Yanagi commandeered a H.A.N.D. sedan to ferry Miyabi to a small boutique that Yanagi favored. It was a short drive and an almost equally short shopping session. With pursed lips and a few critical glances, Yanagi picked out a simple outfit. Then Miyabi tried it on and Yanagi put her hands on her hips and adjusted her glasses seriously, judging.
Miyabi turned to look in the alcove mirror outside the changing room. She wore a lightly lilac, but surprisingly tight, knit sweater, cropped just below the belly button. Meanwhile, oddly loose-legged tan pants were belted tightly around her waist, revealing just the highest part of Miyabi's hips. She took a few experimental strides around in brilliant white sneakers and discovered that when she moved, the skin of her belly, her hips, and her ankles became visible, but when she stopped, it all vanished behind the clothing again.
"Is this correct?" wondered Miyabi aloud. "Are they slightly too small?"
Her own crimson eyes connected with Yanagi's gaze through the mirror.
"That depends, chief," said Yanagi, adjusting her glasses. "Do you wish to inflict steamy dreams upon this man, or no?"
Miyabi blinked into the mirror. Behind her, Yanagi's eyebrow arched over an uncharacteristically mischievous expression. A small warmth grew in Miyabi's chest. Was this what it was like to have an older sister?
Miyabi raised her arm stiffly, giving a thumbs up into the mirror- her midriff peeking out from under the sweater as she did so.
In less than twenty minutes, they were on the way back to the H.A.N.D. campus. Yanagi was driving while arguing with someone on the phone about the low inventory of anti-corruption medications. Miyabi watched the skyline of New Eridu move slowly in the distance. Riding in the front seat of a car was a novel experience for her, and having a friend in the driver's seat was so much better than the sterile silence of the family car with the fearfully proper hired driver.
"Should we use the official car for this sort of thing?" wondered Miyabi aloud as Yanagi hung up the call with a sigh.
Yanagi glanced at her, a flash of sunlight off her glasses. "Maintenance of H.A.N.D. weaponry is an official, critical objective. And you are a weapon, chief. Probably the best we have."
Miyabi looked down at the sheathed sword in her lap. Even now, she could feel the faint thrum of the entity within, temporarily cowed and feigning obedience. How long it might remain in this complacent state, Miyabi did not know; but she could be sure that its will would awaken at her weakest- ever the sword would desire to wield the swordmaster. But Wise had helped put it in its place...
Below the sword, between Miyabi's legs, sat the bag of new clothing. Another disguise for the Void Hunter to transform into normal-person-Miyabi. It made her think about yesterday, and how she became trapped in the crowd of Lumina Square because no one scrambled out of her way. And how Wise found her, knowing it was her because just seeing her caused him to smile.
Would this new disguise make him smile, too? And what was his dream last night? And.. and what would they do at the beach?
"Relaxation improves one's mental state and new experiences sharpen the mind." Yanagi continued speaking after Miyabi's pensive silence. "We need to keep you fresh and sharp."
That caused Miyabi a pang of doubt and guilt, opening an escape route for her newly budding anxiety about her choices today. Should she go on this date? Did she want to know what Wise's dream was? ((Yes.))
"Then perhaps I should train in the gym instead of-" began Miyabi.
"No, no no no. Taking leave when you need it is the perfect way to stay fresh, chief!" said Yanagi. "Besides… how does that ancient song go?'
Yanagi took a deep breath in preparation: "Serrrrching with our hearts for so laww-aww-ong! Both of us know it!..."
Yanagi sang out cheerfully while Miyabi's vulpine ears twitched as notes were missed entirely.
"...Love is a battlefield…!"
Back at headquarters, Yanagi returned to the office to work while Miyabi went to her private lockerroom to change back into her new clothes. They'd both thought it best that she return to base still in uniform, due to their slightly dubious justification of using the official car. It was one thing to be creative with official objectives, it was quite another to flaunt it.
She took out her cellphone and sent Wise a text:
Miyabi: I am now free. I will be at the port in one hour.
She waited a few seconds, but there was no read symbol. Wise was apparently busy or not near his phone. Well, he had that video store to run, and his proxy work. He would see it.
