Moon Cell Irregular
By psychored1911
Disclaimer: I do not own Fate/EXTRA or Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei
Chapter 12
Four days later-
"GOOD MORNING HAKUNOOOO!"
"W-What the-?!"
"M-Mikon?!"
Hakuno and Caster fell out of his bed, the sudden loud noise jolting the Master and Servant out of dreamland. Shaking the haziness out of his head and ignoring Caster's vulgar grumbling about beauty sleep, he stumbled to his feet and made his way to the window.
Outside his house was none other than Erika, standing through the open sunroof of a large limousine skidding to a halt right in front of his house, megaphone in hands and waving to him with a shit-eating grin.
"THIS IS THE PARTY POLICE!" Erika announced, pressing said megaphone close to her lips and yelling at the top of her lungs. "YOU ARE UNDER ARREST FOR BEING A TOTAL STICK IN THE MUD THAT CAN'T RECOGNIZE A FREE VACATION WHEN YOU SEE ONE!"
"...I think I hate your friends." Caster snarled as she dematerialized into spirit form.
"I think you hate all my friends not named Dan, Alice, Rin, and/or Rani." Hakuno joked, if only to calm his seething Servant.
Clearly oblivious to his rude awakening, Erika continued. "YOU HAVE BEEN SENTENCED TO HAVING FUN WITH YOUR FRIENDS FOR THE NEXT WEEK AND A HALF, STARTING RIGHT. THIS. MINUTE! COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR LIKE YOU JUST DON'T CARE! WOOHOOOOOOOOO-"
*Slam*
And, just as suddenly, Hakuno saw his mom, disheveled, dressed in only her pajamas, and clearly not having any teenage nonsense this early in the morning, stomp over to the limo, snatch the megaphone out of Erika's hands, and glare daggers into the poor girl. He couldn't make out anything being said (if anything was being said; hell if he can tell from this distance) but Erika shrinking back down into the sunroof gave him some indication of what she was doing.
A few days ago, the group (mostly Erika) made plans for the NSC. Instead of going on the buses with everyone else and rooming in the civilian hotel where all the spectators were staying, Erika talked her brother into driving them all to the NSC himself, where they'll stay in the military hotel with all the competitors, off-duty military personnel, the families of said personnel, and VIPs. There were just two (among several) caveats: One, on paper, he and the others were employees of Erika's family; two, and more relevantly, he didn't anticipate they'd arrive this early. The bus on campus was supposed to leave at around 12:00, so he assumed they'd arrive around then, not at… he checked his clock really quick… 8 in the morning.
In hindsight, he probably should've been paying more attention to her game plan instead of sketching her as the ringleader of a heist movie.
Anyways, despite most of the group more or less agreeing to the plan, Tatsuya and Miyuki weren't able to come. Miyuki because she had some Student Council work she had to do, and Tatsuya said that one of his senpai in the Public Morals Committee was going to tear him a new one if he bailed on her.
In any case, he shouldn't keep them waiting.
Changing into a red t-shirt and a pair of khaki shorts, he grabbed his carry-on and left his room, finding a drowsy Laeticia waiting outside his room, yawning and rubbing her eyes.
"...Leaving already?" she asked, stifling another yawn. "I can't believe I won't see you for a whole ten days."
"I mean, you could ask if you could come along." Hakuno offered. "They like you well enough. It'll be fun."
Laeticia shook her head, smiling. "I think my family would prefer my presence when they visit next week rather than not." Her smile faded slightly. "Among… other obligations, but that's much less important."
"Ah, right. I almost forgot about that." That was a lie. He completely forgot about it until she brought it up. Laeticia's family was going to be visiting for a few weeks and wanted to see how she was holding up in Japan. Hell, they somehow managed to convince his workaholic parents to take a vacation just so they could get to know each other better.
"Ah, well. It won't be the same without-" Caster paused, before audibly perking up. "Hey, wait a sec! That means I get Goshujin-sama all to myself for this entire arc! See ya, sucka!"
Laeticia forced another smile through grit teeth. "Just promise me you'll have fun. I'll enjoy my summer vacation the old-fashioned way."
"Ew. So the Holy Hussy has a dark side." Caster giggled.
And now Laeticia's forced smile turned into an annoyed frown, her patience rapidly worn thin with Caster's jokes. "Not that, you pent-up old rodent."
"Old?! Rodent?! Who're you calling-"
"I'll make sure to get you a souvenir before I get back," Hakuno promised.
