The cool spring air was breezing through the threaded curtains of Hyori's study room. The beads lined on the threads were colliding with each other. The folding doors opening onto the inner terrasse were wide open. The April afternoon sunlight cast the curtains' stringed shadow inside the room. Save from a few additions, the study room's decorum hadn't changed with the years, unlike the now prepubescent girl who still received lessons from her elderly tutor. Ms Sako was already past the retirement age. She could rest with the knowledge she had tutored quality of pupils. The Empress Dowager and Ms Shinsou had auditioned her three years ago when the girl was nine years old. They wanted Ms Sako to recommend a successor for her position. She was acquainted with some educators qualified enough to inherit her position. Yet, she didn't want to part from her last student. She wasn't ready not to see the girl anymore. Hyori had grown on her like a family member and Ms Sako loved her like a grandchild. She advocated that the girl had gained enough autonomy and needed a guide more than an instructor. The Empress Dowager could see her point and let her retain the role as long as the girl remained on par with the public education level.
Ms Sako was gazing at the girl with softness in her eyes. It was a wonder how fast she grew. Aged twelve, she was already her Mother's height. Then again, Ms Shinsou's growth had been stunted by an early teenage pregnancy. The woman wasn't thirty years old, yet. She couldn't have been older than a high schooler when she had her daughter. According to the rumours, she hadn't even graduated from middle school before dropping out when she reached puberty. It seemed that going through her puberty had made her quirk unmanageable and she had been closeted in her parent's home. If that was true, she wondered how the girl became a Mother. Then again, those were only rumours. Ms Shinsou had a closed personality. She never confirmed or infirmed any rumours. She didn't even partake in gossiping. Ms Sako hoped Hyori would inherit that trait from her Mother. Nothing good ever came out of gossiping and entertaining rumours. Nevertheless, Hyori was a small girl the size of an average young woman.
With height came weight. The girl wasn't on the lighter end of the spectrum. She already weighed more than all the women living in the inner palace. Admittedly, the women were slim and tried to fit in their blooming age clothes as long as possible. Hyori didn't have these limitations. She was still a growing child and was expected to get bigger. Baby fat was contouring her face and her figure was undefined despite her Mother's efforts. Ms Shinsou had requested a personal trainer for the girl. The lady who had been hired was a national gymnast who had retired from competition and was now training the junior Olympic team. All the trainer's efforts only increased the girl's flexibility and made her arms look bigger. The girl could easily make cartwheels and land in a split. Gone were Ms Shinsou's hope that her daughter would look like the feather-light gymnastics poster girls. On the bright side, the girl's spine seemed to have benefited from the activities. Ms Sako didn't have to remind Hyori of her posture anymore.
Not one to give up at the first inconvenience, Ms Shinsou found solace in her daughter's hair. The girl's tresses were currently reaching past her hips. Gravity had softened her big curls into voluminous body waves curling at the ends. She looked like a tall lavender flower when her hair was undone or in a single tail. Ms Shinsou loved to have her daughter's hair styled into side parts with strands falling at the front. The styles hid the girl's baby fat while softening her wide forehead and even wider cheeks. The hairstyles also highlighted the chin where the girl's round and large face tapered in a narrow chin. Her heavy almond-shaped eyes were wide apart with the hood only displaying half of her irises. The girl looked like a sleeping cat when her eyes were closed. Her full and wide bow-shaped lips easily stretched into a knowing smirk. Her bottom lip was twice the size of the upper one. Her mouth was probably her most noticeable feature. Funnily enough, considering the girl's quirk.
The young girl had been a sight to catch during the previous year's Girl's Day. She had been wearing a light pink kimono dress that wouldn't clash with her discoloured skin. Her hair had been falling on her back from a loose bun circled with flowers. The bow on her back made her look like a fairy in kids' picture books. Any bright-coloured clothes tended to exacerbate the girl's complexion. Ms Shinsou carefully chose clothes whose colouring was less vibrant than pastel. She would occasionally select pieces with dark tones that absorbed the light instead of turning her daughter invisible.
Among the additions in the study room, there was a wooden tea table. Located between the desk and the folding door, it was a slick and polished Elm table with a solid texture. Its light shade had a dreamy aura when bathed in the sunlight.
Ms Sako's reverie was cut short when the girl announced she was thirsty and could use a hibiscus infusion.
"Would you like some?" Asked the girl.
