Chapter 9: Tea for Six
The dawn's rays shine through the infirmary windows, and a light breeze ruffles the curtains. As Kaika's eyes gently flutter open, she finds herself in a familiar room and a familiar bed. However unlike her previous visit with the Remedial Knights, Kaika's bandages are light and her ankles lack cuffs.
Another key difference from her previous visit is that Kaika isn't alone this time. The groans and sobs of first years surround her as at least two dozen JTF troopers fill the beds to capacity. A
nurse with purple twin tails and a bright, cheerful outfit flits from bed to bed, changing bandages and offering words of comfort.
Honestly, she could pass for her sister if it wasn't for her 'gifts'. Also that innocent face made Kaika want to squish her cheeks, give her cookies and ask how her day had gone.
Suddenly, Kaika hears a rustling noise behind a nearby screen, followed by a pair of familiar voices.
"Serina-chan, I'm fine. I was just a little queasy after being teleported. You should help Hanae-chan take care of the students."
"Sensei, we both know you're an Outsider to Kivotos. I'm not taking any chances with your health. Now stop being a baby and take off your shirt."
"Don't argue with medics, it's like blood to sharks." The magus pipes in wryly, before waving over her fellow purple head. Hanae, apparently.
"Ah, Kaika-san, you're awake." The familiar pinkette pokes her head around the screen to take a quick glance at Kaika. A brief moment later, Serina nods before turning to speak to her fellow nurse. "Hanae-chan, Kaika-san is ready for a final check up. If you don't find anything wrong, she's free to go."
"Sorry about the scare, by the by." Kaika offers with a light grimace.
"Now now, no frowning! Good cheer is important for health!" Hanae descends upon Kaika in an instant. The magus is quickly brought into a sitting position and presented with a plush bunny rabbit while the junior nurse performs a routine check up.
"Here, you can borrow my friend for a bit! And don't worry about your dolly. Your little sister took her back to your dorm while you were asleep!" The cold metal of Hanae's stethoscope brushes against Kaika's circuits for a moment. "You had a ton of gunshot bruises, but they're healing up nicely, and everything else seems okay!"
"That's kind of you, and good to hear." Kaika says, hugging the plushie without any restraint whatsoever. She's a magus, she walks with death, she can damn well enjoy a stuffed rabbit without shame. "Would you like me to place a soothing curse on the room? Given all the sobbing I'm hearing…"
"Maybe later, Kaika-san," Serina answers. "We need to open up more beds, and you need some real sleep."
"In that case, I REALLY should -" Sensei tries to argue.
"YOU STAY PUT," Three voices interrupt in sync.
Hanae quickly finishes Kaika's checkup, and escorts her out of the infirmary. As she leaves, Kaika catches a glimpse of her fellow convalescents. Most of them are in a similar state as Kaika was, with gunshot bruises already recovering nicely. However, a small handful of students are taking longer to recover. Thinking back, Kaika recalls some of them having been hit by trains, or crushed under Shiro's ball.
Just means they get the day off, really. Students are absurd.
So's she on both counts. She
could whip up a sleep or energy curse to be functional enough by the time classes start in about an hour and a half, but frankly? She can afford to miss today's classes, and it isn't like she can't curse her circadian rhythm straight. She'll just watch the BDs later and have a study session with Ame and co.
Also, she doesn't want to make the medics mad. She's certain Serina would weaponize Hanae against her.
The orange rays of dusk shine through Kaika's dorm window, kissing her eyelids gently into wakefulness. Groggily, she pushes her blanket off of her body, sending a small avalanche of plush toys onto the floor.
"Wuh–" She jolts, only for the last 24 hours to come to her as she wakes up fully, "Oh, right."
She
could make them fly back to her bed with a snap of her fingers, but picking them up one by one gives her a chance to appreciate her brother's (or her nephews and nieces, she isn't sure who made these) handiwork. Also lets her bury her face into the Goz plushie's belly, which is mission critical.
The toy is stuffed generously, giving the feeling of a firm yet huggable pillow. The gentle scent of campfire smoke and s'mores tickles Kaika's nose as she rubs her face against the plush cat.
As Kaika puts the first Goz back on the bed, she discovers that there is a second one in the pile on the floor. Sorting through the pile of plushies reveals two of each distinct Slumpia Park character, in each of three sizes. The big dolls are perfect for hugging, the middle are good for displaying on a shelf, and the tiny ones look like they could make good oversized backpack charms.
It appears that Nother decided that if it's plush, it's for hugging, and buried Kaika under the collection while she slept.