Miyabi dressed, made sure everything was hanging from her body correctly, and placed her sword back into the large blueprint case. The case could be used again, according to Yanagi, so Miyabi slung it over her shoulder and looked at herself in the mirror. A doppelganger stared back; some version of herself from a different universe… perhaps one in which Mother was still alive.
What could have been…?
Miyabi grimaced as she turned from the mirror. Useless thoughts. Useless hopes. She'd lost a great deal, and she was sure to lose even more in the future. A gloom settled upon her.
Her phone buzzed.
Wise: I can't wait to see you. I need a good smile today.
A tiny sun shone in Miyabi's chest. With lighter steps, she exited her locker room and headed down the hall to the elevator. She was immediately stopped by a security guard.
"Miss?! Miss! How did you get up here!? This is a restricted area."
Miyabi looked around for some intruder but she was alone in the elevator lobby. She looked back at the guard in mild confusion. What was this person talking about? The young guard was striding towards her with annoyance on his face and an outreached hand, as if he intended to grab her arm.
"Oh, acting cute won't get you out of-" He froze, eyes blinking in confusion. His jaw dropped. He saluted, suddenly stiff as a flagpole. "C- chief Hoshimi! Sorry! I didn't recognize you, ma'am!"
Miyabi looked at the man curiously. "Do I really look that different?"
"Ah, er- I- Uh-," stuttered the guard, his eyes riveted at the ceiling.
Miyabi pressed the elevator button and waited, meanwhile the guard seems to abandon his effort at an answer and simply stood at attention, wavering back and forth in the effort to keep his balance. The door dinged. Miyabi went inside the elevator and pushed the button for the lobby.
"At ease," said Miyabi, disappointed in never getting that answer. But she couldn't wait all day for it.
The door shut as the guard slumped with relief.
Miyabi felt eyes on her as she left the elevator, but no more guards approached her. Presumably the man from upstairs had radioed down to his fellows. Without further incident, Miyabi walked out the front lobby and found her car waiting for her. Her usual driver waited within, though he glanced at her in the mirror a bit nervously as she slid into the backseat.
"Please drive me to Port Elpis, Mr. Onosho," said Miyabi while she checked her phone for any official alert or some other critical message. Nothing. All the world was peaceful, it seemed.
"Port Elpis, Lady Miyabi?" said the driver with a frown. "You have not been there in some time…"
"I'm meeting someone there. The man from yesterday."
A silence. The car didn't move. Miyabi looked up from her phone and found Mr. Onosho watching her in the rear-view mirror with seeming great trepidation.
"I apologize, my lady," said the driver with a bow of his head toward the rear-view mirror, his voice cracking slightly. "But your father has ordered me to take you nowhere but the estate and the H.A.N.D. campus. I can't take you to the seaside. E- especially not when I know you are to meet that boy again. His Lordship specifically forbids it."
"That.. boy?" Wise was no boy! Though perhaps he seemed so to her driver, who was an older man- about the same age as her father, in fact. And now thinking of her father…
Father… was trying to hinder her movements…? Miyabi frowned to herself, not noticing that the driver began to sweat as he watched her reaction to his refusal through the mirror. Father had never attempted such a thing as this before. Telling her own driver where she could and could not be taken?
It was absurd. A new absurdity to add to the growing garden of them. Was her two hours with Wise in the city weighing that heavily on her father's mind? And he didn't come to her directly? But secretly gave orders against her within the household?
"No, you will not defy me, Mr. Onosho," said Miyabi with a matter-of-fact tone. "I am the Lady Hoshimi, and you will do as I say: you will drive me to Port Elpis. Now."
Mr. Onosho had spent most of the day dreading a moment exactly like this. He trembled slightly as he considered his words. This order from Lord Miyabi was the first in his long career that he hadn't liked, and this was also the very first time he'd ever attempted to say no to his lordship's daughter. He'd known the Little Miss Miyabi her entire life! But Lord Hoshimi had specifically ordered him!
Taking a deep breath, Mr. Onosho returned his gaze to the rear-view mirror and began to open his mouth in denial- but he froze, transfixed. There was no Little Miss Miyabi back there. Instead, a Void Hunter pierced him with her crimson stare, and a feeling of dread grew between his shoulder blades. Goosebumps rose up all along his arms. He swallowed.
"Y- yes, Lady Hoshimi! To Port Elpis! Right away!"
