A Saga of Tanya the Evil/The Irregular at Magic High School crossover.

I do not in any way, shape, or form lay claim to either of these works.

This is just a work of admiration from one fan, to those others that share the same interest.

The only characters or places I lay claim to are those solely of my own creation

Chapter 38, The Seven Schools Competition: Deception is not a trick, it is an art.

Monday, August 9th 2094. 7:00 AM

Newcomer Monolith Code..

The next morning Tanya woke and tried to stretch, but found herself unable to. The reason was a pleasant one, one she hoped she would get to experience every day, but she was fairly certain that would not be the case. The reason for that was that Visha usually was up before her. Still, waking up spooned by her new girlfriend was something she would enjoy as often as she could.

In her previous life, she had never had time for relationships. When her physical urges needed to be taken care of, she had handled it in a business like manner. Pay a professional to handle the job correctly. The only times she had attempted a relationship in her first life was college, and it had been a short lived and awkward event. One that she had been certain she would never repeat.

She would now freely admit that she had been a pompous fool in her first life. She had missed out on things that only now, after dying and being reborn, she could appreciate. Like the feeling of strong arms wrapped around herself. The gentle tickle of a warm breath on the sensitive nape of her neck. A gentle nuzzle as her girlfriend who had trapped her in her tight embrace stirred.

"Good morning, Tanya." Visha said sleepily as Tanya could feel the smile on her girlfriend's lips against the back of her neck.

Tanya swallowed and tried a tentative wriggle, but quickly resigned herself to continuing to be Visha's cuddle pillow as the iron-like embrace tightened slightly. "Good morning, Visha. I take it you slept well?" Tanya ventured as she became acutely aware of Visha's front pressed firmly into her back, the resulting blush seemed to amuse her captor

"I think I could rather get used to this." Visha said with a happy little smile and another nuzzle.

"Isn't this basically what you had been doing for… However long it was before I figured out that you had been sneaking into my bed for mutual emotional support?' Tanya replied as she coughed to try to control her body's reaction.

Visha hummed for a moment and shook her head as she once again nuzzled the back of Tanya's neck. "Not really. This is different."

Tanya cleared her throat again. "Because we are dating now?" She ventured.

"Hrmm, well, that too. Now, I don't have to get out of bed before you wake up so that you don't know I am cuddling my favorite pillow. And I can enjoy how nice and warm you are without any reservations. In fact, you seem to be getting warmer by the moment." Visha teased gently.

"Umm… Yes. I see." Tanya said as she took a breath to try and center herself again. "You do know that we need to get up, so that we can go watch the first year's Monolith Code matches, right? And after that, we need to talk to Doctor Schugel about Jane and our plans."

Visha huffs and pouts for a moment, something that Tanya is loath to admit to herself she finds cute, then releases her girlfriend from her arms and slides out of bed. Tanya took the moment to admire the pleasing image of Visha in her usual pajamas, arched and stretching. Visha looked over her shoulder with a knowing little smirk that caused Tanya to look away hurriedly and cough into her fist once more.

"Go ahead and use the shower first, Tanya. I will have our breakfast and clothes for the day ready when you get out." Visha said as she started to walk towards the door to retrieve the tray that should be waiting there for them.

"You know… You don't have to do that, right?" Tanya said hesitantly as she lingered in the doorway to the bathroom.

Visha laughed and turned with the tray in her hands to regard Tanya. "I do it because I want to, and also the fact that you are hopeless without me. You are more than capable of handling complex tasks, but cooking? That's something you have never been good at. You can handle planning, or even dismantling a major invasion, but you don't do well with dealing with people in a genuine way. You are good at manipulation, but awful at empathy. But, that's just how it has always been, between us. It makes me feel needed, you know? Makes me able to walk away from the horrors we have seen and done." Visha's smile turned bittersweet for a moment. "It proves to me that I am more than the finger in the trigger."

Tanya smiled softly as she ducked into the bathroom, and said one last thing before she shut the door. "You have always been more, Visha. You are the one that kept me human."