"And?" Laeticia asked expectantly.
"I'll use a Command Spell in the off-chance shit hits the fan and we run into something Caster can't handle on her own."
"And?"
Hakuno blinked in confusion. "Erm, I'll tell Erika off for using a megaphone this early in the morning?"
"There you go." Laeticia gave him a quick peck on the lips. "Hope to see you soon, mon amour."
As she returned to her room with a wink and a yawn, Hakuno stood there like a red-faced idiot for a solid minute, his mind frozen in place at Laeticia's bold gesture of affection.
While Hakuno stood there in red-faced shock, Caster hovered over him in wide-eyed outrage.
"...Oh, that man-stealing, Crème brûlée bit-"
[INITIALIZING_CONCURRENT_SURVEILLANCE]
[{PERSON_OF_INTEREST}_SURVEILLANCE_IN_PROGRESS]
[PERSON_OF_INTEREST:_{Tatsuya_Shiba}_IS_CURRENTLY_UNDER_SURVEILLANCE]
"Twelve o'clock."
Tatsuya checked the clock on his phone, idly standing by the Course Two bus while the last of the passengers entered the bus, ignoring their accusing stares. It was the responsibility of the Public Morals Committee (or rather, what was left of it) to check in all the students for the NSC, barring those who were commuting to the hotel on their own and the truants who weren't even planning on going.
And unfortunately, there were a lot of truants, especially from Course 2 students. Perhaps they didn't get the message that attendance was declared mandatory. Hell, even Kishinami was going, and he didn't even like the NSC to begin with.
"Oi, Tatsuya." Kanon, the acting head of the Public Morals Committee, called out from the Course One bus. "We got everyone on board?"
Tatsuya put away his phone as Kanon approached him. "I'm pretty sure that's everyone who's coming."
Kanon clicked her tongue with a frown as she glanced into the bus, finding a lot of its occupants glaring back at her from the safety of the bus interior. "I see." She shook her head with a sigh. "Alright, head back to our bus. I'll catch up once I tell the teachers."
"Will do."
The two split off, with Tatsuya heading towards the competitor's bus. There were three buses being used by First High: one for the Course One Students, one for the Course Two students, and finally one for the competitors, engineers, and Student Council, with the teachers almost evenly divided between them all. It seemed a little tone-deaf of the staff to divide the buses like that, but Tatsuya had to agree with it. Even after all this time, the tension between Course One and Two students still hadn't died down, and the new administration seemed clueless in how to resolve it. Mixing the two courses together at this stage would probably end in a fight or worse.
Oh, well. It is what it is.
"Onii-sama, over here."
As Tatsuya boarded the bus, Miyuki waved him over and patted the seat next to her, eagerly awaiting him to sit beside her. Tatsuya cracked a slight smile before checking the rest of the bus. Like the other buses, it seemed relatively vacant due to the lack of participants, so there were quite a lot of empty spaces. Fortunately for him, that meant that Miyuki was able to secure herself seats for the two of them with a relatively large amount of privacy.
In the same row as her was Mayumi, sitting alone on the opposite side, wearing a vaguely forced smile, sundress, and hat in lieu of the normal uniform. Though rules on the uniform had loosened enough that it was not uncommon to see students ditch the blazer or even the whole uniform altogether, it was bizarre to think that the Student Council President was not setting an example for the other students.
Then again, he doubted anyone would actually follow her. The past three weeks were not kind to her. How could it? She turned from the school idol to the school pariah almost overnight. Virtually everyone that wasn't the Student Council, Juumonji, himself, and apparently Kishinami (Tatsuya always figured she wouldn't enjoy Kishinami's company after his little speech, but apparently not) virtually kept their distance or shunned her, if they weren't cursing her out behind her back. Their treatment of her made Miyuki sick to her stomach. A lot of these people used to worship the ground she walked on, and now they were avoiding her like the plague due to one poorly-worded speech.
Nevertheless, she persisted. Mayumi never gave up on helping the student populace, and a few students were beginning to change their tune on her. Not quite the widespread support that she used to enjoy, but at least she had she wasn't universally hated anymore.
Mayumi noticed him and gave him a friendly nod, despite the dark circles under her eyes, before returning her attention to the window. Nodding in return, Tatsuya took his place by Miyuki's side and sat down.
"Mayumi-senpai's in slightly higher spirits." Miyuki commented. "Maybe the NSC will be good for her."