The car began moving, jerkily at first. Mr. Onosho did his best to avoid looking in the mirror again. He missed second gear, twice- unsure if the sound of grinding was the transmission or his own heart.
"Your loyalty to my father and my family is commendable Mr. Onosho," said the thing in his backseat. "After you drop me off, you may report the facts of my movement to my father, as your duty requires..."
"T- thank you, Lady Hoshimi!"
Port Elpis took its name from a single, somewhat ramshackle dock that serviced the smallest of the Eridu Bay ferries. The 'port' was mostly a single lighthouse built at the far end of an otherwise submerged shoal. It warned large ships away from the jagged rocks hidden by the tides, as well as the giant wind generators built on the shallower ocean bedrock nearby. A very long access road ran out into the bay for nearly a mile, making the area particularly scenic and remote while still technically being inside New Eridu City.
Other than the ferry, a small collection of hobbyist boaters and small-scale fisherman sometimes overnighted in the few moorings available, all of which were free because there was no real reason to be in Port Elpis except to be in Port Elpis- and maybe play at the idea of fishing off the docks or risk your life shoal fishing during low tide. There was a single food stand which only sold fried potatoes and two tired-looking portable outhouses.
Miyabi was early, so she commanded her driver to drop her off about halfway up the access road. She sensed Mr. Onosho looking at her as he turned the car and drove back towards the city, but his concerns were none of her own. She was to have a confrontation with Father whether Mr. Onosho informed on her movements or not, so Miyabi's mind forgot him and focused on the nostalgia of the world around herself.
The H.A.N.D. pre-cadet and junior cadet training facilities were on this side of the city, as were their related dorms- not that Father had allowed Miyabi to live in them. But Miyabi had won a first major victory against her Father during her budding adulthood by negotiating for a private flat a block away- and limiting her personal security detail to only two bodyguards.
Already a formidable sword fighter at the time, Miyabi didn't really need protection. But those stoic female guards had not been assigned simply to protect Miyabi's body- but, she realized later, her chastity. They'd followed Miyabi almost everywhere, and likely would have stood behind Miyabi's desk in class if not denied entry to the academy by H.A.N.D. security forces. Very few of Miyabi's classmates had been willing to brave the stares of those guards for the purpose of simply talking to her outside of the academy.
Constantly accompanied and yet still lonely. But that was how it had always been, hadn't it? After Mother …?
Besides the gardens of the Hoshimi Estate, Port Elpis had been the only place in the world she could actually be alone- though only because her bodyguards knew they could watch her via telescope from the roof of a seaside building. Still, it was enough. At the time.
Halfway along the breakwater bridge was when Miyabi remembered feeling free, right about where she was right now. This magical spot where the noise of the city vanished and the only sounds were the slapping of waves upon the jetty's rubble stone, the high-pitched call of gulls, and the intermittent grumbling of the sea wind in her ears. But yet, somehow, it wasn't quite the same anymore.
The Miyabi of Then only had classes and training and a vague feeling that there was something she needed to do with her life, but it had not coalesced.
The Miyabi of Today had expectations, subordinates, orders, training, and the grim realization that, if she did not punish those responsible for Hollowfall, they would all get away with it. Every day that passed was an opportunity lost to the remorseless flow of time- wasted. Even now, this very instant of her standing upon the jetty road, was a wasted moment better spent towards eradication.
Heroes are not born to destroy, Miyabi.
Relaxation improves one's mental state and new experiences sharpen the mind, chief.
Miyabi closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It was one thing to have a goal, it was quite another to have an obsession. Yanagi was right. A break was surely a good thing, and it could bring unexpected boons. Like how one could practice a sword motion over and over and never quite get it right, each attempt becoming progressively worse; and then after a lengthy respite, one can suddenly manage it perfectly. There was indeed merit in breaks.
She began walking towards the distant lighthouse, its rather unimpressive height dwarfed by the towering wind turbines, their powdery white blades spinning lazily in the afternoon sky. Miyabi used to sprint the length of this jetty, but not on the road. She'd ran down amongst the broken stone along the edge of the water. The difficulty and danger of that path had appealed to Miyabi of Then, but now she was somewhat fearful of the risk of injury. If the Miyabi of Today hurt herself in some foolishly dangerous training stunt, people might die because she would not be there to protect them.