"Oh, you're awake!" The little imp in question peeks around the corner with a smile on her face. "I promised to let our friends know when you woke up, so do what you need to do, sis!"
"Aye aye. Tea for five, then?" The magus said as she got to work on her morning stretches, not caring an iota of how her shirt rode up.
Nother tilts her head in thought before a devilish grin crosses her face. "For six, actually!" She proceeds to leave through the window before Kaika can ask for clarification.
"Nother? What did you mean?" She calls after her, leaning out of the window, "Nother!"
Their dorm is on the third floor, and Nother is currently materialized. A quick glance is enough to tell Kaika that Nother didn't use the fire escape, nor did she jump to the nearby tree branch. Where did she–
A crashing noise and a scream from the downstairs neighbor answers Kaika's question before the thought finishes forming.
Little missy is getting a spanki– wait, no, the JTF said that Hanako rubbed off on some of her sister's ideation. Cheeks pinched, then.
She can't help a smile, though. Back… not home, never home. Back
then, Nother would have learned a lot of harsh lessons very fast. She's glad her sister can fool around like this here. Not that that's going to save her from discipline, Kaika has to reign her in if she doesn't want to end up with a spoiled brat of a sister.
Idly, the magus sends a small curse through the floor. Nothing but a message apologizing and offering to repair anything that may've gotten broken. She'll bake her neighbor some cookies tomorrow besides.
For now, she has some tea and snacks to prepare. She still has some fresh scones in her imaginary space pocket (storing things outside the normal flow of time is handy like that) and a quick peek into her cupboards tells her she still has half a jar of that handmade strawberry jam.
She looks down at the kettle with a small frown on her face, before nodding and pulling out the snow she collected during one of the preliminary tests for Seventh. She's been saving it up for a special occasion and she knows her sister well enough to realize this will be one. Into the ofuda-plastered pot it goes, before she sets it on the windowsill and taps the glass to start siphoning sunlight to get it boiling.
While she's there, she picks up some chamomile flowers from her little herb garden, laying them out on a similarly plastered tray for the sun to bake them dry.
Now, time to select today's cups!
Kinben and Hantei's are already set, a shattered pair glued back together with gold and silver respectively. They are, by far, the most
posh she has. Mostly on account of having been meant for the Tea Party, only for the student carrying them to trip and shatter them. She fixed the rest in exchange for keeping these two.
While Chie has been rotating through her collection for a while, Kaika thinks her newest acquisition is going to become a permanent fixture for her. One of her gym buddies does pottery on the side, so she bought this amazing piece shaped like overlapping feathers off of her at a street sale.
Kaika herself will always flip through her collection so they all get some love. Her sense of poetic irony makes her settle on a clear
glass teacup, just because she's going to be lying to their faces. This one's from a flea market she beat some delinquents away from. Apparently imported from outside Kivotos, but the robot who gave her it didn't know anything beyond that.
Nother meanwhile has been inseparable from the
t-rex cup she bought her at a museum's gift shop, when she took an interest in dinosaurs after watching that clusterfuck of a movie.
As for the mystery guest… she trusts her gut and reaches for the cup that feels
fitting. She got this from one of Mama Yosuzume's elderly regulars after helping him with a delivery after his bike broke together with his ankle. He's fine now, Kivotos' medical tech is something else, but that made him no less grateful. She's actually been at his kiln a few times. A master at work is priceless ideation.
The kettle whistles just as she's done setting everything up. Ginseng slices and the shriveled up flowers go into the
teapot Mama Yosuzume herself gifted her with, followed by the entirety of the kettle's contents. It's bigger on the inside, although that's the least of the enchantments she's put on such a beloved piece of clayware.
Kaika brings her makeshift tea set to her small square table, ready to prepare everyone's seats. Kinben and Hantei always sit side by side, while Nother likes to sit between Chie and Kaika. The mystery guest… probably should sit across from Kaika. Finally, the tea pot goes in the center, in easy reach of everyone. The large key and letter on the table compliment the look, drawing the eye–
Ah.
Well, good news is that she feels safe enough in her dorm to
not be on her guard and scanning everything. Bad news is that
she can already hear her friends' ringtones. Thankfully, having a little stable pocket of imaginary number space covers for a LOT of sins.
"Big sis! I'm hoooome~" Nother announces in a sing-song voice, using her copy of the dorm key to let herself in. "And I brought guests~!"
As the door swings open and Nother steps aside, Hantei and Kinben rush into Kaika's dorm. The pair barely remember to kick their shoes off before tackling the magus with a hug. "Kaika-senpai! We're so glad you're okay!"
Chie steps through the doorway in a much calmer manner, taking her own shoes off before tidying up after her hasty clubmates.