"We can only hope." Tatsuya agreed, pulling out his phone again. "She's certainly more prepared for the event than most of the participants, that's for sure."
"I actually mean for her reputation." Miyuki clarified. "This could be a chance for her to win back her fans."
"Her 'fans' scattered the moment her clout took a hit." Tatsuya pointed out. "She should be looking for friends, actual friends who'll have her back."
"You two know I can hear you, right?"
The Shiba siblings turned to their right, noticing that Mayumi was staring right at them, clearly annoyed.
Miyuki cleared her throat. "W-Well, Miss President, we meant no disrespect."
"Our point still stands, though." Tatsuya said bluntly. "When the school turned against you, your 'admirers' abandoned you at your time of need."
"Don't remind me." Mayumi groaned. "But at least the whole experience taught me who my real friends are…" she frowned and furrowed her brows. "Even if one of them has a sassy mouth on him."
Ah, so the wounds left by Kishinami's 'pep-talk' were still raw.
Miyuki giggled. "At least you know we're there for you, Miss President."
Mayumi sighed and reclined in her seat. "Yeah, I guess. Thanks, guys."
She made herself comfortable and let her hat drop over her eyes, clearly intending to let herself rest for the duration of the bus trip.
Miyuki, on the other hand, decided to chat with Shizuku and Honoka, who happened to be sitting behind her.
As for Tatsuya, with little else to do, decided to scroll through his phone for the news.
The first story was of… the lost JMSDF submarine Daikoku surfacing off the Coast of Hawaii? What the heck is the Navy doing over there? As tempting of a read as it sounded, Tatsuya decided to put it off for later. Perhaps he should contact Fujibayashi for details later… Hopefully she has replaced her devices by now.
The second story was about Blanche denouncing the government and the Magic Association for proceeding with the NSC and putting the city under martial law just for the event. No surprise there. Blanche hates everything about the magic community, even an event that was meant to allow the general public to acknowledge and accept magicians in society.
The next story is about some sort of brief internet outage last night, something about a satellite suddenly shutting down and falling out of orbit. Not too interesting. What else was trending?
The fourth major story of the day is… Four Leaves Technologies' stock market price dropped by 15% in a single day. Tatsuya had to reread that deadline in disbelief. What did his father do this time?
"Onii-sama," Miyuki tugged at his sleeve, concerned. "What are you looking at?"
He tilted his phone towards Miyuki's direction. She couldn't have looked at the headline for more than a split second, but her eyes widened as she snatched his phone out of his grasp and started reading the article without him.
"...Employee exploitation and abuse allegations… violation of labor laws… blatant attempts of patent and research plagiarism by upper management..."
The temperature in the bus dropped several degrees in an instant as Miyuki kept reading aloud more and more of the article in question, to the point that the window beside her was already frosting over. She was frowning, her hands were shaking, her voice was tinged with disgust, and virtually everyone in her immediate vicinity was about to experience frostbite in July if Tatsuya didn't intervene.
"Miyuki, calm down." Tatsuya immediately yanked his phone away from her before Miyuki unwittingly froze the bus over, snapping Miyuki out of her stupor.
"Eh?" Miyuki blinked, collecting herself as she noticed everyone else in the bus staring at her. "Ah, I'm sorry Onii-sama."
Tatsuya just shook his head and closed his phone. "Just remember where you are next time…"
Once Miyuki's magic died down, Honoka popped her head up from behind Miyuki's seat, eyeing his sister in concern. "Miyuki, are you alright? What happened?"
"It's nothing major." Tatsuya lied. He was certainly going to have a talk with Ushiyama and the others about the team's future in FLT, but that would have to wait until later.
...And for Nakajou-senpai's sake, he just hoped she wouldn't check out the news. Her having a meltdown about Taurus Silver (who certainly didn't have anything to do with these new allegations) is the last thing he needed right now.
Minutes later, Kanon entered the bus and plopped herself next to Isori, shortly followed by one of the teachers, a sergeant in the JSDF who volunteered to fill in the labor gap due to the administrative overhaul.
"Alright, kids. Listen up." The sergeant announced, clearing his throat. "We've just received word that there has been an unexpected road closure on the freeway towards the hotel. As such, we will be taking an alternate route that will take another hour and a half to arrive."
A collective groan echoed throughout the bus, with even Tatsuya suppressing the urge to sigh.