Also, the Miyabi of Today was wearing relatively expensive and trendy clothing- so there would be no sprinting if she could help it. The cool ocean wind tickled Miyabi's navel as she walked, her tight sweater rippling up with the movement of her gait and helped by the wind, intermittently exposing her belly button. But it was high spring and the muggy New Eridu summer seemed to be looming over the grass-covered stones of the coastline. Miyabi found the amorous winds to be mildly exciting.
Another quarter of the way towards the lighthouse, Miyabi spotted her favorite stone. It was a chair-sized rock a little distance out to sea from the piled rubble of the jetty stone. It was a native part of the shoal, and when the tide was down like it was now, a small land bridge linked the miniature island to the jetty. Seized by nostalgic whim, Miyabi jumped the road barrier, hopped her way down the broken rubble and walked across the narrow bit of slick stone to her old meditation spot.
Forgetting the pristine state of her new pants, she perched herself on the stone, cross-legged. Before her, the uninhabited crags of the bay's rim stretched from left to right; and all around her peripheral vision, the ocean undulated in a calming, hypnotic fashion. Just like Miyabi of Then, the Miyabi of Today fell into a meditative trance.
Her mind's eye dropped her into her old training regimens. She ran again the length of the jetty, leaping from jagged stone to jagged stone. She again did a handstand on the road barrier, and hand-walked along it, the calluses on her palms from her sword training proving ample armor against the semi-sharp edges of the metal sheet. And she bought a double order of french fries, set it down on the miniature beach behind the lighthouse, and used her sword to defend her food from the seagulls.
A voice intruded into her private universe: "...Miyabi? Are you all right?"
It was a masculine voice which echoed about Miyabi's inner world with faint benevolence.
"All right," said a female voice, fainter- perhaps her own. Miyabi wasn't entirely sure. She was waiting for the onslaught of birds, her hand on the hilt of her sword.
The male voice spoke again. "Are you meditating again? Are you really hearing me?"
Miyabi realized it was Wise. She became half-aware that she was inside her own memory, and just outside, Wise was waiting for her. Miyabi could wake up, if she wanted- but the gulls were descending, her hand on the sheath tightened ever so slightly in anticipation. And something deep within her, some emotion she would never be able to explain or justify, wanted to test Wise again. Would he wait for her? Would he stay with her?
"Hearing you…" murmured the female voice. The gulls descended en-masse. The steam from the french fries began to slow down as Miyabi drew her sword, the blade seeming to take a full minute to withdraw from the sheath.
"Okay…the tide is coming in, Miyabi," said Wise, his voice echoing faintly. "I'll stay with you. I'm right here."
I'll stay with you. I'm right here.
Wise's voice echoed through Miyabi's realm, vibrating the fabric of her little universe. The cold sea wind of her true memory suddenly became balmy, the sky was suddenly blue, and Miyabi felt like her own body weighed nothing at all. She sprang skyward at the birds, the flat of her blade flashing out, gently caressing the bodies of the gulls, deflecting them skyward without even slicing their feathers- it was a drill of control, not of cutting. The enemy defeated, the french fries safe from evil- Miyabi blinked back into reality.
Wise seemed to be standing in the middle of the ocean next to her, the tiny scrap of land beginning to vanish below the rising tide. His lanky frame and pleasantly broad shoulders defended her slightly against the rising wind, his blue eyes seemed somewhat grayer, reflecting the dark blue of the ocean and the gray of the troubled sky. He smiled as she met his gaze and Miyabi's heart thudded in her chest- he'd come to bring her in from her lonely seat! He'd waited for her. He'd stayed for her!
"Hey, Miyabi," said Wise. "I knew it could only be you out here."
Miyabi didn't know what to say to such a statement. A rising wave threatened her new sneakers. "Yes. Let's go back to the road now."
"Right," said Wise, turning to go, then he stopped. The land bridge was gone. Nearly a half foot of water covered the ten yards to the jetty stone. "But our feet are going to get a bit wet doing it."
"No," said Miyabi and she grabbed Wise behind the knee and behind the small of his back.
"Whoa! M- Miya-" said Wise in surprise, falling into her grasp.
And then Miyabi simply jumped over the water with Wise in her arms.
"-biiiiiiiiiii!" yelped Wise.
