al with the time-sensitive issue first, you decide. That in mind, rather than stand up and draw a lot of attention, you turn to Ichigo.
"On another matter," you say quietly, "how badly did what I had to tell Tatsuki go over?"
Ichigo winces. "There was screaming and hitting the walls, which is fairly normal for Tatsuki - but there was crying, too. Tatsuki never cries, man. Ever."
You grimace. "Does she want to talk to me, or punch my lights out?"
"...both, kind of. At least, that's what I thought she said earlier. Now, though, I dunno." He glances in Tatsuki's direction, visibly confused by her behavior.
"It's probably the crowd," you muse. "Alright, pass it on to your mother, I'll wait behind after lunch ends. Tatsuki can talk to me then."
Ichigo nods and dutifully passes on the message. Masaki looks over her son's hair at you, nods once, and then murmurs to Tatsuki. Even past the muffling cloud of Ichigo's spiritual presence, you sense a certain pressure. So do most of the other people at the table - heads in all directions turn towards Tatsuki, and then to you, the fact of your conversation being the trigger for this reaction not having passed unnoticed. You largely ignore the inquisitive glances, though you do turn to Altria.
"This may be a bit much to ask," you begin, "but would you and your guardian mind waiting for a few minutes after the lunch period ends? I wouldn't trouble you, normally, but I stumbled upon a matter that could use a wizard's advice, assuming the other party involved chooses to ask for more help than I can give."
Altria frowns, curious, but does not . "We do not have any urgent need to be anywhere. I will ask Ambrose to wait a few minutes, as a favor to you."
"Thanks. I'll owe you one."
"I should caution you, though," the British girl adds. "Ambrose is a gifted wizard and an excellent advisor, but his methods and attitude are... unique."
"...I'll keep that in mind."
The remaining minutes pass with glacial speed, but eventually, the cafeteria clears out. You manage to talk most of your associates into going on to watch the start of the next division without you, assuring Kasumi and Ayane that you will be available to talk to their families as soon as the current matter is attended to. Kahlua gives you and Tatsuki another of those silent, questioning looks before nodding her head.
"If you can fix whatever it is you said to her, Alex, please do so."
"That's my intention," you tell the princess in white, before she rejoins her sisters and Akasha.
The only person you're not entirely able to get rid of is Cordelia, but once you explain why you're hanging back to talk with the Kurosakis again, she agrees to wait out in the hall for you - while making sure that Lu-sensei doesn't wander off and disappear again. It seems you're not the only one to have lost patience with your incredible vanishing master.
At last, it's just you, Briar, Tatsuki, and the Kurosakis. Altria is still present, but has moved down a couple of seats to give you some privacy, talking with her older companion while methodically polishing off yet another plate of food.
Tatsuki stands up and looks you square in the eye. "Can you get this thing off of me?"
"Not at the moment," you tell her.
She sets her jaw. "...why not?"
"I completely tapped out my mana during my fight with Altria," you reply. "I won't have enough power to light a match for several hours yet, and I won't have my full power back until the day after tomorrow. I'd need that much power to stand a reasonable chance of brute-forcing that seal open, assuming I could do it at all."
The girl clenches her fists so hard, you swear you can hear her knuckles pop. That faint, angry pressure you noticed earlier spikes for an instant, and while it's not really directed at you, you still shift uncomfortably.
"As it happens," you begin carefully, "I may have an alternati-"
!
Holy shit she looks like she's on fire!
"Tell me."
"Tatsuki," Masaki says, a little more sharply than you've heard from her before now.
The dark-haired girl stops, and looks down at floor. When she lifts her face again, the terrible flaming halo is gone, and she seems to have her - anger, desperation, fear, all of the above? - emotions under check. "Please," she says quietly. "If there's something that can be done about this... thing..."
"I didn't get a chance to bring it up earlier, but the old man with Altria is a magic-user." You leave off using the word 'wizard,' because it has a lot of pop-culture connotations - like Dungeons and Dragons, Oz, Gandalf, and Merlin, to name a few - you'd rather not get into a debate about right now. "I haven't told either of them about your condition, but I did ask Altria if she could get the old guy to hang around to provide a second opinion on something I found. Maybe he can tell you what it's doing."
"It doesn't matter what it's doing," Tatsuki retorts, raising her voice slightly. "What matters is I want it gone!" For a moment, it looks like she's going to scream at you or burst into flames again, but she checks herself. "Can he get rid of it?"
"I have no idea," you admit. "All I know for sure is that he's a lot older than me, and presumably a lot more knowledgeable about magic in general. Plus, Altria considers him to be very gifted with magic - and considering how much power she has and how well she uses it, however unconventionally, I'm willing to take her word on that."
Tatsuki doesn't look convinced. You try to think of something else you could say to her that might convince her.