"You may as well join too, Chie." Kaika chuckles as she holds the pair of juniors up in the hug like one may a pillow. It's still faintly surreal she can do this without any magic involved whatsoever.
Chie smiles back at Kaika. "Oh, don't worry about me, Senpai. I'm happy that you're okay, but I also haven't been panicking. Between your resourcefulness and your rescuers, I had utter faith that you would be fine. Also, your arms are full."
"I'm resourceful, like you said." She chuckles, but doesn't bother cobbling together a construct arm just to prove her point. She's more busy ruffling the hair of her limpets. "Sorry about worrying you two. The mimesises there didn't attack me until I was so engrossed studying them that I didn't even have time to pull out Bosse."
Kinben and Hantei blush and pout. "All the more reason not to go alone next time, Kaika-senpai! We're clubmates now, aren't we?"
As the girls lose themselves in a heartfelt moment, Nother turns to face the still open doorway. "Ahem. Tsurugi-senpai? Would you like to come inside and take a seat? It can't be comfortable standing in the hallway like that."
Kaika's eyes immediately shoot towards the dorm entrance, a squeak between a small animal and a chewtoy coming from the back of her throat. There, she sees the looming form of the Justice Task Force President. Standing up straight, Tsurugi takes up the majority of the doorway. Her intense expression is difficult to read, her breathing is heavy, and her eyes dart about constantly.
"I made tea?" The magus tries, the statement lilting into a question as she disentangles herself from her juniors and waves at the table she's set.
Tsurugi's eyes lock onto Kaika's in an instant. With a light blush and a tremble, she lifts her arms to reveal a large thermos in each hand. "So…did I?"
Nother has an ear to ear grin as she gently pushes the towering third year into the room, closing the door behind them. Tsurugi places her twin thermoses on the counter, and everyone present takes their seats at the table.
"Chamomile with ginger." Kaika explains in what she hopes to god counts as a conversation opener as she pours everyone their tea. Nerves or not, she's a magus and her hands remain surgeon steady.
Tsurugi is not a magus. Her twitch reflexes serve her well on the battlefield of the streets. In the battlefield of romance, however, that same twitch is going out of control. Tsurugi vibrates violently, her face locked in the rictus of a pleasant smile as her eyes dart about the room. Kaika silently thanks her instincts for giving the woman a cup that needs both hands to hold, otherwise half the tea would be on the president. "Chamomile…is good. Very good."
Hantei and Kinben share a look. Chie glowers at Nother, who looks like she's taken smiling lessons from Goz.
Chie is the first to break the silence. "So, Kaika-senpai! Now that we're an official club, what sort of activities do we have planned? More construction work? Trips to interesting locations?"
Kaika clutches the question like a lifeline, "That's what I'd been planning for Slumpia once I found all the mimesises there. But if the amount of students I saw in the infirmary was anything to go by, I don't think we have the firepower to safely go there. I'm not going to risk a repeat performance on a notice-me-not curse, especially not when I only have incomplete notes on how these mimesises are built."
Tsurugi's cup empties in a flash. She takes a deep breath as Kaika refills it, and speaks slowly. "Slumpia is going to be… an ongoing issue. We need to retrieve stolen property. We need to retrieve our tanks. Please don't go alone again, but you can join us if you like."
"That would be much appreciated, thank you." Kaika says with a beaming smile, pushing herself just a little to let her feelings be known. She won't stoop as low as using Self-Hypnosis to get through her awkwardness, but that doesn't mean she can't steel herself the old fashioned way. The fact they're more planning than doing small talk helps immensely. "It's probably a good idea to have us along for the tank retrieval, anyways. We can force them to work immediately even if they've been damaged and drained of fuel. The mechanics won't appreciate it, but it'll get them out of the danger zone so they can be towed away if push comes to shove."
Nother takes a long sip from her dinosaur mug, kicking her legs back and forth playfully. "What about Abydos? A treasure hunt sounds like a lot of fun!"
"It's on the docket, but not before everyone has their mystic codes and have done a few practicals. Ideally gotten their cyber-mimesises too." Kaika chuckles, taking the veer away from the topic of Slumpia for what it is. "Speaking of, Chie, how goes the hunt for materials?"
Chie sighs. "Poorly. The specific items you asked for are hard to come by. The acceptable substitutes are expensive. There's a few jewelers who're willing to part with diamond dust and amethyst cuttings, but I'm pretty sure that they're price gouging me. And nobody wants to part with raw silk."
Kinben looks thoughtful for a moment, before pulling out a box. "What about these, Kaika-senpai? I know it's not the exact same glass that you said you wanted, but it's easy to come by, and used in a lot of goods that interact with Halo powers."