"This day just keeps getting better and better, and it's barely even noon…"
[RESUMING_{REGALIA}_SURVEILLANCE]
"All magicians must submit their magical devices to security for registration. Anyone who does not comply will not be permitted to enter the premises."
"...Well, this is new."
Upon arriving at the hotel, the group, consisting of himself, Erika, Erika's brother Naotsugu (who drove them there), Leonhart, Leonhart's roommate from the hospital Mikihiko (or was it Miki?), and Mizuki. After a four-hour-long trip, the group arrived at the hotel.
The military hotel was luxurious, huge… and crawling with armed personnel, all decked out in exoskeleton-equipped body armor and very big guns, all wrapped up in an intimidating package. The one at the front door manned the security checkpoint, complete with metal detectors and everything. And it wasn't just the hotel, it seemed like they put the whole city under military control, just for the NSC.
This seemed… a bit too extreme; they really aren't taking chances this time.
Anyways, with no CAD to speak of, Hakuno breezed right through the security checkpoint, having to wait a bit for his friends to clear the checkpoint themselves.
Caster whistled, taking in the sights. "How much do you think it costs to spend a weekend here?"
"Years of military service or close relationships with very powerful figures in the military-industrial complex. Worst-case scenario, I'd have to enter one of the Hundred Families by either marriage or employment." Hakuno answered quietly.
"...On second thought, it's probably not worth it. Seems like a nice place to visit, though."
Yep, that's what he thought too.
Hakuno then turned back to the security checkpoint, where his friends were being processed one-by-one:
Erika's brother Naotsugu dug through his pockets and fished out a switchblade-like CAD and submitted it over to security.
Erika followed suit, submitting a CAD shaped like an expandable police baton.
After Erika was Leonhart, who fished out an old, bulky gauntlet CAD from his bag and put it in the plastic bin for registration.
Erika chortled at the sight of it. "Damn, dude. Where'd you dig up that antique?"
"Shut up, this used to be my grandpa's." Leonhart shot back as he retrieved it from security.
Once Leonhart was done, Mizuki submitted her glasses, keeping her eyes shut for the duration of the registration process and opening them once she got them back.
Finally was Mikihiko, who submitted… a neatly tied-together bundle of paper talismans, not unlike the ones Caster used.
"Don't insult me, Goshujin-sama." Caster growled distastefully. "That cheap imitation doesn't hold a candle to my abilities. You might as well be comparing a divine dragon to a fucking gecko."
...Duly noted. Keep Mikihiko far away from Caster.
Once they were all done, they checked in, and…
There was a line to the elevators.
A long line.
There was another checkpoint for the elevator. The guard for this one was significantly more lenient than the first one, but there were only three main elevators for the guests to use, and there were only so many people who could use the elevator at a time. It got to the point where there were a ton of off-duty military personnel and their loved ones hanging out by the lobby, lounging at chairs, and more or less having impromptu reunions.
In short, it was too crowded for them to justify hanging out there for long. And when he looked at Erika, who was impatiently hopping on her toes with a growing frown, he wasn't alone in the sentiment.
"Well, this sucks." Erika bleated.
Naotsugu gently tousled her hair. "Easy, girl. Good things come to those who wait."
"Great!" Erika responded by tossing her bag into Naotsugu's unsuspecting hands. "Thanks for volunteering to wait in line for us!"
"Wait, what?"
"Yeah, thanks man!"
"Thank you, Naotsugu!"
"Sorry about this, Erika's brother."
"I'll get you a cart."
Leonhart, Mikihiko, and (reluctantly) Mizuki tossed their bags at Naotsugu's feet and joined Erika, with Hakuno following suit as soon as he grabbed a nearby luggage cart for the unlucky elder brother.
Naotsugu stared at the group in disbelief, while several onlookers, the security guard included, started laughing at his expense. "W-Wait, guys! I can't just leave you alone! Dad said-!"
"Ah, don't worry about us!" Erika waved him off with an audacious grin. "We'll just be at the convention! We'll be back before dark! Laters!"
Hakuno and the others took a shuttle to the arena, where the NSC was hosting a convention alongside the other festivities.
He really didn't know Erika's plan was to get them into the banquet (as far as he knows, it's only open to competitors). Every time he brought it up in the past few days, she always laughed it off with a "Don't worry about it."