The two take care of their tasks, with Visha laying out their outfits for the day and arranging their breakfast while Tanya showered and got ready. After that, they ate their meal and Visha took her own shower while Tanya made sure that everything on her side was prepared. If the glances lingered a little longer, or the occasional brush of fingers was more frequent, who could blame them?

As they made their way towards the first venue, they slowly gathered those that were closest to them, with one notable exception.

"Has anyone seen Jane today?" Visha asked in a worried tone of voice.

As the others looked amongst themselves, Visha shared a worried look with Tanya.

"I'm sure she is fine. Maybe she overslept, or her duties are keeping her. I'm sure we will see her later." Tanya said, then started to walk again, to draw the others with her. Tanya's own thoughts went into much more worried and darker territory, as she wondered if Jane might have run around of her handlers, or if the good doctor had decided to remove her as a potential threat.

Tanya put aside those thoughts and worries for the moment as she led her little group to their seats to oversee the first match that their classmates would be competing in. The action would be related through the large screens that were spaced along The front of the stands. Tanya and Visha shared a look before they fixed their attention on the screens as the event started. Tanya looked down as she felt a warm hand sliding over hers, and a Quick glance to her side showed a blushing Visha in profile. As casually as she could, Tanya turned her hand over and laced her fingers between Visha's.

Any hopes she had that this simple act of public affection would go unseen were dashed as she heard the soft whispers on both sides. With a deep sigh, Tanya looked to each side and decided to put an end to the stupidity that was taking place

"Yes, I asked Visha out. And yes, she accepted. So, yes. We are a couple now. Does anyone have an issue with that?" Tanya said as calmly as possible. The last bit was delivered in a near monotone.

Hans Sieber cleared his throat and spoke up. "On behalf of everyone, I'd like to congratulate you both. It's about time, as well. I'm personally sad to have lost out on not just one beautiful woman, but two. Still, I speak for everyone when I say congratulations."

Tanya and Visha each blushed as the other applauded quietly. Tanya cleared her throat as she looked at the others. "Now, how about we watch Frieber and his team show these young men how you fight and win an engagement?"

The other students started to cheer loudly until one of the adults turned and gave them a look that quieted the exuberant teens down, at least for the moment. Tanya chuckled and glanced at Visha with a smile on her face. "It would seem that they are excited about this example of advanced tactical guerilla warfare." Tanya commented.

Visha laughed and gave Tanya's hand a squeeze. "They are excited to see their friends and classmates compete and win, Tanya."

"I thought that was what I said?" Tanya deadpanned, and grinned when Visha rolled her eyes at her.

"Let's watch them win their 'advanced tactical guerilla warfare' and then, we can congratulate Frieber, since he is our friend." Visha said with a gin.

Tanya nodded and settled back. She felt quite content, even if she did find herself blushing everytime she looked down at their joined hands. Perhaps the physical aspects of a relationship would not be that bad, along with the emotional ones. It couldn't possibly be worse than in her first life. For one, she now had Visha in her life. And in the end, that was the only reason she found she needed to be certain of it.

The match progressed quite well for Frieber and his team. There were more than a few moments that had the others give Tanya a critical look or two.

"That flash… You had them use that to blind the other team. How did they target it so exactly? And…. I could have sworn I saw one of the other team's members in two places at the same time. One with the others, and one off on his own?" One of the girls asked Tanya

Tanya grinned back. "Let me answer your questions as best as I can. Yes, that was an optical spell to create light. The reason it was accurately delivered, when it's a spell with almost effective range, is that it was cast in the same room as the targets."

"And that leads us to the person in two places at once." The same girl said.

"Exactly. A simple optical camouflage spell. Frieber was the best match, size wise, so they separated that member of the opponents team, and Frieber took his place. He cast the optical spell from in front of them." Tanya explained matter-of-factly.

"Isn't that… Ummm… A bit sneaky? Underhanded, even?" The same girl ventured.