"Yes, thank you." Answered the tutor.
Satisfied, Hyori stood up and walked towards the tea table.
A dark green porcelain tea set was displayed on the table. It was a practice set gifted to Hyori by the Emperor himself during the previous year Girl's Day. Her apprentice hadn't missed a chance to use the set ever since. Once she mastered the art of the tea ceremony, she would be offered a solid gold tea set and a personal suite to keep the new set in, along with other upcoming gifts. Said gifts would be musical instruments she had been practising during the last few years, namely a koto harp and a kokyu violin. Art had been a considerable part of the girl's lessons since her fine motor skills had been deemed acceptable. That was since she had been able to use a proper font for her handwriting, at around seven years old.
The girl was a dedicated learner. She didn't always master a skill on the first try. She would try again and keep practising. Then again, she was taught by credited teachers with decades of experience. Ms Sako sometimes wondered what kind of girl Hyori would have been in a regular household. For sure, she would be the apple of her parents' eye. Would they be as strict with her as her teachers? Would they let her get discouraged on the first failure? Would they be patient enough to repeat the same exercises as much as needed? Or would they rather have the girl focus on a few skills she was proficient in? The preteen's days were packed. She had gymnastics in the morning followed by singing or instrument practice sessions. In the afternoon, she had middle school classes until the sunset. All of her days were the same, save for the Sundays on which she didn't have gymnastics or middle school classes. She would spend her Sunday afternoon reading by herself.
Hyori enjoyed her lessons. The common school curricula and the art lessons. More than her lessons, she enjoyed reading. Poetry painted beautiful scenery in her mind and provided a background for daydreaming. Her favourites were haïku poems. She liked the way each syllable of a word would decompose into lyrical lines. It was like a game, as she often said. Encyclopedia showed her the world's wonders and helped expand her vocabulary and knowledge. She loved reading the nature-related ones. Through the pages, she could discover landscapes she didn't have access to. Diary literature let her imagine another life for herself and be someone else for a few hours. Her favourites were Encyclopedia books. They helped her daydream with more precision. She also enjoyed learning about nature and people she hardly saw in her confined life inside the inner palace's walls. She could hardly spend time in the gardens outside of dawn because of her eyes' sensitivity to light. Venturing beyond the inner palace was even more unlikely. The only times she would leave the women's area was when she had to be brought to the medical area. For that reason, she tried not to indulge in diary literature. Vicariously living another life was a blessing and a curse at the same time. She would read about adventures she would never get to live. Each book left a bittersweet taste in her mouth.
Hyori didn't despise her life, though. She knew she was lucky to be sheltered and adored inside the women's area. All her needs were met beyond and above necessity. She probably had more clothes than a lot of adults didn't have. She had an expense of expensive toiletries that only a few people enjoyed, and even fewer people had enjoyed since they could remember. Two maids were tailing the girl at all times outside of her study sessions. In the beginning, it was a safety measure for the occurrence of her quirk activating and dazing her caretaker in the bathroom. When she gained control of her quirk, the Imperial House was already used to budget two maids for her. No one questioned the arrangement and the maids stuck by. The two maids, Sora and Aoi were women in their thirties when they started serving Hyori. They were a duo of plump women with slick and fine hair. Their black irises were encased in small puppy eyes. They looked like porcelain dolls and could have been twins. Always silent and discreet. Always ready to assist the young girl during her routine and help her practice her quirk. Seven years ago, the girl's quirk was volatile and the Imperial House wanted alert and seasoned maids to handle the toddler.
Speaking of her quirk, she had been able to control it since she was seven. The Empress Dowager had requested for the girl to practice under her supervision. Her maids had been her willing subjects so many times that brainwashing them became easy. Brainwashing. It was the nature of Hyori's quirk. The name was chilling and slightly misleading, according to the girl. Her quirk worked better on willing subjects. No one could ever be willing to be brainwashed. Also, she needed authorisation. She couldn't force her quirk on others.
Hyori didn't want to force her quirk on others. Her quirk was an intimate part of herself. The link that tethered her to the subjects was invasive. If she focused on a subject, she could feel their interoception. She could evaluate their heartbeat rate. She could pinpoint where they were being tickled even if they were on the other side of a wall. She could tell when they needed to use the bathroom or when they were nauseous. She could sense the tension in their limbs after spending too much time in the same position. She could sense their pain when they were hurt during the process. Ultimately, pain jolted her subjects out of the brainwash even if she had tuned their senses out. She could also feel them fighting when they were unwilling and relaxing when they were willing. Overall, using her quirk was better when people were willing.