Anyways, upon arriving, they were greeted by the sight of dozens of tents and stalls that surrounded the main arena entrance, occupied by vendors and carnival game operators of all kinds and practices. Dozens of JSDF in dress uniform and body armor scattered about the convention grounds, some standing guard with weapons holstered, others preparing the rest of the grounds for the inevitable crowds, others playing tour guide to the early visitors or their families.
Mikihiko whistled. "Damn, check this place out. The JSDF went all out this year, didn't they?"
"I agree." Mizuki nodded, staring at the venue in awe. "This place looks incredible. I can only imagine how this place will look when the crowds come in tomorrow."
While the two amicably chatted between one another, Erika and Leonhart quietly both put a hand on Hakuno's shoulders, quietly slowing their (and Hakuno's) pace.
"Huh? What're-"
"Shh… just roll with it." Leonhart shushed him as he and Erika surreptitiously pulled Hakuno backward, slowly peeling him away from Mikihiko and Mizuki as the two obliviously kept walking on without them, until eventually, the two disappeared into the crowd.
Once the duo was well beyond earshot, Erika and Leonhart let him go. "Sorry about that Kishinami. We wanted to give those two some alone time."
"Alone time?" Hakuno inquired, "Those two are dating?"
Erika waved him off. "Nah, but they're clearly into each other. So, we kinda decided to let them have an impromptu date."
"...I don't think they'll like us ditching them," Hakuno commented.
"Think of it like this, dude:" Leonhart jokingly patted him on the back. "we're letting them have their fun, and while we're at it, we'll help you have yours."
"Fun? I can have fun." Hakuno argued.
"Really, Mr. 'I don't like the NSC for reasons I don't wanna talk about'!" Erika parroted in a derpy imitation of his voice. "If one of us isn't having fun, then that means there's a sadsack spoiling the mood for everyone else."
"Sadsack?"
"So we have taken upon ourselves to take our lovable sadsack and show him the joys of the NSC, whether he wants it or not! It's the least we could do after you kept showing up in the hospital for weeks on end." Leonhart and Erika high-fived and scooped the hapless Hakuno into their arms again before marching off in the other direction.
As Erika explained, the NSC usually didn't do carnival games, but this year the Committee (and by extension, the Hundred Families) were going all out to lend an olive branch to the general public and has since made the NSC more accessible… while also ramping up the security to prevent any troublemakers from taking a mile when they gave an inch.
Anyways, after an hour or so of attending some of the carnival game booths, in which Hakuno managed to win a fox plushie from the balloon-popping game, the trio stopped at one of the vendor's tents, which seemed to be showcasing some top of the line CADs and accessories-
...Wait a second… he knew this manufacturer.
"Harwey Tech…" Erika took a few steps back and read aloud the name on the tent. "Huh, first time I've heard them appearing in the NSC. Hakuno, did your friend tell you anything about this?"
"Not that I've heard." Hakuno shook his head, tucking the fox plushie under his arm. "Guess they're branching out."
"That we are!"
The three jumped with a chord of yelps as a jolly, young man in a blindingly bright red Hawaiian shirt, designer sunglasses, and a white fishing hat popped up from behind the counter. He looked like he was here on vacation rather than for business.
"Hakuno! How are you?" Leonardo hopped over the counter and gave him a big hug.
Hakuno rolled with it and returned the hug. "Didn't expect to see you here. You checking out your own tent?"
"But of course. I find that my presence boosts morale to those on the ground floor." Leonardo mused, with the vendor behind him giving a nod and thumbs-up. "Anyways, are you and your friends willing to see the future of magic technology?"
"And that would be?"
His eyes gleamed excitedly. "I'm glad you asked!"
Leonardo snapped his fingers and with rehearsed precision the vendor put two cases onto the counter, A red case with a golden lion emblazoned on his right and a black case with a blue scorpion emblazoned on his left. Taking the one on the left, he opened it, showcasing a variety of CADs of different shapes and sizes.
"These are our brand new, high-performance, and affordable CADs, we call the Scorpion Series. These here are purpose-built to bring magic into the hands of all magicians, and not just the wealthy. They are also incredibly modular with first-party and aftermarket parts and programming, allowing the user to customize their devices as they see fit."
He pulled out one CAD in particular, a (presumably) generalized CAD in the shape of a sports watch.
"This one's called the Scorpion Subnautical Mk. II. Julius designed it himself. Not only does it function as a high-functioning general CAD, it can pair with any phone, is resistant to physical and water damage, and, last but not least…" Leonardo paused for dramatic effect before turning on its clock. "...can also tell time."
