The past and future of a swordswoman

The evening light streams in through the broken window, illuminating the sleeping form of Bourgeois-san. I have been contemplating her face for a while; for lack of something better to do mainly. Approximately five hours she fell asleep due to exhaustion. Her injuries took their toll on her in the end. From one moment to the next, she collapsed and I was quick enough to catch her before she made contact with the ground and got more damaged. Tikki-sama and Plagg-sama have not returned, nor has the akuma or the butterfly holder. And I couldn't leave my sister-in-arms alone when she was injured. Then I meditated, stretched and practiced my katas until I was sick.

Who would have thought that looking at the face of a girl who grimaces in pain from time to time takes away boredom?

I don't, but I just discovered it and it's a fun way to pass the time...

…I wish I had the new One Piece manga while I'm at it.

I throw my head back, hitting the wall and the slight damage suffered wakes me up.

I'm already having thoughts and attitudes of an evil yokai. My mother would be disappointed, if she found out about my current behavior... again.

Looking back today everything went wrong for me. The wake-up alarm did not sound due to some mechanical failure of the clock and I woke up at 6:02 AM. Two minutes later than the established time. Two minutes for hygiene that I had to make up for by sacrificing two minutes of sword training. My mother did not miss that opportunity to point out that I stopped my (which she believes I am in phase) teenage rebellion and criticize my hobbies (she will never understand that manga is a national pride like the kempo, katana and kimono). She banned me from reading manga for a week. I could only bow my head and obey the order.

At breakfast, between my embarrassment at the scolding and the frustration of not being able to see Luffy's new transformation, my mind was disconnected from my body that moved automatically and did what it practiced yesterday for almost an hour. I scooped up the rice with a spoon and made an arc with it to put the food in my mouth. USE A SPOON AND NOT CHOPSTICKS! AND I DID NOT PICK UP THE CUP OF RICE, BUT I LEFT IT ON THE TABLE WHEN I EATEN IT! My mother's gaze never felt so heavy and critical. She told me that the new punishment would come when I returned from school.

Because it would be disrespectful to my mother, I avoided asking: How can she make a look with so much presence being blind and wearing sunglasses indoors with the impossibility of looking at her eyes?

Respect your elders above all.

It was a short limo ride to my new school. The Françoise Dupont School is one of the most respected on the European continent; famous politicians and artists left that place. A renowned institution… and public. At the risk of sounding classist, I am used to walking with other students with my same level of study. Only the best could pass the entrance exam for Japanese private institutes. Anyone who failed a subject was expelled. I lived and grew with that level of pressure and excelled at the top of my class. A position that I achieved with effort and dedication.

A position that I feel will be worth nothing in a school where having a bad grade does not lead to having extra classes every afternoon and weekend until the next exam. Let's not say that if you fail the second exam, disgrace will fall on your name and you will never set foot in the institute or others of its prestige level again. Japan is a beast in terms of study; talking about the good and the bad.

And in that environment, I stood out like no other student of my generation. I am Kagami Tsurugi, my last name carries eight hundred years of honor, respect and greatness. As the next to bear the surname, I must not decline in any area; study and sword included. My mother reminds me of this in every morning, afternoon and evening workout.

That's why I don't understand why, for the first time in eight hundred years, the main Tsurugi branch emigrates from Japan and the main heir is sent to a public school!

Her mother's explanation was as follows: the only fencing class in all of Paris and its surroundings, to enter you must be a student at the school that serves as the practice field. And since the class is led by the world fencing champion for five years in a row, from my point of view and that of my mother, it is a fair price for me to improve in the epee. Studying can be compensated with extra hours at night. I think subtracting an hour of sleep is a good trade-off. Sleeping five hours a day will be enough.

The Agreste must be very important, for the Tsurugi to decide that it is worth it for the main branch to move to France for an indefinite period, to facilitate reunions between both families.

Maybe the council of elders voted for the Agreste heir to be my betrothed. My sixteenth birthday is in four months. It is time for them to choose my future spouse.

I hear moans next to me and grab a clean handkerchief I have ready. Gently, I clean the river of blue tears. From time to time, she can't stand the pain and filters her suffering into every drop. I erase all traces. In the short time that I have known her, I can assure you that she has pride. Pride in being strong. I don't know the reason for it, but I share the feeling. As she cleansed my weakness, I do the same.

I leave the handkerchief, now dirty, on the counter and notice light blue stains on my hands. The blue makeup soaked into my skin through the fabric. If I remember correctly, she had a lot of makeup on in class. I even thought that if she had a white face, she could pass for a geisha.

There was also another person who caught my attention. She gave me some flavored bread before tripping and falling to the ground. To then get up and say something to Bourgeois-san. Now I regret not paying attention to the conversation while I was picking up the bread. I must be more attentive to things related to my sister-in-arms.

When she wakes up, I asked her if she belongs to a prestigious family. As the main heir I can start alliances between families. I hope my mother doesn't ask too much. Tikki-sama made me promise not to tell anyone about my new job as champion of the kami and protector of Paris.

The loud noise of a plate breaking downstairs fills me with fear. "The akuma is back?" "Did the butterfly find us?" "Is it a survivor or a thief?" "Will I be able to defend myself and my sister-in-arms if there are two or more enemies?" Those questions fill my head as my body moves autonomously. I feel the cold metal in my palm. I lift the steel tube and appreciate it for a second. In case of emergency, I look for the only thing that can help me. A sword; of any type or size. I didn't find any, unlike in a Japanese house where you would find one hanging on the wall. Then I created my own sword.