She landed lightly on the jetty road, Wise's white-knuckled hands clutching her arm and shoulder. He blinked at her, still in her arms, his body somewhat larger than her own. Miyabi blinked back at him, realizing suddenly that she probably should have advised him of her intentions.
Then Wise started laughing. "That worked!" And he stood out of her arms awkwardly, since he was taller than she was.
Miyabi sensed that maybe she had defied some sort of ancient tradition. In all the books and movies and TV shows, did not only the man do that sort of thing for the woman? Had she made some sort of error? Wise didn't seem upset, however.
"I didn't want you to get wet feet," said Miyabi as an explanation.
"And I never will. With you," said Wise with a smile and an alteration of tone.
Miyabi nodded. "Yes. I can jump pretty far. Don't worry."
Wise scratched a finger along the edge of his chin and smiled sheepishly at her, which seemed an odd reaction to her response. But then he said. "I like your clothes. You look really pretty, Miyabi."
Thudthudthudthudthud
Miyabi felt her cheeks heat up. Her eyes traveled over Wise's form again, and she realized that he was wearing something different, too. Light gray, and very tight, denim jeans outlined Wise's legs, and a light black button up shirt was plastered against his abdomen by the ocean wind, faintly hinting at Wise's muscle definition. He might have soft, scholarly hands, but what was under that shirt looked quite firm.
"You also look good," managed Miyabi.
Goodness! Was she getting a sunburn on her cheeks? How long had she been meditating?!
Wise smiled broadly. "Thanks. Wanna head to the lighthouse?" He took a few steps in that direction,
Miyabi first discovered that Wise's jeans very tightly gripped his butt, and then she looked down the road towards the lighthouse. She had completely forgotten that she had not even reached Port Elpis yet. But, well, she was already with Wise, and that was where she wanted to be right now. Anyplace was just as good as here- maybe less so because other people would also be around the lighthouse, and out here on the jetty road it was just her and Wise and the wind and the waves and the sun.
"Not yet," said Miyabi, taking in the scene of the ocean and Wise standing before her, the wind working at his shirt. "I want to savor this moment."
Wise blinked a few times and then seemed bemused, his eyes traveled over her body like hers had over his. "All right. It is pretty nice out here. Summer will be here before long. I can feel it."
"Yes," said Miyabi as she watched Wise turn and do a sitting lean on the road guardrail, his unruly silver hair ruffling in the wind.
"I'm curious," said Wise after a few moments. "What were you seeing out there, Miyabi? On that rock? In your head, I mean."
Miyabi looked back at her stone, now almost entirely submerged beneath the small waves of the bay. "I was reliving my old training. I used to come to this place a lot."
Wise smiled at her. "What was that younger Miyabi like?"
She didn't know how to answer such a question. Was anyone every other than themselves? "That Miyabi and this one are the same. I used to train here until I became the chief of Section Six, and here I am again."
"Okay, well... What training did you do?"
Miyabi pointed out the half-submerged rubble of the jetty stones. "I used to sprint the length of this road, on the stones there."
Subconsciously, she began to walk towards the lighthouse, as if the memory of her excises were dragging her along through the distance of time. Wise stood from the guardrail and walked quickly to catch up with her.
"I meditated on that rock, but you saw that. And I used to defend my french fries from seagulls."
"Defend them?" asked Wise, his eyes traveling to her blueprint case. "With your sword?"
"Of course."
"You… killed the seagulls?"
"No," said Miyabi, slightly vexed. Did he think of her as some mad woman with a sword? "I did not slaughter innocent wildlife, Wise."
"A- ah ha, right. I didn't think so…"
"It was a drill. Control is an important aspect of swordsmanship. The ability to be precise and not cut what you do not wish to cut- that also improves mastery"
Wise looked at her thoughtfully as they walked. "Have you ever made a mistake?"
A flash of memory crossed Miyabi's mind. A one-winged bird on the wet stone, the gleam of fresh blood, and sharp cry of animalistic panic.
"Yes. I sliced a bird's wing off, once. I was careless and arrogant, thinking the training was no longer useful. Thinking I'd mastered it."
"Sorry..." said Wise, sounding unsure of what he should say. "What did you do?"