Hakuno chuckled at that last bit, while Leonhart checked out the CAD shaped like a pair of padded MMA gloves in the Scorpion case. "How much for those?"
Erika raised a brow. "You're in the market for a new CAD?"
"Heck yeah." Leonardo pumped his fists. "Don't get me wrong. I love my grandpa's old CAD, but I've been meaning to upgrade for a while. And if I can get it dirt cheap too, all the better."
Leonardo checked out the one he was pointing to. "Ah, the Scorpion Cestus Mk. I. Each CAD in the Scorpion Series costs about $200 USD, so around 20,000 yen, I believe."
Leonhart's jaw dropped. "You're serious?! 20,000 yen for a specialized CAD?!"
"Excluding sales tax, of course," Leonardo said with a smile. "Would you like the one in blue or black?"
Hakuno stared at the CADs incredulously. "Aren't you losing money with that? That's a fraction of what specialized CADs normally cost even with all the subsidies."
"Not at all." Leonardo replied. "We perfected the manufacturing process for CAD mass production; instead of constantly trying to innovate like other manufacturers, we intend to refine what has already been created to their maximum potential. If anything we will drive our competitors out of business."
"By basically driving the price down so low that they'll hemorrhage money no matter what they do, just to keep up?" Hakuno asked.
"Exactly!" Leonardo raised his hand up high, leaning towards Hakuno expectantly.
"...Clever."
Hakuno and Leonardo high-fived while Leonhart basically whipped out his wallet and slammed the bills on the counter. "I'll take the blue one!"
"Ah, a wise choice." Leonardo let the vendor complete the transaction and hand Leonhart a smaller scorpion case. His eyes then wandered towards Erika. "And would you like to make a purchase?"
Erika shrugged and pointed at the red lion case. "Whaddaya got in there?"
Leonardo's eyes lit up and opened up the other case. "Ah, this is our Lion Series. Unlike the Scorpion series, which are high performance on their own, the Lion Series is the bleeding edge, the tip of the spear, the apex of contemporary magic technology."
He pulled out a sword-shaped CAD, a golden blade with exquisite engravings, and showed it off to the trio. "This one is my personal favorite, the Lion Galatine. Auto-targeting, Loop Cast, Biometrics, our patented AI auto-tuning; virtually all the bells and whistles our competitors can't afford to put on anything but their best products. These devices can compete with even the famous Taurus Silver's devices and come out on top, or at least come out a very close second."
Hakuno raised a brow. "Really? Kinda ending your sales pitch on a low note."
"Perhaps. I will admit Taurus Silver's skills are impressive for a psionic magician." Leonardo agreed. "But in such a competitive market, an equal in every way at a sliver of the cost, who do you think the consumer will flock to more?"
...Damn, Leonardo's business-savvy was incredibly impressive. He was thinking three steps ahead in ways Hakuno didn't even consider, probably even more so than he revealed. Odds are he is going to corner Japan's CAD market by the end of the year and the industry won't even see it coming.
But Erika didn't buy into the sales pitch as Leonhart did. "Nah, I'm good with what I've got. I won't have enough to get a new one till tonight anyway."
"As you wish." Leonardo shrugged
Hakuno gave her a curious glance. "Wait, what do you mean by-"
"There you are!"
Mikihiko and Mizuki stormed over to the tent, looking for blood.
"Where did you go?!" Mizuki threw her hands up in annoyance. "We've been looking all over for you three!"
Erika pouted, seemingly disappointed. "Aw, man. You guys didn't go on a date?"
"Eh?! D-Date?!"
"W-What?! We didn't-"
Mizuki and Mikihiko's red faces almost instantly turned from anger to embarrassment, with the duo stammering over their words and trying very poorly not to look one another in the eye.
With their momentum gone, Erika took over the conversation and pointed her thumb over at Leonardo. "Check this out. Basket Boy's sellin' CADs for like 20,000 yen."
"Look, we don't-" Mikihiko paused and whipped his head over to the tent, clearly intrigued. "Seriously? Only 20,000?"
Leonardo gently pushed the scorpion case closer with a smile. "We can arrange for payment plans if you want."
[RESUMING_AUXILARY_SURVEILLANCE]
Six o'clock.
"Urgh…" Mayumi pulled out a bottle of water from her bag and took a sip as she went past the checkpoint up front. "I thought that bus ride would never end."