Kinben hands the box to Kaika. When she opens it, she sees fragments of blue tinted glass. From the shape and thickness, they were probably a lens of some kind.
The magus blinks, tapping a lens fragment before jolting as if she's been electrocuted. Her voice is soft, but heavy with utter bafflement, "
What the fuck."
Tsurugi stops vibrating as everyone at the table stares at Kaika. Hantei cocks an eyebrow. "Huh. Kaika-san, do you not go to convenience stores very often? Bigger ones, with an arts and crafts aisle. You can buy Nimrud Lense pieces there, along with some other useful things."
"Age of Gods mystic materials… in
convenience stores…" Poor woman looks like she got handed irrefutable scientific proof that two plus two equals five. It takes every scrap of willpower in her body to keep her from snatching that vintage cognac and chug until the world makes sense. Drinking is for fun, not for numbing yourself.
Chie sighs fondly before taking a sip of tea. "It looks like our next club activity is to take Kaika-senpai on a shopping trip."
Tsurugi takes another look around the dorm room, searching for something else to talk about. There's several photos framed and hung up on the walls, of various places Kaika has been and people she's met. There's one of the Applied Magecraft Club in their new clubroom. One of a kindly old sparrow lady serving a large helping of food. One of a gang of Sukeban hard at work running a bakery–
Tsurugi starts to jitter again, and points towards the picture. "Them! The Roly Poly gang! Their grades are improving a lot!"
Just like magic, Kaika perks up with a sparkle in her already glowing eyes. "It's amazing what a bit of tutoring and encouragement can do! A lot of them were failing because nobody was properly engaging them or being understanding of kinesthetic learners. Of course, a few weren't as simple a fix as introducing them to a different learning style and proving to them they aren't stupid, but that's because they had dyslexia or ADHD or some other condition that Chie's helped me get some allowances on tests for them. She's a virtuosa with paperwork."
Chie beams at the compliment. "Thank you, Kaika-senpai! It's a duty and a pleasure to help those who genuinely want to learn! Don't you agree, Tsurugi-senpai?"
As the attention of the table goes back to Tsurugi, the judgment angel's vibration intensifies. She swallows her entire cup of tea in a single gulp before making a quiet squeaking noise that can barely be understood as a "yes."
Chie's expression is dumbstruck. Nother finally stops smiling, shifting to an expression of deep thought. Hantei and Kinben look back and forth between their two club presidents.
"Umm…we've talked a lot about Kaika-senpai…how do we get Tsurugi-senpai to talk about herself?" Hantei's whisper is quiet as a mouse, but isn't quiet enough to go unheard. The ceramic rattles as the entire table shakes, and it's up to Nother to abruptly change the subject once again.
After roughly 10 minutes, Chie excuses herself from the party, citing the need to feed Dachi. Nother quickly picks up on Chie's intentions, and offers to help with ideation screening and growth projection. Hantei and Kinben grab the offered lifeline, and volunteer to secure the area.
Just as Kaika moves to reflexively offer assistance, Tsurugi's voice rings out, seemingly a full octave higher. "Kaika-san? C-c-can we speak on the r-r-roof, please?"
With her menacing growl completely absent, Tsurugi's voice is barely recognizable. The mad dog is a mewling kitten, the very image of a shy schoolgirl.
Somehow, that does it. Kaika was intellectually aware that Tsurugi was just as nervous and awkward as her about this from minute one, but this makes it actually click in her brain. The only reason she doesn't laugh at how silly they've been is that her crush would take it the wrong way without context. All she does is smile and lead the way, "Of course."
The night sky is almost devoid of clouds. The sliver of a crescent moon sheds very little light, allowing the stars and haloes to dominate the skyline. The air is nippy, with a soft breeze.
Tsurugi leans against the railing at the edge of the flat rooftop. She takes a deep swig from her thermos, and sighs in contentment. "Ahh…much better."
"Sorry about my sister and I putting you on the spot." Kaika opens with from the corner of the railing she's seated herself on. It is, admittedly, more Nother's fault than hers. But she still could've helped keep pressure off of the woman. Alas, she was too busy being an awkward mess instead of… okay, no. She absolutely shouldn't have behaved as a magus back there, but the mindfulness that came with
had been sorely missing.
Tsurugi dismisses Kaika's concerns with a wave. "It's fine. They only did it because they care." Her expression goes deadpan as her eyes meet Kaika's. "And while it's sweet of you to take part of the blame, it was obvious that your sister didn't warn you either. You were just as nervous as I was."