"I wasn't sure what to do. Should I try to help it? But it was a wild animal in pain and it wouldn't like me picking it up. Should I leave the bird to its fate? Should I finish it off and end its suffering?" Miyabi half descended into her own memory as she walked with Wise beside her. "The situation forced me to consider who was evil."
Wise frowned. "Who was evil?"
"Yes. Was the bird evil for trying to steal my french fry? From my perspective, I had a right to defend my food from thieves. But as I watched the bird bleeding at my feet, I suddenly saw the situation from the gull's perspective: I had gone to where they live with food they needed, and it was simply in their nature to try and eat it. Was I evil? For luring them into my sword practice with the false promise of french fries?"
Wise walked along with her in silence.
"And then I wondered what someone watching from the lighthouse might think. Which of us would they view as evil? It could be both or neither. And lastly, I considered the perspective of the french fry."
Wise's eyes narrowed and his mouth curled into an unsure smile, he scratched one of his cheeks thoughtfully. "The- the perspective of the french fry?"
"Yes," said Miyabi, pleased that he was following along. "From its perspective, I was certainly no different than a seagull. I was protecting the french fry from the seagull, yes; but only so that I might be the one to devour it, instead. So I, too, was evil in the eyes of the french fry."
"I see," said Wise. "That makes... sense… but did that help you figure out what to do about the bird?"
"No. The seagull died from blood loss before I reached a conclusion," admitted Miyabi, the memory of the crippled bird in her mind, stretched out, still and gangly on the bloody rocks at her feet. "And that, in part, helped me figure it all out, Wise: Anyone could be either good or evil, depending on perspective. But thinking about perspective takes time, and I do not have time to think about it. I do not even have time to think about a slice of my sword, because in the time spent thinking on it, it is already too late. I will be the one cut, and I will be the seagull bleeding out on the rock. See?"
Wise was nodding slightly. "So.. evil is relative? And because of that, it's not important?"
"No," said Miyabi, brows furrowing. "What is evil is important, Wise. Very important. But there are so many perspectives that it is impossible and impractical to consider them all. I only have time to consider one perspective: Mine. Because its in here. Im my heart. I don't need to waste time thinking. I already know. I will eradicate all evil, and I will decide what is evil."
Wise looked thoughtful. Miyabi wasn't sure he was following her chain of logic. But it seemed so obvious to her now.
"...Are you ever unsure?" said Wise.
"Yes, of course," said Miyabi, looking into Wise's strangely blue eyes. "I was unsure about you."
"M- me?" said Wise, his eyes widening in shock. Then they narrowed. "The academy? I knew you were fishing for something."
"Yes," said Miyabi, looking back out to the sea. "I wondered what your secret was. I wondered if you might be an agent of a traitor."
"My teacher was no traitor," said Wise.
"So you have said," said Miyabi. "But you were a child then, as was I. I doubt the truth very closely resembles what either of us hope to find in the past."
Wise was silent for a time. Miyabi's mind drifted along her own steady investigation of the fall of Eridu. She had lots of pieces of information: records, rumors, reports- but it was like a second-hand jigsaw puzzle without the box art to refer to, and she wasn't even sure all the pieces were related. But Wise's piece, and his story about the attack on his academy- that was something. Miyabi knew it was a part of the puzzle. But where did it connect?
"What do you hope to find in the past, Miyabi?"
Miyabi answered immediately. "The name of the person who did it. Whether a fool or a mastermind, there is someone who caused Hollowfall. I'm sure of it. I'll find the traitor- and every single person that helped them."
Wise turned towards her suddenly, bringing them both to a stop near the entrance to the actual Port Elpis. The storage building sheltered them slightly from the wind, and the smell of frying potatoes and fish wafted on the air. Wise took up her hands in his own, and Miyabi again noted their soft warmth against her fingers.
"I want that, too," said Wise, vehemently. His eyes almost seemed to gleam a neon blue but Miyabi thought that must be some trick of the light. "Let me help you, Miyabi. Please! Let's get them! Whoever they are! Let's get them all!"
Miyabi was caught off-guard. She'd never really told anyone about any of this before, but Wise had triggered some sort of logical cascade. And now here he was, holding her hands so tightly, looking into her eyes so intently. Miyabi's heart was thudding in her throat again.
"Let's do it together," said Wise. "Let's be together, Miyabi."
Thudthudthudthudthud!