"At least you didn't get chosen for a pat-down." Tatsuya frowned, rubbing his free shoulder with an annoyed shiver. "This is a hotel, not an American airport."
First High's Competitor bus finally arrived at the hotel just before the sunset.
Tatsuya could tell Miyuki was tired after the trip, with the latter holding onto his shoulder for support as they joined the line for the elevator. He knew he had to be strong for her sake, but that didn't mean he wasn't fatigued either. But… his fatigue would have to wait. After all, they still had that banquet to prepare for; there was still a need to keep up appearances.
Though, looking at Miyuki, there might be a need to skip the festivities altogether.
"Miyuki, Tatsuya gently nudged her. "Are you alright?"
Miyuki put a hand over her mouth and yawned, smiling gently at him. "I'm okay, Onii-sama. What about you?"
Tatsuya glanced back at the security checkpoint, more specifically at the security guard and that armor, before returning to his sister with a smile. "I'll be fine for now, Miyuki. I can-"
"Just fuck already."
Mayumi spat out her drink.
The Shiba siblings whipped their heads to the side, finding a redheaded caucasian man in a green Hawaiian-style, short-sleeved zip-up hoodie and a matching pair of swim trunks, sitting at the head of an unoccupied chair, chewing on a toothpick almost absentmindedly. Oddly enough, despite clearly being non-hostile, his presence was abnormal, unpleasant even.
And apparently the man seemed mildly taken aback that they're staring back at him. "Uh... sorry?"
The next thing Tatsuya knew, another caucasian man, an elderly gentleman with a chivalrous air about him, swatted the younger man upside the head.
"Ow!"
"Next time you should think about your words before you say them." The elderly gentleman said sagely before turning to the siblings. "I apologize for my… butler's outburst."
"Butl- *thwack* H-Hey!"
"Goodness, Robin. It's poor manners to run your mouth like that in public, especially in another country." An elderly lady seated in a wheelchair, presumably the wife of the gentleman, followed up in the lecture by whacking the younger man, Robin, with her handbag.
"Yeah, I get it." The butler, Robin, rubbed his head. "It was just a slip of the tongue, alright? Won't happen again."
"I certainly hope not. I do wish not to embarrass our son-in-law after all the trouble he went through to invite us here." The elderly gentleman folded his arms. Tatsuya couldn't help but notice how the man was wearing white leather gloves over his hands.
[WARNING]
[POTENTIAL_CONFLICT_DETECTED]
[ACCURACY:_80.73%]
[ESTIMATED_TIMESPAN:_WITHIN_2_HOURS]
"Right, right-" Suddenly, the butler Robin tensed up and whipped his head towards the front door, before whispering something into the elderly gentleman's ear and bolting out the building.
Tatsuya stared as the redheaded man left the building. "What was that all about?"
"Pay it no mind, young one." The elderly gentleman said, almost paternal in his tone. "I can only offer my apologies for allowing you to see our family drama."
"...Apology accepted." Tatsuya said reluctantly.
"There you are!"
The next thing Tatsuya knew, an off-duty serviceman and girl in a Fifth High uniform ran up to the elderly caucasian couple, exchanging hugs, kisses, and all sorts of public displays of familial affection before joining the end of the line.
"...Well, that was weird." Miyuki commented.
"Pay it no mind, Miyuki. Mayumi told her. "The NSC attracts all sorts of people to the event."
While Miyuki and Mayumi continued to chat away, Tatsuya continued to ponder over that man, Robin. That was the third individual he met with that bizarre presence: first Laeticia, then the Harwey butler Gawain, and now him. ...No, he was certainly not racist, but there was just something… off about them, and he couldn't quite put his finger on it…
He contemplated using his Elemental Sight to track the man's whereabouts, but he decided against it. If Miyuki was not in any danger, then there was no reason for him to intrude upon another family's vacation.
A/N: And done! Woo! I thought I'd never finish this chapter. Oh, man. I'm really sorry for the delay. I wanted to finish this chapter earlier, but I got stuck. Really stuck. As in I had an idea on what I wanted to happen, but I had trouble actually implementing it. Couple that with life, college, and starting my new story: Lady in Waiting, based on a promise I made, and my life has been all sorts of hectic. I'll try to update as soon as I can.
Also, hey, the Yuutosei anime's out! Neat. I loved the manga and the girls' perspective on the first two arcs. How are you guys enjoying the anime?
As always, please review!