If she were to describe her quirk, Hyory would choose the word Haze. It was a brume draping itself around people's minds. It acted like a cover isolating people from their thoughts and, sometimes, sensations. With practice, Hyori discovered she could pick what parts of people's minds she could tune out. She could tune them out completely and the subject would experience her quirk like sleeping under a warm blanket or quivering in a cold void. It would depend on their willingness and Hyori's disposition. She could tune out their hearing, their touch or their talking ability. That was a tricky move she had a hard time being consistent with. To achieve consistent results, she read biology encyclopedia books related. Focus on the brain parts linked to a given sense proved to be an effective method. She could also tune out emotions such as fear, anger or joy.
Hyori could tune out people's minds. But she could make their minds. She couldn't implement thoughts the subjects didn't already have. She couldn't change people's hearts and feelings. The Imperial House was relieved when that limitation was proven and had remained against the years and practice. They let go of a breath they didn't know they were holding. Especially the Empress Dowager who didn't want to compose with two mind-altering quirks, and surely not if one could implement all kinds of feelings and ideas.
Quite the contrary, Hyori's quirk had been a blessing, especially after her singing and koto lessons. The girl had a decent lung capacity and resonance. The Imperial House assumed it was a gift from her Grandmother. The woman was a renowned opera singer in the country and China. She was currently travelling the world and occasionally performed in theatres.
Ever since the Empress Dowager was brainwashed for the first time, she had been insistent that there was 'domestic potential' in the girl's quirk. She had often requested the girl to recite a poem during her evening tea sessions. The elderly woman exclaimed that she slept better when the warm cover of the girl's quirk would 'tuck her mind in' before going to bed. According to the Empress Dowager, it was perfect when the cover was heavy enough to weigh intrusive thoughts down and light enough to remain conscious. After a year of training, Hyori had been ready to sing for the elderly woman.
If the Empress Dowager was pleased when the girl recited poems, she was certainly ascending into heaven when the girl sang for her. She had established a routine of having Hyori sing for her once a week in the evening. In return, the girl would have access to the Empress Dowager's sweets cabinet. She had been overjoyed to have candied fruits and boba tea once a week. She even grew a taste for dark chocolate. Her favourites were the cubes with fondant coulis inside. She savoured the bitter chocolate being overtaken by the fruity sweetness. She couldn't have cold sweet, thought. Therefore, the candied fruits stuffed with boba pearls were forbidden. She had to treasure her voice, and the Empress Dowager took any measure to protect the girl's voice. From hiring private coaches to banning the use of irritant cleansers or 'useless talking', the elderly woman was invested in the general health of Hyori. Ms Shinsou didn't appreciate the Empress Dowager 'co-parenting' her daughter. She didn't appreciate the elderly woman giving sweets to her already sweet girl who didn't need them. She was seething every time the elderly woman requested the girl to spend the evening in her quarters, even if it was once a week.
No one could confirm the theory since no one else in the women's area could request the girl out of her study room or outside her Mother's suite. No one until the Emperor requested to experience the charm for himself. The middle-aged man had been intrigued when Ms Shinsou voiced her concern over the burgeoning mania of the elderly woman. He had requested a hearing of the girl's abilities. The Empress Dowager had arranged an audition on the following days' afternoon. In the auditioning room of the women's area, the Imperial family was lined up to listen to a recital given by the young girl. Her music and singing teachers were holding their breath behind her as she faced the Imperial family. For that day, Hyori had been dressed in a wine-coloured kimono that contrasted heavily with her discoloured skin. Her violet tresses had been wrapped in a single braid falling on one side. She would sing ancient songs along to her practice koto.
The then-aged eleven-year-old girl had mastered a few simple plays that were comfortable enough to play relying on body memory. Once she started singing, she focused on the minds of her audience. They were willing. Softly, she extended a large cover above their minds. They sensibly relaxed all at once. As the singing resonated, their heartbeat evened down. They were dazed enough to feel pleased while remaining conscious of their surroundings and the ongoing scenery. Eventually, the song ended and Hyori gently lifted the cover from the Imperial family members' minds. After the performance, the Imperial House confirmed the Empress Dowager's theory and no one questioned her supposed mania anymore.