"Yes, but I didn't exactly do anything about it either. I have ways to forcefully get over myself, I just didn't want you to see me like that, or to break the otherwise good atmosphere." The magus says with a harsh exhale, leaning dangerously back from her seat. She preemptively told Tsurugi about the curse sticking her to the railing, so it isn't like either of them have to worry about it. "Which, yeah, are valid reasons but I still feel bad. Emotions are complicated like that, makes them really fun to work with but sometimes they're such a headache."
"Haaaa… don't I know it. I am what I am, after all." Tsurugi takes another deep swallow from her thermos. "But I feel like I'm shooting myself in the foot, you know? I've always wanted a cliche romance like you see in the movies. But here I am, in my third year, and everyone is terrified of me."
"Mhm. Nobody at school has really seen it yet, but I can also get worked up into a frenzy. Those three probably think they've seen the full extent of it, between how I got with the book burners and how rambly I get during some lectures." Kaika chuckles bitterly, running a hand over her forehead and into her hair. Every single hard lesson from the Clocktower is screaming at her to shut up, but she's not there anymore and it is so damn
freeing to open up to someone who will understand, "I'm honestly afraid how everyone will take it when something finally brings me over the edge in public. I had a slip like that early in my year at the Clocktower, when I still hadn't learned how to keep everything tucked in under the unflappable magus facade, and it just completely ruined any remaining chance of so much as building a rapport with anyone there."
Tsurugi sighs. "You do a great job redirecting it, Kaika-san. And I'm glad that you're getting another shot at a happy school life here at Trinity. But you definitely don't want a reputation like mine. It's great that our enemies are terrified of me, but it hurts when you rescue hostages only for your face to give them PTSD."
Kaika hisses like she's been burnt, because her heart certainly
feels like it. She's seen this woman's soul, and for people to react to her like that… "Can I give you a hug?"
"Maybe in a minute. You've made your feelings clear, and I must do the same." The smell of chamomile and honey tickles Kaika's nose as Tsurugi takes another pull from her thermos. "Lots of girls in Kivotos love movies. Action movies, mostly. And a lot of them want to be like the heroines of those movies. Me? I'm a romance buff. And I've seen enough misunderstanding and heartbreak. I th-th-think I know what not to copy."
Tsurugi looks Kaika dead in the eye. "The bento you made for me made me very happy. I would like to get to know you better. I think that a date could be very fun. But there's someone else that I have a crush on. Someone who can't return my feelings, and who DEFINITELY wouldn't want me to put my own life on hold for them."
Tsurugi stops to take a breath as her voice cracks. Her hands shake as she brings her thermos to her lips again, the last of her soothing tea slipping down her throat.
"So I'm a bit of a mess. Is it really okay? If I say 'yes,' am I just leading you on? If I say 'no,' am I throwing away a chance at happiness and trampling your feelings over a distant 'maybe'?"
"It is okay." Kaika says softly as she steps off the railing, crossing the few steps keeping her apart from her crush but stopping at just arm's length.. "I won't go and say I'm anything resembling knowledgeable in romance, but as far as I'm aware, dating is solely about trying to see if people click. So I say we try with that in mind. If it turns out it isn't working for either of us, for whatever reason? Well, we still had a good time and hopefully got an equally good friend out of it."
"Of course, that's just my stance on it. If you want to spend a while thinking on it, or just don't want to risk any heartbreak, that's completely fine." She tacks on in reassurance, wary of giving the wrong impression here.
"Okay… Okay…" Tsurugi repeats, breathing heavily. She tries to look Kaika in the eyes and smile, but her self control is clearly starting to slip. Tsurugi's next words come from a jagged maw as her eyes roll back in their sockets. "Kaika-san… I would like… to go out with you…"
Her answer comes in the form of a purple missile headed straight for her midsection, an inarticulate noise of joy ripping its way from Kaika's throat.
"Kekekekeke…"
Tsurugi leans into the hug as her knees bend inward and her arms go limp. Her empty thermos clatters as it slips from her hands and bounces on the rooftop. The Bloody Handed One, overcome with emotion, lets her head roll backwards as she howls into the night.
"KIYAAAAAA!!!"
As Kaika breaks off the hug, Tsurugi leaps from the roof of the dorms, landing directly on the ground below. Completely unharmed, she proceeds to run off into the night, cackling madly.
"I'm the luckiest girl in Kivotos." Kaika sighs happily.
"Hello? Justice Task Force? Yeah, it's me again. No, this time it's Tsurugi-senpai. On MY roof. I think she got a date? Doesn't matter, she's running around campus and screaming. Yes, thank you. Good night."