Upon checking that the kitchen knife is securely tied at the tip, I walk quietly towards the door, and then head towards the stairs. I crouch down and stay still, trying to listen to some other noise. My senses are heightened to the maximum, I feel the sweat running through my palms, giving me a chill at the contact of the cold steel. In my memoirs I review my mother's lessons about fights to the death. "Should I aim for the neck or the liver?" I wonder until I remember that I was already warned by kami. Mundane items have no effect against magic.

Is it wrong to want my opponent to be a flesh-and-blood human? Since I am capable of incapacitating or killing them if they force my hand.

I truly am a bad person and an evil yokai.

My first day in the war and it's already changing me.

I blame those who gave me a sword instead of a doll on my second birthday.

Two voices reach my ears that I recognize immediately and I relax because of that. The gods have returned. I descend slowly trying not to make noise and disturb the kamis. On the ground floor, a few feet from the kitchen entrance, I accidentally overhear their conversation.

"Plagg, stop looking for food. You're breaking the things of the people who live here."

"Calm down, Sugar Cube. The house already has enough destruction without one or eight broken plates making a difference."

"In my point of view, it does make a difference. Aren't you sad to see human creations destroyed?"

"Ugh… I'm Destruction. We are what we are" from below the door frame I see Plagg-sama extend a paw in reproach "and much more, compared to our brothers. I remind you that you benefited more than anyone in the world wars."

"Mmmh... whatever you say... hey, Plagg, what do you think about this time?" She asks in a worried tone.

"I think? Their Roquefort cheese is delicious! Thank you Tikki, for telling me about that bakery. I did not see it. My nose doesn't work with so much smoke."

"That's not what I'm saying!" I press my back against the wall, hiding myself from their sight. I don't want to be caught in the wrath of the kamis. Peeking out a little, I watch Plagg-sama close the door of the furniture, which he was sniffing about a moment ago, and looks at the red kami. "What I mean is if, perhaps, there is a war in these lands... there is a lot of destruction in this city, too much for an akuma to do alone. What I think is: if the Butterfly is being used to drive out invaders or take back this city? They have the right to use Nooroo."

"You speak like that because of the laws of the Order. You don't have to worry about those rules. The Order was destroyed" he says cheekily.

"The Order brought balance," Tikki-sama exclaims.

"We are the balance! We are the reality of every moment of existence! We decided to play heroes in this century and that is what we will do. And it's time for you to stop worrying so much about humans. For twelve thousand years we watched them and they hardly changed. I tell you, I feel in my tummy, that final destruction is around the corner and it won't be because of my paw."

Silence extends throughout the house. The cry of pain echoes in the halls above like a banshee's song. My muscles feel heavy, numb from nerves. I am deafened by the beating of my heart that sounds like drums in my eardrums. I can't stop thinking that I heard something that no mortal should have heard. I should have stayed upstairs, drying the new tears and making sure nothing happens to her. I try to regain some strength in my legs and go back the way I came; get away from the kitchen. Until I heard it, barely, but I did. Between my rapid heartbeats, there was a space of silence and in that space, his words came to me. I stop dead.

"Eh?" Tikki-sama expresses the same thing I think.

"What you heard."

"But that's your chosen one."

"She is CHOSEN by the guardian, not by me. And that's why I tell you. This girl is not compatible with me."

"...well, it could be because it's her first transformation. Give her time and you will see that she will soon act as a worthy cat holder." she says hopefully in an attempt to calm the grumpy cat kami.

"I was close to her long enough to read her soul and say that she lives in a golden cage…"

"Sounds like any cat to me. You stir her desire for freedom and she will break her cage before the end of the year."

—Shake desire. Do they touch our souls?— I think, dismayed by the revelation.

"As I said before you interrupted me: she lives in a golden cage and has no thought of getting out. Not the slightest idea of escaping. Nothing. Zero. As nothing as my manifestation in the universe. What did they call it? A black hole."

"That… is problematic. Very problematic," she says in a low voice. I hear to her thanks to the sepulchral silence of the house.

"Do not even say it. The transformation is unstable. The weapon manifested itself in a different way. I felt it. Tikki, she looks more like a tiger than a cat, even I would say it would be better not to give her a miraculous."

"You were never reluctant to be used... What really happened in the transformation?"

"...she firmly believes she is free. Her distortion of her reality disgusts me… makes me feel dirty. Next time I'll take the situation into my own paws"

The next thing Tikki-sama was going to say, if she was going to say anything, is interrupted by the creaking of the steps. I look back at the top of the stairs and see her. Bourgeois-san got up at some point and since she didn't find me, she must have thought that I was on the ground floor.

This is bad. I see her stagger on her feet. She is about to fall.

I run and extend my arms at the same time she leans forward. I get her to fall on top of me with her head on my chest and my back against the floor. The blow took the breath I had out of me.

"Girls, what are you doing?"

I look up, being face up, to see the kamis upside down. Tikki-sama has the same smile on her face as she did when she introduced herself to me and Plagg-sama holds up a slice of stinky cheese. His feline iris twitches in anticipation.

—Mother, I hope I get home in one piece. I prefer the punishment you have prepared than this.—

—Mommy, help me.—

I swear I'm trying to make the reading light, but Kagami is a girl of few words and many responsibilities.

She is the opposite face of Chloé.

I hope you didn't find the chapter boring. My fault, the kwamis are different from the series (you already saw that) and Kagami has a lot of things on her head and back.

I promise that when we return to the Chloé POV, we will go back to how it was before, lighter and faster text.

This episode has 8k words and counting. I had to break it up so it's not so long. I happen to try to finish the rest of day 1 in a chapter. Honestly, I didn't think it would take more than 15k words to finish day 1 of the story.

Do you think I should rush the days and history; or enjoy my retrospective writing and internal thoughts?

Comment without fear. Comments keep the story alive.

See you next month.

PS: I have another story called A Queen in Japan. Go see it, you won't regret it.