoko was certainly a force to be reckoned with when she put forth all of her effort into something.
Placing both hands on either side of the sheet when she finished, Kyoko murmured a quick incantation and a pale yellow light wound its way from the page and into her amulet, her stone taking on the same strange glow. The light soon dissipated and she walked over to where the mannequin stood. She put her hand on the mannequin's chest and activated the new draft with two words. Suddenly, the mannequin became a carbon copy of her from head to toe. Checking to make sure none of the original outfit was visible through the disguise layer, she proceeded to add another disguise on top of it.
The mannequin now bore the resemblance of her best friend, Kanae, only she was dressed in a long skirt and blouse instead of her usual Spellweaver cloak and uniform to differentiate this disguise from the Kyoko clone beneath. It was some time after she walked several slow circles around the mannequin when she froze before adding the third layer. A small frown formed on her face and she cocked her head to one side.
Ren noticed her hesitation, "Is there a problem?"
"I was about to make the last layer a replica of you," she continued to stare at the mannequin as she spoke. "But, I'm not certain this draft compensates for large differences in height."
"Well, try it and find out," he suggested with a chuckle. "If it doesn't, I'd be curious to see what I look like at your height."
Shaking her head at his amusement, she proceeded to add the next layer. The newest disguise materialized and Kyoko's eyes widened in a mixture of shock and embarrassment. She stepped back from the mannequin slowly, her mouth opened as if ready to say something in her defense. Random, quiet syllables came from her lips as she floundered for an appropriate reaction. Blatant refusal to meet Ren's eyes kept hers glued on the mannequin until she heard what sounded like a cough coming from where he stood.
A second cough followed along with a snort and Kyoko looked over to see Ren losing a battle to maintain his composure in the face of his—rather diminutive—double. His large frame trembled with mirth and the corners of his eyes crinkled, betraying the fact that there was a smile behind the hand he raised to hide it. The hand dropped back to his side and he began to laugh openly at the mannequin.
Kyoko gaped at him. How did he find this so funny? She made a serious omission which resulted in the likeness of her superior being unceremoniously squashed into a smaller stature. For all intents and purposes, it did still look like him. However, those features that were complimented by his height were oddly reduced in proportion. The whole thing looked quite bizarre, almost like an adult head was attached to a child's body. As far as she was concerned, this was no laughing matter.
"I was… not prepared for that." Ren said between gasps, still clutching his sides.
"I knew I should have made that adjustment first," Kyoko grumbled.
"It's alright. I was the one who suggested you proceed without it." he wiped at his eyes. "I just didn't expect it to be so… entertaining."
"Ren, this is serious!" she shouted in exasperation, then clamped a hand over her mouth the instant the words left it.
"Oh, so you can say my name," he raised an eyebrow. "I was beginning to think you'd forgotten it."
"But I— I didn't mean…," she spluttered.
"Relax, Kyoko. I thought we already established that it was alright."
She opened her mouth as if to say something, then abruptly closed it and walked back to her workstation. Hiding her embarrassment behind her work seemed a better idea than attempting to defend herself. Picking up her pen to start making adjustments to the draft, she missed the fact that Ren suddenly appeared at her side. It was not until he snatched the pen from her hand that she realized how close he was. She stared up at him in wide-eyed confusion.
"You deserve a break," he held up a hand when she started to protest. "After working diligently on your own for a day and a half, you managed to solve our dilemma whereas I spent most of that time sleeping. I can make the edits and perform the stress testing this evening while you go get some rest," he smiled warmly. "Tomorrow, we can package everything up and present it to the Grand Archweaver together."
"You really don't have to—"
"I want to," he said firmly. "You and I are partners on this. It is only fair for me to do my share of the work. I know only too well how draining it can be doing this on your own."
"Thank you," she replied meekly.
"I should be the one thanking you," he shook his head. "If it weren't for this stroke of brilliance, we may have missed the deadline. Now, go have a relaxing evening. I'll see you tomorrow."
Kyoko nodded and gathered her things together to leave and watched Ren return to his desk with her draft notation. Shuffling slowly towards the door, she stopped to turn around and found him watching her. A small, grateful smile at her lips, she bowed before gesturing towards him. Returning her smile, he raised his hand in farewell while she smoothly exited through the door, leaving it to close softly behind her.
Purposeful strides sped her along the walkway on her way to the dormitories. Her mind was preoccupied with ideas on how to spend the remainder of her day and she failed to notice the person straighten up from their leaning position against a lamppost. She did notice once he moved to approach her. An exasperated groan escaped her lips.
"Got kicked out of the lab by your 'partner' already?" he jeered.
Kyoko tried in vain to walk past him without a word but he kept up with her and continued to prod her with irksome questions. She stopped short and turned to him with a caustic glare.
"Where I go and what I do is none of your concern, Shotaro," she said his name like it was acid on her tongue. "But, if you must know, I have been given the rest of the day off because we finished the project ahead of schedule."
"Oh, so you're just gonna let him go take all the credit for your work while you're not there? You really are a stupid woman."
Barely containing her rage at his comment, she held her tongue and resumed walking quickly. It was better to ignore his attempts at inciting her anger, she decided. If only he was less proficient at doing so with only a few words. She could not decide what angered her more; the words he said or the fact that she let it get to her. When she heard him cluck in mock sympathy, her control broke and she spun on her heels to face him.
"The only thing that made me stupid was believing for one second that you ever cared about me," she snapped. "Trust me, that is not a mistake I will be making again. Have a nice life, Sho, and please leave me to mine."
Kyoko stomped off, leaving a speechless man in her wake.
LONGER TIMES BETWEEN NEXT UPDATES (maybe): I have a couple of very important work deadlines coming up at the end of the month which will probably eat away at the spare time I have to work on the story. As such, there may be a larger gap between updates for the next 3-5 weeks. Hopefully this chapter didn't end on too much of a cliffhanger so you can scoot back from the edge of your seat and wait for your next fix. Keep the reviews coming, it's been a pleasure to read them!
AUTHOR OUT!