"And your point is? We are doing this not to have fun, after all. We are doing it to develop and show usable talents and skills. Now, doing that in a way that also wins the competition, that is an almost ideal outcome." Tanya said with a devilish grin as she chewed on the thumbnail of her free hand, until Visha gave her other hand a gentle, but firm, squeeze. Tanya coughed and smiled at the girl. "But, you are right. It was more than a bit underhanded." Tanya said as she cast a quick glance Visha's way, and received a gentle smile in return. A moment later Tanya sat back in her seat with a pleased look on her face.

"Was it a good idea to use that trick so early in the competition? Won't their opponents be expecting it, and prepare a counter for it?" One of the boys asked.

"Oh, I am counting on that…" Tanya said with a devious gleam in her eye, as Visha just sighed and smiled.

You could take the Devil out of the Rhine, after all. But you could never take it from within the Argent. That devious little streak of Tanya's… If Visha was going to be honest with herself, it terrified her at first. Now? Years later, and with the free reign to express her feelings better? She had to admit… She liked it. A lot. In ways that were, perhaps, not entirely appropriate for a subordinate. But perfectly acceptable for a girlfriend. Those were the thoughts that passed through Visha's head as she gazed at her partner and significant other.

The group congratulated the team, and then waited for their next match. Tanya and Visha went with them, probably to plan their next devious little trick, and let the others wander on their own for a bit. The discussion quickly turned to Tanya and Visha's new and budding romance, and relief amongst many, as they hoped that Tanya having someone to focus on would take some of that focus off of them.

Sieber stayed out of those conversations, but he had a knowing look in his eyes as he gazed at them, and wished them luck. He was quite certain that they would need it.

The couple returned in time for the next match, and the look in Tanya's eyes made those that had endured her special training shudder. They were certain that this match would prove to be quite interesting.

Tanya sat in the middle of her little group and smiled that smile of hers as their Monolith Code team once again dominated their opponents. By the end of the match, the other team was squabbling amongst themselves, each certain that the other had to be an impostor.

At the look of askance Tanya just grinned proudly. "An auditory distortion effect. They thought that if they talked to each other, it would make it impossible to infiltrate their team. I anticipated that, and had them deploy counters to handle it."

The others just gave Tanya a wary look as they all parted ways for the break until the finals. As the couple walked away from the others, Tanya showed Visha her hand held terminal. There was one message, from Doctor Schugel. It had a room number and a time, and that was it.

Visha nodded as the pair made their way towards the meeting, and chewed on her lip a bit. Tanya glanced over, and once again captured Visha's hand in her own.

"You are worried about Jane?" Tanya ventured.

"I am. No one has seen her all day, and she hasn't answered any of the messages I sent her." Visha said worriedly.

"I am sure that the good doctor will explain what is going on, and Jane will respond soon." Tanya said as they walked to the room and she gave Visha a smile before she opened the door and walked in first. Doctor Schugel sat behind the desk in the small room as she looked through various photos and files. Her love of the physical medium never ceased to surprise Tanya, who had been the victim of her fondness for antique cameras more than once.

"Thank you both for being so prompt. We have much to discuss, so please, sit. We need to talk about Miss Jane Donner, and how we have decided to handle the situation." Doctor Schugel said calmly.

"Do you know where she is right now?" Visha asked.

"I do, in fact, know where she is." Doctor Schugel confirmed.

"Will… Will she be joining us, then?" Visha asked as Tanya observed the doctor critically.

Doctor Schugel sighed and shook her head. "Sadly, she is a bit… Indisposed, at the moment. I'm afraid that she will not be able to join us for this discussion."

Visha sat back with a worried look on her face as Tanya spoke up, her voice calm and cold. "Is she okay?"

"Well, that is something that we will have to discuss, the three of us." Doctor Schugel said as she steepled her hands and matched her gaze with Tanya's.

Visha swallowed hard and hoped that their friend was alright. And, that if she wasn't, that Tanya didn't kill the doctor.

She was rather sure that she would prefer to do it herself.